Italian priest, "I cannot much praise his wit, which might have had the emperor in his hands and would not." Lo such be these Machiavel's heads, who think no man have so much wit as he should, except he do more mischief than he need. But duke Maurice purposing to do no harm to the emperor, but good to his father-in-law, obtaining the one pursued not the other. Yea, I know it to be most true, when we fled from Insburg so hastily, Duke Maurice sent a post to the good king of the Romans, and bade him will the emperor to make no such speed, for he purposed not to hurt his person, but to help his friend; whereupon the diet at Passau immediately followed. I commend rather the judgment of John Baptist Gascaldo, the emperor's man and the king of the Romans's general in Hungary, who is not wont to say better, or love any man more than he should, specially Germans, and namely protestants. And yet this last winter he wrote to the emperor, that he had marked Duke Maurice well in all his doings against the Turk, and of all men that ever he had seen, he had a head to forecast the best with policy and wit, and a heart to set upon it with courage and speed, and also a discretion to stay most wisely upon the very prick of advantage. Marquis Marignano told some in this court four years ago, that Duke Maurice should become the greatest enemy to the emperor that ever the emperor had; which thing he judged (I believe) not of any troublesome nature which he saw in Duke Maurice, but of the great wrongs that were done to Duke Maurice, knowing that he had both wit to perceive them quietly, and also a courage not to bear them over long. Some other in this court that loved not Duke Maurice, and having no hurt to do him by power, went about tó him some for spite, and therefore wrote these two spiteful verses against him : say *Jugurtham Mauricus prodit, Mauricus ultra, Henricum, Patruum, Socerum, cum Cæsare, Gallum. He that gave me this verse added thereunto this his judgment, "Well (saith he) he that could find in his heart to betray his friend duke Henry of Brunswick, his nigh kinsman duke Frederick, his father-in-law the landgrave, his sovereign lord the emperor, his confederate the French king, breaking all bonds of friendship, nature, law, obedience, and oath, shall besides all these deceive all men, if at length he do not deceive himself." This verse and this sentence, the one made of spite, the other spoken of displeasure, be here commended as men be affectioned. For my part, as I cannot accuse him for all, so will I not excuse him for part. And yet since I came to this court, I should do him wrong if I did not confess that, which as wise heads as be in this court have judged on him, even those that for country and religion were not his friends, that is, to have shown himself in all these affairs betwixt the emperor and him, first, humble in entreating, diligent in pursuing, witty in purposing, secret in working, fierce to force by open war, ready to parley for common peace, wise in choice of conditions, and just in performing of covenants. And I know he offended the emperor beyond all * The former distich was in the old edition corrupt, and still remains barbarous in the prosody; the same defect will remain in this, though it be reformed as I believe it was written, thus, Jugurtham Maurus prodit, Mauricius ultra. [Some one has cancelled ic in Mauricius, with red ink, in the copy at the British Museum.] remedy of amends; so would I be loth to see, as I have once seen, his majesty fall so again into any enemy's hands; lest peradventure less gentleness would be found in him than was found in duke Maurice, who when he was most able to hurt, was most ready to hold his hand, and that against such an enemy, as he knew well would never love him, and should always be of most power to revenge. If Duke Maurice had had a Machiavel's head or a coward's heart, he would have worn a bloodier sword than he did, which he never drew out in all these stirs, but once at the Cluce, and that was to save the emperor's men. Hitherto I have followed the order of persons, which hath caused me somewhat to misorder both time and matter, yet where divers great affairs come together, a man shall write confusedly for the matter, and unpleasantly for the reader, if he use not such an apt kind of partition as the matter will best afford, "Which thing (Plato saith) who cannot do, knoweth not how to write." Herein Herodotus deserveth in mine opinion a great deal more praise than Thucydides, although he wrote of a matter more confused for places, time, and persons, than the other did. In this point also Appianus Alexandrinus is very commendable, and not by chance but by skill doth follow this order, declaring in his prologue just causes why he should do so. Our writers in later time, both in Latin and other tongues, commonly confound too many matters together, and so write well of no one. But see, master Astley, I thinking to be in some present talk with you, after our old wont, do seem to forget both myself and my purpose. For the rest that is behind, I will use a gross and homely kind of talk with you; for I will now, as it were, carry you out of England with me, and will lead you the same way that I went, even to the emperor's court, being at Augusta, an. 1550. And I will let you see in what case it stood, and what things were in doing when we came first thither. After, I will carry you, and that apace (because the chiefest matters be thoroughly touched in this my former book), through the greatest affairs of two years in this court. Yea, in order, till we have brought Duke Maurice (as I promised you) to join with marquis Albert in besieging Augusta. And then, because privy practices brast [burst] out into open stirs, I might better mark things daily than I could before. And so we will depart with the emperor from Insburg, and see daily what chances were wrought by fear and hope in this court, till his majesty left the siege of Metz, and came down hither to Brussels; where then all things were shut up into secret practices, till, lastly of all, they brake forth into new mischiefs, betwixt the emperor and France in Picardy, and also betwixt Duke Maurice and the mar quis in high Germany; which things, I trust, some other shall mark and describe a great deal better than I am able to do. 88 88 088 888 THE SCHOLEMASTER 88 880 88 Or plaine and perfite way of teachyng 88 8 children, to understand, write, and fpeake, the Latin tong, but fpecially purpofed for the private brynging up of youth in Jentlemen and Noble mens houfes, and commodious alfo for all fuch, as have forgot the Latin tonge, and would, by themfelves, without a Scholemafter, in fhort tyme, and with fmall paines, recover 088 a fufficient habilitie, to Latin. ¶ By Roger Ascham. ¶ An. 1570. 880 88 88 88 888 888 88 088 088 |