their general Rule which they seldom break as the proceeding of the Duke of Parma in his first Expedition into France For they have such an unsatiable Appetite after other mens Goods and Lands and are so violently transported with that Passion that they have not excepted th' Holy Chair even at such times as they made a shew to relieve it In th' Heat of th' Interdict at Venice and when the Marquis of Veillane Ambassador at Rome for the Catholick King had oblig'd the Pope to cast himself into th' Hands of his Master and t' accept of his Protection amongst the things he demanded of his Masters behalf for the Relief He promised him which was but in Paper and for that Evidence of Good which was but in Ostentation what He most insisted upon was that Ferrara should be delivered t' his Master for the Retreat of his Army by Land and Ancona for his Army by Sea and the Count of Fuentes who breathed nothing but Fire and Sword and was the principal Promoter of the Troubles had the boldness to demand Charbonnieres of the Duke of Savoy who was not interressed in the Quarrel as he said t' hold the Key of the Passage by which Esdiguiere might descend to the Relief of the Republique Eighth Discourse That the Conduct which the King hath observed in the Relieving of his Allies is full of Moderation and Generosity That the Conduct of some other Princes of this Age is not the same THis Subject may be wonderfully cleared and beautified by the Relation of the Conduct which hath been observed by four different Princes of this Age in the Relief of their Allies The Manner is very different though it hath been exercised upon the same Matter and in the course of the same business the troubles of Germany Though there was no Power in Christendom uninteressed in that affair and that did not represent some Person in that famous Tragedy 'T is certain that the King of France of Spain of Swede and the Duke of Bavaria have appeared in them with more glory than others and that their Policy was not less eminent than their Arms. But search being to be made in the third part into the most secret Motions wherewith these Princes have acted and what their Cabinet-Counsels have infused of the most particular and remarkable considerations in that long and sharp War I will beseech the Reader to suspend his curiosity to that Edition which shall follow this immediately And we shall see that Spain never moved but upon the same foot and never sailed but with the same Winds of Ambition and Particular Profit That the French motions have been sometimes Slow and Irresolute and sometimes Quicker and directed to the General good of the Christian Common-wealth But that the publick good was always its principal Mark and th' ultimate End proposed in its Interventions and Arms. As to the King of Swede He could not truly with better Judgment or Symetry adjust the design he had formed for the Relief of Germany and to take off the grievous Fetters th' House of Austria had imposed upon it Th' Innate spirit of a Conqueror considered or to make his spirit serve the Relief under a more specious and plausible conveniency Consider him then in this High and Difficult Exercise from his Landing in th' Haven in the Island of Usdome to the Plain of Sutzen where he lost his Life without leaving the Victory t' his Enemies who took his Life from him The boldness of his Treaty with the Duke of Pomerania t' establish himself in his Country shall be represented the valiant Artifice h' used to cause Spomdau to be put into his hands by the Marquis of Brandenburge And after that Tilly a famous Captain was entred with strong hand into the Countries of the Duke of Saxe and had promised to that Elector unless he would be of the Party t' expound unt ' him the mystical sense of that saying familiar with Charls the 5th Wh ' is not with m' is against me Consider the Prudence the King of Swede made use of in this occasion by raising advantage from th' inevitable Necessity th' Elector of Saxe had of his Virtue and Fortune against so fortunate and great a Captain as assaulted him At last after that by gain of the Battel at Lipsick and by the Defeat of th' old Troops of the League H' had forced all th' Obstacles and taken away all the Barriers which hindred to penetrate into Germany and th' Imperial Cities opened unt ' him their Gates at contest and the Princes of th' Empire crowded to b' on his side It shall be seen how he gave them the Law for whom he gained Liberty and imposed a kind of yoke which in time would have become heavy and began to be born with jealousie This kind of Policy truly is not the custom of all Princes and enters as seldom into the Train of th' affairs of the world as it ariseth rarely from Conquerors and from those extraordinary Persons who come as the King of Swede did to chnage the face of things As to the Duke of Baviere this praise is not to be denyed him That being skilful in th' Art of making War he gave not place t' any Prince of his Age in the Science of the Cabinet Councel and that Germany hath not born of a long time more dextrous and knowing Persons to give Motions to those secret Wheels and invisible Engines which stir and cause to turn what is most Heavy and most Immoveable in th' Affairs And since his Art and manner of Acting may be reduced more commodiously into Practice and drawn in t ' Imitation than that of the King of Swedes a longer and more particular stay shall be made upon his Conduct than upon that of the King of Swedes and all the Draughts and Proportions for th' Instruction of other Princes and their Ministers of State the divers Persons he personated and the different faces wherewith he disguised himself t' attain his Ends and to maintain the posture gained by his Industry shall be fully discovered how he raised himself to th' Electorat and maintained it notwithstanding the Spanish Jealousie th' Opposition of England the Contradiction of the Protestant Electors and the Resistance also of th' Imperial Constitutions In giving frequent Jealousies to th' House to Austria by th' Hold he seemed to take of France and then joyning more strictly with th' Empire and tying the knot of their Conjunction the stronger t' his advantage H' often prevailed over it H' holds the power of it to this day without being holden by it and hath so blended his Interests with theirs that he can sever them when he pleaseth and that he will do when 't is no longer good for him or that it will be better in another place for his affairs When he was delivered by the death of the King of Swede of the greatest danger h' had run and of the most furious Tempest that ever threatned him He
an Essay of what is prepared for him in abundance and bounty in the Sequel of this Work And that he may judge of th' Equity and Freedom of the King's proceedings towards his Allies whom He defends and protects I will here say a word of his Generosity in the behalf of one of his Neighbours whom h' had obliged t' his Power to be 's Friend wh ' hath not omitted any Acts of Hostility against the King and to render him all proofs of Hatred and though he was engaged in many formed Conspiracies against France and that it had no secret or publick Enemy with whom He 'd not declared or had Intelligence and though he was guilty as all the world knows of breaking many Treaties and of many Attempts made against France yet so soon as he made shew of Repentance and t' abjure the contrary Party the King opened his Arms unto him and re-established him in his Estates with exception onely t' a few Fortresses which the King would not commit to the Faith of so changeable a Prince and to the flux and reflux of th' humours that perpetually agitated his Soul That if this Prince was hardned in th' habitude of failing and if th' acknowledgment of good received nor hope of what was promised after the War could retain him in his Duty nor stop his moveable Spirit there 's great cause highly to praise the Kings Moderation and his magnanimous Spirit in rendring Voluntarily what he might Lawfully have kept And there 's no cause t' accuse him of Facility and Imprudence for being deceived for that he made judgment of the Duke's Conduct by the Law of his Interest as the most certain Rule to judge by that Prudence affords And there was no reason that a Person in good condition and in a way to be better should destroy himself in a capricious humour and chuse rather t' Erre once more at the pleasure of another and of Fortune and float in th' Incertitude of what He might become than to rest in a Commodious posture and enjoy a Safe condition Moreover 't is of no use to dissemble or to speak but half the truth Th' Event contrary the Presumptions raised though very reasonable have not deceived the Kings fore-sight and the Defection of Duke Charls did not surprize him but shut up bewixt two Extremes to run th' hazard of being deceived or the reproach of the rejection of him who did cast himself at his mercy and implored his clemency He judged it more honorable for him t' expose his Judgment to the first than second Hazard and to convince the world by such an infallible evidence That he could submit t' any thing in order to Peace and for remove of th' Impediments that did obstruct it Ninth Discourse Whether it b' Expedient t' hazard the Remains of the Forces of a State to Recover Reputation lost by some Notorious Disgrace That 't is not safe t' act alone or to permit all things to be done b' others in difficult Enterprises THings being thus established as they have been in the former Discourses a Scruple is to be taken away and a Difficulty cleared which enters into the Matter to be treated of Whether to repair the Reputation ruined by some infamous disgrace and th' Honour abused by some notorious loss The Prince ought t' oppose the fortune that oppresseth him and put all his strength to resist the Ruines of the Violence and t' hazard what remains of the Wrack rather than conserve it beaten with ill fortune and covered with shame That which most sharpens this Scruple and gives most colour to this Difficulty is That the Reputation of th' Affairs of State ought not to be less dear to the Prince than Honour is t' every Particular honest man And yet since all agree that the Wise as well as th' Ignorant conspire in this Judgment that Honour is a Good which must be conserved when 't is gained and recovered when 't is lost at the charges of Life and that 't is better to die Honourably than to live Infamously Why should not the same Judgment be made upon the Reputation of the State And will they not believe That a Prince is obliged to maintain it and to recover it without any exception of Means and without reservation of Lands or Lives And it may b' observed that the Reputation now to be spoken of is different from the two others already spoken of in the precedent Discourses and 't is of another value and of another importance than the first whereof mention hath been made which consists in the sinister Reports scattered b' Enemies and in th' ill savour they raise against the glory of a Prince and to the disadvantage of his Affairs which is not as hath been said the Subject of a Just War though the like offences done to Particular persons and the like stains imprinted upon their honour are but to ' often the foundation and original of their Resentments and Quarrels which makes it appear and I will say this by the way That this sense of Reputation and Honour wherewith the most Excellent Men of all Countries and of all Ages have been touched and which they 've not only Authorized by their Precepts but also Confirmed by their Examples Cannot proceed but from a Spiritual Nature And this Privilege which our Soul hath to raise it self above the Matter and to despise not only the sensible objects which flow from it but Life it self that Depends upon it to subsist by that which is not born but in the thoughts of others and Conserved only in their memory sufficiently shews That sh ' is of a more Exalted Spirit and hath a fairer Birth than the souls of Beasts To return to th' Objection made I say that there 's a great Disproportion and a Notable difference betwixt th' Honour of a Particular person and the Reputation of th' Affairs of State That in the State Reputation is a subaltern good to the real force and a Means which hath for its End the most Essentiall powers That this is th' Health of the body whereof th' other is but the Colour and that agreeable Light which appeares without from the good Constitution within darts into th' Eyes of the Beholders And 't is of the same Concernment to a Prince as I 've formerly said what Credit is to Merchants in order t' effective Riches And therefore as what is Superiour in any order is never abandoned for what is Subaltern nor th' End for the Means which are Constituted for its Accomplishment As to destroy health for beautifying of the face and t' hazard all our Lands to maintain our Credit would be Condemned so a Prince would offend most shamefully against the Laws of Civil Prudence and be not only a most unjust dispensator but a very ill Husband of the Powers of the State to deliver them up wholly to Fortune and t' expose them wholly to th' uncertain and unfaithful Lot of Arms To support the
Truth in the Foundation of such proceedings what appeared without seems to b' an Argument of Infidelity or Weakness and both of those Qualities are Precipices wherein a Prince will never fall if he be Virtuous and will seldom fall into th' other if he b' of good foresight and knows well how to take his Measures From whence I conclude That the last may not happen And that the Prince who protects be not compelled to give the World so shameful an Evidence of his Weakness That either h' ought at first Instance to Reject the proposals of the people who Implore his Protection and shut the Door t' all Importunities or if he receive them t' Act Vigorously with so Considerable Forces that apparently Nothing ought to deprive him of the Victory nor hinder by consequence the Peace to be made upon his own Tearms and Secure the People whose defence h 'had undertaken and with whose safety h 'had charged himself A worthier Example to follow cannot be presented nor a more excellent Model for Imitation in like Occurrences than the Conduct the King observed in the Business of Catalognia So soon as it appeared and that so great an Occasion t' advance our affairs shewed it self He wisely judged That there was no reason to permit it t' escape That there was no Cause for Resisting the good Fortune which came to seek us without a Call not to refuse a Favour which th' Heavens offered us so freely And as 't is seen sometimes in difficult Maladies that Nature makes some Demonstration which declares to the Physicians the way th' ought to take to cure the sick Persons and discovers to them the place by which the disease is to b'assaulted The King also very well understood That by this unlook'd for Accident and by this unhop'd for Chance of the rising of the Catelans God marked out unt'us one of the ways w'ought to take t' arrive at th'Haven we went to Sea for and t' attain that End for which w'undertook the War A sure and honest Peace a firm and lasting Rest to Christian Princes He understook That if h 'had reason t' undertake the War in that Country when all Spain opposed it and that all the People joyned with the Prince to ruine our Designs and to make our Arms fruitless The same Causes and Reasons being on foot The best Peopled and the most Warlick Province of that Nation being sever'd from th' other Provinces and Joyned with our Forces There was no probability but that we might promise to our selves a good success of that business H' ought indeed so to believe it and believe also That if that affair was happily Embarqu'd and that the favour of Heaven did not abandon the progress of it That the prosperity would not be confined to the Frontiers of Catalognia That its good Influence might extend its self further And as a Needle rubbed with the Loadstone hath the virtue to draw others That the subsistence of the Catalans might be th' Attractive to draw th' other discontented Provinces after it He knew that the Portuguese were full of good will to rise since the time of their submission to the Crown of Spain That they could not bear any Yoke with more Impatience That they always breathed after their antient form of Government and that th'hatred they had for the Castillians was so natural and strong that no length of Time nor moderation of Conduct could efface th' Impression and allay the Violence He judg'd that th' Arragons wh ' have not yet lost the Remembrance of Philip the Second's usage wh ' are outragious with spite for the breach of their Privileges and loss of their Liberty Who know that of Right it belongs t' Us would observe what the first Successes of their Neighbours Arms would be What form of their Establishment and what the signes and presages of their future duration to Joyn themselves it may be with us if they might do 't with safety and if they saw in that Union Resistance and Force enough against th' Enterprises of their common Enemy H' also judged That if that War could be drawn out into length and that the first Effort of the Troops the Spanish King should draw together to reduce or confound the Catalans before they were in a condition to Resist him failed of its effect It was of Necessity for him to recall from the Low-countries or from Italy some part of his Forces t' oppose them which were drawn out against him in the midst of his Country and as in the Centre of his Monarchy And by Consequent that his other States remaining naked and weak they would b'exposed to very dangerous strokes and to very great wounds And that many other good Effects and happy Encounters might derive themselves from that Cause and Spring And therefore the Kings proceeding upon th'Occurrence of Catalognia could not be more Judicious nor the motion of his Arms better adjusted to the Laws of Civil Prudence Seventh Discourse That 't is a great Secret in War to know how to make best Choice of the Place against which the strongest Assaults are to be made That the Spaniards are seldom deceived in that Choice With some other Observations upon their Conducts That the King's Conduct is Admirable in ordering the War he makes in so many places in Christendome WHat I have said of the King's Proceedings upon the Insurrections of Catalognia carries me t'another Consideration which is not of small weight for the managing of a War made in several places and divides it self into many Branches at distance with one another 'T is that in this Action the supreme degree of Military Wisdom and as it were the precious Elixar to render any War happy Is t' Endeavour industriously to know the place which ought to be the principal Siege and to turn on that side the chief of their Forces As to b' always ready to change Conduct as cause shall be given and the War to take another Conduct and another Form in order to that End Th' House of Austria hath always understood and practised this secret t'Admiration And if the late Emperor forsook it when he made War to the Duke of Mantoua and neglected that of Germany t' apply himfelf powerfully to the War of Italy 'T is that he was forced thereunto as hath been often observed by th' Ambition of the Spaniards who preferring their Interest t' his obliged him to draw his Forces where they might b' of most use for them and to labour their Greatness in Italy which then concerned them more than the Greatness of th' Emperor in Germany The cause why the Spaniards possess this secret in perfection and are seldom deceived in the Knowledge and Choice of what is most important in their Affairs Is th' order of their Government and that variety of particular Councels whereof it is composed as their various Countries or their Domination is distributed and where their Arms are exercised For Example as to what respects Italy There 's
Law from their Inferiours and follow their Motions when they have use of them And that a Disagreement would endanger th'Enterprize If any of the Wheels to which it ought to give Motion came to fail and to be loose from the others It may be that in the Subjects of great and profound Designs which the King had upon that Country â—e foresaw that if they were all as happy as they were wisely projected some Resolution might happen that would for ever deliver his Kingdom from Alarms and from Incursions which are made sometimes from that Neighbourhood And truly if th' Assault of Calo and the Siege of St. Omer had prospered as in apparance they ought t' have done or if an unexpected stroke which made a Noise upon the Frontiers of Campagnia had not diverted the favourable progress which promised the taking of Ayres Th' Effects of that Princes prevoyance it may be had been seen It may b'also That h' had a will to shut the Gates for a time by which the Forces of Germany entring into Flanders might over-run and make spoil in France But when things changed their Countenance and that the Risings of the Catalans formed another Conjuncture he changed also Conduct and judged as it hath been already observed That after th' Affairs of Germany there was none whereunto h' ought t' apply himself with more heat and to make a greater shew of his Forces than to them of that Country He foresaw that the fruits which might be gathered from that Expedition were not ordinary and that th' advantages which might arise to the common cause might prove strong Motives to the Peace for which the War was made For besides that the Spaniards could not long act powerfully in Spain in Flanders and in Italy and the nourishment they ought to give to their Original Country would consume the food of th' others Countrie If the King of Hungary was seen full of troubles in Germany and the King of Spain assaulted in th' Heart of his Estates and troubled to defend his Life It was not impossible but that two Benefits also might arise very considerable Th' one that the Princes of Germany separated from the good Party might take courage to rejoyn with it Th' other that the League wherein to that time they had laboured unprofitably t'introduce th' Italian Princes might be formed and that they would not lose so fair an occasion to drive them away who had stollen the Liberty of their Country and to take away the mixture and confusion of Nations and forein Manners which sully and disfigure it For t' imagine that for less than that the Republique of Venice the most considerable of all those Princes for what concerns Temporal things That can give a shaking t'other Princes and after that make no difficulty t' enter the Lifts it had opened would be perswaded to that League 'T is to b'ignorant of their spirit It were to b' a stranger to their Maxims And to believe what is desired upon the single Motions of passion This point shall b'examin'd in the following Discourse this having been but too long I add onely for advise of them who might find cause to desire something here on our part upon the subject of great Extremities wherein th' Affairs have sometimes fallen in Germany and Italy That the King could not do all things in all places and that it may be he had done too much as hath else-where been observed but for an absolute Necessity and Inevitable even for the good of his own Kingdom to do it That he could not alone divert all th'Evils that might happen in that Country by the failings and insensibility of them who were more interressed than himself and for whose Liberty he took so great pains and made so great an Expence That in the course and great variety of Affairs which exercised him he could not always ordain That they who received his Orders should b' as happy t' execute them and to compleat them as he was prudent in laying of the Design and preparing the Model But 't is a wonder which will appear almost incredible to future Ages and will be one of the fairest Beams of the glory of this Prince and one of the Noblest Monuments of his Incomparable Reign That by his Wisdom his Courage and his Power he raised at home and with his Allies what was ready to Fall That he did set straight there all that began to Lean and ever disappointed Fortune of her Malitious Progress and of the Consequences of her Surprizes Eighth Discourse In what Conjuncture it may be probably thought That the Venetians will enter in t ' a League against the Spaniards THough I do not think it necessary that this League whereof hath been spoken be made or that the time of a General Peace be so backward as t' attend the finishing of so difficult a Negotiation I have believed nevertheless that it would not b'impertinent for me to speak my thoughts to make the Genius of the Venetian Republique to be the better known and what may b' expected from it on like Occasions and at the same time to make it appear to th' Author of a small Pamphlet which appeared a little after the last Stege of Casal under the name of a Montferrat Soldier That the Season was not then come to form that League as he did pretend it and that the King was not ripe according to the Sense of that Republique and the Maxims of their Policy The foundation whereupon I do build my Opinion is this That it being th' ordinary Nature of Republiques to be very distrustful and to fear more than hope when th'Apparances of Evil and Good are equal It may be said That Venice of all other Republiques Labours most of that humour And that th'Inclination it hath in all it undertakes to give the least it can t'Hazard and the most to Prudence is the cause that 't is seldom enclined for the War which is an Element of Fortune unless an extreme Danger do force it or a visible Benefit invite it I could bring a number of antient Examples to confirm this Truth if I did not believe that Modern would be of most use and credit as most efficacious and of greater Instruction than th 'others In that high and wonderful Design which the late King had formed against th' House of Austria and to put the Quiet of Christendom so often troubled by that House in some state of consistency he caused the Republique to be solicited to be of the Party And notwithstanding the power h' had with them which could not be greater and th' Advantages h' had proposed unto them which were not small for the Price of their Arming and for th'â—nterest of th' Expence it should make Though it was onely intended for the breaking off th'â—rons of Italy and to force from the Spaniards what they held unjustly there Though all the fruâ—ts of the Conquest whereof the greatest part was to be at his Charges and
had lawfully gained to cause Mantoua to be rendred which was but a coloured Usurpation and the Country of the Grisons which was an Usurpation without colour That if it appears the King and some Garisons of th' Empire in his hands the number whereof is very small or some others of his Allies in Italy It must be considered that 't is onely to keep them for the Owners wh ' are not able to defend them which to the King is matter onely of great Expence or to free his Frontiers from the Jealousie they would receive from them if they fell into th' hands of his Enemies or to serve for a Retrait or safety t' his Armies when they 're obliged to march far for the good of the common Cause Or lastly to sacrifize them to the good of the same Cause and to the re-establishment of his stript Friends in the Treaty of a General Peace That if Pignerol remain in the King's power after the Wars of Italy which have preceded the Peace of Cairasque And if that place seems to be the recompense of so many thousands of the Kings dead Subjects and of so many millions of Money spent for the Liberty of that Country 'T is a thing in my opinion which cannot reasonably be reproached unto him nor envied since he doth not keep it as a Conquest but as an Acquisition and that he hath bought it with the good-will of him wh ' had power to sell it since it was not done so much of serve for Rampart t' his Kingdom and to secure the Frontiers as t' have a free Entry in t ' Italy and to make the more haste to its Relief when it should b'assaulted Let the Disinterest and Magnanimity be considered which have appeared in all the Treaties on the Kings part made in Germany since that which Sir of Charnasé made at Beerwalde And that which Sir of Avaux renewed the last year at Hambrough Let the sweetness and equity of the Conditions be considered wherewith he received into protection th'Elector of Ireves as may be seen in the Treaties made with him by the Sirs of St. Chaumont and of Saludie Let the cares had of the Swedish Interest be considered and th'effective and real Acknowledgments which the Swedish King always exhorted His Confederates to pay the King as may be justifi'd by the Orations which Sir of Feuquieres made to th' Assembly of Hailbrun and Franckford Let Consequences at last be drawn out of the like Actions from the Kings Promises to the Princes of Italy concerning the places h' holds in Piedmont and which he confirms in this manner in the third Article of the Treaty he made with Sirs the Princes of Savoy That the King newly ratifies the Declarations which have been made by his Ambassadors in divers Otcafions and by the Letters his Mejesty hath written to the Pope and to the Republique of Venice upon the restitution of the Places which his Majesty holds in Piedmont since the death of the late Sir Victor of Amedeé Provided that such Places as are held by the Spaniards his Enemies be reciprocally restored and that Sir the Duke of Savoy remain certainly the Master of them under the Tuition and Regency of Madame Let the consequence of this I say be taken into consideration and it will appear that our Confederates may take a full and entire confidence in this Conduct And that the Counsellour of th' Elector of Mayence above all question a very able Man in the Dyet held some months past at Mayence believing to decipher the Kings Designs t' establish himself in Germany deviated from the Truth though it was by way of probability and that he discovered effectively the Means wherewith he might do it if he had had the Will Before this Discourse b'ended the Reader is to b' advised That I had finished two Treaties which are of the Subject I handle in these two Books Th' one of the Nature of Equivocations Th' other of the force of Opinions which are of great importance for Ministers of State to know But insomuch that this Book is already too long and that these two Treaties may enter commodiously into the Third Part I have believed it was most convenient to place them there End of the Second Book OF The pretended Monarchy OF Th' House of AUSTRIA Third BOOK First Discourse That the true Exercise of the Magnanimity of a Prince Consists in Securing his Countrey from Civil Wars and in Diverting of Forein Wars That the King hath Admirably Prospered in these two Things ' T Is certain That the true exercise of the Magnanimity of a Prince and the Just handling of his Arms Consists onely in these two things Th' one in quieting of his Countrey when it is agitated and in Cutting up the Roots and stopping of the Springs of the Troubles which may there arise Th' other in defeating th' Enterprzes which strangers may set on foot against him or his Allies and in Confining Ambition within the Bounds of Justice When He hath gained these two Ends and that these great Conclusions have prospered with him He may say that nothing is wanting to his glory That his Life hath nothing more in desire to become th' Example of Princes and th'Admiration of the people And such a prosperity is th'ultimate proof of the Love of Heaven and the most wonderful effect that Virtue can produce 'T is not truly to be denied but that the Kings Reign is very observable by these two wonders That h' hath effaced the glory of the fairest precedent Reigns and hath not lest to subsequent Generations Matter for Equality nor any thing to Mow the whole Crop being carried away As to the first point which respects th' inside of the Countrey and th' obedience which Subjects owe their Pricne who knows not that is was so loose amongst us That very often it was entirely divolved into th' Hugonots and that it was not rendred so Pure or so Neat as it ought t' have been from the greatest part of Catholiques France was a horrid Spectacle and a Monstrous Confusion for in the midst of the State another State was to be seen where a confirmed Faction did Reign which was maintained at the Charges of the Prince and became Rich by his Wealth To whom leaving places of Security It was a Tacit Declaration to the world that their faith which ought to b' as firm and Immoveable as the Poles of Heaven and Foundations of th' Earth was doubted and fuspected Where there was n' other discourse than of Assemblies of Circles of Abreges of Circles of Chiefs of Parties and of the like Denominations of ill Augury which were th' Evidences of a present and future revolt How just a thing then and how necessary was it that such a Faction should be suppressed and that they wh ' had a common Birth and drew the same Air and rested under the cares of the same Prince and under the Protection of the same Laws should be reduced t'equal
of the Flemings and that the Power of Rebelling was to be taken from the Rebels to secure from future Rebellions And cut down the Tree at the root to hinder the boughs from growing and putting forth Philip enclosed between these two Contrary Opinions and seeing clearly though th' Intentions of those two Counsellors loving Gomez with Passion and esteeming Alva to his Merit forgets his Maxims and departs from his own Inclination which was the Good of his Affairs to content the Passion of them by a Moderation that was fatal to him He resolved then for the satisfaction of Gomez to stay in Spain under pretence that his Presence was necessary to keep the Moors to their Duty and hinder his Son Charls to disturb in his Absence and to comply with th' Indocile and Imperious humour of the Duke of Alva He constitutes him Governour of the Low-Countries and gives him the Command of an Army capable to subdue them in case of a general Revolt and to force to submission all persons that opposed him Gomez found his Reckoning plentifully in being the chief of the two Patties and remaining the most powerful of the Kings Council was in some sort superior to the Duke of Alva who ought to receive Orders from the Council and as to the Duke's Actions could give what countenance he pleased to them being not cleared before the King's eyes The Duke of Alva also had cause to be ontent with the King's Design to send him Commander of so powerful an Army and t' exercise a great Charge in a Country where no person was above him and where he should be Arbiter of the destiny of a great number of people and of seventeen fair Provinces But th' Interest of Philip and the Laws of good Policy required that no Regard was to be had to th' Inclination of Gomez nor to that of the Duke of Alva and that he should have gone in Person and with a good Army into the Low-Countries to confirm the Tranquillity as yet unsetled and to dispense Rigour and Clemency according to the disposition of Spirits and exigency of Conjunctures Or if it was not expedient for the King for important considerations to go from the Escurial and to break the chains wich ty'd him to Spain He ought not to have recall'd the Governess from Flanders who might easily have finish'd what she had happily begun and had no need for that End but of a small encrease of Forces to render her Administration a little more fearful than it was to the Flemings who had in other Things Love and Reverence for her Person By these Example you may see how hard it is for the Counsellors of Princes t' enter their Counsels free from particular Passions since th' ablest Princes and most interessed are sometimes struck with contagion and spoil their Affairs by Compliance It follows not but that the persons whereof we have now spoken were Great persons though sometimes they committed faults and that their Lives were excellent Looking-glasses for them that Govern though the Glasses were not without spots There are Illustrious Reigns as Glorious Temples and Magnificent Palaces And though great effusion of Riches have been made and choice of the best Architects of the world to build them some errors have been found in them And the Things of Art have that in common with the Natural not to be in all parts perfect As in th' Oeconomy of the Manners of Men Reason doth not always hold th' Ascendent over the Passions but that Passions sometimes take it above Reason and what is of the Dominion of th' Understanding gives place to what is belonging to a Beast So though Princes oblige themselves as strongly as they can to represent the persons of Princes they cannot forbear many times to act the persons of particular Men and to cherish th' Inclinations of Nature above the Duties of their Charge Immutability from Good is not of the Lot and portion of this miserable Life And Constancy unshaken but by some great change is in my sense one of the greatest Wonders of the world There is no Soul so mean that is not capable of some fire and of some strein of Heroick Virtue but there 's none so Heroick that can maintain without slacking the strength of the flight which it hath taken and hold all things under it without ever coming under them such Souls as approach nearest to this state and rise and fall whatsoever happens less than other Souls are certainly the Noblest and Fairest of all Souls And that Equality of Conduct such as may be gained in this Life is more admirable and of greater price in it self thâ—â—â—h not of so great pomp nor of so great profit as the Science to maâ—â— War to conduct Negotiation and to govern Empires The second Rule which Princes ought t' observe in th' Use of this severe Justice whereof we draw the Picture is That as God doth not punish sinners at th' Instant they have offended nor permit his Thunder to break upon the first crimes of Men Soveraigns also ought not to hasten t' extreme Remedies and take Arms so soon as they have receiv'd an Injury They ought to consider that of all Imployments and humane Enterprises there 's none wherein Precipitation is so dangerous as in beginning a War nor wherein more passages are to be sounded or more ways know before the War be undertaken They ought to remember that besides the sad Necessity which is inseparable from the most Innocent War in the world to devour a great number of Goods and Livers There 's none wherein the Revolutions are so suddain and the Conclusions so uncertain A Wheel moved with violence turns not down with more swiftness what was above The Sea is not more unfaithful nor changeth her calm with more promptitude And th' hope of Labourers is not so often deceived by the sterility of Harvests That the prosperities of Arms are subject to change and th' Entries of War are belyed by th' Issues That after many Fires kindled and Tempests raised After a great quantity of spilt blood and wealth devoured After a long Circumvallation the High way to desolation and ruine 'T is of Necessity that the Lists are to be re-entred or a Retorn made to the firit posture of Peace Fourth Discourse That Justice is to be observed in the Form as Matter of the War That Faith is to be kept with Heretiques and Insidels That Christians hate just Cause of Warring with the Turk without making use of the pretext of Religion TO Avoid so dangerous a Precipitation and not t' Engage herein t' ill purpose and hoise sail to the Wind out of season 'T is not sufficient to know that the War is Just which is to b' undertaken but that 't is Necessary to b' undertaken And 't is the good of the State which a Prince undertakes is this occasion more than any other Interest 'T is of Importance that what is honest and profitable march together and
but by the consideration as strangers of their Pay And respect him at the Rate they fear Him and fear Him at the Rate of his power to Punish them The sixth Rule is That a Petty Prince Assaulted by a Greater wh ' hath need of a more prompt and Efficacious Remedy than Diversion against the Violence that oppresseth him before He resolves to receive in t ' His Countrey a Forein Army stronger than his own and to give him place if they be demanded for Security and Retreat ought to make a just and exact Comparison of th'Evills to which he doth expose Himself in the doing of it and of them he must of necessity fall into if He do it not ought t'Examin Coldly and without Passion the Nature and Circumstances of th' Affair which vexeth him The conditions of his Enemies and of his Friends The Faith and Ambition of all of them The conveniency of his Countries or of any of his places for them And the Comparision and Examination being made of th'Inconveniencies he must run of all sides H' ought to make Choice of the least offensive H' ought t' Agree with his Enemies if they are tractable or make use of the Relief of his Friends if they are Faithfull And when H' hath made a good Choice and shall put into th' Haven without Shipwrack He must praise God for it as his peculiar Grace and Extraordinary Favour The last Rule is That in General a Prince ought if He can t' have one or two Fortresses for the security of his Countrey and to serve for a stop to the Forces which may over-run him and to th'Invasions of an Enemy who without Impediment may suddenly become Master of it For example The Duke of Sax at Dresde and Vittemberge The Marquis of Brandburge at Custrin and Spando The Lantgrave of Hess at Castel and Sigenham In these places Consists without all doubt the safety of their Countries and without them they would become the Prey of the first Possessor As are the Countries of some other Princes of Germany wh ' have no Fortresses upon their Frontiers And what had become I pray of Montferrat but for the Citadelle of Casall that Excellent Piece which had defeated so many and so great Armies of th' Enemies whose Situation and the Jealousie given by its strength have invited to besiege it But Care must Here be taken of a specious Fault and t' avoid the Defects of some Princes who through Weakness fall to th' Extremity of other Princes by a certain Irregularity of Fancy not to think themselves Powerfull or Considerable Enough If their Estates be little and their Revenue small they ought not to Charge their Countries with many strong Places nor t' imitate Intemperate persons wh ' Eating t' excess Cannot Digest what they Eat and fill themselves with so great a Quantity of ill Humours that the Natural Heat cannot dissolve them or discharge the body of that plentifull spring of Incommodities and of that fruitfull Mine of Maladies The desire of many Fortresses ariseth from an irregular Appetite and from an Intemperate spirit which the Prince being unable to finish and to furnish with necessary Provissions or to keep the Garrisons well manned and paid some of them are lost by some of the named Defects And it happens also that th' Enemy upon the Taking of a Fort finisheth the Fortifications and Garrisons and by that means makes himself so strong an Establishment in that Countrey and takes so deep Rooting that 't is a difficult Business to get him thence but by a Treaty of Peace and by that Lassitude and â—nability which the War produceth and Compels him t' hearken t' an Accommodation From this Principle also is derived another Inconveniency that puts the whole State in danger and Cuts the Sinews and Nerves which Bind and Joyn the parts together That th' Excessive Number of Garrisons the Prince is obliged to keep is the cause that He becomes Weak when he is to draw into the Field And that th' Enemy being Master without resistance of the flat Countrey all places at once are blocked up and lost and at Contest which shall begin to Render for want of an Army to relieve them and t' avoid th' ill usage of an unnecessary Defence and having no reasonable Means of security can have no Thoughts but of perishing a little later than others and of Consuming th' Assailants by delay The Dukes of Savoy are fallen into this Inconveniences In having a great Number of Fortresses and the greatest part of them Accompanied with some of the Defects which have been represented The Situation truly of their Countrey and particularly of Piedmont shut up in the midst of the Countreys of very great and formidable Princes as a King of France and a King of Spain hath contributed much to this Disorder And that some of the places have been often taken And 't is impossible but that amongst so many weak Forts in their Countrâ—ys some Fort or other will be taken and that a very dangerous prejudice must arise from that Improvidence The Duke of Rohan hath also observed in his Remembrances That one of the Ruinous Causes of th' Hugonot party and Principal Means of the dissolution of that great Body was the great Number of their strong Cities And that by Endeavouring to save them they lost them all And unable to dispute the Field with the Kings Armies as it formerly had Done That they fell under the Virtue and Power of the King It belongs only to the Flemings and to th' Hollanders t' have their Countries full of strong Holds and all those strong Holds Manned with powerfull Garrisons and at the same Time to raise great Armies But as to the Flemings Thought their Countries be of the best of the World and are called th' Indies of Christendom by reason of their Wealth It had been quickly drawn out and Left Drye but for th' Influence of Spain and th' Abundance of both Indies laid out to nourish the War and to support the Motions which have vexed that people for many years Nor hath it been alwaies in their power to furnish the Necessities of that War and th'Hunger of that insatiable Monster And we 've often seen th' Armies of that Countrey perish for want of Moneys and from that want Considerable Bodies of Mutineers t' arise as so many Republiques which subsisted by Order and Discipline without Rejoyning to the body from whence they drew away till payment was made of what was due to them and so thereupon desisting from being their Princes Creditors they returned to the Duty of Subjects As to th' Hollanders who knows not also that they 've not been alwaies in their present Condition nor ever had so many strong Holds or so well Manned as now they Have That they 've been long upon the Defensive and with so Mean an Army As that they believed to Gain what they did not Lose and t'overcome effectively when they were not overcome It was at
they had offended His Divinity dishonored Nature and defac'd the Politique Body Many Examples there are of this Truth in th' Old Testament and among the Jews that besides th' express Commands God hath given to make War He hath sometimes raised and caused Soveraigns and their People to take Arms by occult and unknown Means which are not here to be discussed to chastise other People and other Soveraigns that had offended Him And this is proved in the Choice given to David by God of the three Flayls of his Anger the Plague Famine or War t' expiate th' Excess of Pleasure and Pride conceiv'd at the sight of the Numberless Number of the People whereof he was the Master In the third place That he causeth Accidents and Conjunctures when he pleaseth which constrain Princes to make War that would continue in Peace and to break the Chains of Concord that bind them though they Act cordially to preserve it as I might prove by many Examples If I had not fear to be tedious and had not brought some Instances already in the First Part of my Discourse That the Fire being kindled betwixt two Princes tired with Labour in so painful rugged and dangerous a way breathe nothing but Peace and Rest yet God hinders them to attain it by unexpected Accidents which respectively beget one another and when th' Haven is in hope to be gain'd some contrary Wind is raised that forceth them to Sea again and exposeth them to new and more dangerous Storms These Considerations and many more whereof I am ignorant are the Cause That all War how just soever may be called a Flayl of God's Anger and an Effect of his offended Providence It may be demanded since War may enter into the Classis of Virtues and is of th' Apurtenances of Justice how comes it to pass that God takes not in the New Law the glorious and fearful Title of God of Armies as he hath done in th' Old Law To this truly th' Answer is very easie and who is it that knows not if he have received any Tincture of Religion and learned the first Elements of Christianity that the New Law is a Law of Peace and Love towards our Neighbour That the Disciples of Jesus Christ are known by that Mark and are distinguish'd from other Men by that Sacred Character That the Father could not give a greater Evidence of his Love to men than in giving his onely Son for their Redemption That the Son gave the highest Proof of Charity in offering Himself Willingly and Sacrifizing His Life Voluntarily for the Love of them That th' holy Spirit was not seen but in the Form of a Dove or in the Figure of fiery Tongues And that the Church his Spouse caused Oyl and Balsome to be put into th' use of the Sacraments and other Holy Things and no Violent Substances which denotes That the Spirit of the New Law is a Spirit of Sweetness of Indulgency and of Peace and commands or adviseth no other War than what ought to be made to Passions and Vices 't is so far from allowing any Usurpation or Retention of other mens Goods that it permits not men to Covet them and ordains not onely that Justice be done to our Neighbour but adviseth the support rather of Injustice and Injurie than the Pursute of Reparations by Lawful Powers nor to ravish from Religion th' Evidences of that fair Maxim which proceeds securely from it That Action is less Noble than Sufferance If Justice then which the New Law recommends so powerfully and is the Vital Spirit and Natural Heat of the Civil Body were impartially executed and Charity that covers faults which Justice would expose to light and makes up the Breaches that Justice would leave open were cherish'd by Christians such men least would have need onely of the Conditions of Peace and of the Counsels of Natural Equity amongst themselves and there would be no occasion for prescribing to particular persons the Forms of Pleadings or to Princes the Laws of making War there would be no occasions for Judges or Captains All that are enclosed in the Womb of the Church would breathe nothing but gentle and peaceable Air the Revenge of Outrages would be taken in the Retribution of good Deeds and there would be no cause t' implore th' Arm of the God of Armies of the Powerful and Terrible God but only t' invoke the Name of the God of Peace and Father of Mercies But the Mischief is say the Poets that Justice staid not long amongst men and having carried the Ballance into Heaven whither she is retired hath left onely the Sword on Earth which Injustice and Violence have laid hold on That Charity the Preserver of Union and the great Virtue of Christianity hath not reigned but amongst the Faithful of the first Generation That its Heat hath ever sinâ—â— diminished and 't is visible that the present Christians are more divided among themselves than the Mahometans and instead of acting against that Immortal and Implacable Enemy of their Religion and publick Detainer of their Estates have neither Understanding nor Courage nor Power but to hurt and destroy themselves Were Christians entire and their Forces united it might cost the Turk too dear to assault them but by their Discords and diminution of Forces they make the Victory easie for their Enemies the Blood which they pour out and the Moneys they consume are th' Evidences of their Design and a Proof That if they have not Resolution enough to fight the common Enemy they have at least Desire enough to be taken The Reader will excuse this small Digression and this Complaint on the By which the Zeal of Publick good hath forced from me Third Discourse That Princes ought to Imitate God in th' Use of the Right he hath given them to do Justice themselves That 't is very difficult even for Princes who Love and Understand their Affairs t' effect it which is confirmed by two Examples th' one of Henry the Second th' other of Philip the Second IN the precedent Discourse hath been shewed That the Right God hath given to Princes of doing Justice themselves is the richest Effusion he makes them of his Power and the fairest Beam he communicates to them of his Light whence we may conclude To make this Representation perfect and that the Copy differ not much from th' Original 't is necessary that they Imitate His Conduct and March upon th' Impressions of his Providence in th' use of that destroying Right and in the dispensation of that bloody Justice In the first place As God never descends to this mournful Exercise either prepossess'd with Error or troubled with Passion Princes if possible should do the same they ought to see clearly into th' Action before they do Embark and be well assured that they do nothing but what is lawful for them to do and to that end they ought to use the utmost of their Power that Reason onely have place in their
that the whole Motion of the War ought to turn upon those two Poles But the Mischief is That this second condition is not always as the first in the power of Princes and that there 's no certain Rule or Proof establish'd to b' assured of it as of th' other Some light therefore shall be given to sobscure a Matter and some Addresses communicated to prevent wandrings in a Coâ—â—â—y so little known when some thing hath been said of Justice 〈◊〉 what concerns it In the first place I say that 't is necessary it Reigns if it may be over the whole Extent of the War and expatiate it self over the Accidents as Matter of the War and over the Form as the Manner and Form wherewith they ought to be conducted For there are Matters whereof I will treat to the bottom and others which I will but lightly touch For certain 't is unworthy of a Man of courage to foul his hands in the cold blood of his enemies and a most shameful thing for the feet to tread upon what the hands have beaten down or to take away the life from him who demands it Heat and Choler ought to be contained within the bounds of Victory and ought not to be carried beyond it unless of necessity to be done which happens rarely t' assure the Victory or in Right of Revenge to give no quatter to them who Book would give no quarter And permits that Plunderings be destroyed by Desolations and Fireings by Combustions There are nevertheless some actions wherein Revenge ought not to be taken and 't is unlaw full t' Imitate Robberies and Sacrileges or to give th' Enemies inhumane Deaths by their Example there are Laws which are called the Laws of good War which the Marshal of Brisac hath heretofore made so famous in Piedmont that they ought to b' observed and made an Act of Justice according to th' Intention of the God of Armies and not a pure Violence and a manifest Breach of the Right of Nations following the suggestions of the God of this World and of the Prince of Darkness T' use expressions of the Bible 'T is true then That a Priuce ought not to Draw his sword but when Justice puts it into his hand nor Handle it but under some form of Honesty and shew of Conveniency 'T is also true that h' ought not to confound what is Honest and what is Profitable because they are not the same Things nor blend two Distinct qualities as some of th' Ancients and Moderns have Done Th' occasion of growing Greater and the facility of Conquering ought not to tempt a Prince unless he may Inlarge with a Good conscience and Conquer Lawfully Such a Moderation will be esteemed more Coragious and Magnanimous than any Act of valour and no Victory can be so Fair and of so High a price as that which is gained upon himself But to depart from general Termes which are too Wild and Indefinite and to descend to particular Considerations which are more instructive and pressing than the general In the second place I say That care is to be taken not to judge of the justice or injustice of an enterprize by th' Event or to call it Bad or Good as it shall posper and have the Winds Propitous or Contrary Let him Observe with Aversion th' Expression of that sottish paniard who sollowing the party of the Commons raised against Charls their King writ to a friend of th' Adverse party That the gain or loss of the Battel to be fought the next day would declare who had the Right of his side and that the Mark and Reward of the Justice of the good party would be the Victory Let him abhorr th' Advice th' Admiral Chastillon gave to the Prince of Conde To make no Difficulty of breaking the Treaty whereby he had obliged to go out of the Kingdome If the Sirs of Guise Retired from Court of purpose to charge the Kings Army which they had laid asleep with th' hopes of Peace and Confidence in their promises would the Victory make his Cause honest and his Armies just and all other Justice ridiculous if it fell to the King and all other Reason vain If that be true as it may be true and if Davila who reports it be no tdeceived It were rightly to understand Machiavelles Maxim Not to be wicked at Halfes And to know how to satiate Malice It were some what more than to sew the Foxes to the Lions skinn It were not to make Warr in th' Ordinary Way but with poysoned Armes 'T is then a prefixed point and a Constant Maxim of the Moral and Politique That as a true Measure cannot alwaies be taken of the Prudence of an Enterprize by the Good success so true Judgment can never be made of th' Honesty of an Action by the Good success nor the Justice of a War by the Victory that may Crown it In the third place I say As there 's no War of so strong a Necessity and that hath th' Outside so specious as when Piety is joyned in it to Justice and th' Altars Defended in maintaining our Interests To Interess God in these Designs must be avoided unless he be truly interessed As to imitate Ferdinand of Castille who did much Worse than take Gods Name in vain for He ever Employed it to give Colour to th' Evil which was beneficial to him And his fears had been very much troubled to palliate their Ambition and Avarice If there had been no Religion Infidelity or Heresie in the World It ought not also to be believed as some have perswaded themselves or Endeavoured to perswade Princes That the goodness of th' End to the Glory of God or the Salvation of Souls can rectifie the Means which are Ill in themselves or that the Venome or Malignity of a cause is Corrected or tempered by th' Antidote of a Good and profitable Effect as shall be shewed hereafter In the fourth place I go on and say That though a Hearty Submission is to be given to th' Authority of them whom God hath placed in th' Highest Administration of Religion and in th' absolute Direction of Consciences They must not neverthelesse b' obeyed in all things as they do not pretend unto it nor believe that they can give License to do Ill and disingage us from th' Obligation of the first and second Right of Nature If Ladislaus King of Hungary had resisted the Legate who perswaded him to break without Cause or without other Cause than Conveniency the Peace made with Amurat Emperor of the Turks He had not permitted himself to b' abused by that pretended Power which the Legate assumed t' untye the knot the Right of Nations had tyed He had not lost his life at Uarnes with the loss of the Battel And Amurat had Reason when in the midst of the Fight and Heat of the Charge the Victory seemed t' Incline of Ladislaus side to call Jesus Christ to the punishment of a Crime committed
th' Arms of Resistance and those of Assault When the combate is made by the forces of Wit there 's no Reason to bring the forces of our Body for defence False Reports are scattered abroad to our disadvantage Make the Truth shine in all places which is contrary to them Vigilancy and Ingenuity need not fear such Artifices and the designs of our Enemies will have a chance answerable to that of Mines which do no hurt if Vent be given them But there 's another kind of Reputation and another sort of Honour wherein the Prince ought not to suffer the least decay but pursue a Reparation with Armes if it may not otherwise be had when offended To speak it in a Word 't is the Dignity of the Crown and th' honour of Soveraignty There are certain Privileges and Prerogatives which the Right of Nations have fastned unto them that ought not to be touch'd without Resentment or Violated or slighted without opposing it by force Injury for example done to an Ambassadour whose person is Holy and Consecrated by common Right and by consent of all people and of all Ages is the subject of a Lawfull War And Francis the first cannot be blamed for breaking with Charls th' Emperour by reason of th' Assasinat of Rignon and of Frigose his Ambassadors whom the Marquis of Gast had caused to be Murdered and could never have justice in what posture soever he put himself to Demand it The Breach of a Treaty which is the mark of Disdain thrown at a Prince or of the small consideration had of his Country is another Title of just War That if the Persons of Ambassadours are Inviolable and ought universally to be respected because they are the Living Bonds of Commerce and th' Animated Instruments of the correspondency of Princes By the same Reasons Treaties which are th' Inanimate Seals and dead Impressions of that Commerce and Correspondency ought to be holy and the breakers thereof corrected with the punishment the Right of Nations permits to be inflicted And as one of the Princes will take advantage of the violation of the Treaty th' other promises to perform so by a necessary Consquence th' other must receive Dammage and that Right and faculty is obtained thereby to take reason of that Injury with the sword in th' hand if it be not given Civily and in a friendly Manner It may be seen by this That the War which the King made to Duke Charls is no Unjust violence nor the Conquest of Lorraine an unjust Invasion since it hath been drawn on himself by the violation of many Treaties made with France and who can take it ill if he have not lost all sense of good and the Taste of all that 's just That what was left in pawn and for security of a thing promised should be forfeited when the promise is not performed and the deposite Detained when the condition for restitution is broken But I purpose to Treat fully of this Matter in the second part and t' undraw the Curtain which I d' here leave at least if the condition of the time permits it and prudence adviseth it Observe another Essential point wherein Reputation is offended and for which Armes may lawfully be taken in hand and War made 'T is to redeem a Prince from vexation for the hatred is born us and because his Interests have some Conjunction with ours The King had just cause to defend the Duke of Mantoua by his Protection and Arms against the design of the Spaniards to strip him even for that Reason that he was born the Kings Subject and that they could not suffer a Frenchman to be a Soveraign Prince in Italy How deeply the honour of France was Wounded with that stroak and what shamefull Reflection was made by that Attempt upon the Dignity of the Crown There 's not a person but may judge of it without Explanation There 's not a person if he be not altogether blind with passion for Spain that can approve of their project t' establish in all places their Dominion and t' extend their Monarchy They shut the Door into Italy and forbid Entrance to the French what Justice soever opens it and what Right soever calls them thither And they who Take at all hands and Usurp on all sides will not permit the true and Lawful Masters t' Enjoy their Lands or gather what belongs to them if they are friends to France The Reasons the King had are remitted to another place and th' other Motives which excited him t' Espouse the protection and undertake the defence of the Duke of Mantoua Honour obligeth also a Soveraign besides other duties which may invite him to make the protection given to a weak Prince to be esteemed and to cause the Sanctuary offered to an unfortunate Prince to be respected I will explain this proposition by an Example After that the late King of Swede was Entred Germany with that Extraordinary success which accompanied his Virtue and that He had taught the House of Austria to know that it was not Invincible and had astonisht it with the blows received from th' hands of a Conqueror It s greatest Care was t' avoid a Ruine and as in a wrack to get some planks whereon to save what remained of goods and hopes The King wh ' alone could put a bridle upon th' Ambition of this brave Prince and Resist the Tempest which threatned the Catholique friends of that disconsolate Family offered them his Royal protection and the shade of his Authority without which there was no Safety nor Recovery for them Th' Elector of Treves beleeving He was not bound to perish with them who probably could not save themselves nor hinder him from falling but to fall onely for Company accepted of his Majesties protection After that who makes question but the King in honour and Reputation was obliged to defend th' estates and the person of that Elector from all th' Enemies Excursions and to turn also his Armes upon the Swedes in case they did not consider as they ought his protection but should violate his safeguard And in truth the King was so Religious in this behalf that He considered not what was Profitable in comparison of what was Honest nor the good of his Affairs in comparison of th' honour of his Word That his Majesty entred upon some Coldness with the Swede when he delayed the satisfaction was desired and to restore a place the King was obliged after the Swedes had taken it to cause to be rendred to th' Elector That if the King had reason t' use such a proceeding in favour of his Allyes and t' hold forth to them some Little Rigour upon that occasion 'T is visible that he had cause upon Stronger terms of Justice and Duty to break with them who gave such Advices and Lent their Armes not only t' undertake upon th' Estates of th' Elector of Treves but also t' attempt upon his Liberty and to make a Prelate and a Soveraign
Crowns which had spilt so much blood and consumed so great Treasure for the Liberty of Germany but conspired against them and Consented to fight them who Laboured Earnestly to Deliver the Captives from the Chains they seemed to be in Love with or to compel them to Happiness who had not the Courage to be happy However 'T is certain that the fair peace of Prague wherein th' Accepters of it believed to be secure without running the danger of losing themselves as in the Continuation of the War they made to th' House of Austria had not been concluded if the two Crowns had not engaged in th' affairs of that Countrey And th' Emperor Had not Accorded unto them that respite from their ruine if H' had esteemed himselfe powerfull or happy enough to resist at one Time their forces and Ours That if th' Interessed Persons are the better for it and are at shelter from the Tempest they feared they d'ow us th' obligation which they have very ill acknowledged That if their Peace be Captious and unsetled as 't is and if they have need as there 's no Question of a General peace which is the seal of the Security and Duration of particular Persons 'T is also from the two Crowns they ought principally to receive that good and 't is from them that the Perfectest Cure ought to be made of the German body Instead of those Lucid Intervalls which particular Treaties do produce and of those deceitfull Recoveries which give Ease for some time to the sick Person but take not away the Cause nor the Root of the Disease 'T is for this Reason that they Act with so much Contest and Heat that they raise such great Armies and support so great an expence and they may be assured that Armes will never be laid down till the Work b' Accomplished That they have not made so great expences to lose them And How painfull soever the Cariere be wherein they are ingaged They will never stay till they have past through it And either all Apparences are false or the time is not far off and Christendome will very shortly see a Discovery of the good it desires though it have yet some Convulsion fits to suffer and the Light it expects will quickly appear though it hath also some shadows to disperse and Clouds to dissolve Th' Easiness spoken of hath not been pernicious to the French alone but also to the Dutch They have been also mistaken in their March into this Kingdome upon the single faith of its confederates And if that Prodigious Army of Reiters which marched to Over-run our Nation under the Conduct of the Duke of Bovillon and the Baron of Dona had surprized some strong place It had not been so ill handled as it was in its Retrait nor Feasted the plains with so many Dead bodies as it left there It had been at least admitted to Capitulation for the safety of its Return and for a part of the Money which had been promised in rendring what it held to its Lawfull Master The Queen of England of whom W' have already spoken was much better Advised and her Conduct more prudent when she would not open her Purse not Command her Army t' enter France in favour of the Prince of Conde Till h' had put Havre of Grace into her power and delivered up that famous Haven to give her Entrey at pleasure into this Kingdome 'T is true That I cannot excuse the pretence whereby she seemed to receive it nor approve of the Declaration she published That it was not to break Amity with the Kings with whom she desired t' entertain a good Correspondency that she had Commanded it to be taken but to take it out of th' hands of his Rebell Subjects who might keep it t' his prejudice and to Conserve it for him during his Minority and till he might Act personally in his Affairs and hold th' Helm of his state in his own hands which was handled by persons who were not as she said Prudent enough or Well enough disposed This Playster was too gross and this Masque too visible to Cover and disguise so visible an Usurpation and the Councel of the King had reason to declare her fallen from the Conditions of the Treaty of Cambray in Relation to the business of Calais since sh ' had violated it in aiding the Rebels t' his Majesty and that sh ' had been the Receiver of places which they had taken from him The Duke of Savoy Grand-father to the present Duke endeavoured t' exercise the like Charity towards Henry the Third and render the same good Office to the Crown when h' had seized upon the Marquisate of Saluces for fear as He said lest Esdiguieres should prevent him and untill the Troubles which troubled us were appeased and that our Civil Tempests were allaid The late King paid him that Charity as a Debt of the Crown so soon as h' attained it and made him see that Great Princes know how to force Little Princes to b' honest in spight of their subtleties and t' ease them better than any Persons of the world of th' Obligation they are under to make Restitution of unjust Acquisitions The Method then spoken of and for the Reasons alleged to require places hath been at all times familiar with Princes who know how to Reign and particularly with the Spaniards But if the Duke of Parma demanded no place the first Incursion he made into France and marched to secure Paris from th' Armies of the late King without seeking any place of Security for his Retreat but in the Forces He commanded it was for a more important Reason 't was to blind the world by that shew of Liberty 't was to leave an Impression that his Master sent him not to fish as 't is said in our Troubles and to make benefit of our Disorders as many murmured within and without the Kingdom but onely to drive away Heresie or at least t' hinder th' Ascent of it to the Throne where none but the True Religion ought to sit as He made a solemn Oath in the great Church of Meaux in the Name of King Philip. But he drew not long that breath of Generosity and could never be perswaded to come to the Relief of Roven till the Fere was delivered unto him and put into his Custody which assured his Entry into the Kingdom and his going out As to the rest the sequel of time and course of affairs made it appear that Philip made him take a false Oath and had deceived his General to make him deceive others The Duke of Sessa declared it sufficiently at Rome when He could not hinder th' Absolution of the late King nor his Re-union to th' Holy Chair the Center of the Church He protested against it as prejudicial to the Pretensions his Master had upon France and the Charges expended to conserve Religion and expel Heresie It was therefore to the Spaniard an extraordinary Case and an Exception to
at a great Expence and that it riseth with much pains and sweat to the Felicity it ought t' Enjoy and is not far from itâ— But as the last slâ—ps of a long Journey are the weariest and most painfull And as the last drops of Potions give the greavest distaste to the sick persons that take them so the Remainder of â—â—â—ill Time which France is to bear and the last breathings the War yields Lay the greatest Weight and Complâ—ats the Wearinâ—ss and Fainting where with she Labours but besides the Brevity of Time it hath to suffer and the fait hopes for the future she ought to Consider as hath been already observed in another place That the past Evill was necessary and that the War which hath â—asted so many years is not of the Cholâ—e of â—â—iclination of the Prince or of his Ministers of State but an they table effect of some Malignant Constellation which affects Christendome or to speak to the Height of our Reason and according t' Experience A fire which th' Enemies of this Staâ—e havâ— voluntarily kindsed and which the King and his Ministers of Staâ—â— what Caâ—â—â—nd Dexterity soover was used could not â—â—stinguish This I will now without any figure of 〈◊〉 bâ—â—orique and Elegant 〈◊〉 sâ—uation discover by a brief and faithfull Relation of what hath passed since the peace of Moâ—tpellion and the Return of the Queen Mother to th' Affalts even to this present Conjuncture In another place I speak of the true and affected Causes of the breach of the Bâ—ace which was attended by the War th' English made in cur Islands and with the third Time of taking up of Armes by th' Hugonots since the Kings Reign The Ministers of State who had neither made not broken that Peace as th' Hugonots pretended and it may be untruly which I will not here discover were obliged to prevent th' Affronts that might b' offered to the state and t' oppose th'Evill others had drawn upon it and whereof they had laid the foundations and sowed the seeds when they had overcome that great storm and that th' Island of Rhé became the Sepulchre of them who would have made it the Seat of their new Domination projected in France The King conceived that the fatal Instant was come wherein the Nest of the Rebellion was to be beaten down and Rochelle the Sanctuary of the discontented Persons What the greatness of that Siege was and what an Incredible Wonder the success will make appear to Posterity 'T is unnecessary to explain it here since no person is ignorant of the proceedings and may Judge of them Whilst that great Affair was in dispute and that all Europe was exercised in th' Expectation of th' Event of so high an Enterprize The Spaniards to make use of th' Occasion made another Attempt upon the States of the Duke of Mantoua and put themselves into a posture to strip him of his New Succession for no other Reason but that it was Convenient for them and that the Duke was not Acceptable to them because he was a French-man How much France was offended with this Assault and what a shamefull Reflection it made upon it in the Ruine of a Prince stript to the shirt for their sake 'T is easie to Comprehend Extreme Remedies nevertheless were not used to revenge the publique Injuries And as before â—ouquingans preparations for Sea and th' Expedition of th' English to th'Island of Rhé an Extraordinary Ambassadour was sent in t ' England to divert the breath was intended And before Engagement in the War of Italy and to pass the Mountains for the relief of Montferral The King had recourse to the Ways of Treaty and sent Sir of Boutru t'offer such Civil and reasonable Conditions of Accommodation that the Spaniards could pretend to Nothing but the Victory of more Advantage This way falling and the Reducement of Rochelle upon whose subsistence the principal Hopes of the good Success of their Armes had been raised having given Means to the King to pass th' Alpes and t 'had on to the Relief of Cazal upon its last breathly He made th' Enemies retire upon a Treaty that left Moitsertan for that time safe and hindred the State of Milan to change it the Master of it That so favourable and obiliging a Treaty should not give an End to that War And that the Spaniards would not observe it so long as they ought to have done to prepare for a new Assault and to return to the List from whence they were come with some loss even of their Reputation but with th' Entire Conservation of what they might have losâ— in Italy was Hard of Belief They behaved themselves nevertheless in that Manner and to pay the Câ—â—tesie done them or to speak according to their sense to revenge th' Affront they had received an fall They caused a part of th' Emperours best Troops to march from Germany into Italy and sent the Marquis of Spinola thither from Spain with much Money and great Forces to renew the Quarrel which we thought had been ended And to deprive us of any thoughts of th' Affairs of the Duke of Mantoua and to force our Armies the second time to pass th' Alpes They had prepared two powerfull Irruptions against France The one in Champaigna by Walsthein to whom the present Duke Charls of Lorrain gave passages through his Countrey and furnisht Victuals for his Army And th' other in Languedoc by the Duke of Feria who drew not thither either for want of Forces or by Reason that Walsthein changed his march towards Ratisbone t' allay the storm that broke upon his head in that Dyeâ— Such was the Spaniards proceedings and the Design they hatched against France whilst we thought only of Composing the differences they had with the Duke of Mantoua in a friendly Manner and caused Endeavours to 〈◊〉 used in Italy and in Germany to withdraw the Spaniards with sweetness from that prejudice whereinto they had Cast the Duke without offence given by him And that the Sir of Sabran was sent to Vienna to make Plausible and Just proffers That undoubtedly th' Emperour had Accepted them if he had been Master of his Desires And if thâ— Spaniards who are predominant in his Counsels had not had the spirit so full fraught with the Thoughts of War that there was no room left for a Thought of Peace nor a Motion which tasted not of Passion and Violence Th' Armes then of th' Empire of Spain and of Savoy Conjoyned against us and against our Allies had in the beginning and in the Sequel of that War Considerable successes Mantoua was lost by surprize and Caâ—ull th' onely Piece saved from the Ruine of the Dukes Fortune and the last Anchor of the safety of Italy was in danger to be lost by Siege But it was relieved by a Miracle and there was made a kind of Accommodation which skinned th' Evil rather than healed it And Fenâ—a who succeeded to Saint Croix in the Government of
Milan had a Design to convert it into smoak so soon as our Forces had repassed the Mountains and should be in Condition to break it with Advantage He had truly done it and had made it to be sufficiently understood as it shall be fully deduced in th' Apology of th'Acquisition of â—ignâ—roll if the Vigilancy of our Minister of State had not Countermined his Mine And if th' Arms of the King of Swede which began to flourish in Germany had not caused th' Imperial Forces to be re-called from Italy without which the Spanish Forces had not strongth enough t' Act powerfully nor Pretext to cover their Enterprizes that was the Cause the Spaniards were Constrained t'Acquiesce in the Peace Concluded at Quierasque because they were not the Principal parties in the War which they had not begun as they said not pursued but for th'Interests of th'Emperour and as Auxiliaries of th' Empire Before the Raising of the Siege of Cosall and during the sitting of the Dyet of Ratesbone The King treated with the King of Swede whom the Protestants of Germany had Invited to their Relief and upon whom they had Cast their Eyes as upon their last Refuge and the sole Haven which was left them against the storm that did threaten their Countrey Whilst this great Adversary was upon the Stage to try his strength with the formidable House of Austria And to speak the Truth the Victory was not much less to be feared on the Friends than on th' Enemies part in Parties so full of Ambition Reason of State advised That the King should be in Armes to Cause his Authority the more to be Respected and his Protection the more to be Valued which he so Generously and Christianly offered t' all the Catholiques of Germany as a Means to retain if there were Cause the Victorious in their proper Bounds and t' hinder th' abuse of the Victory and th'Enlargement of it further than it might be expedient for the Good of Religion or for the German Liberty That if the King had been as mortal an Enemy to th' House of Austria as th' House of Austria is to France and had sworn its Ruine as th' other had the Ruine of France It cannot be doubted but with the least Effort made when the King of Swede did so violently shake it He had laid it upon the ground And if after the Death of that Magnanimous Prince and whilst good Fortune could not then be separated from th' Armes He Commanded He had joyned his Forces with the Swedes for the Relief of Ratisbone where all the Forces of th'Emperour were Engaged It had probably fallen under that Weight The King truly Religious to a scruple in preserving the Peace that was betwixt us and them and in sparing it in a time when we might have lawfully disturbed it hath been ill requited for that grace and the same Men to whom we gave life at Heidelbourge were the Troops as hath already been observed which surprized Philisbourge from us and made that great Wound that will bleed it may be to th' End of the War But the Spaniards having Commanded Treves to be taken and Carried away th'Elector who took himself to be safe under the shadow of the Flowers of Lillies and Inviolable under our Protection as to them with whom we were not in War Having forced us by all sorts of Reasons to declare it to those Ravishers and to purge that Injury by Armes against them who would not repair it friendly Since Peace appears as a Monster t' affright them what shew soever they have made to desire it and what person soever they have put on to blind the World with that Apparancâ— 'T is certain that they were never in Earnest And being alwayes flattered with hopes that some Change would happen amongstâ—â— that might make the Way plain to Victory or that it might be made th'Easier with their Armes They raised so many Punctilioes and so many Disputes upon the form of Passports Necessaries to treat of Peace and then upon the Quality of the Persons who ought therein to be Comprised and upon other studied Incidents to delay that affair as shall be represented in the following discourse That the worst sighted Men have seen that the Spaniards thought of Nothing less than Peace and that all their Endeavours were but an Illusion to Cheaâ— simple Persons But th' Heavens a weary of their Hypocrisie and abhorting the loss of so much Christian Bloud which their Ambition had Caused to be spilt disappointed their hopes in th' highest Ascendant they were ever arrived into And they who had an Aversion for Peace by reason of th'Immense Advantages which they represented to themselves in the Continuation of the War were Constrained to make a good shew and to keep it at distance t' Endeavour the Recovery of what they had lost and to see whether the Wheel of Fortune that had brought them so low might not make one turn in their Favour and restore them to the place from whence she had Caused them to descend They must nevertheless after Contest upon that Attempt and after a Tryal of all Means to rise again bore under the Destiny that handled them so ill and resolve to quit something whereof they had no sure Hold and to save the rest they might have lost Either all the pressages the present State of things doth hold forth are false or this time as hath been said in another place is not far off And so soon as Germany is reduced to Reason which may be effected by some small Attempts made on that side The last Act of the Tragedy will be plaid and Peace shut up that bloudy Theater which hath been so long open to the War Twelfth Discourse Where 't is shewed by two manifest Proofes That 't is the House of Austria that hath alwayes resisted the Design of Peace To which the King and his Confederates were disposed in Earnest THe World is to be satisfied of a most Important Truth which is necessary to be known and the Matter more exactly handled which hath been but lightly touched in the precedent Discourse It must be made t' appear That 't is not the King that hath broken the Rule which hath been formerly established but his Enemies who have forced from him the Means of observing it They have alwaies oblig'd him t' have th' Armes in his hands though he had a Desire to quit them and having pitty for th'Evils of his Subjects and trouble for all the Wounds which Christendome received and for the great effusion of blood in the War made all the proffers he could make with Honour t' obtain an honest and sure Peace In effect He hath hearkned with the most favourable Eates and with a spirit the best prepared that could be desired t' all the good Offices which his Holiness laid out upon that Occasion He delivered Faithfully and in Warrantable form the necessary passeports for our Enemies Deputies He named his Agents to go
Monarchies have their seat in the Persons of the Princes that possess them But in th' Assembly and Conjunction of th'Electors and of th' other Princes of Germany who together make the Body whereof th' Emperor is the most considerable Member and Superiour in Excellency to th' other Members considered apart and sever'd from the Body they form There 's no person also but knows That the Majesty of th' Emperor and that August Character which doth distinguish him from Monarques are not derived from the power he hath over a great extent of Country submitted unto him and over a great number of Subjects which he governs but arise from the Greatness to which he is raised and from the Rank that he enjoys above many Soveraigns that encompass him who do him honour and are bound in certain occasions as receiving th'Investiture of their Estates from th' Emperor to serve him with their Lands and Persons and owe him with exception t'other Soveraigns not of the Body of th' Empire a particular Honour and an extraordinary Veneration But lest th' Emperor following th' humour of Great Persons should give too great an Extent t' his Authority and make Invasions upon the Rights and Liberties of the Princes of th' Empire And lest the Princes puffed with the spirit of Soveraignty which they bring with them into the world and drunk with the sweetness of the Command they exercise over their Subjects should become Indocile towards th' Emperor and undertake to draw to them all th' Authority of th' Empire Constitutions have been made and Laws established which bound their Jurisdiction and qualifie their distinct Powers and hold the Ballance at its just point amongst them and make the necessary Counterpoise Lest that th' one becoming too strong should force and destroy th' other And 't is that temper which th'Emperour and the Princes of th' Empire have assaulted by several stratagems on divers occassions and the Limits which they would have often defaced 'T is that Counterpoise which they have endeavoured to unsettle and to ruine that Harmony in whose conservation th' Happiness of Germany principally consists the safety of Christendom and the most assured means of resisting th' Ottoman Forces when they over-run on the Land side And 't is that th' House of Austria doth enforce more of late than ever to perform what they labour with Sails and Oars 'T is the great work of their Aim and Ambition and could they master it as many times since the Battel of Prague they have been very near it it would not b' Impossible for them to convert Kingdoms into Provinces and to make up in time the Monarchy whereof they have so many years past laid the Design And therefore th' Affairs of th' Empire being in this condition I leave it to the Judgment of every Impartial Person whether the King had not a great Interest in th' Affairs of Germany and great reason t' engage And whether h'ought t' have promised to th' House of Austria the liberty of finishing at his pleasure and without resistance that pernicious design of Universal Monarchie Whether h'ought with Newtral Eyes and folded Arms have permitted th' Inheritance of his Neighbours to be burnt whose flames might easily reach his Countries To Judgment I submit it whether th' Aiding of Princes oppressed and stript be to protect Rebellious Subjects And whether distinction ought not to be made betwixt them in whose hands God hath put the sword to defend their Rights against Strangers as well as to punish th' Enemies of their Country and them who have no other Right to bear Arms than what they receive from th' hands of their Prince The King then could not abandon the cause of miserable Germany nor permit the Liberty of its Princes to be ravish'd without being an Enemy to his People and Desertor of the Christian Republique And he was no less obliged to maintain by his Endeavours and Arms the Constitution of th' Empire against th' House of Austria which laboured to destroy it than He was at that time when He used his Authority and permitted his Forces to march out of his Kingdom t' oppose the Count Palatin's design of Alteration And that the resolutions taken in th' Assembly at Worms should not be executed But this matter shall be further cleared in the Treary of the Monarchy of th' House of Austria As to the Princes of Germany who did not co-operate with th' holy Intentions of the King and departed from his Alliance and that of Swede who thought to secure their Estates and Fortune by a particular Treaty and to find in the Peace of Prague an Inviolable Sanctuary against the Evil they did apprehend These Princes I say are very blind or of small courage if they do not see the servitude is prepared for them if they dare not refuse to put their hands to the making of that Chain which is t' hold them if they have been taken with the Charms th' House of Austria had presented unto them and have followed th' ill inspirations have been given them by pretended friend if the Peace they thought to make hath not been so much a Peace as a change of War and passage to new Troubles and to more dangerous Emotions than those they had quitted if in their present condition they march betwixt Precipices and ought to be the Prey of the Victor on what Side soever the Victory falls and bear the punishment of their defection from the good Party or become their last Conquest and make the Conclusion of the Design they had in Judgment In this Dereliction wherein their imprudence and the Corruption of some other causes had cast them 'T is yet better for them to return to the good Party and find safety and honour by aiding in order to the Victory than to persevere in a Society where they must perish whatsoever happens I know well that 't is not easie to get out of a Precipice nor out of a Labyrinth when a man is far advanced into it But notwithstanding th' Artifices of th' House of Austria and the Toils they set in all places to stop the Princes escape from them Th' offences they have committed against them who came so generously to relieve them and th' high ingratitude wherewith they have paid the precious Blood was spilt and the life of one of the most Illustrated Persons of the world lost for their safety If there remains I say in their Souls any dram of Love for the Liberty of their Nation which hath been in great veneration vvith them and that they be ready to receive good fortune vvhen she offers herself unto them The favourable Revolution that begins to shine upon Germany vvill give them means to break the Bonds that hold them â—o reconcile themselves to their antient friends and to recover their first Correspondency vvith them vvhose Amity is their present Security and future Protection But they shall be entertained more fully on this Subject in another place As to the
Eighth to divert Henry the Seventh the King of England from relieving the Duke of Britany to whom h' had a purpose to make War T' allay then the storm that might arise from that side and stop the Relief which Henry might bring or send in favour of his Neighbour Charls made a shew of desiring the Peace and offered to submit t' Henry the differences h' had with the Duke and t' acknowledge him Arbiter and Mediator of the Quarrel Charls with this delicate Bait and subtil Charm of Honour disarm'd Henry's warlick spirit who was fully engaged with affections and inclinations t' Aid the Duke of Britany But Charls made so powerful and quick a Levy and raised such great Forces that the Duke was over-run before notice was taken of it in England That Charls was entred into his Country with an Army and the Tragedy ended before it was known that the first Act was plaid Fourth Discourse Some Rules that Princes and especially they that are Weak ought t' observe when they have need to make use of the Relief of their Friends IN the precedent Discourse hath been seen th' unhappy Destiny of Weak Princes when they are assaulted by Powerful Princes and the various Artifices exercised t'hinder or slacken the Reliefs which might come to them from their Friends But since 't is necessary that there be such Princes in the world and that in the distribution of the parts of that little Engine for which men give themselves so much Labour and make so great a noise Equality hath not been observed 'T is of necessity that the Weaker follow the General Law and remain the Prey of the Stronger wh ' assault them or that they seek protection from them wh ' are able to give it and secure themselves under the shadow of their Authority or by the force of their Arms some Rules are to b'observed as of Importance to be known The first is That they make the strongest preparation in their power t' oppose th' Enemy that comes t' assault them and to resist his first Impetuosity which ordinarily is the most violent and put by their first strokes which are ever the most Dangerous For this purpose and in this publick Necessity theyâ—re to sell or engage their best and most precious things To sink deep into the purses of their Friends and upon their Subjects to make great Levies And 't is better for their Subjects t' endure a little blood-letting and for a short time by their Prince than totally and for ever ruin'd by strangers And a wasted Country as 't is said is better for him than a lost Country and Subjects a little plundred than Subjects constrained to change Master And though they cannot long bear that extraordinary Levy nor resist that excessive Charge It may fall out that th' Heat of th'Assailant may grow cold by a greater Resistance made on the sudden than was expected And may not b' offended at Proposals of Accommodation and that a door b' opened unto them to get our with Honour from an Enterprize whose Beginnings being unhappy the Progress might b' abated without doing more than making of a Noise and may return to th'Haven without other danger than the fear of a Tempest Or if th' Enemy do not withdraw upon th' ill usage Fortune affords them at the first Attempt and refuse to quit the place or to retire In gaining of time they 've done much which is the great Remedy of Unfortunate and Weak persons and gives Means to their Friends to come to their Relief and to bring them fresh Troops wherewith they may not onely maintain themselves but cause the face of War to change and turn the Defence in t ' an Assault and become th' Assailants of their Enemies The Duke of Savoy Grand-father of the present Duke did the like since the death of the late King in the Wars the Spaniards made him or H' had been suddenly over-run at the first sight and swallowed by the Spanish powerful Armies wherewith the Governour of Milan entred Piedmont and gave fear t' all Italy but to that Prince And yet with that wise and bold proceeding he not onely received and resisted their first assaults but gave them affronts And precedent it hath been observed that after the loss of Verceil which had it been well defended might have been kept strengthned by that fair and flourishing Relief Sir of Esdiguieres brought unto it who put the Spaniards upon the Defensive and compelled them to desire Peace which was concluded at Paris to their Advantage The second Rule is That as great sums of Money are to be expended and a great Army to be raised 't is of great importance to make them timely and not t' expose them to th'hazard of surprises which being dangerous in all sorts of affairs are much more in the business of War and d'ordinarily make breaches by which ill fortune enters so far into the Country That it proves a difficult matter to drive it out And it often falls out that they die of those strokes or are long sick of them And 't is what sometimes hath been to be desired by way of Addition to the Wisdom of the Venetians and to their excellent Conduct Their Historians also confess That one of the causes of the loss of the Kingdom of Cyprus was the delays they used in preparing against the Storm which they saw coming And in the Motions which troubled Italy about the Succession of the last Duke of Mantoua we 've seen them Arm slowlier than was necessary for their very design and have suspended many times th' Orders and Commissions they ' d given for the War upon uncertain and wild reports of a Treaty of Peace and were onely a studied Deceit and an affected Artifice of the Spaniards for to possess them with a coldness and relaxation of spirit 'T is certain at least That if after the King had forced his passage at Suza and taken away the Barrier that shut up their Entry into Italy They had not recalled th'Orders given to their General t' enter into Cremona They had taken of the Spaniards some eminent Advantage whilst they wanted Forces failed of Courage and th'Inclinations of the people were adverse unto them Who can I say doubt but if they had taken possession of Cremona which opened her Arms unto them and breathed after so easie a Yoke as theirs but that they had greatly fortifi'd the Party which they favoured and had obliged it may be by that Declaration the Spaniards t' have observed the Peace of Sutza and t' have caused to be sent to the Duke of Mantoua th'Investiures Accorded by that Treaty rather than t' have shut themselves up betwixt two so considerable Powers as France and Venice and some other Forces which Venice might have drawn t' its assistance or if the War had re-kindled as it did the following year and the Spaniards touched with th'Affronts they received from all parts have been forward at any price to take
revenge of the shame by Arms The War without all doubt had taken another form If the Venetians had been Engaged in it Mantoua in Apparance had not been lost All the designes of th' Enemies had been Abortive And insted of th' unhappy success of th'Expedition of Valese for being undertaken too late and with precipitaion The Republique had seen the fruits ripen at leasure if it had been timely acted of so generous a Design and without much hazard Nor had it been for that Action the more Hated of th' House of Austria It had been the more respected And all Italy had taken the greater courage for defence of the common Liberty if it had had before their Eyes so great an Example of Courage from them who give every day so great Examples of their Wisdom But however 't is the Lot of Human Wisdom to be sometimes defective or rather 't is the property of Evil Events to b'always attributed t'Unreasonable Causes or else 't is the Nature of all th' affairs that are put in Deliberation t' have many faces and reasons of all sides which encline t' Act or not t' Act one manner or other Right of Providence which governs the World to frustrate or cause to b'observed as it shall seem good the reasons of th' effects intended and of the promised success The third Rule shall be That if the Prince who is assaulted endeavours t' execute what hath been advised him to do and yet shall have need of Relief from his Allies to make th' Evil to cease or to stop th' Enemies further progress He must make use of their Forces for Diversion and cause them to march into th' Enemies Country if he be not over-pressed in his own Country and if th' Evil he feels or fears may attend that Remedy By that means he may ease his Country of them who would have laid it waste and had sworn the ruine of it and will secure it also from the spoil of Auxiliaries which cannot b' avoided And which may properly be compared to Physicians who cannot cure the body without th' use of it nor drive away th' ill humours which cause Alteration without the disordering of it and without leaving also sometimes some Ill Impression As to the success of this Diversion 't is Impossible but it must prosper and have th' effect it Aims at because it hath the character and mark of efficacious diversions and to b'executed upon a Country which is ordinarily of greater Importance and of stronger Concernment being his own to th' Enemy than that from which they would force him And there 's no apparance That a wise Physician will neglect th' Heart or some other Noble part t' intend the cure of a light Contusion or of some smal Scratch Let 's also say before return be made t' our principal Subject and for the better clearing the Matter of Diversion which will not much divert us and is a Neighbour to 't That one of the most memorable and the most judicious Diversions which the past Age hath seen was that which Francis the First made upon the Spaniards when the Constable of Bourbon the Marquis of Pescary and th' other Chiefs of th' Imperial Army came t' assault Provance Instead of marching streight t' oppose them and to fight them in his Kingdom He marched quickly with his Army in t ' Italy and fell upon the State of Milan and upon the Country in most favour with th' Emperor and upon the parts of all the rest of his Estates which were dearest t' him next to Spain nor was he disappointed of his Thoughts for th' Imperial Army failed not at the first Noise of that Expedition to quit Provance and to march towards Italy with so strange a Nimbleness and such an Incredible Diligence That it prevented our Arrival in the State of Milan and gave means to recruit and fortifie some places which were the security of the rest That if the Subsequent Success was as fatal to us as the first favourable And if the Cause of that War was Ended in th' Imprisonment of King Francis and by the Ruine of his Army This Disgrace ought not to b' Attributed to the Nature of the Diversion which was very pertinent nor a Prudential Cause charged with the production of a Malignant Effect which proceeded from another Cause This Disgrace I say is to b'attributed to the design of Fortune which undertook to mortifie French-men by th' ill Conduct of their Prince and by the faults of His Ministers of State and by that unhappy and undiscreet Diversion which he made upon the Kingdom of Naples whither he sent the Duke of Albany with a part of his Army For besides the great Weakness it brought to the Remainder of his Forces and the fair Game it made for his Enemies t' advance for th' Assault as they failed not to do in that Weakness He considered not that the Kingdom of Naples being less Important to th'Emperour and of less Esteem with him than the State of Milan His Army could not abandon the Milanois to Relieve Naples The Fourth Rule That if an inevitable Necessity b' upon a Prince to procure Forein Forces to march in t ' His Country and strengthen his Army It may b' of great advantage t' him t' have need onely of moderate Forces and such as b' inferior t' his That he may always give the Law and receive no Jealousie from them lest they should put him in t ' a kind of Subjection in the sight of his Subjects and abate the glory of Authority which governs his People and th' opinion of his Greatness by that mark of Dependency wherein he must inavoidably fall upon the Reception of strâ—nge Armies I speak not of other Inconveniencies which may arise upon th'introduction of Strangers into a Country and particularly if Ambition enters with the Power or if the Beauty of the Country or Riches of th' Inhabitants may serve them for Temptation to desire it who being born under a Rigorous Climate and in Salvage Countries are but too much tempted to change Dwellings and to gain Richer Habitations Philip father of Alexander by such an Invitation attempted the Liberty of Grece whereof the Romans as hath been observed made a Conquest That the Goths the Vandals and other Septentrionals have possessed themselves of their Countries who called them to their Relief And that six thousand Turks marching from Asia into Europe to serve th' Emperours of Constantinople charmed with the sweetness and felicity of that pleasant Country invited their Country-men t' establish themselves in Europe And it was the first cause of the Revolution of that Empire Wherefore wise Princes and Republiques well instructed in th' Art of Governing have at all times avoided th' Use of so dangerous a Remedy and th'Exercise of a Means so full of Jealousie as th'Introduction of a great Forein Army into their Country In the War which th' antient Romans made against Pyrrhus and when by the gain of some
restored to their Honours and Goods by those Treaties But who knows not in what Constitution France was at that time Who knows not that th' Heavens had none but malignant Aspects and froward Influences for it And that Fortune pouring out her Favours upon Spain had forgot she was Changeable It hath been seen what a hard Labour it was some years past t' obtain Pardon for the Marquis of St. George and for some other Montferrans who served the Duke of Savoy in the VVars He had since the death of the late King with the Dukes of Mantoua The difficulty the Genouese Expressed and the Resistance they made against pardoning the Prisoners hath been seen whom th' Accused t' have Conspired against their Country with the Duke of Savoy to give him Entry into Genes And that at last in th' Accommodation the Republique made with the Duke a Means was Invented and a Temper found t'hinder these Criminals of the State to perish And that it might not appear that the Republique had given them grace And in the Treaty of Vervins the Deputies of the late King opposed vigorously the Comprehension of any French-man that had taken part with the Spaniard and to deny any favour to th' Intercession of Strangers of what belonged to the Clemency of a Prince Moreover it was not without a great grief of heart and a great Repugnancy that the Spaniards permitted th' Embassadors of France England and Venice not onely to sign as Moderators but also as Sureties on their Masters behalf the Treaty of Verceil which determined the War raised from the not Execution of that of Ast And nevertheless the Question was not herein of a difference betwixt Subject and Soveraign and of those Quarrels of State which are not Appeased but by the Submission or Punishment of th' One and by th' Indulgency or Justice of th' Other The Question was onely of a Punctilio of Honour and of a Preheminence of Authority which the Spaniards affected to Treat in all Italy as Masters T'â—mpose Laws on Princes To give Form as it shall seem good to them t'Affairs and to put out the Fires which they permitted to kindle by the sole signification of their pleasure and by the single demonstration of their Arms. It angred much those ambitious Persons That a Duke of Savoy had the boldness t' oppose that publick Necessity and to resist the common Destiny of the petty Princes of Italy They could not endure his Thoughts of a Free Pince nor that he should use the Privileges of Soveraignty and Act th' Independent near them It was the cause of the Troubles they raised upon him and renewed two or three Times This obliged France not permit him t' yield under so just a Cause This made France with England and the Republick of Venice t' undertake the Warrantry of what was Accorded to the Duke by the Spaniards and this was the cause of bitterness and grief to them to be constrained for th' Avoiding of worse and to draw upon them with the War Strangers in t ' Italy following the Maxim they then held and which they ought never t' abandon To be compelled I say after th' Offer of all imaginable Advantages to the Duke and search of all possible Expedients to divert the Mediation of the forementioned Ambassadors to consent That they should become Pledges of th' Observation of the Treaty That if we 've seen happen somewhat like it between the King and his Rebel-Subjects And if England mingled with their Affairs and Interposed in the Treaty which was given them before Montpellier 'T is to be considered that 't was permitted by that hard and Inexorable Law which makes the Lesser Evil to b' Accepted t' avoid the Greater and that in respect of the Weariness which oppressed France It was adjudged to be more Expedient to procure its Rest with a Little shame than to Leave it in the Trouble of War with an Extreme peril Or truly it must b' avowed That there was not Vigour and Courage enough in the Councel or Care enough of the King's Honor and of the Dignity of the Crown and that the veins of them who Governed in that Time were not filled with those Generous Spirits and that Magnanimous Blood whereof so great Effects are seen in the present Administration And to speak the Truth these forced Peaces and these violent Reconciliations are not of Long Duration They must quickly break from what side soever the fault comes And the Subjects proud and fierce upon this Forein Protection cannot contain themselves within their Bounds which are marked out unto them or the Prince cannot permit his Subjects t' have relation t' any other Soveraignty than his whereby shadow only of Authority remains t' him and from which he receives onely an Apparence of Affection whilst they give th' Heart and Reality t' another Prince What followed the Peace of Montpellier hath given us occasion to verifie this Truth and shew that it being made of necessity or for fear and Forced rather than freely Accorded That th'Intervention and Warrant of th' English was of use to give the greater Jealousie to the King against them wh'had made Addresses t' England to give him a greater curiosity in th' observance of their Deportments and a greater Inclination t' interpret them with a spirit of distrust That they served onely to make them the more Tender and Sensible of the least scratch they Imagin'd to be given to the Peace to make them the more bold in demanding of Reparation and to demand it with Threatnings T' Encourage them to proceed rather as Equals than Subjects in all these Troubles From what cause it proceeded this is not the time t' enquire after and that I 've design'd it for another place At last all things conspired t' an open breach as hath been observed and from all those Collective Causes was formed the most dangerous War that threatned the State since the birth of Heresie Nevertheless God Converted into Good those sad Apparences and hindred th' Evil t' Accomplish its period He stopt it in the strength of its Motion and in the midst of its Course And raised to the King Ministers of State who would not strip him of his Virtue by their Coldness but give him an Edge by their Courage not to go awry at the sight of the Disorders and to cut off some Branches but t' Assault it in a strait Line and to cut it up by the Roots Not t' Allay for some time the Rebellion with Promises which they knew would not be kept and may be believed ought not to be kept but to put it in a Condition to Capitulate no more with his Master and to take from it for the future the Will to rise in taking from it the Power of Rising And that fell out happily for th' English were beaten and th' Hugonots humbled in that War Rochel fell to the ground and Spain became Blind or Lazre in not furnishing the Relief it had promised to the
against him that should first disturb it and break that sweet Harmony of the People which made Italy happy The League had aspect chiefly upon the Venetians who being then the most powerful of all the Princes of Italy were esteemed also the most ambitious and it may be for that reason onely that they were the strongest And that they did not believe That the Moderation of Desires accompani'd willingly with Great Forces nor that Sobriety could b'observed in the Temptation of Abundance But the Cement of that League being the wisdom of Laurence of Medicis and that it wanted somewhat of more strength and duration for its subsistence It hapned that it fell by the death of Laurence and that Lodowick Sforza was the first that broke off from it to gain the State of Milan from his Nephew and which opened the Gate by which the French entred Italy and after them the Spaniards and the Germans It hapned also as by a just Judgment from God That th'Usurpator of the State of his Nephew and the Perturbator of the Peace of his Country saw himself stripped of that State and banished his Country to pass the rest of his days and die a Prisoner in a Forein Country That which was to be desired to complete that League and which made it break was the want of a real and effective great Power to support the weak Pieces of it which should not have been subject to yielding by death nor of falling by disgrace and might serve t' all of them for a Haven in time of Tempest and for Resurrection in case of Misfortune But in th'Establishment of durable Leagues and in the collection of Pieces that compose it for duration 'T is not sufficient that a great Power be conjoyned unless the Motions of that Power be Moderate and have the General Good of the League for its End to which it serves for Chief and Centre Otherwise if that Superiour Power do determine the Ruine of others and aim at doing Its business and not theirs they will quickly sever and so soon as the great Evil they feared is over and that the Torrent which gave them trouble is stopped they will withdraw their Contributions and no longer furnish Materials nor lend their Arms to constitute a Society which might in time prove fatal unto them Let Examples explain our Meaning When th' Heresie of Luther had taken root in Germany and stretched its Branches almost over all the North a League was formed at Smalchalde against Charls the Fifth of the greatest part of the Princes and States that had embraced their new Sect Th'Emperour was constrained to form another League to this and t' implore th' aid of Catholique Princes in an occasion where th' Antient Religion had cause to fear all that could issue of sad and tragical from the fury and zeal of the new Sects Some Catholique Princes refused to Joyn as the Venetians Others did Engage whereof the most considerable and who sent the fairest and greatest Army was th' Holy Father Th' Emperour with this Supply which was useful and with his Virtue and ordinary Fortune got the better of th' Associated Protestants and had forced his Victory further into Germany if the Pope who knew that Charls aimed not at the Heretiques but at the Rebels of th' Empire had not staid his course and withdrawn his Forces whereby th'Emperour was disappointed and stood as Immoveable in the pursute of his designs as a Ship when the Wind suddenly abates and is surprized with a Calm Two things are here to b'observed which establish and confirm the Propositions proposed Th' one That the Protestant League fell by the first Blow it received without rising again and one lost Battel made it vanish into smoke for the first Reason given and because it wanted some great Power that might have rallied the scattered Forces That might have raised new Men and have drawn them together to fight their Enemies and for other Trials of Fortune And indeed to speak truly of the thing 'T is the same with petty Princes who make a League against a more powerful Prince as with a Society of Gamesters wh ' are not rich and having made a Stock to which every one contributed all the Mony h' had so soon as that Money is lost are out of countenance and are constrained to break up company and to retire with their loss In like manner th 'others setting a foot at first all their Forces and straining to their uttermost being defeated are without recovery and disband immediately if some great Power do not interpose to rally them W' have also seen the same thing happen to the Protestant League which took its beginning from th'incident Troubles between the Pretenders to the Succession of Cleves and which dissolved upon th' occasion of th' Election of the Count Palatine to the Kingdom of Bohemia The first great Blow that was given became mortal to 't And it was so astonished at the loss of the Battel of Prague that it could never recover its strength again And all that the King of Denmark Halberstat and Mansfielt have since done to re-inforce that Party have served onely to make it languish the longer and resembled the precious Waters are given to desperate sick persons which make th' Heart a little to recover and prolong the life some few howers but restore not health and prevent not death Th' other thing to be considered in the Catholique League which subdued the Protestants is That it held indeed of great Powers and that it had for Foundation and Ligament a great Emperour who made th' Eagles of th' Empire fly higher than they 'd done since Charlemain's time But being more Ambitious than Powerful He carried not falsly that Embleme which discovered th'Immensity of his Desires Never to stop but to pass always further For without respect to the good of his Confederates He studied onely his Particular profit That was the cause as hath been observed that they retired from the League The same Emperor endeavoured after the re-establishment of Sforces in the State of Milan to form in Italy another League of the first sort under pretence of employing it against the French irruptions that should undertake to trouble their Peace and to draw thither to raise Quarrels or to make use of them against the Turk if his Fleets assaulted the States of any of the Confederates and Infested their Shoars But th' Italians were as Cautious as he was subtil and discovering th' Hook he did cast into so specious a Bit They would not be taken with it For it was very visible to them That th' Emperor aimed from thence to confirm his Power in Italy which the French alone were able to shake And in holding the Turk at Bay to labour with more ease and less opposition the ruine of Christians The Germans were not so well advised and wise when they formed that League of Suaube which served so long to do th' Affairs of th' House of Austria and
they had another End than that of Religion or at least that they did but Obliquely look upon it I know not how their Proceedings can b' Excused or the Violence Sweeâ—ned that gave Trouble to the Peace of th' Emperour and Empire They were busie where they had no right of Intervention and entred by a Breach when they could not enter at the Gate I know not by what Law of Conscience they could raise a Subject against his Soveraign How they could make Mathias a Felon against his Brother Rodolphus and Compel him with a strong hand and with a raised Arm t' Act Mathias's Will though it were Just though it were Holy not by what Right of Nations they could deprive a Kingdome from all times Elective of the Liberties and Customs which were not unknown to them and Violate the Privileges which to that time had been Inviolable But if in this as in mamy other things they would Cover themselves with their old Cloak and say that it was still to pare the Wings of Heresie and to Cut off its way lest it should pass further into Germany To that Answer may be given That th' End was goods but the Means were not and that they took a way to gain it wherein were so many ill passages to get over and so many precipices t' avoid That there was as much cause of Fear as of Joy In behalf of Religion and th' hazard betwixt Gain and Loss was equally uncertain That in matters of Religion th' Heavens ought t' Act and Providence to Govern And an Entire submission ought to be given to that Power which Conducts things to their Ends according to the good pleasure of its Will and not according to mens Fancies That it did not belong to them to Command the Times which were not Ordained in the decrees of th' Eternal Councils nor t' hasten the Maturity of Accidents which appear only in their Season and discover themselves in th' Appointed hours of then Time That they were to be Confined to the Limits of the received Order of things and in Obedience not to Wander from the Common Right nor t' Honour God by Vice or to seek his Glory in the way of Injustice Violence and Breach of Faith Nevertheless by this proceeding of the Spaniards may be seen how Licentious their Appetite is of Governing and their Ambition boundless How Active and Destructive that fire is and Nourished with all sorts of Materials That it Consumes not only them that are not of Relation to them but Burns their own Parents and dissolves the Cement of Blood and of Alliances Le ts return to our Subject When the Plot spoken of was formed and the Conspiracy resolved upon against Rodolpe Th' Evidences thereof were suddenly Visible and Mathias made haste to give them credit by memorable Attempts And for that purpose he Commanded th' Army to march towards Prague where th' Emperour was which had been raised in Goritia And having as it were Enclosed him in that Capital City of Bohemia He sent him in that Posture and with that Equipage the Protestation which had been agreed with the Spaniards and the Pope What should a Disarmed poor-Spirited and Ignorant Man do as Rodolphus was in the streight wherein h' had shut himsels but receive the Law from him wh ' had Power to give it and to yield to th' yoak that was forced over his Head An Agreement then was made in the Moneth of June in the year 1608. by which it is ordained That he deliver up to his Brother Mathias the Crown of Hongary the Scepter the Royal Hat and th' other Ornaments which were carried unto him by the Cardinal Dietresthien That he reserved for himself the Title of that Kingdome to bear it Joyntly with Mathias As also he did relinquish unt ' him the Lower and Higher Austria whereof he retained only the Title discharging th' Inhabitants of the Country from their Oath of Fidelity which they had Sworn unto him and Consents that the said Archduke should be nominated Heir to the Crown of Bohemia in Case he Died without Heir Male and all this to be done without prejudice to the States of the Kingdome in their Right of Election and other Privileges The States of the said Kingdome consented to the said future Succession upon two Conditions which were That no prejudice should be done to their Privileges and that the said Archduke during the Life of his Imperial Majesty should not in any sort meddle with the Government of the said Kingdome nor with the Provinces Incorporated to it And in Case he did that he should be deprived and forfeit the Right of Nomination which was Accorded unto him and that he should Entitle himself only the designed King of Bohemia Rodolphus was not Entirely degraded by this Treaty nor the Liberty of the Bohemians wholly suppressed There 's alwaies a middle betwixt two Extremes and some kind of distance to pass from th' one to th' other All the Wounds which are received do not Kill a man suddenly and the Vigour which that people Expressed and the Resistance they made in th' Occasion secured to th' Emperour and them the Remainder of Liberty which appeared in that Treaty The boldness of Mathias and the practices of the Spaniards staid not there and stopped nor in so fair a way They had not begun so well without Resolution to pursue it nor so happily Entred upon their business without finishing of it The Dye was cast And it was an Inviolable destiny in their Judgment t' Abolish the Right of Election in the States of Bohemia and to make that Kingdome Successive and Hereditary For that purpose it was thought necessary to vex the Bohemians Their yoak was to be made heavier and their Servitude larger All obstacles were to be broken and all Gates opened that opposed that design The Cardinal Clessel Rodolphus's Confident and Governour of th' Affairs of Bohemia made a great Opposition against them in the Councels and feared not to resist them publiquely and break all their Stratagems It was the Cause that Mathias at the suggestion of the Count of Ognate the Catholique Kings Ambassadour caused him to b' Imprisoned unknown to th' Emperours and without any Consent of the Nonce resident in that Court And thus having disarmed Rodolphus of his faithfull and bold Minister of State and taking down that head which infused vigour and understanding into the Bohemians he thought to reduce them easily to what they desired After these Actions of Mathias above spoken of and th'Innovations h' Introduced in th' Emperours Court after h' had there done for a time all that he would do and Governed at his pleasure th' Empire under the Name and Authority of his brother He came at last to his desire but he was no sooner setled in his Throne whereunto the Spaniards had aided him t' ascend but they made him t' Adopt his Cozen Ferdinand to th' Exclusion of Maximilian and Albert his Brothers and declare him his Successor
t' Hungary Bohemia and th' Hereditary States This Declaration was not barren and vain it was attended with its effect as the Lightning is sometimes with the Thunder Mathias caused Ferdinand to come to Prague by deceit and with Mony but more effectively by the power of th' Army h' had in Bohemia He compelled Ferdinand to Crown him King of Bohemia leaving out the word of Election and without any Apparence of th'Intervention of the States Authority which was the work the Spaniards aimed at and for which they had long given themselves much trouble The Complement of the business and the Conclusion of it was That they made a Transaction with Ferdinand by which it was resolved In the year 1617. That th' Election of the Kingdoms of Hungary and of Bohemia should b' abolished and that the King of Spain should succeed to those Kingdoms in case of default of the strait Masculine Line of Ferdinand Provided That the King of Spain should relinquish all the Rights h' had in that Country in title of Granchild of th' Eldest of that House Whereupon 't is to b' observed that all this was done and concluded betwixt the Spaniards and Ferdinand with full Power and pure Violence and without the knowledge or participation of the States of those Kingdoms which are Elective And it was th' occasion of a great displeasure conceived by the Bohemians when it was made known to them and the greatstone of scandal against which they struck and which carried them to the Resolution they afterward took to reject Ferdinand from being their King and to call in t ' his place Frederick Gount Palatine under whom was framed in Germany an Intricacy of Affairs which five and twenty years of War could not dissolve And that a thousand new Accidents which every day arise forbid the wisest Men to discover th' Events and the way to get out of that Labyrinth That the Transaction was the principal and most violent Motive of th' Insurrection of the Bohemians appears by the Declaration of the States of Bohemia upon the rejection of Ferdinand of the 23d of May 1618. by which they complained amongst other things That there was an endeavour to transport the Kingdom t' another House It appears by the Letter which th' Elector Palatine wrote to th' Emperor the 25th of June in the same year wherein he says expresly That th' Authors of those Troubles were Persons who sought th' Improvement of some Forein Greatness and represents the Troubles which the Provinces of th' Empire would feel if Strangers were Introduc'd as had been done in the Dutchy of Juliers It appears also by the Declaration made by the Bohemians in the year 1619. upon th' Election of Frederick the First wherein they clearly said That Ferdinand endevour'd to translate the Kingdom of Bohemia under a Forein Power But since there 's nothing so easie as t' Accuse and Disguise an Accusation That every Person flatters himself in his own Cause which h' adjusts and beautifies as he pleaseth And that the Paper receives what is imprinted upon it as a Glass doth represent all that is set before it Let 's produce the testimony of Ferdinand and the proofs h' hath furnished to the Bohemians Complaints 'T is certain that his Predecessors speaking of their States ever put this Expression of our Kingdomes and Hereditary Provinces The word Hereditary Accompanying onely the Provinces and not the Kingdomes He Transposed the word to the beginning of the Clause that he might Fixe and Incorporate himself upon the Kingdomes as Provinces and made it thus of our Hereditary Kingdomes and Provinces And in his Monitory Letters of the 30. April 1620. agaist th'Elector Palatin by which he summons him to Leave in a Month The Kingdome of Bohemia and pretends that that Crown was fallen to him by Natural and Successive Right There was another Cause which was doubtless known to the Bohemians and obliged them to change their Master and to seek another yoak than Ferdinands whose person otherwise was not unacceptable to them 'T is the strong and Implacable Aversion that Prince had against Heresies and th'hot and burning zeal t'Exterminate them out of his Dominions and in all places where his Authority was acknowledged At twenty years of Age He made a vow t' our Lady of Loretta He renewed it at th' Age of forty three to our Lady of Celles which is betwixt Austria and Styria and Confirmed it a little before his Death by the Report of Father Lamorman in that Book of the Virtues of that Emperour The Zeal truly of seeing the Ruine of Heresies and of placing living stones in the Temple of God t' use the words of th'Apostle is very Commendable in it self and t' have no sense thereof is to be wholly deprived of Charity towards ones Neighbour which is one of th' Ends of Christianity There must be a want of Piety to the Church to which Heretiques make Wat No Love for the Glory of God which is Prophaned by Fable Worship But though this Zeal may be as hot in th' Heart as it should be and burn within Though it may be much inflamed in it's Principle yet it ought not t' appear but Tempered with Discretion nor break out but by measure and Rule thought not to procure its End but by convenient means by the waies which God hath ordained or hath left to Prudence to make Choice of Above all he may b' assured that its Operations are ordinarily better effected by gentle and peaceable than by violent and bloody hands And suppose it to be an ill Invention to Kill instead of Healing and to pull down an Edifice t'hinder the burning of it That in Truth there are Constitutions and Encounters where strong Remedies are to be used to stop the Contagion of Diseases which gathet and where Houses are broke down to prevent the fire which they cannot put out from burning of others mens houses and consume that which might have been preserved In this I have given some Rules in the first part and in several places I say some what of it here and there as conceive it necessary and as th' Abuses which I see there Acted oblige me But t is Chiefly necessary in kindling that Zeal in the Spirit of Princes t' infuse also convenient Lights for their Conduct And what I have said in other places ought to b' observed and cannot too often be remembred That great Persons cannot commit small faults nor General Causes removed by small Ruines Sebastian the last King but one of Portugal before that Kingdome was subdued to the Power of Spain is a very Remarkable Example of what I have now said The Queen Catherine his Mother having trusted his Education with Religious persons honest Men indeed and of Eminent Learning according to their profession but unexperienced in th' Affairs of the World and in the Science of Princes Their greatest care was t' imprint deeply into the Soul of this Prince naturally valiant the desire of
making War to the Mahometans and to Convert that great Principle of valour wherewith he was born to the Destruction of th'Infidels This was truly very good but the precepts were given him and th' Impression made without Discretion and Choice without Moderation and Rule which spoyled the Goodness and corrupted the Virtue of that Education So the fruits which it produced were not beneficial to Religion though it was his Principal End but fatal t' his Countrey which changed its Government and fell under a yoak which it hath since born with much Impatience and at last shaken off after the losse of all patience As to Ferdinands vows which are much esteemed by them not to permit any Heretiques in the places of its Dominions and to suppress the least Impressions there of Heresie Not to speak of the Nature of those Actions which may b'Excellent in themselves I find great Imprudence in the Solemnity and in that Eminent condition of Acting them publiquely and to the knowledge of many persons There are Actings indeed which ought to b'Acted in the sight of the World and Exposed t'high Noon and put t' use our Saviours Comparison in High places as Cities built upon the Top of Mountains that they may be the better seen and that they who shall see them give God the Glory And a Doctor that shall make a vow t' Apply himself wholly to the Combat of Heresies and to purge the Spirits by his Doctrine of the venome which is the more dangerous and mortal to them wh ' are the least sensible of it at their Deaths might perform an Act of great value and a thing in some sort Heroique But for a Soveraign Prince that would Exercise Proscriptions and Punishments against that kind of Diseases not t' use greater Circumspection and Secresie than a particular person and to publish his Zeal and declare his Design by some publique formality what other things is it than t' advise his Enemies to b'upon their Guards Than t' awake them that sleep lest they should be surprized Than to give them the Will and the Leasure to put themselves into a posture of defence To seek Friends and Protectors to Fortifie themselves with Confaederations And to Cast them into Despair which is more to be feared than Courage This hapned to the Bohemians and 't is the second spring of the German Troubles which Ferdinand opened and one of the principal Causes of th'Emotions in Germany which continue to this day End of the third Book of the second Part. FINIS THE TABLE OF The SECOND PART OF The Minister of State First BOOK First Discourse WHence it proceeds That Beasts of the same Kind do not make War amongst themselves as Men do That Irregular Passions are the cause of that Disorder That Duels are against the Right of Men and particularly against th' Authority of the Prince Page 1. Second Discourse Why God hath left Princes the right of doing themselves Justice when they are offended by other Princes That Lawful War is in th' order of Virtues and a branch of Justice Why 't is called the Elayl of Gods Anger p. 6. Third Discourse That Princes ought t' imitate God in th' use of the Right h' hath given them to do justice themselves That 't is very difficult even for Princes who love understand their affairs t' effect it which is confirmed by two Examples th' one of Henry the Second th' other of Philip the Second p. 11. Fourth Discourse That Justice is to b' observed in the Form as Matter of the War That Faith is to be kept with Hereticks and Infidels That Christians have just cause of Warring with the Turk without making use of the pretext of Religion p. 18. Fifth Discourse That the defence of injur'd Reputation is the subject of a just War Wherein that Reputation consists That the King could not with honour avoid breaking with the Spaniards wh ' had caused the Town and th' Elector of Treves to be surprised being under his Majesties protection p. 24. Sixth Discourse That a War ought not onely to be a just but also profitable for him who undertakes it Some Rules which Princes should observe when they relieve their Allies p. 30. Seventh Discourse The second Rule which a Prince sought t' observe in relieving of his Friends p. 34. Eighth Discourse That the Conduct which the King hath observed in the relieving of his Allies is full of moderation and generosity That the Conduct of some other Princes of this Age is not the same p. 39. Ninth Discourse Whether it b' expedient t' hazard the Remains of the Forces of a State to recover Reputation lost by some Notorious Disgrace That 't is not safe t' act alone or to permit all things to be done by others in difficult Enterprises p. 44. Tenth Discourse Of the difference betwixt th' Honour of particular persons and the Reputation of States And whether the Prince be Master of th' Honour as of the Life and Lands of his Subjects when publick Necessity requires it p. 51. Eleventh Discourse When the War becomes too ruinous to the Subjects of a Prince h' ought t' endeavour if it be possible th' end of it That the King hath been forced to make and continue the War till now by an inevitable Necessity That his Enemies rather than himself have always estranged themselves from Peace p. 58. Twelfth Discourse Where 't is shewed by two manifest proofs that 't is th' House of Austria that hath always resisted the Design of Peace To which the King and his Confederates were disposed in Earnest p. 63. Second BOOK First Discourse THat it is a great misfortune to a Prince to want power to make defence against th' Assaults of a Forein Prince and thereby to depend upon the will of others Which is confirmed by two Examples The first of the League made betwixt the Pope the King of Spain and the Venetians for the relief of Cyprus p. 71. Second Discourse Of th' unhappy Condition of small Princes p. 77. Third Discourse Wherein the second Example is brought spoken of in the First Discourse to shew th' Artifice Princes use in assaulting of Forein Princes t' hinder their Friends to relieve them p. 82. Fourth Discourse Some Rules that Princes and especially they that are weak ought t' observe when they have need to make use of the relief of their Friends p. 90. Fifth Discourse What kind of Confederacy and Correspondency may be formed betwixt a Prince and the Subjects of another Prince in rebellion with their Prince That the King ought in Consequence t' aid the Catalans p. 99. Sixth Discourse Wherein the protection ought to terminate which Princes give to the Rebel-Subjects of another Prince That it b' effected faithfully by the Prince and securely by the Rebels This is confirmed by the proceeding the King hath observed in the business of Catalogniâ— p. 105. Seventh Discourse That 't is a great Secret in War to know how to make best choice of the Place against which the strongest Assaults are to be made That the Spaniards are seldom deceived in that Choice with some other Observations upon their Conduct That the Kings Conduct is admirable in ordering the War he makes in so many places in Christendom p. 112. Eighth Discourse In what conjuncture it may be probably thought that the Venetians will enterint ' a League against the Spaniards p. 121. Ninth Discourse What Conditions that Peace ought t' have which all honest persons desire that it may be just and sure That the particular Peaces which th' House of Austria endeavours to make would be the ruine of them who make it p. 125. Tenth Discourse That the Confederation between the King and his Associates hath all the necessary Conditions required in a durable Peace Some Considerations upon the Nature of Leagues that they may the better be maintained p. 134. Third BOOK First Discourse THat the true exercise of the Magnanimity of a Prince consists in securing his Country from Civil Wars and in diverting of Forein Wars That the King hath admirably prospered in these two things p. 144. Second Discourse Of the Spring of the Design of the pretended Monarchy of th' House of Austria Some Advantages which th' Imperial Dignity brings with it above th' other Secular Dignities of Christendom p. 150. Third Discourse Other Advantages that attend upon th' Imperial Dignity above the Secular Dignities of Christendom p. 155. Fourth Discourse Charls the Fifth was of opinion That t' attain the Monarchy H' ought to make himself Master of one of these three Countries France Italy or Germany That he failed of all of them and could not subdue but a part of Italy p. 164. Fifth Discourse Of the third Enterprise of Charls the Fifth to gain the Monarchy and how it fail'd him p. 171. Sixth Discourse That Philip the Second apply'd himself principally to the gaining of France t' open the way t' himself of the Monarchy That his Successors have endeavour'd t' establish themselves in the heart of Germany to make th' Empire return to their House and pass from thence to the Monarchy p. 180. Seventh Discourse In what manner the Successors of Philip endeavour'd t' establish themselves in Germany The Motives which obliged the Bohemians to withdraw themselves from the Government of th' Emperor Ferdinand and to call th' Elector Palatine to the Crown of Bohemia p. 185. FINIS
believed that h' had no cause to fear any future ill times and to speak the truth so long as th' English were content to make Generous Deliberations and to send Magnificent Embassies in favour of the Palatine House it would not b' easie for that Duke to part willingly with what h' had received not to depart with but by th' highest violence of ill fortune and the Necessity must be strong if he could find no means of delivery from it and all the Gates strongly shut upon him if he did not escape at some Postern door As to France to speak again one word thereof and so permit some Draughts of her proceedings to pass by it shall be represented entire and wholly such as it stood in the divers occurrences of the Troubles She will appear in their Birth and Progress as Mediatrix of the Quarrel and Cause of the Conclusion of the Peace at Ulms which had re-established th' affairs of Germany and restored to th' Empire its first Countenance If they to whom it served for shelter and plank of safety had not broken it and oppressed by surprise them who believing themselves out of danger by the conclusion of the Treaty and under the shadow of publick Faith were unprepared for defence Since that time its action at Languy and its Cares have been faint in the behalf of Germany and the Cabinet Contests to which the frequent changes of the Ministers of State did ever contribute some obstructions to their resolutions and the fire which the factious Religionaries kindled easily in its bowels hindred the relief till the Mantouan War was ended then truly it began to return with warm thoughts and cares and th' Experience gain'd in Italy and the present constitution of things having given her t' understand that the Septentrion Wind was onely to b' apprehended in relation t' her self and Allies She resolved t' assault the Spring of th' Evil and to set as 't is said th' Ax to the root of the Disorder and t' act vigorously in that behalf and to make its first attempt eminent in the Dyet of Ratisbonne And that as France knew to make use of th' occasion of the King of Swedes entry into Germany whither the Princes of that Country suffering or fearing oppression had call'd him as since of the Treaties that Charnasse made at Berwalde with the King of Swede even to the Renewing of th' Alliance with the Swedes which Sir of Avaux made the year before at Hambourge so she hath t' admiration and with great dexterity managed two Interests The first that most possest her spirit was that of the Church and Holy things which it espoused with hot and constant zeal Whereupon I dare boldly say that I hope to make it appear there and in other places That the true Reasons of State do not justle the Maxims of Religion and that the same Authority which hath put a distinction betwixt the Secular and Ecclesiastick Powers would have them bound up together in Amity and their hands stretched out to th' aid of one another That a wise Prince ought never permit their Harmony to be broken nor the bounds which sever to be confounded In the troubles of Christendom and mixture of Parties of different Religions which tear it in pieces the King had not onely the care to put in safety the Catholique Interests and to secure th' Holy Places and Sacred Persons against th' Enterprises of such men as might have violated them but his Conduct may be found less prudent since for his Love to the Church he'th sometimes quitted th' advantages which he might have assumed with a good conscience and was firm for the good of Religion in all things where he might have safely taken his Liberty for the good of his Affairs had he not strongly believed that the small prejudice he did himself would be plentifully repaired by God who suffers not a glass of water given in his Name to pass unrewarded and would not onely accompany with his Blessings the justice of his Arms but also crown his Piety and the Passion had for the things which relate unt ' his Service And to consider the Greatness and Number of them which he had undertaken and the long course of Affairs which had entertained him It may be truly said That a Prosperity less interrupted hath been seldom seen nor a Reign that hath received from Heaven more propitious and favourable Aspects I dare al 's ' affirm a second Truth which adorns the Kings Reign with a particular Glory and promise to make it out clearly That w' have not onely made faithful Societies with our Neighbours but protected th' interests of them whom we were bound to protect and have exceeded our Limits and in some Cases the King may b' accused t' have been Indulgent to the Business of Strangers and too little sensible of the Necessities of his Subjects were it not that from the Good of his Allies Success he makes an inevitable reflection of Good upon his own Affairs and that in diverting the loss of his Neighbours he conserves the Borders of his Country and hinders th' Invasions of his Enemies And were there no other Reasons than that th' Evils and Sufferings of his Subjects might the sooner determine as the Seeds of a permanent Prosperity and to re-build the Temple of Peace which was shaken and trembled for fear of Ruine it was necessary that the War should precede that Holy and admirable Edifice That in the Tragique and Common Misery which makes Christendome to groan the King hath this Consolation That the Guilty are the sole Authors of unjust Wars and that the Firebrands are justly punish'd but such are not to be condemned who suffer losses in the flames But God and the World know the Defaulters in the Quarrel which at this day do exercise Christians that the King engaged in it as an Assistant and if his good Offices and Prayers had been able to resist the Violence which acted upon his Allies h' had never drawn his Sword to defend them And I will shew that although all Christendom may witness and his Allies taste the fruits of his Labours and Charges for their safety since He was compelled to procure it by his Arms He may be blamed with too great a Retention and with too slow a Resentment for th' Injuries received in their Person before he could resolve to repell them by force He may be blamed I say for it if the fear of avoiding and drawing upon his Subjects the Consequences of a War be blame-worthy or not willingly to descend in t ' an Abysse from whence there 's no ascent at pleasure or to take the Flayl of Gods Anger in hand whose stroaks fall without distinction upon all sorts of persons and strike down equally th' Innocent with the Nocent The Reader will excuse if he please this light Digression which may not be disagreeable to him and this little Interposition which may give him some taste and serve him for