A German diet, or, The ballance of Europe wherein the power and vveaknes ... of all the kingdoms and states of Christendom are impartially poiz'd : at a solemn convention of som German princes in sundry elaborat orations pro & con ... / by James Howell, Esq.

THE ORATION OF THE Lord GEORGE ROELDERER VON HOCH, Against ITALY.

Most noble, and anciently descended Princes;

IT is reported of Francisco Barbaro, and Georgio Trapezuntio, a pair of great Scientifical men, and singularly vers'd in the Greek and Latin Tongues, that by decay of their In∣tellectuals, and decrepitnesse of age, they came utterly to forget both. The like is recorded of Philip Seci•…•…s, a fa∣mous Jurisconsult, and Professor of both the Laws, both in Padoa, Florence, Siena, Ticini, and Pisa, that his memorie came to be so strangely eclipsed and clouded, that he did not remember one Paragraph of the Roman Law. And Pliny, that great Regi∣ster of Nature, doth write of Messala Corvino, that the faculty of remembrance was so declin'd in him by longaevity, and the revolution of so many Winters, that he had forgot his own name. The same may be said now adayes of Italy, she that was in former times the Eye of the World, and Rome the Apple of that Eye, are fallen to that delirium, and dotage, that neither of them can remember what once they were, most of her Cities have almost forgotten their primitive names, her vital spirits, vertue, and valour are so far spent, by having so many yeares on her back, that she is quite transmuted from what she was, and grown •…•…ank and litherly both in her strength and courage. Touching Rome, she is shrunk into a Pigmey's skin, from that Gigantick stature she was of▪ And as some did guess at the magnitude of Rome by that Incendium, that huge voracious fire which happened in Nero's time (who was then in his turret tuning upon his fiddle the sack of Troy, so little did he resent that direfull spectacle, but ra∣ther rejoyced at it; hoping out of the rubbish of old Rome to re-edifie a new Citty of his own name) which fire, though it was very consuming and vio∣lent, yet the City found it matter enough to work upon for nine dayes: I say, as partly out of that the hugeness of Rome might be guessed at; or by that ra∣ging Plague which swept away about tenne thousand men every day in the time of Vespasian; or by the weight of those Cobwebs which Heliogabalus caus'd to be gather'd and poiz'd, which came to ten thousand pound weight; I say, as out of these one may make a conjecture of the vast dimensions of Rome, so out of that obscenity and filth which now reigns, out of the fire of concu∣piscence which rageth there (no where more) and lastly out of those numberless infectious diseases and various vices that now raign there, which I shall endea∣vour

to produce before you, you may give a guesse at the goodness and govern∣ment, the happiness and deserts of Italy; and then I beleeve you will not have so favourable a conceit of her as the noble Lord who spake before, and was so prodigal in displaying her merit.

The Peacock when she beholds her glorious feathers, swels and puffs with an amorous opinion of her self, but looking upon her feet she is presently deject∣ed: you have hitherto seen the gay feathers of Italy, I will shew you now her •…•…oul feet. The common tenet, that Italy in goodness and riches excells all o∣ther Regions, is a meer fable, which Boterus her own child doth refell, accu∣sing them of imprudence and shallow judgement who think so; for we know wel that two third parts of Italy hath no navigable Rivers, and the fourth part is a steril rough-hewen umbratical country, made up by the Apennine hil. Bon∣finius, who had been a curious lustrator of many Countries, prefers Austria before Italy, though his own Country. Liguria was damn'd by Nature her self to a perpetual sterility; And the Plaines of Verona, though they be famous for some battles that have been fought there, yet doe they bear but a sorry re∣port for the wildness of the soyl, and huge stones that are therein. In Alagnia there is a cankerworm that corrodes the Vines, and strangely grows with the grape, and takes wings at last, it revives with the culture of the earth, and dies with it; besides there be swarmes of little stares that doth much annoy the crop both of Corn and Wine, and there is no fence against them, they are so nu∣merous. The Pisan, Aquileian, and Roman fields themselves how many patches of rough barren ground have they? what ill air'd fens in many places? which makes them so thinne of inhabitants. How many places in Italy are there, whither strangers when they goe thither, are warned not to goe unto, in re∣gard of the ill air? as Piombino, Grossetto, Sinigallia, Arimino, Cervia, Pesar•…•…. Pestilentiall Fevers are frequent in Venice and Ancona, and Tertians in Ferra∣ra; nor is the meridian of Rome free from them; for upon the Maritime coasts from Port Hercules to Tarracina, which is a hundred and fifty miles in extent, there are hardly eight thousand inhabitants in all. The Veliternian Wines are good for nothing unless they be boil'd; nor can those of Viterbo last any time till they be also used so; for generally the Italian Wines are so fading, that they will last scarce a year to an end; whereas our German Wines gather strength with their age, as those of the Rhine, and the Necc•…•…r; but those of the Po and the Tiber grow quickly sower and flat, which made Scaliger spit out this bitter jest of Rome, Urbem illam esse novum ac•…•…tum pessimum veteris vini optimi; that she is the worst new Vinegar of the best old Wines. Besides, there are some places in Italy which might be fruitfull, if they had the hands of industry; for the Italians are not so industrious with their bodies (I cannot tell what their braines may be) as the world takes them to be, witnesse that capacious and noble port of Ancona, which was suffer'd to be choak'd up with sand, meerly by the supinenesse and sloth of the inhabitants. For Mettals; I am sure in Cle∣ment the sevenths time, there were knowing Mineralists sent for from Germany to Italy, and they returned quickly after; for they said that the benefit would not countervail the charge.

Moreover there is no clime so subject to vicissitude of Tempests as Italy: The Apennine keeps her snow longer than the Abnoba, the mother of the Danube. How passengers are tormented with Chinches, •…•… stinking little vermin, in their lodgings at night? The heat of Naples is such, that none will travell in Iuly and August, though the King should command him. 'Tis true that Padoa hath fertile fields about her, but the Tillers of them are half devils, and more humorous than any part of France. Sicilia, once a part of the continent of Italy, was used to bear away the bell for faecunditie, being called by Cicero▪ Cella penaria Reipub. & nutrix plebis Romanae, She was Romes Nurse, and the peoples Pantree; but whereas there is a principle, Omnes Insulanos esse malos, pessimos autem esse Siculos; That all Ilanders are bad, and the Sicilians the worst

of all; It is truer now then ever it was. Touching the Calabrians, King Alphonso could say that, nihil habebant praeter figuram, they had nothing of men, but the shapes of men. Touching Campania and the Kingdom of Naples it cannot be de∣nied but they are luxurious Countreyes, and very populous, in so much that Bozius gives an account of above three millions of peeple there, and neere up∣on foure hundred thousand fit to beare armes, together with foureteen hun∣dred and sixty towns; but take all along with you, the improbity of the peeple is such, that there is a proverb among the rest of the Italians, Napoli é un para∣diso, ma habit ato da diaboli; Naples is a paradis inhabited by devills. Indeed it is so delicat a country that it will put to tryall the vertu of any one; witness Hannibal and his army. The Genoways is as bad as the Nopolitan, heare what the tartmouthed Scaliger speaks of him, giving a wipe also to the English, by huddling up a company of Epithets.

Genuenfi Osor pacis, ac boni moris, Unus Brit annis tetrior, Ligur cunctis, Saxicola, pelagi cursor, invidus, spurcus, Famelicosus, turpis, Archipirata.

Now whereas you have been persuaded to believe that Italy is the source of civility, the nurce of noblenes and vertue, the prime propagatresse of piety and learning, I pray herein take me along with you; I will not say the Itali∣ans are ignoble, but the corrupters of Nobility; They are not illiterat, but the perverters of letters: They are not vicious, but the very cutthroats of vertu; They are not impious, but the abusers of piety: they have drunk so much su∣perstition, and it hath got so far into their bones, that it will never out of their flesh. I am loth to bring all their vices before so princely an Assembly, for feare the sent of them might be unpleasing unto you, and make you stop your noses, as peeple use to do when they passe by a carren, or dounghill: and when they once infect a German, they transform him to a Devill, accord∣ing to the proverb, Tudesco Italionato é un diabolo incarnat, a Dutchman Italio∣nat is a Devill incarnat. Now there is no place upon earth where vice goes more oft in vertues habit, and so is able to deceave the wisest: For as in the sands of the river Anien there are fine white stones gathered of various shapes, some like comfetts, others like round suger plumms, others like candid •…•…in∣namon, which are call'd in derision the junketts of Tivoli, and are put some∣times upon the table for a merriment to strangers, so are counterfet banquetts and sweets of vertu served before strangers in Italy, though they be meer baits of vanity and vice.

I confesse Italy abounds with nobles, but what kind of one's are they? such as are found in Lunigiana, where a passenger spied three Marquises upon one tre•…•… eating figgs to preserve them from starving: I Marchesi di Ceva, i Conti di Pia∣cenza, i Cavaglieri di Bolognia, The Marquises of Ceva, the Earles of Piacenza, the Knights of Bolonia, are poore to a proverb; for all of them will not make one compleat nobleman in point of estate. But indeed the Italian Nobles are rather Marchants then Nobles, nay many of their Princes are no better: what I pray is the Gran Duke of Florence? what are the Clarissimi of Venice? what are the Senators of Genoa but all Marchants? yet every broker and pedler is there termed by Vostra Signoria, which is, your Lordship: The meanest Prince in Italy must be called Serenissimo, a title used to be given only to the Archdukes of Austria; they scorn to be call'd Excellentissimi, or Illustrissimi. Nay the Duke of Savoy return'd the Senats letters to Venice, because mention being made in them of the Dukes children, they termed them Excellentissimi, not Sere∣nissimi.

But learning and the sciences you say doe florish in Italy more then any where; Indeed I confesse literature is a rare vertu, it enables one for any profes∣sion;

and no profession, unlesse it be mechanique, can be without it. The Em∣perour Sigismund did make high esteem of it, in so much that he preferr•…•…d a Doctor before a Knight, and his reason was that he could make twenty Knights in a day, but not one Doctor. You all know the famous apophthegm of Alphonso King of Aragon, Rex illiteratus est Asinus coronatus, an illiterat King is an Asse with a crown on his head; The Genoa Lady was of another opinion, who saied, penna non facit Nobilem, sed penis. 'Tis true, we are beholden to Italy for learning, and she to Greece; But as poore Greece is now so degenerated in this point, that she who call'd all the world Barbarians (yea the Italians among others) is now become Barbary Herself in point of literature, and scientificall knowledge. In Honorius time there dwelt but a few Marchants of honey in Athens. And I wish the same fate may not befall Italy for her nefandous crimes which are rife there: but touching learning, I pray heare what Muretus speaks; In media Italia, in medio Latio, in media Magna Graecia vix centisimum quem{que} invenias, qui Latinè aut Graecè loqui sciat, In the midst of Italy, in the midst of Latium, in the mid•…•…t of Magna Graecia you shall not find the hundreth man that can understand Greek or Latin, or any kind of letters.

And I pray, how doth Italy use to encourage and reward learned men? Look upon Philelphus the lea•…•…nedst man of his time, yet they were forc'd to sell his books to bury him in Bolonia; And who would have thought that Aeneas Sylvius, or Pope Pins the second, who was beholden to the Muses for all his fortunes and promotion, I say, who would have thought that being congra∣tulated by sundry peeces of Poetry when he came to be Pope, in lieu of reward he put them off with this distic.

Pro numeris numeros a me sperate Poetae, Carmina{que} est animus reddere, non emere.

O Poets, expect numbers for numbers, I use to return, not buy verses.

But it seems that Homers fate of inevitable poverty is devolv'd by way of inheritance to all poets; Paul the second, next successor to Aeneas, had a mis∣chievous designe to demolish all learning, in so much that he esteemed students and philosophers no other then Heretiques or Conjurers. And now that I have fallen among the Popes, I beleeve you have heard of the common saying a∣mongst them, Nos accipimus pecuniam, & mittimus asinos in Germaniam, We receive money, and send Asses to Germany; There were two Popes, I know not who was the wiser, who was the simpler of the two, viz. Iohn the eighth, or Ca∣lixtus the third: The first sold the Crown of France to Charles the bald for a vast summe of money, depriving the right heirs; The other put Edmund of England, and Vincent of Spain into the catalogue of Saints, whereupon when Cardinall Bessarion heard of it, Novi hi sancti de veteribus mihi dubium movent, These new saints puts me in some doubt of the old. Alexander the sixt scrap'd up so much treasure by the nundination, and sale of Indulgences, that Caesar Borgia (his son) loosing a hundred thousand crownes one night at dice, sayed, Germanorum tantum haec peccata sunt, These are onely the sinns of Germany. Iulius the third intending to advance Montanus to a Cardinalship, and the consistory disswad∣ing his holines from it, because he was of very meane birth, and no parts, ans∣wered no lesse modestly then wittily, Then what thinke you I pray of me, whom you have constituted Prince of the Christian Commonwealth?

Leo the tenth had a purpose to creat Raphael Urbinus, a meer painter, to be a Cardinall, if he had liv'd to it. But touching the strange humors, and extra∣vagancies of some Popes, I put you over to Platina, who was secretary to so many of them.

But to revert a little, touching the older sect of Italians, Authors, there is more vice then vertu to be found in most of them; witnes those triumvirs of wanton love, Catullus, Tibullus, and Propertius; Ovid might be called a pander

to Venus in some of his works; what spurcidicall and obscene things doe we read in Martiall, and Iuvenall? what a foolish humor was that in Persius to stu∣dy obscurity so much? And in Virgil, whom we cry up so highly, what was he but a meere Ape to Homer, Theocritus, and other Greek Poets? I have seene Ho∣mer's picture in a posture of vomiting, and all the Latin poets about him lick∣ing up what he had spewd, but Virgil lapp'd up more then all the rest. Now Cicero whom we magnifie above all, if we well observe him, we shall find that he sate often upon two stooles. Petrus Bembus was such a slave to Cicero, and so sworn to his words, that he infected Longolius with the same humor, who would use no other Latin words but what he found in Cicero; Therefore the Senat of Venice is alwayes call'd by him Patres Conscripti; Dukes and Duke∣doms, Reges & Regna; The sophy of Persia, and Gran Turk, Reges Armeniae & Thracum; Faith is call'd by him persuasion; Excommunication, Interdiction of fire and water; Nunns are call'd Vestalls, The Pope Pontifex Maximus, The Emperour Caesar, &c. In so much that he holds any word barbarous that is not found in Cicero; But touching learning and eloquence we well know that Greece hath been the true source of both, whence the Romans have fill'd their cisterns; Nay, for the Latin toung herself we know she is two thirds Greek, all her scientificall words, and tearms of art are deriv'd from the Greek: In so much that it is impossible for any to be a perfect Latinist, unlesse he understand the Greek also.

I will go a little back to Bembo again, who as you have heard was so fanta∣sticall, that he would use no words but pure Ciceronian; but this fancy drew him to a pure prophanes, for it brought him to contemne the Epistles of S. Paul, and in a kind of slighting way to call them Epistolaccias, disswading his friends from reading them, least they should corrupt their eloquence. What shall I say of Sanazarius, that in three books he writ of Jesus Christ, he hath not the Name of Iesus or Christ through the whole work? and the reason one gave was, that they were not Latin words; he puts the Sibylls works in the blessed Vir∣gins hands, and making no use of Esay or David, he makes use of pagan pro∣phets to prove the coming of Christ.

But to leave these santastiques, I will now be more serious, and pry a little into the Canon-law, which hath such a vogue in Italy; It makes the Crown a slave to the Miter, and the scepter to the crosier, and the Emperours throne to the Popes chair; Nay it lessens and distracts the allegeance of the subject to his natural rightfull prince; For it is the concordant opinion of all the Canonists; Imperij vasallos criminis Rebellionis, & Majestatis haud esse reos, si pro Pontifice Ro∣mano adversus Imperatorem ipsum pugnent; The vassalls of the Empire cannot be guilty of the crime of Rebellion, if they take armes for the Roman Bishop against the Emperour; And Bartolus himself, who by Schurfius is called Magi∣ster veritatis, the Master of truth, by Menochius, Iurisconsultorum signifer, the standard-bearer of Reason, by Natta, Excellentissimus Doctor, by others the Lan∣tern of the Law, the Guide of the Blind, the Mirroir and Father of verity; holding that his works are worthy to be bound with the Sacred Code, averres the same in favour of the Pope, though he poorely excuseth it, that he held these te∣nets, when he was engaged in the Roman Court.

Moreover, these Canonists are not only content to give his Holines the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, but also of the Kingdoms of Spain, of Great Britain, of France, and indeed of all the Kingdoms upon earth: There are some think there are Kingdoms likewise in the Air, and he may as well pretend a power para∣mount over them also. But let us see how the Pope came to this transcenden∣cy, to this cumble and height of greatnes. His first rise was when Constantin gave him Rome, and it was a notable rise; yet all others, the Canonists excep∣ted, do question the validity of this donation, and Aeneas Sylvius himself did so before he was Pope: for said he, Callidè id provisum a Pontifice; It was cau∣tiously provided by the Bishop of Rome, that this should be alwayes under con∣troversy,

whether that donation of Constantine was valid or not valid, that such a donation might be presumed still to have been; so the Popes are not much displeased that another question should be still litigated, and that the Schools should ring with the debate, Whether that power which the Bishop of Rome hath over Princes in temporalibus be directly, or indirectly; for the stating of the que∣stion it self presupposeth that he hath a power. But many Princes, not only those who have quite shaken off his yoke; but others who still adhere to Rome, have quite freed themselves of this servitude; France did it long since in the clash that happen'd 'twixt Philip le bell and Boniface the eighth, claiming a jurisdiction in Gallia over Temporals; but the King wrote to him in these tart words, Que ta tres-grande sottise scache—Let thy great foolishnes know, that in Temporals we are subject to none but to God himself, and they who think otherwise are sots—.

And Monsieur Nogaret going afterwards to Rome in quality of Ambassador, and using some bold termes at his Audience, the Pope upbraided him that his Father had been burnt for a Heretique; thereupon Nogaret tooke him, with a Gantlet, which hee had on his hand, such a cuffe under the eare, that fell'd him.

It is memorable also in what termes the Greek Churches writ to Iohn the third, who demanding plenitude of power over the Church universall, sent him word, Potentiam tuam summam circa tuos subditos firmiter credimus, su∣perbiam tuam summam tollerare non possumus, avaritiam satiare non valemus. Dia∣bolus tecum, Dominus nobiscum. We firmely beleeve thy supreme power over thy own subjects, but we cannot endure thy pride, nor are we able to satiate thy covetousnesse. The Devill be with thee, and God with us. It was an odde farewell.

Nor of late years touching the right to the Crown of Portugal, would Philip the second, though extremely devoted to the See of Rome, stand to the decision of the Pope after the death of Henry, of whom it is very memorable, that he died the Moon being in an Eclipse, and the very same day and hour that he had been born 68 years before. No, King Philip thought that the Sword was fittest to be Umpire in that business, which he made accordingly. Of such an opinion was Paul the third also for maintainance of his power; for he was us'd to laugh at those who would make use of arguments to maintain the Pontifical power; no, he was us'd to say, It is not the Word only, but the Sword which must defend that; good Garrisons, Castles, and Bastions must do it, as well as Excomunications and Buls.

The Venetians of late years gave a shrewd wound to the Papal power through the sides of Paul the fifth; when he had threatned them with spiritual Armes, Nicolao Pontano the Doge, or Duke, a man of a free soul, answered the Nuncio, That if Rome would dart her thunderbolts so rashly, verendum esse, ne qui Graeci olim fuissent, è Latio in Graeciam migrâssent, it was to be feared that they who were Greeks of old, might goe again from Italy to Greece▪ meaning to the Greek Church. In this quarrel the Pope had recourse to Spain for to appear in it, and thereupon did much complement with the Duke of Lerma, but a little under the dignity of a Pope: He termed him, Basin Hispanicae coronae, super qua acquiescat Monarchia Catholica, unicum Ecclesiae fundamentum. He writ, that Lerma was the support of the Spanish Crown, upon which the Catholique Mo∣narchy did rest, the onely prop of the Church.

In the year 1337. Lodovicus Bavarus being Emperour, there happen'd some contrasts 'twixt the Emperour and the Pope, who alledged that the Electors made him King onely, but he made him Emperour. Hereupon at a solemn Diet this notable Sanction was enacted. Sacrosanctum Imperium, summa in ter∣ris potestas, coeleste donum est; Imperator enim primus ante omnes, secundus post Deum est, per quem, leges, jura, regna humanae genti largitur aeterna Majestas, & tam grande nomen à solo Deo traditur, cui soli me Reipub▪ administrandae rationē red∣dendam

habet. A curiatis igitur Heptarchis rebus impositus, continuò more Majo∣rum at{que} jure gentium Rex est & vocatur: ipsum contra majestatem Reipub. decus Imperii legatos ad sacerdotem Romanum, ut Author fiat copiam administrandi conce∣dat mittere, eidem jurejurando fidem astringere, at{que} petere ab ipso usum regii dia∣dematis Religio est. Nullum harum rerum sus omnino est pastori, qui servus ovium est, & in consecrando domino gregi servit▪ quippe jure suffragiorum, beneficio Electo∣rum at{que} populi quisque imperat. Haec verissima esse convenit inter omnes annalium, rerum humanarum, divinarumque peritos, atque jam saepius utriusque juris Caesa∣rei atque Pontificii coelestis thesauri testimoniis comprobatum est. Nonnulli quidem sanctuli praeter fas contra naturae legem docere non erubescunt, pastoris beneficiarium esse Dominum, neque ante principem principum esse aut nominari oportere, quàm ille servus servorum Author fiat, & dignum judicârit qui regnet, sed haec cum maxima Christianae Reipub. pernicie, intollerabili populi Christiani, imperatoriae Majestatis jacturâ, nec sine gravissimo Tetrarcharum, Dynastarum, Clientium imperii detrimen∣t•…•…, instigante Stygio principe, domino hujus mundi, commenta esse, eventus docet, exi∣tus probat.

Quare decernimus, & perpetuò sancimus Edicto, nimirùm ex solo Electionis bene∣ficio omnem potestatem imperiumque proficisci, nec ullo pacto pontificis Romani in hac re sanctimonia, flaminio, authoritate, consensu opus esse. Quicunque aliter docu∣erit, senserit, •…•…actitarit, crimine laesae Majestatis reus, hostis reipub. atque proscrip∣tus esto, capite paenas solvito, bona ejus publica sunto, praedia infiscentur. The most holy Empire being the highest power upon earth, is the gift of heaven: For the Emperour is first before all, and second after God Almighty, by whom the eternall Majesty does bestow Lawes, Rights, and Kingdomes to mankind, and so great a name is onely given by God, to whom onely he is ac∣countable for the administration of the Commonwealth. By the election of the Heptarchicall Electors, according to the custome of our Ancestors, and by the Law of Nations he is King, and call'd so: For him to send Ambassa∣dours to the Priest of Rome, that he would authorize him, and give him leave to administer, is against the Majesty of the Empire; but to binde himself unto him by oath, and seek of him the use of the royal Diadem, is Religion. The Pastor hath no right to any of these things, who is servant to his sheep, and serves the flock in consecrating the Lord: For by right of suffrage, by the be∣nefit of the Electors and people, every one reignes. That these things are true, is well known to all those that are vers'd in Antiquity never so little, where they shall finde this Doctrine confirm'd not onely by Caesarean, but Pontificial testimonies themselves. Yet neverthelesse some Sciolists, or little modern Saints doe not blush to teach the contrary, viz. That the Lord is a Beneficiary to the Shepheard, and that the Emperour may not be call'd Prince of Princes, till he receive his authority from servus servorum, from the servant of ser∣vants, as the Pope stiles himself to be. But this cannot be without much mis∣chief to the Christian Commonwealth, and without the utter overthrow of the Imperial Majesty, on which so many Princes and Potentates depend. Therefore it may be called a Doctrin suggested by the Stygian Prince, and bel∣ched forth out of hell.

Therefore we decree and divulge it for an everlasting Sanction, that the Cae∣sarean Majesty is derived from the power of Election, and not from any sancti∣mony, consent, or confirmation of Pontificall authority. And whosoever shall maintain, publish, or teach otherwise, we pronounce him criminall of High Treason, a professed Enemy to the Imperial Commonwealth, and worthy of capitall punishment, or Proscription, that the property of his goods be altered and confiscated.

Yet notwithstanding this solemn Sanction, how hath the Papal power en∣creas'd upon the Imperial of late times? Caesar was us'd to summon universal Councells. It was Constantine the Great, who call'd the Nicene Counsel. Theo∣dosius the Constantinopolitan: Theodosius Iunior the Ephesian. Martianus that of

Chalcedon, which four Councels are next in authority to the 4. Evangelists, they are like the 4. Rivers that ran through Paradis. Besides how many other General Councels were indicted by Emperors. Besides it was their Preroga∣tive to institute Popes. Henry the 3. created Clement the 2. Damasus the 2. Leo 9. and Victor the 2. Nay Caesar was us'd to punish the contumacies, and exor∣bitances of the Pope. So did Otto the 1. chastice Pope Iohn and Benedict. Henry the 3. Sylvester and Gregory. Henry the 5. depos'd Pope Paschal. There is a cloud of examples to prove this. The summons of Henry the 4. to Gregory Hildebrand, that Satanical St. as Damianus stiles him, are very remarkable. Tu Hildebrande, non jam Apostolice, sed false Monache descende, vendicatam tibi sedem Apostolicam relinque. Alius sedem B. Petri ascendet, qui nulla violentiam Religione palliet, sed Beati Petri doctrinam doceat. Ego Henricus Rex dei gratiâ cum omni∣bus Episcopis nostris tibi dicimus descende, descende. Thou Hildebrand, who art no apostolical, but a false Monk, descend; leave the Apostolical seat which thou claimst, another shall ascend blessed Peters Throne, who will not palli∣ate violence with Religion, but teach Peters▪ pure Doctrine. I Henry by the grace of God King, with all our Bishops do tell thee, descend, descend. I do not see but the Emperor is Caesar still, and endow'd with the same power.

Now, touching the oth which the Pope exhibits to the Emperor, it is not an Oth of alleageance or fidelity, but that Oth relates to the protection, and defence which he is bound thereby to give the Holy Church, which Lords use to promise ordinarily to their Vassalls, and temporal Princes to their subjects. And whereas of old, the Emperor out of a pious reverence to the Church, did use to calculate the time of his reign from the day of his Coro∣nation by the Pope, we know well that that custom is grown obsolet, and antiquated by a long desuetude; In so much that the German or Electorian Coronation is now as valid as the other. And I pray how many Emperors have omitted the Papal Coronation, and neglected those superfluous forma∣lities and ceremonies? The Emperor Henricus Auceps, being invited by the Pope to be crown'd at Rome, answered, It was sufficient for him to be King of the Romans by Gods Grace, and so oblig'd to protect Germany from the in∣cursion of infidells. Rodolph the 1. gave such an other answer, being advis'd to go to Rome to be crown'd. Italy said he, I know, hath consum'd many Alman Kings, I will not to Rome, I am already King, I am already an Emperor, and I hope I shall be able to act for the Christian Common-wealth, as if I had perform'd that ceremony at Rome.

The Canonists, whose main endeavours are to elevate the Popes Miter above the Imperial Majesty, would have it; that when Caesar dies, the Right is devolv'd to the Pope, till a new Election. But we well know, most noble Princes, that by our Golden bull it is ordain'd otherwise, & that during the Vacancy of the Empire, the right of Administration appertains to the Electors of the Rhine and Saxony. It is well known how Paul the 4. would have molested Ferdinand the 1. by his Caraffical Canons, but to little purpose. For as Serpents do natu∣rally retain a poyson still in them, though they do not alwaies vent it; so the Roman seaven headed Beast doth still keep within him that malignant humor towards the Emperor; which may chance be his own destruction at last: as we read of Iohn Baptista Bishop of Concordia, who at a Ducal feast in Venice, kept in his gutts that Wind which should have found vent backward, so long, that he died of it. Now touching the Right that his Holinesse hath to Rome by the donation of Constantine, it is the same that Venice hath to the Dominion of the Adriatique Gulph; they are both of them no other then Titles of Straw: yet that of Rome doth produce the Pope much grain. And as that vainglorious Citty was first founded by Fugitives and Robbers, and afterwards patched up an Empire of varia magna latrocinia, of divers great Theeveries (for King∣doms are little better) which shee got by oppression, tyranny, and rapine;

so the same genius remaines still in Rome, for she may be sayed to be a Harpye still, and to robbe all the Christian World that's subject to her by her merce∣nary Pardons, Buls, and Indulgences: She seldome takes the Lamb without his Fleece: Lord, how is she degenerated from her self when she was a Primi∣tive Christian! in those times there were golden Priests, and wooden Chal•…•…∣ces, but now clean contrary, as Boniface the Martyr cryed out,

—In time of old The Chalices were wood, the Priests were gold; But now a man may swear by Haly rood, The Chalices are gold, the Priests are wood.

Indeed the Italians are generally covetous, and it is to foment their plea∣sures, whereof they are the greatest embracers of any people. About the precincts of Padoa, there were two brothers that in a cleer shine night were walking in the fields, and one of them casting his eyes up to the Firmament, wished that he had as many fat Oxen as there were Starres in the Heavens. The other presently wished, that he had a Field as large as the Firmament; the other replying, what he would doe with it? he answered, To feed your Oxen. But the judgement of Heaven is observable herein; for as they multi∣plied discourse about these prophane wishes, they fell a quarrelling, and so slew one another in the place.

And now, I pray, what Nation is more vindicative than the Italian? How many have been murther'd for casting but a few glances upon another mans wife out of a window? What various inventions have they of poysoning, sometimes by the smoak of a candle, sometimes by the suavity of a flower, sometimes by a poyson'd glove or handkerchief, sometimes by small crosse∣bowes with poyson'd needles instead of arrowes. What an inhumane horrid revenge did a Millanez take of an old friend of his, to whom having been reconciled after some quarrell, he bore still a black rancor in his breast a∣gainst him, and having surpris'd him in a convenient place, he put a dag∣ger to his throat, vowing that if hee would not doe one thing, hee was a dead man, which was to abjure God Almighty, the infortunate man did it thrice, and the third time as he was pronouncing the words, he stabb'd him to the heart, and so dispatcht him, glorying afterwards of the fulnesse of his revenge; for hee had destroyed his body and soul? And now that I am in Mi∣lan, me-thinkes I see that glorious Empresse Beatrix, Barbarossa's wife, ri∣ding through the streets upon a Mule, with her face towards the posteriors of her, and holding the tayle in her hand for a bridle; O most unmanly, and base unparallell'd peece of barbarism; but the Emperour was soundly quit with them; for besides those whom he put to death for this affront, he caus'd the chiefest of the Town to lick out figges being stuck in a Mules Fundament, whence proceeded that proverbiall Jeere which continues to this day in Italy, Ecco la fico; Lo here the figge: For when they would mock any, they use to put the thumb betwixt the two forefingers, and pro∣nounce those words.

And, to draw to a period, I pray hear what that noble French personage, Alexander de Pontaymery, a man of a candid and clear judgement, speakes of this wanton Countrey of Italy, Nous allons, saith he, en Italie auec une despense incroyable achepter la seule ombre de la civitité, & nous en rapportons la masse entiere de vices; ceux de Milan nous apprenment la tromperie, le Veneti∣en nous rend Hypocrites, le Romain nous plonge en un Ocean d' Atheisme & d' impieté, & le Neapolitain nous change en satyre, où plustost nous fait un es∣goust, & un cloaque de tou•…•… lascivité, mollesse, & paillardisse, le Florentin nous

enseigne l'artifice et l'operation de poyson—We traverse the Alpes, and trot into Italy with incredible expense, to take up certain shadows of Ci∣vility, but we bring back the whole masse of Vice; the Milanez teacheth us how to be Iuglers, the Bolognois to be Lyars, the Venetian to be Hypocrites, the Napolitan transformeth us to Satyres in lascivity and lust, the Roman plungeth us in an ocean of Atheism, the Florentine teacheth us the artifice of Poysoning.

Therefore under the favour of this noble Prince that spoak before me, and of this most celebrous and sage Assembly, I hold Italy, in statu quo nunc, to be most incapable to recover her former Principality, but fitter rather to be the Queene of Pleasures, than the Empress of Europe.