94 Gl
 
 • ♦
 
 
 • «
 
 HOWELL'S 
 
 FAMILIAR LETTERS.
 
 BALLANTVNE, HANSON AND CO. 
 EDINBURGH AND LONDON
 
 EPISTOL^E HO-ELIAN^ 
 
 The 
 
 Familiar Letters 
 
 of 
 
 James Howell 
 
 Historiographer Royal to Charles II. 
 
 EDITED, ANNOTATED, AND INDEXED 
 
 BY 
 
 JOSEPH JACOBS 
 
 CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF HISTORY, MADRID 
 
 LONDON: PUBLISHED BY DAVID NUTT IN THE STRAND 
 
 MDCCCXC
 
 To Mr. {now Dr.) JAMES GO IV, at Nottingham. 
 
 My dear Gow, 
 
 TT is some years ago, you may remember, that you asked 
 me to procure you a Howell, if I chanced upon another 
 copy. Here then at last you have him, tricked out hi braver 
 apparel than he ever yet has known, and provided with such 
 aids to the better understanding and enjoying of him as my 
 poor skill could devise. 
 
 You were probably attracted to Howell, as I ivas, by 
 our Thackeray's perhaps too enthusiastic praise ; but, once 
 the ceremony of introduction is over, he wins us to him- 
 self by his own merits. His wide range of experience 
 and of interest, his vicissitudes of travel and of fortune, 
 the many cities he visited, the many men he knew, his 
 find of gossip and anecdote, his quaint yet earnest reflections 
 on life, all combine to make his Letters a more varied 
 literary repast than almost any other collection of the kind in 
 our literature; and ivith it all there goes his unabashed self- 
 satisfaction in his own cleverness ivhich gives an added 
 piquancy to all he says. In shorty he is first in point of time 
 of the order of men to which Pepys, Boswell, and Walpole 
 belong. I am hoping that he will take his place by their side 
 as one of the perennial sources, instructive at once and amus- 
 ing, of English " Culturgeschichte." 
 
 Amid all his vanity and superficiality, there is one note of 
 
 sentiment
 
 VI 
 
 senthnent which rings true. He could make friends and keep 
 them. I have therefore thought it not inappropriate to connect 
 this attempt to ivin for him a secure place in English Letters 
 with the name of one of my oldest and truest friends. 
 
 I am, my dear Gow, 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 JOSEPH JACOBS. 
 
 KiLBURN, this 1st of October^ iSgo.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 T is Strange that no new edition 
 of Howell's Letters has appeared 
 for the last 130 years. In the 
 century after their first appear- 
 ance, no less than a dozen edi- 
 tions testified to their continued 
 vitality, and stray allusions prove that they have 
 never passed beyond the ken of the true lovers 
 of books. A work which Thackeray has praised 
 so highly, and Scott, Browning, and Kingsley have 
 used for some of their most popular effects, cannot 
 be said to have ever lost its chances of revival. 
 Perhaps the supply of the second-hand copies of 
 twelve editions has hitherto been sufficient to satisfy 
 the demand. But the avidity of our American 
 cousins is fast causing this source to fail, and the 
 
 "" time
 
 viii Preface. 
 
 1 
 
 time seems opportune for Howell to make a fresh 
 bid for the popularity he deserves. 
 
 In order not to diminish his chances, I have 
 selected for this reprint the so-called tenth edition 
 of 1737, which is regarded as the best "in the 
 trade," or, in other words, has found most favour 
 among readers hitherto. This is sufficiently archaic 
 to give the old-world air which seems congenial to 
 the book, and yet sufficiently free from the eccentri- 
 cities of seventeenth century spelling, which repel 
 so many readers. There is a special reason why 
 we may more boldly depart from the spelling of 
 the original copies in Howell's case than in that 
 of most others. In his way, Howell was a spelling 
 reformer, and attempted to carry out his reforms 
 in his own books. But, then as now, authors had 
 to reckon with compositors, and what with Howell's 
 reforms and his printer's customs of the trade, a 
 more confounded confusion could not well be ima- 
 gined than the cacography of the early editions. 
 And the punctuation — if punctuation it can be called 
 — is in even a still worse state. It did not seem 
 worth while to reproduce this. The history of 
 English spelling is doubtless an instructive and 
 exhilarating study, but the interests of English 
 literature are paramount. In the Supplement, how- 
 ever, I have reproduced the previously inedited 
 Letters of Howell with diplomatic accuracy, from 
 which the reader will be able to judge what he has 
 
 lost
 
 Preface. ix 
 
 lost, or gained, by my adoption of a middle course 
 between entire modernisation and retention of the 
 original spelling. 
 
 In one point it seemed worth while reverting 
 to Howell's original spelling. The proper names, 
 personal and geographical, had suffered somewhat 
 severely at the hands of successive reprinters. I 
 have therefore restored these, I believe in every 
 case, to the form in which they appeared in the 
 first editions of the several parts. While doing 
 this, I have corrected the few misprints, and here 
 and there have restored the original spelling, either 
 because it was more quaint or more modern than 
 the orthography of 1737. 
 
 JOSEPH JACOBS.
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Dedication 
 
 Preface 
 
 Testimonia 
 
 Howell's Letters — 
 
 The Vote, or a Poem-Royal 
 
 Poetic Epistle on Familiar Letters 
 
 Book I 
 
 Book II. . . . 
 
 Book III 
 
 Book IV 
 
 Supplement of Letters and Documents of and about 
 Howell, mainly from Unpublished Sources . 
 
 PAGE 
 V 
 
 vii 
 xi 
 
 5 
 13 
 
 17 
 375 
 511 
 555 
 
 649
 
 TESTIMONIA, 
 
 Not to know the Author of these Poems, were an ignorance 
 beyond Barbarism . . . He may be called the prodigie of his 
 Age, for the variety of his Volumes ; for from his AevSpoAoyt'a or 
 Parly of Trees [1640], to his Qt^poXoyta ox Parly of Beasts [1660] 
 (not inferior to the other), there hath pass'd the Press above forty 
 of his Works on various subjects ; useful not only to the present 
 times, but to all posterity. And 'tis observed that in all his 
 Writings there is something still Neu\ either in the Matter, Method 
 or Fancy, and in an untrodden Tract. Moreover, one may dis- 
 cover a kinde of Vein of Poesie to run through the body of his 
 Prose, in the Continuity and succinctness thereof all along. He 
 teacheth a new way of Epistolizing ; and that Fajutliar Letters 
 may not only consist of Words and a bombast of Compliments, 
 but that they are capable of the highest Speculations and solidest 
 kind of Knowledge. 
 
 Peter Fisher, Preface to Mr. HowePs Poems, 1664. 
 
 He had a singular command of his pen whether in verse or in 
 prose, and was well read in modern Histories, especially in those 
 of the Countries wherein he had travelled, had a parabolical and 
 allusive fancy, according to his motto Senesco non segnesco. But 
 the Reader is to know that his writings, having been only to gain 
 a livelihood, and by their dedications to flatter great and noble 
 persons, are very trite and empty, stolen from other authors with- 
 out acknowledgment, and fitted only to please the humours of 
 novices. . . . Many of the said Letters were never written before 
 the Author of them was in the Fleet, as he pretends they were, 
 
 only
 
 xii Testimonia. 
 
 only feigned (no time being kept with their dates) and purposely 
 published to gain money to relieve his necessities, yet give a 
 tolerable history of these times. 
 
 Anthony A Wood, Athence Oxon (1691), iii. 744 (ed. 181 7). 
 
 He was master of more modern languages and author of more 
 books than any other Englishman of his time. 
 
 J. Granger, Biogr. Hist, of Engl. (1769). 
 
 I BELIEVE the second published correspondence of this kind 
 and in our own language, at least of any importance after Hall, 
 will be found to be EpiSTOLyE Hoelian^, or the letters of 
 James Howell, a great traveller, an intimate friend of Jonson, 
 and the first who bore the office of historiographer, which dis- 
 cover a variety of literature, and abound with much entertaining 
 and useful information. 
 
 T. Warton, Hist, of English Poetry (1781), § Ixiv. ad fin. 
 
 Howell, the author of Fatniliar Letters, &c., wrote the chief 
 part of them, and almost all his other works, during his long con- 
 finement in the Fleet Prison ; some say for debts which his 
 irregular living had occasioned, and others for political reasons. 
 This is certain, that he used his pen for subsistence in that im- 
 prisonment, and there produced one of the most agreeable works 
 in the English language. 
 
 I. D'IsRAELi, Curiosities of Literature. 
 
 A WORK containing numberless anecdotes and historical 
 narratives, and forming one of the most amusing and instructive 
 volumes of the seventeenth century. 
 
 Sir Egerton Brydges, Censttra Literaria (1808), vi. 232. 
 
 The Epist. Ho-Eliance is one of the most amusing volumes 
 extant. And I purpose, God willing, at some future time to give 
 a new and corrected impression of this excellent book, with notes 
 and an appendix, for which work I have for a long time past been 
 making the necessary collections. 
 
 Ph. Bliss, notes on Athen. Oxon. (181 7), iii. 747. 
 
 Howell
 
 Testimonia. xiii 
 
 Howell has no wit, but he has abundance of conceits, flat and 
 commonplace enough. With all this he was a man of some sense 
 and observation. His letters are entertaining. 
 
 H. Hallam, Literature of Europe (1839), iii. 393 (ed. 1872). 
 
 What old English work, it might be asked, is there which 
 gives so vivid a picture of the period to which it relates, in so 
 amusing a style, and which so pleasantly varies its subjects, 
 passing " from grave to gay, from lively to severe," as Howell's 
 Letters? If Anthony Wood's statement is true that many of 
 the letters were composed in prison for the press, and were never 
 actually sent to the correspondents whose names are prefixed 
 to them, the volume is entitled to a still higher place in a critical 
 review of the Hterature of the time. None but a "master of 
 the craft" could have given to a series prepared for such a 
 purpose, so much of "the form and pressure" of the ordinary 
 letters which pass in the social intercourse of life, without a view 
 to any ulterior destination, between man and man. 
 
 J. Crossley, Diary of Wort/iington (1874), p. 349. 
 
 Montaigne and " Howel's Letters " are my bedside books. If 
 I wake at night, I have one or other of them to prattle me to 
 sleep again. They talk about themselves for ever and don't 
 weary me. I like to hear them tell their old stories over and 
 over again. I read them in the dozy hours and only half 
 remember them. I am informed that both of them tell coarse 
 stories. I don't heed them. It was the custom of their time, as 
 it is of Highlanders and Hottentots, to dispense with a part of 
 dress which we all wear in cities. ... I love, I say, and scarcely 
 ever tire of hearing, the artless prattle of those two dear old 
 friends, the Perigourdin gentleman and the priggish little Clerk 
 of King Charles's Council. 
 
 W. M. Thackeray, Roundabout Papers : On Two 
 Children in Black. 
 
 A THOROUGH Welshman, Howell became a celebrated English 
 author in his day. He was past forty years of age before his 
 first book was published. Then for the remaining twenty odd 
 
 years
 
 xiv Testimonia. 
 
 years of his life, with an incessant and unwearying industry, 
 
 he wrote, compiled, or translated book after book, each varying 
 
 greatly in subject. Lastly, he is one of the earliest instances of a 
 
 literary man successfully maintaining himself with the fruits of 
 
 his pen. 
 
 E. Arber, Pref. to Howell's Instructions (1869). 
 
 To the list of writers whom it is impossible to use with con- 
 fidence must, I am afraid, be added that agreeable letter-writer 
 Howell. But there can be no doubt that many of his letters are 
 mere products of the bookmaker's skill, drawn up from memory 
 long afterwards \^E.g. I. ii. 12]. On the other hand, some of the 
 letters have all the look of being what they purport to be, actually 
 written at the time, but even then, the dates at the end are fre- 
 quently incorrectly given. 
 
 S. R. Gardiner. 
 
 Howell had something of the versatile activity of Defoe ; like 
 Defoe, he travelled on the Continent for commercial purposes, 
 and like Defoe, he was often employed on political missions. 
 Only Howell had less power than the later adventurer, and was 
 less intensely political, observing men good-humouredly, and 
 recording his observations with sparkling liveliness. 
 
 W. MiNTo, Engl. Prose Lit. (1872), p. 351. 
 
 He may be called the Father of Epistolary Literature, the first 
 writer, that is to say, of writers which, addressed to individuals, 
 were intended for publication. A style animated, racy, and 
 picturesque ; keen powers of observation ; great literary skill ; an 
 eager, restless, curious spirit ; some humour and much wit, and a 
 catholicity of sympathy very unusual with the writers of his age 
 — are his chief claims to distinction. 
 
 W. B. ScooNES, English Letters (1880), p. 71. 
 
 My Books. 
 
 For the row that I prize is yonder, 
 
 Away on the unglazed shelves. 
 The bulged and the bruised octavos, 
 
 The dear and the dumpy twelves. 
 
 Montaigne
 
 TeSTIMONIA. XV 
 
 Montaigne with his sheepskin blistered, 
 
 And Howell the worse for wear, 
 And the worm-drilled Jesuits' Horace, 
 
 And the little old cropped Moliere, 
 
 And the Burton I bought for a florin, 
 And the Rabelais foxed and flea'd. 
 
 For the others I never have opened. 
 For those are the books I read. 
 Austin Dobson, At the Sign of the Lyre (1885), p. 82, 
 
 He wrote all manner of things, but has chiefly survived as the 
 author of a large collection of Familiar Letters, which have been 
 great favourites with some excellent judges. They have some- 
 thing of the agreeable garrulousness of Walton. But Howell was 
 not only much more of a gossip than Izaak ; he was also a good 
 deal of a coxcomb, while Walton was destitute of even a trace of 
 coxcombry. In one, however, as in the other, the attraction of 
 matter completely outdoes the purely literary attraction. The 
 reader is glad to hear at first hand what men thought of Raleigh's 
 execution ; how Ben Jonson behaved in his cups ; how foreign 
 parts looked to a genuine English traveller early in the seventeenth 
 century, and so forth. Moreover, the book was long a very 
 popular one, and an unusual number of anecdotes and scraps 
 passed from it into the general literary stock of English writers. 
 But Howell's manner of telling his stories is not extraordinarily 
 attractive, and has something self-conscious and artificial about it 
 which detracts from its interest. 
 
 G. Saintsbury, Elizabethan Literature (1887), p- 441.
 
 
 
 ^ Yartly J -poUtlcai.- ^
 
 Epistolce HO'EliancE : 
 
 FAMILIAR 
 
 LETTER 
 
 DoMESTicK and Foreign, 
 
 Divided into Four BOOKS 
 
 i Historical, 
 Partly \ Political, 
 ( Philosophi 
 
 CAL 
 
 Upon Emergent Occasions 
 
 By JAMES HOWELL, Esq.; 
 One of the Clerks of his late Majesty's most 
 Honourable Privy Council. 
 
 IJt clavis portam^ sic pandit Epistola pectus. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 MDCC XXXVII
 
 TO HIS 
 
 MAJESTY 
 
 SIR, 
 '^^^^^^HESE Letters addi^essd (inost of them) 
 "^^ to you7' best degrees of Subjects, do as so 
 many Lines drawn f'oni the Ciraiin- 
 ference to the Centre, all meet in your 
 Majesty ; who as the Law styles you the Fountain of 
 Honour and Grace, so yo2C sho2tld be the Centre of 
 our Happiness. If your Majesty vouchsafe them a 
 gracious Aspect, they may all prove Letters of Credit, 
 if not Credential Letters, which Sovereign Princes 
 use only to authorize : They ventwe to go abroad 
 into the vast Ocean of the World as Letters ^Mart, 
 to try their Foj^ttincs ; and your Majesty being the 
 greatest Lord of St^ under Heaven, is fittest to protect 
 them ; and then they will not fear any htwian Power. 
 Moreover, as this Royal Protection secitres them from 
 all danger, so it ivill infinitely conduce to the pros- 
 perity of their Voyage, and bring them to safe Port 
 
 with rich Returns. 
 
 Nor
 
 The Epistle Dedicatory, 
 
 Nor would these Letters be so Familiar, as to pre- 
 sume upon so high a Patronage^ were not many of 
 them Records of your own Royal Actions : And 'tis 
 well known, that Letters can treasure up, and trans- 
 mit Matters of State to Posterity, with as much 
 Faith, and be as authentick Registers, and safe 
 Repositories of Truth, as any Story whatsoever, 
 
 This brings them to lie prostrate at your Feet, with 
 their Author, who is, 
 
 SIR, 
 
 Your Majesty's most Loyal 
 
 Subject and Servant, 
 
 J. HOWELL. 
 
 The
 
 The Vote, or a Poein-Royal, 
 
 PRESENTED 
 
 To His Majesty for a Nezv-Year' s-Gift, by way of 
 Discourse betwixt the Poet and his Mttse. 
 
 Calendis /annarii, 1641. 
 
 POEM A. 
 
 iTpriViTIXOV. 
 
 HE World's bright Eye, Time's measurer, begun 
 Through wat'ry Capricorn his Course to run ; 
 Old /a7ms hasten'd on, his Temples bound 
 With Ivy, his grey Hairs with Holly crown'd : 
 When in a serious quest my Thoughts did muse 
 What Gift, as best becoming, I should chuse 
 To Britauis Monarch (my dread Sov'reign) bring, 
 Which might supply a New- Year's Offering. 
 I rummag'd all my Stores, and search'd my Cells, 
 Where nought appear'd, God-wot, but Bagatels : 
 No far-fetch'd Indian Gem cut out of Rock, 
 Or fish'd in Shells, were trusted under Lock ; 
 No Piece which Angela's strong Fancy hit, 
 Or Titian s Pencil or rare Halyard's Wit ; 
 No Ermines, or black Sables, no such Skins, 
 As the grim Tartar hunts or takes in Gins ; 
 
 No
 
 A Poem-Royal, 
 
 No Medals, or rich Stuff of Tyrian Dye ; 
 No costly Bowls of frosted Argentry ; 
 No curious Landskip, or some Marble Piece 
 Digg'd up in Delphos, or elsewhere in Greece ; 
 No Roman Perfumes, Buffs, or Cordovans, 
 Made drunk with Amber by Moreno's Hands ; 
 No Arras or rich Carpets freighted o'er 
 The surging Seas, from Asia's doubtful Shore ; 
 No Lion's Cub, or Beast of strange Aspect, 
 Which in Numidia's fiery Womb had slept ; 
 No old Toledo Blades, or Damaskins ; 
 No Pistols, or some rare-spring Carabines ; 
 No Spanish Gennet, or choice Stallion sent 
 From Naples, or hot Afrids Continent : 
 In fine, I nothing found, I could descry 
 Worthy the Hands of Ccesar, or his Eye. 
 
 My Wits were at a stand, when, lo, my Muse 
 (None of the Choir, but such as they do use 
 For Laundresses or Handmaids of mean Rank, 
 I knew sometimes on Po and Isis Bank) 
 Did softly buz, 
 
 MUSE. 
 
 Then let me something bring. 
 
 May handsel the Nav- Year to CHARLES my King, 
 May usher in bifronted yh'/zz^j 
 
 POET, 
 
 Thou fond fool-hardy Muse, thou silly Thing, 
 Which 'mongst the Shrubs and Reeds do'st use to sing ; 
 Dar'st thou perk up, and the tall Cedar climb, 
 And venture on a King with gingling Rhyme ? 
 Tho' all thy Words were Pearls, thy Letters Gold, 
 And cut in Rubies, or cast in a Mould 
 
 Of
 
 Presented by His Majesty. 
 
 Of Diamonds ; yet still thy Lines would be 
 Too mean a Gift for such a Majesty. 
 
 MUSE. 
 
 I'll try and hope to pass without Disdain, 
 In New- Year-Gifts, the Mind stands for the Main. 
 The Sophy, finding 'twas well meant, did deign 
 Few Drops of running Water from a Swain : 
 Then sure 'twill please my Liege, if I him bring 
 Some gentle Drops from the Castaliati Spring ; 
 Tho' Rarities I want of such Account, 
 Yet have I something on the forked Mount. 
 'Tis not the first, or third Access I made 
 To Ccesar's Feet, and thence departed glad. 
 For as the Sun with his Male Heat doth render 
 Nile's muddy Slime fruitful, and apt t' engender, 
 And daily to produce new kind of Creatures, 
 Of various Shapes, and thousand differing Features ; 
 So is my Fancy quicken'd by the Glance 
 Of his benign Aspect and Countenance ; 
 It makes me pregnant and to superfete ; 
 Such is the Vigor of his Beams and Heat. 
 
 Once in a Vocal Forest I did sing, 
 And made the Oak to stand for CHARLES my King 
 The best of Trees, whereof (it is no vaunt) 
 The greatest Schools of Europe sing and chant. 
 There you also shall find Dame * ARHETINE, 
 Great Hefirys Daughter, and Great Britairis Queen, 
 Her Name engraved in a Laurel-Tree, 
 And so transmitted to Eternity. 
 For novr I hear that Grove speaks, besides mine, 
 The language of the Loire, the Po and Rhine ; 
 
 * Id est, Virtuous, Anagram <?/^HenrieUa. 
 
 And
 
 8 A Poem-Royal, 
 
 And to my Prince (my sweet black Prince) of late, 
 I did a youthful Subject dedicate. 
 Nor do I doubt but that in time my Trees 
 Will yield me Fruit to pay Apollds Fees ; 
 To offer up whole Hecatombs of Praise 
 To Ccesar, if on them he casts his Rays : 
 And if my Lamp have Oil, I may compile 
 The Modern Annals of Great Albion's Isle ; 
 To vindicate the Truth of CHARLESs Reign, 
 From scribling Pam.phleteers, who Story stain 
 With loose imperfect passages, and thrust 
 Lame things upon the World, ta'en up in trust. 
 
 I have had Audience (in another Strain) 
 Of Europe's greatest Kings ; when Germaji Main, 
 And the Caniabrian Waves I cross'd, I drank 
 Of Tagus, Seitie, and sat at Tyber's Bank : 
 Thro' Scylla and Charybdis I have steer'd, 
 Where restless yEtna's belching Flames appear'd. 
 By Greece, once Pallas' Garden, then I pass'd, 
 Now all spread o'er with ignorance and waste ; 
 Nor hath fair Europe, her vast Bounds throughout, 
 An Academy of Note I found not out. 
 But now I hope, in a successful prore, 
 ^ The Fates have fix'd me on sweet England's Shore ; 
 And by these various Wandrings true I found, 
 Earth is our common Mother, ev'ry Ground 
 May be one's Country : For by Birth each Man 
 Is in this World a Cosmopolitan, 
 A free-born Burgess, and receives thereby 
 His Denization from Nativity : 
 Nor is this lower World but a huge Inn, 
 And Men the rambling Passengers, wherein 
 Some do warm Lodgings find, and that as soon 
 As out of Nature's Closets they see Noon, 
 
 And
 
 Presented by His Majesty, 
 
 And find the Table ready laid ; but some 
 Must for their Commons trot, and trudge, for Room : 
 With easy Pace some climb Promotion's Hill, 
 Some in the Dale, do what they can, stick still ; 
 Some through false Glasses, Fortune smiling spy, 
 Who still keeps off, tho' she appears hard by ; 
 Some like the Ostrich with their Wings do flutter, 
 But cannot fly or soar above the Gutter : 
 Some quickly fetch, and double Good- Hopes Cape ; 
 Some ne'er can do't, tho' the same course they shape. 
 So that poor Mortals are so many Balls 
 Toss'd some o'er Line, some under Fortune's Walls. 
 And it is Heav'n's high Pleasure, Man should lie 
 Obnoxious to his PartiaHty, 
 That by industrious ways he should contend 
 Nature's short pittance to improve and mend : 
 Now, Industry ne'er fail'd at last t' advance 
 Her patient Sons above the reach of Chance. 
 
 POET. 
 
 But whither rov'st thou thus ? 
 
 Well ; since I see thou art so strongly bent, 
 
 And of a gracious Look so confident. 
 
 Go and throw down thyself at Casar's Feet, V 
 
 And in thy best Attire thy Sov'reign greet. 
 
 Go, an auspicious and most blissful Year 
 
 Wish him, as e'er shin'd o'er this Hemisphere. 
 
 Good may the Entrance, better the Middle be, 
 
 And the Conclusion best of all the Three : 
 
 Of Joy ungrudg'd may each Day be a Debtor, 
 
 And ev'ry Morn still usher in a better : 
 
 May the soft gliding Nojies, and ev'ry Idc, 
 
 With all the Calends still some good betide ; 
 
 May Cynthia with kind Looks, and Phoebus' Rays, 
 
 One clear his Nights, the other gild his Days ; 
 
 Free
 
 lo A Poem-Royal, 
 
 Free Limbs, unphysick'd Health, due Appetite, 
 Wliich no Sauce else but Hunger may excite : 
 Sound Sleeps, green Dreams be his, which represent 
 Symptoms of Health, and the next day's content ; 
 Chearful and vacant Thoughts, not always bound 
 To Counsel, or in deep Ideas drown'd, 
 (Tho' such late Traverses, and Tumults might 
 Turn to a Lump of Care, the airest Wight) 
 And since while fragile Flesh doth us array, 
 The Humours still are combating for sway, 
 (Which were they free from this reluctancy, 
 And counterpois'd, Man would immortal be) 
 May Sanguine o'er the rest predominate 
 In him, and their malignant Flux abate. 
 
 May his great Queen, in whose imperious Eye 
 Reigns such a world of winning Majesty, 
 Like the rich Olive or Falernian Vine, 
 Swell with more Gems of Cyons masculine : 
 And as her Fruit sprung from the Rose and Luce, 
 (The best of Stems Earth yet did e'er produce) 
 Is tied already by a sanguine Lace, 
 To all the Kings of Europe's high-born Race ; 
 So may they shoot their youthful Branches o'er 
 The surging Seas, and graff with every shore. 
 
 May Home-commerce and Trade increase from far, 
 Till both the hidies meet within his bar, 
 And bring in Mounts of Coin his Mint to feed, 
 And Banqiiers ( Traffic's chief supporters) breed, 
 Which may enrich his Kingdom, Court, and Town, 
 And ballast still the Coffers of the Crown ; 
 For Kingdoms are as Ships, the Prince his Chests 
 The Ballast, which if empty, when distress'd 
 With Storms, their Holds are lightly trimm'd, the Keel 
 Can run no steedy Course, but toss and reel : 
 
 May
 
 Presented to His Majesty. ii 
 
 May his Imperial Chamber always ply 
 
 To his Desires her Wealth to multiply, 
 
 That she may praise his Royal Favour more, 
 
 Than all the Wares fetch'd from the Great Mogor. 
 
 May the Grand Senate,* with the Subjects Right, 
 
 Put in the counter-scale the Regal Might, 
 
 The Flow'rs o' th' Crown, that they may prop each other. 
 
 And like the Grecians Twin, live, love together. 
 
 For the chief Glory of a People is, 
 
 The Power of their King, as theirs is his : 
 
 May he be still within himself at Home, 
 
 That no just Passion make the Reason roam ; 
 
 Yet Passions have their turns to rouse the Soul, 
 
 And stir her slumb'ring Spirits, not controul : 
 
 For as the Ocean, besides Ebb and Flood, 
 
 (Which t Nature's greatest Clerk ne'er understood) 
 
 Is not for Sail, if an impregning Wind 
 
 Fill not the flagging Canvas ; so a Mind 
 
 Too calm is not for Action, if Desire 
 
 Heats not itself at Passion's quick'ning Fire : 
 
 For Nature is allow'd sometimes to muster 
 
 Her Passions, so they only blow, not bluster. 
 
 May Justice still in her true Scales appear, 
 And Honour fix'd in no unworthy Sphere ; 
 Unto whose Palace all Access should have 
 Through Virtue's Temple, not through Plutds Cave. 
 
 May his true Subjects' Hearts be his chief Fort, 
 Their Purse his Treasure, and their Love his Port, 
 Their Prayers as sweet Incense, to draw down 
 Myriads of Blessings on his Queen and Crown. 
 
 And now that his glad Presence did asswage 
 That fearful Tempest in the North did rage, 
 
 The Parliamenl, f Hippocrates. 
 
 May
 
 12 A Poem-Royal, Presented to His Majesty. 
 
 May those Frog Vapours in the Irish Sky 
 Be scatter'd by the Beams of Majesty ; 
 That the Hybernian Lyre give such a Sound, 
 May on our Coasts with joyful Echoes bound. 
 
 And when this fatal Planet leaves to lour, 
 Which too too long on Monarchies doth pour 
 His direful Influence, may Peace once more 
 Descend from Heav'n upon our tottering Shore, 
 And ride in Triumph both in Land and Main, 
 And with her Milk-white Steeds draw Charles his Wai?i ; 
 That so, for those Saturnian Times of old, 
 An Age of Pearl may come in lieu of Gold. 
 
 Virtue still guide his Course ; and if there be 
 A Thing as Fortune, him accompany. 
 May no ill Genius haunt him, but by's side 
 The best protecting Angel ever bide. 
 
 May he go on to Vindicate the Right 
 Of holy Things, and make the Temple bright, 
 To keep that Faith, that sacred Truth entire, 
 Which he receiv'd from Solomon * his Sire. 
 And since we all must hence, by th' Iron Decree 
 Stamp'd in the black Records of Destiny, 
 Late may his Life, his Glory ne'er wear out, 
 Till the great Year of Plato wheel about. 
 
 So prayeih, 
 
 The worst of Poets., 
 
 to 
 The best of Princes, 
 
 yet 
 The most Loyal of 
 
 Bis 
 Votaries and Vassals, 
 
 James Howell. 
 
 * King fames. 
 
 To
 
 To the knowing Reader totccking Familiar Letters. 
 
 IJOVE is the Life of Friendship, Letters are 
 
 The Life of Love, the Loadstones that by rare 
 Attraction make Souls meet, and melt, and mix, 
 As when by Fire exalted Gold we fix. 
 
 They are those wing'd Postilions that can fly 
 
 From the Antarctick to the Arctic Sky, 
 
 The Heralds and swift Harbingers that move 
 
 From East to West, on Embassies of Love ; 
 
 They can the Tropics cut, and cross the Line, 
 
 And swim from Ganges to the RJione or Rhine, 
 
 From Thames to Tagus, thence to Tyber run. 
 
 And terminate their Journey with the Sun. 
 They can the Cabinets of Kings unscrue, 
 
 And hardest Intricacies of State undue ; 
 
 They can the Tartar tell, what the Mogor, 
 
 Or the Great Turk doth on the Asian Shore : 
 
 The K?iez of them may know what Frester John 
 
 Doth with his Camels in the torrid Zone ; 
 
 Which made the Lndia?i I?ica think they were 
 
 Spirits, who in white Sheets the Air did tear. 
 The lucky Goose sav'dy*?^'^ belcagred Hill, 
 
 Once by her N'oise, but oftner by her Quill: 
 
 It twice prevented, Rome was not o'er-run 
 
 By the tough Vandal, and the rough-hewn Hun. 
 Letters can Plots, tho' moulder'd under Ground, 
 
 Disclose, and their fell Complices confound ; 
 
 Witness
 
 J4 To THE Knowing Reader 
 
 Witness that fiery Pile, which would have blown 
 Up to the Clouds, Prince, People, Peers and Town, 
 Tribunals, Church, and Chapel ; and had dry'd 
 The Thames, tho' swelling in her highest Pride, 
 And parboil'd the poor Fish, which from her Sands 
 Had been toss'd up to the adjoining Lands. 
 Lawyers, as Vulhtres, had soar'd up and down ; 
 Prelates, like Magpies, in the Air had flown, 
 Had not the Eagle's Letter brought to Light 
 That subterranean horrid Work of Night. 
 
 Credential Letters, States and Kingdoms tie. 
 And Monarchs knit in Leagues of Amity ; 
 They are those golden Links that do enchain 
 Whole Nations, tho' discinded by the Main ; 
 They are the Soul of Trade, they make Commerce 
 Expand itself throughout the Universe. 
 Letters may more than History inclose 
 The choicest Learning both for Verse and Prose : 
 They Knowledge can unto our Souls display. 
 By a more gentle, and familiar way ; 
 The highest Points of State and Policy, 
 The most severe Parts of Philosophy 
 May be their Subject, and their Themes enrich, 
 As well as private Businesses, in which 
 Friends use to correspond, and Kindred greet, 
 Merchants negotiat, and the whole World meet. 
 
 In Seneca's, rich Letters is enshrin'd 
 Whate'er the ancient Sages left behind : 
 Tully makes his the secret Symptoms tell 
 Of those Distempers which proud I^ome befel ; 
 When in her highest Flourish she would make 
 Her Tybcr from the Ocean Homage take. 
 Great Antoriine the Emperor did gain 
 More Glory by his Letters than his Reign : 
 
 His
 
 Touching Familiar Letters. 15 
 
 His Pen out-lasts his Pike, each golden Line 
 In his Epistles doth his Name enshrine. 
 Aurelius by his Letters did the same, 
 And they in chief immortalise his Fame. 
 
 Words vanish soon, and Vapour into Air, 
 While Letters on Record stand fresh and fair ; 
 And tell our Nephews who to us were dear, 
 Who our choice Friends, who our Familiars were. 
 
 The bashful Lover, when his stammering Lips 
 Falter, and fear some unadvised Slips, 
 May boldly court his Mistress with the Quill, 
 And his hot Passions to her Breast instil : 
 The Pe7i can furrow a fond Female's Heart, 
 And pierce it more than Ot^id's feigned Dart : 
 Letters a kind of Magic Virtue have. 
 And like strong Philtres human Souls enslave. 
 
 Speech is the Index, Letters Ideas are 
 Of the informing Soul ; they can declare. 
 And shew the inward Man, as we behold 
 A Face reflecting in a Crystal Mould ; 
 They serve the Dead and Living, they become 
 Attorneys and Administers in some. 
 Letters, like Gordian Knots, do Nations tie, 
 Else all Commerce, and Love, 'twixt Men would die. 
 
 y.H.
 
 Epistolse Ho-Elianse. 
 
 jTamiliar Lttttt0. 
 
 Book i. — Section I. 
 
 I. 
 
 To Sh- J. S. ni Leeds- Castle. 
 
 T was a quaint Difference the Ancients 
 did put 'tvvixt a Letter and an Ora- 
 tion ; that the one should be attired 
 like a Woman, the other like a Man : 
 the latter of the two is allowed larsre 
 
 O 
 
 side Robes, as long Periods, Paren- 
 theses, Similes, Examples, and other 
 Parts of Rhetorical Flourishes: But 
 a Letter or Epistle should be short-coated, and closely 
 couched; a Hungerlin becomes a Letter more hand- 
 somely than a Gown : Indeed we should write as we 
 speak; and that's a true familiar Letter which expresseth 
 one's Mind, as if he were discoursing with the Party to 
 whom he writes, in succinct and short Terms. The Tongue, 
 and the Pen, are both of them Interpreters of the Mind ; 
 but I hold the Pen to be the more faithful of the two: The 
 Tongne in udo posita, being seated in a moist slippery Place, 
 may fail and faultcr in her sudden extemporal Expressions; 
 
 B but
 
 i8 Familiar Letters. Book!. 
 
 but the Fen. having a greater advantage of Premeditation, 
 is not so subject to error, and leaves things behind it upon 
 firm and authentic record. Now, Letters, tho' they be 
 capable of any Subject, yet commonly they are either 
 Nnrratory, OhjurgatorTj, Consolatory, Monitory, or Con- 
 gratulatory. The first consists of Relations, the second of 
 Reprehensions, the third of Comfort, the two last of Counsel 
 and Joy : There are some, who in lieu of Letters, write 
 Homilies; they preach, when they should epistolize : There 
 are others that turn them to tedious Tractats : This is to 
 make Letters degenerate from their true Nature. Some 
 modern Authors there are v^ho have exposed their Letters 
 to the World, but most of them, I mean among your Latin 
 Epistolizers, go freighted with mere Bartholomeiu Ware, 
 with trite and trivial Phrases only, listed with pedantic 
 Shreds of School-boy Verses. Others there are among our 
 next transmarine Neighbours Eastward, who write in their 
 own Language, but their Style is soft and easy, that their 
 Letters may be said to be like Bodies of loose Flesh without 
 Sinews, they have neither Joints of Art nor Arteries in them ; 
 they have a kind of simpering and lank hectic Expressions 
 made up of a Bombast of Words, and finical affected Com- 
 pliments only: I cannot well away with such sleazy Stuff, 
 with such Cobweb-compositions, where there is no Strength 
 of Matter, nothing for the Reader to carry away with him, 
 that may enlarge the Notions of his Soul. One shall hardly 
 find an Apothegm, Example, Simile, or anything of Philo- 
 sophy, History, or solid Knowledge, or as much as one new 
 created Phrase, in a hundred of them : and to draw any 
 Observations out of them, were as if one went about to 
 distill Cream out of Froth ; insomuch, that it may be said 
 of them, what was said of the Echo, That she is a mere 
 Sound afid nothins else. 
 
 I return you your Balzac by this Bearer: and when I 
 found those Letters, wherein he is so familiar with his 
 King, so flat ; and those to Richlieu, so puffed with pro- 
 phane Hyperboles_, and larded up and down with such gross 
 
 Flatteries,
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 
 
 19 
 
 Flatteries, with others, besides, which he sends as Urinals 
 up and down the World to look into his Water for discovery 
 of the crazy Condition of his Body, I forbore him further. 
 So I am — Your most most affectionate Servitor, J. H. 
 lVestmi?i., 2 c^ July 1625. 
 
 II. 
 
 To my Father upon myjirst going beyond Sea. 
 Sir, 
 
 I SHOULD be much wanting to myself, and to that Obli- 
 gation of Duty, the Law of God, and his Handmaid 
 Nature, hath imposed upon me, if I should not aquaint 
 you with the Course and Quality of my Affairs and Fortunes, 
 especially at this time, that I am upon point of crossing 
 the Seas to eat my bread abroad. Nor is it the common 
 Relation of a Son that only induced me hereunto, but that 
 most indulgent and costly Care you have been pleased (in so 
 extraordinary a manner) to have had of my Breeding (tho' 
 but one Child oi fifteen) by placing me in a choice methodi- 
 cal School (so far distant from your Dwelling) under a 
 learned (tho' lashing) Master ; and by transplanting me 
 thence to Oxford, to be graduated ; and so holding me still 
 up by the Chin until I could swim without Bladders. This 
 Patrimony of liberal Education you have been pleased to 
 endow me withal, I now carry along with me abroad, as 
 a sure inseparable Treasure; nor do I feel it any Burden 
 or Incumbrance unto me at all : And what Dano-er soever, 
 my Person, or other things I have about me, do incur, yet 
 I do not fear the losing of this, either by Shipwreck, or Pirates 
 at Sea, nor by Robbers, or Fire, or any other Casualty on 
 shore : and at my Return to England, 1 hope at least-wise 
 I shall do my endeavour, that you may find this Patrimony 
 improved somewhat to your Comfort. 
 
 The main of my Employment is from that gallant Knight 
 Sir Robert Mansell, who, with my Lord of Pembroke, and 
 divers others of the prime Lords of the Court, have got 
 the sole Patent of making all sorts of Glass with Pit-coal, 
 
 onlv
 
 20 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 only to save those huge Proportions of Wood which were 
 consumed formerly in the Glass Furnaces: And this Business 
 beino- of that nature, that the Workmen are to be had from 
 Italy, and the chief Materials from Spain, France, and 
 other foreign Countries; there is need of an Agent abroad 
 for this Use ; (and better than I have offered their service 
 in this kind) so that I believe I shall have employment in 
 all these Countries before I return. 
 
 Had I continued still Steward of the Glass-house in 
 Broad-street, where Captain Francis Baco?i hath succeeded 
 me, I should in a short time have melted away to nothing 
 amongst those hot Venetians, finding my self too green for 
 such a Charge ; therefore it hath pleased God to dispose 
 of me now to a condition more suitable to my Years, and 
 that will, I hope, prove more advantageous to my future 
 Fortunes. 
 
 In this my Peregrination, if I happen, by some accident, 
 to be disappointed of that allowance I am to subsist by, I 
 must make my address to you, for I have no other Rendez- 
 vous to flee unto ; but it shall not be, unless in case of great 
 indigence. 
 
 Touching the News of the Time : Sir George Villiers, 
 the new Favourite, tapers up apace, and grows strong at 
 Court : His Predecessor the Earl of Somerset hath got a 
 Lease of 90 years for his Life, and so hath his Articulate 
 Lady, called so, for articling against the frigidity and 
 impotence of her former Lord. She was afraid that Coke 
 the Lord Chief Justice (who had used such extraordinary 
 art and industry in discovering all the circumstances of the 
 poisoning of Overbury) would have made white Broth of 
 them, but that the Prerogative kept them from the Pot : 
 yet the subservient Instruments, the lesser Flies could not 
 break thorow, but lav entanirled in the Cobweb : amon^rst 
 others Mistress Turner, the first invcntress o^ yellow Starch, 
 was executed in a Cobweb Lawn Ruff of that colour at 
 Tyhurn ; and with her I believe that yellow Starch, which 
 so much disfigured our Nation, and rendered them so ridicu- 
 lous
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 21 
 
 lous and fantastic, will receive its Funeral. Sir Gervas 
 Elways, Lieut, of the Tower, was made a notable Example 
 of Justice and Terror to all Officers of Trust: for being 
 accessory, and that in a passive way only, to the murder, 
 yet he was hang'd on Tower-hill: and the Caveat is very 
 remarkable which he gave upon the Gallows, That People 
 should be very caut'.ous how they make Vows to Heaven, 
 for the breach of them seldom passes without a Judirment, 
 whereof he was a most ruthful Example; for being in the 
 Low Countries, and much given to Gaming, he once made 
 a solemn Vow, (which he brake afterwards) that if he 
 played above such a Sum, he might he hanged. My Lord 
 [JViUiam) of Pembroke did a most noble Act, like himself; 
 for the King having given him all Sir Gervas Elwaijs's 
 Estate, which came to above a thousand pound per An., he 
 freely bestowed it on the Widow and her Children. 
 
 The latter end of this Week I am to go a Ship-board, 
 and first for the Low Countries. I humbly pray vour 
 Blessing may accompany me in these my Travels by Land 
 and Sea, with a continuance of your Prayers, which will 
 be as so many good Gales to blow me to safe Port ; for I 
 have been taught. That the Parents' Benedictions contribute 
 very much, and have a kind of Prophetic Virtue to make the 
 Child prosperous. In this opinion I shall ever rest — Your 
 dutiful Son, J. H. 
 
 Broad Street, Lo7idon, i March 161S. 
 
 III. 
 
 To Dr. Francis Mansell, since Principal c/ Jesus College 
 
 in Oxford. 
 Sir, 
 
 BEING to take leave of England, and to launch out into 
 the World abroad, to breathe foreio-n Air a while, I 
 thought It very handsome, and an Act well becoming me, 
 to take my leave also of you, and of my dearly honoured 
 Mother Oxford: Otherwise both of you might have just 
 
 grounds
 
 22 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 grounds to exhibit a Bill of Complaint, or rather a Protest 
 against me, and cry me up; Yoa for a forgetful Friend; 
 She for an ungrateful Son, if not some spurious Issue. To 
 prevent this, I salute you both together: You with the best 
 of my most candid affections; Her with my most dutiful 
 observance, and thankfulness for the Milk she pleased to 
 give me in that Exuberance, had I taken it in that measure 
 she offered it me while I slept in her lap : yet that little 
 I have sucked, I carry with me now abroad, and hope that 
 this course of Life will help to concoct it to a greater 
 advantage, having opportunity, by the nature of my employ- 
 ment, to study Men as well as Books. The small time I 
 supervis'd the Glass-house, I got among those Venetiayis 
 some smatterings of the Italian Tongue, which besides the 
 little I have, you know, of School-language, is all the 
 Preparatives I have made for travel. I am to go this week 
 down to Gravesend, and so embark for Holland. I have 
 got a warrant from the Lords of the Council to travel for 
 three years any where, Rome and St. Omers excepted. I 
 pray let me retain some room, tho' never so little, in your 
 thoughts, during the time of this our separation; and let 
 our Souls meet sometimes by intercourse of Letters : I 
 promise you that yours shall receive the best entertainment 
 I can make them, for I love you dearly, dearly well, and 
 value your Friendship at a very high rate. So with appre- 
 ciation of as much happiness to you at home, as I shall 
 desire to accompany me abroad, I rest ever — Your friend to 
 serve you, J. H. 
 
 London^ 20 March 1618. 
 
 IV. 
 
 To Sir James Crofts, Knight, at St. Osith. 
 Sir, 
 
 I COULD not shake hands with England, without kiss- 
 ing your hands also ; and because, in regard of your 
 distance now from London, I cannot do it in person, I send 
 this Paper for my Deputv. 
 
 The
 
 ^2> 
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 
 
 The news that keeps greatest noise here now^ is the return 
 of Sir Walter Raleigh from his Mine of Gold in Guiana, 
 the South parts of America, which at first was Hke to be 
 such a hopeful boon Voyage, but it seems that that Golden 
 Mine is proved a mere Chimera, an imaginary airy Mine ; 
 and indeed his Majesty had never any other conceit of it: 
 But what will not one in Captivity (as Sir JValter was) 
 promise, to regain his Freedom ? who would not promise, 
 not only Mines, but Mountains of Gold, for Liberty ? and 
 'tis pity such a knowing well-weigh'd Knight had not had 
 a better Fortune; for the Destiny (I mean that brave Ship 
 which he built hnnself of that name, that carry'd him 
 thither) is like to prove a Fatal Destiny to him, and to 
 some of the rest of those gallant Adventurers which con- 
 tributed for the setting forth of thirteen Ships more, who 
 were most of them his Kinsmen and younger Brothers, 
 being led into the said Expedition by a general conceit the 
 World had of the Wisdom of Sir IValter Raleigh : and 
 many of these are like to make Shipwrack of their Estates 
 by this Voyage. Sir IValter landed at Plymouth, whence 
 he thought to make an escape ; and some say he hath 
 tampered with his Body by Physick, to make him look 
 sickly, that he may be the more pitied, and permitted to 
 lie in his own House. Count Gondamur the Spanish 
 Ambassador speaks high language; and sending lately to 
 desire Audience of his Majesty, he said he had but one 
 word to tell him: his Majesty wondring what might be 
 delivered in one word, when he came before him, he said 
 only, Pirates, Pirates, Pirates, and so departed. 
 
 'Tis true that he protested against this Voyage before, 
 and that it could not be but for some predatory design : 
 And that if it be as I hear, I fear it will go very ill with 
 Sir Walter and that Gondamar will never ffive him over, 
 till he hath his head off his shoulders; which may quickly 
 be done, without any new Arraignment, by virtue of the 
 old Sentence that lies still dormant against him, which he 
 could never get ofl' by Pardon, notwithstanding that he 
 
 mainly
 
 24 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 mainly lal)oured in it before he went : but his Majesty 
 could never be brought to it, for he said he would keep 
 this as a Curb to hold him within the bounds of his Com- 
 mission, and the good behaviour. 
 
 Gondamar cries out, that he hath broke the sacred Peace 
 'twixt the two Kingdoms; That he hath fired and plundered 
 Santo T/ioma, sl Colony the Spaniards had planted with so 
 much blood, near under the Line, which made it prove 
 such hot service unto him, and where, besides others, he 
 lost his eldest Son in the Action : And could they have 
 preserv'd the Magazine of Tobacco only, besides other 
 things in that Town, something might have been had to 
 countervail the charge of the Voyage. Gofidamar alledgeth 
 farther, That the enterprize of the Mine failing, he pro- 
 pounded to the rest of his Fleet to go and intercept some 
 of the Plate Galeons, with other Designs which would have 
 drawn after them apparent Acts of Hostility ; and so 
 demands Justice : besides other Disasters which fell out 
 upon the dashing of the first design, Captain Remish, who 
 was the main instrument for discovery of the mine, pistoled 
 himself in a desperate mood of discontent in his Cabin, in 
 the Converiine. 
 
 This Return of Sir JValter Raleigh from Guiana, puts 
 me in mind of a facetious tale I read lately in Italian (for I 
 have a little of that language already) how Alphonso King 
 of Naples sent a Moor, who had been his Captive a long 
 time, to Barhary, with a considerable sum of money to buy 
 Horses, and return by such a time. Now there was about 
 the King a kind of Buffoon or Jester, who had a Table-book 
 or Journal, wherein he was used to register any absurdity, 
 or impertinence, or merry passage that happened upon the 
 Court. That day the Moor was dispatched for Barhary, 
 the said Jester waiting upon the King at Supper, the King 
 call'd for his Journal, and ask'd what he had observ'd that 
 day; thereupon he produc'd his Table-book, and among 
 other things, he read how Alphonso King of Naples had 
 sent Beltram the Moor, who had been a Ions: time his 
 
 Prisoner
 
 Sect. r. Familiar Letters. 25 
 
 Prisoner, to Morocco (his own Country) with so nianv 
 thousand Crowns, to buy Horses. The King asked him 
 why he inserted that ; Because, said he, I think he will 
 never come back to be a Prisoner again, and so you have 
 lost both Man and Money. But if he do come, then your 
 Jest is marr'd, quoth the King: No, Sir; foj- if he retiirn I 
 will blot out your Name, and put him in for a Fool. 
 
 The Application is easy and obvious: But the World 
 wonders extremely, that so great a wise Man as Sir Walter 
 Raleigh would return to cast himself upon so inevitable a 
 Rock, as I fear he will; and much more, that such choice 
 Men, and so great a power of Ships, should all come home 
 and do nothing. 
 
 The Letter you sent to my Father, I convey'd safely the 
 last week to Wales. I am this week, by God's help, for 
 the Netherlands, and then I think for France. If in this 
 my foreign employment I may be any way serviceable unto 
 you, you know what power you have to dispose of me, for 
 I honour you in a very high degree, and will live and die — 
 Your humble and ready Servant, J. II. 
 
 London, 28 Alarch 16 18. 
 
 V. 
 
 To my Brother, after Br. Howel, and ?ioiv Bishop of Bristol ; 
 
 fro?n Amsterdam. 
 Brother, 
 
 I AM newly landed at Amsterdam, and it is the first 
 foreign Earth I have ever set foot upon. I was 
 pitifully sick all the Voyage, for the Weather was rough, 
 and the Wind untowards; and at the mouth of the Texel 
 we were surpriz'd by a furious Tempest, so that the Ship 
 .was like to split upon some of those old stumps of trees 
 wherewith that River is full ; for in Ages past, as the 
 Skipper told me, there grew a fair Forest in that Channel 
 where the Texel makes now her Bed. Having been so 
 rock'd and shaken at Sea, when I came a-shore, I began to 
 
 incline
 
 26 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 incline to Copernicus his Opinion^ which hath got such a 
 sway lately in the World, viz. That the Earth, as well as 
 the rest of her Fellow-Elements, is in perpetual Motion, for 
 she seemed so to me a good while after I had landed. He 
 that observes the Site and Position of this Country, will 
 never hereafter doubt the Truth of that Philosophical 
 Problem which keeps so great a noise in the Schools, viz. 
 That the Sea is higher than the Earth, because, as I sailed 
 along these Coasts, I visibly found it true; for the Ground 
 here, which is all 'twixt Marsh and Moorish, lies not onlv 
 level but to the apparent Sight of the Eye far lower than 
 the Sea; which made the Duke of Alva say, That the 
 Inhabitants of this Countrv were the nearest Neio-hbours to 
 Hell (the greatest Abyss) of any People upon Earth, because 
 they dwell lowest: Most of that ground they tread, is 
 plucked, as it were, out of the very Jaws of Neptune, who 
 is afterwards penn'd out by high Dikes, which are preserved 
 with incredible Charge; insomuch that the chief Dike- 
 Grave here, is one of the greatest Officers of Trust in all the 
 Province, it being in his power to turn the whole Country 
 into a Salt-lough when he list, and so to put Hans to swim 
 for his Life ; which makes it to be one of the chiefest Parts 
 of his Litany, From the Sea, the Spaniard, and the Devil, 
 the Lord deliver me. I need not tell you who preserves him 
 from the last, but, from the Spaniards, his best Friend is the 
 Sea itself, notwithstanding that he fears him as an Enemy 
 another way : for the Sea stretching himself here into divers 
 Arms, and meeting with some of those fresh Rivers that 
 descend from Germany to disgorge themselves into him 
 through these Provinces, most of their Towns are thereby 
 incom passed with Water, which by Sluices they can con- 
 tract or dilate as they list. This makes their Towns 
 inaccessible, and out of the reach of Cannon; so that 
 JVater may be said to be one of their best Fences; other- 
 wise I believe they had not been able to have borne up so 
 ong against the gigantic Power of Spain. 
 This City of Amsterdam, though she be a great Staple of 
 
 News
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 27 
 
 News, yet I can impart none unto you at this time, I will 
 defer that till I come to the Hague. 
 
 I am lodged here at one Mons. de la CLiize, not far from 
 the Exchange, to make an introduction into the French: 
 because I believe I shall steer my course hence next to the 
 Country where that Language is spoken ; but I think I 
 shall sojourn here about two Months longer, therefore I 
 pray direct your Letters accordingly, or any other you have 
 for me. One of the prime Comforts of a Traveller, is to 
 receive Letters from his Friends ; thexj beget new Spirits in 
 him, and present joyful Objects to his Fancy, when his Mind 
 is clouded sometimes with Fogs of Melancholy : therefore I 
 pray make me as happy as often as your Conveniency will 
 serve with yours : you may send or deliver them to Captain 
 Bacon at the Glass-House, who will see them safely sent. 
 
 So, my dear Brother, I pray God bless us both, and send 
 us after this large Distance, a joyful Meeting. — Your loving 
 Brother, J. H. 
 
 Amsterdatn, i April 161 7. 
 
 VI. 
 
 To Dan. Caldwell, Esq. ; frovi Amsterdam. 
 
 My dear Dan, 
 
 I HAVE made your Friendship so necessary unto me for 
 the contentment of my Life, that Happiness itself 
 would be but a kind of Infelicity without it : It is as need- 
 ful to me, as Fire and Water, as the very Air I take in, and 
 breathe out ; it is to me not only iiecessiludo, but necessitas: 
 Therefore I pray let me enjoy it in that fair proportion, 
 that I desire to return unto you, by way of correspondence 
 and retaliation. Our first Li2;ue of Love, vou know, was 
 contracted among the Muses in Oxford; for no sooner 
 was I matriculated to her, but I was adopted to you ; I 
 became her Son, and your Friend, at one time : You know 
 I follow'd you then to London, where our Love receiv'd 
 confirmation in the Temple, and elsewhere. We are now 
 
 far
 
 28 Familiar Letters. Book I, 
 
 far asunder, for no less than a Sea severs us, and that no 
 narrow one, but the German Ocean : Distance sometimes 
 endears Friendship, and Absence su-eetnelh it ; it 7nuch 
 enhanceth the value of it, and makes it more precious. Let 
 this be verify 'd in us ; let that Love which formerly us'd to 
 be nourish'd by personal communication and the Lips, be 
 now fed by Letters ; let the Pen supply the office of the 
 Tongue : Letters have a strong operation, they have a 
 kind of Art like Embraces to mingle Souls, and make them 
 meet, tho' millions of Paces asunder ; by them we may con- 
 verse, and know how it fares with each other as it were by 
 intercourse of Spirits. Therefore among your civil Specu- 
 lations, I pray let your Thoughts sometimes reflect on me 
 (your absent self) and wrap those Thoughts in Paper, and 
 so send them me over ; I promise you they shall be very 
 welcome, I shall embrace and hug them with my best 
 Affections. 
 
 Commend me to Torn Bowi/er, and enjoin him the like : 
 I pray be no Niggard in distributing my Love plentifully 
 among our Friends at the Inns of Court: Let Jack Tol- 
 dervy have my kind Commends, with this Caveat, That 
 the Pot u'hich goes often to the Water, comes home cracked 
 at last : therefore I hope he will be careful how he makes 
 the Fleece in Cornhill his Thorow-fare too often. So may 
 my dear Daniel live happy and love his J. H. 
 
 Amsterdam, lo April 1619. 
 
 VII. 
 
 To my Father, from Amsterdam. 
 Sir, 
 
 I AM lately arriv'd in Holland in a good plight of Health, 
 and continue yet in this Town of Amsterdam, a Town 
 I believe, that there are few her Fellows, being from a mean 
 Fishing-Dorp, come in a short revolution of time, by a 
 monstrous increase of Commerce and Navigation, to be one 
 of the greatest Marts of Europe : 'Tis admirable to see what 
 various sorts of Buildings, and new Fabricks are now here 
 
 erecting
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 
 
 29 
 
 erecting everywhere ; not in Houses only, but in whole 
 Streets and Suburbs; so that 'tis thought she will in a short 
 time double her proportion in bigness. 
 
 I am lodg'd in a Frenchman's House, who is one of the 
 Deacons of our English Brownists Church here ; 'tis not 
 far from the Synagogue of Jews, who have free and open 
 exercise of their Relio-ion here : I believe in this Street 
 where I lodge, there be well near as many Religions as 
 there be Houses ; for one Neighbour knows not, nor cares 
 not much what Religion the other is of, so that the number 
 of Conventicles exceed the number of Churches here. 
 And let this country call itself as long as it will, the 
 United Provinces one way, I am persuaded in this point, 
 there's no Place so Disunited. 
 
 The Dog and Rag-Market is hard by, where every 
 Sunday Morning there is a kind of publick Mart for those 
 Commodities, notwithstanding their precise observance of 
 the Sabbath. 
 
 Upon Saturday last I happen'd to be in a Gentleman's 
 Company, who shew'd me as I walk'd along in the Streets, 
 a long-bearded old Jew of the Tribe of Aaron : when the 
 ot\\Qv Jews vc\Qt him, they fell down, and kiss'd his Foot: 
 This was that Rabbi, with whom our Countryman Broucrh- 
 ton had such a Dispute. 
 
 This City, notwithstanding her huge Trade, is far inferior 
 to London for populousness ; and this I infer out of their 
 weekly Bills of Mortality, which come not at most but 
 to fifty or thereabout ; whereas in London, the ordinary 
 number is betwixt two or three hundred, one Week with 
 another : Nor are there such wealthy Men in this Town 
 as in London; for by reason of the generality of Commerce, 
 the Banks, Adventures, the common Shares and Stocks 
 which most have in the Indian and other Companies, the 
 Wealth doth diffuse itself here in a strange kind of Equalitv, 
 not one of the Burghers being exceedinsi; rich, or exceedino' 
 poor: Insomuch, that I believe our four and twenty Alder- 
 men may buy a hundred of the richest Men in yhnsterdam. 
 
 It
 
 30 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 It is a rare thing to meet with a Beggar here, as rare as to 
 see a Horse, they say, upon the Streets of Venice ; and this 
 is held to be one of their best pieces of Government: for 
 besides the strictness of their Laws against Mendicants, they 
 have Hospitals of all sorts for young and old, both for the 
 relief of the one, and the employment of the other; so that 
 there is no Object here to exercise any Act of Charity upon. 
 They are here very neat, tho' not so magnificent in their 
 Buildings, especially in their Frontispieces and first Rooms ; 
 and for Cleanliness, they may serve for a Pattern to all 
 People. They will presently dress half a dozen Dishes of 
 Meat, without any noise or shew at all : for if one goes to 
 the Kitchen, there will be scarce appearance of anything 
 but a few cover'd Pots upon a Turf Fire, which is their 
 prime Fuel; after Dinner they fall a scouring of those Pots, 
 so that the outside will be as bright as the inside, and the 
 Kitchen suddenly so clean, as if no Meat had been dress'd 
 there a Month before. They have neither Well or Fountain, 
 or anv Spring of fresh Water, in or about all this City, 
 but their fresh Water is brought to them by Boats; besides, 
 they have Cisterns to receive the Rain-water, which they 
 much use : so that my Landress bringing my Linen to me 
 one day, and I commending the whiteness of them, she 
 answer'd, That they must needs be white and fair, for they 
 were washed in Aqua Ccelestis, meaning Sky-water. 
 
 'Twere cheap living here, were it not for the monstrous 
 Excises which are impos'd upon all sorts of Commodities, 
 both for Belly and Back ; for the Retailer pays the States 
 almost the one Moiety as much as he paid for the Com- 
 modity at first : nor doth any murmur at it, because it goes 
 not to any Favourite or private Purse, but to preserve them 
 from the Spaniard, their common Enemy, as they term 
 him ; so that the Saying is truly verify'd here. Defend me, 
 and spend me. With this Excise principally, they maintain 
 all their Armies by Sea and Land, with their Garisons at 
 home and abroad, both here and in the Indies ; and defray 
 all other publick Charges besides. 
 
 I
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 31 
 
 I shall hence shortly for France, and in my way take most 
 of the prime Towns of Holland and Zealand, especially 
 Leyden (the University) where I shall sojourn some days. 
 So humblv craving a continuance of your Blessing "and 
 Prayers, I rest — Your dutiful Son, J. H. 
 
 I Afay 161 9. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 To Dr. Tho. Prichard, ai Jesus College in Oxford ; 
 from Leyden. 
 Sir, 
 
 IT is the Royal Prerogative of Love, not to be confin'd to 
 that small local compass which circumscribes the Body, 
 but to make his Sallies and Progresses abroad, to find out 
 and enjoy his dcsir'd Object, under what Region soever : 
 Nor is it the vast Gulph of Neptune, or any distance of 
 Place, or difference of Clime, can bar him of this Privilege. 
 I never found the Experiment hereof so sensibly, nor felt 
 the Comfort of it so much, as since I shook hands with 
 EnglaJid: For tho' you be in Oxford, and I at Leyden; 
 albeit you be upon an Island, and I now upon the Conti- 
 nent, (tho' the lowest part of Europe) yet those swift 
 Postilions, my Thoughts, find you out daily, and bring you 
 unto me : I behold you often in my Chamber, and in my 
 Bed; you eat, you drink, you sit down, and walk with me; 
 and my Fantasy enjoys you often in my Sleep, when all my 
 Senses are lock'd up, and my Soul wanders up and down 
 the World, sometimes thro' pleasant Fields and Gardens, 
 sometimes thro' odd uncouth Places, over Mountains and 
 broken confus'd Buildings. As my love to you doth thus 
 exercise his power, so I desire yours to me may not be idle, 
 but rouz'd up sometimes to find me out, and summon me 
 to attend vou in /esiis Collesre. 
 
 I am now here in Leyden, the only Academy besides 
 Franeker of all the United Provinces: Here are Nations of 
 all sorts, but tlic Germans swarm more than any. To com- 
 pare
 
 o 
 
 2 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 pare their University to yours, were to cast New-In?i in 
 coLinterscale with Christ-Church College, or the Alms- 
 houses on Tower-hill to Suttons Hospital. Here are no 
 Colleges at all, God-wot, (but one for the Dutch) nor scarce 
 the face of an University, only there are general Schools 
 where the Sciences are read by several Professors, but all the 
 Students are Gppidanes: A small Time and less Learning 
 will suffice to make one a Graduate; nor are those For- 
 malities of Habits, and other Decencies here, as with you, 
 much less those Exhibitions and Supports for Scholars, with 
 other Encouragements; insomuch, that the Oxonians and 
 
 Cantabrigians Bona si sua norint, were they sensible 
 
 of their own Felicity, are the happiest ylcademians on 
 Earth: yet jipollo hath a strong influence here; and as 
 Cicero said of them of Athens, Athenis pingue caelum, tenuia 
 ingenia, The Athenians had a thick Air, and thin Wits; so 
 I may say of these L^igdnnensians, They have a gross Air, 
 hut thin subtle Wits, (some of them) witness also Heinsius, 
 Grotius, Arminius, and Baudius. Of the two last I was told 
 a Tale, that Arminius meeting Baudius one Day disguis'd 
 with Drink (wherewith he would be often) he told him, Tu 
 Baudi dedecoras nostram Academiam ; ^ tu Armini Jiostram 
 Religionem : Thou Baudius diso;racest our University, and 
 thou Arminius our Religion. The Heaven here has always 
 some Cloud in his Countenance, and from this grossness 
 and spissitude of Air proceeds the slow nature of the Inhabi- 
 tants ; yet this slowness is recompens'd with another Benefit, 
 it makes them patient and constant, as in all other Actions, 
 so in their Studies and Speculations, tho' they use 
 
 Crassos transire Dies, liicemque palustreni. 
 
 I pray impart my Love liberally amongst my Friends in 
 Oxford, and when you can make Truce with your more 
 serious Meditations, bestow a Thought drawn into a few 
 Lines upon — Yours, J. H. 
 
 Ley den, 3 ATay 16 19. 
 
 IX.
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 2>2) 
 
 IX. 
 
 To Mr. Richard Altham, at his Chamber in Grays-Inn. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 THO' you be now a good way out of my Reach, yet 
 you are not out of my Remembrance ; you are still 
 within the Horizon of my Love. Now the Horizon of 
 Love is large and spacious, it is as boundless as that of 
 the Imao;inati()n ; and where the ImaQ-ination ranijeth, the 
 Memory is still busy to usher in, and present the desired 
 Object it fixes upon : It is Love that sets them both on 
 work, and may be said to be the highest Sphere whence 
 they receive their motion. Thus you appear to me often 
 in these foreign Travels; and that you may believe me 
 the better, I send you these Lines as my Ambassadors (and 
 Ambassadors must not lye) to inform you accordingly, and 
 to salute you. 
 
 I desire to know how you like Plowden : I heard it often 
 said, that there's no Study requires Patience and Constancy 
 more than the Common Law ; for it is a good while before 
 one comes to any known Perfection in it, and consequently 
 to any gainful Practice. This (I think) made Jack Chaundler 
 throw away his Littleton, like him that, when he could not 
 catch the Hare, said, A pox upon her, she is but dry tough 
 Meat ', let her go : It is not so with you, for I know you are 
 of that disposition, that when you mind a thing, nothing 
 can frighten vou in making constant pursuit after it, till 
 you have obtain'd it : For if the JSlathematics, with their 
 crabbedness and intricacy, could not deter you, but that 
 you waded thro' the very midst of them, and arriv'd to so 
 excellent a Perfection ; I believe it is not in the power of 
 Ploivden to dastardize or cow your Spirits, until you have 
 overcome him, at leastwise have so much of him as will 
 serve your turn. I know you were always a quick and 
 pressing Disputant in Logic and Philosopliy ; which makes 
 me think your Genius is fit for Law, (as the Baron your 
 excellent Father was) for a good Logician makes always a 
 
 C good
 
 34 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 good Laivyer : And hereby one may give a strong con- 
 jecture of the aptness or inaptitude of one's capacity to that 
 Study and Profession ; and you know as well as I, that 
 Logicians, who went under the name of Sophisters, were 
 the first Laivyers that ever were. 
 
 I shall be upon uncertain removes hence^ until I come 
 to Rouen in France, and there I mean to cast Anchor a 
 good while ; I shall expect your Letters there with im- 
 patience. I pray present my Service to Sir James Altham, 
 and to my good Lady your Mother, with the rest to whom 
 it is due in Bishopsgate-street, and elsewhere: So I am — 
 Yours in the best degree of friendship, J. H. 
 
 Hague, 30 May 16 19. 
 
 To Sir James Crofts^yVom the Hague. 
 Sir, 
 
 THE same observance that a Father may challenge of 
 his Child, the like you may claim of me, in regard 
 of the extraordinary care you have been pleas'd to have 
 always, since I had the happiness to know you, of the 
 course of my Fortunes. 
 
 I am now newly come to the Hague, the Court of the 
 six (and almost seven) Confederated Provinces; the Council 
 of State, with the Prince of Orange, makes his firm Re- 
 sidence here, unless he be upon a March, and in motion 
 for some design abroad. This Prince (Maurice) was cast 
 in a Mould suitable to the temper of this People : He is 
 slow and full of wariness, and not without a mixture of 
 Fear; I do not mean a pusillanimous but politick Fear: he 
 is the most constant in the quotidian course and carriage 
 of his Life, of any that I have ever heard or read of; for 
 whosoever knows the customs of the Prince of Orange, may 
 tell what he is doing here every hour of the day, tho' he be 
 in Constantinople. In the Morning he awakes about six 
 in Summer, and seven in Winter; the first thing he does, 
 he sends one of his Grooms or Pages to see how the Wind 
 
 sits.
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 35 
 
 sits, and he wears or leaves off his Wastecoat accordingly; 
 then he is about an hour dressing himself, and about 
 a quarter of an hour in his Closet : Then comes in the 
 Secretary, and if he hath any private or public Letters to 
 write, or any other Dispatches to make, he does it before 
 he stirs from his Chamber; then comes he abroad, and 
 goes to his Stables, if it be no Sermon-day, to see some of 
 his Gentlemen or Pages (of whose Breeding he is very care- 
 ful) ride the great Horse : He is very accessible to any 
 that hath Business with him, and sheweth a winning kind 
 of Familiarity, for he will shake Hands with the meanest 
 Boor of the Country, and he seldom hears any Commander 
 or Gentleman with his Hat on : He dines punctually about 
 twelve, and his Table is free for all Comers, but none under 
 the degree of a Captain uses to sit down at it : After Dinner 
 he stays in the Room a good while, and then any one 
 may accost him, and tell his Tale; then he retires to his 
 Chamber, where he answers all Petitions that were deliver'd 
 him in the Morning ; and towards the Evening, if he goes 
 not to Council, which is seldom, he goes either to make 
 some Visits, or to take the Air abroad. And according 
 to this constant Method he passes his Life. 
 
 There are great stirs like to arise 'twixt the Bohemians 
 and the elected King the Emperor ; and they are come 
 already to that height, that they consult of deposing him, 
 and to chuse some Protestant Prince to be their King. 
 Some talk of the Duke of Saxony, others of the Palsgrave ; 
 I believe the States here would rather be for the latter, 
 in regard of conformity of Religion, the other being a 
 Lutheran. 
 
 I could not find in Amsterdam a large Ortelius in French 
 to send you ; but from Antwerp I will not fail to serve you. 
 
 So wishing you all happiness and health, and that the 
 Sun may make many progresses thro' the Zodiac, before 
 those comely gray Hairs of yours go to the Grave, I rest — 
 Your very humble Servant, J. H. 
 
 2, June 1619. 
 
 XL
 
 36 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 XI. 
 
 To Captain Francis Bacon, at the Glass-House in 
 
 Broad-street. 
 Sir, 
 
 MY last to you was from Amsterdam, since which time 
 I have travers'd the prime parts of the United 
 Provinces ; and I am now in Zealand, being newly come 
 to this Town of Middlehorongh, which is much crestfallen 
 since the Staple of English Cloth was remov'd hence, as is 
 Flishing also, her next Neighbour, since the departure of 
 the English Garison. A good intelligent Gentleman told 
 me the manner how Flishing and the By-ill, our two cau- 
 tionary Towns here, were redeemed, which were thus : The 
 nine hundred and odd Soldiers at Flishing, and the Ram- 
 makins hard bv, beins; manv Weeks without their Pav, 
 they borrow'd divers Sums of Money of the States of this 
 Town, who finding no Hopes of Supplies from England, 
 Advice was sent to the States- General at the Hague ; they 
 consulting with Sir Ralph JVimvond, our Ambassador (who 
 was a favourable Instrument to them in this Business, as 
 also in the Match with the Palsgrave) sent Instructions to 
 the Lord Caroon, to acquaint the Earl of Suffolk (then Lord 
 Treasurer) herewith ; and in case they could find no Satis- 
 faction there, to make his Address to the King himself, 
 which Carooji did. His Majesty being much incens'd that 
 his Subjects and Soldiers should starve for want of their 
 Pay in a foreign Country, sent for the Lord Treasurer, 
 who drawing his Majesty aside, and telling how empty his 
 Exchequer was, his Majesty told the Ambassador, that if 
 his Masters the States would pay the Money they ow'd 
 him upon those Towns, he would deliver them up. The 
 Ambassador returning the next dav, to know whether his 
 Majesty persisted in the same Resolution, in regard that 
 at his former Audience he perceiv'd him to be a little 
 transported ; his Majesty answer'd, that he knew the States 
 of Holland to be his good Friends and Confederates, both 
 
 in
 
 Sect. 1. Familiar Letters. 37 
 
 ill point of Religion and Policy; therefore he apprehended 
 not the least fear of any difference that should fall out 
 i)etween them, in contemplation whereof, if they desired 
 to have their Towns again, he would willingly surrender 
 them. Hereupon the States made up the Sum presently, 
 which came in convenient time, for it serv'd to defray the 
 expenceful Progress he made to Scotland the Summer fol- 
 lowing. When that Money was lent by Queen Elizabeth, 
 it was articled, that Interest should be paid upon Interest ; 
 and besides, that for every Gentleman who should lose his 
 Life in the States Service, they should make good five 
 Pounds to the Crown of Eii gland : All this his Majesty 
 remitted, and only took the Principal ; and this was done 
 in requital of that Princely Entertainment, and great 
 Presents, which my Lady Elizabeth had receiv'd in divers 
 of their Towns as she pass'd to Heidelberg. 
 
 The Bearer hereof is Sig. Antonio Miotti, who was 
 Master of a Crystal-Glass Furnace here a long time; and 
 as I have it by good Intelligence, he is one of the ablest 
 and most knowing Men for the guidance of a Glass- Work 
 in Christendom : therefore, according to my Instructions, 
 I send him over, and hope to have done Sir Robert good 
 Service thereby. So with my kind Respects unto you, and 
 my most humble Service where you know it is due, I rest — 
 Your affectionate Servant, J. H. 
 
 6 June 16 19. 
 
 XII. 
 
 To Sir James Crofts, yVow? Antwerp. 
 Sir, 
 
 I PRESUME that my last to you from the Hague came 
 safe to hand : I am now come to a more chearful 
 Country, and amongst a People somewhat more vigorous 
 and metal'd, being not so heavy as the Hollander, or homely 
 as they of Zealand. This goodly ancient City mcthinks 
 looks like a disconsolate Widow, or rather some super- 
 annuated Virgin, that hath lost her Lover, being almost 
 
 quite
 
 38 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 quite bereft of that flourishing Commerce wherewith before 
 the falling off the rest of the Provinces from Spain she 
 abounded, to the envy of all other Cities and Marts of 
 Europe. There are few Places this side the Alps better 
 built and so well streeted as this; and none at all so well 
 girt with Bastions and Ramparts, which in some places 
 are so spacious, that they usually take the Air in Coaches 
 upon the very Walls, which are beautified with divers rows 
 of Trees and pleasant Walks. The Citadel here, tho' it 
 be an addition to the stateliness and strength of the Town, 
 yet it serves as a shrewd Curb unto her; which makes her 
 chomp upon the Bit, and foam sometimes with anger, but 
 she cannot help it. The Tumults in Bohemia now grow 
 hotter and hotter; they write how the great Council at 
 Prague fell to such a hurliburly, that some of those Senators 
 who adher'd to the Emperor were thrown out at the Win- 
 dows, where some were maim'd, some broke their Necks. 
 I am shortly to bid farewell to the Netherlands, and to 
 bend my course for France, where I shall be most ready 
 to entertain any Commands of yours. So may all Health 
 and Happiness attend you, according to the Wishes of — 
 Your obliged Servant, J. H. 
 
 Sjtdy 1619. 
 
 XHI. 
 
 To Dr. Tho. Prichard, at Oxford, from Rouen. 
 
 I HAVE now taken firm footing in France, and tho' 
 France be one of the chiefest Climates of Compliment, 
 yet I can use none towards you, but tell you in plain down- 
 right Language, That in the List of those Friends I left 
 behind me in England, you are one of the prime Rank, 
 one whose Name I have mark'd with the whitest Stone : 
 If you have gain'd such a place amongst the choicest Friends 
 of mine, I hope you will put me somewhere amongst yours, 
 tho' I but fetch up the rear, being contented to be the 
 infirma species, the lowest in the Predicament of your 
 Friends. 
 
 I 
 
 i
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 39 
 
 I shall sojourn a good while in this City of Rouen ; there- 
 fore I pray make me happy with the comfort of your 
 Letters, which I shall expect with a longing impatience : I 
 pray send me ample advertisement of your welfare, and of 
 the rest of your Friends, as well upon the Banks of his as 
 amongst the British Mountains. I am but a Fresh-man 
 yet in France, therefore I can send you no News but that 
 all is here quiet, and 'Tis ?io ordinary News that the French 
 should he quiet: But some think this Calm will not last 
 long; for the Queen-Mother (late Regent) is discontented, 
 being restrain'd from coming to the Court, or to the City 
 of Paris; and the tragical death of her Favourite (and 
 Foster-Brother), the late Marquis of Ancre, lieth yet in her 
 Stomach undigested: She hath the Duke of E^per/zo/?., and 
 divers other potent Princes, that would be strongly at her 
 devotion (as 'tis thought) if she would stir. I pray present 
 my Service to Sir Eubule Theloal, and send me word with 
 what pace Jesus- College new Walls go up. I will borrow 
 my Conclusion to you at this time of my Countryman 
 
 Owen : 
 
 Uno non possum quantum te diligo versu 
 Dice7e, si satis est Distichon, ecce duos. 
 
 I cannot i}i One Verse my Love declare ; 
 Jf Two will serve the turn, lo here they are. 
 
 Whereunto I will add this Sirname Anagram — Yours 
 whole^ J. HowEL. 
 
 6 Aug. 16 1 9. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 To Dan, Caldwall, Fjsq. ; from Rouen. 
 
 MY dear T)an, when I came first to this Town, amongst 
 other Objects of Contentment which I found here, 
 whereof there are variety, a Letter of yours was brought to 
 me, and 'twas a She-Letter, for two more were enwomb'd 
 in her Body: she had an easy and quick deliverance of 
 that Twin; but, besides them, she was big and pregnant of 
 divers sweet Pledges, and lively Evidences of your own Love 
 
 towards
 
 40 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 towards me, whereof I am as fond as any Mother can be 
 of her Child. I shall endeavour to cherish and foster this 
 dear Love of vours with all the tenderness that can be, and 
 warm it at the fuel of my best Affections, to make it grow 
 everv day stronger and stronger, until it comes to the state 
 of Perfection ; because I know it is a true and real, it is no 
 spurious or adulterated Love. If I intend to be so indulgent 
 and careful of yours, I hope you will not suffer mine to 
 starve with you; my Love to you need not much tending, 
 for it is a lusty strong Love, and will not easily miscarry. 
 
 I pray, when you write next, to send me a dozen pair 
 of the best white Kid-skin Gloves the Royal-Exchange can 
 afford ; as also two pair of the purest white worsted Stock- 
 ings you can get of Women's size, together with half a dozen 
 of pair of Knives. I pray send your Man with them to 
 Facandary , the French Post upon Tower-hill, who will bring 
 them me safely. When I go to Paris, I shall send you 
 some curiosities equivalent to these. I have here inclos'd 
 return'd an answer to those two that came in yours ; I 
 pray see them safely deliver'd. My kind Respects to your 
 Brother Sergeant at Court, to all at Battersay or anywhere 
 else, where you think my Commendations may be placed. 
 
 No more at this time, but that I recommend you to the 
 never-feiling Providence of God, desiring you to go on in 
 nourishing still between us that Love, which, for my part, 
 
 JVo Traverses <?/" Chance, of T\m.e, or Fate, 
 Shall e'er exiingjtish till orir Lives last date : 
 But, as the Vine her lovely Elm doth wire. 
 Grasp both our Hearts, and flame with fresh desire. 
 — Yours, J. H. 
 
 13 Aug. 1619. 
 
 XV. 
 
 To my YaXhtVjfrom Rouen. 
 Sir, 
 
 YOURS of the third of jiugust came safe to hand in an 
 inclos'd from my Brother; you may make easy con- 
 jecture how welcome it was unto me, and to what a height 
 
 of
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 
 
 41 
 
 of comfort it rais'd my Spirits, in regard it was the first I 
 receiv'd from vou since I crossed the Seas: I huniblv thank 
 you for the Blessing you sent along with it. 
 
 T am now upon the fair Continent of France, one of 
 Nature's choicest Master-pieces ; one of Ceres^ chiefest Barns 
 for Corn ; one of Bacchus\s prime Wine-Cellars, and of Nep- 
 tune's best Salt-pits; a compleat self-sufficient Country, where 
 there is rather a Superfluity than Defect of anything, either 
 for Necessity or Pleasure, did the Policy of the Country cor- 
 respojid with the Bounty of Nature, in the equal distribution 
 of the Wealth amongst the Inhabitants ; for I think there is 
 not upon the Earth a richer Country, and poorer People. 
 'Tis true, England hath a good repute abroad for her Fer- 
 tility, yet be our Harvests never so kindly, and our Crops 
 never so plentiful, we have every year commonly some Grain 
 from thence, or from Dantzick, and other Places imported 
 by the Merchant: Besides, there be many more Heaths, 
 Commons, bleak barren Hills, and waste Grounds in 
 England, by many degrees, than I find here ; and I am 
 sorry our Country of Wales should give more Instances 
 hereof than any other Part. 
 
 This Province of Normandy, once an Appendix of the 
 Crown of England, tho' it want Wine, yet it yields the King 
 as much Demesnes as any one of the rest ; the Lower Norman 
 hath Cyder for his common Drink ; and I visibly observ'd 
 that they are more plump and replete in their Bodies, and of 
 a clearer Complexion, than those that drink altogether JVine. 
 Tn this great City of Rouen there be many Monuments of 
 the English Nation yet extant. In the outside of the highest 
 Steeple of the great Church, there is the Word GOD 
 engrav'd in huge golden Characters, every one almost as 
 long as myself, to make them the more visible. In this 
 Steeple hangs also the greatest Bell of Christendom, called 
 d'yhnboise, for it weighs near upon forty thous. nd pound 
 weight. There is also here St. Oen, the greatest Sanctuary 
 of the City, founded by one of our Compatriots, as the 
 Name imports: This Province is also subject to Wardships, 
 
 and
 
 42 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 and no other part of France besides ; but whether the Con- 
 qiieror translated that Law to Englandirom hence^ or whether 
 he sent it over from England hither, I cannot resolve you. 
 There is a marvellous quick Trade driven in this Town, 
 because of the great navigable River, Sequena (the Seine) 
 that runs hence to Paris, whereon there stands a strange 
 Bridge that ebbs and flows, that rises and falls with the 
 River, it being made of Boats, whereon Coach and Carts 
 may pass over as well as Men : Besides, this is the nearest 
 Mercantile City that stands betwixt Paris and the Sea. 
 
 My last to you was from the Low Countries, where I was 
 in motion to and fro above four Months; but I fear it mis- 
 carry'd, in regard you make no mention of it in yours. 
 
 I begin more and more to have a sense of the sweetness 
 and advantage of foreign Travel : I pray when you come 
 to London, to find a time to visit Sir Robert, and acknow- 
 ledge his great Favours to me, and desire a continuance 
 thereof, according as I shall endeavour to deserve them. 
 So with my due and daily Prayers for your Health, and a 
 speedy successful issue of all your Law-businesses, I humbly 
 crave your Blessing, and rest — Your dutiful Son, J. H. 
 
 7 SeJ>t 1619. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 To Capt. Francis Bacon, y?'o??z Paris. 
 Sir, 
 
 IRECEIV'D two of yours in Rouen, with the Bills of 
 Exchange there inclos'd; and according to your direc- 
 tions I sent you those things which you wrote for. 
 
 I am now newly come to Paris, this huge Magazine of 
 Men, the Epitome of this large populous Kingdom, and 
 Rendezvous of all Foreigners. The Structures here are in- 
 differently fair, tho' the Streets generally foul all the four 
 Seasons of the year ; which I impute first to the Position 
 of the City, being built upon an Isle, (the Isle of France, 
 made so by the branching and serpentine course of the 
 River of Seine) and having some of her Suburbs seated high, 
 
 the 
 
 I 
 i
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 43 
 
 the Filth runs down the Channel, and settles in manv 
 places within the body of the City, which lies upon a Flat; 
 as also for a world of Coaches, Carts, and Horses of all sorts 
 that go to and fro perpetually, so that sometimes one shall 
 meet with a stop half a mile long of those Coaches, Carts, 
 and Horses, that can move neither forward nor backward, 
 by reason of some sudden Encounter of others coming a 
 cross-way; so that often-times it will be an hour or two 
 before they can disintangle. In such a stop the Great Henry 
 was so fatally slain by Ravillac. Hence comes it to pass, 
 that this Town (for Paris is a Town, a City, and an 
 University) is always dirty, and 'tis such a Dirt, that by 
 perpetual Motion is beaten into such black unctuous Oil, 
 that where it sticks no Art can wash it off of some Colours ; 
 insomuch, that it may be no improper Comparison to say. 
 That an ill Name is like the Crot (the Dirt) of Paris, which 
 is indelible; besides, the Stain this Dirt leaves, it gives also 
 so strong a scent, that it may be smelt manv miles off, if the 
 Wind be in one's Face as he comes from the fresh Air of 
 the Countrv : this may be one cause why the Plaffue is 
 always in some corner or other of this vast Citv, which 
 may be call'd, as once Scyt/iia was, Fagina populorum, or (as 
 Mankind was call'd by a great Philosopher) a great Mole- 
 hill of Ants : yet I believe this City is not so populous as 
 she seems to be, for her Form being round (as the whole 
 Kingdom is) the Passengers wheel about, and meet oftener 
 than they used to do in the long continued Streets of London, 
 which makes London appear less populous than she is indeed; 
 so that London for length (tho' not for latitude) including 
 IVestminster, exceeds Paris, and hath in Michaelmas Term 
 more souls moving within her in all places. 'Tis under one 
 hundred years that Paris is become so sumptuous and strong 
 in Buildings; for her Houses were mean, until a Mine of 
 white Stone was discover'd hard by, which nms in a 
 continued Vein of Earth, and is digg'd out with ease, being 
 soft, and is between a white Clay and Chalk at first; but 
 being pulley'd up with the open Air, it receives a crusty 
 
 kind
 
 44 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 kind of hardness, and so becomes perfect Freestone; and 
 before it is sent up from the Pit, they can reduce it to any 
 form : Of this Stone, the Louvre, the King's Palace, is built, 
 which is a vast Fabrick, for the Gallery wants not much of 
 an Italian Mile in length, and will easily lodge 3000 Men ; 
 which, some told me, was the end for which the last King 
 made it so big, that lying at the Fag-end of this great 
 mutinous City, if she perchance should rise, the King might 
 pour out of the Louvre so many thousand Men unawares 
 into the heart of her. 
 
 I am lodg'd here hard by the Bastile, because it is furthest 
 off from those Places where the English resort ; for I would 
 go on to get a little Language as soon as I could. In my 
 next, I shall impart unto you what State-news France 
 affords ; in the interim, and always, I am — Your humble 
 Servant, J. H. 
 
 Paris ^ 30 March 1620. 
 
 XVIL 
 
 To Richard Altham, Lsq. ; from Paris. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 EVE is the Marrow of Friendship, and Letters are the 
 Elixir of Love ; they are the best Fuel of Affection, 
 and cast a sweeter Odour than anv Frankincense can do ; 
 such an Odour, such an Aromatic Perfume your late Letter 
 brought with it, proceeding from the fragrancy of those 
 dainty Flowers of Eloquence, which I found blossoming as 
 it were in every Line ; I mean those sweet Expressions of 
 Love and Wit, which in every Period were intermingled 
 with so much Art, that they seem'd to contend for Mastery 
 which was the strongest. I must confess, that you put me 
 to hard shifts to correspond with you in such exquisite 
 Strains and Raptures of Love, which were so lively, that I 
 must needs judge them to proceed from the Motions, from 
 the Diastole and Systole of a Heart truly affected ; certainly 
 your Heart did dictate every Syllable you writ, and guided 
 your Hand all along. Sir, give me leave to tell you, that 
 
 not 
 
 I
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 
 
 45 
 
 not a dram, nor a dose, nor a scruple of this precious laove 
 of yours is lost, but is safely treasur'd up in my Breast, and 
 answer'd in like proportion to the full : mine to you is as 
 cordial, it is passionate and perfect, as hove can be. 
 
 I thank you for the desire you have to know how it fares 
 with me abroad : I thank God I am perfectly well, and 
 well contented with this wandering course of life a while : 
 T never enjoy'd my health better, but I was like to endanger 
 it two Nights ago ; for being in some jovial Company 
 abroad, and coming late to our Lodging, we were suddenlv 
 surprized bv a Crew of Fitous of Nijiht-Rotrues, who drew 
 upon us; and as we had exchang'd some Blovvs, it pleas'd 
 God the Chevalier du Guet, an Officer who goes up and 
 down the Streets all Night a-Horseback to prevent Dis- 
 orders, pass'd by, and so rescu'd us; but Jack IVhite was 
 hurt, and I had two Thrusts in my Cloak. There's never 
 a Night passes but some Robbing or Murder is committed 
 in this Town ; so that it is not safe to o;o late anywhere, 
 specially about the Ponl-Neuf, the New-bridge, tho' Henry 
 the Great himself lies Centinel there in Arms, upon a huge 
 Florentine Horse, and sits bare to every one that passeth ; 
 an improper posture methinks to a King on Horseback. 
 Not long since, one of the Secretaries of State, (whereof there 
 are always four) havinir been invited to the Suburbs of 
 St. Germains to Supper, left order with one of his Lacqueys 
 to bring him his horse about nine ; it so happen'd that a 
 Mischance befell the Horse, which lam'd him as he went 
 a-watering to the Seine, insomuch that the Secretary was 
 put to beat the Hoof himself, and foot it home; but as he 
 was passing the Pont-Nenf with his Lacquey carrying a 
 Torch before him, he might o'erhear a Noise of clashing 
 of Swords, and fighting, and looking under the Torch, and 
 perceiving they were but two, he bad his Lacoucy go 
 on; they had not made many Paces, but two armed Men 
 with their Pistols cock'd and Swords drawn, made puffing 
 towards them, whereof one had a Paper in his Hand, which 
 he said he had casually took up in the Streets, and the 
 
 Diffi-'rcnce
 
 46 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 Difference between them was about that PajDer ; therefore 
 they desir'd the Secretary to read it, with a great deal of 
 compliment : The Secretary took out his Spectacles and fell 
 a reading of the said Paper, whereof the substance was, 
 That it should he known to all Men, that whosoever did pass 
 over that Bridge after Nine a Clock at Night in Winter, 
 and Ten in Summer, was to leave his Cloak behind him, and 
 in case of no Cloak, his Hat. The Secretary starting at 
 this, one of the Comrades told him. That he thought that 
 Paper concern'd him ; so they unmantled him of a new 
 Plush Cloak, and my Secretary was content to go home 
 quietly, and en cuerpo. This makes me think often of the 
 excellent noctural Government of our City of London, 
 where one may pass and repass securely all hours of the 
 Night, if he gives good words to the Watch. There is a 
 gentle calm of Peace now throughout all France, and the 
 King intends to make a Progress to all the Frontier Towns 
 of the Kingdom, to see how they are fortify'd. The 
 Favourite Luines strengtheneth himself more and more in 
 his Minionship; but he is much murmured at, in regard 
 the access of Suitors to him is so difficult : which made a 
 Lord of this Land say. That three of the hardest things in 
 the World were. To quadrate a Circle, to find out the Philo- 
 sopher's- stone, and to speak with the Duke 0/" Luines. 
 
 I have sent you by Vacandary the Post, the French Bever 
 and Tweeses you writ for : Bever-hats are grown dearer of 
 late, because the Jesuits have got the Monopoly of them 
 from the King. 
 
 Farewel, dear Child of Virtue, and Minion of the Muses 
 and continue to love — Yours, J. H. 
 
 Paris, I May 1620. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 To Sir James Crohs, from Paris. 
 Sir, 
 AM to set forward this Week for Spain, and if I can 
 find no Commodity of Imbarkation at St. Malo's, I 
 
 must 
 
 I
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 47 
 
 must be forc'd to journey it all the way by Land, and 
 clamber up the huge Pyreney-Hills ; but I could not bid 
 Paris adieu, till I had convey'd my true and constant Re- 
 spects to you by this Letter. I was yesterday to wait upon 
 Sir Herbert Crofts at St. Ger mains, where I met with a 
 French Gentleman, who, amongst other curiosities, which 
 he pleas'd to shew me up and down Paris, brought me to 
 that Place where the late King was slain, and to that where 
 the Marquis of Ancre was shot; and so made me a punctual 
 Relation of all the Circumstances of those two Acts, which in 
 regard they were rare, and I believe two of the notablest Acci- 
 dents that ever happen'd in France, I thought it worth the 
 labour to make you partaker of some part of his Discourse. 
 France, as all Christendom besides (for there was then a 
 Truce betwixt Spain and the Hollanders) was in a profound 
 Peace, and had continued so twenty years together, when 
 Flenry IV. fell upon some great martial Design, the Bottom 
 whereof is not known to this day ; and being rich (for he 
 had heap'd up in the Bastile a Mount of Gold that was as 
 high as a Lance) he levy'd a huge Army of 40,000 Men, 
 whence came the Song, The Ki?ig of France with forty 
 thousaiid Men ; and upon a sudden he put this Army in per- 
 fect Equipage, and some say he invited our Prince Henry 
 to come to him to be a sharer in his Exploits. But going 
 one Afternoon to the Bastile, to see his Treasure and 
 Ammunition, his Coach stopp'd suddenly, by reason of 
 some Colliers' and other Carts that were in that narrow 
 Street ; whereupon one Ravillac, a Lay- Jesuit, (who had a 
 whole twelvemonth watch'd an Opportunity to do the 
 Act) put his Foot boldly upon one of the Wheels of the 
 Coach, and with a long Knife stretch'd himself over their 
 Shoulders who were in the Boot of the Coach, and reach'd 
 the King at the end, and stabb'd him right in the left side 
 to the Heart, and pulling out the fatal Steel, he doubled 
 his Thrust; the King with a ruthful Voice cry'd out, Je 
 suis hless^ (I am hurt), and suddenly the Blood issued out 
 at his Mouth. The Regicide Villain was apprehended, and 
 
 command
 
 48 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 Command given that no Violence should be offer'd him, 
 that he might be reserved for the Law, and some exquisite 
 Torture. The Oueen grew half distracted hereupon, who 
 had been crown'd Oueen of France the Day before in great 
 Triumph ; but a few days after she had something to 
 countervail, if not to overmatch her Sorrow : for according 
 to St. Lewis's Law, she was made Queen-Regent of France, 
 during the King's Minority, who was then but about ten 
 years of Age. Many Consultations were held how to 
 punish Ravillac, and there were some Italian Physicians that 
 undertook to prescribe a Torment, tliat should last a con- 
 stant Torment for three days; but he scap'd only with this, 
 His Bodv was pull'd between four Horses, that one might 
 hear his Bones crack, and after the Dislocation they were 
 set again ; and so he was carry'd in a Cart standing half- 
 naked, with a Torch in that Hand which had committed 
 the Murder: And in the Place where the Act was done, 
 it was cut off, and a Gauntlet of hot Oil was clap'd upon 
 the Stump, to staunch the Blood; whereat he gave a dole- 
 ful Shriek. Then was he brought upon a Stage, where a 
 new pair of Boots was provided for him, half filled with 
 boiling Oil ; then his Body was pincer'd, and hot Oil 
 pour'd into the Holes. In all the extremity of this Torture, 
 he scarce shew'd any sense of Pain : but when the Gauntlet 
 was clap'd upon his Arm to staunch the Flux at that 
 time of reeking Blood, he gave a Shriek only. He bore 
 up against all these Torments about three hours before he 
 died: All the Confession that could be drawn from him, 
 was. That he thought to have done God good Service, to take 
 away that King which would have emhroiVd all Christendom 
 in an endless IVar. 
 
 A fatal thing it was, that France should have three of her 
 Kings come to such violent Deaths, in so short a revolution 
 of time. Henry H. running at Tilt with M. Montgomery, 
 was kill'd by a Splinter of a Lance that pierc'd his Eye: 
 Henry HI., not long after, was kill'd by a young Friar, who, 
 in lieu of a Letter which he pretended to have for him, 
 
 pull'd
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 49 
 
 pull'd out of his long Sleeve a Knife, and thrust him into 
 the bottom of the Belly, as he was coming from his Close- 
 stool, and so dispatch'd him ; but that Regicide was hack'd 
 to pieces in the Place by the Nobles. The same Destiny 
 attended the King by Ravillac, which is become now a 
 common Name of Reproach and Infamy in France. 
 
 Never was King so much lamented as this; there are a 
 world not only of his Pictures, but Statues up and down 
 France; and there's scarce a Market-Town but hath him 
 erected in the Market-place, or o'er some Gate, not upon 
 Sign-posts, as our Henry VIII.; and by a publick Act of 
 Parliament, which was confirm'd in the Consistory at 
 Rome, he was entitled Henry the Great, and so plac'd in 
 the l^emple of Immortality. A notable Prince he was, and 
 of an admirable Temper of Body and Mind; he had a 
 graceful facetious way to gain both Love and Awe : He 
 would be never transported beyond himself with Choler, 
 but he would pass by anything with some Repartee, some 
 witty Strain, wherein he was excellent. I will instance in 
 a few which were told me from a good Hand. One Day 
 he was charg'd by the Duke of Bouillon to have chang'd 
 his Religion : He answer'd. No, Cousin, I have chang'd 
 no Religion, hut an Opinion: And the Cardinal of Perron 
 being by, he enjoin'd him to write a Treatise for his Vindi- 
 cation ; the Cardinal was long about the Work, and when 
 the King ask'd from time to time where his Book was, he 
 would still answer him. That he expected some Manuscripts 
 from Rome, before he could finish it. It happen'd, that one 
 Day the King took the Cardinal along with him to look on 
 his Workmen and New-buildings at the Louvre ; and pass- 
 ing by one Corner which had been a long time begun, but 
 left unfinish'd, the King ask'd the chief Mason why that 
 Corner was not all this while perfected ? Sir, it is because 
 I want some choice Stones. No, no, said the King, looking 
 upon the Cardinal, It is because thou wantest Manuscripts 
 from Rome. Another time, the old Duke of Main, who 
 was used to play the Droll with him, coming softly into his 
 
 D Bedchamber,
 
 50 Familiar Letters. Book /. 
 
 Bedchamber, and thrusting in his bald Head, and long 
 Neck, in a Posture to make the King merry, it happen'd 
 the King was coming from doing his Ease; and spying him, 
 he took the round Cover of the Close-stool, and clap'd it on 
 his bald Sconce, saying, j4h, Cousin, you thought ojice to 
 have taken the Crown off of my Head, and wear it on your 
 own; hut this of my Tail shall now serve your Turn. 
 Another time, when at the Siege of Amiens, he having sent 
 for the Count of Soissons (who had 100,000 Franks a Year 
 Pension from the Crown) to assist him in those Wars, and 
 that the Count excus'd himself, by reason of his Years and 
 Poverty, having exhausted himself in the former Wars, and 
 all that he could do now was to pray for his Majesty, which 
 he would do heartily : This Answer being brought to the 
 King, he reply'd, IVill my Cousin, the Count of Soissons, do 
 nothing else hut pray for me? Tell him that Prayer without 
 Fasting is not available; therefore I will make my Cousin 
 fast also from his Pension 0/100,000 per An. 
 
 He was once troubled with a Fit of the Gout ; and the 
 Spanish Ambassador coming then to visit him, and saying 
 he was sorry to see his Majesty so lame ; he answer'd. As 
 lame as I am, if there were Occasion, your Master the King 
 of Spain should no sooner have his Foot in the Stirrup, hut 
 he should, find me on Horseback. 
 
 By these few you may guess at the Genius of this spright- 
 ful Prince : I could make many more Instances, but then I 
 should exceed the bounds of a Letter. When I am in 
 Spain, you shall hear further from me ; and if you can 
 think on anything wherein I may serve you, believe it. 
 Sir, that any Employment from you shall be welcome to — 
 Your much obliged Servant, J. H. 
 
 Jean's, 12 3fay, 1620. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 To my Brother, Dr. Howell. 
 Brother, 
 
 BEING to-morrow to part with Paris, and begin my 
 Journey for Spain, I thought it not amiss to send 
 
 you
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 
 
 51 
 
 you this, in regard I know not when I shall have Oppor- 
 tunity to write to you again. 
 
 This Kingdom, since the young King hath taken the 
 Sceptre into his own hands, doth flourish very much with 
 Quietness and Commerce; nor is there any Motion, or the 
 least tintamar of Trouble in any part of the Country, which 
 is rare in France. 'Tis true, the Queen-Mother is discon- 
 tented since she left her Regency, being confin'd ; and I 
 know not what it may come to in time, for she hath a 
 strong Party; and the murdering of her M.a.rquis oi yJncre 
 will yet bleed, as some fear. 
 
 I was lately in Society of a Gentleman, who was a 
 Spectator of that Tragedy; and he was pleas'd to relate to 
 me the Particulars of it, which was thus : When Henry IV. 
 was slain, the Oueen-Dowager took the Reins of the 
 Government into her hands during the young King's Mi- 
 nority ; and amongst others whom she advanc'd, Signior 
 Conchino, a Florentine, and her Foster-Brother, was one : 
 Her Countenance came to shine so strongly upon him, 
 that he became her only Confident and Favourite, insomuch 
 that she made him Marquis of Ancre, one of the twelve 
 Mareschals of France, Governor of Normamhj ; and con- 
 ferr'd divers other Honours and Offices of Trust upon him ; 
 and who but he? The Princes of France could not endure 
 the domineering of a Stranger ; therefore they leagu'd 
 together to suppress him by Arms : The Queen-Regent 
 having Intelligence hereof, surpriz'd the Prince of Condt, 
 and clap'd him up in the Baslile ; the Duke of Main fled 
 hereupon to Peromie in Picardy, and other great Men put 
 themselves in an armed Posture to stand upon their guard. 
 The young King being told, that the Marquis of Ancre was 
 the ground of this Discontentment, commanded M. de 
 Vilry, Captain of his Guards, to arrest him, and in case 
 of Resistance to kill him: This Business was carry'd very 
 closely till the next Morning, that the said Marquis was 
 coming to the Louvre with a ruflling Train of Gallants 
 after him ; and passing over the Drawbridge at the Court- 
 Gate.
 
 52 Familiar Letters. Book I 
 
 Gate, V'ltry stood there with the King's Guard about him ; 
 and as the Marquis enter'd, he told him, that he had a 
 Commission from the King to apprehend him ; therefore 
 he demanded his Sword : The Marquis hereupon put his 
 Hand upon his Sword, some thought to yield it up, others 
 to make Opposition -, in the meantime V'ltry discharg'd a 
 Pistol at him, and so dispatch'd him. The King being 
 above in his Gallery, ask'd what Noise that was below. 
 One smilingly answer'd. Nothing, Sir, but that the Mareschal 
 of Ancre is slain. Who slew him ? The Captain of your 
 Guard. Why.-* Because he would have drawn his Sword 
 at your Majesty's Royal Commission : Then the King 
 reply 'd, Vitry hatli done well, and I will maintain the Act. 
 Presently the Queen-Mother had all her Guard taken from 
 her, except six Men and sixteen Women, and so she was 
 banish'd Paris, and commanded to retire to Blois : Ancre s 
 Body was bury'd that Night in a Churchyard by the 
 Court ; but the next Morning the Lacqueys and Pages (who 
 are mole unhappy here than the Apprentices in London) 
 broke open his Grave, tore his Coffin to pieces, rip'd the 
 Winding-sheet, and tied his Body to an Ass's Tail, and so 
 dragg'd him up and down the Gutters of Paris, which are 
 none of the sweetest ; they then slic'd off his Ears, and nail'd 
 them upon the Gates of the City ; they cut off his Genitories 
 (and they say he was hung like an Ass) and sent them 
 for a Present to the Duke of Main; the rest of his Body 
 they carry'd to the New-bridge, and hung him his Heels 
 upwards and Head downwards upon a new Gibbet, that 
 had been set up a little before, to punish them who should 
 speak ill of the present Government ; and it was his Chance 
 to have the Maidenhead of it himself. His Wife was here- 
 upon apprehended, imprison'd, and beheaded for a Witch 
 some few days after, upon a Surmise that she had enchanted 
 the Queen to dote so upon her Husband; and they say the 
 young King's Picture was found in her Closet in Virgin- 
 wax, with one Leg melted away. A little after, a Process 
 was form'd against the Marquis (her Husband) and so he 
 
 was
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 5 
 
 was condemnd after death. This was a right Act of a 
 French popular Fury, which like an angry Torrent is irre- 
 sistible ; nor can any Banks, Boundaries, or Dikes, stop 
 the impetuous Rage of it. How the young King will 
 prosper after so high and an unexampled Act of Violence, 
 by beginning his Reign, and embruing the Walls of his 
 own Court with Blood in that manner, there are divers 
 Censures. 
 
 When I am settled in Spain, you shall hear from me; in 
 the interim, I pray let your Prayers accompany me in this 
 long Journey ; and when you write to Wales, I pray 
 acquaint our Friends with my Welfare. So I pray God 
 bless us both, and send us a happy Interview. — Your loving 
 Brother, J. H, 
 
 Paris, 8 Sept. 1620. 
 
 XX. 
 
 To my Cousin, W. Vaughan, Esq.; from St. Malo. 
 Cousin, 
 
 I AM now in French Britany. I went back from Paris to 
 Rouen, and so thro' all Low Normandy , to a little Port 
 call'd Granville, where I embark'd for this Town of St. 
 Malo; but I did purge so violently at Sea, that it put me 
 into a burning Fever for some few days, whereof (I thank 
 God) I am newly recover'd ; and finding no Opportunity of 
 shipping here, I must be forc'd to turn my intended Sea- 
 Voyage to a long Land-Journey. 
 
 Since I came to this Province, I was curious to converse 
 with some of the Lower Britons, who speak no other Lan- 
 guage but our Welsh, for their radical Words are no other; 
 but 'tis no wonder, for they were a Colony of Welsh at first, 
 as the Name of this Province doth imply; as also the 
 Latin Name Armorica, which, tho' it pass for Latin, yet it 
 is pure Welsh, and signifies a Country bordering upon the 
 Sea; as that Arch-Heretick was call'd Pelagius, a Pelago, 
 his Name being Morgan. I was a little curious to peruse 
 
 the
 
 54 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 the Annals of this Province; and during the time that it 
 was a Kingdom, there were four Kings of the Name Hoell, 
 whereof one was call'd Hoell the Great. 
 
 This Town of St. Malo hath one Rarity in it ; for there 
 is here a perpetual Garison of English, but they are of 
 English Dogs, which are let out in the Night to guard 
 the Ships, and eat the Carrens up and down the Streets, 
 and so they are shut up again in the Morning. 
 
 It will be now a good while before I shall have Conveni- 
 ency to send to you, or receive from you ; howsoever, let 
 me retain still some little room in your Memory, and some- 
 times in your Meditations, while I carry you about me per- 
 petually, not only in my Head, but in Heart, and make 
 you travel all along with me thus from Town to Country, 
 from Hill to Dale, from Sea to Land, up and down the 
 World: And you must be contented to be subject to these 
 uncertain Removes and Perambulations, until it shall please 
 God to fix me again in England: nor need you, while you 
 are thus my Concomitant thro' new Places every Day, to 
 fear any ill Usage, as long as I fare well. — Yours ')(pr)aei kol 
 KTrjaet, J- H. 
 
 St. Malo, 25 Sept. 1620. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 To Sir John North, Knight ; from Rochel. 
 Sir, 
 
 I AM newly come to Rochel, nor am I sorry that I went 
 somewhat out of my way to see this Town, not (to 
 tell you true) out of any extraordinary love I bear to the 
 People ; for I do not find them so gentle and debonair to 
 Strangers, nor so hospitable as the rest of France; but I 
 excuse them for it, in regard it is commonly so with all 
 Republic and Hans Towns, whereof this smells very rank : 
 nor indeed hath any Englishman much cause to love this 
 Town, in regard, in Ages pass'd, she play'd the most trea- 
 cherous part with England of any other Place in France. 
 
 For 
 
 «■
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 55 
 
 For the Story tells us, That this Town having by a per- 
 fidious Stratagem (by forging a Counterfeit Commission 
 from 'England) induc'd the English Governor to make a 
 general Muster of all his Forces out of the Town ; this 
 beinjr one Day done, thev shut their Gates against him, and 
 made him go shake his Ears, and to shift for his Lodging, 
 and so render'd themselves to the French King, who sent them 
 a Blank to write their own Conditions. I think they have 
 the strongest Ramparts by Sea of any Place of Christendom ; 
 nor have I seen the like in any Town of Holland, whose 
 Safety depends upon Water. I am bound To-morrow for 
 Bourdeaux, then thro' Gascogny to Tholouse, so thro' 
 Lnnguedoc o'er the Hills to Spain : I go in the best Season 
 of the Year, for I make an jlutinnnal Journey of it. I pray 
 let your Prayers accompany me all along; they are the best 
 Offices of Love, and Fruits of Friendship : So God prosper 
 you at home, as me abroad, and send us in good time a 
 joyful Conjuncture. — Yours, J. H. 
 
 Rochely 8 Odob. 1620. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 To Mr. Tho. Porter, after Capt. Porter; from Barcelona. 
 
 MY dear Tom, I had no sooner set foot upon this Soil, 
 and breath'd Spanish Air, but my Thoughts pre- 
 sently reflected upon you: Of all my Friends in England, 
 you were the first I met here; you were the prime Object 
 of my Speculation ; methought the very Winds in gentle 
 Whispers did breathe out your Name, and blow it on me ; 
 you seem'd to reverberate upon me with the Beams of the 
 Sun, which you know hath such a powerful influence, and 
 indeed too great a Stroke in this Country. And all this 
 you must ascribe to the Operations of Love, which hath such 
 a strong virtual Force, that when it fastneth upon a pleas- 
 ing Subject, its sets the Imagination in a strange Fit of 
 working, it employs all the Faculties of the Soul, so that 
 
 not
 
 56 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 not one Cell in the Brain is idle; it busieth the whole inward 
 Man, it affects the Heart, amuseth the Understanding; it 
 quickneth the Fancy, and leads the Will as it were by a 
 silken Thread to co-operate with 'em all : I have felt these 
 Motions often in me, especially at this time, that my 
 Memory fix'd upon you. But the reason that I fell first 
 upon you in Spain was, that I remember'd I had heard you 
 often discoursing how you have receiv'd part of your Educa- 
 tion here, which brought you to speak the Language so 
 exactly well. I think often of the Relations 1 have heard 
 you make of this Country, and the good Instruction you 
 pleas'd to give me. 
 
 I am now in Barcelona, but the next Week I intend to 
 go on thro' your Town of Falencia to AUcaiit, and thence 
 you shall be sure to hear from me farther, for I make 
 account to winter there. The Duke of Ossuna pass'd by 
 here lately, and having got leave of Grace to release some 
 Slaves, he went aboard the Cape Gallies, and passing thro' 
 the C/wrma of Slaves, he ask'd divers of them what their 
 Offences were: Every one excus'd himself; one saying, That 
 he was put in out of Malice, another by Bribery of the 
 Judge, but all of them unjustly: Amongst the rest there 
 was one little sturdy black Man, and the Duke asking him 
 what he was in for, Sir, said he, I cannot deny but I am justly 
 put hi here, for I ivanted Money, and so took a Purse hard by 
 Tarragona, to keep me from starvimg. The Duke, with a 
 little Staff he had in his hand, gave him two or three blows 
 upon the Shoulders, saying, Yon Rogue, ivhat do you do 
 amongst so many honest innoce?it Men ? Get you gone out 0/ 
 their Company : So he was freed, and the rest remain'd still 
 in statu quo priiis, to tug at the Oar. 
 
 I pray commend me to Signior Camillo, and Mazalao, 
 with the rest of the Venetians with you ; and when you 
 go aboard the Ship behind the Exchange, think upon — 
 Yours, J. H. 
 
 Barcelona, 10 Nov. 1620. 
 
 XXIII.
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 57 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 To Sir James Crofts. 
 Sir, 
 
 I AM now a good way within the Body of Spain, at 
 Barcelona, a proud wealthy Citv, situated upon the 
 Mediterranean, and is the Metropolis of the Kingdom 
 of Catalunia, call'd of old Hispania Tarraconensis. I had 
 much ado to reach hither; for besides the monstrous abrupt- 
 ness of the way, these Parts of the Pyrenees that border 
 upon the MediterraJiean are never without Thieves by Land 
 (called Baiidoleros) and Pirates on the Sea-side, which lie 
 sculking in the hollows of the Rocks, and often surprise 
 Passengers unawares, and carry them Slaves to Barhary on 
 the other side. The safest way to pass, is to take a Bordon 
 in the Habit of a Pilgrim, whereof there are abundance 
 that perform their Vows this way to the Lady of Monserrat, 
 one of the prime Places of Pilgrimage in Christendom : It 
 is a stupendous Monastery, built on the top of a huge 
 Land-Rock, whither it is impossible to go up, or come down 
 by a direct way, but a Path is cut out full of Windings and 
 Turnin2;s ; and on the Crown of this Craiicrv-hill there is a 
 Flat, upon which the Monastery and Pilgrimage place is 
 founded, where there is a Picture of the Virgin Mary Sun- 
 burnt, and tann'd, it seems when she went to Egypt ; and 
 to this Picture, a marvellous confluence of People, from all 
 Parts of Europe, resort. 
 
 As I pass'd between some of the Pyreney- Hills, I per- 
 ceiv'd the poor Lahradors, some of the Countrv People, live 
 no better than brute Animals, in point of Food ; for their 
 ordinary Commons is Grass and Water, onlv they have 
 always within their Houses a Bottle of Vinegar, and another 
 of Oil; and when Dinner or Supper-time comes, they go 
 abroad and gather their Herds, and so cast Vinegar and 
 Oil upon them, and will pass thus two or three Days with- 
 out Bread or Wine ; yet they are strong lusty Men, and 
 will stand stiflly under a Musket. 
 
 There
 
 58 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 There is a Tradition, that there were divers Mines of 
 Gold in Ages past amongst those Mountains : And the 
 Shepherds that kept Goats then, having made a small Fire 
 of Rosemary-stubs, with other combustible Stuif to warm 
 themselves, this Fire graz'd along, and grew so outrageous, 
 that it consum'd the very Entrails of the Earth, and melted 
 those Mines ; which, growing fluid by Liquefaction, ran 
 down into the small Rivulets that were in the Vallies, and 
 so carry'd all into the Sea, that monstrous Gulph which swal- 
 loweth all, but seldom disfror<jeth anvthino;: and in these 
 Brooks to this Day some small Grains of Gold are found. 
 
 The Vicerov of this Countrv hath taken much pains to 
 clear these Hills of Robbers, and there hath been a notable 
 Havock made of them this Year ; for in divers Woods, as I 
 passed, I might spy some Trees laden with dead Carcasses, 
 a better Fruit far than Diogenes s Tree bore, whereon a 
 Woman had hang'd herself; which the Cynic cry'd out to 
 be the best bearing Tree that ever he saw. 
 
 In this Place there lives neither English Merchant or 
 Factor; which I wonder at, considering that it is a mari- 
 time Town, and one of the greatest in Spain, her chiefest 
 Arsenal for Gallies, and the Scale by wliich she conveys 
 her Monies to Italy : But I believe the Reason is, that 
 there is no commodious Port here for Ships of any Burden, 
 but a large Bay. I will enlarge mvself no farther at this 
 time, but leave you to the Guard and Guidance of God, 
 whose sweet Hand of Protection hath brought me thro' 
 so many uncouth Places and Difficulties to this Citv. So, 
 hoping to meet your Letters in ALicant, where I shall anchor 
 a good while, I rest — Yours to dispose of, J. H. 
 
 Barcelona, 24 Nov. 1620. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 To Dr. Fr. Mansel,/roOT Valentia. 
 Sir, 
 
 THO' it be the same glorious Sun that sliines upon vou 
 in England which illuminates also this Part of the 
 
 Hemisphere ;
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 59 
 
 Hemisphere ; tho' it be the Sun that ripeneth your Pippins, 
 and our Pomgranets; your Hops, and our Vineyards here; 
 yet he dispenseth his Heat in different Degrees of Strength: 
 those Rays that do but warm you in England, do half roast 
 us here; those Beams that irradiate only, and gild your 
 Honeysuckle Fields, do scorch and parch this chinky gaping 
 Soil, and so put too many Wrinkles upon the Face of our 
 common Mother the Earth. O blessed Clime, O happy 
 England, where there is such a rare temperature of Heat 
 and Cold, and all the rest of elementary Qualities, that one 
 may pass (and suffer little) all the year long, without either 
 Shade in Summer, or Fire in Winter. 
 
 I am now in Valentia, one of the noblest Cities in all 
 Spain, situate in a large Vega or Valley, above sixty miles 
 compass : here are the strongest Silks, the sweetest Wines, 
 the excellentest Almonds, the best Oils, and beautiful'st 
 Females of all Spain, for the prime Courtesans in Madrid 
 and elsewhere are had hence. The very brute Animals make 
 themselves Beds of Rosemary, and other fragrant Flowers 
 hereabouts ; and when one is at Sea, if the Wind blow from 
 the Shore, he may smell this Soil before he come in sight 
 of it, many Leagues off, by the strong odoriferous Scent 
 it casts. As it is the most pleasant, so it is also the 
 temperat'st Clime of all Spain; and they commonly call 
 it the second Italy, which made the Moors, whereof many 
 thousands were disterr'd and banish'd hence to Barbary, to 
 think that Paradise was in that part of the Heavens which 
 hung over this City. Some twelve miles off is old Sagunto, 
 call'd now Morviedre, thro' which I pass'd, and saw many 
 Monuments of Roman Antiquities there; amongst others, 
 there is the Temple dedicated to Venus, when the Snake 
 came about her Neck, a little before Hanihal came thither. 
 No more now, but that I heartily wish you were here with 
 me, and I believe you would not desire to be a good while 
 in England. So I am — Yours, J. H. 
 
 Valentia, i March 1620. 
 
 XXV.
 
 6o Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 To Christopher Jones, ILsq., at Gray's-Inn. 
 
 I AM now (thanks be to God) come to Micant, the chief 
 RendezvoLiz I aim'd at in Spain ; for I am to send 
 hence a Commodity call'd Barillia to Sir Robert Mansel, 
 for making of Crystal Glass; and I have treated with 
 Signior Andriotii, a Genoa Merchant, for a good round 
 jiarcel of it, to the value of 2000L by Letters of Credit from 
 Master Richant ; and upon his Credit, I might have taken 
 many thousand Pounds more, he is so well known in the 
 Kingdom of FaleJitia. This Barillia is a strange kind of 
 Vegetable, and it grows nowhere upon the Surface of the 
 Earth in that Perfection as here : The Venetians have it 
 hence, and it is a Commodity whereby this Maritime Town 
 doth partly subsist; for it is an Ingredient that goes to the 
 making of the best Castile Soap. It grows thus, 'Tis a 
 round thick earthy Shrub that bears Berries like Barberries, 
 betwixt blue and green; it lies close to the Ground, and 
 when it is ripe they dig it up by the Roots, and put it 
 together in Cocks, where they leave it to dry many days 
 like Hay; then they make a Pit of a Fathom deep in the 
 Earth, and with an Instrument like one of our Prongs, they 
 take the Tuffs and put fire to them, and when the Flame 
 comes to the Berries, they melt and dissolve into an Azure 
 Liquor, and fall down into the Pit till it be full; then they 
 dam it up, and some days after they open it, and find this 
 Barillia Juice turn'd to a blue Stone, so hard, that it is 
 scarce malleable; it is sold at one hundred Crowns a Tun, 
 but I had it for less. There is also a spurious Flower call'd 
 Gazull, that grows here, but the Glass that's made of that 
 is not so resplendent and clear. I have been here now 
 these three Months, and most of my Food hath been Grapes 
 and Bread, with other Roots, which have made me so fat, 
 that I think, if you saw me, you would hardly know me, 
 such Nutriture this deep sanguine AUcant Grape gives. 
 
 I 
 
 1
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 6i 
 
 I have not received a Syllable from you since I was in 
 Antwerp, which transforms me to wonder, and engenders 
 odd thoughts of Jealousy in me, that as my Body grows 
 fatter, your Love grows lanker towards me. I pray take 
 off these Scruples, and let me hear from you, else it will 
 make a Schism in Friendship, which I hold to be a very 
 holy League, and no less than a Piacle to infringe it; in 
 which Opinion I rest — Your constant Friend, J. H. 
 
 Alicant, 27 Alar. 1621. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 To Sir John North, Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 HAVING endur'd the Brunt of a whole Summer in 
 Spain, and try'd the Temper of all the other three 
 Seasons of the Year, up and down the Kingdoms of Cata- 
 lonia, Falentia, and Marcia, with some parts of Aragon, I 
 am now to direct my course for Italij : I hop'd to have 
 embark'd at Carthagena, the best Port upon the Mediter- 
 ranean; for what Ships and Gallies get in thither, are shut 
 up as it were in a Box from the violence and injury of 
 all Weathers ; which made Andrea Doria, being ask'd by 
 Philip II. which were his best Harbours? he answer'd, 
 /ime, Juhj, and Carthagena ; meaning that any Port is 
 good in those two Months, but Carthagena was good any 
 time of the year. There was a most ruthful Accident had 
 happen'd there a little before I came: For whereas five 
 Ships had gone thence laden with Soldiers for Naples, 
 amongst whom there was the Flower of the Gentry of the 
 Kingdom of Mercia; those Ships had hardly sail'd three 
 Leagues, but they met with sixteen Sail oi Algier Men of 
 War, who had lav skulkino; in the Creeks thereabout : and 
 they had the Winds and all thin2;s else so favourable, that 
 of those five Ships they took one, sunk another, and burnt 
 a third, and two fled back safe to Harbour. The Report 
 hereof being bruited up and down the Country, the Gentle- 
 women
 
 62 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 women caine from the Country to have Tidings^ some of 
 their Children, others of their Brothers and Kindred, and 
 went tearing their Hair, and houHng up and down the 
 Streets in a most piteous Manner, The Admiral of those 
 five Ships, as I heard afterwards, was sent for to Madrid, 
 and hang'd at the Court-Gate, because he did not fight. 
 Had I come time enough to have taken the Opportunity, 
 I might have been made either Food for Haddocks, or 
 turn'd to Cinders, or have been by this time a Slave in the 
 Bannier at yilg'ier, or tugging at an Oar ; but I hope God 
 hath reserved me for a better Destinv : So I came back 
 to AUcant, where I lighted upon a lusty Dutchvian, who 
 hath carried me safe hither, but we were near upon forty 
 Days in Voyage : we pass'd by Majorca and Minorca, the 
 Baleares Insulce, by some Ports of Barhary, by Sardinia, 
 Corsica, and all the Islands of the Mediterranean Sea. 
 We were at the Mouth of Tyher, and thence fetch'd our 
 Course for Sicily; we pass'd by those sulphureous fiery 
 Islands, Mongihel and Stromholo ; and about the Dawn of 
 the Day we shot thro' Scylla and Charyhdis, and so into 
 the Phare of Messina; thence we touch'd upon some of the 
 Greek Islands, and so came to our first intended Course, 
 into the Venetian Gulph, and are now here at Malamocco, 
 where we remain vet aboard, and must be content to be so, 
 to make up the Month before we have pratic, that is, before 
 any be permitted to go ashore, and negotiate, in regard 
 we touch'd at some infected Places : For there are no 
 People so fearful of the Plague as the Italians, especially the 
 Venetians, tho' their Neighbours the Greeks hard by, and 
 the Turks, have little or no Apprehension at all of the 
 Danger of it; for they will visit and commerce with the 
 Sick without any Scruple, and will fix their longest Finger 
 in the Midst of their Forehead, and say, Their Destiny and 
 Manner of Death is pointed there. When we have gain'd 
 yon Maiden City, which lieth before us, you shall hear 
 farther from me: So leaving you to His holy Protection, 
 who hath thus graciously vouchsafed to preserve this 
 
 Ship
 
 Seci I. pAMILIy^R LETTERS. 63 
 
 Ship, and me, in so long and dangerous a Vovage, I rest — 
 Yours, J. H. 
 
 Malamocco, 30 April 1621. 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 To 1717/ Brother, Dr. liowc\\,Jrom on Shipboard before Venice. 
 
 Brother, 
 
 IF this Letter f\iil either in point of Orthography or Style, 
 you must impute the first to the tumbling Posture my 
 Body was in at the writing hereof, being a Shipboard; the 
 second the muddiness of my Brain, which, like Lees in a 
 narrow Vessel, hath been shaken at Sea in divers Tempests 
 near upon forty Days — I mean natural Days, which include 
 the Nights also, and are compos'd of twenty-four hours, by 
 which number the Italian computes his Time, and tells the 
 Clock ; for at the writing hereof, I heard one from Mala- 
 mocco strike twenty-one hours. When I shall have saluted 
 yonder Virsiin Citv that stands before me, and hath tanta- 
 liz'd me now this Sennight, I hope to cheer my Spirits, and 
 settle my Pericranium again. 
 
 In this Voyage we pass'd thro', at least touch'd, all those 
 Seas which Horace and other Poets sing of so often, as the 
 Ionian, the ^gean, the Icarian, the Tyrrhene, v^'ith others; 
 and now we are in the yldrian Sea, in the Mouth whereof 
 Venice stands, like a gold Ring in a Bear's Muzzle. We 
 pass'd also by ^tna, by the Infames Scopulos, Jcroceraunia, 
 and thro' Scylla and Charybdis, about which the ancient 
 Poets, both Greek and Latin, keep such a Coil ; but they 
 are nothing so horrid or dangerous as they make them to 
 be; they are two white keen-pointed Rocks that lie under 
 Water diametrically oppos'd, and like two Dragons defying 
 one another; and there are Pilots, that in small Shallops 
 are ready to steer all Ships that pass. This, amongst divers 
 others, may serve for an instance, that the old Poets used 
 to heighten and hoise up things by their airy fancies, above 
 the reality of truth. JEtna was verv furious when we pass d 
 
 by.
 
 64 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 by, as she useth to be sometimes more than other, especially 
 when the Wind is southward, for then she is more subject 
 to belching out flakes of Fire (as Stutterers use to stammer 
 more when the Wind is in that Hole). Some of the Sparkles 
 fell aboard us ; but they would make us believe in Syracusay 
 now Messina, that ^tna in times past hath eructated such 
 huge gobbets of Fire, that the sparks of them have burnt 
 Houses in Malta above fifty miles off, transported thither 
 bv a direct strong Wind. We pass'd hard by Corinth, now 
 Ragusa ; but I was not so happy as to touch there, for you 
 know : 
 
 JVoH cuivis honiini contingit adire Corinthiini. 
 
 T convers'd with many Greeks, but found none that could 
 understand, much less practically speak, any of the old 
 Dialects of the pristine Greek, it is so adulterated by the 
 Vulgar, as a Bed of Flowers by Weeds ; nor is there any 
 People, either in the Island or on the Continent, that 
 speaks it conversably : yet there are in the Morea seven 
 Parishes call'd Zacones, where the original Greek is not 
 much degenerated, but they confound divers Letters of the 
 Alphabet with one Sound ; for in point of Pronunciation, 
 there is no difference betwixt Upsilon, Iota, and Eta. 
 
 The last I receiv'd from you was in Latin, whereof I sent 
 you an Answer from Spain in the same Language, tho' in 
 a coarser Dialect. I shall be a Guest to Fenice a good 
 while; therefore I desire a frequency of Correspondence 
 between us by Letters, for there will be Conveniency every 
 Week of receiving and sending. When you write to 
 Wales, I pray send Advice that I am come safe to Italy, 
 tho' not landed there yet. So, my dear Brother, I pray 
 God bless us both, and all our Friends, and reserve me to 
 see you again with Comfort, and you me, who am — Your 
 loving Brother, J. H. 
 
 5 A fay 162 1. 
 
 XXVHL
 
 Sect. I, Familiar Letters. 65 
 
 XXVI I r. 
 
 To the Honourable Sir Robert Mansell, Vice-Admiral of 
 
 England ; from Venice. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 AS soon as I came to Venice, I apply'd myself to dis- 
 £\. patch your Business according to Instructions^ and 
 Mr. Seynior was ready to contribute his best furtherance. 
 These two Italians, who are the Bearers hereof, by report 
 here, are the best Gentlemen-workmen that ever blew 
 Crystal ; one is ally'd to Antojiio Miotti, the other is Cousin 
 to Mazalao : for other things they shall be sent in the Ship 
 Lion, which rides here at Malamocco, as I shall send you 
 account by conveyance of Mr. Symns. Herewith I have 
 sent a Letter to you from Sir Henry IVotton, the Lord 
 Ambassador here, of whom I have receiv'd some Favours : 
 He wish'd me to write, that you have now a double Interest 
 in him ; for whereas before he was only your Servant, he is 
 now your Kinsman bv vour late Marriacie. 
 
 I was lately to see the Arsenal of Venice, one of the 
 worthiest things in Christendom ; they say there are as 
 manv Gallics and Galeasses of all sorts, belonfrino; to St. 
 Mark, either in Course, at Anchor, in Dock, or upon the 
 Careen, as there be days in the year: here they can build 
 a compleat Galley in half a day, and put her afloat in 
 perfect Equipage, having all the Ingredients fitted before- 
 hand ; as they did in three hours, when Henry III. pass'd 
 this wav to France from Poland, who wish'd, that besides 
 Paris, and his Parliament Towns, he had this Arsenal in ex- 
 change for three of his chiefest Cities. There are 300 People 
 perpetually here at work ; and if one comes voung, and 
 grows old in St. Mark's Service, he hath a Pension from 
 the State durinc; Life. Beinii brou<Tht to see one of the 
 Clarissimos that govern this Arsenal, this huge Sea Store- 
 house, among other matters reflecting upon England, he 
 was savin<r, That if Cava"Hcr Don Roberto JSlansel were 
 
 E here.
 
 66 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 here, he thought verily the Republic would make a Proffer 
 to him to be Admiral of that Fleet of Gallics and Galeons, 
 which are now going against the Duke of Ossuna, and the 
 Forces of Naples, you are so well known here. 
 
 I was, since I came hither, in Murano, a little Island 
 about the distance of Lambeth from London, where Crystal- 
 Glass is made; and 'tis a rare sight to see a whole Street, 
 where on the one side there are twenty Furnaces together 
 at work. They say here. That altho' one should transplant 
 a Glass-Furnace from Murano to Venice herself, or to any 
 of the little Assembly of Islands about her, or to any other 
 part of the Earth besides, and use the same Materials, the 
 same Workmen, the same Fuel, the self-same Ingredients 
 every way, yet they cannot make Crystal-Glass in that 
 perfection, for beauty and lustre, as in Murano : Some im- 
 pute it to the quality of the circumambient Air that hangs 
 o'er the Place, which is purify'd and attenuated by the 
 concurrence of so many Fires that are in those Furnaces 
 Night and Day perpetually, for they are like the Vestal-fire, 
 which never goes out. And it is well known, that some 
 Airs make more qualifying Impressions than others; as a 
 Greek told me in Sicily of the Air of Egypt, where there 
 be huge common Furnaces to hatch Eggs by the thousands 
 in Camels' Dung : for during the time of hatching, if the 
 Air happen to come to be overcast, and grow cloudy, it 
 spoils all; if the Sky continue still, serene and clear, not 
 one Effo; in an hundred will miscarry. 
 
 I met with Camillo, your Consaorman, here lately ; and 
 could he be sure of Entertainment, he would return to serve 
 you again, and I believe for less Salary. 
 
 I shall attend your Commands herein by the next, and 
 touching other Particulars, whereof I have written to Capt. 
 Bacon : So I rest — Your most humble and ready Servant, 
 
 J.H. 
 
 Venice, 30 May 1621. 
 
 XXIX.
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 67 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 To my Brother^yVow Venice. 
 Brother, 
 
 I FOUND a Letter of yours that had lain dormant here 
 a good while in Mr. Symn's hands, to welcome me to 
 Venice, and I thank you for the variety of News wherewith 
 she went freighted ; for she was to me as a Ship richly 
 laden from London useth to be to our Merchants here, and 
 I esteem her Cansa^on at no less a Value, for she enrich'd 
 me with the Knowledge of my Father's Health, and your 
 own, with the rest of my Brothers and Sisters in the 
 Country, with divers other Passages of Contentment : be- 
 sides, she went also ballasted with your good Instructions, 
 which as Merchants use to do of their Commodities, I will 
 turn to the best Advantage, and Italy is no ill Market to 
 improve anything. The only Procede (that I may use the 
 Mercantile Term) you can expect is Thanks, and this way 
 shall not be wanting to make you rich Returns. 
 
 Since I came to this Town, I dispatched sundry Businesses 
 of good value for Sir Robert Mansel, which I hope will give 
 content. The Art of Glass-making here is very highly 
 valued ; for whosoever be of that Profession are Gentlemen 
 ipso facto, and it is not without reason, it being a rare kind 
 of Knowledge and Cliymistrij to transmute Dust and Sand 
 (for they are the onlv main Ingredients) to such a diaphanous 
 pellucid dainty Body as you see a Crystal-Glass is, which 
 hath this Property above Gold or Silver, or any other 
 Mineral, to admit no Poison; as also that it never wastes 
 or loses a whit of its first weii!;ht, tho' you use it never so 
 long. When I saw so many sorts of curious Glasses made 
 here, I thought upon the Compliment which a Gentleman 
 put upon a Lady \v\ England, who having five or six comely 
 Daughters, said. He never saw in his life such a dainty Cup- 
 board of Crystal Glasses. The Compliment proceeds, it 
 seems, from a Saying they have here. That the frst hand- 
 some Woman that ever was made, ivas made of Venice 
 
 Glass ;
 
 68 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 Glass; which implies Beauty, but Brittleness withal (and 
 Venice is not unfurnish'd with some of that Mould, for no 
 place abounds more with Lasses and Glasses) ; but consider- 
 ino; the Brittleness of the Stuff, it was an odd kind of 
 melancholy in him that could not be persuaded but he was 
 an Urinal, surely he deserved to be piss'd in the Mouth. 
 But when I pry'd into the Materials, and observ'd the 
 Furnaces and Calcinations, the Transubstantiations, the 
 Liquefactions that are incident to this Art, my Thoughts 
 were rais'd to a higher Speculation; that if this small 
 Furnace-fire hath vertue to convert such a small lump of 
 dark Dust and Sand into such a precious clear Body as 
 Crystal, surely that grand Universal Fire which shall 
 happen at the Day of Judgment, may by its violent ardor 
 vitrify and turn to one lump of Crystal the whole Body of 
 the Earth ; nor am I the first that fell upon this Conceit. 
 
 I will enlarge my self no further to you at this time, but 
 conclude with this Tetrastic, which my Brain ran upon in 
 my Bed this Morning. 
 
 Vitrea sunt 7iostrcE coimnissa negotia ciirce, 
 
 Hoc oculis Speculum mittii/nis ergo tuts : 
 Quod Speculum ? est instar Speculi niea litera, per quod 
 
 Vivida fraterni cordis imago nitet. 
 
 Adieu, my dear Brother, live happily, and love — Your 
 Brother, J. H. 
 
 Veil.., \ June 1621. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 To Mr. Richard Altham, at Gray's-Inn ; from Venice. 
 
 Gentle Sir, 
 
 O dulcior illo 
 
 I 
 
 Mille quod in ceris Attica ponit Apis. 
 
 O thou that dost i7i sweettiess far excel 
 That Juice the Attic Bee stores ifi her Cell. 
 
 My Dear Dick, 
 HAVE now a good while since taken footing in Venice, 
 this admired Maiden-City, so call'd, because she was 
 
 never 
 
 I
 
 Sect, I. Familiar Letters. 69 
 
 never defloured by any Enemy since she had a Being, not 
 since her Rialto was first erected, which is now above 
 twelve Ages ago. 
 
 I protest to you, at my first landing I was for some 
 days ravished with the high Beauty of this Maid, with her 
 lovely Countenance. I admired her mao;nificent Buildinsfs, 
 her marvellous Situation, her dainty smooth neat Streets, 
 whereon you may walk most days in the year in a Silk 
 Stockin and Sattin-Slippers, without soiling them ; nor can 
 the Streets of Paris be so foul as these are fair. This beau- 
 teous Maid hath been often attempted to be vitiated; some 
 have courted her, some bribed her, some would ha.weforc'd 
 her, yet she hath still preserv'd her Chastity entire : and tho' 
 she hath lived so many Ages, and passed so many shrewd 
 brunts, yet she continueth fresh to this very day without 
 the least Wrinkle of old Age, or any symptoms of Decay, 
 whereunto political Bodies, as well as natural, use to be 
 liable. Beside, she hath wrestled with the greatest Poten- 
 tates upon Earth ; the Emperor, the King of France, and 
 most of the other Princes of Christendom, in that famous 
 League of Cambray, would have sunk her; but she bore 
 up still within her Lakes, and broke that League to pieces 
 by her Wit : The Grand Turk hath been often at her, and 
 tho' he could not have his will of her, yet he took away the 
 richest Jewel she wore in her Coronet, and put it in his 
 Turban; I mean the Kingdom of Cyprus, the only Royal 
 Gem she had ; he hath set upon her Skirts often since, and 
 tho' she clos'd with him sometimes, yet she came off still 
 with her Maidenhead ; tho' some that envy her happiness 
 would brand her to be of late times a kind of Concubine to 
 him, and that she gives him ready Money once a vear to 
 lie with her, which she minceth by the name of Present, 
 tho' it be indeed rather a Tribute. 
 
 I would I had you here with a wish, and you would not 
 desire in haste to be at Gray's-I/in, tho' I hold vour Walks 
 to be the pleasant'st place about London, and that vou have 
 there the choicest Society. I pray present my kind Com- 
 mendations
 
 70 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 mendations to all there, and Service at Bishops gate- street, 
 and let me hear from you by the next Post. So I am — 
 Intirely yours, J. H. 
 
 Ven., ^June 162 1. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 To T)r. Fr. Mansell, yrow Venice. 
 IVE me leave to salute you first in these Sapphics : 
 
 G 
 
 Insidam tejide7is iter ad Britannain 
 Charta, de panels volo, siste gresstim. 
 Verba Mansello, bene noscis ilhim, 
 
 talia pei'fer. 
 Finibus longe patriis Hoellus 
 Dimorans, quaiitis Venetum superba 
 Civitas ieticis Doroberniensi 
 
 distat ab urbe ; 
 Pliiriniam mentis tibi vicit saluteni, 
 Plurimuin cordis tibi vidt vigore/n, 
 PliiriTimm sortis tibi vult favoreni 
 
 Regis &= Atdcz. 
 
 These Wishes come to you from Venice, a place where 
 there is nothing waiiting that heart can wish : Renowned 
 Venice, the admiredst City in the World ; a City that all 
 Europe is bound unto, for she is her greatest Rampart 
 against that huge Eastern Tyrant the Turk by Sea, else I 
 believe he had over-run all Christendom by this time. 
 Against him this City hath perform'd notable Exploits, and 
 not only against him, but divers others. She hath restored 
 Emperors to their Thrones, and Popes to their Chairs, and 
 with her Gallies often preserved St. Peter's Bark from sink- 
 ing: for which, by way of Reward, one of her Successors 
 espous'd her to the Sea; which Marriage is solemnly 
 renew'd every year in solemn Procession by the Doge and 
 all the Clarissimos, and a Gold Rinir cast into the Sea out 
 of the great Galeass call'd the Bucentoro, wherein the first 
 Ceremony was perform'd by the Pope himself above three 
 
 hundred
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 71 
 
 hundred years since j and they say it is the self-same Vessel 
 still, tho' often put upon the Careen and trimin'd. This 
 made me think on that famous Ship at Athens; nay, I fell 
 upon an abstracted Notion in Philosophy, and a Speculation 
 touching the Body of Man, which being in perpetual flux, 
 and a kind of succession of decays, and consequently requir- 
 ino- ever and anon a restoration of what it loseth of the 
 virtue of the former aliment, and what was converted after 
 the third concoction into blood and fleshly substance, which, 
 as in all other sublunary Bodies that have internal Principles 
 of heat, useth to transpire, breathe out, and waste away 
 thro' invisible pores, by exercise, motion and sleep, to make 
 room still for a supply of new Nouriture; fell, I say, to con- 
 sider whether our Bodies may be said to be of like condition 
 with this Bucentoro ; which, tho' it be reputed still the same 
 Vessel, yet I believe there's not a foot of that Timber re- 
 maining which it had upon the first Dock, having been, as 
 they tell me, so often plank'd and ribb'd, caulk'd and piec'd : 
 In like manner, our Bodies may be said to be daily repair'd 
 by new Sustenance, which begets new Blood, and conse- 
 quently new Spirits, new Humours, and I may say new 
 Flesh, the old by continual deperdition and insensible trans- 
 pirations evaporating still out of us, and giving way to 
 fresh ; so that I make a question, whether by reason of 
 these perpetual preparations and accretions, the Body of 
 Man may be said to be the same numerical Body in his old 
 Acre that he had in his Manhood, or the same in his Man- 
 hood that he had in his Youth, the same in his Youth that 
 he carried about him in his Childhood, or the same in his 
 Childhood which he wore first in the Womb ; I make a 
 doubt, whether I had the same identical individually nume- 
 rical Body, when I carried a Calf-leather Sachel to School 
 in Hereford, as when I wore a Lambskin Hood in Oxford; 
 or whether I have the same Mass of Blood in my Veins, 
 and the same Flesh now in Fenice, which I carry'd about 
 me three years since up and down London Streets, having, 
 in lieu of Beer and Ale, drunk Wine all this while, and {^id 
 
 uiMin
 
 72 
 
 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 upon different Viands. Now the Stomach is Hke a Crucible, 
 for it hath a chymical kind of Vertue to transmute one 
 Body into another, to transubstantiate Fish and Fruits into 
 Flesh within, and about us : but the' it be questionable 
 whether I wear the same Flesh which is fluxible, I am sure 
 my Hair is not the same ; for you may remember I went 
 flaxen-hair'd out of England, but you shall find me return'd 
 with a very dark brown, which I impute not only to the 
 ffeat and Air of those hot Countries I have eaten my Bread 
 in, but to the quality and difference of Food. But you will 
 say that Hair is but an excrementitious thing, and makes 
 not to this purpose ; moreover, methinks I hear you say, that 
 this may be true, only in the blood and spirits of such fluid 
 Parts, not in the solid and heterogeneal Parts. But I will 
 press no further at this time this philosophical notion, which 
 the fight of Bucentoro infus'd into me, for it hath already 
 made me exceed the bounds of a Letter, and I fear to tres- 
 pass too much upon your patience : I leave the further dis- 
 quisition of this point to your own Contemplations, who 
 are a far riper Philosopher than I, and have waded deeper 
 into, and drank more of, Aristotle's Well. But, to conclude, 
 tho' it be doubtful whether I carry about me the same Body 
 or no in all points that I had in England, I am well assur'd 
 I bear still the same Mind, and therein I verify the old 
 Verse : 
 
 Coelum 7ion aimnam mutant qui trans mare currunt. 
 
 The Air but ?iot the Mind they change, 
 Who in Outlandish Countries range. 
 
 For what Alterations soever happen in this Microcosm, iM 
 
 in this little World, this small bulk and body of mine, you M 
 
 may be confident that nothing shall alter my Affections, 
 specially towards you, but that I will persevere still the 
 same — The very same, J. H. 
 
 Ven., 25 /un. 162 1. 
 
 XXXII.
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters, 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 To Richard Altham, JLsq. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I WAS plung'd ill a deep Fit of melancholy, Saturn had 
 cast his black Influence o'er all my Intellectuals, me- 
 thought I felt my heart as a lump of dough, and heavy as 
 lead within my Breast; when a Letter of yours of the 3rd of 
 this Month was brought me, which presently begot new 
 Spirits within me, and made such strong Impressions upon 
 my Intellectuals, that it turn'd and transform'd me into 
 another Man. I have read of a Duke of JSIilan and others, 
 who were poisoned by reading of a Letter; but yours pro- 
 duced contrary Effects in me, it became an Antidote, or rather 
 a most sovereign Cordial to me, more operative than Bezoar, 
 of more Virtue than potable Gold, or the Elixir of Amber, 
 for it wrought a sudden Cure upon me: That fluent and 
 rare Mixture of Love and Wit, which I found up and 
 down therein, were the Ingredients of this Cordial; they 
 were as so many choice Flowers strew'd here and there, 
 which did cast such an odoriferous Scent, that they reviv'd 
 all my Senses and dispell'd those dull Fumes which had 
 formerly o'er-clouded my Brain : Such was the Operation 
 of your most ingenious and aflfectionale Letter, and so sweet 
 an Entertainment it gave me. If your Letter had that 
 Virtue, what would your Person have done? and did you 
 know all, you would wish your Person here a-while ; did 
 you know the rare beauty of this Virgin City, you would 
 quickly make love to her, and change your Royal Exchange 
 for the Rialto, and your Gray's-Lin-lValks for St. Marks- 
 Place for a time. Farewell, dear Child of Vertue, and 
 Minion of the Muses; and love still — Yours, J. H. 
 
 Ven., I July 1621. 
 
 XXXIII.
 
 74 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 XXXTII. 
 
 To my wuch honoiired Friend, Sir John North^ Knight. 
 
 Noble Sir, 
 
 THE first Office of Gratitude is, to receive a good Turn 
 civilly, then to retain it in Memory, and acknowledge 
 it; thirdly, to endeavour a Requital; for this last Office, 
 it is in vain for me to attempt it ; especially towards you, 
 who have laden me with such a Variety of Courtesies 
 and weighty Favours^ that my poor Stock comes far short 
 of any Retaliation : but for the other two, Beception and 
 Retention, as I am not conscious to have been wanting in 
 the first Act, so I shall never fail in the second, because 
 both these are within the Compass of my Power; for if 
 you could pry into my Memory, you should discover there 
 a huge Magazine of your Favours you have been pleased to 
 do me, present and absent, safely stored up and coacervated, 
 to preserve them from mouldering away in Oblivion ; for 
 Courtesies should he no perishahle Cojnmodity. Should I at- 
 tempt any other Requital, I should extenuate your Favours, 
 and dero2;ate from the Worth of them ; vet if to this of the 
 Memory I can contribute any other act of Body or Mind, 
 to enlarge my acknowledgments towards you, you may 
 be well assur'd that T shall be ever ready to court any 
 Occasion whereby the World may know how much I am — 
 Your thankful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Ven., iz/''b' 1 62 1, 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 To Dan. Caldwall, Esq. ; from Venice. 
 
 My dear Dan, 
 
 COULD Letters fly with the same Wings as Love useth 
 to do, and cut the Air with the like swiftness of 
 motion, this Letter of mine should work a Miracle, and be 
 with you in an instant ; nor should she fear interception or 
 
 anv
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 75 
 
 any other casualty in the way, or cost you one penny 
 the Post, for she should pass invisibly: But 'tis not fitting, 
 that Paper, which is made hut of old Rags, wherewith 
 Letters are swaddled, should have the same privilege as Love, 
 which is a spiritual thing, having something of Divinity in 
 it, and partakes in celerity with the Imagination, than which 
 there is not anything more swift, you know, no not the 
 motion of the upper Sphere, the primum mobile, which 
 snatcheth all the other nine after, and indeed the whole 
 Macrocosm, all the World besides, except our Earth (the 
 Center), which upper Sphere the Astronomers would have 
 to move so many degrees, so many thousand miles in a 
 moment. Since then Letters are deny'd such a velocity, 
 I allow this of mine twenty days, which is the ordinary 
 time allow'd betwixt Venice and London, to come unto you, 
 and thank you a thousand times over for your last of the 
 tenth of June, and the rich Venison Feast you made, as I 
 understand not long since, to the remembrance of me, at 
 the Ship Tavern : Believe it. Sir, you shall find that this 
 Love of yours is not ill employ'd, for I esteem it at the 
 highest degree, I value it more than the Treasury of St. 
 Mark, which I lately saw, where among other things there 
 is a huge Iron Chest as tall as myself that hath no Lock, 
 but a Crevice thro' which they cast in the Gold that's 
 bequeath'd to St. Alark in Legacies, whereon there is 
 engraven this proud Motto : 
 
 Quaiido questo scrinio S^apria, 
 I'littdl viundo treiiiera. 
 
 When this Chest shall open, the whole World shall tremble. 
 The Duke of Ossuna, late Vice-Roy of Naples, did what 
 he could to force them to open it, for he brought St. ]\Tark 
 to waste much of this Treasure in the late Wars, which 
 he made purposely to that end ; which made them have 
 recourse to us, and the Hollander, for Ships, not long 
 since. 
 
 Among the rest of Itali/, this is call'd the Maiden City 
 
 (notwithstanding
 
 76 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 (notwithstanding her great number of Courtesans), and there 
 is a Prophecy, That she should continue a Maid until her 
 Husband forsake Iter, meaning the Sea, to whom the Pope 
 marry'd her long since ; and the Sea is observ'd not to love 
 her so deeply as he did, for he begins to shrink, and grows 
 shallower in some places about her : nor doth the Vope also, 
 who was the Father that gave her to the Sea, aifect her so 
 much as he formerly did, specially since the extermination 
 of the Jesuits : so that both Husband and Father begin to 
 abandon her. 
 
 I am to be a Guest to this Hospital Maid a good while 
 yet, and if you want any Commodity that she can afford 
 (and what cannot she afford for human pleasure or delight?) 
 do but write, and it shall be sent you. 
 
 Farewell, gentle soul, and correspond still in pure love 
 with — Yours, J. H. 
 
 Ven., 29 July 1621. 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 To Sir James Crofts, Knight ; from Venice. 
 Sir, 
 
 IRECEIV'D one of yours the last Week, that came 
 in my Lord Ambassador JVottons Packet; and being 
 now upon point of parting with Venice, I could not do it 
 without acquainting you (as far as the extent of a Letter 
 will permit) with her Power, her Policy, her Wealth and 
 Pedigree. She was built out of the Ruins of ^quileia and 
 Padua; for when those swarms of tough northern People 
 over-ran Italy, under the Conduct of that Scourge of Heaven, 
 Attila, with others, and that this soft voluptuous Nation, 
 after so long a desuetude from Arms, could not repel their 
 Fury, many of the ancient Nobility and Gentry fled into 
 these Lakes and little Islands, amongst the Fishermen, for 
 their Security; and finding the Air good and commodious for 
 Habitation, they began to build upon those small Islands, 
 whereof there are in all sixty; and in tract of time, they 
 
 conjoin'd
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 77 
 
 conjoin'd and leagu'd them together by Bridges, whereof there 
 are now above 800; and this makes up the City of Venice, 
 who is now above twelve Ages old, and was contemporary 
 with the Monarchy of France : But the Signory gloricth in 
 one thing above the Monarchy, that she was born a Chris- 
 tian, but the Monarchy not. Tho' this City be thus hem'd in 
 with the Sea, yet she spreads her Wings far and wide upon 
 the Shore; she hath in Lombardy six considerable Towns, 
 Padua, Verona, Vicenza, Brescia, Crema, and Bergamo ; she 
 hath in the Marquisat, Bassan and Castelfranco ; she hath 
 all Friidi and Istria ; she commands the Shores oi Dalmatia 
 and Sclavonia ; she keeps under the Power of St. JSIark 
 the Islands of Corfu (anciently Corcyra) Cephalonia, Zant, 
 Cerigo, Lucerigo, and Candy {foveas Cradle) ; she had a 
 long time the Kingdom of Cyprus, but it was quite rent 
 from her by the Turk : which made that high-spirited Bassa, 
 being taken Prisoner at the Battle of Lepanto, where the 
 Grand Signior lost above 200 Gallics, to say. That that 
 Defeat to his great Master ivas hut like the shaving of his 
 Beard, or the paring of his Nails ; hut the taking of Cyprus 
 was like the cutting off of a Limb, which ivill never grow 
 a^ain. This mi<rhtv Potentate being so near a NeiG;hbour 
 to her, she is forced to comply with him, and give him an 
 annual Present in Gold: She hath about 30 Gallies most 
 part of the Year in course to scour and secure the Gulph ; 
 she entertains by Land, in Lomhardy, and other Parts, 
 25,000 Foot, besides some of the Cantons of Suisses, whom 
 she gives Pav to; she hath also in constant Pay 600 Men 
 of Arms, and every of these must keep two Horses a-piece, 
 for which they are allowed 120 Ducats a Year, and they 
 are for the most part Gentlemen of Lomhardy. When they 
 have any great Expedition to make, they have always a 
 Stranger for their General, but he is supervised by two 
 Proveditors, without whom he cannot attempt anything. 
 
 Her great Council consists of above 2000 Gentlemen, 
 and some of them meet every Sunday and Holiday to chuse 
 Officers and Magistrates; and every Gentleman being past 
 
 25
 
 yS Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 35 Years of Age, is capable to sit in this Council. The Doge, 
 or Duke (their Sovereign Magistrate), is chosen by Lots, 
 which would be too tedious here to demonstrate; and com- 
 monly he is an aged Man, who is created like that Course 
 they hold in the Popedom. When he is dead, there be 
 Inquisitors that examine his Actions, and his Misde- 
 meanours are punishable in his Heirs : There is a Surinten- 
 dent Council of Ten, and six of them may dispatch Business 
 without the Doge : but the Doge never without some of 
 them, not as much as open a Letter from any foreign 
 State, tho' address'd to himself; which makes him to be 
 called by other Princes, Testa di legno, A Head of IVood. 
 
 The Wealth of this Repuhlick hath been at a stand, or 
 rather declining, since the Portugal found a Road to the 
 East-Indies, by the Cape of Good-Hope ; for this City was 
 used to fetch all those Spices and other Lid ian Commodities 
 from Grand Cairo down the Nile, being formerly carried to 
 Cairo from the Red Sea upon Camels' and Dromedaries' 
 Backs, sixty Days' Journey : And so Venice us'd to dispense 
 those Commodities thro' all Christendom, which not only the 
 Portugal, but the English and Hollander now transport, and 
 are Masters of the Trade. Yet there is no outward Appear- 
 ance at all of Poverty, or any Decay in this City; but she 
 is still gay, flourishing, and fresh, and flowing with all kind 
 of Bravery and Delight, which may be had at cheap Rates. 
 Much more might be written of this antient wise Republic, 
 which cannot be comprehended within the narrow Inclosure 
 of a Letter. So, with my due and daily Prayers for a Con- 
 tinuance of your Health, and Licrease of Honour, I rest — 
 Your most humble and ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Ven., I Ai/^. 162 1. 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 To Robert Brown, Esq., at the Middle-Temple ; yrow Venice. 
 Robin, 
 
 I HAVE now enough of the Maiden- City, and this Week 
 am to go further into Italy : for tho'" I have been a good 
 
 while
 
 79 
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 
 
 while in Venice, yet I cannot say I have been hitherto upon 
 the Continent o? Italy ; for this City is nought else but a 
 Knot of Islands in the Adriatic Sea, join'd in one Body by 
 Bridges^ and a good way distant from the firm Land. I have 
 lighted upon very choice Company, your Cousin Broivn 
 and Master IFeb ; and we all take the Road oi Lomhardy, 
 but we made an Order among ourselves, that our Discourse 
 be always in the Language of the Countrv, under Penalty 
 of a Forfeiture, which is to be indispensably paid. Randal 
 Symns made us a curious Feast lately, where, in a Cup of 
 the richest Greek, we had your Health, and I could not tell 
 whether the Wine or the Remembrance of you was sweeter; 
 for it was naturally a kind of Aromatick Wine, which left a 
 fragrant perfuming Kind of Farewel behind it. I have sent 
 you a Runlet of it in the Ship Lion, and if it come safe, 
 and unprick'd, I pray bestow some Bottles upon the Lady 
 (you know) with my humble Service. When you write next 
 to Mr. Symns, I pray acknowledge the good Hospitality and 
 extraordinary Civilities I received from him. Before I con- 
 clude, I will acquaint you with a common Saying that is 
 used of this dainty City of Venice : 
 
 Venetia, Venetia, c/u noti te vede fwfi te Pregia, 
 Ma chi fha troppo veduto te Dispreggia. 
 
 English'd and rhym'd thus (tho' I know you need no Trans- 
 lation, you understand so much of the Italian): 
 
 Venice, Venice, none Thee unseen can prize ; 
 Who hath seen too much will Thee despise. 
 
 I will conclude with that famous Hexastic which San- 
 vazaro made of this great City, which pleaseth me much 
 better : 
 
 Vidcrat Hadriacis Vcnetam Neptunus iii i/ndis 
 
 Stare Urbein, &= toti ponere jura Mari ; 
 Nu7ic miJii Tafpdas quantum 7'is, Jupiter, Arccs 
 
 Objice 6^ ilia tui mania Martis ait, 
 Sic Pelago Tibrim prcefers, Urbem aspice utrainque, 
 
 lllam homines dices, hanc posuisse Deos. 
 
 IV hen
 
 8o Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 When Neptune sa7V m Adrian Surges stand 
 Venice, and give the Sea Laws of Conwiand: 
 Now Jove, said he, object thy Capitol, 
 And Mars' /?-(??/(f Wal/s : this were for to extol 
 Tiber beyond the Main ; both Toivns behold ; 
 Rome, Men thou! It say, Venice the Gods did mould. 
 
 Sannazaro had given him by St. Mark a hundred Zecchins 
 for every one of these Verses, which amounts to about 300Z. 
 It v^^oukl be long before the City of London would do the 
 like ; witness that cold Reward, or rather those cold Drops 
 of Water which were cast upon my Countryman, Sir Hugh 
 Middleton, for bringing Ware River thro' her Streets, the 
 most serviceable and wholesomest Benefit that ever she 
 receiv'd. 
 
 The Parcel of Italian Books that you write for, y^ou shall 
 receive from Mr. Leat, if it please God to send the Ship 
 to safe Port; and I take it as a Favour, that you employ 
 me in anything that may conduce to your Contentment, 
 because — I am your serious Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Veil., 12 Aug. 162 1. 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 To Captain Thomas Sorter, from Venice. 
 
 My dear Captain, 
 
 AS I was going a-Shipboard in Alicant, a Letter of yours 
 in Spanish came to hand : I discovered two Things 
 in it, first, what a Master you are of that Language; then, 
 how mindful you are of vour Friend. For the first, I dare 
 not correspond with you yet: for the second, I shall never 
 come short of you, for I am as mindful of you as possibly 
 you can be of me, and some Hours my Pulse doth not beat 
 more often than my Memory runs on you, which is often 
 enough in Conscience ; for the Physicians hold, that in 
 every well-dispos'd Body there be above 4000 Pulsations 
 every Hour, and some Pulses have been known to beat 
 above 30,000 times an Hour in acute Fevers. 
 
 I 
 
 I
 
 Sect. 1. Familiar Letters. 8i 
 
 I understand you are bound with a gallant Fleet for the 
 Mediterranean ; if you come to ALicant, I pray commend 
 me to Francisco Marco, my Landlord; he is a merry Drole 
 and good Company : One Night when I was there, he sent 
 his Boy with a Borracha of Leather under his Cloak for 
 Wine; the Boy coming back about Ten a Clock, and pass- 
 ing by the Guard, one asked him whether he carried any 
 Weapons about him (for none must wear any Weapons 
 there after Ten at Night). No, quoth the Boy, being 
 pleasant, I have but a little Dagger. The Watch came and 
 searched him, and finding the Borracho full of good Wine, 
 drunk it all up, saying. Sirrah, you know no Man must carry 
 any IVeapons so late; hut because we know ivhose Servant 
 you are, there's the Scabbard of your Dagger again ; and 
 so threw him the empty Borracho. But another Passage 
 pleased me better of Don Beltran de Rosa, who being to 
 marry a rich Labrador's (a Yeoman's) Daughter hard-by, 
 who was much importun'd by her Parents to the Match, 
 because their Family should thereby be ennobled, he being 
 a Cavalier of St. /ago ; the young Maid having understood 
 that Don Beltran had been in Naples, and had that Disease 
 about him, answer'd wittily. En verdad por adobar me la 
 Sangre, no quiero dannarmi la Came : Truly, Sir, To better 
 my Blood, I will 7iot hurt my Flesh. I doubt I shall not 
 be in England before you set out to Sea; if not, I take 
 my leave of you in this Paper, and wish you a prosperous 
 Voyage, and an honourable Return. It is the hearty Prayer 
 of — Yours, J. H. 
 
 Vefi., 21 Attg. 1621. 
 
 XXXVIIL 
 
 To Sir William St. John, Knight, fron Rome. 
 Sir, 
 
 HAVING seen Antenor's Tomb in Padua, and the 
 Amphitheatre of Flaminius in FeroJia, with other 
 brave Towns in Lombardy, I am now come to Rome ; and 
 Rome, they say, is every Man's Country; she is called 
 
 F Communis
 
 82 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 Communis Patria ; for every one that is within the Com- 
 pass of the Latin Church finds himself here, as it were, at 
 home, and in his Mother's House, in regard of Interest in 
 ReHd^ion, which is the Cause that for one Native there be 
 five Strangers that sojourn in this City; and without any 
 Distinction or Mark of Strangeness, they come to Prefer- 
 ments and Offices both in Church and State, according to 
 Merit, which is more valued and sought after here than 
 anywhere. 
 
 But whereas I expected to have found Rome elevated 
 upon seven Hills, I met her rather spreading upon a Flat, 
 havino- humbled herself since she was made a Christian. 
 and descended from those Hills to Campus Martins, with 
 TrasLevere, and the Suburbs of St. Peter; she hath yet 
 in compass about fourteen Miles, which is far short of 
 that vast Circuit she had in Claudius's Time : for Vopiscus 
 writes, she was then of fifty Miles circumference, and she 
 had five hundred thousand free Citizens, in a famous Cense 
 that was made ; which, allowing but six to every Family, 
 in Women, Children, and Servants, came to three million 
 of Souls: but she is now a Wilderness in comparison of 
 that Number. The Pope is grown to be a great temporal 
 Prince of late Years, for the State of the Church extends 
 above 300 Miles in length, and 200 Miles in breadth ; it con- 
 tains terrara, Bologna, Romagnia, the Marquisate oi Ancona, 
 Umbria, Sahina, Perugia, with a Part of Tuscany, the 
 Patrimony, Rome herself, and Latium: In these there are 
 above fifty Bishopricks; the Pope hath also the Duchy of 
 Spoleto, and the Exarchate of Ravenna; he hath the Town 
 of Benevento in the Kingdom o^ Naples, and the Country 
 of Fenisse, call'd Avignon in France ; he hath title also 
 good enough to Naples itself, but rather than offend his 
 Champion the King of Spain, he is contented with a white 
 Mule, and Purse of Pistoles about the Neck, which he 
 receives every Year for a Herriot or Homage, or what 
 you will call it : he pretends also to be Lord-Paramount 
 of Sicily, Urhin, Parma, and Maseran, of Norway, Ireland, 
 
 and
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 83 
 
 and England, since King John did prostrate our Crown at 
 Pandulfo his Legate's Feet. 
 
 The State of the Apostolic See here in Italy lies betwixt 
 two Seas, the Adriatic and the Tyrrhene; and it runs thro' 
 the midst of Italy, which makes the Pope powerful to do 
 good or harm, and more capable than any other to be an 
 Umpire or an Enemy. His Authority being mix'd betwixt 
 Temporal and Spiritual, disperseth itself into so many 
 Members, that a young Man may grow old here before he 
 can well understand the Form of Government. 
 
 The Consistory of Cardinals meet but once a Week, and 
 once a Week they solemnly wait all upon the Pope. I am 
 told there are now in Christendom but sixty-eight Cardinals, 
 whereof there are six Cardinal-Bishops, fifty-one Cardinal- 
 Priests, and eleven Cardinal-Deacons : the Cardinal-Bishops 
 attend and sit near the Pope, when he celebrates any Festival: 
 the Cardinal-Priests assist him at Mass, and the Cardinal- 
 Deacons attire him. A Cardinal is made by a short Breve 
 or JVrit from the Pope, in these Words : Creamiis te Socium 
 Regibus, superior em Ducibus, ^ fratrem nostrum : IVe create 
 thee a Companion to Kings, superior to Dukes, and our Brother. 
 If a Cardinal-Bishop should be question'd for any Offence, 
 there must be twenty-four Witnesses produc'd against him. 
 
 The Bishop of Ostia hath most Privilege of any other, 
 for he consecrates and instals the Pope, and goes always 
 next to him. All these Cardinals have the repute of 
 Princes, and besides other Incomes, they have the Annats 
 of Benefices to support their greatness. 
 
 For point of Power, the Pope is able to put 50,000 Men 
 in the Field, in case of necessity, besides his naval strength 
 in Gallies. We read how Paul III. sent Charles III. 12,000 
 Foot and 500 Horse. Pius V. sent a greater Aid to Charles 
 IX. and for Riches, besides the temporal Dominions, he 
 hath in all the Countries before-nam'd, the Datary or dis- 
 patching of Bulls. The Triennial Subsidies, Annats, and 
 other Ecclesiastic Rights mount to an unknown Sum ; and 
 it is a common Saying here, That as long as the Pope can 
 
 finger
 
 84 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 finger a Pen, he can want no Pence. Pius V., notwithstand- 
 ing his Expences in Buildings, left four millions in the 
 Castle of St. Angela, in less than five years, more I believe 
 than this Gregory XV. will, for he hath many Nephews ; 
 and better it is to be the Pope's Nephew than to be 
 Favourite to any Prince in Christendom. 
 
 Touching the Temporal Government of Borne, and Op- 
 pidan Affairs, there is a Pretor and some choice Citizens, 
 who sit in the Capitol. Among other pieces of Policy, 
 there is a Synagogue of Jews permitted here (as in other 
 places of Italy) under the Pope's Nose, but they go with a 
 mark of distinction in their Hats; they are tolerated for 
 advantage of Commerce, wherein the Jews are wonderful 
 dexterous, tho' most of them be only Brokers and Loni- 
 bardeers ; and they are held to be here, as the Cynic held 
 Women to be, malum necessarium. There be few of the 
 Romans that use to pray heartily for the Pope's long Life, 
 in regard the oftner the Change is, the more advantageous 
 it is for the City, because commonly it brings Strangers and 
 a recruit of new People. The Air of Rome is not so whol- 
 some as of old ; and among other Reasons, one is, because 
 of the burning of Stubble to fatten their Fields. For her 
 Antiquities, it would take up a whole Volume to write them ; 
 those which I hold the chiefest are, Fespasiafi's Amphi- 
 theatre, where eighty thousand People might sit; the Stoves 
 of Anthony, divers rare Statues at Belveder and St. Peter s, 
 especially that of Laocoon, the Obelisk; for the Genius of 
 the Roman hath always been much taken with Imagery, 
 Limning, and Sculptures, insomuch that as in former times, 
 so now, I believe the Statues and Pictures in Rome exceed 
 the number of living People. One Antiquity, among others, 
 is very remarkable, because of the change of Language ; 
 which is an ancient Column erected as a Trophy for DuilUus 
 the Consul, after a famous naval Victory obtain'd against 
 the Carthaginians in the second Punic War, where these 
 words are engraven, and remain legible to this day : Exemet 
 leco-ines Macistrates Castreis exfocient pugnandod cepet enque, 
 
 navebos
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 85 
 
 navehos marid Consul, &cc., and half a dozen lines after it 
 is call'd Columna restrata, having the Beaks and Prows of 
 Ships engraven up and down ; whereby it appears, that the 
 Latin then spoken was much differing from that which was 
 us'd in Cicero^s time 150 years after. Since the dismem- 
 bring of the Empire, Rome hath run thro' many vicissitudes 
 and turns of Fortune : And had it not been for the Residence 
 of the Pope, I beheve she had become a heap of Stones, a 
 mount of Rubbish by this time; and howsoever that she 
 bears up indifferent well, yet one may say: 
 
 Qui miseranda videt veteris vestigia Romse, 
 llle potest merito dicere Roma fuit. 
 
 They 7c>ho the Jvuins of first Rome behold, 
 May say, Rome is not now, but was of old. 
 
 Present Uome may be said to be but the Monument of 
 'Rome past, when she was in that flourish that St. Austin 
 desir'd to see her in : She who tam'd the World, tam'd her- 
 self at last, and falling under her own weight, fell to be a 
 Prey to Time ; yet there is a Providence seems to have a 
 care of her still ; for tho' her Air be not so good, nor her 
 circumjacent Soil so kindly as it was, yet she hath where- 
 with to keep Life and Soul together still, by her Ecclesias- 
 tical Courts, which is the sole cause of her peopling now. 
 So it may be said. When the Pope came to be her Head, she 
 was reduc'd to her first Principles; for as a Shepherd was 
 Founder, so a Shepherd is still her Governor and Preserver. 
 But whereas the French have an odd Saving:, That 
 
 jamais Cheval ny Homme, 
 Samenda pour aller cl Rome ; 
 
 Ne'er Horse or Afan did mend, 
 That unto Rome did icend. 
 
 Truly I must confess, that I find myself much better'd by 
 it; for the sight of some of these Ruins did fill me with 
 symptoms of Mortification, and made me more sensible of 
 the frailty of all sublunary things, how all Bodies, as well 
 
 inanimate
 
 86 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 inanimate as animate, are subject to dissolution and change, 
 and everything else under the Moon, except the Love of — 
 Your faithful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 13 Sept. 162 1. 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 To Sir T. H. Knight, ^rom Naples. 
 Sir, 
 
 I AM now in the gentle City of Naples, a City swelling 
 with all Delight, Gallantry and Wealth ; and truly, 
 in my opinion, the King of Spains Greatness appears here 
 more eminently than in Spain itself. This is a delicate 
 luxurious City, fuller of true-bred Cavaliers than any place 
 I saw yet. The Clime is hot, and the Constitutions of the 
 Inhabitants more hot. 
 
 The Neapolitan is accounted the best Courtier of Ladies, 
 and the greatest embracer of Pleasure of any other People: 
 They say there are no less here than twenty thousand Cour- 
 tesans registered in the Office of Savelli. This Kingdom, 
 with Calabria, may be said to be the one moiety of Italy ; 
 it extends itself 450 miles, and spreads in breadth 112; it 
 contains 2700 Towns, it hath 20 Archbishops, 127 Bishops, 
 13 Princes, 24 Dukes, 25 Marquisses, and 800 Barons. 
 There are three Presidial Castles in this City; and tho' 
 the Kingdom abounds in rich staple Commodities, as Silks, 
 Cottons, and Wine, and that there is a mighty Revenue 
 comes to the Crown ; yet the King of Spain, when he casts 
 up his account at the year's end, makes but little benefit 
 thereof^ for it is eaten up betwixt Governors, Garrisons, and 
 Officers. He is forc'd to maintain 4000 Spanish Foot, call'd 
 the Tercia oi Naples ; in the Castles he hath 1600 in per- 
 petual Garrison; he hath a thousand Men of Arms, 450 
 Light-Horse ; besides, there are five Footmen enroll'd for 
 every hundred Fire : And he had need to do all this, to keep 
 this voluptuous People in awe; for the Story musters up 
 seven and twenty famous Rebellions of the Neapolitans in 
 less than 300 years ; but now they pay soundly for it, for 
 
 one
 
 Sect. 1. Familiar Letters. 87 
 
 one shall hear them groan up and down under the Spanish 
 Yoke : And commonly the King of Spain sends some of his 
 Grandees hither to repair their decay'd Fortunes ; whence 
 the Saying sprung, That the Viceroy of Sicily gnaws, the 
 Governor of Milan eats, hut the Viceroy 0/' Naples devours. 
 Our English Merchants here bear a considerable Trade, and 
 their Factors live in better Equipage, and in a more splendid 
 manner than in all Italy besides, than their Masters' and 
 Principals in London; they ruffle in Silks and Sattins, and 
 wear good Spanish Leather-shoes, while their Master's Shoes 
 upon our Exchange in London shine with blacking. At 
 Puzzoli, not far off amongst the Grottes, there are so many 
 strange stupendous things, that Nature herself seem'd to 
 have study'd of purpose how to make herself there admir'd : 
 I reserve the discoursing of them, with the nature of the 
 Tarantola and Manna, which is gather'd here, and nowhere 
 else, with other things, till I see you, for they are fitter for 
 Discourses than a Letter. I will conclude with a Proverb 
 they have in Italy for this People : 
 
 Napolitano 
 
 Largo di bocca, stretto dima7io. 
 
 The Neapolitans 
 
 Have wide Mouths, but fiarrow Hands. 
 
 They make strong mascidine Promises, but female Perfor- 
 mances [for deeds are Men, hut words are IVomen), and if 
 in a wholej'^ootZ of Compliments one find a drop of Reality, 
 'tis well. The first acceptance of a Courtesy is accounted 
 the greatest Incivility that can be amongst them, and a 
 ground for a Quarrel ; as I heard of a German Gentleman 
 that was baffled for accepting only one Invitation to a 
 Dinner. So, desiring to be preserv'd still in your good 
 opinion, and in the rank of your Servants, I rest always 
 most ready — At your disposing, ^ J. H. 
 
 I Octob. 162 1. 
 
 XL
 
 88 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 XL. 
 
 To Christopher Jones, Esq.; at Gray's-Inn ; from Naples. 
 
 Honoured Father, 
 
 I MUST still style you so, since I was adopted your Son 
 by so good a Mother as Oxford: My Mind lately 
 prompted me, that I should commit a great Solecism, if 
 among the rest of my Friends in England I should leave 
 vou unsaluted, whom I love so dearly well, specially havino" 
 such a fair and pregnant opportunity as the hand of this 
 worthy Gentleman your Cousin Morgan, who is now post- 
 ing hence for England. He will tell you how it fares with 
 me; how any time these thirty odd Months I have been 
 toss'd from shore to shore, and pass'd under various Meri- 
 dians, and am now in this voluptuous and luxuriant City of 
 Naples: And tho' these frequent removes and tumblings 
 under Climes of differing Temper were not without some 
 danger, yet the Delight which accompanied them was far 
 greater; and it is impossible for any Man to conceive the 
 true pleasure of Peregrination but he who actually enjoys 
 and puts it in practice. Believe it. Sir, that one year well 
 employ'd abroad by one of mature judgment (which you 
 know I want very much) advantageth more in point of 
 useful and solid Knowledge than three in any of our Uni- 
 versities. You know running Waters are the purest, so thev 
 that traverse the World up and down have the clearest 
 understanding; being faithful eye-witnesses of those things 
 which others receive but in trust, whereunto they must yield 
 an intuitive consent, and a kind of implicit Faith. When I 
 pass'd thro' some parts of Lomhardy, among other things, I 
 observ'd the Physiognomies and Complexions of the People, 
 Men and Women ; and I thought I was in IVales, for divers 
 of them have a cast of countenance and a nearer resem- 
 blance with our Nation than any I ever saw yet: And the 
 reason is obvious ; for the Romans having been near upon 
 three hundred years among us, where they had four Legions 
 
 (before
 
 Sect, I. Familiar Letters. 89 
 
 (before the English Nation or Language had any being) by 
 so long a coalition and tract of time^ the two Nations must 
 needs copulate and mix: insomuch that I beHeve there is 
 yet remaining in IVales many of the Roman Race, and 
 divers in Italy of the British. Among other resemblances, 
 one was in their Prosody, and vein of Versifying or Rhym- 
 ing, which is like our Bards, who hold Agnominations, and 
 enforcing of consonant Words or Syllables one upon the 
 other, to be the greatest Elegance. As, for Example, in 
 IVelsh, Tewgris, todyrris fi/r derryti, gwillt, &c., so have I 
 seen divers old Rhymes in Italiafi running so: Donne, 
 danno, che Felo ajfronto affronta : In selva salvo a me : Pin 
 caro cuore, &c. 
 
 Being lately in Rome, among other Pasguils, I met with 
 one that was against the Scots ; tho' it had some gaul in't, 
 yet it had a great deal of wit, especially towards the Con- 
 clusion : so that I think if K.James saw it, he would but 
 laugh at it. 
 
 As I remember, some years since there was a very abusive 
 Satire in Verse brought to our King; and as the passages 
 were a-reading before him he often said. That if there were 
 no more Men in England, the Rogue should hang for it : 
 At last being come to the Conclusion, which was (after all 
 his Railing) — 
 
 No7c/ God preserve the King, the Queen, the Peers, 
 And grant the Author long may wear his Ears ; 
 
 this pleas'd his Majesty so well, that he broke into a laughter, 
 and said, Bij my sol, so thou shall for me : Thou art a bitter, 
 but thou art a witty Knave. 
 
 When you write to Monmouthshire, I pray send my 
 respects to my Tutor, Master Moor Fortune, and my Service 
 to Sir Charles IVilliams : And accordinc: to that Relation 
 which was 'twixt us at Oxford, I rest — Your constant Son 
 to serve you, J. H. 
 
 8 Octal). 162 1. 
 
 XLI.
 
 90 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 XLT. 
 
 To Sir J. C.,from Florence. 
 Sir, 
 
 THIS Letter comes to kiss your Hands from fair Florence, 
 a Citv so beautiful, that the great Emperor Charles 
 V. said, 77/0/ she wasjitting to he shown and seen only upon 
 Holidays: She marvailously flourisheth with Buildings, with 
 Wealth and Artisans; for it is thought that in Serges, 
 which is but one Connnoditv, there are made two millions 
 every year. All degrees of People live here not onlv well, 
 but splendidly well, notwithstanding the manifold Exactions 
 of the Duke upon all things: P'or none can buy here Lands 
 or Houses, but he must pay eight in the hundred to the 
 Duke; none can hire or build a House, but he must pay 
 the tenth Penny ; none can marry or commence a Suit in 
 Law, but there is a Fee to the Duke ; none can bring as 
 much as an Egg or Sallet to the Market, but the Duke 
 hath share therein. Moreover, Ligorn, which is the Key 
 of Tuscany, being a Maritime and a great Mercantile Town, 
 hath mightily enrich'd this Country, by being a Frank Port 
 to all Comers, and a safe Rendevouz to Pyrates as well as 
 to Merchants. Add hereunto, that the Duke himself in 
 some respect is a Merchant; for he sometimes ingrosseth all 
 the Corn of the Country, and retails it at what rate he 
 pleaseth. This enables the Duke to have perpetually 20,000 
 Men enroll'd, train'd up, and paid, and none but they can 
 carry Arms ; he hath 400 Light-Horse in constant pay, 
 and 100 Men at Arms besides; and all these quarter'd in 
 so narrow a compass, that he can command them all to 
 Florence in twenty-fours hours. He hath twelve Gallies, 
 two Galeons, and six Galeasses besides ; and his Gallies are 
 call'd The Black Fleet, because they annoy the Turk more 
 in the bottom of the Straits than any other. 
 
 This State is bound to keep good quarter with the Pope 
 more than ethers ; for all Tuscany is fenc'd by Nature her- 
 self, I mean with Mountains, except towards the Territories 
 
 of
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 91 
 
 of the Apostolic See, and the Sea itself : therefore it is 
 call'd A Country of Iron. 
 
 The Duke's Palace is so spacious, that it occupieth the 
 room of fifty Houses at least; yet tho' his Court surpasseth 
 the bounds of a Duke's, it reacheth not to the Magnificence 
 of a King's. The Pope was sollicited to make the Grand 
 Duke a King, and he answered. That he was content he 
 should be King in Tuscany, not of Tj/scany ; whereupon 
 one of his Counsellors reply'd, That it was a more glorious 
 thing to be a grand Duke, than a petty King. 
 
 Among other Cities which I desir'd to see in Italy, Genoa 
 was one, where I lately was, and found her to be the proud- 
 est for Buildings of any I met withal ; yet the People go the 
 plainest of any other, and are also most parsimonious in 
 their Diet: they are the subtillest, T will not say the most 
 subdolous Dealers: they are wonderful wealthy, specially in 
 Money. In the year 1600, the King of Spain owed them 
 eighteen Millions, and they say it is double as much now. 
 
 From the time they began to finger the Indian Gold, and 
 that this Town hath been the Scale by which he hath 
 conveyed his Treasure to Flanders, since the Wars in the 
 Netherlands, for the support of his Armies, and that she 
 hath got some Privileges for the exportation of Wools and 
 other Commodities (prohibited to others) out of Spain, she 
 hath improv'd extremely in Riches, and made St. George^s 
 Mount swell hio-her than St. Murli's in Fenice. 
 
 She hath been often ill-favouredly shaken by the Vene- 
 tian, and hath had other Enemies, which have put her to 
 hard shifts for her own defence, specially in the time of 
 Lewis XI. of France ; at which time, when she would have 
 given herself up to him for Protection, K. Lewis being told 
 that Genoa was content to be his, he answer'd, S7/6' should 
 vot be his long, for he would give her 7ip to the Devil, and 
 rid his hands of her. 
 
 Indeed the Genowaies have not the Fortune to be so well 
 belov'd as other People in Italy ; which proceeds, I believe, 
 from their Cunningness and Over-reachintrs in bar<iainin<r, 
 
 wherein
 
 92 
 
 Familiar Letters. BookL 
 
 wherein they have something of the Jew. The Duke is 
 there hut Biennial, being chang'd every two years: He hath 
 fifty Germans for his Guard. There be four Centurions that 
 have two Men a-piece, which upon occasions attend the 
 Signory abroad, in Velvet Coats; there be eight Chief 
 Governors, and four hundred Counsellors, among whom 
 there be five Sovereign Syndics, who have authority to cen- 
 sure the Duke himself, his time being expir'd, and punish 
 any Governor else, tho' after Death, upon the Heir. 
 
 Among other Customs they have in that Town, one is. 
 That none must carry a pointed Knife about him; which 
 makes the Hollander, who is us'd to Snik and Snee, to leave 
 his Horn-sheath and Knife a Ship-hoard when he comes 
 ashore. I met not with an Englishman in all the Town ; nor 
 could I learn of any Factor of ours that ever resided here. 
 
 There is a notable little active Republic towards the 
 midst of Tuscany, call'd Uicca, which in regard she is under 
 the Emperor's Protection, he dares not meddle withal, tho' 
 she lie as a Partridge under a Faulcon's Wings, in relation 
 to the Grand Duke: besides, there is another reason of 
 State, why he meddles not with her, because she is more 
 beneficial to him now that she is free, and more industrious 
 to support this freedom, than if she were become his Vassal ; 
 for then it is probable she would grow more careless and 
 idle, and so could not vent his Commodities so soon, which 
 she buys for ready Money, wherein most of her Wealth 
 consists. There is no State that winds the Penny more 
 nimbly, and makes quicker Returns. 
 
 She hath a Council call'd the DiscuU, which pries into 
 the profession and life of every one, and once a year they 
 rid the State of all Vagabonds: So that this petty pretty 
 Republic may not be improperly parallel'd to a Hive of 
 Bees, which have been always the emblems of Industry and 
 Order. 
 
 In this splendid City of Florence, there be many 
 Rarities, which if I should insert in this Letter, it would 
 make her swell too big; and indeed they are fitted for Parol 
 
 Communication
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 93 
 
 Communication. Here is the prime Dialect of the Italian 
 spoken, tho' the Pronunciation be a Httle more guttural than 
 that of Sienna, and that of the Court oi Rome, which occa- 
 sions the Proverb : 
 
 Lingua Tosca^ia in hocca Romana. 
 
 The Tuscan Tongue sounds best in a Roman Mouth. 
 
 The People here generally seem to be more generous, and 
 of a higher comportment than elsewhere, very cautious 
 and circumspect in their Negotiation ; whence ariseth the 
 Proverb : 
 
 Chi ha da far con Tosco, 
 Non bisogfia che sia Losco. 
 
 Who dealeth tvith a Florentine, 
 Must have the use of both his Efn. 
 
 I shall bid Italy farewell now very shortly, and make my 
 way o'er the Alps to France, and so home by God's Grace, 
 to make a review of my Friends in England; among whom 
 the sight of yourself will be as gladsome to me as of any 
 other: for I profess myself, and purpose to be ever — Your 
 thrice affectionate Servitor, J. H. 
 
 I Nov. 1621, 
 
 XLTI. 
 
 To Capt. Francis Bacon, from Turin. 
 Sir, 
 
 I AM now upon point of shaking hands with Italy ; for I 
 am come to Turin, having already seen Venice the 
 rich, Padua the Learned, Bologna the Fat, Rome the Holy, 
 Naples the Gentle, Genoa the Proud, Florence the Fair, and 
 Milan the Great; from this last I came hither, and in that 
 City also appears the Grandeur of Spain's Monarchy very 
 much: The Governor of Milan is always Captain-General 
 of the Cavalry to the King of Spain throughout Italy. The 
 Duke of Feria is now Governor; and being brought to kiss 
 his Hands, he us'd me with extraordinary Respect, as he 
 doth all of our Nation, bv being by maternal Side a Dormer. 
 
 The
 
 94 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book I . 
 
 The Spaniard entertains there also 3000 Foot, 1000 Light- 
 Horse, and 600 Men at Arms in perpetual Pay ; so that I 
 believe the Benefit of that Dutchy also, tho' seated in the 
 richest Soil of Italy, hardly countervails the Charge. Three 
 Things are admir'd in Milan, the Dome or great Church 
 (built all of white Marble, within and without), the Hospital, 
 and the Castle, by which the Citadel of Antwerp was traced, 
 and is the best-condition'd Fortress of Christendom; tho' 
 Nova Palma, a late Fortress of the Venetian, would go 
 beyond it; which is built according to the exact Rules of 
 the most modern Enginry, being of a round Form, with 
 nine Bastions, and a Street level to every Bastion. 
 
 The Duke of Savoy, tho' he pass for one of the Princes of 
 Italy, yet the least Part of his Territories lie there, being 
 squander'd up and down amongst the Alps; but as much 
 as he hath in Italy, which is Piedjnont, is as well peopled, 
 and passing good Country. 
 
 The Duke of Savoy, Emanuel, is accounted to be of the 
 antientest and purest Extraction of any Prince in Europe ; 
 and his Knights also of the Annunciade to be one of the 
 antientest Orders : tho' this present Duke be little in Stature, 
 yet he is of a lofty Spirit, and one of the best Soldiers now 
 living; and tho' he be valiant enough, yet he knows how to 
 patch the Lion's Skin with the Fox's Tail. And whosoever 
 is Duke of Savoy had need be cunning, and more than any 
 other Prince ; in regard, that lying between two potent 
 Neighbours, the French and the Spaniard, he must comply 
 with both. 
 
 Before I wean myself from Italy, a Word or two touching 
 the Genius of the Nation. I find the Italian a Degree 
 higher in Compliment than the French; he is longer and 
 more grave in the Delivery of it, and more prodigal of 
 Words; insomuch, that if one were to be worded to death, 
 Italian is the fittest Language, in regard of the Fluency and 
 Softness of it : for thro'out the whole Body of it, you have 
 not a Word ends with a Consonant, except fome few mono- 
 syllable Conjunctions and Prepositions^ and this renders the 
 
 Speech
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 95 
 
 Speech more smooth ; which made one say. That when the 
 Confusion of Tongues happen'd at the building oj" the Tower 
 of Babel, {'/' the ItaHan had been there, Nimrod had rnade 
 him a Plaisterer. They are generally indulgent of them- 
 selves, and great Embracers of Pleasure, which may proceed 
 from the luscious rich Wines, and luxurious Food, Fruits, 
 and Roots, wherewith the Country abounds; insomuch, 
 that in some Places, Nature may be said to be, Lena sui, 
 A Bawd to herself. The Cardinal de Mediciss Rule is 
 of much Authority among them, That there is no Religion 
 under the Navel. And some of them are of the Opinion ot 
 the Asians, who hold, that touching those natural Passions, 
 Desires, and Motions, which run up and down in the Blood, 
 God Almighty, and his Handmaid Nature, did not intend 
 they should be a Torment to us, but be used with Comfort 
 and Delight. To conclude, in Italy there be Virtutes magncB, 
 nee minora Fitia ; Great Virtues, and no less Vices. 
 
 So, with a Tender of my most affectionate Respects unto 
 you, I rest — Your humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 30 IVov. 162 1. 
 
 XLIII. 
 
 To Sir J. H.jfrom Lions. 
 Sir, 
 
 I AM now got over the Alps, and return'd to France ; T 
 had crossed and clambered up the Pyreneans to Spain 
 before; they are not so high and hideous as the Alps; but 
 for our Mountains in JValcs, as Eppint and Penwinmaur, 
 which are so much cry'd up among us, they are Molehills 
 in comparison of these ; they are but Pigmies compar'd to 
 Giants, but Blisters compar'd to Lnposthumes, or Pimples 
 to I'Varts. Besides, our Mountains in IVales bear alway 
 something useful to Man or Beast, some Grass at least ; 
 but these uncouth huge monstrous Excrescences of Nature 
 bear nothing (most of them) but craggy Stones : the Tops 
 of some of them arc blanched over all the Year lone; with 
 Snows; and the People who dwell in the Valleys, drinking, 
 
 for
 
 96 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book I. 
 
 for want of other, this Snow-Water, are subject to a strange 
 Swelling in the Throat, called Goijtre, which is common 
 among them. 
 
 As I scal'd the Alps, my Thoughts reflected upon Hanni- 
 bal, who with Vinegar and Strong Waters did eat out a 
 Passage thro' those Hills; but of late Years they have found 
 a speedier Way to do it by Gunpowder. 
 
 Being at Ttirin, I was by some Disaster brought to an 
 extreme low Ebb in Money, so that I was forced to foot it 
 along with some Pilgrims, and with gentle Pace and easy 
 Journeys, to climb up those Hills, till I came to this Town 
 of Lions, where a Countryman of ours, one Mr. Lewis, 
 whom I knew in Alicant, lives Factor; so that now I want 
 not anything for my Accommodation. 
 
 This is a stately rich Town, and a renowned Mart for 
 the Silks of Italy, and other Levantiiie Commodities, and a 
 great Bank for Money, and indeed the greatest of France. 
 Before this Bank was founded, which was by Henry I., 
 France had but little Gold and Silver ; insomuch that we 
 read how YIAng John, their Captive King, could not in four 
 Years raise sixty thousand Crowns to pay his Ransom to 
 our Kino- Edward : And St. Lewis was in the same Case 
 when he was Prisoner in Egypt, where he had left the 
 Sacrament for a Gage. But after this Bank was erected, 
 it fill'd France full of Money; they of Lucca, Florence, and 
 Genoa, with the Venetian, got quickly over the Hills, and 
 brought their Moneys hither, to get Twelve in the Hundred 
 Profit; which was the Interest at first, tho' it be now much 
 lower. 
 
 In this great mercantil Town there be two deep navi- 
 gable Rivers, the Rhone and the Sone ; the one hath a swift 
 rapid Course, the other slow and smooth : And one Day, 
 as I walk'd upon their Banks, and observed so much Differ- 
 ence in their Course, I fell into a Contemplation of the 
 Humours of the French and Spaniard, how they might be 
 not improperly compar'd to these Rivers ; the French to the 
 swift, the Spaniard to the slow River. 
 
 I
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 97 
 
 I shall write you no more Letters, until I present myself 
 to you for a speaking Letter^ which I shall do as soon as I 
 may tread London Stones. — Your affectionate Servitor, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 6 JVov. 162 1. 
 
 XLIV. 
 
 To Mr. Tho. Bowyer,y/om Lions. 
 
 BEING so near the Lake of Geneva, Curiosity would 
 carry any one to see it: The Inhabitants of that 
 Town, methinks, are made of another Paste, differing from 
 the affable Nature of those People I had convers'd withal 
 formerly; they have one Policy, lest that their petty Re- 
 public should be pester'd with Fugitives; their Law is, That 
 ivhat Stranger soever Jlies thither for Sanctuanj, he is punish- 
 able there in the same Degree as in the Country where he 
 committed the Offence. 
 
 Geneva is govern'd by four Syndics, and four hundred 
 Senators: She lies like a Bone 'twixt three Mastiffs, the 
 Emperor, the French King, and the Duke of Savoy: they 
 all three look upon the Bone, but neither of them dare touch 
 it singly, for fear the other two would fly upon him. But 
 they say the Savoyard hath the justest Title ; for there are 
 Imperial Records extant. That altho' the Bishops of Geneva 
 luere Lords Spiritual and Temporal, yet they should acknow- 
 ledge the Duke of Savoy for their Superior. This Man's 
 Ancestors went frequently to the Town, and the Keys were 
 presently tcnder'd to them. But since Calvifi's Time, who 
 had been once banish'd, and then call'd in again, which 
 made him to apply that Speech to himself. That the Stone 
 luhich the Builders refused is become the Head-stone of the 
 Corner ; I say, since they were refin'd by Calvin, they seem 
 to shun and scorn all the World besides, bein<>; cast, as it 
 were, into another Mould, which hath quite alter'd their 
 very natural Disposition in point of Moral Societv. 
 
 Before I part with this famous City of Lions, I will relate 
 to you a wonderful strange Accident that happcn'd here 
 
 G not
 
 98 Familiar Letters. Book /. 
 
 not many Years ago. There is an Officer call'd Le Cheva- 
 lier du Guet, who is a kind of Night-guard here, as well as 
 in Paris ; and his Lieutenant, called Jaquette, having supp'd 
 one Night in a rich Merchant's House, as he was passing 
 the Round afterwards, he said, / ivonder what I have eaten 
 and drank at the Merchant's Honse, for I find myself so hot, 
 that if I meet with the Devil's Dam to-night, I should not 
 forbear using of her. Hereupon, a little after, he overtook 
 a young Gentlewoman mask'd, whom he would needs usher 
 to her Lodging, but discharged all his Watch, except two ; 
 she brought him, to his thinking, to a little low Lodging 
 hard by the City- Wall, where there were only two Rooms: 
 and after he had enjoy'd her, he desir'd that, according to 
 the Custom of French Gentlemen, his two Comrades might 
 partake also of the same Pleasure ; so she admitted them 
 one after the other: And when all this was done, as they 
 sat together, she told them, if they knew who she was, none 
 of them would have vcntur'd upon her ; thereupon she 
 whistled three times, and all vanish'd. The next Morning, 
 the two Soldiers that had gone with Lieutenant faqiiette 
 were found dead under the City-Wall, amongst the Ordure 
 and Excrements, and Jaquette himself a little way off half- 
 dead, who was taken up, and coming to himself again, con- 
 fess'd all this, but dy'd presently after. 
 
 The next Week I am to go down the Loire towards Paris, 
 and thence as soon as I can for England, where, among the 
 rest of my Friends, whom I so much long to see after this 
 triennial Separation, you are like to be one of my first 
 Objects. \i\ the meantime I wish the same Happiness mav 
 attend you at home as I desire to attend me hojneward ; for 
 I am — Truly yours, J. H. 
 
 5 Dec. 162 1. 
 
 Section 
 
 II
 
 Section II. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I. 
 
 To my Father. 
 
 IT hath pleased God, after almost three years' Peregri- 
 nation by Land and Sea, to bring me back safelv to 
 London; but altho' I am come safely, I am come sickly: 
 For when I landed in Venice, after so Ions; a Sea-Vovacre 
 from Spain, I was afraid the same Defluxion of salt Rheum 
 which fell from my Temples into my Throat in Oxford, and 
 distilling upon the Uvula impeach'd my Utterance a little 
 to this day, had found the same channel again ; which 
 caused me to have an Issue made in my Left Arm for the 
 Diversion of the Humour. I was well ever after till I came 
 to Rouen, and there I fell sick of a Pain in the Head, which, 
 with the Issue, I have carry'd with me to England. Dr. 
 Harvey, who is my Physician, tells me, that it may turn 
 to a Consumption, therefore he hath stopped the Issue, 
 telling me there is no danger at all in it, in regard I have 
 not worn it a full twelvemonth. My Brother, I thank 
 him, hath been very careful of me in this my sickness, and 
 hath come often to visit me : I thank God I have pass'd 
 the brunt of it, and am recovering and picking up my 
 Crums apace. There is a flaunting French Ambassador 
 come over lately, and I believe his Errand is nought else 
 but Compliment ; for the King of France being lately at 
 Calais, and so in sight of England, he sent his Ambassador, 
 M. Cadenet, expresly to visit our King: He had Audience 
 two days since, where he, with his Train of ruflling long- 
 hair'd Monsieurs, carry'd himself in such a light Garb, that 
 after the Audience the King ask'd my Lord Keeper Bacon 
 what he thought of the French Ambassador: He answcr'd, 
 That he was a tall proper Man. Ay, his Majesty rcply'd, 
 
 but
 
 100 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 but what think you of his Head-piece ? Is he a proper 
 Man for the Office of an Ambassador? Sir, said Bacon, 
 Tall Men are like high Houses of four or jive Stories, 
 wherein comvionly the uppermost Room is worst J'urnish'd. 
 
 So, desiring my Brothers and Sisters^ with the rest of my 
 Cousins and Friends in the Country, may be acquainted 
 with my safe return to England, and that you would please 
 to let me hear from you by the next Conveniency, I rest — 
 Your dutiful Son, J. H. 
 
 Lond., 2 Feb. 162 1. 
 
 II. 
 To Rich. Altham, Esq. ; at Norberry. 
 
 ^ALVE pars animce dimidiata mece ; Hail, half my Soul, 
 my dear Dick, &c. I was no sooner return'd to the 
 sweet Bosom of England, and had breath'd the Smoke of 
 this Town, but my Memory ran suddenly on you ; the Idea 
 of you hath almost ever since so fill'd up and engross'd my 
 Imagination, that I can think on nothing else ; the Love 
 of you swells both in my Breast and Brain with such a 
 pregnancy, that nothing can deliver me of this violent 
 high Passion but the sight of you : Let me despair if I lye, 
 there was never Female long'd more after anything by 
 reason of her growing Emhryon than I do for your Presence. 
 Thereft)re I pray you make haste to save my Longing, and 
 tantalize me no longer ('tis but three hours' riding), for the 
 sight of you will be more precious to me than any one 
 Object I have seen (and I have seen many rare ones) in 
 all my three years' Travel ; and if you take this for a Com- 
 pliment (because I am newly come from France) you arc 
 much mistaken in — Yours, J. H. 
 
 Lond., I Feb. 162 1. 
 
 HI. 
 To D. Caldwall, E^^. ; at Battersay. 
 
 My dear Dan, 
 
 I AM come at last to London, but not without some 
 danger, and thro' divers difficulties; for I fell sick in 
 
 France,
 
 Sect. 2. Familiar Letters. ioi 
 
 France, and came so over to Kent : And my Journey from 
 the Seaside hither was more tedious to me than from 
 Rome to Rouen, where I grew first indisposed ; and in good 
 faith, I cannot remember anything to this hour how I 
 came from Gravesend hither, I was so stupify'd, and had 
 lost the knowledge of all things; but I am come to myself 
 indifferently well since, I thank God for it, and you cannot 
 imao;ine how much the Sis^ht of you, much more vour 
 Society, would revive me : Your Presence would be a 
 Cordial to me more restorative than exalted Gold, more 
 precious than the Powder of Pearl ; whereas your Absence, 
 if it continue long, will prove to me like the dust of 
 Diamonds, which is incurable Poison. I pray be not 
 accessary to my death, but hasten to comfort your so long 
 weather-beaten Friend — Yours, J. H. 
 
 Zond., I Fe/?. 162 1. 
 
 IV. 
 
 To Sir James Crofts, at the Lord Darcy's in St. Osith. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I AM got again safely to this side of the Sea, and tho' I 
 was in a very sickly case when I first arriv'd, yet 
 thanks be to God I am upon point of perfect recovery, 
 whereunto the suckins; in of Ensrlish Air, and the siffht of 
 some Friends, conduc'd not a little. 
 
 There is fearful News come from Germany ; you know 
 how tlie Bohemians shook off the Emperor's Yoke, and how 
 the great Council of Prague fell to such a hurly-burly, that 
 some of the Imperial Counsellors were hurl'd out at the 
 Windows : You heard also, I doubt not, how they offer'd the 
 Crown to the Duke of Saxony, and he waving it, they sent 
 Ambassadors to the Palsgrave, whom thev thought might 
 prove par negotio, and to be able to go thro' stitch with the 
 work, in regard of his powerful Alliance, the King of Great 
 Britain being his Father-in-Law, the K. of Denmark, the 
 Pr. of Orange, the Marq. of Urandenbnrg, the D. of Bouil- 
 lon his Uncles, the States of Holland his Confederates, the 
 
 French
 
 I02 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 French King his Friend, and the D. of Brunswick his near 
 Ally : The Prince Palsgrave made some difficulty at first, 
 and most of his Counsellors oppos'd it ; others incited him 
 to it, and among other hortatives, they told him, That if 
 he had the Courage to venture upon a King of England's 
 sole Daughter, he might very well venture upon a sovereign 
 Crown ivlien it was tenderd him. Add hereunto, that the 
 States of Hollanddid mainly advance the Work, and there 
 was good reason in policy for it; for their twelve years' 
 Truce being then upon point of expiring with Spain, and 
 finding our King so wedded to Peace, that nothing could 
 divorce him from it, they lighted upon this design to make 
 him draw his Sword, and engage him against the House of 
 Austria for the defence of his sole Daughter and his Grand- 
 children. What his Majesty will do hereafter I will not 
 presume to foretell ; but hitherto he hath given little counte- 
 nance to the business, nay he utterly mislik'd it at first; for 
 whereas Dr. Hall gave the Prince Palsgrave the title of 
 K. of Bohemia in his Pulpit-Prayer, he had a check for his 
 pains; for I heard his Majesty should say. That there is an 
 implicit Tie among Kings, which obligeth them, tho' there 
 be no other interest or particular engagement, to stick to 
 and right one another upon an insurrection of Subjects; 
 therefore he had more reason to be against the Bohemians 
 than to adhere to them in the deposition of their Sovereign 
 Prince. The King; of Denmark sino;s the same Note, nor 
 will he also allow him the appellation of King, But the 
 fearful News I told you of at the beginning of this Letter 
 is, that there are fresh Tidino-s brouijht how the Prince 
 Palsgrave had a well-appointed Army of about 25,000 
 Horse and Foot near Prague ; but the Duke of Bavaria came 
 with scarce half the Number, and notwithstandins: his Ions: 
 March, gave them a sudden Battle, and utterly routed 
 them : Insomuch that the new King of Bohemia, having not 
 worn the Crown a whole twelvemonth, was forc'd to fiy 
 with his Queen and Children; and after many Difficulties, 
 they write, that they are come to the Castle of Castrein, 
 
 the
 
 Sect. 2. Familiar Letters. 103 
 
 the Duke of Brandenburg's Country, his Uncle. This News 
 affects both Court and City here with much heaviness. 
 
 I send you my humble thanks for the noble Correspon- 
 dence you were pleased to hold with me Abroad -, and I 
 desire to know by the next when you come to London, 
 that I may have the comfort of the sight of you, after so 
 long an Absence — Your true Servitor, J. H. 
 
 I Mar. 1 62 1. 
 
 V. 
 
 To Dr. Fr. Mansell, at All-Souls' in Oxford. 
 
 I AM rcturn'd safe from my foreign Employment, from 
 my three years' Travel; I did my best to make what 
 Advantage I could of the time, tho' not so much as I 
 should ; for I find that Peregrination (well us'd) is a very 
 profitable School ; it is a running Academy, and nothing 
 conduceth more to the building up and perfecting of a Man. 
 Your honourable Uncle Sir Robert Manscl, who is now in 
 the Mediterranean, hath been very notable to me, and I 
 shall ever acknowledge a good part of my Education from 
 him. He hath melted vast Sums of Money in the Glass- 
 business, a Business indeed more proper for a Merchant than 
 a Courtier. I heard the King should say, That he wonder'd 
 Robin Mansel, being a Seaman, whereby he hath got so 
 much Honour, should fall from IVater to tamper with Fire, 
 which are two contrary Elements. My Father fears that 
 this Glass-employment will be too brittle a Foundation for 
 me to build a Fortune upon ; and Sir Robert being now at 
 my coming back so far at Sea, and his Return uncertain, 
 my Father hath advis'd me to hearken after some other 
 Condition. I attempted to go Secretary to Sir John Ayres 
 to Constantinople, but I came too late. You have got your- 
 self a great deal of good Reputation by the voluntary 
 Resignation you made of the Principality oi Jesus College 
 to Sir Eubnle Theolall, in hope that he will be a consider- 
 able Benefactor to it. I pray God he perform what he 
 
 promiseth
 
 104 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 promiseth, and that he be not over-partial to North-Wales 
 Men. Now that I give you the first Summon, I pray you 
 make me happy with your Correspondence by Letters; 
 there is no Excuse or Lnpediment at all left now, for you 
 are sure where to find me; whereas I was a Landloper, as 
 the Dutchman saith, a wanderer, and subject to incertain 
 removes, and short sojourns in divers places before. So, with 
 Apprecation of all Happiness to you here and hereafter, I 
 rest — At your friendly dispose, J. H. 
 
 5 Afa?\ 1618. 
 
 VI. 
 
 To Sir Eubule Theolall, Knight, and Principal of 
 Jesus College in Oxford. 
 Sir, 
 
 I SEND you most due and humble thanks, that notwith- 
 standing I have play'd the truant, and been absent so 
 long from Oxford, you have been pleas'd lately to make 
 choice of me to be Fellow of your new Foundation in Jesus 
 College, whereof I was once a Member. As the quality of 
 my Fortunes, and course of Life, run now, I cannot make 
 present use of this your great Favour, or Promotion rather; 
 yet I do highly value it, and humbly accept of it, and 
 intend by your Permission to reserve and lay it by, as a 
 good warm Garment, against rough Weather, if any fall 
 on me. With this my expression of Thankfulness, I do 
 congratulate the great honour you have purchas'd both 
 by your own beneficence, and by your painful endeavour, 
 besides, to perfect that national College, which hereafter is 
 like to be a Monument of your Fame, as well as a Semin- 
 ary of Learning, and will perpetuate your Memory to all 
 Posterity. 
 
 God Almighty prosper and perfect your undertakings, and 
 provide for you in Heaven those rewards which such publick 
 works of Piety use to be crown'd withal ; it is the Appreca- 
 tion of — Your truly devoted Servitor, J. H. 
 
 London^ idibus Mar. 1621. 
 
 VH.
 
 Sect. 2. Familiar Letters. 105 
 
 VII. 
 
 To my Father. 
 Sir, 
 
 ACCORDING to the Advice you sent me in your last, 
 while I sought after a new course of Employment, a 
 new Employment hath lately sought after me ; my Lord 
 Savage hath two young Gentlemen to his Sons^ and I am 
 to go travel with them : Sir James Crofts (who so much 
 respects you) was the main Agent in this business, and I 
 am to go shortly to Long-Melford in Suffolk, and thence 
 to St. Osith in Essex to the Lord Darcii. O. Anne is latelv 
 dead of a Dropsy in Denmark-House ; which is held to be 
 one of the fatal Events that followed the last fearful Comet 
 that rose in the Tail of the Constellation of Virgo; which 
 some Ignorant Astronomers that write of it would fix in 
 the Heavens, and that as far above the Orb of the Moon 
 as the Moon is from the Earth : but this is nothing in com- 
 parison of those hideous Fires that are kindled in Germany, 
 blown first by the Bohemians, which is like to be a War 
 without end ; for the whole House of Austria is interested 
 in the Quarrel, and it is not the custom of that House to 
 set by any Affront^ or forget it quickly. Q. Anne left a 
 world of brave Jewels behind, but one Piero, an outlandish 
 Man, who had the keeping of them, embezzled many, and 
 is run away ; she left all she had to Prince Charles, whom 
 she ever lov'd best of all her Children ; nor do I hear of 
 any Legacy she left at all to her Daughter in Germany : 
 for that Match, some say, lessen'd something of her Affec- 
 tion towards her ever since, so that she would often call 
 her Goodv Palsgrave : nor could she abide Secretary Win- 
 wood ever after, who was one of the chiefest instruments 
 to bring that Match about, as also for the rendition of 
 the Cautionary Towns in the Low Conntries, Flushing and 
 Brill, with the Rammakins. I was lately with Sir John 
 Walter and others of your Counsel about Law-business; 
 and some of them told me that Master J. Lloyd, your 
 
 Adversary,
 
 io6 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 Adversary, is one of the shrewdest Solicitors in all the 
 thirteen Shires of Wales, being so habituated to Law-suits 
 and Wrangling, that he knows any of the least starting- 
 holes in every Court: I could wish you had made a fair 
 end with him ; for besides the cumber and trouble, especially 
 to those that dwell at such a huge distance from West- 
 minster-Hall as you do, Law is a shrewd Pick-purse, and 
 the Lawyer, as I heard one say wittily not long since, 
 is like a Christmas-box, which is sure to get, whosoever 
 loseth. 
 
 So, with the continuance of my due and daily Prayers 
 for your health; with my love to my Brothers and Sisters, 
 I rest — Your dutiful Son, J. H. 
 
 20 Mar. 1618. 
 
 VIIL 
 
 To Dan. Caldwall, Esq. ; from the Lord Savage's House 
 
 in Long-Melford. 
 My dear Dan, 
 
 THO', considering my former condition of Life, I may 
 now be call'd a Countryman, yet you cannot call 
 me a Rustic (as you would imply in your Letter) as long 
 as I live in so civil and noble a Family, as long as I lodo-e 
 in so vertuous and regular a House as any I believe in the 
 Land, both for oeconomicall Government, and the choice 
 Company; for I never saw yet such a dainty Race of 
 Children in all mv life totjether ; I never saw yet such an 
 orderly and punctual attendance of Servants, nor a great 
 House so neatly kept ; here one shall see no dog, nor a cat, 
 nor cage to cause any nastiness within the body of the 
 House. The Kitchen and Gutters and other Offices of 
 noise and drudgery are at the fag-end ; there's a Back-gate 
 for the Beg2;ars and the meaner sort of Swains to come in 
 
 OCT 
 
 at ; the Stables butt upon the Park, which, for a chearful 
 rising Ground, for Groves and Browsings for the Deer, for 
 rivulets of Water, may compare with any for its highness 
 in the whole Land ; it is opposite to the front of the great 
 
 House,
 
 Sect. 2. Familiar Letters. 107 
 
 House, whence from the Gallery one may see much of the 
 Game when they are a-hunting. Now for the Gardening 
 and costly choice Flowers, for Ponds, for stately large 
 Walks, green and gravelly^ for Orchards and choice Fruits 
 of all sorts, there are few the like in England: here you 
 have your Bon Christian Pear and Bergamot in perfection, 
 your Muscadi'll Grapes in such plenty, that there are some 
 Bottles of Wine sent every year to the King; and one Mr. 
 Daniel, a worthy Gentleman hard by, who hath been long 
 abroad, makes good store in his Vintage. Truly this House 
 of Long-Melford, tho' it be not so great, yet it is so well 
 compacted and contriv'd with such dainty Conveniences 
 every way, that if you saw the Landskip of it, you would 
 be mightily taken with it, and it would serve for a choice 
 Pattern to build and contrive a House by. If you come 
 this Summer to your Manor of Sheriff n\ Essex, you will 
 not be far off hence; if your occasions will permit, it will 
 be worth your coming hither, tho' it be only to see him 
 who would think it a short Journey to go from St. David's- 
 Head to Dover Cliffs to see and serve vou, were there occa- 
 sion : If you would know who the same is, ^tis — Yours, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 20 May 16 19. 
 
 IX. 
 
 To Robert Brown, Esq. 
 Sir, 
 
 'T^ HJNKS for one Courtesy is a good Usher to l>ring on 
 another; therefore it is my Policv at this time to 
 thank you most heartily for your late copious Letter, to 
 draw on a second : I say, I thank you a thousand times 
 over for yours of the 3d of this present, which abounded 
 with such variety of News, and ample well-couch'd Rela- 
 tions, that I made many Friends by it; yet I am sorrv for 
 the quality of some of your News, that Sir Robert Mansel 
 being now in the Mediterranean with a considerable naval 
 strength of ours against the Moors, to do the Spaniard a 
 pleasure. Marquis Spinola should, in a hogling wav, change 
 
 his
 
 io8 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 his Master for the time, and taking Commission from the 
 Emperor, become his Servant for invading the Palatinate 
 with the Forces of the King of Spain in the Netherlands. 
 I am sorry also the Princes of the Union should be so 
 stupid as to suffer him to take Oppenheim by a Parthia?i 
 kind of back Stratagem, in appearing before the Town, and 
 making semblance afterwards to go to IVorms ; and then 
 perceiving the Forces of the United Provinces, to go for 
 succouring of that, to turn back and take the Town he 
 intended first, whereby I fear he will be quickly master of 
 the rest. Surely I believe there may be some treachery in't, 
 and that the Marquis of Anspach, the General, was over- 
 come by Pistols made of Indian Ingots, rather than of Steel ; 
 else an Army of 40,000, which he had under his Command, 
 might have made its Party good against Spinolas less than 
 20,000, tho' never such choice Veterans. But what will 
 not Gold do ? It will make a Pigmy too hard for a Giant. 
 There's no fence or fortress against an Ass laden luith Gold. 
 It was the saying, you know, of his Father, whom partial 
 and ignorant Antiquity cries up to have conquer'd the 
 World, and that he sigh'd there were no more Worlds to 
 conquer, tho' he had never one of the three old parts of the 
 then known World entirely to himself. I desire to know 
 what is become of that handful of Men his Majesty sent to 
 Germany under Sir Horace Fere, which he was bound to 
 do, as he is one of the Protestant Princes of the Unioji ; 
 and what's become of Sir Arthur Chichester, who is gone 
 Ambassador to those Parts ? 
 
 Dear Sir, I pray make me happy still with your Letters ; 
 it is a mighty pleasure for us Country-folks to hear how 
 matters pass in London and Abroad : You know I have not 
 the Opportunity to correspond with you in like kind, but 
 may happily hereafter when the tables are turn'd, when I 
 am in London, and you in the West. Whereas you are 
 desirous to hear how it fares with me, I pray know that I 
 live in one of the noblest Houses and best Air of England: 
 There is a dainty Park adjoining, where I often wander up 
 
 and
 
 Sect. 2. Familiar Letters. 109 
 
 and down, and I have mv several Walks. I make one to 
 represent the Royal Exdiange, the other the middle Isle of 
 Paul's, another VVeshniiiister-hall : and when I pass thro' 
 the herd of Deer, methinks I am in Cheapside. So, with a 
 full return of the same measure of Love as you pleas'd to 
 send me, I rest — Yours, J. H. 
 
 24 May 1622. 
 
 X. 
 
 To R. Altham, Esq. ; from St. Osith. 
 Sir, 
 
 LIFE itself is not so dear to me as your Friendship, nor 
 -y Virtue in her best Colours as precious as your Love, 
 which was lately so lively pourtray'd unto me in yours of 
 the 5th of this present. Methinks your Letter was like a 
 piece of Tissue richly embroider'd with rare Flowers up and 
 down, with curious Representations, and Landskips: Albeit 
 I have as much stuff as you of this kind (I mean matter of 
 Love), vet I want such a Loom to work it upon ; I cannot 
 draw it to such a curious Web; therefore vou must be 
 content with homely Polldavie Ware from me, for you 
 must not expect from us Country-folks such Urbanities and 
 quaint Invention, that you, who are daily conversant with 
 the Wits of the Court, and of the Inns of Court, abound 
 withal. 
 
 Touching your Intention to travel beyond the Seas the 
 next Spring, and the Intimation you make how happy you 
 would be in my Company ; I let you know that I am glad 
 of the one, and much thank you for the other, and will 
 think upon it, but I cannot resolve yet upon anvthing. I 
 am now here at the Earl Rivers\ a noble and great-knowing 
 Lord, who hath seen much of the World abroad ; mv Lady 
 Savage, his Daughter, is also here with divers of her Chil- 
 dren : I hope this Hilarjj Term to be merry in London, 
 and among other to re-enjoy your Conversation principally, 
 for I esteem the society of no soul upon Earth more than 
 yours: Till then I bid you farewell, and as the Season 
 
 invites
 
 no Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 invites me, I wish you a merry Christmas, resting — Yours 
 while J. Howell. 
 
 20 Dec. 1622. 
 
 XL 
 
 To Captain Tho. Porter^ iLpoii his Return from Algier 
 
 Voyage. 
 Noble Captain, 
 
 I CONGRATULATE your safe Return from the Straits, 
 but am sorry you were so streightned in your Commis- 
 sion, that you could not attempt what such a brave naval 
 Powerof twenty Men of War, such a gallant General, and other 
 choice knowing Commanders might have perform'd, if they 
 had had Line enouo-h. I know the Lightness and Nimble- 
 ness of Algier Ships ; when I liv'd lately in Alicant and 
 other places upon the Mediterranean, we should every 
 Week hear some of them chas'd, but very seldom taken ; 
 for a great Ship following one of them, may be said to be 
 as a Mastiff D02; runninsr after a Hare. I wonder the 
 Spaniard came short of the promis'd Supply for furtherance 
 of that noble adventurous Design you had to fire the Ships 
 and Gallies in Algiers Road : And according to the Rela- 
 tion you pleas'd to send me, it was one of the bravest Enter- 
 prizes, and had prov'd such a glorious Exploit that no Story 
 could have parallel'd ; but it seems their Hoggies, Magi- 
 cians, and Marihots were tampering with the ill Spirits of 
 the Air all the while, which brought down such a still 
 Cataract of Rain-waters suddenly upon you, to hinder the 
 working of your Fire-works ; such a Disaster the Story tells 
 us, befell Charles the Emperor, but far worse than yours, for 
 he lost Ships and multitudes of Men, who were made Slaves, 
 but you came off with loss of eight Men only, and Algier is 
 anotherghess thing now than she was then, being I believe 
 an hundred degrees stronger by Land and Sea; and for the 
 latter strength we may thank our Countryman Ward, and 
 Danskey the Butterbag Hollander, who may be said to have 
 been two of the fatalest and most infamous Men that ever 
 
 Christendom
 
 Sect. 2. Familiar Letters, hi 
 
 Christendom bred ; for the one taking all Englishmen, and 
 the other all Dutchmen, and bringing the Ships and Ord- 
 nance to Algier, they may be said to have been the chief 
 raisers of those Picaroons to be Pirates, who are now come to 
 that height of strength, that they daily endamage and affront 
 all Christendom. When I consider all the circumstances 
 and success of this vour Vovaffe, when I consider the nar- 
 rowness of your Commission, which was as lame as the 
 Clerk that kept it; when I find that you secur'd the Seas 
 and Traffick all the while, for I did not hear of one Ship 
 taken while you were abroad ; when I hear how vou brought 
 back all the Fleet without the least disgrace or damage by 
 Foe or foul Weather to any Ship; I conclude, and so do 
 far better Judgments than mine, that you did what possibly 
 could be done: let those that repine at the one in the 
 hundred (which was impos'd upon all the Levant Merchants 
 for the support of this Fleet) mutter what they will, that 
 you went first to Gravesend, then to the Land's- end, and 
 after to no end. 
 
 I have sent you for your welcome home (in part) two 
 Barrels of Colchester Oysters, which were provided for my 
 Lord Colchester himself; therefore T presume they are good, 
 and all green-finn'd ; I shall shortly follow, but not to stay 
 long in England, for I think I must over again speedily to 
 push on my Fortunes : So, my dear Tom, I am de todas mis 
 entranas, from the center of my heart, I am — Yours, 
 
 J.H. 
 
 S^. Osith, Dec. 1622. 
 
 XII. 
 
 To my Father, upon my second going to travel. 
 Sir, 
 
 I AM lately return'd to London, having been all this 
 while in a very noble Family in the Country, where I 
 found far greater Respects than I deserv'd; I was to go 
 with two of my Lord Savage's Sons to travel, but finding 
 mvself too younti; for such a Charofe, and our Religion 
 diflfering, I have now made choice to go over Comrade to 
 
 a
 
 I 12 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book I. 
 
 a very worthy Gentleman, Baron Althain' s Son, whom I 
 knew in Staines, when my Brother was there. Truly, I 
 hold him to be one of the hopefulest young Men of this 
 Kincrdom for Parts and Person ; he is full of excellent solid 
 Knowledge, as the Mathematics, the Law, and other mate- 
 rial Studies : besides, I should have been ty'd to have staid 
 three years abroad in the other Employment at least, but 
 I hope to get back from this by God's Grace before a Year 
 be at an end, at which time I hope the Hand of Providence 
 will settle me in some stable home-fortune. 
 
 The News is, that the Prince Palsgrave, with his Lady 
 and Children, are come to the Hague in Holland, having 
 made a long Progress or rather a Pilgrimage about Germanjj 
 from Prague. The old D. of Bavaria's Uncle is chosen Elec- 
 tor and Arch-sewer of the Roman Empire in his place (but, 
 as they say, in an imperfect Diet), and with this Proviso, 
 that the transferring of this Election upon the Bavarian 
 shall not prejudice the next Heir. There is one Count 
 Mansfelt that begins to get a great Name in Germany, and 
 he, with the D. of Briuiswick, who is a Temporal Bishop of 
 Halverstade, have a considerable Army on foot for the Lady 
 Elizabeth, who, in the Low Countries and some parts of 
 Germany, is call'd the Queen of Boheme, and for her winning 
 princely comportment, The Queen of Hearts, Sir Arthur 
 Chichester is come back from the Palatinate, much com- 
 plaining of the small Army that was sent thither under 
 Sir Horace l^ere, which should have been greater, or none 
 at all. 
 
 My Lord of Buckingham, having been long since Master 
 of the Horse at Court, is now made Master also of all the 
 Wooden-horses in the Kingdom, which indeed are our best 
 Horses, for he is to be High-Admiral of England; so he is 
 become Dominus Equorum ^ Aquarum. The late Lord 
 Treasurer Cranfeld grows also very powerful, but the City 
 hates him for having betray'd their greatest Secrets, which 
 he was capable to know more than another, having been 
 formerly a Merchant. 
 
 I
 
 Sect. 2. Familiar Letters, 113 
 
 I think I shall have no opportunity to write to vou ajraiu 
 till I be t'other side of the Sea; therefore I humbly take my 
 leave, and ask your Blessing, that I may the beter prosper 
 in my Proceedings : So I am — Your dutiful Son, J. H. 
 
 19 Afar. 1622. 
 
 XITI. 
 
 To Sir John Smith, Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 THE first ground I set foot upon after this my second 
 transmarine Voyage was Trevere (the Scot:^ Staple) in 
 Zealand ; thence we sail'd to Holland, in which Passage we 
 might see divers Steeples and Turrets under Water, of Towns 
 that we were told were swallow'd up by a Deluge within the 
 Memory of Man: we went afterwards to the Hague, where 
 there are hard by, tho' in several Places, two wonderful 
 things to be seen, the one of Art, the other of Nature ; that 
 of Art is a Wagon, or Ship, or a Monster mix'd of both, 
 like the Hippocentaur, who was half Man and half Horse : 
 This Engine hath Wheels and Sails that will hold above 
 twenty People, and goes with the Wind, being drawn or 
 mov'd by nothing else, and will run, the Wind being good 
 and the Sails hois'd up, above fifteen miles an hour upon 
 the even hard Sands. They say this Invention was found 
 out to entertain Spinola when he came hither to treat of 
 the last Truce. That Wonder of Nature is a Church- 
 monument, where an Earl and a Lady are engraven with 
 <^6^ Children about them, which were all deliver'd at one 
 Birth; they were half Male, half Female; the two Basons 
 in which thev were christned hang still in the Church, and 
 the Bishop's Name who did it; and the story of this Miracle, 
 with the year and the day of the month mentioned, which 
 is not yet 200 years ago. And the Story is this ; That the 
 Countess walking about her Door after dinner, there came 
 a Beggar-woman with two Children upon her back to beg 
 Alms; the Countess asking whether those Children were 
 her own, she answer'd, She had them both at one Birth, 
 
 H and
 
 114 Familiar Letters. Book I . 
 
 and by one Father, who was her Husband. The Countess 
 would not only not give her any Alms, but revil'd her bit- 
 terly, saying. It was impossible for one Man to get two 
 Children at once. The Beggar-woman being thus provok'd 
 with ill Words, and without Alms, fell to Imprecations, 
 that it should please God to shew His Judgment upon her, 
 and that she might bear at one Birth as many Children as 
 there be days in the year, which she did before the same 
 year's end, having never born Child before. We are now 
 in North-Holland, where I never saw so many, among so 
 few, sick of Leprosies ; and the reason is, because they com- 
 monly eat abundance of fresh Fish. A Gentleman told me, 
 that the Women of this Country, when they are deliver'd, 
 there comes out of the Womb a livino- Creature besides the 
 Child, call'd Zucchie, likest a Bat of any other Creature, 
 which the Midwives throw into the Fire, holding Sheets 
 before the Chimney lest it should flv awav. Mr. Althavi 
 desires his Service be presented to you and your Lady, to 
 Sir John Franklin^ and all at the Hill ; the like do I humbly 
 crave at your Hands : The Italian and French Manuscripts 
 you pleas'd to favour me withal I left at Mr. SciVs the 
 Stationer, whence, if you have not them already, you may 
 please to send for them. So in all Affection I kiss your 
 hands, and am — Your humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Trevere, lo April 1623. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 To the Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Colchester, 
 after Earl Rivers. 
 
 Right Honourable, 
 
 THE Commands your Lordship pleas'd to impose upon 
 me when I left Efiglajid, and those hioh Favours 
 wherein I stand bound to your Lordship, call upon me 
 at this time to send your Lordship some small fruits of 
 my foreign Travel. Marquis Spinola is return'd from the 
 Falatinate, where he was so fortunate, that (like Ccesar) he 
 
 came.
 
 Sect. 2. Familiar Letters. 115 
 
 canie^ saw, and overcame, notwithstanding that huge Armv 
 of the Princes of the Union, consisting of 40^000 Men ; 
 whereas his was under 20,000, but made up of old tough Blades 
 and Veteran Commanders. He hath now chang'd his Coat, 
 and taken up his old Commission again from Don PhlUppo, 
 whereas during that Expedition he call'd himself Ccesars 
 Servant. I hear the Emperor hath transmitted the upper 
 Palatinate to the Duke of Bavaria, as caution for those 
 Moneys he hath expended in those Wars. And the King 
 of Spain is the Emperor's Commissary for the lower Pala- 
 tinate : They both pretend that they were bound to obey the 
 Imperial Summons to assist Ccesar in these Wars; the one 
 as he was Duke of Burgundy, the other of Bavaria, both 
 which Countries are feudatory to the Empire; else they had 
 incur'd the Imperial Ban. It is fear'd this German War 
 will be, as the Frenchman saith, de longue haleine, long- 
 breath'd ; for there are great Powers on both sides, and they 
 say the King of Denmark is arming. 
 
 Having made a leisurely sojourn in this Town, I had yours 
 to couch in writing a survey of these Countries, which I 
 have now travers'd the second time ; but in recjard it would 
 be a great bulk for a Letter, I send it your Lordship apart, 
 and when I return to England I shall be bold to attend 
 your Lordship for correction of my Faults. In the Interim 
 I rest, my Lord, — Your thrice humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Anhuerp, i Alay 1623. 
 
 XV. 
 
 A Survey of the seventeen Provinces. 
 
 Mv Lord, 
 
 TO attempt a precise description of each of the seven- 
 teen Provinces, and of its Progression, Privileges, and 
 primitive Government, were a task of no less confusion 
 than labour : Let it suffice to know, that since Flanders 
 and Holland were erected to Earldoms, and so left to be an 
 Appendix to the Crown of France, some of them have had 
 
 absolute
 
 ii6 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 absolute and supreme Governors, some subaltern and sub- 
 ject to a superior Power. Among the rest, the Earls of 
 Flanders and Holland were most considerable ; but of them 
 two he of Holland being homageable to none, and having 
 Friesland and Zealand added, was the more potent. In pro- 
 cess of time all the seventeen met in one ; some by Conquest, 
 others by Donation and Legacy, but most by Alliance. Li 
 the House of Burgundy this Union receiv'd most growth, 
 but in the House of Austria it came to its full perfection ; 
 for in Charles V. they all met as so many Lines drawn from 
 the circumference to the centre; who, lording as supreme 
 Head not only over the fifteeu temporal, but the two spiri- 
 tual, Liese and Utrecht, had a Desio-n to reduce them to a 
 Kingdom, which his Son Philip \l. attempted after him: 
 But they could not bring their intents home to their Aim ; 
 the cause is imputed to that multiplicity and difference of 
 privileges which they are so eager to maintain, and whereof 
 some cannot stand with a Monarchy without Licongruity. 
 Philip H. at his Inauguration was sworn to observe them, 
 and at his departure he oblig'd himself by an Oath to send 
 still one of his own Blood to govern them : Moreover, at 
 the Request of the Knights of the Golden Fleece, he promised 
 that all foreiQ;n Soldiers should retire, and that he himself 
 would come to visit them once every seventh year; but 
 being once gone, and leaving in lieu of a Sword a Distaff, 
 an unwieldly Woman to govern, he came not only short of 
 his Promise, but procur'd a Dispensation from the Pope to 
 be absolv'd of his Oath, and all this by the counsel of 
 Cardinal Granvill, who, as the States Chronicler writes, 
 was the first Firebrand that kindled that lamentable and 
 lon2:some War wherein the Netherlands have traded above 
 fifty years in Blood : For, intending to increase the Number 
 of Bishops, to establish the Decrees of the Council of Trent, 
 and to clip the Power of the Council of State compos'd 
 of the Natives of the Land, by making it appealable to 
 the Council of Spain, and by adding to the former Oath 
 of Allegiance (all which conduc'd to settle the Inquisi- 
 tion,
 
 Sect. 2. Familiar Letters. 117 
 
 tion and to curb the Conscience), the broils began ; to 
 appease which Ambassadors were dispatch'd to SpaiUy 
 whereof the two first came to violent deaths, the one bein'j:; 
 beheaded, the other poison'd. But the two last, Egmond 
 and Horn, were nourish'd still with Hopes, until Phi lip II. 
 had prepared an Army under the conduct of the Duke 
 of ALva, to compose the difference by Arms. For as 
 soon as he came to the Government, he established the 
 Bloetrad, as the Complainants term'd it, a Council of Blood, 
 made up most of Spaniards : Egmond and Horn were appre- 
 hended, and afterwards beheaded ; Citadels were erected, and 
 the Oath of Allegiance, with the political Government of the 
 Country, in divers things alter'd. This pour'd Oil on the 
 Fire formerly kindled, and put all in combustion : The Prince 
 of Orange retires; thereupon his eldest Son was surpriz'd, 
 and sent as Hostage to Spain, and above 5000 Families quit 
 the Country ; many Towns revolted, but were afterwards 
 reduc'd to obedience: which made the Duke of Alva say. 
 That the Netherlands appertain'd to the King of Spain not 
 only by Descent, but Conquest ; and for cumble of his Vic- 
 tories, when he attempted to impose the tenth Penny for 
 maintenance of the Garrisons in the Citadels he had erected 
 at Grave, Utrecht, and Antwerp (where he caus'd his Statue 
 made of Cannon-brass to be erected, trampling the Belgians 
 under his feet), all the Towns withstood this Imposition: So 
 that at last matters succeeding ill with him, and having had 
 his Cousin Pacecio hang'd at Flushing-Ga.tts, after he had 
 trac'd out the Platform of a Citadel in that Town also, he 
 receiv'd Letters of Revocation from Spain. Him succeeded 
 Don Lnijs de Requiluis, who came short of his Predecessor 
 in Exploits; and dying suddenly in the Field, the Govern- 
 ment was invested for a time in the Council of State: The 
 Spanish Soldiers being without a Head, gather'd together 
 to the number of 1600, and committed such Outrages up 
 and down, that they were proclaim'd Enemies to the State. 
 Hereupon the Pacification of Ghent was transacted, whereof 
 among other Articles one was. That all foreign Soldiers 
 
 siiould
 
 ii8 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 should quit the Country. This was ratified by the King, 
 and observ'd by Don John of Austria^ who succeeded in the 
 Government ; yet Don John retain'd the Landskneghts at 
 his devotion still for some secret Design^ and, as some 
 conjectur'd, for the Invasion of England; he kept the 
 Spaniards also still hovering about the frontiers ready 
 upon all occasions. Certain Letters were intercepted that 
 made a Discovery of some Projects, which made the War 
 to bleed afresh ; Don John was proclaim'd Enemv to the 
 State: So the Archduke Matthias was sent for, who, being 
 a Man of small performance, and improper for the times, 
 was dismiss'd, but upon honourable Terms. Don John a 
 little after dies, and, as some gave out, of the Pox ; then 
 comes in the Duke of Parma, a Man as of a different nation, 
 being an Italian, so of a differing temper and more moderate 
 spirit, and of greater performance than all the rest ; for, 
 whereas all the Provinces except Luxemburg and Hainault 
 had revolted, he reduc'd Ghent, Tourney, Bruges, Malines, 
 Brussels, yJntwerp (which three last he beleaguer'd at one 
 time), and divers other great Towns to the Spanish obe- 
 dience again. He had 60,000 Men in pay, and the choicest 
 which Spain and Italy could afford. The French and 
 E?i(rlish Ambassadors, intercedino- for a Peace, had a short 
 Answer of Philip II., who said that he needed not the help 
 of any to reconcile himself to his own Subjects and reduce 
 them to Conformity; but the difference that was he would 
 refer to his Cousin the Emperor: Hereupon the business 
 was agitated at Colen, where the Spaniard stood as high 
 a-tiptoe as ever, and notwithstanding the vast expence of 
 treasure and blood he had been at for so many years, and 
 that matters began to exasperate more and more, which 
 were like to prolong the Wars in injinitum, he would abate 
 nothing in point of Ecclesiastick Government. Hereupon 
 the States perceiv'd that King Philip could not be wrought 
 either by the sollicitations of other Princes, or their own 
 supplications so often reiterated, that they might enjoy 
 the freedom of Religion, with other infranchisements; and 
 
 finding
 
 Sect. 2. Familiar Letters. 119 
 
 finding him Inexorable^ being Incited also by the Ban which 
 was publish'd against the Prince of Orange, that whosoever 
 kill'd him should have 5000 Crowns^ they at last absolutely 
 renounc'd and abjur'd the King of Spain for their Sovereign : 
 They broke his Seals, chang'd the Oath of Allegiance, and 
 fled to France for shelter ; they Inaugurated the Duke of 
 Anjou (recommended to them by the Queen of England, 
 to whom he was a Suitor) for their Prince, who attempted 
 to render himself absolute, and so thought to surprize Ant- 
 werp, where he receiv'd an ill-favour'd repulse ; yet neverthe- 
 less the United Provinces, for so they term'd themselves ever 
 after, fearing to distaste their next great Neighbour France, 
 made a second Proffer of their Protection and Sovereignty 
 to that King, who having too many irons in the fire at his 
 own home, the League growing stronger and stronger, he 
 answer'd 'em, That the Shirt was nearer to him than his 
 Donblet. Then had they recourse to Queen Elizabeth, who, 
 partly for her own security, partly for Interest In Religion, 
 reach'd them a supporting hand, and so sent them Men, 
 Money, and a Governor, the Earl of Leicester, who not 
 symbolizing with their humour, was quickly revok'd, yet 
 without any outward dislike on the Queen's side, for she 
 left her Forces still with them, but upon their expence : she 
 lent them afterwards some considerable sums of moneys, 
 and she receiv'd Fliishins: and Brill for caution. Ever since 
 the English have been the best sinews of their war, and 
 achievers of the greatest exploits amongst them. Having thus 
 made sure work with the English, they made young Count 
 Maurice their Governor, who for twenty-five years together 
 held task with the Spaniard, and during those traverses of 
 War was very fortunate : an overture of peace was then 
 propounded, which the States would not hearken to singhj 
 with the King of Spain, unless the Provinces that yet re- 
 niain'd under hiiu would en<z;agc themselves for the per- 
 formance of what was articled; besides, they would not 
 treat either of Peace or Truce, unless they were dcclar'd Free 
 States, all which was granted : so by the Intervention of the 
 
 English
 
 I20 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book I. 
 
 English and French Ambassadors, a Truce was concluded 
 for twelve years. 
 
 These Wars did so drain and discommodate the Kinsr 
 of Spain, by reason of his distance (every Soldier that he 
 sent either from Spain or Italy costing him near upon lOO 
 Crowns before he could be render'd in Flanders), that not- 
 withstanding his Mines of Mexico and Peru, it plung'd him 
 so deeply in debt, that, having taken up Moneys in all the 
 chief Banks of Christendom, he was forced to publish a 
 Diploma, wherein he dispensed with himself (as the Holland 
 Story hath it) from payment, alledging that he had employ'd 
 those Moneys for the publick Peace of Christendom : this 
 broke many great Bankers, and they say his credit was not 
 current in Sevil or Lishon, his own Towns ; and which was 
 worse, while he stood wrestling thus with his own Subjects, 
 the Turk took his opportunity to take from him Tunis and 
 the Goletta, the Trophies of Charles V., his Father. So 
 eager he was in this quarrel, that he employ'd the utmost 
 of his strength and industry to reduce his People to his 
 Will ; in regard he had an intent to make these Provinces 
 his main Randevous and Magazine of Men of War; which 
 his Neighbours perceiving, and that he had a kind of aim 
 to be IVeslern Monarch, being led not so much for love as 
 reasons of State, they stuck close to the revolted Provinces; 
 and this was the Bone that Secretary JValsingham told 
 Q,. Elizabeth he would cast the K. of Spain, that should 
 last him twenty years, and perhaps make his teeth shake in 
 his head. 
 
 But to return to my first discourse, whence this Digres- 
 sion hath snatch'd me: The Netherlands, who had been 
 formerly knit and concentred under one Sovereio-n Prince, 
 were thus dismember'd ; and as they subsist now, they are 
 a State and a Province: The Province, havincr ten of the 
 seventeen at least, is far greater, more populous, better soiled, 
 and more stor'd with Gentry. The State is the richer and 
 stronger, the one proceeding from their vast Navigation 
 and Commerce, the other from the quality of their Country, 
 
 being
 
 Sect. 1. Familiar Letters. 121 
 
 being defensible by Rivers and Sluices^ by means whereof 
 they can suddenly overwhelm all the whole Country : wit- 
 ness that stupendous Siege of Leyden and Haerlcm ; for 
 most of their Towns^ the marks being taken away, are 
 inaccessible, by reason of shelves of Sands. Touching the 
 transaction of these Provinces, which the K. of S/jciin made 
 as a Dowry to the Archduke Albertus, upon marriage with 
 the Infanta (who thereupon left his red Hat and Toledo 
 Mitre, the chiefest spiritual Dignity in Christendom for 
 revenue, after the Papacy), it was fring'd with such cautelous 
 restraints, that he was sure to keep the better end of the 
 staff' still to himself; for he was to have the tutele and ward 
 of his Children, that they were to marry with one of the 
 Austrian Family recommended by Spain, and in default of 
 Issue, and in case Albertus should survive the Infanta, he 
 should be but Governor only : add hereunto, that K. Philip 
 reserv'd still to himself all the Citadels and Castles, with 
 the Order of the Golden Fleece, whereof he is Master, as 
 he is Duke of Burgundy. 
 
 The Archduke for the Time hath a very princelv Com- 
 mand; all Coins bear his Stamp, all Placarts or Edicts are 
 published in his Name ; he hath the Election of all civil 
 Officers and Magistrates ; he nominates also Bishops and 
 Abbots, for the Pope hath only the confirmation of them 
 here; nor can he adjourn any out of the Country to answer 
 anything, neither are his Bulls of any strength without 
 the Prince's Placet, which makes him have always some 
 Commissioners to execute his Authority. The People here 
 grow hotter and hotter in the Roman Cause, by reason of 
 the mixture with Spaniards and Italians; and also by the 
 example of the Archduke and the Infanta, who are devout 
 in an intense degree. There are two supreme Councils, 
 the Privy-Council and that of the State; this treats of 
 Confederations and Intelligence with foreiirn Princes, of 
 Peace and War, of entertaining or of dismissing Colonels 
 and Captains, of Fortifications ; and they have the Supcr- 
 intendencv of the highest Affairs that concern the Prince 
 
 and
 
 122 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 and the Policy of the Prnv'mces : The Primate hath the 
 granting of all Patents and Requests, the publishing of all 
 Edicts and Proclamations, the prizing of Coin, the looking 
 to the Confines and Extent of the Provinces, and the enact- 
 ins: of all new Ordinances. Of these two Councils there is 
 never a Spaniard, but in the actual Council of War, their 
 Voices are predominant: There is also a Court of Finances 
 or Exchequer, whence all they that have the fingring of the 
 King's Money must draw a Discharge. Touching matters 
 of Justice, their Law is mix'd betwixt Civil and Common, 
 with some Clauses of Canonical. The High Court of 
 Parliament is at Malines, whither all civil Causes may be 
 brought by Appeal from other Towns, except some that 
 have municipal Privileges and are Sovereign in their own 
 Jurisdictions, as Mons in Hainalt, and a few more. 
 
 The prime Province for Dignity is Brabant, which, among 
 many other Privileges it enjoys, hath this for one, not to 
 appear upon any Summons out of its own Precinct; which 
 is one of the reasons why the Prince makes his residence 
 there : but the prime, for extent and fame, is Flanders, 
 the chiefest Earldom in Christendom, which is three days' 
 journey in length ; Ghent, its Metropolis, is reputed the 
 greatest Town of Europe, whence arose the Proverb, Les 
 flamene tient un Gan, qui tiendra Paris dedans. But the 
 beautifuUest, richest, strongest, and most privileged City is 
 Antwerp in Brahant, being the Marquisate of the Holy 
 Empire, and drawing near to the nature of a Hans Town, 
 for she pays the Prince no other Tax but the Impost. 
 Before the Dissociation of the seventeen Provinces, this 
 Town was one of the greatest Marts of Europe and greatest 
 Bank this side the Alps; most Princes having their Factors 
 here, to take up or let out Moneys : and here our Gresham 
 got all his Wealth, and built our Royal Exchange by model 
 of that here. The Merchandize brought hither from 
 Gerinany, France, and Italy by Land, and from England, 
 Spain, and the Hans-Towns by Sea, was estimated at above 
 twenty Millions of Crowns every year: but as no violent 
 
 thing
 
 Sect. 2. Familiar Letters. 12 
 
 o 
 
 thing is long lasting, and as 'tis fatal to all Kingdoms, 
 States, Towns, and Languages to have their period, so this 
 renown'd Mart hath sufTer'd a shrewd Eclipse, yet no utter 
 downfal ; the exchange of the King of Spain's Money and 
 some small Land-traffic keeping still Life in her, tho' 
 nothinjr so full of Viiror as it was. Therefore there is no 
 Town under the Archduke where the States have more 
 conceal'd Friends than in Jntiverp, who would willingly 
 make them her Masters, in hope to recover her former Com- 
 merce; which after the last twelve years' Truce began to 
 revive a little, the States permitting to pass by Lillo's Sconce, 
 which commands the River Scheld, and lieth in the teeth 
 of the Town, some small cross-sail'd Ships to pass hither : 
 There is no place hath been more passive than this, and 
 more often pillaged ; among other times she was once plun- 
 der'd most miserably by the Spaniards under the conduct of 
 a Priest, immediately on Don John of Auslria's death; she 
 had then her Stadt-house burnt, which had cost a few years 
 before above 20,000 Crowns the building; and the spoils 
 that were carried away thence amounted to forty tuns of 
 gold : thus she was reduced not only to poverty, but a kind 
 of captivitv, being commanded by a Citadel, which she pre- 
 ferr'd before a Garrison. This made the merchants retire 
 and seek a more free Randevous, some in Zealand, some in 
 Holland, especially in Amsterdam, which rose upon the fall 
 of this Town, as Lisbon did from Fenice upon the discovery 
 of the Cape of Good Hope, tho' Venice be not near so much 
 crestfallen. 
 
 I will nov/ steer my discourse to the United Provinces, as 
 they term themselves, which are six in number, viz., Hol- 
 land, Zealand, Friesland, Overyssel, Gronnighcn, and Utrecht, 
 three parts of Gelderland, and some Frontier Towns and 
 Places of contribution in Brabant and Flanders : In all these 
 there is no innovation at all introduced, notwithstanding 
 this great change in point of Government, except that the 
 College of States represent the Duke or Earl in times past; 
 which College consists of the chiefest Gentrv of the Country, 
 
 Superintendants
 
 124 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 Superintendants of Towns, and the principal Magistrates: 
 Every Province and great Town chuse yearly certain De- 
 puties, to whom thev give plenary power to deliberate 
 with the other States of all affairs touching the publick 
 welfare of the whole Province ; and what they vote stands 
 for Law. These being assembled, consult all matters of 
 State, Justice, and War; the Advocate who is prime in the 
 Assembly propounds the business, and after collects the 
 suffrages, first of the Provinces, then of the Towns; which 
 being put in form, he delivers in pregnant and moving 
 speeches; and in case there be a dissonance and reluctancy 
 of opinions, he labours to accord and reconcile them ; con- 
 cluding always with the major Voices. 
 
 Touching the administration of Justice, the President, 
 who is monthly chang'd, with the great Council, have the 
 supreme Judicature ; from whose Decrees there is no ap[)eal, 
 but a revision; and then some of the choicest Lawyers 
 among them are appointed. 
 
 For their Oppidan Government, they have variety of 
 Officers, a Scout, Burgmasters, a Balue, and Vroetschoppens : 
 The Scout is chosen by the States, who with the Balues have 
 the judging of all criminal matters in last resort without 
 appeal ; they have also the determining of civil Causes, but 
 those are appealable to the Hague. Touching their chiefest 
 Governor (or General rather now), having made proof of the 
 Spaniard, German, French, and English, and agreeing with 
 none of them, they alighted at last upon a Man of their 
 own mould. Prince Maurice, now their General ; in whom 
 concurr'd divers parts suitable to such a charge, having been 
 train'd up in the Wars by his Father, who, with three of his 
 Uncles and divers of his Kindred, sacrificed their Lives in 
 the States Quarrel : he hath thriven well since he came to 
 the Government; he clear'd Friesland, Overyssel, and Gro- 
 7iinsen in less than eifrhteen months : He hath now continued 
 their Governor and General by Sea and Land above thirty- 
 three years; he hath the election of Magistrates, the pardoning 
 of Malefactors, and divers other Prerogatives; yet they are 
 
 short
 
 Sect. 2. Familiar Letters. 12 
 
 short of the reach of Sovereignty, and of the Authority of 
 the antient Counts of Holland: Tho' I cannot say 'tis a 
 mercenary emplovment, yet he hath a limited allowance; 
 nor hath he anv implicit command when he goes to the 
 field, for either the Council of War marcheth with him, or 
 else he receives daily directions from them: moreover, the 
 States themselves reserve the power of nominating all Com- 
 manders in the Armv, which being of sundry Nations, de- 
 prive him of those advantages he might have to make him- 
 self absolute. Martial Discipline is nowhere so regular as 
 among the States; nowhere are there lesser insolences com- 
 mitted upon the Burgher, nor robberies upon the Country 
 Boors; nor are the Officers permitted to insult over the 
 common Soldier: When the Army marcheth, not one dares 
 take so much as an apple off a tree or a root out of the 
 earth in their Passage ; and the reason is, they are punctu- 
 ally paid their Pay, or else I believe they would be insolent 
 enough ; and were not the Pay so certain, I think few or 
 none would serve them. They speak of 60,000 they have 
 in perpetual Pay by Land and Sea, at home, and in the 
 Indies: The King of France was used to maintain a Regi- 
 ment, but since Henry the Creates death the Payment hath 
 been neglected. The means they have to maintain these 
 Forces, to pay their Governor, to discharge all other ex- 
 pence, as the preservation of their Dikes, which comes to a 
 vast expence yearly, is the antient revenue of the Counts of 
 Holland, the impropriate Cluirch-livings, Imposts upon all 
 Merchandise, which is greater upon exported than imported 
 Goods; Excise upon all Commodities, as well for necessity 
 as pleasure; Taxes upon every Acre of Ground, which is 
 such, that the whole Country returns into their hands every 
 three years : Add hereunto the Art they use in their Bank 
 by the rise and fall of Money, the fishing upon our Coasts, 
 whither they send every Autumn above 700 Hulks or Busses, 
 which in the Voyages they make return alcove a Million in 
 Herrina;s : moreover, their fishino- for j^reen Fish and Salmon 
 amounts to so much more; and for their Cheese and Butter, 
 
 'tis
 
 126 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 'tis thought they vent as much every year as Lisbon doth 
 Spices. This keeps the common Treasury always full, that 
 upon any extraordinary service or design there is seldom 
 any new Tax upon the People. Traffic is their general Pro- 
 fession, being all either Merchants or Mariners ; and having 
 no Land to manure, they furrow the Sea for their living : 
 and this universality of Trade, and their Banks of Adven- 
 tures, distributes the Wealth so equally, that few among 
 them are exceeding rich or exceeding poor ; Gentry among 
 them is very thin, and as in all Democracies, little respected, 
 and coming to dwell in Towns, they soon mingle with the 
 Merchant, and so degenerate : Their Soil being all 'twixt 
 Marsh and Meadow, is so fat in pasturage that one Cow 
 will give eight Quarts of Milk a day; so that, as a Boor told 
 me, in four little dorps near Harlem 'tis thought there is as 
 much Milk milk'd in the year as there is Rhenish-Wine 
 brought to Dort, which is the sole Staple of it. Their Towns 
 are beautiful and neatly built, and with uniformity, that 
 who sees one, sees all : In some Places, as in Amsterdam, the 
 Foundation costs more than the Superstructure, for the 
 Ground being soft, they are constrain'd to ram in huge 
 Stakes of Timber (with Wool about it to preserve it from 
 Putrefaction) till they come to a firm Basis ; so that, as one 
 said. Whosoever could see Amsterdam under ground should 
 see a huge Winter-Forest. 
 
 Among all the confederate Provinces, Holland is most 
 predominant, which, being but six hours' Journey in breadth, 
 contains forty-nine wall'd Towns, and all these within a 
 day's Journey one of another. Amsterdam for the present 
 is one of the greatest mercantil Towns in Europe. To her 
 is appropriated the East and JVest-hidia Trade, whither 
 she sends yearly forty great Ships, with another Fleet to 
 the Baltic Sea; but they send not near so many to the 
 Mediterranean as England : Other Towns are passably rich, 
 and stor'd with Shipping, but not one very poor; which 
 proceeds from the wholesome Policy they use, to assign 
 every Town some firm Staple Commodity; as to (their 
 
 Maiden-Town
 
 Sect. 2. Familiar Letters. 127 
 
 Mai(leii-Tovvn) Dort the German Wines and Corn, to 
 Middehourgh the French and Spanish Wines, to Trevere 
 (the Prince of Orange's Town) the Scots Trade : Leyden, in 
 recompense of her long Siege, was erected to an University, 
 which with Franiker in Friesland is all they have ; Harlem 
 for Knitting and Weaving hath some Privilege ; Rotterdam 
 hath the English Cloth : and this renders their Towns so 
 equally rich and populous. They allow free harbour to 
 all Nations, with liberty of Religion (the Roman only 
 excepted) as far as the Jew, who hath two Synagogues 
 allow'd him, but only in Amsterdam ; which piece of Policy 
 they borrow of the Fenetian, with whom they have very 
 intimate intelligence : only the Jews in Fenice, in Rome, 
 and other places go with some outward Mark of Distinc- 
 tion, but here they wear none : and these two Republics, 
 that in the East and this in the PFest, are the two Remora's, 
 that stick to the great Vessel of Spain, that it cannot sail 
 to the Western Monarchy. 
 
 I have been long in the Survey of these Provinces, yet 
 not long enough, for much more might be said, which is 
 fitter for a Story than a Survey: I will conclude with a 
 mot or two of the People, whereof some have been renown'd 
 in time past for Feats of War. Among the States, the 
 Hollander or Batavian hath been most known, for some of 
 the Roman Emperors have had a selected Guard of them 
 about their Persons for their Fidelity and Valour, as now the 
 King of France hath of the Swisse. The Frisians also have 
 been famous for those larsje Privileges wherewith Charlemain 
 endow'd them ; the Flemins also have been illustrious for 
 the martial Exploits they achieved in the East, where two 
 of the Earls of Flanders were crown'd Emperors. They 
 have all a Genius inclin'd to Commerce, very intentive and 
 witty in Manufactures, witness the Art of Printing, Painting, 
 and Colouring in Glass ; those curious Quadrants, Chimes, 
 and Dials, those kind of Waggons which are used up and 
 down Christendom, were first used by them ; and for the 
 Mariner's Compass, tho' the matter be disputable 'twixt 
 
 the
 
 128 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book I. 
 
 the Neapolitan, the Portugal, and them, yet there is a strong 
 aro-ument on their side, in reffard they were the first that 
 subdivided the four Cardinal Winds to two and thirty, 
 others naming them in their Language. 
 
 There is no part of Europe so haunted with all sorts of 
 Foreigners as the Netherlands, which makes the Lihabitants^ 
 as well Women as Men, so well vers'd in all sorts of Lan- 
 guages, so that in Exchange-time one may hear seven or eight 
 sorts of Tongues spoken upon their Bourses : nor are the Men 
 only expert herein, but the Women and Maids also in their 
 common Hostries ; and in Holland the Wives are so well 
 vers'd in Bargaining, Cyphering, and Writing, that in the 
 absence of their Husbands in Ions; Sea-vovaffes they beat 
 the Trade at home, and their Words will pass in equal 
 Credit : These Women are wonderfully sober, tho' their 
 Husbands make commonlv their Baro;ains in drink, and 
 then are they more cautelous. This confluence of Strangers 
 makes them very populous, which was the cause that Charles 
 the Emperor said, That all the Netherlands seem'd to him 
 but as one continued Town. He and his Grandfather 
 Maximilian, notwithstanding the choice of Kingdoms they 
 had, kept their Courts most frequently in them, which 
 shew'd how highly they esteem'd them ; and I believe, if 
 Philip n. had visited them sometimes, Matters had not 
 gone so ill. 
 
 There is no part of the Earth, considering the small Cir- 
 cuit of Country, which is estimated to be but as big as the 
 fifth part of Itahj, where one may find more differing Cus- 
 toms, Tempers and Humours of People than in the Nether- 
 lands : The IValloon is quick and sprightful, accostable and 
 full of Compliment, and gaudy in Apparel, like his next 
 Neitrhbour the French : The Fleming and Brahanter, some- 
 what more slow and more sparing of Speech : The Hollander 
 slower than he, more surly and respectless of Gentry and 
 Strano-ers, homely in his clothing, of very few words, and 
 heavy in action ; which may be well imputed to the quality 
 of the Soil, which works so strongly upon the Humours, 
 
 that
 
 Sect. 2. Familiar Letters. 129 
 
 that when People of a more vivacious and nimble Temper 
 come to mingle with them^ their Children are observ'd to 
 partake rather of the Soil than the Sire : and so it is in all 
 Animals besides. 
 
 Thus have I huddled up some Observations of the how- 
 Coiintries, beseeching your Lordship would be pleased to 
 pardon the Imperfections, and correct the Errors of them; 
 for I know none so capable to do it as your Lordship, to 
 whom I am — A most humble and ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Antwerp, i May, 1622. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 To my Brother, Mr. Hugh Penry, jipon his Marriage. 
 Sir, 
 
 YOU have had a good while the Interest of a Friend in 
 me, but vou have me now in a straiter Tie, for I 
 am your Brother by your late Marriage, which hath turn'd 
 Friendship into an Alliance ; you have in your Arms one 
 of my dearest Sisters, who I hope, nay I know will make 
 a good Wife. I heartily congratulate this Marriage, and 
 pray that a Blessing may descend upon it from that Place 
 where all Marriages are made, which is from Heaven, the 
 Fountain of all Felicity: to this Prayer, I think it no Pro- 
 phaness to add the Saying of the Lyric Poet Horace, 
 in whom I know you delight much ; and I send it you as a 
 kind of Epiihalamium, and wish it may be verify'd in you 
 both : — 
 
 Fxlices ier &= amplius 
 
 Quos irnipta tenet copula, ?iec 7iialis 
 Divulsus qtterimoniis 
 
 Suprema citlus solvet amor die. 
 
 Thus English'd :— 
 
 That Couple's more than trebly blest, 
 Which nuptial Eonds do so combine, 
 That no distaste can them untwine. 
 
 Till the last day send both to rest. 
 
 So, my dear Brother, I much rejoice for this Alliance, 
 
 I and
 
 130 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 and wish you may increase and multiply to your Heart's 
 content. — Your affectionate Brother, J. H. 
 
 20 May 1622. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 To my Brother, Doctor Howell^ ^/'om Brussels. 
 Sir, 
 
 I HAD yours in Latin at Rotterdam, whence I cor- 
 responded with you in the same Language ; I heard, 
 tho' not from you, since I came to Brussels, that our Sister 
 Anne is lately marry'd to Mr. Hugh Penry : I am heartily 
 glad of it, and wish the rest of our Sisters were so well 
 bestow'd; for I know Mr. Penry to be a Gentleman of a 
 great deal of solid Worth and Integrity, and one that will 
 prove a great Husband and a good Oeconomist. 
 
 Here is News that Mansfelt hath receiv'd a foil lately in 
 Germany, and that the Duke of Brunswick, alias Bishop of 
 Halverstadt, hath lost one of his Arms : this makes them 
 vapour here extremely, and the last Week I heard of a Play 
 the Jesuits of Antwerp made, in derogation, or rather de- 
 rision of the Proceedings of the Prince Palsgrave, where, 
 among divers other Passages, they feign'd a Post to come 
 puffing upon the Stage ; and being ask'd what news, he 
 answer'd, how the Palsgrave was like to have shortly a huge 
 formidable Army, for the King of Denmark was to send 
 him 100,000, the Hollanders 100,000, and the King of Great 
 Britain 100,000; but being ask'd thousands of what? he 
 reply'djThe first would send 100,000 Red Herrings, the second 
 100,000 Cheeses, and the last 100,000 Ambassadors; allud- 
 ing to Sir Richard JVeston, and Sir Edward Conway, my Lord 
 Carlisle, Sir Arthur Chichester, and lastly the Lord Dighy, 
 who have been all employ'd in quality of Ambassadors in 
 less than two years, since the beginning of these German 
 Broils. Touching the last, having been with the Emperor 
 and the Duke of Bavaria, and carry'd himself with such 
 high Wisdom in his Neo-otiations with the one, and Stout- 
 ness with the other, and having preserved Count Mansfelt's 
 
 Troops
 
 Sect. 2. Familiar Letters. 131 
 
 Troops from disbanding, by pawning his own Argentry 
 and Jewels, he pass'd this way, where they say the Arch- 
 duke did esteem him more than any Ambassador that ever 
 was in this Court; and the Report yet is very fresh of his 
 high Abilities. 
 
 We are to remove hence in Coach towards Paris the 
 next week, where we intend to winter, or hard by. When 
 you have opportunity to write to Wales, I pray present my 
 duty to my Father, and my love to the rest ; and pray 
 remember me also to all at the Hill and the Dale, especially 
 to that most virtuous Gentleman, Sir John Franklin. So, 
 my dear Brother, I pray God continue and improve His Bless- 
 ino;s to us both, and bring us again together with comfort. — 
 Your Brother, J. H. 
 
 10 June 1622. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 To Dr. Tho. Prichard, at Worcester-House. 
 Sir, 
 ZI^RIENDSHIP is the great Chain of human Society, and 
 intercourse of Letters is one of the chief est links of that 
 Chain: you know this as well as I; therefore I pray let our 
 Friendship, let our Love, that nationality of British Love, 
 that virtuous tie of Academic Love, be still strengthened (as 
 heretofore) and receive daily more and more Vigor. I am 
 now in Paris, and there is weekly opportunity to receive 
 and send : and if you please to send, you shall be sure to 
 receive, for I make it a kind of Religion to be punctual in 
 this kind of Pavment. I am heartilv glad to hear that vou 
 are become a domestic Member to that most noble Family 
 of the JVorcesters, and I hold it to be a very good Founda- 
 tion for future Preferment; I wish you may be as happy 
 in them, as I know they will be happy in you. France is 
 now barren of News, only there was a shrewd Brush lately 
 'twixt the young King and his Mother, who having the 
 Duke of Epernon and others for her Champions, met him 
 in open Field about Pont de C^, but she went away with the 
 
 worst
 
 132 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 worst; such was the rare dutifuhiess of the King, that he 
 forgave her upon his Knees, and pardon'd all her Complices : 
 and now there is an universal Peace in this Country, which 
 'tis thought will not last long, for there is a War intended 
 against them of the Reform'd Religion ; for this King, tho' 
 he be slow in Speech, yet he is active in Spirit, and loves 
 Motion. I am here comrade to a gallant young Gentle- 
 man, my old Acquaintance, who is full of excellent Parts, 
 which he hath acquired by a choice breeding, the Baron his 
 Father gave him, both in the University, and in the Inns 
 of Court; so that, for the time, I envy no Man's happiness. 
 So, with my hearty Commends, and much endear'd Love 
 unto you, I rest — Yours whiles ^ Jam. Howell. 
 
 Paris, 3 Aug. 162 1. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 To the Honourable Sir Tho. Savage {after Lord Savage), 
 at his House upon Tower-Hill. 
 
 Honourable Sir, 
 
 THOSE many undeserv'd Favours for which I stand 
 obliged to your self and my noble Lady, -since the time 
 I had the happiness to come first under your roof, and the 
 command you pleased to lay upon me at my departure 
 thence, call upon me at this time to give you account how 
 Matters pass in France. 
 
 That which for the present affords most plenty of News, 
 is Rochell, which the King threateneth to block up this 
 Spring with an Army by Sea, under the Command of the 
 Duke of Nevers, and by a Land Army under his own Con- 
 duct : both sides prepare, he to assault, the Rochellers to 
 defend. The King declares that he proceeds not against 
 them for their Religion, which he is still contented to 
 tolerate, but for holding an Assembly against his Declara- 
 tions. They answer, That their Assembly is grounded upon 
 His Majesty's Royal Warrant, given at the dissolution of 
 the last Assembly at Lodun, where he solemnly gave his 
 
 word,
 
 Sect. 2. Familiar Letters. i 
 
 o 
 
 3 
 
 vvord^ to permit them to re-assemble when they would six 
 months after, if the Breaches of their Liberty and Grievances 
 which they then propounded were not redress'd ; and they 
 sav, this being unperform'd, it stands not with the sacred 
 Person of a King to violate his Promise, being the first that 
 ever he made them. The King is so incens'd against them, 
 that their Deputies can have neither access to his Person, 
 nor audience of his Council, as they stile themselves the 
 Deputies of the Assembly at RochelL ; but if they say they 
 come from the whole Body of them of the pretended Reform d 
 ReUgion, he will hear them. The Breach between them is 
 grown so wide, that the King resolves on a Siege. This 
 Resolution of the King is much fomented by the Roman 
 Clergy; especially by the Celestines, who have 200,000 
 Crowns of Gold in the Arsenal of Paris, which they would 
 sacrifice all to this Service ; besides, the Pope sent him a 
 Bull to levy what Sums he would of the Gallican Church, 
 for the advancement of his Desicrn. This Resolution also is 
 much push'd on by the Gentry, who, besides the particular 
 Employments and Pay they shall receive hereby, are glad to 
 have their young King train'd up in Arms, to make him a 
 martial Man : but for the Merchant and poor Peasant, they 
 tremble at the Name of this War, fearing their Teeth should 
 be set on edge with those soure Grapes their Fathers tasted 
 in the time of the League ; for if the King begins with 
 Rochell, ^tis fear'd all the four Corners of the Kingdom will 
 be set on fire. 
 
 Of all the Towns of surety which they of the Religion 
 hold, Rochell is the chiefest, a Place strong by Nature, but 
 stronger by Art. It is a maritime Town, and landward 
 they can by Sluices drown a League's distance ; 'tis fortify'd 
 with mighty thick Walls, Bastions, and Counterscarps, and 
 those according to the modern Rules of Enginry. This, 
 among other cautionary Towns, was granted by Henry IV. 
 to them of the Religion for a certain term of years; which 
 being expir'd, the King saith they are dcvolv'd again to 
 the Crown, and so demands them. They of the Religion 
 
 pretend
 
 134 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 pretend to have divers Grievances ; first, they have not been 
 paid these two years the 160,000 Crovi^ns which the last 
 King gave them annually, to maintain their Ministers 
 and Garrisons: They complain of the King's Carriage lately 
 at Beam {Henry the Great's Country), which was merely 
 Protestant, where he hath introduced two years since the 
 publick Exercise of the Mass, which had not been sung 
 there fifty years before; he alter'd also there the Govern- 
 ment of the Country, and in lieu of a Viceroy, left a 
 Governor only : And whereas Navarr'm was formerly a 
 Court of Parliament for the whole Kingdom of Navar 
 (that's under France), he hath put it down and publish'd 
 an Edict, That the Navarrois should come to Toulouse, the 
 chief Town of Languedoc ; and lastly, he left behind him a 
 Garrison in the said Town of Navarr'in. These and other 
 Grievances they of the Religion proposed to the King lately, 
 desiring His Majesty would let them enjoy still those Pri- 
 vileges his Predecessor Henry III. and his Father Henry IV. 
 afforded them by Act of Pacification: But he made them 
 a short Answer, That what the one did in this Point, he did 
 it out o^ fear ; what the other did, he did it out of love; 
 but he would have them know, that he neither lov'd them 
 wox fear d them : so the business is like to bleed sore on both 
 sides ; nor is there yet any appearance of prevention. 
 
 There was a Scuflfle lately here ^twixt the D. of Nevers 
 and the Cardinal of Guise, who have had a long Suit in 
 Law about an Abbey ; and meeting the last Week about 
 the Palace, from Words they fell to Blows, the Cardinal 
 struck the Duke first, and so were parted ; but in the 
 Afternoon there appear'd on both sides no less than 3000 
 Horse in a Field hard by, which shews the populousness 
 and sudden strength of this huge City : but the Matter 
 was taken up by the King himself^ and the Cardinal clapt 
 up in the Bastile, where the King saith he shall abide to 
 ripen ; for he is but young, and they speak of a Bull that 
 is to come from Rome to decardinalize him. I fear to have 
 trespass'd too much upon your Patience, therefore I will 
 
 conclude
 
 Sect. 2. Familiar Letters. 135 
 
 conclude for the present^ but will never cease to profess my 
 self — Your thrice humble and ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Paris, 18 Aug. 1622. 
 
 XX. 
 
 To D. Caldwall, Esq.,fro7?i Poissy. 
 
 Mv DEAR D., 
 
 To be free from EngUsli, and to have the more con- 
 veniency to fall close to our business, Mr. Altliam 
 and I are lately retir'd from Paris to this Town of Poissy, 
 a pretty genteel place at the Foot of the great Forest of St. 
 Germain upon the River Sequana, and within a mile of one 
 of the Kina;'s chiefest standino- Houses, and about fifteen 
 miles from Paris. Here is one of the prime Nunneries of 
 all France. Lewis IX., who in the Catalogue of the French 
 Kings, is call'd St. Lewis, which Title was confirm'd by the 
 Pope, was baptiz'd in this little Town ; and after his return 
 from Egypt and other places against the Saracens, being 
 ask'd by what Title he would be distinguish'd from the 
 rest of his Predecessors after his death, he answer'd, That 
 he desir'd to be call'd Lewis oj' Poissy. Reply being made, 
 that there were divers other Places and Cities of renown, 
 where he had pcrform'd brave Exploits, and obtain'd 
 famous Victories, therefore it was more fitting that some 
 of those places should denominate him : No, said he, I 
 desire to be call'd Lewis of Poissy, because there I got the 
 most glorious Victory that ever I had, for there I overcame 
 the Devil; meaning he was christen'd there. 
 
 I sent you from Antwerp a silver Dutch Table-book, I 
 desire to hear of the receipt of it in your next: I must 
 desire you (as I did once at Rouen) to send me a dozen pair 
 of the whitest Kidskin gloves for Women, and half a dozen 
 pair of Knives, by the Merchant's Post ; and if you want 
 anything that France can afford, I hope you know what 
 Power you have to dispose of — Yours, J. H. 
 
 7 SeJ). 1622. 
 
 xxr.
 
 136 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 To riiy Father, yrow Paris. 
 
 SIR, I was afraid I should never have had Ability to 
 write to you again, I had lately such a dangerous Fit 
 of Sickness; but I have now pass'd the Brunt of it, God 
 hath been pleas'd to reprieve me, and reserve me for more 
 days, which I hope to have Grace to number better. Mr. 
 Altham and I having retir'd to a small Town from Paris^ 
 for more privacy, and sole conversation with the nation, 
 I tv'd mvself to a task for the readins; of so many books in 
 such a compass of time; and thereupon, to make good my 
 word to myself, I us'd to watch many nights together, tho' 
 it was in the depth of Winter ; but returning to this Town, 
 I took cold in the head, and so that mass of rheum which 
 had gather'd by my former watching, return'd to an impos- 
 thume in my head, whereof I was sick above forty days: 
 at the end they cauteriz'd and made an issue in my cheek, 
 to make vent for the imposthume, and that sav'd my life. 
 At first they let me blood, and I parted with above fifty 
 ounces in less than a fortnight; for Phlelotomy is so much 
 practis'd here, that if one's little finger ache, they presently 
 open a vein ; and to balance the blood on both sides, they 
 usually let blood in both arms. And the commonness 
 of the thing seems to take away all fear, insomuch that 
 the very Women, when they find themselves indispos'd, 
 will open a vein themselves; for they hold, that the 
 blood, which hath a circulation, and fetcheth a round every 
 twenty-four hours about the body, is quickly repair'd again. 
 I was eighteen days and nights that I had no sleep, but 
 short imperfect slumbers, and those too procur'd by potions: 
 the tumor at last came so about the throat, that I had 
 scarce vent left for respiration ; and my body was brought 
 so low with all sorts of Physic, that I appear'd like a mere 
 Skeleton. When I was indifferently well recover'd, some of 
 the Doctors and Chirurgeons that tended me, gave me a 
 
 visit ;
 
 Sect. 2. Familiar Letters. 137 
 
 visit; and among other things, they fell into discourse of 
 Wines which was the best, and so by degrees they fell upon 
 other beverages; and one Doctor in the company who had 
 been in England, told me that we have a Drink in England 
 cali'd Ale, which he thought was the wholsomest liquor 
 that could go into one's Guts; for whereas the body of 
 Man is supported by two columns, viz., the natural heat 
 and the radical moisture, he said, there is no Drink conduceth 
 more to the preservation of the one, and the increase of the 
 other, than Ale : for while the Englishmen drank only Ale, 
 they were strong, brawny, able Men, and could draw an 
 arrow an ell long; but when they fell to wine and beer, 
 they are found to be much impair'd in their strength and 
 ao;e : so the Ale bore away the bell among the Doctors. 
 
 The next week we advance our course further into 
 France, towards the river of Loire to Orleans, whence I shall 
 continue to convey my duty to you. In the meantime I 
 humbly crave your blessing, and your acknowledgment to 
 God Almighty for my recovery; be pleas'd further to im- 
 part my love among my brothers and sisters, with all my 
 kinsmen and friends in the Country : So I rest — Your 
 dutiful Son, J. H. 
 
 10 Z>i:e. 1622. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 To Sir Tho. Savas^e, Knight and Baronet. 
 
 Honourable Sir, 
 
 THAT of the 5th of this present which you pleas'd to 
 send me was receiv'd, and I begin to think mysell 
 somethinc; more than 1 was, that vou value so much the 
 slender endeavours of my pen to do you service : I shall 
 continue to improve vour good opinion of me as opportunity 
 shall serve. 
 
 Touching the great threats against Rochell, whereof I 
 gave you an ample relation in my last, matters are become 
 now more calm, and rather inclining to an accommodation, 
 for 'tis thought a sum of money will make up the breach; 
 
 and
 
 T3S Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 and to this end some think all these bravado's were made. 
 The D. of Liiynes is at last made Ld. High Constable of 
 France, the prime Officer of the Crown ; he hath a peculiar 
 Court to himself, a guard of 100 Men in rich liveries, and 
 100,000 livres a year Pension. The old D. of Lesdiguieres, 
 one of the ancientest Soldiers in France, and a Protestant, 
 is made his Lieutenant. 
 
 But in regard all Christendom rings of this Favourite, 
 being the greatest that ever was in France, since the Maires 
 of the Palace^ who came to be Kings afterwards, I will send 
 you herein this Legend : He was born in Provence, and is a 
 Gentleman by descent, tho' of a petty Extraction ; in the 
 last King's time he was preferr'd to be one of his Pacres, 
 who, finding him industrious, and a good waiter, allow'd him 
 300 Crowns Pension per an., which he husbanded so well, 
 that he maintain'd himself and his two brothers in passable 
 good fashion therewith. 7^he King observing that, doubled 
 his Pension, and taking notice that he was a serviceable 
 Instrument and apt to please, he thought him fit to be 
 about his Son, in whose service he hath continued above 
 fifteen years ; and he hath foivn so high into his Favour 
 by singular dexterity and art he hath in Faulconry, and 
 by shooting at birds flying, wherein the King took great 
 pleasure, that he hath soar'd to this pitch of honour. He 
 is a Man of a passable good understanding and forecast, of 
 a mild comportment, humble and debonair to all, and of a 
 winning conversation; he hath about him choice and solid 
 heads, who prescribe to him rules of Policy, by whose Com- 
 pass he steers his course, which it's likely will make him 
 subsist long : He is now come to that transcendent altitude, 
 that he seems to have mounted above the reach of Envy, 
 and made all hopes of supplanting him frustrate, both by 
 the politic guidance of his own actions, and the powerful 
 alliances he hath got for himself and his two brothers : He 
 is marry'd to the Duke of Monthazo?i's Daughter, one of 
 the prime Peers of France; his second Brother Cadenet 
 (who is reputed the wisest of the three) marry'd the Heiress 
 
 of
 
 Sect. 2. Familiar Letters. 139 
 
 of Picardy, with whom he had ^^9000 lands a year ; his third 
 Brother Brand to the great Heiress of Luxemlmrgh, of which 
 House there have been five Emperors : so that these three 
 Brothers and their Allies would be able to counterbalance any 
 one Faction in France, the eldest and youngest being made 
 Dukes and Peers of France, the other Marshal. There are 
 lately two Ambassadors extraordinary come hither from 
 Venice about the ValtoUn, but their negotiation is at a stand, 
 until the return of an Ambassador extraordinary who is 
 gone to Spain. Ambassadors also are come from the Hagtie 
 for payment of the Freiich Regiment there, which hath been 
 neglected these ten years; and to know whether his Majesty 
 will be pleas'd to continue their Pay any longer ; but their 
 Answer is yet suspended : They have brought news that the 
 seven ships which were built for His Majesty in the Tessel 
 are ready ; to this he answer'd, that he desires to have ten 
 more built; for he intends to finish that design which his 
 Father had a-foot a little before his Death, to establish a 
 Royal Company of Merchants. 
 
 This is all the News that France affords for the present, 
 the relation whereof, if it proves as acceptable as my endea- 
 vours to serve you herein are pleasing unto me, T shall esteem 
 myself happy: so, wishing you and my noble Lady con- 
 tinuance of health, and increase of Honour, I rest — Your 
 humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Farts, 15 Dec. 1622, 
 
 xxni. 
 
 To Sir John North, Kjiight. 
 Sir, 
 
 I CONFESS you have made a perfect conquest of me by 
 your late Favours, and I yield myself your Captive : 
 a day may come that will enable me to pay my ransom ; in 
 the interim, let a most thankful acknowledgment be my 
 Bail and Mainprise. 
 
 I am now remov'd from off the Sein to the Loire, to the 
 fair Town of Orleans : there was here lately a mixt Proces- 
 sion
 
 140 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 sion 'twixt Military and Ecclesiastic for the Maid of Orleans, 
 which is perform'd every year very solemnly; her Statue 
 stands upon the Bridge, and her Clothes are preserv'd to 
 this day, which a young Man wore in the Procession; 
 which makes me think that her Story, tho' it sound like a 
 Romance, is very true. And I read it thus in two or three 
 Chronicles : When the English had made such firm In- 
 vasions in France, that their Armies had march'd into the 
 heart of the Country, besieged Orleans, and driven Charles 
 VII. to Bourges in Berrij, which made him to be call'd, for 
 the time, King of Berry ; there came to his Army a Shep- 
 herdess, one Anne de Arqne, who with a confident look and 
 language told the King, that she was design'd by Heaven to 
 beat the English, and drive them out of France. Therefore 
 she desired a Command in the Army, which by her extra- 
 ordinary confidence and importunity she obtain'd ; and 
 putting on Man's apparel, she prov'd so prosperous, that the 
 Siege was rais'd from before Orleans, and the Endish were 
 pursu d to Paris, and forced to quit that, and driven to 
 Normandy : She us'd to go on with marvellous courage and 
 resolution, and her word was Hara ha: but in Normandy 
 she was taken Prisoner, and the English had a fair revenge 
 upon her, for by an Arrest of the Parliament of Rouen she 
 was burnt for a Witch. There is a great business now a-foot 
 in Paris, call'd the Polette, which, if it take effect, will tend 
 to correct, at leastwise to cover a great Error in the French 
 Government: the custom is, that all the chief places of 
 Justice thro'out all the eight Courts of Parliament in 
 France, besides a great number of other Offices are set to 
 sale by the King, and they return to him, unless the Buyer 
 liveth forty days after his resignation to another. It is 
 now propounded that these casual Offices shall be absolutely 
 hereditary, provided that every Officer pay a yearly revenue 
 to the King, according to the valuation of and perquisites 
 of the Office: this business is now in hot agitation, but the 
 issue is yet doubtful. 
 
 The last you sent I receiv'd by Vacandary in Paris: So 
 
 highly
 
 Sect. 2. Familiar Letters. 141 
 
 highly honouring your excellent Parts and Merit, I rest, now 
 that I understand French indifferently well, no more your 
 [she] Servant, but — Your most faithful Servitor, J. H. 
 Orleans, 3 Mar. 1622. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 To Sir James Crofts, Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 WERE I to freight a Letter with Compliments, this 
 Country would furnish me with variety, but of 
 News a small store at this present; and for Compliment, it 
 is dangerous to use any to you, who have such a piercing 
 Judgment to discern semblances from realities. 
 
 The Queen-Mother is come at last to Paris, where she 
 hath not been since Jncre^s death; the King is also return'd 
 post from Bonrdeaux, having travers'd most part of his King- 
 dom : he settled Peace everywhere he pass'd, and quash'd 
 divers Insurrections; and by his obedience to his Mother, 
 and his lenity towards all his Partisans at Pont de Ce, 
 where above 400 were slain, and notwithstanding that he 
 was victorious, yet he gave a general Pardon ; he hath gain'd 
 much upon the affections of his People. His Council of 
 State went ambulatory always with him, and as they say 
 here, never did Men mana<re thinffs with more wisdom. 
 There is a War questionless a fermenting against the 
 Protestants ; the Duke of Epernon, in a kind of a Rodomon- 
 tado way, desir'd leave of the King to block up Rochell, and 
 in six weeks he would undertake to deliver her to his hands ; 
 but I believe he reckons without his Host. I was told a 
 nierrv Passaire of this little Gascon Duke, who is now the 
 oldest Soldier in France; having come lately to Paris, he 
 treated with a Pander to procure him a Courtesan, and if 
 she was a Damoisel (a Gentlewoman) he would give so much, 
 and if a Citizen, he would give so much : The Pander did 
 his Office, but brought him a Citizen clad in DamoiseVs 
 apparel, so she and her Maqucrcl were paid accordinglv. 
 
 The
 
 142 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 The next day after, some of his Familiars having understood 
 hereof, began to be pleasant with the Duke, and to jeer him, 
 that he being a V'leil Routier, an old try'd Soldier, should 
 suffer himself to be so cozen'd, as to pay for a Citizen after 
 the rate of a Gentlewoman: The little Duke grew half 
 wild hereupon, and commenced an Action of Fraud against 
 the Pander; but what became of it I cannot tell you, but 
 all Paris rang of it. I hope to return now very shortly to 
 England, where, among the rest of my noble Friends, I shall 
 much rejoice to see and serve you, whom I honour with no 
 vulgar affection : So I am — Your true Servitor, J. H. 
 Orleans, 5 Mar. 1622. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 To my Cousin, Mr. Will. Martin, at Brussels. 
 
 Dear Cousin, 
 
 I FIND you are very punctual in your performances, and a 
 precise observer of the promise you made here to cor- 
 respond with Mr. Altham and me by Letters. I thank you 
 for the variety of German News you imparted to me, which 
 was so neatly couch'd and curiously knit together, that your 
 Letter might serve for a pattern to the best Intelligencer. 
 I am sorry the Affairs of the Prince Palsgrave go so un- 
 towardly ; the wheel of War may turn, and that spoke which 
 is now up may down again. For French Occurrences, there 
 is a War certainly intended against them of the Religion 
 here, and there are visible preparations a-foot already ; 
 Among others that shrink in the Shoulders at it, the Kino-'s 
 Servants are not very well pleas'd with it, in regard, besides 
 Scots and Sivissers, there are divers of the King's Servants 
 that are Protestants. If a Man go to ragion' di stato, to 
 reason of State, the French King hath something to justify 
 this design ; for the Protestants being so numerous, and 
 having near upon fifty presidiary wall'd Towns in their hands 
 for caution, they have power to disturb France when they 
 please, and being abetted by a foreign Prince, to give the 
 
 King
 
 Sect. 2. Familiar Letters. 143 
 
 King Law ; and you know as well as I, how they have 
 heen made use of to kindle a Fire in France: Therefore 
 rather than they should he utterly suppress'd, I believe the 
 Spaniard himself would reach them his Ragged-staff to 
 defend them. 
 
 I send you here inclos'd another from Master Altham, 
 who respects you dearly, and we remember'd you lately at 
 la pomme du pin m the best Liquor of the French Grape. 
 I shall be shortly for London, where I shall not rejoice a 
 little to meet vou. The English air mav confirm what 
 foreign begun, I mean our Friendship and Affections; and 
 in Me (that I may return you in English the Latin Verses 
 Yon sent me) : — 
 
 As soon a little Ant 
 
 Shall bib the Ocean dfy, 
 A Snail shall creep about the World, 
 
 E'er these Affections die. 
 
 Soj my dear Cousin, may Virtue be your Guide, and 
 Fortune your Companion. — Yours while 
 
 Jam. Howell. 
 Paris, 18 Mar. 1622. 
 
 Section
 
 Section III. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I. 
 
 To my Father. 
 
 I AM safely return'd now the second time from beyond 
 the Seas, but I have yet no Employment : God and 
 {rood Friends, I hope, will shortly provide one for me. 
 
 The Spanish Ambassador, Count Gondomar, doth strongly 
 neo^otiate a Match 'twixt our Prince and the Infanta of 
 Spain; but at his first Audience there happen'd an ill- 
 favour'd accident (pray God it prove no ill augury), for 
 my Lord of Arundel being sent to accompany him to 
 Whitehall, upon a Sunday in the afternoon, as they were 
 ccoing; over the Terrass, it broke under them, but only one 
 was hurt in the Arm. Gondomar said, that he had not 
 car'd to have dy'd in so good Company : He saith, there 
 is no other way to regain the Palatinate but by this Match, 
 and to settle an eternal Peace in Christendom. 
 
 The Marquis of Buckingliam continueth still in fulness 
 of grace and favour; the Countess his Mother sways also 
 much at Court : she brought Sir Henry Montague from 
 delivering Law on the King's-Bench, to look to his Bags 
 in the Exchequer, for she made him Lord High-Treasurer 
 o^ England ; but he parted with his white S^q^ before the 
 year's end, tho' his Purse had bled deeply for it (above 
 .^20,000), which made a Lord of this Land to ask him at 
 his return from Court, Whether he did not find that Wood 
 was extreme dear at Newmarket, for there he received the 
 white Staff. There is now a notable stirring Man in the 
 Place, my Lord Cranfield, who, from walking about the 
 Exchange, is come to sit Chief-Justice in the Chequer- 
 Chamber,
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 145 
 
 Chamber, and to have one of the highest Places at the 
 Council-Table: He is marry'd to one of the Tribe of For- 
 tune, a Kinswoman of the Marquis of Buckingham. Thus 
 there is rising and falling at Court ; and as in our natural 
 pace one foot cannot be up till the other be down, so it is 
 in the affairs of the World commonly, one Man riseth at 
 the fall of another. 
 
 I have no more to write at this time, but that with 
 tender of my duty to vou, I desire a continuance of your 
 Blessing and Prayers. — Your dutiful Son, J. H. 
 
 Lond., 22 Mar. 1622. 
 
 II. 
 
 To tJie Honourahlc JSIr. John Savage [now Earl q/" Rivers) 
 
 at Florence. 
 Sir, 
 
 MY love is not so short but it can reach as far as 
 Florence to find you out, and farther too if occa- 
 sion required; nor are these affections I have to serve you 
 so dull, but they can clamber o'er the Jlps and ylppenin to 
 wait upon you, as they have adventur'd to do now in this 
 paper. I am sorry I was not in London to kiss your hands 
 before you set to Sea, and much more sorry that I had not 
 the happiness to meet you in Holland or Brabant, for we 
 went the very same road, and lay in Dort and Antwerp, in 
 the same lodo;in2;s vou had lain in a f()rtnio;ht before. I 
 presume vou have by this time tasted of the sweetness of 
 Travel, and that you have wean'd your affections from 
 England for a good while ; you must now think upon 
 home, as (one said) good men think upon Heaven, aiming 
 still to go thither, but not till they finish their course; and 
 yours, I understand, will be three years : in the meantime 
 vou must not sufi'er anv meltina; tenderness of thousxlits, or 
 longing desires, to distract or interrupt you in that lair 
 road vou arc in to Virtue, and to beautifv within that 
 comely Edifice which Nature hath built without you, T 
 
 K know
 
 146 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 know your Reputation is precious to you, as it should be 
 to every noble Mind ; you have expos'd it now to the hazard, 
 therefore you must be careful it receive no taint at your 
 return, bv not answering that expectation which your 
 Prince and noble Parents have of you. You are now under 
 the chiefest clime of Wisdom, fair Itahj, the Darling of 
 Nature, the Nurse of Policy, the Theatre of Virtue: But 
 tho' Italy give milk to Virtue with one dug, she often suffers 
 Vice to suck at the other : therefore vou must take heed 
 you mistake not the dug: for there is an ill-favour'd 
 Saying, That Tnglese Italionato ^ Diavolo incarnato ; an 
 Encrlishman Italianate is a Devil incarnate. I fear no such 
 thing of you, I have had such pregnant proofs of your in- 
 genuity, and noble inclinations to virtue and honour: I 
 know you have a mind to both, but I must tell you that 
 you will hardly get the good-will of the latter, unless the 
 Jirst speak a good word for you. When you go to Rome, 
 you may haply see the ruins of two Temples, one dedicated 
 to Virtue, the other to Ho/iour ; and there was no way to 
 enter into the last but thro' the first. Noble Sir, I wish 
 your good very seriously, and if you please to call to memory, 
 and examine the circumstance of things, and my carriage 
 towards you since I had the happiness to be known first to 
 your honourable Family, I know you will conclude that I 
 love and honour you \n no vulgar way. 
 
 My Lord, your Grandfather was complaining lately that 
 he had not heard from you a good while: By the next 
 Shipping to Leghorn, among other things, he intends to 
 send you a whole Brawn in collars. I pray be pleased to 
 remember my affectionate service to Mr. Thomas Savage, 
 and my kind respects to Mr. Bold, For English News, I 
 know this packet comes freighted to you, therefore I forbear 
 at this time to send any. Farewell, noble Heir of Honour, 
 and command always. — Your true Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Loud., 24 Mar. 1622. 
 
 III.
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 147 
 
 III. 
 
 To Sir James Crofts, Kiiight, at St. Osith hi Essex. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I HAD yours upon Tuesday last, and whereas you are 
 desirous to know the proceedings of the Parliament 
 I am sorry I must write to you that matters begin to grow 
 boisterous ; the King retir'd not long since to Newmarket^ 
 not very well pleased, and this week there went thither 
 twelve from the House of Commons, to whom Sir Richard 
 IVeston was the mouth : the King not liking the Message 
 they brought, call'd them his Ambassadors, and in the large 
 Answer which he hath sent to the Speaker, he saith, that 
 he must apply to them a Speech of Queen Elizabeth's to 
 an Ambassador of Poland, Legatimi expectavirnus, Heralduni 
 accepimus ; We expected an Ambassador, we have receivd a 
 Herald: he takes it not well that they should meddle with 
 the Match 'twixt his Son and the Infanta, alleging an 
 example of one of the Kings of Frarice, who would not 
 marry his Son without the advice of his Parliament; but 
 afterwards the King grew so despicable abroad, that no 
 foreign State would treat with him about anything with- 
 out his Parliament. Sundry other high passages there were 
 as a caveat he gave them, not to touch the honour of the 
 King of Spain, with whom he was so far engaged in a matri- 
 monial Treaty, that he could not go back : he gave them 
 also a check for taking cognisance of those things which 
 had their motion in the ordinary Courts of Justice, and 
 that Sir Edward Coke (tho' these words were not inserted 
 in the Answer), whom he thought to be thejittest Instrument 
 for a Tyrant that ever ivas in England, should be so bold as 
 to call the Prerogative of the Crown a great Monster. The 
 Parliament after this was not long-liv'd, but broke up in 
 discontent; and upon the point of dissolution, they made a 
 Protest against divers particulars in the aforesaid Answer of 
 His Majesty's. My Lord Digby is preparing for Spain m 
 quality of Ambassador Extraordinary, to perfect the Match 
 
 'twixt
 
 148 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 'twixt our Prince and the Lady Infanta ; in which business 
 Gondomar hath waded already very deep, and been very 
 active, and inecratiated himself with divers Persons of Qualitv, 
 Ladies especially : yet he could do no good upon the Lady 
 Hatton, whom he desir'd lately, that in regard he was her 
 next Neighbour (at Ely-House) he might have the Benefit 
 of her Back-gate to go abroad into the Fields; but she 
 put him off with a Compliment : whereupon in a private 
 Audience lately with the King, among other passages of 
 merriment, he told him, that my Lady Hattoji was a strange 
 Lady, for she would not suffer her Husband, Sir Ed. Coke, 
 to come in at her fore-door, nor him to go out at her hack- 
 door ; and so related the whole business. He was also dis- 
 patching a Post lately for Spain ; and the Post having re- 
 ceiv'd his Packet, and kiss'd his hands, he call'd him back, 
 and told him he had forgot one thing, which was, That 
 when he came to Spain, he shotdd commend him to the Sun, 
 for he had not seen him a great ivhile, and in Spain he should 
 he sure to find him. So, with my humble service to my Lord 
 of Colchester, I rest — Your most humble Servitor, J. H. 
 Land., 24 Mar. 1622. 
 
 IV. 
 
 To my Brother, Mr. Hugh Penry. 
 Sir, 
 
 THE Welsh Nag you sent me was deliver'd me in a 
 very good plight, and I give you a thousand thanks 
 for him ; I had occasion lately to try his mettle and his 
 lungs, and every one tells me he is right, and of no mongrel 
 Race, but a true Mountaineer ; for besides his toughness 
 and strength of Lungs up a Hill, he is quickly curry'd, and 
 content with short Commons : I believe he hath not been 
 long a highway traveller ; for whereas other Horses, when 
 they pass by an Inn or Alehouse, use to make towards them 
 to give them a friendly visit, this Nag roundly goes on, and 
 scorns to cast as much as a glance upon any of them ; which 
 I know not whether I shall impute it to his ignorance, or 
 
 height 
 
 I
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 149 
 
 height of Spirit ; but conversing with the soft Horses in 
 England, I believe he will quickly be brought to be more 
 courteous. 
 
 The greatest News we have now, is the return of the 
 Lord Bishop of Landciff, Davenaut, JVard, and Belcauquell, 
 from the Synod of Dort, where the Bishop had precedence 
 given him according to his episcopal dignity, ^rmhiii/s a.ud 
 Forstiiis were sore baited there concerning Predestination, 
 Election, and Reprobation ; as also touching Chrisfs Death, 
 and Man's Redemption by it; then concerning Man's Cor- 
 ruption and Conversion; lastly, concerning the Persever- 
 ance of the Saints. I shall have shortly the transaction of 
 the Synod. The Jesuits have put out a jeering Libel against 
 it, and these two Verses I remember in't: — 
 
 Dordrecti Synodiis 1 nodus; chorus integer 1 (Sger ; 
 Convent us ? ventus ; Sessio stramen ? Amen. 
 
 But I will confront this Distich with another I read in 
 France of the Jesuits in the Town of Dole, towards Lorain ; 
 they had a great House given them call'd Varc [arcum) and 
 upon the River of Loire, Henry IV. gave them Lajleche, 
 Sagittam in Latin, where they have two stately Convents, 
 that is. Bow and Arrow; whereupon one made these 
 Verses : — 
 
 Arcum Dola dedit, dedit illis alma sagittam 
 Francia ; quis chordam, quam meruere, dabit ? 
 
 Fair France the Arrow, Dole gave them the £o7u ; 
 Who shall the String, which they deserve, bestow ? 
 
 No more now, but that with my dear Love to my Sister, 
 I rest — Your most affectionate Brother, J. H. 
 
 Lond., 1 6 Apr. 1622. 
 
 V. 
 
 To the Lord Viscount Colchester. 
 
 My good Lord, 
 RECEIV'D your Lordship's of the last Week, and 
 according to your command T send here inclos'd the 
 
 Venetian 
 
 I
 
 150 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book I. 
 
 Venetian Gazette : for foreign Aviso's they write that Mans- 
 felt hath been beaten out of Germany, and is come to Sedan, 
 and 'tis thought the Duke of Bovillo7i will set him up 
 again with a new Army : Marquis Spinola hath newly sat 
 down before Berghen op zoom ; Your Lordship knows well 
 what consequence that Town is of, therefore it is likely 
 this will be a hot Summer in the Netherlands. The French 
 King is in open War against them of the Religion ; he hath 
 already clear'd the Loire, by taking Jerseau and Saiimur, 
 where Monsieur Du Plessis sent him the Keys, which are 
 promis'd to be deliver'd him again, but I think ad Grcecas 
 Calendas. He hath been also before St. John d'Angeli, 
 where the young Cardinal of Guise died, being struck down 
 by the puff of a Cannon-bullet, which put him in a burning 
 fever, and made an end of him. The last Town that's taken 
 was Clerac, which was put to 50,000 Crowns ransom ; 
 many were put to the Sword, and divers Gentlemen drown'd 
 as they thought to scape; this is the fifteenth cautionary 
 Town the King hath taken : And now they say he marcheth 
 towards Montaiilan, and so to Montpellier and Nisr?ies, and 
 then have at Rochel. My Lord Hays is by this time, 'tis 
 thought, with the Army ; for Sir Edward Herbert is re- 
 turn'd, having had some clashings and counterbuffs with the 
 Favourite Luynes, wherein he comported himself gallantly. 
 There is a fresh Report blown over, that Luynes is lately 
 dead in the Army of the Plague, some say of the Purples, 
 the next Cousen-german to it; which the Protestants give 
 out to be the just Judgment of Heaven fallen upon him, 
 because he incited his Master to these Wars against them. 
 If he be not dead, let him die when he will, he will leave a 
 fame behind him, to have been the greatest Favourite for 
 the time that ever was in France, having from a simple 
 Falconer come to be High Constable, and made himself 
 and his younger Brother Grand Dukes and Peers; and his 
 second Brother Cadenet Marshal ; and all three married to 
 Princely Families. 
 
 No more now, but that I most humbly kiss your Lord- 
 ship's
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 151 
 
 ship's hands^ and shall be always most ready and chearful to 
 receive your Commandments, because I am — Your Lord- 
 ship's obliged Servitor, J. H. 
 Land., 12 Ai/g. 1623. 
 
 VI. 
 
 To my Father, yVow London. 
 Sir, 
 
 I WAS at a dead stand in the course of my Fortunes, 
 when it pleas'd God to provide me lately an Employ- 
 ment to Spain, whence I hope there may arise both Repute 
 and Profit. Some of the Cape Merchants of the Tiirhj 
 Company, among whom the chiefest were Sir Robert Nap- 
 per and Captain Leat, propos'd to me, that they had a great 
 business in the Court of Spain in Agitation many years, 
 nor was it now their business, but the King's, in whose 
 name it is follow'd : They could have Gentlemen of good 
 Quality that would undertake it, yet if I would take it 
 upon me, they would employ no other, and assur'd me that 
 the Employment should tend both to my benefit and credit. 
 Now the business is this : There was a great Turky Ship 
 call'd the Fineyard, sailing thro' the Straits towards Con- 
 stantinople, but by distress of weather she was forc'd to put 
 into a little Port call'd Milo in Sardinia; the Searchers 
 came aboard of her, and finding her richly laden, for her 
 cargazon of broad-cloth was worth the first penny near upon 
 ^30,000, they cavill'd at some small proportion of Lead 
 and Tin which they had only for the use of the Ship ; 
 which the Searchers alledgM to be ropa de contrabando, pro- 
 hibited Goods; for by Article of Peace, nothing is to be 
 carry'd to Turky that may arm or victual. The Viceroy of 
 Sardinia hereupon seized upon the whole Ship, and all her 
 Goods, landed the Master and Men in Spain, who coming 
 to Sir Charles CornwalUs, the Ambassador at that Court, 
 Sir Charles could do them little good at present ; therefore 
 they came to England, and coniplain'd to the King and 
 Council : His Majesty was so sensible hereof, that he sent a 
 
 particular
 
 152 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book I. 
 
 particular Commission in his own Royal Name, to demand 
 a restitution of the Ship and Goods, and Justice upon the 
 Viceroy of Sardinia, who had so apparently broke the Peace, 
 and wrong'd his Subjects. Sir Charles (with Sir Paul Pindar 
 a-while) labour'd in the business, and commenced a Suit in 
 Law, but he was call'd home before he could do anything 
 to purpose. After him Six John Dighy (now Lord Dighy) 
 went Ambassador to Spain, and among other things he had 
 that particular Commission from His Majesty invested in 
 him, to prosecute the Suit in his own Royal Name: There- 
 upon he sent a well-qualify'd Gentleman, Mr. IValsingham 
 Gresly, to Sardinia, who unfortunately meeting with some 
 Men of War in the passage, was carry'd prisoner to Algier. 
 My Lord Dighy being remanded home, left the business in 
 Mr. Cottingto7i's hands, then Agent, but resum'd it at his 
 return ; yet it prov'd such a tedious intricate Suit, that he 
 return'd acrain without finishino; the work, in regard of the 
 remoteness of the Island of Sardinia, whence the Witnesses 
 and other Dispatches were to be fetch'd. The Lord Dighy 
 is going now Ambassador Extraordinary to the Court of 
 Spain, upon the business of the Match, the restitution of 
 the Palatinate, and other high Affairs of State ; therefore 
 he is desirous to transmit the King^s Commission touching 
 this particular business to any Gentleman that is capable to 
 follow it, and promiseth to assist him with the utmost of 
 his power ; and iTaith he hath good reason to do so, in 
 regard he hath now a good round share himself in it. About 
 this business I am now preparing to go to Spain, in company 
 of the Ambassador; and I shall kiss the King's hands as 
 his Agent touching this particular Commission. I humbly 
 intreat that your Blessing and Prayers may accompany 
 me in this my new Employment, which I have undertaken 
 upon very good terms, touching expences and reward : So, 
 with my dear love to my brothers and sisters, with other 
 kindred and friends in the Country, I rest — Your dutiful 
 Son, J. H. 
 
 8 SeJ>t. 1622. 
 
 VII.
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 153 
 
 VII. 
 
 To Sir Tho. Savage, Knight and Baronet, at his House in 
 
 Loner-Melford. 
 
 Honourable Sir, 
 
 IRECEIV'D your commands in a letter which you sent 
 me by Sir John North, and I shall not fail to answer 
 you in those particulars. It hath pleas'd God to dispose of 
 me once more for Spai?i, upon a business which I hope will 
 make me good returns : there have two Ambassadors and a 
 Royal Agent follow'd it hitherto, and I am the fourth that 
 is employ'd in it : I defer to trouble you with the parti- 
 culars of it, in regard I hope to have the happiness to kiss 
 your hand at Tower-Hill before my departure, which will 
 not be till my Lord Dighy sets forward. He goes in a 
 gallant splendid Equipage, and one of the King's Ships is 
 to take him in at Plymouth, and transport him to the 
 Corunna or St. jlnderas. 
 
 Since that sad disaster which befel Archbishop ylhhot, to 
 kill the man by the glancing of an arrow as he was shooting 
 at a Deer (which kind of death befel one of our Kings once 
 in New Forest) there hath been a Commission awarded to 
 debate whether upon this fact, whereby he hath shed human 
 blood, he be not to be depriv'd of his Archbishoprick, and 
 pronounced irregular: some were against him; but Bishop 
 Andrews and Sir Henry Martin stood stiffly for him, that 
 in regard it was no spontaneous act, but a mere contin- 
 gency, and that there is no degree of men but is subject to 
 misfortunes and casualties, they declared positively that he 
 was not to fall from his dignity or function, but should still 
 remain a Regular, and in statu quo prius. During this 
 Debate, he petitioned the King that he might be permitted 
 to retire to his Alms-house at Guilford where he was born, 
 to pass the remainder of his life; but he is now come to be 
 again recttis in curia, absolutely quitted, and restored to all 
 things: But for the wife of him who was kill'd, it was no 
 misfortune to her, for he hath endow'd herself, and her 
 
 cliildren
 
 154 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 children with such an estate, that they say her husband 
 could never have got. So I humbly kiss your hands, and 
 rest — Your most obliged Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Lond.y 9 Nov. 1622. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 To Capt. Nich. Leat, at his House in London. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I AM safely come to the Court of Spain; and altho' by 
 reason of that misfortune which befel Mr. jiltham 
 and me, of wounding the Serjeants in Lombard- Sti'eet, we 
 stay'd three weeks behind my Lord Ambassador, yet we 
 came hither time enou2;h to attend him to Court at his first 
 Audience. 
 
 The English Nation is better look'd on now in Spain 
 than ordinary, because of the hopes there are of a Match, 
 which the Merchants and Commonalty much desire, tho' 
 the Nobility and Gentry be not so forward for it : So that 
 in this point the pulse of Spain beats quite contrary to that 
 of England, where the People are averse to this Match, and 
 the Nobility with most part of the Gentry inclinable. 
 
 I have perus'd all the Papers I could get into my hands, 
 touching the business of the Ship Vineyard, and I find that 
 they are higher than I in bulk, tho' closely press'd together: 
 I have cast up what is awarded by all the sentences of view, 
 and review, by the Council of State and War; and I find 
 the whole sum, as well principal as interest upon interest, 
 all sorts of damages, and processal charges, come to above 
 two hundred and fifty thousand Crowns. The Conde del 
 Real, quondam Viceroy of Sardinia, who is adjudg'd to pay- 
 most part of this money, is here ; and he is Major-domo, 
 Lord Steward to the Infanta Cardinal : If he hath where- 
 with, I doubt not but to recover the money, for I hope to 
 have come in a favourable conjuncture of time, and my 
 Lord Ambassador, who is so highly esteem'd here, doth 
 assure me of his best furtherance. So, praying I may prove 
 
 as
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 155 
 
 as successful as I shall be faithful in this great business, I 
 rest — Yours to dispose of, J. H. 
 
 Madrid, 28 Dec. 1622. 
 
 IX. 
 
 To Mr. Arthur Hoptou, from Madrid. 
 Sir, 
 
 SINCE I was made happy with your Acquaintance, I 
 have receiv'd sundry strong evidences of your Love 
 and good Wishes unto me, which have ty'd me to you in no 
 common obligation of thanks : I am in despair ever to 
 cancel this bond, nor would I do it, but rather endear the 
 engagement more and more. 
 
 The Treaty of the Match 'twixt our Prince and the 
 Lady Infanta is now strongly a-foot : she is a very comely 
 Lady, rather of a Flemish complexion than Spanish, fair- 
 hair'd, and carrieth a most pure mixture of red and white 
 in her Face: She is full and big-lipp'd ; which is held a 
 Beauty rather than a Blemish, or any Excess, in the 
 Austrian Family; it being a thing incident to most of that 
 Race; she goes now upon sixteen, and is of a tallness agree- 
 able to those years. The King is also of such a complexion, 
 and is under twenty; he hath two Brothers, Don Carlos 
 and Don Hernando, who, tho' a Youth of twelve, yet he 
 is Cardinal and Archbishop of Toledo ; which, in regard it 
 hath the Chancellorship of Castile annexed to it, is the 
 greatest spiritual Dignity in Christendom after the Papacy, 
 for it is valued at 300,000 Crowns per anmim. Don Carlos 
 is of a differing complexion from all the rest, for he is 
 black-hair'd and of a Spanish hue; he hath neither Office, 
 Command, Dignity, nor Title, but is an individual Com- 
 panion to the King; and what Clothes soever are provided 
 for the King, he hath ^the very same, and as often, from top 
 to toe : he is the better belov'd of his People for his com- 
 plexion ; for one shall hear the Spaniard sigh and lament, 
 savino;, O when shall we have a Kini^; a2;ain of our own 
 Colour ! 
 
 I
 
 156 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book I. 
 
 I pray recommend me kindly to all at your House, and 
 send me word when the young Gentlemen return from 
 Italy. So with my most affectionate Respects to yourself, 
 I rest — Your true friend to serve you, J. H. 
 
 ^ Jan. 1622. 
 
 X. 
 
 To Capt. Nic. Leat,y)-o/» Madrid. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 YOURS of the 10th of this present I receiv'd by Mr. 
 Simon Digby, with the inclos'd to your Son in Ali- 
 cant, which is safely sent. Since my last to you, I had access 
 to Olivares, the Favourite that rules all; I had also audience 
 of the King, to whom I deliver'd two Memorials since, in 
 His Majesty's Name of Great Britain, that a particular 
 Junta of some of the Council of State and War might be 
 appointed to determine the business. The last Memorial 
 had so good success, that the Referees are nominated, 
 whereof the chiefest is the Duke of Infantado. Here it 
 is not the stile to claw and compliment with the King, 
 or idolize him by Sacred Sovereign, and Most Excellent 
 Majesty ; but the Spaniard, when he petitions to his King, 
 gives him no other Character but Sir, and so relating his 
 business, at the end doth ask and demand Justice of him. 
 When I have done with the Viceroy here, I shall hasten 
 my dispatches for Sardinia. Since my last I went to 
 liquidate the account more particularly, and I find that of 
 the 250,000 Crowns, there are above forty thousand due to 
 you ; which might serve for a good Alderman's Estate. 
 
 Your Son in Alicant writes to me of another mischance 
 that is befallen the Ship Amity about Majorca, whereof you 
 were one of the Proprietaries ; I am very sorry to hear of 
 it, and touching any dispatches that are to be had hence, 
 I shall endeavour to procure you them according to in- 
 structions. 
 
 Your cousin Richard Altham remembers his kind respects 
 to you, and sends you many Thanks for the pains you took 
 
 in
 
 Sect. x. Familiar Letters. 
 
 157 
 
 in freeing us from that trouble which the Scuffle with the 
 Serjeants brought upon us. So I rest — Yours ready to 
 serve you, J. H. 
 
 ZJan. 1622. 
 
 XI. 
 
 To the Lord Viscount Colchester, y)-07n Madrid. 
 
 Right Honourable, 
 
 THE grand business of the Match goes so fairly on, that 
 a special Junta is appointed to treat of it, the Names 
 whereof I send you here enclosed : they have proceeded so 
 far, that most of the Articles are agreed upon. Mr. George 
 Gage is lately come hither from Rome, a polite and prudent 
 Gentleman, who hath negotiated some things in that Court 
 for the advance of the business, with the Cardinals Baudino, 
 Ludovisio and la Siisanna, who are the main Men there, to 
 whom the drawing of the Dispensation is referr'd. 
 
 The late taking of Ormus by the Persian from the Crown 
 of Portugal keeps a great noise here, and the rather be- 
 cause the Exploit was done by the assistance of the English 
 Ships that were then thereabouts. My Lord Diglnj went to 
 Court, and gave a round satisfaction in this point ; for it 
 was no voluntary but a constrain'd act in the English, who 
 being in the Persian's Port, were suddenly embargu'd for 
 the Service : and the Persian herein did no more than what 
 is usual amonor Christian Princes themselves, and which 
 is oftener put in practice by the King of Spain and his 
 Viceroys than by any other, viz., to make an Embargue of 
 any stranger's ship that rides within his Ports upon all 
 occasions. It was fcar'd this surprisal of Ormus, which was 
 the greatest Mart in all the Orient for all sorts of Jewels, 
 would have bred ill blood, and prejudiced the proceedings 
 of the Match ; but the Spaniard is a rational Man, and 
 will be satisfy'd with Reason. Count Olivares is the main 
 Man who sways all, and 'tis thought he is not so much 
 affected to an Alliance with England as his Predecessor the 
 Duke of Lerma was, who set it first a-foot twixt Prince 
 
 Henry
 
 158 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 Henry and this Queen of France: The Duke of Lerma was 
 the greatest Privado, the greatest Favourite that ever v^^as 
 in Spain, since Don Alvaro de Luna ; he brought himself, 
 the Duke of Uzeda his Son, and the Duke of Cea his 
 Grandchild, to be all Grandees of Spain; which is the 
 greatest Title that a Spanish Subject is capable of: they 
 have a Privilege to stand cover'd before the King, and at 
 their Election there's no other Ceremony but only these 
 three words by the King, Cohrese por Grande, Cover your- 
 self for a Grandee ; and that's all. The Cardinal-Duke of 
 Lerma lives at Falladolid, he officiates and sings Mass, and 
 passes his old Age in Devotion and Exercises of Piety. It 
 is a common, and indeed a commendable Custom among 
 the Spaniards, when he hath passed his Grand Climacteric, 
 and is grown decrepit, to make a voluntary resignation of 
 Offices, be they never so great and profitable (tho' I cannot 
 say Lerma did so), and sequestring and weaning themselves, 
 as it were, from all mundan Negotiations and Incumbrances, 
 to retire to some place of Devotion and spend the residue 
 of their days in Meditation, and in preparing themselves for 
 another World. Charles the Emperor shew'd them the 
 way, who left the Empire to his Brother, and all the rest of 
 his Dominions to his Son Philip II., and so taking with 
 him his two Sisters, he retir'd into a Monastery, they into 
 a Nunnery. This does not suit with the Genius of an 
 Englishman, who loves not to pull off his Clothes till he 
 goes to bed. I will conclude with some Verses I saw under 
 a huge Rodomontado Picture of the Duke of Lerma, wherein 
 he is painted like a Giant, bearing up the Monarchy of 
 Spain, that of France, and the Popedom upon his Shoulders, 
 with this Stanza : 
 
 Sol?re los ombres (Teste Atlanta 
 Yazen en aquestos dias 
 Estas ires Monarquias. 
 
 Upon the Shoulders of this Atlas lies 
 The Popedom, and two mighty Monarchies. 
 
 So
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 159 
 
 So I most humbly kiss your Lordship's hands, and rest 
 ever most ready — At your Lordship's Command, J. H. 
 
 3 Feb. 1622. 
 
 XII. 
 
 To my Father. 
 Sir, 
 
 ALL Affairs went on fairly here, 'specially that of the 
 l\. Match, when Master Endymion Porter brought lately 
 my Lord of Bristol a Dispatch from England of a high 
 nature, wherein the Earl is commanded to represent to this 
 King, how much His Majesty of Great Britain since the 
 beginning of these German Wars hath labour'd to merit 
 well of this Crown, and of the whole House of Austria, by 
 along and lingring patience, grounded still upon assurances 
 hence, that care should be had of his Honour, his Daugh- 
 ter's Jointure, and Grand-children's Patrimony ; yet how 
 crosly all things had proceeded in the Treaty at Brussels, 
 managed by Sir Rich. IVeston, as also that in the Palatinate, 
 by the Lord Chichester ; how in Treating-time the Town 
 and Castle of Heidelberg were taken, Manheim besieged, 
 and all Acts of Hostility used, notwithstanding the fair Pro- 
 fessions made by this King, the Infanta at Brussels, and 
 other his Ministers; how merely out of respect to this King 
 he had neglected all martial means, which probably might 
 have preserv'd the Palatinate ; those thin Garrisons which 
 he had sent thither, being rather for Honour's sake to keep 
 a footing until a general accommodation, than that he rely'd 
 any way upon their strength : And since that there are 
 no other fruits of all this but reproach and scorn, and that 
 those good Offices which he used towards the Emperor on 
 the behalf of his Son-in-law, which he was so much en- 
 couraged by Letters from hence should take efiect, have not 
 sorted to any other issue than to a plain Affront, and a high 
 injuring of both their Majesties, tho' in a differing degree : 
 The Earl is to tell him. That His Majesty of Great Britain 
 hopes and desires, that out of a true apprehension of these 
 
 wronffs
 
 i6o Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 wrongs oflfer'd unto them both, he will, as his dear and loving 
 Brother, faithfully promise and undertake upon his Honour, 
 confirmino; the same under his Hand and Seal, either that 
 Heidelberg shall be within seventy days render'd into his 
 hands ; as also that there shall be within the said term of 
 seventy days a Suspension of Arms in the Palatinate, and that 
 a Treaty shall recommence upon such terms as he propounded 
 in November last, which this King then held to be reasonable : 
 And in case that this be not yielded to by the Emperor, 
 that then this King join forces with His Majesty of England 
 for the recovery of the Palatinate, which upon this trust 
 hath been lost ; or in case his Forces at this time be other- 
 wise employ'd, that they cannot give His Majesty that 
 Assistance he desires and deserves, that at least he will 
 permit a free and friendly passage thro' his Territories, such 
 Forces as His Majesty of Great Britain shall employ in 
 Germany; Of all which, if the Earl of Bristol hath not 
 from the King of Spain a direct Assurance under his Hand 
 and Seal ten days after his Audience, that then he take his 
 Leave, and return to England to His Majsty's presence; also, 
 to proceed in the negotiation of the Match, according to 
 former instructions. 
 
 This was the main substance of His Majesty's late Letter, 
 yet there was a Postil added, that in case a rupture happen 
 'twixt the two Crowns, the Earl should not come instantly 
 and abruptly away, but that he should send Advice first to 
 England, and carry the Business so, that the World should 
 not presently know of it. 
 
 Notwithstanding all these Traverses, we are confident 
 here that the Match will take, otherwise my Cake is Dow. 
 There was a great difference in one of the Capitulations 
 'twixt the two Kings, how long the Children which should 
 issue of this Marriage were to continue sub regimine Matris, 
 under the tutele of the Mother. This Kino; demanded four- 
 teen years at first, then twelve ; but now he is come to nine, 
 which is newly condescended unto. I receiv'd yours of the 
 first of September, in another from Sir James Crofts, wherein 
 
 it
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 161 
 
 it was no small comfort to me to hear of your health. I 
 am to go hence shortly for Sardinia, a dangerous Voyage, 
 by reason of Algier Pirates, I humbly desire your prayers 
 may accompany — Your dutiful Son, J. H. 
 
 Madrid, 23 Feb. 1622. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 To Sir James Crofts, Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 YOURS of the 2d of October came to safe hand with 
 the inclos'd : You write that there came Dispatches 
 lately from Rome, wherein the Pope seems to endeavour to 
 insinuate himself into a direct Treaty with England, and to 
 negotiate immediately with our King touching the Dispen- 
 sation, which he not only labours to evade, but utterly dis- 
 claims, it being by Article the task of this King to procure 
 all Dispatches thence. I thank you for sending me this 
 news. You shall understand there came lately an Express 
 from Ro77ie also to this Court, touching the business of the 
 Match, which gave very good content ; but the Dispatch 
 and new Instructions which Mr. Endymion Porter brought 
 my Lord of Bristol lately from England touching the Prince 
 Palatine, fills us with apprehensions of fear : Our Ambas- 
 sadors here have had audience of this King already about 
 those Propositions, and we hope that Master Porter will 
 carry back such thing as will satisfy. Touching the two 
 points in the Treaty wherein the two Kings differ'd most, 
 viz., about the education of the Children, and the exemption 
 of the Infanta s ecclesiastic servants from secular Jurisdic- 
 tion ; both these Points are clear'd ; for the Spaniard is come 
 from fourteen years to ten, and for so long time the Infant 
 Princes shall remain under the Mother's Government. And 
 for the other Point, the ecclesiastical Superior shall first take- 
 notice of the oflence that shall be committed by any spiritual 
 person belonging to the Infanta's family, and according to 
 the merit thereof, either deliver him by degradation to the 
 secular Justice^ or banish him the Kingdom, according to 
 
 L the
 
 i62 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 the quality of the delict : and it is the same that is practis'd 
 in this Kingdom, and other parts that adhere to Kome. 
 
 The Conde de Monterre goes Viceroy to Naples, the Mar- 
 quis de Montesclaros being put by, the gallanter Man of the 
 two. I was told of a witty saying of his, when the Duke 
 of Lerma had the vogue in this Court : for going one 
 morning to speak with the Duke, and having danc'd attend- 
 ance a long time, he peep'd thro' a slit in the hanging, and 
 spy'd Don Rodrigo Calderon, a great Man (who was lately 
 beheaded here for poisoning the late Queen-Dowager), de- 
 livering the Duke a paper upon his knees ; whereat the 
 Marquis smil'd, and said, Voto a tal aquel homhre suhe mas 
 a las rodillas, que yo no hago a los pies ; — 7 swear that Man 
 climbs higher upon his hiees, than I can npoji 7ny feet. Indeed 
 I have read it to be a true Court Rule, that descendendo ascen- 
 dendum est in Aula, descending is the way to ascend at Court. 
 There is a kind of humility and compliance that is far from 
 any servile baseness or sordid flattery, and may be term'd 
 discretion rather than adulation. I intend, God willing, 
 to go for Sardinia this Spring; I hope to have better luck 
 than Master IValsingham Gresley had, who some few years 
 since, in his passage thither upon the same business that I 
 have in agitation, met with some Turks Men of War, and 
 so was carried slave to Algier. So, with my due respects to 
 you, I rest — Your faithful Servant, J. H. 
 
 Madrid, 12 March 1622. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 To Sir Francis Cottington, Secretary to His Highness the 
 
 Prince 0/ Wales, at St. James's. 
 Sir, 
 
 I BELIEVE it will not be unpleasing to you to hear of 
 the procedure and success of that business wherein 
 yourself hath been so long vers'd, I mean the great Suit 
 against the quondam Viceroy of Sardinia, the Conde del Real. 
 Count Gondomaj-'s coming was a great Advantage unto me, 
 
 who
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 163 
 
 who hath done me many favours; besides a confirmation 
 of the two Sentences of View and Review, and of the 
 execution against the Viceroy, I have procur'd a Royal 
 Cedide which I caus'd to be printed, and whereof I send 
 you here inclos'd a Copy, by which Cedide I have power to 
 arrest his very Person ; and my Lawyer tells me there was 
 never such a Cedide granted before. I have also by virtue 
 of it priority of all other his Creditors; he hath made an 
 imperfect overture of a Composition, and show'd me some 
 trivial old-fashion'd Jewels, but nothing equivalent to the 
 debt. And now that I speak of Jewels, the late surprizal 
 of Ormus by the Assistance of our Ships sinks deep in their 
 stomachs here, and we were afraid it would have spoil'd all 
 proceedings; but my Lord Diglnj, now Earl of Bristol (for 
 Count Gondomar brought him o'er his Patent), hath calm'd 
 all thing's at his last Audience. 
 
 There were luminaries of joy lately here for the Victory 
 that Do7i Gonzalez de Cordova got over Count Mansfelt in 
 the Netherlands, with that Army which the D. of Bovillon 
 had levied for him ; but some say they have not much 
 reason to rejoice, for tho' the Infantry suffer'd, yet Mansfelt 
 got clear with all his Horse by a notable retreat; and they 
 say here it was the greatest piece of Service and Art he 
 ever did ; it being a Maxim, That there is nothing so 
 difficult in the Art of War as an honourable Retreat. 
 Besides, the report of his coming to Breda caus'd Marquis 
 Spinola to raise the Siege before Berghen, to burn his tents, 
 and to pack away suddenly, for which he is much censur'd 
 here. 
 
 Capt. Leat and others have written to me of the favour- 
 able report you pleas'd to make of my Endeavours here, for 
 which I return vou humble thanks : And altho' vou have 
 left behind you a multitude of Servants in this Court, 
 yet if occasion were offer'd, none should be more forward 
 to go on your Errand than — Your humble and faithful 
 Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Madrid, 15 Mar. 1622. 
 
 XV.
 
 164 Familiar Letters. Book I, 
 
 XV. 
 
 To the Honourable Sir Tho. Savajre, Ki. and Bar. 
 
 'D^J 
 
 Honourable Sir, 
 
 THE great business of the Match was tending to a period, 
 the Articles reflecting both upon Church and State 
 being capitulated^ and interchangeably accorded on both 
 sides; and there wanted nothing to consummate all Things, 
 when, to the wonderment of the World, the Prince and the 
 Marquis oi Buckingham arriv'd at this Court on Friday last, 
 upon the close of the Evening: They alighted at my Lord 
 of Bristol's House, and the Marquis (Mr. Thoinas Smith) 
 came in first with a Portmanteau under his Arm ; then (Mr. 
 John Smith) the Prince was sent for, who stay'd a while on 
 t'other side of the Street in the dark. My Lord of Bristol, in 
 a kind of Astonishment, brought him up to his Bed-chamber, 
 where he presently call'd for Pen and Ink, and dispatch'd 
 a Post that night to Engla?id, to acquaint His Majesty 
 how in less than sixteen days he was come safely to the 
 Court of Spain; that Post went lightly laden, for he carried 
 but three Letters. The next day came Sir Francis Cottington 
 and Mr. Porter, and dark rumours ran in everv corner how 
 some great Man was come from England; and some would 
 not stick to say among the vulgar it was the King : but 
 towards the evening on Saturday the Marquis went in a 
 close Coach to Court, where he had private Audience of 
 this King, who sent Olivares to accompany him back to 
 the Prince, where he kneel'd and kiss'd his hands, and 
 hugg'd his thighs, and deliver'd how unmeasurably glad 
 his Catholick Majesty was of his coming, with other high 
 Compliments, which Mr. Porter did interpret. About ten 
 aclock that niirht the Kino; himself came in a close Coach 
 with intent to visit the Prince, who hearing of it, met him 
 half-way ; and after salutations and divers embraces which 
 pass'd in the first Interview, they parted late. I forgot to 
 tell you that Count Gondomar being sworn Counsellor of 
 
 State 
 
 i
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 165 
 
 State that morning, having been before but one of the 
 Council of War, he came in great haste to visit the Prince, 
 sayino; he had strange news to tell him, which was, that an 
 EngUshmaii was sworn Privy Counsellor of Spain, meaning 
 himself, who he said was an Englishiitan in his heart. On 
 Sunday following the King in the Afternoon came abroad 
 to take the Air, with the Queen, his two Brothers, and the 
 Infanta, who were all in one Coach ; but the Infanta sat 
 in the Boot with a blue ribbon about her Arm, of purpose 
 that the Prince might distinguish her: There were above 
 twenty Coaches besides, of Grandees, Noblemen, and Ladies, 
 that attended them. And now it was publickly known 
 among the vulgar, that it was the Prince of Wales who was 
 come; and the confluence of People before my Lord of 
 Bristol's House was so great and greedy to see the Prince, 
 that to clear the way, Sir Lewis Dives went out and took 
 coach, and all the crowd of People went after him : so the 
 Prince himself a little after took coach, wherein there were 
 the Earl oi Bristol, Sir Walter yhhion, and Count Gondomar; 
 and so went to the Prado, a place hard by, of purpose to 
 take the Air, where they stayed till the King pass'd by. As 
 soon as the Infanta saw the Prince, her colour rose very 
 high, which we hold to be an impression of Love and 
 AflTection; for the Face is oftentimes a true Index of the 
 Heart. Upon Mondaij morning after, the King sent some 
 of his prime Nobles, and other Gentlemen, to attend the 
 Prince in quality of Officers, as one to be his Major-domo 
 (his Steward), another to be Master of the Horse, and so to 
 inferior Officers; so that there is a compleat Court now 
 at my Lord of Bristol's "House: but upon Sunday next the 
 Prince is to remove to the King's Palace, where there is one 
 of the chief Quarters of the House providing for him. By 
 the next opportunity you shall hear more. In the interim 
 I take my leave, and rest — Your most humble and ready 
 Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Madrid^ 27 Mar. 1623. 
 
 XVI.
 
 i66 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 To Sir Eubule Theolall^ Knight, at Gray's-Inn. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I KNOW the eyes of all England are earnestly fix'd now 
 upon Spain, her best Jewel being here; but his journey 
 was like to be spoil'd in France, for if he had staid but a 
 little longer at Bayomie, the last Town of that Kingdom 
 hitherwards, he had been discover'd ; for Mons. Gramondj 
 the Governor, had notice of him not lono; after he had taken 
 Post. The People here do mightily magnify the Gallantry 
 of the Journey, and cry out that he deserved to have the 
 Infanta thrown into his Arms the first night he came; he 
 hath been entertain'd with all the magnificence that possibly 
 could be devis'd. On Sunday last in the morning betimes he 
 went to St. Hierom's Monastery, whence the Kings of Spain 
 use to be fetch'd the day they are crown'd ; and thither 
 the King came in person with his two Brothers, his eight 
 Councils, and the flower of the Nobility; he rid upon the 
 King's right hand thro' the heart of the Town under a great 
 Canopy, and was brought so into his Lodgings in the King's 
 Palace, and the King himself accompany'd him to his very 
 Bedchamber. It was a very glorious sight to behold ; for 
 the custom of the Spaniard is, tho' he go plain in his ordi- 
 nary habit, yet upon some Festival or cause of Triumph 
 there's none goes beyond him in gaudiness. 
 
 We daily hope for the Pope's Breve or Dispensation to 
 perfect the business, tho' there be dark whispers abroad that 
 it is come already ; but that upon this unexpected coming 
 of the Prince, it was sent back to Rome, and some new 
 Clauses thrust in for their further advantage. Till this 
 dispatch comes, matters are at a kind of stand ; yet His 
 Highness makes account to be back in England about the 
 latter end of May. God Almighty turn all to the best, and 
 to what shall be most conducible to His Glory. So with 
 
 my
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 167 
 
 my due Respects unto you, I rest — Your much obliged 
 Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Madrid, i April 1623. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 To Captain Leat. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 HAVING brought up the Law to the highest point 
 against the Viceroy of Sardinia, and that in an 
 extraordinary manner, as may appear unto you by that 
 printed Cedide I sent you in my last, and finding an apparent 
 disability in him to satisfy the debt, I thought upon a new 
 design, and fram'd a Memorial to the King, and wrought 
 good strong means to have it seconded, that in regard that 
 predatory act of seizing upon the Ship Vineyard in Sardinia, 
 with all her goods, was done by His Majesty's Viceroy, his 
 Sovereign Minister of State, one that immediately represented 
 his own Royal Person, and that the said Viceroy was in- 
 solvent, I desir'd His Majesty would be pleas'd to grant a 
 Warrant for the relief of both Parties, to lade so many 
 thousand Stcrils, or measures of Corn, out of Sardinia and 
 Sicily custom-free. I had gone far in the business, when 
 Sir Francis Cottington sent for me, and required me in the 
 Prince's Name to proceed no further herein till he was 
 departed : so his Highncss's presence here hath turn'd rather 
 to my disadvantage than otherwise. Among other Grandezas 
 which the King of Spain conferr'd upon our Prince, one was 
 the releascment of Prisoners, and that all Petitions of grace 
 should come to him for the first month; but he hath been 
 wonderfully sparing in receiving any, especially from any 
 English, Irish, or Scot. Your Son Nic/iolas is come hither 
 from Alicant about the Ship Amity, and I shall be ready to 
 second him in getting satisfaction : so I rest — Yours ready 
 to serve you, J. H. 
 
 Madrid, ■}> J"'"^ 1^-23. 
 
 xvni.
 
 i68 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 To Captain Tho. Porter. 
 
 Noble Captain, 
 
 MY last to you was in Spanish, in answer to one of 
 yours in the same Language; and among that 
 confluence of English Gallants, who, upon the occasion of 
 His Highness being here, are come to this Court, I fed my- 
 self with hopes a long while to hav^e seen you; but I find 
 now that those hopes were imp'd with false feathers. I 
 know your heart is here, and your best affections ; therefore 
 I wonder what keeps back your Person : but I conceive the 
 reason to be, that you intend to come like yourself, to come 
 Commander-in-chief of one of the Castles of the Crown, 
 one of the Ships Royal : If you come to this Shore-side, I 
 hope you will have time to come to the Court ; I have at 
 any time a good Lodging for you, and my Landlady is 
 none of the meanest, and her Husband hath many good 
 parts : I heard her setting him forth one day, and giving 
 this Character of him : Mi marido es huen musico, Inien 
 esgrimidor, huen escrivano, excellente arithmetico, salvo que no 
 muliiplica ; — My Husband is a good Musician, a good Fencer, 
 a good Horseman, a good Penman, and an excellent Arith- 
 metician, only he cannot multiply. For outward usage, 
 there is all industry used to give the Prince and his Servants 
 all possible contentment; and some of the King's own Ser- 
 vants wait upon them at Table in the Palace, where, I am 
 sorrv to hear, some of them jeer at the Spanish fare, and 
 use other slighting speeches and demeanor. There are many 
 excellent Poems made here since the Prince's arrival, which 
 are too long to couch in a Letter; yet I will venture to 
 send you this one Stanza of Lope de Vegas : — 
 
 Carlos Estuardo Soy 
 
 Que siendo Amor ;/// gida, 
 Al cielo d'Espana voy 
 
 For ver mi Estrella Maria. 
 
 There
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 169 
 
 There are Comedians once a week come to the Palace, 
 where, under a great Canopy, the Queen and the Infanta 
 sit ill the middle, our Prince and Don Carlos on the Queen's 
 right hand, the King and the little Cardinal on the Infanta's 
 left hand. I have seen the Prince have his Eyes immove- 
 ably fix'd upon the Infanta half an hour together in a 
 thoughtful speculative posture, which sure would needs be 
 tedious, unless affection did sweeten it : it was no handsome 
 comparison of Olivares, that he watch'd her as a cat doth a 
 Mouse. Not long since the Prince, understanding that 
 the Infanta was used to go some mornings to the Casa de 
 Campo, a Summer-house the King hath on t'other side the 
 River, to gather May-dew, he rose betimes and went thither, 
 taking your Brother with him ; they were let into the House, 
 and into the Garden, but the Infanta was in the Orchard : 
 and there being a high partition-wall between, and the door 
 doubly bolted, the Prince got on the top of the wall, and 
 sprung down a great height, and so made towards her; but 
 she spying him first of all the rest, gave a shriek, and ran 
 back : the old Marquis that was then her Guardian came 
 towards the Prince, and fell on his knees, conjuring His 
 Hisrhness to retire, in rejrard he hazarded his Head if he 
 admitted any to her company; so the door was open'd, and 
 he came out under that wall over which he had got in. I 
 have seen him watch a long hour together in a close Coach, 
 in the open street, to see her as she went abroad : I cannot 
 say that the Prince did ever talk with her privatly, yet 
 publickly often, my Lord of Bristol being Interpreter; but 
 the King always sat hard by to overhear all. Our Cousin 
 Archy hath more privilege than any, for he often goes with 
 his Fool's-coat where the Infanta is with her ]\Ienina's and 
 Ladies of Honour, and keeps a-blowing and blustering among 
 them, and flurts out what he lists. 
 
 One day they were discoursing what a marvellous thing 
 it was that the D. of Bavaria with less than 15,000 Men, 
 after a long toilsome March, should dare to encounter the 
 Palsgrave's Army, consisting of above 25,000, and to give 
 
 them
 
 170 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 them an utter discomfiture, and take Prague presently 
 after: Whereunto jlrchy answer'd, that he would tell them 
 a stranger thing than that : Was it not a strange thing, 
 quoth he, that in the Year 88 there should come a 
 Fleet of 140 Sail from Spain to invade England, and that 
 ten of these could not go back to tell what became of the 
 rest? By the next opportunity I will send you the Cordouan 
 Pockets and Gloves you writ for of Francisco Moreno's per- 
 fuming. So may my dear Captain live long, and love his — 
 
 J. H. 
 
 Madrid, 10 July 1623. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 To my Cousin, Tho. Guin, Esq., at his House at Trecastle. 
 
 Cousin, 
 
 IRECEIV'D lately one of yours, which I cannot compare 
 more properly than to a Posie of curious flowers, there 
 was therein such variety of sweet strains and dainty expres- 
 sions of Love : and tho' it bore an old date, for it was forty 
 days before it came safe to hand, yet the flowers were still 
 fresh, and not a whit faded, but did cast as strong and 
 fragrant a scent as when your hands bound them up first 
 together, only there was one flower that did not savour so 
 well, which was the undeserved Character you please to give 
 of my small abilities, which in regard you look upon me 
 thro' the prospective of affection, appear greater to you than 
 they are of themselves; vet, as small as they are, I would be 
 glad to employ them all to serve you upon any occasion. 
 
 Whereas you desire to know how matters pass here, 
 you shall understand that we are rather in assurance, than 
 hopes, that the Match will take effect, when one dispatch 
 more is brought from Rome, which we greedily expect. 
 The Spariiards generally desire it ; they are much taken with 
 our Prince, with the bravery of his journey, and his discreet 
 comportment since; and they confess there was never 
 Princess courted with more gallantry. The Wits of the 
 Court here have made divers Encomiums of him, and of his 
 
 affection
 
 Sect. ^. Familiar Letters. 171 
 
 affection to the L. Infanta. Among others, I send you a 
 Latin Poem of one Marnierius, a Fale?icia?i, to which I add 
 this ensuing Hexastic ; which, in regard of the difficulty of 
 the Verse, consisting of all Ternaries (which is the hardest 
 way of versifying), and of the exactness of the translation, I 
 believe will give you content: — 
 
 Fax grata est, gratum est vulnus, mihi grata catena est, 
 
 Me qidbics astringit, Icedit &-• tirit Amor ; 
 Sed flam7nam extingiii, sajiari vulnera, solvi 
 
 Vincla, etiam ut possevi non ego posse velim : 
 Miruni equideiji genus hoc morbi est, incendia 6^ ictus 
 
 Vinclaque, vinctus adhuc, Icesus o^ ustjis, amo. 
 
 Grateful's to me the fire, the wound, the chaui, 
 By which Love burns, Love binds and giveth pain ; 
 But for to quench this fire, these bonds to lose, 
 These wounds to heal, I would not could I choose : 
 Strange sickness, where the wounds, the bonds, the fire 
 That burns, that bind, that hurt, I must desire. 
 
 In your next, I pray, send me your opinion of these 
 Verses, for I know you are a Critic in Poetry. Mr. Vaughan 
 of the Golden-G^-ove and I were Comrades and Bedfellows 
 here many months together : his Father, Sir John Faiighan, 
 the Prince his Controller, is lately come to attend his 
 Master. My Lord Carlisle, my Lord of Holland, my Lord 
 of Rochfort, my Lord of Denbigh, and divers others are here ; 
 so that we have a very flourishing Court, and I could wish 
 you were here to make one of the number. So, my dear 
 Cousin, I wish you all happiness, and our noble Prince a safe 
 and successful return to England. — Your most affectionate 
 Cousin, J. H. 
 
 Madrid, 13 Aug. 1623. 
 
 XX. 
 
 To imj nolle Friend, Sir John North. 
 Sir, 
 
 THE long-look'd-for Dispensation is come from Rome, 
 but I hear it is cloirsi'd with new Clauses: and one 
 
 is.
 
 172 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 is, That the Pope, who allegeth that the only aim of the 
 Apostolical! See in granting this Dispensation was the ad- 
 vantage and ease of the Catholics in the King of Great 
 Britain s Dominions, therefore he desired a valuable Caution 
 for the performance of those Articles which were stipulated 
 in their favour; this hath much puzzled the business, and 
 Sir Francis Cottington comes now over about it : Besides, 
 there is some distaste taken at the Duke of Buckingliam here, 
 and I heard this King should say he would treat no more 
 with him, but with the Ambassadors, who, he saith, have 
 a more plenary Commission, and understand the business 
 better. As there is some darkness happen'd 'twixt the two 
 Favourites, so matters stand not right 'twixt the Duke and 
 the Earl of Bristol; but God forbid that a business of so 
 high a consequence as this, which is likely to tend so much 
 to the luiiversa! good of Christendom, to the restitution of 
 the Palatinate and the composing those broils in Germany^ 
 should be ranvers'd by differences 'twixt a few private Sub- 
 jects, though now public Ministers. 
 
 Mr. Washingtoji, the Prince his Page, is lately dead of a 
 Calenture, and I was at his burial under a Fig-tree behind 
 my Lord of BristoVs House. A little before his death one 
 Ballard, an English Priest, went to tamper with him; and Sir 
 Edmund Varney meeting him coming down the stairs, out 
 of IVashingtons Chamber, they fell from words to blows, 
 but they were parted. The business was like to gather very 
 ill blood, and to come to a great height, had not Count 
 Gondomar quash'd it, which I believe he could not have 
 done, unless the times had been favourable ; for such is the 
 reverence they bear to the Church here, and so holy a 
 conceit they have of all Ecclesiastics, that the greatest Don 
 in Spain will tremble to offer the meanest of them any 
 outrage or affront. Count Gondomar hath also help'd to 
 free some English that were in the Incjuisition in Toledo and 
 Sevill ; and I could allege many instances how ready and 
 chearful he is to assist any Englishman whatsoever, not- 
 withstanding the base aff"ronts he hath often received of the 
 
 London
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 17^ 
 
 o 
 
 London Buys, as he calls them. At his last return hither, I 
 heard of a merry Saying of his to the Queen, who dis- 
 coursing with him about the greatness of London, and 
 whether it was as populous as Madrid; Yes, Madame, and 
 more populous when I came away, tho' I believe there's 
 scarce a Man left there now but all Women and Children; 
 for all the Men both in Court and City were ready booted 
 and spurred to go away. And I am sorrv to hear how other 
 Nations do much tax the English of their incivility to public 
 Ministers of State^ and what Ballads and Pasquils, and 
 Fopperies and Plays, were made against Gondomar for doing 
 his Master's business. Mv Lord of Bristol comintr from Ger- 
 many to Brussels, notwithstanding that at his arrival thither 
 the news was fresh that he had relieved Frankindale as he 
 pass'd, yet he was not a whit the less welcome, but valued 
 the more both by the Archdutchess her self and Spinola, 
 with all the rest ; as also that they knew well that the said 
 Earl had been the sole adviser of keeping Sir Robert Mansel 
 abroad with that Fleet upon the Coast of Spain, till the 
 Palsgrave should be restor'd. I pray. Sir, when you go to 
 London-Wall, and Tower-Hill, be pleased to remember my 
 humble Service, where vou know it is due. So I am — 
 Your most faithful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Madrid, 15 Aug. 1623. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 To the Right Honourahle the Lord Viscount Colchester. 
 
 My very good Lord, 
 
 IRECEIV'D the Letter and Commands your Lordship 
 pleased to send me by Mr. Walsingham Gresley ; and 
 House of the IVest-Indies in Sevill, I cannot procure it for 
 love or money, upon any terms; tho' I have done all pos- 
 sible diligence therein : And some tell me it is dangerous, 
 and no less than Treason in him that gives the copy of them 
 
 to
 
 174 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 to anVj in regard 'tis counted the greatest Mystery of all 
 the Spanish Government. 
 
 That difficulty which happened in the business of the 
 Match of giving caution to the Vope is now overcome : for 
 whereas our King answer'd, That he could give no other 
 caution than his Royal Word and his Son's, exemplify'd 
 under the Great Seal of England, and confirmed by his 
 Council of State, it being impossible to have it done by 
 Parliament, in regard of the averseness the Common People 
 have to the Alliance ; and whereas this gave no satisfaction 
 to Rome, the King of Spain now offers himself for caution, 
 for putting in execution what is stipulated in behalf of the 
 Roman Catholics, thro'out His Majesty of Great Britain^s 
 Dominions. But he desires to consult his Ghostly Fathers, 
 to know whether he may do it without wronging his Con- 
 science : hereupon there hath been a Junta form'd of Bishops 
 and Jesuits, who have been already a good while about it; 
 and the Bishop of Segovia, who is, as it were, Lord-Trea- 
 surer, having written a Treatise lately against the Match, 
 was outed of his Office, banish'd the Court, and confin'd to 
 his Diocese. The Duke of Buclwmham hath been ill-indis- 
 pos'd a good while, and lies sick at Court, where the Prince 
 hath no public exercise of Devotion, but only Bedchamber 
 Prayers; and some think that his Lodging in the King's 
 House is like to prove a disadvantage to the main business : 
 for whereas most sorts of People here hardly hold us to be 
 Christians, if the Prince had a Palace of his own, and been 
 permitted to have used a room for an open Chapel to exer- 
 cise the Liturgy of the Church of England, it would have 
 brought them to have a better opinion of us ; and to this 
 end there were some of our best Church-plate and Vest- 
 ments brought hither, but never us'd. The slow pace of 
 this Junta troubles us a little, and to the Divines there 
 are some Civilians admitted lately : and the qucere is this. 
 Whether the King of Spain may bind himself by Oath in 
 the behalf of the King of England, to perform such and 
 such Articles that are agreed on in favour of the Roman 
 
 Catholicks
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 175 
 
 Catholicks by virtue of this Match^ whether the King may 
 do this salvd conscientid. 
 
 There was a great Show lately here of baiting of Bulls 
 with Men, for the entertainment of the Prince; it is the 
 chiefest of all Spanish Sports; commonly there are Men 
 kill'd at it, therefore there are Priests appointed to be there 
 ready to confess them. It hath happen'd oftentimes that 
 a Bull hath taken up two men upon his horns with their 
 guts dangling about them ; the horsemen run with lances 
 and swords, the foot with goads. As I am told, the Pope 
 hath sent divers Bulls against this sport of Bulling, yet it 
 will not be left, the Nation hath taken such an habitual 
 delight in it. There was an ill-favour'd accident like to 
 have happen'd lately at the King's House, in that part 
 where my Lord of Carlisle and my Lord Denbigh were 
 lodg'd ; for my Lord Denbigh late at night taking a pipe of 
 Tobacco in a Balcony, which hung over the King's Garden, 
 he blew down the ashes, which falling upon some parch'd 
 combustible matter, began to flame and spread : but Mr. 
 Davis, my Lord of Carlisle's Barber, leap'd down a great 
 height and quench'd it. So, with my continuance of my 
 most humble Service, I rest ever ready — At your Lordship's 
 Command, J. H. 
 
 Madrid, 16 Aug. 1623. 
 
 XXIL 
 
 To Sir James Cvohs, from Madrid. 
 Sir, 
 
 THE Court of Spain affords now little news; for there 
 is a Heniora sticks to the business of the Match, till 
 the Junta of Divines give up their Opinion : But from Turky 
 there came a Letter this week, wherein there is the strangest 
 and almost tragical news, that in my small reading no Story 
 can parallel, or shew with more pregnancy the instabilitv 
 and tottering estate of human Greatness, and the sandy 
 Foundation whereon the vast Ottoman Empire is rcar'd : 
 for Sultan Osman, the Grand Turk, a Man according to the 
 
 humour
 
 176 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 humour of that Natiou^ warHke and fleshed in blood, and a 
 violent hater of Christians, was in the flower of his years, 
 in the heat and heifrht of his courao;e, knock'd in the head 
 by one of his own Slaves, and one of the meanest of them, 
 with a Battle-axe, and the Murderer never after proceeded 
 against or question'd. 
 
 The ground of this Tragedy was the late ill success he had 
 acjainst the Pole, wherein he lost about 100,000 Horse for 
 want of forage, and 80,000 Men for want of fighting; which 
 he imputed to the cowardice of his Janizaries, who rather 
 than bear the brunt of the Battell, were more willing to 
 return home to their Wives and merchandizing ; which they 
 are now permitted to do, contrary to their first Institution, 
 which makes them more worldlv, and less venturous. This 
 discrraceful return from Poland stuck in Osman's stomach, 
 and so he studied a way to be reveng'd of the Janizaries ; 
 therefore by the Advice of his Grand Fisier (a stout gallant 
 Man, who had been one of the chief Bcglerhegs in the East), 
 he intended to erect a new Soldiery in Asia about Damasco, 
 of the Coords, a frontier People, and consequently hardv 
 and iiiur'd to Arms. Of these he proposed to entertain 
 40,000 as a Lifeguard for his Person, tho' the main design 
 was to suppress his lazy and lustful Janizaries, with Men of 
 fresh new Spirits. 
 
 To disguise this Plot, he pretended a Pilgrimage to Mecca, 
 to visit Mahomet's Tomb, and reconcile himself to the 
 Prophet, who he thought was angry with him, because of 
 his late ill success in Poland; but this colour was not 
 specious enough^ in regard he might have perform'd this 
 Pilgrimage with a smaller Train and Charge ; therefore it 
 was propounded that the Eynir of Sidon should be made 
 to rise up in Arms, that so he might go with a greater 
 Power and Treasure ; but this Plot was held disadvantageous 
 to him, in regard his Janizaries must then have attended 
 him: so he pretends and prepares only for the Pilgrimage, 
 vet he makes ready as much Treasure as he could make, and 
 to that end he melts his Plate, and furniture of Horses, with 
 
 divers
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 177 
 
 divers Church-lamps : this fomented some jealousy iu the 
 Janizaries, with certain words which should drop from him, 
 that he would find Soldiers shortly should whip them. Here- 
 upon he had sent over to Asians side his Pavilions, many of 
 his Servants, with his Jewels and Treasure, resolving upon 
 the Voyage ; notwithstanding that divers Petitions were 
 deliver'd him from the Clergy, the Civil Magistrate, and 
 the Soldiery, that he should desist from the Voyage, but all 
 would not do : thereupon, on the point of his departure, the 
 Janizaries and Spahies came in a tumultuary manner to 
 his Seraglio, and in a high insolent language dissuaded him 
 from the Pilffrimao^e, and demanded of him his ill Coun- 
 sellors. The first he granted, but for the second, he said 
 that it stood not with his Honour to have his nearest 
 Servants torn from him so, without any legal proceeding ; 
 but he assur'd them that they should appear in the Divan 
 the next day, to answer for themselves: but this not satis- 
 fying, they went away in a fury, and plunder'd the Grand 
 Fisier's Palace, with divers others. Osman hereupon was 
 advised to go from his private Gardens that night to the 
 Asian Shore, but his destiny kept him from it : so the 
 next morning they came arm'd to the Court (but having 
 made a Covenant not to violate the Imperial Throne) and 
 cut in pieces the Grand Visier, with divers other great 
 Officers; and not finding Osman, who had hid himself in a 
 small lodge in one of his Gardens, they cry'd out, they 
 must have a Musulman Emperor : therefore they broke into 
 a Dungeon, and brought out Mustapha, Osinan's Uncle, 
 whom he had clapp'd there at the beginning of the Tumult, 
 and who had been King before, but was depos'd for his 
 simplicity, being a kind of Saninn, or holy Man, that is, 
 'twixt an Innocent and an Idiot ; this Mustapha they did 
 reinthronize, and place in the Ottoman Empire. 
 
 The next day they found out Osman, and brought him 
 before Mustapha, who excused himself with Tears in his 
 Eves for his rash attempts, which wrought tenderness in 
 some, but more scorn and fury in others; who fell upon 
 
 M the
 
 178 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 the Ccip'i Aga, with other Officers, and cut them in pieces 
 before his Eyes. Osmaii thence was carried to Prison, and 
 as he was getting on horseback, a common Soldier took off 
 his Turban, and clapp'd his upon Osman^s Head, who in his 
 passage begg'd a draught of Water at a Fountain. The 
 next day, the new Visier went with an Executioner to 
 strangle him, in regard there were two younger Brothers 
 more of his to preserve the Ottoman's Race; where, after 
 they had rush'd in, he being newly awak'd, and staring 
 upon them, and thinking to defend himself, a robust bois- 
 terous Rogue knock'd him down, and so the rest fell upon 
 him, and strangled him with much ado. 
 
 Thus fell one of the greatest Potentates upon Earth, by 
 the hands of a contemptible Slave, for there is not a free- 
 born Subject in all that vast Empire: Thus fell he that 
 entitles himself Most Puissant and Highest Monarch of the 
 Turks, King above all Kings, a King that dwelleth upon the 
 earthly Paradise, Son of Mahomet, Keeper of the Grave of 
 the Christian God, Lord of the Tree of Life, and of the 
 River Flisky, Prior of the Earthly Paradise, Conqueror of 
 the Macedonians, the Seed of Great Alexander, Prince of 
 the Kingdoms of Tartarrj, Mesopotamia, Media, and of the 
 Martial Mammalucks, Anatolia, Bithynia, Asia, Armenia, 
 Servia, Thracia, Morea, Valachia, Moldavia, and of all War- 
 like Hungary, Sovereign Lord and Commander of all Greece, 
 Persia, both the Arahias, the most noble Kingdom of Egypt, 
 Tremisen, and Africaii Empire of Tralesond, and the most 
 glorious Constantinople, Lord of all the White and Black 
 Seas, of the Holy City Mecca and Medina, shining with 
 divine Glory; Commander of all things that are to be com- 
 manded, and the strongest and mightiest Champion of the 
 wide World ; a Warrior appointed by Heaven in the edge 
 of the Sword, a Persecutor of his Enemies, a most perfect 
 Jewel of the Blessed Tree, the Chiefest Keeper of the 
 Crucify'd God, &c., with other such bombastical Titles, 
 
 This Osman was a man of goodly constitution, an aniiable 
 aspect, and of excess of Courage, but sordidly covetous; 
 
 which
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 179 
 
 which drove him to violate the Church, and to melt the 
 Lamps thereof, which made the Mufti say, That this was a 
 due judgment fallen upon him from Heaven for his Sacri- 
 lege. He us'd also to make his Person too cheap, for he 
 would go ordinarily in the night-time with two Men after 
 him, like a Petty-constable, and peep into the Cauph-liouses 
 and Cabarets, and apprehend Soldiers there : And these 
 two things, it seems, were the cause, that when he was so 
 assaulted in the Seraglio, not one of his domestick Servants, 
 whereof he had 3000, would lift up an arm to help him. 
 
 Some few days before his death he had a strange dream, 
 for he dreamed that he was mounted upon a great Camel, 
 who would not go neither by fair nor foul means; and light- 
 ing off him, and thinking to strike him with his Scimiter, 
 the body of the Beast vanish'd, leaving the head and the 
 bridle only in his hands. When the Mufti and the Hoggies 
 could not interpret this dream, Mustapha his Uncle did it; 
 for he said, the Camel signify'd his Empire, his mounting of 
 him his excess in Government, his lighting down his depos- 
 ing. Another kind of prophetic Speech dropt from the 
 Graml Fisier to Sir Tko. Roe, our Ambassador there, who 
 having gone a little before this Tragedy to visit the said 
 Visier, told him what whisperings and mutterings there 
 were in every corner for this Asiatic Voyage, and what ill 
 consequences might ensue from it : therefore it might well 
 stand with his great wisdom to stay it ; but if it held, 
 he desir'd him to leave a charge with the Chimacham, his 
 Deputy, that the English Nation in the Port should be 
 free from outragces : whereunto the Grand Visier answer'd. 
 Trouble not yourself about that, for I will not remove so 
 far from Constantinople, but I will leave one of my Legs 
 behind to serve you; which prov'd too true; for he was 
 murder'd afterwards, and one of his Legs was hung up in 
 the Hippodrome. 
 
 This fresh Tragedy makes me give over wondering at any- 
 thing that ever I heard or read, to shew the lubricity of 
 mundan Greatness, as also the fury of the Vulgar, which, 
 
 like
 
 i8o Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 like an impetuous Torrent, gathers strength by degrees as 
 it meets with divers Dams, and being come to the height, 
 cannot stop itself: for when this rage of the Soldiers began 
 first, there was no design at all to violate or hurt the 
 Emperor, but to take from him his ill Counsellors; but 
 being once a-foot, it grew by insensible degrees to the 
 utmost of outrages. 
 
 The bringing out of Mvstapha from the Dungeon where 
 he was prisoner, to be Emperor of the Musidmans, put me 
 in mind of what I read in Mr. Camden of our late Queen 
 Elizabeth, how she was broucrht from the Scaffold to the 
 EnMish Throne. 
 
 They who profess to be Criticks in Policy here, hope that 
 this murdering of Osmaii may in time breed good blood, 
 and prove advantageous to Christendom : for tho' this be 
 the first Emperor of the Turks that was dispatch'd so, he 
 is not like to be the last, now that the Soldiers have this 
 Precedent : others think that if that design in Asia had 
 taken, it had been very probable the Constantinopolitans had 
 hois'd up another King, and so the Empire had been dis- 
 membred, and by this division had lost strength, as the 
 Roman Empire did, when it was broken into East and West. 
 
 Excuse me that this my Letter is become such a Monster, 
 I mean that it hath pass'd the size and ordinary proportion 
 of a Letter; for the matter it treats of is monstrous; be- 
 sides, it is a rule, that Historical Letters have more liberty 
 to be long than others. In my next you shall hear how 
 matters pass here; and in the meantime, and always, I 
 rest — Your Honour's most devoted Servitor, J. H. 
 
 17 A7ig. 1623. 
 
 XXHI. 
 
 To the Right Honourahle Sir Tho. Savage^ Kt. and Bar. 
 Honourable Sir, 
 
 THE procedure of things in relation to the grand business 
 of the Match was at a kind of stand, when the long 
 winded Junta deliver'd their opinions, and fell at last upon 
 
 this
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 181 
 
 this result, that his Catholick Majesty, for the satisfaction 
 of St. Peter, might oblige himself in the behalf of England, 
 for the performance of those Capitulations which related 
 to the Roman Catholicks in that Kingdom ; and in case of 
 non-performance, then to right himself by war; since that 
 the matrimonial Articles were solemnly sworn to by the K. 
 of Spain and His Highness, the two Favourites, our two 
 Ambassadors, the Duke of Infantado, and other Counsellors 
 of State being present : Hereupon the 8th of September next 
 is appointed to be the day of Desposorios, the day of Affiance, 
 or the Betrothing-day. There was much gladness express'd 
 here, and Luminaries of Joy were in every great Street 
 thro'out the City : But there is an unlucky Accident hath 
 interven'd, for the King gave the Prince a solemn visit 
 since, and told him Pope Grecrory was dead, who was so 
 great a friend to the Match ; but in regard the business 
 was not yet come to perfection, he could not proceed further 
 in it till the former Dispensation were ratified by the new 
 Pope Urban, which to procure he would make it his own 
 task, and that all possible expedition should be us'd in't, 
 and therefore desir'd his patience in the interim. The 
 Prince answer'd, and press'd the necessity of his speedy 
 return with divers reasons; he said there was a general 
 kind of murmuring in England for his so long Absence, 
 that the King his Father was old and sicklv, that the Fleet 
 of his Ships were already, he thought, at Sea to fetch him, 
 the winter drew on, and withal, that the Articles of the 
 Match were sign'd in England with this Proviso, That if 
 he be not come back by such a month, they should be of 
 no validity. The King reply'd, That since His Highness 
 was resolv'd upon so sudden a departure, he would please to 
 leave a Proxy behind to finish the Marriage, and he would 
 take it for a favour if he would depute Him to personate 
 him ; and ten days after the Ratification shall come from 
 Rome the business shall be done, and afterwards he might 
 send for his Wife when he pleas'd. The Prince rejoin'd, 
 that among those multitudes of royal Favours which he 
 
 had
 
 i82 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 had receiv'd from His Majesty^ this transcended all the 
 rest; therefore he would most willingly leave a Proxy for 
 His Majesty, and another for Don Carlos to this effect: 
 So they parted for that Time without the least umbrage 
 of discontent, nor do I hear of any engender'd since. The 
 last month, 'tis true, the Junta of Divines dwelt so long 
 upon the business, that there were whisperings that the 
 Prince intended to go away disguis'd as he came; and the 
 Question being ask'd by a Person of Quality, there was a 
 brave Answer made, That if Love brought him thither, it 
 is not Fear shall drive him away. 
 
 There are preparations already afoot for his return, and 
 the two Proxies are drawn and left in my Lord of BristoVs 
 hands. Notwithstanding this ill-favour'd stop, yet we are all 
 here confident the business will take effect : In which hopes 
 I rest — Your most humble and ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Madrid, i8 Aug. 1623. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 To Capt. Nich. Leat, at his House in London. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 THIS Letter comes to you by Mr. Richard Altham; of 
 whose sudden departure hence I am very sorry, it 
 being the late death of his Brother Sir James Jltham. I 
 have been at a stand in the business a good while, for His 
 Highness's coming hither was no Advantage to me in the 
 Earth. He hath done the Spaiiiards divers courtesies, but 
 he hath been very sparing in doing the English any. It 
 mav be, perhaps, because it may be a diminution of honour 
 to be beholden to any foreign Prince to do his own Subjects 
 favours; but my business requires no favour; all I desire is 
 Justice, which I have not obtain'd yet in reality. 
 
 The Prince is preparing for his Journey ; I shall to it 
 again closely when he is gone, or make a shaft or a bolt of 
 it. The Pope's death hath retarded the proceedings of the 
 Match, but we are so far from despairing of it, that one 
 may have wagers 30 to i it will take effect still. He that 
 
 deals
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 183 
 
 deals with this Nation must have a great deal of phlegm ; 
 and if this grand business of State, the Match, suffer such 
 protractions and puttings off, you need not wonder that 
 private Negotiations, as mine is, should be subject to the 
 same inconveniences. There shall be no means left unat- 
 tempted that my best industry can find out to put a period 
 to it; and when His Highness is gone, I hope to find my 
 Lord of Briatol more at leisrr^ to continue his favour and 
 furtherance, which hath been much already : So I rest — 
 Yours ready to serve you, J. H. 
 
 Madrid, 19 Aug. 1623. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 To Sir James Crofts. 
 Sir, 
 
 THE Prince is now upon his Journey to the Sea-side, 
 where mv Lord of Rutland attends for him with 
 a Royal Fleet: There are many here shrink in their 
 shoulders, and are very sensible of his departure, and the 
 Lady Infanta resents it more than any ; she hath caus'd a 
 Mass to be sung every day ever since for his good Voyage : 
 The Spaniards themselves confess there was never Princess 
 so bravely woo'd. The King and his two Brothers accom- 
 pany'd His Highness to the Escurial, some twenty miles off, 
 and would have brought him to the Sea-side, but that the 
 Queen is big, and hath not many days to go. When the 
 King and he parted, there pass'd wonderful great Endear- 
 ments and Embraces in divers postures between them a long 
 Time ; and in that place there is a Pillar to be erected as 
 a Monument to Posterity. There are some Grandees, and 
 Count Gondomar with a great Train besides, gone with him 
 to the Marine, to the Sea-side, which will be many days' 
 journey, and must needs put the King of Spain to a mighty 
 Expense, besides his seven months' Entertainment here. We 
 hear that when he pass'd thro' Falladolid, the D. of Lerma 
 was retired thence for the Time by special command from 
 the King, lest he might have discourse with the Prince, 
 
 whom
 
 184 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 whom he extremely desired to see; this sunk deep into the 
 old Duke, insomuch that he said, that of all the Acts of 
 Malice which Olivares had ever done him, he resented this 
 more than any. He bears up yet under his Cardinal's 
 Habit, which hath kept him from many a foul storm that 
 might have fallen upon him else from the temporal Power. 
 The Duke of Uzeda, his Son, finding himself decline in 
 favour at Court, hath retir'd to the Country, and dy'd soon 
 after of discontentment : during his sickness the Cardinal 
 wrote this short weighty Letter unto him : Dizen me, que 
 Mareys de necio ; por 7ni, mas temo mis afios que mis Ene- 
 migos. — Lerma. I shall not need to English it to you, who 
 is so great a Master of the Language. Since I began this 
 Letter we understand the Prince is safely embark'd, but 
 not without some danger of being cast away, had not Sir 
 Sackv'il Trever taken him up ; I pray God send him a good 
 Voyage, and us no ill news from Ejigland. My most 
 humble Service at Tower-hill, so I am — Your humble 
 Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Madrid, 21 Atig. 1623. 
 
 XXVL 
 
 To my Brother, Dr. Howel. 
 My Brother, 
 
 SINCE our Prince's departure hence the Lady Infanta 
 studieth E?iglish apace, and one Mr. IVadsivorth 
 and Father Boniface, two Englishmen, are appointed her 
 Teachers, and have Access to her every Day : We account 
 her, as it were, our Princess now ; and as we give, so she 
 takes that Title. Our Ambassadors, my Lord of Bristol 
 and Sir JValter Ashton, will not stand now cover'd before 
 her when they have Audience, because they hold her to be 
 their Princess: She is preparing divers Suits of rich Clothes 
 for His Highness of perfum'd Amber Leather, some em- 
 broider'd with Pearl, some with Gold, some with Silver : 
 Her Family is a settling apace, and most of her Ladies and 
 Officers are known already. We want nothing now but 
 
 one
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 185 
 
 one Dispatch more from Rome, and then the Marriage will 
 be solemniz'd, and all Things consummated : Yet there is 
 one Mr. Clerk (with the lame Arm) that came hither from 
 the Sea-side as soon as the Prince was gone ; he is one of 
 the D. of Buckingham''s Creatures, yet he lies at the E. of 
 Bristol's House, which we wonder at, considering the dark- 
 ness that happen'd 'twixt the Duke and the Earl : We fear 
 that this Clerk hath brought something that may puzzle 
 the business. Besides, having occasion to make my Address 
 lately to the Venetian Ambassador, who is interested in 
 some part of that great Business for which I am here, he 
 told me confidently it would be no Match, nor did he think 
 it was ever intended. But I want faith to believe him yet, 
 for I know St. Mark is no friend to it, nor France, nor any 
 other Prince or State besides the King of Denmark, whose 
 Grandmother was of the House o{ Austria, being Sister to 
 Charles the Emperor. Touching the Business of the Pala- 
 tinate, our Ambassadors were lately assur'd by OUvares and 
 all the Counsellors here, and that in this King's Name, that 
 he would j^rocure His Majesty of Great Britain entire satis- 
 faction herein ; and OUvares giving them the joy, intreated 
 them to assure their King upon their honour, and upon 
 their lives, of the reality hereof: For the Infanta herself 
 (said he) hath stirr'd in it, and makes it now her own busi- 
 ness ; for it was a firm Peace and Amity (which he con- 
 fess'd could never be without the Accommodation of Things 
 in Germany) as much as an Alliance, which his Catholick 
 Majesty aim'd at. But we shall know shortly now what to 
 trust to, we shall walk no more in mists, tho' some give out 
 yet that our Prince shall embrace a Cloud for Juno at last. 
 
 I pray present my Service to Sir John Franklin and Sir 
 John Smith, with all at the Hill and Dale ; and when you 
 send to JValcs I pray convey the inclos'd to my Father. 
 So, my dear Brother, I pray God bless us both, and bring us 
 again joyfuUv together — Your very lovinc: Brother, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 Madrid, 12 Aug. 1623. 
 
 XXVH.
 
 i86 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 To my nolle Friend Sir John North, Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 IRECEIV'D lately one of yours, but it was of a very 
 old date : We have our Eyes here now all fix'd upon 
 Rome, greedily expecting the Ratification; and lately a 
 strong rumour ran it was come, insomuch that Mr. Clerk, 
 who was sent hither from the Prince, being a-shipboard (and 
 now lies sick at my Lord of BrisloVs House of a Calenture), 
 hearing of it, he desir'd to speak with him, for he had 
 something to deliver him from the Prince; my Lord Am- 
 bassador being come to him, Mr. Clerk deliver'd a Letter 
 from the Prince, the contents whereof were. That whereas 
 he had left certain Proxies in his hand to be deliver'd to the 
 King of Spain after the Ratification was come, he desir'd 
 and requir'd him not to do it till he should receive further 
 order from England. My Lord of Bristol hereupon went to 
 Sir Walter Aston, who was in joint Commission with him 
 for concluding the Match ; and shewing him the Letter, 
 what my Lord Aston said I know not, but my Lord of 
 Bristol told him, That they had a Commission-Royal under 
 the Broad Seal of England to conclude the Match ; he knew 
 as well as he how earnest the King their Master hath been 
 any time these ten years to have it done, how there could 
 not be a better pawn for the surrendry of the Palatinate, 
 than the Infantain the Prince's Arms, who could never rest 
 till she did the work, to merit the love of our Nation : he 
 told him also how their own particular Fortunes depended 
 upon it; besides, if he should delay one moment to deliver 
 the Proxy after the Ratification was come, according to 
 agreement, the Infanta would hold herself so blemish'd in 
 her honour, that it might overthrow all things. Lastly, he 
 told him, That they incurr'd the hazard of their heads, if 
 they should suspend the executing His Majesty's Commision 
 upon any order but from that Power which gave it, who 
 was the King himself. Hereupon both the Ambassadors 
 
 proceeded
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 187 
 
 proceeded still in preparing matters for the solemnizing of the 
 Marriat^e ; the Earl of Bristol had caused above thirty rich 
 Liveries to be made of watched Velvet, with silver Lace up 
 to the very Capes of the Cloaks, the best sorts whereof were 
 valued at £^0 a Livery : My Lord Aston had also provided 
 new Liveries ; and a fortnight after the said politick Report 
 was blown up, the Ratification came indeed complete and 
 full ; so the Marriage-day was appointed, a Terras cover'd 
 all over with Tapestry was raised from the King's Palace to 
 the next Church, which might be about the same extent 
 as from White-Hall to IVestminster-Ahhey ; and the King 
 intended to make his Sister a Wife, and his Daughter 
 (whereof the Queen was deliver'd a little before) a Christian 
 upon the same day ; the Grandees and great Ladies had been 
 invited to the Marriage, and order was sent to all the Port- 
 Towns to discharge their great Ordnance, and sundry other 
 things were prepar'd to honour the Solemnity : but when 
 we were thus at the height of our hopes, a day or two before, 
 there came Mr. Killegree, Gresley, Wood, and Davies, one 
 upon the neck of another, with a new Commission to my 
 Lord of Bristol immediately from His Majesty, counter- 
 manding him to deliver the Proxy aforesaid, until a full 
 and absolute satisfaction were had for the surrendry of the 
 Palatinate under this King's Hand and Seal, in regard he 
 desir'd his Son should be marry'd to Spain, and his Son-in- 
 law re-marry'd to the Palatinate at one time. Hereupon 
 all was dash'd in pieces, and that frame which was rearing 
 so many years was ruin'd in a moment. This News struck 
 a damp in the hearts of all People here, and they wish'd 
 that the Postilions that brought it had all broke their necks 
 in the way. 
 
 My Lord of Bristol hereupon went to Court to acquaint 
 the King with his new Commission, and so propos'd the 
 restitution of the Palatinate : The King answcr'd, 'Twas 
 none of his to give ; 'tis true, he had a few Towns there, 
 but he held them as Commissioner only for the Emperor, 
 and he could not command an Emperor ; yet if His Majesty 
 
 of
 
 i88 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 of Great Britain would put a Treaty a-foot, he would send 
 his own Ambassador to join. In the Interim the Earl was 
 commanded not to deliver the aforesaid Proxy of the Prince, 
 for the Desposorios or Espousal, until Christmas (and herein 
 it seems His Majesty with you was not well inform'd, 
 for those Powers of Proxies expired before). The King 
 here said further, That if his Uncle the Emperor, or the 
 Duke of Bavaria, would not be conformable to reason, he 
 would raise as great an Army for the Prince Palsgrave as 
 he did under Spinola, when he first invaded the Palatinate ; 
 and to secure this, he would engage his Contratation-house 
 of the IVest-hidies, with his Plate-Fleet, and give the most 
 binding Instrument that could be under his Hand and Seal. 
 But this gave no satisfaction ; therefore my Lord of Bristol, 
 I believe, hath not long to stay here, for he is commanded 
 to deliver no more Letters to the Infanta, nor demand any 
 more audience, and that she should be no more stiled Prin- 
 cess of England or Wales. The aforesaid Caution which 
 this King offer'd to my Lord of Bristol made me think of 
 what I read of his Grandfather Philip U., who having been 
 marry'd to our Q. Mary, and it being thought she was with 
 child of him, and was accordingly pray'd for at Paul's Cross, 
 tho' it prov'd afterwards but a tympany, K. Philip propos'd 
 to our Parliament, that they would pass an Act that he 
 might be Regent during his or her Minority that should 
 be born, and would give good caution to surrender the 
 Crown when he or she should come to asre. The motion 
 was hotly canvass'd in the House of Peers, and like to pass, 
 when the Lord Paget rose up and said, /, hut who shall sue 
 the King's Bond ? So the business was dash'd. I have no 
 more news to send you now, and I am sorry I have so much, 
 unless it were better : for we that have business to neo-otiate 
 here are like to suffer much by this rupture: Welcome be 
 the will of God, to whose benediction I commend you, 
 and rest — Your most humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Madrid, 25 Aug. 1623. 
 
 xxvni.
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 189 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 To the Ri^ht Honourable the Lord ClifTord. 
 
 My good Lord, 
 
 THO' this Court cannot afford now such comfortable 
 news in relation to England as I could wish, yet such 
 as it is, you shall receive. My Lord of Bristol is preparing 
 for England. I waited upon him lately when he went to 
 take his leave at Court ; and the King washing his hands, 
 took a ring from off his own finger, and put upon his, which 
 was the greatest honour that ever he did any Ambassador, 
 as they say here; he gave him also a Cupboard of Plate, 
 valued at 20,000 Crowns: There were also larjie and hio;h 
 promises made him, that in case he feared to fall upon 
 any rock in England^ by reason of the Power of those who 
 malign'd him, if he would stay in any of his Dominions, he 
 would give him means and honour equal to the highest of 
 his Enemies. The Earl did not only wave, but disdain'd 
 these Propositions made to him by OUvares, and said he 
 was so confident of the King his Master's Justice and high 
 Judgment, and of his own innocency, that he conceiv'd no 
 Power could be able to do him hurt. There hath occurr'd 
 nothing lately in this Court worth the Advertisement: 
 They speak much of the strange carriage of that boisterous 
 Bishop of Halverstadt (for so they term him here), that 
 having taken a place where there were two Monasteries of 
 Nuns and Friars, he caus'd divers Feather-beds to be ripp'd, 
 and all the feathers to be thrown in a great Hall whither 
 the Nuns and Friars were thrust naked with their bodies 
 oil'd and pitch'd, and to tumble among these feathers ; 
 which makes them here presage him an ill death. So I 
 most affectionately kiss your hands, and rest — Your very 
 humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 ^fadrid, 26 Aug. 1623. 
 
 XXIX.
 
 iQO Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 To Sir John North. 
 Sir, 
 
 I HAVE many thanks to render you for the favour you 
 lately did to a Kinsman of mine, Mr. Vanghan, and 
 for divers others, which I defer till I return to that Court, 
 and that I hope will not be long. Touching the procedure 
 of matters here, you shall understand, that my Lord AstoJi 
 had special audience lately of the King of Spa'm, and after- 
 wards presented a Memorial, wherein there was a high com- 
 plaint against the miscarriage of the two Spanish Ambas- 
 sadors now in England, the Marquis of Inojosa and Don 
 Carlos Coloma ; the substance of it was, That the said 
 Ambassadors, in a private audience His Majesty of Great 
 Britain had given them, inform'd him of a pernicious Plot 
 against his Person and Royal Authority, which was. That 
 at the beginning of your now Parliament the Duke of 
 Buckingham, with other his complices, often met and con- 
 sulted in a clandestine way, how to break the Treaty both 
 of Match and Palatinate ; and in case His Majestv was 
 unwilling thereunto, he should have a Country-house or 
 two to retire unto for his recreation and health, in regard 
 the Prince is now of years and judgment fit to govern. His 
 Majesty so resented this, that the next day he sent them 
 many thanks for the care they had of him, and desir'd them 
 to perfect the work, and now that they had detected the 
 Treason, to discover also the Traitors; but they were shy in 
 that point. The King sent again, desiring them to send the 
 names of the Conspirators in a paper sealed up by one of 
 their own Confidents, which he should receive with his own 
 hands and no soul should see it else ; advising them withal, 
 that they should not prefer this discovery before their own 
 honours, to be accounted false Accusers : they reply'd, That 
 they had done enough already by instancing in the Duke of 
 Buckingham, and it might easily be guess'd who were his 
 Confidents and Creatures. Hereupon His Majesty put those 
 
 whom
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 191 
 
 whom he had any grounds to suspect to their Oaths : And 
 afterwards sent my Lord Conway and Sir Francis Cotting- 
 ton to tell the Ambassadors that he had left no means 
 unessay'd to discover the Conspiration ; that he had found 
 upon Oath such a clearness of ingenuity in the Duke of 
 Buckingham, that satisfy'd him of his innocency : Therefore 
 he had just cause to conceive that this information of theirs 
 proceeded rather from malice, and some political ends, than 
 from truth; and in regard they would not produce the 
 Authors of so dangerous a Treason, they made themselves 
 to be justly thought the Authors of it : And therefore, tho' 
 he might by his own Royal Justice and the Law of Nations, 
 punish this excess and insolence of theirs, and high wrong 
 they had done to his best Servants, yea to the Prince his 
 Son, for thro' the sides of the Duke they wounded him, in 
 regard it was impossible that such a design should be at- 
 tempted without his privity, yet he would not be his own 
 Judge herein, but would refer them to the King their Master, 
 whom he conceiv'd to be so just, that he doubted not but he 
 would see him satisfy'd; and therefore he would send an 
 Express to him thereabouts, to demand Justice and Repara- 
 tion. This business is now in agitation, but we know not 
 what will become of it. We are all here in a sad discon- 
 solate condition, and the Merchants shake their heads up 
 and down out of an apprehension of some fearful War to 
 follow : So I most affectionately kiss your hands, and rest 
 — Your very humble and ready Servitor, J. II. 
 
 Madrid, 26 Aug. 1623. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 To Sir Kenelme Digby, Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 YOU have had knowledge (none better) of the progres- 
 sion and growings of the Spanish Match from time 
 to time ; I must acquaint you now with the Rupture and 
 utter Dissolution of it, which was not lomr a doinn; : for it 
 was done in one Audience that mv Lord of Bristol had lately 
 
 at
 
 192 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 at Court, whence it may be inferr'd, that 'tis far more easy 
 to pull down than rear up; for that Structure which was 
 so many years a rearing was dash'd, as it were, in a trice : 
 Dissolution goeth a faster pace than Composition. And it 
 may be said, that the civil actions of men, 'specially great 
 affairs of Monarchs (as this was) have much analogy, in 
 degrees of progression, with the natural production of man. 
 To make man, there are many acts must precede ; first a 
 meetinor and copulation of the Sexes, then Conception, 
 which requires a well-disposed Womb to retain the prolifical 
 Seed, by the constriction and occlusion of the orifice of the 
 Matrix; which Seed being first, and afterwards Cream, is 
 by a gentle ebullition coagulated, and turn'd to a crudded 
 lump, which the Womb by virtue of its natural heat pre- 
 pares to be capable to receive form, and to be organiz'd : 
 whereupon Nature falls a-working to delineate all the 
 Members, beginning with those that are most noble; as the 
 Heart, the Brain, the Liver, whereof Galen would have the 
 Liver, which is the shop and source of the blood, and Aris- 
 totle the Heart, to be the first fram'd. In regard 'tis primiim 
 vivens & idtimum moriens. Nature continues in this labour, 
 until a perfect shape be introduced ; and this is call'd For- 
 mation, which is the third act, and is a production of an 
 organical Body out of the spermatick Substance, caus'd by 
 the plastick virtue of the vital Spirits : and sometimes this 
 act is finish'd thirty days after the conception, sometimes 
 fifty, but most commonly in forty-two or forty-five, and is 
 sooner done in the Male. This being done, the Embryo is 
 animated with three Souls; the first with that of Plants 
 called the vegetable Soul, then with a sensitive, which all 
 brute Animals have, and lastly the rational Soul is infus'd ; 
 and these three in Man are like Trigonus in Tetragojio ; the 
 two first are generated ex Traduce, from the seed of the 
 Parents, but the last is by immediate infusion from God: 
 and 'tis controverted 'twixt Philosophers and Divines when 
 this infusion is made. 
 
 This is the fourth act that goeth to make a Man, and is 
 
 called
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 193 
 
 called Animation : and as the Naturalists allow Animation 
 double the time that Formation had from the Conception, 
 so they allow to the ripening of the Emhryo in the Womb, 
 and to the birth thereof, treble the time which Animation 
 had ; which happeneth sometimes in nine, sometimes in ten 
 months. This Gi-and business of the Spanish Match may 
 be said to have had such degrees of progression ; first there 
 was a meeting and coupling on both sides, for a. Junta in 
 Spain, and some select Counsellors of State were appointed 
 in England. After this Conjunction the business was con- 
 ceiv'd, then it receiv'd form, then life (tho' the quickening 
 was slow), but having had near upon ten years in lieu of ten 
 months to be perfected, it was unfortunately strangled when 
 it was ripe ready for birth ; and I would they had never 
 been born that did it, for it is like to be out of my way 
 5^3000. And as the Embryo in the Womb is wrapp'd in 
 three membranes or tunicles, so this great business, you 
 know better than I, was involv'd in many difficulties, and 
 died so entangled before it could break thro' them. 
 
 There is a buzz here of a Match 'twixt England and 
 France ; I pray God send it a speedier Formation and Ani- 
 mation than this had, and that it may not prove an abortive. 
 
 I send you herewith a Letter from the Paragon of the 
 Spanish Court, Donna yinna Maria Manrique, the Duke of 
 Marquedas's sister, who respects you in a high degree ; she 
 told me this was the first Letter she ever writ to Man in 
 her life, except the Duke her brother; she was much solicited 
 to write to Mr. Thomas Cary, but she would not. I did 
 also your Message to the Marquesa d'Inojosa, who put me 
 to sit a good while with her upon Estrado, which was no 
 simple favour: you are much in both these Ladies' books, 
 and much spoken of by divers others in this Court. I could 
 not recover your Diamond Hatband which the Picaroon 
 snatch'd from you in the Coach, tho' I us'd all means pos- 
 sible, as far as book, bell, and candle, in point of Excom- 
 munication against the party in all the Churches of JMadrid, 
 by which means you know divers things arc recover'd. So 
 
 N I
 
 c 
 
 194 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 I most affectionately kiss your iiands^ and rest — Your most 
 faithful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Vost. — Yours of Mar. 2 came safe to hand. 
 
 Madrid. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 To my Cous'm, Mr, J. Price {noiv Knight), at the Middle- 
 Temple, yVom Madrid. 
 
 OUSIN, suffer my Letter to salute you first in this 
 
 Distich : 
 
 A Thamesi Tagus quoi leucis fiumine distat, 
 Oscula tot inanibus porio, Pricsse tuis. 
 
 As many miles Tha7?ies lies from Tagus Strands, 
 I bring so many kisses to thy hands. 
 
 My Dear Jack, 
 
 IN the large Register or Almanack of my Friends in 
 England, you are one of the chiefest Red Letters, you 
 are one of my Festival Rubriques : for whenever you fall 
 upon my Mind, or my Mind falls upon you, I keep Holiday 
 all the while; and this happens so often, that you leave me 
 but a few Working-days thro'out the whole year, fewer far 
 than this Country affords ; for in their Kalendar above five 
 months of the twelve are dedicated to some Saint or other, 
 and kept Festival ; a religion that the London Apprentices 
 would like well. 
 
 I thank you for yours of the third current, and the ample 
 Relations you give me of London Occurrences, but princi- 
 pally for the powerful and sweet assurances you give me of 
 vour Love, both in Verse and Prose. All businesses here 
 are off the hinges; for one late Audience of my Lord of 
 Bristol pull'd down what was so many years a raising. And 
 as Thomas Aquinas told an Artist of a costly curious Statue 
 in Rome, that by some accident while he was a trimming 
 it, fell down, and so broke to pieces, Opus triginta annorum 
 destriixisti, Thou hast destroy'd the work of thirty years; so 
 it may be said, that a work near upon ten years is now 
 
 suddenly
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 195 
 
 suddenly shatter'd to peices. I hope by God's Grace to be 
 now speedily in England, and to re-enjoy your most dear 
 Society : In the meantime may all happiness attend you. 
 
 Ad Litkraui. 
 Ociiis ut grandire gradus oraiio, possis 
 FrosUy tibi binos jujigittiiis ecce pedes : 
 
 That in thy journey thou may'st be more fleet, 
 To thy dull Prose I add these Metric feet. 
 
 Resp. 
 
 Ad mare cum vetiio, quid agam ? Repl. tum prcRpete penna 
 Tdferat, est lator nam levis ignis, Amor. 
 
 But when I come to Sea, how shall I shift ? 
 Let Love transport thee then, for Fire is swift. 
 
 — Your most affectionate Cousin, 
 
 J. H. 
 30 Mar. 1624. 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 To the Lord Viscount Colchester, yrow Madrid. 
 
 Right Honourable, 
 
 YOUR Lordship's of the third current came to safe 
 hand, and being now upon point of parting with 
 this Court, I thousi;ht it worth the labour to send your 
 Lordship a short Survey of the Monarchy of Spain; a bold 
 undertaking, your Lordship will say, to comprehend within 
 the narrow bounds of a Letter such a huge bulk ; but as in 
 the boss of a small Diamond-ring one may discern the image 
 of a mighty Mountain, so I will endeavour that your Lord- 
 ship may behold the power of this great King in this Paper. 
 Spain hath been always esteem'd a Country of ancient 
 renown ; and as it is incident to all other, she hath had her 
 vicissitudes and turns of Fortune : She hath been thrice 
 o'ercome; by the Romans, by the Goths, and by the Moors: 
 The middle Conquest continueth to this day; for this King 
 and most of the Nobility profess themselves to have descended 
 of the Goths : The Moors kept here about 700 years ; and 
 it is a remarkable Story how they got in first, which was 
 
 thus
 
 196 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 thus upon good Record. There reign'd in Spam Don 
 Rodrigo, who kept his Court then at Malaga ; he employ'd 
 the Conde Don Julian Ambassador to Barhary, who had 
 a Daughter (a young beautiful Lady), that was Maid of 
 Honour to the Queen : The King spying her one Day 
 refreshing herself under an Arbor, fell enamour'd with her, 
 and never left till he had deflower'd her. She resenting 
 much the dishonour, writ a Letter to her Father in Barhary 
 under this Allegory, That there ivas a fair green jipple upon 
 the Table, and the Ki?ig's Poniard fell upont ajid cleft it in 
 two. Don Julian, apprehending the meaning, got Letters 
 of revocation and came back to Spain, where he so comply'd 
 with the Kino:, that he became his Favourite : Amons; other 
 Things he advis'd the King, That in regard he was now in 
 Peace with all the World, he would dismiss his Gallies and 
 Garrisons that were up and down the Sea-coasts, because it 
 was a superfluous charge. This being done, and the Country 
 left open to any to invade, he prevail'd with the King to 
 have leave to go with his Lady to see their friends in 
 Tarragona, which was 300 miles off. Having been there 
 a while, his Lady made semblance to be sick, and so sent 
 to petition the King that her Daughter Donna Cava (whom 
 they had left at Court to satiate the King's lust) might come 
 to comfort her a while : Cava came, and the Gate thro' 
 which she went forth is call'd after her name to this day in 
 Malaga : Don Julian having all his chief Kindred there, 
 he sail'd over to Barhary, and afterwards brought over the 
 King of Morocco, and others with an Army, who suddenly 
 invaded Spain, lying armless and open, and so conquer'd it. 
 Don Rodrigo died gallantly in the Field, but what became 
 of Don Julian, who for a particular Revenge betray'd his 
 own Countrv, no Story makes mention. A few years 
 before this happen'd, Rodrigo came to Toledo, where under 
 the great Church there was a Vault with huge Iron-doors, 
 and none of his Predecessors durst open it, because there 
 was an old Prophecy, That luhen that Vault luas opened 
 Spain should he conquer'd. Rodrigo, slighting the Prophecy, 
 
 caus'd
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 197 
 
 caus'd the doors to be broke open, hoping to find there 
 some Treasure ; but when he enter'd, there was nothing 
 found but the Pictures of Moors, of such Men that a little 
 after fulfill'd the Prophecy. 
 
 Yet this last Conquest of Spaiyi was not perfect, for divers 
 parts North-west kept still under Christian Kings, specially 
 Biscaif, which was never conquer'd, as Wales in Britamj; 
 and the Biscayners have much Analogy with the Welsh in 
 divers Things : They retain to this day the original Language 
 of Spain, they are the most mountainous People, and they 
 are reputed the ancientest Gentry ; so that when any is to 
 take the Order of Knighthood, there are no Inquisitors 
 appointed to find whether he be clear of the blood of the 
 Moors, as in other places. The King, when he comes upon 
 the confines, pulls off one shoe before he can tread upon 
 any Biscay Ground : And he hath good reason to esteem 
 that Province, in regard of divers Advantages he hath by 
 it ; for he hath his best Timber to build Ships, his best 
 Marines, and all his Iron thence. 
 
 There were divers bloody Battels 'twixt the remnant of 
 CJuistians Siud the Moor^, for 700 years together; and the 
 Spaniards getting ground more and more, drave them at 
 last to Granada, and thence also, in the time of Ferdinand 
 and Isabella, quite over to Barhary : Their last King was 
 Ckico, who when he fled from Granada crying and weeping, 
 the People upbraided him. That he might well 2vcep like a 
 Woman, who could not defend himself and them like a Man. 
 This was that Ferdinand who obtain'd from Rome the Title 
 of CathoUck, tho' some Stories say, that many Ages before 
 Ricaredus, the first Orthodox King of the Goths, was stil'd 
 Catholicus in a Provincial Synod held at Toledo, which was 
 continued by Alphonsus I., and then made hereditary by this 
 Ferdinand. This absolute Conquest of the Moors happen'd 
 about Henry VI I. 's Time, when the foresaid Ferdinand and 
 Isabella had by Alliance join'd Castile and ylragon; which 
 with the discovery of the West-Indies, which happen'd a 
 little after, was the first foundation of that Greatness where- 
 
 unto
 
 iqS Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 — — — 1 
 
 unto Spain is now mounted. Afterwards there was an 
 Alliance with Burgundy and Austria ; by the first House 
 seventeen Provinces fell to Spam ; by the second Charles V. 
 came to be Emperor: And remarkable it is how the House 
 of Austria came to that height from a mean Earl ; the Earl 
 of Hapsburg in Germany, who having been one day a-hunt- 
 ing, he overtook a Priest who had been with the Sacra- 
 ment to visit a poor sick body ; the Priest being tir'd, the 
 Earl lighted off his Horse, help'd up the Priest, and so 
 waited upon him a-foot all the while, till he brought him to 
 the Church : The Priest giving him his Benediction at his 
 going away, told him, that for this great Act of humility 
 and piety, His Grace should he one of the greatest that ever 
 the world had; and ever since, which is some 240 years 
 ago, the Empire hath continued in that house, which after- 
 wards was callM the House of Austria. 
 
 In Philip H.'s Time the Spanish Monarchy came to its 
 highest pitch, by the conquest of Portugal, whereby the 
 East-Indies, sundry Islands in the Atlantick Sea, and divers 
 places in Barhary, were added to the Crown of Spain. By 
 these steps this Crown came to this Grandeur; and truly, 
 give the Spaniard his due, he is a mighty Monarch ; he hath 
 Dominions in all parts of the World (which none of the 
 four Monarchies had), both in Europe, Asia, Africa, and 
 America (which he hath solely to himself), tho' our Henry 
 VII. had the first proffer made him : So the Sun shines all 
 the four-and-twenty hours of the natural day upon some 
 part or other of his Countries, for part of the Antipodes are 
 subject to him. He hath eight Viceroys in Eiirope, two in 
 the East-Indies, two in the IVest, two in Africk, and about 
 thirty Provincial Sovereign Commanders more; yet, as I 
 was told lately, in a Discourse 'twixt him and our Prince 
 at his being here, when the Prince fell to magnify his 
 spacious Dominions, the King answer'd, Sir, His true, it 
 hath pleased God to trust me with divers Nations and 
 Countries, hut of all these there are hut two which yield me 
 any clear revenues, viz., Spain and my West-Indies; nor all 
 
 Spain
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 199 
 
 Spain neither, hut Castile only ; the rest do scarce quit cost, 
 for all is drunk up 'tivixt Governors and Garrisons : yet my 
 advantage is to have the opportunity to propagate the Christian 
 Religion, and to employ my Suhjects. For the last, it must 
 be granted that no Prince hath better means to breed brave 
 Men, and more variety of Commands to heighten their 
 Spirits with no petty but princely Employments. 
 
 This King, besides, hath other means to oblige the Gentry 
 to him, by such a huge number of Commendams, which he 
 hath in his gift to bestow on whom he pleases of any of the 
 three Orders of Knighthood ; which England and France 
 want. Some Noblemen in Spain can spend jfe'50,000, some 
 forty, some thirty, and divers ^20,000 per ami. The Church 
 here is exceeding rich, both in revenues, plate, and build- 
 ings; one cannot go to the meanest Country Chapel but 
 he will find Chalices, Lamps, and Candlesticks of Silver. 
 There are some Bishopricks of .^30,000 per ann. and divers 
 of ^10,000, and Toledo is <3^ioo,ooo yearly revenue. As 
 the Church is rich, so it is mightily reverenc'd here, and 
 very powerful ; which made Philip II. rather depend upon 
 the Clergy than the secular Power. Therefore I do not see 
 how Spain can be called a poor Country, considering the 
 revenues aforesaid of Princes and Prelates; nor is it so thin 
 of People as the World makes it, and one reason may be 
 that there are sixteen Universities in Spain, and in one of 
 these there were 15,000 Students at one time when I was 
 there, I mean Salamanca; and in this Village of Madrid 
 (for the King of Spain cannot keep his constant Court 
 in any Citv) there are ordinarily 600,000 Souls. 'Tis 
 true, that the Colonizim; of the Indies and the Wars of 
 Flanders have much drain'd this Country of People ; since 
 the expulsion of the Moors it is also grown thinner, and not 
 so full of Corn ; for those Moors would grub up Wheat out 
 of the very Tops of the craggy Hills ; yet they us'd another 
 Grain for their Bread : So that the Spaniard had nought 
 else to do but to go with his Ass to the Market, and buy 
 Corn of the Moors. There liv'd here also in Times past 
 
 a
 
 200 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 a great number of Jews, till they were expell'd by Fer- 
 dinand ; and, as I have read in an old Spanish Legend, the 
 cause was this : The King had a young Prince to his Son, 
 who was us'd to play with a Jewish Doctor that was about 
 the Court, who had a ball of gold in a string hanging down 
 his breast : The little Prince one day snatch'd away the said 
 golden ball, and carried it to the next room ; the ball being 
 hollow, open'd, and within there was painted our Saviour 
 kissing a Jew's tail. Hereupon they were all suddenly dis- 
 terr'd and exterminated ; yet I believe in Portugal there 
 lurks vet good store of them. 
 
 For the Soil of Spain, the fruitfulness of their Vallies 
 recompences the sterility of their Hills; Corn is their 
 greatest want, and want of Rain is the cause of that, which 
 makes them have need of their Neighbours: Yet as much 
 as Spaiji bears is passing good, and so is everything else for 
 the quality; nor hath any one a better horse under him, a 
 better cloak on his back, a better sword by his side, better 
 shoes on his feet, than the Spaniard: Nor doth any drink 
 better wine, or eat better fruit than he, nor flesh for the 
 quantity. 
 
 Touching the People, the Spafiiard looks as high, tho' not 
 so big as a German ; his excess is in too much gravity, which 
 some, who know him not well, hold to be pride; he cares 
 not how little he labours, for poor Gascojis and Morisco 
 slaves do most of his work in field and vineyard : He can 
 endure much in the war, yet he loves not to fight in the 
 dark, but in open day, or upon a stage, that all the world 
 might be witnesses of his valour; so that you shall seldom 
 hear of Spaniards employ'd in Night-service, nor shall one 
 hear of a Duel here in an Age. He hath one good quality, 
 that he is wonderfully obedient to Government; for the 
 proudest Don of Spain, when he is prancing upon his 
 Ginnet in the street, if an Alguazil (a Sergeant) shew him 
 his Vare, that is, a little white stafl' he carrieth as a badge 
 of his Office, my Don will down presently oflf his horse, and 
 yield himself his prisoner. He hath another commendable 
 
 quality
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 201 
 
 quality, that when he giveth Ahns he pulls off his Hat, and 
 puts it in the beggar's hand with a great deal of humility. 
 His gravity is much lessen'd since the late Proclamation 
 came out against ruffs, and the King himself shew'd the 
 first example ; they were come to that height of excess 
 herein, that twenty shillings were us'd to be paid for 
 starching of a ruff: And some, tho' perhaps he had never 
 a shirt to his back, yet he would have a toting huge swell- 
 ing ruff about his neck. He is sparing in his ordinary diet, 
 but when he makes a feast he is free and bountiful. As to 
 temporal Authority, specially Martial, so is he very obedient 
 to the Church, and believes all with an implicit faith. 
 He is a great servant of Ladies, nor can he be blam'd, for, 
 as I said before, he comes of a Goatish race; yet he never 
 brags of, nor blazes abroad his doings that way, but is ex- 
 ceedingly careful of the repute of any Woman (a Civility 
 that we much want in Englayid). He will speak high words 
 of Don Philippo his King, but will not endure a stranger 
 should do so: I have heard a Biscayner make a Rodomantado, 
 that he was as good a Gentleman as Don Philippo himself, 
 for Don Philippo was half a Spaniard, half a German, half 
 an Italian, half a Frenchman, half I know not what, but he 
 was a pure Biscayner without mixture. The Spaniard is 
 not so smooth and oily in his Compliment as the Italian; 
 and tho' he will make strong protestations, yet he will not 
 swear out Compliments like the French and English: As I 
 heard when my Lord of Carlisle was Ambassador in France, 
 there came a great Monsieur to see him, and having a long 
 time banded, and sworn Compliments one to another who 
 should go first out at a door, at last my Lord of Carlisle 
 said, o Monseigncur, ayez pitie de mon ame, O my Lord, 
 have pity upon my soul. 
 
 The Spaniard is generally given to gaming, and that in 
 excess ; he will say his Prayers before, and if he win he 
 will thank God for his good fortune after. Their common 
 game at Cards (for thev very seldom play at Dice) is 
 Primera, at which the King never shews his game, but 
 
 throws
 
 202 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 throws his cards with their faces down on the table. He 
 is merchant of all the Cards and Dice thro' all the King- 
 dom ; he hath them made for a penny a pair, and he retails 
 them for twelvepence; so that 'tis thought he hath ^30,000 
 a year by this trick at Cards. The Spaniard is very devout 
 in his way, for I have seen him kneel in the very dirt when 
 the Ave Mary bell rings ; and some, if they spy two straws 
 or sticks lie cross-wise in the street, they will take them up 
 and kiss them, and lay them down again. He walks as 
 if he march'd, and seldom looks on the ground, as if he 
 contemn'd it. I was told of a Spaniard, who having got a 
 a fall by a stumble, and broke his nose, rose up, and in a 
 disdainful manner said, Voto a tal eslo es caminar por la 
 tierra; This it is to walk upon earth. The Labradors and 
 Country Swains here are sturdy and Rational Men, nothing 
 so simple or servile as the French Peasant who is born in 
 chains. 'Tis true, the Spaniard is not so conversable as 
 other Nations (unless he hath travell'd), else he is like Mars 
 among the Planets, impatient of Conjunction: Nor is he 
 so free in his gifts and rewards ; as the last Summer it 
 happen'd that Count Gondomar, with Sir Francis Cotiington, 
 went to see a curious House of the Constable of Castile s, 
 which had been newly built here; the Keeper of the House 
 was very officious to shew him every room, with the Garden, 
 Grottos, and Aqueducts, and presented him with some Fruit; 
 Gondomar having been a long time in the House, coming 
 out, put many Compliments of thanks upon the Man, and 
 so was going away ; Sir Francis whisper'd him in the Ear, 
 and ask'd him whether he would give the Man anything 
 that took such pains: Oh, quoth Gondomar, well remember'd; 
 Don Francisco, have you ever a double Pistole about you ? 
 If you have, you may give it him, and then you pay him 
 after the English manner ; I have paid him already after the 
 Spanish. The Spaniard is much improv'd in Policy since 
 he took footing in Italy, and there is no Nation agrees with 
 him better. I will conclude this Character with a saying 
 that he hath — 
 
 No
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 203 
 
 No ay hornbre debaxo d'el Sol, 
 Como el Italiano y el Espanol. 
 
 Whereunto a Frenchman answer'd — 
 
 Dizes la verdad, y lienes razon, 
 El uno es puto, el otro ladron. 
 
 English'd thus — 
 
 Beneath the Sun there's no such Man, 
 As is the Spaniard and Italian. 
 
 The Frenchman ansiaers — 
 
 Thou tell'st the truth, and reason hast, 
 The first's a Thief, a Buggerer the last. 
 
 Touching their Women, Nature hath made a more visible 
 distinction 'tvvixt the two Sexes here than elsewhere ; for 
 the Men for the most part are swarthy and rough, but the 
 Women are of a far finer mould ; they are commonly little : 
 And whereas there is a Saying that makes a compleat 
 Woman, let her be English to the neck, French to the waste, 
 and Dutch below ; I may add, for hands and feet let her be 
 Spanish, for they have the least of any. They have another 
 Saying, A Frenchwoman in a dance, a Dutchwoman in the 
 kitchen, an Italian in a window, an England-woman at 
 board, and the Spanish a-bed. When they are married, 
 they have a privilege to wear high shoes, and to paint, which 
 is generally practised here; and the Queen useth it herself. 
 They are coy enough, but not so froward as our English; 
 for if a Lady go along the street (and all Women going 
 here veil'd, and their habit so generally alike, one can hardly 
 distinguish a Countess from a Cobler's Wife), if one should 
 cast out an odd ill-sounding word, and ask her a favour, 
 she will not take it ill, but put it off, and answer you with 
 some witty retort. After thirty they are commonly past 
 Child-bearing, and I have seen Women in England look as 
 youthful at fifty as some here at twenty-five. Money will do 
 miracles here in purchasing the favour of Ladies, or anything 
 else; tho' this be the Country of Money, for it furnisheth 
 well near all the World besides, yea their very Enemies, as 
 
 the
 
 204 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 the Turk and Hollander ; insomuch that one may say, the 
 Coin of Spain is as Catholic as her King. Yet tho' he be 
 the greatest King of gold and silver Mines in the World (I 
 think), yet the common current Coin here is Copper: And 
 herein I believe the Hollander hath done him more mischief 
 by counterfeiting his Copper Coins than by their Arms, 
 brino-ing it in by strange surreptitious ways, as in hollow 
 Sows of Tin and Lead, hollow Masts, in Pitch Buckets under 
 water, and other ways. But I fear to be injurious to this 
 great King, to speak of him in so narrow a compass; a 
 great King indeed, tho' the French in a slighting way com- 
 pare his Monarchy to a Beggar^s Cloak 7nade up of Patches : 
 They are Patches indeed, but such as he hath not the like : 
 The East-Indies is a Patch embroider'd with Pearls, Rubies, 
 and Diamonds : Peru is a Patch embroider'd with massy 
 Gold, Mexico with Silver, Naples and Milan are Patches of 
 Cloth of Tissue; and if these Patches were in one piece, 
 what would become of his Cloak embroider'd with Flower- 
 de-luces ? 
 
 So, desiring your Lordship to pardon this poor imperfect 
 Paper, considering the high quality of the Subject, 1 rest — 
 Your Lordship's most humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Madrid^ i Feb. 1623. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 To Mr. Walsingham Gresley, /rom Madrid. 
 
 Don Balchasar, 
 
 I THANK you for your Letter in my Lord's last Packet, 
 wherein, among other passages, you write to me the 
 circumstances of Marquis Spinola's raising his Leaguer, by 
 flatting and firing his works before Berghen. He is much 
 tax'd here, to have attempted it, and to have bury'd so much 
 of the King's Treasure before that Town in such costly 
 Trenches. A Gentleman came hither lately, who was at 
 the Siege all the while, and he told me one strange Passage ; 
 how Sir Ferdinando Carij, a huge corpulent Knight, was shot 
 thro' his Body ; the Bullet entring at the Navel, and coming 
 
 out
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 205 
 
 out at his Back, kill'd his Man behind him ; yet he lives 
 still, and is like to recover. With this miraculous Accident, 
 he told me also a merry one ; how a Captain that had a 
 wooden Leg booted over, had it shatter'd to pieces by a 
 Cannon-bullet : His Soldiers crying, A Surgeon, a Surgeon, 
 for the Captain; No, no, said he, A Carpenter, a Carpenter 
 luill serve the turn. To this pleasant Tale Til add another that 
 happen' d lately in Alcala hard by, of a Dominican Fryar, 
 who in a solemn Procession which was held there upon 
 Ascension-day last, had his Stones dangling under his habit 
 cut off instead of his Pocket by a Cut-purse. 
 
 Before you return hither, which I understand will be 
 speedily, I pray bestow a visit on our Friends in Bishops- 
 gate-street. So I am — Your faithful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 3 Feb. 1623. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 To Sir Robert Napier, Kt., at his House in Bishopsgate- 
 
 street. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 THE late breach of the Match hath broke the neck of all 
 businesses here, and mine suffers as much as any : I 
 had Access lately to OUvares, once or twice ; I had Audience 
 also of the King, to whom I presented a Memorial that 
 intimated Letters of Mart, unless satisfaction were had 
 from his Viceroy, the Conde del Real. The King gave me 
 a gracious Answer, but OUvares a churlish one, viz., That 
 when the Spaniards had justice in England, we should have 
 justice here. So that notwithstanding I have brought it to 
 the highest point and pitch of perfection in Law that could 
 be, and procur'd some dispatches, the like whereof were 
 never granted in this Court before, yet I am in despair now 
 to do any good. I hope to be shortly in England, by God's 
 grace, to give you and the rest of the Proprietaries a punctual 
 Account of all things : And you may easily conceive how 
 sorry I am that matters succeeded not according to your 
 
 expectation
 
 2o6 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 expectation, and my endeavours: But I hope you are none 
 of those that measure things by the Event. The Earl of 
 Bristol, Count Gondomar, and my Lord Ambassador Aston 
 did not only do courtesies, but they did co-operate with me 
 in it, and contribute their utmost endeavours. So I rest — 
 Yours to serve you, J. H. 
 
 Madrid, i8 Feb. 1623. 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 To Mr. A. S,, in Alicant. 
 
 MUCH endear'd Sir, Fire, you know, is the common 
 Emblem of Love ; but without any disparagement 
 to so noble a Passion, methinks it might be compar'd also 
 to Tinder, and Letters are the properest matter whereof to 
 make this Tinder: Letters again are fittest to kindle, and 
 re-accend this Tinder ; they may serve both for Flint, Steel, 
 and Match. This Letter of mine comes therefore of set pur- 
 pose to strike some sparkles into yours, that it may glow 
 and burn, and receive ignition, and not lie dead, as it hath 
 done a great while. I make my Pen to serve for an in- 
 strument to stir the Cinders wherewith your old Love to 
 me hath been cover'd a long time ; therefore I pray let no 
 Couvrez-feu-^tW have power hereafter to rake up, and choke 
 with the Ashes of Oblivion, that clear Flame wherewith our 
 Affections did use to sparkle so long by correspondence of 
 Letters, and other Offices of Love. 
 
 I think I shall sojourn yet in this Court these three 
 months ; for I will not give over this great business while 
 there is the least breath of hope remaining. 
 
 I know you have choice matters of Intelligence sometimes 
 from thence; therefore I pray impart some unto us, and 
 you shall not fail to know how matters pass here weekly. 
 So, with my Bcsamanos to Francisco Imperial, I rest — 
 Yours most affectionately to serve you, J. H. 
 
 Madrid, 3 Mar. 1623. 
 
 XXXVL
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 207 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 To the Honourable Sir T. S., at Tower-hill. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I WAS yesterday at the Escurlal to see the Monastery of 
 St. Laurence, the eighth wonder of the World ; and 
 truly, considering the Site of the place, the State of the thing, 
 and the Symmetry of the structure, with divers other rari- 
 ties, it may be call'd so; for what I have seen in Italy and 
 other places are but baubles to it. It is built amongst a 
 company of craggy barren hills, which makes the Air the 
 hungrier and wholsomer: It is all built of Free-stone and 
 Marble, and that with such solidity and moderate height, 
 that surely Philip II.'s chief design was to make a sacrifice 
 of it to Eternity, and to contest with the Meteors, and Time 
 itself. It cost eight Millions, it was twenty-four years a 
 building, and the Founder himself saw it finish'd, and en- 
 joy'd it twelve years after, and carry'd his Bones himself 
 thither to be buried. 
 
 The reason that mov'd King Philip to waste so much 
 Treasure, was a vow he had made at the battell of St. 
 Qidntin, where he was forc'd to batter a Monastery of St. 
 Laurence Friers, and if he had the Victory, he would erect 
 such a Monastery to St, Laurence, that the World had 
 not the like; therefore the form of it is like a Gridiron, 
 the handle is a huge Royal Palace, and the body a vast 
 Monastery or Assembly of quadrangular Cloysters ; for there 
 are as many as there be months in the year. There be a 
 hundred Monks, and every one hath his man and his 
 mule, and a multitude of Officers. Besides, there are three 
 Libraries there full of the choicest Books for all Sciences. 
 It is beyond expression what Grots, Gardens, Walks, and 
 Aqueducts there are there, and what curious Fountains in 
 tlie upper Cloysters, for there be two stages of Cloysters : 
 In fine, there is nothing that's vulgar there. To take a view 
 of every Room in the House, one must make account to go 
 ten miles; there is a Vault call'd the Pantheon under the 
 
 hiirhest
 
 2o8 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 highest Altar, which is all pav'd, wall'd, and arch'd with 
 Marble; there be a number of huge silver Candlesticks, 
 taller than I am ; Lamps three yards' compass, and divers 
 Chalices and Crosses of massy Gold : There is one Quire 
 made all of burnish'd Brass, Pictures and Statues like 
 Giants, and a world of glorious things, that purely ravish'd 
 me. By this mighty Monument, it may be inferr'd, that 
 Philip II., tho' he was a little man, yet had he vast gigantick 
 thoughts in him, to leave such a huge Pile for posterity to 
 gaze upon, and admire his memory. No more now, but 
 that I rest — Your humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Madrid, 9 Mar. 1623. 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 To the Lord Viscount Co\, from Madrid. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 YOU writ to me not long since, to send you an Account 
 of the Duke of Ossuna^s death, a little man, but of 
 great fame and fortunes, and much cried up, and known up 
 and down the World. He was revok'd from being Viceroy 
 of Naples (the best employment the K. of Spain hath for 
 a Subject) upon some disgust : And being come to this 
 Court, when he was brought to give an Account of his 
 Government, being troubled with the Gout, he carry'd his 
 sword in his hand instead of a staff; the King misliking of 
 the manner of his posture, turn'd his back to him, and so 
 went away : Thereupon he was overheard to mutter, Esto 
 es para servir machachos ; This it is to serve boys. This 
 coming to the King's ear, he was apprehended and com- 
 mitted prisoner to a Monastery not far ofT, where he con- 
 tinued some years, until his beard came to his girdle; then 
 growing very ill, he was permitted to come to his house in 
 this Town, being carry'd in a bed upon men's shoulders, 
 and so died some years ago. There were divers Accusations 
 against him ; amongst the rest, I remember these. That he 
 had kept the Marquis de Campolataro's wife, sending her 
 
 husband j
 
 Sect. 3. Familiar Letters. 209 
 
 husband out of the way upon employment: That he had 
 got a bastard of a Turkish woman^ and suffered the child 
 to be brouo;ht up in the Mahometan relio;ion : That being: 
 one day at High-Mass, when the Host was elevated, he 
 drew out of his pocket a piece of Gold, and held it up, in- 
 timatino; that that was his God : That he had invited some 
 of the prime Courtesans of Naples to a Feast, and after 
 dinner made a Banquet for them in his Garden, where he 
 commanded them to strip themselves stark naked, and go 
 up and down, while he shot Sugar-plums at them out of a 
 Trunk, which they were to take up from off their high 
 Chapins ; and such like extravagancies. One (among divers 
 others) witty passage was told me of him, which was, that 
 when he was Viceroy of Sicily, there died a great rich 
 Duke, who left but one Son, whom, with his whole estate, 
 he bequeath'd to the Tutele of the Jesuits; and the words 
 of the Will were. When he is pass'd his minority (Darete al 
 miojigliuolo quel que voi volete), you shall give my Son what 
 you will. It seems the Jesuits took to themselves two parts 
 of three of the estate, and gave the rest to the heir. The 
 young Duke complaining hereof to the Duke of Ossuna, 
 then Viceroy, he commanded the Jesuits to appear before 
 him : He ask'd them how much of the Estate they would 
 have; they answer'd, two parts of three, which they had 
 almost employ'd already to build Monasteries and an 
 Hospital, to erect particular Altars, and Masses, to sing 
 Dirges, and ReJ'rigeriums for the Soul of the deceased 
 Duke. Hereupon the Duke of Ossuna caus'd the Will to 
 be produc'd, and found therein the words afore recited, 
 JVJien he is pass'd his minority, you shall give my Son of my 
 Estate ivhat you will. Then he told the Jesuits, You must, 
 by vertue and tenor of these words, give what you ivill to 
 the Son, which by your own confession is two parts of 
 three. And so he determin'd the business. 
 
 Thus have I in part satisfied your Lordship's desire, 
 which I shall do more amply when I shall be made happy 
 to attend you in Person, which I hope will be crc it be 
 
 Q long
 
 2IO Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 long. In the interim, I take my leave of you from 
 Spain, and rest — Your Lordship's most ready and humble 
 Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Madrid, 13 Mar. 1623. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 To Simon Digby, Esq. 
 Sir, 
 
 I THANK you for the several sorts of Cyphers you sent 
 me to write by, which were very choice ones, and 
 curious. Crytology, or epistolizing in a clandestine way, is 
 very ancient : I read in A. Gellius, that C. Ccesar in his 
 Letters to Cains Oppius and Balhns Cornelius, who were two 
 of his greatest Confidents in managing his private Affairs, 
 did write in Cyphers by a various transportation of the 
 Alphabet; whereof Proclus Grammaticus, de occulta litera- 
 rum signijicatione Epistolarum C. Ccesaris, writes a curious 
 Commentary. But methinks that certain kind of Hiero- 
 glyphics, the celestial Signs, the seven Planets, and other 
 Constellations, might make a curious kind of Cypher, as 
 I will more particularly demonstrate to you in a Scheme, 
 when I shall be happy with your Conversation. So I rest 
 — Your assured Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Madrid, 15 Mar. 1623. 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 To Sir James Crohs,fro}n Bilboa. 
 Sir, 
 
 BEING safely come to the Marine, in convoy of His 
 Majesty's Jewels, and being to sojourn here some 
 days, the conveniency of this Gentleman (who knows, and 
 much honoureth you), he being to ride Post thro' France, 
 invited me to send you this. 
 
 We were but five Horsemen in all our seven days' jour- 
 ney, from Madrid hither, and the charge Mr. IViches had is 
 
 valued
 
 Sect. 2i' Familiar Letters. 211 
 
 valued at 400,000 Crowns; but 'tis such safe travelling in 
 Spain, that one may carry Gold in the palm of his hand_, the 
 Government is so good. When we had gain'd Biscay Ground, 
 we pass'd one day thro' a Forest; and lighting off our 
 Mules to take a little Repast under a Tree, we took down 
 our Alforjas, and some bottles of wine (and you know 'tis 
 ordinary here to ride with one's victuals about him), but as 
 we were eating, we spy'd two huge Wolves, who stared 
 upon us a while, but had the good manners to go awav. 
 It put me in mind of a pleasant Tale I heard Sir Tho. Fair- 
 fax relate of a Soldier in Ireland, who having got his Pass- 
 port to go for England, as he pass'd thro' the Wood with 
 his Knapsack upon his back, being weary, he sat down 
 under a Tree, where he open'd his Knapsack, and fell to 
 some victuals he had ; but on a sudden he was surpriz'd with 
 two or three Wolves, who coming towards him, he threw 
 them scraps of bread and cheese, till all was gone ; then the 
 Wolves making a nearer Approach to him, he knew not 
 what shift to make, but by taking a pair of Bag-pipes which 
 he had, and as soon as he began to play upon them the 
 Wolves ran all away as if they had been scar'd out of their 
 wits; Whereupon the Soldier said, A pox take you all, if I 
 had known you had lov'd Mustek so well, you should have had 
 it before dinner. 
 
 If there be a Lodging void at the three Halhards-heads, I 
 pray be pleas'd to cause it to be reserv'd for me. So I rest 
 — Your humble Servitor, 
 
 J.H. 
 
 6 Sept. 1624. 
 
 Section
 
 Section IV. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I. 
 
 To my Father, y^-om London. 
 
 I AM newly return'd from Spain. I came over in convoy 
 of the Prince's Jewels, for which one of the Ships- 
 Royal with the Catch were sent under the command of 
 Captain Love: We landed at Plymouth, whence I came by 
 Post to Theobalds in less than two nights and a day, to bring 
 His Majesty news of their safe Arrival. The Prince had 
 newly got a fall off a Horse, and kept his Chamber. The 
 Jewels were valued at above <^ioo,ooo. Some of them a 
 little before the Prince's departure had been presented to the 
 Infanta, but she waving to receive them, yet with a civil 
 Compliment, they were left in the hands of one of the 
 Secretaries of State for her use upon the Wedding-day; and 
 it was no unworthy thing in the Spaniard to deliver them 
 back, notwithstanding that the Treaties both of Match and 
 Palatinate had been dissolv'd a pretty while before by Act 
 of Parliament, that a War was threaten'd, and Ambas- 
 sadors revok'd. There were Jewels also among them to be 
 presented to the King and Queen of Spain, to most of the 
 Ladies of Honour, and the Grandees. There was a great 
 Table-Diamond for Olivares of eighteen Carrats weight ; but 
 the richest of all was to the Infanta herself, which was a 
 chain of great Orient Pearl, to the number of 276, weigh- 
 ing nine Ounces. The Spaniards, notwithstanding they are 
 the Masters of the Staple of Jewels, stood astonish'd at the 
 beauty of these, and confess'd themselves to be put down. 
 
 Touching the Employment upon which I went to Spain, 
 I had my charges born all the while, and that was all ; had 
 it taken effect, I had made a good business of it : But 'tis no 
 
 wonder
 
 Sect. 4. Familiar Letters. 213 
 
 wonder (nor can it be, I hope, any disrepute to me) that I 
 could not bring to pass what three Ambassadors could not 
 do before me. 
 
 I am now casting about for another Fortune, and some 
 hopes I have of Employment about the D. of Buckingham. 
 He sways nnore than ever ; for whereas he was before a 
 Favourite to the King, he is now a Favourite to Parliament, 
 People, and City, for breaking the Match with Spain. 
 Touching his own Interest, he had reason to do it, for the 
 Spaniards \ove him not: But whether the public Interest of 
 the State will suffer in it or no, I dare not determine ; for 
 my part, I hold the Spanish Match to be better than their 
 Powder, and their Wares better than their Wars ; and I 
 shall be ever of that mind. That no Country is able to do 
 England less hurt, and more good than Spain, considering 
 the large Trafic and Treasure that is to be got thereby. 
 
 I shall continue to give you Account of my Courses when 
 
 opportunity serves, and to dispose of matters so, that I may 
 
 attend you this Summer in the country. So, desiring still 
 
 vour Blessing and Prayers, I rest — Your dutiful Son, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 10 Dec. 1624. 
 
 11. 
 To R. Brown, Esq., from London. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 THERE is no Seed so fruitful as that of Love : I do not 
 mean that gross carnal Love which propagates the 
 World, but that which preserves it ; to wit. Seeds of Friend- 
 ship, which hath little commerce with the Body, but is a 
 thing divine and spiritual. There cannot be a more preg- 
 nant proof hereof than those Seeds of Love, which I have 
 long since cast into your Breast, which have thriven so 
 well, and in that exuberance, that they have been more 
 fruitful to me than that Field in Sicihj call'd Le trecente 
 cariche, The Field of 300 Loads, so call'd because it returns 
 the Sower 300 for one yearly ; so plentiful hath your Love 
 been to me. But among other sweet Fruits it hath born, 
 
 those
 
 214 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 those precious Letters which you have sent me from time 
 to time, both at home and abroad, are not of the least 
 vakie : I did always hug and highly esteem them, and you 
 in them, for they yielded me both Profit and Pleasure. 
 
 That Seed which you have also sown in me hath fructify'd 
 something, but it hath not been able to make you such rich 
 returns, or afford so plentiful a crop ; yet I dare say this 
 crop, how thin soever, was pure and free from tares, from 
 cockle or darnel, from flattery or falsehood, and what it 
 shall produce hereafter shall be so; nor shall any injury of 
 the Heavens, as Tempest, or Thunder and Lightning (I 
 mean no cross or affliction whatsoever), be able to blast and 
 smut it, or hinder it to grow up and fructify still. 
 
 This is the third time God Almighty hath been pleasM 
 to bring me back to the sweet bosom of my dear Country 
 from beyond the Seas ; I have been already comforted with 
 the sight of many of my choice Friends, but I miss you ex- 
 tremely : Therefore I pray make haste, for London streets, 
 which you and I have trod together so often, will prove 
 tedious to me else. Among other things, Black-Friars will 
 entertain you with a Play spick and span new, and the 
 Cockpit with another; nor, I believe, after so long Absence, 
 will it be an unpleasing object for you to see — Your 
 
 J. H. 
 
 20 Jon. 1624. 
 
 III. 
 
 To the Lord Viscount Colchester. 
 
 Right Honourable, 
 
 MY last to your Lordship was in Italian, with the 
 Venetian Gazetta inclosM. Count Mansfelt is upon 
 point of parting, having obtain'd, it seems, the sum of his 
 desires : He was lodg'd all the while in the same Quarter 
 of St. Jameses which was appointed for the Infanta : He 
 supp'd yesternight with the Council of War, and he hath 
 a grant of 12,000 Men English and Scots, whom he will 
 have ready in the Body of an Army against the next Spring; 
 
 and
 
 Sect. 4. Familiar Letters. 215 
 
 and they say that England, France, Venice, and Savoy do 
 contribute for the maintenance thereof .^60,000 a month. 
 There can be no conjecture, much less any judgment, made 
 yet of his design ; most think it will be for relieving Breda, 
 which is straitly begirt by Spinola, who gives out, that he 
 hath her already as a bird in a cage, and will have her, 
 maugre all the opposition in Christendom; yet there is fresh 
 news come over, that Prince Maurice hath got on the back 
 of him, and hath beleaguer'd him, as he hath done the Town, 
 which I want faith to believe yet, in regard of the huge cir- 
 cuit of Spinolas Works, for his circumvallations are cry'd 
 up to be near upon twenty miles. But while the Spaniard 
 is spending Millions here for getting small Towns, the 
 Hollander gets Kingdoms of him elsewhere; he hath invaded 
 and taken lately from the Portugal part of Brazil, a rich 
 Country for Sugars, Cottons, Balsams, Dying-wood, and 
 divers Commodities besides. 
 
 The Treaty of Marriage 'twixt our Prince and the 
 youngest Daughter of France goes on apace, and my Lords 
 of Carlisle and Holland are in Paris about it ; we shall see 
 now what difference there is 'twixt the French and Spanish 
 pace. The two Spanish Ambassadors have been gone hence 
 lono- since; they say they are both in prison, one in Burgos 
 in Spain, the other in Flanders, for the scandalous informa- 
 tion they made here against the D. of Buckingham; about 
 which, the day before their departure hence, they desir'd 
 to have one private Audience more, but His Majesty deny'd 
 them. I believe they will not continue long in disgrace, 
 for matters grow daily worse and worse 'twixt us and Spain : 
 For divers Letters of Mart are granted our Merchants, and 
 Letters of Mart arc commonly the forerunners of a War. 
 Yet they say Gondomar will be on his way hither again 
 about the Palatinate ; for the K. of Denmark appears now 
 in his Niece's quarrel, and arms apace. 
 
 No more now, but that I kiss your Lordship's hands, and 
 rest — Your most humble and ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 London, 5 Feb. 1624. 
 
 IV.
 
 2i6 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 IV. 
 
 To my Coiisin, Mr. Rowland Gwin. 
 Cousin, 
 
 I WAS lately sorry, and I was lately glad, that I heard 
 you were ill, that I heard you are well. — Your affec- 
 tionate Cousin, J. H. 
 
 V. 
 
 To Thomas Jones, Esq. 
 Tom, 
 
 IF you are in health 'tis well ; we are here all so ; and we 
 should be better had we your company : Therefore I 
 pray leave the smutty Air of London, and come hither to 
 breathe sweeter, where you may pluck a Rose, and drink a 
 Cillibub. — Your faithful Friend, J. H. 
 
 Kentis^ \ June 1625. 
 
 VI. 
 
 To D. C. 
 
 THE bearer hereof hath no other Errand but to know 
 how you do in the Country, and this Paper is his cre- 
 dential Letter ; Therefore I pray hasten his dispatch, and, 
 if you please, send him back, like the Man in the Moon, 
 with a basket of your Fruit on his back. — Your true 
 Friend, j. H. 
 
 Lond., 10 Atig. 1625. 
 
 VII. 
 
 To my Father, ^rom London. 
 Sir, 
 
 IRECEIV'D yours of the third of Fehmary, by the hands 
 of my Cousin Thomas Gwin of Trecastle. 
 It was my fortune to be on Sunday fortnight at Theo- 
 balds, where his late Majesty K. James departed this life, 
 and went to his last rest upon the day of rest, presently after 
 Sermon was done. A little before break of day he sent for 
 the Prince, who rose out of his Bed^ and came in his Night- 
 gown.
 
 Sect. 4. Familiar Letters. 217 
 
 gown. The King seem'd to have some earnest thing to say 
 to him, and so endeavour'd to raise himself upon his Pillow; 
 but his Spirits were so spent, that he had not strength to 
 make his words audible. He died of a Fever which began 
 with an Ague, and some Scotch Doctors mutter at a Plaister 
 the Countess of Buckingham applied at the outside of his 
 Stomach : 'Tis thought the last breach of the Match with 
 Spain which for many years he had so vehemently desir'd, 
 took too deep an impression in him ; and that he was forc'd 
 to rush into a War now in his declining Age, having liv'd in 
 a continual uninterrupted Peace his whole life, except some 
 collateral Aids he had sent his Son-in-law, As soon as he 
 expir'd the Privy Council sat, and in less than a quarter of an 
 hour King Charles was proclaim'd at Theobalds Court-gate, 
 by Sir Edw. Zouch Knight Marshal, Mr. Secretary Conway 
 dictating to him. That whereas it had pleased God to take 
 to his mercy our most gracious Sovereign K. James of famous 
 memory, We proclaim Prince Charles, his rightful and indu- 
 bitable Heir, to be King of England, Scotland, France, and 
 Ireland, &c. The Knight Marshal mistook, saying his right- 
 ful and dubitable Heir, but he was rectify'd by the Secretary. 
 This being done, I took my Horse instantly, and came to 
 London first except one, who was come a little before me, 
 insomuch that I found the Gates shut. His now Majesty took 
 Coach, and the D. of Buckingham with him, and came to St. 
 James's ; in the evening he was proclaim'd at Whitehall-gate 
 in Cheapside, and other places in a sad shower of Rain : And 
 the Weather was suitable to the condition wherein he finds 
 the Kingdom, which is cloudy : for he is left engag'd in a 
 War with a potent Prince, the People by long desuetude unapt 
 for Arms, the Fleet-Royal in quarter repair, himself without 
 a Queen, his Sister without a Country, the Crown pitifully 
 laden with Debts, and the Purse of the State lightly bal- 
 lasted, tho' it never had better opportunity to be rich than 
 it had these last twenty years. But God Almighty, I hope, 
 will make him emerge, and pull this Island out ot all the 
 plunges, and preserve us from worser times. 
 
 The
 
 2i8 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 The Plague is begun in IVhitc-chapel, and^ as they say, in 
 the same house, on the same day of the month, with the 
 same number that dy'd twenty-two years since, when Q. 
 Elizaheth departed. 
 
 There are great Preparations for the Funeral, and there is 
 a desio-n to buy all the Cloth for Mourning white, and then 
 to put it to the Dyers in gross, which is like to save the 
 Crown a good deal of Money; the Drapers murmur ex- 
 tremely at the Lord Crcnrfield for it. 
 
 I am not settled yet in any stable Condition, but I lie 
 wind-bound at the Cape of good Hope, expecting some 
 gentle gale to launch out into any Employment. 
 
 So, with my Love to all my Brothers and Sisters at the 
 Bryii, and near Brecknock, I humbly crave a continuance of 
 your Prayers and Blessing to — Your dutiful Son, J. H. 
 
 II Dec. 1625. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 To Dr. Prichard. 
 Sir, 
 
 SINCE I was beholden to you for your many Favours in 
 Oxford I have not heard from you {ne gry quidem) ; I 
 pray let the wonted Correspondence be now reviv'd, and 
 receive new vigour between us. 
 
 My Lord Chancellor Bacon is lately dead of a long 
 languishing weakness ; he died so poor that he scarce left 
 money to bury him, which, tho' he had a great Wit, did 
 argue no great Wisdom ; it being one of the essential 
 Properties of a wise Man, to provide for the main chance. 
 I have read, that it had been the fortunes of all Poets 
 commonly to die beggars; but for an Orator, a Lawyer, 
 and Philosopher, as he was, to die so, 'tis rare. It seems the 
 same fate befel him that attended Demosthenes, Seneca, and 
 Cicero (all great Men), of whom, the two first fell by Cor- 
 ruption. The fairest Diamond may have a flaw in it, but 
 I believe he died poor out of a contempt of the Pelf of 
 Fortune, as also out of an excess of Generosity, which 
 
 appear'd
 
 Sect. 4. Familiar Letters. 219 
 
 appear'd, as in divers other passages^ so once when the King 
 had sent him a Stag, he sent up for the Under-keeper, and 
 having drunk the King's health to him in a great Silver-gilt 
 bowl, he gave it him for his Fee. 
 
 He wrote a pitiful letter to Y^. James, not long before his 
 death, and concludes, Help me, dear Sovereign Lord and 
 Master, and pity me so far, that I, who have been born to a 
 Bag, be not now in my Age forc'd in effect to bear a 
 Wallet; nor that I, who desire to live to study, may be 
 driven to study to live. Which words, in my opinion, 
 argu'd a little Abjection of Spirit, as his former Letter to 
 the Prince did of Profaneness ; wherein he hop'd, that as 
 the Father was his Creator, the Son will be his Redeemer. 
 I write not this to derogate from the noble worth of the 
 Lord Viscount Veridam, who was a rare Man; a Man 
 ReconditcB scientice, & ad salutem Ulerarum natus, and I 
 think the eloquentest that was born in this Isle. They say 
 he shall be the last Lord Chancellor, as Sir Edward Coke 
 was the last Lord Chief Justice of England; for ever since 
 they have been term'd Lord Chief Justices of the Kings- 
 hench : So hereafter they shall be only Keepers oj the Great 
 Seal, which, for Title and Office, are deposable; but they 
 say the Lord Chancellor^ s Title is indelible. 
 
 I was lately at Gray's-Inn with Sir Euhule, and he desir'd 
 me to remember him to you, as I do also salute Meum 
 Prichardum ex imis prgecordiis, Fale KecpaX'^ fioc irpoa^iXe- 
 CTarrj. — Yours affectionately, while J. H. 
 
 London, 6 Jan. 1625. 
 
 IX. 
 
 To my Well-beloved Cousin, Mr. T. V. 
 Cousin, 
 
 YOU have a great Work in hand, for you write to me, 
 that you are upon a Treaty of Marriage ; a great 
 work indeed, and a work of such consequence, that it may 
 make you or mar you; it may make the whole remainder 
 of your life uncouth, or comfortable to you : For all civil 
 
 Actions
 
 220 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 Actions that are incident to Man^ there's not any that tends 
 more to his infelicity or happiness; therefore it concerns 
 you not to be over-hasty herein, nor to take the Ball hefore 
 the Bound: You must be cautious how you thrust your 
 neck into such a yoke, whence you will never have power 
 to withdraw it again ; for the Tongue useth to tie so hard a 
 knot, that the Teeth can never untie, no not Alexander s 
 Sword can cut asunder amongst us Christians. If you are 
 resolv'd to marry, Choose luhere you love, and resolve to love 
 your Choice ; let Love rather than Lucre be your guide in 
 this Election, tho' a concurrence of both be good, yet for 
 my part I had rather the latter should be wanting than the 
 first : The one is the Pilot, the other but the Ballast of the 
 Ship, which should carry us to the Harbour of a happy life. 
 If you are bent to wed, I wish you anothergess Wife than 
 Socrates had; who when she had scolded him out of doors, 
 as he was going thro' the Portal, threw a Chamber-pot of 
 stale Urine upon his Head ; whereat the Philosopher, having 
 been silent all the while, smilingly said, / thought after so 
 much Thunder we should have Rain. And as I wish you 
 may not light upon such a Xantippe (as the wisest Men have 
 had ill luck in this kind, as I could instance in two of our 
 most eminent Lawyers, C. B.), so I pray that God may deliver 
 you from a Wife of such a generation, that Strowd, our 
 Cook here at JVestminster, said his Wife was of, who, when 
 (out of a mislike of the Preacher) he had on Sunday, in the 
 Afternoon, gone out of the Church to a Tavern, and return- 
 ing towards the evening pretty well heated with Canary, to 
 look to his Roast, and his Wife falling to read him a loud 
 lesson in so furious a manner, as if she would have basted 
 him instead of the Mutton, and among other revilings, tell- 
 ing him often, That the Devil, the Devil would fetch him, 
 at last he broke out of a long silence, and told her, I prithee, 
 good Wife, hold thyself content ; for I know the Devil will 
 do me no hurt, for I have marry'd his Kinswoman. If you 
 light upon such a Wife (a Wife that hath more bone than 
 flesh), I wish you may have the same measure of patience 
 
 that
 
 Sect. 4. Familiar Letters. 221 
 
 that Socrates and Stroiud had, to suffer the grey Mare some- 
 times to be the letter Horse. I remember a French proverb : 
 
 La Maison est iniserabile et 7}ikhante, 
 Oii la Poule plus haut que le Cocq chante. 
 
 That House doth every day more wretched grow, 
 Where the Hen louder than the Cock doth crow. 
 
 Yet u^e have another English Proverb ahiiost counter to 
 this, That it is better to marry a Shrew than a Sheep ; for 
 tho' silence be the dumb Orator of Beauty, and the best 
 Ornament of a Woman, yet a phlegmatic dull Wife is 
 fulsome and fastidious. 
 
 Excuse me. Cousin, that I jest with you in so serious a 
 business: I know you need no Counsel of mine herein: you 
 are discreet enough of yourself; nor, I presume, do you 
 want Advice of Parents, which by all means must go along 
 with you. So, wishing you all conjugal Joy, and an happy 
 Confarreation, I rest — Your affectionate Cousin, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 Zondon, 5 J^el>. 1625. 
 
 X. 
 
 To my noble Lord, the Lord Clifford, from London. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 THE Duke of Buckingham is lately return'd from Hol- 
 land, having renew'd the Peace with the States, and 
 articled with them for a continuation of some Naval 
 Forces for an expedition against Spain, as also having 
 taken up some money upon private Jewels (not any of the 
 Crown's), and lastly, having comforted the Lady Elizabeth 
 for the decease of his late Majesty her Father, and of Prince 
 Frederick her eldest Son, whose disastrous manner of death, 
 anions: the rest of her sad Afflictions, is not the least: 
 For, passing over Haerlem Mere, a huge Insland Slough, in 
 company of his Father, who had been at Amsterdam, to 
 look how his Bank of Money did thrive, and coming (for 
 
 more
 
 222 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 more frugality) in the common Boat, which was o'erset 
 with Merchandize, and other Passengers, in a thick Fog, 
 the Vessel turn'd o'er, and so many perish'd ; the Prince 
 Palsgrave sav'd himself by swimming, but the young Prince 
 clinging to the Mast, and being entangled among the 
 Tacklings, was half drown'd^ and half frozen to death : A 
 sad destiny ! 
 
 There is an open Rupture 'twixt us and the Spaniard, 
 tho' he gives out that he never broke with us to this day. 
 Count Gondomar was on his way to Flanders, and thence 
 to England (as they say), with a large Commission to treat 
 for a surrender of the Palatinate, and so to piece matters 
 together again ; but he died in the Journey, at a place 
 call'd Bimnol, of pure Apprehensions of Grief, it is given 
 out. 
 
 The Match 'twixt His Majesty and the Lady Henrietta 
 Maria, youngest Daughter to Henry the Great (the eldest 
 being married to the K. of Spain, and the second to the D. 
 of Savoy), goes roundly on, and is in a manner concluded ; 
 whereat the Count of Soissons is much discontented, who 
 gave himself hopes to have her, but the hand of Heaven had 
 predestin'd her for a higher Condition. 
 
 The French Ambassadors who were sent hither to con- 
 clude the business, having private Audience of his late 
 Majesty a little before his death, he told them pleasantly, 
 that he would make war against the Lady Henrietta, be- 
 cause she would not receive the two Letters which were 
 sent her, one from himself, and the other from his Son, but 
 sent them to her Mother; yet he thought he should easily 
 make Peace with her, because he understood she had after- 
 wards put the latter Letter in her Bosom, and the first in 
 her Coshionet; whereby he gather'd, that she intended to 
 reserve his Son for her Affection, and him for Counsel. 
 
 The Bishop of Lucon, now Cardinal de Richlieu, is grown 
 to be the sole Favourite of the King of France, being brought 
 in by the Oueen-Mother, who hath been very active in ad- 
 vancing the Match ; but 'tis thought the Wars will break 
 
 out
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 22 
 
 o 
 
 out afresh against them of the ReHgion, notwithstanding 
 the ill fortune the King had before Montauban few years 
 since, where he lost above 500 of his Nobles, whereof the 
 great Duke of Mam was one: And having lain in Person 
 before the Town many months, and receiv'd some Affronts, 
 as that inscription upon their Gates shews, Roij sans foy, 
 ville sans peur ; A King without faith, a Town ivithoutfear; 
 yet he was forc'd to raise his Works, and raise his Siege. 
 
 The Letter which Mr. Ellis Hicks brought them of 
 Mountauhan from Rochell, thro' so much danger, and with 
 so much gallantry, was an infinite Advantage to them ; 
 for whereas there was a politic report rais'd in the King's 
 Army, and blown into Mountauhan, that Rochell was yielded 
 to the Count of Soissons, who lay then before her, this 
 Letter did inform the contrary, and that Roc/iel was in as 
 good a plight as ever : Whereupon they made a sally the next 
 day upon the King's Forces, and did him a great deal of spoil. 
 
 There be Summons out for a Parliament. I pray God it 
 may prove more prosperous than the former. 
 
 I have been lately recommended to the D. oi Buckingham, 
 by some noble Friends of mine that have intimacy with 
 him; about whom, tho' he hath three Secretaries already, I 
 hope to have some employment; for I am weary of walking 
 up and down so idly upon London Streets. 
 
 The Plague begins to rage mightily. God avert his Judg- 
 ments, that menace so great a Mortality, and turn not 
 away his Face from this poor Island : So I kiss your Lord- 
 ship's hand, in quality of — Your Lordship's most humble 
 Servitor, J. H. 
 
 25 Feb. 1625. 
 
 XL 
 
 To Rich. Altham, Esq. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 THE Echo wants but a Face, and the Looking-glass a 
 Voice, to make them both living creatures, and to be- 
 come the same bodies they represent ; the one by repercus- 
 sion of sound, the other by reflection of sight. Your most 
 
 ingenious
 
 224 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 ingenious Letters to me from time to time do far more 
 lively represent you than either JLcho or Chrystal can do ; 
 I mean, they represent the better and nobler part of you, 
 to wit, the inward Man ; they clearly set forth the notions of 
 your mind, and the motions of your soul, with the strength 
 of your imagination : For, as I know your exterior Person 
 by your lineaments, so I know you as well inwardly by your 
 lines, and by those lively expressions you give of yourself; 
 insomuch that I believe if the interior Man within you were 
 as visible as the outward (as once Plato wish'd, that Virtue 
 might be seen with the corporeal eyes), you would draw all 
 the World after you ; or if your well-born thoughts, and 
 the words of your Letters, were echo'd in any place, where 
 they might rebound and be made audible, they are compos'd 
 of such sweet and charming strains of Ingenuity and Elo- 
 quence, that all the Nym2ohs of the Woods and the Valleys, 
 the Dryades, yea, the Graces and Muses would pitch their 
 Pavilions there ; nay, Jpollo himself would dwell longer in 
 that place with Rays, and make them reverberate more 
 strongly than either upon Pindus, or Parnassus, or Rhodes 
 itself, whence he never removes his Eye, as long as he is 
 above this Hemisphere. I confess my Letters to you, which 
 I send by way of correspondence, come far short of such 
 Virtue; yet are they the true Ideas of my Mind, and that 
 real and inbred Affection I bear you. One should never 
 teach his Letter or his Lacquey to lye; I observe that rule ; 
 but besides my Letters, I wish there were a Crystal-case- 
 ment in my Breast, thro' which you might behold the motions 
 of my Heart. 
 
 Utinamq. ocnlos in pectore posses incessere ; then 
 
 should you clearly see without any deception of sight how 
 truly I am, and how intirely — Yours, J. H. 
 
 27 Fek 1625. 
 
 And to answer you in the same strain of verse you sent me: 
 
 jFirsf, shall the Heavens' bright Lamp fot-get to shine. 
 The Stars shall from the aziir'd Sky decline ; 
 
 First,
 
 Sect. 4. Familiar Letters. 225 
 
 First, shall the Orient with the West shake hand, 
 
 The Centre of the lVo?-ld shall cease to stand : 
 
 First Wolves shall league luith Lambs, the Dolphins fly, 
 
 The Lawyer and Physician Fees deny. 
 
 The Thames with Tagus shall exchange her Bed, 
 
 My Mistress' locks, with mine, shall first turn red ; 
 
 First, Heaven shall lie below, and LLell above, 
 
 Ere L inconstant to my Altham prove. 
 
 XII. 
 
 To the Right Hon. my Lord of Carlingford. after Earl of 
 
 Carberry, at Golden-Grove, 28 May 1635, 
 My Lord, 
 
 WE have gallant news now abroad, for we are sure 
 to have a new Queen ere it be long; both the Con- 
 tract and Marriage was lately solemnized in France, the one 
 the 2d of this Month in the Louvre, the other the nth day 
 following in the great Church of Paris, by the Cardinal of 
 Rochefoucault : there was some clashing 'twixt him and 
 the Archbishop of Paris, who alleged 'twas his duty to offi- 
 ciate in that Church ; but the dignity of Cardinal, and 
 the Quality of his Office, being the King's great Almoner, 
 which makes him chief Curate of the Court, gave him the 
 Prerogative. I doubt not but your Lordship hath heard of 
 the Capitulations ; but for better assurance, I will run them 
 over briefly. 
 
 The King of France obliged himself to procure the Dis- 
 pensation ; the Marriage should be celebrated in the same 
 form as that of Oueen Margaret, and of the Duchess of 
 Bar; her Dowry should be 40,000 Crowns, six Shillings a- 
 piece, the one Moiety to be paid the day of the Contract, 
 the other twelve months after. The Oueen shall have a 
 Chapel in all the King's Royal Houses, and anywhere else, 
 where she shall reside within the Dominions of His Majesty 
 of Great Britain, with free exercise of the Roman Religion, 
 for herself, her Officers, and all her Household, for the Cele- 
 bration of the Alass, the Predication of the Word, Adminis- 
 
 p tration
 
 226 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 tration of the Sacraments^ and power to procure Indulgences 
 from the Holy Father. To this end she shall be allow'd 
 twenty-eight Priests, or Ecclesiastics in her House, and a 
 Bishop in quality of Almoner, who shall have jurisdiction 
 over all the rest, and that none of the King's Officers shall 
 have power over them, unless in case of Treason ; therefore 
 all her Ecclesiastics shall take the Oath of Fidelity to His 
 Majesty of Great Britain : there shall be a Cemetery or 
 Church-yard clos'd about to bury those of her Family. 
 That in consideration of this Marriage, all English Catho- 
 licks, as well Ecclesiastics as Lay, who shall be in any Prison 
 merely for Religion, since the last Edict, shall be set at liberty. 
 
 This is the eighth Alliance we have had with France since 
 the Conquest; and as it is the best that could be made in 
 Christendom, so I hope it will prove the happiest. So I kiss 
 your hands, being — Your Lordship's most humble Servitor, 
 
 J.H. 
 
 Lojidon, I Mar. 1625. 
 
 XHL 
 
 To the Honourable Sir Tho. Sa. 
 Sir, 
 
 ICONVERS'D lately with a Gentleman that came from 
 France, who among other things discours'd much of 
 the Favourite Richelieu, who is like to be an active Man, 
 and hath great designs. The two first things he did was to 
 make sure of England, and the Hollander : he thinks to have 
 us safe enough by this Marriage ; and Hollajid, by a late 
 League, which was bought with a great Sum of Money; for 
 he hath furnish'd the States with a Million of Livres, at 
 two Shillings a-piece in present, and 600,000 Livres every 
 year of these two that are to come; provided that the States 
 repay these sums two years after they are in peace or truce. 
 The King press'd much for Liberty of Conscience to Roman 
 CathoUcks among them, and the Deputies promised to do all 
 they could with the States-General about it; they articled 
 likewise for the French to be associated with them in the 
 Trade to the Indies. 
 
 Monsieur
 
 Sect. 4. Familiar Letters. 227 
 
 Monsieur is lately marry'd to Mary of Bourhon, the Duke 
 of Montpensiej-'s Daughter ; he told her, That he would be 
 a better Husband than he had been a Suitor to her ; for he 
 hung off a good while. This Marriage was made by the 
 King, and Monsieur hath for his Appenage 100,000 Livres 
 annual Rent from Chartres and Blois, 100,000 Livres Pension, 
 and 500,000 to be charged yearly upon the General Receipts 
 of Orleans, in all about 70,000 pounds. There was much 
 ado before this Match could be brought about ; for there 
 were many Opposers, and there be dark whispers, that there 
 was a deep Plot to confine the King to a Monastery, and 
 that Monsieur should govern ; and divers great ones have 
 suffer'd for it, and more are like to be discover'd. So I take 
 my leave for the present, and rest — Your very humble and 
 ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Lond., 10 Mar. 1626. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 To the Lady Jane Savage, Marchioness of Winchester. 
 
 Excellent Lady, 
 
 I MAY say of your Grace, as it was said once of a rare 
 Italian Princess, that you are the greatest Tyrant in the 
 World, because you make all those that see you your slaves, 
 much more them that know you, I mean those that are 
 acquainted with your inward disposition, and with the 
 Faculties of your Soul, as well as the Phisnomy of your 
 Face; for Virtue took as much pains to adorn the one, as 
 Nature did to perfect the other. I have had the happiness 
 to know both, when your Grace took pleasure to learn 
 Spanish : at which time, when my Betters far had ofTer'd 
 their service in this kind, I had the honour to be commanded 
 by you often. He that hath as much experience of you as 
 I have had will confess, that the Handmaid of God Almighty 
 was never so prodigal of her Gifts to any, or labour'd more 
 to frame an exact model of female Perfection : nor was 
 Dame Nature only busied in this Work, but all the Graces 
 did consult and co-operate with hcrj and they wasted so 
 
 much
 
 228 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 much of their Treasure to enrich this one Piece, that it may 
 be a good reason why so many lame and defective fragments 
 of Women-kind are daily thrust into the World. 
 
 I return you here inclos'd the Sonnet your Grace pleas'd 
 to send me lately, rendred into Spanish, and fitted for the 
 same Air it had in English, both for cadence and number 
 of feet. With it I send my most humble thanks, that your 
 Grace would descend to command me in anything that 
 might conduce to your contentment and service; for there 
 is nothing I desire with a great Ambition (and herein I have 
 all the World my Rival) than to be accounted, Madam — 
 Your Grace's most humble and ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Lond., 15 Afar. 1626. 
 
 XV. 
 
 To the Rt. Hon. the Lord Clifford. 
 My Lord, 
 
 I PRAY be pleas'd to dispense with this slowness of mine 
 in answering yours of the first of this present. 
 
 Touching the domestick Occurrences, the Gentleman who 
 is Bearer hereof, is more capable to give you Account by 
 Discourse than I can in Paper. 
 
 For foreign tidings, your Lordship may understand, that 
 the Town of Breda hath been a good while making her last 
 Will and Testament; but now there is certain news come, 
 that she hath yielded up the ghost to Spinola's hands after 
 a tough siege of thirteen months, and a circumvallation of 
 near upon twenty miles' compass. 
 
 My Lord of Sonthampton and his eldest Son sicken'd at 
 the siege, and died at Berghen; the adventurous Earl Henry 
 of Oxford, seeming to tax the Prince of Orange of slackness 
 to fight, was set upon a desperate work, where he melted 
 his grease, and so being carry'd to the Hague, he died also. 
 I doubt not but you have heard of Grave Maurice's death, 
 which happen'd when the Town was past cure, which was 
 his more than the States; for he was Marquis of Breda, and 
 had near upon 30,000 Dollars annual rent from her: There- 
 fore
 
 Sect. 4. Familiar Letters. 229 
 
 fore he seem'd in a kind of sympathy to sicken with this 
 Town, and died before her. He had provided plentifully 
 for his natural Children; but could not, tho' much impor- 
 tun'd by Dr. Roseus, and other Divines, upon his Death- 
 bed, be induc'd to make them legitimate by marrying the 
 Mother of them : For the Law there is, that if one hath got 
 Children of any Woman, tho' unmarry'd to her, yet if he 
 marry her never so little before his death, he makes her 
 honest and them all legitimate. But it seems the Prince 
 postponed the love he bore to this Woman and Children, 
 to that which he bore to his Brother Henry ; for had he 
 made the Children legitimate, it had prejudic'd the Brother 
 in point of Command and Fortunes : Yet he had provided 
 plentifully for them and the Mother. 
 
 Grave Heiirij hath succeeded him in all things, and is a 
 gallant Gentleman, of a French Education and Temper ; 
 he charg'd him at his death to marry a young Lady, the 
 Count of Solme^s Dauohter attending the Queen of Bohe- 
 mia, whom he had long courted : which is thought will 
 take speedy effect. 
 
 When the Siege before Breda had grown hot, Sir Edw. 
 Vere being one day attending Prince Maurice, he pointed 
 at a rising Place call'd Terliay, where the Enemy had 
 built a Fort (which might have been prevented). Sir Edw. 
 told him, he fear'd that Fort would be the cause of the loss 
 of the Town : the Grave spatter'd and shook his Head, 
 saying, 'Twas the greatest error he had committed since he 
 knew what belonged to a Soldier ; as also in managing the 
 Plot for surprizing the Citadel of Antwerp ; for he repented 
 that he had not employed English and French in lieu of the 
 slow Dutch, who aim'd to have the sole honour of it, and 
 were not so fit instruments for such a nimble piece of service. 
 As soon as Sir Charles Morgan gave up the Town, Spinola 
 caus'd a new Gate to be erected, with this inscription in 
 great golden Characters : 
 
 Philippo quarto rcgnajite, 
 
 Clara Eugenia Isabella gubernante^ 
 
 Ambrosio
 
 230 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 Ambrosio Spinola obsidente, 
 Quatuor Regibus C07itra conaniibus, 
 Breda captafuit Idibus, &c. 
 
 'Tis thought Spinola, now that he hath recovered the 
 Honour that he lost before Berglien op Zooyn three years 
 since, will not long stay in Flanders, but retire. No more 
 now, but that I am resolv'd to continue ever — Your Lord- 
 ship's most humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Lond., 19 Mar. 1626. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 To Mr. R. Sc, at York. 
 Sir, 
 
 I SENT you one of the 3d current, but 'twas not answer'd ; 
 I sent another of the 13th like a second Arrow, to 
 find out the first, but I know not what's become of either : 
 I send this to find out the other two ; and if this fail, there 
 shall go no more out of my Quiver. If you forget me, I 
 have cause to complain, and more if you remember me : To 
 forget, may proceed from the frailty of Memory ; not to 
 answer me when you mind me is pure neglect, and no less 
 than a piacle. So I rest — Yours easily to be recover'd, 
 
 J. H. 
 Ira furor brevt's, brevis est mea littera, cogor, 
 Ird correptus, corripuisse stylum. 
 
 Zand., \^ July, the i^t of the Dogdays, 1626. 
 
 XVIT. 
 
 To Dr. Field, Lord Bishop q/'Landaff. 
 My Lord, 
 
 I SEND youmy humble Thanks for those worthy hospi- 
 table Favours you were pleased to give me at your 
 Lodgings in JVestm'mster. I had yours of the 5th of this 
 present, by the hand of Mr. Jonath. Field. The News 
 which fills every corner of the Town at this time, is the 
 sorry and unsuccessful return that Wimlledon's Fleet hath 
 made from Spain : it was a Fleet that deserved to have had 
 
 a
 
 Sect. 4. Familiar Letters. 231 
 
 a better destiny, considering the strength of it, and the 
 husfe charee the Crown was at : for besides a Squadron of 
 sixteen Hollanders, whereof Count William, one of Prince 
 Maurice's natural Sons, was Admiral, there were above 
 eighty of ours, the greatest joint naval Power (of ships with- 
 out Gallies) that ever spread sail upon Salt-water ; which 
 inakes the World abroad to stand astonished how so huge a 
 Fleet could be so suddenly made ready. The sinking of the 
 Long Robin with 170 Souls in her, in the Bai/ of Biscay, 
 ere she had gone half the Voyage, was no good Augury : 
 And the Critics of the Time say, there were many other 
 things that promis'd no good fortune to this Fleet ; besides, 
 they would point at divers errors committed in the conduct 
 of the main design : first, the odd choice that was made of 
 the Admiral, who was a mere Landman ; which made 
 the Seamen much slight him, it belonging properly to Sir 
 Robert Mansel, Vice-Admiral of England, to have gone, in 
 case the High- Admiral went not : then they speak of the 
 uncertainty of the Enterprize, and that no place was pitch'd 
 upon to be invaded, till they came to the height of the 
 South Cape, and in sight of shore, where the Lord Wimble- 
 don first called a Council of War, where some would be for 
 Malaga, others for ^S;'. Mary-Port, others for Gibraltar, but 
 most for Cales ; and while they were thus consulting, the 
 Country had an Alarm given them. Add hereunto the 
 blazing abroad of this Expedition ere the Fleet went out 
 of the Downs ; for Mercurius Gallobelgicus had it in print, 
 that it was for the Str eights-Mouth : Now, 'tis a Rule, that 
 great designs of State should be Mysteries till they come to 
 the very act of performance, and then they should turn to 
 Exploits. Moreover, when the local attempt was resolved 
 on, there were seven Ships (by the advice of one Capt. 
 Love) suffer'd to go up the River, which might have been 
 easily taken ; and being rich, 'tis thought they would have 
 defrayed well-near the charge of our Fleet ; which Ships 
 did much infest us afterwards with their Ordnance, when 
 we had taken the Fort of Puntall. Moreover, the dis- 
 orderly
 
 232 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book I. 
 
 orderly carriage and excess of our Landmen (whereof there 
 were lo^ooo) when they were put ashore, who broke into 
 the Fryars' Caves, and other Cellars of sweet Wines, where 
 many hundreds of them being surprized, and found dead- 
 drunk, the Spaniards came and tore off their Ears and 
 Noses, and pluck'd out their Eyes : And I was told of 
 one merry Fellow escaping, that kill'd an Ass for a Buck. 
 Lastly, it is laid to the Admiral's charge, that my Lord De 
 la JVares Ship being infected, he gave order that the sick 
 Men should be scatter'd into divers Ships, which dispers'd 
 the Contagion exceedingly, so that some thousands died 
 before the Fleet return'd, which was done in a confused 
 manner, without any observance of Sea-orders. Yet I do 
 not hear of any that will be punish'd for these miscar- 
 riages, which will make the dishonour fall more foully upon 
 the State. But the most fortunate Passao;e of all was, that 
 tho' we did nothing by Land that was considerable, yet if 
 we had stayed but a day or two longer, and spent time at 
 Sea, the whole Fleet of Galeons from Nova Hispania had 
 fallen into our own mouths, which came presently in, close 
 along the Coasts of Barharij ; and in all likelihood we might 
 have had the opportunity to have taken the richest Prize 
 that ever was taken on salt Water. Add hereunto, that 
 while we were thus Masters of those Seas, a Fleet of fifty 
 Sail of Brasil Men got safe into Lisbo?i, with four of the 
 richest Caracks that ever came from the East-Indies. 
 
 I hear my Lord of St. David's is to be remov'd to Bath 
 and Wells, and it were worth your Lordship's coming up to 
 endeavour the succeeding of him. So I humbly rest — 
 Your Lordship's most ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Lond.^ 20 Nov. 1626 
 
 XVIIL 
 
 To mij Lord D. o/" Buckingham's Grace at New-market. 
 
 MAY it please your Grace to peruse and pardon these 
 few Advertisements, which I would not dare to 
 
 present
 
 Sect. 4. Familiar Letters. 233 
 
 present, had I not hopes that the Goodness which is con- 
 comitant with your Greatness would make them venial. 
 
 My Lord, a Parliament is at hand ; the last was loisterous ; 
 God grant that this may prove more calm : A rumour 
 runs that there are Clouds already ingendred, which will 
 break out into a storm in the lower Region, and most of 
 the drops are like to fall upon your Grace. This, tho' it be 
 but vulgar Astrology, is not altogether to be contemn'd ; 
 tho' I believe that His Majesty's Countenance reflecting 
 so strongly upon your Grace, with the brightness of your 
 own Lmocency, may be able to dispel and scatter them to 
 nothing. 
 
 My Lord, you are a great Prince, and all Eyes are upon 
 your Actions; this makes you more subject to envy, which 
 like the Sun-beams beats always upon Rising-grounds. I 
 know your Grace hath many sage and solid Heads about 
 you; yet I trust it will prove no offence, if out of the late 
 relation I have to your Grace by the recommendation of 
 such noble Personages, I put in also my Mite. 
 
 My Lord, under favour, it were not amiss if your Grace 
 would be pleased to part with some of those Places you hold, 
 which have least relation to the Court ; and it would take 
 away the mutterings that run of multiplicity of Offices ; and 
 in my shallow apprehension, your Grace might stand more 
 firm without an Anchor: The Office of High-Admiral, in 
 these times of action, requires one whole Man to execute 
 it; your Grace hath another Sea of business to wade thro', 
 and the voluntary resigning of this Office would fill all Men, 
 yea, even your Enemies, with admiration and affi^ction, and 
 make you more a Prince than detract from your Greatness. 
 If any ill Successes happen at Sea (as that of the Lord 
 Wimhledon\s lately), or if there be any murmur for Pay, 
 vour Grace will be free from all imputations; besides, it will 
 affi^rd your Grace more leisure to look into your own affiiirs, 
 which lie confus'd and unsettled. Lastly (which is not the 
 least thing) this act will be so plausible, that it may much 
 advantage His Majesty in point of Subsidy. 
 
 Secondly,
 
 234 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 Secondly, It were expedient (under correction) that your 
 Grace would be pleased to allot some set Hours for audience 
 and access of Suitors; and it would be less cumber to your- 
 self and your servants, and give more content to the World, 
 which often mutters for difficulty of access. 
 
 Lasthj, It were not amiss that your Grace would settle 
 a standing Mansion-house and Family, that Suitors may 
 know whither to repair constantly, and that your Servants, 
 every one in his Place, might know what belongs to his 
 place, and attend accordingly : for tho' confusion in a great 
 Family carry a kind of State with it, yet Order and Regu- 
 larity gains a greater opinion of Virtue and Wisdom : I 
 know your Grace doth not (nor needs not) affect Popularity. 
 It is true that the People's love is the strongest Citadel of a 
 sovereign Prince, but to a great Subject it hath often prov'd 
 fatal ; for he who pulleth off his Hat to the People, giveth 
 his Head to the Prince ; and it is remarkable what was said 
 of a late unfortunate Earl, who, a little before Q. Elizabeth's 
 death, had drawn the Axe upon his own neck, That he was 
 grown so popular, that he luas too dangerous for the Times, 
 and the Times for him. 
 
 My Lord, now that your Grace is threatened to be heav'd 
 at, it should behove every one that oweth you duty and 
 good-will, to reach out his hand some wav or other to serve 
 you : Among these, I am one that presumes to do it, in this 
 poor impertinent Paper; for which I implore pardon, be- 
 cause I am, my Lord — Your Grace's most humble and 
 faithful Servant, J. H. 
 
 Lojtdon, 13 Feb. 1626. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 To Sir J. S., Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 THERE is a Saying which carries no little weight with 
 it, that Parvus amor loquitur, in gens stupet ; Small 
 love speaks, while great love stands astonished with silence : 
 The one keeps a tattling, while the other is struck dumb with 
 
 amazement
 
 Sect. 4. Familiar Letters. 235 
 
 amazement ; like deep Rivers^ which to the eye of the be- 
 holder seem to stand still, while small shallow Rivulets keep 
 a noise ; or like empty Casks, that make an obstreperous 
 hollow sound, which they would not do were they re- 
 plenished and full of substance. 'Tis the condition of my 
 love to you, which is so great, and of that profoundness, that 
 it hath been silent all this while, being stupify'd with the 
 contemplation of those high Favours, and sundry sorts of 
 Civilities, wherewith I may say you have overwhelmed me. 
 This deep Ford of my affection and gratitude to you, I in- 
 tend to cut out hereafter into small currents (I mean into 
 Letters), that the course of it may be heard, tho' it make 
 but a small bubbling noise, as also that the clearness of it 
 may appear more visible. 
 
 I desire my service be presented to my noble Lady, whose 
 fair hands I humbly kiss; and if she want anything that 
 London can afford, she need but command her and — Your 
 most faithful and ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Zond., II Feb. 1626. 
 
 XX. 
 
 To the Right Honourable the Earl R. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 A CCORDING to promise, and that portion of Obedience 
 JTx. I owe to your commands, I send your Lordship these 
 few Avisos, some whereof I doubt not but you have receiv'd 
 before, and that by abler Pens than mine; yet your Lord- 
 ship may happily find herein something that was omitted by 
 others, or the former news made clearer by circumstance. 
 
 I hear Count Mansfelt is in Paris, having now receiv'd 
 three routings in Gcrynany ; 'tis thought the French King 
 will piece him up again with new recruits. I was told, 
 that as he was seeing the two Queens one dav at dinner 
 the Queen-Mother said. They say, Count Mansfelt is here 
 among this Crowd ; I do not believe it, quoth the young 
 Queen, for whensoever he seeth a Spaniard, he runs away. 
 
 Matters go untowardly on our side in Germany, but the 
 
 King
 
 236 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book I. 
 
 King of Denmark will shortly be in the field in person ; 
 and Bethlem Gahor hath been long expected to do some- 
 thing, but some think he will prove but a Bugbear. Sir 
 Ch. Morgan is to go to Germamj with 6000 Auxiliaries to 
 join with the Danish Army. 
 
 The Parliament is adjourn'd to Oxford, by reason of the 
 sickness, which increaseth exceedingly ; and before the King 
 went out of Town, there dy'd 1500 that very week, and 
 two out of Whitehall it self. 
 
 There is hiffh clashino; as;ain 'twixt my Lord Duke and 
 the Earl of Bristol-, they recriminate one another of divers 
 things : the Earl accuseth him, among other matters, of 
 certain Letters from Rome, of putting His Majesty upon 
 that hazardous Journey to Spain, and of some miscarriages 
 at his being in that Court. There be Articles also against 
 the Lord Conway, which I send your Lordship here inclos'd. 
 
 I am for Oxford the next week, and thence for Wales, to 
 fetch my good old Father's Blessing: at my return, if it 
 shall please God to reprieve me in these dangerous times of 
 Contagion, I shall continue my wonted Service to your 
 Lordship, if it may be done with safety. So I rest — Your 
 Lordship's most humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Lo7jd., 15 Mar. 1626. 
 
 XXL 
 
 To the Right Honourable the Lord Viscount C. 
 My Lord, 
 
 SIK fohn North deliver'd me one lately from your Lord- 
 ship, and I send my humble thanks for the Venison 
 you intend me. I acquainted your Lordship, as oppor- 
 tunity serv'd, with the nimble Pace the Frejich Match went 
 on, by the successful negotiation of the Earls of Carlisle 
 and Holland (who out-went the Monsieurs themselv^es in 
 Courtship), and how in less than nine Moons, this great 
 Business was propos'd, pursu'd, and perfected ; whereas the 
 Sun had leisure enough to finish his annual Progress from 
 one end of the Zodiac to the other so many years, before 
 
 that
 
 Sect. 4. Familiar Letters. 237 
 
 that of Spain could come to any shape of perfection. This 
 may serve to shew the difference 'twixt the two Nations, 
 the leaden-heel'd pace of the one, and the quicksilvered 
 motions of the other: It shews also how the French is more 
 generous in his proceedings, and not so full of scruples, 
 reservations, and jealous as the Spaniard, but deals more 
 frankly, and with a greater confidence and gallantry. 
 
 The Lord D. of Buckingham is now in Paris, accompanied 
 with the Earl of Montgomery, and he went in a very splen- 
 did Equipage : The Venetian and Hollander, with other 
 States that are no Friends to Spain, did some good offices to 
 advance this Alliance ; and the new Pope propounded much 
 towards it: But Richelieu, the new Favourite of France, was 
 the Cardinal Listrument in it. 
 
 This Pope Urban grows very active, not only in things 
 present, but ripping up of old matters, for which there 
 is a select Committee appointed to examine Accounts and 
 Errors past, not only in the time of his immediate pre- 
 decessor, but others. And one told me of a merry Pasquil 
 lately in Rome ; That whereas there are two great Statues, 
 one of Peter, the other of Paid, opposite one to the other 
 upon a Bridge, one had clapp'd a pair of Spurs upon St. 
 Peter's heels; and St. Paul asking him whither he was 
 bound, he answer'd, I apprehend some danger to stay now 
 in Rome, because of this new Commission, for I fear they 
 "will question me for denying my Master. Truly, brother 
 Peter, I shall not stay long after you, for I have as much 
 cause to doubt that they will question me for persecuting 
 the Christians before I was converted. So I take my leave, 
 and rest — Your Lordship's most humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Lond., 3 May 1626. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 To my Brother, Mr. Hugh Penry. 
 Sir, 
 
 I THANK you for your late Letter, and the several good 
 Tidings sent me from JVales : In requital I can send 
 
 vou
 
 238 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 you gallant news, for we have now a most noble new Queen 
 of England, who in true Beauty is beyond the long-woo'd 
 Infanta ; for she was of a fading flaxen-hair, big-lipp'd, and 
 somewhat heavy-ey'd ; but this Daughter of France, this 
 youngest Branch of Bourhon (being but in her Cradle 
 when the great Henry her Father was put out of the world), 
 is of a more lovely and lasting Complexion, a dark brown ; 
 she hath Eyes that sparkle like Stars; and for her Physiog- 
 nomy, she may be said to be a Mirror of Perfection : She 
 had a rouo-h Passage in her transfretation to Dover Castle, 
 and in Canterbury the King bedded first with her ; there 
 were a goodly train of choice Ladies attended her coming 
 upon the Bowling-green on Barham Downs upon the way, 
 who divided themselves into two rows, and they appear'd 
 like so many Constellations; but methought the Country 
 Ladies out-shined the Courtiers. She brought over with 
 her two hundred thousand Crowns in gold and silver, as 
 half her Portion, and the other Moiety is to be paid at the 
 year's end. Her first suit of Servants (by Article) are to be 
 French, and as they die English are to succeed ; she is also 
 allow'd twenty-eight Ecclesiasticks of any Order, except 
 Jesuits; a Bishop for her Almoner, and to have private 
 exercise of her Relisrion for her and her Servants. 
 
 I pray convey the inclos'd to my Father by the next 
 conveniency, and pray present my dear love to my Sister; 
 I hope to see you at Dyvinfiock about Michaelmas, for I 
 intend to wait upon my Father, and I will take my Mother 
 in the way, I mean Oxford. In the interim I rest — Your 
 most affectionate Brother, J. H. 
 
 Zond., 16 May 1626. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 To my Uncle, Sir Sackvill Trevor, fro7n Oxford. 
 Sir, 
 
 I AM sorry I must write to you the sad tidings of the dis- 
 solution of the Parliament here, which was done suddenly. 
 S'lv /oh?i Elliot was in the heat of a high Speech against 
 
 the
 
 Sect. I. Familiar Letters. 239 
 
 the D. of Buckingham, when the Usher of the Black Rod 
 knock'd at the door, and signify'd the King's pleasure, which 
 struck a kind of consternation in all the House. My Lord 
 Keeper IVilliams hath parted with the Broad Seal, because, 
 as some say, he went about to cut down the Scale by which 
 he rose; for some, it seems, did ill offices 'twixt the Duke 
 and him. Sir Thomas Coventry hath it now ; I pray God 
 he be tender of the King's Conscience, whereof he is Keeper 
 rather than of the Seal. 
 
 I am bound to-morrow upon a journey towards the 
 Mountains, to see some Friends in Wales, and to bring 
 back my Father's blessing: For better Assurance of Lodging 
 where I pass, in regard of the Plague, I have a Post-warrant 
 as far as St. David's, which is far enough, you'll say, for the 
 King hath no ground further on this Island. If the Sick- 
 ness rage in such extremity at London, the Term will be 
 held at Reading. 
 
 All your Friends here are well, but many look blank 
 because of the sudden rupture of the Parliament. God 
 Almighty turn all to the best, and stay the fury of this 
 Contagion, and preserve us from further judgments. So I 
 rest — Your most affectionate Nephew, J. H. 
 
 Oxford, d Aug. 1626. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 To my Father, from London. 
 Sir, 
 
 I WAS now the fourth time at a dead stand in the 
 course of my Fortune: for tho' I was recommended to 
 the Duke, and received many noble Respects from him; yet 
 I was told by some who are nearest him, that somebody 
 hath done me ill offices, by whispering in his ear that I was 
 too much Digbyficd ; and so they told me positively, that 
 I must never expect any Kmployment about him of any 
 Trust. While I was in this suspense, Mr. Secretary Conway 
 sent for me, and proposed to me that the King had occasion 
 to send a Gentleman to Italy in nature of a moving Agent ; 
 
 and
 
 240 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 and tho' he might have choice of Persons of good Quality that 
 would willingly undertake this Employment, yet understand- 
 ing of my Breeding, he made the first proffer to me, and that 
 I should go as the King's Servant, and have an Allowance 
 accordingly. I humbly thank'd him for the good opinion 
 he pleased to conceive of me, being a stranger to him, desir'd 
 some time to consider of the proposition, and of the nature 
 of the Employment ; so he granted me four days to think 
 upon't, and two of them are pass'd already. If I may have 
 a Support accordingly, I intend by God's Grace (desiring 
 your Consent and Blessing to go along) to apply myself to 
 this Course, but before I part with England, I intend to 
 send you further notice. 
 
 The Sickness is miraculously decreased in this City and 
 Suburbs; for from 5200, which was the greatest number 
 that dy'd in one Week, and that was some forty days since, 
 they are now fallen to 300. It was the violent'st fit of 
 Contagion that ever was for the time in this Island, and 
 such as no Story can' parallel : but the Ebb of it was more 
 swift than the Tide. My Brother is well, and so are all 
 your Friends here, for I do not know any of your Ac- 
 quaintance that is dead of this furious Infection. Siv John 
 IValtcj- ask'd me lately how you did, and wish'd me to re- 
 member him to you. So, with my love to all my Brothers 
 and Sisters, and the rest of my Friends who made so 
 much of me lately in the Country, I rest — Your dutiful 
 Son, J. H. 
 
 7 Aug. 1626. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 To the Right Hon. the Lord Conway, Principal Secretary of 
 State to His Majesty, at Hampton-Court. 
 
 Right Honourable, 
 
 SINCE I last attended your Lordship here, I summon'd 
 my thoughts to Council, and convass'd to and fro 
 within myself the business you pleas'd to impart to me, 
 for going upon the King's Service into Italy ; I consider'd 
 
 therein
 
 Sect. 4. Familiar Letters. 241 
 
 therein many particulars : First, The weight of the Employ- 
 ment, and what maturity of judgment, discretion, and parts 
 are requir'd in him that will personate such a Man. Next, 
 The difficulties of it; for one must send sometimes light 
 out of darkness, and, like the Bee, suck Honey out of bad, 
 as out of good Flowers. Thirdly, The danger which the 
 Undertaker must converse withal, and which may fall upon 
 him by interception of Letters, or other cross Casualties. 
 Lastly, The great expence it will require, being not to re- 
 main sedentary in one place as other Agents, but to be 
 often in itinerary motion. 
 
 Touchino- the first, I refer myself to vour Honour's 
 favourable opinion, and the character which my Lord S. 
 and others shall give of me: For the second, I hope to over- 
 come it : For the third, I weigh it not, so I may merit of 
 my King and Country: For the last, I crave leave to deal 
 plainly with your Lordship, that I am a Cadet, and have 
 no other patrimony or support but my Breeding; there- 
 fore I must breathe by the Employment. And, my Lord, 
 I shall not be able to perform what shall be expected at my 
 hands under <^ioo a quarter, and to have Bills of Credit 
 accordingly. Upon these terms, my Lord, I shall apply 
 myself to this Service, and by God's blessing hope to 
 answer all expectations. So, referring the premises to your 
 noble consideration, I rest, my Lord — Your very humble 
 and ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Lond.^ 8 Sept. 1626. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 To mrj Brother, Dr. Howell, after Bishop 0/ Bristol. 
 
 My Brother, 
 
 NEXT to my Father, 'tis fitting you should have cogni- 
 zance of my Affairs and Fortunes. You heard how 
 I was in Agitation for an Employment in Italy, but my 
 Lord Conway demurr'd upon the Salary I propounded : I 
 have now wav'd this course, yet I came oflT fairly with my 
 
 a Lord ;
 
 242 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 Lord; for I have a stable Home Employment proffer'd 
 me by my Lord Scroop, Lord President of the North^ who 
 sent for me lately to IVorcester-house, tho' I never saw^ him 
 before ; and there the Bargain was quickly made that I 
 should go down with him to York for Secretary, and his 
 Lordship has promis'd me fairly. I will see you at your 
 House in Horsley before I go, and leave the particular cir- 
 cumstances of this business till then. 
 
 The French that came over with Her Majesty, for their 
 petulancy, and some misdemeanors, and imposing some odd 
 penances upon the Queen, are all cashier'd this week, about 
 a matter of sixscore, whereof the Bishop of Mende was one, 
 who had stood to be Steward of Her Majesty's Courts, 
 which Office my Lord of Holland hath. It was a thing 
 suddenly done; for about one of the clock, as they were at 
 dinner, my Lord Conway and Sir Thomas Edmonds came 
 with an Order from the King, that they must instantly 
 away to Somerset-house, for there were Barges and Coaches 
 staying for them ; and there they should have all their 
 wages paid them to a penny, and so they must be content 
 to quit the Kingdom. This sudden undream'd-of Order 
 struck an Astonishment into them all, both Men and 
 Women ; and running to complain to the Queen, His 
 Majesty had taken her before into his Bed-chamber, and 
 lock'd the doors upon them until he had told her how 
 matters stood : The Queen fell into a violent passion, broke 
 the Glass-windows, and tore her Hair, but she was calm'd 
 afterwards. Just such a destiny happen'd in France some 
 years since to the Queen's Spanish Servants there, who 
 were all dismiss'd in like manner for some miscarriages; the 
 like was done in Spain to the French; therefore 'tis no new 
 thing". 
 
 They are all now on their way to Dover, but I fear this 
 will breed ill blood 'twixt us and France, and may break out 
 into an ill-favour'd Quarrel. 
 
 Master Montague is preparing to go to Paris as a Mes- 
 senger of Honour, to prepossess the King and Council there 
 
 with
 
 Sect. 4. Familiar Letters. 243 
 
 with the truth of things. So. with my very kind Respects 
 to my Sister, I rest — Your loving Brother, J. H. 
 
 Lond., 15 Afar. 1626. 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 To the Risht Honourahle the Lord S. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 I AM bound shortly for York, where I am hopeful of a 
 profitable Employment. There's fearful news come 
 from Germany, that since Sir Charles Morgan went thither 
 with 5ooo Men for the Assistance of the King of Denmark, 
 the King hath receiv'd an utter Overthrow by Tilly ; he had 
 receiv'd a fall off a horse from a wall five vards hifrh a little 
 before, yet it did him little hurt. 
 
 Tilly pursueth his victory strongly, and is got o'er the 
 Elve to Holsieinland, insomuch that they write from Ham- 
 hurgh, that Denmark is in danger to be utterly lost. The 
 Danes and Germans seem to lay some fault upon our King, 
 the King upon the Parliament, that would not supply him 
 with Subsidies to assist his Uncle, and the Prince Pals- 
 grave ; both which was promis'd upon the rupture of the 
 Treaties with Spain, which was done by the Advice of 
 both Houses. 
 
 This is the ground that His Majesty hath lately sent 
 out Privy Seals for Loan-moneys until a Parliament may be 
 call'd, in regard that the K. of Denmark is distress'd, the 
 Sound like to be lost, the Eastland Trade, and the Staple at 
 Hamburgh, in danger to be destroy'd, and the English Garri- 
 son under Sir Cha. Morgan at Stoad ready to be starv'd. 
 
 These Loan-moneys keep a great noise, and they are im- 
 prison'd that deny to conform themselves. 
 
 I fear I shall have no more opportunity to send to your 
 Lordship till I go to York ; therefore I humbly take leave, 
 and kiss your hands, being ever, my Lord — Your obedient 
 and ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 XXVIII.
 
 244 Familiar Letters. Book L 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 To Mr. R. L., Merchant. 
 
 I MET lately with J. Harris in London, and I had not seen 
 him two years before; and then I took him, and knew 
 him to be a Man of thirty, but now one would take him by 
 his hair to be near sixty, for he is all turn'd grey. I wonder'd 
 at such a Metamorphosis in so short a time; he told me, 
 'twas for the death of his Wife that Nature had thus ante- 
 dated his years. 'Tis true, that a weighty settled Sorrow is of 
 that force, that besides the contraction of the Spirits, it will 
 work upon the radical moisture, and dry it up, so that the 
 hair can have no moisture at the root. This made me re- 
 member a Story that a Spanish Advocate told me, which is 
 a thing very remarkable. 
 
 When the D. of Alva went to Brussels, about the beo-in- 
 ning of the Tumults in the Netherlands, he had sat down 
 before Hulst in Flanders, and there was a Provost-Marshal 
 in his Army, who was a Favourite of his; and this Provost 
 had put some to death by secret Commission from the Duke. 
 There was one Capt. Bolea in the Army, who was an inti- 
 mate friend of the Provost, and one evening late he went to 
 the said Captain's Tent, and brought with him a Confessor 
 and an Executioner, as it was his custom ; he told the Captain 
 that he was come to execute his Excellency's Commission 
 and Martial-Law upon him : The Captain started up sud- 
 denly, his hair standing at an end, and being struck with 
 amazement, asked him wherein he had offended the Duke : 
 The Provost answer'd, Sir, I come not to expostulate the 
 business with you, but to execute my Commission ; there- 
 fore, I pray, prepare yourself, for there's your ghostly 
 Father and Executioner : So he fell upon his knees before 
 the Priest, and, having done, the Hangman going to put the 
 Halter about his neck, the Provost threw it away, and break- 
 ing into a laughter, told him, There was no such thing, and 
 that he had done this to try his Courage, how he could bear 
 the terror of death. The Captain look'd ghastly upon him, 
 
 and
 
 Sect. 4. Familiar Letters. 245 
 
 and said, Then, Sir, get you out of my Tent, for you have 
 done me a very ill office. The next morning the said Cap- 
 tain Bolea, tho' a young man of about thirty, had his hair 
 all turn'd grey, to the Admiration of all the World, and the 
 D. of yllua himself, who question'd him about it, but he 
 would confess nothing. The next year the Duke was revok'd, 
 and in his journey to the Court of Spain he was to pass by 
 Saragossa, and this Capt. Bolea and the Provost went along 
 with him as his Domesticks. The Duke being to repose 
 some days in Saragossa, the young-old Capt. Bolea told him 
 that there was a thing in that Town worthy to be seen by 
 his Excellency, which was a Casa de locos, a Bedlam-liouse, 
 for there was not the like in Christendom : Well, said the 
 Duke, go and tell the Warden I will be there To-morrow 
 in the Afternoon, and wish him to be in the way. The 
 Captain having obtain'd this, went to the Warden, and told 
 him, that the Duke would come to visit the House the next 
 day ; and the chiefest occasion that mov'd him to it was, 
 that he had an unruly Provost about him, who was subject 
 oftentimes to Fits of Frenzy; and because he wisheth him 
 well, he had try'd divers means to cure him, but all would 
 not do ; therefore he would try whether keeping him close 
 in Bedlam for some days would do him any good. The next 
 day the Duke came with a ruffling train of Captains after 
 him, among whom was the said Provost very shining brave; 
 being enter'd into the House, about the Duke's Person, 
 Capt. Bolea told the Warden (pointing at the Provost) that's 
 the Man ; so he took him aside into a dark Lobby, where 
 he had plac'd some of his Men, who muffled him in his 
 Cloak, seiz'd upon his gilt Sword with his Hat and Feather, 
 and so hurry'd him down into a Dungeon. My Provost 
 had lain there two nights and a day, and afterwards it 
 happened that a Gentleman coming out of curiosity to see 
 the House, peep'd in at a small grate where the Provost was : 
 the Provost conjur'd him as he was a Christian, to go and 
 tell the Duke of yllva his Provost was there clapp'd up, nor 
 could he imagine why. The Gentleman did the Errand ; 
 
 whereat
 
 246 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book I. 
 
 whereat the Duke being astonish'd, sent for the Warden with 
 his Prisoner : so he brought my Provost en querpo, Madman- 
 like, full of straws and feathers, before the Duke, who at the 
 sight of him breaking out into a laughter, asked the Warden 
 why he had made him his prisoner. Sir, said the Warden, 
 'twas by virtue of your Excellency's Commission brought 
 me by Capt. Bolea : Bolea stepp'd forth, and told the Duke, 
 Sir, you have ask'd me oft how these hairs of mine grew so 
 suddenly grey; I have not revealed it yet to any Soul breath- 
 ing, but now I'll tell your Excellency, and so fell a relating 
 the Passage in Flanders: and. Sir, I have been ever since 
 beating my Brains how to get an equal revenge of him, and 
 T thought no revenge to be more equal or corresponding, 
 now that you see he hath made me old before my time, than 
 to make him mad if I could ; and had he staied some days 
 longer close Prisoner in the Bedlam-house, it might haply 
 have wrought some impressions upon his Fericrajiium. The 
 Duke was so well pleased with the Story, and the wittiness 
 of the revenge, that he made them both friends; and the 
 Gentleman who told me this Passage said, that the said 
 Capt. Bolea was yet alive, so that he could not be less than 
 ninety years of age. 
 
 I thank you a thousand times for the Cephalonia Muscadel 
 and Botargo you sent me; I hope to be shortly quit with 
 you for all courtesies : in the interim I am — Your obliged 
 Friend to serve you, J. H. 
 
 Vor^, if his I of May 1626. 
 
 Fostscr'ipt. 
 
 I AM sorry to hear of the trick that Sir John Ayres put 
 upon the Company by the Box of Hail-shot, sign'd 
 with the Ambassador's Seal, that he had sent so solemnly 
 from Constantinople, which he made the world believe to be 
 full of Chequins and Turky Gold. 
 
 Section
 
 Section Y. 
 
 I. 
 To Dan. Caldwall, Esq. ; from York. 
 
 My dear D., 
 
 THO' I may be term'd a right Norther??. Man, being a 
 good way this side Tre?it, yet my love is as Southern 
 as ever it vi'as, I mean it continueth still in the same degree 
 of heat; nor can this bleaker Air, or Boreas s chilling blasts, 
 cool it a whit. I am the same to you this side Tre??t, as I 
 was the last time we cross'd the Thames together to see 
 Sm?ig the Smithy and so back to the Still-ijard : But I fear 
 that your Love to me doth not continue in so constant and 
 intense a degree, and I have good grounds for this fear, 
 because I never receiv'd one syllable from you since I left 
 Londo??. If you rid me not of this scruple, and send to me 
 speedily, I shall think, tho' you live under a hotter clime in 
 the South, that your former love is not only cool'd, but 
 frozen. 
 
 For this present condition of .life, I thank God I live well 
 contented ; I have a fee from the King, diet for myself and 
 two servants, livery for a horse, and a part of the King's 
 house for my lodging, and other privileges which I am told 
 no Secretary before me had ; but I must tell you, the per- 
 quisites are nothing answerable to my expectation yet. I 
 have built me a new study since I came, wherein I shall 
 among others meditate sometimes on you, and whence this 
 present Letter comes. So, with a thousand thanks for the 
 plentiful hospitality and jovial farewell you gave me at your 
 House in Essex, I rest — Yours, yours, yours, J. H. 
 
 y'^or^, \'^JtiIy 1627. 
 
 II.
 
 248 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 II. 
 
 To Mr. Richard Leat. 
 
 CIGNOR mio, It is now a great while, methinks, since 
 any Act of Friendship, or other interchangeable offices 
 of love have pass'd between us, either by Letters, or other 
 accustom'd ways of correspondence; and as I will not ac- 
 cuse, so I go not about to clear myself in this point : Let 
 this long silence be term'd therefore a Cessation rather than 
 Neglect on both sides. A Bow that lies a while unbent, 
 and a Field that remains fallow for a time, grow never the 
 worse, but afterwards the one sends forth an Arrow more 
 strongly, the other yields a better Crop, being recultivated : 
 Let this be also verify'd in us, let our Friendship grow more 
 fruitful after this pause, let it be more active for the future : 
 You see I begin and shoot the first shaft. I send you here- 
 with a couple of red Deer Pies, the one Sir Arthur Ingram 
 gave me, the other my Lord President's Cook; I could not 
 tell where to bestow them better. In your next let me 
 know which is the best season'd ; I pray let the Sydonian 
 Merchant, Jo. Bruckhurst, be at the eating of them, and then 
 I know they will be well soak'd. If you please to send me 
 a barrel or two of Oysters which we want here, I promise 
 you they shall be well eaten with a Cup of the best Claret, 
 and the best Sherry (to which Wine this Town is altogether 
 addicted) shall not be wanting. 
 
 I understand the Lord IVeston is Lord Treasurer; we 
 may say now, that we have Treasurers of all tenses, for 
 there are four living, to wit, the Lords Manchester, Middle- 
 sex, Marlborough, and the newly chosen. I hear also that 
 the good old Man (the last) hath retir'd to his Lodgings in 
 Lincoln' s-Inn, and so reduced himself to his first principles ; 
 which makes me think that he cannot bear up long, now 
 that the Staff is taken from him. I pray in your next send 
 me the Venetian Gazetta. So, with my kind Respects to 
 your Father, I rest — Yours, J. H. 
 
 York, () July 1627. 
 
 III.
 
 Sect. 5. Familiar Letters. 249 
 
 III. 
 
 To Sir Ed. Sa., Knight. 
 
 Sir, 
 "nr^WAS no great matter to be a Prophet, and to have 
 
 J. foretold this rupture 'twixt us and France upon the 
 the sudden renvoy of Her Majesty's Servants ; for many 
 of them had sold their Estates in France, given Money for 
 their Places, and so thought to live and die in England 
 in the Queen's Service, and so have pitifully complain'd 
 to that King; thereupon he hath arrested above 100 of 
 our Merchant-men that went to the Vintage at Boiirdeaux. 
 We also take some stragglers of theirs, for there arc Letters 
 of Mart given on both sides. 
 
 There are Writs issued out for a Parliament, and the 
 Town of Richmond in Richmondshire hath made choice of 
 me for their Burgess, tho' Master Christopher Wandesford, 
 and other powerful Men, and more deserving than I, stood 
 for it. I pray God send me fair Weather in the House of 
 Commons, for there is much murmuring about the restraint 
 of those that would not conform to Loan Moneys. There is 
 a great Fleet preparing, and an Army of Landmen ; but 
 the design is uncertain, whether it be against Spain, or 
 France, for we are now in enmity with both those Crowns. 
 The French Cardinal hath been lately t'other side the Mps, 
 and settled the Duke of Nevers in the Duchy of Mantua, 
 notwithstanding the opposition of the King of Spain and 
 the Emperor, who alleg'd, That he was to receive his In- 
 vestiture from him, and that was the chief ground of the 
 War; but the French Arms have done the work, and come 
 triumphantly back over the Hills again. No more now, 
 but that I am, as always — Your true Friend, J. H. 
 
 2 March 162"]. 
 
 IV.
 
 250 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 IV. 
 
 To the Worshipful Mr. Alderman of the Town of Richmond, 
 and the rest of the worthy Members of that ancient 
 Corporation. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I RECEIVED a public Instrument from you lately, 
 subscrib'd by yourself and divers others, wherein I 
 find that you have made choice of me to be one of your 
 Burgesses for this now approaching Parliament; I could 
 have wish'd that you had not put by Master JVandesford, 
 and other worthy Gentlemen that stood so earnestly for it, 
 who beino: vour Neis-hbours, had better means and more 
 abilities to serve you. Yet since you have cast these high 
 respects upon me, I will endeavour to acquit myself of 
 the Trust, and to answer your expectation accordingly : 
 And as I account this Election an honour to me, so I 
 esteem it a greater advantage, that so worthy and well- 
 experienced a Knight as Sir Talbot Boius is to be my 
 Collegue and Fellow-Burgess; I shall steer by his compass, 
 and follow his directions in anything that may concern the 
 welfare of your Town, and the Precincts thereof, either for 
 redress of any grievance, or by proposing some new thing 
 that may conduce to the further benefit and advantage 
 thereof; and this I take to be the true duty of a Parlia- 
 mentary Burgess, without roving at random to generals. 
 I hope to learn of Sir Talbot what's fitting to be done, and 
 I shall apply myself accordingly to join with him to serve 
 you with my best Abilities. So I rest — Your most assured 
 and ready Friend to do you Service, J. H. 
 
 Land., 24 Mar. 1627. 
 
 V. 
 
 To the Right Hon. the Lord Clifford, at Knaresborough. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 THE news that fills all mouths at present, is the return of 
 the Dukcof Bnckingham from the Isle of jR^^, or, as some 
 
 call
 
 Sect. ^. Familiar Letters. 251 
 
 call \t, the Isle of Rue, for the bitter success we had there ; 
 for we had but a tart entertainment in that Salt Island. 
 Our first Invasion was magnanimous and brave, whereat 
 near upon 200 French Gentlemen perish'd, and divers 
 Barons of Quality. My Lord of Newport had ill luck to 
 disorder our Cavalry with an unruly horse he had : His 
 Brother Sir diaries Rich was slain, and divers more upon 
 retreat; among others, great Col. Graij fell into a Salt-pit, 
 and being ready to be drown'd, he cry'd out, Cent mille 
 escus pour ma rangon ; A hundred thousand Crowns for my 
 ransom : the Frenchmen hearing that, preserved him, tho' he 
 was not worth a hundred thousand pence. A merry passage 
 a Captain told me, that when they were rifling the dead 
 Bodies of the French Gentlemen after the first Invasion, 
 they found that many of them had their Mistresses' Favours 
 ty'd about their Genitories. The French do much glory to 
 have repell'd us thus, and they have reason; for the truth is, 
 they comported themselves gallantly : yet they confess our 
 landing was a notable piece of Courage, and if our Retreat 
 had been answerable to the Invasion, we had lost no Honour 
 at all. A great number of gallant Gentlemen fell on our 
 side, as Sir Johi Hcijdon, Sir Jo. Burrowes, Sir John Blundel, 
 Sir Alex. Bret, with divers Veteran Commanders, who came 
 from the Netherlands to this Service. 
 
 God send us better success the next time, for there is 
 another Fleet preparing to be sent under the command of 
 the Lord Denbigh. So I kiss your hand, and am — Your 
 humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Lond., 24 Sept. 1627. 
 
 VI. 
 
 To the Rt. Honourable the Lord Scroop, Earl 0/" Sunderland, 
 Lord President of the North. 
 My Lord, 
 
 MY Lord Denbigh is return'd from attempting to re- 
 lieve Rochell, which is reduced to extreme exigence ; 
 and now the Duke is preparing to go again, with as great 
 
 Power
 
 252 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 Power as was yet rais'd, notwithstanding that the Parlia- 
 ment hath flown higher at him than ever : which makes the 
 People here hardly wish any good success to the Expedition, 
 because he is General. The Spaniard stands at a gaze all 
 this while, hoping that we may do the work; otherwise I 
 think he would find some way to relieve the Town ; for 
 there is nothing conduceth more to the uniting and strength- 
 ning of the French Monarchy, than the reduction of Rochell. 
 The King hath been there long in Person with his Cardinal ; 
 and the stupendous works they have rais'd by Sea and Land 
 are beyond belief, as they say. The Sea-works and Booms 
 were trac'd out by Marquis Spinola, as he was passing that 
 way for Spain from Flanders. 
 
 The Parliament is prorogued till Michaelmas Term ; there 
 were five Subsidies granted, the greatest gift that ever 
 Subjects gave their King at once; and it was in requital 
 that His Majesty pass'd the Petition of Right, whereby the 
 Liberty of the free born Subject is so strongly and clearly 
 vindicated. So that there is a fair correspondence like to be 
 'twixt His Majesty and the two Houses. The Duke made a 
 notable Speech at the Council-Table in joy hereof ; among 
 other passages, one was, That hereafter His Majesty ivoidd 
 please to make the Parliament his Favourite, and he to have 
 the honour to remain still his Servant. No more now, but 
 that I continue — Your Lordship's most dutiful Servant, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 Lond., 25 Sept. 16 28. 
 
 vn. 
 
 To the Right Hon. the Lady Scroop, Countess o/" Sunderland ; 
 
 from Stamford. 
 Madam, 
 
 I LAY yesternight at the Post-house at Stilton, and this 
 morning betimes the Post-master came to my Bed's-head 
 and told me the D. of Buckingham was slain : My Faith was 
 not then strong enough to believe it, till an hour ago I met 
 in the way with my Lord of Rutland (your Brother) riding 
 
 Post
 
 Sect. 5. Familiar Letters. 253 
 
 Post towards London ; it plcas'd him to alight, and shew 
 me a Letter, wherein there was an exact relation of all the 
 circumstances of this sad Tragedy. 
 
 Upon Saturday last, which was but next before yesterday, 
 being Bartholoynew Eve, the Duke did rise up in a well- 
 dispos'd humour out of his bed, and cut a Caper or two, 
 and being ready, and having been under the Barber's hand, 
 (where the murderer had thought to have done the deed, 
 for he was leaning upon the window all the while), he went 
 to breakfast, attended by a great company of Commanders, 
 where Mons. Souhize came to him, and whisper'd him in 
 the ear that Rochel was reliev'd : The Duke seem'd to slight 
 the news, which made some think that Souhize went away 
 discontented. After breakfast, the Duke going out, Col. 
 Fryer stept before him, and stopping him upon some busi- 
 ness, and Lieut. Felton being behind, made a thrust with 
 a common tenpenny knife over Fryer's arm at the Duke, 
 which lighted so fatally, that he slit his heart in two, leav- 
 ing the knife sticking in the body. The Duke took out 
 the knife, and threw it away ; and laying his hand on 
 his Sword, and drawn it half out, said, The Villain hath 
 kill'd me (meaning, as some think. Col. Fryer), for there 
 had been some difference 'twixt them ; so, reeling against 
 a chimney, he fell down dead. The Dutchess being with 
 Child, hearing the noise below, came in her night-geers 
 from her Bed-chamber, which was in an upper room, to a 
 kind of rail, and thence beheld him weltering ia his own 
 blood. Felton had lost his hat in the croud, wherein there 
 was a Paper sow'd, wherein he declar'd, that the reason 
 which mov'd him to this Act was no grudge of his own, 
 tho' he had been far behind for his pay, and had been put 
 by his Captain's place twice, but in regard he thought the 
 Duke an Enemy to the State, because he was branded in 
 Parliament; therefore what he did was for the publick'good 
 of his Country. Yet he got clearly down, and so might 
 have gone to his horse, which was ty'd to a hedge hard by ; 
 but he was so amaz'd that he miss'd his way, and so struck 
 
 into
 
 254 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 into the pastry, where, altho' the cry went that some French- 
 man had done't, he thinking the word was Felton, boldly 
 confess'd, 'twas he that had done the deed, and so he was 
 in their hands. Jack Stamford would have run at him, but 
 he was kept off by Mr. Nicholas ; so being carry'd up to a 
 Tower, Capt. Mince tore off his Spurs, and asking how he 
 durst attempt such an Act, making him believe the Duke 
 was not dead, he answer'd boldly, that he knew he was 
 dispatch'd, for 'twas not he, but the hand of Heaven that 
 gave the stroke ; and tho' his whole body had been cover'd 
 over with Armour of Proof, he could not have avoided it. 
 Capt. Cha. Price went post presently to the King four miles 
 off, who being at prayers on his knees when it was told 
 him, yet never stirr'd, nor was he disturb'd a whit till all 
 divine service was done. This was the relation, as far as 
 my memory could bear, in my Lord of Rutland's Letter, 
 who will'd me to remember him to your Ladyship, and tell 
 you that he was going to comfort your niece (the Dutchess) 
 as fast as he could. And so I have sent the truth of this 
 sad story to your Ladyship, as fast as I could by this Post, 
 because I cannot make that speed myself, in regard of 
 some business I have to dispatch for my Lord in the way : 
 So I humbly take ray leave, and rest — Your Ladyship's 
 most dutiful Servant, J. H. 
 
 Stamford c^ Aug. 1628. 
 
 VIIL 
 
 To the Right Hon. Sir Peter Wichts, His Majesty's 
 Embassador at Constantinople. 
 My Lord, 
 
 YOURS of the 2d oi July came to safe hand, and I did 
 all those particular Recaudo's you enjoin'd me to do 
 to some of your Friends here. 
 
 The Town of Rochell hath been fatal and unfortunate to 
 England, for this is the third time that we have attempted 
 to relieve her; but our Fleets and Forces return'd without 
 doing anything. My Lord of Lindsey went thither with 
 
 the
 
 Sect. 5. Familiar Letters. 255 
 
 the same Fleet the Duke intended to go on, but is re- 
 turn'd without doing any good ; he made some shots at the 
 irreat Boom and other Barricadoes at Sea, but at such a 
 distance, that they could do no hurt: insomuch that the 
 Town is now given for lost, and to be past cure, and they 
 cry out, we have betray'd them. At the return of this 
 Fleet, two of the Whelps were cast away, and three Ships 
 more, and some five Ships which had some of those great 
 Stones that were brought to build FauVs, for ballast and 
 for other uses, within them ; which could promise no good 
 success ; for I never heard of anything that prosper'd, 
 which beiniT once desig^ned for the Honour of God, was 
 alienated from that use. The Queen interposeth for the 
 releasement of my Lord of Newport and others, who are 
 Prisoners of War. I hear that all the Colours they took 
 from us are hung up in the great Church of Nostre-Dame, 
 as tropheys in Paris. Since I began this Letter, there is 
 news brought that Rochell hath yielded, and that the King 
 hath dismantled the Town, and razed all the Fortifications 
 landward, but leaves those standing which are toward the 
 Sea. It is a mighty exploit the French King hath done, for 
 Rochell was the chiefest propugnacle of the Protestants there ; 
 and now, questionless, all the rest of their cautionary Towns 
 which they kept for their own defence will yield ; so that 
 they must depend hereafter upon the King's mere mercy. 
 I hear of an overture of Peace 'twixt us and Spain, and that 
 my Lord Cottington is to go thither, and Don Carlos Coloma 
 to come to us. God grant it, for you know the Saying in 
 Spanish, Nunca vi tan mala paz, que nofuera mejor, que la 
 mejor guerra. It was a bold thing in England, to fall out 
 with the two greatest Monarchs of Christendom, and to have 
 them both Enemies at one time; and as glorious a thing it 
 was to bear up against them. God turn all to the best, and 
 dispose of things to his Glory : so I rest — Your Lordship's 
 ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Lond., I Sept. 1628. 
 
 IX.
 
 256 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 IX. 
 
 To my Cousin, Mr. St. Geon, at Christ-Church College 
 
 in Oxford. 
 
 COUSIN, Tho' you want no incitements to go on in 
 that fair Road of Virtue where you are now running 
 your course, yet being lately in your noble Father's Com- 
 pany, he did intimate to me, that anything which came 
 from me would take with you very much. I hear so well 
 of your Proceedings, that I should rather commend than 
 encourage you. I know you were remov'd to Oxford in full 
 maturity, you were a good Orator, a good Poet, and a good 
 Linguist for your time ; I would not have that fate light 
 upon you, which useth to befal some, who from golden 
 Students, become silver Bachelors, and leaden Masters : I 
 am far from entertaining such thought of you, that Logic 
 with her quiddities, and Quce la vel Hipps, can any way 
 unpolish your humane Studies. As Logic is clubfisted 
 and crabbed, so she is terrible at first sight; she is like a 
 Gorgon's head to a young Student, but after a twelve- 
 month's constancy and patience, this Gorgon's head will 
 prove a mere bugbear ; when you have devour'd the Organon, 
 you will find Philosophy far more delightful and pleasing 
 to your Palate. In feeding the Soul with Knowledge, the 
 Understanding requireth the same consecutive Acts which 
 Nature useth in nourishing the Body. To the nutrition 
 of the Body, there are two essential conditions requir'd, 
 Assumption and Retention; then there follows two more, 
 7re-^£9 and 7rp6<iTayfrt^, Concoction and Agglutination, or 
 Adhcssion : So in feeding your Soul with Science, you must 
 first assume and suck in the matter into your Apprehension, 
 then must the memory retain and keep it in ; afterwards 
 by disputation, discourse, and meditation, it must be well 
 concocted; then must it be agglutinated, and converted to 
 nutriment. All this may be reduc'd to these two heads, 
 teneri fideliter, & uti fceliciter, which are two of the 
 happiest properties in a Student. There is another Act 
 
 requir'd
 
 Sect. 5. Familiar Letters. 257 
 
 requir'd to good concoction, call'd the Act of Expulsion, 
 which puts off all that is unsound and noxious ; so in 
 Study there must be an expulsive virtue to shun all that is 
 erroneous; and there is no Science but is full of such stuif, 
 which by direction of Tutor, and choice of good Books, must 
 be excern'd. Do not confound yourself with multiplicity of 
 Authors; two is enough upon any Science, provided they be 
 plenary and orthodox ; Philosophy should be your substan- 
 tial food, Poetry your banqueting stuff; Philosophy hath 
 more of reality in it than any Knowledge, the Philosopher 
 can fathom the deep, measure Mountains, reach the Stars 
 with a staff, and bless Heaven with a girdle. 
 
 But among these Studies you must not forget the ujiicum 
 necessarium ; on Sundays and Holidays, let Divinity be the 
 sole object of your speculation, in comparison whereof all 
 other Knowledge is but Cobweb-learning; prcs qua quisqui- 
 licB ccBiera. 
 
 When you can make truce with Study, I should be glad 
 you would employ some superfluous hour or other to write 
 to me, for I much covet your good, because I am — Your 
 affectionate Cousin, J. H. 
 
 Zo/id., 25 OcL 1627. 
 
 X. 
 
 To Sir Sackvil Trevor, Knight. 
 
 Noble Uncle, 
 
 I SEND you my humble thanks for the curious Sea-chest 
 of Glasses you pleas'd to bestow on me, which I shall 
 be very chary to keep as a Monument of your Love. I 
 congratulate also the great honour you have got lately by 
 taking away the Spirit of France, I mean by taking the 
 third great Vessel of her Sea-Trinity, her Holy Spirit, 
 which had been built in the mouth of the Texel for the 
 service of her King. Without complimenting with you, it 
 was one of the best Exploits that was perform'd since these 
 Wars began ; and besides the Renown you have purchas'd, 
 
 R I
 
 258 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 I hope your Reward will be accordingly from His Majesty, 
 whom I remember you so happily preserv'd from drowning, 
 in all probability, at St. Anderas road in Spain. Tho' Princes' 
 Guerdons come slow, yet they come sure : And it is often- 
 times the method of God Almighty himself, to be long both 
 in his Rewards and Punishments. 
 
 As you have bereft the French of their Saint Esprit, their 
 Holy Spirit, so there is news that the Hollander have taken 
 from Spain all her Saints ; I mean Todos los santos, which is 
 one of the chiefest Staples of Sugar in Brazil. No more, 
 but that I wish you all health, honour, and heart's desire. — 
 Your much obliged Nephew and Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Zond. , 26 0/ Odob. 1625. 
 
 XI. 
 
 To Captain Tho. B^from York. 
 
 NOBLE Captain, Yours of the ist of March was 
 deliver'd me by Sir Bich. Scott, and I held it no pro- 
 fanation of this Sunday-evening, considering the quality of 
 my Subject, and having (I thank God for it) perform'd all 
 Church-duties, to employ some hours to meditate on you, and 
 send you this friendly salute, tho' I confess in an unusual 
 monitory way. My dear Captain, I love you perfectly well ; 
 I love both your Person and Parts, which are not vulgar ; I 
 am in love with your Disposition, which is generous, and I 
 verily think you were never guilty of any pusillanimous Act 
 in your life : Nor is this Love of mine conferr'd upon you 
 gratis, but you may challenge it as your due, and by way 
 of correspondence, in regard of those thousand convincing 
 Evidences you have given me of yours to me, which ascertain 
 me, that vou take me for a true Friend. Now I am of the 
 number of those that had rather commend the Virtue of an 
 Enemv, than sooth the Vices of a Friend ; for your own 
 particular, if your parts of Virtue and your Infirmities were 
 cast into a balance, I know the first would much out-poise 
 
 the
 
 Sect. 5. Familiar Letters. 259 
 
 the other : Yet give me leave to tell you^ that there is 
 one frailty, or rather ill-favour'd custom, that reigns in you, 
 which weighs much ; it is a humour of Swearing in all your 
 discourses ; and they are not slight, but deep, far-fetch'd 
 Oaths that you are wont to rap out^ which you use as flowers 
 o( Rhetoric to enforce a faith upon the hearers, who believe 
 you never the more : And you use this in cold blood when 
 you are not provok'd, which makes the humour far more 
 dangerous. I know many (and I cannot say I myself am 
 free from it, God forgive me) that being transported with 
 choler, and as it were made drunk with passion by some 
 sudden provoking Accident, or extreme ill Fortune at play, 
 will let fall Oaths and deep protestations: But to Belch out, 
 and send forth, as it were, whole volleys of Oaths and Curses 
 in a calm humour, to verify every trivial Discourse, is a 
 thing of horror. I knew a King, that being cross'd in his 
 Game, would, among his Oaths, fall on the ground, and 
 bite the very earth in the rough of his passion ; I heard of 
 another King {Henry IV. of France) that in his highest dis- 
 temper would swear by Ventre de St. Oris, by the Belly of 
 St. Gris: I heard of an Italian, that having been much 
 accustom'd to blaspheme, was wean'd from it by a pretty 
 wile; for having been one night at play, and lost all his 
 money, after many execrable Oaths, and having offcr'd 
 money to another to go out to face Heaven, and defy God, 
 he threw himself upon a Bed hard by, and there fell asleep: 
 The other Gamesters play'd on still, and finding that he was 
 fast asleep, they put out the Candles, and made semblance 
 to play on still ; they fell a wrangling, and spoke so loud 
 that he awaken'd : He hearing them play on still, fell a rub- 
 bing his eyes, and his Conscience presently promjjted him 
 that he was struck blind, and that God's Judgment had de- 
 servedly fallen down upon him for his Blasphemies; and so 
 he fell to sigh and weep pitifully : A ghostly Father was sent 
 for, who undertook to do some Acts of Penance for him, if 
 he would make a Vow never to play again, or blaspheme ; 
 which he did, and so the candles were lighted again, which 
 
 he
 
 26o Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 he thought were burning all the while : So he became a per- 
 fect Convert. I could wish this Letter might produce the 
 same effect in you. There is a strong Text^ that the curse 
 of Heaven hangs always over the dwelling of the Swearer ; 
 and you have more fearful examples of miraculous Judgments 
 in this particular^ than of any other sin. 
 
 There is a little Town in hanguedoc in France, that hath 
 a multitude of the Pictures of the Virgin Mary up and 
 down ; but she is made to carry Christ in her right Arm^ 
 contrary to the ordinary custom ; and the reason they told 
 me was this, that two Gamesters being at play, and one 
 having lost all his money, and bolted out many blasphemies, 
 he gave a deep Oath, that that Whore upon the Wall, 
 meaning the Picture of the blessed Vircrin, was the cause of 
 his ill luck ; hereupon the Child remov'd imperceptibly from 
 the left Arm to the right, and the Man fell stark dumb ever 
 after: Thus went the Tradition there. This makes me 
 think of the Lady SouthiveWs news from Utopia, that he 
 who sweareth when he playeth at dice, may challenge his 
 damnation by way of purchase. This infandous custom of 
 swearing, I observe, reigns in Eiigland lately more than any- 
 where else ; tho' a German in highest puff of passion swears 
 a hundred thousand Sacraments, the Italian by the Whore 
 of God^ the French by his Death, the Spaniard by his Flesh, 
 the Welshman by his Siveai, the Irishmaji by his Five JVounds^ 
 tho' the Scot commonly bids the Devil hale his Soul; yet 
 for Variety of Oaths the English Roarers put down all. 
 Consider well what a dangerous thing it is to tear in pieces 
 that dreadful Name which makes the vast Fabrick of the 
 World to tremble, that holy Name wherein the whole Hier- 
 archy of Heaven doth triumph, that blissful Name, wherein 
 consists the fulness of all felicity. I know this custom in 
 you yet is but a light Disposition, 'tis no Habit I hope ; let 
 me therefore conjure you, by that power of Friendship, by 
 that holy league of Love which is between us, that you 
 would suppress it before it come to that; for I must tell 
 you, that those who could find in their hearts to love you 
 
 for
 
 Sect. 5. Familiar Letters. 261 
 
 for many other things, do disrespect you for this ; they hate 
 your Company, and give no credit to whatever you say, it 
 being one of the punishments of a Swearer, as well as of a 
 Lyar, not to be believ'd when he speaks truth. 
 
 Excuse me that I am so free with you, what I write pro- 
 ceeds from the clear current of a pure Affection; and I shall 
 heartily thank you, and take it for an Argument of love, if 
 vou tell me of my weaknesses, which are (God wot) too too 
 many; for my body is but a Cargazon of corrupt humours, 
 and being not able to overcome them all at once, I do en- 
 deavour to do it by degrees : Like Sertoriuss Soldier, who 
 when he could not cut off the Horse-tail with his Sword at 
 one blow, fell to pull out the hairs one by one. And touch- 
 ing this particular humour from which I disswade you, it 
 hath rag'd in me too often by contingent fits ; but I thank 
 God for it, I find it much abated and purged. Now the 
 only Physic I used was a precedent Fast, and recourse to 
 the holv Sacrament the next day, of purpose to implore 
 pardon for what had passed, and power for the future to 
 quell those exorbitant motions, those ravings and feverish 
 fits of the Soul, in regard there are no infirmities more 
 dangerous; for at the same instant they have being, they 
 become impieties. And the greatest symptom of Amend- 
 ment I find in me is, because whenever I hear the holy 
 Name of GOD blasphem'd by any other, it makes my heart 
 to tremble within my breast. Now it is a penitential 
 Rule, That if Sins present do not please thee, Sins past 
 will not hurt thee. All other Sins have their object, either 
 pleasure or profit, or some Aim and Satisfaction to Body 
 or Mind; but this hath none at all : Therefore fye upon't, 
 my dear Captain, try whether you can make a con- 
 (juest of yourself, in subduing this execrable custom. 
 yllexander subdued the World, Ccesar his Enemies, Htv- 
 67//e?^ Monsters; but he that o'ercomes himself is the true 
 valiant Captain. I have herewith sent you a Hymn, con- 
 sonant to this subject, because I know you arc musical, and 
 a good Poet.
 
 262 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book I. 
 
 A Gradual Hymn of a double Cadence, tending to the 
 honour of the holy Name of GOD. 
 
 T ET the 7mst Universe, 
 ■L^ And therein ev'ry thing 
 
 The mighty Acts rehearse 
 Of their immortal King, 
 His Name extol 
 what to Nadir 
 from Zenith stir 
 'Tuiixt Pole and Pole. 
 
 2. Ye Eletnents that tnove, 
 And alter ev'ry hour. 
 
 Yet herein constafit prove, 
 ^;/rtf symbolize allfojir; 
 His praise to tell, 
 mix all in one 
 for air and tone 
 To sotiud this peal, 
 
 3. Earth, which the centre art, 
 And only standest still. 
 
 Yet move, and bear thy part ; 
 Resound with Echoes shrill ; 
 Thy Mities of Gold, 
 with precious Stones.^ 
 and Unions, 
 His Fame uphold. 
 
 4. Let all thy fragrant Flowers 
 Grow sweeter by this air, 
 
 Thy tallest Trees and Bowers 
 Bud forth and blossom fair ; 
 Beasts wild and tatne 
 whojn lodgitigs yield 
 house, dens, or fields 
 Collated his Name. 
 
 5. Ye Seas with Earth that make 
 One Globe flow high, atid swell. 
 
 Exalt your Maker's Name, 
 Ifi deep his wonders tell ; 
 Leviathan, 
 atid what doth swim 
 near batik or britn, 
 His Glory scan. 
 
 6. Ye airy Regions all 
 Join ifi a sweet consent. 
 
 Blow such a Madrigal 
 
 May reach the Firmament ; 
 Winds, Hail, Ice, Snow, 
 and pearly Drops, 
 that hang on crops. 
 His Wonders shew. 
 
 7. Ptire Element of Fire 
 With holy sparks inflame 
 
 This sublunary Choir, 
 
 That all one Consort frame ; 
 Their spirits raise. 
 To trumpet forth 
 Their Maker's worth, 
 And sound his Praise. 
 
 8. Ye glorious Lamps that roll 
 In your celestial Spheres, 
 
 All under his cotitroul. 
 
 Who you 071 Poles tip bears ; 
 Hitn magfiify 
 
 Ye Platiets bright, 
 Atidfixed Lights 
 That deck the Sky. 
 
 9. O Heaven Chrystalline, 
 Which by thy watry hue 
 
 Dost temper and refine 
 The rest in azur'd bltte ; 
 His Glory sound 
 thou first Mobile, 
 which mak'st all wheel 
 In circle round. 
 
 10. 
 
 Ye gloriotis Souls who reign 
 
 hi setnpiternal joy, 
 Free from those cares atid pain 
 Which here did you annoy. 
 And him behold 
 in whom all Bliss 
 concetttred is. 
 His Laud unfold. 
 
 II.
 
 Sect. 5. 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 26 
 
 II. Blest Maid which dost sur- 
 mount 
 All Saints and Seraphifts, 
 And reigiist as Para7>iount 
 Arid chief of Che?'ubins, 
 Chatint otit his Praise, 
 who in thy womb 
 nine months took room, 
 Thd crowiid with rays. 
 
 12. O let my Soul and Heart, 
 
 My Mind and Memory 
 Bear in this Hymn a part, 
 
 And join with Earth and Sky j 
 Let ev'ry Wight 
 the world o'er 
 laud and adore 
 The Lord of Light. 
 
 All your Friends here are well, Tovi Young excepted, who 
 I fear hath not lono; to live anions: us. So I rest — Your 
 true Friend, J. H. 
 
 York, the i of Aug. 1628. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 XII. 
 
 To Will. Austin, Esq. 
 
 I HAVE many thanks to give you for that excellent Poem 
 you sent me upon the Passion of Christ ; surely you 
 were possess'd with a very strong Spirit when you penn'd it, 
 you were become a true Enthusiast : for, let me despair, if I 
 lie unto you, all the while I was perusing it, it committed 
 holy rapes upon my Soul ; methought I felt my heart melt- 
 ing within my breast, and my thoughts transported to a 
 true Elysium all the while, there were such flexanimous 
 strong ravishing strains thro'out it. To deal plainly with 
 you, it were an injury to the public good, not to expose to 
 open light such divine raptures, for they have an edifying 
 power in them, and may be term'd the very quintessence of 
 Devotion : you discover in them what rich talent you have, 
 which should not be bury'd within the walls of a private 
 Study, or pass thro' a few particular hands, but appear in 
 public view, and to the sight of the World, to the enriching 
 of others, as they did me in reading them. Therefore I shall 
 long to see them pass from the Bankside to PauVs- Churchyard, 
 with other precious Pieces of yours, which you have pleased 
 to impart unto me — Your affectionate Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Oxford, 20 A7cg. 1628. 
 
 XIII.
 
 264 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book I. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 XIII. 
 
 To Sir I. S., Knight. 
 
 YOU writ to me lately for a Footman, and I think this 
 Bearer will fit you : I know he can run well, for he 
 hath run away twice from me, but he knew the way back 
 again. Yet tho' he hath a running head as well as running 
 heels (and who will expect a Footman to be a stay'd man?), 
 I would not part with him were I not to go Post to the 
 North. There be some things in him that answer for his 
 waggeries ; he will come when you call him, go when you 
 bid him, and shut the door after him ; he is faithful and 
 stout, and a lover of his Master : He is a great enemy to all 
 dogs, if they bark at him in his running, for I have seen him 
 confront a huge Mastiff, and knock him down; when you 
 go a country journey, or have him run with you a hunting, 
 you must spirit him with liquor; you must allow him also 
 something extraordinary for Socks, else you must not have 
 him to wait at your Table ; when his grease melts in running 
 hard, 'tis subject to fall into his toes. I send him you but 
 for a trial ; if he be not for your turn, turn him over to me 
 again when I come back. 
 
 The best News I can send you at this time is, that we 
 are like to have Peace both with France and Spain ; so that 
 Harwich Men, your Neighbours, shall not hereafter need to 
 fear the Name of Spinola, who struck such an Apprehension 
 into them lately, that I understand they began to fortify. 
 
 I pray present my most humble Service to my good Lady, 
 and at my return from the North, I will be bold to kiss her 
 hands and yours. So I am — Your much obliged Servitor, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 Lond., 25 0/ May 1628. 
 
 XIV.
 
 Sect. 5. Familiar Letters. 265 
 
 XIV. 
 
 To my Father. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 OUR two younger Brothers, which you sent hither, 
 are dispos'd of; my Brother Doctor hath placed the 
 elder of the two with Mr. Hawes, a Mercer in Cheapside, 
 and he took much pains in't; and I had placed my Brother 
 Ned with Mr. Barrtngton, a Silk-man in the same Street ; 
 but afterwards for some inconveniences I remov'd him to 
 one Mr. Smith at the Flower-de-luce in Lombard-street, a 
 Mercer also. Their Masters both of them are very well to 
 pass, and of good repute; I think it will prove some advan- 
 tage to them hereafter, to be both of one trade ; because when 
 they are out of their time, they may join Stocks together: 
 so that I hope, Sir, they are as well placed as any two Youths 
 in London, but vou must not use to send them such large 
 tokens in money, for that may corrupt them. When I 
 went to bind my brother Ned apprentice in Drapers-Hall, 
 casting my eyes upon the Chimne^'-piece of the great Room, 
 I spy'd a picture of an ancient Gentleman, and underneath, 
 Thomas Howell: I ask'd the Clerk about him; and he told 
 me, that he had been a Spanish Merchant in Henry VIII.'s 
 time, and coming home rich, and dying a Bachelor, he gave 
 that Hall to the Company of Drapers, with other things, so 
 that he is accounted one of the chieftest Benefactors. I 
 told the Clerk, that one of the Sons of Thomas Howell came 
 now thither to be bound ; he answer'd, that if he be a right 
 Howell, he may have, when he is free, three hundred pounds 
 to help to set up, and pav no Interest for five years. It may 
 be hereafter we will make use of this. He told me also, 
 that any Maid that can prove her Father to be a true Howell, 
 may come and demand fifty pounds towards her portion of 
 the said Hall. I am to go post towards York to-morrow, 
 to my charge, but hope, God willing, to be here again the 
 
 next
 
 266 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 next term : So, with my love to my Brother Howell, and my 
 Sister his wife, I rest — Your dutiful Son, J. H. 
 
 Lond., 30 Sept. 1629. 
 
 XV. 
 
 To my Brother, Dr. Howell, at Jesus College in Oxon. 
 
 Brother, 
 
 I HAVE sent you here inclos'd. Warrants for four brace 
 of Bucks and a Stag; the last Sir Arthur Manivaring 
 procur'd of the King for you, towards the keeping of 
 your Act. I have sent you also a Warrant for a brace of 
 Bucks out of IVaddoji Chace ; besides, you shall receive by 
 this Carrier a great Wicker Hamper, with two Geoules 
 of Sturgeon, six barrels of pickled Oysters, three barrels of 
 Bologna Olives, with some other Spanish commodities. 
 
 My Lord President of the North hath lately made me 
 Patron of a Living hard by Henley, call'd Hamhledon ; it is 
 worth ^500 a year communilnis ajinis ; and the now Incum- 
 bent, Dr. Pilkinton, is very aged, valetudinary, and corpulent: 
 My Lord by legal instrument hath transmitted the next Ad- 
 vowson to me for satisfaction of some Arrearages. Dr. 
 Dommlaw and two or three more have been with me about 
 it, but I always intended to make the first proffer to you ; 
 therefore I pray think of it ; a sum of money must be had, 
 but you shall be at no trouble for that, if you only will 
 secure it (and desire one more who I know will do it for 
 you), and it shall appear to you that you have it upon far 
 better terms than any other. It is as finely situated as any 
 Rectory can be, for it is about the mid-way 'twixt Oxford 
 and London; it lies upon the Thames, and the Glebe-land 
 House is very large and fair, and not dilapidated ; so that, 
 considering all things, it is as good as some Bishopricks. I 
 know His Majesty is gracious to you, and you may well expect 
 some Preferment that way, but such Livings as these are not 
 to be had everywhere. I thank you for inviting me to your 
 Act; I will be with you the next week, God willing, and 
 
 hope
 
 Sect. 5. Familiar Letters. 267 
 
 hope to find my Father there. So, with my kind love to 
 Dr. Ma/isell, Mr. IVatkiiis, Mr. Madocks, and Mr. Napier at 
 All-Souls, I rest — Your loving Brother, J. H. 
 
 Land., 20 June 1628. 
 
 F 
 
 XVI. 
 
 To my Father, Mr. Ben. Johnson. 
 
 ATHER Beri. Nullum Jit magnum ingenium sine mix- 
 tura dementice, there's no great Wit without some 
 mixture of madness ; so saith the Philosopher : Nor was he 
 a fool who answer'd, nee parvum sine mixtura stultitice, nor 
 small wit without some allay of foolishness. Touching the 
 first, it is verify 'd in you, for I find that you have been often- 
 times mad ; you were mad when you writ your Fox, and 
 madder when you writ your Alchymist ; you were mad when 
 you writ Catilin, and stark mad when you writ Sejanus ; 
 but when you writ your Epigrams, and the Magnetick 
 Lady, you were not so mad : Insomuch that I perceive there 
 be degrees of madness in you. Excuse me that I am so free 
 with you. The madness I mean is that divine Fury, that 
 heating and heightning Spirit which Ovid speaks of. 
 
 Est Deus in nohis, agitunte calescimus illo : That true En- 
 thusiasm which transports, and elevates the souls of Poets 
 above the middle Region of vulgar conceptions, and makes 
 them soar up to Heaven to touch the Stars with their 
 laurell'd heads, to walk in the Zodiac with Apollo himself, 
 and command Mercury upon their errand. 
 
 I cannot yet light upon Dr. Davies's Welsh Grammar, 
 before Christmas I am promis'd one : So, desiring you to 
 look better hereafter to your Charcoal-fire and Chimmey, 
 which I am glad to be one that preserv'd it from burning, 
 this being the second time that Vulcan hath threaten'd you, 
 it may be because you have spoken ill of his Wife, and been 
 too busy with his Horns; I rest — Your Son, and contiguous 
 Neighbour, J. H. 
 
 WestJH., 27 June 1629. 
 
 XVII.
 
 268 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book I. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 To Sir Arthur Ingram, at his House in York. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I HAVE sent you herewith a hamper of Melons, the best 
 I could find in any of Tothill-Jield gardens, and with 
 them my very humble service and thanks for all favours, 
 and lately for inviting me to your new noble House at 
 Temple Newsam, when I return to Yorkshire : To this I 
 may answer you, as my Lord Coke was answer'd by a 
 Norfolk Countryman who had a Suit depending in the 
 King's-Bench against some Neighbours touching a River 
 that us'd to annoy him, and Sir Ediu. Coke asking how he 
 call'd the River, he answer'd, My Lord, I need not call her, 
 for she is forward enoiigh to come of herself So I may say, 
 that you need not call me to any House of yours, for I am 
 forward enough to come without callins;. 
 
 My Lord President isstill indispos'd at Dr. Nappier\'>, 
 yet he writ to me lately, that he hopes to be at the next 
 Sitting in York. So, with a tender of my most humble 
 Service to my noble good Lady, I rest — Your most obliged 
 Servant, J. H. 
 
 Lond., 2^ July 1629. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 XVIII. 
 To R. S., Esq. 
 
 I AM one of them who value not a Courtesy that 
 hangs long betwixt the fingers. I love not those vis- 
 cosa henejicia, those birdlim'd Kindnesses which Pliny speaks 
 of; nor would I receive Money in a dirty Clout, if possibly 
 I could be without it : Therefore I return you the Courtesy 
 by the same hand that brought it ; it might have pleasur'd 
 me at first, but the expectation of it hath prejudic'd me, 
 and now perhaps you may have more need of it than — Your 
 humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 IVestm., 3 Aug. 1629. 
 
 XIX.
 
 Sect. 5. Familiar Letters. 269 
 
 XIX. 
 
 To the Countess of Sunderland, at York. 
 
 Madam, 
 
 MY Lord continues still in a course of Physick at Dr. 
 Nappier's ; I writ to him lately, that his Lordship 
 would please to come to his own House here in Martin's 
 Lane, where there is a greater Accommodation for the 
 recovery of his health, Dr. Maijern being on the one side, 
 and the King's Apothecary on the other: But I fear there 
 be some Mountebanks that carry him away, and I hear 
 he intends to remove to Wickham to one Atkinson, a mere 
 Quacksalver, that was once Dr. Lopez his Man. 
 
 The little Knight that useth to draw up his Breeches with 
 a shooing-horn, I mean Sir PostJiumus Hobby, flew high at 
 him this Parliament, and would have inserted his Name in 
 the Scrowl of Recusants, that's shortly to be presented to 
 the King; but I produc'd a Certificate from Lindford under 
 the Minister's hand, that he receiv'd the Communion at 
 Easter last, and so got his Name out : Besides, the Deputy 
 Lieutenants of Buckinghamshire would have charg'd Biggin- 
 Farm with a Light-horse, but Sir IVill. Alford and others 
 join'd with me to get off. 
 
 Sir Tho. IVentworth and Mr. JVansford are grown great 
 Courtiers lately, and come from IVestminster-Hall to IVJiite- 
 Hall : (Sir Jo. Savill their Countryman having shewn them 
 the wav with his ivhite Staff.) The Lord Weston tamper'd 
 with the one, and my Lord Cottington took pains with the 
 other, to bring them about from their violence against the 
 Prerogative : And I am told the first of them is promis'd 
 my Lord's Place at York, in case his sickness continue. 
 
 We are like to have Peace with Spain and France : And 
 for Germany, they say the Swedes are like to strike into 
 her, to try whether they may have better fortune than the 
 Danes. 
 
 My Lady Scroop (my Lord's Mother) hath lain sick a 
 
 good
 
 270 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book I. 
 
 good while, and is very weak. So I rest — Madam, vour 
 
 J. H. 
 
 humble and dutiful Servitor, 
 IVesim., 5 Aiig. 1629. 
 
 XX. 
 
 To Dr. H. W. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 IT is a Rule in Friendship, JVhen distrust enters in at the 
 Fore-gate, Love goes out at the Postern : It is as true a 
 Rule, that 97 aTTopla rrj'^ i7rtaT^fir]<; ap'^r], Dubitation is the be- 
 ginning of all Knowledge; I confess this is true in the first 
 Election and Co-optation of a Friend, to come to the true 
 knowledge of him by Queries and Doubts; but when there's 
 a perfect Contract made, confirm'd by experience, and a 
 long tract of time, distrust then is mere poison to Friend- 
 ship : Therefore if it be as I am told, I am unfit to be your 
 Friend, but — Your Servant, J. H. 
 
 Westm., 20 Od. 1629. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 To Dr. H. W. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 THEY say in Italy, that Deeds are Men, and Words are 
 hut Women : I have had your Word often to give me 
 a Visit ; I pray turn your female Promises to masculine 
 Performances, else I shall think you have lost your being; 
 for you know 'tis a Rule in Law, Idem est non esse &' non 
 apparere. — Your faithful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Westfii., 25 Sept. 1629. 
 
 To Mr. B. Chaworth : On my Valentine, Mrs. Francis 
 Metcalf [now Lady Robinson), at York. 
 
 C 
 
 A Sonnet. 
 
 VULD I charm the Queen of Love, 
 To lend a quill of her white Dove ; 
 
 Or
 
 Sect. 5. Familiar Letters. 271 
 
 Or one of Cu^\d!s pointed Wings 
 Dipt in the fair Castalian sprittgs ; 
 
 Then would I write the all-divine 
 
 Perfections of my Valentine. 
 
 As 'mongst all flowers the Rose excels, 
 As Amber ^mongst the fragranf st smells, 
 As 'mongst all minerals the Gold, 
 As Marble 'mongst the finest mould, 
 As Diamonds 'mongst jewels bright. 
 As Cynthia 'mongst the lesser lights, 
 
 So 'mongst the Northern Beauties shine. 
 
 So far excels my Valentine. 
 
 Jti Rome arid Naples / did view 
 
 Faces of Celestial hue ; 
 
 Venetian Dames I have seen 7nany, 
 
 {I only saiv them, touch' d not any) 
 
 Cy Spanish Beauties, Dutch and French, 
 
 / have beheld the Qui?itessence : 
 
 Yet saw I none that could otit-shine. 
 
 Or parallel my Valentine. 
 
 Th' Italians they are coy and quaint. 
 
 But they grosly daub and paint ; 
 
 The Spanish kind, and apt to please. 
 
 But sav'ring of the same disease : 
 
 (y Dutch and French some few are comely, 
 
 The French are light, the Dutch are homely. 
 
 Let Tagus, Po, the Loire atid Rhine 
 
 Then veil unto my Valentine. 
 
 Here may be seen pure white and red. 
 
 Not by feign d Art, but Nature wed. 
 
 No simpring smiles, no mimic face, 
 
 Affected gesture, or fore' d grace, 
 
 A fair smooth front, free from least tvrinkle, 
 
 Her eyes (on me) like stars do twinkle : 
 
 Thus all Perfections do combine 
 
 To beautify my Valentine. 
 
 XXII.
 
 272 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book I. 
 
 • XXII. 
 To Mr. Tho. M. 
 
 NOBLE Tom, You desir'd me lately to compose some 
 lines upon your Mistress's black Eyes, her becoming 
 Frowns, and upon her Mask. Tho' the least request of 
 yours be a command unto me, the execution of it a con- 
 tentment, yet I was hardly drawn to such a task at this 
 time, in regard that many businesses puzzle my Pericranium. 
 — AUejia negotia centum per caput ^ circa saliunt latus. 
 Yet lest your Clorinda might expect such a thing, and that 
 you might incur the hazard of her smiles (for you say her 
 frowns are favours), and that she may take off her Mask 
 to you the next time you go to court her, I send you the 
 inclos'd Verses Sonnet-wise, which haply may please her 
 better, in regard I hear she hath some Skill in Musick. 
 
 Upon Hack Eyes, and becoming Frowns. 
 
 A Sonnet. 
 
 I^^A CK Eyes, in your dark Orbs doth lie 
 
 ■'-' My ill or happy destiny. 
 
 Jfwith clear looks you me behold. 
 
 You give me Mines ajid Moimts of Gold ; 
 
 If you dart fot'th disdainful rays, 
 
 To your own dye you turn my days. 
 
 Black Eyes, in your dark Orbs by changes dwell, 
 My Bane or Bliss, my Paradise or Hell. 
 
 That Lamp which all the Stars doth blind. 
 
 Yields to your lustre in some kind, 
 
 Tho' ye do wear to make you bright 
 
 No other dress but that of night, 
 
 He glitters only in the day. 
 
 You in the dark your beams display. 
 Black Eyes, in your two Orbs by changes dwell, 
 My Bane or Bliss, my Paradise or HelL 
 
 The
 
 Sect. 5. Familiar Letters. 273 
 
 The amnhig Thief that berks for prize. 
 
 At some dark corner watching lies ; 
 
 So that heart-robbing God doth stand 
 
 Jn your black lobbies, shaft in hand, 
 
 To rife 7ne of what I hold 
 
 More precious far than Indian Gold. 
 
 Black Eyes, in your dark Orbs by changes dwell, 
 My Bane or Bliss, my Paradise or Hell. 
 
 O pow''rful Necronianiick eyes, 
 
 Who in your circles strictly pries. 
 
 Will find that Cupid with his dart 
 
 Jfi you doth p7-actise the black art, 
 And by tK encha?itment I'm possest, 
 
 Tries his conclusions in my breast. 
 Black Eyes, in your dark Orbs by changes dwell, 
 My Bane or Bliss, my Paradise or Hell. 
 
 Look on me, tlid in froivnitig wise. 
 
 Some kind offroivns beco7ne black eyes. 
 
 As pointed Diamonds being set, 
 
 Cast greater bistre out of jet : 
 
 Those Pieces we esteemed most rare, 
 
 Which in night-shadows postur'd are : 
 
 Darkness in Chtirches congregates the sight, 
 
 Devotion strays in glaring light. 
 
 Black Eyes, in your dark Orbs by changes dwell. 
 My Bane or Bliss, my Paradise or Hell. 
 
 Touching her Mask, I will not be long ahout it. 
 Upon Clorindds Mask. 
 
 00 have I seen the Sun in his full pride, 
 ^ O'ercast with sullen clouds, and lose his light ; 
 So have I seen the brightest Stars de?iy'd 
 To shetv their lustre in some gloomy ?iight , 
 So Angels pictui'cs have I seeti vcitd o'er, 
 That 7nore devoutly 77ien should them adore ; 
 So with a Mask saw I Clorinda hide 
 Her face 77iore bright than was the Lemnian Bride. 
 
 S Whether
 
 274 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 Whether I have hit upon your fancy, or fitted your 
 Mistress, I know not; I pray let me hear what success they 
 have. So, wishing you your heart's desire, and if you have 
 her, a happy confarreation, I rest in Verse and Prose — 
 Yours, J. H. 
 
 Westm., 29 of Mar. 1629. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 To the Rt. Hon. my Lady Scroop, Countess of Sunderland, 
 
 at Lano-ar. 
 Madam, 
 
 I AM newly return'd from Himsdon, from giving the rites 
 of burial to my Lord's Mother; she made my Lord 
 sole Executor of all. I have all her plate and household- 
 stuff in my custody, and unless I had gone as I did much 
 had been embezel'd. I have sent herewith the copy of a 
 Letter the King writ to my Lord upon the resignation of 
 his place, which is fitting to be preserv'd for posterity 
 among the Records of jBo//o«-Castle. His Majesty ex- 
 presseth therein that he was never better serv'd, nor with 
 more exactness of fidelity and justice by any, therefore he 
 intends to set a special mark of his favour upon him, 
 when his health will serve him to come to Court: Mv Lord 
 Carleton deliver'd it me, and told me he never remember'd 
 that the King writ a more gracious Letter. I have lately 
 bought in fee-farm IVanless Park, of the King's Commis- 
 sioners, for my Lord ; I got it for ^600, doubling the old 
 Rent, and the next day I was offer'd ^^500 for the Bargain ; 
 there were divers that put in for't, and my Lord of Anglesey 
 thought himself sure of it, but I found means to frustrate 
 them all. I also compounded with Her Majesty's Commis- 
 sioners for respite of Homage for i?a/'Z'/- Castle; there was 
 ^120 demanded, but I came off for 40^. My Lord IVent- 
 worth is made Lord Deputy of Ireland, and carries a mighty 
 stroke at Court; there have been some clashings 'twixt him 
 
 and
 
 Sect 5. Familiar Letters. 275 
 
 and mv Lord of Pembroke lately with others at Court, and 
 divers in the North : and some, as Sir David Fowler with 
 others, have been crush'd. 
 
 He pleas'd to give me the disposing of the next Attorney's 
 place in York, and John Lister being lately dead, I went to 
 make use of the Favour, and was offer'd ^300 for it ; but 
 some got ^twixt me and home, so that I was forc'd to go 
 away contented with 100 Pieces Mr. Rat cliff deliver'd me 
 in his Chamber at Grays-Inn, and so to part with the legal 
 Instrument I had, which T did rather than contest. 
 
 The Dutchess your Niece is well ; I did what your Lady- 
 ship commanded me at York-house. So I rest, Madam — 
 Your Ladyship's ready and faithful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Westm., \ July 1629. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 To D. C, E.?g., at his House m Essex. 
 
 Mv D. D., 
 
 I THANK you for your last Society in London, but I am 
 sorry to have found Jack T. in that pickle, and that he 
 had so far transo;ressed the Faniiian Law, which allows a 
 chirping Cup to satiate, not to surfeit, to mirth, not to 
 7nadness ; and upon some extraordinary occasion of ren- 
 counters, to give Nature a fillip, but not a knock, as Jack 
 did. I am afraid he hath taken such a habit of it, that 
 nothing but death will mend him; and I find that he is 
 posting thither apace by this course. I have read of a King 
 of Navarre {Charles le Mauvais) who perish'd in strong 
 waters; and of a Duke of Clarence that was drown'd in a 
 Butt of Malmsey: But Jack T. I fear will die in a Butt 
 of Canary. Howsoever commend me to him, and desire 
 him to have a care of the main chance. So I rest — 
 Yours, J- II' 
 
 Vor/c, sf'ly 1629. 
 
 XXV.
 
 276 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book I. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 XXV. 
 
 To Sir Thomas Lake, Knight. 
 
 I HAVE shew'd Sir Keiiehn Dighy both our Translations 
 of Martial's Fitam quce faciiint heatiorem, ^c, and to 
 tell you true, he adjudged yours the better; so I shall pay 
 the wager in the place appointed, and try whether I can 
 recover myself at Gioco d'amore, which the Italiati saith is 
 a Play to cozen the Devil. If your pulse beat accordingly, 
 I will wait upon you on the River towards the evening, for 
 a Jioundritig fit to get some fish for our supper : So I 
 rest — Your true Servitor, J, H. 
 
 2, July 1629. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 To Mr. Ben. Johnson. 
 
 PATHER Ben, you desir'd me lately to procure you Dr. 
 Davies's Welsh Grammar, to add to those many you 
 have; I have lighted upon one at last, and I am glad I have 
 it in so seasonable a time that it may serve for a New- 
 year's-gift, in which quality I send it you : And because 
 'twas not you, but your Muse, that desir'd it of me, for 
 your Letter runs on feet, I thought it a good correspondence 
 with you to accompany it with what follows. 
 
 Up07i Dr. Davies's British Grammar. 
 
 ' 'V ^ WAS a tough task, believe it, thus to tame 
 -* A wild and wealthy Latiguage, and to frame 
 Gravwiatic toils to curb her, so that she 
 Now speaks by Rules, and sings by Prosody : 
 Such is the strength of Art roiigh things to shape. 
 And of rude Coinnwns rich Inclosures make. 
 Doubtless jnuch oil and labour went to couch 
 Into methodic Rules the rugged Dutch ; 
 The Rabbles pass 7ny reach, but judge 1 can 
 Something ^Clenard and Quintilian. 
 
 Italian
 
 Sect. 5. 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 277 
 
 Italian, A?idfor those modern Dames, I find they three 
 
 Spanish, Are only lops cut from the Latian Tree ; 
 
 French, And easy 'twas to square them hito parts. 
 The Tree itself so blossoming 7vith arts. 
 J have been shown for Irish and Bascuence 
 Imperfect Rules couch\i in an Accidence: 
 But I find none of these can take the start 
 (yDavies, or that prove more Men of Art, 
 Who in exacter method and short way, 
 The Idioms of a Language do display. 
 
 This is the Tongue which Bards sung in of old, 
 And Druids their dark Krioiuledge did unfold ; 
 Merlin in this his Prophecies did vent 
 Which ihrd the world of fame bear such extent : 
 
 Arthur. This spoke that Son of Mars, afid Briton bold, 
 
 Who first 'mongst Christian Worthies is enrolFd, 
 This Brennus, who to his desire and glut, 
 I he Mistress of the World did prostitute. 
 This Arviragus, and brave Catarac 
 Sole free, when all the World was on Rome's rack. 
 This Lucius, 7vho on Angels' Wiftgs did soar 
 2'o Rome, and would zvear Diadem no more ; 
 And thousand Heroes viore, which should I tell, 
 This Neiv-year scarce would serve me : So faretvell. 
 
 — Your Son and Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Cal. Apr. 1629. 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 To the Right Hon. the Earl q/" Bristol, at Sherburu-Castle. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 I ATTENDED my Lord Cottington before he went on 
 his journey towards Spain, and put him in mind of the 
 old business against the Viceroy of Sardinia, to see whether 
 any good can be done, and to learn whether the Conde or 
 his Son be solvent: He is to land at Lisbon; one of the 
 King's Ships attends him, and some Merchant-men take the 
 
 advantage of this Convoy. 
 
 The
 
 278 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 The News that keeps greatest noise now is, that the 
 Emperor hath made a favourable Peace with the Dane ; for 
 Tilly had cross'd the TLlve, and enter'd deep into Holstein- 
 land, and in all probability might have carry'd all before 
 him : yet that King had honourable Terms given him, and 
 a Peace is concluded, tho' without the privity of England. 
 But I believe the King of Denmark far'd the better, because 
 he is Grandchild to Charles the Emperor's Sister. Now it 
 seems another Spirit is like to fall upon the Emperor; for 
 they write that Gustavus King of Swethlajid is struck into 
 Germany, and hath taken Meclenhurgh : the ground of his 
 quarrel, as I hear, is, that the Emperor would not acknow- 
 ledge, much less give audience to his Ambassador; he also 
 gives out to come for the assistance of his Allies, the Dukes of 
 Pomerland oxid Meclenhurgh; nor do I hear that he speaks 
 anything yet of the Prince Palsgrave's business. 
 
 Don Carlos Coloma is expected here from Flanders, about 
 the same time that my Lord Cotiington shall be arriv'd at 
 the Court of Spain. God send us an honourable Peace : for, 
 as the Spaniard says, Nunca vi tan mala paz, que ?iefuesse 
 mejor, que la mejor guerra. — Your Lordship's most humble 
 and ready Servant, J. H. 
 
 London, 20 May 1629. 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 To my Cousin, I. P., at Mr. Conradus. 
 Cousin, 
 
 A LETTER of yours was lately delivered me; I made a 
 shift to read the superscription, but within I wonder'd 
 what Lano-uag^e it might be in which it was written; at 
 first I thought 'twas Hebrew, or some other Dialect, and 
 so went from the liver to the heart, from the right hand to 
 the left to read it, but could make nothing of it : then I 
 thought it mi2;ht be the Chinese Lanfjuagre, and went to 
 read the words perpendicular; and the lines were so crooked 
 and distorted, that no coherence could be made. Greek I 
 perceived it was not, nor Latin or English; so I gave it for 
 
 mere
 
 Sect. 5. Familiar Letters. 279 
 
 mere Gibberish, and your Characters to be rather Hiero- 
 glyphicks than Letters. The best is, you keep your lines 
 at a good distance, like those in Chancery-Bills, who, as 
 the Clerk said, were made so wide of purpose, because the 
 Clients should have room enough to walk between them 
 without justling one another; yet this widencss had been 
 excusable, if your lines had been straight, but they were full 
 of odd kind of Undulations and Windings. If you can 
 write no otherwise, one may read your thoughts as soon 
 as your characters. It is some excuse for you that you are 
 but a young beginner: I pray let it appear in your next 
 what a proficient you are, otherwise some blame may light 
 on me that placed you there. Let me receive no more 
 Gibberish or Hieroglyphicks from you, but legible Letters, that 
 I may acquaint your Friends accordingly of your good pro- 
 ceedings. So I rest — Your very loving Cousin, J. H. 
 Westm., 20 SeJ)t. 1629. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 To the Lord Viscoiuit Wentvvorth, Lord President of York. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 MY last was of the first current, since which I receiv'd 
 one from your Lordship, and your commands there- 
 in, which I shall ever entertain with a great deal of cheer- 
 fulness. The greatest news from Abroad is, that the 
 French King with his Cardinal are come again on this side 
 the Hills, having done his business in Italy and Savoy, and 
 reserv'd still Pignerol in his hands, which will serve him as 
 a key to enter Italy at pleasure. Upon the highest Moun- 
 tain 'mongst the Alps, he left this ostentous Inscription 
 upon a great Marble Pillar: 
 
 A la memoire eiernelh de Louis Treiziesme, 
 
 Roy de France 6^ de Navarre, 
 Tres-Angusie, ires- Vtctort'eux, ires-Heureux, 
 
 Conquerant, ires-jusie : 
 
 Lequel
 
 28o Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 Lequel apres avoir vaincu tozites les Nations 
 
 de /'Europe, 
 // a encore triwnphe les Elements 
 
 JDu del 6^ de la Terre, 
 Ay ant passe deux fois ces Monts au viois 
 
 de Mars avec son Armee 
 Victorieuse, pour remettre les Princes 
 
 ^'Italic en leurs Estats, 
 Defendre &= proteger ses Alliez. 
 
 To the eternal Memory of Lewis XIII. King of France 
 and Navarre, most gracious, most victorious, most happy, 
 most just, a Conqueror; who having o'ercome all Nations 
 of Europe, he hath also triumph'd over the Elements of 
 Heaven and Earth, having twice pass'd o'er these Hills in 
 the month of March with his victorious Army, to restore the 
 Princes of Italy to their Estates, and to defend and protect 
 his Allies. So I take my leave for the present, and rest — 
 Your Lordship's most humble and ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 JVest/n., 5 Aug. 1629. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 To Sir Kenelm Digby, Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 GIVE me leave to congratulate your happy return from 
 the Levant, and the great honour you have acquir'd 
 by your gallant comportment in Algier, in re-escating so 
 many English Slaves ; by bearing up so bravely against the 
 renetian Fleet in the Bay of Scanderoon, and making the 
 Pantaloni to know themselves and You better. I do not 
 remember to have read or heard that those huge Galleasses 
 of St. Mark were beaten afore. I give you the joy also, 
 that you have born up against the Vejietian Ambassador 
 here, and vindicated yourself of those foul scandals he had 
 cast upon you in your Absence. Whereas you desire me to 
 join with my Lord Cottinghain and others, to mzk^ Affidavit 
 touching Bartholomew Spinola, whether he be Fezino de 
 Madrid, viz., Free Denison of Spain ; I am ready to serve 
 
 vou
 
 Sect. 5. Familiar Letters. 281 
 
 vou herein, or to do any other office that mav rioht you, 
 and tend to the making of your Prize good. Yet I am very 
 sorry that our Aleppo Merchants sufter'd so much, 
 
 I shall be shortly in London, and I will make the greater 
 speed, because I may serve you. So I humbly kiss my noble 
 Lady's hand, and rest — Your thrice assured Servitor, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 Westm., 25 Nov. 1629. 
 
 XXXL 
 
 To the Rt. Hon. Sir Peter Wicht^ Amhassador at 
 
 Constantinople. 
 Sir, 
 
 MASTER Simon Dighy deliver'd me one from your 
 Lordship of the first of Jnne ; and 1 was extremely 
 glad to have it, for I had receiv'd nothing from your Lord- 
 ship a twelvemonth before. Mr. Controuler Sir Tho. 
 Edmonds is lately return'd from France, having renew'd 
 the Peace which was made up to his hands before by the 
 (Venetian Ambassadors, who had much labour'd in it, and 
 had concluded all things beyond the Alps, when the K. of 
 France was at Susa to relieve Casal. The Monsieur that 
 was to fetch him from St. Dennis to Paris put a kind of 
 jeering Compliment upon him, viz., that his Excellency 
 should not think it strano;e that he had so few French 
 Gentlemen to attend in this Service to accompany him to 
 the Court, in regard there were so many kilUd at the Isle of 
 Rhee. The Marquis of Chat eanneiif is herefrom France: 
 And it was an odd Speech also from him, reflecting upon 
 Mr. Controuler, that the King of Great Britain used to 
 send for his Ambassadors from abroad to pluck Capons at 
 home. 
 
 Mr. Burlemach is to go shortly to Paris, to recover the 
 other moiety of Her Majesty's Portion ; whereof they say 
 my Lord of Holland is to have a good share. The Lord 
 Treasurer Weston is he who hath the greatest vosruc now 
 at Court, but many great ones have clash'd with him: He 
 
 is
 
 282 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 is so potent^ that I hear his eldest Son is to marry one of 
 the Blood-royal of Scotland, the Duke of Lenoxes Sister, 
 and that with His Majesty's consent. 
 
 Bishop Laud of London is also powerful in his way, for 
 he sits at the Helm of the Church, and doth more than any 
 of the two Arch-Bishops, or all the rest of his two and 
 twenty Brethren besides. 
 
 In your next I should be glad your Lordship would do 
 me the favour, as to write how the Grand Signior is like to 
 speed before Bagdat, in this his Persian expedition. No 
 more now, but that I always rest — Your Lordship's ready 
 and most faithful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Westm., \ Jan. 1629. 
 
 xxxn. 
 
 To my Father. 
 Sir, 
 
 SUi Tho. Wentworth hath been a good while Lord Pre- 
 sident of York, and since is sworn Privy Counsellor, 
 and made Baron and Viscount ; the Duke of Buckingham 
 himself flew not so high in so short a revolution of time : 
 He was made Viscount with a great deal of high ceremony 
 upon a Sunday in the Afternoon at White-hall. My Lord 
 Powis (who affects him not so much) being told that the 
 Heralds had fetch'd his Pedigree from the Blood-royal, viz., 
 from John of Gaunt, said, Damrruj if ever he come to he 
 King of England, I ivill turn Rebel. When I went first 
 to give him jov, he pleas'd to give me the disposing of the 
 next Attorney's place that falls void in York, which is valued 
 at .^300. I have no reason to leave my Lord of Sunderland, 
 for I hope he will be noble unto me. The perquisites of 
 my place, taking the King's fee away, came far short of 
 what he promis'd me at my first coming to him, in regard 
 of his non-residence at York; therefore I hope he will con- 
 sider it some other way. This languishing sickness still 
 hangs on him, and I fear will make an end of him. There's 
 none can tell what to make of it, but he voided lately a 
 
 small
 
 Sect. 5. Familiar Letters. 283 
 
 
 
 small Worm at JVickham : But I fear there's an impos- 
 thume growing in him^ for he told me a passage, how many 
 years ago my Lord IVilloughhy , and he, with so many of 
 their servants' {de gayete de coeur), play'd a match at foot- 
 ball against such a number of Countrymen, where my Lord 
 of Sunderlnud being busy about the ball, got a bruise in the 
 breast ; which put him in a swoon for the present, but did 
 not trouble him till three Months after, when being at 
 Bef^r- Castle (his brother-in-law's house) a qualm took him 
 on a sudden, which made him retire to his Bed-chamber. 
 My Lord of Rutland following him, put a Pipe full of To- 
 bacco in his mouth ; he being not accustom'd to Tobacco, 
 taking the smoak downwards, fell a casting and vomiting 
 up divers little imposthumated bladders of congeal'd blood; 
 which sav'd his life then, and brought him to have a better 
 conceit of Tobacco ever after : And I fear there is some of 
 that clodded blood still in his bodv. 
 
 Because Mr. Hawes of Cheapside is lately dead, I have 
 remov'd my brother Griffith to the Hen and Chickens in 
 Paternoster-Row to Mr. Taylor s, as genteel a shop as any 
 in the City ; but I gave a piece of plate of twenty nobles 
 price to his Wife. I wish the Yorkshire horse may be fit 
 for vour turn : he was accounted the best saddle Gelding 
 about York, when I bought him of Capt. Phillips the 
 Muster-master : And when he carry'd me first to Lofidon, 
 there was twenty pounds ofFer'd for him by my Lady 
 Carlile. No more now, but desiring a continuance of vour 
 blessing and prayers, I rest — Your dutiful Son, J. H. 
 
 Zand., 3 Dec. 1630. 
 
 XXXIIL 
 
 To the Lord Cottington, Ambassador Extraordinary for His 
 Majesty of Great Britain in the Court of Spain. 
 My Lord, 
 
 IRECCIV'D your Lordship's lately by Harry Davies 
 the Correo Santo, and I return my humble thanks, 
 
 that
 
 284 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book I. 
 
 that you were pleas'd to be mindful (among so many high 
 negotiations) of the old business touching the Vice-roy of 
 Sardinia. I have acquainted my Lord of Bristol accord- 
 ingly ; our eyes here look very greedily after your Lord- 
 ship, and the success of your Embassy; and we are glad to 
 hear the business is brought to so good a pass, and that the 
 Capitulations are so honourable (the high effects of your 
 wisdom). 
 
 For news, the Sweds do notable feats in Germany ; and 
 we hope they cutting the Emperor and Bavarian so much 
 work to do, and the good offices we are to expect from 
 Spain upon this redintegration of peace, will be an Advan- 
 tao;e to the Prince Palatine, and facilitate matters for re- 
 storing him to his Country, 
 
 There is little news at our Court, but that there fell an ill- 
 favour'd quarrel 'twixt Sir Kenehn Dighy, and Mr. Goring, 
 Mr. Jermin, and others at St. Jameses, lately, about Mrs. 
 Baker the Maid of Honour; and Duels were like to grow 
 of it, but that the business was taken up by the Lord Trea- 
 surer, my Lord of Dorset, and others appointed by the 
 King. My Lord Sunderland is still ill dispos'd ; he will'd 
 me to remember his hearty service to your Lordship, and so 
 did Sir Arthur Ingram, and my Lady; they all wish you a 
 happy and honourable return, as doth — Your Lordship's 
 most humble and ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Lond., I Mar. 1630. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 To my Lord Viscount Rocksavage. 
 Mv Lord, 
 
 SOME say, The Italian loves no favour, hut what^ s future ; 
 tho' I have convers'd much with that Nation, yet I 
 am nothing infected with their humour in this point: For 
 I love favours pass'd as well ; the remembrance of them joys 
 my very heart, and makes it melt within me : When my 
 thoughts reflect upon your Lordship, I have many of these 
 fits of joy within me, by the pleasing speculation of so many 
 
 most
 
 Sect. 5. Familiar Letters. 285 
 
 most noble favours and respects which I shall daily study 
 to improve and merit. My Lord — Your Lordship's most 
 humble and ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Westm.^ 22 Mar. 1630. 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 To the Earl o/" Bristol. 
 My Lord, 
 
 I DOUBT not but your Lordship hath had intelligence 
 from time to time what firm invasions the King of 
 Sweds hath made into Germany, and by what degrees he 
 hath mounted to this height, having but 6000 foot, and 500 
 horse, when he enter'd first to Meclenhurg, and taking that 
 Town while Commissioners stood treating on both sides in 
 his Tent; how thereby his Army much increas'd, and so 
 rush'd further into the heart of the Country ; but passing 
 near Magdeidnirg, being diffident of his own strength, he 
 suffcr'd Tilly to take that great Town with so much effusion 
 of blood, because they would receive no quarter. Your 
 Lordship hath also heard of the battel of Leipsick, where 
 Tilly, notwithstanding the Victory he had got o'er the D. of 
 Saxony a few days before, receiv'd an utter discomfiture ; 
 upon which Victory the King sent Sir Tho. Roe a present of 
 ^£■'2000, and in his letter calls him his strenuum consnltorem, 
 he beinji one of the first who had advis'd him to this German 
 War, after he had made Peace 'twixt him and the Polander. 
 I presume also, your Lordship heard how he met Tilly again 
 near Anspurg, and made him go upon a wooden Leg, whereof 
 he died ; and after soundly plunder'd the Bavarian, and made 
 him flee from his own house at Munchen, and rifled his very 
 Closets. 
 
 Now your Lordship shall understand, that the said King 
 is at Mentz, and keeps a Court there like an Emperor, there 
 being above twelve Ambassadors with him. The K. of 
 France sent a great Marquis for his Ambassador, to put liini 
 in mind of his Articles, and to tell him that His Christian 
 
 Majesty
 
 286 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 Majesty wonder'd he would cross the Rhbie without his 
 privity, and wonder'd more that he would invade the 
 Church-Lands, meaning the Archbishop of Mentz, who had 
 put himself under the protection of France. The Swede an- 
 swer'd, that he had not broke the least tittle of the Articles 
 agreed on ; and touching the said Archbishop, he had not 
 stood neutral as was promised, therefore he had justly set on 
 his skirts. The Ambassador reply'd, in case of breach of 
 Articles, his Master had 80,000 men to pierce Germany when 
 he pleas'd. The King answer'd, that he had but 20,000, 
 and those should be sooner at the Walls of Paris, than his 
 80,000 should be on the frontiers of Germany. If this 
 new Conqueror goes on with this violence, I believe it will 
 cast the Policy of all Christendom into another mould, and 
 beget new Maxims of State, for none can foretell where his 
 monstrous progress will terminate. Sir Henry Vane is still 
 in Germaiiy observing his motions, and they write that they 
 do not agree well ; as I heard the King should tell him that 
 he spoke nothing but Spanish to him. Sir Robert Anstruther 
 is also at Vienna, being gone thither from the Diet at 
 Ratishon. 
 
 I hear the Infante Cardinal is design'd to come Governor 
 of the Netherlands, and passeth by way of Italy, and so thro' 
 Germany : His brother Don Carlos is lately dead. So I 
 humbly take my leave, and rest, my Lord — Your Lord- 
 ship's most humble and ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Westm., 23 Apr. 1630. 
 
 XXXVL 
 
 To my nolle Lady, the Lady Cor. 
 Madam, 
 '\/'0U spoke to me for a Cook who had seen the world 
 X Abroad, and I think the Bearer hereof will fit your 
 Ladyship's turn. He can marinate fish, make gellies ; he 
 is excellent for a piquant sauce, and the Hai/gou ; besides, 
 Madam, he is passing good for an OlUa : He will tell your 
 
 Ladyship 
 
 I
 
 Sect. 5. Familiar Letters. 287 
 
 Ladyship, that the reverend Matron the Olla podrida 
 hath intellectuals and senses ; Mutton, Beef, and Bacon, 
 are to her as the Will, Understanding, and Memory, are 
 to the Soul : Cabbage, Turnips, Artichocks, Potatoes, and 
 Dates, are her five Senses, and Pepper the Common-sense ; 
 she must have Marrow to keep Life in her, and some Birds 
 to make her light ; by all means she must go adorn'd with 
 chains of Sausages. He is also good at larding of Meat 
 after the Mode of France. Madam, you may make proof of 
 him, and if your Ladyship find him too saucy or wasteful, 
 you may return him whence you had him. So I rest, 
 Madam — Your Ladyship's humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Wesim., 2 Jun. 1630. 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 ' To Mr. E. D. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 YOU write to me, that T. B. intends to give Money for 
 such a place; if he doth, I fear it will be verify'd in 
 him, that ^ Fool and his money is soon parted ; for I know 
 he will be never able to execute it. I heard of a late 
 Secretary of State, that could not read the next morning 
 his own hand-writing ; and I have read of Caligula's Horse, 
 that was made Consul : Therefore I pray tell him from me 
 (for I wish him well), that if he thinks he is fit for that 
 Office, he looks upon himself thro' a false Glass : A trotting 
 Horse is fit for a Coach, but not for a Lady's Saddle; and 
 an Ambler is proper for a Lady's Saddle, but not for a 
 Coach. If Tuni undertakes this place, he will be as an 
 Ambler in a Coach, or a Trotter under a Lady's Saddle. 
 When I come to Town, I will put him upon a far fitter and 
 more feasable business for him ; and so commend me to 
 him, for I am his and — Your true Friend, J. H. 
 
 IVesfm., ^Jiin. 1630. 
 
 XXXV HI.
 
 288 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 To my Father. 
 Sir, 
 
 THERE are two Ambassadors Extraordinary to go 
 Abroad shortly^ the Earl of Leicester and the Lord 
 Weston; this latter goes to France, Savoy, Venice, and so 
 returns by Florence, a pleasant Journey, for he carrieth 
 Presents with him from Kin? and Oueen : The Earl of 
 Leicester is to go to the King of Denmark, and other Princes 
 of Germany; the main of the Embassy is to condole the 
 late death of the Lady Sophia, Queen Dowager of Denmark, 
 our King's Grandmother: She was the Duke of Meclen- 
 hirgh's Daughter, and her Husband Christian III. dying 
 young, her Portion, which was ^^40,000, was restor'd her : 
 and living a Widow forty-four Years after, she grew to be so 
 great a huswife, setting three or four hundred People at work, 
 that she died worth near two millions of Dollars, so that 
 she was reputed the richest Queen of Christendom. By the 
 Constitutions of Denmark this Estate is divisible among 
 her Children, whereof she had five, the K. of Denmark, the 
 Dutchess of Saxony, the Dutchess of Brunsivick, Q. Anne, 
 and the Dutchess of Holsfein ; the King being male, is to 
 have two shares ; our King and the Lady Elizabeth are to 
 have that which should have belong'd to Q. Anne. So he 
 is to return by the Hague. It pleased my Lord of Leicester 
 to send for me to Baynards-Castle, and proffer me to go 
 Secretary in this Ambassage, assuring me that the Journey 
 shall tend to my Profit and Credit : So that I have accepted 
 of it, for I hear very nobly of my Lord, so that I hope to 
 make a boon voyage of it. I desire, as hitherto, your 
 Prayers and Blessing may accompany me : So, with my 
 love to my Brothers and Sisters, I rest — Your dutiful Son, 
 
 J.H. 
 Zond., 5 May 1632. 
 
 XXXIX.
 
 Sect. 5. Familiar Letters. 289 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 To Mr. Alderman Moulson, Governor of the Merchant- 
 Adventurers. 
 Sir, 
 
 THE Earl of Leicester is to go shortly Ambassador Ex- 
 traordinary to the King of Denmark, and he is to 
 pass by Hamburgh : I understand by Mr. Skinner that the 
 Staple hath some grievances to be redress'd. If this Am- 
 bassage may be an Advantage to the Company, I will 
 solicit my Lord that he may do you all the favour that may 
 stand with his honour; so I shall expect your instructions 
 accordingly, and rest — Yours readv to serve you, J. H, 
 Westm., \ /u?ie 1632. 
 
 XL. 
 
 To Mr. Alderman Clethero, Governor of the Eastland 
 
 Company. 
 Sir, 
 
 I AM inform'd of some complaints that your Company 
 hath against the K. of Denmark's Officers in the Soimd. 
 The E. of Leicester is nominated by His Majesty to go 
 Ambassador Extraordinary to that King and other Princes 
 of Germany : If this Embassy may be advantageous to you, 
 you may send me your directions, and I will attend my 
 Lord accordingly, to do you any favour that may stand 
 with his honour, and conduce to your benefit, and redress of 
 grievances. So I take my leave, and rest — Yours ready to 
 do you Service, J. H. 
 
 Wesim., i offline 1632. 
 
 XLI. 
 
 To the Rt. Hon. the Earl 0/ Leicester, at Pettworth. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 SIR fohn Pennington is appointed to carry your Lordship 
 and your Company to Germany^ and he intends to 
 
 T take
 
 290 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 take you up at Mar gets. I have been with Mr. Bourlamach, 
 and receiv'd a Bill of Exchange from him for 10,000 Dollars 
 payable in Hamburgh. I have also receiv'd <^20oo of Sir 
 Paul Pindar for your Lordship's use, and he did me the 
 favour to pay it me all in old Gold. Your Allowance hath 
 begun since the 25th of July last at ^8 per diem, and is 
 to continue so till your Lordship return to His Majesty. I 
 understand by some Merchants to-day upon the Exchange, 
 that the King of Denmark is at Luckstadi, and stays there 
 all this Summer; if it be so, 'twill save half the Voyage of 
 going to Copenhagen, for in lieu of the Sound, we need go 
 no further than the River of Elve. So I rest — Your Lord- 
 ship's most humble and faithful Servitor, J. H. 
 Westm., 13 Aug. 1632. 
 
 XLII. 
 
 To the Rt. Hon. the Lord Mohun. 
 My Lord, 
 
 THO' any Command from your Lordship be welcome to 
 me at all times, yet that which you lately enjoin'd me 
 in yours of the 12th of August, that I should inform your 
 Lordship of what I know touching the Inquisition, is now a 
 little unseasonable, because I have much to do to prepare 
 myself for this Employment to Germany; therefore I cannot 
 satisfy you in that fulness as I could do otherwise. The very 
 Name of the Inquisition is terrible all Christendom over, and 
 the King of Spain himself, with the chiefest of his Grandees, 
 tremble at it. It was founded first by the Catholic King 
 Ferdinand (our Henry VIIL's Father-in-law), for he having 
 got Granada, and subdued all the Moors, who had firm 
 footing in that Kingdom about seven hundred years, yet 
 he suffered them to live peaceably a while in point of Con- 
 science; but afterwards he sent a solemn Mandamus to the 
 Jacohin-FrysLTS to endeavour the Conversion of them, by 
 preaching and all other means. They finding that their 
 pains did little good (and that those whom they had con- 
 verted
 
 Sect. 5. Familiar Letters. 291 
 
 verted turn'd Apostates) obtain'd power to make a research, 
 which afterwards was call'd Inquisition, and it was ratify'd 
 by Pope Sixtus, that if they would not conform themselves 
 by fair means, they should be forc'd to it. The Jacobins 
 being found too severe herein, and for other Abuses besides, 
 this Inquisition was taken from them, and put into the hands 
 of the most sufficient Ecclesiasticks. So a Council was 
 establish'd, and Officers appointed accordingly : Whosoever 
 was found pendulous and brangling in his Religion, was 
 brought by a Sergeant, call'd Familiar, before the said 
 Council of Inquisition ; his Accuser or Delator stands be- 
 hind a piece of Tapestry, to see whether he be the Party, 
 and if he be, then they put divers subtill and entrapping 
 Interrogatories to him ; and whether he confess anything 
 or no, he is sent to prison. When the said Familiar goes 
 to any House, tho' it be in the dead of the night (and that's 
 the time commonly they use to come, or in the dawn of 
 the day), all doors, and trunks, and chests fly open to him ; 
 and the first thing he doth, he seizeth the Party's breeches, 
 searcheth his pockets, and taketh his keys, and so rum- 
 mageth all his closets and trunks: And a Public Notary, 
 whom he carrieth with him, takes an Inventory of every- 
 thing, which is sequestred and depositated in the hands of 
 some of his next neighbours. The Party being hurry'd 
 away in a close Coach, and clapt in prison, he is there 
 eight days before he makes his Appearance, and then they 
 present to him the Cross, and the Missal-^ook to swear 
 upon ; if he refuseth to swear, he convicteth himself, and 
 the' he swear, yet he is remanded to prison : This Oath com- 
 monly is presented before any Accusation be produc'd; his 
 Gaoler is strictly commanded to pry into his actions, his 
 deportment, words and countenance, and to set spies upon 
 him ; and whosoever of his fellow-prisoners, or others, can 
 produce anything against him, he hath a reward for it. At 
 last, after divers appearances, examinations, and scrutinies, 
 the information against him is read, but the witnesses' names 
 are conceal'd ; then he is appointed a Proctor and an Advo- 
 cate,
 
 292 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 cate, but he must not confer or advise with them privately^ 
 but in the face of the Court: The King's Attorney is a 
 party in't, and the Accusers commonly the sole Witnesses. 
 Being to name his own Lawyers, oftentimes others are dis- 
 cover'd, and fall into troubles; while he is thus in prison, 
 he is so abhorr'd, and abandon'd of all the world, that none 
 will, at least none dare visit him. Tho' one clear himself, 
 yet he cannot be freed till an Act of Faith pass ; which is 
 done seldom, but very solemnly. There are few who have 
 fallen into the gripes of the Inquisition, do scape the Rack, 
 or the San-henito, which is a strait yellow Coat without 
 Sleeves, having the pourtrait of the Devil painted up and 
 down in black ; and upon their heads they carry a Mitre of 
 Paper, with a man frying in the flames of hell upon't; they 
 gag their mouths, and tie a great cord about their necks. 
 The Judges meet in some uncouth dark dungeon, and the 
 Executioner stands by, clad in a close dark garment, his 
 head and face cover'd with a Chaperon, out of which there 
 are but two holes to look thro', and a huge Link burning 
 in his hand. When the Ecclesiastic Liquisitors have pro- 
 nounc'd the Anathema against him, they transmit him to the 
 secular Judges to receive the sentence of death, for Church- 
 men must not have their hands imbru'd in blood: The King 
 can mitigate any punishment under death, nor is a Nobleman 
 subject to the Rack. 
 
 I pray be pleas'd to pardon this rambling imperfect rela- 
 tion, and take in good part my Conformity to your Com- 
 mands : I am — Your Lordship's most ready and faithful 
 Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Wesini., 30 Aug. 1632. 
 
 Section
 
 Section VI. 
 
 I. 
 
 To P. W.J E^^.; at the Signet Office, from the English 
 House in Hamburgh. 
 
 w 
 
 E are safely come to Germany. Sir John Penington 
 took us aboard in one of His Majesty's Ships at 
 Markets: and the Wind stood so fair that we were at the 
 Mouth of the Elve upon Monday following. It pleased my 
 Lord I should land first with two Footmen^ to make haste 
 to Glukstad, to learn where the K. of Denmark was ; and 
 he was at Renshurgh, some two days' journey off, at a Rich- 
 sadgh, an Assembly that corresponds to our Parliament, 
 My Lord the next day landed at Glukstad, where I had 
 provided an Accommodation for him, tho' he intended to 
 have gone for Hamburgh ; but I was bold to tell him, that 
 in regard there were some umbrages, and not only so, but 
 open and actual differences 'twixt the King and that Town, 
 it might be ill taken if he went thither first, before he had 
 attended the King. So I left my Lord at Glukstad, and 
 being come hither to take up 8000 rix dollars upon Mr. 
 Burlamach's Bills, and fetch'd Mr. Jvery our Agent here, 
 I return to-morrow to attend my Lord again. I find that 
 matters are much off the hinges 'twixt the King of Denmark 
 and this Town. 
 
 The King of Sweden is advancing apace to find out IVal- 
 lestein and IVallestein him ; and in all Appearance they 
 will be shortly engag'd. 
 
 No more now, for I am interpell'd by many businesses; 
 when you write, deliver your Letters to Mr. Railton, who 
 will see them safely convey'd ; for a little before my de- 
 parture I brought him acquainted with my Lord, that he 
 
 might
 
 294 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 might negotiate some things at Court. So^, with my ser- 
 vice and love to all at Westminster^ I rest — Your faithful 
 Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Hamburgh, 23 Oct. 1632. 
 
 II. 
 
 To my Lord Fiscount S.,from Hamburgh. 
 
 SINCE I was last in Town, my Lord of Leicester hath 
 attended the K. of Denmark at Renshurgh in Hol- 
 steinland; he was brought thither from Glukstad, in dif- 
 ferent good equipage, both for Coaches and Waggons, 
 but he stay'd some days at Renshurgh for Audience : We 
 made a comely gallant show in that kind, when we went 
 to Court, for we were near upon a hundred all of one piece 
 in mourning. It pleas'd my Lord to make me the Orator, 
 and so I made a long Latin Speech, alia voce, to the King 
 in Latin, of the occasion of this Embassy, and tending to 
 the praise of the deceased Queen : And I had better luck 
 than Secretary Naimton had some thirty years since, with 
 Roger Earl of Rutland : For at the beginning of his Speech, 
 when he had pronounc'd Serenissime Rex, he was dash'd 
 out of countenance, and so gravell'd that he could go no 
 further. I made another to Christian V., his eldest Son, 
 King elect of Denmark; for tho' that Crown be purelv 
 elective, yet for these three last Kings, they wrought so 
 with the people, that they got their eldest Sons chosen, and 
 declar'd before their death, and to assume the Title of Kings 
 elect. At the same Audience, I made another Speech to 
 Pr. Frederick, Archbishop of Breme, the King's third Son : 
 and he hath but one more (besides his natural issue), which 
 is Prince JJlric, now in the Wars with the Duke of Sax; 
 and they say there is an Alliance contracted already 'twixt 
 Christian V. and the Duke of Sax his daughter. This cere- 
 mony being perform'd, my Lord desir'd to find his own 
 diet, and then he fell to divers businesses, which is not 
 fitting for me to forestall, or impart to your Lordship now : 
 
 So
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 295 
 
 So we stayed there near upon a month. The King feasted 
 my Lord once, and it lasted from eleven of the clock till 
 towards the evening; during which time the King began 
 thirty-five healths ; the first to the Emperor, the second 
 to his Nephew of England; and so went over all the Kings 
 and Queens of Christendom, but he never remember'd the 
 Prince Palsgrave's health, or his Niece's, all the while. The 
 King was taken away at last in his chair, but my Lord of 
 Leicester bore up stoutly all the while ; so that when there 
 came two of the King's Guard to take him by the Arms, 
 as he was going down the stairs, my Lord shook them off, 
 and went alone. 
 
 The next morning I went to Court for some dispatches, 
 but the King was gone a hunting at break of day; but 
 going to some other of his Officers, their servants told 
 me without any Appearance of Shame, that their Masters 
 were drunk over niG;ht, and so it would be late before they 
 would rise. 
 
 A few days after we went to Gothorp-Castle in Sleswick- 
 land, to the Duke of Holstein's Court, where, at my Lord's 
 first Audience, I made another Latin Speech to the Duke, 
 touchino; his Grandmother's death : Our entertainment 
 there was brave, tho' a little fulsome. My Lord was lodg'd 
 in the Duke's Castle, and parted with Presents, which is 
 more than the K. of Denmark did. Thence we went to 
 Husem in Ditzmarsh, to the Dutchess of Holsteins Court 
 (our Q. Anne's youngest Sister), where we had also very full 
 entertainment. I made a Speech to her also, about her 
 Mother s death, and when I nam'd the Lady Sophia the 
 tears came down her cheeks. Thence we came back to 
 Rensl'urgh, and so to this Town of Hamburgh, where my 
 Lord intends to repose some days after an abrupt odd journey 
 we had thro' Holsteinland ; but I believe it will not be long, 
 in regard Sir John Pennington stays for him upon the River. 
 We expect Sir Robert Anstriither to come from Vienna 
 hither, to take the Advantage of the King's Ship. 
 
 We understand that the Imperial and Swedish Armies 
 
 have
 
 296 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 have made near Approaches one to the other, and that some 
 skirmishes and blows have been already 'twixt them, which 
 are the forerunners of a battle. So, my good Lord, I rest 
 — Your most humble and faithful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 JIa?nburgh, 9 Oct. 1632. 
 
 III. 
 
 To the Rt. Hon. the Earl R.,froTn Hamburgh. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 THO' your Lordship must needs think, that in the em- 
 ployment I am in (which requires a whole man) my 
 spirits must be distracted by multiplicity of businesses; yet 
 because I would not recede from my old method, and first 
 principles of travel, when I came to any great City, to couch 
 in writing what's most observable, I sequester'd myself from 
 other Affairs, to send your Lordship what followeth touch- 
 ing this great Ha/is-Town. 
 
 The Hans, or Hansiatick Ligiie, is very ancient; some 
 would derive the word from Hand, because they of the 
 Society plight their faith by that Action : Others derive 
 it from Hansa, which in the Gothick Tongue is Counsel : 
 Others would have it come from Han der see, which signi- 
 fies near or upon the Sea; and this passeth for the best 
 Etymology, because their Towns are all seated so, or upon 
 some navigable River near the Sea, The extent of the 
 old Hans was from the Nerve in Livonia to the Rhine, and 
 contain'd sixty-two great mercantile Towns, which were 
 divided into four Precincts : The chiefest of the first Precinct 
 was Luheck, where the Archives of their ancient Records, 
 and their prime Chancery, is still, and this Town is within 
 that Verge : Cullen is chief of the second Precinct, Brunswic 
 of the third, and Daiitzic of the fourth. The Kings of 
 Poland and Sweden have sued to be their Protector, but 
 they refus'd them because they were not Princes of the 
 Empire ; they put off also the K. of Denmark with a Com- 
 pliment, nor would they admit the K. of Spain when he 
 
 was
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 297 
 
 was most potent iu the Netherlands, though afterwards, 
 when 'twas too late, they desir'd the help of the Ragged- 
 Staff; nor of the Duke of ^fij'ou, notwithstanding that the 
 World thought he should have marry'd our Queen, who 
 interceded for him ; and so 'twas probable that thereby they 
 might recover their privileges in England: So that I do not 
 find they ever had any Protector but the great Master of 
 Prussia; and their want of a Protector did do them some 
 prejudice in that famous difference they had with our 
 Queen. 
 
 The old Hans had extraordinary Immunities given them 
 by our Henrij III. because they assisted him in his Wars 
 with so many Ships ; and, as they pretend, the King was 
 not only to pay them for the service of the said Ships, but 
 for the Vessels themselves, if they miscarry'd: Now it hap- 
 pen'd that at their return to Germany, from serving Henry 
 III., there was a great Fleet of them cast away ; for which, 
 according to Covenant, they demanded reparation. Our 
 King in lieu of Money, among other Acts of Grace, gave 
 them a Privilege to pay but i per Cent., which continued 
 till Queen Marys Reign ; and she by the Advice of King 
 Philip her Husband, as 'twas conceiv'd, enhanc'd the one 
 to 30 per Cent. The Hans not only complain'd, but clam- 
 our'd loudly for breach of their ancient Privileges, con- 
 firm'd to them time out of mind by thirteen successive Kings 
 of England, which thev pretended to have purchased with 
 their Money. K. Philip undertook to accommodate the 
 business ; but Q. Mary dying a little after, and he retiring, 
 there could be nothing done. Complaint being made to Q. 
 Elizabeth, she answer'd, That as she ivould not innovate any- 
 thing, so she ivould maintain them still in the same condition 
 she found them : Hereupon their Navigation and Traffic 
 ceased a while. Wherefore the English try'd what they could 
 do themselves, and thev throve so well that thev took the 
 whole Trade into their own hands, and so divided themselves 
 (tho' they be now but one) to Staplers, and Merchant-Ad- 
 venturers, the one residing constant in one place, where they 
 
 kept
 
 298 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 kept their Magazine of Wool, the other stirring, and ad- 
 venturing to divers places abroad with Cloth and other 
 Manufactures; which made the Hans endeavour to draw 
 upon them all the malignancy they could from all Nations. 
 Moreover, the Hans-Town^ being a Body-politic incorpo- 
 rated in the Empire, complain'd hereof to the Emperor, who 
 sent over Persons of great Quality to mediate an Accommo- 
 dation, but they could effect nothing. Then the Queen 
 caused a Proclamation to be publish'd, That the Easterlings^ 
 or Merchants of the Hans, should be treated and used as all 
 other Strangers were within her Dominions, without any 
 mark of difference, in point of Commerce. This nettled them 
 more ; thereupon they bent their forces more eagerly, and in 
 a Diet at Ratishon they procur'd, that the English Merchants 
 who had associated themselves into Fraternities in Emhden 
 and other places, should be declar'd Monopolists; and so 
 there was a Comitial- Edict publish'd against them, that they 
 should be exterminated, and banish'd out of all parts of the 
 Empire ; And this was done by the Activity of one Suder- 
 man, a great Civilian. There was there for the Queen Gilpin 
 as nimble a Man as Suderman, and he had the Chancellor 
 of Emhden to second and countenance him ; but they could 
 not stop the said Edict, wherein the Society of English Mer- 
 chant-Adventurers was pronounc'd to be a Monopoly : Yet 
 Gilpin play'd his game so well, that he wrought under- 
 hand, that the said hnperial-Ban should not be publish'd 
 till after the dissolution of the Diet, and that in the interim 
 the Emperor should send Ambassadors to England, to adver- 
 tise the Queen of such a Ban against her Merchants. But 
 this wrought so little impression upon the Queen, that the 
 said Ban grew rather ridiculous than formidable ; for the 
 Town of Emhden harbour'd our Merchants notwithstanding, 
 and afterwards Stode ; but they not being able to protect 
 them so well from the Imperial-Ban, they settled in this 
 Town of Hamhurgh. After this the Queen commanded 
 another Proclamation to be divulg'd. That the Easterlings, 
 or Hansiatic Merchants should be allow'd to trade in Eng- 
 land
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 299 
 
 land upon the same Conditions and Payment of Duties 
 as her own Subjects, provided that tlie 'English Merchants 
 mio-ht have interchangeable Privilege, to reside and trade 
 peaceably in Stode or Hamhurgh, or any where else, within 
 the precinct of the Hans. This incens'd them more : there- 
 upon they resolv'd to cut off Stode and Hamhurgh from being 
 Members of the Hans, or of the Empire : But they sus- 
 pended this Design till they saw what success the great 
 Spanish Fleet should have, which was then preparing in 
 the year 88 : For they had not Ions; before had recourse to 
 the K. of Spain, and made him their own, and he had done 
 them some material good offices: Wherefore to this day 
 the Spanish Council is taxed of improvidence and impru- 
 dence, that there was no use made of the Ha//.v-Towns in 
 that Expedition. 
 
 The Queen finding that they of the Hans would not be 
 contented with that equality she had offer'd 'twixt them and 
 her own Subjects, put out a Proclamation, that they should 
 carry neither Corn, Victuals, Arms, Timber, Masts, Cables, 
 Minerals, nor any other Materials or Men, to Spain or 
 Portugal. And after the Oueen growing more redoubtable 
 and famous by the overthrow of the Fleet of Eighty -eight, 
 the Easterlings fell to despair of doing any good. Add 
 hereunto, another disaster that befell them, the taking of 
 sixty Sails of their Ships about the mouth of Tagus in Portu- 
 gal, by the Queen's Ships that were laden with Ropas de 
 contrahando, viz., Goods prohibited by her former Procla- 
 mation into the Dominions of Spain: And as these Ships 
 were upon point of being discharg'd, she had intelligence of 
 a great Assembly at Lubeck, which had met of purpose to 
 consult of means to be reveng'd of her ; thereupon she stay'd 
 and seiz'd upon the said sixty Ships, only two were freed to 
 bring news what became of the rest. Hereupon the Pole 
 sent an Ambassador to her, who spake in a high tone, but 
 he was answer'd in a hiofher. 
 
 Ever since our Merchants have beaten a peaceful and free 
 uninterrupted Trade into this Town and elsewhere, within 
 
 and
 
 300 Familiar Letters. Book J. 
 
 and without the Soiuid, with their Manufactures of Wool, 
 and found the way also to the IVhite-Sea, to Archangel and 
 Mosco : Insomuch that the Premises being well consider'd, 
 it was a happy thing for England, that that clashing fell out 
 'twixt her and the Hans ; for it may be said to have been 
 the chief ground of that Shipping and Merchandizing which 
 she is now come to^ and wherewith she hath flourish'd ever 
 since. But one thing is observable, that as that Imperial 
 or Comltial Ban, pronounc'd in the Diet at Ratishon against 
 our Merchants and Manufactures of Wool, incited them 
 more to Industry ; so our Proclamation upon Alderman 
 Cockein^s Project of transporting no white Cloths but 
 dy'd, and in their full Manufacture, did cause both Dutch 
 and German to turn necessity to a virtue, and made them 
 far more ingenious to find ways not only to dye, but to make 
 Cloth, which hath much impair'd our Markets ever since; 
 for there hath not been the third part of our Cloth sold 
 since, either here or in Holland. 
 
 My Lord, I pray be pleased to dispense with the prolixity 
 of this Discourse, for I could not wind it up closer, nor on a 
 lesser bottom : I shall be careful to bring with me those 
 Furrs I had instructions for. So I rest — Your Lordship's 
 most humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Hamburgh, 20 Oct. 1632. 
 
 IV. 
 
 To Capt. J. Smith, at the Hague. 
 Captain, 
 
 HAVING so wishful an opportunity as this noble 
 Gentleman Mr. James Crofts, who comes with a 
 Packet for the Lady Elizabeth from my Lord of Leicester, 
 I could not but send you this friendly Salute. We are like 
 to make a speedier return than we expected from this 
 Embassy ; for we found the K. of Denmark in Holstein, 
 which shorten'd our Voyage from going to the Sound: The 
 King was in an advantageous posture to give Audience, for 
 there was a Parliament then at Rhensburgh, where all the 
 
 Younkers
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 
 
 ;oi 
 
 Yoimkers met. Among other things, I put myself to mark 
 the carriage of the Holstein Gentlemen, as they were going 
 in and out at the Parliament-House ; and observing well 
 their Physiognomies, their Complexions and Gate, I thought 
 verily I was in England, for they resemble the English more 
 than either IVelsh or Scot (tho' cohabiting upon the same 
 Island) or any other People that ever I saw yet : Which 
 makes me verily believe, that the English Nation came first 
 from this lower Circuit of Saxony ; and there's one thing 
 that strengthneth me in this belief, that there is an ancient 
 Town hard by call'd Lunden, and an Island call'd Angles; 
 whence it may well be that our Country came from 
 Britannia to be An^lia. 
 
 This Town of Hamburgh from a Society of Brewers is 
 come to a huge wealthy place, and her new Town is almost 
 as big as the old; there is a shrewd jar 'twixt her and her 
 Protector, the King of Denmark. 
 
 My Lord of Leicester hath done some good offices to 
 accommodate matters : She chomps extremely, that there 
 should be such a Bit put lately in her mouth, as the Fort of 
 Luckstadit, which commands her River of Elve, and makes 
 her pay what toll he pleases. 
 
 The King begins to fill his Chests apace, which were so 
 emptied in his late Marches to Germany : He hath set a 
 new Toll upon all Ships that pass to this Town'; and in the 
 Sound also there be some extraordinary duties imposed, where- 
 at all Nations begin to murmur, specially the Hollanders, 
 who say, that the old primitive Toll of the Sound was but 
 a Rose-noble for every Ship, but by a new Sophistry it is 
 now interpreted for every Sail that should pass thro'; inso- 
 much that the Hollander, tho' he be a Low-Countryman, 
 begins to speak High-Dutch in this point, a rough Lan- 
 guage you know : Which made the Italian tell a German 
 Gentleman once, that u'lien God Almighty thrust Adam 
 out of Paradise, he spake Dutch; but the German retorted 
 wittily, Then, Sir, if God spake Dutch when Adam was 
 ejected, Eve spake Italian when Adam was seduced. 
 
 I
 
 302 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 I could be larger, but for a sudden Avocation to Busi- 
 ness; so I most affectionately send my kind respects 
 to you, desiring when I am render'd to Londori, I may 
 hear from you : So I am — Your faithful Friend to serve 
 you, J. H. 
 
 Hamburgh, 22 Oct. 1632. 
 
 V. 
 
 To the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Br. 
 My Lord, 
 
 I AM newly return'd from Germany, whence there came 
 lately two Ambassadors Extraordinary in one of the 
 Ships Royal, the Earl of Leicester and Sir Robert Anstruther : 
 The latter came from Vienna, and I know little of his nego- 
 tiations ; but for my Lord of Leicester, I believe there was 
 never so much business dispatch'd in so short a compass of 
 time, by any Ambassador, as your Lordship, who is best 
 able to judge, will find by this short relation. When my 
 Lord was come to the K. of Denmark's Court, which was 
 then at Rhenshergh, a good way within Holstein, the first 
 thing he did was to condole the late Q.. Dowager's death 
 (our King's Grandmother), which was done in such an equi- 
 page, that the Danes confess'd, there was never Queen of 
 Denmark so mourn'd for. This ceremony being pass'd, my 
 Lord fell to business ; and the first thing which he pro- 
 pounded was, that for preventing the further effusion of 
 Christian blood in Germany, and for the facilitating a way 
 to restore peace to all Christendom, His Majesty of Denmark 
 would join with his Nephew of Great Britain, to send 
 a solemn Embassy to the Emperor, and the K. of Sweden 
 (the end of whose proceedings were doubtful), to mediate 
 an Accommodation, and to appear for him who will be 
 found most conformable to reason. To this, that King 
 answered in writing (for that was the way of proceeding) 
 that the Emperor and the Swede were come to that height 
 and heat of war, and to such a violence, that it is no time 
 yet to speak to them of peace ; but when the fury is a little 
 
 pass'd
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 303 
 
 pass'd, and the times more proper, he would take it for an 
 Honour to join with his Nephew, and contribute the best 
 means he could to bring about so good a Work. 
 
 Then there was computation made, what was due to the 
 King of Great Britain, and the Lady Elizabeth, out of 
 their Grandmother's estate, which was valued at near upon 
 two millions of Dollars ; and your Lordship must think it 
 was a hard task to liquidate such an account. This being 
 done, my Lord desir'd that part which was due to His 
 Majesty (our King) and the Lady his Sister, which appear'd 
 to amount to eightscore thousand pounds sterling. That 
 King answer'd, that he confess'd there was so much money 
 due, but his Mother's estate was vet in the hands of Com- 
 missioners ; and neither he nor any of bis Sisters had re- 
 ceiv'd their portions yet; and that his Nephew of England, 
 and his Niece of Holland, should receive theirs with the first; 
 but he did intimate besides, that there were some consider- 
 able Accounts 'twixt him and the Crown of England, for 
 ready moneys he had lent his brother K. James, and for the 
 j^30,ooo a month, that was by Covenant promis'd him for 
 the support of his late Army in Germany. Then my Lord 
 propounded, that His Majesty of Great Britain's Subjects 
 were not well us'd by his Officers in the Sojind : For tho' 
 there was but a transitory passage into the Baltic-Sea, and 
 that they neither bought nor sold anything upon the place, 
 yet they were forc'd to stay there many days to take up 
 money at high interest, to pay divers Tolls for their Mer- 
 chandise, before they expos'd them to vent : Therefore it 
 was desir'd, that for the future, what English Merchant 
 soever should pass thro' the Sound, it should be sufficient 
 for him to register an Invoice of his Cargazon in the 
 Custom-house Book, and give his Bond to pay all duties at 
 his return, when he had made his Market. To this my 
 Lord had a fair Answer, and so procur'd a public Instru- 
 ment under that King's Hand and Seal, and sisiu'd bv his 
 Counsellors, whom he had brought over, wherein the 
 Proposition was granted ; which no Ambassador could 
 
 obtain
 
 304 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 obtain before. Then 'twas alledg'd, that the 'English 
 Merchant- Adventurers who trade into Hamburgh, have a 
 new Toll lately impos'd upon them at Luckstad, which 
 was desir'd to be taken off. To this also, there was the like 
 Instrument given, that the said Toll should be levied no 
 more. Lastly, my Lord (in regard he was to pass by the 
 Hague) desir'd that hereditary part, which belong'd to the 
 Lady Elizabeth out of her Grandmother's Estate, because 
 His Majesty knew well what Crosses and Afflictions she had 
 pass'd, and what a numerous Issue she had to maintain ; 
 and my Lord of Leicester would engage his Honour, and 
 all the Estate he hath in the World, that this should no 
 way prejudice the Accounts he is to make with His Majesty 
 of Great Britain. The K. of Denmark highly extoll'd the 
 Nobleness of this motion ; but he protested, that he had 
 been so drain'd in the late Wars, that his Chests are 
 yet very empty. Hereupon my Lord was feasted, and so 
 departed. 
 
 He went then to the Duke of Holstein to Sleswick, 
 where he found him at his Castle of Gothorp ; and truly 
 I did not think to have found such a magnificent Building 
 in these bleak parts. There also my Lord did condole the 
 death of the late Queen, that Duke's Grandmother, and he 
 receiv'd very princely entertainment. 
 
 Then he went to Husem, where the like ceremony of 
 Condolement was perform'd at the Dutchess of Holstein's 
 Court, His Majesty's (our King's) Aunt. 
 
 Then he came to Hamburgh; where that Instrument 
 which my Lord had procur'd, for remitting of the new Toll 
 at Gluckstadt, was deliver'd the Company of our Merchants- 
 Adventurers ; and some other good offices done for that 
 Town, as matters stood 'twixt them and the King of 
 De7nnark. 
 
 Then we came to St ode, where Lesly was Governor, who 
 carrv'd his foot in a Scarf for a wound he had receiv'd at 
 Buckstoho, and he kept that place for the King of Sweden •' 
 And some business of consequence was done there also. 
 
 So
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 305 
 
 So we came to Broomshottle, where we stay'd for a Wind 
 some days : And in the midway of our voyage we met with 
 a Holland Ship, who told us, the K. of Sweden was slain ; 
 and so we return'd to London in less than three months. 
 And if this was not business enough for such a compass of 
 time, I leave your Lordship to judge. 
 
 So, craving your Lordship's pardon for this lame Account, 
 I rest — Your Lordship's most humble and ready Servitor, 
 
 J.H. 
 
 Loud., I Oct. 1632. 
 
 VI. 
 
 To my Brother, Dr. Howell, at his House in Horsley. 
 
 My good Brother, 
 
 I AM safely return'd from Germajiy, thanks be to God ; 
 and the news which we heard at Sea by a Dutch 
 Skipper, about the midst of our Voyage from Hamburgh, 
 it seems, proves too true, which was of the fall of the K. 
 of Sweden. One Jerhire, who says that he was in the very 
 Action, brought the first news to this Town, and every 
 corner rings of it ; yet such is the extravagancy of some, 
 that they will lay wagers he is not yet dead, and the 
 Exchange is full of such People. He was slain at Lutzen 
 field battle, having made the Imperial Armv give ground 
 the day before ; and being in pursuance of it, the next 
 morning in a sudden Fog that fell, the Cavalry on both 
 sides being engag'd, he was kill'd in the midst of the Troops, 
 and none knows who kill'd him, whether one of his own 
 men, or the enemy; but finding himself mortally hurt, he 
 told Saxen JVaijmar, Cousin, I pray look to the Troops, for 
 I think I have enough. His body was not only rescued, 
 but his Forces had the better of the day ; Papenheim being 
 kill'd before him, whom he esteem'd the greatest Captain 
 of all his enemies ; for he was us'd to say, that he had 
 three men to deal withal, a Pultron, a Jesuit, and a Soldier : 
 By the two first, he meant IValstein and the Duke of 
 Bavaria ; by the last, Papenheim. 
 
 u Questionless
 
 3o6 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 Questionless this Gustavus (whose Anagram is Augustus) 
 was a great Captain, and a gallant man ; and had he surviv'd 
 that last victory, he would have put the Emperor to such a 
 plunge, that some think he would hardly have been able to 
 have made head against him to any purpose again. Yet 
 his own Allies confess^ that none knew the bottom of his 
 designs. 
 
 He was not much affected to the English; witness the ill 
 usage Marquis Hamilton had with his 6000 men, whereof 
 there return'd not 600 ; the rest died of hunger and sickness, 
 having never seen the face of an enemy: Witness also his 
 harshness to our Ambassadors, and the rigid terms he would 
 have tied the Prince Palsgrave to. So, with my most 
 affectionate respects to Mr. Mouschamp, and kind commends 
 to Mr. Bridger, I rest — Your loving Brother, J. H. 
 
 Westm., Dec. 1632. 
 
 VII. 
 
 To the R. R. Dr. Field, Lord Bishop of St. Davids. 
 My Lord, 
 
 YOUR late Letter affected me with two contrary pas- 
 sions, with gladness and sorrow : The beginning of 
 it dilated my spirits with apprehensions of joy, that you 
 are so well recover'd of your late sickness, which I heartily 
 congratulate ; but the conclusion of your Lordship's Letter 
 contracted my spirits, and plung'd them in a deep sense of 
 just sorrow, while you please to write me news of my dear 
 Father's death. Permulsit initium, percussit Jinis. Truly, 
 my Lord, it is the heaviest news that ever was sent me : 
 But when I recollect myself, and consider the fairness and 
 maturity of his Age, and that it was rather a gentle dis- 
 solution than a death ; when I contemplate that infinite 
 advantage he hath got by this change and transmigration, 
 it much lightens the weight of my grief: For if ever human 
 soul enter'd Heaven, surely he is there; such was his con- 
 stant piety to God, his rare indulgence to his Children, his 
 
 charity
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 307 
 
 charity to his Neighbours^ and his candor in reconciUng 
 differences; such was the gentleness of his disposition, his 
 unwearied course in actions of virtue, that I wish my soul 
 no other felicity, when she hath shaken off these rags of 
 Flesh, than to ascend to his, and co-enjoy the same bliss. 
 
 Excuse me, my Lord, that I take my leave at this time 
 so abruptly of you ; when this sorrow is a little digested, 
 you shall hear further from me, for I am — Your Lordship's 
 most true and humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Westm.^ I of May 1632. 
 
 VIIL 
 
 To the Earl of Leicester, at Penshurst. 
 My Lord, 
 
 I HAVE deliver'd Mr. Secretary Coke an Account of the 
 whole Legation, as your Lordship order'd me, which 
 contain'd near upon twenty sheets ; I attended him also 
 with the Note of your Extraordinaries, wherein I find him 
 something difficult and dilatory yet. The Governor of the 
 Eastland Company, Mr. Alderman Clethe7-o, will attend 
 your Lordship at your return to Court, to acknowledge 
 your favour to them. I have deliver'd him a Copy of the 
 transactions of things that concern'd their Company at 
 Rhensberg. 
 
 The news we heard at Sea of the K. of Sweden's death 
 is confirm'd more and more; and by the computation I 
 have been a little curious to make, I find that he was 
 kilPd the same day your Lordship set out of Hamburgh. 
 But there is other news come since of the death of the 
 Prince Palatine, who, as they write, being return'd from 
 visiting the Duke De deux Fonts to Mentz, was struck 
 there with the Contagion ; yet by special ways of cure, 
 the malignity was expell'd, and great hopes of recovery, 
 when the news came of the death of the K. of Sweden, 
 which made such impressions upon him, that he died few 
 days after, having overcome all difficulties, concluding with 
 
 the
 
 3o8 Familiar Letters. BooJz I. 
 
 the Swedes, and the Governor of Frnnkindall, and being 
 ready to enter into a re-possession of this Country: A sad 
 destiny ! 
 
 The Swedes bear up still, being fomented and supported 
 by the French, who will not suffer them to leave Germany 
 yet. A Gentleman that came lately from Italy told me 
 that there is no great joy in Rome for the death of the K. 
 of Sweden. The Spaniards up and down will not stick to 
 call this Pope Lutherano, and that he had intelligence with 
 the Swedes. 'Tis true that he hath not been so forward to 
 assist the Emperor in this quarrel, and that in open Consis- 
 tory, when there was such a Contrasto ' twixt the Cardinals 
 for a supply from St. Peter, he declar'd that he was well satis- 
 fy'd that this War in Germany was no War of Religion : 
 Which made him dismiss the Imperial Ambassadors with'this 
 short Answer, that the Emperor had drawn these mischiefs 
 upon himself; for at that time when he saw the Sivedes upon 
 the Frontiers of Germany, if he had employ'd those Men and 
 Moneys which he consum'd to trouble the Peace of Italy 
 in making War against the Duke of Mantua, against them 
 he had not had now so potent an Enemy. So I take my 
 leave for this time, being — Your Lordship's most humble 
 and obedient Servitor, J. H. 
 
 West?n., ^/u?ie 1632. 
 
 IX. 
 
 To Mr. E. D. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I THANK you a thousand times for the noble Entertain- 
 ment you gave me at Bury, and the pains you took in 
 shewing me the Antiquities of that Place. In requital, I 
 can tell you of a strange thing I saw lately here, and I 
 believe 'tis true : As I pass'd by St. Dunstan^s in Fleet-street 
 the last Saturday, I stepp'd into a Lapidary or Stone-cutter's 
 shop, to treat with the Master for a Stone to be put upon 
 my Father's Tomb; and casting my eyes up and down, I 
 
 spied
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 309 
 
 spied a huge Marble with a large Inscription upon't, which 
 was thus^ to my best remembrance : 
 
 Here lies John Oxenham, a goodly young Man^ in whose Chamber^ 
 as he was struggling with the pangs of death, a Bird ivith a 
 white breast was seen fluttering abotit his bed, and so vanished. 
 
 Here lies also Mary Oxenham, the Sister of the said John, who 
 died the next day, and the same apparition was seen in the Room. 
 
 Then another Sister is spoke of. 
 
 Then, Here lies hard by James Oxenham, the Son of the said 
 John, who died a Child in his Cradle a little after; and such a 
 Bird was seeii fluttering about his head, a little before he expired, 
 which vatiished afterwards. 
 
 At the bottom of the Stone there is : 
 
 Here lies EUzabeth Oxenham, the Mother of the said John, who 
 died sixteen years since, when such a Bird with a white breast 
 was seen about her bed before her death. 
 
 To all these there be divers witnesses, both Squires and 
 Ladies, whose names are engraven upon the Stone : This 
 Stone is to be sent to a Town hard by 'Exeter, where this 
 happen'd. 
 
 Were you here, I could raise a choice Discourse with you 
 hereupon. So, hoping to see you the next Term^ to requite 
 some of your favours, I rest — Your true Friend to serve 
 you, J. H. 
 
 J Vest m., z/u/y 1632. 
 
 X. 
 
 To W. B., Esq. 
 Sir, 
 
 THE upbraiding of a Courtesy is as bad in the Giver, as 
 Ingratitude in the Receiver ; tho' I (which you think 
 I am loth to believe) be faulty in the first, I shall never 
 offend in the second, while J. Hovvel. 
 
 IVestm., 24 Oct. 1632. 
 
 XI.
 
 310 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 XI. 
 
 To Sir Arthur Ingram at York. 
 Sir, 
 
 OUR greatest news here now is, that we have a new 
 Attorney-General, which is news indeed, considering 
 the humour of the Man, how he hath been always ready 
 to entertain any Cause whereby he might clash with the 
 Prerogative ; but now, as Judge RichardsoJi told him, his 
 head is full of Proclamations and Devices, how to bring 
 Money into the Exchequer. He hath lately found out 
 among the old Records of the Tower some Precedents for 
 raising a Tax call'd Ship-money in all the Port-Towns when 
 the Kingdom is in danger: Whether we are in danger 
 or no at present, 'twere presumption in me to judge; that 
 belongs to His Majesty and his Privy-Council, who have 
 their choice Instruments abroad for Intelligence ; yet one 
 with half an eye may see we cannot be secure while such 
 huge Fleets of Men of War, both Spanish, French, Dutch, 
 and Dinikirkers, some of them laden with Ammunition, 
 Men, Arms, and Armies, do daily sail on our Seas, and 
 confront the King's Chambers ; while we have only three or 
 four Ships abroad to guard our Coasts and Kingdom, and 
 preserve the fairest Flower of the Crown, the Dominion of 
 the Narrow Seas which I hear the French Cardinal begins 
 to question, and the Hollander lately would not veil to one 
 of His Majesty's Ships that brought over the Duke oi Lenox, 
 and my Lord IVeston, from Bullen ; and indeed we are 
 jeer'd abroad, that we send no more Ships to guard our Seas. 
 Touching my Lord Ambassador JVeston, he had a brave 
 journey of it, tho' it cost dear: For 'tis thought 'twill stand 
 His Majesty in c^25,ooo, which makes some Criticks of the 
 times to censure the Lord Treasurer, that now the King 
 wanting money so much, he should send his Son abroad to 
 spend him such a sum, only for delivering of Presents and 
 Compliments: Bat I believe they are deceiv'd, for there 
 were matters of State also in the Embassy. 
 
 The
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 311 
 
 The Lord Weston passing by Paris, intercepted and open'd 
 a Packet of my Lord of Hollaiid's, wherein there were some 
 Letters of Her Majesty's; this my Lord of Hollajid takes 
 in that scorn, that he defy'd him since his coming, and 
 demanded the Combat of him, for which he is confin'd to 
 his House at Kensington: So, with my humble Service to my 
 noble Lady, I rest — Your most obliged Servitor, J. H. 
 
 IVes/m., 2)^ Jan. 1633. 
 
 xn. 
 
 To the Lord Viscount Wentworth, Lord Deputy of Ireland 
 
 and Lord President of York. 
 My Lord, 
 
 I WAS glad to apprehend the opportunity of this Packet, 
 to convey my humble Service to your Lordship. 
 There are old doino-s in France, and 'tis no new thing 
 for the French to be always a doing, they have such a 
 stirring Genius. The Queen-Mother hath made an escape 
 to Brussels, and Monsieur to Lorain, where, they say, he 
 courts very earnestly the Duke's Sister, a young Lady under 
 twenty; they say a Contract is pass'd already, but the 
 French Cardinal opposeth it; for they say that Lorain Milk 
 seldom breeds good Blood in France : Not only the King, 
 but the whole GalUcan Church, hath protested against it 
 in a solemn Synod, for the Heir apparent of the Crown of 
 France cannot marry without the Royal Consent. This 
 aggravates a grudge the French King hath to the Duke, for 
 siding with the Imperialists, and for things reflecting upon 
 the Dutchy of Bar ; for which he is homageable to the 
 Crown of France, as he is to the Emperor for Lorain: A 
 hard task it is to serve two Masters ; and an unhappy 
 situation it is to lie 'tvvixt two puissant Monarchs, as the 
 Dukes of Savoy and Lorain do. So I kiss your Lordship's 
 Hands, and rest, my Lord — Your most humble and ready 
 Servitor, J. H. 
 
 IVestjn.., I of April 1633. 
 
 XHL
 
 312 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book I. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 To my most nolle Lady, the Lady Cornwallis. 
 Madam, 
 
 IN conformity to your commands, which sway with me 
 as much as an Act of Parliament, I have sent your 
 Ladyship this small Hymn for Christmas-day, now near 
 approaching; if your Ladyship please to put an Air to it, 
 I have my reward. 
 
 I/at'/ holy Tyde, 
 Wherein a Bride 
 
 A Virgin [which is more) 
 Brought forth a Sott, 
 The like was done ^ 
 
 Ne'er in the World before. 
 
 Hail spotless Maid I 
 Who ihcc upbraid 
 
 To have beeji born in sin, 
 Do little wei^h. 
 What in thee lay. 
 
 Before thou didst lie in. 
 
 Nine months thy Womb 
 Was Diade the Dome 
 Ofll\m,whom Earth 7iorAi?; 
 
 Nor the -vast Mould 
 Of Heaven can hold 
 'Cause he's Ubiquitair. 
 
 O woiHd he deign 
 To rest and reign 
 
 P tin centre of my heart ; 
 And make it still 
 His domicil, 
 
 And residence in part ! 
 
 . But i7i so foul a Cell 
 Can he abide to dwell 1 
 
 Yes, when he please to move 
 //« Harbinger to sweep the Room, 
 AndwitJi rich Odoicrs it perfume, 
 Of faith, of hope, of love. 
 
 So I humbly kiss your hands, and thank your Ladyship, 
 that you would command in anything that may con- 
 duce to your contentment — Your Ladyship's most humble 
 Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Westm., 3 Feb. 1633. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 To the Lord Clifford at Knaresborouirh. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 IRECEIVE'D your Lordship's of the last of Jime, and I 
 return my most humble thanks for the choice Nag you 
 pleas'd to send me, which came in very good plight. Your 
 
 Lordship
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 313 
 
 Lordship desires me to lay down what in my Travels Abroad 
 I observ'd of the present condition of the Jews, once an 
 Elect People, but now grown contemptible, and strangely 
 squander'd up and down the World: Tho' such a Discourse, 
 exactly fram'd, might make up a Volume, yet I will twist 
 up what I know in this point, upon as narrow a bottom as 
 may be shut up within the compass of this Letter. 
 
 The first Christian Country that expelPd the Jews was 
 England; France follow'd our example next, then Spain, 
 and afterwards Portugal: Nor were they exterminated 
 these Countries for their Religion, but for Villainies and 
 Cheatings, for clipping Coins, poisoning of Waters^ and 
 counterfeiting of Seals. 
 
 Those Countries they are permitted to live now most in 
 among Christians are Germany, Holland, Bohemia, and Italy; 
 but not in those parts where the King of Spain hath to do. 
 In the Levant and Turkey they swarm most, for the Grand 
 Vizier, and all other great Bashaws, have commonly some 
 Jew fo"* their Counsellor or Spy, who informs them of the 
 state of Christian Princes, possess them of a hatred of the 
 Religion, and so incense them to a War against them. 
 
 They are accounted the subtilest and most subdolous 
 People upon Earth ; the reason why they are thus degener- 
 ated from their primitive simplicity and innocence, is their 
 often Captivities, their desperate Fortunes, the necessity and 
 hatred to which they have been habituated ; for nothing 
 depraves ingenuous Spirits, and corrupts clear Wits, more 
 than want and indigence. By their Profession they are for 
 the most part Brokers and Lomhardeers ; yet by that base 
 and servile way of frippery Trade they grow rich whereso- 
 ever they nest themselves: And this, with their multipli- 
 cation of Children, they hold to be an Argument that an 
 extraordinary Providence attends them still. Methinks that 
 so clear accomplishments of the Prophecies of our Saviour 
 touching that People should work upon them for their 
 conversion, as the Destruction of the City and Temple; 
 that they should become despicable, and the tail of all 
 
 Nations ;
 
 314 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 o 
 
 Nations ; that they should be Vagabonds, and have no firm 
 habitation. 
 
 Touching the first, they know it came punctually to pass, 
 and so have the other two; for they are the most hateful 
 race of men upon earth; insomuch that in Turkey, where 
 they are most valued, if a Musulman come to any of their 
 houses, and leave his shoes at the door, the Jew dares not 
 come in all the while, till the Turk hath done what he 
 would with his wife. For the last, 'tis wonderful to see in 
 what considerable numbers they are dispers'd up and down 
 the World; yet they can never reduce themselves to such 
 a coalition and unity as may make a Republic, Princi- 
 pality, or Kingdom. 
 
 They hold that the Jews of Italy, Germany, and the 
 Levant are of Benjamin's Tribe : Ten of the Tribes at the 
 destruction of Jeroboam^ s Kingdom were led captives beyond 
 Euphrates, whence they never return'd, nor do they know 
 what became of them ever after, yet they believe they never 
 became Apostates and Gentiles. But the Tribe of Judah, 
 whence they expected their Messias, of whom one shall 
 hear them discourse with so much confidence and self- 
 pleasing conceit, they say is settled in Portugal; where 
 they give out to have thousands of their race, whom they 
 dispense withal to make a semblance of Christianity even 
 to Church-decrrees. 
 
 This makes them breed up their Children in the Lusita- 
 nian Language ; which makes the Spaniard have an odd 
 saying, that El Portuguez se crio del pedo de un Judio ; A 
 Portuguese was engendered of a Jew's ; As the Mahome- 
 tans have a passage in their Alchoran, that a Cat was made 
 of a Lion's breath. 
 
 As they are the most contemptible people, and have a 
 kind of fulsome scent, no better than a stink, that dis- 
 tinguisheth them from others, so they are the most timorous 
 people on earth, and so utterly incapable of Arms, for they 
 are made neither Soldiers nor Slaves: And this their 
 Pusillanimity and Cowardice, as well as their Cunning and 
 
 Craft,
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 315 
 
 Craft, may be imputed to their various thraldoms, con- 
 tempt and poverty, which hath cow'd and dastardiz'd their 
 courage. Besides these properties, they are light and giddy- 
 headed, much symbolizing in spirit with our Apocalyptical 
 Zealots and fiery Interpreters of Daniel and other Prophets, 
 whereby they often sooth, or rather fool themselves into some 
 illumination, which really proves but some egregious dotage. 
 
 They much glory of their mysterious Cabal, wherein they 
 make the reality of things to depend upon Letters and 
 Words: But they say that Hebrew only hath this privilege. 
 This Cabal, which is nought else but a Tradition, they say, 
 being transmitted from one Age to another, was in some 
 measure a reparation of our knowledge lost in Adam; and 
 they say 'twas reveal'd four times : First to Adam, who 
 being thrust out of Paradise, and sitting one day very sad, 
 and sorrowing for the loss of the knowledge he had of that 
 dependance the Creatures have on their Creator, the Angel 
 Raguel was sent to comfort him, and instruct him, and 
 repaii- his knowledge herein : And this they call the Cabal, 
 which was lost a second time by the Flood and Babel ; then 
 God discovered it to Moses in the Bush; the third time to 
 Solomon in a Dream, whereby he came to know the begin- 
 ning, mediety, and consummation of times, and so wrote 
 divers Books, which were lost in the grand Captivity. The 
 last time they hold that God restored the Cabal to Esdras 
 (a Book they value extraordinarily), who by God's command 
 withdrew to the Wilderness forty Days with five Scribes, 
 who in that space wrote 204 Books: the first 134 were to 
 be read by all, but the other 70 were to pass privately 
 amongst the Levites ; and these they pretend to be caba- 
 listick, and not yet all lost. 
 
 There are at this Day three Sects of. Jews ; the Africans 
 first, who besides the holy Scriptures embraced the Talmud 
 also for authentick: The second receive only the Scriptures : 
 The third, which'are call'd the Samaritans (whereof there 
 are but few), admit only of the Pentateuch, the five Books of 
 Moses. 
 
 The
 
 3i6 Familiar Letters. Book L 
 
 The Jews in general drink no Wine without a Dispensa- 
 tion; when they kill any Creature^ they turn his Face to 
 the East, saying, Be it sanctified in the great Name of God; 
 they cut the Throat with a Knife without a Gap, which 
 they hold very profane. 
 
 In their Synagogues they make one of the best sort to read 
 a Chapter of Moses, then some mean Boy reads a piece of 
 the Prophets; in the midst there's a round place arch'd over, 
 wherein one of their Rabbies walks up and down, and in 
 Portuguese magnifies the Messias to come, comforts their 
 Captivity, and rails at Christ. 
 
 They have a kind of Cupboard to represent the Tabernacle, 
 wherein they lay the Tables of the Law, which now and then 
 they take out and kiss ; they sing many Tunes, and Adonai 
 they make the ordinary Name of God : Jehovah is pro- 
 nounced at high Festivals ; at Circumcision Boys are put to 
 sino; some of David's Psalms so loud as drowns the Infant's 
 Cry. The Synagogue is hung about with Glass-Lamps 
 burning; every one at his entrance puts on a Linen-Cope, 
 first kissino- it, else thev use no manner of reverence all 
 the while ; their Elders sometimes fall together by the 
 Ears in the very Synagogue, and with the holy Utensils, 
 as Candlesticks, Incense-pans, and such like, break one 
 another's Pates. 
 
 Women are not allow'd to enter the Synagogue, but they 
 sit in a Gallery without; for they hold they have not so 
 divine a Soul as Men, and are of a lower Creation, made 
 only for sensual Pleasure and Propagation. 
 
 Among the Mahometans there is no Jeiv capable of a 
 Turkish habit, unless he acknowledcje Christ as much as 
 Turks do, which is, to have been a great Prophet, where- 
 of they hold there are three only, Moses, Christ, and 
 Mahoynet. 
 
 Thus, my Lord, to perform your commands, which are 
 very prevalent with me, have I couch'd in this Letter what 
 I could of the Condition of the Jews; and if it may give 
 vour Lordship any satisfaction, I have my reward abun- 
 dantly
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 317 
 
 dantly. So I rest — Your Lordship's most humble and ready 
 Servant, J. H. 
 
 Wesim., 3 of June 1633. 
 
 XV. 
 
 To Mr. Philip Warrick^ at Paris. 
 Sir, 
 
 YOUR last to me was in French of the first current, 
 and I am glad you are come so safe from Swisser- 
 and to Paris ; as also that you are grown so great a Pro- 
 ficient in the Language. I thank you for the variety 
 of News you sent me so handsomely couch'd and knit 
 together. 
 
 To correspond with you, the greatest News we have 
 here is, that we have a gallant Fleet-Royal ready to set 
 to Sea, for the Security of our Coast and Commerce, and 
 for the Sovereignty of our Seas. Hnns said, the King of 
 England was asleep all this while, but now he is awake ; 
 nor do I hear doth your French Cardinal tamper any 
 longer with our King;'s Title and Rifrht to the Dominion 
 of the Narrow- Seas. These are brave Fruits of the Sli'ip- 
 money. 
 
 I hear that the Infant e-C?Lxd\m.\ having been long upon 
 his way to Brussels, hath got a notable Victory of the 
 Swedes at NordUnghen, where 8000 were slain, Gustavus 
 Horn, and others of the prime Commanders taken Prisoners. 
 They write also, that Monsieur's Marriage with Madame 
 of Lorain was solemnly celebrated at Brussels; she had 
 followed him from Nancy in Page's Apparel, because there 
 were Forces in the way. It must needs be a mighty Charge 
 to the King of Spain, to maintain Mother and Son in this 
 manner. 
 
 The Court affords little News at present, but that there 
 is a Love call'd Platonick Love, which much sways there of 
 late ; it is a Love abstracted from all corporeal gross Impres- 
 sions and sensual Appetite, but consists in Contemplations 
 and Ideas of the Mind, not in any carnal Fruition. This 
 
 Love
 
 3i8 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 Love sets the Wits of the Town on work ; and they say 
 there will be a Mask shortly of it, whereof Her Majesty and 
 her Maids of Honour will be part. 
 
 All your Friends here in Westminster are well, and very 
 mindful of you, but none more often than — Your most 
 affectionate Servitor, J. H. 
 
 IVestm., z/^^^^ 1634. 
 
 XVL 
 
 To my Brother, Mr. H. P. 
 Brother, 
 
 Y Brain was o'ercast with a thick Cloud of Melan- 
 
 M 
 
 choly, I was become a Lump of I know not what, 
 I could scarce find any palpitation within me on the left 
 side, when yours of the 1st of September was brought me; 
 it had such a Virtue that it begat new Motions in me, like 
 the Loadstone, which by its attractive occult Quality moves 
 the dull Body of Iron, and makes it active; so dull was I 
 then, and such a magnetic Property your Letter had to 
 quicken me. 
 
 There is some murmuring against the Ship-mojiey, because 
 the Tax is indefinite ; as also by reason that it is levied upon 
 the Country Towns, as well as Maritime; and for that they 
 say, Noy himself cannot shew any Record. There are also 
 divers Patents granted, which are mutter'd at, as being no 
 better than Monopolies : Among others, a Scotchman got 
 one lately upon the Statute of levying twelve Pence for 
 every Oath, which the Justices of Peace and Constables 
 had Power to raise, and have still ; but this new Patentee 
 is to quicken and put more life in the Law, and see it 
 executed. He hath power to nominate one, or two, or three 
 in some Parishes, which are to have Commission from him 
 for this publick Service, and so they are to be exempt from 
 bearing OfKce, which must needs deserve a Gratuity: And 
 I believe this was the main drift of the Scotch Patentee, 
 so that he intends to keep his Office in the Temple, and 
 certainly he is like to be a mighty Gainer by it; for who 
 
 would
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 319 
 
 would not give a good piece of Money to be freed from 
 bearing all cumbersome Offices? No more now, but that, 
 with my dear love to my Sister, I rest — Your most affec- 
 tionate Brother, J. H. 
 Wesijji., I Aug. 1633. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 To the Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Savage, at 
 
 Long-Melford. 
 My Lord, 
 
 THE old Steward of your Courts, Master Attorney- 
 General Noy, is lately dead, nor could Tunbridge 
 Waters do him any good : Tho' he had good matter in his 
 brain, he had, it seems, ill materials in his body; for his 
 heart was shrivelled like a leather penny-purse when he 
 was dissected, nor were his lungs sound. 
 
 Being such a Clerk in the Law, all the World wonders 
 he left such an odd Will, which is short, and in Latiji : The 
 substance of it is, that he having bequeath'd a few Legacies, 
 and left his second Son 100 Marks a year, and 500 Pounds 
 in Money, enough to bring him up in his Father's Profes- 
 sion, he concludes, Religua meorum omnia primogenito tneo 
 Edoardo, dissipanda, nee melius unquam speravi ego : I leave 
 the rest of all my Goods to my first-born Edward, to be 
 consum'd or scatter'd, for I never hoped better. A strange, 
 and scarce a Christian Will, in my opinion, for it argues 
 uncharitableness. Nor doth the World wonder less, that 
 he should leave no Legacy to some of your Lordship's 
 Children, considering what deep Obligations he had to your 
 Lordship ; for I am confident he had never been Attorney- 
 General else. 
 
 The Vintners drink Carouses of joy that he is gone, 
 for now they are in hope to dress Meat again, and sell 
 Tobacco, Beer, Sugar, and Faggots; which by a sullen 
 Capricio of his, he would have restrain'd them from. He 
 had his humour as other Men, but certainly he was a solid 
 rational Man ; and tho' no great Orator, yet a profound 
 
 Lawyer,
 
 320 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 Lawyer^ and no Man better vers'd in the Records of the 
 Tower. I heard your Lordship often say, with what infinite 
 pains, and indefatigable study, he came to this knowledge : 
 And I never heard a more pertinent Anagram than was 
 made of his name, William Noy, I moil in Law. If an s 
 be added, it may be applied to my Countryman Judge 
 Jones, an excellent Lawyer too, and a far more genteel 
 man, IVilUam Jones, I moil e in Laws. No more now, but 
 that I rest — Your Lordship's most humble and obliged 
 Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Westm., I Oci. 1635. 
 
 XVIIL 
 
 To the Right Hon. the Countess q/" Sunderland. 
 Madam, 
 
 HERE inclos'd I send your Ladyship a Letter from the 
 Lord Deputy of Ireland, wherein he declares, that 
 the disposing of the Attorneyship in York, which he passed 
 over to me, had no relation to my Lord at all ; but it was 
 merely done out of a particular respect to me : Your Lady- 
 ship may please to think of it accordingly, touching the 
 Accounts. 
 
 It is now a good while the two Nephew-Princes have 
 been here, I mean the Prince Elector and Prince Robert. 
 The King of Sweden's death, and the late blow at Nor- 
 Vrnghen, hath half blasted their hopes to do any good for 
 recovery of the Palatinate by Land : Therefore I hear of 
 some new designs by Sea; that the one shall go to Mada- 
 gascar, a great Island 800 miles long in the East-Indies, 
 never yet coloniz'd by any Christian, and Capt. Bond is to 
 be his Lieutenant; the other is to go with a considerable 
 Fleet to the IVest-Indies, to seize upon some place there 
 that may countervail the Palatinate, and Sir Henry Mervin 
 to go with him : But I hear my Lady Elizabeth opposeth 
 it, saying, that she will have none of her Sons to be Knights- 
 errant. There is now professed actual enmity 'twixt France 
 and Spain, for there was a Herald at Arvis sent lately from 
 
 Paris
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 321 
 
 Paris to Flanders, who by sound of Trumpet denounc'd 
 and proclaim'd open War against the King of Spain and 
 all his Dominions ; this Herald left and fix'd up the Defiance 
 in all the Towns as he pass'd : So that whereas before the 
 War was but collateral and auxiliary, there is now pro- 
 claimed Hostility between them, notwithstanding that they 
 have one another's Sisters in their beds every night. What 
 the reason of this War is, truly, Madam, I cannot tell, 
 unless it be reason of State, to prevent the further growth 
 of the Spanish Monarchy : And there be multitude of 
 examples how preventive Wars have been practis'd from 
 all times. Howsoever, it is too sure that abundance of 
 Christian blood will be spilt. So I humbly take my leave, 
 and rest — Madam, your Ladyship's most obedient and 
 faithful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Westm., df Jime 1635. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 To the Earl q/" Leicester, at Penshurst. 
 My Lord, 
 
 I AM newly return'd out of France, from a flying Journey 
 as far as Orleans, which I made at the request of Mr. 
 Secretary Windehank, and I hope I shall receive some fruits 
 of it hereafter. There is yet a great resentment in many 
 places in France, for the beheading of Montmorency, whom 
 Henry IV. was us'd to say to be a better Gentleman than 
 himself; for in his Colours, he carried this Motto, Dieit 
 ayde le premier Chevalier de France : God help the first 
 Knight of France. He died upon a Scaffold in Tholouze, 
 in the flower of his years, at thirty-four, and hath left no 
 Issue behind ; so that noble old Familv extino;uish'd in a 
 snuff: His Treason was very foul, having receiv'd particular 
 Commissions from the King to make an extraordinary Levy 
 of Men and Money in Luns.ucdoc, which he turn'd after- 
 wards directly against the King, against whose Person he 
 appear'd arm'd in open field, and in a hostile posture, for 
 fomenting of Monsieur^s Rebellion. 
 
 X The
 
 322 Familiar Letters. Book L 
 
 The Infante Cardinal is come to Brussels at last thro' 
 many difficulties ; and some few days before, Monsieur 
 made semblance to go a Hawking, and so fled to France, 
 but left his Mother behind, who since the Arch-Dutchess's 
 death is not so well look'd on as formerly in that 
 Country. 
 
 Touching your Business in the Exchequer, Sir Robert Pye 
 went with me this morning of purpose to my Lord Trea- 
 surer about it, and told me with much earnestness and 
 assurance, that there shall be a speedy course taken for 
 your Lordship's satisfaction. 
 
 I deliver'd my Lord of Lindsey the Manuscript he lent 
 your Lordship of his Father's Embassy to Denmark : And 
 herewith I present your Lordship with a compleat Diary of 
 your own late Legation, which hath cost me some toil and 
 labour. So I rest always — Your Lordship's most humble 
 and ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Wesi/n., ig Jmie 1635. 
 
 XX. 
 
 To my Honoured Friend and Fa., Mr. Ben. Johnson. 
 
 Fa. Ben, 
 
 BEING lately in France, and returning in a Coach from 
 Paris to Rouen, I lighted upon the Society of a know- 
 ing Gentleman, who related to me a choice Story, which 
 peradventure you may make some use of in your way. 
 
 Some hundred and odd years since, there was in France 
 one Capt. Coucy, a gallant Gentleman of an ancient ex- 
 traction, and Keeper of Coucy-Castle, which is yet standing, 
 and in good repair. He fell in love with a young Gentle- 
 woman, and courted her for his Wife : There was reciprocal 
 love between them, but her Parents understanding of it, by 
 way of prevention, they shuffled up a forc'd Match 'twixt 
 her and one Monsieur Faiel, who was a great Heir. Capt. 
 Coucy hereupon quitted France in discontent, and went to 
 the Wars in Hungary against the Turk, where he receiv'd 
 
 a
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 323 
 
 a mortal Wound, not far from Buda. Being carried to his 
 lodging, he languish'd some days ; but a little before his 
 death he spoke to an ancient Servant of his, that he had 
 many proofs of his fidelity and truth, but now he had a 
 great business to intrust him with, which he conjur'd him 
 by all means to do ; which was, that after his death he 
 should get his body to be open'd, and then to take his 
 heart out of his breast, and put it in an earthen pot to be 
 baked to powder, then to put the powder into a handsome 
 box, with that bracelet of hair he had worn long about his 
 left wrist, which was a lock of Madamoiselle Fa'ieVs Hair, 
 and put it among the powder, together with a little note 
 he had written with his own blood to her; and after he 
 had given him the rites of Burial, to make all the speed he 
 could to France, and deliver the said box to Madamoiselle 
 Faiel. The old Servant did as his Master had commanded 
 him, and so went to France ; and coming one day to Mons. 
 FaieVs house, he suddenly met him with one of his Servants, 
 and exr.min'd him, because he knew he was Capt. Coucy's 
 Servant ; and finding him timorous, and faltering in his 
 speech, he search'd him, and found the said box in his 
 pocket, with the Note which express'd what was therein : 
 He dismiss'd the Bearer with menaces that he should come 
 no more near his house. Mons. Faiel going in, sent for 
 his Cook, and deliver'd him the powder, charging him to 
 make a little well-relish'd dish of it, without losing a jot of 
 it, for it was a very costly thing; and commanded him to 
 bring it in himself, after the last course at Supper. The 
 Cook bringing in the dish accordingly, Mons. Faiel com- 
 manded all to avoid the room, and began a serious discourse 
 with his Wife, how ever since he had married her, he 
 observ'd she was always melancholy, and he fear'd she was 
 inclining to a Consumption ; therefore he had provided for 
 her a very precious Cordial, which he was well assur'd 
 would cure her: Thereupon he made her eat up the whole 
 dish ; and afterwards much importuning him to know what 
 it was, he told her at last she had eaten Coucy's heart, and 
 
 so
 
 324 Familiar Letters. Book T. 
 
 so drew the box out of his pocket, and shew'd her the Note 
 and the Bracelet. In a sudden exultation of jov, she with 
 a far-fetch'd sigh said, This is a precious Cordial indeed ; 
 and so lick'd the dish, saying, It is so precious, that 'tis pity 
 to put ever any meat upo?i't. So she went to bed, and in the 
 morning she was found stone dead. 
 
 This Gentleman told me that this sad story is painted in 
 Coucy-Castle, and remains fresh to this day. 
 
 In my opinion, which veils to yours, this is choice and 
 rich stuff for you to put upon your Loom, and make a 
 curious Web of. 
 
 I thank you for the last regalo you gave me at your 
 Musceum, and for the good company. I heard you cen- 
 sur'd lately at Court, that you have lighted too foul upon 
 Sir Inigo, and that you write with a Porcupine's quill dipt 
 in too much gall. Excuse me that I am so free with you ; 
 it is because I am, in no common wav of Friendship — Yours, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 IVeshn., 3 of May 1635. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 To Captain Thomas Porter. 
 
 Noble Captain, 
 
 YOU are well return'd from Brussels, from attending 
 your Brother in that noble Employment of congratu- 
 lating the Infante Cardinal's coming thither. It was well 
 Monsieur went a Hawking away before to France, for I think 
 those two young Spirits would not have agreed. A French- 
 man told me lately, that was at your Audience, that he 
 never saw so many complete Gentlemen in his life, for the 
 number, and in a neater equipage. Before you go to 
 Sea, I intend to wait on you, and give you a frolick. 
 So I am, De todas mis entranas — Yours to dispose of, 
 
 J.H. 
 
 To this I'll add the Duke of Ossuna^s Compliment: 
 
 Quisiere,
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 325 
 
 Qicisiere, aiinqtce soy chico, 
 Ser, enserville, Gigante. 
 
 Tho' of the tallest I am none you see, 
 Yet to serve you, I would a Giaiit be. 
 Westm., I Nov. 1634. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 To my Coiishi, Captain Saintgeon. 
 
 Noble Cousin, 
 
 THE greatest news about the Town, is of a mighty 
 Prize that was taken lately by Peier van Heyn of 
 Holland, who had met some straggling Ships of the Plate- 
 Fleet, and brought them to the Texel; they speak of a Million 
 of Crowns. I could wish you had been there to have shar'd 
 of the Booty, which was the greatest in Money that ever 
 was taken. 
 
 One sent me lately from Holland this Distich of Feter 
 van Heyn, which savours a little of profaneness : 
 
 Roma sjii sileat posthac viiracula Petri, 
 Petrus apud Batawos pi i^ra stupenda facit. 
 
 Let Rome no more her Peter's Wonders tell ; 
 For Wonders, Holland's Feter bears the bell. 
 
 To this Distich was added this Anagram, which is a good 
 one: 
 
 PETRUS HA IN US. 
 HIS P ANUS RUET. 
 
 J. Howell. 
 
 So I rest, Totus tuus — Yours whole, 
 IVestm., \o July. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 To my Lord Viscount S. 
 My Lord, 
 
 HIS Majesty is lately return'd from Scotland, having 
 given that Nation satisfaction to their long desires, 
 
 to
 
 326 Familiar Letters. Book L 
 
 to have come thither to be crown'd : I hear some mutter at 
 Bishop Laud's carriage there^ that it was too haughty and 
 Pontifical. 
 
 Since the death of the K. of Siueden, a great many 
 Scotch Commanders are come over, and make a shining 
 shew at Court ; what Trade they will take hereafter I know 
 not, having been so inur'd to the Wars : I pray God keep 
 us from commotions at home, 'twixt the two Kingdoms, to 
 find them work. I hear one Col. Lesley is gone away dis- 
 contented, because the King would not Lord him. 
 
 The old rotten D. of Bavaria, for he hath divers Issues 
 about his body, hath married one of the Emperor's Sisters, 
 a young Lady little above twenty, and he near upon four- 
 score : There's another remaining, who, they say, is intended 
 for the K. of Pohnid, notwithstanding his pretences to the 
 young Lady Elizabeth ; about which. Prince Radzevill and 
 other Ambassadors have been here lately, but that King 
 being elective, must marry as the Estates will have him : 
 His Mother was the Emperor's Sister, therefore sure he will 
 not offer to marry his Cousin-German ; but 'tis no news for 
 the House of Austria to do so, to strengthen their race. 
 And if the Bavarian hath Male-Issue of this young Lady> 
 the Son is to succeed him in the Electorship, which may 
 conduce much to strengthen the continuance of the Empire 
 in the Austrian Family. So, with a constant perseverance 
 of my hearty desires to serve your Lordship, I rest, my 
 Lord — Your most humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Westm., 7 Sept. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 To my Cousin, Mr. Will. Saintgeon, at St. Omer. 
 
 Cousin, 
 
 I WAS lately in your Father's company, and I found him 
 much discontented at the course you take; which he 
 not only protests against, but he vows never to give you his 
 blessing, if you persevere in't. I would wish you to descend 
 
 into
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 327 
 
 into yourself, and seriously ponder what a weight a Father's 
 blessing or curse carries with it; for there is nothing con- 
 duceth more to the happiness or infelicity of the Child. 
 Among the ten Commandments in the Decalogue, that 
 which enjoins obedience from Children to Parents hath 
 only a benediction (of Longevity) added to it: There be 
 Clouds of Examples for this, but one I will instance in: 
 When I was in Falentia in Spain, a Gentleman told me of 
 a miracle which happen'd in that Town, which was, that 
 a proper young man under twenty was executed there for a 
 crime, and before he was taken down from off the Tree, 
 there were many grey and white hairs had budded forth 
 of his Chin, as if he had been a man of sixty. It struck 
 Amazement in all Men, but this interpretation was made 
 of it, that the said young man might have liv'd to such an 
 age, if he had been dutiful to his Parents, to whom he had 
 been barbarously disobedient all his life-time. 
 
 There comes herewith a large Letter to you from your 
 Father; let me advise you to conform your courses to his 
 Counsel, otherwise it is an easy matter to be a Prophet 
 what misfortunes will inevitably befall you, which by a 
 timely obedience you may prevent, and I wish you may 
 have grace to do it accordingly. So I rest — Your loving 
 well-wishing Cousin, J. H. 
 
 I.ond., I of May 1634. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 To the Lord Deputy 0/ Ireland. 
 Mv Lord, 
 
 THE Earl of ylrundel is lately return'd from Germany, 
 and his gallant comportment in that Embassy deserv'd 
 to have had better success: He found the Emperor con- 
 formable, but the old Bavarian froward, who will not part 
 with anything till he have moneys reimburs'd which he 
 spent in these wars, and for which he hath the upper 
 Palat'mate in deposito ; insomuch, that in all probability all 
 hopes are cut off of ever recovering that Country, but by the 
 
 same
 
 328 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 same means that it was taken away^ which was by the 
 Sword : Therefore they write from Holland of a new 
 Army, which the Prince Palatine is like to have shortly, 
 to go up to Germany, and push on his fortunes with the 
 Swedes. 
 
 The French King hath taken Nancy, and almost all Lo- 
 rain, lately ; but he was forc'd to put a Fox-tail to the 
 Lion's skin, which his Cardinal help'd him to, before he 
 could do the work. The quarrel is, that the Duke should 
 marry his Sister to Monsieur, contrary to promise; that 
 he sided with the Imperialists against his Confederates 
 in Germaiiy, that he neglected to do homage for the Dutchy 
 of Bar. 
 
 My Lord Viscount Savage is lately dead, who is very much 
 lamented by all that knew him ; I could have wish'd, had it 
 pleas'd God, that his Father-in-law, who is riper for the 
 other world, had gone before him : So I rest — Your Lord- 
 ship's most humble and ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Wcstm., 6 Jj)r. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 To his hojioiLred Friend, Mistress C, at her House in Essex. 
 
 THERE was no sorrow sunk deeper into me a great 
 while, than that which I conceiv'd upon the death 
 of my dear Friend your Husband : The last office I could 
 do him, was to put him in his grave ; and I am sorry to 
 have met others there (who had better means to come in a 
 Coach, with six horses than I) in so mean equipage, to perform 
 the last act of respect to so worthy a Friend. I have sent 
 you herewith an Elegy, which my melancholy Muse hath 
 breath'd out upon his Herse. I shall be very careful about 
 the Tomb you intend him, and will think upon an Epitaph. 
 I pray present my respects to Mrs. ^nne Mayne. So, wish- 
 ing you all comfort and contentment, I rest — Yours most 
 ready to be commanded, J. H. 
 
 Lond., 5 Marc/i. 
 
 XXVII.
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 329 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 To Mr. James Howard, 7/po)i his Banish'd Virgin, translated 
 
 out of Italian. 
 Sir, 
 
 I RECEIVED the Manuscript you sent me, and being a 
 little curious to compare it with the Original, I find the 
 Version to be every exact and faithful : So according to 
 your friendly request I have sent you this Decastich. 
 
 Some hold Transla/mis not tinlike to be 
 
 The 7vrong-side of a Turkey Tapistry ; 
 
 Or Wine drawn off the Lees, which filPd in Flask, 
 
 Lose sometuhat of their strength they had in Cask. 
 
 'Tis true, each Language hath an Idiom, 
 Which in another coucKd comes not so home : 
 Yet I ne'er saw a Piece from Venice come, 
 Had fiver thrums set o?i our Country Loom. 
 This JFine is still uji-ear'd, and h-isk, tho' put 
 Out ^Italian Cask in English Butt, 
 
 Upon your Eromena. 
 
 Fair Eromena in her Toscan tyi-e 
 
 I viewed, and lilcd the fashion wondrous well ; 
 
 But in this English habit I admire, 
 
 That still in her the same good grace inay dwell: 
 
 So I have seen /rawi'-Alpin QXows, groiv, 
 And bear rare fruit, removd to Thames_/)'(?w Po. 
 
 — Your true Servitor and Compatriot, J. H. 
 
 Lond., 6 Oct. 1632. 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 To Edward Noy, IBjSq. ; at Paris. 
 Sir, 
 
 IRECEIV'D one of yours lately, and I am glad to find 
 the delight that Travel begins to instil into you. 
 My Lord Ambassador Aston reckons upon you, that you 
 will be one of his Train at his first Audience in Madrid, 
 to my knowledge he hath put bv some Gentlemen of 
 quality: Therefore I pray let not that dirty Town oi Paris 
 
 detain
 
 oo^ 
 
 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 detain you too long from your intended journey to Spain, 
 for I make account my Lord vision will be there a matter 
 of two months hence. So I rest — Your most affectionate 
 Servitor^ J. H. 
 
 Land., 5 May 1633. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 To the Rt. Hon. Sir Peter Wichs, Lord Ambassador at 
 
 Constantinople. 
 My Lord, 
 
 IT seems there is some angry Star that hath hung over 
 this business of the Palatinate from the beginning of 
 these German Wars to this very day, which will too evi- 
 dently appear, if one should mark and deduce matters from 
 their first rise. 
 
 You may remember how poorly Prague was lost : The 
 Bishop of Halverstadt and Count Mansfelt shuffled up and 
 down a good while, and did great matters, but all came to 
 nothing at last. You may remember how one of the Ships- 
 Royal was cast away in carrying over the last ; and the 
 13,000 men he had hence perish'd many of them very 
 miserably ; and he himself, as they write, died in a poor 
 Hostrey with one Lacquey, as he was going to Venice to a 
 Bank of Money he had stor'd up there for a dead lift. Your 
 Lordship knows what success the K. of Denmark had (and 
 our 6000 men under Sir Cha. Morgan), for while he thought 
 to make new acquests, he was in hazard to lose all that he 
 had, had not he had favourable Propositions tendred him. 
 There were never poor Christians perish'd more lamentably 
 than those 6000 we sent under M. Hamilton for the assist- 
 ance of the K. of Sweden, who did much, but you know what 
 became of him at last ; how disastrously the Prince Palatine 
 himself fell, and in what an ill conjuncture of time, being 
 upon the very point of being restor'd to his Country. 
 
 But now we have as bad news as any we had yet; for the 
 young Prince Palatine, and his Brother Pr. Robert, having 
 got a jolly considerable Army in Holland, to try their fortunes 
 
 in
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. xxi 
 
 jj 
 
 in Germany with the Siuedes, they had advane'd as far as 
 Munsterlayid and Westphalia, and having lain before Lengi/a, 
 thev were forc'd to raise the sieo;e : And one General Hatz- 
 field pursuing them, there was a sore battle fought, wherein 
 Prince Robert, my Lord Craven, and others, were taken 
 Prisoners. The Prince Palat'me himself, with Major King, 
 thinking to get over the IVeser in a Coach, the water being 
 deep, and not fordable, he sav'd himself by the help of a 
 willow ; and so went a-foot all the way to Munden, the 
 Coach and the Coachman being drown'd in the River. 
 There were near upon 2000 slain on the Palsgrave^s side, 
 and scarce the twentieth part so many on Hatzfield's. 
 Major Gots, one of the chief Commanders, was kill'd. 
 
 I am sorry I must write to you this sad story; yet to 
 countervail it something, Saxen Weijynar thrives well, and 
 is like to get Brisac by help of the French forces. All your 
 friends here are well_, and remember your Lordship often, 
 but none more oft than — Your most humble and ready 
 Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Lond., sjun. 1635. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 To Sir Sackvil C, Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 I WAS as glad that you have lighted upon so excellent 
 a Lady, as if an Astronomer by his Opticks had found 
 out a new Star; and if a Wife be the best or worst fortune 
 of a man, certainly you are one of the fortunatest men in 
 this Island. 
 
 The greatest news I can write to you is, of a bloody 
 Banquet that was lately at Liege, where a great Faction 
 was a fomenting 'twixt the Imperialists and those that were 
 devoted to France, amongst whom one, Ruelle, a popular 
 Burg-Master, was chief. The Count of JVarfuzee, a Vassal 
 of the K. of Spain's, having fled thither from Flanders for 
 some offence, to ingratiate himself against the K. of Spain's 
 favour, invited the said Ruelle to a Feast, and after brought 
 
 him
 
 332 Familiar Letters. Book 1. 
 
 him into a private Chamber^ where he had provided a ghostly- 
 Father to confess him ; and so some of the Soldiers whom 
 he had provided before to guard the House, dispatch'd the 
 Burg-Master. The Town hearing this, broke into the house, 
 cut to pieces the said Count, with some of his Soldiers, and 
 dragg'd his body up and down the streets. You know such 
 a fate befell JValstein in Germany of late years, who having 
 got all the Emperor's Forces into his hands, was found to 
 have intelligence with the Swedes; therefore the Imperial 
 Ban was not only pronounc'd against him, but a reward 
 promis'd to any that should dispatch him : Some of the 
 Emperor's Soldiers at a great Wedding in Egra, of which 
 Band of Soldiers Col. Buttler, an iTishman, was chief, broke 
 into his lodg-ins; when he was at dinner, kill'd him, with three 
 Commanders more that were at Table with him, and threw 
 his body out at a window into the streets. 
 
 I hear Buttler is made since Count of the Empire. So, 
 humbly kissing your noble Lady's hand, I rest — Your faith- 
 ful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Zoftd, sJun. 1634. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 To Dr. Duppa, L. B. o/" Chichester, His Highness' s Tutor 
 
 at St. James. 
 My Lord, 
 
 IT is a well-becoming and very worthy work you are 
 about, not to suffer Mr. Ben. Johnson to go so silently 
 to his grave, or rot so suddenly : Being newly come to Town, 
 and understanding that your Johnsonus Virhius was in the 
 Press, upon the solicitation of Sir Thomas Hawkins, I 
 suddenly fell upon the ensuing Decastic, which if your 
 Lordship please, may have room among the rest. 
 
 Upo?i my honoured Friend and F., Mr. Ben. lohnson. 
 
 ND is thy Glass run out, is that oil spent 
 Which light to such strong sinewy Labours lent ? 
 Well Ben, I now perceive that all the JVz'ne, 
 Tho' they their utmost forces should combine, 
 
 Cannot 
 
 A'
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. ^'xx 
 
 OJO 
 
 Cannot prevail 'gainst Night's three datighters, but 
 One still must spin, one 7vind, the other cut 
 Yet in despite of distaff, clue, and knife, 
 Thou in thy strenuous Lines hast got a Light, 
 Which like thy Bays shall flourish ev'ry age, 
 While sock or buski7i shall attend the Stage. 
 
 Sic vaticinatur Hoellus. 
 
 So I rest, with many devoted respects to your Lordship, 
 as being — Your very humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Lond., I of May 1636. 
 
 XXXIL 
 
 To Sir Ed. B., Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 IRECEIV'D yours this Mawidy-Thiirsday : And where- 
 as among other passages, and high endearments of 
 love, you desire to know what method I observe in the 
 exercise of my devotions, I thank you for your request, 
 which I have reason to believe doth proceed from an extra- 
 ordinary respect to me; and I will deal with you herein, as 
 one should do with his Confessor. 
 
 ^Tis true, tho' there be Rules and Rubricks in our Liturgy 
 sufficient to guide every one in the performance of all holy 
 duties, yet I believe every one hath some mode and model 
 or formulary of his own, specially for his private cubicular 
 devotions. 
 
 I will begin with the last day of the week, and with the 
 latter end of that dav, I mean Saturday evenino:, on which 
 I have fasted ever since I was a youth in Venice, for being 
 deliver'd from a very great danger. This year I use some 
 extraordinary acts of devotion, to usher in the ensuing 
 Sunday, in Hymns, and various Prayers of my own penning, 
 before I go to bed. On Sunday morning I rise earlier than 
 upon other days, to prepare myself for the sanctifying of 
 it ; nor do I use Barber, Tailor, Shoe-maker, or any other 
 Mechanick that morning ; and whatsoever diversions or 
 lets may hinder me the week before, I never miss, but in 
 
 case
 
 334 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 case of sickness, to repair to God's holy House that day, 
 where I come before prayers begin, to make myself fitter 
 for the work by some previous meditations, and to take the 
 whole Service along with me; nor do I love to mingle 
 speech with any in the interim, about news or worldly 
 negotiations in God's holy House. I prostrate myself in 
 the humblest and decentest way of genuflection I can im- 
 agine; nor do I believe there can be any excess of exterior 
 humility in that place; therefore I do not like those squat- 
 ting unseemly bold postures upon one's tail, or muffling the 
 face in the hat, or thrusting it in some hole, or covering 
 it with one's hand ; but with bended knee, and in open 
 confident face, I fix my eyes on the east part of the Church, 
 and Heaven, I endeavour to apply every tittle of the 
 Service to my own Conscience and Occasions ; and I 
 believe the want of this, with the huddling up and careless 
 reading of some Ministers, with the Commoness of it, is 
 the greatest cause that many do undervalue, and take a 
 surfeit of our publick Service. 
 
 For the reading and singing Psalms, whereas most of 
 them are either Petitions or eucharistical Ejaculations, I 
 listen to them more attentively, and make them my own. 
 When I stand at the Creed, I think upon the custom they 
 have in Poland, and elsewhere, for Gentlemen to draw their 
 Swords all the while, intimating thereby, that they will de- 
 fend it with their lives and blood. And for the Decalogue, 
 whereas others use to rise, and sit, I ever kneel at it in the 
 humblest and trembling'st posture of all, to crave remission 
 for the breaches pass'd of any of God's holy Commandments 
 (especially the week before), and future grace to observe 
 them. 
 
 I love a holy devout Sermon, that first checks, and then 
 cheers the Conscience ; that begins with the Law, and ends 
 with the Gospel : But I never prejudicate or censure any 
 Preacher, taking him as I find him. 
 
 And now that we are not only adulted but ancient 
 Christians, I believe the most acceptable Sacrifice we can 
 
 send
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 335 
 
 send up to Heaven, is Prayer and Praise ; and that Sermons 
 are not so essential as either of them to the true practice of 
 devotion. The rest of the holy Sabbath, I sequester my 
 body and mind as much as I can from worldly affairs. 
 
 Upon Monday morn, as soon as the Cinque-Ports are 
 open, I have a particular prayer of thanks, that I am 
 repriev'd to the beginning of that week ; and every day 
 following I knock thrice at Heaven's-gate, in the Morning, 
 in the Evening, and at Night ; besides prayers at meals, 
 and some other occasional ejaculations, as upon the putting 
 on of a clean Shirt, washing my hands, and at lighting of 
 Candles ; which because they are sudden, I do in the third 
 Person. • 
 
 Tuesday morning I rise Winter and Summer as soon as 
 I awake, and send up a more particular Sacrifice for some 
 reasons ; and as I am dispos'd, or have business, I go to 
 bed aijain. 
 
 Upon Wednesday night I always fast, and perform also 
 some extraordinary acts of devotion, as also upon Fridav 
 night ; and Saturday morning, as soon as my senses are 
 unlock'd, I get up. And in the Summer-time, I am often- 
 times abroad in some private field, to attend the Sun- 
 rising: And as I pray thrice every day, so I fast thrice 
 every week ; at least I eat but one meal upon Wednesdays, 
 Fridays, and Saturdays, in regard I am jealous with myself, 
 to have more infirmities to answer for than others. 
 
 Before I go to bed, I make a scrutiny what peccant 
 humours have reign'd in me that day ; and so I reconcile 
 myself to my Creator, and strike a tally in the Exchequer 
 of Heave?i for my quietus est, ere I close my eyes, and leave 
 no burden upon my Conscience. 
 
 Before I presume to take the holy Sacrament, I use some 
 extraordinary acts of humiliation to prepare myself some 
 days before, and by doing some deeds of Charity ; and 
 commonly I compose some new Prayers, and divers of them 
 written in my own blood. 
 
 I use not to rush rashly into prayer without a trembling 
 
 precedent
 
 3.'^6 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 oo 
 
 precedent Meditation ; and if any odd thoughts intervene, 
 and grow upon me, I check myself, and recommence : 
 And this is incident to long Prayers, which are more sub- 
 ject to Man's weakness, and the Devil's malice. 
 
 I thank God I have this fruit of my foreign Travels, that 
 I can pray to him every day of the week in a several Lan- 
 guage,and upon Sundayin seven, which in Oraisonsof myown 
 I punctually perform in my private pomeridian devotions. 
 
 jE/ sic ceternam contendo attingere vitam. 
 
 By these steps I strive to climb up to Heaven, and my 
 Soul prompts me I shall go thither; for there is no object 
 in the world delights me more than to cast up my eyes that 
 way, specially in a Star-light night : And if my mind be 
 overcast with any odd clouds of melancholy, when I look 
 up and behold that glorious Fabrick, which I hope shall be 
 my Country hereafter, there are new spirits begot in me 
 presently, which make me scorn the World, and the pleasures 
 thereof, considering the vanity of the one, and the inanity 
 of the other. 
 
 Thus my Soul still moves Eastivard, as all the heavenly 
 Bodies do ; but I must tell you, that as those Bodies are 
 over-master'd, and snatch'd away to the West, raptu primi 
 mohiUs, by the general motion of the tenth Sphere, so by 
 those epidemical infirmities which are incident to man, I 
 am often snatch'd away a clean contrary course, yet my 
 Soul persists still in her own proper motion. I am often 
 at variance, and angry with myself (nor do I hold this 
 anger to be any breach of charity) when I consider, that 
 whereas my Creator intended this Body of mine, tho' a 
 lump of Clay, to be a Temple of his Holy Spirit, my affec- 
 tions should turn it often to a Brothel-house, my passions 
 to a Bedlam, and my excesses to an Hospital. 
 
 Being of a Lay-profession, I humbly conform to the 
 Constitutions of the Church, and my spiritual Superiors ; 
 and I hold this Obedience to be an acceptable Sacrifice 
 to God. 
 
 Difference
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 337 
 
 Difference in opinion may work a disaffection in me, but 
 not a detestation ; I rather pity than hate Turk or hifidel, 
 for they are of the same metal, and bear the same stamp as 
 I do, tho' the Inscriptions differ : If I hate any, 'tis those 
 Schismaticks that puzzle the sweet peace of our Church, so 
 that I could be content to see an Anabaptist go to Hell on 
 a Brownist's back. 
 
 Noble Knight, now that I have thus eviscerated myself, 
 and dealt so clearly with you, I desire by way of correspon- 
 dence that you would tell me, what way you take in your 
 journey to Heaven : For if my breast lie so open to you, 
 'tis not fitting yours should be shut up to me ; therefore I 
 pray let me hear from you when it may stand with your 
 Convenience. 
 
 So I wish you your heart's desire here, and Heaven 
 hereafter, because I am — Yours in no vulgar way of 
 friendship, J. H. 
 
 Zofid., 2 1^ July 1635. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 To Simon Digby, JLsq. ; at Mosco, the Emperor of 
 
 Russia's Court. 
 Sir, 
 
 IRECEIV'D one of yours by Mr. Pickhurst, and I am 
 glad to find that the rough clime of Russia agrees so 
 well with you ; so well, as you write, as the Catholic Ayr 
 of Madrid, or the Imperial Ayr of Vienna, where you had 
 such honourable employments. 
 
 The greatest news we have here is, that we have a Bishop 
 Lord-Treasurer ; and 'tis news indeed in these times, tho' 
 'twas no news you know in the times of old to have a Bishop 
 Lord-Treasurer of England. I believe he was merely passive 
 in this business ; the active instrument that put the white 
 Staff in his hands was the Metropolitan at Lambeth. 
 
 I have other news also to tell you ; we have a brave new 
 Ship, a Royal Galeon, the like they say did never spread 
 Sail upon salt Water, take her true and well-compacted 
 
 Y Symmetry,
 
 338 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 Symmetry, with all dimensions together : For her burden, 
 she hath as many Tuns as there were years since the In- 
 carnation when she was built, which are 1636; she is in 
 length 127 Foot, her greatest breadth within the Planks is 
 46 Foot, and 6 Inches; her depth from the breadth is 19 
 Foot, and 4 Inches : She carrieth 100 Pieces of Ordnance 
 wanting four, whereof she hath three tyre ; half a score 
 Men may stand in her Lantern ; the charges His Majesty 
 hath been at in the building of her are computed to be 
 j^8o,ooo, one whole year's Ship-money : Sir Robert Mansel 
 launch'd her, and by His Majesty's command call'd her 
 The Sovereign of the Sea. Many would have had her to be 
 nam'd the Edgar, who was one of the most famous Saxon 
 Kings this Island had, and the most potent at Sea. Rajiul- 
 phus Cestrensis writes, that he had 400 Ships, which every 
 year after Easter went out in four Fleets to scour the 
 Coasts. Another Author writes, that he had four Kings 
 to row him once upon the Dee. But the Title he gave him- 
 self was a notable lofty one, which was this, Alti-tonantis 
 Dei larg'iflua dementia qui est Rex Regum, Ego Edgarus 
 u4nglorum Basileus, omnium Regum, Insularum, Oceanique 
 Britanniayn circumjacent is, cunctaruvique Nationum quce infra 
 earn includuntur, Imperator &' Do7ninus, &'c. I do not think 
 vour grand Emperor of Russia hath a loftier Title ; I con- 
 fess the Sophy of Persia hath a higher one, tho' profane and 
 ridiculous, in comparison of this; for he calls himself The 
 Star high and mighty, whose Head is cover' d with the Sun, 
 whose motion, is comparable to the ethereal Firmament, Lord 
 of the Mountains Caucasus and Taurus, of the four Rivers 
 Euphrates, Tygris, Araxis, and Indus ; Bud of Honour, the 
 Mirror of Virtue, Rose of Delight, and Nutineg of Coinfort. 
 It is a huge descent, methinks, to begin with a Star and end 
 in a Nutmeg. 
 
 All your Friends here in Court and City are well, and 
 often mindful of you, with a world of good wishes; and 
 you cannot be said to be out of England as long as you live 
 in so many noble memories : Touching mine, you have a 
 
 large
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 339 
 
 large room in it, for you are one of my chief inmates. So, 
 with mv humble Service to your Lady, I rest — Your most 
 faithful Servitor, while J. H. 
 
 Lond., X yuly 1635. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 To Dr. Tho : Prichard. 
 Dear Dr., 
 
 I HAVE now had too long a supersedeas from employment, 
 having engag'd myself to a fatal Man at Court (by his 
 ov/n seeking) who I hoped, and had reason to expect (for I 
 wav'd all other ways) that he would have been a Scale 
 towards my rising, but he hath rather prov'd an Instrument 
 towards my ruin : It may be he will prosper accordingly. 
 
 I am shortly bound for Ireland, and it may be the Stars 
 will cast a more benign Aspect upon me in the JVest ; you 
 know who got the Persian Empire by looking that way for 
 the first beams of the Sun-rising, rather than towards the 
 East. 
 
 My Lord Deputy hath made often professions to do me a 
 pleasure, and I intend now to put him upon't. 
 
 I purpose to pass by the Bath for a Pain I have in my 
 Arm, proceeding from a defluction of Rheum ; and then I 
 will take Brecknock in my way, to comfort my Sister Pe}iry, 
 who I think hath lost one of the best Husbands in all the 
 thirteen Shires of IVales. 
 
 So, with apprecation of all happiness to you, I rest — 
 Yours, while J. H. 
 
 Lond., 10 Feb. 1637. 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 To Sir Kenelm Digby, Knight, from Bath. 
 Sir, 
 
 YOUR being then in the Country, when I began my Jour- 
 ney for Ire/and, was the cause I could not kiss your 
 hands ; therefore I shall do now from Bath what I should 
 have done at London. 
 
 Being
 
 340 Familiar Letters. Book /, 
 
 Being here for a distillation of Rheum that pains me in 
 one of my Arms, and having had about three thousand 
 strokes of a pump upon me in the Queen's Jiath ; and having 
 been here now^ divers days, and view'd the several quali- 
 ties of these Waters, I fell to contemplate a little what 
 should be the reason of such extraordinary actual heat, and 
 medicinal Virtue in them. I have seen and read of divers 
 Baths abroad, as those of Caldanel and Avinian in agro 
 Senensi, the Grotta in Fierhio, those between Naples and 
 Puteolum in Campania ; and I have been a little curious to 
 know the reason of those rare lymphatical properties in 
 them above other Waters. I find that some impute it to 
 Wind, or Air, or some Exhalations shut up in the Bowels 
 of the Earth, which either by their own nature, or by their 
 violent motion and agitation, or attrition upon rocks, and 
 narrow passages, do gather heat, and so impart it to the 
 Waters. 
 
 Others attribute this balneal heat to the Sun, whose all- 
 searching Beams penetrating the pores of the Earth, do heat 
 the Waters. 
 
 Others think this heat to proceed from quick-lime, which 
 by common experience we find to heat any Waters cast 
 iipon't, and also to kindle any combustible substance put 
 upon it. 
 
 Lastly, There are some that ascribe this heat to a subter- 
 ranean fire kindled in the Bowels of the Earth, upon sulphury 
 and bituminous matter. 
 
 'Tis true, all these may be general concurring causes, but 
 not the adequate, proper, and peculiar reason of balneal 
 heats ; and herein truly our learned Countryman Dr. Jordan 
 hath got the start of any that ever writ of this subject, and 
 goes to work like a solid Philosopher : For having treated 
 of the generation of Minerals, he finds that they have their 
 Seminaries in the Womb of the Earth replenish'd with 
 active spirits; which meeting with apt matter and adjuvant 
 causes, do proceed to the generation of several species, 
 according to the nature of the efficient, and fitness of the 
 
 matter.
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 341 
 
 matter. In this work of generation, as there is generatio 
 unius, so there is corruptio alterius ; and this cannot be done 
 without a superior power, which by moisture dilateth itself, 
 works upon the matter like a leav'ning and ferment, to bring 
 it to its own purpose. 
 
 This motion 'twixt the agent spirit and patient matter 
 produceth an actual heat : For motion is tlie fountain of heat, 
 which serves as an instrument to advance the work ; for 
 as cold dulls, so heat quickeneth all things. Now for the 
 nature of this heat, it is not a destructive violent heat, as 
 that of fire, but a generative gentle heat join'd with moisture, 
 nor needs it air for eventilation. This natural heat is daily 
 observed by digging in the Mines; so then while Minerals 
 are thus engendring, and in soliitis principiis, in their 
 liquid forms, and not consolidated into hard bodies (for 
 then they have not that virtue), they impart heat to the 
 neighbouring Waters. So then it may be concluded, that 
 this Soil about the Bath is a mineral vein of Earth ; and 
 the fermenting gentle temper of generative heat that goes 
 to the production of the said Minerals, doth impart and 
 actually communicate this balneal virtue and medicinal heat 
 to these Waters. 
 
 This subject of Mineral IVaters would afford an Ocean of 
 Matter, were one to compile a solid discourse of it : And I 
 pray excuse me, that I have presum'd in so narrow a com- 
 pass as a Letter to comprehend so much, which is nothing, 
 I think, in comparison of what you know already of this 
 matter. 
 
 So I take my leave, and humbly kiss your hands, being 
 always — Your most faithful add ready servitor, J. H. 
 
 Bai/i, zjuly 1638. 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 To Sir Ed. Savage, Knight, at Tower-hill. 
 Sir, 
 
 I AM come safely to Dublin, over an angry boisterous 
 Sea; whether 'twas my voyage on salt Water, or 
 
 change
 
 342 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 change of Air, being now under another clime, which was 
 the cause of it, I know not, but I am suddenly freed of the 
 pain in my Arm, when neither Bath nor Plaisters, and 
 other Remedies, could do me good. 
 
 I deliver'd your Letter to Mr. James Dillon, but nothing 
 can be done in that business till your Brother Pain comes 
 to Town: I met him with divers of my Northern Friends, 
 whom I knew at York. Here is a most splendid Court kept 
 at the Castle, and except that of the Vice-roy of Naples, I 
 have not seen the like in Christendom ; and in one point of 
 Grandeza, the Lord-Deputy here goes beyond him, for he 
 can confer Honours, and dub Knights, which that Vice-roy 
 cannot, or any other I know of. Traffick increaseth here 
 wonderfully, with all kind of Bravery and Building. 
 
 I made an humble motion to my Lord, that in regard 
 businesses of all sorts did multiply here daily, and that there 
 was but one Clerk of the Council (Sir Paul Davis) who was 
 able to dispatch business (Sir Will Usher, his Colleague, being 
 very aged and bed-rid), his Lordship would please to think 
 of me : My Lord gave me an Answer full of good respect, 
 to succeed Sir William after his death. 
 
 No more now, but with my most affectionate respects 
 unto vou, I rest — Your faithful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Z)ublifi, 3 3Iay 1639. 
 
 XXXVH. 
 
 To Dr. Usher, Lord Primate oj Ireland. 
 
 MAY it please your Grace to accept of my most 
 humble Acknowledgment for those noble Favours I 
 received at Drogheda ; and that you pleas'd to communicate 
 to me those rare Manuscripts in so many Languages, and 
 divers choice Authors in your Library. 
 
 Your learned Work, De primordiis Ecclesiarum Brita?i- 
 nicarum, which you pleas'd to send me, I have sent to 
 England; and so it shall be convey'd to Jesus-College in 
 Oxford, as a gift from your Grace. 
 
 I
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 
 
 343 
 
 I hear that Cardinal Barherino, one of the Pope's Nephews, 
 is setting forth the Works of Fastidius, a British Bishop, 
 call'd De vita Christiana. It was written 300 years after our 
 Saviour, and Holstenius hath the care of the Impression. 
 
 I was lately looking for a word in Suidas, and I lighted 
 upon a strange passage in the name 'It^o-ou?, that in the 
 Reign of Justinian the Emperor, one Theodosius, a Jew, a 
 Man of great Authority, liv'd in Jerusalem, with whom a rich 
 Goldsmith, who was a Christian, was much in favour, and 
 very familiar : The Goldsmith, in private discourse, told him 
 one day that he wonder d, he being a Man of such a great 
 understanding, did not turn Christian, considering how he 
 found all the Prophecies of the Law so evidently accomplish' d 
 in our Saviour, and our Saviour's Prophecies accomplish'd 
 since. Theodosius answer'd, that it did not stand ivith his 
 security and continuance in Authority to turn Christian, hut he 
 had a long time a good opinion of that Religion, and he would 
 discover a secret to him which was not yet come to the know- 
 ledge of any Christian. It was, that when the Temple was 
 founded in Jerusalem, there were twenty-two Priests, accord- 
 ing to the number of the Hebrew Letters, to officiate in the 
 Temple ; and when any was chosen, his Name, with his 
 Father and Mother's, were us'd to be register'd in a fair Book. 
 In the time of Christ a Priest died, and he was chosen in his 
 place; but when his name was to be enter'd, his father Joseph 
 being dead, his Mother was sent for, who being ask'd who was 
 his Father ? she answer'd, that she never knew Man, but that 
 she conceived by an Angel: So his name was register'd in 
 these words, JESUS CHRIST THE SON OF GOD, 
 AND OF THE VIRGIN MARY. This Record at the 
 destruction of the Temple was preserv'd, and is to be seen 
 in Tyberias to this day. I humbly desire your Grace's 
 opinion hereof in your next. 
 
 They write to me from England of rare news in France, 
 which is, that the Queen is deliver'd of a Dauphin, the 
 wonderful'st thing of this kind that any Story can parallel ; 
 for this is the three and twentieth year since she was 
 
 married.
 
 344 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 married^ and hath continued childlets all this while ; So 
 that now Mo?meur^s cake is dough, and I believe he will 
 be more quiet hereafter. So I rest, — Your Grace's most 
 devoted Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Dublin^ I Mar. 1639. 
 
 XXXVIIT. 
 
 To my Lord Clifford, y?-om Edenburgh. 
 My Lord, 
 
 I HAVE seen now all the King of Great Br'itain*s 
 Dominions; and he is a good traveller that has seen all 
 his Dominions. I was born in Wales, I have been in all 
 the four corners of England, I have travers'd the Diameter 
 of France more than once, and now I come thro' Ireland 
 into this Kingdom of Scotland. This Town of Edinburgh 
 is one of the fairest Streets that ever I saw (excepting that 
 of Palermo in Sicily) ; it is about a Mile long, coming sloping 
 down from the Castle (call'd of old the Castle of Virgins, 
 and, by Pliny, Castrum alatum) to Holy-Rood-House, now 
 the Royal Palace ; and these two begin and terminate the 
 Town. I am come hither in a very convenient time, for 
 here's a National Assembly, and a Parliament, my Lord 
 Traquair being His Majesty's Commissioner. The Bishops 
 are all gone to wrack, and they have had but a sorry 
 Funeral ; the very Name is grown so contemptible, that a 
 black Dog, if he hath any white marks about him, is call'd 
 Bishop. Our Lord of Canterhury is grown here so odious, 
 that they call him commonly in the Pulpit The Priest of 
 Baal, and the <So/i q/' Belial. 
 
 I'll tell your Lordship of a passage which happen'd lately 
 in my Lodging, which is a Tavern : I had sent for a Shoe- 
 maker to make me a pair of Boots, and my Landlord, who 
 is a pert smart Man, brought up a choppin of White Wine 
 (and, for this particular, there are better French Wines here 
 than in England, and cheaper ; for they are but a groat a 
 quart, and it is a crime of a high nature to mingle or 
 sophisticate any Wine here). Over this choppin of White 
 
 Wine,
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 345 
 
 Wine, my Vintner and Shoe-maker fell into a hot dispute 
 about Bishops: The Shoe-maker grew very furious, and 
 call'd them the Firebrands of Hell, the Panders of the 
 Whore of Babylon, and the Instruments of the Devil ; and 
 that they were of his Institution, not of God's. My Vintner 
 took him up smartly, and said, Hold, Neighbour, there : Do 
 not you know as well as I that Titus and Timothy were 
 Bishops? That our Saviour is entitled The Bishop of our 
 Souls? That the word Bishop is as frequently mentioned in 
 Scripture, as the name Pastor, Elder, or Deacon ? Then why 
 do you inveigh so Bitterly against them ? The Shoe-maker 
 answer'd, I know the Name and Office to be good, hut they 
 have abused it. My Vintner replies. Well then, you are a 
 Shoe-maker by your profession; imagine that you, or a Imndred, 
 or a thousand, or a hundred thousand of your Trade, shall 
 play the knaves, and sell Calfskin-leather Boots for Neats- 
 leather, or do other cheats; ynust we therefore go barefoot? 
 Must the gentle Craft of Shoe-makers fall therefore to the 
 grojind ^ It is the fault of the Men, 7iot of the Calling. The 
 Shoe-maker was so gravell'd at this, that he was put to his 
 Last ; for he had not a word more to say : So my Vintner 
 got the day. 
 
 There is a fair Parliament-House built here lately, and 
 'twas hoped His Majesty would have ta'en the Maiden-head 
 of it, and come hither to sit in Person ; and they did ill 
 who advis'd him otherwise. 
 
 I am to go hence shortly back to Dublin, and so to 
 London, where I hope to find your Lordship, that according 
 to my accustomed boldness, I may attend you. In the 
 interim I rest — Your Lordship's most humble Servitor, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 Edinburgh, 1639. 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 To Sir K. Digby, Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 I THANK you for the good opinion you please to have 
 of my fancy of Trees : It is a maiden one, and not 
 
 blown
 
 34^ Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 blown upon by any one yet : But for the merits you please 
 to ascribe to the Author, I utterly disclaim any, 'specially 
 in that proportion you please to give them me, 'Tis you 
 that have parts enough to complete a whole Jury of Men. 
 Those small perquisites that I have, are thrust up into a 
 little narrow Lobby; but those Perfections that beautify 
 your noble Soul, have a spacious Palace to walk in, more 
 sumptuous than either the Louvre, Seralio, or Escurial. 
 So I most affectionately kiss your hands, being always — 
 Your most faithful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Westm., 3 Dec. 1639. 
 
 XL. 
 
 To Sir Sackvill Crow, His Majesty's Ambassador at the 
 Post of Constantinople. 
 
 Right Honourable Sir, 
 
 THE greatest News we have here now, is a notable 
 naval Fight that was lately 'twixt the Spaniard and 
 Hollander, in the Doiuns ; but to make it more intelligible, 
 I will deduce the Business from the beoi;inninci;. 
 
 The King of Spain had provided a great Fleet of Galeons, 
 whereof the Vice-Admirals of Naples and Portugal were 
 two (whereof he had sent advice to England long before). 
 The design was to meet with the French Fleet, under the com- 
 mand of the Archbishop of Bourdeaux ; and in default of that, 
 to land some Treasure at Dunkirk, with a recruit of Spaiiiards 
 who were grown very thin in Flanders. These Recruits 
 were got by an odd trick ; for some of the Fleet being at 
 St. Anderas, a report was blown up of purpose, that the 
 French were upon the Coasts : Hereupon all the young 
 Men of the Country came to the Sea-side, and so a great 
 number of them were tumbled a Shipboard, and so they 
 set sail towards the Coasts of France ; but the Archbishop, 
 it seems, had drawn in his Fleet. Then striking into the 
 narrow Seas, they met with a Fleet of about sixteen Hol- 
 landers, whereof they sunk and took two, and the rest got 
 
 away
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 347 
 
 away to Holland, to give an alarm to the States, who in less 
 than a month got together a Fleet of about one hundred 
 sail ; and the Wind being a long time Easterly, they came 
 into the Downs, where Don Antonio (V Oquendo, the Spanish 
 Admiral, had stay'd for them all the while. Sir John 
 Pejiington was then abroad with seven of His Majesty's 
 Ships: And Don Antonio being daily warn'd what Forces 
 were preparing in Zealajuka.nd. Holland, and so advis'd to get 
 over to the Flemish Coasts in the interim, with a haughty 
 spirit he answer'd, Tengo de quedarme aqui para castigar 
 esios Reheldes : I will stay here to chastise these Rebels. There 
 were ten more of His Majesty's Ships appointed to go join 
 with Sir John Penington, to observe the motions of those 
 Fleets ; but the Wind continuing still East, they could not 
 get out of the River. 
 
 The Spanish Fleet had fresh Water, Victuals, and other 
 necessaries, from our Coasts, for their Money, according to 
 the Capitulations of Peace, all this while; at last, being 
 half surprized by a cloud of Hollanders consistinj^ of 114 
 Ships, they launch'd out from our Coasts, and a most 
 furious fight began, our Ships having retir'd hard by all the 
 while. 
 
 The Vice-Admiral of Portugal, a famous Sea-Captain, 
 Don Lope de Hozes, was engag'd in close fight with the 
 Vice-Admiral of Holland, and after many tough Rencoun- 
 ters they were both blown up, and burnt together. At last, 
 night came and parted the rest; but six Spanish Ships were 
 taken, and about twenty of the Hollanders perish'd. Oquen- 
 do then cross'd over to Nardic, and so back to Spain, wiiere 
 he died before he came to the Court : And 'tis thought, had 
 he liv'd, he had been question'd for some Miscarriages ; for 
 if he had suffer'd the Dunkirkers, who are nimbler, and 
 more fit for fight, to have had the Fan, and dealt with the 
 Hollander, 'tis thought Matters might have gone better with 
 him; but his Ambition was, that the great Spanish Galeons 
 should get the glory of the day. 
 
 The Spaniards give out that they had the better, in 
 
 reirard
 
 348 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 regard they did the main work ; for Oquendo had convey'd 
 all his recruits and treasure to Flanders, while he lay hover- 
 ing on our Coasts. 
 
 One thing is herein very observable, what a mighty navi- 
 gable Power the Hollander is come to, that in so short a 
 compass of time he could appear with such a numerous 
 Fleet of 114 Sail of Men of War, in such a perfect 
 equipage. 
 
 The times afford no more at present; therefore, with 
 a tender of my most humble Service to my noble Lady, 
 and my thankful acknowledgment for those great Favours, 
 which my Brother Edward writes to me he hath receiv'd 
 from your Lordship in so singular a manner at that Port, 
 desiring you would still oblige me with a continuance of 
 them, I rest, among those multitudes you have left behind 
 you in England — Your Lordship's most faithful Servitor, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 Lond., 3 Aug. 1639. 
 
 XLI. 
 
 To Sir J. M., Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 I HEAR that you begin to Mow the Coal, and offer 
 Sacrifice to Demogorgon, the God of Minerals : Be 
 well advis'd before you engage yourself too deep ; Chymistry 
 I know, by a little experience, is wonderful pleasing for the 
 trial of so many rare conclusions it carries with it, but 
 withal, 'tis costly and an enchanting kind of thing ; for it 
 hath melted many a fair Manor in Crucibles, and turn'd 
 them to smoke. One presented Sixtus Quintus {Sice-cinq, 
 as Q. Elizabeth call'd him) with a Book of Chymistry, and 
 the Pope gave him an empty Purse for a Reward. 
 
 There be few whom Mercury, the father of Miracles, 
 doth favour : The Queen of Sheha and the King crown'd 
 with Fire are not propitious to many : He that hath Water 
 turn'd to Ashes, hath the Magistery, and the true Philoso- 
 pher's Stone ; there be few of those is There be some that 
 
 commit
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 349 
 
 commit Fornication in Chymistry, by heterogeneous and so- 
 phistical Citrinations ; but they never come to the Fhcenix 
 Nest. 
 
 I know you have your share of Wisdom, therefore I con- 
 fess it a presumption in me to give you Counsel. So I 
 rest — Your most faithful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Westm., I Fel>. 1638. 
 
 XLII. 
 
 To Simon Digby, Esq. ; at the gran Mosco in Russia. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I RETURN you many thanks for your last of the first 
 of June, and that you acquaint me with the State of 
 things in that Country. 
 
 I doubt not but you have heard long since of the revolt 
 of Catalonia from the K. of Spain; it seems the sparkles of 
 those Fires are flown to Portugal, and put that Country 
 also in combustion. The D. of Braganza, whom you may 
 well remember about the Court of Spain, is now King of 
 Portugal, by the Name of El Rey Don Juan; and he is 
 generally obey'd, and quietly settled, as if he had been 
 King these twenty years there; for the whole Country fell 
 suddenly to him, not one Town standing out. When the 
 K. of Spain told Olivares of it first, he slighted it, saying, 
 that he was but Rey de Havas, a Bean-cake King. But it 
 seems strange to me, and so strange that it transforms me 
 to wonder, that the Spaniard being accounted so politic a 
 Nation, and so full of precaution, could not foresee this ; 
 especially there being divers intelligences given, and evident 
 symptoms of the general discontentment of that Kingdom 
 (because they could not be protected against the Hollander 
 in Brasil), and of some designs a year before, when this D. 
 of Braganza was at Madrid. I wonder, I say, they did not 
 secure his Person, by engaging him to some employment 
 out of the way : Truly I thought the Spaniard was better 
 sighted, and could see further off than so. You know what 
 
 a
 
 350 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 a huge Limb the Crown of Portugal was to the Spanish 
 Monarchy, by the Islands in the Atlantic Sea, the Towns 
 in Afric, and all the East-Indies, insomuch that the 
 Spaniard hath nothing now left beyond the Line. 
 
 There is no offensive War yet made by Spain against K. 
 John; she only stands upon the defensive part, until the 
 Catalan be reduced : And I believe that will be a long- 
 winded business; for this French Cardinal stirs all the Devils 
 of Hell against Spain, insomuch that most Men say, that 
 these formidable Fires which are now ra2:in2; in both these 
 Countries, were kindled at first by a Granado hurl'd from 
 his Brain : Nay, some will not stick to say, that this Breach 
 'twixt us and Scotland is a reach of his. 
 
 There was a ruthful Disaster happen'd lately at Sea, which 
 makes our Merchants upon the Exchange hang down their 
 heads very sadly. The ship Swan, whereof one Limery was 
 Master, having been four years abroad about the Strcights, 
 was sailing home with a Cargazon valued at <^8oo,ooo, 
 whereof ,^450,000 was in Money, the rest in Jewels and 
 Merchandise : But being in sight of shore, she sprung a 
 Leak, and being ballasted with Salt, it choak'd the Pump, 
 so that the Swan could swim no longer. Some sixteen were 
 drown'd, and some of them with ropes of Pearl about their 
 Necks ; the rest were sav'd by an Hamhurgher not far off. 
 The K. of Spain loseth little by it (only his Affairs in Flanders 
 may suffer), for his Money was insur'd; and few of the 
 Principals, but the Insurers only, who were most of them 
 Genoese Q-nd Hollanders : A most unfortunate Chance! for 
 had she come to safe Port, she had been the richest Ship 
 that ever came into the Thames ; so that Neptune never had 
 such a Morsel at one bit. 
 
 All your friends here are well, as you will understand 
 more particularly by those Letters that go herewith. So I 
 wish you all health and comfort in that cold Country, and 
 desire that your love may continue still in the same degree 
 of heat towards — Your faithful Servitor J. H. 
 
 Lond., 5 of Mar. 1639. 
 
 XLTII.
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 351 
 
 XLIII. 
 
 To Sir K. D., Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 IT was my fortune to be in a late Communication, where 
 a Gentleman spoke of a hideous thing that happen'd 
 in High Holborn ; how one John Pennant, a young Man of 
 twenty-one, being dissected after his death, there was a kind 
 of Serpent with divers tails found in the left Ventricle of 
 his heart, which, you know, is the most defended part, being 
 thrice thicker than the right, and is the Cell which holds 
 the purest and most illustrious liquor, the arterial blood and 
 the vital spirits. The Serpent was, it seems, three years 
 ingendring, for so long time he found himself indispos'd in 
 the breast; and it was observed that his eye in the interim 
 grew more sharp and fiery, like the eye of a Cock, which is 
 next to a Serpent's eye in redness: So that the Symptom 
 of his inward Disease might have been told by certain 
 exterior rays and signatures. 
 
 God preserve us from publick Calamities ; for serpentine 
 Monsters have been often ill-favour'd presages. I remember 
 in the Roman Story, to have read how, when Snakes or 
 Serpents were found near the Statues of their Gods, as one 
 time about Jupiter's Neck, another time about Minervas 
 Thigh, there follow'd bloody civil Wars after it. 
 
 I remember also, few years since, to have read the rela- 
 tion and deposition of the Carrier of Tewxlury, who with 
 divers of his Servants, passing a little before the dawn of the 
 day with their Packs over Cots-hill, saw n}ost sensibly and 
 very perspicuously in the Air, Musketeers, harness'd Men, 
 and Horsemen, moving in Battle-array, and assaulting one 
 another in divers furious Postures. I doubt not but that 
 you have heard of those fiery Meteors and Thunderbolts that 
 have fallen upon sundry of our Churches, and done hurt. 
 Unless God be plcas'd to make up these Ruptures 'twixt us 
 and Scotland, we are like to have ill davs. The Archbishop 
 
 of
 
 352 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 of Canterlury was lately outrag'd in his House by a pack of 
 common People : And Capt. Mahun was pitifully massacred 
 by his own Men lately; so that the common People, it 
 seems^ have strange Principles infus'd into them, which may 
 prove dangerous : For I am not of that Lord's mind who 
 said, that thei/ ivhofear any popular Insurrection in England 
 are like Boys and IVomen, that are afraid of a Turnip cut 
 like a Death^s-head with a Candle ijiH. 
 
 I am shortly for France, and I will receive your Com- 
 mands before I go. So I am — Your most humble Servitor, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 Lond., 2 May 1640. 
 
 XLTV. 
 
 To my Lord Herbert, of ChexhtvvY , from Paris. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 I SEND herewith Dodonas Grove couch'd in French, and 
 in the newest French; for tho' the main Version be 
 mine, yet I got one of the Academic des heaux Esprits here 
 to run it over, to correct and refine the Language, and 
 reduce it to the most modern Dialect. It took so here, 
 that the new Academy of Wits have given a public and 
 far higher Elogium of it than it deserves. I was brought 
 to the Cardinal at Ruelle, where I was a good while with 
 him in his private Garden ; and it were a vanity in me to 
 insert here what Propositions he made me. There be some 
 Sycophants here that idolize him, and I blush to hear what 
 profane Hyperboles are printed up and down of him; I will 
 instance in a few. 
 
 Cidite Richelli mortales, cedite Divi ; 
 Ilk homines vincit, vincit (S~= ilk Deos. 
 
 Then, 
 Et si nous faiso7is des gui^landes, 
 C est pour en conronner mi Dieu, 
 Qui sous le 7iovi de Richelieu, 
 Recoit nos vccus c?^ 710s offi-andes. 
 
 Then
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 353 
 
 Then, 
 
 Richelli, adventii RupeWse porfa pa^esa'f, 
 Christo Infernales ut patuere fores. 
 
 Certainly he is a rare Man, and of a transcendent reach, 
 and they are rather Miracles than Exploits that he hath done, 
 the' those Miracles be of a sanguine dye (the colour of his 
 habit), steep'd in blood ; which makes the Spaniard call him 
 the grand Caga-J'uego of Christendom. Divers of the scienti- 
 ficall'st and most famous Wits here have spoken of your 
 Lordship with Admiration, and of your great work De veri- 
 tate ; and were those excellent Notions, and theorical Pre- 
 cepts, actually apply'd to any particular Science, it would be 
 an infinite advanta2:e to the commonwealth of Learnins; all 
 the World over. So I humbly kiss your hands, and rest — 
 Your Lordship's most faithful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Paris, I Apr. 1641. 
 
 XLV. 
 To the Rt. Hon. Mrs. Eliz. Altham, now Lady Digby. 
 
 Madam, 
 
 THERE be many sad hearts for the loss of my Lord Robert 
 Digby, but the greatest weight of sorrow falls upon 
 your Ladyship ; among other excellent Virtues, which the 
 World admires you for, I know your Ladyship to have that 
 measure of high discretion that will check your passions : I 
 know also, that your patience hath been often exercised, and 
 put to trial in this kind. For besides the Baron your Father 
 and SivJatnes, you lost your Brother, Master Richard Altham, 
 in the verdant'st time of his age, a Gentleman of rare 
 hopes ; and I believe this sunk deep into your heart : you lost 
 Sir Francis Astley since, a worthy virtuous Gentleman, and 
 now you have lost a noble Lord. We all owe Nature a 
 debt, which is payable some time or other, whensoever she 
 demands it : Nor doth Dame Nature use to seal Lidentures, 
 or pass over either Lease or Patent for a set term of years to 
 any. For my part, I have seen so much of the world, that 
 
 z if
 
 354 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 if she offer'd me a Lease, I would give her but a small Fine 
 for't; 'specially now that the Times are grown so naught, 
 that people are become more than half mad. But, Madam, 
 as long as there are men, there must be malignant humours, 
 there must be vices, and vicissitudes of things; as long as 
 the World wheels round, there must be tossings and tum- 
 blings, distractions and troubles, and bad times must be re- 
 compens'd with better. So I humbly kiss your Ladyship's 
 hands, and rest, Madam — Your constant Servant, 
 
 J. H. 
 York, I of Aug. 1642. 
 
 XLvr. 
 
 To the Hon. Sir P. M., in Dublin. 
 Sir, 
 
 I AM newly return'd from France, and now that Sir Edw. 
 Nicholas is made Secretary of State, I am put in for 
 hopes, or rather assurances, to succeed him in the Clerkship 
 of the Council. 
 
 The Duke de la Vedette is lately fled hither for sanctuary, 
 having had ill luck in Fontar-ahia ; they say his Process was 
 made, and that he was executed in EJfigie in Paris. 'Tis 
 true, he could never square well with his Eminency the Car- 
 dinal (for this is a peculiar Title he got long since from 
 Rome, to distinguish him from all other) nor his Father 
 neither, the little old Duke of Espernon, the ancient'st Soldier 
 in the world, for he wants but one year of a hundred. 
 
 When I was last in Paris, I heard of a facetious passage 
 'twixt him and the Archbishop of Bourdeaux, who in effect 
 is Lord High Admiral of France, and 'twas thus : The 
 Archbishop was to go General of a great Fleet, and the 
 Duke came to his House in Bourdeaux one morning to visit 
 him : The Archbishop sent some of his Gentlemen to desire 
 him to have a little patience, Jbr he was dispatching aivay 
 some Sea- Commanders, and that he would wait on him pre- 
 sently : The little Duke took a pet at it, and went away 
 to his house at Cadillac, some fifteen miles off. The next 
 
 morning 
 
 1
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 355 
 
 morning the Archbishop came to pay him the Visit, and to 
 apologize for himself: Being come in, and the Duke told 
 of it, he sent his Chaplain to tell him, that he ivas newly 
 fallen upon a Chapter of St. Austin's de Civitate Dei, and 
 when he had read that Chapter, he would come to him. 
 
 Some years before, I was told he was at Paris, and 
 Richelieu came to visit him : He having notice of it, Riche- 
 lieu found him in a Cardinal's Cap, kneeling at a Table 
 Altarvvise, with his Book and Beads in his hand, and 
 Candles burnino; before him. 
 
 I hear the E. of Leicester is to come shortly over, and so 
 over to Ireland to be your Deputy. No more now, but 
 that I am — Your most faithful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Lond., 7 Sept. 1641. 
 
 XLVII. 
 
 To the Earl of B., from the Fleet. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 I WAS lately come to London upon some occasions of 
 mine own, and I had been divers times in IVestminster- 
 hall, where I convers'd with many Parliament-men of my 
 Acquaintance; but one morning betimes there rush'd into 
 my chamber five armed Men with Swords, Pistols, and 
 Bills, and told me they had a Warrant from the Parliament 
 for me : I desir'd to see their Warrant, they deny'd it : I 
 desir'd to see the date of it, they deny'd it : I desir'd to see 
 my name in the Warrant, they deny'd all. At last one of 
 them puU'd a greasy Paper out of his Pocket, and shew'd 
 me only three or four Names subscrib'd, and no more : So 
 they rush'd presently into my Closet, and seiz'd on all my 
 Papers and Letters, and anything that was Manuscript ; 
 and many printed Books they took also, and hurl'd all into 
 a great hair Trunk, which they carry'd away with them. I 
 had taken a little Physick that morning, and with very much 
 ado they suffer'd me to stay in my Chamber with two 
 Guards upon me, till the evening; at which time they 
 
 broutrht
 
 356 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 brought me before the Committee for Examination, where 
 I confess I found good respect : And being brought up to 
 the close Committee, I was order'd to be forth-coming, till 
 some Papers of mine were perus'd, and Mr. Corbet was 
 appointed to do it. Some days after, I came to Mr. Corbet, 
 and he told me he had perus'd them, and could find nothing 
 that might give offence. Hereupon, I desir'd him to make 
 a report to the House, according to which (as I was told) 
 he did very fairly ; yet such was my hard hap, that I was 
 committed to the Fleet, where I am now under close re- 
 straint : And, as far as I see, I must lie at dead anchor in 
 this Fleet a long time, unless some gentle gale blow thence 
 to make me launch out. God's will be done, and amend 
 the times, and make up these ruptures which threaten so 
 much calamity. So I am — Your Lordship's most faithful 
 (tho' now afflicted) Servitor, J. H. 
 
 I^/eet, 20 Nov. 1643. 
 
 XLVHI. 
 
 To Sir Brevis Thelwall, Knight [Petri ad vincula), at 
 
 Peter-House in London. 
 Sir, 
 
 THO' we are not in the same Prison, yet we are in the 
 same predicament of sufferance ; therefore I presume 
 you subject to the like fits of melancholy as I. The fruition 
 of liberty is not so pleasing, as a conceit of the want of it is 
 irksome, specially to one of such free-born thoughts as you. 
 Melancholy is a black noxious humour, and much annoys 
 the whole inward man ; if you would know what Cordial 
 I use against it in this my sad condition, I'll tell you. I 
 pore sometimes on a Book, and so I make the dead my 
 companions, and this is one of my chiefest solaces : If the 
 humour work upon me stronger, I rouze my spirits, and 
 raise them up towards Hea\£n, my future Country; and 
 one may be on his journey thither, tho' shut up in Prison, 
 and happily go a straighter way than if he were abroad : I 
 consider, that my soul, while she is coop'd within these 
 
 walls 
 
 I
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 357 
 
 walls of flesh, is but in a kind of perpetual prison. And 
 now my Body corresponds with her in the same condition ; 
 my Body is the prison of the one, and these brick-walls the 
 prison of the other. And let the English People flatter 
 themselves as long as they will, that they are free, yet are 
 they in effect but prisoners, as all other Islanders are; for 
 being surrounded and clos'd about with Salt-water (as I am 
 with these IValls) they cannot go where they list, unless 
 they ask the JVinds leave first, and Neptune must give them 
 a pass. 
 
 God Almighty amend the times, and compose these wo- 
 ful divisions, which menace nothing but public ruin ; the 
 thoughts whereof drown in me the sense of mine own 
 private affliction. 
 
 So, wishing you courage (whereof you have enough, if 
 you put it in practice) and patience in this sad condition, 
 I rest — Your true Servant and Compatriot, J. H. 
 
 From the Fleet, 2 Aug. 1643. 
 
 XLIX. 
 
 To Mr. E. P. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I SAW such prodigious things daily done these few years 
 past, that I had resolv'd with myself to give over 
 wondering at anything: yet a passage happen'd this week, 
 that forc'd me to wonder once more, because it is without 
 parallel. It was, that some odd fellows went skulking up 
 and down London streets, and with Figs and Raisins allur'd 
 little Children, and so purloin'd them away from their Parents, 
 and carried them a Ship-board far beyond Sea, where, 
 by cutting their hair, and other devices, they so disguis'd 
 them, that their Parents could not know them. This made 
 me think upon that miraculous passage in Hamelen, a Town 
 in Germany, which I hop'd to have pass'd thro' when I was 
 in Hamburgh, had we return'd by Holland ; which was thus 
 (nor would I relate it to you were there not some ground 
 
 of
 
 358 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 of truth for it). The said Town of Hamelen was annoy'd 
 with Rats and Mice; and it chanc'd, that a pied-coated 
 Piper came thither, who covenanted with the chief Burgers 
 for such a Reward, if he could free them quite from the 
 said Vermin, nor would he demand it till a twelvemonth 
 and a day after. The agreement being made, he began to 
 play on his Pipes, and all the Rats and the Mice follow'd him 
 to a great Lough hard by, where they all perish'd ; so the 
 Town was infected no more. At the end of the year the 
 pied Piper return'd for his reward ; the Burgers put him off 
 with slightings and neglect, offering him some small matter; 
 which he refusing, and staying some days in the Town, one 
 Sunday morning at high Mass, when most people were at 
 Church, he fell to play on his Pipes, and all the Children up 
 and down follow'd him out of the Town, to a great Hill not 
 far off, which rent in two, and open'd, and let him and the 
 children in, and so clos'd up again. This happen'd a matter 
 of 250 years since; and in that Town they date their bills 
 and bonds, and other instruments in Law, to this day, from 
 the year of the going out of their Children : Besides, there 
 is a great Pillar of stone at the foot of the said Hill, whereon 
 this story is engraven. 
 
 No more now, for this is enough in conscience for one 
 time : So I am — Your most affectionate Servitor, J. H. 
 
 J^/eef, I Ocf. 1643. 
 
 L. 
 
 To my Lord G. D. 
 Mv Lord, 
 
 THERE be two weighty sayings in Seneca, Nihil est 
 infelicius eo cui nil unqiiam contigit adversi : There is 
 nothing more unhappy than he who never felt any adversity. 
 The other is, Nullum est majus malum, quam non posse ferre 
 malum : There is no greater cross, than not to be able to 
 bear a cross. Touching the first, I am not capable of that 
 kind of unhappiness, for I have had my share of adversity : 
 I have been hammer'd and dilated upon the Anvil; as our 
 
 Countrvman
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 359 
 
 Countryman Breakspear {Adrian IV.) said of himself, / liave 
 been strain'd thro' the limine of affliction. Touching the 
 second, I am also free of that cross ; for, I thank God for 
 it, I have that portion of Grace, and so much Philosophy, 
 as to be able to endure, and confront any misery : 'Tis not 
 so tedious to me as to others, to be thus immnr'd, because I 
 have been imir'd and habituated to troubles. That which 
 sinks deepest into me, is the sense I have of the common 
 Calamities of this Nation ; there is a strange Spirit hath got 
 in among us, which makes the idea of Holiness, the formality 
 of Good, and the very faculty of Reason to be quite differ- 
 ing from what it was. I remember to have read a Tale of 
 an Ape in Paris, who having got a Child out of the Cradle, 
 and carried him up to the top of the Tiles, and there sat 
 with him upon the ridge ; the Parents beholding this ruthful 
 spectacle, gave the Ape fair and smooth language ; so he 
 gently brought the Child down again, and replac'd him in 
 the Cradle. Our Country is in the same case this Child 
 was in, and I hope there will be sweet and gentle means 
 us'd to preserve it from Precipitation. 
 
 The City of London sticks constantly to the Parliament, 
 and the Common-Council sways much, insomuch that I 
 believe, if the Lord Chancellor Egerton were now living, he 
 would not be so pleasant with them as he was once to a 
 new Recorder of London, whom he had invited to dinner to 
 give him joy of his Office ; and having a great Woodcock- 
 Pye serv'd in about the end of the repast which had been 
 sent him from Cheshire, he said. Now, Master Recorder, you 
 are welcome to a Common- Council. 
 
 There be many discreet brave Patriots in the City, and I 
 hope they will think upon some means to preserve us and 
 themselves from ruin : Such are the Prayers, early and late, 
 of — Your Lordship's most humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 2 Jan. 1643. 
 
 LL
 
 360 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 LI. 
 
 To Sir Alex. R., Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 SURELY God Almighty is angry with England, and 'tis 
 more sure, that God is never angry without cause ; 
 now to know this cause, the best way is for every one to lay 
 his hand on his breast, and examine himself thoroughly, to 
 summon his thoughts, and winnow them, and so call to 
 remembrance how far he hath offended Heaven ; and then 
 it will be found that God is not angry with Englaiid, but 
 with Englishmen. When that doleful change was pro- 
 nounced against Israel, Perditio ex te Israel, it was meant 
 of the concrete (not the abstract), Oh Israelites, your ruin 
 comes from yourselves. When I make this scrutiny within 
 myself, and enter into the closest Cabinet of my Soul, I 
 find (God help me) that I have contributed as much to the 
 drawing down of these Judgments on England as any 
 other. When I ransack the three Cells of my Brain, I find m 
 
 that my Imagination hath been vain and extravagant : my J 
 
 Memory hath kept the bad, and let go the good, like a wide ^ 
 
 Sieve that retains the Bran and parts with the Flour: my 
 Understanding hath been full of Error and Obliquities ; my 
 Will hath been a rebel to Reason ; my Reason a rebel to 
 Faith (which I thank God I have the grace to quell pre- 
 sently with this caution, 
 
 Succumhat ratio Jidei, ^ captiva quiescat.) 
 
 When I descend to my Heart, the centre of all my affec- 
 tions, I find it hath swell'd often with tympanies of Vanity, 
 and tumors of Wrath : when I take my whole self in a 
 lump, I find that I am nought else but a Cargazon of 
 malignant humours, a rabble of unruly Passions, among 
 which my poor Soul is daiiy crucified, as 'twixt so many 
 Thieves. Therefore as I pray in general, that God would 
 please not to punish this Island for the sins of the People, 
 so more particularly I pray, that she suffer not for me in 
 
 particular ;
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 361 
 
 particular; who, if one would go by way of induction, would 
 make one of the chiefest instances of the ar2;ument. And 
 as I am thus conscious to myself of my own demerits, so I 
 hold it to be the duty of every one, to complete himself this 
 way, and to remember the saying of a noble English Captain, 
 who, when the Town of Calais was lost (which was the last 
 footing we had in France), being jeer'd by a Frenchman, 
 and ask'd, Now Englishman, when will you come back to 
 France ? ansvver'd, O Sir, mock not, when the sins of France 
 are greater than the sins of England, the Englishmen will 
 come again to France. 
 
 Before the Sac of Troy, 'twas said and sung up and down 
 the Streets : 
 
 Iliacos infra muros peccatur &= extra. 
 
 The Verse is as true for Sense and Feet : 
 
 Intra Londini muros peccatur (S^ extra ; 
 
 Without and eke within 
 
 The Walls of Londo)i there is sin. 
 
 The way to better the Times, is for every one to mend 
 one. I will conclude with this serious Invocation : I pray 
 God avert those further Judgments (of Famine and Pesti- 
 lence) which are hovering over this populous and once 
 flourishin^r City, and dispose of the Brains and Hearts of 
 this People to seek and serve him aright. 
 
 I thank you for your last visit, and for the Poem you sent 
 me since. So I am — Your most faithful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 2, June. 
 
 LII. 
 
 To Mr. lohn Battv, Merchant. 
 Sir, 
 
 IRECEIV'D the printed discourse vou pleas'd to send 
 me, call'd The Merchant's Remonstrance, for which I 
 return you due and deserved thanks. 
 
 Truly, Sir, it is one of the most material and solid pieces 
 I have read of this kind : And I discover therein two 
 
 things ;
 
 .-^62 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 o 
 
 things ; first, The affection you bear to your Country, with 
 the resentment you have of these woful distractions : Then 
 the Judgment and choice Experience you have purchased 
 by your Negotiations in Spain and Germany. In you 
 may be verified the tenet they hold in Italy, that the 
 Merchant bred abroad is the best Commonwealths-man, 
 being properly applied : For my part, I do not know any 
 profession of life (especially in an Island) more to be cherish'd 
 and countenanc'd with honourable employments than the 
 Merchant-Adventurer (I do not mean only the Staplers of 
 HamhurgJi and Rotterdam) ; for if valiant and dangerous 
 Actions do ennoble a Man, and make him merit, surely the 
 Merchant-Adventurer deserves more honour than any ; for 
 he is to encounter not only with Men of all Tempers and 
 Humours, (as a French Counsellor hath it) but he contests 
 and tugs oft-times with all the Elements : Nor do I see how 
 some of our Country Squires, who sell Calves and Runts, 
 and their Wives perhaps Cheese and Apples, should be held 
 more genteel than the noble Merchant-Adventurer, who 
 sells Silks and Sattins, Tissues and Cloths of Gold, Diamonds 
 and Pearl, with Silver and Gold. 
 
 In your discourse you foretell the sudden calamities which 
 are like to befall this poor Island, if Trade decay ; and that 
 this decay is inevitable, if these commotions last : Herein you 
 are prov'd half a Prophet already, and I fear your Prophecy 
 will be fully accomplish'd if matters hold thus. Good Lord ! 
 was there ever People so active to draw on their own ruin? 
 Which is so visible, that a purblind Man may take a pros- 
 pect of it. We all see this apparently, and hear it told us 
 every minute; but we are fallen to the condition of that 
 foolish People the Prophet speaks of. Who had eyes, hut would 
 7iot see ; and ears, but would not hear. All Men know there 
 is nothing imports this Isjand more than Trade ; it is that 
 Wheel of Industry which sets all others a-going; it is that 
 which preserves the chiefest Castles and Walls of this King- 
 dom, I mean the Ships : And how these are impair'd within 
 these four years, I believe other Nations (which owe us an 
 
 Invasion)
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 363 
 
 Invasion) observe and know better than we : For, truly, T 
 believe a million (I mean of Crowns), and I speak within 
 compass^ will not put the Navy-Royal in that strength as it 
 was four years since, besides the decay of Merchants Ships. 
 A little before Athens was overcome, the Oracle told one of 
 the Areopagitae, that Athens had seen her best days, for her 
 wooden Walls (meaning her Ships) were decayed. As I told 
 you before, there is a Nation or two that owe us an Invasion. 
 
 No more now, but that, with my most kind and friendly 
 respects unto you, I rest always — Yours to dispose of, 
 
 J.H. 
 
 Fleet, 4 May 1644. 
 
 LIII. 
 
 To my honoured Friend, Mr. E. P. 
 Sir, 
 
 THE Times are so ticklish, that I dare not adventure 
 to send you any London intelligence, she being now 
 a Garrison Town ; and you know, as well as I, what danger 
 I may incur: But for foreign, indifferent news, you shall 
 understand that Pope Urban VIII. is dead, having sat in 
 the Chair above twenty years; a rare thing; for it is 
 observ'd, that no Pope yet arriv'd to the years of St. Peter, 
 who, they say, was Bishop of Rome twenty and five. Car- 
 dinal Pamjilio, a Roman born, a knowing Man, and a 
 great Lawyer, is created Pope by assumption of the Name 
 of Innocent X. There was tough canvassing for voices, 
 and a great contrasto in the Conclave 'twixt the Spanish 
 and French Faction, who with Barberino stood for Sachetti ; 
 but he was excluded, as also another Dominican : by these 
 exclusions, the Spanish Party, whereof the Cardinal of 
 Florence was chief, brought about Barberino to join with 
 them for Pamphilio, as being also a creature of the deceased 
 Pope. He had been Nuncio in Spain eight years, so that 
 it is conceiv'd he is much devoted to that Crown, as his 
 Predecessor was to the French, who had been Legate 
 there near upon twenty years, and was Godfather to the 
 
 last
 
 364 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 last King ; which made him to be Fleurdelize, to be 
 Flower-de-luc'd all over. This New Pope hath already 
 pass'd that number of years which the Prophet assigns to 
 Man ; for he goes upon seventy-one, and is of a strong 
 promising constitution to live some years longer. He hath 
 but one Nephew, who is but eighteen, and so not capable 
 of business ; he hath therefore made choice of some Car- 
 dinals more to be his Coadjutors; Panclrello is his prime 
 confident, and lodgM in St. Peter's. ^Tis thought he will 
 presently set all wheels a-going to mediate an universal 
 Peace. They write of one good augury among the rest, 
 that part of his Arms is a Dove, which hath been always 
 held for an emblem of Peace : but I believe it will prove one 
 of the knottiest and difficult'st tasks that ever was attempted 
 as the case stands 'twixt the House of Austria and France ; 
 and the touo;hest and hardest knot I hold to be that of 
 Portugal ; for it cannot yet enter into any Man's imagina- 
 tion, how that can be accommodated ; tho' many Politicians 
 have beaten their brains about it. God Almighty grant, 
 that the appeasing of our civil Wars prove not so intricate 
 a work, and that we may at last take warning by the 
 devastations of other Countries, before our own be past cure. 
 
 They write from Paris, that Sir Kenelm Dighy is to be 
 employ'd to Rome from Her Majesty, in quality of a high 
 Messenger of Honour, to congratulate the New Pope, not 
 of an Amhassador, as the vulgar give out : for none can 
 give that character to any, but a Sovereign independent 
 Prince; and all the World knows, that Her Majesty is under 
 Covert-Baron, notwithstanding that some cry her up for 
 Queen-Regent of England, as her Sister is of France. 
 
 The Lord Auhigny hath an Abbacy of 1500 Pistoles 
 a year given him yearly there, and is fair for a Cardinal's 
 Hat. ^ 
 
 I continue still under this heavy pressure of close restraint, 
 nor do I see any hopes (God help me) of getting forth till 
 the wind shift out of this unlucky hole. Howsoever, I am 
 resolv'd, that if Innocence cannot free my body, yet Patience 
 
 shall 
 
 i 
 
 I
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 365 
 
 shall preserve my mind still in its J^re eh orn thoughts: Nor 
 shall this storm slacken a whit that firm leasfue of love 
 wherein I am eternally tied unto you. I will conclude 
 with a Distich which I found among those excellent Poems 
 of the late Pope : 
 
 Quern valide strinxit prczstariti pollice virtus, 
 Nescius est solvi nodus amicitice. 
 
 — Your constant Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, \ Jail. 1644. 
 
 LIV. 
 
 To the Lord Bishop 0/* London, late Lord Treasurer of 
 
 Enirland. 
 My Lord, 
 
 YOU are one of the Miracles of these times, the greatest 
 mirror of Moderation our Age affords; and as here- 
 tofore when you carried the white Staff, with such clean 
 incorrupted hands, yet the Crosier was still your chief care : 
 nor was it perceiv'd, that that high all-obliging OflSce did 
 alter you a jot, or alienate you from yourself, but the same 
 candor and countenance of meekness appear'd still in you. 
 As whosoever had occasion to make their address to your 
 Gates, went away contented whether they sped in their 
 business or not (a gift your Predecessor was said to want), 
 so since the turbulency of these times, the same modera- 
 tion shines in you, notwithstanding that the Mitre is so 
 trampled upon, and that there be such violent Factions 
 afoot: insomuch that you live not only secure from out- 
 rages, but honoured by all Parties. 'Tis true, one thing 
 fell out to your advantage, that you did not subscribe to 
 that Petition which proved so fatal to Prelacy; but the 
 chief ground of the constant esteem the distracted world 
 hath still of you, is your wisdom and moderation, past and 
 present. This put me in mind of one of your Predecessors 
 (in your late Oflice), Marq. Pawlei, who it seems sail'd by 
 the same compass; for there being divers bandyings and 
 
 factions
 
 ^66 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 o 
 
 factions at Court in his time, yet he was beloved by all 
 parties, and being ask'd how he stood so right in the 
 opinion of all, he answer'd, By leing a Willow, and not 
 an Oak. 
 
 I have many thanks to give vour Lordship for the late 
 visits I had ; and when this cloud is scatter'd, that I may 
 respire free air, one of my first Journeys shall be to kiss 
 your Lordship's hands : in the interim, I rest — Your most 
 devoted and ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 The Fleet, 3 Sept. 1644. 
 
 LV. 
 
 To Sir E. S., Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 THO' I never had the least umbrage of your love, or 
 doubted of the reality thereof, yet since I fell into 
 this plunge, it hath been much confirmed to me. It is a 
 true observation, that among other effects of affliction, one 
 is, to try a Friend ; for those proofs that were made in the 
 fawnings, and dazzling Sunshine of prosperity, are not so 
 clear as those which break out and transpire thro' the dark 
 clouds of adversity. You know the difference the Philo- 
 sophers make 'twixt the two extreme colours. Hack and 
 white, that the one is congregativum, the other disgregativum 
 visus : Black doth congregate, unite and fortify the Sight; 
 the other disgregate, scatter and enfeeble it, when it fixeth 
 upon any object : So through the sable clouds of adverse 
 fortune, one may make a truer inspection into the breast 
 of a Friend. Besides this, affliction produceth another far 
 more excellent effect, it brings us to a better and more clear 
 knowledije of our Creator: for as the rising and settino; Sun 
 appears bigger to us than when he is in the Meridian (tho' 
 the distance be still the same), the cause whereof is ascrib'd 
 to the interposition of mists, which lie 'twixt our eyes and 
 him; so through the thick fogs of adversity (which in this 
 point are as pellucid and diaphanous as any Crystal) we 
 come to see God, and the immensity of his Love in a fuller 
 
 proportion.
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 367 
 
 proportion. There cannot be clearer evidences of his care, 
 than his corrections: when he makes the world to frown, 
 then he smiles most upon us, tho' it be but thro' a mask : 
 besides, it is always his method, to stroke them whom he 
 strikes. We have an ordinary salute in English, God bless 
 you; and tho' the word be radically derived from the Dutch 
 word, yet it would bear good sense, and be very pertinent 
 to this purpose, if we would fetch it from the French word 
 hlesser, which is to hurt. This speculation raiseth my spirits 
 to a great height of comfort and patience, that notwith- 
 standing they have been a long time weigh'd down and 
 quash'd, yet I shall at last o'ercome all these pressures, sur- 
 vive my debts, and surmount my enemies. 
 
 God pardon them, and preserve you ; and take it not ill, 
 that in this my conclusion I place you so near my enemies. 
 Whatsoever Fortune light on me, come fair or foul weather, 
 I shall be still — Your constant Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 5 of Aug. 1644. 
 
 LVI. 
 
 To Tho. Ham, Esq. 
 Sir, 
 ^T^HERE is no such treasure as a true Friend; it is a 
 treasure far above that of St. Mark^s in Venice ; a 
 treasure that is not liable to those casualties which others 
 are liable to, as to plundering and burglary, to bankrupts 
 and ill debtors, to firing and shipwrecks : For when one hath 
 lost his Fortunes by any of these disasters, he may recover 
 them all in a true Friend, who is alwavs a sure and stable 
 commodity. This is verify'd in you, who have stuck so 
 close to me in these my pressures ; like a Glow-worm (the 
 old emblem of true Friendship) you have shin'd to me in the 
 dark : Nor could you do good offices to any that wishcth 
 you better ; for I always lov'd you for the freedom of your 
 genius, for those choice parts and fancies I found in you, 
 which, I confess, hath made me more covetous of your 
 Friendship, than I use to be of others. And, to deal clearly 
 
 with
 
 368 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 with you, one of my prime Errands to this Town (when this 
 disaster fell upon me) was to see you. 
 
 God put a speedy period to these sad distempers ; but this 
 wish, as I was writing it, did vanish in the impossibility of 
 the thing, for I fear they are of a long continuance : so I 
 pray God keep you, and comfort me, who am — Your true 
 Friend to serve you, J. H. 
 
 The Fleet, 5 May 1643. 
 
 LVII. 
 
 To Phil. Warwick, Esq. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 THE Earth does not always produce Roses and Lillies, 
 but she brings forth also Nettles and Thistles ; so the 
 World affords us not always contentments and pleasures, 
 but sometimes afflictions and trouble : Ut ilia trilulos, sic 
 isle trihulationes producit. The Sea is not more subject 
 to contrary blasts, nor the Surges thereof to tossings and 
 tumblings, than the Actions of Men are to encumbrances 
 and crosses ; the Air is not fuller of Meteors, than Man's 
 life is of Miseries : But as we find that it is not a clear Skv, 
 but the Clouds that drop Fatness, as the holy Text tells us, 
 so adversity is far more fertile than prosperity ; it useth to 
 water and mollify the heart, which is the centre of all our 
 affections, and makes it produce excellent fruit; whereas the 
 glaring Sunshine of a continual prosperity would enharden 
 and dry it up, and so make it barren. 
 
 There is not a greater evidence of God's care and love 
 to his creature than Affliction ; for a French Author doth 
 illustrate it by a familiar Example : If two Boys should be 
 seen to fight in the Streets, and a ring of people about them, 
 one of the standers-by parting them, lets the one go untouch'd, 
 but he falls a correcting the other, whereby the beholders 
 will infer that he is his child, or at least one whom he wisheth 
 well to : So the Strokes of adversity which fall upon us from 
 Heaven shew that God is our Father, as well as our Creator. 
 This makes this bitter a^/j of affliction become Nectar, a.n A 
 
 the
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 369 
 
 the bread of carefulness I now eat, to be true Ambrosia to 
 me. This makes me esteem these Walls, wherein I have 
 been immur'd these thirty months, to be no other than a 
 College of instruction to me; and whereas Varro said. That 
 the great World was but a House of a little man, I hold a 
 Fleet to be one of the best lodgings in that House. 
 
 There is a people in Spain call'd hos Pattuecos, who some 
 threescore and odd years since were discover'd by the flight 
 of a Hawk of the old Duke of Alva's ; this People, then all 
 salvage (tho' they dwelt in the centre of Spain, not far from 
 Toledo, and are yet held to be a part of those Aborigines that 
 Tiibal-Cain brought in), being heninid in, and imprison d, as 
 it were, by a multitude of huge craggy Mountains, thought 
 that behind those Mountains there was no more Earth. I 
 have been so habituated to this prison, and accustomed to 
 the walls thereof so long, that I might well be brought to 
 think, that there is no other world behind them. And in 
 my extravagant imaginations, I often compare this Fleet to 
 Noah's ylrk surrounded with a vast Sea, and huge deluge of 
 calamities, which have overwhelm'd this poor Island. Nor, 
 altho' I have been so long aboard here, was I yet under 
 Hatches ; for I have a Cabin upon the upper Deck, whence 
 I breathe the best Air the place affords : add hereunto, that 
 the Society of Master Hopkins is an advantage to me, who 
 is one of the kn()wino;est and most civil Gentlemen that I 
 have convers'd withal. Moreover, there are here some choice 
 Gentlemen who are my Co-Martyrs ; for a Prisoner and a 
 Martyr are the same thing, save, that the one is buried before 
 his death, the other after. 
 
 God Almighty amend these times, that make Imprison- 
 ment to be preferr'd before Liberty, it being more safe, and 
 desirable by some, tho' not by — Your affectionate Servitor, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 From the Fleet, 3 Nov. 1645. 
 
 2 A Lvnr.
 
 .yo Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 LVIII. 
 
 To Sir Ed. Sa., Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 WERE there a Physician that could cure the Maladies 
 of the mind, as well as those of the bodv, he needed 
 not to wish the Lord-Mayor or the Pope for his Uncle^ for 
 he should have Patients without number. It is true^ that 
 there be some distempers of the mind that proceed from 
 those of the body, and so are curable by Drugs and Diets; 
 but there are others that are quite abstracted from all cor- 
 poreal impressions, and are merely mental ; these kind of 
 Agonies are the more violent of the two ; for as the one uses 
 to drive us into Fevers, the other precipitates us oftentimes 
 into Frensies : And this is the ground, I believe, which 
 made the Philosopher think that the rational Soul was in- 
 fus'd into man, partly for his punishment, and the Under- 
 standing for his executioner, unless Wisdom sit at the Helm, 
 and steer the motions of his Will. J 
 
 I thank God I have felt both (for I am not made of stone J| 
 
 or steel), having had since I was shut in here a shrewd fit of ^ 
 
 the new disease; and for the other, you must needs think 
 that thirty-one months' close restraint, and the barbarousness 
 of the times, must discompose and torture the imagination, 
 sometimes with gripings of discontent and anguish, not so 
 much for my own sad condition as for my poor Country and 
 Friends, who have a great share in my Nativity, and particu- 
 larly for yourself, whose gallant worth I highly honour, and 
 who have not been the least sufferer. 
 
 The Moralist tells us, that a quadrat solid wise man should 
 involve and tackle himself within his own Virtue, and slisfht 
 all accidents that are incident to man, and be still the 
 same, Etiamsi fractus 'Mahatur Orhis ; there may be so much 
 virtue and valour in you, but I profess to have neither 
 of them in that proportion. The Philosophers prescribe us 
 Rules that they themselves, nor any flesh and blood can 
 observe : I am no statue, but I must resent the calamities of 
 
 the
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 371 
 
 the time, and the desperate case of this Nation, who seem 
 to have fallen quite from the very faculty of reason, and to 
 be possess'd with a pure Lycanthropy, with a wolvish kind 
 of disposition to tear one another in this manner; insomuch, 
 that if ever the old saying was verify'd, Homo homini lupus, 
 it is certainly now. I will conclude with this Distich : 
 
 T/iey err, 7aho write, iio Wolves in England range. 
 Here Men are all turned Wolves ; O monstrous cha?ige ! 
 
 No more, but that I wish you Patience, which is a Flower 
 that grows not in ev'ry Garden. — Your faithful Servitor, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 From the Fleet, i F)ec. 1644. 
 
 LIX. 
 
 To my nolle Friend, Mr. E. P. 
 Sir, 
 
 I HAVE no other news to write to you hence, but that, 
 Leuantanse los muladeres, y ahaxanse los adanies : The 
 World is tiLrnHd topsey-turvey . — Yours, J. H. 
 
 From the Fleet, 2 Jan. 1644. 
 
 LX. 
 
 To Tho. Young, Esq. 
 Sir, 
 
 I RECEIVED yours of the fifth oi March, and 'twas as wel- 
 come to me as flowers in May, which are now coming on 
 apace. You seem to marvel I do not marry all this while, 
 considering that I am past the Meridian of my Age, and 
 that to your knowledge there have been overtures made me 
 of Parties above my degree. Truly, in this point, I will deal 
 with you as one should do with his Confessor: Had I been 
 dispos'd to have married for wealth wi-!iout affection, or for 
 afTection without wealth, I had been in bonds before now; 
 but I did never cast my eyes upon anv yet, that I thought 
 I was born for, where both these concurr'd. 'Tis the custom 
 of some (and 'tis a common custom) to chuse Wives by 
 
 the
 
 2i']2 Familiar Letters. Book /. 
 
 the weight, that is, by their wealth. Others fall in love 
 with light Wives ; I do not mean Venerean lightness, but 
 in reference to portion. The late Earl of Salislniry gives a 
 caveat for this. That Beauty without a Dowry (without that 
 unguejitum Ind'icum) is as a gilded shell without a kernel; 
 therefore he warns his Son to be sure to have something 
 with his Wife, and his reason is, Because nothing can he 
 bought in the Market without money. Indeed 'tis very fitting 
 that he or she should have wherewith to support both, 
 according to their quality, at least to keep the wolf from 
 the door, otherwise 'twere a mere madness to marry ; but 
 he who hath enough of his own to maintain a Wife, and 
 marrieth only for money, discovereth a poor sordid disposi- 
 tion. There is nothing that my nature disdains more, than 
 to be a slave to Silver or Gold ; for tho' they both carry 
 the King's face, yet they shall never reign over me : And 
 I would I were free from all other infirmities, as I am from 
 this. I am none of those Mammonists who adore white 
 and red Earth, and make their Princes picture their idol that 
 way : Such may be said to be under a perpetual eclipse, for 
 the Earth stands always 'twixt them and the fair face of 
 Heaven. Yet my genius prompts me, that I was born under 
 a Planet, not to die in a Lazaretto. At my nativity my 
 ascendant was that hot constellation of Cancer about the 
 Dogdays, as my Ephemerides tells me; Mars was then pre- 
 dominant: Of all the Elements Fire sways most in me; I 
 have many aspiring and airy odd thoughts swell often in me, 
 according to the quality of the ground whereon I was born, 
 which was the belly of a huge Hill situated South-East; so 
 that the House I came from (besides my Father and Mother's 
 Coat) must needs be Illustrious, being more obvious to the 
 Sun-beams than ordinary. I have, upon occasion of a sud- 
 den distemper, sometimes a mad man, sometimes a fool, 
 sometimes a melancholv odd fellow to deal withal ; I mean 
 myself, for I have the humours within me that belong to all 
 three; therefore who would cast herself away upon such a 
 one? Besides, I came tumbling out into the World a pure 
 
 Cadet,
 
 Sect. 6. Familiar Letters. 373 
 
 Cadet, a true Cosmopolite ; not born to Land, Lease, House, 
 or Office : 'Tis true, I have purchas'd since a small spot of 
 Ground upon Parnassus, which I hold in fee of the Muses, 
 and I have endeavour'd to manure it as well as I could, 
 tho' I confess it hath yielded me little fruit hitherto. And 
 what Woman would be so mad as to take that only for her 
 Joynture ? 
 
 But to come to the point of Wiving, I would have you 
 know, that I have, tho' never marry'd, divers children 
 already, some French, some Latin, one Italian, and many 
 English; and tho' they be but poor brats of the brain, yet 
 are they legitimate, and yJpollo himself vouchsafed to co- 
 operate in their production. I have expos'd them to the 
 wide World, to try their Fortunes ; and some (out of com- 
 pliment) would make me believe they are long-liv'd. 
 
 But to come at last to your kind of Wiving : I acknow- 
 ledge that Marriao;e is an honourable Condition, nor dare I 
 think otherwise without profaneness, for it is the Epithet 
 the holy Text gives it : Therefore it was a wild Speech of 
 the Philosopher to say. That if our conversation could be 
 luithout Women, Angels would come down and dwell among 
 us ; and a wilder speech it was of the Cynic, when passing 
 by a Tree where a Maid had made herself away, wish'd. 
 That all Trees might bear such Fruit. But to pass from 
 these moth-eaten Philosophers to a modern Physician of 
 our own, it was a most unmanly thing in him, while he 
 displays his own Religion, to wish that there were a way to 
 propagate the World otherwise than by conjunction with 
 Women (and Paracelsus undertakes to shew him the way), 
 whereby he seems to repine (tho' I understand he was wiv'd 
 a little after) at the honourable degree of Marriage, which 
 I hold to be the prime Link of human Society, the chicfest 
 happiness of Mortals, and wherein Heaven hath a special 
 hand. 
 
 But I wonder why you write to me of Wiving, when you 
 know I have much ado to man or maintain myself, as I 
 told you before; yet notwithstanding that the better part 
 
 of
 
 374 Familiar Letters. Book I. 
 
 of my days are already threaded upon the string of Time, 
 I will not despair, but I may have a Wife at last, that may 
 perhaps enable me to build Hospitals: for altho' nine long 
 lustres of years have now pass'd o'er my head, and some 
 Winters more (for all my life, considering the few Sun- 
 shines I have had, may be call'd nothing but Winters), yet, 
 I thank God for't, I find no symptom of decay, either in 
 body, sense, or intellectuals. But, writing thus extra- 
 vagantly, methinks I hear you say, That this Letter shews 
 I begin to dote, and grow idle; therefore I will display 
 myself no further to you at this time. 
 
 To tell you the naked truth, my dear Tom, the highest 
 pitch of my aim is, that by some condition or other, I may 
 be enabled at last (tho' I be put to sow, the time that others 
 use to reap) to quit scores with the World, but never to 
 cancel that precious obligation wherein I am indissolubly 
 bound to live and die — Your true constant Friend, J. H. 
 
 From the Fleet, 28 of Apr. 1645. 
 
 AD LIB RUM: 
 
 Sine me. Liber, ibis in Aulam, 
 
 Hei mihi, quod Domino non licet ire tito I Ovid. 
 
 To his Book : 
 
 Thou mafst to Court, and progress to and fro ; 
 Oh, that thy captiv'd Master co2ild do so ! 
 
 Familiar
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 To Master Tho. Adams. 
 
 # PRAY stir nimbly in the business you 
 ^•M)j imparted to me last, and let it not 
 languish ; you know how much it 
 concerns your Credit, and the con- 
 veniency of a Friend who deserves so 
 well of you : I fear you will meet with 
 divers obstacles in the way, which, if 
 you cannot remove, you must over- 
 come. A lukewarm irresolute Man did never anything well, 
 every thought entangles him ; therefore you must pursue 
 the point of your Design with heat, and set all wheels 
 a-going : 'Tis a true badge of a generous nature, being once 
 embark'd in a business, to hoise up, and spread every sail. 
 Main, misen, sprlt,'and top-sail; by that means he will sooner 
 arrive at his Port. If the winds be so cross, and that there 
 be such a fate in the thing, that it can take no effect, yet 
 you shall have wherewith to satisfy an honest mind, that 
 you left nothing unattemptcd to compass it; for in the 
 conduct of human affairs 'tis a rule, That a o-ood Conscience 
 hath always within doors enough to reward itself!, tho' the 
 success fall not out according to the merit of the endeavour. 
 
 I
 
 376 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 I was, according to your desire, to visit the late new mar- 
 ried Couple more than once ; and to tell you true, I never 
 saw such a disparity between two that were made one flesh 
 in all my life : he handsome outwardly, but of odd con- 
 ditions; she excellently qualified, but hard-favour'd : so that 
 the one may be compar'd to a cloth of Tissue Doublet, 
 cut upon coarse Canvas; the other to a Buckram Petticoat 
 lin'd with Sattin. I think Clotho had her fingers smutted 
 in snuffing the Candle, when she begun to spin the thread 
 of her life, and Laches'is frown'd in twisting it up ; but 
 Agla'ia, with the rest of the Graces, were in a good humour, 
 when they form'd her inner-parts. A blind Man is fittest 
 to hear her sing ; one would take delight to see her dance 
 if mask'd, and it would please you to discourse with her in 
 the dark, for there she is best company, if your imagina- 
 tion can forbear to run upon her face. When you marry, 
 I wish you such an inside of a Wife ; but from such an 
 outward Phisnomy the Lord deliver you, and — Your faithful 
 Friend to serve you, J. H. 
 
 Westi?i., 25 Aug. 1633. 
 
 II. 
 
 To Mr. B. J. 
 
 B. The Fangs of a Bear, and the Tusks of a wild 
 • Boar, do not bite worse, and make deeper gashes, than 
 a Goose-quill, sometimes ; no, not the Badger himself, who 
 is said to be so tenacious of his bito, that he will not give 
 over his hold till he feels his Teeth meet and the Bone crack. 
 Your quill hath prov'd so to Mr. JoJies ; but the Pen where- 
 with you have so gash'd him, it seems, was made rather of 
 a Porcupine than a Goose-quill, it is so keen and firm. 
 You know, 
 
 Anser, Apis, Viiulus, Populos &> Regna gubernant. 
 
 The Goose, the Bee, and the Calf (meaning Wax, 
 Parchment, and the Pen) rule the World ; but, of the three, 
 
 the 
 
 F.
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 377 
 
 the Pen is the most predominant. I know you have a com- 
 manding one, but you must not let it tyrannize in that 
 manner, as you have done lately. Some give out there was 
 a hair in't, or that your Ink was too thick with Gall, else it 
 would not have so bespatter'd and shaken the Reputation of 
 a Royal Architect ; for Reputation, you know, is like a fair 
 Structure, long time a rearing, but quickly ruin'd. If your 
 spirit will not let you retract, yet you shall do well to repress 
 any more Copies of the Satire; for, to deal plainly with you, 
 you have lost some ground at Court by it j and, as I hear 
 from a good hand, the King, who hath so great a Judgment 
 in Poetry (as in all other things else), is not well pleas'd 
 therewith. Dispense with this freedom of — Your respectful 
 S. and Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Westm.^ 3 yiily 1635. 
 
 III. 
 
 To D. C, JLsq, 
 Sir, 
 
 IN my last, I writ to you that Ch. Mor. was dead (I meant 
 in a moral sense). He is now alive again, for he hath 
 abjur'd that Club, which was used to knock him in the head 
 so often, and drown him commonly once a day. I discover 
 divers symptoms of Regeneration in him, for he rails bit- 
 terly against Bacchus, and swears there's a Devil in every 
 berry of his Grape ; therefore he resolves hereafter, tho' he 
 may dabble a little sometimes, he will be never drown'd 
 again. You know Kit hath a poetick fancy, and no unhappy 
 one, as you find by his Compositions; you know also, that 
 Poets have large Souls, they have sociable free generous 
 Spirits, and there are few who use to drink of Helicon^s 
 Waters, but they love to mingle it with some of Lijcciis 
 Liquor, to heighten their Spirits. There's no Creature that's 
 kneaded of Clay but hath its Frailties, Extravagancies, and 
 Excesses, some way or other ; for you must not think that 
 Man can be better out of Paradise than he was within't : 
 Nemo sine crimine. He that censures the good Fellow, 
 
 commonly
 
 ^yS Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 commonly makes no conscience of Gluttony, and gormandiz- 
 ing at home ; and I believe more Men do dig their Graves 
 with their Teeth than with the Tankard. They who tax 
 others of Vanity and Pride, have commonly that sordid Vice 
 of Covetousness attends them ; and he who traduceth others 
 of being a Servant to Ladies, doth baser things. We are 
 no Angels upon Earth, but we are transported with some 
 infirmity or other ; and 'twill be so while these frail, flexible 
 humours reign within us : While we have Sluices of warm 
 blood running thro' our Veins, there must be ofttimes some 
 irregular motions in us. 
 
 This, as I conceive, is the Black-lean which the Turks' 
 Alchoran speaks of; when they feign, that Mahomet being 
 asleep among the Mountains of the Moon, two Angels 
 descended, and ripping his Breast, they took his Heart and 
 washed it in Snow, and after pull'd out a black Bean, which 
 was the Portion of the Devil ; and so replac'd the Heart. 
 
 \n your next, you shall do well to congratulate his Re- 
 surrection, or Regeneration, or rather Emergency from that 
 Course he was plunged in formerly; you know it as well as 
 I ; and truly I believe he will grow newer and newer every 
 day. We find that a stumble makes one take firmer footing ; 
 and the base Suds which Vice useth to leave behind it, makes 
 Virtue afterwards far more gustful : No Knowledge is like 
 that of Contraries. Kit hath now o'ercome himself, there- 
 fore 1 think he will be too hard for the Devil hereafter. I 
 pray hold on your Resolution to be here the next Term, that 
 we may tattle a little of Tom Thumb, mine Host of Andover, 
 or some such matters. So I am — Your most affectionate 
 Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Westm., 15 Atig. 1636. 
 
 IV. 
 
 To T. D., Esq. 
 Sir, 
 HAD yours lately by a safe hand : wherein I find you 
 open to me all the Boxes of your Breast : I perceive 
 
 you 
 
 I
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 379 
 
 you are sore hurt, and whereas all other Creatures run 
 away from the Instrument and Hand that wounds them, 
 you seem to make more and more towards both. I confess, 
 such is the nature oi' Love, and which is worse, the nature 
 of Women is such, that like shadows, the more you follow 
 them, the faster they fly from you. Nay, some Females 
 are of that odd humour, that to feed their Pride, they will 
 famish Affection : they will starve those natural Passions, 
 which are owino; from them to Man. I confess Coyness 
 becomes some Beauties, if handsomely acted ; a Frown upon 
 some Faces penetrates more, and makes deeper Impression 
 than the fawning and soft glances of a mincing Smile : yet 
 if this Coyness and these Frowns savour of Pride, they are 
 odious; and 'tis a Rule, that where this kind of Pride 
 inhabits. Honour sits not long Porter at the Gate. There 
 are some Beauties so strong, that they are Leaguer-proof, 
 they are so barricado'd, that no Battery, no Petard, or any 
 kind of Engine, Sapping, or Mining, can do good upon 
 them. There arc others that are tenable a good while, and 
 will endure the brunt of a Siege, but will incline to parley 
 at last ; and you know, that Fort and Female which begins 
 to parlev is half won : for my part, I think of Beauties as 
 Philip King of Macedon thought of Cities, there is none 
 so inexpugnable but an Ass laden with Gold may enter 
 into them ; you know what the Spaniard saith, Davidas 
 quehruntan pehas : Presents can rend rocks : Pearls and 
 golden Bullets may do much upon the impregnablest Beauty 
 that is : It must be partly your way. I remember a great 
 Lord of this Land sent a Puppy with a rich Collar of 
 Diamonds to a rare French Lady, Madam St. L., that 
 had come over hither with an Ambassador; she took the 
 Dog, but return'd the Collar : I will tell you what effect it 
 wrought afterwards. 'Tis a powerful Sex ; they were too 
 strong for the First, the Strongest and Wisest Man that 
 was; they must needs be strong, when one Flair of a 
 Woman can draw more than a hundred pair of Oxen ; yet 
 for all their strength in point of value, if you will believe 
 
 the
 
 380 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 the Italian, A Man of Straw is worth a Woman of Gold : 
 Therefore if you find the thing perverse, rather than to 
 undervalue your Sex (your Manhood) retire handsomely; 
 for there is as much Honour to be won at a handsome 
 Retreat as at a hot Onset, it being the difficultest piece 
 of War. By this Retreat you will get a greater Victory 
 than you are aware of: For thereby you will overcome 
 yourself, which is the greatest Conquest that can be. 
 Without seeking abroad, we have Enemies enough within 
 doors to practise our Valour upon ; we have tumultuary and 
 rebellions Passions, with whole Hosts of Humours within 
 us : He who can discomfit them is the greatest Captain, 
 and may defy the Devil. I pray recollect yourself, and 
 think on this Advice of — Your true and most affectionate 
 Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Westm., 4 Dec. 1637. 
 
 V. 
 
 To G. G., Esq. ; at Rome. 
 Sir, 
 
 I HAVE more thanks to give you than can be folded up 
 in this narrow Paper, tho' it were all writ in the closest 
 kind of Stenography, for the rich and accurate Account 
 you please to give me .of that renown'd City wherein you 
 now sojourn. I find you have most judiciously pried into 
 all matters, both civil and clerical, especially the latter, by 
 observing the Poverty and Penances of the Fryer, the Policy 
 and Power of the Jesuit, the Pomp of the Prelate and 
 Cardinal. Had it not been for the two first, I believe the 
 two last, and that See, had been at a low ebb by this time ; 
 for the Learning, the prudential State, Knowledge, and Aus- 
 terity of the one, and the venerable Opinion the People have 
 of the abstemious and rigid condition of the other, 'specially 
 of the Mendicants, seem to make some compensation for the 
 Lux and Magnificence of the two last: Besides, they are 
 more beholden to the Protestant than they are aware of; 
 for unless he had risen up about the latter end of this last 
 
 Century
 
 Book 11. Familiar Letters. ^8i 
 
 Century of years, which made them more circumspect and 
 wary of their Ways, Life, and Actions, to what an intoler- 
 able high excess that Court had come to by this time you 
 may easily conjecture. But out of my small Reading I have 
 observ'd, that no Age, ever since Gregory the Great, hath 
 pass'd, wherein some or other hath not repin'd and murmur'd 
 at the Pontifical Pomp of that Court : Yet, for my part, I 
 have been always so charitable, as to think that the Religion 
 of Rome, and the Court of Rome, were different Things. 
 The counterbuff that happen'd ^twixt Leo X. and Francis I. 
 of France is very remarkable ; who being both met at 
 Bolonia, the King seem'd to give a light touch at the Pope's 
 Pomp, saying, 'Tivas not used to be so inforiner time. It 
 may he so, said Leo, hut it luas then when Kings kept Sheep 
 (as we read in the Old Testament). No, the King reply'd, 
 I speak oj' times under the Gospel. Then rejoin'd the Pope, 
 'Tivas then when Kings did visit Hospitals ; hinting by those 
 words at St. Lewis, who us'd oft to do so. It is memorable 
 what is recorded in the Life of Rohert Grosthed, Bishop of Lin- 
 coln, who lived in the time of one of the Leos, that he fear'd 
 the same Sin would overthrow Leo as overthrew Lucifer. 
 
 For news hence, I know none of your Friends, but are as 
 well as you left them, Homhres y Hemhras : You are fresh 
 and very frequent in their memory, and mention'd with a 
 thousand good wishes and benedictions. Among others, 
 you have a large room in the memory of my Lady Elizahctli 
 Gary ; and I do not think all Rome can afford you a fairer 
 Lodging. I pray be cautious of your Carriage under that 
 Meridian ; it is a searching (inquisitive) Air : You have 
 two Eyes and two Ears, but one Tongue ; you know my 
 meaning. This last you must imprison (as Nature hath 
 already done with a double Fence of Teeth and Lips), or 
 else she may imprison you, according to our Countryman 
 Mr. Hoskin's Advice, when he was in the Tower : 
 
 Vincula da linguce, vel tibi lingua dahit. 
 
 Have a care of your of Health, take heed of the Syrens, 
 
 of
 
 382 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 of excess in Fruit, and be sure to mingle your Wine well 
 with Water. No more now, but that in the large Catalogue 
 of Friends you have left behind here, there's none who is 
 more mindful of you than — Your most affectionate and 
 faithful Servitor^ J. H. 
 
 VI. 
 
 To Dr. T. P. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I HAD yours of the loth current, wherein you writ me 
 Tidings of our Friend Tom D., and what his desires 
 tend to. In my opinion they are somewhat extravagant. I 
 have read of one, that loving Honey more than ordinary, 
 seem'd to complain against Nature, that she made not a Bee 
 as big as a Bull, that we might have it in greater plenty ; 
 another who was much given to Fruit, wish'd the Pears 
 and Plums were as big as Pumpions. These were but silly 
 vulgar wishes; for if a Bee were as big as a Bull, it must 
 have a Sting proportionable: and what mischief do you 
 think such things will do, when we can hardly endure the 
 Sting of that small infected Animal, as now it is? And if 
 Pears and Plums were as big as Pumpions, ^twere dangerous 
 walking in an Orchard about the Autumnal Equinoctial, 
 at which time they are in their full maturity, for fear of 
 being knock'd in the head. Nature, the Handmaid of God 
 Almighty, doth nothing but with good advice, if we make 
 researches into the true reason of things : you know what 
 answer the Fox gave the Ape, when he would have borrow'd 
 part of his Tail to cover his Posteriors. 
 
 The wishes you writ that T. D. lately made, were almost 
 as extravao;ant in civil matters as the aforemention'd were 
 in natural : for if he were partaker of them, they would draw 
 more inconveniencies upon him than benefit, being nothing 
 sortable either to his disposition or breeding, and for other 
 reasons besides, which I will reserve till my coming up; and 
 I pray let him know so much from me, with my Com- 
 mendations.
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 383 
 
 mendations. So I rest — Yours in the perfectest degree of 
 Friendship, J. H. 
 
 West 111., 5 Sept. 1640. 
 
 VII. 
 
 To Mr. T. B., Merchant in Sevil. 
 Sir, 
 
 THO' I have my share of infirmities as much as another 
 Man ; Yet I like my own nature in one thing, that 
 requitals to me are as sweet as revenges to an Italian. I 
 thank my Stars, I find myself far proner to return a courtesy 
 than to resent an Injury: This made me most gladly appre- 
 hend the late occasion of serving you (notwithstanding the 
 hard measure I have received from your Brother), and to 
 make you some returns of those frequent favours I received 
 from you in Spain, I have ta'en away (as you may perceive 
 by the inclosed Papers) the JVeights that hung to that great 
 business in this Court; it concerns you now to put JVinrrs 
 to it in that, and I believe you will quickly obtain, what 
 useth to be first in intention, tho' last in execution, I 
 mean your main end. I heartily wish the thing may be 
 prosperous to you, and that you may take as much pleasure 
 in the fruition of it, as I did in following of it for you, 
 because I love you dearly well, and desire you so much 
 happiness^ that you may have nothing but Heaven to wish 
 for : In which desire, I rest — Your constant true Friend to 
 serve you, J, H. 
 
 White- Hall, 3 May 1633. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 To Doctor B. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 WHEREAS upon the large theorical discourse and 
 bandyings of opinions we had lately at Grcshain- 
 College, you desir'd I should couch in writing what I 
 observ'd abroad of the Extent and Amplitude of the Chris- 
 tian Commonwealth, in reference to other Religions ; I 
 
 obtain'd
 
 384 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 obtain'd leave of myself to put pen to paper, rather to obey 
 you, than oblige you with anything that may add to your 
 Judgment, or enrich that rare Knowledge I find you have 
 already treasur'd up: But I must begin with the fulfilling of 
 your desire in a preambular way, for the Subject admits it. 
 
 'Tis a Principle all the Earth over, except among Atheists, 
 that omne verum est a Deo, omne falsum est a Diaholo, & 
 omnis error ah homine : All Truth is from God, all Falshood 
 from the Devil, and all Error from Man. The last goes 
 always under the Vizard of the first, but the second con- 
 fronts Truth to the face, and stands iii open defiance of her : 
 Error and Sin are contemporary; when one crept first in 
 at the Foredoor, the other came in at the Postern. This 
 made Trismegistus, one of the great Lords of Reason, to 
 give this character of Man, Homo est imaginatio qucedam, ^ 
 imaginatio est supremum mendacium : Man is nought else 
 but a kind of imagination, and imagination is the greatest 
 lie. Error therefore entring into the World with Sin 
 among us poor Adamites, may be said to spring from the 
 Tree of Knowledge itself, and from the rotten Kernels of 
 that fatal Apple. This, besides the Infirmities that attend 
 the Body, hath brought in perversity of Will, depravation 
 of Mind, and hath cast a kind of Cloud upon all our In- 
 tellectuals, that they cannot discern the true Essence of 
 things with that clearness as the Protoplast our first Parent 
 could, but we are involv'd in a mist, and grope, as it were, 
 ever since in the dark, as if Truth were got into some 
 dungeon ; or, as the old Wizard said, into some deep Pit, 
 which the shallow Apprehension of Men could not fathom. 
 Hence comes it, that the Earth is rent into so many Reli- 
 gions, and those Religions torn into so many Schisms, and 
 various forms of Devotion ; as if the heavenly Majesty were 
 delighted as much in Diversities of Worship as in Diversities 
 of Works. 
 
 The first Religion that ever was reduc'd to exact Rules 
 and ritual Observances, was that of the Hebrews, the an- 
 cient People of God, call'd afterwards Judaism ; the second 
 
 Christianity ;
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. -iS^ 
 
 
 
 Ckristianiiy ; the third Mahometism, which is the youngest 
 of all Religions. Touching Paganism, and heathenish 
 Idolatry, they scarce deserve the name of Religion : But as 
 to the former three, there is this Analogy between them, 
 that they all agree in the first Person of the Trinity, and all 
 his Attributes. What kind of Religion there was before 
 the Flood, it is in vain to make anv Researches, there havincr 
 been no Monuments at all left (besides that little we find 
 in Moses and the Phoenician Story) but Seth's Pillars, and 
 those so defaced, that nothing was legible upon them ; 
 tho' Josephus saith, that one was extant in his days; as 
 also the Oak under which Abraham feasted God Almifrhtv, 
 which was 2000 years after. The Religion (or Cabal) of 
 the Hehrcivs was transferr'd from the Patriarchs to Moses, 
 and from him to the Prophets. It was honour'd with the 
 Appearance and Promulgations of God himself, 'specially 
 the better part of it ; I mean the Decalogue containing the 
 Ten Commandments, which being most of them moral, and 
 agreeing with the common Notions of Man, are in force 
 all the World over. The Jews at this day are divided into 
 three Sects; the first, which is the greatest, are call'd Tal- 
 mudists, in regard that, besides the holy Scriptures, they 
 embrace the Talmud, which is stufT'd with the Traditions of 
 their Rabbins and Cacams. The second receive the Scrip- 
 ture alone ; the third the Pentateuch only, viz., the five 
 Books of Moses; who are call'd Samaritans. Now touch- 
 ing what part of the Earth is possess'd by Jews, I cannot 
 find they have any at all peculiar to themselves; but in re- 
 gard of their murmurings, their frequent Idolatries, De- 
 fections, and that they crucify'd the Lord of Life, this once 
 select Nation of God, and the Inhabitants of the Land 
 flowing with Milk and Honey, is become now a scorn'd, 
 squander'd People all the Earth over, being ever since in- 
 capable of any Coalition or Reducement into one Body 
 Politick. There where they are most without mixture is 
 Tiberias in Palestine, which Amurath gave Mendez the Jew, 
 whither^ and to Jerusalem, upon any conveniency, they 
 
 2 B convey
 
 386 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 convey the Bones of their dead Friends from all places to 
 be re-interr'd. They are to be found in all mercantile 
 Towns and great Marts, both in Jfrick, Asia, and Europe, 
 the Dominions of England, of the Spaniard and French 
 excepted ; and as their Persons, so their Profession is des- 
 picable, being, for the most part, but Brokers everywhere. 
 Among other places, they are allow'd to be in Rome herself 
 near St. Peter's Chair; for they advance Trade wheresoever 
 they come, with their Banks of Money, and so are permitted 
 as necessary Evils. But put case the whole Nation of the 
 Jews now living, were united into one collective body, yet 
 according to the best conjecture, and exactest computation 
 that I could hear made by the knowingest Men, they would 
 not be able to people a Country bigger than the Seventeen 
 Provinces. Those that are dispersed now in Christendom, 
 and Turkey, are the Remnants only of the Tribes of Judah 
 and Bejijamin, with some Levites who return'd from Babylon 
 with Zerubbabel. The common opinion is, that the other 
 ten are utterly lost ; but they themselves fancy they are in 
 Lidia a mighty nation, environ'd with stony Rivers, which 
 always cease to run their course on their Sabbath ; from 
 whence they expect their Messias, who shall in the fulness 
 of time over-run the World with Fire and Sword, and re- 
 establish them in a temporal glorious Estate. But this 
 opinion sways most among the OrientalJews, whereas they of 
 the West attend the coming of their Messias from Portugal ; 
 which Language is more common among them than any 
 other. And thus much in brief of the Jews, as much as I 
 could digest and comprehend within the compass of this 
 Paper-sheet ; and let it serve for the accomplishment of the 
 first part of your desire. In my next I shall give you the 
 best satisfaction I can concerning the extent of Christianity 
 up and down the Globe of the Earth, which I shall speedily 
 send ; for now that I have undertaken such a Task, my Pen 
 shall not rest till I have finish'd it. So I am — Your most 
 affectionate ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 JVesfm, I Aii^. 1635. 
 
 IX.
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 387 
 
 IX. 
 
 To Doctor B. 
 Sir, 
 
 HAVING in iny last sent you something touching the 
 State of Judaism up and down the world^ in this 
 you shall receive what extent Christianity hath, which is 
 the second Reliejion in Succession of Time and Truth : A 
 Religion that 7nakes not Sense so much subject to Reason, as 
 Reason succumhcnt to Faith. There is no Religion so harsh 
 and difficult to Flesh and Blood, in regard of divers mysteri- 
 ous Positions it consists of, as the Incarnation, Resurrection, 
 the Trinity, <^c., which, as one said, are Bones to Philosophy, 
 but Milk to Faith. There is no Religion so purely spiritual, 
 and abstracted from common natural Ideas and sensual 
 Happiness, as the Christian : No Religion that excites man 
 more to the love and practice of Virtue, and hatred of Vice ; 
 or that prescribes greater rewards for the one, and punish- 
 ments for the other: A Reliirion that in a most miraculous 
 manner did expand herself, and propagate by simplicity, 
 humbleness, and by a mere passive way of fortitude, grow- 
 ing up like the Palm-tree under the heavy weight of Perse- 
 cution; for never any Religion had more powerful Opposition 
 by various kinds of Punishments, Oppressions, and Tortures, 
 which have been said to have deck'd her with Rubies in 
 her very Cradle ; insomuch, that it is granted by her very 
 Enemies, that the Christia/i, in point of passive Valour, 
 hath exceeded all other Nations upon Earth. And 'tis a 
 thing of wonderment, how at her very first growth she flew 
 over the heads of so many interjacent vast Regions into 
 this remote Isle so soon, that her Rays should shine upon 
 the Crown of a British King first of any ; I mean K. Lucius, 
 the true Proto-Christian Kinc;, in the davs of Eleutherius, 
 at which time she receivM her Propagation : But for her 
 Plantation, she had it long before, by some of the Apostles 
 themselves. Now, as the Christian Religion hath the 
 purest and most abstracted, the hardest and highest spiritual 
 
 Notions ;
 
 388 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 Notions ; so it hath been most subject to differences of 
 Opinions, and distractions of Conscience ; the purer the 
 Wheat is, the more subject 'tis to Tares, and the most 
 precious Gems to Flaws. The first Bone that the Devil 
 flung was into the Eastern Churches, then 'twixt the Greek 
 and the Roman; but it was rather for Jurisdiction and 
 Power, than for the Fundamentals of Faith; and lately 
 'twixt Borne and the North-lVest Churches. Now the ex- 
 tent of the Eastern Church is larger far than that of the 
 Roman (excluding America), which »makes some accuse her 
 as well of Uncharitableness as of Arrogance, that she 
 should positively damn so many Millions of Christian Souls, 
 who have the same common Symbol of Faith with her, 
 because they are not within the close of her Fold. 
 
 Of those Eastern and South-East Churches, there are no 
 less than eleven Sects, whereof the three principallest are 
 the Grecian, the Jacobite, and the Nestorian, with whom the 
 rest have some dependance or conformitv; and they ac- 
 knowledge Canonical Obedience either to the Patriarch 
 of Constantinople, of Alexandria, of Jerusalem, or A?itioch : 
 They concur with the JVestern Reformed Churches, in 
 divers Positions against Rome, as in denial of Purgatory; 
 in rejecting Extreme Unction; and celebrating the Sacra- 
 ment under both kinds ; in admitting their Clergy to 
 marry; in abhorring the use of massy Statues, and cele- 
 brating their Liturgy in the vulgar Language : Among 
 these, the Riisse and the Hahassin Emperors are the greatest ; 
 but the latter is a Jew also, from the Girdle downward ; for 
 he is both Circumcised and Christened, having receiv'd the 
 one from Solomon, and the other from the Apostle St. 
 Thomas. Thev observe other Rites of the Levitical Law ; 
 they have the Cross in that esteem, that they imprint the 
 sign of it upon some part of the Child's Body, when he is 
 baptized; that day they take the holy Sacrament, they spit 
 not till after Sun-set: And the Emperor, in his Progress, as 
 soon as he comes in the sio;ht of a Church, li2;hts off" his 
 Camel, and foots it all along, till he loseth the sight of it. 
 
 Now
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 389 
 
 Now touching that proportion of Ground that the Chris- 
 tians have on the habitable Earth (which is the main of our 
 Task), I find that all Europe, with her adjacent Isles, is 
 peopled with Christians, except that ruthful Country of 
 Lapland, where Idolaters yet inhabit; towards the East, 
 also^ that Region which lieth 'twixt Tanais and Boristhenes, 
 the ancient Country of the Goths, is possess'd by Mahometan 
 Tartars: But in these Territories which the Turk hath 
 'twixt the Danube and the Sea, and 'twixt Ragusa and Buda, 
 Christians are intermix'd with Mahometans : Yet in this co- 
 habitation Christians are computed to make two third parts, 
 at least. For here, and elsewhere, all the while they pay 
 the Turk the quarter of their Increase, and a Sultany for 
 every Poll, and speak nothing in derogation of the Alcoran, 
 they are permitted to enjoy both their Religion and Lives 
 securely. In Constantinople herself, under the Grand 
 Signior^s Nose, they have 30 Churches ; in Saloniche (or 
 Thessalonica) 30. There are 150 Churches under the 
 Metropolitan of Philippi, as many under him of Athens, 
 and he of Corinth hath about 100 Suffragan Bishops under 
 him. 
 
 But in Africk (a thing which cannot be too much 
 lamented), that huge Extent of Land that Christianity pos- 
 sess'd of old, 'twixt the Mediterranean Sea and the Moun- 
 tain Atlas, yea, as far as Egypt, with the large Region of 
 Nubia, the Turks have over-mastered. We read of 200 
 Bishops met in Synods in those Parts, and in that Province 
 where old Carthage stood there were 164 Bishops under 
 one Metropolitan ; but Mahometism hath now overspread 
 all thereabout, only the King of Spain hath a few Maritime 
 Towns under Christian Subjection, as Septa, Tangier, Oran, 
 and others. But thro' all the huge Continent of Africk, 
 which is estimated to be thrice bigger than Europe, there 
 is not one Region entirely Christian, but Habassia or 
 Ethiopia: Besides, there is in Egypt a considerable number 
 of them yet sojourning. Now Habassia, according to the 
 Itineraries of the observingst Travellers in those Parts, is 
 
 thought
 
 390 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 thought to be, in respective Magnitude^ as big as Germany, 
 Spain, France, and Italy, conjunctly; an Estimate which 
 comes nearer Truth than that which some make, by stretch- 
 ing it from one Tropick to the other, viz., from the Red Sea 
 to the Western Ocean. There are also divers Isles upon the 
 Coast of Africk that are coloniz'd with Christians ; as the 
 Madera, the Canaries, Cape Verd, and St. Thomas; but on 
 the East-side there's none but Zocotora. 
 
 In Asia there's the Empire of Russia, that's purely Chris- 
 tian, and the Mountain Libajiiis in Syria ; in other Parts 
 they are mingled with Mahometans, who exceed them one 
 day more than another in numbers, especially in those 
 Provinces (the more's the pity) where the Gospel was first 
 preach'd, as Anatolia, Armenia, Syria, Mesopotamia, Palestina, 
 Chaldea, Assyria, Persia, the North of Arabia, and South of 
 India. In some of these Parts, I say, 'specially in the four 
 first, Christians are thick mix'd with Mahometans, as also in 
 East India, since the Portugal's discovery of the passage by 
 the Cape of Good Hope, CJiristians by God's goodness have 
 multiplied in considerable Numbers, as likewise in Goa, since 
 it was made an Archbishoprick, and a Court of a Viceroy. 
 They speak also of a Christian Church in Quinsay in China, 
 the greatest of all earthly Cities; but in the Islands there- 
 abouts, call'd the Philippines, which, they say, are above 
 Tioo in number, in thirty whereof the Spaniard hath taken 
 firm footing, Christianity hath made a good progress, as also 
 \n Japonia. In the North-East part of Asia, some 400 years 
 since, Christianity had taken deep root under the K. of Ten- 
 duck, but he was utterly overthrown by Chingis, one of his 
 own Vassals, who came thereby to be the first Founder of 
 the Tartarian Empire: This King of Tendiic wa.s the true 
 Pr ester John, not the Ethiopian King of the Habassifies, as 
 Scaliger would have it, whose Opinion is as far distant from 
 truth in this point, as the Southermost part of Africk from 
 the N.-E. part of Asia, or as a Jacobite is from a Nestorian. 
 Thus far did Christianity find entertainment in the old 
 World ; touching the new, I mean America, which is con- 
 
 jectur'd
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 391 
 
 jectur'd to equal well near the other three parts in Magni- 
 tude, Spanish Authors and Merchants (with whom I have 
 convers'd) make a Report of a marvellous Growth that Chris- 
 tianity hath made in the Kingdoms of Mexico, Peru, Brasil, 
 and Castilia de loro, as also in the greater Islands adjoining, as 
 Hispaniola, Cuba, Portorico, and others ; insomuch, that they 
 write of one ancient Priest who had christen'd himself 700 
 Savages, some years after the first discovery : But there are 
 some, who, seeming to be no Friends to Spain, report, that 
 thev did not baptize half so many as they butcher d. 
 
 Thus have you, as compendiously as an Epistle could 
 make it, an account of that Extension of Ground which 
 Christians possess upon Earth. My next shall be one of the 
 Mahometan, wherein I could wish I had not occasion to be 
 so large as I must be. So I am. Sir — Your respectful and 
 humble Servant, J. H. 
 
 IVestin., 9 Aug. 1635. 
 
 X. 
 
 To Doctor B. 
 
 Sir 
 
 MY two former were of ludaism and Christianity : I 
 come now to the Mahometans, the modernest of all 
 Religions, and the most mischievous, and destructive to the 
 Church of Christ ; for this fatal Sect hath justled her out of 
 divers large Regions in jifrick, in Tartary, and other places, 
 and attenuated their Number in ylsia, which they do where- 
 soever they come, having a more politick and pernicious 
 way to do it than by Fire and Faggot : For they having 
 understood well that the Dust of Martyrs were the thrivingest 
 Seeds of Christianity ; and observ'd, that there reigns natu- 
 rally in Mankind, being compos'd all of a lump, and carrying 
 the same stamp, a general kind of Compassion and Sympathy, 
 which appears most towards them who lay down their Lives, 
 and postpone all worldly things for the preservation of their 
 Consciences (and never any died so but he drew followers 
 after him), therefore the Turk goes a more cunning way to 
 
 work :
 
 392 Familiar Letters. BooJz II. 
 
 work : He meddles not with Life and Limb, to prevent the 
 sense of Compassion, which may arise that way; but he 
 grinds their Faces with Taxes, and makes them incapable 
 of any Offices, either of Authority, Profit, or Honour; by 
 which means he renders them despicable to others, and makes 
 their Lives irksome to themselves. Yet the Turks have a 
 high Opinion of Christ, That he was a greater Prophet than 
 Moses : That he was the Son of a Virgin, who conceived by 
 the smell of a Rose presented to her hy Gabriel the Angel ; 
 they believe he never sinn\i ; nay, in their Alcoran they term 
 him the Breath and JVord of God; they punish all that 
 blaspheme him, aiid no Jew is capable to be a Turk, but he 
 must be first an ABDULA, a Christian : He must eat Hog's 
 Flesh, and do other things for three days, then he is made 
 a Mahometan, but by abjuring of Christ to be a greater 
 Prophet than Mahomet. 
 
 It is the Alfan^e that ushers in the Faitli of Mahomet 
 everywhere, nor can it grow in any place unless it be 
 planted and sown with Gunpowder intermix'd ; when 
 planted, there are divers ways of policy to preserve it : 
 They have their Alcoran in one only Language, which is 
 the Arabic, the Mother-Tongue of their Prophet. ■'Tis as 
 bad as Death for any to raise scruples of the Alcoran ; there- 
 upon there is a restraint of the Study of Philosophy, and 
 other Learning, because the Lupostures of it may not be 
 discern'd. The Mufti is in as great Reverence among them 
 as the Pope is among the Romanists ; for they hold it to be 
 a true Principle in Divinity, Tliat no one thing preserves and 
 improves Religion more than a venerable, high, pious esteem 
 of the chiefest Ministers. They have no other Guide or 
 Law both for Temporal and Church-Affairs than the 
 Alcoran, which they hold to be the Rule of civil Justice, as 
 well as the divine Charter of their Salvation : so that their 
 Judges are but Expositors of that only; nor do they trouble 
 themselves or puzzle the Plaintiff with any moth-eaten 
 Records, or Precedents to entangle the business; but they 
 immediately determine it, according to the fresh Circum- 
 stances
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 393 
 
 J 
 
 stances of the Action, ^ secundum allegata ^ probata, by- 
 Witnesses. They have one extraordinary piece of humanity, 
 to be so tender of the rational Soul as not to put Christian, 
 Jew, Greek, or any other, to his Oath; in regard that if, 
 for some advantage of gain, or occasion of inconvenience 
 and punishment, any should forswear himself, they hold the 
 Imposers of the Oath to be accessary to the Damnation of 
 the perjur'd Man. By these and divers other reaches of 
 Policy (besides their Arms), not practis'd elsewhere, they 
 conserve that huge bulk of the Ottoman Empire, which 
 extends without interruption (the Hellespont only between) 
 in one continued piece of Earth, two and thirty hundred 
 miles, from Buda in Hungary to a good way into Persia : 
 By these means they keep also their Religion from distract- 
 ing Opinions, from every vulgar Fancy and Schisms in 
 their Church, for there's nowhere fewer than here; the 
 difference that is, is onlv with the Persian, and that not in 
 Fundamentals of Faith, but for priority of Government, in 
 matters of Religion. This so universal Conformity in their 
 Religion is ascrib'd as to other politic Institutions, so 
 'specially to the rigorous Inhibition they have of raising 
 Scruples and Disputes of the Alcoran under pain of Death, 
 'specially among the Laity and common People, whose 
 Zeal commonly is stronger titan their Judgment. 
 
 That part of the world where Mahomet hath furthest 
 expanded himself is Asia; which, as I said before, exceeds 
 Afric in greatness, and much more in People : He hath 
 firm footing in Persia, Tartury (upon the latter of which 
 the Musulman Empire is entail'd), in Turcomania itself, and 
 Arabia, four mighty Kingdoms ; the last of these was the 
 Nest where that Cockatrice Eesf was hatched, which hath 
 diffus'd its Poison so far and near, thro' the Veins of so 
 many Regions; all the southerly Coasts of Asia from the 
 Arabian Bay to the River Indus is infected therewith, the 
 vast Kinc^dom of Cambaia and Ben£[ula : and about the South 
 part the Inhabitants of JMalabar luive drank of this Poison: 
 Insomuch, that by no wrong computation it may well be 
 
 said,
 
 394 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 said, that Mahomet'ism hath dispersed itself over ahuost one 
 half of the huge Continent oi Asm, besides those multitudes 
 of Isles, 'specially seven, Maldivia, and Ceylon, the Sea- 
 coast of Sumatra, Java, Sunda, the Ports of Banda, Borneo, 
 with divers others, whereof there are thousands about Asia, 
 who have entertain'd the Alcoran. In Europe, the Maho- 
 metans possess all the Region 'twixt Don and Meper, call'd 
 of old Tanais and Boristkenes, being about the twentieth 
 part of Europe ; the King of Poland dispenseth with some 
 of them in Lithuania. Touching Greece, Macedon, Thracia, 
 Bulgaria, Servia, Bosnia, Epire, the greatest part of Hiingary 
 and Dahnatia, altho' they be wholly under Turks Obedience, 
 yet Mahometans scarce make the third part of the Inhabi- 
 tants. In Afric this Contagion is further spread ; it hath 
 intoxicated all the shore of Ethiopia, as far as Mosumhic, 
 which lieth opposite to the midst of Madagascar. 'Tis 
 worse with the firm Land of Afric on the North and West 
 Parts; for from the Mediterranean Sea to the great River 
 Niper, and along the Banks of Nile, all Egypt and Barhary, 
 with Lylia and the Negroes' Country, are tainted and 
 and tann'd with this black Reli2;ion. 
 
 The vast Propagation of this unhappy Sect may be 
 ascribed first to the sword, for the Cojiscience commonly is 
 apt to follow the Conqueror : then to the loose Reins it gives 
 to all sensual Liberty, as to have eight Wives, and as many 
 Concubines as one can maintain, with the assurance of 
 Venereal Delights in a far higher deo-ree, to succeed after 
 death to the religious Observers of it, as the fruition of 
 beautiful Damsels, with large rolling Eyes, whose Virginity 
 shall renew after every Act; their Youth shall last always 
 with their Lust, and Love shall be satiated with only one, 
 where it shall remain inalienable. They concur with the 
 Christian but only in the acknowledgment of one God, and 
 in his Attributes. With the Jew they symbolize in many 
 things more, as in Circumcision, in refraining from Swine's 
 Flesh, in detestation of Images, and somewhat in the 
 Quality of future Happiness; which, as was said before, 
 
 thev
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 395 
 
 they place in Venereal Pleasure, as the Jew doth in Feast- 
 ing and Banquetings : So that neither of their Laws have 
 Punishment enough to deter Mankind from Wickedness 
 and Vice, nor do they promise adequate Rewards for Virtue 
 and Piety : For in the whole Alcoran, and thro' all the 
 Writings of Moses, there's not a word of Angelical Joys 
 and Eternity. And herein Christianity far excels both these 
 Religions, for she placeth future Happiness in spiritual, 
 everlasting and unconceivable Bliss, abstracted from the 
 fadino; and faint grossness of Sense. The Jew and Turk 
 also agree in their opinion of Women, whom they hold to 
 be of an inferior Creation to Man ; which makes the one 
 to exclude them from the Mosques, and the other from his 
 Synagogues. 
 
 Thus far have I rambled thro' the vast Ottoman Empire, 
 and taken a cursory survey of Mahomet's Religion. In my 
 next T shall take the best view I can of Pagans and Idolaters, 
 with those who go for Atheists : And in this particular this 
 Earth mav be said to be worse than Hell itself, and the 
 kingdom of the Devil, in regard there are no Atheists there : 
 For the very damned Souls find and feel in the midst of their 
 tortures that there is a God, by his Justice and Punish- 
 ments; nay, the Prince of darkness himself, and all the 
 Cacodcemons, by an historical faith, believe there is a God, 
 whereunto the Poet alludes very divinely : 
 
 Nidlus in hifcrno est Atheos, afitefiiit. 
 
 So I very affectionately kiss your hands, and rest — Your 
 faithful ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Westm., 17 Aug. 1635. 
 
 XI. 
 
 To Doctor B. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 HAVING in my three former Letters wash'd my hands 
 of the Mahometan and the Jew, and attended Chris- 
 tiauilij up and down the Earth ; I come now to the Pagan 
 
 Idolater,
 
 396 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 Idolater, or Heathen, who (the more to be lamented) make 
 the greatest part of Mankind : Europe herself, tho' the 
 Beams of the Cross have shin'd upon her above this sixteen 
 Ages, is not free of them ; for they possess, to this day, 
 Lappia, Corelia, Biarviia, Scrifinnla, and the North parts of 
 Finmark ; there are also some shreds of them to be found 
 in- divers places of Lithuania and Somogitia, which make a 
 Region nine hundred Miles in Compass. 
 
 But in ylfric their Number is incredible; for from 
 Cape Blanc, the most Westerly Point of Africk, all South- 
 ward to the Cape of Good Hope, and thence turning by the 
 back of Jfric to the Cape of Mozamhric, all these Coasts 
 being about the one half of the Circumference of Africk, 
 are peopled by Idolaters, tho' in some places intermix'd with 
 Mahometans and Christians, as in the Kingdom, of Congo 
 and Angola. But if we survey the inland Territories of 
 Afric, between the River of Nile and the West Sea of 
 Ethiopia, even all that Country from about the North 
 parallel of ten Degrees to the South parallel of six Degrees, 
 all is held by Idolaters ; besides, the Kingdom of Borneo and 
 a great part of Nuhia and Lyhia continue still in their old 
 Paganism : So that by this Account above one half of that 
 immense Continent of Afric is peopled by Idolaters. But 
 in Asia, which is far more spacious, and more populous 
 than Afric, Pagans, Idolaters, and Gentiles swarm in great 
 Numbers ; for from the River Pechora Eastward to the 
 Ocean, and thence Southward to the Cape of Cincapura, 
 and from that Point returning Westward by the South 
 Coasts to the Out-lets of the River Indus, all that maritime 
 Tract, which makes a eood deal more than half the Circum- 
 ference of Asia, is inhabited by Idolaters ; so are the Inland 
 Parts. There are two mighty Mountains that traverse all 
 Asia, Taurus, and Imaus ; the first runs from the West to 
 East, the other from North to South, and so quarter and 
 cut that huge Mass of Earth into equal parts; this side 
 those Mountains, most of the people are Mahometans ; t'other 
 side, they are all Idolaters. And as on the firm Continent 
 
 Paganism
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 397 
 
 Paganism thus reigns, so in many thousand Islands that lie 
 squander'd in the vast Ocean, on the East and South-East 
 of Asia, Idolatry o'erspreads all, except in some few Islands 
 that are possess'd by Spaniards and Arabs. 
 
 Lastly, if one take a survey of America (as none hath 
 done yet exactly), which is estimated to be as big as all the 
 old Earth ; Idolaters there possess four parts of five. 'Tis 
 true, some years after the first Navigation thither, they were 
 converted daily in great Multitudes; but afterwards observ- 
 ing the licentious Lives of the Christians, their greediness 
 of Gold, and their Cruelty, thev came not in so fast ; which 
 made an Indian answer a Spanish Fryar, who was discours- 
 ing with him of the Joys of Heaven, and how all Spaniards 
 went thither after this Life : Then, said the Pagan, I do not 
 desire to go thither, //"Spaniards be there ; I had rather go to 
 Hell, to be free of their Company. America differs from the 
 rest of the Earth in this, that she hath neither Jew nor 
 Mahometan in her, but Christians and Gentiles only. There 
 are, besides all those Religions and People before-mentioned, 
 an irregular confus'd Nation in Europe, call'd the JMordnits, 
 which occupy the middle confines betwixt the Tartars and 
 the Russe, that are mingled in Rites of Religion, with 
 all those that have been fore-spoken : For from the Privy 
 Members upwards they are Christians, in regard they admit 
 of Baptism ; from the Navel downward they are Mahometans 
 or Jews, for they are circumcis'd : and besides, they are given 
 to the Adoration of heathenish Idols. In Asia there are the 
 Cardi, which inhabit the mountainous Country about Mnzall, 
 between Armenia and Mesopotamia ; and the Dri/ci in Syria, 
 who are denn-Mahometans and Christians. 
 
 Now concerning Pagans and heathenish Idolaters, where- 
 of there are innumerable sorts up and down the surface of 
 the Earth ; in my opinion, those are the excusablest kind 
 who adore the Sun and Moon, with the Host of Heaven. 
 And in Ireland, the Kerns of the Mountains, with some of 
 the Scotch Isles, use a fashion of adoring the new Moon to 
 this very day, praying she would leave them in as jrood 
 
 Health
 
 39^ Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 Health as she found them : This is not so gross an Idolatry 
 as that of other Heathens ; for the Adoration of those 
 glorious celestial Bodies is more excusable than that of 
 Garlick and Onions with the Kgypttau, who, some think 
 (with the Sicyonian), was the ancientest Idolater upon Earth, 
 which he makes thrice older than we do : For Diodorus 
 Slculus reports, that the Egyptian had a Religion and Kings 
 18,000 years since : Yet for matter of Philosophy and Science, 
 he had it from the Clialdean, he from the Gymnosophists and 
 Brachmans of India', which Country, as she is the next 
 neighbour to the rising Sun, in reference to this side of the 
 Hemisphere, so the beams of Learning did first enlighten 
 her. Egypt was the Nurse of that famous Hermes Trisma- 
 gistus, who having no other scale but that of natural Reason, 
 mounted very high towards Heaven ; for he hath very many 
 divine Sayings, whereof I think it not impertinent to insert 
 here a few : First, he saith^ That all human sins are venial 
 with the Gods, impiety excepted. 2. That goodness belongs 
 to the Gods, piety to Men, revenge and wickedness to the 
 Devils. 3. That the Word is lucens Dei filius, the bright 
 Son of God, &c. 
 
 From Egypt theorical Knowledge came down the Nile, 
 and landed at some of the Greek Islands ; where, ^twixt 
 the 33d, 34th, and the 35th Century of years after the 
 Creation, there flourished all those renowned Philosophers 
 that sway now in our Schools : Plato flew highest in divine 
 notions, for some call him another Moses speaking Athenian : 
 In one of his Letters to a Friend of his he writes thus. 
 When I seriously salute thee, I begin my Letter with one 
 God; ivhen otherwise, ivith many. His Scholar Aristotle 
 commended himself at his death to the Being of Beings : 
 And Socrates may be said to be a Martyr for the first 
 Person of the Trinity. These great Secretaries of Nature, 
 by studying the vast Volume of the World, came by main 
 strength of reason to the knowledge of one Deity, or primus 
 motor, and of his Attributes ; they found by undeniable 
 consequences that he was injinite, eternal, ubiquitary, oynni- 
 
 potent,
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 399 
 
 potent, and not capable of a definition: Which made the 
 Philosopher, being commanded by his King to define God, 
 to ask the respite of a day to meditate thereon, then two, 
 then four; at last he ingenuously confess'd, that the more 
 he thought to dive into this mystery, the more he was 
 ingulph'd in the speculation of it : For the Quiddity and 
 Essence of the incomprehensible Creator cannot imprint 
 any formal conception upon the finite Intellect of the 
 Creature. To this I might refer the Altar which St. Paul 
 found among the Greeks y^'xth this Inscription, tm ayvco<;ro) 
 Geu), To the unknown God. 
 
 From the Greek Isles, Philosophy came to Italy, thence 
 to this Western World among the Druydes, whereof those 
 of this Isle were most celebrated ; for we read that the 
 Gauls (now the French) came to Britany in great numbers 
 to be instructed by them. The Romans were mighty great 
 Zealots in their Idolatry, and their best Authors affirm, 
 that they extended their Monarchy so far and near, by a 
 particular reverence they had of their Gods (which the 
 Spaniard seems now to imitate), tho' those Gods of theirs 
 were made of Men, and of good Fellows at first : Besides, 
 in the course of their conquest, they adopted any strange 
 Gods to the society of theirs, and brought them solemnly 
 to Rome ; and the reason, one saith, was, that they believed 
 the more Gods they had, the safer they were, a few being 
 not sufficient to conserve and protect so great an Empire, 
 The Roman Gentiles had their Altars and Sacrifices, their 
 Archflamins and Vestal Nuns : And it seems the same 
 genius reigns still in them ; for in the primitive Church, 
 that which the Pagcms misliked most in Christianity was, 
 that it had not the face and form of a Religion, in regard it 
 had no Oblations, Altars, and Images; which may be a good 
 reason why the Sacrifice of the Mass and other Ceremonies 
 were first instituted to allure the Gentiles to Christianity. 
 
 But to return a little further to our former Subject: In 
 the condition that Mankind stands now, if the Globe of 
 the Earth were divided into thirty parts, 'tis thought that 
 
 Idolaters
 
 400 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 Idolaters (with horror I speak it) having, as I said before, 
 the one half of Asia and Africk, both for the inland Country 
 and maritime Coasts, with four parts of five in America, 
 inhabit twenty parts of those Regions that are already found 
 out upon Earth. Besides, in the opinion of the knowing 
 and most inquisitive Mathematicians, there is toward the 
 Southern Clime as much Land yet undiscovered as may 
 equal in dimension the late new World, in regard, as they 
 hold, there must be of necessity such a portion of Earth to 
 balance the Centre on all sides; and 'tis more than probable 
 that the Inhabitants there must be Pairans. Of all kind of 
 Idolaters, those are the horridest who adore the Devil, 
 whom they call Tantara, who appears often to them, 'speci- 
 ally in a Haraucane, tho' he be not visible to others. In 
 some places they worship both God and the Devil ; the 
 one, that he may do them good ; the other, that he may 
 do them no hart: the first they call Tantum, the other 
 Squantum. 'Twere a presumption beyond t\\?itoiLudfer\<!, 
 or Adam's, for Man to censure the Justice of the Creator 
 in this particular, whv he makes daily such innumerable 
 Vessels of dishonour : It is a wiser and safer course far, to 
 sit down in an humble admiration, and cry out. Oh the 
 profound inscrutable Judgments of God ! his ways are past 
 finding out: and so to acknowledge with the divine Philo- 
 sopher, Quod oculus vespertilionis ad solem, idem est omnis 
 intellectus humanus ad Deum; what the Eye of a Bat is to 
 the Sun, the same is all human understanding to Godwards. 
 Now to draw to a conclusion, touching the respective 
 largeness of Christianity and MaJiomctism upon the Earth, 
 I find the first to exceed, taking the new World with the 
 old, considering the spacious Plantations of the Spaniard in 
 America, the Colonies the English have there in Virginia, 
 New-England, and Caribhee-Islands, with those of the 
 French in Canada, and of the Hollander in East-India : 
 nor do I find that there is any Region purely Mahometan 
 without Intermixtures, as Christianity hath many : which 
 makes me to be of a differing opinion to that Gentleman 
 
 who
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 401 
 
 who held, that Christianity added little to the general Reli- 
 gion of Mankind. 
 
 Now, touching the latitude of Christian Faith in refer- 
 ence to the differing Professors thereof, as in my former I 
 shew'd that the Eastern Churches were more spacious than 
 the Latin or Roman (excepting the two Indies), so thev who 
 have fallen off from her in the Western Parts are not so 
 far inferior to her in Europe as some would make one 
 believe; which will appear, if we cast them in counter- 
 balance. 
 
 Among Roman Catholicks, there is the Emperor, and 
 in him the King of Hungary ; the three Kings of Spain, 
 France, and Poland; Italy ; the Dukes of Savoy, Bavaria, 
 and Lorain; the three spiritual Electors, with some few 
 more. Touchino- them who have renounc'd all obedience 
 to Rome, there are the three Kings of Great-Britain, Den- 
 mark, and Swethland, the Dukes of Saxon, Hoist ein, 
 and JVittemherg ; the Marquis of Brandenherg, and Baden, 
 the Landgrave of Hesse, most of the Hansiatic Towns, 
 which are eighty-eight in number, some whereof are equal 
 to Republiques ; the (almost) seven Provinces the Hollander 
 hath ; the five Cantons of Swiss and Geneva ; they of 
 France, who are reputed the fifth part of the Kingdom ; 
 the Prince of Transylvania ; they of Hungary, and of the 
 large Kingdom of Bohemia, of the Marquisates of Lusatia, 
 Moravia, and the Dukedom of Silesia; as also they have 
 the hu2;e Kin2"dom of Poland, wherein Protestants are 
 diffus'd thro' all quarters in great numbers, having in every 
 Province their publick Churches and Congregations orderly 
 severed and bounded with Dioceses^ whence are sent some 
 of the chiefest and most principal Men of worth to their 
 General Synods : For altho' there are divers sorts of these 
 Polonian Protestants, some embracing the Waldensian or 
 the Boliemic, others the Augustan, and some the Helve- 
 tian Confession ; yet they all concur in opposition to the 
 Roman Church : as also thev of the ylncrlican, Scotican, 
 Gallic, Argentine, Saxonick, IVirtinbergick, Palatin, and 
 
 2 c Belgick
 
 402 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 Belg'ick Confessions. They also harmoniously symbolize 
 in the principal Articles of Faith, and which mainly con- 
 cern eternal Salvation ; as in the infallible Verity and full 
 Sufficiency of the Scriptures, Divine Essence, and Unity of 
 the Everlasting Godhead, the Sacred Trinity of the Three 
 Glorious Persons, the Blessed Incarnation of Christ, the 
 Omnipotent Providence of God, the Absolute Supreme Head 
 of the Church, Christ himself. Justification by Faith thro' 
 his Merits ; and touching the nature of lively Faith, Re- 
 pentance, Regeneration, and Sanctification, the difference 
 between the Law and the Gospel, touching Free-will, Sin, 
 and good Works, the Sacraments, their number, use, and 
 efficacy; the Marks of the Church, the Resurrection, and 
 State of Souls deceased. It may seem a rambling wild 
 speech at first view, of one who said. That to make one a 
 complete Christian, he must have the works of a Papist, the 
 words of a Puritan, and the faith of a Protestant ; yet this 
 wish, if well expounded, may bear a good sense, which were 
 unfitting for me to give, you being better able to put a gloss 
 upon it yourself. 
 
 Thus, learned Sir, have I exercised my Pen, according 
 to my small proportion of knowledge, and conversation with 
 Books, Men, and Maps, to obey your desire : tho' in com- 
 parison of your spacious Literature, I have held all this 
 while but a candle to the Sun, yet by the light of this small 
 candle you may see how ready I am to show myself — Your 
 very humble and affectionate Servitor, J. H. 
 
 WesiiH., 25 Aug. 1635. 
 
 XIL 
 
 To Mr. T. W. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I AM heartily glad you have prevail'd so far with my 
 Lady your Mother, as to have leave to travel a-while ; 
 and now that you are bound for France and Italy, let me 
 give you this caution, to take heed of a speedy Friend in the 
 
 first,
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 403 
 
 first, and of a slow Enemy in the second. The courtesies of 
 an Italian, if you make him jealous of you, are dangerous, 
 and so are his Compliments : He will tell you that he kisseth 
 your hand a thousand times over, when he wisheth them 
 both cut off. 
 
 The French are a free and debonair accostable People, 
 both Men and Women. Among the one, at first entrance, 
 one may have Acquaintance, and at first Acquaintance 
 one may have Entrance ; for the other, whereas the old 
 rule was, that there could be no true Friendship without 
 commessation of a bushel of salt, one may have enough 
 there before he eat a spoonful with them. I like that 
 Friendship, which hj soft gentle pauses steals upon the 
 affection, and grows mellow with time, by reciprocal offices 
 and trials of Love : That Friendship is like to last long, 
 and never to shrink in the wettino;. 
 
 So, hoping to enjoy you before you go, and to give you 
 a friendly Fov, I rest — Your most affectionate Servitor, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 JVesfm., 28 A'^. 1634. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 To Sir The. Hawk, Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 I WAS invited yesternight to a solemn Supper, by B. J., 
 where you were deeply remember'd ; there was good 
 company, excellent cheer, choice wines, and jovial welcome : 
 One thing interven'd, which almost spoil'd the relish of 
 the rest, that B. began to engross all the discourse, to 
 vapour extremely of himself, and, by vilifying others, to 
 magnify his own Muse. T. Ca. buzz'd me in the ear, that 
 tho' Ben. had barrell'd up a great deal of knowledge, yet 
 it seems he had not read the Ethiqucs, which, among other 
 precepts of Morality, forbid self-commendation, declaring 
 it to be an ill-favour'd solecism in good manners. It made 
 me think upon the Lady (not verv young) who having a 
 good while given her guests neat entertainment, a Capon 
 
 being
 
 404 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 being brought upon the Table, instead of a spoon she took 
 a mouthful of Claret, and spouted it into the poop of the 
 hollow bird ; such an accident happcn'd in this entertain- 
 ment, you know Proprio laus sordet in ore ; be a 
 
 Man's breath ever so sweet, yet it makes one's praise stink, 
 if he makes his own mouth the Conduit-pipe of it. But for 
 my part, I am content to dispense with the Roman infirmity 
 of B. now that time hath snowed upon his pericranium. 
 You know Ovid, and (your) Horace were subject to this 
 humour, the first bursting out into 
 
 Jamq ; opus exegi, quod nee Jovis ira, nee ignis, &c. 
 
 The other into 
 
 Exegi monumentu/n cere perennius, &c. 
 
 As also Cicero, while he forced himself into this Hexa- 
 meter : fortunatam natam, me consule Romam, ! There 
 is another reason that excuseth B., which is, that if one be 
 allowed to love the natural issue of his Body, why not that 
 of the Brain, which is of a spiritual and more noble ex- 
 traction ? I preserve your Manuscripts safe for you till you 
 return to London ; what news the times afford, this Bearer 
 will impart to you. So I am, Sir — Your very humble and 
 most faithful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Westtn., 5 Apr. 1636. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 To my Cousin, Mr. T. P., at Gravesend. 
 Cousin, 
 
 GOD send you a good passage to Holland, and the world 
 to your mind when you are there. Now that you 
 intend to trail a Pike, and make profession of Arms, let 
 me give you this caveat, that nothing must be more precious 
 to you than your reputation. As I know you have a spirit 
 not to receive wrong, so you must be careful not to offer 
 any, for the one is as base as the other; your pulse will be 
 quickly felt, and trial made what metal you are made of 
 after your coming. If you get but once handsomely off, 
 
 you
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 405 
 
 you are made ever after ; for you will be free from all 
 baffles and affronts. He that hath once got the fame of an 
 early riser, may sleep till noon. Therefore be wondrous 
 wary of your first comportments; get once a good name, 
 and be very tender of it afterwards, for 'tis like the Venice- 
 glass, quickly cracked, never to he mended, patch'd it may be. 
 To this purpose take along with you this Fable : It happen'd 
 that Fire, IVater, and Fame went to travel together (as 
 you are going now) ; they Consulted, that if they lost one 
 another, how they might be retriev'd and meet again : Fire 
 said, Where you see smoke, there you shall find me : JVater 
 said. Where you see marsh and moorish low Ground, there 
 you shall find me; but Fame said, Take heed how you lose 
 me, for if you do, you will run a great hazard never to meet 
 me again, there's no retrieving of me. 
 
 It imports you also to conform yourself to your Com- 
 manders, and so you may more confidently demand obedi- 
 ence, when you come to command yourself, as I doubt not 
 but you may do :n a small time. The Hoghen Moghen are 
 very exact in their polemical Government; their pay is sure, 
 tho' small, 4s. a week being too little a hire, as one said, to kill 
 men. At your return I hope you will give a better account 
 of your doings than he who, being ask'd what exploits he 
 had done in the Low- Countries, answer'd. That he had cut 
 off a Spaniard's legs : reply being made, that that was no 
 great matter, it had been something if he had cut off his 
 head; 0, said he, you must consider his head was off before. 
 Excuse me that I take my leave of you so pleasantly, but I 
 know you will take anything in good part from him who 
 is so much — Your truly affectionate Cousin, J. H. 
 
 lVcstm.,2, Aug. 1634, 
 
 XV. 
 
 To Cap. B. 
 
 INTUCH ENDEARED SiR, 
 
 THERE is a true saying, that the Spectator oft-times 
 sees more than the Gamester; I find that you have 
 
 a
 
 4o6 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 a very hazardous Game in hand, therefore give it up, and 
 do not vie a farthing upon't. Tho' you be already im- 
 barqued, yet there's time enough to strike sail, and make 
 again to the Port, otherwise 'tis no hard matter to be a 
 Prophet what will become of you ; there be so many ill- 
 favour'd Quicksands and Rocks in the way (as I have it 
 from a good hand) that one may easily take a prospect of 
 your Shipwrack if you go on : therefore desist, as you regard 
 your own safety, and the seasonable advice of your 
 
 J. H. 
 West III., I May 1635. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 To Mr. Thomas W., at his Chambers in the Temple. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 YOU have much streigthtned that knot of love which 
 hath been so long tied between us, by those choice 
 Manuscripts you sent me lately, among which I find divers 
 rare pieces; but that which afforded me most entertainment 
 in those Miscellanies, was Dr. Henrij King's Poems, wherein 
 I find not only heat and strength, but also an exact con- 
 cinnity and evenness of fancy: they are a choice race of 
 Brothers, and it seems the same Genius diffuseth itself also 
 among the Sisters. It was my hap to be lately where Mrs. 
 A. K. was, and having a Paper of Verses in her hand I got 
 it from her ; they were an Epitaph, and an Anagram, of her 
 own composure and writing; which took me so far, that the 
 next morning before I was up, my rambling fancy fell upon 
 these Lines : 
 
 For the admitting of Mrs. J/m King to be the Tenth Muse. 
 
 Ladies of Helicon, do not repine 
 
 I add one more unto your number Nine ; 
 
 To make it even, I among yo2i bring 
 Baff/X. A. JVo meaner than the Daughter of a King : 
 Anna King. /v7/> Basil- Anna : quickly pass your l^oice, 
 
 I know Apollo zvill approve the choice, 
 
 And
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 407 
 
 A 71 d gladly her install ; far I could name 
 Some of less merit. Goddesses became. 
 
 F. C, soars hiffher and hi2;her every day in pursuance of 
 his Platonic Love ; but T. Man is out with his^ you know 
 whom; he is fallen into that averseness to her, that he 
 swears he had rather see a Basilisk than her. This shews, 
 that the sweetest Wines may turn to the tartest vinegar. 
 No more till we meet. — Y<vurs inviolably, J. H. 
 
 Westm., 3 Feb. 1637. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 To the Lord C. 
 My Lord, 
 
 THERE are two sayings which are father'd upon Secre- 
 tary IValsingham and Secretary Cecil, a pair of the 
 best-weigh'd Statesmen this Island hath bred : one was us'd 
 to say at the Council-Table, My Lords, stay a little, and ive 
 shall make an end the sooner ; the other would oft-times speak 
 of himself, It shrill never he said of me, that I will defer 
 till to-morrow what I can do to-day. At first view these 
 sayings seem'd to clash with one another, and to be dia- 
 metrically opposite; but being rightly understood, they may 
 be very well reconcil'd. Touching the first, 'tis true, that 
 haste and choler are enemies to all great actions ; for as it is 
 a Principle in Chymistry, that omnisfestinatio est a Diaholo, 
 all haste comes from Hell, so in the consultations, contriv- 
 ings, and conduct of any business of State, all rashness and 
 precipitation comes from an ill spirit. There cannot be a 
 better Pattern for a ffrave and considerate way of delibera- 
 tion, than the antient Course of our High Court of Parlia- 
 ment, who, when a Law is to be made, which concerns the 
 welfare of so many thousands of men, after a mature debate 
 and long discussion of the Point beforehand, cause the Bill to 
 be read solemnly three times in the House, ere it be trans- 
 mitted to the Lords ; and there also 'tis so many times can- 
 vass'd, and then presented to the Prince: That which must 
 stand for Law, must be long stood upon, because it imposeth 
 
 an
 
 4o8 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 an universal obedience, and is like to be everlasting; ac- 
 cording to the Ciceronian maxim, Deliberandum est diu quod 
 statuendum est semel. Such a kind of cunctation, advised- 
 ness, and procrastination is allowable also in all Councils of 
 State and War ; for the Day following may be able com- 
 monly to be a master to the Day past, such a world of con- 
 tingencies human actions are subject to. Yet, under favour, 
 T believe this first saying to be meant of matters while they 
 are in agitation, and upon the anvil ; but when they have 
 receiv'd form, and are resolv'd upon, I believe then, nothing 
 is so advantageous as speed. And at this, I am of opinion, 
 the second saying aims at: for when the weights that use to 
 hang to all great businesses are taken away, 'tis good then 
 to put wings upon them, and to take the ball before the 
 bound ; for Expedition is the life of Action, otherwise Time 
 may show his bald occiput, and shake his posteriors at them 
 in derision. Among other Nations, the Spaniard is observed 
 to have much phlegm, and to be most dilatory in his pro- 
 ceedings, yet they who have pried narrowly into the sequel 
 and success of his actions, do find that this gravity, reserved- 
 ness, and tergiversation of his have turn'd rather to his pre- 
 judice than advantage, take one time with another. The 
 two last matrimonial Treaties we had with him continu'd 
 long ; the first,'twixt Ferdinand and Henry VII. for Catherine 
 of Arragon seven years ; that 'twixt King James and the 
 now Philip IV. for Mary of Austria lasted eleven years, 
 (and seven and eleven's eighteen) : the first took effect for 
 Pr. Arthur, the late miscarry'd for Pr. Charles, and the 
 Spaniard may thank himself and his own slow pace for it ; 
 for had he mended his pace to perfect the work, I believe 
 his Monarchy had not receiv'd so many ill-favoured shocks 
 since. The late revolt of Portugal was foreseen, and might 
 have been prevented, if the Spaniard had not been too slow 
 in his purpose to have sent the Duke of Braganza out of the 
 way upon some employment, as was projected. 
 
 Now will I reconcile the former sayings of those two re- 
 nown'd Secretaries, with the gallant comparison of Charles 
 
 the
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 409 
 
 the Emperor (and he was of a more temperate mould than 
 a Spaniard, being a Fleming born) ; he was us'd to say, that 
 while any great business of State was yet in consultation, 
 we should observe the motion of Saturn, which is plumeous, 
 long, and heavy; but when it is once absolutely resolv'd 
 upon, then we should observe the motion of Merairy, the 
 nimblest of all the Planets : JJhi desinit Saturmis, ihi incipiat 
 Mer curias . Whereto I will add, that we should imitate the 
 Mulberry, which of all Trees casts out her buds the latest, for 
 she doth it not till all the cold weather be past, and then she is 
 sure they cannot be nipped; but then she shoots them all out 
 
 Qicoda cum "i 
 strepitu as \ 
 Pliny saith ' 
 
 in one night : so tho' she be one way the slowest, she is 
 another way the nimblest of trees. 
 
 Thus have I obey'd your Lordship's command in ex- 
 pounding the sense of these two sayings, according to my 
 mean apprehension ; but this exposition relates only to pub- 
 lick affairs and political negotiations, wherein your Lord- 
 ship is so excellently vers'd. I shall most willingly conform 
 to any other injunctions of your Lordship's, and esteem them 
 always as favours, while I am J. H. 
 
 Westm., 5 Sept. 1633. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 To Sir I. Browne, Knin;ht. 
 Sir, 
 
 ONE would think, that the utter falling off of Catalonia 
 and Portugal in so short a compass of time should 
 much lessen the Spaniard, the People of both these King- 
 doms being from subjects become enemies against him, and 
 in actual hostility : without doubt it hath done so, yet not 
 so much as the world imagines. 'Tis true, in point of regal 
 power and divers brave subordinate Commands for his Ser- 
 vants, he is a great deal lessen'd thereby, but tho' he be less 
 powerful, he is not a penny the poorer thereby ; for there 
 
 comes
 
 4IO Familiar Letters. Book II, 
 
 comes not a farthing less every year into his Exchequer, in 
 regard that those Countries were rather a charge than benefit 
 to him, all their Revenue being drunk up in Pensions, and 
 Payments of Officers and Garisons ; for if the King of Spain 
 had lost all except the West-Indies, and all Spain except Cas- 
 tile herself, it would little diminish his Treasury. Touching 
 Catalonia and Portiigal, 'specially the latter, ^tis true, they 
 were mighty Members of the Castilian Monarchy; but I 
 believe they will sooner want Castile than Castile them, 
 because she fill'd them with Treasure : now that Barcelona 
 and Lisbon hath shaken hands with Sevill, I do not think 
 that either of them hath the tithe of that Treasure they had 
 before ; in regard the one was the Scale whereby the King 
 of Spain sent his Money to Italy ; the other, because all her 
 East-India commodities were barter'd commonly in Anda- 
 lusia and elsewhere for Bullion. Catalo?iia is fed with money 
 from France, but for Portugal, she hath little or none ; there- 
 fore I do not see how she could support a war long to any pur- 
 pose if Castile were quiet, unless soldiers would be contented 
 to take Cloves and Pepper-corns for Patacoons and Pistoles. 
 You know Money is the sinew and soul of War. This makes 
 me think on that blunt answer which Capt. Talbot return'd 
 Henry VIII. from Calais, who having receiv'd special com- 
 mand from the Kino; to erect a new Fort at the Water-srate, 
 and to see the Town well fortify'd, sent him word, that he 
 could ?ie it her fortify norfftify without Money. There is no 
 news at all stirrina: here now, and I am of the Italian's mind 
 that said, Nulla nuova, buonanuova, no news, good news. But 
 it were great news to see you here, whence you havebeen an 
 Alien so long to — Your most aff'ectionate friend, J. H. 
 
 Holborn, 2, Jujie 1640. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 To Captain C. Price. 
 
 Cousin, 
 
 YOU have put me upon such an odd intricate piece of 
 business, that I think there was never the like of it. 
 
 I
 
 Book IL Familiar Letters. 411 
 
 I am more puzzled and entangled with it than oft-times I 
 use to be with my Band-strings when I go hastily to bed, 
 and want such a fair female Hand as you have to unty 
 them. I must impute all this to the peevish humour of the 
 people I dealt withal. I find it true now, that one of the 
 greatest tortures that can be in the negotiation of the 
 World is, to have to do with perverse irrational half-witted 
 men, and to be worded to death by nonsense; besides, as 
 much Brain as they have, is as full of scruples as a Burr is 
 of prickles; which is a quality incident to all those that 
 have their heads lightly ballasted, for they are like Buoys 
 in a barr'd Port, weaving perpetually up and down. The 
 Father is scrupulous of the Son, the Son of the Sisters, and 
 all three of me, to whose Award they referr'd the business 
 three several times. It is as hard a task to reconcile the 
 Fanes of SY. Sepulchre's Steeple, which never look all four 
 upon one point of the Heavens, as to reduce them to anv 
 conformity of reason. I never remember to have met with 
 Father and Chi'dren, or Children among themselves, of a 
 more differing genius and contrariety of humours ; insomuch 
 that there cannot be a more pregnant instance to prove 
 that human Souls come not ex traduce^ and by seminal 
 production from the parents. For my part, I intend to 
 spend my breath no longer upon them, but to wash my 
 hands quite of the business; and so I would wish you to 
 do, unless you love to walk in a labyrinth of Briars. So, 
 expecting with impatience your return to London, I rest — 
 Your most faithful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 West in., 27 Apr. 1632. 
 
 XX. 
 
 To my Cousin, Mr. I. P., at Lincoln's-Inn. 
 Cousin, 
 
 THE last week you sent me word, that you were so 
 cramp'd with business, that you could not put Pen 
 to Paper : If you write not this week, I shall fear you are 
 
 not
 
 412 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 not only cramp' d but crippVd; at least I shall think you are 
 cramped in your affection rather than your fingers, and that 
 you have forgot how once it was my good fortune to pre- 
 serve you from drowning, when the Cramp took you in St. 
 Jolms-Pool at Oxford. The Cramp, as I take it, is a sudden 
 Convulsion of the Nerves. For my part, the ligaments and 
 sinews of my love to you have been so strong, that they 
 were never yet subject to such spasmatical shrinkings and 
 convulsions. Now, Letters are the very Nerves and Arteries 
 of Friendship ; nay, they are the vital Spirits and Elixir of 
 Love, which in case of distance and long absence would 
 be in hazard to languish, and quite moulder away without 
 them. Among the Italians and Spaniards, 'tis held one of 
 the greatest solecisms that can be in good manners, not to 
 answer a Letter with like civility; by this they use to dis- 
 tinguish a Gentleman from a Clown; besides, they hold it 
 one of the most vertuous ways to employ time. I am the 
 more covetous of a punctual correspondence with you in 
 this point, because I commonly gain by your Letters ; your 
 style is so polite, your expressions so gallant, and your lines 
 interspers'd with such dainty flowers of Poetry and Philo- 
 sophy. I understand there is a very able Doctor that reads 
 the Anatomy-Lecture this Term ; if Ploydon will dispense 
 with you, you cannot spend your hours better than to 
 hear him. So I end for this time, being cramp'd for want 
 of more matter, and rest — Your most aff'ectionate loving 
 Cousin, J. H. 
 
 Westm., ^July 1631. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 To my Nephetv, J. P., at St. John's in Oxford. 
 Nephew, 
 
 I HAD from you lately two Letters ; the last was well 
 freighted with very good stuff, but the other, to deal 
 plainly with you, was not so : There was as much difference 
 between them as 'twixt a Scotch Pedlar's Pack in Poland 
 
 and
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 413 
 
 and the Magazine of an English Merchant in Naples ; the 
 one being usually full of Taffaty, Silks, and Sattins ; the 
 other of Callicoes, Thread-ribbands, and such polldavy ware. 
 I perceive you have good commodities to vent, if you take 
 the pains : your trifles and bagatells are ill bestow'd upon me, 
 therefore hereafter I pray let me have of your best sort of 
 Wares. I am glad to find that you have stor'd up so much 
 already : you are in the best Mart in the world to improve 
 them ; which I hope you daily do, and I doubt not when 
 the time of your apprenticeship there is expir'd, but you will 
 find a good market to expose them, for your own and the 
 publick benefit abroad. I have sent you the Philosophy- 
 books you writ to me for ; anything that you want of this 
 kind for the advancement of your studies, do but write, and 
 I shall furnish you. When I was a Student as you are, my 
 practice was to borrow, rather than buy some sort of Books, 
 and to be always punctual in restoring them upon the day 
 assign'd, and in the interim to swallow of them as much as 
 made for my turn. This obliged me to read them thro' with 
 more haste to keep my word, whereas I had not been so 
 careful to peruse them had they been my own books, which 
 I knew were always ready at my dispose. I thank you 
 heartily for your last Letter, in regard I found it smelt of 
 the Lamp ; I pray let your next do so, and the oil and 
 labour shall not be lost which you expend upon — Your 
 assured loving Uncle, J. H. 
 
 IVcstm., I A2(g. 1633. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 To Sir Tho. Haw. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I THANK you a thousand times for the choice Stanzas 
 you pleas'd to send me lately : I find that you were 
 thoroughly heated, that you were inspir'd with a true 
 Enthusiasm when you compos'd them. And whereas others 
 use to flutter in the lower region, your Muse soars up to the 
 
 upper
 
 414 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 upper ; and transcending that too, takes her flight among 
 the Celestial Bodies to find a fancy. Your desires, I should 
 do something upon the same Subject, I have obey'd, tho' 
 I fear not satisfied, in the following numbers : 
 
 1. Could I but catch those beamy J^ays, 
 Which Phoebus at high noon display s, 
 rd set them on a Loom, and frame 
 
 A Scarf for Delia of the same. 
 
 2. Could I that wondrous Black come near, 
 Which Cynthia, wheii eclips'd, doth wear, 
 Of a new fashion 1 7vould trace 
 
 A mask thereof for Delia's /rt:^^. 
 
 3. Could I but reach that green ajid blue, 
 Which Iris decks in various hue, 
 
 From her moist Bow Fd drag them doivn, 
 And make tny Delia a Summer- Gown. 
 
 4. Could I those whitely Stars go nigh, 
 Which make the Milky-Way in Sky, 
 
 Fd poach them, afid at Moon-shine dress, 
 Fo make my Delia a curious mess. 
 
 5. Fhus would I diet, tlms attire 
 
 My Delia Qiceen of Hearts and Fire ; 
 She should have everything divifie, 
 Fhat would befit a Seraphin. 
 And ^ cause ungirt unbless'd we find. 
 One of the Zones her waist should bind. 
 
 They are of the same cadence as yours, and airable. So 
 I am — Your Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Westm., 5 Sept. 1632. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 To the R. H. the Lady Elizabeth Digby. 
 
 Madam, 
 
 IT is no improper comparison, that a thankful heart is 
 like a box of precious ointment, which keeps the smell 
 long after the thing is spent. Madam (without vanity be it 
 
 spoken)
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 415 
 
 spoken), such is my heart to you, and such are your favours 
 to me ; the strong aromatick odour they carrv'd with them 
 diffus'd itself thro' all the veins of my heart, 'specially thro' 
 the left Ventricle, where the most illustrious Blood lies ; so 
 that the perfume of them remains still fresh within me, and 
 is like to do, while that triangle of flesh dilates and shuts 
 itself within my breast : nor doth this perfume stay there, 
 but as all smells naturally tend upwards, it hath ascended 
 to my Brain, and sweeten'd all the cells thereof, 'specially 
 the Memory, which may be said to be a Cabinet also to 
 preserve courtesies : for tho' the Heart be the Box of Love, 
 the Memory is the Box of Lastingness; the one may be 
 term'd the Source whence the motions of gratitude flow, 
 the other the Cistern that keeps them. 
 
 But your Ladyship will say, these are words only ; I con- 
 fess it, 'tis but a verbal acknowledgment : But, Madam, if 
 I were made happy with an opportunity, you shall quickly 
 find these words turn'd to actions, either to go, to run, or 
 ride upon your Errand. In expectation of such a favourable 
 occasion, I rest. Madam — Your Ladyship's most humble and 
 enchained Servitor, J. H. 
 
 West in., 5 Atig. 1640. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 To Sir I. B. 
 Noble Sir, 
 
 THAT old opinion the Jeiv and Turk have of Women, 
 that they are of an inferior Creation to Man, and 
 therefore exclude them, the one from their Synagogues, the 
 other from their Mosques, is in my judgment not only par- 
 tial, but profane : for the Image of the Creator shines as 
 clearly in the one as in the other ; and I believe there are 
 as many female Saints in Heaven as male, unless you could 
 make me adhere to the opinion that Women must be all 
 masculine before they be capable to be made Angels of. Add 
 hereunto, that there went better and more refined stuff" to 
 the Creation of Woman than Man. 'Tis true, 'twas a weak 
 
 part
 
 4i6 Familiar Letters. Book IT. 
 
 part in Eve to yield to the seducement of Satan; but it was 
 a weaker thing in Adam to suffer himself to be tempted by 
 Eve, being the weaker vessel. 
 
 The ancient Philosophers had a better opinion of that 
 Sex, for they ascrib'd all Sciences to the Muses, all Sweet- 
 ness and Morality to the Graces, and prophetic Inspira- 
 tions to the Sybils. In my small revolving of Authors, I 
 find as high examples of Virtue in Women as in Men ; I 
 could produce here a whole Regiment of them, but that a 
 Letter is too narrow a field to muster them in. I must 
 confess, there are also counter Instances of this kind : if 
 Queen Zenobia was such a precise pattern of continency, 
 that after the act of conception she would know her Hus- 
 band no more all the time of her pregnancy, till she had 
 been deliver'd ; there is another example of a Roman Empress, 
 that when she found the Vessel fraughted, would take in all 
 passengers ; when the Barn was full, any one might thrash 
 in the haggard, but not till then, for fear the right Father 
 should be discovered by the countenance of the Child. But 
 what need I go far off, to rake the ashes of the dead ? there 
 are living examples enough pro and con of both Sexes; yet 
 Woman being (as I said before) the weaker vessel, her fail- 
 ings are more venial than those of Man ; tho^ Man, indeed, 
 beino- more conversant with the world, and meeting more 
 opportunities abroad (and opportunity is the greatest Bawd) 
 of falling into infirmities, as he follows his worldly negotia- 
 tions, may on the t'other side be judg'd the more excuseable. 
 
 But you are fitter than I to discourse of this subject, being 
 
 better vers'd in the theory of Women, having had a most 
 
 virtuous Lady of your own before, and being now link'd to 
 
 another. I wish a thousand benedictions may fall upon 
 
 this your second choice, and that tarn bona sit qiiam 
 
 bona prima fuit. This option shall be my conclusion for the 
 
 present, whereunto I add, that I am, in no vulgar degree of 
 
 Affection — Your most humlbe and faithful Servitor, 
 
 J.H. 
 
 Wesi?n., 5 Aug. 1632. 
 
 XXV.
 
 Book 11. Familiar Letters. 417 
 
 XXV. 
 
 To Mr. P. W. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 THERE are two things which add much to the merit of 
 courtesies, viz., cheerfulness and speed, and the con- 
 traries of these lessen the value of them ; that which hangs 
 long 'twixt the fingers, and is done with difficulty and a 
 sullen supercilious look, makes the obligation of the receivers 
 nothing so strong, or the memory of the kindness half so 
 grateful. The best thing the Gods themselves lik'd of in 
 the entertainments they receiv'd of those poor wretches 
 Baucis and Philemon, was open hearty looks. 
 
 S2iJ>er omnia vultus, 
 
 Accessere boni. 
 
 A clear uncloi'ded countenance makes a Cottage aj^pear 
 like a Castle, in point of hospitality ; but a beetle-brow'd 
 sullen Face makes a Palace as smoaky as an Irish Hut. 
 There is a mode in giving entertainment, and doing any 
 courtesy else, which trebly binds the receiver to an acknow- 
 ledgment, and makes the remembrance of it more acceptable. 
 I have known two Lord High Treasurers of England of quite 
 contrary humours, one successively after the other ; the one, 
 tho' he did the Suitors' business, yet he went murmuring; 
 the other, tho' he did it not, was us'd to dismiss the party 
 with some satisfaction. 'Tis true, money is welcome, tho' 
 it be in a dirty clout, but 'tis far more acceptable if it come 
 in a clean handkerchief. 
 
 Sir, you may sit in the chair, and read Lectures of 
 Morality to all Mankind in this point, you have such a 
 dextrous discreet way to handle suitors in that troublesome 
 Office of yours; wherein, as you have already purchas'd 
 much, I wish you all increase of honour and happiness. — 
 Your humble and obliged Servitor, J. H. 
 
 2 D XXVI.
 
 4i8 Familiar Letters. Book IL 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 To Mr. F. Coll., at Naples. 
 
 Sir, 
 '' I ""IS confess'd I have offended by my over-long Silence, 
 
 X and abus'd our maiden Friendship; I appear before 
 you now in this white sheet, to do penance : I pray in your 
 next to me send an Absolution. Absolutions, they say, are 
 as cheap in that Town as Courtesans, whereof 'twas said 
 there were 20,000 on the common list, when I was there : 
 at which time I remember one told me a tale of a Calabrian 
 who had a Goat; and having bought an Absolu- 
 tion of his Confessor, he was ask'd by a friend what it cost 
 him : He answer'd, I procur'd it for four Pistoles, and for 
 the other odd one, I think I might have had a dispensation 
 to have married the Beast. 
 
 I thank you for the exact relation you sent me of the 
 fearful Earthquakes and Fires which happen'd lately in that 
 Country, and particularly about Vesuvius. It seems the 
 huge Giant, who, the Poets say, was hurl'd under the vast 
 Mountain by the Gods for thinking to scale Heaven, had a 
 mind to turn from one side to the other, which he useth to 
 do at the revolution of every hundred years; and stirring 
 his body by that action, he was taken with a fit of the 
 cough, which made the Hill shake, and belch out fire in 
 this hideous manner. But to repay you in the like coin, 
 they send us stranger news from Lisbon; for they write of 
 a spick and span-new Island, that hath peep'd up out of 
 the Atlantick Sea, near the Terceras, which never appear'd 
 before since the Creation, and begins to be peopled already : 
 Methinks the K. of Spain needs no more Countries, he hath 
 too many already, unless they were better united. All your 
 Friends here are well, and mind you often in Town and 
 Country, as doth — Your true, constant Servitor, J. H. 
 
 JVesf?u., 7 Apr. 1629. 
 
 XXVII.
 
 Book IL Familiar Letters. 419 
 
 xxvir. 
 
 To Mr. T. Lucy, in Venice. 
 Sir, 
 
 YOUR last you sent me was from Genoa, where you write 
 that ff/i mariti in^ravi dano lor moiiUe cento misrlia 
 lontano ; Husbands get their Wives with child a hundred 
 miles off. 'Tis a great virtue, I confess, but 'tis nothing to 
 what our East-India Mariners can do here, because they can 
 do so forty times further: for tho' their Wives be AtRatcUff, 
 and they at the Red- Sea, tho' they be at Madagascar, the 
 Mogor's Court, or Japan, yet they use to get their Wives' 
 bellies up here about London; a strange virtue, at such a 
 huge distance; but I believe the active part is in the Wives, 
 and the Husbands are merely passive: which makes them, 
 among other wares, to bring home with them a sort of pre- 
 cious horns, the powder whereof, could one get some of it, 
 would be of an invaluable virtue. This operation of our 
 Indian Mariner at such a distance is more admirable in my 
 judgment than that of the Weapon-salve, the unguentum 
 armarium ; for that can do no good unless the Surgeon have 
 the instrument and blood ; but this is done without both, 
 for the Husband contributes neither of them. 
 
 You are now I presume in Venice ; there also such things 
 are done by proxy; while the Husband is abroad upon the 
 Gallies, there be others that shoot his Gulf a.t home. You 
 are now in a place where you may feed all your senses very 
 cheap; I allow you the pleasing of your Eye, your Ear, 
 your Smell and Taste ; but take heed of being too indulgent 
 of the fifth Sense. The Poets feign, that Fenus the Goddess 
 of Pleasure, and therefore call'd Aphrodite, was ingendred 
 of the froth of the Sea (which makes Fish more salacious 
 commonly than Flesh) ; it is not improbable that she was 
 got and coagulated of that Foam which Neptune useth to 
 disgorge upon those pretty Islands whereon that City 
 stands. My Lady Miller commends her kindly to you, 
 
 and
 
 420 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 and she desires you to send her a compleat Cupboard of 
 the best Christal Glasses Miirano can afford by the next 
 shipping; besides she intreats you to send her a pot of the 
 best Mithridate, and so much of Treacle. 
 
 All your Friends here are well and jovial. T. T. drank 
 your health yesternight, and wish'd you could send him a 
 handsome Venetian Courtesan inclos'd in a Letter ; he would 
 willingly be at the charge of the postage, which he thinks 
 would not be much for such a light commodity. Farewell, 
 my dear Tom, have a care of your courses, and continue to 
 love him who is — Yours to the Altar, J. H. 
 
 Weshn., \^ Jan. 1635. 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 To Mr. T. Jackson, at Madrid. 
 Sir, 
 
 THO' a great Sea severs us now, yet 'tis not all the 
 water of the Ocean can drown the remembrance of 
 you in me, but that it floats and flows daily in my brain. 
 I must confess (for 'tis impossible the Mind of Man should 
 fix itself always upon one object) it hath sometimes its ebbs 
 in me, but 'tis to rise up again with greater force: At the 
 writing hereof 'twas flood, 'twas spring-tide, which swell'd 
 so high, that the thoughts of you overwhelm'd all others 
 within me ; they ingross'd all my Intellectuals for the time. 
 
 You write to me fearful news, touching the revolt of the 
 Catalan from Castile, of the tragical murdering of the Vice- 
 roy, and the burning of his house : Those Mountaineers 
 are mad Lads. I fear the sparkles of this fire will fly 
 further, either to Portugal, or to Sicily and Italy ; all which 
 Countries, I observ'd, the Spaiiiard holds, as one would do 
 a IVolf by the ear, fearing they should run away ever and 
 anon from him. 
 
 The news here is, that Lamheth-House bears all the sway 
 
 at IVhitehall, and the Lord Deputy kings it notably in 
 
 Ireland; some that love them best could wish them a little 
 
 more moderation. 
 
 I
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 421 
 
 I pray buy Suarezs Works for me of the last Edition : 
 Mr. PFilliam Pawly, to whom I desire my most hearty 
 commends may be presented, will see it safely sent by wav 
 of B'dboa. Your Friends- here are all well, as thanks be to 
 God — Your true Friend to serve you, J, H. 
 
 Holborn, 3 Mar. 1638. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 To Sir Edw. Sa., Knight. 
 
 Sir Edward, 
 
 I HAD a shrewd disease hung lately upon me, proceed- 
 ing, as the Physicians told me, from this long reclused 
 life and close restraint, which had much wasted my spirits 
 and brought me low ; when the Crisis was past, I began to 
 grow doubtful that I had but a short time to breathe in this 
 elementary world ; my fever still increasing, and finding 
 my soul weary of this muddy mansion, and, methought, 
 more weary of this prison of flesh, than this flesh was of this 
 prison of the Fleet. Therefore after some gentle slumbers 
 and unusual dreams, about the dawnings of the day, I had 
 a lucid interval, and I fell thinking how to put my little 
 house in order, and to make my last will. Hereupon my 
 thoughts ran upon Grunniiis Sophislas last Testament, 
 who having nothing else to dispose of but his body, he 
 bequeathed all the parts thereof, in Legacies, as his skin 
 to the Tanners, his bones to the Dice-makers, his guts 
 to the Musicians, his fingers to the Scriveners, his tongue 
 to his fellow-sophisters (which were the Lawyers of those 
 times), and so forth. As he thus dissected his hody, so 
 I thought to divide my mind into legacies, having, as you 
 know, little of the outward pelf and gifts of fortune to dis- 
 pose of; for never any was less beholden to that blind 
 baggage. In the highest degree of theorical Contempla- 
 tion, I made an entire sacrifice of my soul to her Maker, 
 who by infusing created her, and by creating infused her to 
 actuate this small bulk of flesh, with an unshaken con- 
 fidence
 
 422 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 fidcnce of the redemption of both in my Saviour, and con- 
 sequently of the salvation of the one and the resurrection 
 of the other. My Thoughts then reflected upon divers of 
 my noble Friends, and I fell to proportion to them what 
 legacies I held most proper. I thought to bequeath to my 
 Lord of Clierhery, and Sir K. Dighy, that little Philosophy 
 and Knowledge I have in the Mathematicks ; my historical 
 Observations, and critical Researches I made into Anti- 
 quity, I thought to bequeath unto Dr. Usher, Lord Primate 
 of Ireland; my Observations abroad, and Inspection into 
 foreign States, I thought to leave to my Lord G. D. ; my 
 Poetry, such as it is, to Mistress A. K., who I know is a 
 great minion of the Muses ; School-languages I thought to 
 bequeath unto my dear Mother the University of Oxford; 
 my Spanish to Sir Lewis Dives and Master Endimion 
 Porter; for tho' they are great masters of that language, 
 yet it may stead them something when they read la picara 
 Justina; my Italian to the worthy Company of Turkey and 
 Levantine Merchants, from divers of whom I have receiv'd 
 many noble favours ; my French to my most honour'd 
 Lady, the Lady Core, and it may help her something to 
 understand Rabelais ; the little smattering I have in the 
 Dutch, British, and my English, I did not esteem worth 
 the bequeathing : My love J had bequeath'd to be diffused 
 among all my dear Friends, 'specially those that have stuck 
 unto me in this my long affliction ; my best natural affec- 
 tions betwixt the Lord B. of Br., my Brother Howell, 
 and my three dear Sisters, to be transferr'd by them to 
 my Cousins their Children. This little sackful of bones, I 
 thought to bequeath to Westminster- Alley , to be interr'd 
 in the Cloyster within the South-side of the Garden, 
 close to the Wall, where I would have desir'd Sir H. F. 
 (my dear Friend) to have inlay'd a small piece of black 
 Marble, and cause this Motto to have been insculped on it, 
 Hucusque peregrinus, heic domi ; or this, which I would have 
 left to his Choice, Hucusque Erraticus, heic Fixus : And 
 instead of strewing my grave with Flowers, I would have 
 
 desir'd
 
 Book 11. Familiar Letters. 423 
 
 desir'd him to have grafted thereon some little Tree of 
 what sort he pleas'd^ that might have taken root dov/n- 
 ward to my dust, because I have been always naturally 
 affected to woods and groves, and those kind of vegetables, 
 insomuch, that if there were any such thing as a Pythago- 
 rean Metempsychosis, I think my soul would transmigrate 
 into some Tree, when she bids this body farewell. 
 
 By these Extravagancies, and odd Chimeras of my Brain, 
 vou may well perceive that I was not well, but distemper'd, 
 'specially in my intellectuals; according to the Spanish pro- 
 verb, Siempre desvarios co7i la calentura ; Fevers have always 
 their fits of dotage. Among those to whom I had bequeath'd 
 my dearest Love, you were one, to whom I had intended a 
 large proportion ; and that Love which I would have left 
 you then in legacy, I send you now in this Letter : For it 
 hath pleased God to reprieve me for a longer time to creep 
 upon this Earth, and to see better days, I hope, when this 
 black dismal Cloud is dispell'd ; but come foul or fair 
 weather, I shall be, as formerly — Your most constant, faith- 
 ful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 26 Mar. 1643. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 To the Rt. Hon. the Lady Wichts. 
 Madam, 
 
 SINCE I was hurl'd among these walls, I had divers fits of 
 melancholy, and such turbid intervals that use to attend 
 close prisoners, who, for the most part, have no other com- 
 panions but confus'd troops of wandring Cogitations. Now, 
 Melancholy is Jar more fruitful of thoughts than any other 
 humour ; for it is like the mud of Nile, which, when that 
 Enigmatical vast River is got again to her former bed, 
 entrendereth divers sorts of new creatures, and some kind of 
 Monsters. My brain in this Fleet hath been often thus 
 overwhelm'd, yet I never found it so muddy, nor the region 
 of my mind so much clouded, as it was lately after notice 
 had of the sad tidings of Master Controuler's death : The 
 
 news
 
 424 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 news hereof struck such a damp into me^ that for some 
 space, methought, the very pulse of my blood and the 
 motions of my heart were at a stand ; for I was surpriz'd 
 with such a consternation, that I felt no pulsations in the 
 one, or palpitations in the other. Well, Madam, he was a 
 brave solid wise man, of a noble free disposition, and so 
 great a controuler of his passions, that he was always at 
 home within himself; yet I much fear that the sense of 
 these unhappv times made too deep impressions in him. 
 
 Truly, Madam, I lov'd and honour'd him in such a per- 
 fection, that my heart shall wear a broad black ribband for 
 him while I live : As long as I have a retentive faculty to 
 remember anything, his memory shall be fresh with me. 
 
 But the truth is, that if the advantageous exchange which 
 he hath made were well consider'd, no Friend of his should 
 be sorry ; for in lieu of a IVhite-staff in an earthly Court, 
 he hath got a Sceptre of Immortality : He that had been 
 Ambassador at the Port to the greatest Monarch upon 
 Earth, where he resided so many years an honour to his 
 King and Country, is now arrived at a far more glorious 
 Port than that of Constantinople ; tho' (as I intimated be- 
 fore) I fear that this boisterous weather hath blown him 
 thither before his time. God Almighty give your Lady- 
 ship patience for so great a loss, and comfort in your hope- 
 ful Issue : with this prayer I conclude myself, Madam — 
 Your Ladyship's most humble and sorrowful Servant, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 Frojfi the Fleet, 15 Apr. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 To Mr. E. S., Counsellor at the Middle Temple. 
 Sir, 
 
 I HAD yours this morning, and I thank you for the news 
 you send me, that divers of my fellow-sufferers are en- 
 larg'd out o^ Lambeth, Winchester, London, and Ely-House : 
 whereunto I may answer you, as the Cheapside Porter 
 did one that related Court-news to him, how such a one 
 
 was
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 425 
 
 was made Lord Treasurer, another Chancellor of the Ex- 
 chequer, another was made an Earl, another sworn Privy- 
 Counsellor : Ay, said he, yet I am but a Porter still. So I 
 may say, I am but a Prisoner still, notwithstanding the 
 releasement of so many. Mistake me not, as if I repin'd 
 hereby at any one's liberty ; for I could heartily wish that I 
 were the unic Martyr in this kind, that I were the Figure 
 of one with never a Cypher after it, as God wot there are 
 too many : I could wish that as I am the least in value, I 
 were the last in number. A day may come, that a favour- 
 able wind may blow, that I may launch also out of this 
 Fleet. In the meantime, and always after, I am — Your 
 true and constant Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, I Feb. 1645. 
 
 XXXIL 
 
 To Mr. R. B., at Ipswich. 
 
 Gentle Sir, 
 
 I VALUE at a high rate the sundry respects you have been 
 pleased to show me ; for as you obliged me before by 
 your visits, so you have much endear'd yourself to me since 
 by your late Letter of the nth current. Believe it. Sir, 
 the least scruple of your Love is not lost (because I perceive 
 it proceeds from the pure motions of Virtue), but return'd to 
 you in the same full proportion. But what you please to 
 ascribe to me in point of merit, I dare not own ; you look 
 upon me thro' the wrong end of the prospective, or rather 
 thro' a multiplying-glass, which makes the object appear far 
 bigger than it is in real dimensions ; such glasses as Anato- 
 mists use in the dissection of Bodies, which can make a Flea 
 look like a Cow, or a Fly as big as a Vulture. 
 
 I presume you are constant in your desire to travel ; if 
 you intend it at all, you cannot do it in a better time, there 
 being little comfort, God wot, to breathe English Air, as 
 matters are carried. I shall be glad to steed you in any- 
 thing that may tend to your Advantage; for to tell you 
 
 truly,
 
 426 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 truly, I take much contentment in this inchoation of 
 Friendship, to improve and perfect which, I shall lie cen- 
 tinell to apprehend all occasions. 
 
 If you meet Master i?. Broivnrig in the Country, I pray 
 present my very kind respects to him ; for I profess myself 
 to be both his and — Your most affectionate Servitor, 
 
 J.H. 
 
 I^/eef, 15 Aug. 1646. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 To Captain C. Price, Prisoner at Coventry. 
 Cousin, 
 
 YOU, whom I held always as my second self in Affec- 
 tion, are now so in Affliction, being in the same 
 predicament of Suflferance, tho' not in the same prison as I. 
 There is nothing sweetneth Friendship more than partici- 
 pation and identity of danger and durance : The day may 
 come that we may discourse with comfort of these sad 
 Times ; for Adversity hath the Advantage of Prosperity 
 itself in this point, that the commemoration of the one is 
 oft-times more delisrhtsorne than the fruition of the other. 
 Moreover, Adversity and Prosperity are like Virtue and 
 Vice ; the two foremost of both which begin with Anxieties 
 and Pain, but they end comically, in Contentment and 
 Joy ; the other two quite contrary, they begin with Plea- 
 sure, and end in Pain : There's a difference in the last 
 
 scene. 
 
 I could wish, if there be no hope of a speedy releasement, 
 you would remove your body hither, and rather than moulder . 
 
 away in idleness, we will devoutly blow the coal, and try if J 
 we can exalt Gold, and bring it o'er the helm in this Fleet ; ( 
 we will transmute metals, and give a resurrection to mor- 
 tified Vegetables : To which end, the green Lyon and the 
 Dragon, yea, Demogorgon and Mercury himself, with all 
 the Planets, shall attend us, till we come to the Elixir, 
 the true Powder of Projection, which the Vulgar call the 
 Philosopher's Stone. If matters hit right, we may thereby 
 
 get
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 427 
 
 get better returns than Cardigan silver Mines afford : But 
 we must not melt ourselves away as J. Meredith did, nor 
 do as your Countryman Morgan did. I know when you 
 read these lines, you'll say I am grown mad, and that I 
 have taken Opium in lieu of Tobacco : If I be mad, I am 
 but sick of the Disease of the Times, which reigns more 
 among the Eiiglish, than the Siv eating-sickness did some 
 sixscore years since among them, and only them, both at 
 home and abroad. 
 
 There's a strange Maggot hath got into their brains, 
 which possesseth them with a kind of Vertigo ; and it 
 reigns in the Pulpit more than anywhere else, for some of 
 our Preachmen are grown dog-mad, there's a worm got 
 into their Tongues, as well as their Heads. 
 
 Hodge Powel commends him to you ; he is here under 
 hatches as well as I; however, 1 am still, in fair or foul 
 weather — Your truly affectionate Cousin to serve you, 
 
 J.H. 
 
 Fleet, T,Jan. 1643. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 To the Rt. Hon. the Lord of Cherberry. 
 My Lord, 
 
 GOD send you joy of your new habitation, for I under- 
 stand your Lordship is remov'd from the King's- 
 street to the Queen's. It may be with this enlargement of 
 dwelling, your Lordship may need a recruit of Servants. 
 The bearer hereof hath a desire to devote himself to your 
 Lordship's Service ; and I find that he hath a concurrence 
 of such parts that may make him capable of it : He is well 
 studied in men and books, vers'd in business of all sorts, 
 and writes a very fair hand : He is well extracted, and hath 
 divers good friends that are dwellers in the Town, who will 
 be responsible for him. Moreover, besides this Letter of 
 mine, your Lordship will find that he carrieth one in his 
 countenance ; for an honest ingenious Look is a good Letter 
 of recommendation of itself. If your Lordship hath not 
 
 present
 
 428 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 present occasion to employ him, he may be about you 
 a-while like a spare Watch, which your Lordship may 
 wind up at pleasure. So my Aim being to do your Lord- 
 ship service, as much as him a pleasure, by this recom- 
 mendation, I rest — Your Lordship's most humble Servant, 
 
 J. H. 
 Fleet, \2,July 1646. 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 To Mr. R. Br. 
 
 Gentle Sir, 
 
 YOURS of the 4th current came safely to hand, and I 
 acknowledge with much contentment the fair respects 
 you please to shew me : You may be well assur'd, that the 
 least grain of your Love to me is not lost, but counter- 
 balanc'd with the like in full weight; for altho' I am as 
 frail a piece, and as full of infirmities, as another man, yet I 
 like my own nature in one thing, that I could never endure 
 to be in the Arrear to any for Love ; where my Hand came 
 short, my Heart was bountiful, and helped to make an equal 
 compensation. 
 
 I hope you persist in your purpose for foreign Travel, to 
 study a-while the World abroad : It is the way to perfect 
 you, and I have already discovered such choice ingredients 
 and parts of ingenuity in you, that will quickly make a 
 compleat Gentleman, No more now, but that I am 
 seriously — Yours to dispose of, J. H. 
 
 F/eef, 2>J^'-^y 1646. 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 To Sir L. D., in the Tower. 
 Sir, 
 
 TO help the passing away of your weary Hours between 
 those disconsolate Walls, I have sent you a King of 
 your own Name to bear you company, Lewis XIII., who, 
 tho' dead three years since, may peradventure afford you 
 some entertainment ; and I think that dead Men of this 
 
 nature
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 429 
 
 nature are the fittest companions for such that are buried 
 alive, as you and I are. I doubt not but you, who have a 
 Spirit to overcome all things, will overcome the sense of this 
 hard condition, that you may survive these sad times, and 
 see better days. I doubt not, as weak as I am, but I shall 
 be able to do it mvself ; in which confidence I style mvself 
 — Your most obliged and ever faithful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 15 Feb. 1646. 
 
 My most humble Service to Sir/. Sit. and Sir H. V. 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 To Master R. B. 
 Gentle Sir, 
 
 I HAD yours of the 3d current by Master Bloys, which 
 obligeth me to send you double thanks, first, for your 
 Letter, then for the choice Hand that brought it me. 
 
 When I had gone thro' it, methought your Lines were as 
 Leaves, or rather so many Branches, among which there 
 sprouted divers sweet Blossoms of ingenuity, which I find 
 may quickly come to a rare maturity. I confess this Clime 
 (as matters go) is untoward to improve such buds of Virtue ; 
 but the Times may mend, now that our King, with the Sun^ 
 makes his approach to us more and more : Yet I fear we 
 shall not come yet a good while to our former serenity; 
 therefore it were not amiss, in my judgment, if some foreign 
 Air did blow upon the aforesaid Blossoms, to ripen them 
 under some other Meridian ; in the interim, it is the opinion 
 of — Your ever respectful Friend to dispose of, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 3 Aug. 1645. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 To Mr. G. C, at Dublin. 
 Sir, 
 
 HE news of this Week have been like the waves of 
 that boisterous Sea, thro' which this Letter is to pass 
 
 over 
 
 T
 
 430 
 
 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 over to you. Divers reports for Peace have swoln high for 
 the time, but they suddenly fell low and flat again. Our 
 Relations here are like a Peal of Bells in windy blustring 
 weather; sometimes the Sound is strong on this side, some- 
 times on that side of the Steeple; so our Relations sound 
 diversly, as the Air of Affection carries them ; and sometimes 
 in a whole volley of News we shall not find one true report. 
 There was, in a Dunkirk Ship, taken some months ago 
 hard by Arundel Castle, among other things, a large Picture 
 seiz'd upon, and carried to IVestminster-Hall, and put in 
 the Star-Chamber to be publickly seen: It was the Legend 
 of Conanus, a British Prince in the time of Gratian the 
 Emperor, who having married Ursula, the King of CorniualVs 
 Daughter, was embark'd with ii,ooo Virgins for Britamj 
 in France, to colonize that part with Christians; but being 
 by distress of Weather beaten upon the Rhine, because they 
 would not yield to the lust of the Infidels, after the example 
 of Ursula, they were all slain, their Bodies were carried to 
 Colen, where there stands to this day a stately Church 
 built for them. This is the Story of that Picture; yet the 
 common People here take Conanus for our King, and Frsula 
 for the Queen, and the Bishop which stands hard by to be 
 the Pope, and so stare upon it accordingly, notwithstanding 
 that the Prince there represented hath Sandals on his feet, 
 after the old fashion, that the Coronets on their heads 
 resemble those of Dukes and Earls, as also that there are 
 Rays about them which never use to be applied to living 
 Persons, with divers other incongruities : Yet it cannot be 
 beaten out of the belief of thousands here, but that it was 
 intended to represent our King and Oueen ; which makes 
 me conclude with this interjection of wonder. Oh the 
 icrnorance of the common People ! — Your faithful Friend 
 to command, J- H. 
 
 Fleet, 12 Aug. 1644. 
 
 XXXIX.
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 431 
 
 ♦ XXXIX. 
 
 To Master End. Por.^ at Paris. 
 Sir, 
 
 I MOST affectionately kiss your hands for the account 
 (and candid opinion) you please to give of the History 
 I sent Her Majesty of the late King her Brother's Reign. 
 I return you also a thousand thanks for your comfortable 
 Advice, that having been so long under hatches in this 
 Fleet, I should fancy myself to be in a long voyage at Sea: 
 'Tis true, Opinion can do much, and indeed she is that 
 great Lady which rules the World. There is a wise saying 
 in that Country where you sojourn now, that Ce vHest pas 
 la place mais la pensee qui fait la prison : 'Tis not the Place, 
 but Opinion, that makes the Prison ; the Conceit is more 
 than the Condition. You go on to prefer my captivity in 
 this Fleet to that of a Voyager at Sea, in regard that he is 
 subject to storms and springing of Leaks, to Pirates and 
 Picaroons, with other casualties. You write, I have other 
 Advantages also, to be free from plundering, and other 
 Barbarisms, that reign now abroad. 'Tis true, I am secur'd 
 from all these; yet touching the first, I could be content 
 to expose myself to all those chances, so that this were a 
 floating Fleet, that I might breathe free Air, for I have not 
 been suffer'd to stir o'er the threshold of this House this 
 four years. Whereas you say, I have a Book for my com- 
 panion ; 'tis true, I converse sometimes with dead Men, and 
 what fitter Associates can there be for one that is buried 
 alive (as I am) than dead Men ? And now will I adventure 
 to send you a kind of Epitaph I made of myself this 
 morning, as I was lolling a-bed : 
 
 Here lies i?iio7iib\i a 7va/kin.i- thim:. 
 Whom Fortune (^uitli the States) did fling 
 
 Betzveen these walls. Why ? ask not that. 
 That blind Whore doth she knoius not what. 
 
 y 
 
 Pis a strange World, you'll say, when Men make their 
 
 own
 
 432 Familiar Letters. Book IT. 
 
 own Epitaphs in their Graves ; but we that are thus buried 
 alive have one Advantage above others, that we are like 
 to have a double Resurrection : I am sure of one ; but if 
 these Times hold, I cannot ascertain myself of the other, 
 for I may be suffered to rot here, for ought I know ; it 
 being the hard destiny of some in these Times, when they 
 are once clapp'd up, to be so forgotten, as if there were no 
 such Men in the World. 
 
 I humbly thank you for your Jvisos ; I cannot correspond 
 with you in that kind as freely as I would ; only in the 
 general I must tell you, that we are come to such a pass, 
 that the Posie which a young Couple did put upon their 
 Wedding-ring may fit us in general, which was, God knows 
 what will become of us. But I trust these bad Times will 
 be recompensed with better; for my part, that which keeps 
 me alive is your Motto there of the House of Bourhon, and 
 'tis but one word, U Sperance. So I pray God preserve 
 you, and — Your most faithful humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 J^/eei, 2 Jan. 1646. 
 
 XL. 
 
 To Master J. H., at St. John's College in Cambridge. 
 
 Master Hall, 
 "X/OURS of the 13th of this instant came safely, tho' 
 JL slowly, to hand ; for I had it not till the 20th of the 
 same, and the next day your Essays were brought me. I 
 entertain'd both with much respect; for I found therein 
 many choice and ripe Notions, which I hope proceed from 
 a pregnancy, rather than precocity of spirit in you. 
 
 I perceive you have enter'd the Suburbs of Sparta 
 already, and that you are in a fair way to get to the Town 
 itself: I know you have wherewith to adorn her; nay, you 
 may in time gain Athens herself, with all the Knowledge 
 she was ever Mistress of, if you go on in your Career with 
 constancy. I find you have a genius for the most solid and 
 severest sort of Studies; therefore when you have pass'd 
 
 thro'
 
 Book 11. Familiar Letters. 433 
 
 thro' the Briars of Logick, I could wish you to go strongly 
 on in the fair fields of Philosophy and the Mathematicks, 
 which are true Academical Studies, and they will afford 
 rich matter of application for your inventive spirit to 
 work upon. By all means understand Aristotle in his own 
 Language, for it is the Language of Learning. Touching 
 Poetry, History, and other humane Studies, they may serve 
 you for your recreation, but let them not by any means 
 allure vour affections from the first. I shall delight some- 
 times to hear of your proceeding; for I profess a great deal 
 of good-will to you, which makes me rest — Your respectful 
 Friend to serve you, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 3 Dec. 
 
 XLL 
 
 To my B., the L. B. of B., hi France. 
 
 My Good Lord and Br., 
 
 ALTHO' the sense of my own hard condition be enough 
 to make me- melancholy, yet when I contemplate 
 yours (as I often do) and compare your kind of hanishment 
 with my imprisonment, I find the apprehension of the first, 
 wherein so many have a share, adds a double weight to my 
 sufferings, tho' but single : Truly these Thoughts to me are 
 as so many corrosives to one already in a Consumption. 
 The World cries you up to be an excellent Divine and 
 Philosopher ; now is the time for you to make an advantage 
 of both : Of the first, by calling to mind, that Afflictions 
 are the proportion of the best Theophiles ; of the other, by 
 a well-weigh'd consideration, that Crosses and Troubles are 
 cntail'd upon Mankind as much as any other inheritance. 
 In this respect I am no Cadet, for vou know I have had a 
 double, if not a triple share, and may be rather call'd the 
 elder Brother ; but olareov koI itnariov, I hope I shall not sink 
 under the burden, but that we shall be both reserv'd for 
 better davs, 'specially now that the King (with the Sun and 
 the Spring) makes his approach more and more towards us 
 from the North. 
 
 2 E God
 
 434 
 
 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 God Almighty (the God of our good old Father) still 
 guard you and guide you, that after so long a separation we 
 may meet again with comfort, to confer Notes, and recount 
 Matters past : For adverse Fortune, among other Properties, 
 hath this for one, that her present pressures are not so irk- 
 some, as the remembrance of them being past are delight- 
 some. So I remain — Your most loving Brother, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, I Mail 1645, 
 
 XLII. 
 
 To Sir L. Dives, in the Tower. 
 Sir, 
 
 AMONG divers other Properties that attend a long Cap- 
 tivity, one is, that it purgeth the Humours, 'specially 
 it correcteth Choler, and attempers it with Phlegm; which 
 you know in Spanish is taken for Patience. It hath also a 
 chymical kind of quality, to refine the dross and feculency 
 of a corrupt Nature, as Fire useth to purify Metals, and 
 to destroy that terram adamicam in them, as the Chymist 
 calls it ; for Demogorgon with his Vegetables partakes of 
 Adams Malediction, as well as other Creatures, which 
 makes some of them so foul and imperfect ; Nature having 
 design'd them all for Gold and Silver at first, and 'tis Fire 
 can only rectify, and reduce them towards such a perfection. 
 This Fleet hath been such a Furnace to me, it hath been 
 a kind of Perillus Bull ; or rather, to use the Paracelsian 
 phrase, I have been here in ventre equina, in this limbeck and 
 crucible of Affliction. And whereas the Chymist commonly 
 requires but 150 days antequam corvus in columham vertatur, 
 before the Crow turns to a Dove ; I have been here five 
 times so many days, and upward. I have been here time 
 enough in conscience to pass all the degrees and effects of 
 fire, as distillation, sublimation, mortification, calcination, 
 solution, descension, dealbation, rubification, and fixation; for 
 I have been fastened to the walls of this Prison any time these 
 fifty-five months : I have been here long enough, if I were 
 matter capable thereof, to be made the Philosopher's Stone, 
 
 to 
 
 J
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 435 
 
 to be converted from Water to Powder, which is the whole 
 Magistery : I have been, besides, so long upon the anvil, 
 that methinks I am grown malleable, and hammer-proof; 
 I am so habituated to hardship. But indeed you that are 
 made of a choicer mould, are fitter to be turn'd into the 
 Elixir, than I who have so much dross and corruption in me, 
 that it will require more pains, and much more expence, to 
 be purg'd and defecated. God send us both patience to bear 
 the brunt of this fiery trial, and grace to turn these decoc- 
 tions into aqua vitce, to make sovereign Treacle of this Viper. 
 The Trojan Prince was forc'd to pass over Phlegeton, and 
 pay Charon his freight before he could get into the Elysian 
 fields : You know the moral, that we must pass thro' Hell 
 to Heaven ; and why not as well thro' a Prison to Paradise ? 
 Such may the Tower prove to you, and the Fleet to me, who 
 am — Your humbl^and hearty Servitor, J. H. 
 
 From the prison of I he Fleet, 23 Feb. 1645. 
 
 XLHI. 
 
 To the Ri(rht Honourable the Lord R. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 SURE there is some angry Planet hath lower'd long upon 
 the Catholick King ; and tho' one of his Titles to Pagan 
 Princes be, that he wears the Sun for his Helmet, because it 
 never sets upon all his dominions, in regard some part of 
 them lies on the t'other side of the Hemisphere among 
 the Antipodes ; yet methinks that neither that great Star, 
 or any of the rest, are now propitious unto him : They 
 cast, it seems, more benign influxes upon the Flower-de 
 luce, which thrives wonderfully ; but how long these favour- 
 able Aspects will last, I will not presume to judge. This, 
 among divers others of late, hath been a fatal year to the 
 said King ; for Westward he hath lost Dunkirk : Dunkirk, 
 which was the Terror of this part of the World, the Scourge 
 of the occidental Seas, whose Name was jrrown to be a bus:- 
 bear for so many years, hath now changed her Master, and 
 
 thrown
 
 436 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 thrown away the ragged-staff; doubtless a great exploit it 
 was to take this Town : But whether this be advantageous 
 to Holland (as I am sure it is not to England) time will 
 shew. It is more than probable that it may make him 
 careless at Sea, and in the building and arming of his Ships, 
 having now no Enemy near him ; besides, I believe it 
 cannot much benefit Hans to have the French so contiguous 
 to him : the old saying was, Aijez le Frangois pour ton annj, 
 non pas pour ton Volsin: Have the Frenchman for thy Friend, 
 not for thy Neighbour. 
 
 Touching Eiigland, I believe these distractions of ours 
 have been one of the greatest advantages that could befall 
 France; and they happen'd in the most favourable con- 
 juncture of time that might be, else I believe he would never 
 have as much as attempted Dunkirk : for England, in true 
 reason of State, had reason to prevent nothing more, in regard 
 no one place could have added more to the naval Power of 
 France ; this W\\\ make his Sails swell bigger, and I fear 
 make him claim in time as much Regality in these narrow 
 Seas as England herself. 
 
 In Italy the Spaniard hath also had ill successes at Piom- 
 hino and Porto-longone : besides, they write that he hath 
 lost il Prete, & il Medico, the Priest, and the Physician ; to 
 wit, the Pope, and the Duke of Florence (the House of 
 Medici), who appear rather for the French than for him. 
 
 Add to these disasters, that he hath lost within the revolu- 
 tion of the same vear the Prince of Spain his unic Son, in 
 the very flower of his age, being but seventeen years old. 
 These, with the falling off of Catalonia and Portugal, with 
 the death of the Oueen not above forty, are heavy losses 
 to the Catholick King, and must needs much enfeeble the 
 great bulk of his Monarchy, falling in so short a compass of 
 time one upon the neck of another : and we are not to enter 
 into the secret Counsels of God Almighty for a reason. I 
 have read 'twas the sensuality of the flesh that drove the 
 Kings out of Rome, the French out of Sicily, and brought 
 the Moors into Spain, where they kept firm footing above 
 
 seven
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 437 
 
 seven hundred years. I could tell you how, not long before 
 her death, the late Queen of Spain took off one of her 
 Chapines, and clowted Olivares about the noddle with it, 
 because he had accompany'd the King to a Lady of Plea- 
 sure; telling him, that he should know, she was Sister to a 
 King of France, as well as Wife to a King of Spain. For 
 my part, France and Spain is all one to me in point of 
 affection; I am one of those indifferent Men that would 
 have the Scales of Power in Europe kept even : I am also a 
 Philerefws, a lover of Peace, and I could wish the French 
 were more inclinable to it, now that the common Fnemy 
 hath invaded the Territories of St. Mark. Nor can I but 
 admire that at the same time the French should assail Italy 
 at one side, when the Turk was doing it on the other. But 
 had that great naval Power of Christians, which were 
 this summer upon the coasts of Tuscany, gone against the 
 Mahometan Fleet, which was the same time setting upon 
 Candy, they might in all likelihood have achieved a glori- 
 ous Exploit, and driven the Turk into the Hellespont. Nor 
 is poor Christendom torn thus in pieces by the German, 
 Spaniard, French, and Swedes, but our three Kingdoms 
 have also most pitifully scratch'd her face, wasted her 
 spirits, and let out some of her illustrious blood, by 
 our late horrid distractions: Whereby it may be inferr'd, 
 that the Mufti and the Pope seem to thrive in their 
 devotion one way, a chief part of the prayers of the one 
 being, that discord should still continue 'twixt Christian 
 Princes ; of the other, that division should still increase 
 between the Protestants. This poor Island is a woful ex- 
 ample thereof. 
 
 I hear the Peace 'twixt Spain and Holland is absolutely 
 concluded by the Plenipotentiary Ministers at Munster, who 
 have beat their heads so many years about it : But they 
 write that the French and Swede do mainly endeavour, and 
 set all the wheels of Policy a-going to puzzle and prevent it. 
 If it take effect, I do not see how the Hollander in common 
 honesty can evade it; I hope it will conduce nnich to an 
 
 Universal
 
 438 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 Universal Peace, which God grant, for War is a Fire struck 
 in the Devil's tinder-box. No more now, but that I am, my 
 Lord — Your most humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 J^eef, I Dec. 1643. 
 
 XLIV. 
 
 To Mr. E. O., Counsellor, at Gray's-Lin. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 THE sad Tidings of my dear Friend Dr. Prichard's 
 Death sunk deep into me; and the more I ruminate 
 upon't, the more I resent it : But when I contemplate the 
 Order, and those Adamantine Laws which Nature puts into 
 such strict execution thro'out this elementary World ; when 
 I consider that up and down this frail Globe of Earth we 
 are but Strangers and Sojourners at best, being design'd for 
 an infinitely better Country ; when I think that our egress 
 out of this life is as natural to us as our ingress (all which 
 he knew as much as any), these Thoughts in a checking 
 way turn my Melancholy to a counter-passion; they beget 
 another spirit within me. You know that in the disposition 
 of all sublunary Things, Nature is God's Handmaid, Fate 
 his Commissioner, Time his Instrument, and Death his Execu- 
 tioner. By the first we have Generation ; by the second 
 Successes, good or bad; and the two last bring us to our 
 End : Time with his vast Scythe mows down all Things, 
 and Death sweeps away those Mowings. Well, he was a 
 rare and a compleat judicious Scholar, as any that I have 
 known born under our Meridian ; he was both solid and 
 acute; nor do I remember to have seen soundness and 
 quaintness, with such sweet strains of morality, concur so in 
 any, I should think that he fell sick of the Times, but that 
 I knew him to be so good a Divine and Philosopher, and to 
 have studied the Theory of this World so much, that nothing 
 could take impression in him to hurt himself; therefore I 
 am content to believe, that his Glass ran out without any 
 
 jogging.
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 439 
 
 jogging. I know you lov'd him dearly well, which shall 
 make me the more — Your most affectionate Servitor, 
 
 J.H. 
 
 Fleet, 3 Aug. 
 
 XLV. 
 To I. \V., li,sq. ; in Gray's-Inn. 
 
 Gentle Sir, 
 
 I VALUE at a high rate the fair respects you shew me, 
 by the late ingenious expressions of your Letter; but 
 the merit you ascribe to me in the superlative, might have 
 very well serv'd in the positive, and 'tis well if I deserve in 
 that degree. You writ that you have singular contentment 
 and profit in the perusal of some Things of mine : I am 
 heartily glad they afforded any Entertainment to a Gentle- 
 man of so choice a judgment as yourself. 
 
 I have a foolish working Brain of mine own, in labour 
 still with something ; and I can hardly keep it from super- 
 fetations, tho' oft-tmies it produce a Mouse, in lieu of a 
 Mountain. I must confess its best productions are but 
 homely and hard-favour'd ; yet in regard they appear hand- 
 some in your Eyes, I shall like them the better. So I am. 
 Sir — Yours most obliged to serve you, J. H. 
 
 Fled, 3y««. 1644. 
 
 XLVI. 
 
 To Mr. Tho. H. 
 Sir, 
 
 THO' the time abound with Schisms more than ever 
 (the more is our misery), yet, I hope, you will not 
 suffer any to creep into our Friendship; tho' I apprehend 
 some fears thereof bv vour lonsr silence, and cessation of 
 literal correspondence. You know there is a peculiar Re- 
 ligion attends Friendship; there is, according to the Ety- 
 mology of the word, a ligation and solemn tie, the rescind- 
 ing whereof may be truly called a Schism, or a Piacle, which 
 
 is
 
 440 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 is more. There belong to this Religion of Friendship certain 
 
 due rites, and decent ceremonies, as Visits, Messages, and 
 
 Missives. Tho' I am content to believe that you are firm 
 
 in the fundamentals, yet I find, under favour, that you have 
 
 lately fallen short of performing those exterior offices, as 
 
 if the ceremonial Law were quite abrogated with you in ■ 
 
 all things. Friendship also allows of Merits, and works of I 
 
 Supererogation sometimes, to make her capable of Eternity. 
 
 You know that Pair which were taken up into Heaven, and 
 
 placed among the brightest Stars for their rare constancy 
 
 and fidelity one to the other: you know also they are put 
 
 among the fixed Stars, not the erratices, to shew there must 
 
 be no inconstancy in love. Navigators steer their course 
 
 by them, and they are the best friends in working Seas, 
 
 dark nights, and distresses of weather; whence may be 
 
 inferr'd, that true friends should shine clearest in adversity, 
 
 in cloudy and doubtful times. On my part this ancient 
 
 friendship is still pure, orthodox, and incorrupted ; and tho' 
 
 I have not the opportunity (as you have) to perform all the 
 
 rites thereof in regard of this recluse life, yet I shall never 
 
 err in the Essentials : I am still yours KTtitrei, tho' I cannot 
 
 be yjpriau : for in statu quo nunc, I am grown useless and 
 
 good for nothing, yet in point of possession I am as much 
 
 as ever — Your firm inalterable Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 7 Nov. 1643. 
 
 XLVII. 
 
 To Mr. S. B., Merchant, at his House in the Old-Jury. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I RETURN you those two famous speeches of the late Q. 
 Elizabeth, with the addition of another from Baudius 
 at an Embassy here from Hollaiid. It is with Languages 
 as 'tis with liquors, which by transfusion use to take wind 
 from one vessel to another ; so things translated into another 
 tongue lose of their primitive vigour and strength, unless a 
 paraphrastical Version be permitted; and then the Traduct 
 
 may 
 
 I
 
 Book IL Familiar Letters. 441 
 
 may exceed the Original ; not otherwise, tho' the Version 
 be never so punctual, ^specially in these Orations which are 
 frain'd with such art, that, like V'ltruvius' s Palace, there is 
 no place left to add one stone more without defacing, or to 
 take any out without hazard of destroying the whole Fabrick. 
 
 Certainly she was a Princess of a rare endowment for 
 Learning and Languages; she was bless'd with a long Life 
 and triumphant Reign, attended with various sorts of ad- 
 mirable Successes, which will be taken for some Romance 
 a thousand years hence, if the World last so long. She 
 freed the Scot from the French, and gave her Successor a 
 royal pension to maintain his Court : she help'd to settle 
 the Crown on Henry the Great's head : she gave essence to 
 the State of Holland : she civiliz'd Ireland, and suppress'd 
 divers insurrections there: she preserv'd the dominion of 
 the narrow Seas in greater glory than ever: she maintain'd 
 open War against Spain, when Spain was in her highest 
 flourish, for divers years together: yet she left a mighty 
 Treasure behind, which shews that she was a notable good 
 housewife. Yet I have read divers censures of her abroad ; 
 that she was ingrateful to her Brother of Spain, who had 
 been the chiefest instrument, under God, to preserve her 
 from the Block, and had left her all Q. Marys Jewels with- 
 out diminution; accusing her, that afterwards she should 
 first infringe the Peace with him, by intercepting his trea- 
 sure in the narrow Seas, by suffering her Drake to swim to 
 his Indies, a.nd rob him there; by fomenting and supporting 
 his Belgique Subjects against him then when he had an 
 Ambassador resident at her Court. But this was the cen- 
 sure of a Spanish Author; and Spain had little reason to 
 speak well of her. The French handle her worse, by term- 
 ing her, among other contumelies, VHaqnen^e de ses propres 
 vassaux. 
 
 Sir, I must much value the frequent respects you have 
 shewn me, and am very covetous of the improvement of 
 this acquaintance ; for I do not remember at home or 
 abroad to have seen in the person of any, a Gentleman 
 
 and
 
 442 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 and a Merchant so equally met as in you: which makes 
 me style myself — Your most affectionate Friend to serve 
 you, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 3 May 1645. 
 
 XLVIII. 
 
 To Dr. D. Featly. 
 Sir, 
 
 IRECEIV'D your Answer to that futilous Pamphlet, 
 with your desire of my opinion touching it. Truly, 
 Sir, I must tell you, that never poor Cur was toss'd in a 
 Blanket as you have toss'd that poor Coxcomb in the 
 Sheet you pleas'd to send me: For whereas a fillip might 
 have fell'd him, you have knock'd him down with a kind 
 of Herculean Club, sans resource. These Times (more's the 
 pity) labour with the same disease that France did during 
 the League; as a famous Author hath it. Prurigo scrip- 
 iurientiuin erat scabies temponnn : The itching of Scribblers 
 was the scab of the Time: It is just so now, that any 
 triobolary Pasquiller, every tressis agaso, any sterquilinous 
 Rascal, is licens'd to throw dirt in the faces of Sovereign 
 Princes in open printed language. But I hope the Times 
 will mend, and your Man also, if he hath any grace, you 
 have so well corrected him. So I rest — Yours to serve and 
 everence you, J. H. 
 
 F/eef, I Aug. 1644. 
 
 XLIX. 
 
 To Captain T. L., in Westchester. 
 Captain, 
 
 I COULD wish that I had the same advantage of speed 
 to send to you at this time as they have in Jllexandria, 
 now call'd Scanderoon, when upon the arrival of any Ships 
 in the Bay, or any other important occasion, they use to 
 send their Letters by Pigeons, train'd up purposely for that 
 use, to Aleppo and other places : Such an airy Messenger, 
 
 such
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 443 
 
 such a volatile Postilion would I desire now to acquaint you 
 with the sickness of your Mother-in-law, who 1 believe will 
 be in another world (and I wish it may be Heaven) before 
 this Paper comes to your hands : For the Physicians have 
 forsaken her, and Dr. Burton told me 'tis a miracle if she 
 lasts a natural day to an end : Therefore you shall do well 
 to post up as soon as you can, to look to your own affairs, 
 for I believe you will be no more sick of the Mother : 
 Master Davies in the meantime told me he will be very 
 careful and circumspect, that you be not wrong'd. I re- 
 ceived yours of the loth current, and return a thousand 
 thanks for the warm and melting sweet expressions you 
 make of your respects to me. All that I can say at present 
 in answer is, that I extremely please myself in loving you ; 
 and I like my own affections the better, because they tell 
 me that»I am — Your entirely devoted Friend, J. H. 
 
 JVesfm., 10 Dec. 1631. 
 
 To my Hon, Friend, Sir C. C. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I WAS upon point of going abroad to steal a solitary 
 walk, when yours of the I3th current came to hand. 
 The high researches and choice abstracted notions I found 
 therein seem'd to heighten my spirits, and make my fancy 
 fitter for my intended retirement and meditation : Add 
 hereunto, that the countenance of the weather invited me; 
 for it was a still evening, it was also a clear open sky, not 
 a speck, or the least wrinkle, appear'd in the whole face of 
 Heaven, 'twas such a pure deep azure all the Hemisphere 
 over, that I wonder'd what was become of the three Reirions 
 of the Air, with their Meteors. So, having got into a close 
 field, I cast my face upward, and fell to consider what a rare 
 prerogative the optic virtue of the Eye hath, much more 
 the intuitive virtue in the Thought, that the one in a moment 
 can reach Heaven, and the other go beyond it : Therefore 
 
 sure
 
 444 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 sure that Philosopher was but a kind of frantic fool, that 
 would have pluck'd out both his Eyes, because they were 
 a hindrance to his speculations. Moreover, I began to con- 
 template, as I was in this posture, the vast magnitude of the 
 Universe, and what proportion this poor globe of Earth might 
 bear with it: For if those numberless bodies which stick in 
 the vast roof of Heaven, tho' they appear to us but as spangles, 
 be some of them thousands of times bigger than the Earth, 
 take the Sea with it to boot, for they both make but one 
 Sphere, surely the Astronomers had reason to term this 
 Sphere an indivisible Point, and a thing of no dimension 
 at all, being compar'd to the whole World. I fell then to 
 think, that at the second general destruction, it is no more 
 for God Almighty to fire this Earth than for us to blow up 
 a small squib, or rather one small grain of Gunpowder. As 
 I was musing thus, I spied a swarm of Gnats waving up and 
 down the Air about me, which I knew to be part of the 
 Universe as well as I : And methought it was a strange 
 opinion of our Aristotle to hold, that the least of those small 
 insected Ephemerans should be more noble than the Sun, 
 because it had a sensitive soul in it. I fell to think, that in 
 the same proportion which those Animalillios bore with 
 me in point of bigness, the same I held with those glorious 
 Spirits which are near the Throne of the Almighty. What 
 then should we think of the masrnitude of the Creator him- 
 self? Doubtless, 'tis beyond the reach of any human im- 
 agination to conceive it : In my private devotions I presume 
 to compare him to a great Mountain of Light, and my soul 
 seems to discern some glorious Form therein ; but suddenly 
 as she would fix her eyes upon the Object, her sight is 
 presently dazled and disgregated with the refulgency and 
 corruscations thereof. 
 
 Walking a little further I spied a young boisterous Bull 
 breaking over hedge and ditch to a herd of Kine in the next 
 Pasture; which made me think, that if that fierce, strong 
 Animal, with others of that kind, knew their own strength, 
 they would never suffer Man to be their master. Then 
 
 looking
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 445 
 
 looking upon them quietly grazing up and down, I fell to 
 consider that the Flesh which is daily dish'd upon our Tables 
 is but concocted grass, which is recarnified in our stomachs, 
 and transmuted to another flesh, I fell also to think what 
 advantage those innocent Animals had of Man, who, as soon 
 as Nature cast them into the world, find their Meat dress'd, 
 the Cloth laid, and the Table cover'd ; they find their Drink 
 brew'd, and the Buttery open, their Beds made, and their 
 Cloaths ready : and tho' Man hath the faculty of Reason 
 to make him a compensation for the want of those advan- 
 tages, yet this Reason brings with it a thousand perturbations 
 of mind and perplexities of spirit, griping cares and anguishes 
 of thought, which those harmless silly creatures were exempted 
 from. Going on, I came to repose myself upon the trunk of 
 a Tree, and I fell to consider further what advantage that 
 dull Vegetable had of those feeding Animals, as not to be so 
 troublesome and beholden to Nature, nor to be subject to 
 starving, to diseases, to the inclemency of the weather, and 
 to be far longer-liv'd. Then I spied a great Stone, and sitting 
 a-while upon't, I fell to weigh in my thoughts that that Stone 
 was in a happier condition, in some respects, than either of 
 those sensitive Creatures or Vegetables I saw before; in re- 
 gard that that Stone, which propagates by assimilation, as 
 the Philosophers say, needed neither grass nor hay, or any 
 aliment for restauration of nature, nor water to refresh its 
 roots, or the heat of the Sun to attract the moisture upwards, 
 to increase growth, as the other did. As I directed my pace 
 homeward, I spied a Kite soaring high in the Air, and gently 
 gliding up and down the clear Region so far above my head, 
 that I fell to envy the Bird extremely, and repine at his 
 happiness, that he should have a privilege to make a nearer 
 approach to Heaven than I. 
 
 Excuse me that I trouble you thus with these ramblino- 
 meditations ; they are to correspond with you in some part 
 for those accurate fancies of yours lately sent me. So I rest 
 — Your entire and true Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Holborny 17 Mai: 1639. 
 
 LI.
 
 446 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 LI. 
 
 To Master Serjeant D., at Lincoln's-Inn. 
 Sir, ' 
 
 I UNDERSTAND with a deep sense of sorrow of the 
 indisposition of your Son : I fear he hath too much 
 mind for his hody, and that superabounds with fancy, which 
 brings him to these fits of distemper, proceeding from the 
 black humour of Melancholy : Moreover, I have observed 
 that he is too much given to his study and self-society, 
 'specially to converse with dead Men, I mean Books: You 
 know anything in excess is naught. Now, Sir, were I 
 worthy to give you advice, I could wish he were well 
 marry'd, and it may wean him from that bookish and 
 thoughtful humour : Women were created for the comfort 
 of Men, and I have known that to some they have prov'd 
 the best Helleborum against Melancholy. As this course 
 may beget new Spirits in him, so it must needs add also to 
 your comfort. I am thus bold with you, because I love the 
 Gentleman dearly well, and honour you, as being — Your 
 humble obliged Servant, J. H. 
 
 West., IT, June 1632. 
 
 LII. 
 
 To my nolle Lady, the Lady M. A. 
 Madam, 
 
 THERE is not anything wherein I take more pleasure 
 than in the accomplishment of vour commands ; 
 nor had ever any Oueen more power o'er her Vassals 
 than you have o'er my Intellectuals. I find by my inclina- 
 tions, that it is as natural for me to do your will, as it 
 is for fire to fly upward, or anybody else to tend to his 
 center; but touching the last command your Ladyship was 
 pleased to lay upon me (which is the following Hymn), if 
 I answer not the fulness of your expectation, it must be 
 
 imputed
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 447 
 
 imputed to the suddenness of the command^ and the short- 
 ness of time. 
 
 A Hymn to the Blessed Trinity. 
 
 To the First Person. 
 
 To thee, dread Sovereign^ and dear Lord, 
 Who out of nought didst me afford 
 Essence and Life, who tnadst me Man, 
 Atid, oh much more, a Christiaji ; 
 
 Lo. froTJi the centre of my heart 
 
 All laud and glory L impart. 
 
 Hallelujah. 
 
 To the Second. 
 
 To thee, blest Saviour, who didst free 
 My soul from Satan's tyranny, 
 A fid mad'st her capable to be 
 Afi Angel of the LLierarchy ; 
 From the same cejitre L do raise 
 All honour atid immortal praise. 
 
 To the Third. 
 
 Hallelujah. 
 
 To thee, sweet Spirit, L return- 
 That Love ^vherezc'ith 7ny Llea?'t doth burn ; 
 And these blessed fiotions of my Brai?i 
 I flow breathe up to thee again ; 
 
 O ! let them re-descend, and still 
 
 My soul with holy raptures fill. 
 
 Hallelujah. 
 
 They are of the same measure, cadence, and air as was 
 that Angelical Hymn your Ladyship pleased to touch upon 
 your Instrument; which as it so enchanted me then, that 
 my soul was ready to come out at my ears, so your voice 
 took such impressions in me, that methinks the sound still 
 remains fresh with — Your Ladyship's most devoted Servitor, 
 
 J.H. 
 
 West., I Apr. 1637. 
 
 Lin.
 
 448 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 LIII. 
 
 To Master P. W., at Westminster. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 THE fear of God is the heginning of Wisdom, and 
 the Love of God is the end of the Law ; the former 
 saying was spoken by no meaner man than Solomon, but 
 the latter hath no meaner Author than our Saviour himself. 
 Touchins; this Betrinning and this End, there is a near 
 relation between them, so near, that the one begets the 
 other; a harsh Mother may bring forth sometimes a mild 
 Daughter: So Fear begets Love, but it begets Knowledge 
 
 first; for Ignoti nulla cup'ido, we cannot love God, 
 
 unless we know him before : Both Fear and Love are 
 necessary to bring us to Heaven ; the one is the fruit of 
 the Law, the other of the Gospel ; when the clouds of Fear 
 are vanish'd, the beams of Love then begin to glance upon 
 the heart ; and of all the members of the Body, which are 
 in a manner numberless, this is that which God desires, 
 because 'tis the centre of Love, the source of our Affections, 
 and the cistern that holds the most illustrious Blood; and 
 in a sweet and well-devoted harmonious soul, Cor is no 
 other than Camera omnipotentis Regis, 'tis one of God's 
 Closets; and indeed nothing can fill the heart of Man, 
 whose desires are infinite, but God, who is Infinity itself. 
 Love therefore must be a necessary attendant to bring us 
 to him. But besides Love, there must be two other guides 
 that are requir'd in this journey, which are Faith and Hope ; 
 now that Fear which the Law enjoins us, turns to Faith in 
 the Gospel, and Knowledge is the scope and subject of both : 
 Yet these last two bring us only toward Heaven, but Love 
 goes all along with us to Heaven, and so remains an in- 
 separable sempiternal companion of the soul. Love there- 
 fore is the most acceptable Sacrifice which we can offer our 
 Creator; and he who doth not study the Theory of it here, 
 is never like to come to the Practice of it hereafter. It 
 
 was
 
 Book 11. Familiar Letters. 449 
 
 was a hyperphysical expression of St. Austin, when he fell 
 into this rapture, That ij he were King of Heaven, and God 
 Almighty Bishop of Hippo, he tvould exchange places ivith 
 him, because he lov'd him so well. This Vote did so take 
 me, that I have turn'd it to a paraphrastical Hymn, which 
 I send you for your Viol, having observ'd often that you 
 have a harmonious soul within you. 
 
 The VOTE. 
 
 God, ivJio can those passions tell 
 Wherewith fny heart to thee doth sivell ! 
 
 1 cannot better them declare, 
 
 Than by the wish made by that rare 
 Aurelian Bishops who of old 
 Thy Oracles i?i Hippo told. 
 
 If 1 7V ere Thou, and thou wert I, 
 
 J would resign the Deity ; 
 
 Thou shouldst be God, I would be Man : 
 
 Js^t possible that Love more can ? 
 
 O pardon, that my soul hath ta^en 
 So high a flight, and grows profane. 
 
 For myself, my dear Phil, because I love you so dearly 
 well, I will display my very intrinsecals to you in this point : 
 When I examine the motions of my heart, I find that I love 
 my Creator a thousand degrees more than I fear him ; 
 methinks I feel the little needle of my Soul touch'd with 
 a kind of magnetical and attractive virtue, that it always 
 moves towards him, as being her summum honmn, the true 
 centre of her Happiness. For matter of Fear, there's none 
 that I fear more than myself, I mean those frailties which 
 lodge within me, and the extravagancies of my affections 
 and thoughts : In this particular I may say, that I fear my- 
 self more than I fear the Devil, or Death, who is the King of 
 fears. God guard us all, and guide us to our last home thro' 
 the briars of this cumbersome Life. In this prayer I rest 
 — Your most affectionate Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Holborn, 21 Mar. 1639. 
 
 2 F LIV.
 
 450 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 LTV. 
 
 To the Rt. Hon. the Lord Cliff. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 SINCE among other passages of entertainment we had 
 lately at the Italian Ordinary (where your Lordship was 
 pleas'd to honour us with your presence) there happen'd a 
 large discourse of Wines, and of other Drinks that were us'd 
 by several Nations of the Earth, and that your Lordship 
 desir'd me to deliver what I observ'd therein abroad, I am 
 bold now to confirm and amplify in this Letter what I then 
 let drop extempore from me, having made a recollection of 
 myself for that purpose. 
 
 It is without controversy, that in the nonage of the world 
 men and beasts had but one buttery, which was the Fountain 
 and River ; nor do we read of any Vines or Wines till 200 
 years after the flood : But now I do not know or hear of 
 any Nation that hath IVater only for their drink, except 
 the Japonois, and they drink it hot too ; but we may say, 
 that what beverage soever we make, either by brewing, 
 by distillation, decoction, percolation, or pressing, it is but 
 Water at first : Nay, Wine itself is but Water sublim'd, 
 being nothing else but that moisture and sap which is caus'd 
 either by rain or other kind of irrigations about the roots of 
 the Vine, and drawn up to the branches and berries by the 
 virtual attractive heat of the Sun, the bowels of the Earth 
 serving as a Limbeck to that end ; which made the Italian 
 Vineyard-man (after a long drought and an extreme hot 
 Summer, which had parch'd up all his grapes) to complain, 
 that per maiicamento d'acqua, hevo deW acqua, se io havessi 
 acqua, heverei el vino ; For want of water, I am forc'd to 
 drink water ; if I had water, I would drink wine. It may 
 be also applied to the Miller, when he had no water to drive 
 his Mills. 
 
 The Vine doth so abhor cold that it cannot grow beyond 
 the 49th degree to any purpose : Therefore God and Nature 
 
 hath
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 451 
 
 hath furnish'd the North-west Nations with other inventions 
 of beverage. In this Island the old drink was Ale, noble 
 Ale ; than which, as I heard a great foreign Doctor affirm, 
 there is no liquor that more increaseth the radical moisture, 
 and preserves the natural heat, which are the two Pillars 
 that support the life of Man : But since Beer hath hopp'd in 
 among us, Ale is thought to be much adulterated, and nothing 
 so good as Sir John Oldcastle and Smug the Smith was us'd 
 to drink. Besides Ale and Beer, the natural drink of part 
 of this Isle may be said to be Metheglin, Braggot, and Mead, 
 which differ in strength according to the three degrees of 
 comparison. The first of the three, which is strong in the 
 superlative, if taken immoderately, doth stupify more than 
 any other liquor, and keeps a humming in the brain ; which 
 made one say, that he lov'd not Metheglin, because he was 
 us'd to speak too much of the house he came from, meaning 
 the Hive. Cyder and Perry are also the natural drinks of 
 part of this Isle. But I have read in some old Authors of 
 a famous drink thj ancient Nation of the Picts, who liv'd 
 'twixt Trejit and Tiveed, and were utterly extinguish'd by 
 the overpowering of the Scot, were used to make of decoction 
 of flowers, the receipt whereof they kept as a secret, and a 
 thing sacred to themselves ; so it perish'd with them. These 
 are all the common drinks of this Isle, and of Ireland also, 
 where they are more given to Milk, and Strong-waters of 
 all colours : The prime is Usquehagh, which cannot be made 
 anywhere in that perfection ; and whereas we drink it here 
 in Aqua vitce measures, it goes down there by beer-glass- 
 fulls, being more natural to the Nation. 
 
 In the seventeen Provinces hard by, and all low Germany, 
 Beer is the common natural drink, and nothing else ; so 
 is it in Westphalia, and all the lower Circuit of Saxony, 
 in Denmark, Swethland, and Norway. The Prusse hath a 
 Beer as thick as Honey : In the Duke of Saxe's Countrv 
 there is Beer as yellow as Gold, made of Wheat, and it 
 inebriates as soon as Sack. In some parts of Germany they 
 use to spice their Beer^ which will keep many years ; so that 
 
 at
 
 452 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 at some Weddings there will be a butt drank out as old 
 as the Bride. Poland also is a Beer Country; but in 
 Bussia, Muscovy, and Tartary they use Mead, which is 
 the naturallest drink of the Country, being made of the 
 decoction of Water and Honey : This is that which the 
 Ancients call'd Hydromel. Mares-milk is a great drink 
 with the Tartar, which may be a cause why they are bigger 
 than ordinary ; for the Physicians hold, that Milk enlargeth 
 the Bones, Beer strengtheneth the Nerves, and Wine breeds 
 Blood sooner than any other Liquor. The Tjirk, when he 
 hath his Tripe full of Pelaw, or of Mutton and Rice, will 
 go to Nature's Cellar; either to the next Well or River 
 to drink Water, which is his natural common Drink : For 
 Mahomet taught them, that there was a Devil in every berry 
 of the grape, and so made a strict inhibition to all his Sect 
 from drinking of Wine, as a thing profane : He had also 
 a reach of policy therein, because they should not be in- 
 cumber'd with luggage when they went to War, as other 
 Nations do, who are so troubled with the carriage of their 
 Wine and Beverages ; yet hath the Turk peculiar drinks to 
 himself besides, as Sherbet made of juice of Lemon, Sugar, 
 Amber, and other ingredients : He hath also a drink call'd 
 Cauphe, which is made of a brown berry, and it may be 
 call'd their clubbins; drink between meals, which tho' it be 
 not very gustful to the palate, yet it is very comfortable to 
 the stomach, and good for the sight. But notwithstanding 
 their Prophet's Anathema, thousands of them will venture 
 to drink Wine, and they will make a precedent prayer to 
 their souls to depart from their bodies in the interim, for 
 fear she partake of the same pollution. Nay, the last Turk 
 died of excess of Wine, for he had at one time swallow'd 
 three and thirty Okes, which is a measure near upon the 
 bigness of our Quart ; and that which brought him to this 
 was, the Company of a Persian Lord, that had given him 
 his daughter for a present, and came with him from Bagdat : 
 Besides, one accident that happen'd to him was, that he had 
 an Eunuch who was used to be drunk, and whom he had 
 
 commanded
 
 453 
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 
 
 commanded twice upon pain of life to refrain, swearing 
 by Mahomet, that he would cause him to be stramrled if 
 he found him the third time so ; yet the Eunuch still con- 
 tinued in his drunkenness. Hereupon the Turk conceiving 
 with himself that there must needs be some extraordinary 
 delight in drunkenness, because this Man preferr'd it before 
 his life, fell to it himself, and so drank himself to death. 
 
 In Asia there is no Beer drank at all, but Water, Wine, 
 and an incredible variety of other Drinks, made of Dates, 
 dried Raisins, Rice, divers sorts of Nuts, Fruits, and Roots, 
 In the Oriental Countries, as Camhaia, Calicut, Narsingha, 
 there is a Drink call'd Batique, which is rare and precious ; 
 and 'tis the height of entertainment they give their guests 
 before they go to sleep, like that Nepenthe which the Poets 
 speak so much of; for it provokes pleasing dreams and 
 delightful phantasies; it will accommodate itself to the 
 humour of the sleeper: As if he be a Soldier, he will dream 
 of Victories and taking of Towns ; if he be in love, he will 
 think to enjoy hio Mistress ; if he be covetous, he will 
 dream of Mountains of gold, ^c. In the Moluccas and 
 Phil'ippbies there is a curious drink call'd Tampoy, made 
 of a kind of Gillifiowers, and another drink call'd Otraqua, 
 that comes from a Nut, and is the more general drink. 
 In China they have a holy kind of liquor made of such sort 
 of flowers for ratifvimr and bindins; of baro;ains : and havino- 
 drank thereof, they hold it no less than perjury to break 
 what they promise : As they write of a River in Bithyuia, 
 whose water hath a peculiar virtue to discover a perjurer; 
 for if he drink thereof, it will persently boil in his stomach, 
 and put him to visible tortures. This makes me think of 
 the River Styx among the Poets, which the Gods were use 
 to swear by ; and it was the greatest Oath for the perform- 
 ance of anything: 
 
 Nubila promissi Styx mihi testis erit. 
 
 It put me in mind also of that which some write of the 
 River oi Rhine, for trying the legitimation of a Child being 
 
 thrown
 
 454 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 thrown in ; if he be a bastard he will sink, if otherwise he 
 will not. 
 
 In China they speak of a Tree call'd Maguais, which 
 affords not only good drink, being pierced, but all things 
 else that belong to the subsistence of man : They bore the 
 Trunk with an Awger, and then issueth out sweet potable 
 liquor; 'twixt the rind and the tree there is a Cotton, or 
 hempy kind of Moss, which they wear for their clothing ; 
 it bears huge Nuts, which have excellent food in them ; it 
 shoots out hard prickles above a fathom long, and those 
 arm them ; with the bark they make tents ; and the dotard 
 trees serve for firing. 
 
 jifrica also hath a great diversity of drinks, as having 
 more need of them, being a hotter Country far : In Guiney, 
 or the lower Ethiopia, there is a famous drink call'd Mingol, 
 which issueth out of a tree much like the Palm, being bored : 
 But in the upper Ethiopia, or the Hahassins Country, they 
 drink Mead decocted in a different manner. There is also 
 much Wine there. The common drink of Barhary, after 
 Water, is that which is made of Dates. But in Egypt, in 
 times past, there was beer drank call'd Zithus in Latin, 
 which was no other than a decoction of Barley and Water ; 
 they had also a famous composition (and they use it to this 
 day) called Chiffi, made of divers cordials and provocative 
 ingredients, which they throw into water to make it gustful ; 
 they use it also for fumigation : But now the general drink 
 of Egypt is Nile water, which of all water may be said to 
 be the best, insomuch that Pindar's words might be more 
 applicable to that than to any other, 'Api^rov fiev vScop. It 
 doth not only fertilize and extremely fatten the soil which it 
 covers, but it helps to impregnate barren Women ; for there 
 is no place on earth where People increase and multiply 
 faster: 'Tis yellowish and thick, but if one cast a few 
 Almonds into a potful of it, it will become as clear as rock 
 water: It is also in a degree of lukewarmness, as Martial's 
 bov : 
 
 To/le piier calices tepidique torcumata Nili. 
 
 In
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 455 
 
 In the new world they have a world of drinks; for there 
 is no root, flower, fruit, or pulse but is reducible to a 
 potable liquor; as in the Barbado Island the common drink 
 among the English is Mobbi, made of Potato roots : In 
 Mexico and Peru, which is the great Continent of America, 
 with other parts, it is prohibited to make Wines under great 
 penalties, for fear of starving of trade : so that all the Wines 
 they have are sent from Spain. 
 
 Now for the pure Wine Countries ; Greece with all her 
 Islands, Italy, Spain, France, one part of four of Germany, 
 Hungary, with divers Countries thereabouts, all the Islands 
 in the Mediterranean and Atlantic Sea, are Wine Countries. 
 
 The most generous Wines of Spain grow in the midland 
 parts of the Continent, and St. Martin bears the bell, which 
 is near the Court. Now, as in Spain, so in all other Wine 
 Countries, one cannot pass a day's Journey but he will find 
 a differino; race of Wine : Those kinds that our Merchants 
 carry over are those only that grow upon the Seaside, as 
 Malagas, Sherries^ Tents, and Aligants : Of this last there's 
 little comes over ri<rht, therefore the Vintners make Tent 
 (which is a name for all Wines in Spain, except white) to 
 supply the place of it. There is a gentle kind of White- 
 wines grows among the Mountains of Galicia, but not of 
 body enough to bear the Sea, call'd Rabidavia. Portugal 
 affords no Wines worth the transporting; they have an 
 odd stone we call YeJ] which they use to throw into 
 their Wines, which clarifieth it, and makes it more lasting. 
 There's also a drink in Spain call'd Alosha, which they 
 drink between meals in hot weather, and 'tis a Hydromel 
 made of water and honey, much of the taste of our Mead. 
 In the Court of Spain there's a German or two that brews 
 Beer; but for that ancient drink of Spain which Pliny 
 speaks of, compos'd of flowers, the receipt thereof is utterly 
 lost. 
 
 In Greece there are no Wines that have bodies enough 
 to bear the Sea for long voyages; some few Muscadells 
 and Malmsies arc brought over in small Casks: nor is 
 
 there
 
 45^ Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 there in Italy any Wine transported to England but in 
 Bottles^ as Verde, and others ; for the length of the voyage 
 makes them subject to prickings and so lose colour, by 
 reason of their delicacy. 
 
 France participating of the Climes of all the Countries 
 about her, affords Wines of quality accordingly; as towards 
 the Alpes and Italy, she hath a luscious rich Wine called 
 Frontiniac : In the Country of Provence towards the Pyre- 
 nees, and in Languedoc, there are Wines concustable with 
 those of Spain: one of the prime sort of White-wines is 
 that of Beaume, and of Clarets that of Orleans, tho' it be 
 interdicted to wine the King's Cellar with it, in respect of 
 the corrosiveness it carries with it. As in France, so in all 
 other Wine-Countries, the white is called the female, and 
 the Claret or Red-wine is called the male, because com- 
 monly it hath more sulphur, body, and heat in't. The 
 Wines that our Merchants bring over grow upon the River 
 Garon near Bourdeaux in Gascony, which is the greatest 
 Mart for Wines in all France ; the Scot, because he hath 
 always been an useful Confederate to France against Eng- 
 land, hath (among other privileges) right of pre-emption or 
 first choice of Wines in Bourdeaux ; he is also permitted 
 to carry his Ordnance to the very Walls of the Town, 
 whereas the English are forced to leave them at Blay, a 
 good way distant down the River. There is a hard green 
 Wine that grows about Rochell, and the Islands thereabouts, 
 which the cunning Hollander sometimes uses to fetch; and 
 he hath a trick to put a bag of herbs, or some other in- 
 fusions into it (as he doth brimstone in Rhenish), to give 
 it a whiter tincture and more sweetness; then they reim- 
 bark it for England, where it passeth for good Bachrag, 
 and this is called stooming of Wines. In Normandy there's 
 little or no Wine at all grows, therefore the common drink 
 of that Country is Cyder, 'specially in low Normandy : 
 There are also many Beer-houses in Paris and elsewhere ; 
 but tho' their barley and water be better than ours, or 
 that of Germany, and tho' they have English and Dutch 
 
 Brewers
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 457 
 
 Brewers among them, yet they cannot make Beer in that 
 perfection. 
 
 The prime Wines of Germany grow about the Rhine, 
 'specially in the Psalts or Lower-Palatinate about Bachrag, 
 which hath its Etymology from Bacchi ara; for in ancient 
 times there was an Altar erected there to the honour of 
 Bacchus, in regard of the richness of the Wines. Here, 
 and all France over, 'tis held a great part of incivility for 
 Maidens to drink Wine until they are married, as it is in 
 Spain for them to wear high shoes or to paint till then. 
 The German Mothers, to make their Sons fall into hatred 
 of Wine, do use, when they are little, to put some Owls' 
 Eggs into a cup of Rhenish, and sometimes a little living 
 Eel, which twingling in the Wine while the child is drink- 
 ing, so scares hnn, that many come to abhor and have an 
 antipathy to Wine all their lives after. From Bachrag the 
 first stock of Vines, which grow now in the grand Canary 
 Island, were brought, which, with the heat of the Sun and 
 the Soil, is grown now to that height of perfection, that the 
 Wine which they afford is accounted the richest, the most 
 firm, the best bodied and lastingest Wine, and the most 
 defecated from all earthly grossness, of any other whatso- 
 ever; it hath little or no sulphur at all in't, and leaves less 
 dregs behind, tho* one drink it to excess. French Wines 
 may be said to pickle meat in the stomach ; but this is the 
 Wine that digests, and doth not only breed good blood, but 
 it nutrifieth also, being a glutinous substantial liquor. Of 
 this Wine, if of any other, may be verified that merry 
 induction. That good Wine makes good Blood, good Blood 
 causeth good Humours, good Humours cause good Thoughts, 
 good Thoughts bring forth good Works, good Works carry 
 a Man to Heaven ; ergo good Wine carrieth a Man to 
 Heaven. If this be true, surely more English go to Heaven 
 this way than any other, for I think there's more Canary 
 brought into England than to all the World besides. I 
 think also there is a hundred times more drunk under 
 the name of Canary Wine than there is brought in ; for 
 
 Sherries
 
 45^ Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 Sherries and Malagas well mingled pass for Canaries in 
 most Taverns, more often than Canary itself; else I do not 
 see how ^twere possible for the Vintner to save by it, or to 
 live by his Calling, unless he were permitted sometimes to 
 be a Brewer. When Sacks and Canaries were brought in 
 first among us, they were us'd to be drank in j4qua vitce 
 measures, and 'twas held fit only for those to drink of them 
 who were us'd to carry their legs in their hands, their eyes 
 upon their noses, and an Almanack in their hones: But now 
 they go down every one's throat, both young and old, 
 like milk. 
 
 The Countries that are freest from excess of drinking are 
 Spain and Italy: If a Woman can prove her Husband to 
 have been thrice drunk, by the ancient Laws of Spain she 
 mav plead for a divorce from him. Nor indeed can the 
 Spaniard, being hot-brain'd, bear much drink ; yet I have 
 heard that Gondornar was once too hard for the King of 
 Denmark when he was here in England. But the Spanish 
 Soldiers, that have been in the Wars of Flanders, will take 
 theirs cups freely, and the Italians also. When I liv'd 
 t'other side the Alps, a Gentleman told me a merry Tale of 
 aLiguriaJi Soldier who had got drunk in Genoa; and Prince 
 Doria going a-horseback to take the round one night, the 
 Soldier took his horse by the bridle, and ask'd what the 
 Price of him was, for he wanted a horse : The Prince seeing 
 in what humour he was, caus'd him to be taken into a house, 
 and put to sleep: In the morning he sent for him, and 
 ask'd him what he would give for his Horse. Sir, said the 
 recover'd Soldier, the Merchant that would have bought him 
 yesternight of your Highness went away betimes in the morn- 
 ing. The boonest companions for drinking are the Greeks 
 and Germans ; but the Greek is the merrier of the two, for 
 he will sing and dance, and kiss his next companion ; but the 
 other will drink as deep as he : The Greek will drink as many 
 glasses as there be letters in his Mistress's name; the other 
 will drink the number of his years, and tho' he be not apt 
 to break out into singing, being not of so airy a constitution, 
 
 yet
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 459 
 
 yet he will drink often musically a health to every one of 
 these six Notes, Ut, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La ; which, with his 
 reason, are all comprehended in this Hexameter : 
 
 UT RElevet MIserum FAtwn SOLiiosque LAbores. 
 
 The fewest draughts he drinks are three, the first to 
 quench the thirst past, the second to quench the present 
 thirst, the third to prevent the future. I heard of a company 
 of IjOW -Dutchmen that had drunk so deep, that beginning 
 to stagger, and their heads turning round, they thought 
 verily they were at Sea, and that the upper chamber where 
 they were was a Ship; insomuch that it being foul windy 
 weather, they fell to throwing the stools and other things 
 out of the window, to lighten the Vessel, for fear of suffer- 
 ing shipwreck. 
 
 Thus have I sent your Lordship a dry discourse upon a 
 JLiient subject ; yet I hope your Lordship will please to take 
 all in good part, because it proceeds from — Your most 
 humble and ready^ Servitor, J. H. 
 
 lVest7n., 17 Oct. 1634. 
 
 LV. 
 
 To the Right Honourable the Earl R. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 YOUR desires have been always to me as commands, 
 and your commands as binding as Acts of Parlia- 
 ment : Nor do I take pleasure to employ head or hand in any- 
 thing more than in the exact performance of them. There- 
 fore if in this crabbed, difficult task you have been pleas'd 
 to impose upon me about Languages, I come short of your 
 Lordship's expectation, I hope my obedience will apologize 
 for my disability. But whereas your Lordship desires to 
 know what were the oris-inal Mother-Tonjrues of the Coun- 
 tries of Europe, and how these modern Speeches that are 
 now in use were first introduced, I may answer hereunto, 
 that it is almost as easy a thing to discover the Source of 
 
 Nile,
 
 460 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 Nile, as to find out the Original of some Languages : yet I 
 will attempt it as well as I can ; and I will take my first rise in 
 these Islands of Great Britain and Ireland : for to be curious 
 and eagle-eyed abroad, and to be blind and ignorant at 
 home (as many of our Travellers are now-a-days), is a 
 curiosity that carrieth with it more of affectation than 
 anvthins; else. 
 
 Touching the Isle of Albion, or Great Britany, the Cam- 
 Irian^ or Cymraecaji, Tongue, commonly call'd iVelsh (and 
 Italian also is so call'd by the Dutch), is without controversy 
 the prime maternal Tongue of this Island, and connatural 
 with it ; nor could any of the four Conquests that have 
 been made of it by Roman, Saxon, Dane, or Norman ever 
 extinguish her, but she remains still pure and incorrupt ; of 
 which Language there is as exact and methodical a Gram- 
 mar, with as regular precepts, rules, and institutions, both 
 for prose and verse, compil'd by Dr. David Rice, as I have 
 read in any Tongue whatsoever. Some of the authentickest 
 Annalists report, that the old Gauls (now the Freiich) and 
 the i^nVo/w understood one another; for they came thence 
 very frequently to be instructed here by the British Druids, 
 who were the Philosophers and Divines of those times : and 
 this was long before the Latin Tongue came this side the 
 Alps, or books written; and there is no meaner Man than 
 Ccesar himself records this. 
 
 This is one of the fourteen vernacular and independent 
 Tongues of Europe, and she hath divers Dialects : the first 
 is the Cornish, the second the Armoricans, or the Inhabi- 
 tants of Britany in France, whither a Colony was sent over 
 hence in the time of the Romans. There was also another 
 Dialect of the British Language among the Picts, who kept 
 in the North Parts, in Northumberland, IVestmerland, Cum- 
 berland, and some parts beyond Tweed, until the whole 
 Nation of the Scots poured upon them with such multitudes, 
 that they are utterly extinguish'd, both them and Language. 
 There are some who have been curious in the comparison 
 of Tongues, who believe that the Irish is but a dialect of 
 
 the
 
 Book 11. Familiar Letters. 461 
 
 the ancient Br'ilish ; and the learnedest of that Nation, in 
 a private discourse I happened to have with him, seem'd to 
 incline to this opinion : but this I can assure your Lordship 
 of, that at my being in that Country I observ'd by a pri- 
 vate collection which I made, that a great multitude of 
 their radical words are the same with the Welsh, both for 
 sense and sound ; the tone also of both the Nations is con- 
 sonant : for when first I walk'd up and down Dublin Mar- 
 kets, methought verily I was in Wales ; then I listened unto 
 their speech ; but 1 found that the Irish Tone is a little 
 more querulous and whining than the British, which I 
 conjectured with myself proceeded from their often being 
 subjugated by the English. But, my Lord, you would 
 think it strange, that divers pure Welsh words should be 
 found in the new-found World in the West-Indies ; yet 
 it is verify'd by some Navigators, as Grando (hark), Nef 
 (heaven), Lluynog (a fox), Pengwyn (a bird with a white 
 head), with sundry others, which are pure British: nay, I 
 have read a Welsh Epitaph which was found there upon 
 one Madoc, a British Prince, who four years before the 
 Norman Conquest, not agreeing with his brother, then Prince 
 of South- Wales, went to try his fortunes at Sea, imbarking 
 himself at Milford-Haven, and so tarried on those coasts. 
 This, if well prov'd, might well entitle our Crown to America, 
 if first discovery may claim a right to any Country. 
 
 The Romans, tho' they continu'd here constantly above 
 300 years, yet they could not do as they did in France, 
 Spain, and other Provinces, plant their Language as a mark 
 of Conquest; but the Saxons did, coming in far greater 
 numbers under Hengist from Holstein-land in the lower 
 Circuit of Saxony; which People resemble the English 
 more than any other Men upon Earth, so that ^tis more 
 than probable that they came first from thence: besides, 
 there is a Town there call'd Liinden, and another place 
 named Angles, whence it may be presum'd that they took 
 their new denomination here. Now, the English, tho' as 
 Saxons (by which name the Welsh and Irish call them to 
 
 this
 
 462 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 this day) they and their Language are ancient, yet in refer- 
 ence to this Island they are the modernest Nation in Europe, 
 both for habitation, speech, and denomination ; which makes 
 me smile at Mr. Fox's error in the very front of his Epistle 
 before the Book of Martyrs, where he calls Constantine, 
 the first Christian Emperor, the Son of Helen an English 
 Woman; whereas she was purely British, and that there 
 was no such Nation upon earth called English at that time, 
 nor above 100 years after, till Hengist invaded this Island, 
 and settling himself in it, the Saxons who came with him 
 took the appellation of Englishmen. Now, the English 
 speech, tho' it be rich, copious, and significant, and that 
 there be divers Dictionaries of it, yet, under favour, I 
 cannot call it a regular Language, in regard, tho' often 
 attempted by some choice Wits, there could never any 
 Grammar of exact Syntaxis be made of it ; yet hath she 
 divers sub-dialects, as the Western and Northern English, 
 but her chiefest is the Scotic, which took footing beyond 
 Tweed about the last Conquest; but the ancient Language 
 of Scotland is Irish, which the Mountaineers, and divers 
 of the Plain, retain to this day. Thus, my Lord, according 
 to my small model of Observations, have I endeavour'd to 
 satisfy you in part : I shall in my next go on, for in the 
 pursuance of any command from your Lordship my mind 
 is like a stone thrown into a deep water, which never rests 
 till it goes to the bottom : So for this time, and always, I 
 rest, my Lord — Your most humble and readv Servitor, 
 
 J. H. 
 Wesim., 9 Aug. 1630. 
 
 LVI. 
 
 To the Right Honourable the Earl R. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 IN my last I fulfill'd your Lordship's commands, as far 
 as my reading and knowledge could extend, to inform 
 you what were the radical primitive Languages of those 
 Dominions that belong to the Crown of Great Britain, 
 
 and
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 463 
 
 and how the English, which is now predominant, enter'd 
 in first: I will now hoise sail for the Netherlands, whose 
 Lanijuafre is the same dialect with the English, and was so 
 from the beginning, being both of them derived from the 
 High-Dutch : The Danish also is but a branch of the same 
 tree, no more is the Swedish, and the speech of them of 
 Norway and Island. Now, the High-Dutch or Teutonic 
 Tongue is one of the prime and most spacious maternal 
 Languages of Europe ; for besides the vast extent of Ger- 
 many itself, with the Countries and Kingdoms before-men- 
 tioned, whereof England and Scotland are two, it was the 
 Language of the Goths and Vandals, and continueth yet 
 of the greatest part of Poland and Hungary, who have a 
 Dialect of hers for their vulgar Tongue; yet tho' so many 
 Dialects and sub-dialects be derived from her, she remains 
 a strong sinewy Language, pure and incorrupt in her first 
 centre, towards the heart of Germany. Some of her 
 Writers would make the world believe that she was the 
 Language spoken in Paradise ; for they produce many 
 Words and proper names in the Five Books of Moses 
 which fetch their Etymology from her ; as also in Persia, 
 to this day, divers radical words are the same with her, as 
 Fader, Moeder, Broder, Star : And a German Gentleman, 
 speaking hereof one day to an Italian, that she was the 
 Language of Paradise, Sure, said the Italian (alluding to 
 her roughness), then it was the tongue that God Almighty 
 chid Adam in. It may he so, reply'd the German; hut the 
 Devil had tempted Eve in Italian hij^yre. A full-mouth'd 
 Language she is, and pronounced with that strength, as if 
 one had bones in his tongue instead of nerves. 
 
 Those Countries that border upon Germany, as Bohemia, 
 Silesia, Poland, and those vast Countries North-Eastward, 
 as Russia and Muscovia, speak the Sclavonic Language : 
 And it is incredible what 1 have heard some Travellers 
 report of the vast extent of that Language ; for beside 
 Sclavonia itself, which properly is Dalmatia and Liburnia, 
 it is the vulgar speech of the Macedonians, Epirots, Bosnians, 
 
 Servians,
 
 464 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 Servians, Bulgarians, Moldavians, Rascians, and Podolians ; 
 nay, it spreads itself over all the Eastern parts of Europe 
 {Hungary and JVallachia excepted) as far as Constantinople, 
 and is frequently spoken in the Seraglio among the Jani- 
 zaries : nor doth she rest there, but crossing the Hellespont^ 
 divers Nations in Asia have her for their popular tongue, 
 as the Circassians, Mongrelians, and Gazarites Southward : 
 neither in Europe or Asia doth she extend herself further 
 Northward than to the parallel of forty degrees. But those 
 Nations which celebrate Divine Service after the Greek 
 Ceremony, and profess obedience to the Patriarch of Con- 
 stantinople, as the Russ, the Muscovite, the Moldavian, Ras- 
 cian, Bosnian, Servian, and Bulgarian, with divers other 
 Eastern and North-East People that speak Sclavonic, have 
 her in a different character from the Dalmatian, Croatian, 
 Istrian, Polonian, Bohemian, Silesian, and other Nations 
 towards the West : these last have the Illyrian Character, 
 and the invention of it is attributed to St. Jerome ; the other 
 is of Cyril's devising, and is call'd the Servian Character. 
 Now, altho' there be above sixty several Nations that have 
 this vast extended Language for their vulgar speech, yet the 
 pure primitive Sclavonic dialect is spoken only in Dalmatia, 
 Croatia, Liburnia, and the Countries adjacent, where the 
 ancient Sclavonians yet dwell ; and they must needs be very 
 ancient; for there is in a Church in Prague an old Charter 
 yet extant, given them by Alexander the Great, which I 
 thought not amiss to insert here: IVe Alexander the Great, 
 Son of King Philip, Founder of the Grecian Empire, Con- 
 queror of the Persians, Medes, <^c., and of the whole World 
 from East to IVest, from North to South, Son of great 
 Jupiter hy, &c., so caWd ; to you the nolle stock 0/ Sclavonians, 
 and to your Language, because you have been unto us a Help, 
 true 171 Faith, a?id valiant in IVar, we confirm all that tract of 
 Earth from the North to the South oflta.\y,from us and our 
 Successors, to you and your Posterity for ever : And if any 
 other Nation be found there, let them be your slaves. Dated 
 at Alexandria the 13th of the Goddess Minerva, witness 
 
 Eihra
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 465 
 
 Ethra and the eleven Princes whom we appoint our Succes- 
 sors. With this rare and one of the ancientest Records in 
 Europe, I will put a period to this second account I send 
 5'our Lordship touching Languages. My next shall be of 
 Greece, Italy, France, and Spain, and so I shall shake hands 
 with Europe ; till when, I humbly kiss your hands, and 
 rest, my Lord — Your most obliged Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Westjn., 2 of Aug. 1630. 
 
 Lvn. 
 
 To the Right Honourable the Earl R. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 HAVING in my last rambled through High and Low 
 Germany, Bohemia, Denmark, Poland, Russia, and 
 those vast North-East Regions, and given your Lordship a 
 touch of their Languages (for 'twas no Treatise T intended 
 at first, but a, cursory short literal account), I will now pass 
 to Greece, and speak something of that large and learned 
 Language ; for 'tis she indeed upon whom the beams of the 
 scientifical Knowledge did first shine in Europe, which she 
 afterward difFus'd thro' all the Eastern World. 
 
 The Greek Tongue was first peculiar to Hellas] alone, but 
 in tract of time the Kingdom of Macedon, and Epire, had 
 her; then she arriv'd at the Isles of the Egean Sea, which 
 are interjacent, and divide A<!ia and Europe that way ; then 
 she got into the fifty-three Isles of the Cyclades that lie 
 'twixt Negropont and Candy, and so got up the Hellespont 
 to Constantinople : She then crossed over to Anatolia, where 
 tho' she prevail'd by introducing multitudes of Colonies, vet 
 she came not to be the sole vulgar speech anvwhere there, 
 so far as to extinguish the former Lan2:ua2;es. Now Anatolia 
 is the most populous part of the whole Earth ; for Straho 
 speaks of sixteen several Nations that slept in her bosom, and 
 'tis thought the twenty-two Languages which Mithridatcs, 
 the great Polyglot King of Pontus, did speak were all within 
 the circumference of Anatolia, in regard his dominions ex- 
 
 2 G tended
 
 466 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 tended but a little further. She glided then along the Mari- 
 time Coasts of Thrace, and passing Byzantium, got into 
 the outlets of Danube, and beyond her also to Zaurica, yea, 
 beyond that to the River Phasis ; and thence compassing to 
 Trebizond, she took footing on all the circumference of the 
 Eux'me Sea. This was her course from East to North; 
 whence we will return to Candy, Cyprus, and Sicily ; thence 
 crossing the Phare of Messina, she got all along the Mari- 
 time Coasts of the Tyrrhene Sea to Calabria : She rested 
 herself also a great while in Apulia. There was a populous 
 Colony of Greeks also in Marseilles in France, and along the 
 Sea-Coasts of Savoy. In Africk likewise, Cyrene, Alexan- 
 dria, and Egypt, with divers others, were peopled with 
 Greeks : And three causes may be alleged why the Greek 
 Tongue did so expand herself: First, it may be imputed to 
 the Conquest of Alexander the Great, and the Captains he 
 left behind him for Successors : Then the love the people had 
 to the Sciences, speculative Learning and Civility, whereof 
 the Greeks accounted themselves to be the grand Masters, 
 accounting all other Nations Barhariaiis besides themselves. 
 Thirdly, the natural Inclination and Dexterity the Greeks 
 had to Commerce, whereto they employ'd themselves more 
 than any other Nation, except the Phoenician and Armenian; 
 which may be a reason why in all places most commonly 
 they colonized the Maritime parts, for I do not find they 
 did penetrate far into the bowels of any Country, but liv'd 
 on the Sea-side in obvious mercantile Places and accessible 
 Ports. 
 
 Now many ages since the Greek Tongue is not only 
 impaired, and pitifully degenerated in her purity and 
 eloquence, but extremely decay'd in her amplitude and 
 vulgarness. For first, there is no trace at all left of her 
 in France or Italy, the Sclavonic Tongue hath abolished 
 her in Epire and Macedon, the Turkish hath outed her 
 from most parts of Anatolia, and the Arabian hath ex- 
 tinguish'd her in Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and sundry other 
 places. Now touching her degeneration from her primitive 
 
 suavity
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 467 
 
 suavltv and elegance, it is not altogether so much as the 
 deviation and declension of the Italian from the Latin ; yet 
 it is so far that I could set foot on no place, nor hear 
 of any people, where either the Attic, Doric, j^olic, or 
 Bceotic ancient Greek is vulgarly spoken; only in some 
 places near Heraclea in Anatolia, and Feloponnesus (now 
 called the Morea), they speak of some Towns call'd the 
 Lacocones, which retain yet, and vulgarly speak, the old 
 Greek, but incongruously : Yet tho' they cannot themselves 
 speak according to rules, they understand those that do. 
 Nor is this corruption happen'd to the Greek Language, as it 
 useth to happen to others, either by the Law of the Con- 
 queror or Inundation of Strangers ; but it is insensibly 
 crept in by their own supine negligence and fantastickness, 
 'specially by that common fatality and changes which attend 
 time, and all other sublunary things. Nor is this ancient 
 scientifical Language decay'd only, but the Nation of the 
 Greeks itself is as it were moulder'd away, and brought in 
 a manner to the same condition, and to as contemptible 
 a pass as the Jew is : Insomuch that there cannot be two 
 more pregnant instances of the lubricity and instableness 
 of Mankind than the decay of these two ancient Nations ; 
 the one the select people of God, the other the most famous 
 that ever was for Arts, Arms, Civility, and Government : 
 So that in statu quo nunc, they who term'd all the world 
 Barbarians in comparison of themselves in former times, 
 may be now term'd (more than any other) Barbarians 
 themselves, as having quite lost not only all inclination 
 and aspirings to Knowledge and Virtue, but likewise all 
 courage and bravery of mind to recover their ancient 
 Freedom and Honour. 
 
 Thus have you, my Lord, as much of the Greek Tongue 
 as I could comprehend within the bounds of a Letter; a 
 Tongue that both for Knowledge, for Commerce, and for 
 Copiousness was the principallest that ever was : In my 
 next I will return nearer home, and give your Lordship 
 account of the Latin Tongue, and of her three daughters, 
 
 the
 
 468 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book II. 
 
 the French, Italian, and Spanish. In the interim you find 
 I am still, my Lord — Your most obedient Servitor^ 
 
 J.H. 
 Wesij/i., 2^ Jul. 1630. 
 
 LVIII. 
 
 To the Right Honourable the Earl R. 
 My Lord, 
 
 MY last was a pursuit of my endeavours to comply 
 with your Lordship's desires touching Languages: 
 And I spent more Oil and Labour than ordinary in dis- 
 playing the Greek Tongue, because we are more beholden 
 to her for all Philosophical and Theorick Knowledge^ as 
 also for rules of Commerce and commutative Justice, than 
 to any other. I will now proceed to the Latin Tongue, which 
 had her source in Italy, in Latium, call'd now Campagna di 
 Roma, and receiv'd her growth with the monstrous increase 
 of the City and Empire. Touching the one, she came 
 from poor mud-walls at Mount Falatine, which were scarce 
 a mile about at first, to be afterward fifty miles compass, 
 (as she was in the reign of Aurelianus) ; and her Territories, 
 which were hardly a day's journey extent, came by favour- 
 able successes, and fortune of War, to be above three 
 thousand in length, from the banks of the Rhine, or rather 
 from the shores of this Island to Euphrates, and sometimes 
 to the River Tigris. With this vast expansion of Roman 
 Territories, the Tongue also did spread ; yet I do not find 
 by those researches I have made into Antiquity, that she 
 was vulgarly spoken by any Nation, or in any entire 
 Country, but in Italy itself: For notwithstanding that it 
 was the practice of the Roman with his Lance to usher in 
 his Laws and Language as marks of Conquest, yet I believe 
 his Tongue never took such firm impression anywhere, as 
 to become the vulgar epidemic speech of any people else ; 
 or that she was able to null and extinguish the native 
 Languages she found in those places where she planted 
 her Standard : Nor can there be a more pregnant instance 
 
 hereof 
 
 I
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 469 
 
 hereof than this Island, for notwithstandino- that she re- 
 main'd a Roman Province 400 years together, yet the 
 Latin Tongue could never have the vogue here so far as 
 to abolish the British or Cambrian Tongue. 
 
 'Tis true, that in France and Spain she made deeper 
 impressions; the reason maybe, in regard there were far 
 more Roman Colonies planted there : For whereas there 
 were but four in this Isle, there were nine and twenty in 
 France, and fifty-seven in Spain; and the greatest enter- 
 tainment the Lati?i Tongue found out of Raly herself was 
 in these two Kingdoms : Yet I am of opinion that the pure 
 congruous grammatical Latin was never spoken in either 
 of them as a vulgar vernacular Language, common among 
 Women and Children ; no nor in all Raly itself, except 
 Latium. In jlfric, tho' there were sixty Roman Colonies 
 dispers'd upon that Continent, yet the Latin Tongue made 
 not such deep impressions there, nor in ^sia neither; nor 
 is it to be thought that in those Colonies themselves did 
 the common Soldiers speak in that congruity as the Flamines, 
 the Judges, the Magistrates, and chief Commanders did. 
 When the Romans sent Legions and planted Colonies 
 abroad, 'twas for divers political considerations, partly to 
 secure their new acquests, partly to abate the superfluous 
 numbers and redundancy of Rome. Then by this way 
 they found means to employ and reward Men of worth, 
 and to heighten their minds; for the Roman Spirit did rise 
 up and take growth with his good Successes, Conquests, 
 Commands, and Employments. 
 
 But the reason that the Latin Ton2:ue found not such 
 entertainment in the Oriental parts was, that the Greek 
 had forestall'd her, which was of more esteem among them 
 because of the Learning that was couched in her, and that 
 she was more useful for negotiation and traffic; where- 
 unto the Greeks were more addicted than any people: 
 Therefore, tho' the Romans had an ambition to make those 
 foreign Nations that were under their yoke to speak as well 
 as to do what pleased them, and that all Orders, Edicts, 
 
 Letters,
 
 470 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 Letters^ and the Laws themselves, civil as well as martial, 
 were publish'd and executed in Latin ; yet I believe this 
 Latin was spoken no otherwise among those Nations than 
 the Spanish or Castilian Tongue is now in the Netherlands, 
 in Sicily, Sardinia, Naples, the two Indies, and other Pro- 
 vincial Countries which are under that King. Nor did 
 the pure Latin Tongue continue long at a stand of perfec- 
 tion in Rome and Latium itself among all sorts of People, 
 but she received changes and corruption; neither do I be- 
 lieve that she was born a perfect Language at first, but she 
 receiv'd nutriment, and degrees of perfection with Time, 
 which matures, refines, and finisheth all things. The Verses 
 of the Salii, compos'd by Nimia Pompilius, were scarce 
 intelligble by the Flamines and Judges themselves in the 
 wane of the Roinan Commonwealth, nor the Laws of the 
 Decemviri. And if that Latin wherein were couch'd the 
 Capitulations of Peace 'twixt Rome and Carthage a little 
 after the expulsion of the Kings, which are yet extant upon 
 a Pillar in Rome, were compar'd to that which was spoken 
 in CcBsar's reign 140 years after, at which time the Latin 
 Tongue was mounted to the Meridian of her perfection, 
 she would be found as differing as Spanish now differcth 
 from the Latin. After Ccesar and Cicero's time the Latin 
 Tongue continued in Rome and Italy in her purity 400 years 
 together, until the Goths rush'd into Italy first under Alaric, 
 then the Huns under Attila, then the Vandals under Gen- 
 sericus, and the Heruli under Odoacer, who was proclaimed 
 King of Italy ; but the Goths a little after, under Theodoric, 
 thrust out the Heruli, which Theodoric was by Zeno the 
 Emperor formally invested K. of Italy, who with his Successor 
 reign'd there peaceably sixty years and upwards : So that 
 in all probability the Goths cohabiting so long among the 
 Italians, must adulterate their Language, as well as their 
 Women. 
 
 The last barbarous people that invaded Italy, about the 
 year 570, were the Lombards, who having taken firm rooting 
 in the very bowels of the Country above 300 years without 
 
 interruption.
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 471 
 
 interruption, during the reign of twenty Kings, must of 
 necessity alter and deprave the general Speech of the natural 
 Inhabitants : And, among others, one argument may be, 
 that the best and midland part of Italy chang'd its name, 
 and took its appellation from these last Invaders, calling 
 itself Lomharthj, which name it retains to this day. Yet 
 before the intrusions of these wandring and warlike People 
 into Italy y there may be a precedent cause of some corruption 
 that might creep into the Latin Tongue in point of vulgarity : 
 First, the incredible confluence of Foreigners that came daily 
 far and near, from the coloniz'd Provinces to Rome; then 
 the infinite number of Slaves, which surpassed the number 
 of free Citizens, might much impair the purity of the Latin 
 Tongue; and, lastly, those inconstancies and humours of 
 novelty, which is naturally inherent in man, who, according 
 to those frail elementary principles and ingredients whereof 
 he is compos'd, is subject to insensible alterations, and apt 
 to receive impressions of any change. 
 
 Thus, m'y Lord, as succinctly as I could digest it into the 
 narrow bounds of an Epistle, I have sent your Lordship this 
 small survey of the Latin or first Romaji Tongue: In my 
 next I shall fall aboard of her three daughters, the Italian, 
 the Spanish, and the French, with a diligent investigation 
 what might be the original native Languages of those 
 Countries from the beginning, before the Latin gave them 
 the Law. In the interim I crave a candid Interpretation 
 of what is passed, and of my studiousness in executing your 
 Lordship's Injunctions: So I am, my Lord — Your most 
 humble and obedient servant, J. H. 
 
 Westm., 16 Jjil. 1630. 
 
 LIX. 
 
 To the Right Honourable the E. R. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 MY last was a discourse of the Latin or primitive Roman 
 Tongue, which may be said to be expir'd in the 
 
 Market,
 
 472 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 Market, tho' living yet in the Schools; I mean, she may be 
 said to be defunct in point of vulgarity any time these looo 
 years pass'd. Out of her ruin have sprung up the Italian, 
 the Spanish, and the French, whereof I am now to treat; 
 but I think it not improper to make a research first what 
 the radical prime mother-tongues of these Countries were, 
 before the Roman Eagle planted her talons on them. 
 
 Concerning Italy, doubtless there were divers before the 
 Latin did spread all over that Country; the Calabria?! and 
 Apidian spoke Greek, whereof some reliques are to be found 
 to this day, but it was an adventitious, no mother-language 
 to them : ^Tis confess'd that Latium itself, and all the Ter- 
 ritories about Rome, had the Latin for its maternal and com- 
 mon first vernacular Tongue ; but Tuscany and Ligiiria had 
 others quite discrepant, viz., the Hetruscane and Mesapian, 
 whereof tho' there be some records yet extant, yet there are 
 none alive that can understand them : The Oscan, the Sabin, 
 and Tusculan are thought to be but dialects to these. 
 
 Now the Latin Tongue, with the coincidence of the Goths 
 Language, and other Northern People, who like Waves 
 tumbled off one another, did more in Italy than anywhere 
 else; for she utterly abolish'd (upon that part of the Con- 
 tinent) all other maternal Tongues as ancient as herself, 
 and thereby their eldest daughter, the Italian, came to be the 
 vulgar universal Tongue to the whole Country. Yet the 
 Latin Tongue had not the sole hand in doing this, but the 
 Goths and other Septentrional Nations who rush'd into the 
 Roman Diction had a share in't, as I said before, and pegg'd 
 in some words, which have been ever since irremovable, not 
 only in the Italia?i, but also in her two younger sisters, the 
 Spa7iish and the French, who felt also the fury of those 
 People, Now the Italian is the smoothest and softest-run- 
 ning Language that is : For there is not a word, except 
 some few Monosyllables, Conjunctions, and Prepositions, 
 that ends with a Consonant in the whole Language ; nor is 
 there any vulgar Speech which hath more sub-dialects in so 
 small a tract of ground, for Italy itself affords above eight. 
 
 There
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 473 
 
 There you have the Roman, the Tiiscan, the Fenetian, the 
 Milanez, the Neapolitan, the Calahresse, the Genoevais, the 
 Piemontez ; you have the Corsican, Sicilian, with divers other 
 neighbouring Islands: And as the cause why from the be- 
 ginning there were so many differing dialects in the Greek 
 Tongue was, because it was slic'd into so many Islands; 
 so the reason why there be so many sub-dialects in the 
 Italian is, the diversity of Governments that the Country 
 is squandered into, there being in Italy at this day two 
 Kingdoms, viz., that of Naples and Calabria ; three Re- 
 publicks, viz., Venice, Genoa, and Lucca, and divers other 
 absolute Princes. 
 
 Concerning the original Language of Spain, it was, with- 
 out any controversy, the Bascuence or Cantahrian ; which 
 Tongue and Territory neither Roman, Goth (whence this 
 King hath his pedigree, with divers of the Nobles), or Moore 
 could ever conquer; tho' they had over-run and taken firm 
 footing in all the rest for many Ages : Therefore as the 
 remnant of the old Britons here, so are the Biscaneers 
 accounted the ancient'st and unquestionablest Gentry of 
 Spaiii; insomuch that when any of them is to be dubb'd 
 Knight, there is no need of any scrutiny to be n)ade whether 
 he be clear of the blood of the Moriscos, who had mingled 
 and incorporated with the rest of the Spaniards about 700 
 years. And as the Arcadians and Attiques in Greece, for 
 their immemorial antiquity, are said to vaunt of themselves, 
 that the one are Upoa^XrjvoL, before the Moon ; the other 
 avT6xOove<;, issued of the Earth itself; so the Biscayner hath 
 such like Rodomontados. 
 
 The Spanish or Castilian Language hath but few sub- 
 dialects, the Portugues is most considerable. Touching 
 the Catalan and Valencian, they are rather 'dialects of the 
 French, Gascon, or Aquitanian, The purest dialect of the 
 Castilian Touijue is held to be in the Town of Toledo, 
 which, above other Cities of Spain, hath this privilege, to 
 be Arbitress in the decision of any Controversy that may 
 arise touching the interpretation of any Castilian word. 
 
 It
 
 474 
 
 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 It is an infallible rule, to find out the mother and 
 ancientest Tongue of any Country, to go among those who 
 inhabit the barrenest and most mountainous places, which 
 are posts of security and fastness; whereof divers instances 
 could be produc'd : But let the Biscayner in Spain, the 
 Welsh in Great Britain, and the Mountaineers in Epire 
 serve the turn, who yet retain their ancient unmix'd 
 Mother-Tongues, being extinguished in all the Country 
 besides. 
 
 Touching France, it is not only doubtful, but left yet un- 
 decided, what the true genuine Gallic Tongue was: Some 
 would have it to be the German, some the Greek, some the 
 old British or Welsh; and the last opinion carrieth away 
 with it the most judicious Antiquaries. Now all Gallia is 
 not meant by it, but the Country of the Celtce that inhabit 
 the middle part of France, who are the true Gauls. Ccesar 
 and Tacitus tell us, that these Celtce, and the old Britons 
 (whereof I gave a touch in my first Letter), did mutually 
 understand one another; and some do hold that this Island 
 was tied to France, as Sicily was to Calabria, and Denmark 
 to Germaiiy, by an Isthmus or neck of land 'twixt Dover 
 and Bullen : For if one do well observe the rocks of the one, 
 and the cliifs of the other, he will judge them to be one 
 homogeneous piece, and that they were cut and shiver'd 
 asunder by some act of violence. 
 
 The French or Gallic Tongue hath divers dialects; the 
 Picard, that of Jersey and Guernsey (appendixes once to 
 the Dutchy of Normandy), the Frovensall, the Gascon, or 
 speech of Languedoc, which Scaliger would etymologize 
 from Languedoc, whereas it comes rather from Langue de 
 Got ; for the Saracens and Goths, by their incursions and 
 long stay in Aquitain, corrupted the Language of that part 
 of Gallia. Touching the Britan and they of Beam, the 
 one is a dialect of the Welsh, the other of the Bascuence. 
 The Wallon, who is under the King of Spain, and the 
 Liegois, is also a dialect of the French, which in their own 
 Country they call Romand. The Spaniard also terms his 
 
 Castilian,
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 475 
 
 Castilian, Roman; whence it may be inferr'd that the first 
 rise and derivation of the Spanish and French were from 
 the Roman Tongue, not from the Latin: Which makes me 
 think that the Language of Rome might be degenerated, 
 and become a dialect to our own Mother-tongue (the 
 Latin) before she brought her Language to France or Spain. 
 
 There is, besides these sub-dialects of the Italians, Spanish, 
 and French, another speech that hath a great stroke in 
 Greece and Turkey, call'd Franco, which may be said to 
 be compos'd of all the three, and is at this day the greatest 
 Language of Commerce and Negotiation in the Levant. 
 
 Thus have I given your Lordship the best account I could 
 of the sister-dialects of the Italian, Spanish, and French. 
 In my next I shall cross the Mediterranean to Jfrick, and 
 the Hellespont to Asia, where I shall observe the generallest 
 Languages of those vast Continents, where such number- 
 less swarms, and differing sorts of Nations, do crawl up and 
 down this earthly Globe; therefore it cannot be expected 
 that I should be so punctual there as in Europe : So I am 
 still, my Lord — Your obedient servitor, J. H. 
 
 West>n., 1 Jul. 1630. 
 
 LX. 
 
 To the Rt. Hon. the Earl E. 
 My Lord, 
 
 HAVING, in my former Letters, made a flying progress 
 thro' the European world, and taken a view of 
 the several Languages, Dialects, and Sub-dialects whereby 
 People converse with one another, and being now wind- 
 bound for Jfrick, I held it not altogether supervacaneous 
 to take a review of them, and inform your Lordship what 
 Languages are original independent Mother-Tongues of 
 Christendom, and what are Dialects, Derivations, or De- 
 generations from their Originals. 
 
 The Mother-Tongues of Europe are thirteen, tho' Scaliger 
 would have but eleven : There is the Gi-eck i, the Latin 2, 
 
 the
 
 4/6 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 the Dutch 3, the Sclavoniaii 4, the Welsh or Cambrian 5, 
 the Basmence or Cantahrian 6, the 7rwA 7, the Jlhanian in 
 the Mountains of Epire 8, the Tartarian 9, the old Illyrian 
 10, remaining yet in Lihurnia, the Jazygian 11, on the 
 North of Hungary, the Cauchian 12, in East-Friezeland, 
 the Finnic 13, which I put last with good reason^ because 
 they are the only Heathens of Europe; all which were 
 known to be in Europe in the time of the Roman Empire. 
 There is a learned Antiquary that makes the Arabic to be 
 one of the Mother-Tongues of Europe, because it was spoken 
 in some of the Mountains of South Spain; 'tis true, 'twas 
 spoken for divers hundred years all Spain over, after the 
 Conquest of the Moors; but yet it could not be called a 
 Mother-Tongue, but an adventitious Tongue, in reference 
 to that part of Europe. 
 
 And now that I am to pass to Afric, which is far bigger 
 than Europe ; and to Asia, which is far bigger than Afric ; 
 and to America, which is thought to be as big as all the 
 three ; if Europe herself hath so many Mother- Languages, 
 quite discrepant one from the other, besides secondary 
 Tongues and Dialects, which exceed the number of their 
 Mothers, what shall we think of the other three huge Con- 
 tinents in point of differing Languages ? Your Lordship 
 knows that there be divers Meridians and Climes in the 
 Heavens, whence influxes of differing qualities fall upon the 
 Lihabitants of the Earth; and as they make men to differ 
 in the ideas and conceptions of the Mind, so in the motion 
 of the Tongue, in the tune and tones of the Voice, they 
 come to differ one from the other. Now all Languages at 
 first were imperfect confus'd Sounds, then came they to be 
 Syllables, then Words, then Speeches and Sentences, which 
 by practice, by tradition, and a kind of natural instinct from 
 Parents to Children, grew to be fix'd. Now, to attempt 
 a survey of all the Languages in the other three Parts of 
 the habitable earth were rather a madness than a presump- 
 tion ; it being a thing of impossibility, and not only above 
 the capacity, but beyond the search of the activest and 
 
 knowing'st
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 477 
 
 knowing'st man upon earth. Let it therefore suffice, while 
 I behold these Nations that read and write from right to 
 left, from the Liver to the Heart, I mean the Jfricans and 
 Asians, that I take a short view of the Arabic in the one, 
 and the Hebrew, or Syriac, in the other : for, touching the 
 Turkish Language, 'tis but a Dialect of the Tartarian, tho' 
 it have receiv'd a late mixture of the Armenian, the Persian, 
 and Greek Tongues, but 'specially of the Arabic, which was 
 the Mother-Tongue of their Prophet, and is now the sole 
 Language of their Alcoran ; it being strictly inhibited, and 
 held to be a profaneness to translate it to any other; which, 
 they say, preserves them from the encroachment of Schisms. 
 
 Now, the Arabic is a Tongue of vast expansion ; for be- 
 sides the three Arabias, it is become the vulgar Speech of 
 Syria, Mesopotamia, Palestine, and Egypt ; from whence 
 she stretcheth herself to the Strait of Gibraltar, thro' all 
 that vast tract of Earth which lieth 'twixt the Mountain 
 Atlas and the Mediterranean Sea, which is now call'd 
 Barbary, where Christianity and the Latin Tongue, with 
 divers famous Bishops, once flourish'd. She is spoken like- 
 wise in all the Northern Parts of the Turkish Empire, as 
 also in pettv Tartary ; and she, above all other, hath reason 
 to learn Arabic, for she is in hope one day to have the Cres- 
 cent, and the whole Ottoman Empire ; it being entail'd on 
 her, in case the present Race should fail, which is now in 
 more danger than ever : in fine, wheresoever the Mahojnetan 
 Religion is profess'd, the Arabic is either spoken or taught. 
 
 My last view shall be of tht Jirst Language of the Earth, 
 the ancient Language of Paradise, the Language wherein 
 God Almighty himself pleas'd to pronounce and publish the 
 Tables of the Law, the Lan<rua2;e that had a Benediction 
 promis'd her, because she would not consent to the building 
 of the Babylonish Tower : yet this holy Tongue hath had 
 also her Eclipses, and is now degenerated to many Dialects, 
 nor is she spoken purely by any Nation upon earth ; a fate 
 also which has befallen the Greek and Latin. The most 
 spacious Dialect of the Hebrew is the Syriac, which had her 
 
 beainnino;
 
 478 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 beginning in the time of the Captivity of the Jews at Bahy- 
 lon, while they cohabited and were mingled with the Chal- 
 deans ; in which tract of seventy years' time, the vulgar sort 
 oi Jews, neglecting their own maternal Tongue (the Hebrew), 
 began to speak the Chaldee ; but not having the right accent 
 of it, and fashioning that new learned Language to their 
 own innovation of Points, Affixes, and Conjugations, out 
 of that intermixture of Hebrew and Chaldee resulted a 
 third Language, call'd to this day the Syr'iac ; which also, 
 after the time of our Saviour, becran to be more adulterated 
 by admission of Greek, Roman, and Jlrabic. \\\ this Lan- 
 guage is the Talmud and Targum couch'd ; and all their 
 Rabbins, as Rabbi Jonathan and Rabbi Onkelos, with others, 
 have written in it; insomuch that, as I said before, the 
 antient Hebrew had the same fortune that the Greek and 
 Latin Tongues had, to fall from being naturally spoken 
 anywhere, to lose their general communicableness and 
 vulgarity, and to become only School and Book-Languages. 
 
 Thus we see, that as all other sublunary things are subject 
 to corruption and decay, as the potentest Monarchies, the 
 proudest Republiques, the opulentest Cities have their growth, 
 decUnings, and periods : j4s all other elementary Bodies like- 
 ivise, by reasoii of the frailty of their Principles, come by in- 
 sensible degrees to alter and perish, and cajinot continue long 
 at a stand of perfection ; so the learnedest and more eloquent 
 Languages are not free from this common fatality, but they 
 are liable to those alterations and revolutions, to those fts of 
 incojistancy, and other destructive contingencies, which are 
 unavoidably incident to all earthly things. 
 
 Thus, my noble Lord, have I evertated myself, and stretch'd 
 all my sinews; I have put all my small knowledge, observa- 
 tions, and reading, upon the tenter, to satisfy your Lordship's 
 desires touching this subject. If it afford you any content- 
 ment, I have hit the white I aim'd at, and hold myself abun- 
 dantly rewarded for my oil and labour : so I am. My Lord 
 — Your most humble and ever obedient Servitor, J. H. 
 
 IVestm., I July 1630. 
 
 LXL
 
 Book 11. Familiar Letters. 479 
 
 LXI. 
 
 To the Honourable Master Car. Ra. 
 Sir, 
 
 YOURS of the 7th current was brought me, whereby I find 
 that you did put yourself to the penance of perusing 
 some Epistles that go imprinted lately in my name : I am 
 bound to you for your pains and patience (for you write 
 you read them all thro'), much more for your candid opinion 
 of them, being right glad that they should give entertain- 
 ment to such a choice and judicious Gentleman as your- 
 self. But whereas you seem to except against something in 
 one Letter that reflects upon Sir JV. Raleigh^s Voyage to 
 Guiana, because I term the Gold Mine he went to discover 
 an airy and supposititious Mine, and so infer that it toucheth 
 his honour; truly. Sir, I will deal clearly with you in that 
 point, that I never harbour'd in my brain the least thought 
 to expose to the world anything that might prejudice, much 
 less traduce in the least degree that could be that rare 
 renowned Knight, whose Fame shall contend in longcevity 
 with this Island itself, yea, with that great JVorld which 
 he Historiseth so sallantly. I was a vouth about the Town 
 when he undertook that Expedition, and I remember most 
 men suspected that Mine then to be but an imaginary 
 politic thing; but at his return, and missing of the enter- 
 prise, these suspicions turn'd in most to real beliefs that 
 'twas no other. And K. James, in that Declaration which 
 he commanded to be printed and publish'd afterwards, 
 touching the circumstances of this action (upon which my 
 Letter is grounded, and which I have still bv me), terms 
 it no less : And if we may not give faith to such publick 
 regal Instruments, what shall we credit ? Besides, there jroes 
 another printed kind of Remonstrance annex'd to that De- 
 claration, which intimates as much: and there is a worthv 
 Captain in this Town, who was Co-adventurcr in tiiat 
 Expedition, who, upon the storming of St. Thomas, heard 
 
 young
 
 480 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 voung Mr. Raleigh encouraging his Men in these words: 
 Come on, my nohle hearts, this is the Mine we come for ; and 
 they who think there is any other are fools. Add hereunto, 
 that Sir Richard Baker, in his last Historical Collections, 
 intimates so much. Therefore, 'twas far from being any 
 opinion broach'd by myself, or bottom'd upon weak grounds ; 
 for I was careful of nothing more, than that those Letters 
 being to breathe open Air, should relate nothing but what 
 should be derived from good fountains. And truly, Sir, 
 touching that Apology of Sir Walter Raleigh's you write of, 
 I never saw it, and I am very sorry I did not ; for it had 
 let in more light upon me of the carriage of that great 
 action, and then you might have been assur'd that I would 
 have done that noble Knight all the right that could be. 
 
 But, Sir, the several Arguments that you urge in your 
 Letters are of that strength, I confess, that they are able to 
 rectify anv indifferent man in this point, and induce him to 
 believe that it was no Chimera, but a real Mine ; for you 
 write of divers pieces of Gold brought thence by Sir Walter 
 himself and Capt. Kemys, and of some Ingots that were 
 found in the Governor's Closet at St. Thomas's, with divers 
 Crucibles and other refining Instruments : yet, under favour, 
 that might be, and the benefit not countervail the charge, 
 for the richest Mines that the King of Spain hath upon the 
 whole Continent of America, which are the Mines of Potosi, 
 yield him but six in the hundred, all expences defray'd. You 
 write how K. James sent privately to Sir JValter, being yet 
 in the Tower, to intreat and command him, that he would 
 impart his whole Design to him under his hand, promising 
 upon the word of a King to keep it secret ; which being 
 done accordingly by Sir Walter Raleigh, that very original 
 Paper was found in the said Spanish Governor's Closet at St. 
 Thomas's: whereat, as you have just cause to wonder, and 
 admire the activeness of the Spanish Agents about our Court 
 at that time, so I wonder no less at the miscarriage of some 
 of his late Majesty's Ministers, who notwithstanding that 
 he had pass'd his Royal Word to the contrary, yet they did 
 
 help
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 481 
 
 help Count Gondomar to that Paper ; so that the reproach 
 lieth more upon the English than the Spanish Ministers in this 
 particular. Whereas you allege, that the dangerous sickness 
 of Sir IValter being arrived near the place, and the death of 
 (that rare Spark of courage) your Brother upon the first 
 landing, with other circumstances, discourag'd Capt. Kemys 
 from discovering the Mine, but wou'd reserve it for another 
 time ; I am content to give as much credit to this as any 
 Man can ; as also that Sir IValter, if the rest of the Fleet, 
 according to his earnest motion, had gone with him to re- 
 victual in Virginia (a Country where he had reason to be 
 welcome unto, being of his own discovery), he had a purpose 
 to return to Guyana the Spring following to pursue his first 
 design. I am also very willing to believe that it cost Sir 
 IV. Raleigh much more to put himself in equipage for that 
 long intended Voyage, than would have paid for his Liberty, 
 if he had gone about to purchase it for reward of Money at 
 home ; tho' I am not ignorant that many of the Co-adven- 
 turers made large contributions, and the fortunes of some of 
 them suffer for it at this very day. But altho' Gondomar, as 
 my Letter mentions, calls Sir Walter Pirate, I for my part 
 am far from thinking so ; because, as you give an unanswer- 
 able reason, the plundering of St. Thomas was an act done 
 beyond the Equator, where the Articles of Peace 'twixt the 
 two Kings do not extend. Yet, under favour, tho' he broke 
 not the Peace, he was said to break his Patent by exceeding 
 the bounds of his Commission, as the foresaid Declaration 
 relates : For K. James had made strong promises to Count 
 Gondomar, that this Fleet should commit no outrages upon 
 the K. of Spain s Subjects by Land, unless they began first; 
 and I believe that was the main cause of his death, tho' I 
 think if they had proceeded that way against him in a legal 
 course of trial, he might have defended himself well enough. 
 Whereas you allege, that if that Action had succeeded, 
 and afterwards been well prosecuted, it might have brought 
 Gondomar^s great CathoHc Master to have been begg'd for 
 at the Church-doors by Fryars, as he was once brought in 
 
 2 H the
 
 482 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 the latter end of Q. Elizahetlis days : I believe it had much 
 damnified him, and interrupted him in the possession of his 
 West-Indies, but not brought him, under favour, to so 
 low an ebb. I have observed, that it is an ordinary thing 
 in your popish Countries for Princes to borrow^ from the 
 Altar, when they are reduc'd to any straits; for they say. 
 The Riches of the Church are to serve as Anchors in time of 
 a storm. Divers of our Kings have done worse, by pawning 
 their Plate and Jewels. Whereas my Letter makes mention 
 that Sir W. Raleigh mainly labour'd for his Pardon before 
 he went, but could not compass it; this is also a passage in 
 the foresaid printed Relation. But I could have wish'd with 
 all ray heart he had obtain'd it; for I believe that neither 
 the transgression of his Commission, nor anything that he 
 did beyond the Line, could have shorten'd the line of his 
 Life otherwise; but in all probability we might have been 
 happy in him to this very day, having such an heroic Heart 
 as he had, and other rare helps, by his great knowledge, for 
 the preservation of health. I believe without any scruple 
 what you write, that Sir IVm. St. Geon made an overture 
 to him of procuring his Pardon for .^1500, but whether he 
 could have effected it I doubt a little, when he had come to 
 negotiate it really. But I extremely wonder how that old 
 Sentence which had lain dormant above sixteen years against 
 Sir If^. Raleigh could have been made use of to take off 
 his head afterwards, considering that the Lord Chancellor 
 Verulam, as you write, told him positively (as Sir Walter 
 was acquainting him with that proffer of Sir Wm. St. Geon 
 for a pecuniary Pardon) in these words. Sir, the knee-timler 
 of your Voyage is Money ; spare yonr purse in this particular, 
 for upon my life you have a sufficient Pardojifor all that is 
 passed already, the King having under his Broad- Seal made 
 you Admiral of your Fleet, and given you poiver of the 
 Martial Law over your Officers and Soldiers. One would 
 think that by this royal Patent, which gave him power of 
 life and death over the King's liege People, Sir W. Raleigh 
 should become rectus in curia, and free from all old convic- 
 tions.
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 483 
 
 tions. But, Sir, to tell you the plain truth, Count Gondomar 
 at that time had a great stroke in our Court, because there 
 was more than a mere overture of a Match with Spain ; 
 which makes me apt to believe, that that great wise Knight 
 being such an Anti- Spaniard, was made a Sacrifice to advance 
 the matrimonial Treaty. But I must needs wonder, as you 
 justly do, that one and the same Man should be condemned 
 for being a friend to the Spaniard (which was the ground 
 of his first Condemnation), and afterwards lose his head for 
 being their enemy by the same Sentence. Touching his 
 return, I must confess I was utterly ignorant that those two 
 noble Earls, Thomas of Arundel and IVilliam of Pembroke, 
 were engaged for him in this particular ; nor doth the 
 printed Relation make any mention of them at all : There- 
 fore I must say, that Envy herself must pronounce that 
 return of his, for the acquitting of his fiduciary Pledges, to 
 be a n\ost noble act; and waving that of K. Alphonso's 
 Moor, I may more properly compare it to the act of that 
 famous Roman Commander {Regulus, as I take it) who, to 
 keep his promise and faith, returned to his enemies where 
 he had been prisoner, tho' he knew he went to an inevitable 
 death. But well did that faithless cunning Knight, who 
 betray'd Sir IV. Raleigh in his intended escape, being come 
 ashore, fall to that contemptible end, as to die a poor, dis- 
 tracted Beggar in the Isle of Limdey, having for a Bag of 
 money falsify'd his Faith, confirm'd by the tie of the holy 
 Sacrament, as you write; as also before the year came 
 about, to be found clipping the same Coin in the King's 
 own house at White-hall which he had receiv'd as a reward 
 for his Perfidiousness; for which being condemned to be 
 hang'd, he was driven to sell himself to liis shirt, to purchase 
 his Pardon of two Knights. 
 
 And now. Sir, let that glorious and gallant Cavalier Sir 
 JV. Raleigh {who lived long enough for his own honour, tho'' 
 not for his Country, as it was said of a Roman Consul) rest 
 quietly in his grave, and his Virtues live in his Posterity, as 
 I find they do strongly, and very eminently in you. I have 
 
 heard
 
 484 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 heard his Enemies confess that he was one of the weightiest 
 and wisest Men that this Island ever bred. Mr. 'Nath. Car- 
 penter, a learned and judicious Author, was not in the 
 wrong when he gave this discreet Character of him : Who 
 hath not known or read of this Prodigy of Wit and Fortune, 
 Sir Walter Raleigh, a Man iLifortimate in nothing else hit 
 in the greatness of his Wit and Jdvanceinent, ivhose eminent 
 Worth was sue hhoth in domestic Policy, foreign Expeditions, 
 arid discoveries in Arts and Literature, loth practick and con- 
 templative, that it might seem at once to conquer Example 
 and Imitation ! 
 
 Now, Sir, hoping to be rectified in your judgment touch- 
 ing my opinion of that illustrious Knight your Father, give 
 me leave to kiss your hands very affectionately for the re- 
 spectful mention you please to make of my Brother, once 
 your neighbour ; he suffers, good soul, as well as I, tho' in a 
 differing manner. I also much value that favourable censure 
 vou give of those rambling Letters of mine, which indeed 
 are nought else than a Legend of the cumbersome Life and 
 various Fortunes of a Cadet. But whereas you please to say. 
 That the World of Learned Men is much beholden to me for 
 them, and that some of them are freighted with many excel- 
 lent and quaint passages, delivered in a masadine and solid 
 style, adorn'' d with much eloquence, and struck with the choicest 
 flowers picked from the Muse^s Garden : Whereas you also 
 please to write, that you admire my great Travels, my strenu- 
 oiis endeavours, at all times and in all places, to accumulate 
 Knowledge, my active laying hold upon all occasions and on 
 every handle that might [with reputation) advantage either my 
 Wit or Fortune : These high gallant strains of expressions, I 
 confess, transcend my merit, and are a garment too gaudy 
 for me to put on ; yet I will lay it up among my best 
 Reliques, whereof I have divers sent me of this kind. And 
 whereas, in publishing these Epistles at this time, you please 
 to say. That I have done like flezekiah ivhe?i he showed his 
 Treasures to the Babylonians, that I have discovered my Riches 
 to Thieves, who will hind me fast and share my goods : To 
 
 this
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 485 
 
 this I answer, that if those innocent Letters (for I know 
 none of them but is such) fall among such Thieves, they will 
 have no great Prize to carry away, it will be but petty-larceny. 
 I am already, God wot, bound fast enough, havino- been a 
 long time coop'd up between these Walls, bereft of all my 
 means of subsistence and employment ; nor do I know where- 
 fore I am here, unless it be for my sins : For I bear as uprio-ht 
 a heart to my King and Country, I am as conformable and 
 well-affected to the Government of this Land, specially to 
 the High Court of Parliament, as any one whatsoever that 
 breathes Air under this Meridian; I will except none : And 
 for my Religion, I defy any creature 'twixt Heaven and Earth, 
 that will say I am not a true English Protestant. I have 
 from Time to Time employ'd divers of my best Friends to 
 get my Liberty, at leastwise leave to go abroad on Bail 
 (for I do not expect, as you please also to believe in your 
 Letter, to be delivered hence, as St. Peter was, by miracle), 
 but nothing will yet prevail. 
 
 To conclude, I do acknowledge in the highest way of re- 
 cognition, the free and noble proffer you please to make me 
 of your endeavours to pull me out of this doleful Sepulchre, 
 wherein you say I am entomb'd alive : I am no less obliged 
 to you for the opinion I find you have of my weak abilities, 
 which you pleased to ivish heartily may he no longer eclipsed. 
 I am not in despair but a day will shine, that may afford me 
 opportunity to improve this good opinion of yours (which 
 I value at a high rate), and let the world know how much 
 I am, Sir — Your real and ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 5 May 1645. 
 
 LXH. 
 
 To Mr. T. v., at Brussels. 
 
 My dear Tom, 
 
 WHO would have thought poor England had been 
 brought to this pass ? Could it ever have enter'd 
 into the imagination of Man, that the Scheme and whole 
 
 Frame
 
 486 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 Frame of so ancient and well-moulded a Government should 
 be so suddenly struck off the hinges, quite out of joint, and 
 tumbled into such a horrid Confusion ? Who would have 
 held it possible, that to fly from Bahylon, we should fall 
 into such a Babel? That to avoid Superstition, some People 
 should be brought to belch out such a horrid Profaneness, 
 as to call the Temples of God, the Tabernacles of Satan ; 
 the Lord's Supper, a Two-penny Ordinary; to make the 
 Communion-Table a Manger, and the Font a Trough to 
 water their Horses in ; to term the white decent Robe of 
 the Presbyter, the Whore's Smock ; the Pipes thro' which 
 nothing came but Anthems and holy Hymns, the Devil's 
 Bagpipes; the Liturgy of the Church, tho' extracted most 
 of it out of the Sacred Text, call'd by some another kind of 
 Alcoran, by others raw Porridge, by some a Piece forg'd in 
 Hell ? Who would have thought to have seen in England 
 the Churches shut and the Shops open upon Christmas-day ? 
 Could any soul have imagined that this Isle would have 
 produc'd such Monsters as to rejoice at the Turks' good 
 successes against Christians, and wish he were in the midst 
 of Borne ? Who would have dreamt ten years since, when 
 Archbishop Laud did ride in state thro' London streets, 
 accompanying my Lord of London to be sworn Lord High- 
 Treasurer of England, that the Mitre should have now come 
 to such a scorn, to such a national kind of hatred, as to put 
 the whole Island in a combustion ? Which makes me call 
 to memory a Saying of the Earl of Kildare in Ireland in 
 the Reign of Henry VIII., which Earl having a deadly feud 
 with the Bishop of Cassiles, burnt a Church belonging to 
 that Diocese; and being ask'd upon his examination before 
 the Lord-Deputy at the Castle of Dullin, why he had com- 
 mitted such a horrid Sacrilege as to burn God's Church, 
 he answer'd, / had never burnt the Church unless I had 
 thought the Bishop had been in't. Lastly, who would have 
 imagin'd that the Excise would have taken footing here? 
 A word I remember, in the last Parliament save one, so 
 odious, that when Sir D. Carleton, then Secretary of State, 
 
 did
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 487 
 
 did but name it in the House of Commons, he was like to 
 be sent to the Tower; altho' he nam'd it to no ill sense, 
 but to shew what advantage of happiness the People of 
 Englayid had o'er other Nations, having neither the Gahels 
 of Italy, the Taillies of France, or the Excise of Holland 
 laid upon them ; yet upon this he was suddenly interrupted, 
 and call'd to the Bar. Such a strange metamorphosis poor 
 England is now come to : and I am afraid our miseries are 
 not come to their height, but the longest shadows stay till 
 the evening. 
 
 The freshest news that I can write to you is, that the 
 Kentish Knight of your acquaintance, who I writ in my last 
 had an apostacy in his brain, died suddenly this week of an 
 Imposthume in his breast, as he was reading a Pamphlet of 
 his own that came from the Press, wherein he shew'd a 
 great mind to be nibbling with my Trees : but he only shew'd 
 his Teeth, for he could not bite them to any purpose. 
 
 William Ro: is return'd from the Wars, but he is grown 
 lame in one of his Arms, so he hath no mind to bear Arms 
 any more; he confesseth himself to be an egregious fool to 
 leave his Mercership and go to be a Musqueteer. It made 
 me think upon the Tale of the Gallego in Spain who in the 
 Civil Wars against Arragon, being in the field he was shot 
 in the forehead, and being carried away to a Tent, the 
 Surgeon searched his wound and found it mortal : so he 
 advised him to send for his Confessor, for he was no man 
 for this world, in recrard the brain was touch'd. The Soldier 
 wish'd him to search it again, which he did, and told him 
 that he was hurt in the brain, and could not possibly escape : 
 whereupon the Gallego fell into a chafe, and said he lyed; 
 for he had no brain at all, porque se tuviera, sesso nunca 
 huicra venido esta guerra ; for if I had had any brain, I 
 would never have come to this War. All your Friends 
 here are well, except the maim'd Soldier, and remember 
 you often, 'specially Sir J. Broun, a good gallant Gentle- 
 man, who never forgets any who deserv'd to have a place 
 in his memory. Farewell, my dear To?//, and God send you 
 
 better
 
 488 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 better days than we have here ; for I wish you as much 
 happiness as possibly man can have ; I wish your mornings 
 may be good, your noons better, your evenings and nights 
 best of all ; I wish your sorrows may be short, your joys 
 lasting, and all your desires end in success. Let me hear 
 once more from you before you remove thence, and tell me 
 how the squares go in Flanders. So I rest — Your entirely 
 affectionate Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 3 Aug. 1644. 
 
 LXIII. 
 
 To His Majesty, ai Oxon. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I PROSTRATE this Paper at your Majesty's /^f^, hoping 
 it may find way thence to your eyes, and so descend to 
 your Royal heart. 
 
 The foreign Minister of State, by whose conveyance this 
 comes, did lately intimate to me, that among divers Things 
 which go abroad under my name reflecting upon the Times, 
 there are some which are not so well taken; your Majesty 
 being inform'd that they discover a spirit of IndifFerency, 
 and Lukewarm ness in the Author. This added much to 
 the weight of my present suffrances ; and exceedingly 
 imbitter'd the sense of them to me, being no other than a 
 corrosive to one already in a hectic condition. I must 
 confess that some of them were more moderate than others ; 
 yet (most humbly under favour) there were none of them but 
 displayed the heart of a constant true loyal Subject; and as 
 divers of those who are most zealous to your Majesty's service 
 told me, they had the good success to rectify multitudes of 
 People in their opinion of some Things : Insomuch that I 
 am not only conscious, but most confident that none of 
 them could tend to your Majesty's disservice any way 
 imaginable. Therefore I humbly beseech, that your Majesty 
 would vouchsafe to conceive of me accordingly, and of one 
 who by this recluse passive condition hath his share of this 
 
 hideous
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 489 
 
 hideous storm : Yet he is in assurance, rather than hopes, 
 that tho' divers cross winds have blown, these Times will 
 bring in better at last. There have been divers of your 
 Royal Progenitors who have had as shrewd shocks; and 
 'tis well known how the next transmarine Kings have been 
 brought to lower ebbs : At this very day he of Spain is in a 
 far worse condition, being in the midst of two sorts of 
 People (the Catalan and Portuguese), who were lately his 
 Vassals, but now have torn his Seals, renounc'd all bonds 
 of Allegiance, and are in actual hostility against him. 
 This great City, I may say, is like a Chess-board chequer'd, 
 inlaid with ivhite and black spots; tho' I believe the white 
 are more in number, and your Majesty's Countenance, by 
 returning to your great Council and your Court at White- 
 hall, would quickly turn them all white. That Almighty 
 Majesty, who useth to draw light out of darkness, and 
 strength out of weakness, making man's extremity his oppor- 
 tunity, preserve and prosper your Majesty according to the 
 Prayers early and late of your Majesty's most loyal Subject, 
 Servant, and Martyr, Howel. 
 
 Fleet, 3 SeJ)f. 1644. 
 
 LXIV. 
 
 To E. Benlowes, Esq.; upon the receipt of a Table of 
 exquisite Latin Poems. 
 Sir, 
 
 I THANK you in a very high degree for that precious 
 Table of Poems you pleas'd to send me : When I had 
 well view'd them, I thought upon that famous Table of Pro- 
 portion which Ptolemij is recorded by Aristceus to have sent 
 Eleazer to Hierusalem, which was counted a stupendous piece 
 of Art, and the wonderment of those Times : What the 
 curiosity of that Table was I have not read, but I believe 
 it consisted in extern mechanical artifice only. The beautv 
 of your Table is of a far more noble extraction, being a pure 
 spiritual work, so that it may be called the Table of your 
 
 Soul,
 
 490 Familiar Letters. Book IL 
 
 Soul, in confirmation of the opinion of that Divine tho' 
 Pagan Philosopher, the high-wing'd Plato, who fancied that 
 our Souls at the first infusion were as so many Tables, they 
 were Ahrasce Tahulce, and that all our future knowledge was 
 but a reminiscence ; but under favour, the rich and elaborate 
 Poems which so loudly echo out your worth and ingenuity 
 deserve a far more lasting monument to preserve them from 
 the injury of Time than such a slender board; they deserve 
 to be engraven in such durable dainty stuff that may be fit 
 to hang up in the Temple of Apollo: Your Echo deserves 
 to dwell in some marble or porphyry Grot, cut about 
 Parnassus Mount near the source of Helicon, rather than 
 upon such a slight superficies. 
 
 I much thank you for your visits, and other fair respects 
 you shew me ; 'specially that you have enlarg'd my quarters 
 among these melancholy walls by sending me a whole Isle 
 to walk in, I mean that delicate purple Island I receiv'd from 
 you, where I met with Jpollo himself and all his daughters, 
 with other excellent society. I stumble also there often upon 
 myself, and grow better acquainted with what I have within 
 me and without me : Insomuch that you could not make 
 choice of a fitter ground for a Prisoner, as I am, to pass over, 
 than of that purple Isle, that Isle of Man you sent me ; which, 
 as the ingenious Author hath made it, is a far more dainty 
 soil than that Scarlet Island which lies near the Baltic Sea. 
 
 I remain still wind-bound in this Fleet ; when the weather 
 mends, and the wind sits that I may launch forth, I will 
 repay you your visits, and be ready to correspond with you 
 in the reciprocation of any other offices of Friendship : For 
 I am. Sir — Your aifectionate Servitor, J. H. 
 
 J^/eef, 25 Aug. 1645. 
 
 LXV. 
 
 To my Honourahle Lady, the Lady A. Smith. 
 Madam, 
 
 WHEREAS you were pleas'd lately to ask leave, you 
 may now take authority to command me: And 
 
 did
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 491 
 
 did I know any of the facidties of my mind or limbs of my 
 body that were not willing to serve you, I would utterly 
 renounce them, they should be no more mine, at least I 
 should not like them near so well ; but I shall not be put 
 to that, for I sensibly find that by a natural propensity 
 they are all most ready to obey you. and to stir at the least 
 beck of your commands, as Iron moves towards the Load- 
 stone. Therefore, Madam, if you bid me go, I will run ; 
 if you bid me run, I'll fly (if I can), upon your Errand. 
 But I must stay till I can get my heels at liberty from among 
 these Walls ; till when, I am, as perfectly as man can be. 
 Madam — Your most obedient humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 5 May 1645. 
 
 LXVI. 
 
 To Master G. Stone. 
 Sir, 
 
 I HEARTILY rejoice with the rest of your Friends, that 
 you are safely return'd from your Travels, specially 
 that you have made so good returns of the Time of your 
 Travel, being, as I understand, come home freighted with 
 Observations and Languages. Your Father tells me that 
 he finds you are so wedded to the Italian and French, that 
 you utterly neglect the Latin Tongue; that's not well. 
 Tho' you have learnt to play at Baggammon, you must not 
 forget Irish, which is a serious and solid game ; but I know 
 you are so discreet in the course and method of your 
 studies, that you will make the Daughters to wait upon their 
 Mother, and love still your old Friend. To truck the Latin 
 for any other vulgar Language, is but an ill barter; it is as 
 bad as that which Glaucus made with Diomcdcs, when he 
 parted with his golden Arms for brazen ones. The proceed 
 of this Exchange will come far short of any Gentleman's 
 expectation, tho' haply it may prove advantageous to a 
 Merchant, to whom common Lano-uajres are more useful. 
 I am big with desire to meet you, and to mingle a day's 
 
 discourse
 
 492 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 discourse with you, if not two; how you escap'd the claws 
 of the Inquisition, whereunto I understand you were like to 
 fall; and of other Traverses of your Peregrination. Farewell, 
 my precious Stone, and believe it, the least grain of those 
 high respects you please to profess unto me is not lost, but 
 answer'd with so many Carates. So I rest — Your most 
 affectionate Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Wesim., 30 A^ov. 1635. 
 
 LXVII. 
 
 To J. J., Esq. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 IRECEIV'D those sparkles of Piety you pleas'd to send 
 me in a manuscript ; and whereas you favour me with a 
 desire of my opinion concerning the publishing of them. Sir, 
 I must confess that I found among them many most fervent 
 and flexanimous strains of devotion : I found some Prayers 
 so piercing and powerful, that they are able to invade 
 Heaven, and take it by violence, if the Heart doth its office 
 as well as the Tongue. But, Sir, you must give me leave 
 (and for this leave you shall have authority to deal with me 
 in such a case) to tell you, that whereas they consist only of 
 Requests, being all supplicatory Prayers, you should do well 
 to intersperse among them some eucharistical Ejaculations, 
 and Doxologies, some oblations of Thankfulness; we should 
 not be always whining in a puling petitionary way (which 
 is the Tone of the Time now in fashion) before the gates of 
 Heaven with our fingers in our eyes, but we should lay our 
 hands upon our hearts, and break into raptures of Joy and 
 Praise. A Soul thus elevated is the most pleasing sacrifice 
 that can be offer'd to God Almighty ; it is the best sort of 
 incense. Prayer causeth the first shower of rain, but Praise 
 brings down the second ; the one fructifieth the Earth, the 
 other makes the Hills to skip. All Prayers aim at our own 
 ends and interests, but Praise proceeds from the pure motions 
 of Love and Gratitude^ having no other object but the glory 
 
 of
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 493 
 
 of God. That soul which rightly dischargeth this part of 
 devotion may be said to do the duty of an Angel upon 
 earth. Among other Attributes of God, Prcescience, or 
 Foreknowledge, is one ; for he knows our thoughts, our 
 desires, our wants, long before we propound them. And 
 this is not only one of his Attributes, but Prerogative royal ; 
 therefore to use so many iterations, inculcatings, and tauto- 
 logies, as it is no good manners in moral Philosophy^ no 
 more is it in Divinity ; it argues a pusillanimous and mis- 
 trustful soul : Of the two, I had rather be over-Ions; in 
 Praise than Prayer, yet I would be careful it should be 
 free from any Pharisaical babbling. Prayer compar'd with 
 Praise, is but a fuliginous smoke issuing from the sense 
 of sin and human infirmities: Praises are the true clear 
 sparkles of Piety, and sooner fly upwards. 
 
 Thus have I been free with you in delivering my opinion 
 touching tiiat piece of Devotion you sent me, vvhereunto I 
 add my humble Thanks to you for the perusal of it; so I 
 am — Your most ready to be commanded, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 8 Sept 1645. 
 
 LXVIII. 
 
 To Capt. William Bridges, in Amsterdam. 
 
 My noble Captain, 
 
 I HAD yours of the tenth current ; and besides your 
 Avisos, I must thank you for those rich flourishes 
 wherewith your Letter was embroider'd everywhere. The 
 news under this clime is, that they have mutinied lately 
 in divers places about the Excise, a Bird that was first 
 hatch'd there amongst you ; here in London the Tumult 
 came to that height, that they burnt down to the ground 
 the Excise-House in Sinitlijield, but now all is quiet again. 
 God grant our Excise here have not the same fortune as 
 yours there, to become perpetual ; or as that new Gabell of 
 Orleans, which began in the time of the League, which 
 continueth to this dav, notwithstanding: the Cause ccas'd 
 
 about
 
 494 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 about threescore years since. Touching this, I remember 
 a pleasant tale that is recorded of Henry the Great, who 
 some years after Peace was established thro'out all the 
 whole Body of France, going to his own Town of Orleans, 
 the Citizens petition'd him that His Majesty would be 
 pleased to abolish that new Tax. The King ask'd who 
 had impos'd it upon them ; they answer'd Mons. de la 
 Chatre (during the Civil Wars of the League), who was 
 now dead ; the King reply'd, Mons. de la Chatre vous a ligue, 
 qiCil vous desligue ; Mons. de la Chatre leagued you, let him 
 then unleague you for my part. Now that we have a kind 
 of Peace, the Gaols are full of Soldiers, and some Gentle- 
 men's Sons of Quality suffer daily. The last week Judge 
 Rives condemn'd four in your Country at Maidstone Assizes ; 
 but he went out of the world before them, tho' they were 
 executed four days after. You know the saying in France, 
 that La guerre fait les latrons, ^ la paix les amene an gilet : 
 War makes Thieves, and Peace brings them to the Gallows. 
 I lie still here in Umbo, in Umbo innocentium, tho' not in 
 limbo infantum; and I know not upon what Star to cast 
 this misfortune. Others are here for their good conditions, 
 but I am here for my good qualities, as your Cousin 
 Fortescue jeer'd me not long since : I know none I have, 
 unless it be to love you, which I would continue to do, 
 tho' I tugg'd at an Oar in a Galley, much more as I walk 
 in the Galleries of this Fleet. In this resolution I rest — 
 Your most affectionate Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 2 Sept. 1645. 
 
 LXIX. 
 
 To Mr. W. B., at Grundesburgh. 
 
 Gentle Sir, 
 
 YOURS of the seventh I receiv'd yesternight, and read 
 o'er with no vulgar delight : In the perusal of it 
 methought to have discern'd a gentle strife 'twixt the fair 
 respects you pleas'd to shew me therein, and your ingenuity 
 
 in
 
 Book 11. Familiar Letters. 495 
 
 in expressing them, which should have superiority; so that 
 I knew not to which of the two I should adjudge the Palm. 
 
 If you continue to wrap up our young acquaintance, 
 which you say is but yet in fasciis, in such warm choice 
 swadlings, it will quickly grow up to maturity ; and for 
 my part I shall not be wanting to contribute that reciprocal 
 nourishment which is due from me. 
 
 Whereas you please to magnify some Pieces of mine, and 
 that you seem to spy the Muses perching upon my Trees, 
 I fear 'tis but deceptio vlsus ; for they are but Satyrs, or 
 haply some of the homelier sort of VVood-Nymphs, the 
 Muses have choicer walks for their recreation. 
 
 Sir, I must thank you for the visit you vouchsafed me in 
 this simple Cell ; and whereas you please to call it the 
 Cabinet that holds the Jewel of our times, you may rather 
 term it a wicker Casket that keeps a jet Ring, or a horn 
 Lanthorn that holds a small Taper of coarse Wax. I hope 
 this Taper shall not extinguish here ; and if it may afford 
 you any light, either from hence or hereafter, I should be 
 glad to impart it in a plentiful proportion, because I am. 
 Sir — Your most affectionate Friend to serve you, J. H. 
 
 jFkef, \ July. 
 
 LXX. 
 
 To I. W. of Grays-Inn, 'Esq. 
 Sir, 
 
 I WAS yours before in a high degree of Affection, but 
 now I am much more yours, since I perus'd that 
 parcel of choice Epistles you sent me ; they discover in you 
 a knowing and a candid clear soul: For Familiar Letters 
 are the Keys of the Mind, they open all the Boxes of one's 
 Breast, all the cells of the Brain, and truly set forth the 
 inward Man ; nor can the Pencil so lively represent the Face, 
 as the Pen can do the Fancy. I much thank you that 
 you would please to impart them to — Your most faithful 
 Servitor, J. H. 
 
 jF/eef, I Aj>r. 1645. 
 
 LXXI.
 
 49^ Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 Lxxr. 
 
 To Capt. T. P.,/;-om Madrid. 
 
 Capt. Don Tomas, 
 
 COULD I write my Love unto you with a Ray of the 
 Sim, as once Aurelius the Roman Emperor wish'd to 
 a friend of his, you know this clear Horizon of Spain could 
 afford me plenty, which cannot be had so constantly all the 
 seasons of the year in your cloudy clime of England. Apollo 
 with you makes not himself so common, he keeps more 
 State, and doth not show his face and shoot his beams so 
 frequently as he doth here, where 'tis Sunday all the year. 
 I thank you a thousand times for what you sent by Mr. 
 Gresley, and that you let me know how the pulse of the 
 Times beats with you. I find you cast not your eyes so 
 much southward as you were us'd to do towards us here; 
 and when you look this way, you cast a cloudy countenance, 
 with threatning looks: Which makes me apprehend some 
 fear that it will not be safe for me to be longer under this 
 Meridian. Before I part, I will be careful to send you those 
 things you write for, by some of my Lord Ambassador 
 Asto7i's Gentlemen. I cannot yet get that Grammar which 
 was made for the Constable of Castile, who you know was 
 born dumb; wherein an Art is invented to speak with 
 hands only, to carry the Alphabet upon one's joints, and at 
 his fingers' ends : Which may be learn'd without any great 
 difficulty by any mean capacity, and whereby one may dis- 
 course and deliver the conceptions of his mind without ever 
 wagging of his tongue, provided there be a reciprocal know- 
 ledge and co-understanding of the art 'twixt the parties; 
 and it is a very ingenious piece of invention. I thank you 
 for the copy of Verses you sent me, glancing upon the Times : 
 I was lately perusing some of the Spanish Poets here, and 
 lighted upon two Epigrams, or Epitaphs more properly, upon 
 our Henry VIII., and upon his Daughter Q. Elizabeth; 
 which in requital I thought worth the sending you. 
 
 A
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 497 
 
 A Henrique octavo, Rey de Ingalaticrra. 
 
 Mas de esta losa fria 
 
 Cubre, Henrique, tii valor, 
 De una Muger cl amor, 
 Y de un Error la porfia ; 
 
 Co mo cupo en ki grandeza, 
 Dezidme enganado Ingles, 
 Querer ima muger a los pies, 
 Ser de la yglesia cabesa ? 
 
 Pros'd thus in English, for I had no time to put it on 
 feet : 
 
 O Henry, more than this cold Pavement covers thy vv^orth, 
 the love of a Woman and pertinacy of Error; how could it 
 subsist with thy Greatness, tell me, O cozen'd Englishman, 
 to cast thyself at a Woman's feet, and yet to be Head of the 
 Church? That upon Q. Elizabeth was this: 
 
 De Isabela, Reyna de Ingalatierra. 
 
 Aqui yaze Icsabel, 
 
 Aquila nueva Athalia, 
 Del era Antartico Harpia, 
 Del mar incendio cruel : 
 
 Aqui el ingenio, mas dino 
 
 De loor que ha tenido el suelo, 
 
 Si para llcgar el del o 
 
 No huuiera errado el camino. 
 
 Here lies Jezahel, here lies the new Athalia, the Harpy of 
 the Western Gold, the cruel Firebrand of the Sea : Here lies 
 a Wit the most worthy of fame which the Earth had, if to 
 arrive to Heaven she had not mist her way. 
 
 You cannot blame the Spaniard to be satyrical against 
 O. Elizabeth; for he never speaks of her, but he fetcheth 
 a shrink in the shoulder. Since I have begun, I will go on 
 with as witty an Anagram as I have heard or read, which 
 a Gentleman lately made upon his own name Toynas, and a 
 
 2 I Nun
 
 498 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 Nun called Maria, for she was his devota: The occasion 
 was, that going one evening to discourse with her at the 
 srate, he wrung- her bv the hand, and ioin'd both their 
 names in this Anagram, To Maria mas, I would take more : 
 I know I shall not need to expound it to you. Hereunto I 
 will add a strong and deep-fetch'd character, as I think you 
 will confess when you have read it, that one made in this 
 Court of a Courtesan : 
 
 Eres puta tan artera 
 
 Qu'en el vientre de tu madre, 
 
 Tu tuuistes de manera 
 Que te cavalgue el padre. 
 
 To this I will join that which was made of de Vaca, hus- 
 band to Jusepe de Vaca, the famous Comedian, who came 
 upon the Stage with a cloke lin'd with black plush, and a 
 great Chain about his neck ; whereupon the Duke of Medina 
 broke into these witty lines : 
 
 Con tant felpa en la Capa 
 
 Y ta7ita cadena de oro, 
 El viarido de la Vaca 
 
 Que pucde ser sino toro. 
 
 The conclusion of this rambling Letter shall be a Rhyme 
 of certain hard throaty words which I was taught lately, and 
 they are accounted the difficultest in all the whole Castilian 
 Language ; insomuch that he who is able to pronounce 
 them is accounted Buen Romancista, a good speaker of 
 Spanish : Aheja y oueja y piedra que raheia, pendola tras 
 oreja, y lugar en la ygreia, dessea a su hijo la vieja : A Bee 
 and a Sheep, a Mill, a Jewel in the Ear, and a place in 
 the Church, the old Woman desires her Son. No more 
 now, but that I am, and will ever be, my noble Captain, in 
 the front of — Your most affectionate Servitors, J. H. 
 
 Madrid, i Aug. 1622. 
 
 LXXII.
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 499 
 
 LXXII. 
 
 To Sir Tho. Luke, Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 HAD you traversed all the world over, 'specially those 
 large Continents and Christian Countries which you 
 have so exactly surveyed, and whence you have brought over 
 with you such useful Observations and Languages, you could 
 not have liejhted upon a choicer piece of Woman-kind for 
 your Wife ; the Earth could not have afforded a Lady, that 
 by her discretion and sweetness could better quadrate with 
 your dispositions. As I heartily congratulate your happi- 
 ness in this particular, so I would desire you to know, that 
 I did no ill offices towards the advancement of the work, 
 upon occasion of some discourse with my Lord George of 
 Jutland not Ions; before at Hamhledon. 
 
 My thoughts are now puzzled about my voyage to the 
 Baltic Sea upon the King's service, otherwise I would have 
 ventur'd upon an Epithalamium; for there is matter rich 
 enough to work upon: And now that you had made an 
 end oi wooing, I could wish you had made an end of wrang- 
 ling, I mean of lawing, 'specially with your Mother, who 
 hath such resolution where she once takes. Law is not 
 only a pick-purse, but a Purgatory; you know the saying 
 they have in France, Les plaideurs sont les oyseaux, le palais 
 le Champ, les J ages les rets, les Jldvocats les Rats, les pro- 
 cureurs les souris del estat : The poor Clients are the Birds, 
 Westminster-hall the Field, the Judge the Net, the Lawyers 
 the Rats, the Attornies the Mice of the Commonwealth. 
 I believe this saying was spoken by an angry Client; for 
 my part, I like his resolution who said he would never 
 use Lawyer nor Physician but upon urgent necessity. I 
 will conclude with this rhyme: 
 
 Pouvre playdcur, 
 
 J\iy gran piiie de ia doletir. 
 
 Your most afl'ectionate Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Westni., I May 1629. 
 
 LXXIIf.
 
 500 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 LXXIII. 
 
 To Mr. R. K. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 YOU and I are upon a journey, tho' bound for several 
 places, I for Hamburgh, you for your last home, as I 
 understand by Dr. Baskervil, who tells me, much to my 
 grief, that this hectical disease will not suffer you to be long 
 among us. I know by some experiments which I have had 
 of you, you have such a noble Soul within you, that will 
 not be daunted by those natural apprehensions which Death 
 doth usually carry along with it among vulgar spirits. I do 
 not think that you fear Death as much now, tho' it be to 
 some {(^o^epSiv (f^o^epcorarov), as you did to go into the dark 
 when you were a child ; you have had a fair time to prepare 
 yourself. God give you a boon voyage to the Haven you are 
 bound for (which I doubt not will be Heaven), and me the 
 grace to follow, when I have pass'd the boisterous Sea and 
 swelling Billows of this tumultuary Life, wherein I have 
 already shot divers dangerous gulfs, pass'd o'er some quick- 
 sands, rocks, and sundry ill-favour'd reaches, while others 
 sail in the sleeve of fortune. You and I have eaten a great 
 deal of salt together, and spent much oil in the communica- 
 tion of our studies by literal correspondence, and otherwise, 
 both in verse and prose; therefore I will take my last leave 
 of you now in these few stanzas : 
 
 1. Weak crazy Mortal, why dost fear 
 To leave this earthly Hemisphere ? 
 Where all delights away do pass, 
 Like thy effigies i?i a Glass. 
 
 Each thing betieath the Moon is frail and fickle, 
 Death sweeps away what Time cuts ivith his Sickle 
 
 2. This Life at best is hit an Lnn, 
 And we the Passengers, wherein 
 The cloth is laid to some before 
 They peep out of dame Nature's door, 
 
 And
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 501 
 
 And warm Lodgings left : Others there are, 
 Must trudge to fi^id a Room, and shift for Fare. 
 
 3. This Life's at lofigest but one Day ; 
 He who in Youth posts hence away. 
 Leaves us i' th' Morn .• LLe who hath run 
 His race till Manhood, parts at Noon : 
 
 And who at seventy odd forsakes this Light, 
 He may be said to take his have at Night. 
 
 4. One past makes up the Fri?zce and Feasafit, 
 Thd' one cat Roots, the other Fheasant, 
 They nothing differ in the stuff, 
 
 But both extifiguish like a snuff: 
 Why then, fond Alan, should it thy Soul dismay. 
 To sally out of these gross walls of clay ? 
 
 And now^ my dear Friend, adieu, and live eternally in 
 that world of endless Bliss, where you shall have knowledge 
 as well as all things else commensurate to your desires, 
 where you shall clearly see the real Causes, and perfect 
 Truth of what we argue with that incertitude, and beat 
 our brains about here below : Yet tho' you be gone hence, 
 you shall never die in the memory of — Your J. H. 
 
 Westm., 15 Aug. 1630. 
 
 LXXIV. 
 
 To Sir R. Gr., Knight and Bar. 
 Noble Sir, 
 
 I HAD yours upon Maundy-Thursday late; and the 
 reason that suspended my Answer till now was, that 
 the season engaged me to sequester my thoughts from 
 mv wonted negotiations, to contemplate the great work of 
 Man's Redemption, so great, that were it cast in counter- 
 balance with his Creation, it would out-poyze it : For I 
 summon'd all my intellectuals to meditate upon those 
 Passions, upon those Pangs, upon that despicable and most 
 dolorous Death, upon that Cross whereon my Saviour 
 suffer'd, which was the first Christian Altar that ever was; 
 
 and
 
 502 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 and I doubt that he will never have benefit of the Sacrifice, 
 who hates the harmless remembrance of the Altar whereon 
 it was offer'd. I applied my Memory to fasten upon't, 
 my Understanding to comprehend it, my Will to embrace 
 it. From these three Faculties, methought I found, by the 
 mediation of the Fancy, some beams of Love gently gliding 
 down from the head to the heart, and inflaming all my 
 Affections. If the human Soul had far more powers than 
 the Philosophers afford her, if she had as many Faculties 
 within the head as there be hairs without, the speculation 
 of this Mystery would find work enough for them all. 
 Truly the more I scrue up my spirits to reach it, the more 
 I am swallowed in a gulf of admiration, and of a thousand 
 imperfect notions ; which makes me ever and anon to 
 quarrel with my Soul that she cannot lay hold on her 
 Saviour, much more my Heart, that my purest Affections 
 cannot hug him as much as I would. 
 
 They have a custom beyond the Seas (and I could wish 
 it were the worst custom they had) that during the Passion- 
 week, divers of their greatest Princes and Ladies will betake 
 themselves to some Convent or reclus'd House, to wean 
 themselves from all worldly incumbrances, and converse 
 only with Heaven, with performance of some kind of 
 penances all the week long. A worthy Gentleman that 
 came lately from Italy told me that the Count of By7-on, 
 now Mareschal of France, having been long persecuted by 
 Cardinal Richelieu, put himself so into a Monastery, and 
 the next day news was brought him of the Cardinal's 
 death; which I believe made him spend the rest of the 
 week with the more devotion in that way. France brags 
 that our Saviour had his face turn'd towards her when he 
 was upon the Cross ; there is more cause to think that it 
 was towards this Island, in regard the Rays of Christianity 
 first reverberated upon her, her King being Christian 400 
 years before him of France (as all Historians concur), not- 
 withstanding that he arrogates to himself the title of the 
 first Son of the Church. 
 
 Let
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 503 
 
 Let this serve for part of my Apology. The day follow- 
 ing my Saviour being in the grave, I had no list to look 
 much abroad, but continued my retiredness : There was 
 another reason also why, because I intended to take the 
 holy Sacrament the Sunday ensuing ; which is an act of 
 the greatest consolation, and consequence, that possibly 
 a Christian can be capable of: It imports him so much, 
 that he is made or marr'd by it; it tends to his damnation 
 or salvation, to help him up to Heaven, or tumble him 
 down headlong to Hell, Therefore it behoves a Man to 
 prepare and recollect himself; to winnow his thoughts 
 from the chaff and tares of the world before-hand. This 
 then took up a good part of that day, to provide myself 
 a wedding-garment, that I might be a fit guest at so 
 precious a Banquet, so precious, that Manna and Angels' 
 food are but coarse viands in comparison of it. 
 
 I hope that this Excuse will be of such validity, that it 
 may procure my pardon for not corresponding with you 
 this last week. I am now as freely as formerly — Your 
 most ready and humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 30 Apr. 1647. 
 
 LXXV. 
 
 To Mr. R. Howard. 
 Sir, 
 
 THERE is a saying that carrleth with it a great deal of 
 caution ; From him whom I trust, God defend me ; 
 for from him whom I trust not, I will defend myself. There 
 be sundry sorts of trusts, but that of a secret is one of the 
 greatest: I trusted T. P. with a weighty one, conjuring him 
 that it should not take air and go abroad ; which was not 
 done according to the rules and religion of Friendship, but 
 it went out of him the very next day. Tho' the inconveni- 
 ence may be mine, yet the reproach is his; nor would I 
 exchange my Damage for his Disgrace. I would wish you 
 take heed of him, for he is such as the Comic Poet speaks 
 of, plenus rlmarum, he is full of Chinks, he can hold nothing : 
 
 You
 
 504 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 You know a secret is too much for one, too little for three, 
 and enough for two; but Tom must be none of those two, 
 unless there were a trick to sodder up his mouth : If he had 
 committed a secret to me, and enjoin'd me silence, and I 
 had promis'd it, tho' I had been shut up in Perillus^ brazen 
 Bull, I should not have bellowed it out. T find it now true. 
 That he who discovers his secrets to another, sells him his 
 Liberty, and becomes his Slave : Well, I shall be warier here- 
 after, and learn more wit. In the interim, the best satis- 
 faction I can give myself is to expunge him quite ex alho 
 amicorum, to raze him out of the catalogue of my Friends 
 (tho' I cannot of my Acquaintance), where your Name is 
 inserted in great golden Characters. I will endeavour to 
 lose the memory of him, and that my thoughts may never 
 run more upon the fashion of his face, which you know he 
 hath no cause to brag of; I hate such blateroons: 
 
 Odi illos ceu daustra Erebi 
 
 I thought good to give you this little mot of advice, be- 
 cause the Times are ticklish, of committing secrets to any, 
 tho' not to — Your most affectionate Friend to serve you, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 14 Feb. 1647. 
 
 LXXVI. 
 
 To my Honourahle Friend^ Mr. E. P., at Paris. 
 Sir, 
 
 LET me never sally hence from among these disconsolate 
 walls, if the literal correspondence you please to hold 
 so punctually with me be not one of the greatest solaces I 
 have had in this sad condition ; for I find so much salt, such 
 endearments and flourishes, such a gallantry and neatness 
 in your lines, that you may give the law of Lettering to all 
 the world. I had this week a Twin of yours, of the loth 
 and 15th current; I am sorry to hear of your achaqiies, and 
 so often indisposition there; it may be very well (as you 
 say) that the Air of that dirty Town doth not agree with 
 
 you.
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 505 
 
 you, because you speak Spanish, which Language you know 
 is us'd to be breath'd out under a clearer clime ; I am sure 
 it agrees not with the sweet breezes of Peace, for 'tis you 
 there that would keep poor Christendom in perpetual whirl- 
 winds of Wars ; but T fear, that while France sets all wheels 
 a-going, and stirs all the Cacod(smons of Hell to pull down 
 the House of Austria, she may chance at last to pull it upon 
 her own head. I am sorry to understand what they write 
 from Venice this week, that there is a discovery made in 
 Itahj, how France had a hand to bring in the Turk, to 
 invade the Territories of St. Mark, and puzzle the Peace 
 of Italy. I want faith to believe it yet, nor can I entertain 
 in my breast any such conceit of the most Christian King 
 and Jiist Soji of the Church, as he terms himself: Yet I 
 pray in your ^ext to pull this thorn out of my thoughts, 
 and tell me whether one may give any credit to this report. 
 We are now Scot-free, as touching the Northern Army; 
 for our dear Brethren have truss'd up their Baggage, and 
 put the Tweed 'twixt us and them once again : Dear indeed, 
 for they have cost us, first and last, above nineteen hundred 
 thousand pounds Sterling, which amounts to near eight 
 Millions of Crowns with you there. Yet if reports be true, 
 they left behind them more than they lost, if you go to 
 number of Men ; which will be a brave race of Mestizos 
 hereafter, who may chance meet their Fathers in the Field, 
 and kill them unwittingly ; he will be a wise Child that 
 knows his right Father. Here we are like to have four and 
 twenty Seas emptied shortly, and some do hope to find 
 abundance of Treasure in the bottom of them, as no doubt 
 they will ; but many doubt that it will prove but aurum 
 Tolosanuin to the finders. God grant that from Aereans 
 we turn not to be Arians: The Earl of Strafford was ac- 
 counted by his very Enemies to have an extraordinary 
 Talent of judgment and parts (tho' they say he wanted 
 moderation), and one of the prime Precepts he left his Son 
 upon the Scaffold was, that he should not meddle ivith 
 Church-lands, for they would prove a Canker to his Estate. 
 
 Here
 
 5o6 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 Here are started up some great knowing Men lately, that 
 can shew the very track by which our Saviour went to 
 Hell ; they will tell you precisely whose Names are written 
 in the Book of Life, whose not. God deliver us from 
 spiritual Pride, which of all sorts is the most dangerous. 
 Here are also notable Star-gazers, who obtrude on the 
 world such confident bold Predictions, and are so familiar 
 with heavenly Bodies, that Ptolemy and Tijcho Brake were 
 Ninnies to them. We have likewise multitudes of Witches 
 among us, for in Essex and Suffolk there were above two 
 hundred indicted within these two years, and above the one 
 half of them executed : More, I may well say, than ever 
 this Island bred since the Creation, I speak it with horror. 
 God guard us from the Devil, for I think he was never so 
 busy upon any part of the Earth that was enlightned with 
 the beams of Christianity ; nor do I wonder at it, for there's 
 never a Cross left to fright him away. Edinburgh, I hear, 
 is fallen into a relapse of the Plague ; the last they had 
 rag'd so violently, that the fortieth Man or Woman lives 
 not of those that dwelt there four years since, but it is all 
 peopled with new faces. DoJi and Hans, I hear, are abso- 
 lutely accorded ; nor do I believe that all the Artificers of 
 Policy that you use there can hinder the Peace, tho' they 
 may puzzle it for a while : If it be so, the People which 
 button their doublets upward will be better able to deal 
 with you there. 
 
 Much notice is taken that you go on there too fast in 
 your Acquests ; and now that the Eagle's wings are pretty 
 well clipp'd, 'tis time to look that your Flower-de-luce grow 
 not too rank, and spread too wide. Whereas you desire to 
 know how it fares with your Master, I must tell you, that, 
 like the glorious Sun, he is still in his own Orb, tho' 
 clouded for a time that he cannot shew the beams of Majesty 
 with that lustre he was wont to do : Never did Cavalier 
 woo fair Lady as he woos the Parliament to a Peace ; 'tis 
 much the Head should so stoop to tho. Members. 
 
 Farewell, my noble Friend, cheer up, and reserve yourself 
 
 for
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 507 
 
 for better days ; take our royal Master for your Pattern, 
 who for his longanimity, patience, courage, and constancy 
 is admir'd of all the world, and in a passive way of forti- 
 tude hath out-gone all the nine Worthies. If the Cedar 
 be so weather-beaten, we poor Shruhs must not murmur 
 to bear part of the storm. I have had my share, and I 
 know you want not yours : The Stars may change their 
 Aspects, and we may live to see the Sun again in his full 
 Meridian. In the interim come what will, I am — Entirely 
 yours, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 3 Feb. 1646. 
 
 LXXVII. 
 
 ♦ To Sir K. D., at Rome. 
 Sir, 
 
 THO' you know well that in the carriage and course of 
 my rambling life I had occasion to be, as the Dutch- 
 man saith, a Landloper, and to see much of the world abroad, 
 vet methinks I have travell'd more since I have been immur'd 
 and martyr'd 'twixt these walls than ever I did before; for 
 I have travell'd the Isle of Man, I mean this little World, 
 which I have carried about me and within me so many 
 years: For as the wisest of Pagan Philosophers said, that 
 the greatest Learning was the knowledge of one's self, to 
 be his own Geometrician ; if one do so, he need not gad 
 abroad to see Fashions, he shall find enough at home, he 
 shall hourly meet with new fancies, new humours, new 
 passions within doors. 
 
 This travelling o'er of one's self is one of the paths that 
 leads a Man to Paradise : It is true, that 'tis a dirty and 
 dangerous one, for it is thick set with extravagant Desires, 
 irregular Aifections, and Concupiscences, which are but 
 odd Comrades, and oftentimes do lie in Ambush to cut our 
 Throats: There are also some melancholy companions in 
 the way, v/hich are our Thoughts, but they turn many 
 times to be good Fellows, and the best company; which 
 
 makes
 
 5o8 Familiar Letters. Book II. 
 
 makes me, that among these disconsolate walls I am never 
 less alone than when I am alone ; I am oft-times sole, 
 but seldom solitary. Some there are who are over-pestered 
 with these companions, and have too much mind for their 
 bodies; but I am none of those. 
 
 There have been (since you shook Hands with 'England) 
 many strange Things happen'd here, which Posterity must 
 have a strong Faith to believe ; but for my part, I wonder 
 not at anything, I have seen such monstrous Things. You 
 know there is nothing that can be casual, there is no success, 
 good or bad, but is contingent to Man sometimes or other ; 
 nor are there any Contingencies, present or future, but 
 they have their parallels from time past : For the great 
 Wheel of Fortune, upon whose Rim (as the twelve Signs 
 upon the Zodiack) all worldly Chances are emboss'd, turns 
 round perpetually; and the Spokes of that Wheel, which 
 point at all human Actions, return exactly to the same place 
 after such a time of Revolution : Which makes me little 
 marvel at any of the strange Traverses of these distracted 
 Times, in regard there hath been the like, or such like 
 formerly. If the Liturgy is now suppress'd, the Missal and 
 the Roman Breviary was us'd so a hundred years since : 
 If Crosses, Churches, Or nans, and Fonts are now battered 
 down, I little wonder at it; for Chapels, Monasteries, Hermi- 
 taries, Nunneries, and other religious Houses were us'd so in 
 the time of old King Henry : If Bishops and Deans are now 
 in danger to be demolished, I little wonder at it, for Abbots, 
 Priors, and the Pope himself had that fortune here, an age 
 since. That our King is reduc'd to this pass, I do not 
 wonder much at it; for the first time I travell'd France, 
 Lewis XIII. (afterwards a most triumphant King as ever 
 that Country had) in a dangerous civil War was brought 
 to such straits ; for he was brought to dispense with part 
 of his Coronation Oath, to remove from his Court of Justice, 
 from the Council-Table, from his very Bed-chamber, his 
 greatest Favourites : He was driven to be content to pay 
 the Expense of the War, to reward those that took Arms 
 
 against
 
 Book II. Familiar Letters. 509 
 
 against him, and publish a Declaration that the ground of 
 their quarrel was good; which was the same in effect with 
 ours, VIZ., a discontinuance of the Assembly of the three 
 Estates, and that Spanish Counsels did predominate in 
 France. 
 
 You know better than I, that all Events, good or bad, 
 come from the all-disposing high Deity of Heaven : If good, 
 he prodiiceth them; if had, he permits them. He is the 
 Pilot that sits at the stern, and steers the great Vessel of the 
 World ; and we must not presume to direct him in his 
 course, for he understands the use of the Compass better 
 than we. He commands also the Winds and the Weather, 
 and after a storm he never fails to send us a calm, and to 
 recompense iH Times with better, if we can live to see them ; 
 which I pray you may do, whatsoever becomes of — Your 
 still most faithful humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 3 Mar. 1646. 
 
 Lxxvni. 
 
 To Sir K. D., at his House in St. Martin's Lane. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 THAT Poem which you pleased to approve of so highly 
 in Manuscript is now manumitted, and made free 
 denizen of the World : It hath gone from my Study to the 
 Stall, from the Pen to the Press, and I send one of the 
 maiden Copies herewith to attend you. 'Twas your Judg- 
 ment, which all the world holds to be sound and sterling, 
 induced me hereunto ; therefore, if there be any, you are 
 to bear your part in the blame. — Your most entirely devoted 
 Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Holborn, s/i?^/. 1641. 
 
 Advertisement
 
 Advertisement to the First Edition of this Book. 
 
 /I MONG other Reasons zvhich make the English Language of 
 -^'^ so small extent^ and put strangers out of conceit to learn it, 
 ofte is, That we do not pronounce as ive write ; which proceeds frofn 
 divers superfluous Letters that occur in many of our Words, which 
 adds to the difficulty of the Language. Therefore the Author hath 
 taken pains to retretich such redimdant unnecessary Letters in this 
 Work (thd the Printer hath not been so careful as he should have 
 been) as among fmdtitudes of other words may appear in these few, 
 done, some, come : Which thd we, to whom the speech is con- 
 natural, pronounce as monosyllables, yet when strangers come to 
 read them, they are apt to make them dissyllables, as do-ne, so-me, 
 co-me : therefore such an o, is superfluous. 
 
 Moreover, those words that have the 'Latin for their original, the 
 Author prefers that Orthography rather than the French, whereby 
 divers letters are spar'd, as Physic, Logic, Afric, 7iot Physique, 
 Logique, Afrique ; Favor, Honor, Labor, not Favour, Honour, 
 Labour, and very many more; as also he omits the Dutch k in 
 most words : Here you shall read peeple, not pe-ople, tresure, 7iot 
 treasure, toung, not tongue, 6^r. Parlement, 7iot Parhament, 
 busines, witnes, sicknes, fiot business, witness, sickness ; star, war, 
 far, not starre, warre, farre, and multitiidcs of such words, whereijt 
 the tivo last Letters may tvell be spar'd. LLere you shall also read 
 pity, piety, witty, not piti-e, pieti-e, witti-e, as strafigers at first sight 
 pronounce them, and abundance of sucJi like words. 
 
 The new Academy of Wits call'd I'Academie de beaux esprit?, 
 which the late Cardinal 'BSchYi&M fotmded in Paris, is now in hand 
 to reform the French Language in this particular, and to weed it 
 of all superfluous Letters ; which makes the Tongue differ so much 
 from the Pen, that they have expos' d themselves to this contumelious 
 Proverb, The Pre?ichman doth neither pronounce as he writes, 
 nor speak as he thinks, nor sing as he pricks. 
 
 Aristotle hath a topic Axiom, that Frustra fit per plura, quod 
 fieri potest per pauciora : When fewer may serve the turn, more 
 is in vain. And as this rule holds in all things else, so it may be 
 very well obset-Jd in Orthography. 
 
 Familiar
 
 Familiar Letters, 
 
 Of a fresher Date. 
 BOOK I 11. 
 
 I. 
 
 To the Rt. Hon. Edward E. o/" Dorset (Lord Chamherla'm 
 of His Majestifs Household, &c.), at Knowles. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 'AVING so advanta2:eous a hand as 
 Doctor S. Turner, I am bold to send 
 your Lordship a new Tract of French 
 Philosophy, call'd U usage de Passions, 
 which is cried up to be a choice 
 piece. It is a moral Discourse of the 
 right use of the Passions, the Conduct 
 whereof, as it is the principal Em- 
 ployment of Virtue, so the Conquest 
 of them is the difficultest part of Valour: To know one's 
 self is much, but to conquer one's self is more. We need 
 not pick quarrels and seek enemies without doors, we have 
 too many Inmates at home to exercise our Prowess upon ; 
 and there is no Man, let him have his humours never so well 
 balanc'd, and in subjection to him, but like i\///^coi;/a Wives, 
 they will oftentimes insult, unless they be check'd : Yet we 
 should make them our Servants, not our Slaves. Touchino; 
 
 the
 
 512 Familiar Letters. Book III. 
 
 the occurrences of the Times^ since the King was snatch'd 
 away from the Parliament ; the Army, they say, use him 
 with more civility and freedom ; but for the main work of 
 restoring him, he is yet, as one may say, but tantalized, 
 being brought often within the sight of London, and so off 
 again. There are hopes that something will be done to his 
 advantage speedily ; because the Gregarian Soldiers and gross 
 of the Army is well affected to him, tho' some of the chiefest 
 Commanders be still averse. 
 
 For foreign News, they say St. Mai'k bears up stoutly 
 against Mahomet both by Land and Sea : In Dalmatia he 
 hath of late shaken him by the Turban ill-fa vouredly : I could 
 heartily wish that our Army here were there to help the 
 Republic, and combat the common Enemy, for then one 
 might be sure to die in the bed of Honour. The commotions 
 in Sicily are quash'd, but those of Naples increase ; and 'tis 
 like to be a more raging and voracious fire than Fesuvius, or 
 any of the sulphureous Mountains about her did ever belch 
 out. The Catalan and Portuguez bait the Spaniard on both 
 sides, but the first hath shrewder teeth than the other ; and 
 the French and Hollander find him work in Fla?iders. And 
 now, my Lord, to take all Nations in a lump, I think God 
 Almighty hath a quarrel lately with all Mankind, and given 
 the reins to the ill Spirit to compass the whole earth ; for 
 within these twelve years there have the strangest Revolu- 
 tions and horridest Things happen'd not only in Europe, 
 but all the World over, that have befallen mankind, I dare 
 boldly say, since Adam fell, in so short a revolution of time. 
 There is a kind of popular Planet reigns everywhere : I will 
 begin with the hottest parts, with Afric, where the Emperor 
 of Ethiopia (with two of his Sons) was encounter'd and kilPd 
 in open field by the Groom of his Camels and Dromedaries, 
 who have levied an Army out of the dregs of the People 
 against him, and is like to hold that ancient Empire. In 
 Asia the Tartar broke o'er the four-hundred-mil'd Wall, and 
 rush'd into the heart of China, as far as Quinzay, and be- 
 leager'd the very Palace of the Emperor, who rather than 
 
 become
 
 Book III. Familiar Letters. 513 
 
 become Captive to the base Tartar burnt his Castle, and did 
 make away himself, bis thirty Wives and Children. The 
 great Turk hath been lately strangled in the Seraglio, his 
 own house. The Emperor of Muscovia going in a solemn 
 Procession upon the Sabbath-day, the Rabble broke in, 
 knock'd down and cut in pieces divers of his chiefest Coun- 
 sellors, Favourites, and Officers before his face; and dragging 
 their bodies to the Market-place, their heads were chopp'd 
 off, thrown into Vessels of hot Water, and so set upon Poles 
 to burn more bright before the Court-gate. In Naples a 
 common Fruiterer had raised such an Insurrection, that 
 they say above sixty Men have been slain already upon the 
 streets of that City alone. Catalonia and Portugal have quite 
 revolted from Spain. Your Lordship knows what knocks 
 have been 'twixt the Pope and Parma : The Pole and the 
 Cossacks are hard at it, Fenice wrestleth with the Turk, and 
 is like to lose her Maidenhead to him, unless other Chris- 
 tian PrincesTook to it in time. And touching these three 
 Kingdoms, there's none more capable than your Lordshij) 
 to judge what monstrous Things have happen'd ; so that it 
 seems the whole Earth is off the hinges : And (which is the 
 more wonderful) all these prodigious passages have fallen out 
 in less than the compass of twelve years. But now that all 
 the World is together by the ears, the States of Holland 
 would be quiet : For Advice is come that the Peace is con- 
 cluded, and interchangeably ratify 'd 'twixt them and Spain; 
 but they defer the publishing of it yet, till they have collected 
 all the Contribution-money for the Army. The Spaniard 
 hopes that one day this Peace may tend to his Advantage 
 more than all his Wars have done these fourscore years, 
 relying upon the old Prophecy, 
 
 Martc triumphabis, Batavia, Pace pet-ibis. 
 
 The King of Denmark hath buried latelv his eldest Son 
 Christian, so that he hath now but one living, viz., Frederick, 
 who is Archbishop of Bremc, and is shortly to be King 
 Elect. 
 
 2 K My
 
 514 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book III. 
 
 My Lord, this Letter runs upon Universals, because I 
 know your Lordship hath a pubHck great Soul and a 
 spacious Understanding, which comprehends the whole 
 World: So in a due posture of humility I kiss your hands, 
 being, my Lord — Your most obedient and most faithful 
 Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 20 Jan. 1646. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 n. 
 
 To Mr. En. P., at Paris. 
 
 SINCE we both agreed to truck Intelligence, and that 
 you are contented to barter French for English, I 
 shall be careful to send you hence from time to time the 
 currentest and most staple stuff I can find, with weight and 
 good measure to boot. I know in that more subtile Air of 
 yours Tinsel sometimes passes for Tissue, Venice Beads for 
 Pearl, and Demicasters for Bevers: But I know you have so 
 discerning a judgment, that you will not suffer yourself to 
 be so cheated ; they must rise betimes that can put Tricks 
 upon you, and make you take semblances for realities, pro- 
 babilities for certainties, or spurious for true things. To 
 hold this literal correspondence, I desire but the parings of 
 your time, that you may have something to do, when you 
 have nothing else to do, while I make a business of it to 
 be punctual in my answers to you. Let our Letters be as 
 Echoes, let them bound back and make mutual repercus- 
 sions ; I know you that breathe upon the Continent have 
 clearer Echoes there ; witness that in the Tuilleries, specially 
 that at Charenton Bridge, which quavers, and renders the 
 voice ten times when 'tis open weather, and it were a vir- 
 tuous curiosity to try it. 
 
 For news, the world is here turn'd upside down, and it 
 hath been long a-going so : You know a good while since 
 we have had leather Caps and bever Shoos; but now the 
 Arms are come to be Legs, for Bishops' Lawn-sleeves are 
 worn for Boot-house tops; the Waist is come to the Knee, 
 
 for
 
 Book III. Familiar Letters. 515 
 
 for the Points that were used to be about the middle are 
 now dansrlino; there. Boots and Shoos are so long-snouted, 
 that one can hardly kneel in God's House, where all Genu- 
 flection and Postures of devotion and decency are quite out 
 of use : The Devil may walk freely up and down the streets 
 of Londoji now, for there is not a Cross to fright him any- 
 where ; and it seems he was never so busy in any Country 
 upon earth, for there have been more Witches arraign'd and 
 executed here, lately, than ever were in this Island since the 
 Creation, 
 
 I have no more to communicate to you at this time, and 
 this is too much unless jt were better. God Almighty send 
 us patience, you in your Banishment, me in my Captivity, 
 and give us Heaven for our last Country, where Desires 
 turn to Fruition, Doubts to Certitudes, and dark Thoughts 
 to clear Contemplations. Truly, my dear Don Antonio, as 
 the times are, I take little contentment to live among the 
 Elements, and (were it my Maker's pleasure) I could will- 
 ingly, had I quit scores with the World, make my last 
 account with Nature, and return this small skin full of 
 Bones to mv common Mother. If I chance to do so before 
 you, I love you so entirely well that my Spirit shall visit 
 you, to bring you some tidings from the other World; and 
 if you precede me, I shall expect the like from you, which 
 you may do without aff'righting me, for I know your Spirit 
 will be a bonus Genius. So, desiring to know what's become 
 of my Manuscript, I kiss your hands, and rest most pas- 
 sionately — Your most faithful Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 20 Feb. 1646. 
 
 III. 
 
 To Master W. B. 
 Sir, 
 
 I HAD yours of the last week, and by reason of some 
 sudden encumbrances I could not correspond with you 
 by that Carrier. As for your desire to know the Pedigree 
 and first Rise of those we call Presl'i/terians, I find that your 
 
 motion
 
 5i6 Familiar Letters. Book III. 
 
 motion hath as much of Piety as Curiosity in it; but I must 
 tell you 'tis a Subject fitter for a Treatise than a Letter, yet 
 I will endeavour to satisfy you in some part. 
 
 Touching the word IIpea^vTepo<i, it is as ancient as 
 Christianity itself; and every Churchman compleated in holy 
 Orders was called Presbyter, as being the chiefest name of 
 the Function ; and so 'tis us'd in all Churches both Eastern 
 and Occidental to this day. We by contraction call him 
 Priest, so that all Bishops and Archbishops are Priests, tho' 
 not vice versa. These holy Titles of Bishop and Priest are 
 now grown odious among such poor Sciolists, who scarce 
 know the Hotie's of things, because they savor of Antiquity ; 
 tho' their Minister that officiates in their Church be the same 
 thing as Priest, and their Superintendent the same thing as 
 Bishop: But because they are lovers of novelties, they change 
 old Greek words for new Latin ones. The first broacher of 
 the Presbyterian Religion, and who made it differ from that 
 of Rome and Lutlier, was Calviji; who being once banish'd 
 Geneva, was revok'd, at which time he no less petulantly 
 than profanely apply'd to himself that Text of the holy 
 Prophet which was meant of Christ, The Stone ivhich the 
 Builders refused, is made the head-stone of the Corner, &c. 
 Thus Geneva Lake swallow'd up the Episcopal Sea, and 
 Church-Lands were made secular, which was the white they 
 levell'd at. This Geneva Bird fievv thence to France, and 
 hatch'd the Huguenots, which make about the tenth part of 
 that People : It took wing also to Bohemia and Germany 
 high and low, as the Palatinate, the Land of Hesse, and the 
 Confederate Provinces of the States of Holland, whence it 
 took flio-ht to Scotland and England. It took first footinjr 
 in Scotland when K. James was a child in his Cradle; but 
 when he came to understand himself, and was manumitted 
 from Buchanan, he grew cold in it ; and being come to 
 England, he utterly disclaimed it, terming it, in a public 
 Speech of his to the Parliament, a Sect rather than a Reli- 
 gion. To this Sect may be imputed all the Scissures that 
 have happen'd in Christianity, with most of the Wars that 
 
 have
 
 Book III. Familiar Letters. 517 
 
 have lacerated poor Europe ever since ; and it may be called 
 the Source of the civil Distractions that now afflict this poor 
 Island. 
 
 Thus have I endeavour'd to fulfil your desires in part; 
 I shall enlarge myself further v^^hen I shall be made happy 
 with your conversation here ; till when, and always, I rest — 
 Your most affectionate to love and serve you, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 29 Nov. 1647. 
 
 IV. 
 
 To Sir J. S., Knight, at Rouen. 
 Sir, 
 
 OF all the Blessings that ever dropt down from Heaven 
 upon Man, that of his Redemption may be call'd the 
 Blessing paramount; and of all those Comforts and Exer- 
 cises of Devotion which attend that Blessing, the Eucharist 
 or holy Sacrament may claim the prime place. But as there 
 is Devotion, so there is Danger in't, and that in the highest 
 degree : 'Tis rank poison to some, tho' a most sovereign cor- 
 dial to others, ad modum recipientis, as the Schoolmen say, 
 whether they take panem Dominum, as the Roman Catholic, 
 or panem Domini, as the Reformed Churches. The Bee and 
 the Spider suck honey and poison out of one Flower. This, 
 Sir, you have divinely exprest in the Poem you pleas'd to 
 send me upon this Subject: And whereas you seem to woo 
 my Muse to such a Task, something you may see she hath 
 done, in pure obedience only to your commands. 
 
 Upon the Holy Sacrament. 
 
 I. 
 
 Ifai'l holy Sacrament ! 
 The World's great JVo?idcrmefit, 
 Mysterious Banquet much more 7'are 
 Than Manna, or the Angels' fare ; 
 Each Crum, tho* Sinners on thee feed, 
 Doth Cleopatra's Pearl exceed. 
 
 Oh
 
 5i8 Familiar Letters. Book III. 
 
 Oh how my Soul doth hunger, thirst, and pine 
 After these Gates so precious, so divine ! 
 
 II. 
 
 She 7ieed not bring her stool 
 
 As some ti7ibidden fool ; 
 
 The Master of this heavenly Feast 
 
 Invites and ivoos her for his Guest : 
 
 Tho' deaf and lame, forlorn a?id blind. 
 
 Yet welco7ne here she's sure to find. 
 So that she bring a Vestment for the day, 
 A fid her old tatter d rags throw quite a%vay. 
 
 III. 
 
 This is Bethesda's Fool, 
 
 That can both cleanse and cool 
 
 Poor leprous and diseased Souls, 
 
 An Angel here keeps and controuls, 
 
 Descending gently from the Heavens above. 
 
 To stir the waters ; may he also move 
 My Mind, and rocky Heart so strike and rend, 
 That tears may thence gush out with them to blend. 
 
 This Morning-fancy drew on another towards the Evening, 
 as followeth: 
 
 As to the Pole the Lilly bends 
 
 In a Sea-compass, a7id still tends 
 By a magnetic Mystery, 
 Unto the Arctic point in Sky, 
 
 Whereby the wandering Piloteer 
 
 His course in gloomy nights doth steer ; 
 
 So the small Needle of my Heart 
 
 Moves to her Maker, who doth dart 
 Atoms of Love, and so attracts 
 All my Affections, which like Sparks 
 
 Fly up, and guide rtiy Soul by this 
 
 To the true centre of her Bliss. 
 
 As one Taper lightneth another, so were my spirits en- 
 
 lightned
 
 Book III. Familiar Letters. 519 
 
 lightned and heated by your late Meditations in this kind ; 
 and well fare vour Soul with all her faculties for them : I 
 find you have a great care of her, and of the main chance, 
 Vrce quo quisquilice ccetera. You shall hear further from me 
 within a few days ; in the interim be pleas'd to reserve still 
 in your Thoughts some little room for — Your most entirely 
 affectionate Servitor, J, H. 
 
 Fket, 10 of Dec. 1647. 
 
 V. 
 
 To Mr. T. W., at P. Castle. 
 
 My precious Tom, 
 
 HE is the happy man who can square his mind to his 
 means, and fit his fancy to his fortune : He who hath 
 a competency to live in the port of a Gentleman, and as he 
 is free from being a Head- Constable, so he cares not for 
 beinsT a Justice of Peace or Sheriff; he who is before-hand 
 with the world, and when he comes to London can whet his 
 knife at the Counter-gate, and needs not trudge either to a 
 Lawyer's study or Scrivener's shop, to pay fee or squeeze 
 wax. 'Tis Conceit chiefly that gives contentment; and he 
 is happy who thinks himself so in any condition, tho' he 
 have not enough to keep the Wolf from the door. Opinion 
 is that great Lady which sways the World ; and according 
 to the impression she makes in the mind, renders one con- 
 tented or discontented. Now touching Opinion, so various 
 are the intellectuals of human Creatures, that one can 
 hardly find out two who jump pat in one: Witness that 
 Monster in Scotland in James the Fourth's reign, with two 
 heads one opposite to the other ; and having but one bulk 
 of Body thro'out, these two heads would often fall into 
 Altercations pro and con one with the other, and seldom 
 were they of one opinion, but they would knock one against 
 the other in eager disputes; which shews that the Judgment 
 is seated in the animal parts, not in the vital which are 
 
 lodg'd in the Heart. 
 
 We
 
 520 Familiar Letters. Book III. 
 
 We are still in a turbulent sea of distractions, nor as far 
 as I see is there yet any sight of shore. Mr. T. M. hath 
 had a great loss at Sea lately, which I fear will light heavily 
 upon him : When I consider his case, I may say, that as the 
 Philosopher made a question whether the Mariner be to be 
 rank'd among the number of the living or dead (being but 
 four inches distant from drowning, only the thickness of a 
 plank), so 'tis a doubt whether the Merchant Adventurer be 
 to be numbred 'twixt the rich or the poor, his estate being In 
 the mercy of that devouring element the Sea, which hath 
 so good a stomach that he seldom casts up what he hath 
 once swallowed. This City hath bred of late years Men of 
 monstrous strange opinions, that, as all other rich places 
 besides, she may be compar'd to a fat Cheese which is most 
 subject to engender Maggots. God amend all, and me first, 
 who am — Yours most faithfully to serve you, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, this St. Tho. Day. 
 
 VI. 
 
 To Mr. William Blois. 
 
 My worthy esteemed Nephew, 
 
 IRECEIV'D those rich nuptial favours you appointed me 
 for Bands and Hat, which I wear with very much con- 
 tentment and respect, most heartily wishing that this late 
 double condition may multiply new blessings upon you, that 
 it may usher in fair and golden days, according to the colour 
 and substance of your bridal Riband; that those days may 
 be perfum'd with delight and pleasure, as the rich scented 
 Gloves I wear for your sake. May such Benedictions attend 
 you both, as the Epithalamiums of Stella in Statins, and 
 Julia, in Catullus, speak of. I hope also to be marry'd shortly 
 to a Lady whom I have woo'd above these five years, but I 
 have found her coy and dainty hitherto ; yet I am now like 
 to get her good-will in part, I mean the Lady Liberty. 
 
 When you see my N. Broivnrigg, I pray tell him that I 
 did not think Suffolk Waters had such a Lethean Quality in 
 
 them
 
 Book III. Familiar Letters. 521 
 
 them as to cause such an Amnestia in him of his Friends 
 here upon the Thames, among whom for Reality and Serious- 
 ness I may match among the foremost; but I impute it to 
 some new Task that his Muse might haply impose upon him, 
 which hath engross'd all his Speculations ; I pray present 
 mv cordial kind respects unto him. 
 
 So, praying that a thousand Blessings may attend this 
 Confarreation, I rest, my dear Nephew — Yours most affec- 
 tionately to love and serve you, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 20 March 1647. 
 
 VII. 
 
 To Henry Hopkins, 'Esq. 
 Sir, 
 
 TO usher in again old Janus, I send you a Parcel of 
 Indian Perfume which the Spaniard calls the Holy 
 Herb, in regard of the various Virtues it hath, but we call 
 it Tobacco ; I will not say it grew under the King of Spain's 
 Window, but I am told it was gather'd near his Gold-Mines 
 of Potosi (where they report that in some Places there is 
 more of that Ore than Earth), therefore it must needs be pre- 
 cious Stuff: If moderately and seasonably taken (as I find 
 you always do), 'tis good for many Things ; it helps Digestion 
 taken a while after Meat, it makes one void Rheum, break 
 wind, and keeps the Body open : A Leaf or two being steeped 
 o'er-ni(]^ht in a little White-wine is a Vomit that never fails 
 in its Operation : It is a good Companion to one that con- 
 verseth with dead Men ; for if one hath been poring long 
 upon a Book, or is toil'd with the Pen, and stupified with 
 Study, it quickeneth him, and dispels those Clouds that 
 usually o'erset the Brain. The Smoke of it is one of the 
 wholesomest Scents that is, against all contagious Airs, for 
 it o'er-mastcrs all other Smells, as K. James, they say, found 
 true, when being once a-hunting, a Shower of Rain drove 
 him into a Pig-sty for Shelter, where he caus'd a Pipe-full 
 to be taken on purpose : It cannot endure a Spider or a 
 
 Flea,
 
 522 Familiar Letters. Book III. 
 
 Flea, with such-like Vermin, and if your Hawk be troubled 
 with any such, being blown into his Feathers, it frees him : 
 It is good to fortify and preserve the Sight, the Smoke 
 being let in round about the Balls of the Eyes once a-week, 
 and frees them from all Rheums, driving them back by way 
 of Repercussion ; being taken backward 'tis excellent good 
 against the Cholique, and taken into the Stomach, 'twill heat 
 and cleanse it ; for I could instance in a great Lord (my 
 Lord of Sunderland, President of York), who told me, that 
 he taking it downward into his Stomach, it made him cast 
 up an Imposthume, Bag and all, which had been a long 
 Time engendring out of a Bruise he had received at Football, 
 and so preserved his Life for many Years. Now to descend 
 from the Substance of the Smoke to the Ashes, 'tis well 
 known the medicinal Virtues thereof are very many ; but 
 they are so common, that I will spare the inserting of them 
 here: But if one would try a petty Conclusion how much 
 Smoke there is in a Pound of Tobacco, the Ashes will tell 
 him : for let a Pound be exactly weigh'd, and the Ashes kept 
 charily and weigh'd afterwards, what wants of a Pound weight 
 in the Ashes cannot be deny'd to have been Smoke, which 
 evaporated into Air. I have been told that Sir JValter Raw- 
 leigh won a Wager of Queen Elizabeth upon this Nicety. 
 
 The Spaniards and Irish take it most in Powder or 
 Smutchin, and it mightily refreshes the Brain, and I be- 
 lieve there's as much taken this Way in Ireland as there is 
 in Pipes in England; one shall commonly see the Serving- 
 maid upon the Washing-block, and the Swain upon the 
 Plough-share, when they are tir'd with Labour, take out 
 their Boxes of Smutchin and draw it into their Nostrils with 
 a Quill, and it will beget new Spirits in them with a fresh 
 Vigour to fall to their Work again. Li Barhary and other 
 Parts of Afric, 'tis wonderful what a small Pill of Tobacco 
 will do ; for those who use to ride post thro' the sandy Desarts, 
 where they meet not with anything that's potable or edible, 
 sometimes three Days together, they use to carry small Balls 
 or Pills of Tobacco, which being put under the Tongue, it 
 
 affords
 
 Book III. Familiar Letters. 523 
 
 affords them a perpetual Moisture and takes off the Edge 
 of the Appetite for some Days. 
 
 If you desire to read with Pleasure all the Virtues of this 
 modern Herb^ you must read Dr. Thorns s Pcetologia, an 
 accurate Piece couch'd in a strenuous heroic VersCj full of 
 Matter, and continuing its Strength from first to last; 
 insomuch, that for the Bigness it may be compar'd to 
 any Piece of Antiquity, and, in my Opinion, is beyond 
 ^(OTpaKOHvo/na)(^La or <ya\e(o/jivofia'y^ia. 
 
 So I conclude these rambling Notions, presuming you will 
 accept this small Argument of my great Respects to you : If 
 you want Paper to light your Pipe, this Letter may serve 
 the Turn ; and if it be true what the Poets frequently sing, 
 that Jffection is Fire, you shall need no other than the clear 
 Flames of the Donor's Love to make Ignition, which is 
 comprehended in this Distich : 
 
 Ignis Amor si fit, Tobaccum accendere nostrum, 
 Nulla petenda tibi fax nisi Dantis Amor. 
 
 If Love be Fire, to light this Indian IVeed, 
 The Donor's Love of Fire may stand instead. 
 
 So I wish you, as to myself, a most happy new Year ; may 
 the Beginning be good, the Middle better, and the End best 
 of all. — Your most faithful and truly affectionate Servitor, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 Fleet, I Jan. 1646. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 To the Rt. Hon. my Lord of D. 
 My Lord, 
 
 THE subject of this Letter may peradventure seem a 
 Paradox to some, but not, I know, to your Lordship, 
 when you have pleased to weigh well the Reasons. Learning 
 is a Thing that hath been much cried up and coveted in all 
 Ages, especially in this last Century of Years, by People of 
 all Sorts, tho' never so mean and mechanical : every Man 
 strains his Fortunes to keep his Children at School ; the 
 
 Cobler
 
 524 Familiar Letters. Book III. 
 
 Cobler will clout it till Midnight, the Porter will carry 
 Burdens till his Bones crack again, the Plough-man will pinch 
 both Back and Belly to give his Son Learning; and I find 
 that this Ambition reiffns nowhere so much as in this Island. 
 But under Favour this Word Learning is taken in a narrower 
 Sense amons; us than amonn; other Nations : we seem to 
 restrain it only to the Book; whereas, indeed, any Artisan 
 whatsoever (if he know the Secret and Mystery of his Trade) 
 may be called a learned Man : A good Mason, a good Shoe- 
 maker, that can manage St. Crispins Lance handsomely, a 
 skilful Yeoman, a good Shipwright, &c., may be all called 
 learned Men ; and indeed the usefullest sort of learned Men ; 
 for without the two first we might go barefoot, and lie 
 abroad as Beasts, having no other Canopy than the wild Air; 
 and without the two last we might starve for Bread, have 
 no Commerce with other Nations, or ever be able to tread 
 upon a Continent. These, with such-like dextrous Artisans, 
 may be termed learned Men, and the more behoveful for the 
 Subsistence of a Country, than those Polymathists that stand 
 poring all Day in a Corner upon a Moth-eaten Author, 
 and converse only with dead Men. The Chinese (who are 
 the next Neighbours to the rising Sun on this Side of the 
 Hemisphere, and consequently the acutest) have a whole- 
 some Piece of Policy, That the Son is always of the Father's 
 Trade; and 'tis all the Learning he aims at: which makes 
 them admirable Artisans ; for, besides the Dextrousness and 
 Propensity of the Child, being descended lineally from so 
 many of the same Trade, the Father is more careful to in- 
 struct him, and to discover to him all the Mystery thereof. 
 This general Custom or Law keeps their Heads from run- 
 ning at random after Book-learning, and other Vocations. 
 I have read a Tale of Rob. Grosthead, Bishop of Lincoln, 
 that being come to this Greatness, he had a Brother who 
 was a Husbandman, and expected great matters from him 
 in point of Preferment; but the Bishop told him that if 
 he wanted Money to mend his Plow or his Cart, or to buy 
 Tacklings for his Horses, with other things belonging to his 
 
 Husbandry,
 
 Book III. Familiar Letters. 525 
 
 Husbandry, he should not want what was fitting ; but ivisWd 
 him to aim no higher, for a Husbandman he found him, and 
 a Husbandman he luould leave him. 
 
 The extravasant Humour of our Country is not to be 
 altogether commended, that all Men should aspire to Book- 
 learning : There is not a simpler Animal, and a more super- 
 fluous Member of State, than a mere Scholar, than only a 
 self-pleasing Student; he is Telluris inutile pondus. 
 
 The Goths forbore to destroy the Libraries of the Greeks 
 and Italians, because Books should keep them still soft, 
 simple, or too cautious in warlike Affairs. Archimedes, tho' 
 an excellent Engineer, when Syracuse was lost, was found at 
 his Book in his Study, intoxicated with Speculations. Who 
 would not have thought another great learned Philosopher 
 to be a Fool or Frantic, when being in a Bath, he leap'd out 
 naked among the People, and cried, / have found it ! I have 
 found it ! having hit then upon an extraordinary Conclusion 
 in Geometry ? There is a famous Tale of Thomas Aquinas, 
 the Angelical Doctor, and of Bonadventure, the Seraphical 
 Doctor, of whom Alex. Hales (our Countryman and his 
 Master) reports, that it appeared not in him whether Adam 
 had sinned : Both these great Clerks being invited to dinner 
 by the French King, of purpose to observe their Humours, 
 and beincT brought to the Room where the Table was laid, 
 the first fell a eating of Bread as hard as he could drive; 
 at last breaking out of a brown Study, he cried out, Con- 
 clusum est contra Manichceos. The other fell a-gazing upon 
 the Oueen, and the King asking him how he lik'd her, he 
 answer'd, Oh, Sir, if' an earthly Queen be so beautiful, luhat 
 shall we think of the Queen of Heaven? The latter was the 
 better Courtier of the two. Hence we may infer that your 
 mere Book Men, your deep Clerks, whom we call the only 
 learned Men, are not always the civilest or the best Moral 
 Men, nor is too great a Number of them convenient for any 
 State, leading a soft sedentary Life, especially those who feed 
 their own fancies only upon the public stock. Therefore 
 it were to be wish'd that there reiixn'd not among the people 
 
 of
 
 526 Familiar Letters. Book III. 
 
 of this Land such a general itching after Book-Learning, and 
 I beHeve so many Free-Schools do rather hurt than good : 
 nor did the Art of Printing much avail the Christian Com- 
 monwealth, but may be said to be well near as fatal as 
 Gunpowder, which came up in the same Age : For, under 
 correction, to this may be partly ascrib'd that spiritual Pride, 
 that variety of Dogmatists, which swarm among us. Add 
 hereunto, that the excessive number of those who converse 
 only with Books, and whose profession consists in them, is 
 such, that one cannot live for another, according to the 
 dignity of the Calling: A Physician cannot live for the 
 Physicians, a Lawyer (civil and common) cannot live for 
 Lawyers, nor a Divine for Divines. Moreover, the Multi- 
 tudes that profess these three best Vocations, 'specially the 
 last, make them of far less esteem. There is an odd opinion 
 among us, that he who is a contemplative Man, a Man who 
 weds himself to his study, and swallows many books, must 
 needs be a profound Scholar, and a great learned Man, tho' 
 in reality he be such a dolt, that he hath neither a retentive 
 faculty to keep what he hath read, nor wit to make any useful 
 Application of it in common discourse ; what he draws in 
 lieth upon dead Lees, and never grows fit to be broach'd. 
 Besides, he may want Judgment in the choice of his Authors, 
 and knows not how to turn his hand either in weighing or 
 winnowing the soundest opinions. There are divers who are 
 cried up for great Clerks who want discretion. Others, tho' 
 they wade deep into the causes and knowledge of things, yet 
 they are subject to screw up their wits, and soar so high, that 
 they lose themselves in their own Speculations; for thinking 
 to transcend the ordinary pitch of Reason, they come to 
 involve the common Principles of Philosophy in a Mist; in- 
 stead of illustrating things, they render them more obscure; 
 instead of a plainer and shorter way to the Palace of Know- 
 ledge, they lead us thro' briery, odd uncouth paths, and so 
 fall into the fallacy call'd notum per ignotius. Some have the 
 hap to be term'd learned Men, tho' they have gathered up 
 but the scraps of Knowledge here and there, tho' they be 
 
 but
 
 Book III. Familiar Letters. 527 
 
 but smatterers, and mere sciolists, scarce knowing the Hoties 
 of things; yet, like empty casks, if they can make a Sound, 
 and have a Gift to vent with Confidence what they have 
 suck'd in, they are accounted great Scholars. Among all 
 book-learned Men, except the Divine, to whom all learned 
 Men should be Lacqueys, the Philosopher who hath waded 
 thro' all the Mathematics, who hath dived into the secrets 
 of the elementary World, and converseth also with celestial 
 Bodies, may be term'd a learned Man : The critical Historian 
 and ^ntiqiiary may be called also a learned Man, who hath 
 conversed with our Forefathers, and observ'd the carriao-e 
 and contingencies of matters pass'd, whence he draws in- 
 stances and cautions for the benefit of the Times he lives in : 
 The Ciuiliaii may be call'd likewise a learned Man, if the 
 revolving of huge Volumes may entitle one so; but touching 
 the Authors of the Common Law, which is peculiar only to 
 this Meridian, they may he all carried in a IVheel-larroiv, as 
 my Countryman Dr. Gwyn told Judge Finch : The Physician 
 must needs be a learned Man, for he knows himself inward 
 and outward, being well vers'd in jiutology, in that Lesson 
 Nosce Teipsmn ; and as Adrian Yl.Sciid, he is very necessary 
 to a populous Country, for were it not for the Physician, Men 
 would live so long and grow so thick, that one could not live 
 for the other ; and he makes the Earth cover all his faults. 
 
 But what Dr. Gwyn said of the common Law-books, and 
 Pope j4drian of the Physician, was spoken, I conceive, in 
 merriment; for my part, I honour those two worthy Profes- 
 sions in a high degree. Lastly, a Polyglot, or good Linguist, 
 may be also tcrm'd a useful learned Man, 'specially if vers'd 
 in School-Languages. 
 
 My Lord, I know none of this Age more capable to sit 
 in the Chair, and censure what is true Learning' and what 
 not, than yourself: Therefore in speaking of this subject to 
 your Lordship, I fear to have committed the same Error as 
 Phormio did in discoursing of War before Hannibal. No 
 more now, but that I am, n)y Lord — Your most humble 
 and obedient Servant, J. IL 
 
 IX.
 
 528 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book III. 
 
 IX. 
 
 To Doctor J. D. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I HAVE many sorts of Civilities to thank you for, but 
 amongst the rest, I thank you a thousand times (twice 
 told) for that delightful fit of Society and conference of 
 Notes we had lately in this little Fleet-Cahin of mine upon 
 divers Problems, and upon some which are exploded (and 
 that by those who seem to sway most in the Commonwealth 
 of Learning) for Paradoxes, merely by an implicit faith, 
 without divino; at all into the Reasons of the Assertors. 
 And whereas you promised a further expression of yourself 
 by way of a discoursive Letter, what you thought of Coper- 
 nicus s opinion touching the movement of the Earth, which 
 hath so stirr'd all our modern wits ; and whereof Sir J. 
 Broiun pleased to oblige himself to do the like touching the 
 Philosopher's Stone, the Powder of Projection, and potable 
 Gold, provided that I would do the same coucevmnga. peopled 
 Country, and a species of moving Creatures in the concave 
 of the Moon, which I willingly undertook upon those con- 
 ditions; To acquit myself of this obligation, and to draw on 
 your Performances the sooner, I have adventured to send 
 you this following Discourse (such as it is) touching the 
 Lunary World. 
 
 I believe 'tis a Principle, which not many will offer to 
 controvert, that as jlntiquity cannot privilege an Error, so 
 Novelty cannot prejudice Truth. Now, Truth hath her de- 
 grees of growing and expanding herself, as all other things 
 have; and as Time begets her, so he doth the obstetricious 
 Office of a Midwife to bring her forth. Many Truths are 
 but Embryos or Problems; nay, some of them seem to be 
 mere Paradoxes at first. The opinion that there were Anti- 
 podes was exploded when it was first broach'd; it was held 
 absurd and ridiculous, and the thing itself to be as impossible 
 as it was for Men to go upon their heads, with their heels 
 
 upwards :
 
 Book III. Familiar Letters. 529 
 
 upwards: naVj 'twas adjudg'd to be so dangerous a Tenet, 
 that you know well the Bishop's name, who in the primi- 
 tive Church was by sentence of condemnation sent out of 
 this world without a Head, to go to and dwell among his 
 Antipodes, because he first hatch'd and held that opinion. 
 But now our late Navigators, and East-India Mariners, who 
 use to cross the Equator and Tropiques so often, will tell you. 
 That it is as gross a paradox to hold there are no Antipodes, 
 and that the necrative is now as absurd as the affirmative 
 seem'd at first. For Man to walk upon the Ocean when 
 the Surges were at the highest, and to make a heavy dull 
 piece of Wood to swim, nay, fly upon the Water, was held 
 as impossible a thing at first, as it is now thought impossible 
 for Man to fly in the Air : Sails were held then as uncouth 
 as if one should attempt to make himself Wings to mount 
 up to Heaven a la vol^e. Two hundred and odd years ago, 
 he would have been taken for some frantic Fool, that would 
 undertake to batter and blow up a Castle with a few barrels 
 of a small contemptible black Powder. 
 
 The great Architect of the World hath been observ'd not 
 to throw down all Gifts and Knowledge to Mankind con- 
 fusedly at once ; but in a regular parsimonious method, to 
 dispense them by certain degrees, periods, and progress of 
 time, leaving Man to make industrious researches and in- 
 vestigations after Truth : He left the World to the disputa- 
 tions of Men, as the wisest of Men saith, who in acquisition 
 of natural Truths went from the Hysop to the Cedar. One 
 DttTj certifieth another, and one Age rectifieth another : The 
 Morrow hath more experience than the precedent Day, and 
 is oft-times able to be his School-master; the Grandchild 
 laughs at some things that were done in his Grandsire's days ; 
 insomuch that hence it may be inferr'd, that natural human 
 Knowledge is not yet mounted to its Meridian and highest 
 point of elevation. I confess it cannot be denied without 
 gross ingratitude, but we are infinitely obliged to our Fore- 
 fathers for the Fundamentals of Sciences ; and as the Herald 
 hath a rule, Mallem cum patribus qiiam ciunfratrihiis errare, 
 
 2 L I
 
 530 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book III. 
 
 I had rather err with my Fathers than Brothers; so it holds 
 in other kinds of Knowledge. But those Times which we 
 term vulgarly the old World, were indeed the Youth or 
 Adolescence of it ; and tho', if respect be had to the par- 
 ticular and personal Acts of Generation, and to the Re- 
 lation of Father and Son, they who fore-liv'd and preceded 
 us may be called our Ancestors, yet if you go to the Age of 
 the World in general, and to the true Length and Longevity 
 of things, we are more properly the older Cosmopolites: In 
 this respect the Cadet may be term'd more ancient than his 
 elder Brother, because the World was older when he enter'd 
 into it. Moreover, besides Truth, Time hath also another 
 Daughter, which is Experience, who holds in her Hands the 
 great Looking-glass of Wisdom and Knowledge. 
 
 But now to the intended task touching an habitable World, 
 and a Species of living Creatures in the Orb of the Moon, 
 which may bear some analogy ivith those of this elementary 
 World: Altho' it be not my purpose to maintain and ab- 
 solutely assert this Problem, yet I will say this, that who- 
 soever crieth it down for a new neoterical Opinion, as divers 
 do, commit a grosser error than the Opinion may be in its 
 own nature: For 'tis almost as ancient as Philosophy her- 
 self; I am sure 'tis as old as Orpheus, who sings of divers 
 fair Cities and Castles within the Circle of the Moon. 
 Moreover, the profoundest Clerks and most renowned Philo- 
 sophers in all Ages have affirmed it. Towards the first Age 
 of Learning, among others, Pythagoras and Plato avouch'd 
 it; the first of whom was pronounc'd the wisest of Men by 
 the Pagan Oracle, as our Solomon is by holy Writ. In the 
 middle Age of Learning, Plutarch speaks of it ; and in these 
 modern times, the most speculative and scientificallest Men, 
 both in Ger^nany and Italy, seem to adhere to it, subinnuat- 
 ing that not only the Sphere of the Moon is peopled with 
 Selenites or Lunary Men, but that likewise every Star in 
 Heaven is a peculiar World of itself, which is coloniz'd and 
 replenish'd with Astrean Inhabitants, as the Earth, Sea, and 
 Air are with Elementary, the Body of the Sun not excepted, 
 
 who
 
 Book III. Familiar Letters. 531 
 
 who hath also his Solar Creatures, and they are accounted 
 the most sublime, the most pure, and perfectest of all : The 
 Elementary Creatures are held the grossest of all, having 
 more matter than form in them : The Solar have more form 
 than matter; tlie Selenites,\^\\h. other Astrean Inhabitants, 
 are of a mix'd nature, and the nearer they approach the Body 
 of the Sun, the more pure and spiritual they are: Were it 
 so, there were some grounds for his speculation who thought 
 that human Souls, be they liever so pious and pure, ascend 
 not immediately after the dissolution from the corrupt mass 
 of flesh before the glorious presence of God, presently to 
 behold the Beatifical Vision, but first into the Body of the 
 Moon, or some other Star, according to their degrees of 
 goodness, and actuate some Bodies there of a purer com- 
 position ; when they are refined there, they ascend to some 
 higher Star, and so to some higher than that, till at last by 
 these degrees they be made capable to behold the Lustre of 
 that glorious Majesty, in whose sight no impurity can stand. 
 This is illustrated by a comparison, that if one, after he hath 
 been kept close in a dark dungeon a long time, should be 
 taken out, and brought suddenly to look upon the Sun in 
 the Meridian, it would endanger him to be struck stark 
 blind ; so no human Soul suddenly sallying out of a dirty 
 prison, as the Body is, would be possibly able to appear 
 before the incomprehensible Majesty of God, or be sus- 
 ceptible of the Brightness of his all-glorious Countenance, 
 unless he be fitted thereunto before-hand by certain degrees, 
 which might be done by passing from one Star to another, 
 which, we are taught, differ one from the other in Glory and 
 Splendor. 
 
 Among our modern Authors that would furbish this old 
 Opinion of Lunary Creatures, and plant Colonies in the 
 Orb of the Moon, with the rest of the celestial Bodies, Gasper 
 Galileo Galilei is one, who by artificial Prospectives hath 
 brought us to a nearer commerce with Heaven, by drawing 
 it sixteen times nearer Earth than it was before in ocular 
 Appearance, by the Advantage of the said Optic Instrument. 
 
 Among
 
 532 Familiar Letters. Book III. 
 
 Among other Arguments which the Assertors o'i Astrean 
 Inhabitants do produce for proof of this high Point, one is, 
 that it is neither repugnant to Reaso?i or Religion to think, 
 that the Almighty Fabricator of the Universe, who doth 
 nothing in vain, nor suffers his handmaid Nature to do so, 
 when he created the erratic and fix'd Stars, he did not make 
 those huge immense Bodies, whereof most are bigger than 
 the Earth and Sea, tho' conglobated, to twinkle only, and 
 to be an ornament to the Roof of Heaven ; but he plac'd in 
 the Convex of every one of those vast capacious Spheres 
 some living Creatures to glorify his Name, among whom 
 there is in every of them one supereminent, like Man upon 
 Earth, to be Lord paramount of all the rest. To this haply 
 may allude the old opinion, that there is a peculiar Intelli- 
 gence which guides and governs every Orb in Heaven. 
 
 They that would thus colonize the Stars with Inhabitants, 
 do place in the body of the Sun, as was said before, the 
 purest, the most immaterial, and refined intellectual Crea- 
 tures, whence the Almighty calls those he will have to be 
 immediately about his Person, and to be admitted to the 
 Hierarchy of Angels. This is far dissonant from the opinion 
 of the Turk, who holds that the Sun is a 2;reat burnina; 
 Globe design'd for the damned. 
 
 They who are transported with this high speculation, that 
 there are Mansions and habitable Conveniencies for Crea- 
 tures to live within the bodies of the celestial Orbs, seem to 
 tax Man of a high presumption, that he should think all 
 things were created principally for Him ; that the Sun and 
 Stars are serviceable to him in chief, viz., to measure his 
 days, to distinguish his seasons, to direct him in his Navi- 
 gations, and pour wholesome Influences upon him. 
 
 No doubt they were created to be partly useful and com- 
 fortable to him ; but to imagine that they are solely and 
 chiefly for him, is a thought that may be said to be above 
 the pride of Lucifer : They may be beneficial to him in 
 the generation and increase of all elementary Creatures, and 
 yet have peculiar Inhabitants of their own besides, to con- 
 cur
 
 Book III. Familiar Letters. 5 
 
 00 
 
 cur with the rest of the World in the service of their Creator. 
 'Tis a fair prerogative for Man to be Lord of all terrestrial, 
 aquatick, and airy Creatures; that with his harping Iron 
 he can draw ashore the great Leviathan ; that he can make 
 the Camel and huge Dromedary to kneel to him, and take 
 up his burden; that he can make the fierce Bull, tho' ten 
 times stronger than himself, to endure his yoke ; that he 
 can fetch down the Eagle from his nest, with such privileges. 
 But let him not presume too far in comparing himself with 
 heavenly Bodies, while he is no other thing than a worm 
 crawling upon the surface of this Earth. Now the Earth 
 is the basest Creature which God hath made, therefore 'tis 
 cali'd his Footstool ; and tho' some take it to be the Centre, 
 yet it is the very sediment of the elementary World, as they 
 say the Moon is of the celestial ; 'tis the very sink of all cor- 
 ruption and frailty ; which made Trismcgist say, that Terra 
 lion mundus est nequitice locus ; the Earth, not the IVorld, is 
 the seat of wickedness : And tho', 'tis true, she be susceptible 
 of Light, yet the Light terminates only in her Superficies, 
 being not able to enlighten anything else, as the Stars can do. 
 
 Thus have I proportioned my short discourse upon this 
 spacious Problem to the size of an Epistle; I reserve the 
 fulness of my Opinion in this point, till I receive yours 
 touching Copernicus. 
 
 It hath been always my practice, in the search and even- 
 tilation of natural Verities, to keep to myself a philosophical 
 freedom, and not to make any one's Opinion so magisterial 
 and binding, but that I might be at Liberty to recede from 
 it upon more pregnant and powerful reasons. For as in 
 theological Tenets 'tis a rule, Quicquid non descendit a monte 
 Scriptures, eadem authoritate contemnitur, qua approhatur ; 
 Whatsoever descends not from the mount of holy Scripture, 
 may be by the same Authority rejected as well as received : 
 So in the disquisitions and winnowing of physical Truths, 
 Quicquid non descendit a monte Rationis, &c. Whatsoever 
 descends not from the mount of Reason, may be as well 
 rejected as approved of. 
 
 So
 
 534 Familiar Letters. BooJz III. 
 
 Soj longing after an opportunity to pursue this point by 
 mixture of oral discourse, which hath more elbow-room 
 than a Letter, I rest with all candor and cordial affection — 
 Your faithful Servant, J. H. 
 
 Fleet ^ this 2 of Nov. 1647. 
 
 X. 
 
 To the Right Honourable the Lady E. D. 
 Madam, 
 
 THOSE Rays of Goodness which are difFusedly scatter'd 
 in others, are all concentred in you ; which, were 
 they divided into equal portions, were enough to complete 
 a whole Jury of Ladies : This draws you a mixture of Love 
 and Envy, or rather an Admiration, from all who know 
 you, 'specially from me, and that in so high a Degree, that 
 if you would suffer yourself to be adored, you should quickly 
 find me religious in that kind. However, I am bold to 
 send your Ladyship this, as a kind of Homage, or Heriot, 
 or Tribute, or what you please to term it, in regard I am a 
 true Vassal to your Virtues : And if you please to lay any 
 of your Commands upon me, your Will shall be a Law to 
 me, which I will observe with as much Allegiance as any 
 Branch of Mag?ia Charta ; they shall be as binding to me 
 as Lycurgus^s Laws were to the Spartans; and to this I 
 subscribe, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, this 10 of Aug. 1647. 
 
 XI. 
 
 To R. B., ^.squire, at Grundesburgh. 
 Sir, 
 
 WHEN I o'er-look'd the List of my choicest Friends to 
 insert your Name, I paus'd a-while, and thought it 
 more proper to begin a new collateral File, and put you in 
 the front thereof, where make account you are plac'd. If 
 anything upon Earth partakes of angelick Happiness (in 
 civil Actions) 'tis Friendship ; it perfumes the thoughts with 
 
 such
 
 Book III. Familiar Letters. 535 
 
 such sweet Idaeas, and the heart with such melting Passions: 
 such are the effects of yours to me, which makes me please 
 myself much in the speculation of it. 
 
 I am glad you are so well return'd to your own Family ; 
 and touching the Wheelwright you write of, who from a 
 Cart came to be a Captain, it made me think of the per- 
 petual rotations of Fortune, which you know Antiquity 
 seated upon a Wheel in a. restless, tho' not violent. Volu- 
 bility : And truly it was never more verified than now, that 
 those Spokes which were formerly but collateral, and some 
 of them quite underneath, are now coming up apace to the 
 top of the Wheel. I hope there will be no cause to apply to 
 them the old Verse I learn'd at School, 
 
 Asperius nihil est htimili, cum surgit in altiim. 
 
 But there is a transcendent over-ruling Providence, who 
 can not only check the rollings of this petty Wheel, and 
 strike a Nail into it that it shall not stir, but stay also when 
 he pleaseth the Motions of those vast Spheres of Heaven, 
 where the Stars are always stirring, as likewise the whirlings 
 of the Primum Mobile itself, which the Astronomers say 
 draws all the World after it in a rapid Revolution. That 
 Divine Providence vouchsafe to check the Motion of that 
 malevolent Planet, which hath so long lowr'd upon poor 
 England, and send us better days. So, saluting you with 
 no vulgar Respects, I rest, my dear Nephew — Yours most 
 affectionately to serve you, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, this 26 of July 1646, 
 
 xir. 
 
 To Mr. En. P., at Paris. 
 Sir, 
 
 THAT which the Plots of the Jesuits in their dark 
 Cells, and the Policy of the greatest Roman Catholic 
 Princes have driven at these many Years, is now done to 
 their hands, which was to divide and break the Strength of 
 these three Kingdoms, because they held it to be too great 
 
 a
 
 536 Familiar Letters. Book III. 
 
 a Glory and Power to be in one Heretical Prince's Hands 
 (as they esteemed the King of Great Britain), because he 
 was in a Capacity to be Umpire, if not Arbiter of this Part 
 of the World, as many of our Kings have been. 
 
 You write thence, that in regard of the sad Condition 
 of our Queen, their Country-woman, they are sensible of 
 our Calamities ; but I believe, 'tis the Populace only, who 
 see no farther than the Rind of Things : your Cabinet- Coun- 
 cil rather rejoiceth at it, who, or I am much deceiv'd, con- 
 tributed much in the Time of the late sanguine Cardinal to 
 set afoot these Distractions, beginning first with Scotland, 
 who, you know, hath always serv'd that Nation for a Brand 
 to set Entrland a-fire for the Advancement of their own 
 Ends. I am afraid we have seen our best Days; we knew 
 not when we were well : so that the Italian Saying may be 
 well apply'd to poor England, I was well, I would he better, 
 I took Physic and died. No more now, but that I rest still 
 — Yours entirely to serve you, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 20 Jaji. 1647. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 To John Wroth, Esq., at Petherton-Park. 
 Sir, 
 
 I HAD two of yours lately, one in Italian, the other in 
 French (which were answer'd in the same Dialect), and 
 as I read them with singular Delight, so I must tell you, they 
 struck an admiration into me, that in so short a Revolution 
 of Time you should come to be so great a Master of those 
 Languages both for the Pen and Parley. I have known 
 divers, and those of pregnant and ripe Capacities, who had 
 spent more Oil and Time in those Countries, yet could they 
 not arrive to that double Perfection which you have; for if 
 they got one, they were commonly defective in the other. 
 Therefore I may say, that you have not Spartam nactus, 
 which was but a petty Republic, sed Italiam ^ Galliam nactus 
 es, has orna ; you have got all Italy and France, adorn these. 
 Nor is it Language that you have only brought home 
 
 with
 
 Book III. Familiar Letters. 537 
 
 with you; but I find that you have studied the ^len and 
 the Manners of those Nations you have convers'd withal : 
 Neither have you courted only all their fair Cities, Castles, 
 Houses of Pleasure, and other Places of Curiosity, but you 
 have pried into the very Mysteries of their Government, as 
 I find by those choice Manuscripts and Observations you 
 have brought with you. In all these 7'hings you have been 
 so curious, as if the Soul of your great Uncle, who was em- 
 ployed Ambassador in the Imperial Court, and who held 
 correspondence with the greatest Men of Christendom in 
 their own Language, had transmigrated into you. 
 
 The freshest News here is, that those Heart-burnings and 
 Fires of Civil Commotions which you left behind you in 
 France, cover'd over with thin Ashes for the Time, are 
 broken out again; and I believe they will be never quite 
 extinguish'd till there be a Peace or Truce with Spain, for till 
 then there is no Hope of Abatement of Taxes. And 'tis fear'd 
 the Spanish will out-weary the French at last in fighting ; for 
 the Earth herself, I mean his Mines of Mexico and Peru, 
 afford him a constant and yearly Treasure to support his 
 Armies; whereas the French King digs his Treasure out of 
 the Bowels and vital Spirits of his own Subjects. 
 
 I pray let me hear from you by the next Opportunitv, for 
 I shall hold my Time well employ'd to correspond with a 
 Gentleman of such choice and gallant Parts : In which De- 
 sires I rest — Your most affectionate and faithful Servitor, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 29 Atig. 1649. 
 
 XIV. 
 To Mr. W. B. 
 
 HOW glad was I, my choice and precious Nephew, to 
 receive yours of the 34th current ; wherein I was 
 sorry, tho' satisfied in point of Belief, to find the ill Fortune 
 of Interception which befell my last unto yon. 
 
 Touching the Condition of Things here, you shall under- 
 stand.
 
 538 Familiar Letters. Book III. 
 
 stand, that our Miseries lengthen with our Days; for tho' 
 the Sun and the Spring advance nearer us, yet our Times 
 are not grown a whit the more comfortable. I am afraid 
 this City hath fool'd herself into a Slavery ; the Army, tho' 
 forbidden to come within ten Miles of her, by Order of 
 Parliament, quarters now in the Bowels of her ; they threaten 
 to break her Percullies, Posts, and Chains, to make her per- 
 vious upon all occasions : they have secur'd also the Tower, 
 with Addition of Streno;th for themselves : besides a Famine 
 doth insensibly creep upon us, and the Mint is starv'd for 
 want of Bullion; Trade, which was ever the Sinew of this 
 Island, doth visibly decay, and the Insurance of Ships is 
 risen from two to ten in the Hundred : Our Gold is ingrossed 
 in private Hands, or gone beyond Sea to travel without 
 License; and much I believe of it is return'd to the Earth 
 (whence it first came) to be buried where our late Nephews 
 may chance to find it a thousand Years hence, if the World 
 lasts so long; so that the exchanging of white Earth into red 
 (I mean Silver into Gold) is now above six in the Hundred : 
 and all these, with many more, are the dismal Effects and 
 Concomitants of a Civil War. 'Tis true, we have had many 
 such Hack Days in E?igland in former Ages ; but those, 
 parallel'd to the present, are as a shadow of a Mountain 
 compar'd to the Eclipse of the Moon. My Prayers early and 
 late are, that God Almighty would please not to turn away 
 his Face quite, but cheer us again with the Light of his 
 Countenance. And I am well assured you will join with me 
 in the same Orison to Heaven's Gate; in which Confidence 
 I rest — Yours most affectionately to serve you, J. H. 
 
 Fieef, 10 of Dec. 1647. 
 
 XV. 
 
 To Sir K. D., at Paris. 
 Sir, 
 
 NOW that you are return'd, and fix'd a-while in France, 
 an old Servant of yours takes leave to kiss your 
 
 Hands,
 
 Book III. Familiar Letters. 539 
 
 Hands, and salute you in an intense Degree of Heat and 
 Height of Passion. ^Tis well you shook hands with this 
 infortunate Isle when you did, and got your liberty by such 
 a Royal Mediation as the Queen's Regents ; for had you 
 staid, you would have taken but little comfort in your Life, 
 in retrard that ever since there have been the fearfullest Dis- 
 tractions here that ever happen'd upon any Part of the 
 Earth: a belluin Kind of Immanity never rang'd so among 
 Men, insomuch, that the whole Country might have taken 
 its appellation from the smallest Part thereof, and be called 
 the Isle of Dogs ; for all Humanity, common Honesty, and 
 that Mansuetude, with other moral Civilities which should 
 distirio-uish the rational Creature from other Animals, have 
 been lost here a good while. Nay, besides this Cynical, 
 there is a kind of JVoluish Humour hath seiz'd upon most 
 of this People, a true Lijcanthropy, they so worry and seek 
 to devour one another; so that the wild jirah and fiercest 
 Tartar may be call'd civil Men in comparison of us : there- 
 fore he is the happiest who is furthest off from this woful 
 Island. The King is straitened of that Liberty he formerly 
 had in the Isle of JVight, and as far as I can see, may make 
 up the Number of Nehuchadnezzar's Years before he be 
 restor'd : the Parliament persists in their first Propositions; 
 and will o-o nothino; less. This is all I have to send at this 
 time, only I will adjoin the true Respects of — Your most 
 faithful humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, this 5 of May 1647. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 To Mr. W. Blois, in Suffolk. 
 Sir, 
 
 YOURS of the 17th current came safely to hand, and I 
 kiss your Hands for it ; you mention there two others 
 that came not, which made me condole the Loss of such 
 Jewels, for I esteem all your Letters for being the precious 
 Effects of your Love^ which I value at a high Rate, and 
 
 please
 
 540 Familiar Letters. Book III. 
 
 please myself much in the Contemplation of it, as also in 
 the Continuance of this Letter-Correspondence, which is 
 perform'd on your Part with such ingenious Expressions, 
 and embroidered still with new Flourishes of Livention. I 
 am still under hold in this fatal Fleet ; and like one in a 
 Tempest at Sea, who hath been often near the Shore, yet 
 is still toss'd back by contrary Winds, so I have had frequent 
 Hopes of Freedom, but some cross Accident or other always 
 intervened ; insomuch that I am now in Half-despair of an 
 absolute Release till a general Gaol-delivery: yet notwith- 
 standing this outward Captivity, I have inward Liberty still, 
 I thank God for it. 
 
 The greatest News is, that between twenty and thirty 
 thousand well-arm'd Scots have been utterly routed, rifled, 
 and all taken prisoners, by less than 8000 'English, I must 
 confess 'twas a great Exploit, whereof I am not sorry, in 
 regard that the Englisk have regain'd hereby the Honour 
 which they had lost abroad of late Years in the Opinion of 
 the World, ever since the Pacification at Berwick, and divers 
 Traverses of War since. What Hamilton' s Design was, is 
 a Mystery ; most think that he intended no Good either to 
 King or Parliament. So, with my daily more and more en- 
 deared Affections to you, I rest — Yours ever to love and 
 serve you, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 7 May 1647. 
 
 xvn. 
 
 To Mr. R. Baron, at Paris. 
 Gentle Sir, 
 
 IRECEIV'D and presently ran over your Cyprian Aca- 
 demy with much Greediness, and no vulgar Delight; 
 and. Sir, I hold myself much honour'd for the Dedication 
 you have been pleas'd to make thereof to me, for it deserv'd 
 a far higher Patronage. Truly, I must tell you without anv 
 Compliment, that I have seldom met with such an ingenious 
 mixture of Prose and Verse, interwoven with such varieties 
 
 of
 
 Book III. Familiar Letters. 541 
 
 of Fancy and charming strains of amorous Passions, which 
 have made all the Ladies of the Land in love with vou. If 
 you begin already to court the Muses so handsomely, and 
 have got such footing on Parnassus, you may in time be 
 Lord of the whole Hill ; and those nice Girls, because Apollo 
 is now grown unwieldy and old, may make choice of you to 
 officiate in his room, and preside over them. 
 
 I much thank you for the punctual Narration you pleas'd 
 to send me of those Commotions in Paris ; I believe France 
 will never be in perfect repose while a Spaniard sits at the 
 Stern, and an Italian steers the Rudder. In my opinion 
 Maxarine should do wisely, now that he hath feather'd his 
 nest so well, to truss up his Baggage, and make over the Alps 
 to his own Country, lest the same fate betide him as did the 
 Marquis of Ancre his Compatriot. I am glad the Treaty 
 goes on 'twixt Spain and France ; for nothing can portend a 
 greater good to Christendom than a Conjunction of those 
 two great Luminaries ; which if it please God to bring about, 
 I hope the Stars will change their Aspects, and we shall sec 
 better days. 
 
 I send here inclosed a second Bill of Exchange, in case the 
 first I sent you in my last hath miscarry'd : So, my dear 
 Nephew, I embrace you with both my Arms, and rest — ■ 
 Yours most entirely to love and serve you, while J. H. 
 
 J^leet, 20 June 1647. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 To Mr. Tho. More, at York. 
 Sir, 
 
 I HAVE often partak'd of that pleasure which Letters 
 use to carry along with them ; but I do not remember 
 to have found a greater proportion of delight than yours 
 afford me. Your last of the 4th current came to safe hand, 
 wherein methought each line, each word, each syllable 
 breath'd out the Passions of a clear and candid Soul, of a 
 virtuous and gentle Spirit. Trulv, Sir, as I might perceive 
 
 by
 
 542 Familiar Letters. Book III. 
 
 by your ingenuous and pathetical expressions therein, that 
 you were transported with the heat of true Affection towards 
 me in the ivriting, so was I in the reading, which wrought 
 upon me with such an Energy that a kind of extasy pos- 
 sess'd me for the time. I pray, Sir, go on in this corre- 
 spondence, and you shall find that your lines will not be ill 
 bestow'd upon me ; for I love and respect you dearly well : 
 Nor is this Love grounded upon vulgar Principles, but 
 upon those extraordinary parts of Virtue and Worth which 
 I have discover'd in you, and such a Love is the most 
 permanent, as you shall find in — Your most affectionate 
 Uncle, J. H. 
 
 Fleef, I of Sep. 1647. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 To Mr. W. B., 3° Maii. 
 Sir, 
 
 YOUR last Lines to me were as delightful as the Season, 
 they were as sweet as Flowers in May ; nay, they were 
 far more fragrant than those fading Vegetables, they did cast 
 a greater suavity than the Arabian Spices use to do in the 
 Grand Cairo, where when the Wind is Southward, they say 
 the Air is as sweet as a perfum'd Spanish Glove. The Air 
 of this City is not so, specially in the heart of the City, in 
 and about Paul's Church, where Horse-dung is a yard deep ; 
 insomuch that to cleanse it would be as hard a task as it 
 was for Hercules to cleanse the Augean Stable, by drawing 
 a crreat River thro' it, which was accounted one of his twelve 
 Labours. But it was a bitter taunt of the Italian, who pass- 
 ing by Paul's Church, and seeing it full of horses. Now I 
 perceive (said he) that in England Meji and Beasts serve God 
 alike. No more now, but that I am — Your most faithful 
 Servant, J. H. 
 
 XX.
 
 Book III. Familiar Letters. 54; 
 
 XX. 
 
 To Sir Paul Pindar, Kt., upontlie Version of an Italian Piece 
 into English, caWd St. Paul's Progress upon Earth ; a 
 new and a notable kind of Satire. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 ST. Paul having descended lately to view Jtali/ and 
 other places, as you may trace him in the following 
 Discourse, he would not take wing back to Heaven before 
 he had given you a special visit, who have so well deserv'd 
 of hi,. Church here, the goodliest pile of Stones in the Chris- 
 tian World of that kind. 
 
 Of all the Men of our times, you are one of the greatest 
 examples of Piety and constant Integrity, which discovers 
 a noble Soul to dwell within you, and that you are very 
 conversant with Heaven ; so that methinks I see St. Paul 
 saluting and solacing you in these black times, assuring you 
 that those pious works of Charity you have done and daily 
 do (and that in such a manner, that the left hand knows not 
 what the right doth) will be as a triumphant Chariot to carry 
 you one day up to Heaven, to partake of the same Beatitude 
 with him. Sir, among those that truly honour you, I am 
 one, and have been so since I first knew you ; therefore as a 
 small testimony hereof, I send you this fresh Fancy compos'd 
 by a noble Personage in Italian, of which Language you are 
 so great a Master. 
 
 For the first part of the Discourse, which consists of a 
 Dialogue 'twixt the two first Persons of the Holy Trinity, 
 there are examples of that kind in some of the most ancient 
 Fathers, as ApoUinarius and Naziajizen ; and lately Grotius 
 hath the like in his Tragedy of Christ's Passion : Which may 
 serve to free it from all exceptions. So I most affectionately 
 kiss your hands, and am. Sir — Your very humble and ready 
 Servant, J. H. 
 
 J^lee/, 25 Mart a 1646. 
 
 XXI.
 
 544 Familiar Letters. Book III. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 To S>ir Paul Neale, Kt., upon the same Suhject. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 ST. PAUL cannot reascend to Heaven before he gives 
 you also a salute; my Lord, your Father, having been 
 a Star of the greatest magnitude in the Firmament of the 
 Church. If you please to observe the manner of his late 
 progress upon earth, which you may do by the guidance of 
 this discourse, you shall discover many things which are not 
 vulsrar, bv a curious mixture of Church and State-Affairs : 
 You shall feel herein the pulse of Italy, and how it beats at 
 this time since the beginning of these late Wars 'twixt the 
 Pope and the Duke of Parma, with the grounds, procedure, 
 and success of the said War ; together with the Interest and 
 Grievances, the Pretences and Quarrels that most Princes 
 there have with Rome. 
 
 I must confess, my Genius hath often prompted me that 
 I was never cut out for a Translator, there being a kind of 
 servility therein : For it must needs be somewhat tedious 
 to one that hath any free-born thoughts within him, and 
 genuine conceptions of his own (whereof I have some, tho' 
 shallow ones) to enchain himself to a verbal servitude, and 
 the sense of another. Moreover, Translations are but as 
 turn-coated things at best, ^specially among Languages that 
 have Advantages one of the other, as the Italian hath of the 
 English, which mav be said to differ one from the other as 
 Silk doth from Cloth, the common wear of both Countries 
 where they are spoken. And as Cloth is the more substantial, 
 so the English Tongue, by reason 'tis so knotted with con- 
 sonants, is the stronger and the more sinewy of the two : 
 But Silk is more smooth and slick, and so is the Italian 
 Tongue, compared to the English. Or I may say, Transla- 
 tions are like the wrong side of a Turkey Carpet, which 
 useth to be full of thrums and knots, and nothing so even 
 as the right side : Or one may say (as I spake elsewhere), that 
 
 Translations
 
 Book III. Familiar Letters. 545 
 
 Translations are like Wines ta'en off the lees, and poured 
 into other vessels, that must needs lose somewhat of their 
 first strength and briskness, which in the pouring, or passage 
 rather, evaporates into Air. 
 
 Moreover, touching Translations, it is to be observ'd, that 
 every Language hath certaiu Idioms, Proverbs, and peculiar 
 Expressions of its own, which are not rendible in any other, 
 but paraphrastically ; therefore he overacts the office of an 
 Interpreter who doth enslave himself too strictly to Words 
 or Phrases. I have heard of an excess among Limners, call'd 
 too much to the Life, which happens when one aims at 
 Similitude more than Skill : So in version of Languages, one 
 may be so over-punctual in words, that he may mar the 
 matter. The greatest fidelity that can be expected in a 
 Translator, is to keep still a-foot and entire the true genuine 
 sense of the Author, with the main design he drives at: 
 And this was the principal thing which was observ'd in this 
 Version. 
 
 Furthermore, let it not be thought strange that there are 
 some Italian words made free denizons of Ennlaiid in this 
 discourse ; for by such means our Language hath grown 
 from time to time to be copious, and still grows more rich, 
 by adopting, or naturalizing rather, the choicest foreign 
 words of other Nations; as a Nosegay is nothing else but 
 a tuft of flowers gathered from divers beds. 
 
 Touching this present Version of Italian into English, I 
 may say, 'tis a thing I did when I had nothing to do : ^Twas 
 to find something whereby to pass away the slow hours of 
 this sad condition of Captivity. 
 
 I pray be pleas'd to take this as a small Argument of the 
 great respects I owe you for the sundry rare and high Virtues 
 I have discover'd in you, as also for the obligations I have 
 to your noble Lady, whose hands I humbly kiss, wishing 
 you both, as the Season invites me, a good new Year (for 
 it begins but now in Law) as also a holy Lent, and a healthful 
 Spring. — Your most obliged and ready Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 25 MariiJ. 
 
 2 M XXII.
 
 546 Familiar Letters. Book III. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 To Dr. W. Turner. 
 Sir, 
 
 IKETURN you my most thankful Acknowledgments for 
 that Collection, or farrago of Prophecies^ as you call 
 them (and that very properly, in regard there is a mixture of 
 good and bad), you pleas'd to send me lately ; 'specially that 
 of Nostredamus, which I shall be very chary to preserve for 
 you. I could requite you with divers Predictions more, and 
 of some of the British Bards, which were they translated 
 into English would transform the World to wonder. 
 
 They sing of a Red Parliament and White King, of a race 
 of People which should be called Pengruns, of the fall of the 
 Church, and divers other things which glance upon these 
 times. But I am none of those that afford much faith to 
 rambling Prophecies, which (as was said elsewhere) are like 
 so many odd grains sown in the vast field of Time, whereof 
 not one in a thousand comes up to grow again, and appear 
 above ground. But that I may correspond with you in 
 some part for the like courtesy, I send you these following 
 prophetic Verses of Whitehall, which were made above 
 twenty years ago to my knowledge, upon a Book call'd 
 Balaam's Ass, that consisted of some Invectives against K. 
 James and the Court in statu quo tunc : It was compos'd by 
 one Mr, Williams, a Counsellor of the Temple, but a Roman 
 Catholic, who was hang'd, drawn, and quarter'd at Charing- 
 Cross for it; and I believe there be hundreds that have 
 Copies of these Verses ever since that time about Town 
 yet living. They were these : 
 
 Sof/ie seven years since Christ rid to Courts 
 
 And there he left his Ass : 
 The Courtiers kicKd him out of doors, 
 
 Because they had no * grass. * grace. 
 
 The Ass went mourning up and down, 
 
 And thus I heard him bray,
 
 Book III. Familiar Letters. 547 
 
 J f that they could not give me grass, 
 
 Tliey might have given me hay ; 
 But sixtee?i hundred forty three, 
 
 Whosoier shall see that day. 
 Will 7iothingfind within that Court, 
 
 But only grass and hay, &c. 
 
 Which was found to happen true in Whitehall, till the 
 Soldiers coming to quarter there, trampled it down. 
 
 Truly, Sir, I find all things conspire to make strange 
 mutations in this miserable Island ; I fear we shall fall from 
 under -the Scepter to be under the Sword: And since we 
 speak of Prophecies, I am afraid among others that which 
 was made since the Reformation will be verified, The Church- 
 man was, the Lawyer is, the Soldier shall he. Welcome be 
 the will of God, who transvolves Kingdoms and tumbles down 
 Monarchies as Mole-hills at his pleasure. So I rest, my dear 
 Doctor — Your most faithful Servant, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, g Aug. 1648. 
 
 XXIII. ^ 
 
 To the Hon. Sir Edward Spencer, Kt., at his House 
 near Branceford. 
 Sir, 
 
 WE are not so bare of intelligence between these walls, 
 but we can hear of your doings in Brcniceford : That 
 so general applause whereby you were cried up Knight of 
 the Shire for Middlesex, sounded round about us upon 
 London Streets, and echo'd in every corner of the Town ; 
 nor do I mingle speech with any, tho' half aflfected to you, 
 but highly approve of and congratulate the Election, being 
 glad that a Gentleman of such extraordinary parts and 
 probity, as also of such a mature judgment, should be chosen 
 to serve the Public. 
 
 I return you the Manuscript you lent me of DcEynonology, 
 but the Author thereof and I are two in point of opinion 
 that way ; for he seems to be on the negative part, and 
 truly he writes as much as can be produc'd for his purpose. 
 
 But
 
 548 Familiar Letters. Book III. 
 
 But there are some men that are of a mere negative genius, 
 like Johannes ad oppositum, who will deny, or at least cross 
 and puzzle anything, tho' never so clear in itself, with 
 their hut, yet, if, &c. ; they will flap the lye in Truth's teeth, 
 tho' she visibly stand before their face without any vizard : 
 Such perverse cross-grain'd spirits are not to be dealt withal 
 by arguments, but palpable proofs; as if one should deny 
 that the fire burns, or that he hath a nose on his face; there 
 is no way to deal with him, but to pull him by the tip of 
 the one, and put his finger into the other. I will not say 
 that this Gentleman is so perverse ; but to deny there are 
 any Witches, to deny that there are not ill Spirits which 
 seduce, tamper, and converse in divers shapes with human 
 Creatures, and impel them to actions of malice ; I say, that 
 he who denies there are such busy Spirits, and such poor 
 passive Creatures upon whom they work, which commonly 
 are calPd Witches ; I say again, that he who denies there 
 are such Spirits, shews that he himself hath a Spirit of 
 Contradiction in him, opposing the current and consentient 
 Opinion of all Antiquity. We read that both Jews and 
 Romans, with all other Nations of Christendom, and our 
 Ancestors here in England, enacted Laws against Witches; 
 sure they were not so silly as to waste their brains in making 
 Laws against Chimeras, against non-entia, or such as Plato's 
 Kteritismata' s were. The Judicial Law is apparent in the 
 holy Codex, Thou shalt not suffer a Witch to live : The 
 Roman Law, which the Decemviri made, is yet extant in 
 the twelve Tables, Qui Jruges incantassent, poenis danto : 
 They who shall inchant the fruit of the Earth, let them be 
 punish'd. The Imperial Law is known by every Civilian; 
 Hi cum hostes natures sint, supplicio afficiantur : These, 
 meaning Witches, because they are enemies to Nature, let 
 them be punish'd. And the Acts of Parliament in Eng- 
 land are against those tliat invoke ill Spirits, that take up 
 any dead man, ivoman, or child, to take the skin or hone 
 of any dead hody, to employ it to Sorcery or Charm, wherehy 
 any one is lani'd or made to pine away, &c., such shall he 
 
 guilty
 
 Book III. Familiar Letters. 549 
 
 guilty of fiat Felony, and not capable of Clergy or Sanc- 
 tuary, &c. 
 
 What a multitude of examples are there in good authentic 
 Authors of divers kinds of Fascinations, Incantations, Pre- 
 stigiations, of Philtres, Spells, Charms, Sorceries, Charac- 
 ' ters, and such like ; as also of Magic, Necromancy, and 
 Divinations ? Surely the PVitch of Endor is no fable ; the 
 burning;; of Joan. d'Arc the Maid of Orleans in Rouen, and 
 of the Marchioness of d'Ancre of late years in Paris, are 
 no fables : The execution of Nostredamus for a kind of 
 JVitch, some fourscore years since, is but a modern story, 
 who among other things foretold, Le Senat de Londres tuera 
 son Roy, The Senate of London shall kill their King. The 
 best historians have it upon record, how Charlemaln's Mis- 
 tress enchanted him with a Ring, which as long as she 
 had about her, he would not suffer her dead Carcase to be 
 carry'd out of his chamber to be buried ; and a Bishop taking 
 it out of her mouth, the Emperor grew to be as much be- 
 witch'd with the Bishop ; but he being cloy'd with his excess 
 of favour, threw it into a Pond, where the Emperor's chiefest 
 pleasure was to walk till his dying day. The story tells us, 
 how the IValdenses in France were by solemn Arrest of Par- 
 liament accus'd and condemn'd of Witchcraft. The Malteses 
 took St. Paul for a Witch. St. Augustin speaks of Women 
 who could turn Men to Horses, and make them carrv their 
 burdens : Danceus writes of an inchanted Staff, which the 
 Devil, Summoncr-like, was us'd to deliver some Market- 
 women to ride upon. In some of the Northern Countries, 
 'tis as ordinary to buy and sell Winds as it is to do Wines 
 in other parts ; and hereof I could instance in some examples 
 of my own knowledge. Every one knows what Olaus 
 Magnus writes of Erich's (King of Sweethland's) corner'd 
 Cap, who could make the Wind shift to any point of the 
 Compass, according as he turn'd it about. 
 
 Touching Diviners of things to come, which is held a 
 species of JFitchcraft, we may read they were frequent among 
 tht Romans ; yea, they had Colleges for their Augurs and 
 
 Aruspices,
 
 550 Familiar Letters. Book III. 
 
 Aruspices, who us'd to make their Predictions sometimes by 
 Fire, sometimes by flying of Fowls, sometimes by inspection 
 into the Entrails of Beasts, or invoking the dead, but most 
 frequently by consulting with the Oracles, to whom all 
 Nations hath recourse except the Jews. But you will say, 
 that since Christianity display'd her Banner, the Cross hath 
 scar'd away the Devil and struck the Oracles dumb : As 
 Plutarch reports a notable passage of Thamus, an Italian Pilot, 
 who a little after the birth of Christ, sailing along the Coasts 
 of Calabria in a still silent night, all his Passengers being 
 asleep, an airy cold Voice came to his ears, saying, Thamus, 
 Thamus, Thamus, The great God Pan is dead, who was the 
 chiefest Oracle of that Country. Yet tho' the Light of 
 the Gospel chas'd away those great Owls, there be some 
 Bats and little Night-birds that fly still abroad, I mean petty 
 Spirits, that by secret pactions, which are made always with- 
 out witness, enable Men and Women to do evil. In such 
 compacts beyond the Seas, the Party must first renounce 
 Christ, and the extended IVoman, meaning the blessed Virgin; 
 he must co?itemn the Sacrament, tread on the Cross, spit at the 
 Host, &c. There is a famous story of such a Paction, which 
 Fryar Louis made some half a hundred years ago with the 
 Devil in Marseilles, who appeared to him in shape of a Goat, 
 and promis'd him the enjoyment of any Woman whom he 
 fancied, with other Pleasures, for 41 years ; but the Devil 
 being too cunning for him, put the figure of i before, 
 and made it 14 years in the Contract (which is to be 
 seen to this day, with the Devil's claw to it), at which time 
 the Fryar was detected for Witchcraft, and burnt; and all 
 those Children whom he had christned durino- that term of 
 
 O 
 
 fourteen years were re-baptiz'd : The Gentlewomen whom 
 he had abus'd put themselves into a Nunnery by them- 
 selves. Hereunto may be added the great rich Widow that 
 was burn'd in Lions, because 'twas prov'd the Devil had lain 
 with her ; as also the History of Lieutenant Jaquette, which 
 stands upon record with the former : But if I should insert 
 them here at Iprge, it would make this Letter swell too much. 
 
 But
 
 Book III. Familiar Letters. 551 
 
 But we need not cross the Sea for examples of this kind ; 
 we have too too many (God wot) at home. King James 
 a great while was loth to believe there were Witches ; but 
 that which happen'd to my Lord Francis of Rutland's 
 Children convinc'd him, who were bewitch'd by an old 
 ^ Woman that was servant at B elvoir- Castle ; but being dis- 
 pleas'd^ she contracted with the Devil (who convers'd with 
 her in form of a Cat, whom she call'd Ei/tterkin) to make 
 away those Children, out of mere malignity and thirst of 
 revenge. 
 
 But since the be2;innino; of these unnatural Wars, there 
 may be a cloud of Witnesses produced for the proof of this 
 black Tenet: For within the compass of two years, near 
 upon three hundred Witches were arraign'd, and the major 
 part executed in Essex and Suffolk only. Scotland swarms 
 with them now more than ever, and Persons of good Quality 
 executed daily. 
 
 Thus, Sir, have I huddled together a few Arguments 
 touching this Subject; because in my last communication 
 with you, methought I found you somewhat unsatisfied, 
 and staggering in your opinion touching the affirmative 
 part of this Thesis, the discussing whereof is far fitter for an 
 elaborate large Treatise than a loose Letter. 
 
 Touching the new Commonwealth you intend to establish, 
 now that you have assign'd me my part among so many 
 choice Legislators : Something I shall do to comply with 
 your Desires, which shall be always to me as Commands, 
 and your Commands as Laws ; because I love and honour 
 you in a very high degree for those gallant free-born thoughts 
 and sundry parts of virtue which I have discerned in you : 
 Which makes me entitle myself — Your most humble and 
 affectionate faithful Servant, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 20 Feb. 1647. 
 
 XXIV\
 
 552 Familiar Letters. Book III. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 To Sir William Boswel, at the Hague. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 THAT black Tragedy which was lately acted here, as it 
 hath fill'd most hearts among us with consternation 
 and horror^ so I believe it hath been no less resented abroad. 
 For my own particular, the more I ruminate upon it, the 
 more it astonisheth my imagination, and shaketh all the cells 
 of my Brain ; so that sometimes I struggle with my Faith, 
 and have much ado to believe it yet. I shall give over 
 wondring at anything hereafter, nothing shall seem strange 
 unto me ; only I will attend with patience how England 
 will thrive, now that she is let blood in the Basilical Vein, 
 and cur'd, as they say, of the King' s-Evil. 
 
 I had one of yours by Mr. Jacob Boeue, and I much 
 thank you for the Account you please to give me of what I 
 sent you by his conveyance. Holland may now be proud, 
 for there is a younger Commonwealth in Christeridom than 
 herself. No more now but that I always rest, Sir — Your 
 most humble Servitor, J. H. 
 
 Fleet, 20 Afar. 1648, 
 
 XXV. 
 
 To Mr. W. B., at Grundsburgh. 
 Sir, 
 
 NEVER credit me, if Lilerty itself be as dear to me as 
 your Letters, they come so full of choice and learned 
 applications, with such free unforc'd strains of ingenuity ; 
 insomuch that when I peruse them, methinks they cast such 
 a kind of fragrancy, that I cannot more aptly compare them 
 than to the Flowers which are now in their prime season, 
 viz., to Roses in June. I had two of them lately, which 
 methought were like Quivers full of barb'd Arrows pointed 
 with gold, that penetrated my breast. 
 
 — Tali qids nolle t ab ictu 
 
 Ridendo tremulas mortis non ire sub umbras ? 
 
 Your
 
 Book III. Familiar Letters. 553 
 
 Your expressions were like those Miicrones and Mell'iti 
 Glohidi, which you so ingeniously apply mine unto ; but these 
 Arrows of yours, tho' they have hit me, they have not hurt 
 me, they had no killing quality, but they were rather as 
 so many cordials ; for you know Gold is restorative. I am 
 suddenly surpriz'd by an unexpected occasion, therefore I 
 must abruptly break off with you for this time : I will only 
 add, my most dear Nephew, that I rest — Yours entirely to 
 love and serve you, J. H. 
 
 /line 3, 1648. 
 
 Sir 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 To R. K., Esq., at St. Giles's. 
 
 DIFFERENCE in Opinion, no more than a differing 
 Complexio7i, can be cause enough for me to hate anv. 
 A differing Fancy is no more to me than a differing Face. If 
 another hath a fair Countenance, tho' mine be Hack ; or if 
 I have a fair Opinion, tho' another have a hard-favoured 
 one, yet it shall not break that common league of Humanity 
 which should be betwixt rational creatures, provided he 
 corresponds with me in the general offices of Morality and 
 civil uprightness: This may admit him to my acquaintance 
 and conversation, tho' I never concur with him in opinion : 
 He bears the Image of Adam, and the Image of the Almighty, 
 as well as I ; he had God for his Father, tho' he hath not 
 the same Church for his Mother. The omniscient Creator, 
 as he is only Kardiognostic, so he is the sole Lord of the 
 whole inward Man : It is he who reiras o'er the faculties 
 of the soul, and the affections of the Heart : 'Tis he who 
 regulates the Will, and rectifies all obliquities in the Under- 
 standing by special illuminations, and oftentimes reconciles 
 Men as opposite in Opinions, as Meridians and Parallels 
 are in point of extension, whereof the one draws from East 
 to West, the other from North to South. 
 
 Some of the Pagan Philosophers, 'specially Thcmistius, 
 
 who
 
 554 Familiar Letters. Book III. 
 
 who was Prastor of Byzantium, maintain'd an opinion, that 
 as the pulchritude and preservation of the World consisted 
 in varieties and dissimilitudes (as also in eccentric and 
 contrary motions), that as it was replenish'd with such 
 numberless sorts of several Species, and that the Individuals 
 of those Species difFer'd so much one from the other, 'speci- 
 ally Mankind, amongst whom one shall hardly find two in 
 ten thousand that hath exactly (tho' Twins) the same tone of 
 Voice, similitude of Face, or ideas of Mind ; therefore, the 
 God of Nature ordain'd from the beginning, that he should 
 be worshipped in various and sundry forms of Adorations, 
 which nevertheless like so many Lines should tend all to 
 the same Centre. But Cliristian Religion prescribes another 
 Hule, viz., that there is but una via, una Veritas, there is 
 but one true way to Heaven, and that but a narrow one ; 
 whereas there be huge large roads that lead to Hell. 
 
 God Almighty guide us in the first, and guard us from the 
 second, as also from all cross and uncouth by-paths, which 
 use to lead such giddy brains that follow them to a confus'd 
 labyrinth of Errors ; where being entangled, the Devil, as 
 they stand gaping for new Lights to lead them out, takes 
 his advantage to seize on them for their spiritual Pride, 
 and insobriety in the search of more Knowledge. — Your 
 most faithful Servant, J. H. 
 
 2?>JuIy 1648. 
 
 Familiar 
 
 1
 
 >^ 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 I. 
 
 To Sir James Crofts, Knight, near Lempster. 
 
 PISTLES, or (according to the word 
 in use) Familiar Letters, may be call'd 
 the larum Bells of Love : I hope 
 this will prove so to you, and have 
 power to awaken you out of that 
 silence wherein you have slept so 
 long; yet I would not have this 
 larum make any harsh obstreperous 
 sound, but gently summon you to 
 our former correspondence. Your returns to me shall be 
 more than larum Bells, they shall be like silver Trumpets 
 to rouze up my spirits, and make me take pcji in hand to 
 meet you more than half-way in the old field of Friendship. 
 It is recorded of Galen, one of Nature's Cabinet-Clerks, 
 that when he slept his Siesta (as the Spaniard calls it) or 
 afternoon sleep, to avoid excess that way, he us'd to sit in 
 such a posture, that having a gold Ball in his hand, and a 
 copper Vessel underneath, as soon as his Senses were shut, 
 and the Fhantasij began to work, the Ball would fall down, 
 
 the
 
 55^ Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 the noise whereof would awake him, and draw the Spring- 
 lock back again to set the outward Senses at liberty. I 
 have seen in Itulij a Finger-ring, which in the boss thereof 
 had a Watch ; and there was such a Trick of Art in it, 
 that it might be so wound up, that it would make a small 
 Pin to prick him who wore it, at such an hour as he pleas'd 
 in the night. Let the Pen between us have the virtue of 
 that Vin : But the Pen hath a thousand virtues more. You 
 know that Anser, jipis, Vitulus, the Goose, the Bee, and 
 the Calf, do rule the World ; the one affording Parchment, 
 the other two Sealing-Wax, and Quills to write withal. 
 You know also how the gaggling of Geese did once preserve 
 the Capitol from being surpriz'd by my Countryman Bren- 
 mis, which was the first foreign Force that Rome felt. But 
 the Goose-quill doth daily greater things, it conserves Em- 
 pires (and the feathers of it get Kingdoms, witness what 
 Exploits the English perform'd by it in France), the Quill 
 being the chiefest instrument of Litelligence, and the 
 Ambassador's prime Tool : Nay, the Quill is the usefuVst 
 thing which preserves that noble Virtue Friendship, which 
 else would perish among Men for want of practice. 
 
 I shall make no more sallies out of London this Summer, 
 therefore your Letters may be sure where to find me : 
 Matters are still involv'd here in a strange confusion, but 
 the Stars may let down milder influences; therefore chear 
 up, and reprieve yourself against better times, for the World 
 would be irksome to me if you were out of it. Hap what 
 will, you shall be sure to find me — Your ready and real 
 Servant, J. H. 
 
 n. 
 
 To Mr. T. Morgan. 
 Sir, 
 
 IRECEI V'D two of yours upon Tuesday last, one to your 
 Brother, the other to me; but the Superscriptions were 
 mistaken, which makes me think on that famous Civilian 
 Doctor Dale, who being employ'd to Flanders by Q. Eliza- 
 
 leth,
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 557 
 
 lelh, sent in a Packet to the Secretary of State two Lettters, 
 one to the Queen, the other to his Wife', but that which 
 was meant for the Queen was superscrib'd, To his dear IVife ; 
 and that for his Wife, To her most excellent Majesty : So 
 that the Queen having open d his Letter^ she found it be- 
 ginning with Siveet Heart, and afterwards with my Dear, 
 and Dear Love, with such expressions, acquainting her with 
 the state of his body, and that he began to want money. 
 You may easily guess what motions of mirth this Mistake 
 rais'd, but the Doctor by this oversight (or cunningness rather) 
 got a supply of money. This perchance may be your policy, 
 to endorse me your Brother, thereby to endear me the 
 more to you : But you needed not to have done that, for 
 the name Friend goes sometimes further than Brother ; and 
 there be more examples of Friends that did sacrifice their 
 lives for one another than of Brothers ; which the Writer 
 doth think he should do for you, if the case requir'd. But 
 since I am fallen upon Dr. Dale, who was a witty kind of 
 Drole, I will tell you instead of news (for there is little o-ooc? 
 stirring now) two other facetious Tales of his ; and Familiar 
 Tales may become Familiar Letters well enough : When 
 Q. Elizabeth did first propose to him that foreign employ- 
 ment to Flanders, among other encouragements she told 
 him, that he should have 20.y. per diem for his expences: 
 Then, Madam, said he, I will spend 19,?. a-day. What will 
 you do with the odd shilling? the Queen rephfd. I will 
 reserve that for mv Kate, and for Tom and Dick; meanino; 
 his Wife and Children. This induc'd the Queen to enlariie 
 his Allowance. But this that comes last is the best of all, 
 and may be call'd the superlative of the three, which was, 
 when at the overture of the Treaty the other Ambassadors 
 came to propose in what Language they should treat, the 
 Spanish Ambassador answer'd, that the French was the most 
 proper, because his Mistress entitled herself Queen of France-: 
 Nay, then, said Dr. Dale, let us treat in Hebrew, for your 
 Master calls himself King o{ Jerusalem. 
 
 I perform'd the civilities you enjoin'd me to your Friends 
 
 here.
 
 558 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 here_, who return you the like centuplicated, and so doth — 
 Your entire Friend, J. H. 
 
 . May 12. 
 
 III. 
 
 To the Right Honourable the Lady E. D. 
 
 Madam, 
 
 THERE is a French saying, that Courtesies and Favours 
 are like Floivers, which are sweet only while they are 
 fresh, but afterwards they quickly fade and wither. I cannot 
 deny but your favours to me might be compar'd to some 
 kind of Flowers (and they would make a thick Posie), but 
 they should be to the flower call'd Life everlasting ; or that 
 pretty Vermilion Flower which grows at the foot of the 
 Mountain j^tna in Sicily, which never loses anything of its 
 first colour and scent. Those favours you did me thirty years 
 ago, in the lifetime of your incomparable Brother Mr. R. 
 Altham (who left us in the flower of his age), methinks are 
 as fresh to me as if they were done yesterday. 
 
 Nor were it any danger to compare Courtesies done to 
 me to other Flowers, as I use them ; for I distil them in the 
 limbeck of my Memory, and so turn them to Essences. 
 
 But, Madam, I honour you not so much for Favours, as 
 for that precious brood of Virtues, which shine in you with 
 that brightness, but 'specially for those high motions whereby 
 your Soul soars up so often towards Heaven : Insomuch, 
 Madam, that if it were safe to call any Mortal a Saint, you 
 should have that title from me, and I would be one of your 
 chiefest Votaries; howsoever, I may without any superstition 
 subscribe myself — Your truly devoted Servant, J. H. 
 
 April 8. 
 
 IV. 
 
 To my Lord Marquis of Hartford. 
 Mv Lord, 
 RECEIV'D your Lordship's of the nth current, with 
 the Commands it carried, whereof I shall give an ac- 
 count 
 
 I
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 559 
 
 count in my next. Foreign Parts afford not much matter 
 of intelligence, it being now the dead of Winter, and the 
 season unfit for Action : But we need not go abroad for 
 news, there is store enough at home. We see daily mighty 
 things, and they are marvellous in our eyes ; but the greatest 
 ^ marvel is, that nothing should now be marvell'd at, for we 
 are so habituated to wonders, that they are grown familiar 
 unto us. 
 
 Poor Englcuid may be said to be like a Ship toss'd up 
 and down the surges of a turbulent Sea, having lost her old 
 Pilot ; and God knows when she can get into safe harbour 
 again : Yet doubtless this Tempest, according to the usual 
 operations of Nature, and the succession of mundane effects 
 by contrary agents, will turn at last into a calm, tho' many 
 who are yet in their nonage may not live to see it. Your 
 Lordship knows that the K6a/j.o<i, this fair frame of the 
 Universe, came out of a Chaos, an indigested Lump; and 
 that this elementary World was made of millions of In- 
 gredients repugnant to themselves in nature; and the whole 
 is still preserved by the reluctancy and restless combatings 
 of these Principles. We see how the Shipwright doth make 
 use of knee-timber, and other cross-grain'd pieces as well as 
 of streight and even, for framing a goodly Vessel to ride on 
 Neptwie's back. The Printer useth many contrary Charac- 
 ters in his Art, to put forth a fair Volume; as ^ is a p 
 revers'd, and n is a u turn'd upward, with other differing 
 Letters, which yet concur all to the perfection of the whole 
 Work. There go many and various dissonant Tones to 
 make an harmonious Consort; this put me in mind of an 
 excellent passage which a noble speculative Knight (Sir P. 
 Herbert) hath in his late Conceptiojis to his Son : How a 
 holy Anchorite being in a Wilderness, among other contem- 
 plations, he fell to admire the method of Providence, how 
 out of Causes which seem had to us he produceth oftentimes 
 good Effects ; how he suffers virtuous, loyal, and religious 
 Men to be oppress'd, and others to prosper. As he was 
 transported with these Ideas, a goodly young Man appear'd 
 
 to
 
 560 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 to him, and told him, Father, I know your thoughts are dis- 
 tracted, and I am sent to quiet them ; therefore if you ivill 
 accompany me afeiu days, you shall return very well satisfied 
 of those doubts that now encumber your mind. So going along 
 with him, they were to pass over a deep River, whereon 
 there was a narrow bridge ; and meeting there with another 
 Passenger, the young Man justled him into the Water, and 
 so drowned him. The old Anchorite being much astonished 
 hereat, would have left him ; but his Guide said. Father, be 
 not amaz'd, because I shall give you good reasons for what I 
 do, and you shall see stranger things than this before you and 
 I part ; but at last I shall settle your judgment^ and put your 
 mind in full repose. So going that night to lodge in an Inn 
 where there was a crew of Banditti and debauch'd Ruffians, 
 the young Man struck into their company, and revell'd with 
 them till the morning, while the Anchorite spent most of 
 the night in numbring his Beads ; but as soon as they were 
 departed thence, they met with some Officers who went to 
 apprehend that crew of Banditti they had left behind them. 
 The next day they came to a Gentleman's house which was 
 a fair Palace, where they receiv'd all the courteous hospi- 
 tality which could be ; but in the morning as they parted 
 there was a Child in a cradle, which was the only Son of 
 the Gentleman ; and the young Man spying his opportunity, 
 strangled the Child, and so got away. The third day they 
 came to another Inn, where the Man of the house treated 
 them with all the civility that could be, and gratis ; yet the 
 young Man imbezzl'd a Silver Goblet, and carried it away 
 in his pocket, which still increas'd the Amazement of the 
 Anchorite. The fourth day in the evening they came to 
 lodge at another Inn, where the Host was very sullen, and 
 uncivil to him, exacting much more than the value of what 
 they had spent; yet at parting, the young Man bestowed 
 upon him the Silver Goblet he had stolen from that Host 
 who had used them so kindly. The fifth day they made 
 towards a great rich Town ; but some miles before they 
 came at it, they met with a Merchant at the close of the 
 
 day,
 
 Book IV, Familiar Letters. 561 
 
 day, who had a great charge of money about him ; and 
 asking the next passage to the Town, the young Man put 
 him in a clean contrary way. The Anchorite and his Guide 
 being come to the Town, at the gate they spied a Devil, 
 who lay as it were centinel, but he was asleep : They found 
 ialso both Men and Women at sundry kinds of sports, some 
 dancing, others singing, with divers sorts of revellings. They 
 went afterwards to a Convent of Capuchins, where, about 
 the gate, they found legions of Devils laying siege to that 
 Monastery, yet they got in and lodged there that night. 
 Being awaked the next morning, the young Man came to 
 that Cell where the Anchorite was lodg'd, and told him, / 
 know your heart is full of horror, and your head full of con- 
 fusion, astonishments, ajid doubts, for what you have seen since 
 the first time of our association. But know, I am an Angel 
 sent from Heaven to rectify your judgment, as also to correct 
 a little your curiosity in the researches of the luays and acts 
 of Providence too far ; for tho* separately they seem strange 
 to the shalloiu apprehension of Man, yet conjunctly they all 
 tend to produce good effects. 
 
 That Man which I tumbled into the River was an act of 
 Providence ; for he was going upon a most mischievous design 
 that would have damnified not only his own soul, but destroyed 
 the Party against whom it was intended ; therefore I pre- 
 vented it. 
 
 The cause why I conversed all night ivith that Crew of 
 Rogues, was also an act of Providence, J'or they intended to 
 go a-robbing all that night ; but I kept them there purposely 
 till the next morning, that the hand of Justice might seize 
 upon them. 
 
 Touching the kind Host from whom I took the Silver 
 Goblet, and the clownish or knavish Host to whom I gave it, 
 let this demonstrate to you, that good Men are Liable to crosses 
 and losses, whereof bad Men oj'tentimes reap the benefit : hit 
 it commonly produceth patience in the one, and pride in the 
 other. 
 
 Concerning that noble Gentleman whose Child I strangled 
 
 2 N after
 
 562 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 after so courteous entertainment, know that that also was an 
 act of Providence, for the Gentleman was so indulgent and 
 doting on that Child, that it lessened his love to Heaven; so I 
 took aivay the cause. 
 
 Touching the Merchant whom I misguided in his way, it 
 was likewise an act of Providence, for had he gone the direct 
 way to this Tow?i, he had been roWd, and his throat cut, 
 therefore I preserved him by that deviation. 
 
 Noiv, concerning this great luxurious City, whereas we 
 spied hut one Devil ivho lay asleep without the gate, there 
 being so many about this poor Convent, you must consider, that 
 Lucifer being already assured of that riotous Town by cor- 
 rupting their manners every day more and more, he needs but 
 one si?igle Centinel to secure it : But for this holy Place of 
 retirement, this Monastery inhabited by so many devout Souls, 
 who spend their whole lives in acts of mortification, as exer- 
 cises of Piety and Penance, he hath brought so many legions 
 to beleaguer them; yet he can do no good upon them, for they 
 bear up against him most undauntedly, maugre all his in- 
 fernal power and stratagems. So the young Man, or divine 
 Messenger, suddenly disappear'd and vanish'd ; yet leaving 
 his Fellow-traveller in good hands. 
 
 My Lord, I crave your pardon for this extravagancy, 
 and the tediousness thereof; but I hope the sublimity of 
 the Matter will make some compensation, which, if I am 
 not deceived, will well suit with your genius; for I know 
 your Contemplations to be as high as your Condition, and 
 as much above the Vulgar. This figurative story shews 
 that the ways of Providence are inscrutable, his intention 
 and method of operation not conformable oftentimes to 
 human judgment, the Plummet and Line whereof is in- 
 finitely too short to fathom the depth of his Designs; there- 
 fore let us acquiesce in an humble admiration, and with this 
 confidence, that all things co-operate to the best at last, as 
 they relate to his glory, and the general good of his Crea- 
 tures, tho' sometimes they appear to us by uncouth circum- 
 stances and cross mediums. 
 
 So 
 
 I
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 563 
 
 So in a due distance and posture of humility I kiss your 
 Lordship's hands^ as being, my most highly honoured Lord 
 — Your thrice-obedient and obliged Servitor^ 
 
 J.H. 
 
 f V. 
 
 To Richard Baker, Esq. 
 Sir, 
 
 NOW that Lent and the Spring do make their approach, 
 in my opinion Fasting would conduce much to the 
 advantage of Soul and Body. Tho" our second Institution 
 of observing Lent aim'd at civil respects, as to preserve the 
 brood of Cattle, and advance the profession of Fishermen, 
 yet it concurs with the first Institution, viz., a true spiritual 
 End, which was to subdue the Flesh; and that being 
 brought under, our other two spiritual Enemies, the World 
 and the Devil, are the sooner overcome. The Naturalists 
 observe, that morning-spittle kills Dragons, ?,o fasting helps 
 to destroy the Devil, provided it be accompanied with 
 other acts of devotion. To fast for one day only from 
 about nine in the morning to four in the afternoon, is but 
 a mock-fast. The Turks do more than so in their Rami- 
 rams and Beirams ; and the Jew also, for he fasts from the 
 dawn in the morning till the stars be up in the night, as 
 you observe in the devout and delicate Poem you pleas'd to 
 communicate to me lately. I was so taken with the sub- 
 ject, that I presently lighted my Candle at your torch, and 
 fell into these Stanzas : 
 
 1. Now Lent is come, let us refrain 
 From carnal Creatures, quick, or slain ; 
 Lefs fast, and inacerate the Flesh, 
 Impound, and keep it in distress, 
 
 2. For forty days, and then 7ve shall 
 Have a Replevin//-^;// the thrall, 
 
 By that bless'' d Prince, 7vho for this fast 
 Will give us Angels' food at last. 
 
 q. But
 
 564 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 3. Btit to abstahi from Beef, Hog, Goose, 
 And let our Appetites go loose 
 
 To Lobsters, Crabs, Pra%U7is, or such Fish, 
 We do not fast, bid feast in this. 
 
 4. Not to let down Lamb, Kid, or Veal 
 Hen, Plover, Turkey-cock, or Teal, 
 And eat Botargo, dxviar, 
 Anchovies, Oysters, and like fare ; 
 
 5. Or to forbear from Flesh, Foivl, Fish, 
 And eat Potatoes in a dish 
 
 Done der with Amber, or a mess 
 Of Ringds iti a Spanish dress : 
 
 6. Or to refrain from each hot thing 
 Which Water, Earth, or Air doth bring, 
 
 And lose a hundred pound at Gleek, 
 Or be a Saint when we should sleep. 
 
 7. Or to leave play with all high dishes. 
 And feed our thoughts with wanton wishes, 
 Making the Soul, like a light Wench, 
 Wear patches of Concupiscence : 
 
 8. This is not to keep Lent a-right, 
 But play the juggling Hypocrite : 
 
 He truly Lent observes, who makes the ititvard Man 
 To fast, as well as make the outward feed on bran. 
 
 The French Reformists have an odd way of keeping Lent, 
 for I have seen the walls of their Temples turn'd to shambles, 
 and Flesh hanging upon them on Lent-Sundays ; insomuch 
 that he who doth not know their practice would take their 
 Churches to be Synagogues of Jews, and that the bloody 
 Levitical Sacrifices were oiTer'd there. 
 
 And now that my thoughts are in France, a witty passage 
 of Henry the Great comes into my mind, who being himself 
 in the ^eld, sent to the old Count of Soissons to accompany 
 him with what forces he could make. The Count answer'd, 
 That he was grown decrepit and crazy ; besides, his Estate 
 was so, being much exhausted in the former Wars, and all 
 
 that
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 565 
 
 that he could do now for His Majesty was to pray for him : 
 Doth my Cousin of Soissons, said the King, answer me so ? 
 They say, That Prayer ivilhout Fasting hath nothing of that 
 efficacy y as when they are jolnd. Ventre de St. Gris, By 
 the belly of St. Gris, I will make him fast, as well as pray ; 
 *for I will not pay him a penny of his ten thousand Crowns 
 Pension, which he hath yearly, for these respects. 
 
 The Christian Church hath a longer and more solemn 
 way of fasting than any other Religion, take Lent and 
 Ember-weeks together. In some Churches the Christian 
 useth the old way of mortification, by sackcloth and ashes, 
 to this day ; which makes me think on a facetious tale of 
 a Turkish Ambassador in Venice, who being return'd to 
 Constantinople, and ask'd what he had observ'd most re- 
 markable in that so rare a City , he answer'd, that among 
 other things the Christian hath a kind of Ashes, which 
 thrown upon the head doth perfectly cure madness; for in 
 Venice I saw the People go up and down the streets (said 
 he) in ugly antique strange disguises, as being in the eye of 
 human reason stark mad ; but the next day (meaning Ash- 
 Wednesday) they are suddenly cur'd of that madness by a 
 sort of ashes which they cast upon their heads. 
 
 If the said Ambassador were here among us, he would 
 think our modern Gallants were also all mad, or subject to 
 be mad, because they ashe and powder their Pericraniums 
 all the year long. So, wishing you Meditations suitable 
 to the season, and good Thoughts which are best when 
 they are the offsprings of good Actions, I rest — Your ready 
 and real Friend, J. H. 
 
 Ash-lVed?iesday, 1654. 
 
 VI. 
 
 To Mr. R. Manwayring. 
 
 My dear Dick, 
 
 F you are as well when you read this as I was when I 
 wrote it, we are both well ; I am certain of the one, 
 
 but 
 
 I
 
 566 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 but anxious of the other, in regard of your so long silence ; 
 I pray, at the return of this Post, let your Ven pull out this 
 Thorn that hath got into my thoughts, and let me have 
 often room in yours, for you know I am your perfect 
 Friend, J. H. 
 
 VII. 
 
 To Sir Edward Spencer, Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 I FIND by your last of the first current, that your 
 thoughts are much busied in forming your new Com- 
 monwealth ; and whereas the Province that is allotted to 
 me is to treat of a right way to govern the Female Sex, I 
 hold my lot to be fallen upon a fair ground, and I will 
 endeavour to husband it accordingly. I find also that for 
 the establishment of this new RepuhUc, you have cull'd out 
 the choicest Wits in all Faculties ; therefore I account it 
 an honour that you have put me in the List, tho' the least 
 of them. 
 
 In every species of Government, and indeed among all 
 Societies of Mankind {Reclns'd Orders, and other Regulars 
 excepted), there must be a special care had of the Female 
 kind ; for nothing can conduce more to the propagation 
 and perpetuity of a Republic, than the well managing of 
 that gentle and useful Sex : for tho' they be accounted the 
 weaker vessels, yet are they those in whom the whole Mass 
 of Mankind is moulded ; therefore they must not be us'd like 
 Saffron-bags, or Verde-bottles, which are thrown into some 
 by-corner when the Wine and Spice are taken out of them. 
 
 It was an opinion truly befitting a Jeiv to hold. That 
 JVoman is of an inferior creation to Man, being made only 
 for Multiplication and Pleasure; therefore hath she no ad- 
 mittance into the body of the Synagogue. Such another 
 opinion was that of the Paga7i Poet, who stutter'd out this 
 verse, that there are but two good hours of any Woman : 
 Tr]v fj^lav iv daXdfio), rrjv fxiav ev davarw : Unam in thalamo, 
 alteram in tiimulo ; One hour in Bed, the other in the 
 
 Grave.
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 567 
 
 Grave. Moreover, I hold also that of the Orator to be a 
 wild extravagant speech, when he said, That if Women were 
 not conterranean and mingled with Men, Angels would descend 
 and dwell among 7is. But a far wilder speech was that of 
 the Dog-P/iilosopher, who term'd Women necessary Evils. 
 Of this Cynical Sect, it seems, was he who would needs 
 make Orcus to be the Anagram of Uxor, by contracting 
 c s into an x, Uxor ^ Orcus — idem. 
 
 Yet I confess, that among this Sex, as among Men, there 
 are some good, some bad, some virtuous, some vicious, and 
 some of an indifferent nature, in whom Virtue makes a com- 
 pensation for Vice. If there was an Empress in Rome so 
 cunning in her lust, that she would take in no passenger 
 until the vessel was frieghted (for fear the resemblance of 
 the Child might discover the true Father), there was a 
 Zenohia in Asia who would not suffer her Husband to know 
 her carnally any longer, when once she found herself quick. 
 If there were a Queen of France that poison'd her King, 
 there was a Queen in England who, when her Husband 
 had been shot with an envenom'd Arrow in the Holy Land, 
 suck'd out the Poison with her own mouth, when none 
 else would do it. If the Ladv Barbara, wife to Si^ismond 
 the Emperor, being advis'd by her ghostly Father after his 
 death to live like a Turtle, having lost such a Mate that the 
 World had not the like, made this wanton answer, Father, 
 since you would have me to lead the life of a Bird, why not 
 of a Sparrow, as well as of a Turtle ? which she did after- 
 wards ; I say, if there were such a Lady Barbara, there was 
 the Lady Beatrix, who, after Henry her Emperor's death, 
 lived after like a Dove, and immur'd herself in a Monastic 
 Cell. But what shall I say of Q. Artemisia, who had an 
 Urnful of her Husband Mausoluss Ashes in her closet, 
 whereof she would take down a dram every morning nex 
 her heart, saying that her Body was the fittest place to be 
 a Sepulchre to her dear Husband, notwithstanding that she 
 had erected such a Tomb for the rest of his Body, that to 
 this day is one of the wonders of the World ? 
 
 Moreover,
 
 568 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 Moreover, it cannot be deny'd but some Females are of 
 a high and harsh nature; witness those two that of our 
 greatest Clerks for Law and Learning (Lord B. and C.) 
 did meet withal, one of whom was said to have brought 
 back her Husband to his horn-book again : As also Moses 
 and Socrates' s Wives, who were Zipporali and Xantippe : 
 you may guess at the humour of one in the holy Code ; 
 and for Xantippe, among many instances which might be 
 produc'd, let this serve for one. After she had scolded her 
 Husband one day out of doors, as the poor man was going 
 out, she whipp'd up into an upper loft, and threw a piss- 
 pot full upon his Sconce, which made the patient Philo- 
 sopher (or Foolosopher) to break into this speech for the 
 venting of his passion, I thought after so much thunder we 
 should have rain. To this may be added my neighbour 
 Strowd's Wife in IVestminster, who once ringing him a 
 peal as she was basting his roast (for he was a Cook) after 
 he had newly come from the Tavern upon Simday Evening; 
 she grew hotter and hotter against him, having Hell and 
 the Devil in her mouth, to whom she often bequeathed him. 
 The staring Husband having heard her a great while with 
 silence, at last ansvver'd, I prithee, sweet-heart, do not talk 
 so much to me of the Devil, because I know he will do me 
 no hurt, for I have married his Kinswoman. I know there 
 are many that wear horns, and ride daily upon Coltstaves ; 
 but this proceeds not so often from the fault of the Female, 
 as the silliness of the Husband who knows not how to 
 manage a. wife. 
 
 But a thousand such instances are not able to make me 
 a Misogenes, a Female-foe ; therefore towards the policying 
 and perpetuating of this your new Republic, there must be 
 some special rules for regulating of Marriage : for a Wife is 
 the best or the worst fortune that can betide a man thro'out 
 the whole train of his life. Plato's Promiscuus Concuhitus, or 
 Copulation, is more proper for Beasts than rational Creatures. 
 That incestuous custom they have in China, that one should 
 marry his own Sister, and in default of one, the next akin, 
 
 I
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 569 
 
 I utterly dislike: Nor do I approve of that goatish latitude 
 of Lust which the Alcoran allows, for one Man to have eight 
 Wives, and as many Concubines as he can well maintain ; 
 nor of another branch of their Law, that a man should marry 
 after such an age under pain of mortal sin (for then what 
 4 would become of me ?) No, I would have every man left at 
 liberty in this point, for there are men enough besides to 
 people the Earth. 
 
 But that opinion of a poor shallow-brain'd Puppy, who 
 upon any cause of disaffection would have men to have 
 a privilege to change their Wives, or to repudiate them, 
 deserves to be hiss'd at rather than confuted ; for nothing 
 can tend more to usher in all confusion and beggary thro'out 
 the World : Therefore that Wiseacre deserves of all other to 
 wear a toting horn. In this Republic one Man should be 
 contented with one Wife, and he may have work enough to 
 do with her ; but whereas in other Commonwealths Men use 
 to wear invisible horns, it would be a wholesome constitution, 
 that they who upon too much jealousy and restraint, or ill 
 usage of their Wives, or indeed not knowing how to use 
 and man them aright (which is one of the prime points of 
 masculine discretion), as also they who according to that 
 barbarous custom in Russia do use to beat their Wives duly 
 once a week ; but specially they who in their absence coop 
 them up, and secure their bodies with locks : I say, it 
 would be a very fitting Ordinance in this new-moulded 
 Commonwealth, that all such who impel their Wives by 
 these means to change their Riders, should wear plain visible 
 horns, that Passengers may beware of them as they go along, 
 and give warning to others — — Cornuferit ille, Caveto. For 
 indeed nothing doth incite the mass of blood, and muster 
 up libidinous thoughts, more than diffidence and restraint. 
 
 Moreover, in coupling Women by way of Matrimony, it 
 would be a good Law, and consentaneous to Reason, if out 
 of all Dowries exceeding .^100 there should be two out of 
 every Cent, deducted, and put into a common Treasury for 
 putting off hard-favour'd and poor Maids. 
 
 Touching
 
 570 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 Touching Virginity and the Vestal Fire, I could wish 
 'twere the worst custom the Roman Church had, when gentle 
 Souls, to endear themselves the more to their Creator, do 
 immure their Bodies within perpetual bounds of Chastity, 
 dieting themselves and using austerities accordingly; whereby, 
 bidding a farewel, and dying to the World, they bury them- 
 selves alive, as it were, and so pass their time in constant 
 exercises of Piety and Penance night and day, or in some 
 other employments of Virtue, holding Idleness to be a mortal 
 sin. Were this cloyster'd course of Life merely spontaneous 
 and unforced, I could well be contented that it were practis'd 
 in your new Republic. 
 
 But there are other kind of Cloysters in some Common- 
 wealths, and among those who are accounted the wisest and 
 best policied, which Cloysters are of a clean contrary nature 
 to the former : these they call the Courtesan Cloysters. And 
 as in others, some Females shut up themselves to keep the 
 sacred fire of Pudicity and Continence, so in these latter 
 there are some of the handsom'st sorts of Females who are 
 conniv'd at to quench the flames of irregular Lust, lest they 
 should break into the lawful married bed. 'Tis true, Nature 
 hath pour'd more active and hotter blood into the Veins of 
 some Men, wherein there are stronger appetites and motions; 
 which motions were not given by Nature to be a torment to 
 Man, but to be turn'd into Delight, Health, and Propagation. 
 Therefore they to whom the gift of Continence is deny'd, 
 and have not the conveniency to have dehita vasa, and law- 
 ful Coolers of their own by way of Wedlock, use to extin- 
 guish their fires in these Venerean Cloysters, rather than 
 abuse their neighbours' Wives, and break into other men's 
 inclosures. But whether such a custom may be conniv'd 
 at in this your Republic, and that such a Common may be 
 allow'd to them who have no Inclosures of their own, I leave 
 to wiser Legislators than myself to determine, 'specially in 
 South-East hot Countries where Venerean Titillation (which 
 Scaliger held to be a fix'd outward sense, but ridiculously) 
 is in a stronger degree ; I say, I leave others to j udge whether 
 
 such
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 571 
 
 such a Rendezvous be to be conniv'd at in hotter dimes, 
 where both Air and Food, and the blood of the Grape do 
 all concur to make one more libidinous. But it is a vulvar 
 error to think that the heat of the Clime is the cause of 
 Lust: it proceeds rather from'adust Choler and Melancholy 
 that predominate, which humours carry with them a salt 
 and sharp itching quality. 
 
 The dull Hollander (with other North-West Nations, 
 whose blood may he said to be as butter-milk in the veins) 
 is not so frequently subject to such fits of Lust, therefore he 
 hath no such Cloysters or Houses for Ladies of pleasure : 
 Witness the tale of Hans Boohikin, a rich Boor's Son, whom 
 his Father had sent abroad a Fryaring, that is, sh roving in 
 our Language ; and so put him in an equipage accordingly, 
 having a new Sword and Scarf, with a gold Hatband, and 
 money in his Purse to visit handsome Ladies : but Hans 
 not knowing where to go else, went to his Grandmother's 
 house, where he fell a courting and feasting of her. But 
 his Father questioning him at his return where he had 
 been a Fryaring, and he answering that he had been at his 
 Grandmother's ; the Boor reply'd, God's Sacrament ! I hope 
 thou hast not lain with my Mother : Yes, said Boobikin, 
 IVliy should not I lie with your Mother, as you have lain 
 with mine ? 
 
 Thus in conformity to your desires, and the task impos'd 
 upon me, have I scribbled out this piece of Drollery, which 
 is the way, as I take it, that your design drives at ; I reserve 
 some things till I see what others have done in the several 
 Provinces they have undertaken towards the settlement of 
 your new Republic. So, with a thousand thanks for your 
 last hospitable favours, I rest, as I have reason, and as you 
 know me to be — Your own true Servant, J. H. 
 
 Loud. 24 ya«. 
 
 vni.
 
 572 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 To Mr. T. v., Barrister, at his Chambers in the Temple. 
 
 Cousin Tom, 
 
 I DID not think it was in the power of Passion to have 
 wrought upon you with that violence ; for I do not 
 remember to have known any (of so season'd a judgment 
 as you are) lost so far after so frail a thing as a Female. 
 But you will say, Hercules himself stoop'd hitherto ; 'tis 
 true he did, as appears by this Distich : 
 
 Lenam non potidt, potuit superare Leaenam ; 
 Qiiem Fera noji potuit vincere, vicit Hera. 
 
 The saying also of the old Comic Poet makes for you, 
 when he said, Qiii in amorem cecidit, pejus agit quam si 
 saxo saliat ; To be Tormented with Love, is worse than to 
 dance upon hot stones. Therefore partly out of a sense of 
 your suffering, as well as upon the seriousness of your re- 
 quest, but specially understanding that the Gentlewoman 
 hath Parts and Portion accordingly, I have done what you 
 desir'd me in these lines, which tho' plain, short, and sudden, 
 yet they display the manner how you were surpriz'd, and 
 the depth of your Passion. 
 
 To Mrs. E. B. 
 
 ApelleSj Prmce of Painters, did 
 All others in that Art exceed ; 
 But you surpass him, for He took 
 So7ne pains and time to draw a Look ; 
 You in a trice and moment's space 
 Have pourtraf d in my Heart your Face. 
 
 I wish this Hexastic may have power to strike her as 
 deep as I find her Eyes struck you. The Spaniard saith, 
 there are four things requir'd in a Woer, viz., to be Savo, 
 Secreto, Solo, and Sollicito ; that is, to be Sollicitous, Secret, 
 Sole, and Sage. Observe these rules, and she may make 
 herself your Client, and so employ you to open her Case, 
 
 and
 
 Book IV, Familiar Letters. 573 
 
 and recover her portion, which I hear is in Hucksters' 
 hands. 
 
 So, my dear Cousin, I heartily wish you the accomplish- 
 ment of your desires, and rest upon all occasions — At 
 your dispose, • J. H. 
 
 IX. 
 
 To Sir R. Williams, Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 I AM one among many who much rejoice at the fortunate 
 Windfall that happen'd lately, which hath so fairly 
 rais'd and recruited your fortunes. It is commonly seen, 
 that Ubi est multum Phantasice (viz., ingetiii) ihi est parum 
 FortiincE; &' ubi est multum Fortunce, ibi est parum Phantasice. 
 Where there is much of Fancy, there is little of Fortune ; 
 and where there's much of Fortune, there's little of Fancy. 
 It seems that Recorder Fleetwood reflected upon one part 
 of this saying, when in his speech to the Londoners, among 
 other passages whereby he sooth'd and stroak'd them, he 
 said. When I consider your Wit, I admire your Wealth. 
 But touching the Latin saying, it is quite evinc'd in you, 
 for you have Fancy and Fortune (now) in abundance : And a 
 strong argument may be drawn, that Fortune is not blind, 
 by her carriage to you, for she saw well enough what she 
 did, when she smil'd so lately upon you. 
 
 Now, he is the really rich man who can make true use 
 of his riches ; he makes not Nummum his Kumeii, Money 
 his God, but makes himself Domimnn Nummi, but becomes 
 Master of his Pennv. The first is the arrantest besrirar and 
 slave that is ; nay, he is worse than the Arcadian Ass, who, 
 while he carrieth Gold on his back, eats thistles : He is 
 baser than that sordid Italian Stationer, who would not 
 allow himself brown Paper enough to wipe his Posteriors. 
 
 Now, it is observ'd to be the nature of Covetousness, that 
 when all other sins grow old, Covetousness in some sordid 
 souls grows younger and younger; hence I believe sprung 
 the City-Proverb, That the Son is happy whose Father went 
 
 to
 
 574 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 to the Devil. Yet I like the saying Tom Waters hath often 
 in his mouth, I had rather leave when I die than lack while 
 I live. But why do I speak of these things to you, who 
 have so noble a Soul, and so much above the vulgar ? 
 
 Your Friend Mr. Watts is still troubled with coughing, 
 and truly I believe he is not to be long among us; for, as 
 the Turk hath it, A dry Cough is the Trumpeter of Death : 
 He presents his most affectionate respects to you, and so 
 doth, my most noble Knight — Your ever obliged Servitor, 
 
 J.H. 
 
 X. 
 
 To Sir R. Gary, Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 I HAD yours of the 2oth current on St. Thomas's Eve, 
 which was most welcome to me ; and (to make a 
 seasonable comparison) yours are like Christmas, they come 
 but once a year; yet I made very good cheer with your 
 last, specially with that Seraphic Hymn which came in- 
 closed therewith to usher in his holy Tyde : and to corre- 
 spond with you in some measure that way, I have return'd 
 you another of the same subject. For, as I have observ'd, 
 two Lutes being tun'd alike, if one of them be play'd upon, 
 the other, tho' being a good way distant, will sound of itself, 
 and keep symphony with the first that's play'd upon (which, 
 whether it proceeds from the mere motion of the Air, or 
 the emanation of Atoms, I will not undertake to determine ;) 
 so the sound of your Muse hath scrued up mine to the same 
 key and tune in these Ternaries : 
 
 Upon the Nativity of our Saviour. 
 
 1. Wonder of Wonders, Earth and Sky, 
 Time mingleth with Eternity, 
 
 And Matter with Immensity. 
 
 2. The Sun becomes an Atom and a Star, 
 Tims to a Candle, to light Kings from far 
 To see a spectacle so ivondrous rare.
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 575 
 
 3. A Virgin bears a Son, that Son doth bear 
 A World (?/"Sin, acquitting Maiis arrear, 
 Since guilty Adam Fig-tree leaves did wear. 
 
 4. A Majesty both infinite and just 
 Offended was ; therefore the Offering must 
 Be such, to expiate frail flesh and dust. 
 
 5. When no such Victim could be found 
 Thrdout the whole expansive Rou7id 
 Of Heaven, of Air, of Sea, or Ground ; 
 
 6. The Prince of Life himself descends. 
 To make As\.r:e.^ full ametids, 
 
 And humaji Souls from Hell defends. 
 
 7. Was ever such a Love as this. 
 That th' eternal Heir of Bliss 
 Should stoop to such a loiu abyss ? 
 
 The Muse, confounded with the Mystery according to 
 the subject matter, ends with a question of Admiration. 
 
 So wishing you, as heartily as to myself (according to 
 the instant season, and the old compliment of England), 
 a merry Christmas, and consequently a happy New-Year, 
 I subscribe myself — Your entirely devoted Servant, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 St. Lnnocents-Day, 1654, 
 
 XI. 
 
 To T. Sutton, Esq. 
 Sir, 
 
 WHEREAS you desire my opinion of the late History 
 translated by Mr. Wad: of the Civil Wars of Spain, 
 in the beginning of Charles the Emperor's Reign, I cannot 
 choose but tell you, that it is a faithful and pure maiden 
 Story, never blown upon before in any Language but in 
 Spanish, therefore very worthy your perusal : for among 
 those various kind of studies that your contemplative Soul 
 delights in, I hold History to be the most fitting to your 
 Quality. 
 
 Now,
 
 576 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 Now, among those sundry advantages which accrue to 
 a Reader of History, one is, that no modern Accident 
 can seem strange to him, much less astonish him : He will 
 leave off wondring at anything, in regard he may remember 
 to have read of the same, or much like the same, that hap- 
 pen'd in former times; therefore he doth not stand staring 
 like a Child at every unusual spectacle, like that simple 
 American, who, the first time he saw a Spaniard on horse- 
 back, thought the Man and the Beast to be but one Creature, 
 and that the Horse did chew the rings of his bit, and eat 
 them. 
 
 Now, indeed, not to be an Historian,, that is, not to know 
 what foreign Nations and our Forefathers did, Hoc est 
 semper esse Puer, as Cicero hath it, this is still to be a Child 
 who gazeth at everything. Whence may be inferr'd, there 
 is no Knowledge that ripeneth the Judgment, and puts one 
 out of his nonage, sooner than History. 
 
 If I had not formerly read the Barons' Wars in England, 
 I had more admir'd that of the Leaguers in France: He 
 who had read the near upon fourscore years Wars in Lou; 
 Germany, I believe never wonder'd at the late thirty years 
 Wars in High Germany. I had wonder'd more that Richard 
 of Bourdeaux was knock'd down with Halbards, had I not 
 read formerly that Edward of Caernarvo?i was made away 
 by a hot Iron thrust up his Fundament. It was strange 
 that Murat the great Ottoman Emperor should be lately 
 strangled in his own Court at Constantinople ; yet con- 
 sidering that Osman his Predecessor had been knock'd down 
 by one of his ordinary slaves not many years before, it was 
 not strange at all. The Blazing-Star in Firgo thirty-four 
 years since, did not seem strange to him, who had read of 
 that which appear'd in Cassiopeia and other Constellations 
 some years before. Hence may be inferr'd. That History is 
 the great Looking-glass thro' which we may behold with 
 ancestral eyes, not only the various Actions of Ages past, 
 and the odd Accidents that attend time, but also discern the 
 different humours of Men, and feel the pulse of former times. 
 
 This
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 577 
 
 This History will display the very intrinsecals of the 
 Castilian, who goes for the prime Spaniard; and make the 
 opinion a Paradox, which cries him up to be so constant to 
 his Principles, so loyal to his Prince, and so conformable to 
 Government: For it will discover as much levity and tumul- 
 tuary passions in him as in other Nations. 
 
 Among divers other examples which could be produc'd 
 out of this story, I will instance in one : When Juan de 
 PadiUia, an infamous fellow, and of base Extraction, was 
 made General of the People, among others there was a 
 Priest, that being a great Zealot for him, us'd to pray pub- 
 lickly in the Church, Let 21s pray for the holy Commonalty , 
 and His Majesty Don Juan de Padillia, and for the Lady 
 Donna Maria Pachecho his Wife, &cc. But a little after 
 some of Juan de PadilUah Soldiers having quarter'd in 
 his house, and pitifully plunder'd him, the next Sunday 
 the same Priest said in the Church, Beloved Christians, you 
 know how Juan de Padillia passing this way, some of his Bri- 
 gade were billeted in my House ; truly they have not left me 
 one Chicken, they have drunk up a whole barrel of Wine, 
 devoured my Bacon, and taken away my Catalina, 77iy Maid 
 Kate ; / charge you therefore pray no more for him. Divers 
 such traverses as these may be read in that Story ; which 
 may be the reason why it was suppress'd in Spain, that it 
 should not cross the Seas, or clamber o'er the Pyre?ieans to 
 acquaint other Nations with their foolery and baseness : 
 yet Mr. Simon Dighy, a Gentleman of much worth, got a 
 Copy, which he brought over with him, out of which this 
 Translation is deriv'd ; tho' I must tell you, by the bye, that 
 some passages were commanded to be omitted, because they 
 had too near an analogy with our Times. 
 
 So in a serious way of true Friendship, I profess myself — 
 Your most affectionate Servitor, J. H. 
 
 London, i^/an. 
 
 2 O 
 
 XII.
 
 578 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 XII. 
 
 To the Lord Marquis of Dorchester. 
 My Lord, 
 
 THERE is a sentence that carrieth a high sense with it, 
 viz., Ingenia Principum fata Temporum, The fancy of 
 the Prince is the fate of the Times ; so in point of Peace or 
 War, Oppression or Justice, Virtue or Vice, Profaneness or 
 Devotion : for Regis ad exemplum. But there is another 
 saying, which is as true, viz.. Genius plehis est fatum Prin- 
 cipis, The happiness of the Prince depends upon the humour 
 of the People. There cannot be a more pregnant example 
 hereof, than in that successful and long-liv'd Queen, Q. 
 Elizabeth, who having come, as it were, from the Scaffold 
 to the Thro?ie, enjoy'd a wonderful Calm (excepting some 
 short gusts of Insurrection that happen'd in the beginning) 
 for near upon forty- five years together. But this, my Lord, 
 may be imputed to the temper of the People, who had had 
 a hoisterous King not long before, with so many revolutions 
 in Religion, and a Minor King afterward, which made them 
 to be govern'd by their Fellow-subjects. And the Fire and 
 Faggot being frequent among them in Q. Mary's days, the 
 humours of the common People were pretty well spent, and 
 so were willing to conform to any Government, that might 
 preserve them and their Estates in quietness. Yet in the 
 Reign of that so popular and well-belov'd Queen there were 
 many Traverses, which trench'd as much if not more upon 
 the Privileges of Parliament, and the Liberties of the People, 
 than any that happen'd in the Reign of the two last Kings; 
 yet it was not their fate to be so popular. Touching the 
 first, viz., Parliament ; in one of hers, there was a motion 
 made in the House of Commons, that there should be a 
 Lecture in the morning some days of the week before they 
 sat, whereunto the House was very inclinable : The Queen 
 hearing of it, sent them a Message, that she much wonder'd 
 at their rashness, that they should offer to introduce such 
 an Innovation. 
 
 Another
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 579 
 
 Another Parliament would have proposed ways for the 
 regulation of her Court; but she sent them another such 
 Message, That she wondred, that being call'd by her thither 
 to consult of publick Affairs, they should intermeddle with 
 the government of her ordinary Family, and to think her to 
 be so ill an Housewife, as not to be able to look to her own 
 House herself. 
 
 In another Parliament there was a motion made, that 
 the Queen should entail the Succession of the Crown, 
 and declare her next Heir : but IVeiitworth, who proposed 
 it, was committed to the Tower, where he breath'd his 
 last ; and Bromley upon a less occasion was clapp'd in the 
 Fleet. 
 
 Another time the House petitioning that the Lords might 
 join in private Committees with the Commoners, she utterly 
 rejected it. You know how Stiihhs and Page had their hands 
 cut off with a Butcher's Knife and a Mallet, because they 
 writ against the Match with the Duke of jinjou ; and Penry 
 was hang'd at Tylnirn, tho' Alnred, who writ a bitter Livec- 
 tive against the late Spanish Match, was but confin'd for a 
 short time : how Sir John Hey wood was shut up in the Tower, 
 for an Epistle Dedicatory to the Earl of Essex, 8cc. 
 
 Touching her Favourites, what a Monster of a Man 
 was Leicester, who first brought the Art of poisoning into 
 England! How many of her Maids of Honour did receive 
 claps at Court? Add hereunto, that Privy-Seals were common 
 in her days, and pressing of Men more frequent, especially 
 for Ireland, where they were sent in handfuls, rather to con- 
 tinue a.V^ ax (by the cunning of the Officers) than to conc/z^^^ it. 
 The three Fleets she sent against the Spaniard did hardly 
 make the Benefit of the Voyages to countervail the Charge. 
 How poorly did the English Garrison quit Havre-de- Grace ? 
 and how were we baffled for the Arrears that were due to 
 England (by Article) for the Forces sent into France ? For 
 Buildintrs, with all kind of Braveries else that use to make 
 a Nation happy, as Riches and Commerce, inward and out- 
 ward, it was not the twentieth part so much in the best of 
 
 her
 
 580 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 her days (as appears by the Custom-House Books) as it was 
 in the Reiirn of her Successors. 
 
 Touchins: the Reliction of the Court, she seldom came to 
 Sermon but in Lent-time, nor did there use to be any Ser- 
 mon upon Sundays, unless they were Festivals : Whereas the 
 succeeding Kings had duly two every morning, one for the 
 Houshold, the other for themselves^ where they were always 
 present, as also at private Prayers in the Closet; yet it was 
 not their fortune to gain so much upon the affections of 
 City, or Country. Therefore, my Lord, the felicity of Q. 
 Elizabeth may be much imputed to the rare temper and 
 moderation of Men's minds in those days ; for the Purse of 
 the common People, and Londoners, did beat nothing so high 
 as it did afterwards when they grew pamper'd with so long 
 peace and plenty. Add hereunto, that neither Hans, Jocky, 
 or John Calvin had taken such footing here as they did get 
 afterwards, whose humour is to pry and peep with a kind of 
 malice into the carriage of the Court and mysteries of State, 
 as also to malign Nobility, with the Wealth and Solemnities 
 of the Church. 
 
 My Lord, it is far from my meaning hereby to let drop 
 the least Aspersion upon the Tomb of that rare renowned 
 Queen ; but it is only to observe the differing temper both 
 of Time and People. The fame of some Princes is like the 
 Rose, which, as we find by experience, smells sweeter after 
 'tis pluck'd : the memory of others is like the Tulip and 
 Poppy, which make a gay shew and fair flourish while they 
 stand upon the stalk, but being cut down they give an ill- 
 favour'd scent. It was the happiness of that great long-liv'd 
 Oueen to cast a pleasing odour among her People both while 
 she stood, and after she was cut off by the common stroke 
 of Mortality; and the older the World grows, the fresher 
 her Fame will be. Yet she is little beholden to any foreign 
 Writers, unless it be the Hollanders ; and good reason they 
 had to speak well of her, for she was the chiefest Instrument, 
 who, tho' with the expence of much English Blood and 
 Bullion, rais'd them to a Republic, by casting that fatal 
 
 bone
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 581 
 
 bone for the Spaniard to gnaw upon^ which shook his teeth 
 so ill-favour'dly for fourscore years together. Other Writers 
 speak bitterly of her for her carriage to her Sister the Queen 
 of Scots ; for her ingratitude te her Brother Philip of Spain; 
 for giving advice, by her Ambassador with the Great Turk, 
 to expel the Jesuits, who had got a College in Pera ; as also 
 that her Secretary IValsingharn should project the poisoning 
 of the Waters of Douay ; and lastly, how she suffer'd the 
 P'estival of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Septemher 
 to be turn'd to the celebration of her own Birth-day, &c. 
 But these stains are cast upon her by her Enemies ; and the 
 Aspersions of an Enemy use to be like the dirt of Oysters, 
 which doth rather cleanse than contaminate. 
 
 Thus, my Lord, have I pointed at some Remarks, to shew 
 how various and discrepant the humours of a Nation may 
 be, and the genius of the Times, from what it was; which 
 doubtless must proceed from a high all-disposing Power: 
 A Speculation that may become the greatest, and knoioing'st 
 spirits, among whom your Lordship doth shine as a Star 
 of the first magnitude ; for your House may be call'd a true 
 Academy, and your Head the Capitol of Knowledge, or 
 rather an Exchequer, wherein there is a Treasure enough 
 to give Pensions to all the Wits of the Time. With these 
 thoughts I rest, my most highly honour'd Lord — Your very 
 obedient and ever obliged Servant, J. H. 
 
 Zond., tJiis 15 of Aug. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 To Mr. R. Floyd. 
 Cousin Floyd, 
 
 THE first part of Wisdom is to give good Counsel, the 
 second to take it, and the third to follow it. Tho' 
 you be young, yet you may be already capable of the two 
 latter parts of Wisdom, and it is the only way to attain the 
 first: Therefore I wish you to follow the good Counsel of 
 your Uncle J., for I know him to be a very discreet well- 
 weigh'd Gentleman ; and I can judge something of Men, 
 
 for
 
 582 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 for I have studied many : Therefore if you steer by his 
 compass in this great business you have undertaken, you 
 need not fear shipwreck. This is the Advice of — Your truly 
 affectionate Cousin, J. H. 
 
 Lond., 6 Apr. 
 
 XIV. 
 To my B ever end and Learned Countryman, Mr. R. Jones. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 IT is, among many other, one of my imperfections, that 
 I am not vers'd in my maternal Tongue so exactly 
 as I should be : The Reason is, that Languages and Words 
 (which are the chief creatures of Man, and the keys of 
 Knowledge) may be said to stick in the memory like nails 
 or pegs in a Wainscoat-door, which useth to thrust out one 
 another oftentimes. Yet the old British is not so driven out 
 of mine (for the Cask savours still of the Liquor it first took 
 in) but I can say something of this elaborate and ingenious 
 Piece of yours, which you please to communicate to me so 
 early : I cannot compare it more properly than to a basket 
 of Posies gather'd in the best Garden of Flowers, the sacred 
 Scriptures, and bound up with such Art, that every Flower 
 directs us where his bed may be found. Whence I infer, 
 that this Work will much conduce to the Advancement of 
 Bi^\i,oao(^\a, or Scripture-knowledge, and consequently to 
 the public good. It will also tend to the honour of our 
 whole Country, and to your own particular repute: There- 
 fore I wish you good success, to make this Child of your 
 Brain free denizen of the World. J. H. 
 
 Londofi, 17 Sept. 
 
 XV. 
 
 To J. S., Esq., at White-Fryers. 
 Sir, 
 
 THIS new piece of Philosophy comes to usher in the new 
 Year to you, dropt from the brain of the subtilest 
 
 Spirits
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 583 
 
 Spirits of France, and the great Personage (the Duke of 
 Espernon), the' heterodoxal, and cross-grain'd to the old 
 Philosophers. Among divers other Tenets, he holds that 
 Privatio is unworthy to be one of the three Principles of 
 natural Things, and would put Love in the place of it. But 
 you know, Sir, that among other infirmities which Nature 
 hath entail'd upon Man while he gropes here for Truth 
 among the Elements, discrepancy of Notions, and desire of 
 Novelty, are none of the least. 
 
 Now, touching this critical Tract, there's not any more 
 capable to censure it than yourself, whose Judgment is 
 known to be so sound and magisterial : Let the pettiness of 
 the Gift be supplied by the pregnancy of the IVill, which 
 swells with mountains of Desires to serve you, and to shew 
 in Action, as well as in Words, how ready I would be — At 
 your disposing, J. H. 
 
 Lond., 2 Jan. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 To the Earl o/'Lindsey, Great Chamberlain of England, 
 
 at Ricot. 
 My Lord, 
 
 I MOST humbly thank your Lordship for the noble 
 Present you commanded to be sent me from Grims- 
 thorp, where, without disparagement to any, I may say you 
 live as much like a Prince as any Grandee in Christendom. 
 Among those many heroik Parts (which appear'd so much 
 in that tough Battel of Keinton, where having all your 
 Officers kilPd, yet you kept the Field, and preserv'd your 
 wounded Father from the fury of the Soldier, and from death 
 for the time ; as also for being the inseparable Cuhicular 
 Companion the King took comfort in in the height of his 
 troubles), I say, among other high parts to speak you noble, 
 you are cried up, my Lord, to be an excellent Horseman, 
 Huntsman, Forester, This makes me bold to make your 
 Lordship the Judge of a small Discourse, which, upon a 
 critical dispute touching the Vocal Forest that goes abroad 
 
 in
 
 584 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 in my name, was impos'd upon me, to satisfy them who 
 thought I knew something more than ordinary what belong'd 
 to a true Forest. 
 
 There be three places for Venery, or Venatical Pleasure, in 
 England, viz., a Forest, a Chase, and a Park; they all three 
 agree in one thing, which is, that they are habitations for 
 wild Beasts : The two first lie open, the last inclos'd : The 
 Forest is the most noble of all, for it is a Franchise of so 
 princely a tenure, that, according to our Laws, none but 
 the King can have a Forest ; if he chance to pass one over 
 to a Subject, 'tis no more Forest, but Frank-chace. More- 
 over, a Forest hath the Pre-eminence of the other two, in 
 Laws, in Officers, in Courts, and kinds of Beasts. If any 
 offend in a Chase or Park, he is punishable by the Common 
 Law of the Land : But a Forest hath Laws of her own, to 
 take cognizance of all trespasses ; she hath also her peculiar 
 Officers, as Foresters, Verderers, Regarders, Agisters, &c., 
 whereas a Chase or Park hath only Keepers and IVood- 
 wards. A Forest hath her Court of Attachments, Swainmote- 
 Court, where matters are as pleadable and determinable as 
 at Westminster-Hall. Lastly, they differ something in the 
 species of Beasts : The Hart, the Hind, the Boar, the Wolf, 
 are Forest-Beasts ; the Buck, the Doe, the Fox, the Matron, 
 the Roe, are Beasts belonging to a Chase and Park. 
 
 The greatest Forester, they say, that ever was in England 
 was King Canutus the Dane, and after him St. Edward; at 
 which time Liber Rufus, the Red-book for Forest- Laws, was 
 made ; whereof one of the Laws was, Omnis homo ahstineat 
 a Venariis 7neis super poenam VitcB : Let every one refrain 
 from my places of hunting, upon pain of death. 
 
 Henry Fitz-Empresse {viz., the Second) did coafforest much 
 Land, which continu'd all his Reign, tho' much complain'd 
 of: But in King John's time most of the Nobles and Gentry 
 met in the great Meadow 'twixt Windsor and Stanes, to 
 petition the King that he would disafforest some, which he 
 promised to do, but death prevented him. But in Henry III.'s 
 Time, the Charta de Foresta (together with Magna Charta) 
 
 were
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 585 
 
 were establish'd ; so that there was much Land disafforested, 
 which hath been cali'd PourUeiis ever since, whereof there 
 were appointed Rangers, &c. 
 
 Among other innocent Animals which have suffer'd by 
 these Wars, the poor Deer have felt the fury thereof as much 
 as any J nay, the very Vegetables have endur'd the brunt of 
 it: Insomuch that it is not improperly said. That England 
 of late is full of New Lights, her IVoods being cut down, 
 and so much destroy'd in most places. So, craving your 
 Lordship's pardon for this rambling piece of paper, I rest, 
 my most highly honour'd Lord — Your obedient and ever 
 obliged Servant, J. H. 
 
 Lond., 3 Aug. 
 
 XVIL 
 
 To Mr. E. Field, at Orleans. 
 Sir, 
 
 IN your last you write to me, that you are settled for 
 a while in Orleans, the loveliest City upon the Loire, 
 and the best School for gaining pure Language; for as the 
 Attique dialect in Greece, so the yiurelian in France doth bear 
 the bell : But I must tell you, tho' you live now upon a 
 brave River, which divides France well near in two parts, 
 yet she is held the drunkenest River in Christendom, for she 
 swallows thirty-two other Rivers, which she disgorgeth all 
 into the Sea at Nantes; she may be cali'd a more drunken 
 River than Ehro in Spain, which takes her name from Ehrio, 
 according to the proverb there. Me llanio Ehro porque de 
 todas aguas bevo, I call myself Ebro because I drink of all 
 waters. 
 
 Moreover, tho' you sojourn now in one of the plentiful'st 
 Continents upon Earth, yet I believe you will find the People, 
 I mean the Peasants, nowhere poorer and more slavish; 
 which convinceth two Errors, one of Aristotle, who affirms 
 that the Country of Gallia, tho' bordering upon Spain, hath 
 no Asses: If he were living now, he would avouch the 
 greatest part of the Inhabitants to be all Asses, they lie 
 
 under
 
 586 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 under such an intolerable burden of taxes. The second 
 Error is. That France is held to be the freest Country upon 
 Earth to all People; for if a Slave comes once to breathe 
 French Air, he is free ipso facto, if we may believe Bodin; 
 it being a fundamental Law of France, Servi peregrini, 
 ut primum Gallics fines penetraverint, liberi sunto ; Let 
 Stranger-slaves, as soon as they shall penetrate the borders 
 of France, be free. I know not what privilege Slrarigers 
 may claim ; but for the native French themselves, I hold 
 them to be under the greatest servitude of any other Nation. 
 There is another Law in France, which inhibits IVomen to 
 rule ; but what benefit doth accrue by this Law all the 
 while that Women are Regent, and govern those who do 
 rule ? which hath been exemplify'd in three Queen-Mothers 
 together. The Huguenots have long since voted the first 
 two to Hell, to increase the number of the Furies ; and the 
 Spaniard hath voted the third thither to make up the half- 
 dozen, for continuing a more violent War against her now 
 only Brother, and with more eagerness than her Husband 
 did. 
 
 So I wish you all happiness in your Peregrination, advising 
 you to take heed of that turbid humour of Melancholy, 
 which they say you are too prone to. For, take this for a 
 rule, that he who makes much of Melancholy will never 
 be rid of a troublesome Companion. So I rest, gentle Sir 
 — Your most affectionate Servant, J. H. 
 
 Lond., 3 May. 
 
 xvni. 
 
 To the Lady E., Countess Dowager o/" Sunderland. 
 
 Madam, 
 
 I AM bold to send your La. to the Country a new Venice 
 Looking-glass, wherein you may behold that admir'd 
 Maiden-City in her true complexion, together with her 
 Government and Policy, for she is famous all the world 
 over. Therefore, if at your hours of leisure you please to 
 
 cast
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 587 
 
 cast your eyes upon this Glass, I doubt not but it will afford 
 you some objects of entertainment. 
 
 Moreover, your Ladyship may discern thro' this Glass the 
 motions, and the very hear*: of the Author, how he con- 
 tinueth still, and resolves so to do, in what condition soever 
 he be. Madam — Your most constant and dutiful Servant, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 London, i^Jime. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 To the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Clare. 
 My Lord, 
 
 AMONG those high Parts that go to make up a Grandee, 
 which I find concentred in your Lordship, one is the 
 exact knowledge you have of many Languages, not in a 
 superficial vapouring way, as some of our Gallants have 
 now-a-days, but in a most exact manner both in point of 
 Practice and Theory. Lhis induced me to give your Lord- 
 ship an account of a task that was impos'd lately upon 
 me by an emergent occasion, touching the Original, the 
 Growth, the Changes, and present Consistence of the French 
 Language, which I hope may afford your Lordship some 
 entertainment. 
 
 There is nothing so incident to all sublunary things as 
 corruptions and changes : Nor is it to be wonder'd at, con- 
 sidering that the Elements themselves, which are the Prin- 
 ciples or primitive Ingredients whereof they be compounded, 
 are naturally so qualified. It were as easy a thing for the 
 Spectator's eye to fasten a firm shape upon a running Cloud, 
 or to cut out a garment that but a few days together might 
 fit the Moon (who, by privilege of her situation and neigh- 
 bourhood, predominates more over us than any other Celes- 
 tial body), as to find stability in anything here below. 
 
 Nor is this common frailty, ov fatality rather, incident 
 only to the grosser sort of Elementary Creatures, but Man- 
 kind, upon whom it pleas'd the Almighty to imprint his 
 own LnagCj and make him, as it were, Lord Paramount of 
 
 this
 
 588 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 this lower World, is subject to the same lubricity of Muta- 
 tion : Neither is his Body and Blood only liable thereunto, 
 but the Ideas oj his Mind, and interior operations of his 
 Soul, Religion herself, with the notions of Holiness, and 
 the formality of saving Faith not excepted ; nay, the very 
 faculty of Reason (as we find it too true by late experience) 
 is subject to the same instableness. 
 
 But to come to our present purpose, among other privi- 
 leges which are peculiar to mankind, as Emanations flow- 
 ing from the Intellect, Language is none of the least. And 
 Languages are subject to the same fits of inconstancy and 
 alteration as much as anything else, 'specially the French 
 Lano-uaffc : Nor can it seem strange to those who know the 
 airy volatile humour of that Nation, that their Speech should 
 partake somewhat of the disposition of their Spirit ; but will 
 rather wonder it hath receiv'd no oftner change, 'specially 
 considering what outward Causes did also concur thereunto ; 
 as, that their Kings should make six several Voyages to 
 conquer or conserve what was got in the Holy Land ; con- 
 sidering also how long the English, being a People of 
 another Speech, kept firm footing in the heart of France: 
 Add hereunto the JVars and Weddings they had with their 
 Neighbours, which, by the long sojourn of their Armies in 
 other Countries caus'd by the first, and the foreign Cour- 
 tiers that came in with the second, might introduce a fre- 
 quent alteration. For Languages are like Laws or Coins, 
 which commonly receive some change at every shift of 
 Princes : or as slow Rivers, by insensible alluvions, take 
 in and let out the Waters that feed them, yet are they said 
 to have the same beds ; so Languages, by a regardless adop- 
 tion of some new words, and manumission of old, do often 
 vary, yet the whole bulk of the Speech keeps entire. 
 
 Touching the true ancient and genuine Language of the 
 Gauls, some would have it to be a dialect of the Dutch, 
 others of the Greek, and some of the British or Welsh. 
 Concerning this last opinion, there be many reasons to fortify 
 it, which are not altogether to be slighted. 
 
 The
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 589 
 
 The first is. That the antient Gauls us'd to come fre- 
 quently to be instructed here by the British Druids, who 
 were the Divines and Philosophers of those times ; which 
 they would not probably hav^a done, unless by mutual com- 
 munication they had understood one another in some vulgar 
 Language : for this was before the Greek or Latin came this 
 side the Alps, or that any Books were written ; and there 
 are no meaner Men than Tacitus, and Ccesar himself, who 
 record this. 
 
 The second reason is, That there want not good Geo- 
 graphers, who hold that this Island was tied to Gallia at 
 first (as some say Sicily was to Calabria, and Denmark to 
 Germany) by an Isthmus or neck of land, from Calais to 
 Dover ; for if one do well observe the quality of the Cliffs 
 on both shores, his eyes will judge that they were but one 
 homogeneal piece of earth at first, and that they were slented 
 and shiver'd asunder by some act of violence, as the impetu- 
 ous waves of the Sea. 
 
 The third reason is, That before the Romans conquer'd 
 the Gauls, the Country was call'd IVallia, which the Romans 
 call'd Gallia, turning W into G, as they did elsewhere : 
 yet the IValloon keeps his radical Letter to this day. 
 
 The fourth reason is, That there be divers old Gaulick 
 words yet remaining in the French which are pure British, 
 both for sense and pronunciation ; as Havre, a Haven, 
 which is the same in WelsJi, derechef, again ; Putaine, a 
 Whore; ^irazVz, brass money ; Proz^, an interjection of stop- 
 ping or driving of a beast: but 'specially, when one speaks 
 any old word in French that cannot be understood, they say, 
 // parle Baragouin, which is to this day in JVelsh, White- 
 Bread. 
 
 Lastly, Pausanias saith, That Mark, in the Celtik old 
 French Tono;ue, sic-nifieth a Horse : and it sitrnificth the 
 same in JVelsh. 
 
 But tho' it be disputable whether the British, Greek, or 
 Dutch was the ori(i;inal Lan2;ua2;e of the Gauls, certain 
 it is that it was the IValloon; but I confine myself to 
 
 Gallia
 
 590 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 Gallia Celtica, which, when the Roman Eagle had fastened 
 his talons there, and planted twenty-three Legions up and 
 down the Country, he did in tract of time utterly extinguish : 
 It being the ordinary ambition of Rome, wheresoever she 
 prevail'd, to bring in her Language and Laius also with the 
 Lance, which she could not do in Spain, or this Island, be- 
 cause they had posts and places of Fastness to retire to, as 
 Biscay and IVales, where Nature hath cast up those Moun- 
 tains as propugnacles of defence ; therefore the very abori- 
 ginal Languages of both Countries remain there to this day. 
 Now, France being a passable and plain pervious Continent, 
 the Romans quickly diffus'd and rooted themselves in every 
 part thereof, and so co-planted their Language, which in a 
 short revolution of time came to be call'd Romand. But 
 when the Franconians, a People of Germany, came after- 
 wards to invade and possess Gallia, both Speech and People 
 were call'd French ever after, which is near 1300 years 
 since. 
 
 Now, as all other things have their degrees of growing, 
 so Languages have before they attain a perfection. We 
 find that the Latin herself in the times of the Salines was 
 but rude ; afterwards under Ennius and Cato the Censor it 
 was refin'd in twelve Tables; but in Ccssar, Cicero, and 
 Sallusfs time it came to the highest pitch of purity ; and 
 so dainty were the Romans of their Language then, that 
 they would not suffer any exotic or strange word to be 
 enfranchis'd among them, or enter into any of their Diplo- 
 tnata, and publick Instruments of Command or Justice. 
 The word EjnhLmia having got into one, it was thrust out 
 by an express Edict of the Senate ; but MonopoUum had with 
 much ado leave to stay in, yet not without a large Preface 
 and Apology. A little after, the Latin Tongue in the vul- 
 garity thereof began to degenerate and decline very much ; 
 out of which degeneration sprang up the Italian, Spanish, 
 and French. 
 
 Now, the French Language being set thus upon a Latin 
 stock, hath receiv'd since sundry habitudes, yet retaining to 
 
 this
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 591 
 
 this day some Lat'm words entire, as animal, cadaver, tribunal, 
 non, plus, qui, os, with a number of others. 
 
 Ckilpcric, one of the first race of French Kings, com- 
 manded by pubUck Edict, thut the four Greek Letters X 
 ^ ^ should be added to the French Alphabet to make the 
 Language more masculine and strenuous; but afterwards it 
 was not long observ'd. 
 
 Nor is it a worthless observation, that Lan^uaTCS use to 
 comply with the Humour, and to display much the Liclina- 
 tion of a People. The French Nation is quick and spriteful, 
 so is his Pronunciation ; the Spaniard is slow and grave, 
 so is his Pronunciation : For the Spanish and French Lan- 
 guages being but branches of the Latin Tree, the one may 
 be call'd Latin shorten'd, and the other Latin drawn out at 
 length; as. Corpus, Tempus, Caput, Sec, are monosyllables 
 in French, as Corps, Temps, Caps, or Chef; whereas the 
 Spaniard doth add to them, as Cuerpo, Tiempo, Caheca. 
 And indeed of any other the Spaniard affects long words, 
 for he makes some thrice as long as they are in French; as 
 of levement arising, he makes levantamiento ; of Pensee, a 
 thought, he makes Pensamiento ; of Compliment, he makes 
 Complimiento. Besides, the Spaniard doth use to pause so 
 in his pronunciation, that his Tongue seldom foreruns his 
 Wit, and his brain may very well raise and superfcete a 
 second thouo-ht before the first be utter'd. Yet is not the 
 
 O 
 
 French so hasty in his utterance as he seems to be; for his 
 quickness or volubility proceeds partly from that concatena- 
 tion he useth among his syllables, by linking the syllable of 
 the precedent word with the last of the following ; so that 
 sometimes a whole Sentence is made in a manner but one 
 Word : and he who will speak the French roundly and well 
 must observe this Rule. 
 
 The French Language began first to be pollsh'd, and 
 arrive at that delicacy she is now come to, in the midst of 
 the Reign of Philip de Valois. Marot did something un- 
 der Francis I. (which King was a Restorer of Learning in 
 general, as well as of Language) ; but Ronsard did more 
 
 under
 
 592 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 under Henry II. Since these Kings there is little difference 
 in the context of Speech, but only in the choice of words 
 and softness of Pronunciation, proceeding from such wanton 
 Spirits that did miniardize and make the Language more 
 dainty and feminine. 
 
 But to shew what changes the French have receiv'd from 
 what it was, I will produce these few instances in verse and 
 prose, which I found in some antient Authors : The first 
 shall be of a Gentlewoman that translated ^sop's Fables 
 many hundred years since out of English into French 
 where she concludes : 
 
 Au fineinent de cesf Esacit 
 Qu^en Ro7naiis ay tourne 6^ dit ; 
 Me nommaray par remembrance, 
 Marie ay nom je siits de Frafice ; 
 Per Pamotir de Conte de Gidllaume 
 Le plus vaillant de ce Royaume, 
 M'entremis de ce livrefaire 
 Et de VAnglois e?i Eo??ian fraire, 
 Esope appelle Von cil Livre, 
 Qu'oji translata &= fit Escrivre ; 
 De Griec en Latin le tourna, 
 Et le Roy Alvret qui Vama^ 
 Le translata puis en Angloiz, 
 Et je Pay tourne e?i Francois. 
 
 Out of the Roman de la Rose I will produce this Example : 
 
 Quand ta bouche toucha la vioye, 
 Ce flit dont au Cceur feus joy e ; 
 Strefuge, doiines setitence 
 Par vwy, Car lapucelle est moye. 
 
 Two of the most antient and approved'st Authors in 
 France are Geoffrey de VUlardoiiin, Marshal of Campagne, 
 and Hugues de Bersy, a Monk of Clugny, in the Reign of 
 Philippe Auguste, above 500 years since : from them I will 
 borrow these two ensuing Examples; the first from the 
 Marshal, upon a Croisada to the Holy Land. 
 
 Scachiex
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 593 
 
 Scachiex que Van 1188 ans apres V incarnation al temps 
 Innocent 3. Apostoille de Rome, & Philippe Roy de France, 
 & Richard Roy d'Engleterre, eut un Saint homnie en France, 
 qui et iiom Folque de Nuilly,' & il ere prestre, &' tenoit le 
 paroichre de la ville &' ce Folque commenga a parler de Biex, 
 & nostre sire Jit manits miracles par luy, &c. 
 
 Hugues de Bersy, who made the Guiot Bible so much 
 spoken of in France, begins thus in verse : 
 
 D^oim Steele pliant 6^ horrible 
 Mestiiet commencer line Bible, 
 Per poi7idre, ^^ per aigidllomier 
 El per bons exeniples do finer, 
 Ce n'est une Bible bisongere 
 Mais fine, cS^ voire en droituriere 
 Mironer est a toutis gens. 
 
 If one would compare the Ejiglish that was spoken in 
 those timeSj which is about 560 years since, with the pre- 
 sent, he should find a greater alteration. 
 
 But to know how much the Modern French differs from 
 the Ancient, let him read our Common Law, which was 
 held good French in JVilUam the Conqueror's time. 
 
 Furthermore, among other observations, I find that there 
 are some single words antiquated in the French, which seem 
 to be more significant than those that are come in their 
 places ; as, Maratre, Paratre, Filatre, Seroiirge, a Step- 
 mother, a Step-father, a Son or Daughter-in-law, a Sister- 
 in-law, which now they express in two words. Belle mere, 
 Beau pere. Belle sceur. Moreover, I find there are some 
 words now in French which are turn'd to a counter-sense; 
 as, we use the Dutch word crank, in English, to be ivell- 
 dispos'd, which in the Original signifieth to be sick. So in 
 French, Cocu is taken for one whose wife is light, and hath 
 made him a passive Cuckold ; whereas clean contrary, Cocu, 
 which is the Cuckow, doth use to lay her eggs in another 
 Bird's nest. This word pleiger is also to drink after one is 
 drunk to ; whereas the first true sense of the word was, that 
 if the party drunk to was not dispos'd to drink himself, he 
 
 2 I' would
 
 594 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 would put another for a pledge to do it for him, else the 
 party who began would take it ill. Besides^ this word Ahrij, 
 derivM from the Latin Apricus, is taken in French for a 
 close place or shelter, whereas in the Original it signifieth 
 an open free Sunshine. They now term in French a free 
 boon Companion, Roger Ion temps ; whereas the Original 
 is. Rouge Ion temps, reddish and fair weather : They use 
 also in France, when one hath a good bargain, to say, // 
 a joue a houle vue, whereas the Original is, A bonne vue. A 
 Beacon or Watch-Tower is call'd Beffroy, whereas the true 
 word is Ueffroy: A travelling Warrant is call'd Pasport, 
 whereas the Original is Passe per tout. When one is grown 
 hoarse, they use to say, II a veti le loup, he hath seen the 
 Wolf; whereas that effect of hoarseness is wrought in whom 
 the Wolf hath seen first, according to Plini/ and the Poet, 
 Lupi ilium videre priores. There is one saying or pro- 
 verb which is observable, whereby France doth confess her- 
 self to be still indebted to England, which is, when one hath 
 paid all his Creditors, he useth to say, faij paye tons mes 
 Anglois ; so that in this, and other phrases, Anglois is taken 
 for Greancier or Creditor. And I persume it had its Founda- 
 tion from this. That when the French were bound by Treaty 
 at Bretigny to pay England so much for the ransom of King 
 JoJm, then prisoner, the contribution lay so heavy upon the 
 People^ that for many years they could not make up the 
 Sum. The occasion might be seconded in Henry VIII'.s 
 time at the surrendry of Bullen, and upon other Treaties ; 
 as also in Q. EUzahetli's Reign, besides the Moneys which 
 she had disburs'd herself to put the Crown on Henry IV.'s 
 Head : which makes me think on a passage that is recorded 
 in Pasquier, that happen'd when the Duke of Anjou, under 
 pretence of wooino- the Queen, came over into England^ 
 who being brought to her presence, she told him. He was 
 come in good time to remain a pledge for the Monies that 
 France ow'd her Father, and other of her Progenitors ; 
 whereunto the Duke answer'd, That he ivas come not only 
 to be a Pledge, but her close Prisoner. 
 
 There
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 
 
 595 
 
 There be two other sayings in French, which tho' they be 
 obsolete^ yet are they worthy the knowledge ; the first is, 
 Jl a perdu ses cheveux, he hath lost his hair, meanino- his 
 honour : For in the first race of Kings there was a Law, call'd 
 La loy de la Cheveleure, whereby it was lawful for the Noblesse 
 only to wear long hair, and if any of them had committed 
 some foul and ignoble Act, they us'd to be condemn'd to 
 have their long hair to be cut off as a mark of ignominy ; 
 and it was as much as if he had been Jieuerdcliz'd, viz., 
 burnt on the back or hand, or branded in the face. 
 
 The other Proverb is, // a quitt^ sa ceinture, he hath given 
 up his girdle; which intimated as much as if he had become 
 bankrupt, or had all his Estate forfeited : It being the ancient 
 Law of France, that when any upon some ofTence had that 
 penalty of confiscation inflicted upon him, he us'd before the 
 Tribunal of Justice to give up his Girdle, implying thereby, 
 that the Girdle held everything that belong'd to a man's 
 Estate, as his budget of Money and Writings, the keys of 
 his House, with his Sword, Dagger, and Gloves, d^c. 
 
 I will add hereunto another Proverb which had been quite 
 lost, had not our Order of the Garter preserv'd it, which is, 
 Ilony soit qui mal y pense ; this we English, III to him that 
 thinks ill : Tho' the true sense be, Let him. be berayed ivhn 
 thinks any ill ; being a Metaphor taken from a child that 
 hath beray'd his clouts : And I dare say, there's not one 
 of a hundred in France who understands this word now-a- 
 days. 
 
 Furthermore, I find in the French Language, that the 
 same fate hath attended some French words, as usually attends 
 Men, among whom, some rise to perferment, others fall to 
 decay and an undervalue. I will instance in a few: The 
 word Maistre was a word of hisrh esteem in former times 
 among the French, and appliable to Noblemen, and others in 
 high Office only; but now 'tis fallen from the Baron to the 
 Boor, from the Count to the Cobler, or any other mean 
 Artisan ; as Maistre Jean le Savetier, Mr. John the Cobler; 
 Maistre Jaquet le Cabareticr, Mr. Jamnuj the Tapster. 
 
 Sire,
 
 596 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 Sire was also appropriate only to the King : But now, 
 adding a name after it, 'tis appliable to any mean Man, upon 
 the Endorsement of a Letter or otherwise : But this word 
 Sovereign hath rais'd itself to that pitch of greatness, that it 
 is applied now only to the King, whereas in times past the 
 President of any Court, any Bailiff or Seneschal, was used 
 to be so call'd Sovereign. 
 
 Mareshal likewise was at first the name of a Smith, Farrier, 
 or one that dress'd Horses ; but it is climb'd by degrees 
 to that height, that the chiefest Commanders of the Gend- 
 armery and Militia of Fra?ice are come to be call'd Marshals, 
 which about a hundred years since were but two in all, 
 whereas now they are twelve. 
 
 This Title Majesty hath no great Antiquity in France, for 
 it began in Henry ll.'s time. And indeed the style of France 
 at first, as well as of other Countries, was to Tutoyer, that 
 is, to Thou any person that one spake unto, tho' never so 
 high : But when the Commonwealth of Rome turn'd to an 
 Empire, and so much Power came into one man's hand, 
 then, in regard he was able to confer Honour and Offices, 
 the Courtiers began to magnify him, and treat him in the 
 plural number by You, and by degrees to deify him by trans- 
 cending Titles ; as we read in Symmachus, in his Epistles to 
 the Emperor Theodosius, and to Valentinian, where his style 
 to them is, Festra ceternitas, vestrum numen, vcstra perennitas, 
 vestra dementia : So that You in the plural number, with 
 other Compliments and Titles, seem to have their first rise 
 with the Western Monarchy, which afterwards by degrees 
 descended upon particular persons. 
 
 The French Tongue hath divers Dialects, viz., the Picardy, 
 that of Jersey and Guernsey, appendixes once of Normandy ; 
 the Provencal, the Gascon or the speech of Languedoc, which 
 Scaliger would etymologize from Langue d'oc, whereas it 
 comes from Langue de Got, in regard the Goths a.nd Sarace?is, 
 who by their incursions and long stay in Jquitain first cor- 
 rupted the speech of Gallia : The JValloon is another dialect, 
 which is under the K. of Spain: They also of Liege have 
 
 a
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 597 
 
 a dialect of the French, which amons: themselves thev call 
 Roynand to this day. 
 
 Touching the modern French that's spoken now in the 
 King's Court, the Court of Parliament, and in the Univer- 
 sities of France, there had been lately a great competition 
 which was the best ; but by the learnedst, and most in- 
 different persons, it was adjudg'd that the Style of the King's 
 Court was the purest and most elegant, because the other 
 two did smell, the one of Pedantry, the other of Cldquanerrj. 
 And the late Prince of Conde, with the D. of Orleans that 
 now is, were us'd to have a Censor in their Houses, that if 
 any of their Family spoke any word that savour'd of the 
 Palace or the Schools, he should incur the penalty of an 
 Amercement. 
 
 The late Cardinal EichUeu made it part of his glory to 
 advance Learning, and the French Language. Among other 
 Monuments he erected an University where the Sciences 
 should be read and disputed in French for the ease of his 
 Countrymen, whereby they might presently fall to the 
 matter, and not spend time to study words only. 
 
 Thus have I presum'd to send your Lordship a rambling 
 discourse of the French Language, past and present ; humbly 
 expecting to be corrected when you shall please to have 
 perused it. So I subscribe myself — Your Lordship's thrice 
 obedient Servant, J. H. 
 
 Lond.y I Oct. 
 
 XX. 
 
 To Dr. Weames. 
 Sir, 
 
 I RETURN you many thanks for the Additionals you 
 pleas'd to communicate to me, in continuance of Sir 
 Philip Sidneif s Arcadia ; and I admir'd it the more, because 
 it was the composition of so young a Spirit : Which makes 
 me tell you, without any compliment, that you are Father 
 to a Daughter that Europe hath not many of her equals ; 
 therefore all those gentle Souls that pretend to Virtue should 
 
 cherish
 
 59^ Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 cherish her. I have herewith sent you a few lines that 
 relate to the Work, according to your desire. 
 
 To Mrs. A. IV. 
 
 If a Male Soul by transmigration can 
 Fass to a Female, and her Spirits Man, 
 Then, sure, some sparks ^ Sidney's Soul have flown 
 Into your breast, which may in ti?ne be blown 
 To flames ; for 'tis the cotirse (?/"Enthean Fire, 
 To kindle by degrees, and brains inspire. 
 As Buds do Blossoms turn to Fruit, 
 So Wits ask fune to ripen atid recruit : 
 But yours gives time the start, a?id all may see 
 In this smooth piece of early Foesy, 
 Which, like Sparks of one Flame, may well aspire, 
 7/^ Phoebus /Z?aj-i?, to a Sidneyan Fire. 
 
 So, with my very affectionate respects to yourself, and to 
 vour choice Family, I rest — Your ready and real Servant, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 Londo7i, 9 Nov. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 To the incomparable Lady, the Lady M. Gary. 
 
 Madam, 
 
 I HAVE discover'd so much of Divinity in you, that he 
 who would find your equal, must keep one in the 
 other World. I might play the Oracle, and more truly 
 pronounce you the wisest of Women, than he did Pytha- 
 goras the wisest of Men : For questionless, that He or She 
 are the wisest of all human Creatures who are careful of 
 preserving the noblest part of them, I mean the Soul. They 
 who prink, and pamper the Body, and neglect the Soid, are 
 like one who, having a Nightingale in his House, is more 
 fond of the wicker Cage than of the Bird : Or rather, like 
 one who hath a Pearl of an invaluable Price, and esteems 
 the poor Box that holds it more than the Jewel. The 
 Rational Soul is the Breath of God Almighty, she is his 
 
 very
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 599 
 
 very Image : Therefore who taints his Soul, may be said to 
 throw dirt in God's face, and make his breath stink. The 
 Soul is a spark of Immortality, she is a divine Light, and 
 the body is but a socket of Clay that holds it. In some 
 this Light goes out with an ill-favour'd stench ; but others 
 have a Save-all to preserve it from making any snuff at all. 
 Of this number. Madam, you are one that shines clearest 
 in this Horizon, which makes me so much — Your Ladyship's 
 truly devoted Servant, J. H. 
 
 Lofido?i, 3 Nov. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 To the Lord Bishop of Ro., at Knolls. 
 My Lord, 
 
 THE Christian Philosopher tells us. That a good Con- 
 science is a perpetual Feast : And the Pagan Philo- 
 sopher hath a saying. That a virtuous Man is always drunk. 
 Both these sayings aim at one sense, viz., That an upright, 
 discreet Man is always full of good notions, and good 
 motions ; his Soul is always in tune, and the Faculties 
 thereof never jarring: He values this World as it is, a vale 
 of trouble and a valley of tears, full of encumbrances and 
 revolutions ; and stands arm'd against all events : Sifractus 
 illahatur Orhis. 
 
 While you read this, you have your own character ; for 
 I know none more capable both for the practical part, as 
 well as the theory, to give precepts of Patience, and pre- 
 scribe rules of Morality and Prudence to all Mankind. Your 
 Mind is like a Stone-bridge over a rapid River, which tho' 
 the waters beneath be perpetually working, roaring, and 
 
 bubling, yet the Bridge never stirs; Pons manet immotus: 
 
 so among those monstrous mutations and traverses that have 
 lately happen'd, you are still the same. 
 
 Mens imvwta 7nanet 
 
 I receiv'd your last under the covert of Sir John Sackvil, 
 to whom I present my affectionate Service, with a thousand 
 
 Thanks
 
 6oo Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 Thanks for that seasonable Present he pleas'd to send me, 
 which will find me and my friends some employment ; so, 
 desiring your henediction, I conclude, and subscribe myself, 
 my Lord — Your truly devoted Servant, J. H. 
 
 Londofi, 7 Dec. 
 
 XXIH. 
 
 To Sir W. Mason, Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 I PRESENT you with the second part of the Focal 
 Forest; but before you make an entrance into the 
 last Walk thereof, be pleas'd to take this short caution 
 along with you, which tends to rectify such who I hear are 
 over-rash and critical in their censure of what is there con- 
 tain'd, not penetrating the main design of the Author in 
 that allegorical Discourse, nor in the quality of the Times, 
 or the prudential Cautions, and Indifferences that an his- 
 torical Piece expos'd to public view should require, which 
 may make them perchance to shoot their Bolts at random, 
 and with wry looks at those Trees. Therefore let the dis- 
 cerning Surveyor, as he crosseth this last IValk, take a 
 short Advertisement beforehand; that whatsoever he meets 
 therein glancing on the Oak, consists of imperfect sugges- 
 tions, foreign criticisms, and presumptions, ^c. Now every 
 petty Sciolist in the Laws of Reason can tell that presump- 
 tions were never taken yet for proofs, but for left-handed 
 arguments, approaching rather the nature of cavillations 
 than consequences. 
 
 Moreover, Apologues, Parables, and Metaphors, tho' 
 press'd never so hard, have not the strength to demonstrate, 
 or positively assert any Thesis : For as in Theology, the 
 highest of Sciences, it is a receiv'd principle, Scriptura para- 
 bolica 71071 est argumentativa ; so this Maxim holds good in 
 all other Composures and Arts. 'Tis granted, that in the 
 Walks of this Forest there be some free and home expres- 
 sions drawing somewhat nearer to the nature of Satyrs, for 
 otherwise it had been a vain superfluous curiosity to have 
 
 spent
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 6oi 
 
 spent so much oil and labour in shrouding Realities under 
 Disguises, unless the Author had promis'd himself before- 
 hand a greater latitude and scope of liberty to pry into some 
 miscarriages and solecisms of State; as also to question and 
 perstring some sorts of Actors, especially the Cardanian and 
 Classican, who, as the whole World can witness, were the 
 first Raisers of those hideous Tempests which pour'd down 
 in so many showers of blood upon unfortunate Druina, and 
 all her coafforested Territories. 
 
 Now touching that which is spoken of the Oak in the 
 last Walky if any intemperate Basilean take exceptions 
 thereat, let him know, that, as 'twas said before, most of 
 them are but traducements and pretensions ; yet it is a 
 human principle (and will ever be so to the world's end), 
 that there never was yet any Prince (except one), nor will 
 there ever be any hereafter, but had his frailties ; and these 
 frailties in Kings are like stains in the purest Scarlet, which 
 are more visible : What are but motes in others are as beams 
 in them, because that being mounted so high, they are more 
 expos'd to the eye of the World. And if the Historian 
 points haply at some of those motes in the Eoyal Oak, he 
 makes good what he promised in the Entrance of the Forest, 
 that he would endeavour to make a constant grain of even- 
 ness and impartiality to pass through the whole bulk of that 
 Arlorical Discourse. 
 
 We read that there being a high feud 'tvvixt Cicero and 
 Vatinius, who had crooked bow-legs, Vatinius having the 
 advantage of pleading first, took occasion to give a touch 
 himself of his natural imperfection that way, that he might 
 toilers ansam, that he might by way of prevention cut off 
 the advantages and intention which Cicero might have had 
 to asperse him in that particular : The Application hereof is 
 easy and obvious. 
 
 But if the sober-minded Reader observe well what is 
 spoken elsewhere of the Oak throughout the body and series 
 of the story, he will easily conclude, that 'twas far from the 
 design of the Author, out of any self or sinister ends, to let 
 
 any
 
 6o2 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 any soiir droppings fall from these Trees to hurt the Oak. 
 And give me leave to tell you, That he who hath but as 
 much wit as may suffice to preserve him from being begg'd 
 for a Fool, will judge so. 
 
 Lastly, they who know anything of the Laws of History 
 do well know, that Verity and Lidifference are two of the 
 prime virtues that are requisite in a Chronicler. The same 
 Answer may serve to stop their mouths, who would say 
 something, if they could tell what, against my Survey of 
 the Signory q/" Venice, and dedicated to the Parliament of 
 England, as if the Author had chang'd his principles, and 
 were affected to Repuhliques ; whereas there's not a syllable 
 therein but what makes for Monarchy : Therefore I rather 
 pity than repine at such poor Critiques, with the shallow- 
 ness of their Judgments. 
 
 Thus much I thought good to intimate to you, not that 
 I mistrust your own censure, which I know to be candid 
 and clear, but that if there be occasion you may vindicate 
 — Your truly affectionate Servant, J. H. 
 
 Lo?id., 4 Jip7'. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 To the Bight Honouralle the La. E. Savage, afterwards 
 
 Countess Rivers. 
 Excellent Lady, 
 
 AMONG those multitudes that claim a share in the loss 
 of so precious a Lord, mine is not the least. O how 
 willingly could I have measur'd with my feet, and perform'd 
 a pilgrimage over all those large Continents wherein I have 
 travell'd, to have repriev'd him ! Truly, Madam, I shall 
 mourn for him while I have a heart beating in my breast ; 
 and the' time may mitigate the sense of grief, yet his 
 Memory shall be to me, like his Worth and Virtues, ever- 
 lasting. But it is not so much to be lamented that he hath 
 left us (it being so infinitely to his advantage), as that he 
 hath left behind so few like him. 
 
 I confess, Madam, this is the weightiest cross that possibly 
 
 could
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 603 
 
 could come to exercise your patience; but I know your 
 Ladyship to be both pious and prudent in the highest 
 degree : Let the one preserve you from excess of sorrow, 
 which may prove irreligious to Heaven ; and the other keep 
 you from being injurious to yourself, and to that goodly 
 brave Issue of his, which may serve as so many living Copies 
 of the Original. 
 
 God Almighty comfort your Ladyship; so prayeth, Madam 
 — Your most humble and sorrowful Servant, J. H. 
 
 ZofidoM, 2 Feb. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 To the Right Honourahle John Lord Sa. 
 My Lord, 
 
 I SHOULD be much wanting to myself, if I did not con- 
 gratulate your lately descended Honours: But trulv, 
 my Lord, this Congratulation is like a Vapour exhal'd from 
 a Soil overwhelm'd with a sudden inundation ; such is the 
 state of my mind at this time, it being o'ercast with a thick 
 Fog of grief for the death of your incomparable Father. 
 
 I pray from the centre of my Heart that you may inherit 
 his high Worth and Virtues, as you do all things else; and 
 I doubt it not, having discover'd in your nature so many 
 pregnancies and sparkles of innated Honour. So I rest in 
 quality of — Your Lordship's most humble Servant, 
 
 J. H. 
 
 Lo?ido?i, lo Dec. 
 
 XXVL 
 
 To Mr, J. Wilson. 
 Sir, 
 
 IRECEIV'D yours of the loth current, and I have many 
 thanks to give you, that you so quaintly acquaint me 
 how variously the pulse of the Pulpiteers beat in your Town. 
 Touching ours here (by way of correspondence with you), 
 I'll tell you of one whom I heard lately ; for dropping 
 casually into a Church in Thames-street, I fell upon a 
 
 Winter-
 
 6o4 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 Winter-Preacher^ who spoke of nothing but of the fire and 
 flames of Hell ; so that if a Scythian or Greenlander, who 
 are habituated to such extreme cold, had heard and under- 
 stood him, he would have thought he had preach'd of 
 Paradise. His mouth methought did fume with the Lake 
 of Brimstone, with the infernal Torments, and the thun- 
 drings of the Law, not a syllable of the Gospel : So I con- 
 cluded him to be one of those who use to preach the Law 
 in the Church, and the Gospel in their Chamhers, where 
 they make some female Hearts melt into pieces. He re- 
 peated his text once, but God knows how far it was from 
 the subject of his Preachment ; he had also hot and fiery 
 incitements to War, and to swim in blood for the Cause. 
 But after he had run away from his Text so long, the Spirit 
 led him into a wilderness of Prayer, and there I left him. 
 
 God amend all, and begin with me, who am — Your 
 assured Friend to serve you, J. H. 
 
 London, ^Jidy. 
 
 xxvn. 
 
 To Sir E. S. 
 Sir, 
 
 IN the various courses of my wandring life, I have had 
 occasion to spend some part of my time in literal 
 correspondences with divers ; but I never remember that 
 I pleas'd myself more in paying these civilities to any than 
 to yourself: For when I undertake this task, I find that my 
 Head, my Hand, and my Heart go all so willingly about it. 
 The Invention of the one, the graphical Office of the other, and 
 the y(ffiectio7is of the last, are so ready to obey me in per- 
 forming the work ; work do I call it ? 'Tis rather a sport, 
 my Pen and Paper are as a Chess-board, or as your Instru- 
 ments of Music are to you, when you would recreate your 
 harmonious Soul. Whence this proceeds I know not, un- 
 less it be from a charming kind of virtue that your Letters 
 carry with them to work upon my spirits, which are so full 
 of facete and familiar friendly strains, and so punctual in 
 
 answering
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 605 
 
 answering every part of minCj that you may give the Law 
 of EpistoHzing to all Mankind. 
 
 Touching your Poet-Laureat Skelton^ I found him at last 
 (as I told you before) skulking in Duck-lane, pitifully tatter'd 
 and torn ; and, as the times are, I do not think it worth 
 the labour and cost to put him in better cloaths, for the 
 Genius of the Age is quite another thing : yet there be 
 some Lines of his, which I think will never be out of date 
 for their quaint sense : and with these I will close this 
 Letter, and salute you, as he did his Friend, with these 
 options : 
 
 Salve phis decies qiiam sunt tnomenta dierunt, 
 Quot species generum, quot res, quot nomina rerum, 
 Qiiot prafis Jlores, quot stmt &> in orbe colores, 
 Quot pis ces, quot aves, quot smit iS~» in cequore naves, 
 Quot volucrum penfia;, quot sunt tormenta gehenncE, 
 Quot cccli Stella;, quot stmt viiraaila Thomcz : 
 Quot sunt virtutes, tantas tibi viitto salutes. 
 
 These were the wishes in time of yore of Jo. Skelton, 
 but now they are of — Your J. H. 
 
 London, 4 Aug. 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 To R. Davis, Esq. 
 Sir, 
 
 DID your Letters know how truly welcome they are to 
 me, they would make more haste, and not loiter so 
 long in the way ; for I did not receive yours of the 2nd of 
 June till the ist of Juhi ; which is time enough to have 
 travell'd not only a hundred English, but so many Helvetian 
 miles, that are five times bigger; for in some places they 
 contain forty furlongs, whereas ours have but eight, unless 
 it be in IVales, where they are allow'd better measure, or in 
 the North Parts, where there is a wca-bit to every mile. 
 But that yours should be a whole month in making scarce 
 100 English miles (for the distance between us is no more) 
 
 is
 
 6o6 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 is strange to me, unless you purposely sent it by John Long 
 the Carrier. I know, being so near Lemster^s-Ore, that you 
 dwell in a gentle Soil, which is good for Cheese as well as 
 for Cloth ; therefore if you send me a good one, I shall re- 
 turn my Cousin your Wife something from hence that may 
 be equivalent : If you neglect me, I shall think that Wales 
 is relapsed into her first barbarisms ; for Straho makes it one 
 of his arguments to prove the Britons barbarous, because 
 they had not the Art of making Cheese till the Romans 
 came : But T believe you will preserve them from this im- 
 putation again. I know you can want no good grass 
 thereabouts, which, as they say here, grows so fast in some 
 of your fields, that if one should put his Horse there over 
 night, he should not find him again the next morning. So, 
 with my very respectful commends to yourself, and to the 
 partner of your Couch and Cares, I rest, my dear Cousin — 
 Yours always to dispose of, J. H. 
 
 Zond., 5////J'. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 To W. Roberts, Esq. 
 Sir, 
 
 THE Dominical Prayer, and the Apostolical Creed, 
 (whereof there was such a hot dispute in our last 
 Conversation) are two Acts tending to the same Object of 
 devotion ; yet they differ in this, that we conclude all in 
 the first, and oiirselves only in the second : One may leg 
 for another, but he must believe for himself, there is no 
 Man can believe by a Deputy. The Articles of the Creed 
 are as the twelve Signs in the Zodiak of Faith, which make 
 way for the Sun of Righteousness to pass through the centre 
 of our Hearts, as a Gentleman doth wittily compare them. 
 But what offence the Lord's -Prayer or the Creed have 
 committed (together with the Ten Commandments) as to 
 be as it were banished the Church of late years, I know 
 not; considering that the whole office of a Christian may 
 be said to be comprehended in them : For the last prescribes 
 
 us
 
 Book IV, Familiar Letters. 607 
 
 us what we should do, the second what we should believe, 
 the third how and what we should pray for. Of all the 
 Hereticks that I ever heard of, I never read of any who 
 bore Analogy with these. ^ 
 
 Touching other Opinions, they are but old fancies newly 
 furbish'd. There w^ere Adamites in former times, and B.e- 
 laptizers : There were Iconoclastce, destroyers of Images ; 
 but I never read of Stauroclastcs, destroyers of Crosses : 
 There were also j4gonicUt(^^ who held it a superstition to 
 bow the knee; besides, there were those who stumbled at 
 the Resurrection, as too many do now : There were Aereans 
 also who malign'd Bishops and the Hierarchy of the Church, 
 but we read those Aerians turn'd Arlans, and Atheists at 
 last. The greatest Greek and Latin Fathers inveio;h acrainst 
 those Aerians more bitterly than against any other : Chry- 
 sostom saith, Heretiques ivho have learnt of the Devil not to 
 give due honour to Bishops ; and Epiphanius saith. It is the 
 voice of a Devil, rather than of a Christian, that there is no 
 differe?ice 'twixt a Bishop and a Presbyter^ &c. 
 
 Good Lord, what fiery clashings we have had lately for 
 a Cap and a Surplice! What an Ocean of human blood 
 was spilt for Ceremonies only, and outward Formalities, for 
 the bare position of a Table ! But as we find the ruflling 
 Winds to be commonly in Cemeteries, and about Churches, 
 so the ea2;erest and most sanguinary Wars are about Re- 
 ligion ; and there is a great deal of weight in that distich 
 of Prudentius : 
 
 Sic mores prodiint aniinum, 6^ mihi credite semper, 
 Jundus cum /also est dogmate ccedis amor. 
 
 Let the Turk spread his Alcoran by the Sword, but let 
 Christianity expand herself still by a passive Fortitude, 
 wherein she always gloried. 
 
 We live in a strange Age, when every one is in love with 
 his own Fancy, as Narcissus was with his Face: And this 
 is true spiritual Pride, the usherer-in of all Confusions. The 
 Lord deliver us from it, and grant we may possess our Souls 
 
 with
 
 6o8 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 with patience, till the great Wheel of Providence turn up 
 another spoke that may point at Peace and Unanimity 
 among poor mortals. In these hopes I rest — Yours en- 
 tirely, J. H. 
 London, ^ Jan. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 To Howel Gwyn, lE^sq. 
 
 My much endeared Cousin, 
 
 I SEND you herewith, according to your desires, the 
 British or Welsh Epitaph (for the Saxons gave us that 
 new name, calling us IVelshmen or Strangers in our own 
 Country), which Epitaph was found in the West-Indies 
 upon Prince Madoc near upon 600 years since ; 
 
 Madoc zuif mii) y die wedd 
 Jaivn genafi Owen Gwyneth, 
 Ni funnujn dirfy enridd oedd, 
 Ni da mowr o?idy moroedd. 
 
 Which is Enslislid thus in Mr. Herherfs Travels : 
 
 Madoc aj> Owen 7aas I caWd, 
 Strong, tail, and comely, 7iot inihraWd 
 With home-bred pleasure, bntfor Fafne 
 Thro' Land and Sea J sought the same. 
 
 This British Prince Madoc (as many Authors make men- 
 tion) made two Voyages thither, and in the last left his 
 bones there, upon which this Epitaph lay. There be other 
 pregnant remarks that the British were there, for there is 
 a Promontory not far from Mexico call'd Cape Britain ; 
 there is a creek call'd Gyndwor, which is in Welsh, White- 
 luater ; with other words, as you shall find in Mr. Herbert 
 and others : They had also the sign of the Cross in reverence 
 among them. 
 
 And now that I am upon British Observations, I will 
 tell you something of this name Howel, which is your Jirst, 
 and my second name : Passing lately by the Cloysters of the 
 
 Abbey
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 609 
 
 Abbey at Westminster^ I stept up to the Library that Arch- 
 bishop Williams erected there, and I lighted upon a French 
 Historian, Bertram a Argentre, Lord of Forges, who was 
 President of the Court of Parliament in Renes, the chief 
 Town of Little Britany in France, call'd Armorica, which is 
 a pure Welsh word, and signifies a Country bordering upon 
 the Sea, as that doth, and was first coloniz'd by the Britons 
 of this Island in the reign of Theodosius the Emperor, 
 An. 387, whose Language they yet preserve in their radical 
 words : In that Historian I found that there were four Kings 
 of that Country of the name Howel, viz., Howel the First, 
 Howel the Second, Howel the Great (who bore up so stoutly 
 against Otitis the famous Roman General), and Howel the 
 Fourth, that were all Kings of Armorica, or the Lesser 
 Britany, which continued a Kingdom till the year 874, at 
 which time the Title was chang'd to a Duchy, but Sovereign 
 of itself, till it was reduc'd to the French Crown by Francis 
 I. There are many Families of Quality of that name to 
 this day in France : And one of them desired to be acquainted 
 with me, by the mediation of Mons. Angier, who was there 
 Agent for England. Touching the Castle of good K. Howel 
 hard by you, and other ancient places of that name, you 
 know them better than I ; but the best Title which England 
 hath to Wales is by that Castle, as a great Antiquary told 
 me. So in a true bond of Friendship, as well as of Blood, 
 I rest — Your most affectionate Cousin, J. H. 
 
 Lo7idon, 8 Oct. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 To Mr. W. Price, at Oxon. 
 
 Mp precious Nephew, 
 
 THERE could hardly better news be brought to me, than 
 to understand that you are so great a Student, and 
 that having pass'd through the briars of Logic, you fall so 
 close to Philosophy : Yet I do not like vour method in one 
 thing, that you are so fond of new Authors, and neglect the 
 
 2 a old.
 
 6io Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 old, as I hear you do. It is the ingrateful Genius of this 
 Age, that if any Sciolist can find a hole in an old Author's 
 coat, he will endeavour to make it much more wide, thinking 
 to make himself somebody thereby ; I am none of those ; 
 but touching the Ancients, I hold this to be a good moral 
 Rule, Lmidandum quod bene, ignoscendum quod aliter dixerunt : 
 The older an Author is, commonly the more solid he is, and 
 the greater teller of Truth. This makes me think on a 
 Spayiish Captain, who being invited to a Fish-dinner, and 
 cominsT late, he sat at the lower end of the Table where the 
 small Fish lay, the great ones being at the upper end ; there- 
 upon he took one of the little Fish and held it to his Ear : 
 His comrades ask'd him what he meant by that; he answer'd 
 in a sad tone, So7Jie thirty years since my Father passing from 
 Spain to Barbary, was cast away in a Storm, and I am asking 
 this little Fish whether he could tell any tidings of his body ; 
 he answers me, that he is too young to tell ine anything, but 
 those old Fish at your end of the table may say something to 
 it : So by that trick of drollery he got his share of them. 
 The application is easy, therefore I advise you not to neglect 
 old Authors ; for tho' we be come as it were to the Meridian 
 of Truth, yet there be many Neoterical Commentators and 
 self-conceited Writers, that eclipse her in many things, and 
 go from obscurum to obscurius. 
 
 Give me leave to tell you, Cousin, that your Kindred and 
 Friends, with all the world besides, expect much from you 
 in regard of the pregnancy of your Spirit, and those Advan- 
 tages you have of others, being now at the source of all 
 Knowledge. I was told of a Countryman, who coming to 
 Oxford, and being at the Towns-end, stood listning to a 
 flock of Geese and a few Dogs that were hard by ; being 
 ask'd the Reason, he answer'd, that he thought the Geese 
 about Oxford did gaggle Greek, and the Dogs barked in Latin. 
 If some in the world think so much of those irrational poor 
 creatures that take in University Air, what will your Friends 
 in the Country expect from you, who have the Instruments 
 of Reason in such a perfection, and so well strung with a 
 
 tenacious
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 6ii 
 
 tenacious Memory, a quick Understanding, and rich Inven- 
 tion ? All which I have discovcr'd in you, and doubt not 
 but you will employ them to the comfort of your Friends, 
 your own credit, and the particular contentment of — Your 
 truly affectionate Uncle^ J. H. 
 
 Lond. 3 Feb. 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 To Sir K. D., in Paris. 
 Sir, 
 
 I HAD been guilty of such an offence, whereof I should 
 never have absolved myself, if I had omitted so hand- 
 some an opportunity to quicken my old Devotions to you. 
 Among those multitudes here who resent your hard condi- 
 tion and the protractions of your Business, there is none 
 who is more sensible that so gallant and sublime a Soul (so 
 much renowned throughout the World) should meet with 
 such harsh traverses of Fortune. For myself, I am like an 
 Almanack out of date, I am grown an unprofitable thing, 
 and good for nothing as the times run ; yet in your business 
 I shall play the Whe<-stone, which tho' it be a dull thing of 
 itself, and cannot cut, yet it can make other bodies to cut : 
 So shall I quicken those who have the managing of your 
 business, and power to do you good, whensoever I meet 
 them. So I rest — Your thirty years Servant, J. H. 
 
 Lond., 2 Sept. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 To Mr. R. Lee, i/i Antwerp. 
 Sir, 
 
 AN Acre of Performance is worth the whole Tjnnd oj 
 Promise; besides, as the Italian hath it. Deeds are 
 Men, and IVords JVomcn. You pleas'd to promise me, when 
 you shook hands with England, to barter Letters with me ; 
 but whereas I writ to you a good while since by Mr. Simons, 
 I have not received a syllable from you ever since. 
 
 The Times here frown more and more upon the Cava- 
 liers,
 
 6i2 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 Hers, yet their minds are buoy'd up still with strong hopes ; 
 some of them being lately in company of such whom the 
 Times favour^ and reporting some comfortable news on the 
 Royalists' side, one of the other answer'd, Thus you Cava- 
 liers still fool yourselves, and build always Castles in the Air : 
 Thereupon a sudden reply was made, IVhere will you have 
 us to build them else, for you have taken all our Lands from 
 2is? I know what you will say when your read this : A pox 
 on those true Jests. 
 
 This Tale puts me in mind of another: There was a 
 Gentleman lately, who was offer'd by the Parliament a parcel 
 of Church or Crown-Lands, equal to his Arrears ; and asking 
 counsel of a Friend of his which he should take, he answer'd, 
 Crown-Lands by all means, for if you take them, yoii run a 
 hazard only to be hang'd ; bid if you take Church-Land, yojc 
 are sure to be damn'd. Whereunto the other made him a 
 shrewd reply, Sir, I'll tell you a Tale : There was an old 
 Usurer not far from London, who had train'd up a Dog of 
 his to bring his meat after him in a Hand-basket, so that in 
 time the Sha<i'-doo- was so well bred, that his Master us'd to 
 send him by himself to Smithfield Shambles with a basket in 
 his mouth, and a note in the bottom thereof to his Butcher, 
 who accordingly would put in what joint of meat he writ 
 for, and the Dog would carry it handsomely home. It 
 happen'd one day, that as the Dog was carrying a good 
 Shoulder of Mutton home to his Master, he was set upon 
 by a Company of other huge Dogs, who snatch'd away the 
 basket, and fell to the Mutton : The other Dog measuring 
 his own single strength, and finding he was too weak to 
 redeem his Master's Mutton, said within himself (as we 
 read the like of Chrysippus's Dog), Nay, since there is no 
 remedy, you shall be hang'd before you have all ; I will have 
 also my share, and so fell a eating amongst them. I need 
 not, said he, make the application to you, 'tis too obvious, there- 
 fore I intend to have my share also of the Church-Lands. 
 
 In that large List of Friends you have left behind you here, 
 I am one who is very sensible that you have thus banish'd 
 
 yourself;
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 6i 
 
 a 
 
 yourself; it is the high Will of Heaven that matters should 
 be thus. Therefore Quod divinitus accidit huniiliter, quod ah 
 hominihus vinViter fere ndtmi ; we must manfully bear what 
 comes from Men, and huml^ly what comes from above. 
 The Pagan Philosopher tells us, Quod divinitus contingii, 
 homo a se nulla arte dis pellet ; there is no fence against that 
 which comes from Heaven, whose Decrees are irreversible. 
 
 Your Friends in Fleet-street are all well, both lono--coats 
 and short-coatSj and so is — Your inalterable Friend to love 
 and serve you, J. H. 
 
 Lo7td., 9 Nov. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 To Sir J. Tho., Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 THERE is no Request of yours but is equivalent to a Com- 
 mand with me; and whereas you crave my thoughts 
 touching a late History published by one Mr. JVilson, which 
 relates the Life of K. James, tho' I know for many years 
 your own judgment to be strong and clear enough of itself, 
 yet to comply with your desires, and to oblige you that way 
 another time to me, I will deliver you my opinion. 
 
 I cannot deny but the thing is a painful Piece, and pro- 
 ceeds after a handsome method, in drawing on the series 
 and thread of the Story ; but it is easily discernible, that 
 a partial Presbyterian Vein goes constantly throughout the 
 whole Work, and you know it is the Genius of that People 
 to pry more than they should into the Courts and Com- 
 portments of Princes, and take any occasion to traduce and 
 bespatter them : So doth this Writer, who endeavours all 
 along (among other things) to make the world believe that 
 K. James and his Son after him were inclin'd to Popenj, and 
 to bring it into England; whereas I dare avouch, that 
 neither of them cntcrtain'd the least thought that way, 
 they had as much design to bring in Prester-John as the 
 Pope, or Mahomet as soon as the ]\Iass. This Conceit made 
 the Writer to be subject to many Mistakes and Misrepre- 
 
 sensations.
 
 6i4 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 sentations, which so short a circuit as a Letter cannot 
 comprehend. 
 
 Yet I will instance in one gross mistake he hath in relating 
 a passage which concerns Sir Elias Hicks, a worthy Knight, 
 and a Fellow-servant of yours and mine. And he doth not 
 only misrepresent the business, but he foully asperseth him 
 with the terms of unworthiness and infamy. The truth of 
 that passage is as followeth, and I had it from very good hands. 
 
 In the year 1621, the French King making a general 
 War against them of the Religion, beleaguer'd Montauhan 
 in Person, while the Duke of Espernon block'd up Rochel. 
 The King having lain a good while before the Town, a 
 cunning report was rais'd that Rochel was surrender'd ; this 
 report being blown into Mo7itauhan, must needs dishearten 
 them of Rochel, being the prime and tenablest propugnacle 
 they had : Mr. Hicks happened to be then in Rochel, being 
 commended by Sir George Goring to the Marquis de la 
 Force, who was one of them that commanded in chief, and 
 treated Mr. Hicks with much civility, so far as that he took 
 him to be one of his domestic Attendants. The Rochellers 
 had sent two or three special Envoys to Montauhan to ac- 
 quaint them with their good condition, but it seems they all 
 miscarried; and the Marquis being troubled in his thoughts 
 one day, Mr. Hicks told him, that by God's favour he would 
 undertake and perform the service to Montaulan : Hereupon 
 he was put accordingly in equipage; so after ten days' journey 
 he came to a place call'd Moysak, where my Lord of Don- 
 caster, afterwards Earl of Carlisle, was in quality of Ambas- 
 sador from England, to observe the French King's proceedings, 
 and to mediate a Peace 'twixt him and the Protestants. At 
 his first Arrival thither, it was his good hap to meet casually 
 with Mr. Peregrin Fairfax, one of the Lord Ambassador's 
 retinue, who had been a former Comrade of his : Among 
 other Civilities he brought Mr. Hicks to wait upon the 
 Ambassador, to whom he had credential Letters from the 
 Assembly of Rochel, acquainting his Lordship with the good 
 state they were in ; Mr. Hicks told him besides, that he was 
 
 engag'd
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 615 
 
 engag'd to go to Montauhan as an Envoy from Rachel, to give 
 them true information how matters stood. The Ambassador 
 replied^ That it was too great a trust to be put upon so young 
 shoulders: So Mr. Hicks being upon going to the French 
 Army which lay before Montauban, Mr. Fairfax would needs 
 accompany him thither to see the Trenches and Works ; 
 being come thither^ they met with one Mr. Tho. Webb, that 
 belong'd to the Marshal St. Gerand, who lodg'd them both 
 in his own Hut that night; and having shew'd them the 
 Batteries and Trenches the day after^ Mr. Hicks took notice 
 of one place which lay most open for his design, resolving 
 with himself to pass that way to the Town. He had told 
 Fairfax of his purpose before, who discovering it to Webb, 
 Webb ask'd him whether he came thither to be hang'd ; for 
 divers were us'd so a little before. The next day Hicks taking 
 his leave of Webb, desir'd Fairfax to stay behind ; which 
 he refusing, did ride along with him to the place which 
 Hicks had pointed out the day before for his design, and 
 there Fairfax left him : So having got betwixt the Corps de 
 Gard and the Town, he put spurs to his horse, and waving 
 his pistol above his head, got in, being pursu'd almost to 
 the Walls of the Town by the King's Party. Being enter'd, 
 old Marshal de la Force, who was then in Montauban, havinir 
 heard his relations of Rochel, fell on his neck and wept, 
 saying. That he would give 1000 Crowns he were as safely 
 got back to Rochel as he came thither : And having stay'd 
 there three weeks, he, in a sallie that the Town made one 
 Evening, got clear through the Leaguer before Montauban, 
 as he had formerly done before that of the Duke of Esper- 
 7ion, and so recover'd Rochel again. But to return to Mr. 
 Fairfax ; after he had parted with Mr. Hicks, he was taken 
 prisoner, and threatened the rack ; but whether out of the 
 Apprehension thereof, or otherwise, he died a little after of 
 a Fever at Moysac ; tho' 'tis true that the Gazettes in Paris 
 do publish that he died of the torture, with the French 
 Mercury since. 
 
 Mr. Hicks being return'd to London, was question'd by 
 
 Sir
 
 6i6 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 Sir Ftrd'inando Fairfax for his Brother's death : Thereupon 
 Mr. Welb being also come back to London, who was upon 
 the very place where these things happen'd in France, 
 Mr. Hicks brought him along with him to Sir Ferdinand's 
 Lodgings, who did positively affirm that Mr. Hicks had 
 communicated his design to Mr. Peregrin Fairfax (and that 
 he reveal'd it first to him) ; so he did fairly vindicate Mr. 
 Hicks, wherewith Sir Ferdinand remain'd fully satisfied, and 
 all his Kindred. 
 
 Whosoever will observe the carrian;e and circumstance of 
 this Action, will needs confess that Mr. Hicks (now Sir Elias 
 Hicks) did comport himself like a worthy Gentleman from 
 the beginning to the end thereof: The design was generous, 
 the conduct of it discreet, and the conclusion very pros- 
 perous, in regard it preserv'd both Montaiihan and Rochei 
 for that time from the fury of the Enemy ; for the King 
 rais'd his siege a little after from before the one, and Esper- 
 non from before the other. Therefore it cannot be deny'd 
 but that the said Writer (who so largely intitles his Book 
 the History of Great Britain, tho' it be but the particular 
 Reign of K. James only) was very much to blame for brand- 
 ing so well a deserving Gentleman with infamy and un~ 
 worthiness, which are the words he pleaseth to bestow upon 
 him; and I think he would willingly recant and retract his 
 rash censure were he now living, but Death pressed him 
 away before the Press had done with his Book, whereof he 
 may be said to have dy'd in Child-bed. 
 
 So presenting herewith unto you my hearty respects and 
 love, endear'd and strengthen'd by so long a tract of time, I 
 rest — Your faithful true Servant, J. H. 
 
 Lond., 9 Nov. 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 To Mr. R. Lewis, in Amsterdam. 
 Cousin, 
 FOUND yours of the first of February in the Post-house, 
 as I casually had other business there, else it had mis- 
 
 carry'd ; 
 
 I
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 617 
 
 carry'd ; I pray be more careful of your directions hereafter. 
 I much thank yoii for the aviso's you sent me how matters 
 pass thereabouts : Methinks that Amsterdam begins to smell 
 rank of a Hans Town, as if she would be independent and 
 paramount over the rest of the Confederate Provinces ; she 
 hath some reason in one respect, because Holland contributes 
 three parts of five, and Amsterdam herself near upon the 
 one moiety of those three parts, to maintain the Land and 
 Naval Forces of the States-General. That Town likewise, 
 as I hear, begins to compare with Venice, but let her stay 
 there a while; yet she may in some kind do it, for their 
 situation and beginning have been alike, being both in- 
 dented with JVaters, and both Fisher-Towns at first. 
 
 But I wonder at one news you write me, that Amsterdam 
 should fall on repairing and beautifying Churches, whereas 
 the news here is clean contrary ; for while you adorn your 
 Churches there, we destrorj them here. Among other, poor 
 Paul's looks like a great Skeleton, so pitifully handled, 
 that you may tell her ribs thro' her skin ; her body looks 
 like the Hulk of a huge Portugal Carake, that having 
 cross'd the Line twelve times, and made three Voyages into 
 the East-Indies, lies rotting upon the Strand. Truly I think 
 not Turk or Tartar, or any Creature except the Devil him- 
 self, would have us'd Paul's in that manner : You know that 
 once a Stable was made a Temple, but now a Temple is 
 become a Stable among us. Proh superi ! quantum mortalia 
 pectora Ccecrs Noctis habent. 
 
 There are strange Heteroclites in Religion now-a-days ; 
 among whom, some of them may be said to endeavour the 
 exalting of the Kingdom of Christ, in lifting it upon Belze- 
 bub's back, bv bringing in so much Profaneness to avoid 
 Superstition. God deliver us from Atheism, for we are 
 within one step of it ; and touching Judaism, some corners 
 of our City smell as rank of it as yours doth there. 
 
 I pray be punctual in your returns hereafter ; for, as you 
 say well and wittily, Letters may be said to be the chief est 
 Organs (tho' they have but Paper-pipes) through ichich 
 
 Friendship
 
 6i8 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 Friendship doth use to breathe and operate. For my part, I 
 shall not be wanting to set those Organs a working for the 
 often conveyance of my best Affections unto you. Sir T. 
 Williams, with his choice Lady, blow over through the same 
 Pipe their kind respects unto you, and so do divers of your 
 Friends besides ; but 'specially, my dear Cousin — Yours, 
 
 J. H. 
 Loud., 2) Jan. 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 To J. Anderson, Esq. 
 Sir, 
 
 YOU have been often at me (tho' I know you to be a 
 Protestant so in grain, that all the Water of the Tijber 
 is not able to make you change colour) that I should impart 
 to you in Writing what I observ'd commendable and discom- 
 mendable in the Roman Church, because I had eaten my 
 Bread often in those Countries where that Religion is pro- 
 fess'd and practis'd in the greatest height. Touching the 
 second part of your request, I need not say anything to it ; 
 for there be Authors enough in our Church to inform you 
 about the Positions and Tenets wherein we differ, and for 
 which we blame them. Concerning the Jirst part, I will 
 give you a short intimation what I noted to be praise-worthy 
 and imitable in point of practice. 
 
 The Government of the Roman Church is admirable, being 
 moulded with as much Policy as the Wit of Man can reach 
 unto ; and there must be Civil Policy as well as Ecclesiasti- 
 cal us'd to keep such a world of People of several Nations 
 and Humours in one Religion : Tho' at first when the Church 
 extended but to one Chamber, then to one House, after to 
 one Parish, then to one Province, such Policy was not so 
 requisite. For the Church of Christ may be compar'd to 
 his Person in point of degrees of growing ; and as that 
 Coat which serv'd him in his Childhood, could not fit him 
 in his Youth, nor that of his Youth when he was come to 
 his Manliood, no more would the same Government (which 
 
 compar'd
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 619 
 
 compar'd to the Fundamentals of Faith, that are still the 
 same, are but as'outward garments) fit all Jges of the Church, 
 in regard of those millions of Accidents that used to attend 
 Time, and the mutable humours of Men. Insomuch that it 
 was a wholesome caution of an ancient Father, Distinsuas 
 inter tempora, & concordahis cum Scriptura. This Govern- 
 ment is like a great Fabric rear'd up with such exact rules 
 of Art and Architecture, that the Foundation, the Roof, 
 Sides, and Angles, with all the other parts, have such a 
 dependence of mutual support by a rare contignation, con- 
 cinnity, and intendings one in the other, that if you take 
 out but one Stone, it hazards the downfall of the whole 
 Edifice. This makes me think that the Church of Rome 
 would be content to part with, and rectify some things, if 
 it might not endanger the Ruin of the whole ; which puts 
 the World in desjiair of an Oecumenical Council again. 
 
 The Uniformity of this Fabric is also to be admir'd, 
 which is such as if it were but one entire continued homo- 
 geneous Piece : For put case a Spaniard should go to Poland, 
 and a Pole should travel to the furthest part of Spain, 
 whereas all other objects may seem ne'er so strange to them 
 in point of Lodging, Language, and Diet, tho' the Com- 
 plexion and Faces, the Behaviour, Garb, and Garments of 
 Men, Women, and Children, be differing, together with 
 the very Air and Clime of the place; tho' all things seem 
 strange unto them, and so somewhat uncouth and comfort- 
 less; yet when they go to God's House in either Countrv, 
 they may say they are there at home: For nothing differs there 
 either in Language, IForship, Service, or Ceremony ; which 
 must needs be an unspeakable comfort to cither of them. 
 
 Thirdly, It must needs be a commendable thing that 
 they keep their Churches so cleanly and amiable, for the 
 Dwellings of the Lord of Hosts should be so : To which 
 end your greatest Ladies will rise before day sometimes in 
 their Night-clothes to fall a sweeping some part of the 
 Church, and decking it with flowers, as I heard Count 
 Gondomar's Wife us'd to do here at Ely-House Chapel ; 
 
 besides.
 
 620 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 besides, they keep them in constant repair, so that if but 
 a quarry of glass chance to be broken, or the least stone 
 be out of square, 'tis presently mended. Moreover, their 
 Churches stand wide open early and late, inviting, as it 
 were, all Comers ; so that a poor troubled soul may have 
 Access thither at all hours to breathe out the Pantings of 
 his Heart, and Ejaculations of his Soul either in Prayer or 
 Praise : Nor is there any exception of persons in their 
 Churches, for the Cohler will kneel with the Count, and 
 the Laundress gig by geoul with her Lady ; there being 
 no Pews there to cause pride and envy, contentions and 
 quarrels, which are so rife in our Churches. 
 
 The comely prostrations of the body, with genuflection, 
 and other Acts of Humility in time of divine Service, are 
 very exemplary : Add hereunto, that the Reverence they 
 shew to the holy Function of the Church is wonderful ; 
 Princes and Queens will not disdain to kiss a Capuchin's 
 Sleeve, or the Surplice of a Priest. Besides, I have seen 
 the greatest and beautifull'st young Ladies go to Hospitals, 
 where they not only dress, but lick the sores of the sick. 
 
 Furthermore, the conformity of Seculars, and resignment 
 of their Judgments to the Governors of the Church, are 
 remarkable. There are not such Scepticks and Cavillers 
 there, as in other places; they humbly believe that Lazarus 
 was three days in the grave, without questioning where his 
 Soul was all the while ; nor will they expostulate how a 
 Man who was born blind from his Nativity, should pre- 
 sently know the shapes of Trees, whereunto he thought the 
 first Men he ever saw were like, after he receiv'd sight. Add 
 hereunto, that they esteem for Church-preferments most 
 commonly a Man of a pious good disposition, of a meek 
 spirit, and godly life, more than a Learned Man, that is 
 either a great Linguist, Antiquary, or Philosopher; and the 
 first is advanced sooner than the latter. 
 
 Lastlv, They think nothing too good or too much for 
 God's House, or for his Ministers ; no Place too sweet, no 
 Buildines too stately for them, being of the best Profession. 
 
 The
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 621 
 
 The most curious Artists will employ the best of their Skill 
 to compose Hymns and Anthems for God's House, &c. 
 
 But methinks I hear you say, that you acknowledge all 
 this to be commendable, were it not that it is accompanied 
 with an odd opinion that they think to merit thereby, ac- 
 counting them Works of Supererogation. 
 
 Truly, Sir, I have discours'd with the greatest Magnifiers 
 of meritorious Works, and the chiefest of them made me 
 this Comparison, that the Blood of Christ is like a great 
 Vessel of Wine, and all the Merits of Men, whether active 
 or passive, were it possible, must be put into that great 
 Vessel, and so must needs be made Wine ; not that the 
 Water hath any inherent Virtue of itself, to make itself so, 
 but as it receives it from the Wine. 
 
 It is reported of Cosmo de Medici, that having built a 
 goodly Church, with a Monastery thereunto annex'd, and 
 two Hospitals, with other Monuments of Piety, and endow'd 
 'em with large Revenues; as one did much magnify him for 
 these extraordinary Works, for which doubtless he merited 
 a high reward in Heaven, he answer'd, 'Tis true, I employ' d 
 much Treasure that ivay, yet when I look over my Ledger- 
 Book of Accoiints, I do not find that God yllmigJity is indebted 
 to me one Penny, hut I am still in the arrear to him. 
 
 Add hereunto the sundry ways of mortification they have 
 by frequent long fastings, and macerations of the flesh by 
 their retiredness, their abandoning the World, and sequestra- 
 tions from all mundane Affairs; their notable humility in 
 the distribution of their Alms, which they do not use to 
 hurl away in a kind of scorn as others do, but by putting it 
 gently into the beggar's hand. 
 
 Some shallow-pated Puritan, in reading this, will shoot 
 his bolt, and presently cry me up to have a Pope in my belly ; 
 but you know me otherwise, and there's none knows my 
 intrinsecals better than you. We are come to such times, 
 that if any would maintain those Decencies, and humble 
 Postures, those Solemnities and Rites which should be 
 practis'd in the holy House of God (and Holiness becomes 
 
 his
 
 622 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 his House for ever), nay, if one passing through a Church 
 should put off his hat, there is a giddy and malignant race 
 of People (for indeed they are the true Malignants) who will 
 give out that he is running post to Rome ; notwithstanding 
 that the Religion establish'd by the Laws of England did 
 ever allow of them ever since the Reformation began, yet you 
 know how few have run thither Nay, the Lutherans, who 
 use far more Ceremonies symbolizing with those of Rome, 
 than the English Protestants ever did, keep still their dis- 
 tance, and are as far from her now as they were at 
 first. 
 
 England had lately (tho' to me it seems a great while 
 since) the Face and Form, the Government and Gravity, 
 the Constitutions and Comeliness of a Church; for she had 
 something to keep herself handsome ; she had wherewith to 
 be hospitable, and do Deeds of Charity, to build Alms-houses, 
 Free-schools, and Colleges, which had been very few in this 
 Island, had there been no Clmrch-Benefactors : She had 
 brave degrees of Promotion to incite industry, and certainly 
 the conceit of Honour is a great encouragement to Virtue : 
 Now, if all Professions have steps of Rising, why should 
 Divinity, the best of all Professions, be without them ? The 
 Apprentice doth not think it much to wipe his Master's shoes, 
 and sweep the gutters, because he hopes one day to be an 
 Alderman : The common Soldier carrieth hopes in his Knap- 
 sack, to be one day a Captain or Colonel : The Student in 
 the Lins of Courts turns over Ploydon with more alacrity, 
 and tugs with that crabbed study of the Law, because he 
 hopes one day to be a Judge : So the Scholar thought his 
 labour sweet, because he was buoy'd up with hopes that he 
 might be one day a Bishop, DeaJi, or Canon. This comely 
 subordination of Degrees we once had, and we had a visible 
 conspicuous Church, to whom all other Reformists gave the 
 upper hand ; but now she may be said to have crept into 
 corners, and fallen to such a contempt, that she dares scarce 
 shew her face. Add hereunto what various kinds of con- 
 fusions she is involved in ; so that it may be not improperly 
 
 saidj
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 623 
 
 said, while she thought to run away so eagerly from Bahijlon, 
 she is fallen into a Bahcl of all Opinions: Insomuch that 
 they who came lately from Italy say, how Rome gives out, 
 that when Religion is lost "in England, she will be glad to 
 come to Rome again to find one out, and that she danceth 
 all this while in a circle. 
 
 Thus have I endeavour'd to satisfy your Importunity as 
 far as a sheet of paper could reach, to give you a touch what 
 may be not only allowable but laudable, and consequently 
 imitable in the Roman Church; for 
 
 Fas est &= ab Hoste doceri. 
 
 But I desire you would expound all with the same sense 
 wherewith I know vou abound; otherwise I would not be 
 so free with you upon this ticklish subject : Yet I have 
 cause to question your Judgment in one thing, because vou 
 magnify so much my talent in your last. Alas, Sir, a small 
 Handkerchief \?, enough to hold mine, whereas a large Tahle- 
 Cloth can hardly contain that rich Talent which I find God 
 and Nature hath intrusted you withal. In which opinion I 
 rest always — Your ready and real Servant, J. H. 
 
 Lend., sj^iify. 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 To Doctor Harvey, at St. Lawrence Poultney. 
 Sir, 
 
 I REMEMBER well you pleas'd not only to pass a favour- 
 able censure, but give a high character of the first part 
 of Dodona\') Grove ; which makes this Second to come and 
 wait on you, which, I dare say, for variety of fancy, is 
 nothing inferior to the first. It continueth an historical 
 Account of the Occurrences of the Times in an allejTorical 
 way, under the shadow of Trees ; and I believe it omits not 
 any material passage which happen'd as far as it goes. If 
 you please to spend some of the parings of your time, and 
 fetch a walk in this Grove, you may haply find therein some 
 recreation : And if it be true what the Ancients write of 
 
 some
 
 624 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 some Trees, that they 2ixe fatidical, these come to foretell, at 
 leastwise to wish you, as the season invites me, a good New- 
 year, according to the Italian compliment, Buo?i principio, 
 miglior mezzo, ed ottimo fine. With these wishes of happi- 
 ness in all the three degrees of comparison, I rest — Your 
 devoted Servant, J. H. 
 
 Lo7id., 2 Jan. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 To R. Bowyer, Fisq. 
 Sir, 
 
 IRECEIV'D yours of the tenth current, where I made 
 a new Discovery, finding therein one Argument of 
 your Friendship, which you never urg'd before ; for you 
 give me a touch of my failings in point of literal corre- 
 spondence with you. To this give me leave to answer, 
 That he who hath glass-windows of his own, should take 
 care how he throws stones at those of his Neighbours. We 
 have both of us our failings that way, witness else yours of 
 the last of May, to mine of the first of March before ; but it is 
 never over-late to mend : Therefore I begin, and do penance 
 in this white sheet for what is past ; I hope you will do the 
 like, and so we may absolve one another without a ghostly 
 Father. 
 
 The French and Spaniard are still at it like two Cocks of 
 the game, both of them pitifully bloodied; and 'tis thought 
 they will never leave, till they peck out one another's eyes. 
 They are daily seeking new Alliances to fortify themselves, 
 and the quarrel is still so hot, that they would make a league 
 with Lucifer to destroy one another. 
 
 For home news, the freshest is, that whereas in former 
 times there were complaints that Churchmen were Justices of 
 Peace, now the clean contrary wav. Justices of the Peace 
 are become Churchmen; for by a new ^ct of that Thing 
 in IVestminster call'd a Parliament, the power of giving in 
 Marriage is pass'd over to them, which is an Ecclesiastical 
 Rite everywhere else throughout the World. 
 
 A 
 
 #
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 625 
 
 A Cavalier coming lately to a Bookseller's shop, desir'd 
 to buy this Matrimonial ^ci, with the rest of that holy 
 Parliament, but he would have them all bound in Calf's 
 Leather, bought out of Mr BarhoJies Shop in Fleet-street. 
 
 The soldiers have a great spleen to the Lawyers, insomuch 
 that they threaten to hang up their Gowns among the 
 Scots Colours in JJ^est minster-hall ; but their chiefest aim 
 is at the regulation of the Chancery, for they would have 
 the same Tribunal to have the power of Justice and Equity, 
 as the same Apothecary's shop can afford us Purges and 
 Cordials. So with my kind and cordial respects unto you, 
 I rest — Your entire and truly affectionate Servant, J. H. 
 
 Lo?id., 9 Nov. 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 To Mr, J. B., at his House in St. Nicholas Lane. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 WHEN I exchang'd speeches with you last, I found 
 (vet more by your discourse than countenance) that 
 vour spirits were towards a kind of ebb, by reason of the 
 interruption and stop which these confused Times have put 
 to all mercantile Negotiations both at home and abroad. 
 Truly Sir, when after a serious recollection I had ruminated 
 upon what had dropp'd from you then, I extremely wonder'd, 
 which I should not have done at another ; in regard since 
 the first time I had the advantage of your Friendship, I 
 discover'd that you were naturally of generous and freeborn 
 thoughts. I have found also, that by a rare industry you 
 have stor'd up a rich stock of Philosophy, and other parts 
 of Prudence ; which induc'd me to think that no worldly 
 Revolution, or any cross-winds, tho' never so violent, no not 
 a Hurricane could trouble the Calm of your Mind. There- 
 fore to deal freely with you, you are not the same Man I 
 took you for. 
 
 I confess 'tis a passive Age, and the stoutness of the 
 prudent'st and most philosophical Men were never put to 
 
 2 R such
 
 626 Familiar Letters. Book IV, 
 
 such a trial. I thank God, the School of Affliction hath 
 brought me to such a habit of Patience, it hath caus'd in 
 me such symptoms of Mortification, that I can value this 
 World as it is. It is but a vale of Troubles, and we who 
 are in it are like so many Ants trudging up and down about 
 a Mole-hill. Nay, at best we are but as so many Pilgrims, 
 or Passeno-ers travellino; on still towards another Country : 
 'Tis true, that some do find the way thither more smooth 
 and fair; they find it flowry, and tread upon Camomile all 
 along : Such may be said to have their Paradise here, or to 
 sail still in Fortune's sleeve, and to have the wind in the 
 poop all the while, not knowing what a storm means ; yet 
 both the Divine and Philosopher do rank these among the 
 most unfortunate of men. Others there are who in their 
 journey to their last home do meet with rocks and craggs, 
 with ill-favour'd sloughs and bogs, and divers deep and dirty 
 passages. For my part I have already pass'd through many 
 such, and must expect to meet with more : Therefore you 
 also by your various Adventures, and Negotiations in the 
 world, must not think to escape them ; you must make 
 account to meet with encumbrances and disasters, with mis- 
 chances and crosses. Now Hwas a brave generous saying of 
 a great Armenian Merchant, who having understood how a 
 Vessel of his was cast awav, wherein there was laden a rich 
 Cargazon upon his sole Account, he struck his hand on his 
 breast, and said. My Heart, I thank God, is still afloat, my 
 Spirits shall not sink ivith the Ship, nor go an Inch lower. 
 
 But why do I write to you of Patience and Courage ? In 
 doing this, I do no otherwise than Phormio did, when he 
 discours'd of War before Hannibal: I know you have Pru- 
 dence enough to cheer up and instruct yourself; only let 
 me tell you, that you superabound with fancy, you have 
 more of mind than of body, and that sometimes you over- 
 charge the Imagination, by musing too much upon the odd 
 traverses of the JVorld: Therefore I pray rouse up your 
 Spirits, and reserve yourself for better times, that I may 
 long enjoy the sweetness of your Friendship; for the Ele- 
 ments
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 627 
 
 ments are the more pleasing to me, because you live with 
 me amongst them. So God send you such tranquilHty of 
 thoughts as I wish. — Your true Friend, J. H. 
 
 5 April. • 
 
 XL. 
 
 To Major J. Walker^ in Coventry. 
 Sir, 
 
 I HEARTILY congratulate your return to England, and 
 that you so safely cross'd the Scythian Vale ; for so old 
 Gildas calls the IrisJi Seas, in regard they are so boisterous 
 and rough. I understand vou have been in sundrv hot and 
 hazardous encounters, because of those many scars and cuts 
 you wear about you; and as Tom Dawson told me^ it was 
 no less than a miracle that none of them were mortal, 
 being eleven in all. It makes me think on a witty compli- 
 ment that Captain Miller put upon the Persian Ambassador 
 when he was here, who showing him many Wounds that he 
 had recciv'd in the Wars against the Turk, the Captain said, 
 That his Lordship's skin after his death would yield little 
 money, because it had so many holes in it. 
 
 1 find the same Fate hangs o'er the Irish, as befell the old 
 Britons here; for as they were hemm'd in among the JVclsh 
 Mountains^ so the Irish are like now to be all kennell'd in 
 Connaught. We see daily strange revolutions, and God 
 knows what the issue will be at last ; howsoever, let us live 
 and love one another, in which resolution I rest — Entirely 
 yours, J. H. 
 
 2 Jl/aj. 
 
 XLI. 
 
 To Mr. T. C, at his House upon Tower-hill. 
 Sir, 
 
 TO inaugurate a good and jovial New-year to you, I send 
 you a morning's draught, I'iz., a Bottle of Mcthcglin. 
 Neither Sir John Barly-corn or Bacchus had anything to do 
 with it, but it is the pure juice of the Bee, the laborious 
 
 Bee,
 
 628 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 Bee, and Kino; of Insects. The Druids and old British Bards 
 were wont to take a carouse hereof before they enter'd into 
 their Speculations ; and if you do so when your Fancy 
 labours with anything^ it will do you no hurt, and I know 
 youv fancy to be very good. 
 
 But this Drink always carries a kind of state with it, for 
 it must be attended with a brown toast; nor will it admit 
 but of one good draught, and that in the morning; if more, 
 it will keep a humming in the head, and so speak too much 
 of the House it comes from, I mean the Hive, as I gave a 
 caution elsewhere : And because the bottle might make more 
 haste, I have made it go upon these poetick feet : 
 
 J. H. T. C. Sahikm, o^ a?innm Platoiictnn. 
 
 Non Vitis, sed Apis succum tibi initio bibefidum, 
 Quem legvnus Bardos olwi potassc Britannos. 
 Qualibet in bacca Vitis Megera latcscit, 
 Qualibet in gutta Mellis Aglaia nitet. 
 
 The juice ^Bees, not Bacchus, here behold. 
 Which British Bards zvere wont to quaff of old ; 
 The Berries of the Grape 'ctnth Furies sivell, 
 But ill the Honeycomb the Graces divell. 
 
 This alludes to a saying which the Turks have, that there 
 lurks a devil in every berry of the Vine. So I wish you as 
 cordially as to myself an auspicious and joyful New-year, 
 because you know I am — Your truly affectionate Servitor, 
 
 J.H. 
 
 XLH. 
 
 To Sir E. S. 
 Sir, 
 
 AT my return to London, I found two of yours that lay 
 in bank for me, which were as welcome to me as 
 the New-year, and as pleasing as if two Pendants of Orient 
 Pearl had been sent to a French Lady: But your Lines, 
 methought, did cast a greater lustre than any such Muscle- 
 heads ; for they display'd the whiteness of a comely and 
 
 knowing
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 629 
 
 knowing Soul, which reflecting upon my Faculties did much 
 enlighten them with the choice notions I found therein. 
 
 I thank you for the Absolution you send me for what's 
 past, and for your other Invitation: But I have observ'd a 
 civility they use in Italy and Spain, not to visit a sick person 
 too often^ for fear of putting him to waste his spirits by talk, 
 which they say spends much of the inward man. But when 
 you have recover'd yourself, as I hope you will do with the 
 season, I shall return to kiss your hands, and vour feet also, 
 could I ease you of that podagrical pain which afllicts you. 
 
 I send you a thousand thanks for your kind Acceptance 
 of that small New-year's Gift I sent, and that you concur 
 with divers others in a good opinion of it. So I rest — Your 
 own true Servant, J. H. 
 
 Lond., 18 Feb. 
 
 XLIII. 
 
 To the truly honoured the Lady Sibylla Brown, at her 
 
 House 71 ear S herb urn. 
 
 Madam, 
 
 WHEN I had the Happiness to wait upon you at your 
 being in London, there was a Dispute rais'd about 
 the ten Sibyls by one, who, your Ladyship knows, is no 
 great Friend to Antiquity; and I was glad to apprehend 
 this opportunity to perform the promise you drew from me 
 then, to vent something upon this subject for your Lady- 
 ship's satisfaction. 
 
 Madam, in these peevish times, which may be call'd the 
 Rust of the Iron Age, there is a race of cross-grain'd People, 
 who are malevolent to all Antiquity. If they read an old 
 Author, it is to quarrel with him, and find some hole in his 
 coat; they slight the Fathers of the primitive Times, and 
 prefer John Calvin, or a Casauhon before them all. Among 
 other tenets of the first times, they hold the ten Sibyls to 
 be fictitious and fabulous, and no better than Urganda, or 
 the Lady of the Lake, or such doting beldams. They stick 
 not to term their Predictions of Christ to be mere Mock- 
 
 Oraclcs,
 
 630 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 Oracles, and odd arrepititious frantick Extravagancies. They 
 cry out, that they were forg'd and obtruded on the World 
 by some officious Christians, to procure credit and counte- 
 nance to their Religion among the Pagans. 
 
 For my part, Madam, I am none of this incredulous per- 
 verse race of men ; but what the current and concurrent 
 testimonies of the primitive Times do hold forth, I give 
 credit thereto without any scruple. 
 
 Now touching the Works of the Sibyls, they were in high 
 request among the Fathers of the first four Centuries, in- 
 somuch that they us'd to urge their Prophecies for the 
 Conversion of Pagans, who therefore call'd the Christians 
 SihyUianists, nor did they hold it a word of reproach. They 
 were all Virgins, and for reward of their chastity, 'twas 
 thought they had the gift of Prophecy ; not by any endow- 
 ment of Nature, or inherent human Quality, or ordinary 
 Ideas in the Soul, but by pure divine Inspirations, not de- 
 pending on second Causes in sight. They spake not like the 
 ambiguous Pagan Oracles in riddles, but so clearly, that they 
 sometimes go beyond the Jewish Prophets; they were call'd 
 Siohulce, that is, of the Counsels of God ; Sios, in the Eolic 
 Dialect, being Deus. They were preferr'd before all the 
 CAa/J^a/i Wizards, before the Bacides, Branchidce, and others; 
 as also before Tyresias, Manto, Matis, or Cassandra, &c. 
 
 Nor did the Christians only value them at that height, but 
 the most learned among the Ethiiks did so, as Farro, Livy, 
 and Cicero ; the first being the greatest Antiquary, the second 
 the greatest Historian, and the third the greatest Orator, that 
 ever Rome had ; who speak so much of that famous Acrostick 
 that one of them made of the Name of our Saviour, which 
 sure could not be the work of a Christian, as some would 
 maliciously obtrude, it being so long before the Incarnation. 
 
 But for the better discharge of my engagement to your 
 Ladyship, I will rank all the ten before you, with some of 
 their most signal Predictions. 
 
 The Sibyls were ten in number, whereof there were five 
 born in Europe, to wit, Sibylla Delphica, Cumcea, Samia, 
 
 Cumana,
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 6:;i 
 
 Cumana, and Tyhurtina ; the rest were born in Asia and 
 ylfrica. 
 
 The first was a Persian call'd Samberthe, who plainly fore- 
 told many hundred years before, in these Words, The IVomb 
 of the Virgin shall he the Salvation of the Gentiles, &c. 
 
 The second was Sibylla Lybica, who among other Prophe- 
 cies hath this. The day shall come that Men shall see the King 
 of all living things, and a Virgin Lady of the IVorld shall 
 hold him in her lap. 
 
 The third was Delphica, who saith, A Prophet shall be 
 born of a Virgin. 
 
 The fourth was Sibylla Cumcea, born in Campania in Italy, 
 who hath these words, that God shall be born of a Virgin, 
 aJid converse with sinners. 
 
 The fifth was the famous Erythrcea, born at Babylon, who 
 compos'd that famous Acrostick which St. Augnstine took 
 so much pains to translate into hatin. Which begins, The 
 Earth shall sweat signs of fudgment,fro7n Pleavcn shall come 
 a King who shall reign for ever, viz., in human Flesh, to the 
 end that by his presence he may judge the world. A River 
 of Fire and Brimstone shall fall from Heaven, the Sun and 
 Stars shall lose their light, the Firmament shall he dissolved, 
 and the Moon shall he darkened; a Trumpet shall sound from 
 Heaveii in woful and terrible manner : And the opening of 
 Earth shall discover confused and dark Hell; and before the 
 Judge shall come every King, &c. 
 
 The sixth was Sibylla Samia, who saith, He being rich, 
 shall he born of a poor Maid: The Creatures of the Earth 
 shall adore him, and praise him for ever. 
 
 The seventh was Cumana, who saith, That he should come 
 from Heaven, and reign here in poverty ; he should rule in 
 silence, and he horn of a Virgin. 
 
 The eighth was Sibylla Hcllespontica, who foretells plainly 
 that A JVoman shall descend of the Jews, call'd Mary, and 
 of her shall he born the Son of God, and that without carnal 
 copulalioji, Sec. 
 
 The ninth was Phrygia, who saith, The highest shall come 
 
 from
 
 6^2 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 from Heaven, and shall confirm the Counsel in Heaven ; and 
 a Virgin shall he sheivd in the Vallies of the Desarts, &c. 
 
 The tenth was Tihurtina, born near Tyler, who saith. 
 The invisible Word shall he born of a Virgin, he shall converse 
 with sinners, and shall of them be despised. Sec. 
 
 Moreover, St. Austin reciteth these Prophecies following 
 of the Sibyls : Then he shall be take?! by the wicked hands of 
 Infidels, and they shall give him buffets on his face, they shall 
 spit upon him with their fold and accursed mouths, he shall 
 turn unto them his shoulders, sufiering them to be whipped: 
 He also shall be crown' d with thorns ; they shall give him 
 gall to eat and vinegar to drink : Then the veil of the Temple 
 shall rend, and at mid-day it shall be dark night, &c. 
 
 Lactantius relateth these Prophecies of theirs, He shall 
 raise the dead, the impotent and lame shall go, the deaf shall 
 hear, the blind shall see, and the dumb speak, &c. 
 
 In fine, out of the works of the Sibyls may be deduced a 
 good part of the Miracles and Sufferings of Christ; there- 
 fore for my part I will not cavil with Antiquity, or traduce 
 the primitive Church, but I think I may believe without 
 danger, that those Sibyls might be select instruments to 
 announce the dispensations of Heaven to Mankind. Nor 
 do I see how they do the Church of God any good service 
 or advantage at all, who question the truth of their Writings 
 (as also Trismegisttis his Pymandra, and Aristceus, &c), which 
 have been handed over to posterity as incontroulable truths 
 for so many Ages. 
 
 Thus, Madam, have I done something of that task you 
 impos'd upon me touching the ten Sibyls ; whereunto I may 
 well add your Ladyship for the eleventh : For among other 
 things I remember you foretold confidently that the Scottish 
 Kirk would destroy the English Church ; and that if the 
 Hierarchy went down. Monarchy would not be of long 
 continuance. 
 
 Your Ladyship I remember foretold also, how those un- 
 happy Separatists the Puritans would bring all things at last 
 into a confusion, who since are call'd Presbyterians, or Jews 
 
 of
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 6^^ 
 
 of the New Testament; and they not improperly may be 
 call'd so, for they sympathize much with that Nation in a 
 revengeful sanguinary humour and thirsting after blood. I 
 could produce a cloud of examples, but let two suffice. 
 
 There liv'd a few years before the LoTig Parliament near 
 Clun-Castle in Wales, a good old Widow that had two sons 
 grown to Men's estate, who having taken the holy Sacra- 
 ment on a first Sunday in the month, at their return home 
 they enter'd into a dispute touching their manner of receiv- 
 ing it. The eldest Brother, who was an orthodox Protestant 
 (with the Mother) held it was very fitting, it being the 
 highest act of devotion, that it should be taken in the 
 humblest posture that could be, upon the knees ; the other, 
 being a Puritan, oppos'd it, and the dispute grew high, but 
 it ended without much heat. The next dav being both 
 come home to dinner from their business abroad, the eldest 
 Brother, as it was his custom, took a nap upon a cushion at 
 the end of the table, that he might be more fresh for labour. 
 The Puritan Brother, call'd Enoch Evans, spying his oppor- 
 tunity, fetch'd an axe, which he had provided it seems on 
 purpose, and stealing softly to the table, he chopp'd off his 
 Brother's head : The old Mother hearLmr a noise, came sud- 
 denly from the next room, and there found the bodv and 
 head of her eldest Son both asunder, and reakincr in hot 
 Blood : Villain ! cried she, hast thou murder\l thy Brother ? 
 Yes, quoth he, and you shall after him; and so striking her 
 down, he dragg'd her body to the threshold of the door, and 
 there chopp'd off" her head also, and put them both in a bag: 
 But thinking to fly, he was apprehended and brought before 
 the next Justice of Peace, who chanced to be Sir Robert 
 Howard; so the Murderer the Assizes after was condemn'd, 
 and the Law could but only hang him, tho' he had committed 
 Matricide and Fratricide. 
 
 I will fetch another example of their crueltv from Scotland. 
 The late Marquis of Montrose, being betrav'd by a Lord in 
 whose house he lay, was brought prisoner of War to Edin- 
 burgh ; there the common Hangman met him at the Towns- 
 
 end
 
 634 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 end, and first pull'd off his hat, then he forc'd him up to a 
 Cart, and hurried him Hke a condemn'd person, tho' he had 
 not yet been arraign'd, much less convicted, through the 
 great street, and brought him before the Parliament; where 
 being presently condemn'd, he was posted away to the 
 Gallows, which was above thirty Foot high. There his hand 
 was cut off first, then he was lifted up by pullies to the top, 
 and then hang'd in the most ignominious manner that could 
 be. Being taken down, his head was chopp'd off, and naii'd 
 to the high Cross ; his arms, thighs, and legs, were sent to 
 be set up in several places, and the rest of his body was 
 thrown away, and depriv'd of Christian burial. Thus was 
 this Nobleman us'd, tho' one of the ancient'st Peers of Scot- 
 land, and esteem'd the greatest honour of that Country both 
 at home and abroad. Add hereunto the mortal cruelty they 
 us'd to their young King, with whom they would not treat 
 unless he first acknowledg'd his Father to be a Tyrant, and 
 his Mother an Idolatress, ^c. 
 
 So I most humbly kiss your hands, and rest always, 
 Madam — Your Ladyship's most faithfully devoted Ser- 
 vant, J. H. 
 
 London, 30 Aug. 
 
 XLIV. 
 
 To Sir. L. D., m Paris. 
 
 Noble Knight, 
 
 YO URS of the 22d current came to safe hand ; but what 
 you please to attribute therein to my Letters, may be 
 more properly applied to yours in point of intrinsic value: 
 For by this correspondence with you, I do as our East-India 
 Merchants use to do, I venture beads and other bagatels, 
 out of the proceed whereof I have pearl and other oriental 
 jewels return'd me in yours. 
 
 Concerning the posture of things here, we are still involv'd 
 in a cloud of Confusion, 'specially touching Church-matters : 
 A race of odd crack-brain'd Schismatiques do croak in every 
 corner; but, poor things, they rather want a Physician to 
 
 cure
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 635 
 
 cure them of their madness, than a Divine to confute them 
 of their errors. Such is the height of their spiritual pride, 
 that they make it nothing to interpret every tittle of the 
 Apocalypse ; they make a" shallow rivulet of it, that one 
 may pass over and scarce v\'et his ankles; whereas the 
 greatest Doctors of the Church compar'd it to a deep Ford 
 wherein an Elephant might swim. They think they are of 
 the Cabinet-Council of God, and not only know his Attri- 
 butes, but his Essence : Which made me lately break out 
 upon my pillow into these metrical Speculations : 
 
 1. If of the sinallest Stars in Sky 
 We know not the Dimensity ; 
 
 If those bright Sparks 7vhich them compose, 
 The highest mortal J Fits do pose, 
 
 How then, poor shallow Man, caii'st thou 
 
 The Maker of these Glories kjiow ? 
 
 2. If we knotv not the Air we draw, 
 
 Nor what keeps Winds and ^^'aves in awe ; 
 If our S7nall skulls caiinot co?itai?i 
 The flux and saltness of the Main ; 
 
 If scarce a Cause we ken below, 
 
 How can we the Supernal know ? 
 
 3. If it be a mysterious thi?ig 
 
 Why Steel should to the Loadstone cling ; 
 If we know fwt why Jett should draw, 
 A7id with such kisses hug a Straw ; 
 
 If no7ie can truly yet reveal 
 
 How sympathetic Powders heal : 
 
 4. If we scarce know the Earth we tread. 
 Or half the Simples there are bred, 
 With Minerals, ajid thousand thifigs 
 Which for Man's health and food she brings ; 
 
 ^Nature's so obscure, then hoiu 
 Can we the God of Nature Imow ? 
 
 5. What the IJat'i- eye is to the Sun, 
 Or of a Gloworm to the Moon, 
 
 The
 
 636 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 The same is Human Intellect^ 
 
 If ofi our Maker ive reflect, 
 
 Whose Magnitude is so immense. 
 That it transcends both Sonl and Sense. 
 
 6. Poor purblind Man, then sit thee still. 
 Let wonderment thy Temples fill ; 
 Keep a due distance, do ?iot pry 
 Too near, lest like the silly Fly, 
 
 While she the wanto7i with the flames doth play, 
 First fries her Wings, then fools her Life away. 
 
 There are many things under serious debate in Parliament, 
 whereof the results may be call'd yet but the imperfect pro- 
 ductions of a grand Committee ; they may in time come to 
 the maturity of Votes, and so of Acts. 
 
 You write that you have the German Diet, which goes 
 forth in my name ; and you say, that you never had more 
 matter for your money. I had valued it the more ever since, 
 in regard that you please to set such a rate upon't : For I 
 know your opinion is current and Sterling. I shall shortly 
 by T. B. send you a new History of Naples, which also did 
 cost me a great deal of oil and labour. 
 
 Sir, if there be anything imaginable wherein I may steed 
 or serve you here, you well know what interest and power 
 you may claim both in the Affections of my Heart, and the 
 Faculties of my Soul. I pray be pleas'd to present the 
 humblest of my service to the noble Earl your Brother, and 
 preserve still in your good opinion — Your truly obliged 
 Servant, J. H. 
 
 XLV. 
 
 To Sir E. S., Knight. 
 Sir, 
 
 NOW that the Sun and the Spring advance daily towards 
 us more and more, I hope your health will keep pace 
 with them 5 and that the all-searching beams of the first 
 will dissipate that fretful humour, which hath confin'd you 
 so long to your Chamber, and barr'd you of the use of your 
 
 true
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 637 
 
 true supporters. But tho' your Toes be slugs, yet your 
 Temples are nimble enough, as I find by your last of the 
 1 2th current ; which makes me think on a speech of Severiis 
 the Emperor, who having, lain sick a long time of the 
 Gold at York, and one of his Nobles telling him that he 
 wonder'd much how he could rule so vast an Empire, being so 
 lame and unwieldy, the Emperor answer'd, that He rid'd 
 the Empire iv'ith his Brain not ivith his Feet : So it may be 
 said of you, that you rule the same way the whole State of 
 that Microcosm of yours, for every Man is a little World of 
 himself. 
 
 Moreover, I find that the same kind of spirit doth 
 govern your Body as governs the great World, I mean the 
 celestial Bodies : For as the motions whereby they are regu- 
 lated are musical, if we may believe Pythagoras, whom the 
 Tripod pronounc'd the wisest Man ; so a true harmonious 
 Spirit seems to govern you, in regard you are so naturally 
 inclin'd to the ravishing Art of Musick. 
 
 Your Friends here are well, and wish you were so too : 
 For my part, I do not only wish it, but pray it may be so; 
 for my Life is the sweeter in yours, and I please myself much 
 in being — Your truly faithful Servant, J. H. 
 
 I Martii. 
 
 XLVI. 
 
 To Mr. Sam. Bon, at his House in the Old Jurv. 
 Sir, 
 
 IRECEIV'D that choice parcel of Tobacco your Servant 
 brought me, for which I send you as many returns 
 of gratitude, as there were grains therein, which were many 
 (and cut all methinks with a Diamond cut), but too few to 
 express my acknowledgment. I had also therewith vour 
 most ingenious Letter, which I valued far more: The other 
 was but a potential I'^ire, only reducible to smoke; but your 
 Letter did sparkle with actual Fire, for methought there 
 were pure flames of Love and Gentleness waving in every 
 line. The Poets do frequently compare Affection to Fire; 
 
 therefore
 
 6^8 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 'o 
 
 therefore whensoever I take any of this Var'ina, I will imagine 
 that I light my Pipe always at the Flames of your Love. 
 
 I also highly thank you for the Italian Manuscripts you 
 sent me of the late Revolutions in Naples, which will infi- 
 nitely advantage me in exposing to the World that Stupen- 
 dous piece of Story. I am in the arrear to you for sundry 
 courtesies more, which shall make me ever entitle myself — 
 Your truly thankful Friend and Servant, J. H. 
 
 Holhorn, 3 June. 
 
 XLVII. 
 
 To W. Sands, Ji.sq. 
 Sir, 
 
 THE Calamaties and Confusions which the late Wars 
 did bring upon us were many and manifold, yet 
 England may be said to have gain'd one Advantage by it ; 
 for whereas before she was like an Animal that knew not 
 his own strength, she is now better acquainted with herself, 
 for her Power and Wealth did never appear more both by 
 Land and Sea. This makes France to cringe to her so 
 much. This makes Spain to purchase Peace of her with 
 his Italian Patacoons : This makes the Hollander to dash 
 his colours, and veil his bonnet so low unto her : This makes 
 the Italian Princes, and all other States that have any- 
 thing to do with the Sea, to court her so much. Indeed, 
 touching the Emperor, and the Mediterranean Princes of 
 Germany, whom she cannot reach with her Cannons, they 
 care not much for her. 
 
 Nor indeed was the true Art of governing England known 
 till now ; the Sword is the surest sway over all People, who 
 ought to be cudgell'd rather than cajol'd to obedience, if 
 upon a glut of plenty and peace they should forget it. There 
 is not such a windy wavering thing in the world as the 
 common People ; they are got hy an j4pple, and lost for a 
 Pear; the Elements themselves are not more inconstant: 
 So that it is the worst solecism in Government for a Prince 
 to depend merely upon their Affections. Riches and long 
 
 Rest
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 639 
 
 Rest make them insolent and wanton : It was not Tarquin^s 
 wantonness so much as the People's, that ejected Kings in 
 Rome ; it was the People's Concupiscence^ as much as Don 
 Rodrigds Lust, that broug-ht the Moors into Spain, &c. 
 
 Touching the Wealth of England, it never also appeared 
 so much by public Erogations and Taxes, which the Long 
 Parliament rais'd : Lisomuch, that it mav be said the last 
 King was beaten by his own Lnage more than anything 
 else. Add hereunto, that the World stands in Admiration 
 of the capacity and docibleness of the Efiglish, that Persons 
 of ordinary Breeding, Extraction, and Callings, should be- 
 come Statesmen and Soldiers, Commanders and Counsellors, 
 both in the Art of War and Mysteries of State, and know 
 the use of the Compass in so short a tract of time. 
 
 I have many thanks to give you for the Spanish Discourse 
 you pleas'd to send me; at our next conjuncture I shall give 
 you an Account of it : in the interim I pray let me have 
 still a small corner in your thoughts, while you possess a 
 large room in mine, and ever shall while Jam. Howel. 
 
 XLVIIL 
 
 To the R. H. the E. of S. 
 My Lord, 
 
 SINCE my last, that which is the greatest Subject of our 
 discourses and hopes here, is the Issue of our Treaty 
 with the Dutch : It is a piece that hath been a good while 
 on the Anvil, but it is not hammer'd yet to any shape. 
 The Parliament likewise hath many things in debate, which 
 may be call'd yet but Embryo's, in time they may be hatch'd 
 into Acts. 
 
 l^he Pope, thev write, hath been of late dangerously sick, 
 but hath been cur'd in a strange way by a young Padua 
 Doctor, who having kill'd a lusty young Mule, clapp'd the 
 Patient's Body naked in the Paunch thereof; by which 
 gentle fomentation he recovcr'd him of the Tumcnirs lie 
 had in his Knees and elsewhere. 
 
 Donna Objmpia sways most, and hath the highest ascen- 
 dant
 
 640 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 dant over him ; so that a Gentleman writes to me from 
 Rome, that among other Pasquils this was one, Vapa magis 
 amat Olympiam quam Olympum. He writes of another, 
 That the Bread being not long since grown scant, and made 
 coarser than ordinary by reason of the Tax that his Holiness 
 laid upon Corn, there was a Pasquil fix'd upon a corner- 
 stone of his Palace, Beatissime Pater, fac ut hi lap'ides fiant 
 panes ; O blessed Father, grant that these Stones be made 
 Bread. But it was an odd Character that our Country- 
 man Dr. B. gave lately of him, who being turn'd Roman 
 Catholic, and expecting a Pension, and having one day 
 attended his Holiness a long time about it, he at last broke 
 away suddenly; a Friend of his asking, why? he replied. 
 It is to no purpose for me to stay longer, for I know he 
 will give me nothing, because I find by his Physiognomy 
 that he hath a negative Face. 'Tis true, he is one of the 
 hard-favoured'st Popes that sat in the Chair a great while ; 
 so that some call him UHuovio de tre pele, The Man with 
 three Hairs; for he hath no more Beard upon his Chin. 
 
 St. Mark is still tugging with the great Turk, and hath 
 bang'd him ill-favouredly this Summer in Dalmatia by 
 Land, and before the DardaneUi by Sea. 
 
 Whereas your Lordship writes for my Lusira Ludovici, 
 or the History of the last French King and his Cardinal, 
 I shall ere long serve your Lordship with one of a new 
 Edition, and with some Enlargements. I humbly thank 
 your Lordship for the favourable, and indeed too high a 
 character you please to give of my Survey of Venice ; yet 
 there are some who would detract from it, and (which I 
 believe your Lordship will something wonder at) they are 
 Cavaliers, but the shallowest and silliest sort of them ; 
 and such may well deserve the epithet of Maligna?its. So 
 I humbly kiss your hands in quality of — Your Lordship's 
 most obedient and ever obliged Servant, J. H. 
 
 XLIX.
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 641 
 
 XLIX. 
 
 To the R. H. the Earl Rivers, at his House in Queen-street. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 THfcl least command of vours is enough to set all my 
 Intellectuals on work ; therefore I have done some- 
 thing, as your Lordship shall find herewith, relating to that 
 gallant Piece call'd The Gallery of Ladies, which my Lord 
 Marquis of IVinchester (your Brother) hath set forth. 
 
 Upon the glorious Work of the Lord Marquis of 
 
 IVinchester. 
 
 1. 'T^IIE World of Ladies must he honour' d inuch, 
 ■*■ That so sublime a Personage, that such 
 
 A noble Peer, and Pen, should thus display 
 Their Virtues, and expose them to the day. 
 
 2. Uis Praises are like those coruscant Beams 
 Which Phoebus on high Rocks of Crystal streams : 
 The Matter and the Agent grace each other, 
 
 So Danae did when Jove made her a Mother. 
 
 3. Queens, Coimtesses and Ladies, go unlock 
 Your Cabinets, draw forth your richest stock 
 Of fewels, afid his Coronet adorn 
 
 With Rubies, Pearl, and Sap hires yet unworn. 
 
 4. Rise early, gather Flowers notv V tK Spring, 
 Twist ivreaths of Laurel, and fresh Garlands bring 
 To crown the Temples of this high-born Peer, 
 
 And make him your Apollo all the year : 
 And when his Soul shall leave this earthly Mine, 
 Then offer sacrifice unto his Shrine. 
 
 I send also the Elegy upon the late Earl of Dorset, which 
 your Lordship spake of so much when I waited on you last ; 
 and I believe your Lordship will find therein every Inch of 
 that noble Peer charactcris'd inwardly and outwardly. 
 
 2 s An
 
 642 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 An Elegy upon the most accomplish'd and heroick Lord^ 
 Edward Earl of Dorset, Lord-Chamberlain to his late 
 Majesty of Great Britain, and Knight of the most 
 Noble Order of the Garter, &c. 
 
 ' ) 
 
 Alluding to 
 
 T/ie Quality of the Times. 
 
 His admired Perfections. 
 
 His goodly Person. 
 
 His aticient Pedigree. 
 
 His Coat of Arms crested with a Star. 
 
 The Condition of Mortality. 
 
 The Author's Passion, closing with an Epitaph. 
 
 LORDS have been long declining (we well know) 
 ^ And making their last Testament ; but now 
 They are defunct, they are extinguish'd all, 
 And never like to rise by this Lord's fall : 
 A Lord whose Intellectuals alone 
 Might make a House of Peers, and prop a Throne, 
 Had not so dire a Fate hung o'er the Crown, 
 That Privilege Prerogative should drown. 
 
 Where-e'er he sat, he sway'd, and Courts did awe, 
 Gave Bishops Gospel, and the Judges Law, 
 With such exalted reasons, which did flow 
 So clear and strong, that made Astrea bow 
 To his Opinion ; for where he did side, 
 Advantag'd more than half the Bench beside. 
 
 But is great Sackville dead ? Do we him lack, 
 And will not all the Elements wear black ? 
 Whereof he was compos'd, a perfect Man, 
 As ever Nature in one frame did span : 
 Such high-born Thoughts, a Soul so large and free, 
 So clear a Judgment, and vast Memory, 
 So princely, hospitable, and brave Mind, 
 We must not think in haste on earth to find. 
 Unless the Times would turn to Gold again. 
 And Nature get new strength in forming Men. 
 
 His Person with it such a State did bring, 
 That made a Court as if he had been King. 
 
 No
 
 Book J V. Familiar Letters. 643 
 
 No wonder, since he was so near a-kin 
 
 To Norfolk's Duke, and the great Maiden-Queen. 
 
 He Courage had enough by conqu'ring one, 
 To have confounded that whole Nation : 
 Those Pai;;ts which single do in some appear, 
 Were all concentred here in one bright Sphere. 
 
 For Brain, Tongue, Spirit, Heart, and Personage, 
 To mould up such a Lord will ask an Age. 
 But how durst pale white-liver'd Death seize on 
 So dauntless and heroic a Champion ? 
 Yes, to die once is that uncancell'd debt 
 Which Nature claims, and raiseth by Eschet 
 On all Mankind, by an old Statute past 
 Privio Adanii, which will always last 
 Without Repeal ; nor can a second Lease 
 Be had of Life when the first Term doth cease. 
 Mount noble Soul, among the Stars take place. 
 And make a new one of so bright a Race : 
 '^Iz.y Jove out-shine, that Voius still may be 
 In a benign Conjunction with Thee, 
 To check that Planet which on Lords hath lour'd, 
 And such malign Influxes lately pour'd. 
 Be now a Star thyself, for those which here 
 Did on thy Crest, and upper Robes appear : 
 For thy Director take that Star, we read. 
 Which to thy Saviour's Birth three Kings did lead. 
 
 A Corollary. 
 
 "I ^HUS have J blubber' d out some Tears and Verse 
 ■* On this renowned Heroe, and his Herse ; 
 And could my Eyes have dropt doum Pearls upoJiH 
 In lieu of Tears, God ktw7vs, I loould have done't : 
 But Tears are real, Pearls for their Emblems go, 
 The first are fitter to express my Woe. 
 Let this small Mite suffice, until I may 
 A larger tribute to his Ashes pay ; 
 
 hi the meantime this Epitaph shall shut, 
 And to my Elegy a period put. 
 
 HERE
 
 644 
 
 Familiar Letters. 
 
 Book 1 V. 
 
 T T ERE lies a Grandee by Birih, Parts, and Mind, 
 J^ Who hardly left his Parallel belmid. 
 Here lies the Man of Men, who should have been 
 An Emperor, had Fate or Fortune seen. 
 
 Totus in lachrymas solutus, sic 
 singultivit, y. H. 
 
 So I most humbly kiss your Lordship's hands, and rest 
 in the highest degree of service and affection, ever most 
 ready — At your Lordship's command, J. H. 
 
 Lend.., 20 Dec. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 To T. Harris, F.sq. 
 
 YOURS of Bee. 10. I had the 2d of th\^ January, and I 
 account it a good Augury that it came so seasonably 
 to usher in the New-year, and to cheer up my thoughts, 
 which your Letters have a virtue to do always whensoever 
 they come, they are so full of quaint and copious quick 
 expressions. When the Spaniards at their first Coalition 
 in the West-Indies did begin to mingle with the Americans, 
 that silly People thought that those little white Papers and 
 Letters which the Spaniards us'd to send one to another, 
 were certain kind of Conjurers or Spirits that us'd to go up 
 and down to tell tales, and make discoveries. Among other 
 examples, I remember to have read one of an Indian Boy 
 sent from a Mexico Merchant to a Captain, with a Basket 
 of Figs and a Letter. The Boy in the way did eat some of 
 them, and the Captain, after he had read the Letter, ask'd 
 him what became of the rest ? Whereat the Boy stood all 
 astonish'd ; and being sent with another Basket a little after 
 to the same party, his maw began to yern again after some 
 of the Figs, but he first took the Letter and clapt it under a 
 great stone hard by, upon which he sat while he was eating, 
 thinking thereby that the Spirit in the Letter could not 
 discover him, &c. Whether your Letters be Spirits or no, 
 I will not dispute, but I am sure they beget new Spirits in 
 
 me
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 645 
 
 me ; and quod efficit tale illiid ipsum est magis tale ; if I am 
 possess'd with melancholy, they raise a Spirit o^ mirth in me; 
 if my thoughts are contracted with Sadness, they presently 
 dilate them into/oy, ^c, as if they had some subtil invisible 
 ^toms whereby they operate ; which is now an old Philo- 
 sophy newly furbish'd, and much cried up, that all natural 
 Actions and Motions are perform'd bv emission of certain 
 Atoms, whereof there is a constant effluviuu) from all ele- 
 mentary bodies, and are of divers shapes, some angular, 
 others cyclindrical, some spherical; which Atoms are still 
 hovering up and down, and never rest till they meet with 
 some pores proportionable and cognate to their figures, 
 where they acquiesce. By the expiration of such Atoms 
 the Dog finds the scent as he hunts, the Pestilence infects, 
 the Loadstone attracts Iron, the Sympathetick Powder or 
 Zaphyrian Salt calcined by Apollinean heat, operating mjuly 
 or ylugust till it come to a lunary complexion ; I say, by the 
 virtue and intervention of such Atoms, 'tis found that this 
 said Powder heals at a distance, without topical applications 
 to the place aflTected. They who are of this opinion, hold 
 that all sublunary Bodies operate thus by Atoms, as the 
 heavenly Bodies do by their Influences. Now it is more 
 visible in the Loadstone than any other Body ; for by help 
 of artificial Glasses a kind of mist hath been discern'd to 
 expire out of it, as Dr. Highmore doth acutely, and so much 
 like a Philosopher, observe. For my part, I think it more 
 congruous to Reason, and to the course of Nature, that all 
 Actions and Motions should be thus perform'd by such little 
 atomical Bodies, than by Accidents and Qualities, which are 
 but notional things, having only an imaginary subsistence, 
 and no essence of themselves at all, but as they inhere in some 
 other. If this Philosophy be true, it were no great absurdity 
 to think that your Letters have a kind of atomical energy 
 which operates upon my Spirits, as I formerly told you. 
 
 The Times continue still untoward ami troublesome ; 
 therefore now, that you and I carry above a huiulrcd years 
 upon our backs, and that those few grains of Sand which 
 
 remain
 
 646 Familiar Letters. Book IV. 
 
 remain in the brittle glasses of our lives are still running out, 
 it is time, my dear Tom, for us to think on that which of 
 all future things is the most certain, I mean our last removal, 
 and emigration hence to another World : 'Tis time to think 
 on that little hole of earth which shall hold us at last. The 
 time was, that you and I had all the fair Continent of 
 Europe before us to range in; we have been since confin'd 
 to an Island, and now Lincoln holds you, and London me : 
 We must expect the day that sickness will confine us to our 
 Chambers, then to our Beds, and so to our Graves, the dark 
 silent Grave, which will put a period to our pilgrimage in 
 this World. And observable it is, what method Nature doth 
 use in contracting our liberty thus by degrees, as a worthy 
 Gentleman observes. 
 
 But tho' this small bagful of Bones be so confin'd, yet the 
 noblest part of us may be said to be then set at liberty, when 
 having shaken off this slough of flesh, she mounts up to her 
 true Country, the Country of Eternity; where one moment 
 of Joy is more than if we enjoy'd all the pleasures of this 
 World a million of years here among the Elements. 
 
 But till our Threads are spun up, let us continue to enjoy 
 ourselves as well as we can ; let those grains I spoke of 
 before run gently by their own motion, without jogging the 
 glass by any perturbation of mind, or musing too much upon 
 the Times. 
 
 Man's life is nimble and swift enough of itself, without 
 the help of a Spur, or any violent motion : Therefore he 
 spoke like a true Philosopher, who excepted against the title 
 of a Book call'd De statu vitcs, for he should rather have 
 entitled it De cursu vitcs ; for this Life is still upon the 
 speed. 
 
 You and I have luckily met abroad under many Meri- 
 dians ; when our course is run here, I hope we shall meet 
 in a Region that is above the wheel of Time : And it may 
 be in the concave of some Star, if those glorious Lamps are 
 habitable. Howsoever, my Genius prompts me, that when 
 I part hence I shall not downwards ; for I had always soar- 
 ing
 
 Book IV. Familiar Letters. 647 
 
 ing thoughts heing hut a Boy, at which time I had a mighty 
 desire to he a Bird, that I miglit fly towards the Sky. 
 
 So my long-endeared Friend, and Fellow-Traveller, I rest 
 — Yours verily and invariably, J. H. 
 
 Holborn, lo Jan. 
 
 To the Saijacious Reader. 
 
 T T T clavis poriam, sic pandit Epistola pectus ; 
 ^^ Clauditur Ilcec cera, claiiditur Ilia sera. 
 
 As Keys do open Chests, 
 So Letters open Breasts 
 
 T E A O 3. 
 
 Gloria Laiisq ; Deo Sceculorum in scocula sunto. 
 
 ADOXOLOGICAL Chronogram including this present 
 year MDCLV. and hath numeral Letters enough to 
 extend to the year Nineteen hundred twenty seven, if it 
 please God this World should last so long.
 
 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 LETTERS, &c., OF AND ABOUT HOWELL 
 
 NOT PREVIOUSLY COLLECTED. 
 
 Mainly from Unpublished Sources. 
 
 To Lord Conway. 
 
 (Pub. Rec. Off. Stat. Pap. Dom. Chas. I. xi.\. No. loo.) 
 
 Right hon*'" 
 & 
 
 my very good Lo : 
 There is a partie that hath lately hanted the Court who 
 may be fufpedled to come for no good, his father was an 
 englifh Minifter & chaplaine to S' Charles Cornwallyes & after- 
 ward an officer to y*" Inquifition in y'-' Court of Spaine where 
 he obtained a penfion for himfelf, his wief & children. 
 
 This man (a bufie pragmaticall fellowe) comes from BrufTells 
 & hath dependencye on Gondamar. 
 
 Yo*" lo : may pleafe to comand that he be brought before yo" by 
 thefe bearers who tell me wilbe employed by yo' lo : in ocafions 
 of this nature So I moft humbly take my leaue & will euer liue 
 
 Yo^ lo : moft faithfuU 
 
 Servant 
 
 Ja Howell 
 The partie's name is 
 James Wadefworth. 
 
 Middle Temple 
 this Thurfday 
 
 [ILndorsedC).
 
 650 Supplement. 
 
 {jEndorsed). 
 
 Januarii 1625 
 
 f.^^ll' \ . . Mr. Howell 
 
 double headed r^- • ■ r t — c 
 
 bird, salient.] Giumge infomafon of 
 
 a fufpected pson one 
 
 To y* right hon"^ my Wadfworth. 
 very good Lo : y" lord 
 Conway principall Secreatary 
 to his Ma"^ 
 
 att Court 
 
 11. 
 
 The Earl of Sunderland to Lord Vise. Wentworth. 
 
 (Stafford Letters, i. p. 48.) 
 My very good Lord 
 
 I underftand your Lordfhip hath bellowed the next Attorney's 
 Place in Reverfion at York upon James Howell, my Secretary, I 
 mufl thank you for it, and the rather becaufe he hath defervingly 
 and faithfully ferved me in that Place, wherin I hear your 
 Lordfliip hath fucceeded me. I wifli you much Happinefs in it, 
 
 & refl very faithfully 
 
 S''' Martin's Lane 
 Dec. 15. 1628. 
 
 Your Lordfhip's Friend 
 E. Sunderland. 
 
 in. 
 
 To THE Lord Visc'^ Wentworth, Lord President of the 
 
 North. 
 
 (Stafford Letters, i. p. 50.) 
 My ever honoured good Lord, 
 
 Herewith I fend your Lordfhip the inflrument you pleafed 
 to pafs unto me for the reverfion of the next Attorney's place in 
 York, for which, by your Lordfhip's appointment, M' Radclifife 
 hath given me fatiffaction. I was always and fhall ever continue 
 fo fenfible of fo free and noble a favour, that in the whole courfe 
 of my life I fhall endeavour to make Expreffions of my Thankful- 
 nefs, and how much I am, 
 My Lord 
 
 Your Lordfliip's 
 
 Mofl true and humble fervant. 
 Ja. Howell. 
 S^ Martin's Lane 
 I\Iay 5. 1629. 
 
 IV.
 
 Supplement. 651 
 
 IV. 
 
 Legatio Comitis Leicestri^ in Daniam 1632. 
 
 ♦ (Bodl. MS. Rawl. C. 354.) 
 
 Diarium et fidelis relacio Legacionis Illufliffmii Comitis Ley- 
 cefl[r]encis ad Chriflianum quartum Regem Daniae, etc. 
 Jacobo Howell Oratore. 
 
 Defignatus fuit Legatus extraordinarius ad Chriflianum quartum 
 Regem Daniae et alios principes Danica flirpe oriundos, Regi- 
 geque Magnas Brittani^e Maieftati materno fanguine coniunctos, 
 Robertus Sydneius Comes Leyceftrise, vt lu6tum ageret pro morte 
 Reginae Sophies. Frederici fecundi vxoris, Regum, Magnae Brittaniae, 
 Daniaeque Matris et Auxce : et de alijs arduis maximique ponderis 
 negotijs tra6taret. 
 
 Regia Magn^e Brittanniaj Maieflas fe declarabat 6° Aprilis 
 1632 sed retrofpiciens quatuor integros menfes in mandatis dedit 
 (regij in di6lum Comitem fauoris gratia) vt litterse priuati figilli 
 inchoarent 6° Decembris i)roxime praecaedentis, ex quo die con- 
 fignatce fuerunt di6to Comiti 06I0 librae pro quotidiano falario, 
 vfque dum ad regiam perfonam reuerteretur. 
 
 Vale dixit Regiae Maieflati in aedibus Oailandice 16° Augufli, 
 ciuus, pro more ofculatis manibus cum primarijs generofum qui 
 eum in hac legatione concomitabantur, et duabus mille libris 
 anticipaiis, cum tefferis numarijs Philippo Burlemachi tirmatis in 
 Hamburgho recipiendis, ad iter fefe accinxit ; Ab asdibus fuis in 
 Penfhurfl difceffit 14° Septembris cum quibufilam doniellicis 
 famulis verfus Roffam, vbi integer fuus comitatus ex numero 
 circiter 55 perlbnarum confil^ens, inter quas plurimi erant genero- 
 fiffima profapia oriundi (quorum primarius fuit Phillippus Baro dc 
 Lifle di(5li Comitis primogenitus) excelleniire fuas prcellolabantur. 
 
 A di6ta vrbe tribus currubus et numerofo equorum Cohorte 
 vehebatur ad Margetts vbi marium Admirallus Fentfis;ton (hoc 
 enim titulo tunc temporis fungebatur) in regia Naue Connertina 
 di6lum Dom. Legatum expeitabat. 
 
 Qua Naue, vento Noto-Zephiro llrenub afflante, tridui fpacio 
 appulit in flumine Alvis et pedem figens Glucstadio dimorabatur 
 ibi 4' diebus, Deinde condut!!l;us fuit a Gubernatore di(5ti loci 
 regijs currubus et 50 ad minimum apertis vehiculis ad Rendcf- 
 burgum in terra Holfatica vbi Rex Comitijs interfuit. Hofpiiium 
 Dom. Legato dcfignatum fuit in asdibus cuiufdam Jurifperiti, et 
 reliquis fui Comitatus in alijs domibus, vbi f[)acio integral heb- 
 domadis fumptu Regio epulabalur, 50 circiter Kfgijs famulis ad 
 inferuiendum conftitutis. 
 
 Princcps
 
 652 Supplement. 
 
 Princeps Fredericus fecundus regijs Dani^e filius Coadiutor 
 Epifcopatus Bremenfis, poftridie decoro generoforum agmine 
 ftipatus di6lum Dominum Legatum inuifit, et die fequente Det 
 lief Ranzouius nobilium Holfatiae primarius et ditiffimus. 7° die 
 poft appulfum fuam in dicSto loco, admiffus fuit Dominus 
 Legatus ad Arcem Regis, magno generolum Aulicorum numero, 
 et 50 ex proprio Comitatu pullatis veftibus et atratis penulis fub 
 longis decoro agmine fuam perfonam circumeuntibus. Dedudtus 
 ad praefentiam regiam D. Jacobus Howell (qui erat a fecretis 
 di6lo Domino Legato) oracionem quandam encomiafticam in- 
 choauit in laudem defun6lse Regin^, qua ad finem perdufta et 
 Uteris credentialibus a domino legato regijs nianibus oblatis, ad 
 Chriftianum 5""" Regis primogenitum ele6lum Danise principem, 
 fefe vertit cum fimili Oratione, et deinde ad Fredericum di6li 
 Regis filium fecundum (ambo enim prope Regem circumllabant) ; 
 Hoc pera6to refponfum fuit di(Stis Orationibus a Do6lore Doorne 
 Jurifperito, et regis [si<:] apertis vlnis Dominum Legatum amplec- 
 tente, et manus primarijs fui Comitatiis ad ofculandum porrigente, 
 reduftus fuit eodem Comitatu ad Hofpitium fuum. 
 
 Poftridie poftulauit Dominus Legatus (condignas agendo gra 
 pro regio fauore) vt prop[r]ia quadra fe aleret et famuli Regis 
 manumitterentur quod (vnoquoque eorum qui inferuierant ample 
 et magnus fice renumerato) conceffum fuit. Poftero die aliam 
 obtinuitaudientiam Dominus Legatus, qua propofitiones in paginis 
 fubfequentibus infertas folemni modo Regijs manibus exhibuit, 
 quibus proximo die refponfum fuit, Rege prima luce verfum 
 Gluckfladium comigrato, Cui triduo poftea Reduci di6lus dominus 
 Legatus alias tradidit propofitiones, quibus etiam fubito refponfum 
 fuit, a quibufdam confiliarijs ad hoc ex induftria defignatis, vt in 
 paginis fubfequentibus conftat. 
 
 Poftremo, definitiua Regis Daniae ad di6las propofitiones habita 
 Refolutione, poftulauit Dominus legatus colloquium cum ante 
 memoratis Confiliarijs, quod concessum fuit, et in quodam angulo 
 Ecclefiae Cathedralis conuenientis, omnia ea quae a Domino 
 Legato prius fuerant propofita, cum fingulis Regis Daniae refponfis 
 perle6la, difcuffa ac euentilata ffuerunt, In quo coUoquio Didlus 
 Dominus Legatus in fauorem Reginse Bohemiae multa Inftruc- 
 tiones fuas excedentia) prop[r]ium honorem patrimoniaque tan- 
 gentia ad conciliandam auitam hcereditariam portionem propofuit, 
 quibus Durus Auunculus furdas prsebuit aures. 
 
 Triduo poftea vocatus fuit Dominus Legatus ad epulandum 
 regia menfa cum fuo comitatu, vbi liberis pro more, compota- 
 tionibus vfque ad vefperum protradlum fuit prandium. Poftero 
 die Rex ante lucano tempore Gluckftadium tendit iter, Domi- 
 nufque Legatus ad Gottorpium Frederici Ducis Holfatiae, (Regis 
 
 Danorum
 
 Suri'LEMENT. 653 
 
 Danorum Nepotis ex forore) Arccm, et inde ad Hufem, ad 
 Auguftam Duciffam viduam HoUatiai Danorum Regis Ibrorem, 
 proficifcitur, Quibus in locis intra muros Arcium holpitatus, 
 comiter receptus, et magnifice epulatus ell 
 
 mine ad Hamburghwii fcfe coniulit vbi a lenatoribus di<5lae 
 Ciuitatis et Anglis Mercatoribus honorifice tractatus fuit ; Et 
 RoBERTUM Anstrutherum ex aula Caelarea nuperrime Re- 
 ducem legatum, conueniens, eum lecum perduxit cum didlo 
 Admirallo Penington, et regia Naue Conuertina, in Angliam, et 
 ventis minime fauentibus, poll velificationem dierum appulit 
 di6lus dominus Lcgatus apud Margatts, 3° die Decembris inde 
 vera die fubito ve6lu.s fuit ad Aulam vbi ad regias manus olcu- 
 landas fubito admiffus, exa6liffimam reddebat rationem vniuersre 
 legationis, fumma cum Regias Maieitatis fatiffadtione, et indelebili 
 fuipfms honore. 
 
 V. 
 
 To Sir F. Windebank. 
 (Pub. Rec. Off. Dom. Chas. I. ccxlv. No. s^.) 
 
 Right hon^'' 
 
 The packett to Orleans was fafely fent, but j well hoped to 
 haue had ere nowe fome newes from thence, confidering the 
 flrictnes of frequent correfpondence we agreed vpon at the time 
 of our feparation ; from other places there came pofls this week, 
 as Bruxells & Holland, the one brings newes that y* treaty 
 being nowe vtterly diffolud, the flates Army is in the field 
 againe, & had a defigne to make fudden incurfions vp and 
 downe Brabant & plunder the Countrey before them, but y'^ 
 enemies army gathering into a head, & y*" Boores rifmg vp 
 p'uented them. It feeraes ther is fome defigne on both fides, for 
 ther was lately a Bidday by y" one and a Bead-day by the other 
 folemnly enioynd. The Spaniards fortifie apace y" Ille of 
 St. Stephen & Arfen w'^*' they haue lately taken, being both 
 vpon the Maze, to block vp all approches that way towards 
 Maeflricht & make it ripe for a next yeares fiege, for they 
 haue ben mailers of y"" field a good while, but now that y" 
 Hollander hath had fome recreuts & thefe newaddicons of forces 
 from Germany & a late fupply of 200"'- crowns from France, he 
 hath bruffled vp his feat here againe & is vpon the ofifenfiuc. 
 
 From Germany aduife comes, that y" d. of Friedland hath 
 made more deep inrodes into Saxony & taken Lipfick & Hoik is 
 before Erford. 
 
 Tlie Duke of Feria hath crofft the Hills and is come to 
 
 Aifatia,
 
 654 Supplement. 
 
 Alfatia, to affifl y'' Lorainer, & relieve Nancy (as the Frencs 
 did Cafal) fome fay y'= King is already before y^ towne, but 
 tis thought he may throw [his cap at it, as Charles y^ Em- 
 perour did when he was forc'd to burne his tente, & fly by 
 Torchlight ; the Dukes fifler was lately come thither but gott out 
 difguifed & came in mans habitt to Luxembourg whence flie was 
 brought to Bruxells. Our Turky Marchants are like to fuffer 
 much by a fight y' happened lately in y" Archiepielago twixt 2 
 Englifli fliipps of Alderman Freemans, who contrary to y^ Capitu- 
 lacons of peace betweene vs & the great Turk taking in a 
 cargazon of corne for Italie & pceiuing] the 7 Gallies of Rhodes 
 to make towards them, by way of preuention fearing to be fur- 
 prif'd, they lett fly at them, funk y'^ generall & flew y'' Baflia with 
 diuers others, y^ 6 gallies y' remaind went & gaue aduife to y^ 
 great fleet hard-by confifting of 80 gallies more who (as they 
 yearly do) were come to leuy, & cary home y*" Turks tribut from 
 Greece & other parts adjacent, & in a dead calme made way to 
 y'' 2 fhippes deuiding themfelfs into 4 fquadrons. The fliipps 
 having betweene them 140 men, & nere vpon 50 peeces of 
 Ordinance refifLed manfully (p'ferring death before flauery) & 
 funk 6 of y"^ gallies, killed 2000 Turks, & fought till they were 
 reduced to that extremity y' fetting fyre to both y^ fliipps thofe 
 w""*" remaind being not many leapt unto y*" fea & fo were taken 
 vp prifoners but y"^ great fleet of gallies is fo tottered & torne that 
 they haue lofl. this yeares voyage & returnd to the Port (con- 
 flantinople) empty. The Confulls and Marchants feare feme 
 barbarifme wilbe offered vpon their perfons, or at leafl fome fear- 
 full auenia vpon their goods, this is Alderman Freemans relacion. 
 The Lo ; denbigh is returned from y'' great Mogor full of Jewells. 
 So with my very humble obferuance j reft ready 
 
 Att yo' Lo : comandm" 
 James Howell. 
 
 Westminster, this 28 of 
 Aug: 1633. 
 
 {Endorsed). 
 
 28 Aug. 1633 
 Mr. Howell rec. at 
 To the right hon"^'^ S' Bags Efs. 4 Sept. 
 
 Francis Windebank 
 Knight principall Secretary 
 of State, & one of his Ma''" 
 mofl hon^'^ priuy Counfell 
 
 this 
 
 VL
 
 Supplement. 655 
 
 VI. 
 
 Dr. T, Howell to Sir F. Windebank. 
 
 (Pub. Rec. Off. Dom. Chas. I. cccxiii. No. 2.) 
 
 Honorable S' 
 
 I am truly forry and afham'd to heare that my brother hath 
 Lately broken in vpon you, foe farre beyond y'' bounds of common 
 modefty. Wether I have not longe groan'd vnd"^ the weight of 
 fome iealous thoughts, and accordingly complain'd, leafl liappily 
 he might be troublefome to y"' Hono"^ and I alfo might fuffer with 
 him, befide this euidence, I am fare Dr. Turner will teflity w'^ me 
 w'^*' put me divers tim's vpon a purpofe to cleare my felfe. But 
 fmce it is nowe growne foe high, leaR any mif-prifion fhould fettle, 
 as touching me, I am forc't thus to addrclTe my felfe to y' Hono' for 
 my owne iuflificaon. yf eu' therefore I have found any fauo"' in y' 
 fight (not that I knowe any iufl caufe for it faue only y' owne 
 goodnes) Let me humbly befeech you, fmce he faylcs meerely by 
 the Card and compaffe of his owne Genius, that his a6tions may 
 not any way refle6l upon me, but that each of vs w"'out any 
 relacon to other, may fland or fall in y'' opinion, according to y' 
 refultance of his pticular deeds, and the quality of his owne fingle 
 conu'faon. for then, I am confident for my owne pt, that I fhall 
 doe nothinge to deferve y' iuft difpleafure, though I doe not 
 flatter myfelfe, that by any flrength or merit of mine I can winne 
 vpon y' fauo' faue only in this, that (as zealoufly as any oth') I 
 doe & will eu' wifli y^ continuance & enlargem' of all profpity both 
 to y' Hono' & all yours, & fliiU mofl gladly embrace any opor- 
 lunity that you fliall vouchfafe to giue, or I can take, to expreffe 
 my felfe 
 
 Y' Hone" affciftionate and 
 
 humble fervant 
 Tho: Howell. 
 
 Walhrooke iffchr. 1635. 
 
 {^Endorsed). 
 
 2 Feb. 1635 
 To the Honorable S' Francis D. Howell. 
 
 Windebankc, principall Secretary [geal, a bird with 
 
 of State to his Ma'^ wings extended.] 
 
 p'fent thefe. 
 
 VH.
 
 6=;6 Supplement. 
 
 VII. 
 
 Mr. Howell to the Lord Deputy. 
 
 (Stafford Letters, i. 488). 
 
 My mofl honoured good Lord, 
 
 The late coming of the Prince Palatine is the greatefl news 
 here at prefent, he flaid windbound five weeks at Flufhing, having 
 launched out twice and been beaten back. About Dover, the 
 three Hollands' Men-of-War, which tranfported him, paffmg by 
 fome of the King's Ships my Lord of Lindfey had left in the 
 Downs, Sir John Pennington giving a volley of fliot, one of the 
 Cannons having a Bullet in it grazed over the Ship where the 
 Palfgrave was, & killed four of his Train, for which the Gunner 
 is like to fuffer. There are various opinions of the reafon of his 
 coming, that which founds befl is, that he is come to endear him- 
 felf to his Uncle, & follicite his own Bufmefs, & know what to 
 truft to, to advance the Treaty of the Match with Poland, and 
 do fome good offices for the Hollanders who are brought to a 
 low ebb, the flream having turned extreamly againfl them this 
 Summer; though in the Indies it hath run as much with them, 
 having made themfelves fole Mafters of the Staple & Trade of 
 Sugars in Brafil (though nobody is the better for it but them- 
 felves) whither the Spaniard hath a great Fleet going or gone 
 from Lifbon. 
 
 From Germany there is late advice that the fquandered Rem- 
 nants of Swedes, which were towards the Baltick Sea, made 
 head under Bannier, and have given a fmart blow to the Duke of 
 Saxe. 
 
 The French fhuffle yet well enough upon the Frontiers of 
 Germany & Lorrain. The Queen-Mother is a dying in Ghent 
 in Flanders in a religious Convent. The French Cardinal bears 
 up flill, though Hatred and Danger increafe daily. The Cardinal 
 Ginetti, the Pope's Legate de Latere, is not yet come to Conflance. 
 I believe it will be the Spring before he come. Novv that the 
 Peace is concluded betwixt the Pole and the Swede by the Inter- 
 vention of the Kings of England and France, the Parliament fits 
 in Poland about the Match with the young Lady Elizabeth : Mr. 
 Gordon went thither hence, from whom there is news daily ex- 
 ])e6ted. The Ba7i &= Arriere Ban in France is difmiffed for this 
 Winter, & fome difbanded themfelves, of whom fome received 
 exemplary Punifhment. The Siege is flill continued by Crequy 
 before Valencia upon the Territories of Milan. 
 
 For home matters, there hath been much grief at Court lately 
 for the Lofs of two noble Lords, the Lord of S' Albans and my 
 
 Lord
 
 Supplement. 657 
 
 Lord Savage, efpecially the latter. There are two or three Houfes 
 fhut up in Greenwich, though there died none but out of one. 
 
 The Bufmefs betwixt Sir And. Pell and Sir James Bagge was 
 determined lately in the Star Chamber, & I never heard a Caufe 
 fo equally canvaffed, of the eighteen Judges nine fined him & 
 the other quitted him, & my Lord Keeper's odd Voice carried it ; 
 but I hear that it will prove no cenfure, the redundant Voice 
 being to be for Mercy and not Juflice. They fay my Lord Bifliop 
 of Lincoln's Pardon is ready to pafs the great feal with a perfe6l 
 Redintegration into the King's Favour, Abolition of all old 
 Matters, & my Lord Cottington had a great hand in it. The 
 four youngeft. Prebends of Weflminfler have eagerly banded them- 
 felves againfl him lately divers ways. 
 
 There is a Lottery afoot for bringing in frefh waters by Aquse- 
 du6ls into the Covent Garden (where the new Town is almofl 
 finifhed) & White Hall. There have been lately new Impofitions 
 fet upon Wines and Linnen Cloth & other Commodities, which 
 is thought will enhance his Majefly's Cufloms ;,^8o,ooo a year. 
 The Levy of the Ship money in Towns & Country is done, & the 
 Money almofl come in : there is a Computation made, it will 
 amount to two Subfidies & an half. There is nought elfe worth 
 the Advertifement, therefore I mufl humbly take my Leave, 
 refling ever 
 
 'o 
 
 Your Lordfliip's 
 
 truly devoted Servant 
 Jam. Howell. 
 
 Westminster 
 Nov. 28. 1635. 
 
 VHL 
 
 Howell's Appointment as Clerk of Council. 
 
 (Privy Council Minutes.) 
 
 Att the Court att Nottingham the 30"" of Auguft 1642. 
 
 Prefent 
 
 Lord Keeper Lo. Vifc. Savile 
 
 Lo. D. of Richmond M' Comptrolcr 
 
 Lo. g. Chamberlaine M' Seer Nicholas 
 
 This day James Howell Elq' was by his Ma'' command fwornc 
 dark of the Couniell in extraordinary. 
 
 2 T ^^I-
 
 658 Supplement. 
 
 IX. 
 
 To MY Honored and Known Friend, Sir I. C. Knight. 
 
 (12 Tr. pp. 169-71.) 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Among many other Barbarifmes which like an impetuous 
 Torrent have lately rufh'd in upon us, the interception and open- 
 ing of Letters is none of the leafl, For it hath quite bereft all 
 ingenious Spirits of that correfpondency and fweet communication 
 of fancy which hath bin alwaies efleenied the befl fuel of affe6lion 
 and the very marrow of friendfliip. And truly, in my judgment, 
 this cuflom may be termed not only a JBarbarifme, but the bafefl 
 kind of Burglary than can be, 'tis a plundering of the very brain, 
 as is fpoken in another place. 
 
 We are reduced here to that fervile condition, or rather to fuch 
 a height of flavery, that we have nothing left which may entitle us 
 free Rationall creatures ; the thought it felf cannot fay 'tis free, 
 much lefs the tongue or pen. Which makes me impart unto you the 
 traverfes of thefe turbulent times under the following fables. I 
 know you are an exquifite Aflronomer. I know the deep infpe6lion 
 you have in all parts of Philofophy, I know you are a good Herald, 
 and I have found in your Library fundry books of Architedlure 
 and Comments upon Vitriivius. The unfolding of thefe Apologues 
 will put you to it in all thefe, and will require your fecond, if not 
 your third thoughts, and when you have conco6led them well, I 
 believe (elfe I am much deceived in your Genius) they will afford 
 you fome entertainment and do the errand upon which they are 
 fent, which is, to communicate unto you the mofl material paffages 
 of this long'd-for Parlement, and of thefe fad confufions which 
 have fo unhing'd, diflorted, traverfd, tumbled and diflocated all 
 things, that England may be termed now, in comparifon of what 
 it was, no other than an Anagram of a Kmgdo7?t. One thing I 
 promife you, in the perufal of thefe Parables, that you fhall find 
 no gingles in them, the common diale6l and difeafe of thefe times. 
 So 1 leave you to the gard and guidance 
 
 cy God and Vertu who do f till advance 
 
 Their Favorite, mattgre the Frownes 0/ Chance 
 
 Your conflant fervitor 
 J. H. 
 
 X.
 
 Supplement. 659 
 
 « 
 
 X. 
 To Sir K. Digby. 
 
 {Twelve Treat if cs, p. 194.) 
 
 Sir, I long to receive your opinion of thefe rambling pieces of 
 fancy, you may peradventure, have more, when the times are 
 open; furely the wind will not hold flill in this unlucky hole, for 
 it is too violent to lafl. It begins (thanks be to God) to fift 
 already, and amongft thofe multitudes, who expe6l the change, 
 I am one that lyeth at the Cape of Good Hope, though a 
 long time under hatches (in the Fleei). Howfoever, though 
 all the winds in the compafs fhall blufter upon me ; nay though 
 a Haraucafia fhould rage, I am arm'd and refolv'd to bear 
 the brunt, to welcome the WWX of God, and poffeffe my foul with 
 patience. 
 
 If you defire a further intimation of things, I refer you to a 
 Difcourfe of mine call'd The Tru Informer, who will give you no 
 vulgar fatiffadlion. So I am 
 
 Vo7/rs, as at firft, inalterable 
 J.H. 
 
 XI. 
 
 Dedication to Vol. II. of Letters. 
 
 To His Highnes James Duke of York ; A Star of the greateft 
 Magnitude in the Conflellation of Charles- Wayn. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 This Book was engendred in a Cloud, born a Captive, and 
 bred up in the dark fhades of Melancholy : He is a true Seno/ii 
 the fon of forrow, nay, which is a thing of wonderment, He was 
 begot in the Grave by one who hatii been buried quick any time 
 thefe five and fifty months : Such is the hard condition of the 
 Author, wherein he is like to continue, untill fome good Angell 
 roll off the flone, and raife him up, for Prifoners are capable of 
 a double Refurrc6lion : my Faith afcertains me of one but my 
 fears make me doubtfull of the other, for, as far as I fee yet, I 
 may be made to moulder awav fo long among thefe walls, till 
 
 I
 
 66o Supplement. 
 
 I be carried hence with my feet forward : Welcom be the will 
 of God and the Decrees of Heaven. 
 
 Your Highneffes, mofl 
 
 humble and mofl 
 obedient Servit' 
 
 James Howell. 
 
 Fro77i the Prifoii 
 of the Fleet 
 this Mav day 
 1647. 
 
 XH. 
 
 To John Selden. 
 
 Brit. Mus. Harl. 7003 f. 374. 
 
 S' 
 
 The principall aym of this fmal prefent is to bring you thanks 
 for the plefure & profit j haue receaud from yo' Works wher- 
 with you haue enrichd the whole Comon Wealth of Lerning, & 
 wherin may be difcoverd fuch a fullnes & vniverfality of know- 
 ledg that it may well be fayed Quod Seldenus nefcit, nemo fcit, 
 And this was a kind of character that fome of the renownedft 
 men beyond the feas gaue of you in fom difcourfe j mingled 
 with them : Moreouer thefe fmall peeces (w""^ j fhalbe bold to 
 pourfue with a vifit) com to introduce mee to yo' knowledg not 
 you to mine, for it were an Ignorance beyond Barbarifm not to 
 know you : May you pleafe when (having nothing elf to do) you 
 haue cafl yo' eys vpon them to throw them into fom corner of 
 the lowed fhelf that flands in yo'' library wher it wilbe an honor 
 for them to be found herafter, & if thefe bee admitted j haue more 
 to follow. So hoping that this obligation will not be held an 
 intrufion j refl 
 
 {Endorsed^ S' 
 For the mofl Honored Yo' mofl. humble & ready 
 
 John Selden Efq' fervit' 
 
 this. Jam, Howell. 
 
 XIII.
 
 Supplement. 66i 
 
 XIII. 
 
 To THE Council of State. 
 
 (Brit. Mus. Add. 32,093, f. 370). 
 
 It is humbly offerd tc y*" Confideration 
 
 of 
 The Right Hon"''^ y<= Counfell of State 
 
 That, Wheras vpon this Change of Government, & devolution of 
 Interefl from kingly power to a Comon Wealth ther may happen 
 fom queflion touching the primitiue and Inahenable Right that 
 Great Britain claymes to the Souucrainty of her own feas as hath 
 allready appeerd by the late clafli that broke out twixt vs & 
 Holland (which may well be fayed to be a Comon Wealth of 
 England's Creation;) It were expedient, humbly under favor, 
 that a new Treatife be compiled for the vindication, and continu- 
 ance of this Right notwithflanding this Change; And if the State 
 be pleafed to impofe fo honorable a comand vpon y' Subfcriber 
 Hee will employ his belt abilities to perform it ; In which Tretife 
 not only all the learned Reafons & Authorities of Mr. Selden 
 iTialbe produced, but the Truth of the Thing flialbe reinforcd 
 and afferted by further arguments, Examples and Evidences ; And 
 it were requifit that this fayed Treatife fliold go publiflied in 
 French as well as Englifli, French being the mofl comunicable 
 language of Comerce among thofe nations whom the knowledg 
 herof doth mofl concern, and fo may much avayle to difpcrfe the 
 truth, Sz fatiffie the world in this point 
 
 Jam Howell. 
 
 {Endorsed. ) 
 
 Mr. Howell 
 
 dominion Sea. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 To Judge Rumsev. 
 
 {Organon Salutis, Pref) 
 
 To his Highly efleemed Friend and Compatriot Judge Rumfey, 
 upon his Frovafig, or rare pecSloral Inflrumcnt and his rare 
 experiments of Cophic and Tobacco. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Since I knew the World, I have known divers (oris o( /njKru- 
 ments : The fiill that I was acquainted withall, was Arijtotks 
 
 Organon
 
 662 Supplement. 
 
 Organon, or Inflrument at Oxford : Another was the great happy 
 Inilrument at Munftcr : The third was the Iiiftrnment ^\\\ch. was 
 made after the diffolution of the late long Parliament ; That '\n 
 Oxford was Inftrunmitiim Logicce, The Inflrument of Logick ; That 
 in Micnfter was Jnftriifnentum Pads, The Inflrument of Peace ; 
 The lafl was Inftrumentum Politianii, The Inflrument of PoHcy. 
 Now your Inflrument is mofl properly called The Jnftrufnetit of 
 Health, and may take place among the refl. Without controverfie, 
 it was an Invention very happily lighted upon, and obligeth all 
 mankinde to give you thanks : For he who iinds out any thing 
 conducing to humane health, is the befl Cofmopolite, the befl 
 among the Citizens of the World ; health being the mofl precious 
 Jewel of Nature, without which we cannot difcharge our duties to 
 God or Man. But indeed there's no perfe6fion of health in this 
 life, when we converfe with the Elements ; the befl is a valitudi- 
 nary kinde of difpofition ; and this proceeds from the perpetual 
 conflidl of the humors within us for predomination ; which were 
 they equally ballanced, and m peace Methufelah's yeers would be 
 but a fhort life among us. Now this Combate and malignity of 
 the Humors arifeth from the ftomach ; which like a boyling pot 
 on the fire, is flill boyling within us, and hath much froth ; whence, 
 if the conco6lion be not very good, there are il-favoured fumes, 
 and fuliginous evaporations that afcend into the head; where 
 being difliU'd they defcend into Catarrhes and Defluxions, fome- 
 times upon the Optiques, and that may be called the Gout in the 
 Eyes ; if they fall upon the Teeth, it may be call'd the Gout in the 
 Mouth ; if into the Hands 'tis Chiragra ; if in the Hip, Sciatica ; 
 if in the Knees, Go?iagra ; if in the Feet, Podogra. Now, Sir, 
 Your Ififtrument ferves to take away the grounds of thefe Dif- 
 tempers, by rummaging and fcouring the flomach, and make it 
 expedlorate that froth, or phlegmy fluffe which lodgeth there, and 
 that in a more gentle manner than any Drugge. 'Tis true that 
 Rhubarbe is good againfl Choler, Agarick againfl Phlegme, and 
 Hellebore againfl Melancholy, but they ufe to flir the humours fo 
 violently by their naufeoufnes, that their operation is a fickneffe 
 of it felf all the while : Your Inflrument caufeth no fuch thing, 
 nor leaves any lurking dreggs behinde, as Druggs ufe to do. 
 
 Touching Coffee, I concurre with them in opmion, who hold it 
 to be that black broth which was uf'd of old in Lacedemon, 
 whereof the Poets fing ; Surely it mufl needs be falutiferous, 
 becaufe fo many fagacious, and the wittiefl fort of Nations ufe it 
 fo much ; as they who have converfed with Shafires and Turbants 
 doe well know. But befides the exficcant quality it hath to dry 
 up the crudities of the flomach, as alfo to comfort the Brain, to 
 fortifie the fight with its fleem & prevent Dropfies, Gouts, the 
 
 Scurvie
 
 Supplement. 663 
 
 Scurvie, together with the fpleen, and Hypochondriacal winds 
 (all of which it doth without any violence or diflemper at all) I 
 fay, befides all thefe qualities, 'tis found already, that this Cojfte 
 drink both caufed a greater Sobriety among the Nations : for 
 whereas formerly Appreiftices & Clerks with others ufed to take 
 their mornings draught in Ale, Beer, or Wine, which by the 
 dizzines they caufe in the Brain, make many unfit for bufmefs, 
 they ufe now to play the Good-fellows in this wakeful and civil 
 drink : Therefore that worthy Gentleman, Mr. Mudiford, who 
 introduced the pra6tice hereof firfl to London, deferves much 
 refpe6l of the whole Nation. 
 
 Concerning Tobacco which the Spaniards call la Ycri'a santa, 
 the holy herb, in regard of the fundry virtues it hath : without 
 doubt 'tis alfo a wholfom vegetal, if rightly applyed and feafon- 
 ably taken ; it helps concoction, makes one void Rheume, break 
 winde, and keeps the body open : A leaf or two fleeped in 
 white Wine, or Beer over night, is a Vomit that never fails ; It is 
 a good companion to fedentary men, and fludents, when they 
 are flupified by long reading or writing, by diflipating thofe 
 Vapours which ufe to o're-cloud the Brain : The smoak of it is 
 pafling good againfl all contagious airs; In fo much, that if one 
 takes two or three puffs in the morning, before he goes abroad, 
 there's no infe6lious air can faflen upon him : for it keeps out all 
 other fents, according to the Axiome, Intus exijtcns prohibet aliemon. 
 
 But, Sir, I find you have made other experiments of thefe two 
 fimples, which though not fo guRfuU, conduce much to humane 
 health : And touching your I rovang, or Whale-bone Indrument, 
 let me tell you, that it hath purchafcd much repute abroad among 
 Forreiners; In fo much, that fome, in imitation of yours, have found 
 a way to make fiich an Inftrument in du6lible Gold, and you 
 know what a Cordial Gold is. I have been told of another kinde 
 of new Inftrument that will conveniently reach from the mouth, to 
 let in the fmoak of Tobacco at the fundament, and it hath done 
 much good. Certainly, there are in Natures Cabinet many boxes 
 yet uncifcovered, there are divers myfteries and Magnalia's yet 
 unknown ; there be fundry effeds which flie would produce, but 
 fhe wants the hand of Art to co-operate, as it were by the hand of 
 Mid-wifery : the World muft needs confefs that you have done her 
 a great good Office herein. 
 
 So with my heartly kinde refpedls unto you, wifliing that fome 
 happy occafion were offered, whereby I miglit be Injlrumental 
 unto you, I reft. Worthy Sir, 
 
 Your moft afifcdlionate 
 
 Friend and Companion, 
 James Howell. 
 
 X\'.
 
 664 Supplement. 
 
 XV. 
 
 To Sir Edward Walker. 
 
 (Autograph collection of Mr. A. Morrison.) 
 
 S' 
 
 Now that a correfpondence may bee kept with more freedom 
 and that neither writer or letter run fo much danger of fhippwrack 
 j thought it not amiffe to give you this invitation in that kind ; 
 Touching affairs here, fmce the late Diffolution of the Parlement 
 the counfell of State carry all the Sway fmoothly before them, & 
 Monk profeffeth flill an exa6l & conflant obedience to the Civill 
 power. The Anababtifls have fliewd their teeth lately, but they 
 are kept from biting, for a great flore of armes were taken away 
 lately from them ; Generall Monk flicks flill clofe to the Citty of 
 London who made a privat ouverture lately to the counfell of 
 State, how Trade was lamentably delayed, And the Mint flarvd, 
 and that ther was no way to feed the one and advance the other 
 without a peace with Spaine, w^^ was impoffible to bee done but 
 by calling in king Charles. Tis thought certainly ther wilbe a 
 a Houfe of Peers the next Parlement w^*" will infallibly begin 25° 
 of Aprill flylo loci ; The new militia is upon fettling in the countrey, 
 and divers Lords, knights & others of good principles are chofen 
 Comiffioners among whom the Earle of Oxford is chief for 
 Effex, Dorfett for Suffex, Rivers for Chefliire, etc. 
 
 If I knew that this letter would come fafely to Hand, I wold 
 bee more large which upon yo' anfwer to this I fhalbe in my next. 
 
 I pray Sir fend mee word whither my Lo: of BrifloU bee 
 return'd to Bruxells fo I mofl affedlionatly kiffe yo' hands & if 
 ther bee any thing imaginable wherin I may ferve you here you 
 know what power you haue to comand 
 
 Much honored Sir 
 
 Yo' very humble & ready 
 
 Servant 
 Jam. Howell. 
 
 'LXi'U'DO'H, this 22,rd of March, 1659. 
 
 From Mr. Lee a Lawyers Houfe ag' the Pye Inne in Fetter 
 Lane where I fhalbe ready to receave yo' addreffes & comands. 
 
 {Endorsed). 
 For the much Honored 
 S' Edward Walker 
 Knight at the Englifli 
 Court in Bruxells. 
 
 XVL
 
 Supplement, 665 
 
 XVI. 
 
 A letter of Advice confiding all of Proverbs (running in one 
 congruous and concurrent fenfe) to one that was Towards Marriage, 
 
 Lexicon Tetraglotton. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Although I am none of thofe that love to have an Oare in 
 every ones Boat, Or fuch a bufie body as deferves to be hitt in 
 the teeth, that I fhould keep my breath to cool my pottage, yet, 
 you and I having eaten a peck of l\ilt together, and having a hint 
 that you are upon a bufinefs that will either make or mar you, for 
 a man's befl fortune 01 his worfl's, a Wife, I would wilTi you to 
 look before you leap, and make more than two words to a bargain. 
 
 'Tis true that Marriages are made in Heaven, it is alfo true that 
 Marriage and hanging goeth by Defliny ; But if you are difpofed 
 to marry, marry a fhrew rather than a flieep, for a Fool is fulfome, 
 yet ye run a rifk alfo in the other, for a flirew may fo tye your 
 nofe to the Grindflone, that the gray Mare will prove the better 
 Horfe ; Befides, there is another old fayed Saw, that every one 
 knows how to tame a flirew but he that hath her ; If it be your 
 Fortune to meet with fuch a one, fhe may chance put you to the 
 charge of buying a long fpoon, for he mufl have a long fpoon who 
 will eat with the Devill. 
 
 Moreover, if you needs mufl marry, do not fetch your wife 
 from Dunmow, for fo you may bring home two fides of a Sow, 
 Nor from IVcjhfitfiJier, for he who goeth to WeJ'tminfter for a 
 Wife, to Pauls for a Man, and to Smithfield for a Horfe, may 
 have a Jade to his Horfe, a Knave to his Man, and a Wagg-tail 
 to his Wife. 
 
 But if you needs mufl marry let her rather be little than bigg, 
 for of two evils the leafl is to be chofen, yet there is another 
 hazard in that alfo, for a little pott is foon hott, and as flie will be 
 litde and lowd, if you give her an inch flie will take an ell, flie 
 will alwayes have a Roivland for your Oliver, and two words for 
 one, fuch a Wife though flie be as tender as a Parfons Lemman, 
 yet Ihe may prove a wolf in Lambs flcinn, InfLead of a Rofe you 
 will have a Burr ; If you meet with fuch a one, you may be put 
 to anfvver as he was who having a damnable fcold to his Wife, 
 and being aflvcd by Sir TJw: Badger who recommended her unto 
 liim? he fayed an old Courtier, Sir; 7vhat Courtier i fayed Sir 
 Tho: 'Twas the Devill, Sir. 
 
 Furthermore take heed of two hanfome a Wife, for then flie is 
 likely not to be all your own, and fo flic may bring you to your 
 
 Horn-book
 
 666 Supplement. 
 
 Horn-book again, or rather make you Horn-madd, and then you 
 have brought your Hoggs to a fair Market. 
 
 But by all means, be wary of too coflly and lavilhing a Wife, 
 for fo you may quickly turn a Noble to nine pence, and come 
 home by broken Croffe, flie will in a fhort time make hunger to 
 dropp out at your nofe, flie will thwitten a Miil-pofl to a pudding- 
 prick, the Goofe will drink as deep as the Gander, and then, 
 When all is gone and nothing left, what waits the Dagger with 
 the dudgeon heft? The Wolf will be then flill at your door, and 
 the black Ox will tread on your toe, your Neighbours will make 
 mowes at you, and fay, you are as wife as Walthams Calf, who 
 went nine miles to fuck a Bull and came home more thirfly than 
 when he went. 
 
 You mufl alfo be wary how you marry one that hath cafl her 
 Rider, left you fall into a Quagmire wherein another was loft, I 
 mean a Widdow, for fo you will be fubje6l to hav a Deaths head 
 putt often in your Difh ; Touching the complexion of your Wife, 
 the Spaniard holdeth black to be the wholefomeft, for He hath 
 a Proverb, Miiger neg?-a trementina en ella, A black woman hath 
 Turpentine in her, the Frenchman is for the broun, when he faith, 
 Fille brunette gaye 6^ 7ieite, A broun Laffe is gay and cleanly. 
 But they both will tell you, that touching a red-haired and 
 bearded woman, falute them a hundred paces off. 
 
 Laftly, take heed by all means of doting fo far upon any one 
 Female, as to marry her for meer Affe6lion ; 'Tis true, that one 
 hair of a woman will draw more than a hundred yoake of Oxen, 
 yet meer Affe6lion is but blind Reafon, and there are more 
 Mayds than Malkin ; 'Tis true that in love ther's no lack, yet it 
 is as true, that nothing hath no favour, and there muft be Suet as 
 as well as Oatmeal to make a Pudding ; In this cafe it is better 
 to buy a Quart of Milk by the penny than keep a Cow, and to 
 follow the Italian Proverb, videlicet, Commend the Sea, but keep 
 thy felf aflioar, Commend the Hills, but keep thy felf on the 
 Plains, Commend a wedded Life but keep thy felf a Batchelor ; 
 According to another wife Proverb, He who marrieth doth well, 
 but he who marrieth not, doth better ; Wherunto attendeth a third, 
 That next to a fmgle Lite, a married Life is beft ; I will conclude 
 with that of the Italian, Honeft men ufe to marry but Wife men not. 
 
 When you read this, I know you will be apt to fay, that a 
 Fools Bolt is foon fhott, or crie out, Witt whither wilt thou ? yet, 
 though I am none of the feven Sages, I can look as farr into a 
 Milftone as another, and you know that the ftander by feeth 
 more then the Gamefter. 
 
 What I write is the Language of a Friend, and could I fteed 
 you herein I would do it with as good a will as ever I came from 
 
 School 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 I
 
 Supplement. 66^ 
 
 School, for I am yours as much as any Wife can be, or rather, 
 that I may conclude with the old Roman Proverb, I am Yours, 
 Usque ad Aras 
 
 * Yours to the Altar 
 
 J. H. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 To Charlp:s II. 
 (Pub. Rec. Off. Dom. Chas. II. i. No. ii6.) 
 
 To the Kings moft ex' Ma"^ 
 
 The humble ]jct°" of James Howell Efq' 
 
 Sheweth, That hauing bin by his late Ma''" iinediat comand 
 fworne one of the Clerks of his Privy Counfell about iS yeers 
 fmce, And coming to London a little after vpon his Ma''" affairs, 
 he was comitted one of the firfl ])rifoners in the Fleet where 
 he lay above 8 yeers, & continued vnder bayle 7 years after 
 during which time hee was plunderd 3 feverall times to his vtter 
 vndoing. 
 
 Hee humbly prays yo"' Ma'^' wold pleafe to comand that he 
 may be confirmd in the fayed place, Or that yo' Ma'*' would 
 be gracioufly pleafed to haue him in yo' Royall thoughts 
 fome other way for a LiueUhood 
 
 And Hee fliall pray eu' 
 
 J.'VM Howell. 
 
 i^Enclosure.) 
 
 The Cafe truly flated 
 When the Court was at York j was comanded by my 
 Lord of Briflol to attend the King one morning in his Bed- 
 chamber, when his Ma'^ told me, That he ivold giue orders to 
 fiveare me Clerk of the Coimfell in Seer : Nicholas his place, but 
 he was ptly efigaged to S' Jo: Jacob, 6- if he had it fiot, j Jhold 
 haue it prefent/y, houfoeu'' s^ his Ma'^, j 7cnll giue order you Jhalbe 
 fworne noiv, &• y' fiift place that falls you flialbe fure of it, Vpon 
 w'^" words j had y= honor to Kiffe his hand, fo his Ma'*" Himfclf gave 
 comand to S'" Dudley Carleton to fweare me, w""'' was done 
 accordingly before divers privy Counfellors. 
 
 S' Jo: Jacob keeping flill in thefe Parts quitted his defigne 
 that way, & j coming a little after to London, & being vpon point 
 of returning prefcntly to Court, j was app'hcnded & comitted 
 
 prifoiier
 
 668 Supplement. 
 
 prifoner to y"^ Fleet vnder y'' notion of a dangerous perfon by 
 y* Long Parlement where j lay clofe aboue 8 years notwithflanding 
 my often petitioning for my enlargement, & continued 7 years 
 after vnder good bayl to be forth coming within fo many howers 
 during w'^*' traverfes j was plunderd 3 times. 
 
 The time y' j was fworn ther were but 3 Clerks of the Counfell 
 viz. S^ Tho: Mewtis, S"' Dud; Carlton, & S^ Rich: Brown wherof 
 y^ 2 firfl died a while after during my imprifonment, yet fmce, 
 ther haue bin three Clerks gott over ray head ett' 
 
 Jam. Howell. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 To Charles II. 
 
 (Pub. Rec. Off. Dom. Chas. II. xvii. No. 6.) 
 
 To the Kings mofl ex' Ma"^ 
 
 The humble pet°" of James Howell Efq' 
 Clerk of the Counfell to his late Maiefly 
 of ever bleffed Memory 
 Sheweth, That wheras yo' Ma'^ is gracioufly pleafed for the Regula- 
 tion & aduancement of Trade to award a Royall Comiffion to 
 fome of the knowingfl Marchants, & others whom yo"' Ma'^ fhall 
 pleafe to nominat for the intent aforefayed And wheras yo' pet' 
 hath bin verfd & employd by their late Ma"" in affaires of that 
 nature to Spaine, Germany, & Denmark 
 
 He prayeth, yo"" Ma''" wold pleafe to comand that He may 
 ferve yo"" Ma"" in quality of an Affiflant & Secretary to the 
 fayed Comiffion, & He fhall employ his befl endevours to 
 acquit himfelf to his duty therein 
 
 And duly pray ett^ 
 
 XIX. 
 
 To Lord Clarendon. 
 
 (Dom. Chas. 11., xxxix., No. 52). 
 My Lord, 
 
 Yo' lo^P having bin pleafd to promife mee the contribution 
 of yo' favour, j take this great boldnes to defire, yo' Io^p wold 
 pleafe to move his Ma"" that j may attend the la: Infanta (who 
 comes to be our Queen) in quality of Her Tutor for Languages : 
 
 For
 
 Supplement. 669 
 
 For having the Spanifli Toung (with the Portuguez dialeft) As allfo 
 yt Italian & French both for the Pra6lice and Theory fo farr that 
 j have pubhfhed a Great Di6lionary with Gramars to all the Three 
 dedicated to the King at his firfl coming (for which his Ma"*" pro- 
 mifed to fett a mark of his favor vpon me) of which Dictionary j 
 was not wanting to prefent yo"" Io^p with one, Having allfo a com- 
 pendious choice method of Inflru6lion I hope j flialbe thought 
 par negotio, which in all humblenes is left to confidcration by 
 
 Yo' loPP' moft obedient 
 
 and ready fervant 
 
 Jam Howell. 
 
 {Endorsed. ) 
 
 R. 11° July 1 66 1 
 M' Jam : Howell 
 to be Tutor for Languages 
 To my Lo : Chancelor to y" Queen. 
 
 XX. 
 
 Grant to Howell. 
 
 (Pub. Rec. Off. Signet Office Docket, Feb. 1661.) 
 
 Warrant to the Excheq' to pay to James Howell Efq' y"" fumm 
 of 200" as of his ma'"' free guift w"' out ace'. Subfc' by ^P Berd 
 by warrant under his ma"" Sign manuall ut lupra. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 JAMES HOWELL'S WILL. 
 
 (Somerfet Houfe I. Carr. 323.) 
 
 London J4° 8*^"' j666. 
 
 [lacob' Howell.] In The name of God Amen, y lames 
 Howell of the Parifh of S' Andrews in Holborn Efquire : being 
 fickly in body but well in mind and memory doe make this 
 my lafl will and teflamcnt. Aboue all I bequeath my foule to 
 him that gaue it my ctcrnall God and maker. I Dcfire my body 
 may be carried decently in a hcrfe : And buried in the Middle 
 Temple Church as privately as can be Att the ffoote of the ne.\t 
 great Filler This fide the little Quier where I have directed M' 
 Marftiall to fett up a large Black Marble with a BralTe Picture of 
 
 mine
 
 670 Supplement. 
 
 mine in the Middle with my Armes and a Latin Epitaph. Touch- 
 ing my worldly goods I bequeath vnto my brother Howell Howell 
 Twenty fifive pounds To my filler Gwin fforty (hillings to buy her 
 a Ring And fforty fhillings to my fifler Roberta Ap-Rice I bequeath 
 vnto my niece Elizabeth Banifler Twenty pounds and my filver 
 watch with my befl Cloak and fuite I bequeath vnto my Nephew 
 Arthur Howell ffour pounds and my light coloured Coate with my 
 Montero Capp I bequeath vnto my Nephew George at Oxon 
 fforty fhillings my feale of Armes my Standifh and Privat Clafped 
 Prayer booke I bequeath Mrs. Leigh my Landlady Tenn pounds 
 for her felfe and towards the Portion of her daughter Edith. Item 
 I bequeath ffoure pounds to one Strafford a Heelmaker by Somerfet 
 Houfe. Of this my will I make my nephew Henry Howell fole 
 Executor and Adminiflrator not doubting but he will fee the pre- 
 mifes performed accordingly Witnefs my hand and feale 
 
 Jam: Howell 
 In the prefence of J. Lowe / 
 Memorandum that I leave Mr. Playford the Sexton of the 
 Temple Church twenty fhillings to buy him a Ring/ Mr. Brife of 
 Old-flreete ffoure pounds to be fpeedily paid / Item to Mr. Matthew 
 Pinder an old Jacobus to buy him a Ring / All the refl of my 
 worldly goods [I] leave to my pTent Executo" Except Thirty pounds 
 in a white Bagg which is defigned for a Tomb wherein I defire 
 ray Executor to be very carefull/ lam: Howell/ In the p''fenfe of 
 I. Lowe. 
 
 [Proved by Henry Howell 18 Feb. 1666-7.]
 
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