with child, to the terror of them all: And all was through the miseries of fire, that came by carelesness and wilfulness.

Therefore let the very sight of fire and candle put us in mind to prevent the like miseries that have come by fire, both in London and the parts of England; for great winds may rise suddenly, and enemies furies may do mischief. To master the elements is either to increase or decrease any of them; for, as air makes fire increase, so earth will choak it, and water will quench it.

Preventions of fires would save the often collections of money in all churches in England; all which is for the profit and safety of the commonwealth. As good order and care prevent our fear of fire, so a good life prevents the ways to sin. And, if every one mend one, then all will be mended. The Lord commandeth us to have care of our neighbours goods, Deut. xxii. For the love of our neighbour fulfilleth the law, Rom. xiii.

THE

FIVE YEARS OF KING JAMES,

OR,

THE CONDITION OF THE STATE OF ENGLAND,

AND THE RELATION IT HAD TO OTHER PROVINCES.

WRITTEN BY SIR FOULK GREVILL, LATE LORD BROOK. London, printed for W. R. in the year 1643. Quarto, containing eighty-four pages.

HOWSOEVER every kingdom and commonwealth may be both welland uprightly governed, and that good men may be the means to support it; yet there can be no such commonwealth, but, amongst the good, there will be some evil persons: These, whether by nature induced, or through envy and ambition, to the intent to satisfy their appetites, persuaded, do oftentimes enter into actions repugnant unto the felicity of good government and commonwealths, and, by evil causers and perverse deeds, do secretly, and underhand, seek to hasten and set forward the ruin and decay of the same: These things, because they happen contrary, and beyond expectation, are so much the more remarkable, by how much they are sudden and unexpected. And from, hence it cometh, that no state of government can be said to be permanent, but that oftentimes those, said to be good, are by little and little convert

ed unto those that be evil, and oftentimes changed from worse to worse, till they come to utter desolation.

Neither is this alone proper to our commonwealth, but to all; nor to foreign kingdoms, but to our own: For, although his majesty, at his coming to the crown, found us vexed with many defensive wars, as that in Ireland, that in the Low Countries, and almost publick againt Spain, auxiliary in France, and continually in military employments; although he found it lacerated and torn, with divers factions of protestants, papists, and others, from amongst whom sprung some evil men,, that endeavoured to set into combustion the whole state; yet, nevertheless, he established a peace, both honourable, and profitable, with all neighbour princes, and, by relation, through all Europe; so that neither our friends, nor our enemies, might be either feared or suspected.

After this general peace was concluded, and the working heads of divers papists were confined to a certain course of life, that is, peace: they now petition for toleration, for releases of vexation, to have liberty of conscience; and, forsooth, because they cannot have these things amongst them, they contrive a most horrible and devilish plot by gunpowder, to blow up the parliament, even the whole state and command of this kingdom, and so, at one puff, to conclude all this peace, and by that means to procure an unruly and unseemly avarice of this settled government; and this not so much to establish their own religion, for which they pretended it, but to establish their own power and preheminence, and to raise some private families to greatness and dignity, that so, faction being nourished, and that jurisdiction established, they might with great facility suppress whom they please, and support their own state. Thus may we see, that settled governments do cherish in themselves their own destruction, and their own subjects are oftentimes the cause of their own ruin, unless God of his mercy prevent it.

Of the domestick affairs, and of the lascivious course of such on whom the king had bestowed the honour of knighthood.

THIS evil being discovered by the Lord Mounteagle, and overpassed, divers discontents happened, some between the civilians and common lawyers concerning prohibitions; and, for that there was one Dr. Cowell who stood stifly against the Lord Cooke, divers discontents were nourished between the gentry and commonalty, concerning inclosure, and it grew out into a petty rebellion; which by the same was conjectured, not to happen so much for the thing itself, as for to find how the people stood affected to the present state, whereby divers quarrels and secret combustions were daily breaking out; in private families, one sided against another; and of these, protestants against papists, they thereby endea vouring to get a head, and from small beginnings, to raise greater rebellions and discontents, shewed themselves heady, and speak publickly, what durst not heretofore have been spoken in corners: In outward appearance, papists were favoured, masses almost publickly ad

ministered, protestants discountenanced, dishonest men honoured, those, that were little less than sorcerers, and witches, preferred; private quarrels nourished, but especially between Scottish and the English duels in every secret maintained; divers sects of vicious persons, of particular titles, pass unpunished or unregarded, as the sect of roaring-boys, boneventors, bravado's, guarterers, and such like, being persons prodigal, and of great expence, who, having run themselves in debt, were constrained to run into faction, to defend them from danger of the law; these received maintenance from divers of the nobility, and not a little, as was suspected, from the Earl of Northampton; which persons, though of themselves they were not able to attempt any enterprise, yet, faith, honesty, and other good arts, being now little set by, and citizens, through lasciviousness, consuming their estates, it was likely their number would rather increase than diminish; and, under these pretences, they entered into many desperate enterprises, and scarce any durst walk the streets with safety after nine at night: So, to conclude, in outward shew, there appeared no certain affection, no certain obedience, no certain government amongst us.

Such persons on whom the king had bestowed particular honours, either through pride of that, or their own prodigality, lived at high rates, and, with their greatness, brought in excess of riot, both in clothes and diet. So our ancient customs were abandoned, and that strictness and severity, that had wont to be amongst us, the English scorned and contemned, every one applauding strange or new things, though never so costly, and, for the attaining of them, neither sparing purse nor credit; that prices of all sorts of commodities are raised, and those ancient gentlemen, who had left their inheritance whole, and wellfurnished with goods and chattels, having, thereof, kept good houses unto their sons, lived to see part consumed in riot and excess, and the rest, in possibility, to be utterly lost: The holy estate of matrimony most perfidiously broken, and, amongst many, made but a May-game; by which means, divers private families have been subverted, brothel houses in abundance tolerated, and even great persons prostituting their bodies, to the intent to satisfy their appetites, and consume their substance, repairing to the city, and, to the intent to consume their vis tues also, lived dissolute lives. And many of their ladies and daughters, to the intent to maintain themselves according to their dignities, prostitute their bodies in a shameful manner; ale-houses, dicing-houses, taverns, and places of vice and iniquity, beyond measure. abounding in many places, there being as much extortion for sin, as there is racking for rents, and as many ways to spend money, as are windings and turnings in towns and streets; so that, to outward appearance, the evil seems to over-top the good, and evil intentions and counsels rather prospered, than those that were profitable to the commonwealth.

Of my Lord of Northampton's coming to honour; the cause of the division between the Hollanders and the English; between the Scottish and English; between the English and Irish.

NOW Henry Howard, youngest son of the Duke of Norfolk, continuing a papist from his infancy unto this time, beginning to grow eminent, and being made famous heretofore for his learning, having been trained and brought up for a long time in Cambridge, by the persuasion of the king, changeth his opinion of religion in outward appearance; and, to the intent to reap unto himself more honour, became a protestant, for which cause, he was created Earl of Northampton, and had the king's favours bountifully bestowed upon him; first, the office of privy-seal, then the wardenship of Cinque-Ports, and, lastly, the refusal of being treasurer: This man was of a subtle and fine wit, of a good proportion, excellent in outward courtship, famous for secret insinuation, and for cunning flatteries, and, by reason of these flatteries, because a fit man for the conditions of those times, and was suspected to be scarce true unto his sovereign; but rather endeavouring, by some secret ways and means, to set abroad new plots, for to procure innovation. And, for this purpose, it was thought he had a hand in the contention that happened amongst the Hollanders and English, concerning the fishing, the Hollanders claiming right to have the fishing in the Levant, and the English claiming right; upon this contention, they fell from claim, to words of anger, from words of anger, to blows; so that there died many of them, and a star was left for further quarrel, but that it was salved by wise governors, and the expectation of some disappointed.

Nevertheless, the papists, being a strong faction, and so great a man being their favourer, grew into their head's malice, and endeavour to make the insolency of the Scots to appear, who, to this intent, that they might be the more hated of the English, not contented with their present estate, would enter into outrages; some counterfeit the sealmanual, others taunt the nobility in disdain, and a third sort secretly contrive the English's death; whereby it happened, besides common clamour, that there were added secret discontents of private persons, which caused jealousy to happen in those two nations. But his majesty, being both wise and worthy, foresaw the evil, and prevented it by proclamation, by which means, these clamours are stopped, and the injury and offences of both parties redressed. The Irish seeing these sores, and hearing of these misdemeanors, for they have their intelligents here also, begin to grow obstinate, and make religion a pretence, to colour their intentions; for which cause they stand out, and protest loss of life and goods, rather than to be forced from their opinion, being wavering and unconstant, rather thirsting for rebellion, to the intent to purchase their own liberty, than peace; every new alteration gives occasion of discontent, and causes new complaints to be brought to the king's ear, under pretence whereof, they grew contemptuous to their governors, and haters of the English Laws.

The captains and soldiers grew negligent for want of pay, the great men envying one another through private covetousness, and many insolencies, being suffered, cause there also, to be nourished, many misdemeanors, to the ruin of that government.

These things, being thus handled, administer occasion to the papists to hope for some alteration and change. And that, as a body that is violent consumeth itself, without some special cause to maintain it, so these occurrences will be the cause of their own destruction. At this time, there was a leaguer in Denmark, and, shortly after, another in the Low Countries; but, to what end their beginnings were intended, is yet unknown.

The rising of the Earl of Somerset; his favour and greatness with the King, and his parentage, and discontent.

AMONG other accidents that happened about these times, the rising of one Mr. Carr was most remarkable; a man born of mean parentage, inhabitant in a village near Edinburgh, in Scotland, and there, through the favour of friends, was preferred to his Majesty to be one of his pages, for he kept twelve, according to the custom of the French, and so continued it as long as he was in Scotland; afterwards, coming into England, the council thought it more honourable to have so many footmen to run with his Majesty, as the Queen had before; these youths had clothes put to their backs, according to their places, and fifty pounds a-piece in their purses, and so were dismissed the court.

This youth, amongst the rest, having thus lost his fortunes, to repair them again, makes haste into France, and there continued, until he had spent all his means and money: So that now, being bare in a strange country, without friends, or hope to obtain his expectation, he returns back for England, bringing nothing with him but the language, and a few French fashions; nevertheless, by the help of some of his countrymen, and ancient acquaintance, he was preferred unto the Lord Hays, a Scotchman, and favourite of the King's, to wait upon him as his page. Not long after, that lord, amongst many others, was appointed to perform a tilting, who, bearing an affection to this young man, as well in respect he was his countryman, as that he found him to be of a bold disposition, comely visaged, and of proportionable personage, commixed with a courtly presence, prefers him to carry his device to the King, according to the custom in those pastimes used: Now when he should come to light from off his horse, to perform his office, his horse starts, throws him down, and breaks his leg: This accident, being no less strange than sudden, in such a place, causes the king to demand who he was; answer was made, his name was Carr. He, taking notice of his name, and calling to remembrance, that such a one was his page, causes him to be had into the court, and there provided for him, until such time as he was recovered of his hurt: After, in process of time, the young man is called for, and made one of the bed-chamber to his Majesty; he had not long continued in his place, before (by his