Testament or in a Codicil or in a Paper Signed by him this Jucto shall meet in the Queens presence in such an Apartment and place as she shall be pleased to order during the time she shall remain in Spain and her said Majesty shall have a Casting Voice that is to say that when the Suffrages shall be divided the side on which her's is shall carry before the other but for the rest the Plurallity of Voices shall carry it in all things Answer To palliate the maâ—ter and make the Germans an atonement his Majesties Royal Consort the Queen a Sister of the present Empress is made one of the Regents But where 's the Favour that she has the Casting Voice when 't is well known the French Nation has a great Majority in the said Juncto that she can never have occasion to make use of it Or the mighty Priviledge in making choice of what Apartment she pleases for 'em to Meet in when she is certain to be over-rul'd by 'em when they are met Article XVI And in case that when the King Dies he who is to be his Successor should be Minor or under the Age of 14 Years the same Governors here above named shall have in his Name the Administration of the Government and shall be his Tutors and Curators Answer But his Present Majesty will be none of their Pupils nor if he were under the Age of 14 Years as 't is Visible he is not would his Grand-Father think it not in his Power to chuse him French Tutors since he has already made choise of a French Man for his Confessor Article XVII The Vice-Chancellor of Aragon whom his Majesty has named to be one of the Juncto as Tutor to his Successor shall Especially and Particularly if it be Conformable to the Priviledges and Customs of the Kingdom of Arragon but if the said Customs and Priviledges permit not him that is President to exercise that Post his Majesty then appoints in his place the most Antient Councellor of the Robe of the said Kingdom to make it his Function and in defect of him he appoints him that shall be next and shall follow him in Place and Seniority Answer The Vice-Chancellor of Arragon may perhaps be his Titular Tutor but L XIV will actually be his Instructor and the First may endeavour to inculcate true Spanish deliberation in his Royal Disciple but the Doctrines of the Last will be more prevalent for his Imitation Article XVIII The said Regent of Arragon that shall be Tutor shall Reside at Court shall keep his place in Council shall assist at the Juncto and propose those things that shall relate to and concern the Kingdom of Aragon to the end that the Juncto being inform'd thereof they may resolve by plurality of Voices upon such Measures as shall be most conducing to the Service of God and his Successor Answer He may Reside at Court Assist in Council take his Place in the Juncto and propose what Matters he pleases but a Prince who has suck'd in Arbitrary Notions with his Mothers Milk has heard of nothing but absolute Power and been harangu'd with no Schemes but those of Ambition will not lessen his Authority in taking other Peoples Measures when he is fix'd in his Throne and has it in his Power to follow the Dictates of his own Will Article XIX His Majesty gives all his Ministers and Officers the Power Authority and Faculty that is necessary towards a due Exercise of their respective Offices during the Minority of his Successor provided they do first take the Oath of Fidelity to him Answer And what signifies the Power and Authority which is given ' em They have no Minor to deal with their King is above 14 Years Old and a Successor of that Age as the Will has given us to understand in one of the Precedent Articles is declar'd to be in a State of Majority Article XX. The Tutors abovesaid shall Administer the Affairs all together and not one by one and for that purpose shall Assemble every Day in an Apartment of the Palace which the Queen shall assign the Secretary of the Universal Dispatches being present to make the Relations and assist in the same manner as he did did during the Kings Life Answer If they are to consult of publick affairs altogether and the Queen as Supreme Regent has Authority to appoint how comes it to pass that publick Business is concerted without her Majesties Consent That Letters of Thanks are sent without her Hand and Signet to 'em and that Embassies are order'd without her previous Approbation For the very Letters from Paris agree That the Queen Swoonded at the News of the Duke of Anjou's being Declar'd King and not one Instance has been given of her acting any ways since Her Royal Husband's Death then by sending Letters to some Princes to give her the News of it Article XXI All the Matters of Consultation that are to be laid before the Councils to be Communicated first to the Secretaries Office of the Universal Dispatches afterwards opened to the Juncto and the Secretary of the Dispatches is to appoint the Resolution Answer This is a Piece of Formality not much Intelligible to Men of our Nation who are as quick in dispatch of Business as the Spaniards are wanting in Expedition among whom if you were but to ask where a Grandee was you must go thro' as many Hands before you 'll be out of your Pain of Enquiry as one of our Foot Guards does in running the Gauntlet Article XXII In the Dispatches which the King is used to Sign as well with his Royal Hand as with his Signet the Queen shall Sign in the same place the King did and the Tutors shall Sign lower to the Number of Four at least and in the Affairs of Aragon the Regent of that Kingdom shall always Sign Answer It 's to be suppos'd Her Majesty will scarce tyre her self in Signing Dispatches which are concerted against the Interest of the Imperial Family or that she will be prevail'd with by the pretended Honour of Writing her Name in the King's Place to make use of it for the Benefit of those who are Enemies to the Austrian Interest Article XXIII Every one of the Regents shall be permitted to propose what he shall think most convenient for the benefits of the Kingdom and the plurality of Voices shall decide it Answer Very good but they must do what they intend for the Benefit of the Kingdom in a very short time or it may possibly be out of their Power Their young Prince is on his Journy to take the Staff out of their Hands and he 'll probably have People about him that will Instruct him how to make his own Voice carry Matters beyond their Plurality Article XXIV In case the voices should be found equally divided in the Juncto either by the Queen's absence or some other accident the President of the Council to whom the Matter then in
and when his Eminency's hand was in he might have left all that belong'd to the King by his own Acquisition and what had been Annex'd to the Crown by his Ancestors in one Article But the Will must appear like something done in Concert with the Council of State and is Spun out into a Multitude of Articles on purpose to amuse the Publick Article XLIII The late King Philip the 4th having left to his Majesty and the Kings his Successors a holy Cross which is to be found in the Wardrobe his Majesty leaves it likewise to his Successor and the Kings that shall succeed him Answer I question not but as the Goods in the Wardrobe were bequeath'd to the Successor the Young King would have taken Possession of the Holy Cross which was among 'em I wonder he did not bestow an Article upon every particular peice of Furniture that we might have seen what Goods his Majesty had and know the Temptation of Lewis the 14th to break thro' the Bonds of the Partition Article XLIV His Majesty having always had a particular esteem for rendring Justice to all his Subjects and Vassals and wronging no Body he persists in the same Sentiment and ordains that for that end all his Debts shall be entirely paid and that Satisfaction shall be given to all Persons that shall have any thing to pretend by vertue of the Resolutions he has taken oo the Dispositions he has made Answer His Majesty for all that I know might have always had a particular esteem for Justice but he had not always a Power to execute it as appears by his Present Testament The Payment of Debts is inserted on Purpose that the Nation may be beholding to the Most Christian King for how his Successor can Discharge the Debts to the Elector of Bavaria and the Dutch without French Loue 's d'Ors it 's not in the Power of the Wisest Spaniard to Divine Article XLV His Majesty recommends to the King his Successor to avoid all superfluous Expences to spare the People and ease them of the Taxes and Impositions luid on them as soon as necessity will permit Answer What went before was an Order for the Payment of his Debts and what immediately follows it is a Charge to his Successor to ease his People of the Taxes and Impositions But how the former is to be obey'd and the latter have a due Observance paid to it his Eminence I believe cannot tell I am rather apt to believe they must raise New Funds by fresh Taxes or the Spaniards will be as far from the Payment of their Old Debts as ever Article XLVI Is a recommandation to the succeeding Kings to love cherish and henour their Estates and Kingdoms and particularly the Kingdom of Castille as also to honour and reward those of their other Subjects and Vassals that shall deserve it Answer The Cardinal without doubt is a Castillian because that Nation is recommended in particular to his Majesty's Love whether they deserve it or no when other States are not to be Lov'd Chrish'd and Honour'd but in case of Merit Article XLVII And it being the true and proper Office of Royalty to render Justice equally to every Body to be the Father of his Subjects and Vassals the Support of Widdows Orphans and the Relief of the Poor and Miserable his Majesty recommands in particular all these points to the King his Successor Answer The Office of a King is certainly to be the Father of his Countries c. but 't is to be fear'd his late Majesty had not Power enough to execute it and not unlikely but some Foreign Maxims will persuade the Present King to Grasp at more Authority than what consists with the Office of Royalty Article XLVIII His Majesty moreover advises and charges him to make much of his Vassals which are more remote as in the Indies c. and repose as much Confidence in them as in the very Castillians it being the means to gain more and more their Love and Fidelity Answer Here 's another Contradiction first the Castilians were chefly to share his Majesty's Affection and now the Successor is injoyn'd to make as much of his Subjects which are under his Dominion at a greater distance But Mexico and Peru have a Mettle that grows in 'em which can make one say and unsay all in a Breath Article XLIX And whereas his Majesty has been constrained to exact from his Subjects and Vassals divers extraordinary Impositions and it having not been possible to take them all off his Majesty recommends expresly two things to his Successor the one to remit as soon as possible the burthen of the said Taxes the other never to spend as much as a single Real of that Fund either in Donatirns or Liberality considering it is the blood of the people and that recourse ought to be had thereto but in the last extremity Answer If Taxes are the Blood of a People there 's nothing like a French Surgeon to take it from 'em and whether the Emperor pursues his Pretensions or no it 's thought the Successor will not want being taught Evasions to keep 'em on the same Bottom but as for Donations or Acts of Liberality which are not to be bestow'd out of that Fund we may suppose the Cardinal has already Finger'd his reward because he shuts up his Majesty's Exchequer against others Article L. His Majesty Ordains and Enjoyns that conformable to the Laws of the Monarchy neither the King his Successor nor those that shall come after him shall ever alinate any part of the Kingdoms and Countries or divide or share them upon any account soever not so much as to give Apenages to their own Children but on the contrary as well the Kingdoms that are now annexed to the Crown as those that may fall thereto for the future shall be continued united for ever in an inseparable manner His Majesty confirming for that purpose the Law made in the States of Valladolid in the Year 1442 by King John the 2d and afterwards approved and confirmed by King Firdinand Queen Isabella his Spouse the Emperor Charles the 5th Philip the 2d Philip the 3d. and Philip the 4th Answer The Dreadful Partition is still in his Eminency's Head tho he has taken the proper means to prevent it by the Nomination of a Prince of France and here 's an injunction laid on the Successor not to Alienate or divide it as if he was sensible Phillip 5th would make a Compliment of some of his Dominions to his Grand-Father for his great Condescention in not possessing himself of all Article LI. His Majesty confirms certain Rights settled by the King his Predecessors on the Grandees and Nobility of the Kingdoms and Countries of Spain Answer That is his Majesty would have the Grandees assume the same Government over his Successor as he quietly suffer'd over himself But French Princes are not to be led by the Nose which the Testament-maker may one Day find notwithstanding great
call's Hereticks Article X. The Kings and Successors to the Crown of Spain shall prefer the Considerations of Religion before those of Politicks and by those means draw upon them the Blessing of God Answer That is the King shall be a muttering Ave Maria's while the Cardinal sits at the Helm and takes care of publick Affairs and concerns himself in more profitable Matters which shews there 's nothing like a Bigotted Prince for a Covetious States-man and a Soveraign possess'd with Superstition for a Disciple of Matchiavel to work on Article XI The Adoration of the Holy Sacrament which has been particularly established and founded in the Chapple of the Pallace shall be observed for the future as it is at present Answer As for this Article I have nothing to say to it let 'em elevate the Host as his deceas'd Majesty thinks fit Tho' something occurs observable enough from the frequency of his Orders against all manner of Alterations he has some suspicion of his Successor and can hardly be assur'd a Prince of the House of Bourbon can bring himself to a Castilians Temper without great difficulty Article XII The King declares that if God by his infinite mercy gives him lawful Children the Eldest of the Males shall Succeed him and by defect of Males the Daughters according to the Laws of his Kingdoms but it not having pleased God at the time of this Testament to grant him that inestimable favour and the first Obligation which is incumbent on him is to provide for the Welfare of his Subjects and the preservation of his Kingdoms in the Union conducive to the Publick Good they keeping the Fidelity they owe to their King and Natural Lord as they have done for the time past and regulating themselves most justly and wholy conforming with the Supreame Authority of his Disposal Answer The Commands which went before were only as so many leading-strings to what the Will is now pointing at God has not bless'd his Catholick Majesty with Issue from his own Body and the Welfare of his Subjects and Preservation of his Kingdoms make it but sitting he should declare a Successor who should be instrumental in continuing the Blessings they had receiv'd from his Auspicious Reign And the sequel will tell us what Provision he has made for it Article XIII By which his Majesty being convinced that the Renunciation of the late King of France having been made to prevent the Re-union of the two Crowns in one sole Monarchy and that when this fundamental Reason comes to cease the Right of Succession belongs pursuant to the Laws of the Kingdom to the next Relation and Heir which now happens in the Person of the Dauphin's Second Son His Majesty calls him in that Quality to the Succession of all his Kingdoms and States without any reserve or exception Authorizes him to take Possession thereof after His Majesty's Death by taking the Oaths to maintain the Laws Ordinances and Customs of the Kingdoms and States of the Monarchy and in case the Duke of Anjou should happen to Die or Inherit the Crown of France the Succession of the Crown of Spain shall pass to the Duke of Berry his Brother and if the same should fall out in the Person of the said Duke of Berry his Brother his Majesty calls to the Succession the Arch-Duke Second Son to the Emperor and not the King of the Romans his Elder Brother for the same Reasons which regard the Duke d' Anjou and in case the Arch Duke Charles should by the same Accident of Death be wanting his Majesty appoints the Duke of Savoy and his Children Willing and Commanding That his Will be punctually executed without any Partition or Dismembring of the Monarchy and his Majesty desiring Ardently that the Peace and Union between the Emperor and the Most Christian King be Conserved he Recommends and Exhorts that for the better Confirmation of this Union and the Tranquillity of Europe the same the rendered indissolble by the Marriage of the Duke d' Anjou with one of the most Illustrious Arch Dutchesses c. Answer Right the Renunciation was certainly made to hinder the Two Crowns from being United in the Person of one Sovereign but how well this Declaration agrees with it may be easily perceiv'd The Design of it without doubt was to keep a French Prince from Sitting on the Throne of Spain and to continue the Succession in the House of Austria Now That this is Frustrated to all intents and purposes by calling the Duke of Anjou to the Possession of a Prince of the Austrian Family is very Apparent and that an Union of the Two Kingdoms is now more to be feared than ever may appear from the French King 's own Words who said France and Spain should be one at his acceptance of the Will Which may be more easily made so by the Contiguity of their Frontiers to each other when it had been much more unlikely to have been effected by the Germans because of the distance of their Territories from each other had the Illustrious Arch Duke been chosen for His Majesty's Successor Article XIV His Majesty makes an Enumeration and Destinction of the Countries in which the Duke de Anjou is to Succeed him to the Title of Castile and those that depend on the Crown of Arragon Declaring that from the Moment it shall please God to remove him from this Life the Duke shall be ipso facto King of all his Countries notwithstanding all sort of Renunciation and orders all his Subjects and Vassals of what Condition soever to Acknowledge him as such without any Delay Answer The Testator has taken upon him to disanul the Validity of the Renunciation but how the Person that drew up the Testament could absolve him before he had repented of such an apparent injury to his own Ilustrious Family it is not in me to imagine If the poor King had lost his Senses what Injustice has the Cardinal done if he parted with his Conscience and made his Majesty Sign a Paper which approaching Death would not permit him to Read Which seems not impossible if we consider with our selves with what earnestness an Austrian Prince is made to recommend another with to the Inheritance of his Dominions whose Family had been at War with him from his very Cradle and laid his Country desolate in the most Savage manner imaginable Article XV. And it being necessary to provide for the Government of the Countries of the Monarchy in a manner Conformable to its Constitutions untill such time as his Majesties Successor might repair to Spain and in Person take care of the Goverment His Majesty Ordains that the same shall be put into the Hands of a Juncto which shall be Composed of the President or Governor of the Council of Castile the Vice Chancellor or President of Arragon the Arch Bishop of Toledo the Inquisitor General of a Grandee and a Counciller of State whom his Majesty will Nominate either in this present
Question shall belong to shall be called for or if there be no President the Dean of the same Council or at least he that shall be most Antient after the Dean Answer If the Queen's absence will make the Voices equal the President of the Council c. is likely to have the Casting Voice at every Sitting of the Juncto before his Majesties Arrival Article XXV Appoints the Morning for the time of meetting and the manner how they are to Assemble in Extraordinary Cases Answer The time is fix'd because their Lordships should know how many Hours they are allow'd to put on their Short Coats and Long Swords in Article XXVI His Majesty exhorts the Members of the Juncto to entertertain between them a good Correspondence necessary for the good of Affairs and prays the Queen to Animate them by her Example Answer This is better than all the rest the Queen must set before 'em a Pattern of Good Correspondence when she 's the only Member of the Juncto that gives 'em an Example she can hold no such thing with Persons who are against the Common Security of Christendom Article XXVII The Successors presence being very necessary for the Benefit of the Kingdom his Majesty Conjures him to repair thither with all possible diligence Answer They may take his Majesties Word for it he 'll answer his Pedecessor's desires in this Point how backward soever he may prove in giving Ear to his other Pious Exhortations For in short he 's in as much hast to be at Madrid as the poor Spaniards are to have him make his Publick Entry for the sake of the Pieces which his Grand-father has given him to scatter among 'em and has got forward on his Journey as soon as he could fear another Relation of the Deceas'd Kings should have reach'd Spain before him Article XXVIII In case the Successor be of Age the Juncto of the Regency shall render him an account of their Administration and the State of all Affairs immediately after his Arrival Answer Then they may make up their Accounts for he was Born in 1683 tho' it signifies very little since these worthy Patriots have done little more than put their Heads together to Endite the Contents of what he already knows or they may rest satisfy'd his Majesty would not undergo a Forty-days Fatigue to pay 'em a Visit in answer to 'em Article XXIX And in case he be still a Minor his Majesty 's Will and Commands that they shall not omit to give him an account of Affairs that shall be Treated of in the Juncto of the Regency proportionably to his Age and the Capacity of his Sence as well to inform him by that means for the Government as to render to his Authority and Royal Dignity due Respect Answer Had his Majesty's Father left the same Orders behind him at his Decease as the Royal Testator has in Relation to his Successor it 's all the World to nothing his Catholick Majestys defunct would have had such an insight into Publick Affairs as to have consulted his Subjects Good by another Testament Article XXX In case the President or Governor of Castile the Vice-Chancellor or President of Aragon the Arch-Bishop of Toledo and the Inquisitor General should happen to die immediately after his Majesties Decease or during the Successor's Minority their Places in the Juncto shall be Officiated by those which the same Juncto have chosen for succeeding their Offices and for what belongs to the Grandee of Spain and the Councillor of State the Juncto may chuse in their place another Grandee or another Councillor in case those his Majesty shall appoint should die and that his said Majesty had not provided for filling up their Places Answer The Articles still are contradictory in relation to the present Succession For what significe the Juncto when at his Arrival his Age Entiles him to the management of Regal Affairs and make what shall be done after it without his Approbation Null and Void However the Catholick King did well to make the Inquisitor General a Member of it in order to keep his Successor in fear of turning Heretick Article XXXI In their Sittings they shall observe the Precedency which His Majesty has before given 'em in their Nomination but if one of the Members of the Juncto be a Cardinal he shall have the first Place and in respect to the Grandee and the Councellor of State they shall take the first or the last place as they shall come In the manner of giving the Suffrages the Form of the Juncto shall be observed and not that of the Council of State Answer This shews the Spaniard all over who is a mighty stickler in Matters of Precedency but gives chiefly an insight into the knowledge of the worthy Person that was Author of this last Will and Testament if one of the Members be a Cardinal c. as Lord Porto Carero certainly is is enough to Point him out to us and tho' he had no great kindness for his Country any body may perceive he has no small value for himself Article XXXII All the Tribunals of the Kingdom shall keep their Authority and manner of Judging and Administring of Justice after the Kings Defase as formerly Answer If the Courts of Judicature were to cease at his Majesties Death it might have been said Justice had departed this Life with the Catholick King but the Nation has so little of that Commodity to spare that his Will-maker would not suffer his Royal Master to carry any out of the World with him Article XXXIII His Majesty recommends to all Tribunals Officers of the Kingdom to render Justice to the People with Integrity and to the Kings his Successor to make no alteration in the said Tribunals and Offices but rather observe punctually and religiously the Castoms and Priviledges of each of the Kingdoms States and Towns of the Monarchy and above all things to admit none in the places of the Government but such as are natural born Subjects of the Country without ever giving thereupon any Dispensation to any body Answer I dare lay my Life what ever the young King does in respect of his Majesty's Recommendation in the first part of this Article he can ne're be so perfect a Castilian as to be punctual in the observance of what he enjoins him in the last The Word Natural Born is hard to be comply'd with and if this Government is to be supported by the Politicks of Versailes without doubt some of the Courtiers there who are to be his Majesty's Instructors are design'd to have some Preferment or other for their pains Article XXXIV His Majesty ordains that immediately after his Decease there shall be given to the Queen all what has been granted her either by Dowry or otherways and as an addition the Sume of Four Hundred Thousand Ducats a Year for her Maintenance recommending expresly to his Successor to put this Point in Execution Answer Immediately after his Decease was