life prejudiciable to his Person or Fortune and so while all this past she shut her eyes and took no notice at all and though one day she hid her self to watch their actions yet she could discover nothing between them but testimonies of a Friendship which reason allows of But since the Love of these two persons was become the general discourse the Duchess consulted many times very seriously with the Marquis Arigone who very farre from approving this too violent inclination as many others did who were well enough pleas'd to let the Duke freely pursue his inclinations He on the contrary forgot nothing to let them see they ought to have prevented him the Marquess was press'd on by these reasons In Mantua there dwelt a widow that was one of the most considerable women of that place who was mother to one of the most fair and agreeable young Ladys of all that State This woman who was not very rich in worldly goods suiting her self to her fortune liv'd onely in the quality of a Gentlewoman and not like a great Lady The Marquis who had a passionate kindness for her let no occasion pass of diverting his melancholly hours at her house and as she was not very cruel to him she granted him willingly those Favours that Love demands without expecting interest imagining that the Marquess who was naturally very grateful would not fail for the Mothers sake who granted him all things to serve the Daughter to his Highness the Duke and this opportunity pleas'd the Marquess very well of shewing himself grateful to the kind Widow in procuring the Love of the Duke for her Daughter and also of testifying his Affection to his Prince in bringing to him one of the most Accomplish'd young Women amongst his Subjects but since he fear'd it a thing impossible to do so long as this passion of the Dukes to the Lady Margaret continued he tryed all wayes to stifle it but unprofitably because the Duke was so insensible for all other Women as well Maids as Wives that neither the handsome nor ugly work'd any effect upon him for he us'd them both so indifferently they had no reason to be jealous of one another The Lady Margaret was the only Favourite and the most lov'd and what beauty soever hapned to be in the Dukes presence he had eyes for none but she One day the Marquess imagining that it was impossible for the Duke to see that fine young Lady of his Acquaintance and not fall in love with her carryed him to her Mothers house who had invited him to that purpose and had spar'd for no Cost nor Ornament to set off the Beauty of her Daughter but all was to no purpose and though the Marquess and the Mother left this young Lady and the Duke alone two houres together in a Chamber the Duke sate by her as if she had not been there without speaking one obliging word to her The insensibility of this Duke was as a Dagger to the heart of this young Lady and in truth What is more vexatious to a Woman then to see that all the arts she has us'd to gain a heart signifie so little in the end The Marquiss quickly perceiv'd that the Duke was not very well pleas'd in the place where he had brought him therefore in returning home to the Palace he begun to praise her extreamly the Duke although he seemed to take no notice and yet nevertheless forc't by the Marquess to speak of that Ladies Beauty he came from said to the Marquess My Lord This Lady is faire enough for you who sees her every day but not for me who never saw her before and looks not upon her so often as you do The Marquess reply'd Your Highness must then see her often that you may think her fairer than now you do The Duke answer'd smiling If I should see her once more certainly I should think her more ugly then I do now The poor Marquess was mad at this and especially when the Duke whil'st they were talking turn'd about and shew'd him the Lady Margaret who they met in the Street See there my Lord Marquess said he there is the fairest amongst all that are faire Whil'st these things past the Dutchess growing angry to see her Son so far gone in Love with the Lady Margaret carryed by some unknown Politick reasons and perhaps at the earnest Solicitations of the Marquess sent the Mother and the Daughter away to Casal yet with all the Civility imaginable and with a particular Promise to Marry her very suddenly as indeed it happen'd soon after The Duke express'd no great signs publickly of resentment for her going away hiding his trouble without all doubt very prudently to take all suspition from the Court Till then it was believ'd by most that nothing but vertue had pass'd between this Lady and the Duke but others that lookt nearer into the business and could see farther into matters of Love believ'd the contrary not being able to imagine how Vertue could subsist with so great a Liberty and that a young Girle who desir'd nothing more then the heart of a Prince could refuse him any thing The Duke certainly was not without desires nor the young Lady without a good will the youth of them both and the great liberty allowed them gave strange causes of suspition In fine believe who will that all their time was spent in saying their Chapelets and their Pater-nosters for my part I never will Some time before the parture 〈◊〉 the Lady Margaret the Duke had â—…y long and private Conferences with 〈◊〉 where there wanted no Tears on bâ—â—h sides at that cruel separation as a Wâ—â—ting-Woman observ'd he could â—â—t forbear promising to Write to her till he had the opportunity of going to visit her at Casal which he gave her his Word should be very suddenly These Protestations of the Dukes rais'd her Heart a little which was so sunk with the Fears and Troubles of a cruel Absence she was to suffer and gave her courage to ask his Highness a word or two under his Hand every moneth at least which Favour she demanded of him in these Words If your Highness will please to Write to me once every moneth it will give me every day a Paradice The Duke embracing her said with all the tenderness of a passionate heart go and believe that nothing in the World shall ever be capable to carry me from loving you She was scarce arriv'd at Casal but the Duke writ a Letter to her as well for his own satisfaction as for the contentment of her he Lov'd it was thâ—… MARGARET My Heart THis is the first Letter which I write to you with one of those Pens that are guided by Love I address to you whom I alone adore as the onely and first object of my Love To tell you how sensible I am of your absence you must aske this Heart which thinks more of you then of it self I do not sware it to
that the Crimes of his Wife and his own misfortune was so publick his melancholly grew to that height that he saw not any body that Saluted him in the Streets and he fancyed every minute that People were making Hornes at him behind his back The Countess who had a good Nose smelt out the reason of the Change in her Husbands Humour and redoubled her Caresses to him fearing least this jealousie which he appear'd so insensible of before his Marriage might produce some unhappy effect for it is certain that had she known him to be of a jealous humour she would never have Marryed him In the mean time as the Earle and his Countess walked one evening after Supper upon the Town Walls the Earl ask'd his Wife Did his Highness waite upon you often As he was wont reply'd she seeing to what end he spoke it And What did you do together said the Earle to which she answer'd The same that you did with the Dutchess at Mantua Thus they both rallyed one another The Husband perceiving what it was to have such a Wife and the wife lamented the trouble of having such a Husband yet nevertheless the Earles jealousies had some intermissions his Melancholly often giving place to his Joy so that his Wife and Brothers in-Law felt some time the effects of the one and then of the other Whil'st these things pass'd in the Year 1652 the Dutchess was brought to bed of a Son which is now the onely Prop of the House of Gonzague the Consolation of his Mother the Glory and Hope of the State to which he gives great hopes promising very much shewing himself a great and brave Prince and expressing aversion for an idle lazy life and on the contrary a great inclination for all the exercises of Warr It is believed that since the Birth of that young Prince the Duke convers'd not with the Dutchess as his Wife the reason of this opinion is his assiduous love to the Countess as also because the Dutchess has not been with Child from that time This indifference of the Duke towards the Dutchess was also imputed to two other causes the first to her Natural coldness the other to I know not what strange devise of the Countess the last scarce is doubted of for as report has said this Woman fearing to lose the Dukes Friendship after his Marriage and seeking to injoy alone a good without which she despis'd all others resolv'd to tempt all wayes to prevent that which she thought an obstacle to her design to that end having told her thoughts to one of her Sisters she by her meanes became acquainted with it certain Magician who dwelt at St. Sauveur near to Casal the Countess went to him and obtain'd some words from him That he bid her be confident she should enjoy the Dukes Friendship alone but because this Sorcerer was of an intelligence with a certain Religious Dominican that Lady gain'd him by his meanes she rewarding him by not refusing him the satisfaction he requir'd of her so after that this Charme succeeded so well by the help of this Reverend Father that by their Diabolical Inventions the Duke had that knot tyed usually so fatal to Marriage Others have believ'd that this was a false report and that this Witchcraft took no effect but that the Duke made it a pretext to avoid the Dutchess whom he lov'd not and devote himself to the Countess whom he ador'd in which there is no likelihood For let any body imagine how it can be possible for a young Prince to live in the company of his Wife without touching her if there had not been some reason diabolical or supernatural to hinder him so that it must certainly be believ'd that the Countess did bewitch the Duke The old Dutchess troubled at the Dukes infirmity told him he should make use of some spiritual or natural remedies to cure him but what was very strange he laught at her advice which made people believe that it was done by his own consent It has been said that that natural coldness of the young Duchess compar'd to the Constitution so contrary of the Countess contributed very much for the small affection he had for her but how could the Duchess leave off that purity so rare and commendable which she had alwayes made the ornament of her life to comply with the Dukes desires and which he found in another There is no doubt but that she lov'd as much as any other woman could do but with a sincere true and real love for to say truth she was not in the number of those that onely made a shew of love but she lov'd her husband from the bottom of her heart so that all her affection was within having not those little foolish fondnesses which some other wives study with so much affectation to shew their loves In a word her affection was truly great though she did not make shew of it but to clear all this I think it to some purpose to say something by the way to discover what the Dukes inclinations were naturally and also of that of the Countess Margaret All men naturally take great delight in the Caresses they receive it is certain that the Duke was more inclin'd to that satisfaction than any man so that it may almost be said that weakness was a fault of nature in him who so desired to be courted by the women without which it is thought the Duke would have been insensible for them they say that this inclination of the Dukes was caus'd by the Conversation of the Ladies of the Court amongst whom he was brought up and spent most of his youth having alwayes been caress'd by one or other of those Ladies that waited on his Mother who lov'd nothing more than to see the women make much of him and to be under the conduct of that sex and particularly the Lady Margaret who had so us'd him to her carresses that he could not think of carressing his wife if he were hot prepar'd by hers which is a thing that seldom happens but what the one could not do the other was perfect in and exercis'd her art so to the humour of the Duke that he could not defend himself from her Charms though he had a mind to it also the Countess was liberal enough of her Courtships to him mov'd rather by ambition to domineer and govern the Duke than by any sentiment of nature which is believ'd by the little care she took to court her husband at that rate and certainly the very Sirenes and Circes were never capable of more inticements and flattering carresses than she us'd to please the Duke See here the poison of this Marriage see here the Fall of the Dukes reputation a Princess too modest and little sensible of Carresses and a Prince too desirous of those kind of Charms and on the other side a woman experienc'd in all the crafts of Love to gain the heart of this Prince and take it from the
you the Words of Princes needs no Oaths to Authorize them however I shall give you such proofes that you your self will not desire greater Let me know the success of your Voyage and the state of your Health since you went from hence and whether you Love him that is wholly your CHARLES This Letter was given in charge to a Post that was sent from Court to the Governour of Casal with express Order to give it to no other hands but she to whom it was directed The Joy of this young Lady was so extraordinary in receiving it that she read it three or four times over in the presence of the Man that brought it and every time with a Face over-joy'd to that extremity she seem'd to him she would have eaten it that so her heart might have been the Cabinet to preserve it The Mother was not at home when her Daughter was thus entertaining the Post and examining him with great concern of the Dukes health and chiefly of his Employments and whether he did not particularly Visit some Lady or other with great Familiarity but in these Questions to him she seem'd not to understand what she did for a Man of that condition that sees the Court but at a distance is not to be askt such Questions But it is true she was at that time to be pardon'd since the occasion of that Letter was enough to put her into extraordinary transports for him she Lov'd The Mother being return'd gave order for something for the Post to eate whil'st in the mean time she read over and over again with her Daughter the Dukes Letter and consulted together for the Answer which they return'd by the same Messenger in these words Great PRINCE To tell your Highness how much comfort your Letter gave me is impossible for me to express I could not defend my self from vanity in reading so many proofes of Affection from your Highnesses Goodness if I were not well acquainted with the nature of it which is indulgent to all those who like me Courts with a most humble Respect all opportunities of obeying your Highnesses Commands It will not be hard for you to find amongst your Subjects a Merit above mine but I Question very much if your Highness can find any more affectionate to your Service then I am I have already Sworn to you all the Fidelity and Service can be expected from a Person of my Sex It belongs to your Highness to Command and me to Obey yet my Feares tell me that you do not so often think of Commanding me as I do of Blindly Obeying you As for the Account you are Graciously pleased to desire of my Journey hither I assure your Highness it had been very pleasant and happy for me if every step I made to Casal had not carryed me from what I left behind at Mantua so dear to â—…e Your Highness asks me if I love you How can you believe it possible to be so ungrateful not to love a Prince that loves me I will say nothing more but that I am and will be to your Highness Great Prince A most Humble and Obedient Servant Margaret The Dukes of Mantua had a Custome of going three or four times every year to Casal to Visit that place so considerable for its Scituation and because it is the Capital City of Montferrat The Duke resolved for the future to make that place his ordinary residence carryed more by his Love to the Lady Margaret then for Interest of State And none can express with what repugnance he quitted that Town to go to Mantua when at any time the necessity of his Affaires called him thither yet he indevour'd to conceal the true reason of his stay so much in that place by pretending the Ayre was so much better saying often That the Ayre of Mantua was an Ayre for Monks to dwell in but that of Casal was an Ayre for the Seat of a Prince And in truth he was very much in the right when he spoke so of those two places so contrary to each other for the Ayre of Casal was extraordinary good and that of Mantua had nothing at all commendable in it though 't is true the Ayre where Princes reside purifies admirably All Affaires the Duke took in hand at Mantua prosper'd very ill but on the contrary it seem'd that Casal was Fortunate to all his Enterprises There was scarce a day but the Duke complained of some Indisposition or other whil'st he was at Mantua his Head his Stomach and I know not how many more Infirmities tormented him or at least he pretended it but when he was at Casal he never made the least complaint of any thing whether he had cause or not but if it hapned that some Fits of an Ague Feaver or any distemper seiz'd upon him at Casal he would lay the fault upon his having staid too long at Mantua The Dukes of Mantua have a Palace near to Casal call'd the Margaret whether they have alwayes been accustom'd to divert themselves some time of the Summer and there was a Physitian in Mantua who being pretty well acquainted with the temper of the Duke and the inclination he had for the Lady Margaret understood very well that all these Distempers the Duke so often complained of at Mantua had no other cause but an Amorous Feaver and therefore he fail'd not to advise the Duke to visit often that wholsome Ayre of Casal And whil'st the other Physitians were searching out the cause of the Dukes disease and busying their heads to find a remedy this wise happy brother of theirs advis'd the Ayre of Margaret as the only place of Cure for his Highness and was well rewarded for his paines by the Duke whose delight at Casal you may easily imagine was great and his health perfect The satisfaction of going to Casal and leaving Mantua was plainly discover'd in the different Journeys he made in going and returning between those two places by the hast he made to the one and the slow pace he went towards the other to Mantua he went with a Tortoyses pace and to Casal he flew as fast as an Eagle Whensoever his Important Affaires oblig'd him to go from Casal to Mantua he Travell'd like a Prince but when he was to leave Mantua and go towards Casal he went in Post The Pastimes of the Duke were not very great nor divertizing to the Court for his greatest pleasure was in visiting the Lady Margaret in whose Company his most delightful houres were spent and it was no great difficulty for a young Prince to entertain himself very pleasantly with a young handsome Woman instructed by an old cunning Mother who in her youth had at one time oblig'd more then four several French Gentlemen whil'st they staid at Casal The house of this Lady was not far from the Castle in one of the fairest Streets of the Town in which place the Tennis Court was kept the Duke who hated Tennis when he was at Mantua took
lookt upon the Earl as very little politick and not at all prudent and thought it very strange that for a foolish trifle for he lookt upon the making a man a Cuckold nothing else he would hazard the loss of his favour in retiring from his service he was of opinion that the honours he conferr'd on the Earl was satisfaction enough for the honour he took from him and that he had done him Favour great enough in making him one of the most considerable of his Court which he had not done upon any consideration in the world but for the Love he had for the Countess But if the Earl consulted his Parents at Savona to carry the Countess thither out of Casal the Duke and she consulted at Casal against him and sought out Pretences to absent in good earnest that obstacle of their delights from them for is was every day a new work and every time that this Lover came to Casal he was in trouble to invent some new pretext to be rid of him to the end that he might supply his place with the Countess and divert themselves with more Liberty But the Duke came so often to Casal and was so often put to his shifts to find out new pretexts of dismissing the Earl out of the way that he was now at the bottom of his scrowl and his invention being tyred he knew not what to do next these Lovers propounded many wayes to one another whereof one was to shoot him privately with a Musquet and pretend afterwards that the blow came from some of his enemies but the Prince could not hearken to this resolution not being willing after the example of David to add murther to his adultery not being assured that he should repent as he did besides the Countess her self was not of a nature ever to give her consent to any actions of cruelty the least in the world or any that thus was an offence to the Holiness of Matrimony notwithstanding the heat that appear'd in her first motions and passion against her husband They had already sent him to Rome twice to Florence as many times to Venice and I know not how many times to Turin and Genes The Duke at last would send him into France in the quality of an Ordinary Embassadour but there were two obstacles that hindred that The hate and aversion the Earl ever bore to the French Nation was one and indeed his declared aversion to them was so unreasonable that he was us'd to say in all Companies where he came that if he had the Keyes of Hell but one day he would with his whole heart send all the Frenchmen thither even to the Devils Palace because they had corrupted the City of Casal and by the introduction of their Liberty had so chang'd that Town en bordeau Thus it appear'd not reasonable to the Duke to send such a man to treat with them In the second place that which hindred the Earl from being sent Embassadour into the Court of France was The Fear the Duke had he would cary his wife along with him as assuredly he had done and the Duke refusing to let her go would have disoblig'd him too much and given cause to an apparent scandal and therefore this Proposition took no effect and ended just where it begun as unprofitable to their design but the resolution was certainly taken to dismiss the Earl one way or other if not for ever yet for a great while but they endeavour'd to find out ways for their satisfaction that would suit with the glory of the Husband and honour of the Wife which they lookt upon chiefly in this design As for the absenting of her brothers there was no thought of that for they were very merry and well contented to see their Sister in the Dukes good graces and envied one another who should most contribute to the pleasures of the Duke and their Sister The profit they receiv'd was so great by it besides the considerable charges conferr'd upon them for their service in that trade in truth those Gentlemen might well enough dissemble their trouble to see their Sister live so disorder'd a life and content themselves more easily to be the procurers of horns since that office was not so great a dis-reputation to them as it was to the Earl that was the Husband who was to endure not onely the publike knowledge of his dishonour the injuries and reproaches of all the world but also the pride and ill humour of his wife in his house without daring to take notice of his being sent away from her so often whole weeks and moneths which was insupportable to him therefore it must not be wonder'd if the Earl was weary of that life as well as the Duke was of seeking out excuses to send him abroad to injoy his wife with more Liberty who at last thought of a way very fit for his design There is in the Kingdom ' of Poland a Marquess of Gonzague very much esteem'd by all the people in that Countrey who although they are not of the same line of the Dukes of Mantua yet carry the same name and arms and are own'd by the Dukes of Mantua as kinsmen in all their Letters which they send It is true that this kindred gives them no manner of pretence to the hereditary Succession of the Duchy of Mantua and Marquisate of Montferat for the Duke of Mantua who by the Emperours consent at first acknowledged them of kin to him only upon this condition That they should be excluded from all pretences of Succession to that State The Duke then was of opinion that he might send the Earl into Poland not so much to make a visit to that Marquisesas to be inform'd of the imployments estate and riches and the interest they had in that Court and to make his design hit the better by the Earls making a longer stay in that journey than he expected he order'd him to go not in the quality of an Ordinary Embassadour but as a Gentleman traveller who had no other end but to see the Countrey This resolution taken between the Duke and the Countess the Earl was sent for to receive his Commission and what else was necessary for that voyage and to prepare himself The Duke gave him many wicked and false reasons the interest he had in being inform'd fully of the estate and ranck which those Lords held in the Court of Poland and told him that he had already writ Letters of Recommendation of the Earl to them in which he had pretended that he was onely to pass thorow that Kingdom and had his Highness Commands to wait upon them from him adding further that he had willingly sent him in the quality of Embassadour to their King who was his Highness's kinsman but for his own convenience and to save the great Charge which such an Embassie would have cost him and also for better profiting in his design which carried him thither he thought it more
often heard him profess his considerable Obligations to that illustrious Republick with which he held great Correspondence for the interest and consideration of his own State Therefore she took the occasion of petitioning that Senate in private to interpose their authority to deliver her from her troubles and to take the Duke from his scandalous way of life with the Countess That Senate who does nothing without great Caution and Prudence did not think this a necessary business for the whole body of the Counsel to take notice of therefore they order'd Monsieur Justiniani to undertake it as a particular man and to use all possible diligence in the affair That Lord did not fail to receive that Commission with much respect and submission but he was not without fear that he should be able to effect nothing to the satisfaction of the Senate nor of the Archduchess he nevertheless omitted no opportunity of surprizing the Duke to talk to him about it and having found an hour fit for his purpose he begun to talk of this Commission with an admirable Eloquence back'd with Reasons so solid as never yet was seen come from the tongue of that Excellent Oratour but all his Eloquence and strong Reasons were unprofitable all the Discourses of this Illustrious Lord producing no effect and made no impression in the heart of the Duke who answer'd resolutely to that Oracle of the Senate that there was but one remedy to cure so great a sickness and that was To send for an Executioner from Venice to cut his heart out of his breast because as long as it staid there it must of necessity be the Countesses and without depriving him of his heart it was impossible to take from him the love he bore to the Countess After that reply Justiniani found it to no purpose to press him further and to undertake any more against so great a wilfulness as he discover'd in the Duke That Prince then shutting his eyes to all kind of Considerations lived with the Countess like a Husband with his Wife he carried her along with him when he went a Hunting and also to the Palace royal of Mantua where his wife the Archduchess also lay he eat with the Countess slept with her and caressed her in the presence of all his Courtiers almost before the face of that poor Princess his wife who although she saw not what they ordinarily did did not fail to hear of it having the story of what passed between those two Lovers brought to her every day all the Embassadours the Gentlemen Noblemen as also all the Ladies of Mantua admired the great Goodness of this Princess to suffer with so much Patience so great an injury or to say better such an affliction of heart for to say the truth that dishonest love of the Dukes brought more glory to the Duchess than any disgrace because she in that Patience expressed so great a vertue in despising jealousie and mocking at all those carnal pleasures of Matrimony and letting the world see that all her trouble and mortification proceeded onely from no other cause than the sin her Husband committed and therefore we are not to call that Patience of hers a corporeal injury but an affliction of Spirit There wanted no Ladies nor Gentlemen about the Court who counsell'd the Duchess from time to time to revenge her self of that Prostitute by one of those Draughts so common in Italy as the onely remedy to put an end not onely to her own affliction but also the Duke her husbands adultery and to take away the dishonour of the Countesses Family besides the depriving the Court of its great trouble Amongst the rest there were two persons of very large Consciences as one may say wide as a Friars sleeve offered themselves voluntarily to do this deed the one was a Tailor who proffered to end the Countesses life with the Shot of a Harquebuz which he would in private Shoot at her and no body should know of it and that he would take great care in chusing his time asking for recompence of that action but two hundred Pistols to keep him in any place he should be forc'd to fly to it not being possible after doing that to think of returning back to his own house or if they thought that summe too much for him he askt no more than a good Recommendation to the Archduke to be favourably treated with him The other person that offered to dispatch the Countess was a Lady and her kinswoman honourable by reason of her age who believing her self interested in the dis-reputation the Countess had brought upon her Family and touched with shame and compassion for the Archduchess offered her self also to poison this adulterous Countess so privately that none should ever know it But that poor Princess who lookt upon all those Miseries as being by the permission of Heaven and receiving them as coming from the hands of God did not onely blame those bloudy resolutions and tragical designes of those murtherers but she also forbid them for ever the presenting themselves before her with those Propositions and it is said that one day as she was discoursing with her Confessour in the presence of the Governess of her house of the scandalous life the Duke liv'd with that Countess and the Proposals had been offered her of revenging that adultery That Confessour told her That great persons might commit a small evil to deliver themselves from a greater Which the Duchess scarce heard him say but guessing well his design which was onely to carry her to revenge she quickly replyed We had rather suffer the Countess to live with her sin than to let her die with ours These words sufficiently testified the great goodness and admirable vertue of that excellent Princess with which she indured all her disgrace so well that she took more delight in suffering whil'st others were pleas'd than she could have taken satisfaction amongst all kind of prosperities whil'st other people had been unhappy also she never went about to buy her own repose by a Crime and satisfie the desires of her body by an offence so prejudiciall to her soul which makes me believe that God will take her into his particular care during her Regency and so much the more because she prefers the interest of her Maker before all those of the world The Emperour and the Archduke sent by their Ambassadours a desire to the Duke of Mantua that he would a little open his eyes an consider the great scandal he liv'd in even in the fight of all the Princes of Italy protesting that they propounded this to him not out of resentment but were press'd to it out of the tender affection they bore to his person They also assur'd him that they had not been solicited to this motion by the Princess their kinswoman who complain'd not in the least to them of ill treatment but on the contrary protested to them that the Duke her Husband honour'd her very much
and except in the bed neer him to which the Countess alone was priviledged the Duke us'd her with all the civility imaginable as well in private as publick Therefore the Emperourr and the Archduke had no cause to complain of any thing and less yet in that it happen'd contrary in this scandalous life of the Dukes to that which ordinarily passes in such a case by many that use their wives ill for the sake of their Mistresses For the Duke contrary to other men was grown so crafty that he knew how to act cunningly by apparently satisfying his wife before the world and taking his private pleasures with the Countess so that it was not easie for any to observe any change in the looks of that chaste Princess but rather much contentment and pleasure It is true that outside Friendship in appearance ought not to be imputed to the care and prudence of the Duke so much as to the goodness of his wife who being endowed with a singular vertue and an extraordinary prudence could hide her grief and express no signes of trouble in her Face although her heart was press'd down with affliction The Court of Rome received with much displeasure the news of this scandalous adultery and the trouble it received was aggravated by the quality of that great Person who was guilty of that publick disorder and therefore it gave Orders to the Superiours of the Convents at Casal and Mantua to injoyn the Preachers to exaggerate the nature of this Crime in their Pulpits whil'st in the mean time the Duke suffer'd the World to Talk and the Monks to Cross themselves and went to Sermons when the Fancy took him and hearkned to what he liked upon which it hapned that a Father of the Order of St. Francis by in indiscrete Zeale having too much reflected upon the Person of the Duke and too openly spoke of the Countess found himself so intangled he was constrain'd to quit Mantua till he was forc'd to Swear That for time to come he would change his Note and in Correcting the Vices of Princes he would henceforward use more discretion The Dukes Confessor was also exhorted to remember his Highness sometimes of the Obligation he had to leave off his scandalous life as if the greatest evil of that Crime lay in the Scandal of it but that good Father lov'd better to be in the good graces of a Prince Adulterous and Criminal then Enemy of a Just and Innocent one And furthermore he was so indulgent that when he Confest him he easily gave him Absolution Laying all the fault upon the weakness of our Nature In truth there are Confessors in these dayes that are cause of the loss of many Princes For they being Ambitious to Domineer over the other Brothers of the Convent by their Princes Favour they would be content rather then lose that Dignity not onely to send their Princes to Hell but also go themselves to the Devil neglecting the Duties of their Place and their Pastoral Obligations in excusing the Faults which these Illustrious Sinners commit The Countess also receiv'd from time to time her secret Mortifications for the Bishop sollicited perhaps from Rome and the Arch-Dutchess represented to her sometimes the condition of her life threatning to refuse to give her the Holy Sacrament at Easter but it was but Threats to which she hearkned very little and which gave her but little trouble because she was confident they would never be perform'd for fear of disobliging his Highness and the more because the excused her self by laying the fault upon the Duke saying to him that came to speak to her from the Bishop That being born a Subject she could not command the Duke not to see her any more because he would do her that Honour I cannot forbear in this place to relate an Accident no less curious then Politick which hapned during these passages My Lord Bishop of Cassal had undertaken a thing believed impossible by all the World which was to find out a remedy to divert the Duke from this Love of the Countess which was so Publick that there could not be a greater between two persons Marryed but the whil'st he labour'd by I know not what Political and Pastoral Zeal he found the end of his dayes in seeking that of a Scandal this Death of his regreted by all he having been a Prelate of an exemplar life and held worthy of so eminent a charge in the Church in which he had alwayes shewed himself with great Zeale The Countess was not very sorry seeing her self by that delivered from the apprehension of losing the Dukes good Graces of which she was in danger by the strong exhortations of that Bishop On the contrary she had no sooner heard the news of the Death of the Bishop but speaking to her Sister the Countess Louize she said to her the poor Bishop is dead for ayming too much at Fifty-Cuffs against Heaven she meant by that to shew it was all one to Fight against Heaven and to endeavour to ruine her Favour with the Duke The Earl her Brother going also to talke to her upon the Subject of the Bishops Death said to her Sister you have lost a great Enemy at least if he that is his Successor prove not of his humour To which she answer'd He shall be my Friend or nothing The Bishops Funerals were scarce ended but as well from the State of Mantua as Rome there started up many pretenders to his place The Pope pretended a right in the chusing of a Bishop for Casal in the State of Mantua because all knew very well that although the right of making a Bishop of Casal belonged to his Holyness yet there was no great satisfaction to be found for any that should be made without the Dukes consent It being certain that to be a Bishop of any Town against the Good-will of their Sovereign it is no other then to ruine any Mans Fortune and keep him alwayes in trouble There is no person that will accept it without having at the least the nomination of the Prince or else a recommendation from him And for this reason there were as well at Mantua as at Casal the pretenders to that Bishoprick seeking to the Duke for a Nomination or recommendation from his Highness Amongst many others the Provost of Miroglio had a mind to this Bishoprick and it was very easie for him to attain it because no body dream't of him for the way he took was better and very different from those that the rest of the Pretenders had taken he addresses himself to the Lady Margaret with whom he had alwayes held a very good correspondence and now sought her Recommendation by submissions and promises with extraordinary Proffers he promis'd her a Purse with a thousand Crowns in it to buy her a Diamond protesting to her that he would willingly tesign the Cross into her hands shewing her by that that he would nener do any thing which should not be
quality in the Court she wore them without vanity pride or scorn and contempt to those that had not the like It is true she frequented the Churches more through Custome then any other reason and if she went to the Masse it was only to be seen and to see Yet I must tell you that she went thither sometimes being Invited to it on purpose by the Ecclesiastical Men to the end of giving more Lustre to the Solemnities which were at that time Celebrated in the Church and also to shew her the great esteem they had of her Person with which nevertheless she was not satisfied And although she had a Face Faire and agreeable enough yet there is nothing very lascivious but whil'st the Duke was living when she was near him she lookt upon him as if she would have devour'd him with her Eyes her looks at that time being the Effects of which her Impudent Love was the Cause But above all this there was some light of Prudence shin'd in her carriage which appear'd in effect a Miracle because this Faire one was not like those Women that affect the Trade of St. Placidia to please their Friends that is to say For all her great power over the Duke and that was so absolute she could dispose of his Authority as she pleas'd without the fear of displeasing him she yet kept her self for all that within the bounds of an humble modesty giving his Highness thanks for all the Favours he did her assuring him That she was more then satisfied to injoy alone the Loves of so great a Prince And the more the Duke offer'd his Service to her and desir'd her to make use of his Authority as she pleas'd the less did she importune him with Requests so that when the Duke press'd her to ask some Favour at his hands she usually made answer His Highness granted her Favour great enough to let her injoy his Person After all this she Favour'd whom she pleas'd and who were recommended to her which were without number their being none ignorant how great her power was with the Prince whose heart she possess'd and govern'd his whole will and for that reason every one made Addresses to her to help them in their Affaires according as they needed her Favour but on her side she knew very well what kind of Favours she was to demand of his Highness not to displease him and she very rarely press'd him to grant any extraordinary matter if she had been of an humour to inrich her self she wanted no opportunities of doing it and the Duke would never have hinder'd her on the contrary he advis'd her to do it and gave her all the meanes possible for it so far that when any one addrest to himself to obtain a Request he us'd to say For that you must Petition none but the Countess and that was the onely way to obtain their end That Charitable Countess had never yet the Repute of doing any thing out of Interest but it has alwayes been thought that all she did was to purchase to her self Friends rather then through hopes of any gain expressing alwayes her aversion to that Lucre It is true notwithstanding that when any one offer'd her some Fine thing or considerable Summ of Money she would do as those who laying their hands upon the Present offer'd them usually say There is no need of this and yet take it willingly enough The greatest care of this Lady and what she sought after with all the Passion imaginable was the Advancement of her Brother which put the Duke to a stand what more to give him having already Honour'd him with Imployments and Offices very considerable and much above his deserts or at least if he did any way Merit them it was very little nevertheless the Countess never ceas'd begging for him and could have wish'd her Brother rais'd above all the Princes of that Court. The Arch-Duchess heard this news with a great heart-breaking and notwithstanding all the efforts of which her vertue was capable she could not hinder her self from being extreamly displeas'd at the Advancing of that young Lord who never had a pretending Merit but that which occasionâ—d her greatest Afflâ—ction was to see her chiefest Servants rather cast down then rais'd in the least and us'd with scorn that deserv'd to be treated with Honour which caus'd these pâ—or unfortunate Persons to say That the Duke shew'd more favour to the Brother of an Adulterous Countess then to the Servants of a Princess his lawful and true Wife and amongst other things witness many Libels and Satyrs which I omit Although this innocent Princess receiv'd some kind of Mortification from all this however she never had a resentment against the Duke because in the first place she plainly saw that he did nothing out of malice but only to satisfie that blind passion which had inslav'd him in the Chaines of that Concubine And Secondly she esteem'd it not just nor reasonable to compare these Gentlemen persons of great Merit with that Earle that was a Man of no Honour In the mean time this Countess possest all the Favour of this Prince and kept alone the two Keys of his Treasures That of his Heart by Love injoying him without interruption and the other his Favours since the Duke was so well pleas'd when his Mistriss made any Request to him that she knowing him of that humour made pretensions to him only for his satisfaction as it is easily to be known by this Letter following My little Heart CAEsar comes to tell me that thou hast an intention to ask some Favour of me in behalf of a Person that address'd to thy Courtesie and because thou wert apprehensive of displeasing me thou didst not mention it yesterday in the afternoon that we were together This way of thine of being bashful makes me believe that thou dost not love me for certainly if thou didst love me thou wouldest act as freely with me as I do with thee also if I had ever yet refused thee any thing I confess thou mightest with reason ask me nothing but since I am so glad to grant thee all things why art thou unwilling to ask me any thing To what end is Love painted blind and naked if it is not to teach Lovers Familiarity one with the other The Principality is mine and I am thine but the authority is common to us both that is to say thou maist make use of me and I of the State if thou lovest me then ask command and love thy Charles But notwithstanding all these Protestations and Testimonies of love from the Duke this Fair One would never importune him by asking any favour that would bring the least disquiet to his Highness having wit enough to discern between those favours she was to ask for his consideration and those she was to demand for her self That for which she importun'd him the most and rung in his ears from Morning until night was That he would carry her