afterwards with one so nearly Related to the House of Austria as her late Majesty was laid the Foundation of a solid Friendship and it was generally expected that this Match would have brought the King wholly over to the Austrian Interest it was thought that there was something of a Negotiation on foot to engage him on that side in the beginning of the last War viz. in 1689. when the Count de Mansfield employed in the Business of the King of Spain's second Marriage took Lisbon in his way from Madrid to Nieubourg and the French Ambassador seem'd to have smelt out some such thing and thereupon by way of Revenge found means to mortify both the King and the Count. For the King having ordered one of his Ships to be got ready for the Count to Embark upon the Ambassador took occasion to acquaint His Majesty that the Count de Mansfield being a Minister of the Emperor and one of his Generals there was cause to fear that the Ship which carried him would be attack'd by French Men of War which might occasion some distast between his most Christian and his Portuguese Majesty the King was fain to hearken to the Admonition and digest the Menace rather than expose himself to a greater Insult perceiving I suppose that the Ambassador saw plain enough that he was not in a condition to resent it wherefore the Count was left to provide a Ship for himself however the King order'd two of his Frigats to convoy him to the mouth of the Channel As the War was drawing towards a conclusion the King sent a most splendid Embassy to Vienna at the same time when he sent another to the French Court as it was thought to interpose his good Offices towards the drawing on of the Peace Nor did the disgrace which befel the Portuguese Ambassador to his Imperial Majesty break off the Correspondence between the two Courts the Emperor seeming now resolved to have his Ministers constantly Resident at Lisbon having never before had any such since the House of Bragança was possess'd of the Crown it is much for the Interest of both Parties to have a good understanding together whilst the cause of the Succession of Spain is depending for though in regard to that affair they have different ends in view yet they are both alike concern'd to act in concert till the greatest and most difficult point be gain'd which is the Exclusion of France With the Dutch this Court hath had a fair and amicable Correspondence ever since the Year 1669. when all differences were made up that had broken â—ut since the Peace with that Nation in 1662. of which I shall say nothing here since it would oblige me to give an account of the preceding War which would take up more room then can be now spared There seems to be little or no Communication between this and the two Northern Crowns the great distance between them being the cause that they have seldom any thing to do with one another all the Business the Danes and Swedes have here being about the Trade for Salt which they load yearly at Setubal but this is easily managed by the Consuls The deserved Esteem this King had for the great Sobieski and the Marriage of Prince James his Son with the Queen's Sister afforded matter for some Reciprocal Compliments between them but there was a difficulty in the Ceremonial which would not permit them to have this little Intercourse together The King of Poland in his Letter named himself first which this Court could not bear and therefore refused to receive the Letter because that King is only the Head of a Republick whereas his Majesty of Portugal is an Absolute Sovereign The present King of Poland's Envoy when he came to Lisbon to notify his Master's advancement to that Crown could not be received nor admitted to Audience for the same Reason and not as some thought for that this King refus'd to acknowledge his Master or disapprov'd of his Election The Princes of Germany and Italy can have very little to do here and therefore little notice is taken of them the Elector Palatine himself having no Minister residing at Court The Elector of Brandenbourg indeed hath his Resident but that is more for the Honour and Security of the Person than on account of any Business he being a considerable French Merchant of the Religion I have not heard that since the Business of the Infanta's Marriage any thing hath past between this Court and those of Savoy and Florence The Duke of Parma hath had his Envoy here upon Offices of Ceremony I suppose upon account of his Relation to the Royal Family he being descended from a Daughter of Dom Emanuel that was eldest Sister to her in whose right the House of Bragança lays claim to the Crown and consequently he would have an undoubted Right thereto were he not excluded by the Laws of Lamego OF THE INTERESTS OF PORTUGAL With Relation to ENGLAND I Believe there are no People in the World that have valued themselves less upon their Friendship to the Portugueses or deserved more at their Hands then the English I should have placed them first had I rank'd the rest according as they merit in the Esteem of this Nation for they well deserve to be reckon'd and that in the chief place among the Founders the Protectors and the Restorers of the Kingdom They have certainly been the surest and most dis-interess'd Friends to it almost from the time when Portugal first became a Nation to the Establishment of the now Reigning Family upon the Throne And in truth the ancient Portugueses have shown so much Gratitude that there remain in this Country several Memorials of the English Generosity and Valour that have been forgotten by our selves and are over look'd by our own Writers but of late we have not had the like reason to commend their Justice though our Nation in the present Age as great as the Merits of our Ancestors were hath deserv'd no less at their Hands Their Ancient Writers set forth at large how great a share the English had in the first raising of their Kingdom and how they have since more then once rescued it from Destruction and there are those yet alive among them that know very well how their Deliverance from utter Ruin and that Liberty and Peace which they now enjoy is owing to the Bravery of our Soldiers and the Prudence of our Ministers but their late Writers have not been so Ingenuous as to deliver what they knew to Posterity It will not be expected that in so short a space as is left me I should give a particular Account of these Transactions however I shall briefly touch upon some of those that have pass'd in former Ages as they are related by the Portuguese Historians hoping that it will not be altogether ungrateful to the English Reader to hear News from Foreigners as old as it is concerning his own Country Men And some mention
expected to be re-inforced with fresh Supplies in order to return and both secure and enlarge his Conquests The Portugueses began now to take Courage and perceiving Don John's design being press'd withal by repeated Orders from Court to Fight directed their March the same way in order to wheel about and get before him which they might easily do having secur'd their heavy Baggage at Estremos whereas the Spanish Army was much incumber'd with Carriages However the March of the Portuguese Army was so hasty that as the Conde da Ericeyra saith the English bore both that and the heat of the Sun with Impatience It s true the Toil which our Country Men under went at that time was very great but least any should gather from that Expression that they show'd any great Backwardness in the service I shall tell the occasion of it which his Lordship is pleas'd to omit The two Armies were at a small distance over against each other both making what hast they could to pass a River Tera before the Night that preceded the Battle of Amexial The English being in the Rear of the Portuguese Army I suppose because that was to become the Front when they got before the Enemy as Evening drew on the Alarm was taken in the Front that the Enemy was at hand but then the English were at a great distance from that part where the Action was like to be and without them it seems nothing was to be done Orders were thereupon given for them to Advance with all speed which they did as fast as 't was possible for them to run throughout the whole length of the Army Their eagerness to engage with the Enemy and their Pride no doubt to see so many thousands of Armed Men look upon them as their Guardians spurring them on beyond their strength insomuch that several of them thro' Heat and want of Breath fell by the Way and some were lost but by that time they came up the Alarm ceas'd and there was nothing for them to do as 't was well there was not for as some of the Officers have assur'd me the Men were so Faint and Weary as to become altogether unfit for Action such was the occasion of the Impatience taken Notice of by the Noble Author in his Account of this days March The next day the Spaniards by reason of their slow March occasion'd by their heavy Luggage put it in the Power of the Portugueses to oblige them to Fight As the Armies came in sight of each other the English Horse with a Party of Portugueses were commanded to dislodge several Battallions of the Enemy that had possessed themselves of a rising Ground which the Portugueses thought necessary for them in case they should come to a Battle They did not only do as they were Ordered by driving those Batallions from the Hill but they followed them into the Plain on the other side and found themselves insensibly ingag'd in a hot Skirmish with the whole Body of the Spanish Cavalry that was conducting the Carriages towards another Hill a League off where their Foot had already posted themselves but they were so surprised and disorder'd by this sudden Attack that had our Men been seconded as 't was expected they should be from the Army 't was thought they might have put them intirely to the Rout. Count Schomberg saw what Advantage was to be made of the Confusion he perceived them in and was marching towards them in all hast with such of the Cavalry as were near at hand but giving notice of what he was doing to the Conde de Villa Flor He in all hast sent positive Orders to command him back possibly for no other Reason but to keep up the Custom of Thwarting the Count who had hitherto been opposed in almost every Motion he made The Portuguese Commanders seeming resolv'd to spare the Enemy or give him any Advantage over them rather then suffer the Count to know more of their Trade then themselves which without Question was one Reason of their former Losses as the Deference they paid him afterwards was of the Success that follow'd The Count obey'd the General 's Orders though with some Reluctancy but it was not long before he took the liberty to act more of his own Head and thereby saved Portugal The Portugueses possessed themselves of the rising Ground from whence the Spaniards had been beaten they on the other side retir'd to two opposite Hills drawing up the Horse in a large Plain at the bottom of that on the right Hand and their Foot on the tops of both planting a Battery of four Guns on each Till three a Clock in the Afternoon they spent the time on both sides in Canonading each other and some light Skirmishes without doing any considerable Dammage on either side but by this time it was observ'd that the Spaniards fired more slowly then before and played but four Guns of Eight that they began with which made the Portugueses suspect them to be designing as they were to draw off and continue their March hereupon it was debated in a Council of War what was to be done in the Case They had positive Orders from the King and the Conde de Castlemelhor to Fight upon the first occasion which they had great cause to dispair of ever being able to do should Don John give them the slip at this time and be re-inforc'd with the Troops that were ready for him on the Frontiers On the other side the Spaniards had so placed themselves that there was no Fighting with them but at great Disadvantage their Horse which were double in Number to the Portuguese being six thousand to three had a large Plain before them and in regard to the Foot their Advantage was much greater yet not on account of their Number indeed for the Portugueses had Eleven Thousand to Ten of theirs But they had so Fortified themselves upon one of the Hills or rather Nature had done it for them that Don John thought he could not have found a better or more secure Place of Arms as he told the King his Father in a Letter after the Battle in which he compar'd it to the Castle of Milan adding that he thought himself so safe there that he was almost asham'd of his over great Precaution and that the Enemy in mounting it came scrambling up like so many Cats Como Gateando But the truth is his Highness did a little exaggerate the matter as two of the Officers who commanded the Party that did this Feat most ingenuously acknowledg'd and thereby undeceiv'd me of an Error who could think little otherwise of it then as a direct Precipice Each of them severally affirming that neither they nor their Men made use of their Hands in mounting it they said indeed that it was very steep but according to their Discription it could not be near so inaccessible as the Spaniards themselves have made it However these Difficulties weighed so much with the Portuguese Commanders
time this Feast usually lasts Perhaps his Compliance in this as that of Augustus was on the like Occasions may be as much to please the People as Himself For the Portugueses from the highest to the lowest are strangely fond of the Sport It hath been an ancient Custom which is still kept up for the Chamber of Lisbon to entertain the People with this Sight in Honour to St. Anthony the Son and Patron of the City and in Gratitude for the Birth of an Infante a Pretence which the King of late hath furnished them with almost every Year Tho' it is thought one Reason may be the raising of a considerable Sum of Money which they make by the Scaffolds that are built about a very large Square before the Palace which are all sure to be fill'd for at the News of a Bull-running the People come flocking in from all parts of the Country round about The King has a fine Balcony built for him out of one of the Palace-Windows where he sits all the time with his Queen and the young Princes attended by a Nobleman who receives his Orders and delivers them out at another Window for the Conduct of the Cavalier and the Management of the Bulls His Majesty tho' he sits compos'd all the while yet is so intent upon the Sport that he is sometimes heard by those in the Seats under him applauding the Cavalier when he hath given a lucky Stroke and one that comes off with Credit shall the next Day be received by him in the most kind and obliging manner and may depend afterwards on his Favour But there lies a great Complaint against His Majesty on this occasion That he for his own private Diversion abates much of the Satisfaction the People would otherwise take For before the Bulls appear in Publick the King on pretence of trying what Metal they are made of will have them to Alcantara where they are commonly so harrass'd out that very few of them will make head against the Cavalier and when a sprightly Bull appears that is likely to make them Sport and do Mischief the King will sometimes order him to be taken in again and reserved for his own use This sets the People a murmuring A happy People were this the greatest Grievance they had to complain of And in truth it seems to be one of the greatest they can lay to their King's Charge or that appears to him to be in his Power to redress For tho' the Opinions of Men are various concerning the Cause and Manner of his first taking upon him the Government yet it is generally agreed that in the Administration thereof he hath all along shewn himself to be most tenderly careful of his Peoples Welfare and in his whole Conduct to have highly deserved the Character that is giv'n him of a truly just and good Prince I confess it would be somewhat difficult to reconcile to this Character some former Transactions wherein his Name was much made use of but then it must be considered that while those things which are most liable to Censure were transacted he was very young and in the hands of others But in what relates to the Administration of the Government I find upon the exactest Enquiry I could make People of all Parties to be generally agreed in their Opinions concerning him and in Portugal they take as great a Liberty in speaking their Minds of their Superiours as in any other Country whatsoever But they have here so high an Esteem for their King that if they blame any thing in his Conduct it is his not making use of his great Power so often as they could wish they think he pays too great a Deference to his Counsellors and to these they impute all the Hardships they suffer The same thing is taken Notice of by Foreigners and reckon'd to be the Cause of any false Steps this Court may have taken inconsistent with the Honour and true Interests of the Crown But it is a Fault the wisest Men are guilty of to have too great a distrust of themselves And this King they say is perswaded to do nothing of Importance without the Advice and Concurrence of his Ministers as thinking it the safest Course he can take for the Discharge of his Conscience He is a Religious Observer of Justice and has thereby delivered his Kingdom from many great Disorders that it before labour'd under Robberies on the High-Way are now seldom or never heard of notwithstanding the universal Poverty that appears throughout the Country and 't is said that before this Reign 't was unsafe for any to be abroad in the Evening about and within the City it self Murders are not near so frequent now as formerly the King growing every Day more and more severe against the Guilty And in truth there was great occasion for it Crimes of this Nature being very lightly made of in this Country if committed in a Fray or upon the slightest Provocation A former Grudge tho' of old standing was used to be taken for a justifiable Excuse even when the Murder was committed in the most cowardly and treacherous manner the Criminal was acquitted or sued out his Pardon of Course or fled to Sanctuary and being once there procur'd a Carta de Seguro which is a Protection given by the Government for one that hath the Priviledge of Sanctuary to appear abroad and sollicit his Cause whereby he has an opportunity given him to compound with his Prosecutors or by other means to take off or elude the Pursuit of Justice But now Cartas de Seguro are more rarely granted and Criminals are oftentimes forc'd from Sanctuary Such Order is taken for preserving the Peace that a Man may pass through the City at any time of Night without meeting with the least Affront or Disturbance Formerly the City was much infested and great Disorders committed by Night-Walkers of all Ranks and Orders from those of the first Quality down to the very Fryars It is reported of an old Porter belonging to a certain Convent that he uses to tell with Regret how mightily the Time are altered from what they were in his Days when a Dozen or more Fryars of his Convent would sally out in a Night upon Adventures And there must be something in it that there goes a common Saying among the People That it is equally dangerous to deal with a Fryar by Night as with a Fidalgo by Day The Reason usually given for it is That in a Night-Scuffle the Fryar will be sure to stand as stoutly to it because he is not known as a Fidalgo wou'd in the Day-time because he is But now all things are still and quiet the Clatterings of Swords and Targets which formerly used to be ever and anon disturbing Peoples Rest are seldom heard except it be on such Nights when People of all Sorts and Sexes are let loose to visit the Churches but those are Times of Indulgence and they take a Liberty then to commit all
other Business he cou'd the less bear with the many Impertinences that one in his Station must be perpetually plagued with or that being strictly honest himself he could have no Complaisance for such Ill-meaning and Ill-designing Persons of all sorts as he must have had to deal with either had not or he did not make much use of the Art of Managing a Multitude He was so unhappy in this respect that even when he yielded to the Demands of those that applied themselves to him he did it with so ill a Grace that he could hardly please them This rough Behaviour was no doubt the worse taken in him for that the People had been accustom'd to other Usage and that by the Conde de Castelmelhor whose greater Quality might have made the same thing seem tolerable in him which wou'd have appear'd unsufferable in Antonio de Sousa But the Conde us'd to carry himself after quite another manner for having the advantage of a more Court-like Education he had such easie and engaging Ways with him that he cou'd dismiss a disappointed Pretender not dissatisfied It is the Observation of a Gentleman that was a Publick Minister at Lisbon about this time and who in other respects gives de Sousa his just Character That People would sometimes go away much better satisfied with the Conde ' s graceful Denial than the untoward Grant of Antonio de Sousa One so little in Favour with the People already might easily be traduc'd to them and made to pass for as ill a Man as Enemies were pleas'd to make him Accordingly those dismal Stories concerning his murderous Intentions against the Nobility and good People of the City that wished well to the Infante were greedily swallow'd by the prepossest Multitude And besides the Havock he was to make amongst them it was found that he and his Servants had their Pistols and their Carbines with them in the Secretary's Office which was call'd fortifying the Palace and that cou'd be done with no other intent but to kill the Infante tho' he now seldom or never came there and to destroy all that should come to take his part These Discoveries wrought so effectually in the Peoples Heads that they dispos'd them for another Mutiny and brought 'em flocking to Corte Real fully resolv'd to stand by the Infante against all the wicked Plots of Antonio de Sousa Things being thus in a readiness the Infante was carried to the Palace attended by a confus'd Multitude of disaffected Nobility and Rabble and all to demand Justice against the Secretary of State and that not so much for his Cut-throat Designs for those may be suppos'd to have been contriv'd only to bring the People together as for his want of Respect to the Queen and the horrid Outrage committed by him on her Majesty's Person when he laid his Hand upon her Gown This was on the Fifth of October in the Morning while the King was yet in his Chamber the Infante staid at the Door for some of the Counsellors of State to go in with him when they entred the Chamber the King was so surpriz'd at their appearance that while the Infante was telling his Story he in a great Rage call'd for his Sword The Infante presenting him with the Guard of his own said as 't is reported Sir If you want a Sword against me make use of mine if against any other this shall defend you The Noise brought the Queen into the Chamber who presently fell a beseeching his Majesty not to be in such a Passion The King wou'd hearken to none of them being perswaded as he said that they had murdered the Secretary amongst them They assured him that he was alive But the King wou'd not believe them 'till he saw him whereupon the Duke of Cadaval went and fetch'd him from a private Room where the poor Man had lock'd himself up promising him Life if he wou'd go with him and he very honourably kept his Word tho' it was not without some difficulty for the Passage was crowded with Rabble whose Fingers itch'd to be at the Secretary and had certainly fall'n upon him and torn him in pieces had not the Duke turn'd about and with an Air of Authority said Antonio de Sousa goes along with me The King was somewhat satisfied at the sight of him but not appeas'd hereupon the Queen retired and the Infante after her into the Anti-Chamber The Secretary being left alone with the King gave him such Advice as preserv'd him for that time and defeated the Design of some that were Ringleaders in the Tumult Had the Violence of the King's Passion continued it had in all likelihood provoked the Rabble to some further Outrage but he became calm and easie and thereby still'd the Fury of the People who when their first Heat was over on a sudden began to relent While the King and the Secretary were yet together a Voice was heard crying All 's well All 's well which whether it began in the King's Chamber or was rais'd by some Friend of his in the Crowd the People fell a repeating The Queen was retired into her Apartment but the Noise brought her out again possibly she was surpriz'd and not well pleas'd with it The King coming out found her and the Infante together in the Anti-Chamber and by the Secretary's Advice took them with him to one of the Windows that looks into the Terreiro do Paco a large Square before the Palace shewing himself in their Company to the People below who seeing them all three together thought that all Quarrels were now at an end and saluted the King with their loud Viva's as the King was retiring either himself or some about him cry'd out The King pardons every Body the Mob took the Cry again A certain Lord vex'd perhaps that the great Bustle they had been making was like to end in this call'd one to the King and with an Heroical Boldness as those engag'd in the same Cause term it the Indifferent perhaps will give it another Name told him That they wou'd have none of his Pardon but Thanks The poor King answered That he gave them his Pardon and his Thanks too The surly Man reply'd They wou'd have nothing but Thanks But some were still for deposing the King out of hand One near the Infante crying out Let 's e'en clap him up at once and make an end of the Business Which shews what they had been aiming at all the while but the Infante turning quick upon the Person that spoke this put him to Silence with so stern a Look as shew'd that he himself had been abus'd by them as well as the King his Brother and 't is reported that some of the King's Party should confess That the King had let fall the Crown this Day which the Infante took up and put again upon his Head But the Faction had engag'd that Prince so far that it was now too late to think of a Retreat and something was to be done
Antonio Bento Bernardo the King 's eldest Son living born the 22d of October 1689 and sworn Heir to the Crown by the Three Estates of the Kingdom assembled in Cortes held at Lishon Decemb. 1. 1697 a Prince as they who frequent the Court report of a sweet and mild Disposition and likely to inherit the King his Father's Vertues as well as his Throne Dom Francisco born the 25th of May 1691 a Prince of great Vivacity and Spirit as appears by many pretty Stories of him which the Portugueses entertain themselves withal He is designed for a Knight of Malta at least to hold the Grand Priory of Crato the richest Commenda in Portugal or perhaps in all Spain of which he is at present in Possession Dom Antonio born the 15th of March 1695 He was cloath'd in a Jesuit's Habit upon his first coming into the World which he still wears or did at least not long ago her Majesty having devoted him to her St. Xavier and if the Jesuits are to be believ'd he is design'd to be of their Order Dona Theresa Francisca Josepha born the 24th of Feb. 1696. Dom Emanuel born the of 1697. Another Princess born in the beginning of this Year 1699. If I remember a-right her Name is Dona Maria Xavier Josepha Besides these his Majesty hath acknowledg'd one Natural Daughter whose Mother is reported to have been imploy'd about the Palace to sweep the lower Rooms This young Lady hath been bred up in a Monastery 'till the Year 1695 when the King bestow'd her in Marriage upon the Eldest Son of the Duke of Cadaval to the great Dissatisfaction of the Nobility insomuch that few or none of them would appear at the Publick Reception of the Bride I never heard that their Discontent proceeded from an Opinion that this Marriage of the principal Person among them was a Disgrace to the Fidalguia In other Countries perhaps and in former Times so Illustrious a Body might think their Blood debased by such a Match But their Dissatisfaction was said to proceed from another Cause they thought the Honour was too great for any Subject the Duke of Cadaval not excepted and that he was raised thereby too much above their Level tho' it be confess'd by all at the same time that next his Majesty his Excellency hath the greatest Authority and the greatest Estate and is of the Noblest Blood in the Kingdom Yet he is not of equal Quality to them on whom the French King hath bestowed his Bastards for they to whom his Most Christian Majesty hath done so very great an Honour are such Princes as are the nearest to his Blood much nearer than the Duke is to the King of Portugal no wonder then if so great a Value is put upon the like Honour in smaller Courts the Authority of the French being in this Age sufficient to alter if not the Nature at least the Appearance of Things and make Things look glorious in our Days which in former Times had another Aspect In one Particular the Portuguese Court seems to have out-done the French on this occasion that is in the Title given to this Lady upon her being first own'd For as I was inform'd at the time it was ordered that she shou'd be treated with Altesa Real whereas I do not find that the French King 's Natural Children have as yet got above Altesse Serenissime and this may possibly be the Reason why Monsieur L'Abbe d'Estrees the French Ambassador forbore to visit her 'till he had express Orders for it from France For his Master having been for some time used to prescribe Rules for the Ceremonial he might perhaps think it a kind of Usurpation for any others to take upon them to alter it But the Portugueses did not altogether innovate on this occasion for they had a Precedent at the Court of Madrid where the late Don John of Austria took Royal Highness upon him which perhaps may have been the cause why the Court of Portugal which is resolved in all things to swell up to the Grandeur of Spain gave the same Title to this Lady It is now commonly said in Portugal that the King 's Natural Children have a Right to succeed him in the Throne in default of his lawful Issue But I believe this Opinion to be as ill grounded as 't is derogatory to the Honour of that Nation Had Royal Bastards a Right to the Succession John the Second who ruled with a more Absolute Power than any King of this Nation either before or since would doubtless have left the Crown to his Natural Son Dom Jorge Duke of Coimbra Progenitor of the Dukes of Aveiro now in Spain he having laboured all he could to obtain the Succession for him but all in vain For he was forc'd before his Death to acknowledge for his Successor Dom Emanuel then Duke of Beja whose Brother that King had slain with his own Hands When Dom Antonio pretended to the Crown after the Death of Henry the Cardinal he had put an end to the great Controversie at that time on foot about the Succession had Bastards a Right thereto But he himself was far from thinking they had and therefore he grounded his Claim upon a supposed Marriage between Dom Luis Son of Emanuel with his Mother It was a Prejudice to him indeed that some suspected Judaism to lie lurking in his Mother's Blood However the Judges constituted by Henry to determine this Controversie alledged his Illegitimacy as a sufficient and the only Cause of his Exclusion The only Bastard that ever Reign'd in this Kingdom was John the First yet he never pretended a Right of Succession to the Crown but came in by Election of the Estates assembled in Cortes at a time when the Throne was declared vacant the other Pretenders being at that time Prisoners in Castille and what is more declared Illegitimate by the Cortes whether justly or not is another Question so that Bastard for Bastard it was thought fit in this Case of Necessity to Elect Dom John before any other Of the MINISTRY ALL Publick Affairs of Importance and such as immediately concern the King are here managed by a Sett of Ministers as many or as few as the King pleases to appoint who together are called the Council of State and as Members of this Body they are all treated with Excellency The Reason I suppose is because that Title is given to the Counsellors of State at Madrid tho' another Reason was given by one of their Number who said It was their due because they had all of them been Ambassadors To this Council the King refers all Matters of Moment seldom or never resolving upon any thing before the Affair has been considered and debated among them 'T is said the Reason why the King pays so great a Deference to this Council is partly because it consists of those who had a great hand in advancing him to his Brother's Throne He for this Cause thinking it but reasonable that
necessity but in that which is called Gravissima That it could not be denied but the Necessity of the Churches of Portugal for Bishops at that time was Gravissima and that of the Dominions thereof in other parts of the World Extreme This grand Arcanum of the Papal Empire that Bishops may be made out of Rome and without the Pope's concurrence being thus happily discovered the Portugueses were now put in a fair way to restore the Ancient Discipline to their Church and with it prosperity to their Nation it being evident that the Miseries they labour under as well as the horrible Corruptions in their Religion are no other than the necessary Effects of the Papal Usurpation and Tyranny and it appears that King John did for some time approve of the good Advice that had been given him at least that he would have it thought so at Rome for he ordered his Agent there to get a Remonstrance to be put into the Pope's hands wherein among other things he declares That he had been assured by very learned Men that when access and recourse to the Holy See could not be had it belonged to the Chapters to choose their Bishops upon his Nomination according as it had formerly been practised in Spain and was still observed in some places that his Holiness had no reason to be dissatisfi'd if he took up with this Resolution after he had suffered himself to be so much slighted while he had the Remedy in his own hands that if his Holiness were finally resolved to prefer the Interests of Castille to his just Rights he for his part would justifie himself before all Christian Princes so that the blame of what followed should never be laid on him Had the King proceeded so far as to convince the Pope that he was in earnest he had brought him no doubt to his own terms or else might have done that for which his Posterity and Country would have the greatest cause to bless his Memory that is have shaken off that intolerable Yoke under which they are now sinking The very mention of having Bishops chosen by the Chapters upon the King's Nomination put Innocent into a terrible Fright he had nothing to say against the practice or the necessity of it in the present case But here the Inquisition of Portugal interpos'd its Authority and delivered the Pope from the Agony he was in by condemning the two last Opinions and that for a reason which comprehends the rest they declaring the Pope as Universal Head of the Roman Church to have all Monarchical Power and to be the Fountain of all Spiritual Jurisdiction which cannot be derived to Ecclesiastical Ministers without his express Concession and Will This peremptory sentence of the Inquisition put a stop to all further Proceedings in this Affair The Pope reassumed new Courage and continued as Insolent as ever after the King's Declaration had brought him to his Wits-end for as the Conde da Ericeyra in his Portugal Restaurado tells the World his Holiness did not stick to declare That the Holy Office had delivered him out of the greatest Perplexity by cutting a knot which of himself he durst not meddle with The same noble Author tell us That the King desisted from his Resolution for no other reason but because the Inquisition did not approve of it while there were as he saith a great number of learned Men both within and without the Kingdom ready to justifie and maintain it so that according to the Conde it is to the Inquisitors that the Portugueses owe the continuance of their Bondage and there is no question but they did their utmost to obstruct the King's Design supposing that he had a real intention to shake off the Roman Yoke for should the Church of Portugal recover her Liberty and have her Bishops restored to their just Authority the Holy Office must fall of course were the design of that Office no other than is pretended it is at best but an encroachment upon the Episcopal Jurisdiction for to the Bishops it belongs of right to give Judgment in matters of Religion and superintend the Discipline of the Church and they all along exercised this Jurisdiction which they derive through the Apostles from Christ with that Gentleness Tenderness and Charity as became the true Fathers of the Church till the Popes began to usurp the whole Power to themselves or impart it to Creatures of their own and among the rest to these Wolves of Inquisitors whom in the heighth of their Tyranny they let loose upon the Church to dispossess the Shepherds and ravage the Flock but should an end be put to the Papal Usurpations there would be no further occasion for Inquisitors and therefore it had been no wonder if of their own heads they made this desperate Effort to preserve their Master and themselves But in Truth had King John been fully bent to break with Rome it is much to be question'd whether all the Power of the Inquisition as great as it is suppos'd to be could have frustrated his design for in reality this Tribunal since its last establishment in Portugal hath had its chief support from the Kings who on several occasions have maintain'd it in spight of the Court of Rome it self Had the King withdrawn his Protection it is not unlikely but the Bishops of themselves might have made their Party good For the People doubtless would prefer their Government to that of the Inquisitors as chusing rather to be under the Discipline of a Father than in the hands of those barbarous Executioners Besides it was an easie matter for the King to hinder the Inquisitors from giving him any trouble some of the chief of them ow'd their lives to his Mercy the Inquisitor General for one who stood convicted as a Principal of the most horrible Treason that ever Traitor was charg'd with it was for no less a Crime than a design to murther the King fire the City and betray his Country to the Spaniards It is said that in order to the Execution of this Treason the Holy House had been fill'd with Arms and that which made the Plot the more remarkable the undermanagers of it were some of the leading Men among the New Christians against whom the Inquisition was erected and upon whom the Inquisitors for the most part exercise their Barbarities and thereby gain what favour they have with the People for the rest of the Portuguses bear a mortal hatred against those among them that go by the Name of New Christians whom these Impostors represent as Jews in their hearts pretending that their Jewish blood makes them such whether they will or no. But on this occasion it was observed That the Inquisition and the Synagogue were of accord together to destroy their Country and it is very likely that the King had he pleased might have rendered the one as odious to the people as the other was But he took other measures and though several Noble Men of the first
Considerations could have done and consequently if the English have not met with a suitable Treatment in his Kingdom the Fault ought to be laid wholly on his Ministers and Inferior Officers If the Priviledges of our Countrymen residing in Portugal granted and confirmed by so many of his Royal Ancestors and ratified by Solemn Treaties have of late Years been either manifestly violated or eluded by all the little Arts of Chicane if during the last War his Maritime Towns that were almost the only Ports in Christendom left free and exempt from our Dominion became Nests for French privateers and Irish Pyrates if by Reason of our Religious observation of the Peace with Portugal these Corsairs found a safer retreat at Lisbon O Porto and Faro than at Merseilles St. Maloes or Dunkirk and our Merchant Fleets were more infested upon the Portuguese Coasts than those of France or in the Straights if our Ships taken under their Castles and in their Rivers were carried up and dispos'd of in sight of the King's Palace whereas by an express Article in our Capitulations all English Ships by whomsoever taken when brought into any of the Portuguese Dominions were to be restored to the right Owners and lastly if on these and all other occasions a greater regard was had to the French Menaces when they could do nothing else but threaten than to our Complaints while we had the Remedy in our own hands if any of these things were so the Blame ought surely to be laid wholly upon the Ministers to whom the King as hath been said defers so much in the management of Affairs a Prince of his Portuguese Majesties Honour Justice and Prudence cannot be supposed to have had any part in such unaccountable Proceedings but whether any of these things were so it belongs to the Persons more nearly concern'd to make out In matters which fall more immediately under the common observation our English Traders residing in that Kingdom have great cause to be satisfy'd with the Portuguese Nation where they are treated with all the Respect and Civility they can look for by a People who cannot be insensible of the great Advantage that our Trade brings to their Conntry for we furnish them with Necessaries of Life in exchange for Supplies to our Luxury We Cloath them with our Woollen Manufactures and Feed them in a great Measure with our Fish from Newfoundland and in Exchange for these Commodities we rid the Country of their Wines and that at excessive Rates which all of the wiser and better sort among them think much better parted with at any rate than kept at home Nature having provided them a more wholsome and agreeable Liquor But it is not only the Benefit of Trade that recommends our Countrymen to the Portugueses their fair and generous Dealing in their Commerce used to gain them such Credit that Palavra de bum Ingrez the Word of an English Man hath been taken for the best Security its true that in the Inland Parts the horrid Ideas the People had of Hereticks as they take us to be made them look upon our Countrymen as a strange sort of Monsters insomuch that when our little Army first march'd into the Country the Peasants instead of blessing them as their Deliverers would watch for opportunities to do a mischief to the Straglers but the first Campagne ended they found them to be quite another sort of Creatures than they had imagined and began not only to take them for Men but for something more finding them to be as Peaceable and Gentle in their Quarters as they had been Fierce in the Field for instead of Domineering over their Landlords and playing the Tyrants as the French men did our Soldiers spent their time in serving the People they were quarter'd upon and doing any Work that was needful in the Family such an obliging Carriage in Men whose Bravery they had so much cause to admire so alter'd their Sentiments concerning these Hereticks that should an English man travel in the most unfrequented Parts of the Country where the English Name hath been scarce heard of either before or since the War he shall be received and caress'd with all the welcome the poor People can make when a French man shall run the Risque of being knock'd o' the Head I have mention'd this matter the rather because the Manners of our Countrymen seem to be so much changed of late Years that perhaps it will be as great News to them as any thing I have related for possibly the People of Ireland and Flanders may differ much from the Portugueses in their Opinion concerning our English Soldiery The common People about the City are not observed to be guilty of any Rudeness towards the English on account of their Religion such as have had cause to think themselves most exposed to affronts on this occasion having never met with any which in my Opinion ought in Justice to be ascribed to the Humanity of the Portuguese Nation after they have been a little conversant with us as well as to the Prudence of the Government It is true that opprobrious Language to Strangers is so severely prohibited that upon complaint made against any that shall call an English man Heretick no punishment short of Death or the Galleys will be thought too great for the Offence We had like to have seen the last Year an example of the King's Justice upon an Offender of this sort a certain Lawyer in his Pleadings was pleased to bestow upon the English the Titles of Hereticks Lutherans Schismaticks Excommunicated Persons c. Complaint hereof being made to His Majesty he gave command that the Lawyer should be Imprisoned in order to his further Chastisement the Man took Sanctuary in the Church but it was resolved in Council that his Crime was of that Nature that the Church could not protect him and an Order was given out to force him thence but the Criminal as I have been told since died soon after and so put a stop to further Proceedings And this makes me almost astonished at the Hardiness of the Inquisitors who in the preceding Year viz. 1697. took an occasion to publish an Edict in all Churches which is to be seen at this day on most of the Church Doors I am sure it was not long ago and is like to remain for many Years as other Orders of the Inquisition that stand by it have done it being Excommunication to take them down wherein the English in general are Stigmatized not only for Hereticks but for Usurpers likewise but this is an Offence of too heinous a Nature for a private Person to animadvert upon and therefore I shall content my self with having only mention'd it FINIS
AN ACCOUNT OF THE Court of Portugal Under the Reign of the present King Dom PEDRO II. WITH Some Discourses on the Interests of PORTVGAL with Regard to other Sovereigns CONTAINING A Relation of the most Considerable Transactions that have pass'd of late between that Court and those of Rome Spain France Vienna England c. LONDON Printed for Thomas Bennet at the Half-Moon in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1700. THE CONTENTS PART I. OF the King of Portugal Page 3 Of the Publick Revenues and the Forces of the Crown both by Land and Sea 19 Of His Majesty's first Queen 43 Of the late Queen 109 Of the Queen Dowager of England 125 Of the late Infanta 128 Of the King's Issue by his second Marriage 148 Of his Natural Daughter 160 Of the Ministry 164 Of the Marquess of Alegrete 165 Of the Duke of Cadaval 171 Of the Archbishop of Lisbon 172 Of the Marquess of Aronches 178 Of the Secretary of State 179 PART II. OF the Interests of Portugal with Relation to Rome Page 1 To Spain 44 France 62 The Emperor Holland the Northern Crowns c. 114 England 119 THE PREFACE THE Contents of the following Papers were intended to fill some few Chapters in a General Account of Portugal but the Author in digesting his Materials found them like to swell into almost as great a Volume as he design'd for the whole which made him resolve to venture them out by themselves as despairing of being read should the Bulk become so great as the taking in of the other Parts of his Subject wou'd make it This is the true Reason why the Court of Portugal appears thus unaccompanied with such other Matters as shou'd have been plac'd before and after it which is what the Author was far from designing when he first began to write It was then for many Reasons the least in his Intention to single out the Court from that great Variety of Subjects which Portugal affords to one that is not altogether an idle Spectator in it It is true that he thought it convenient in describing the State of that Kingdom to be more full in this part of his Account than they usually are who write of Foreign Countries For to understand the Affairs of any Nation it is absolutely necessary to have some competent Knowledge of the Court that is to say of such as preside themselves at the Helm or have any great Influence upon those that do The Court in this sense being to a Politick Body what the Mind is to the Natural communicating Life and Motion to all the Members and as that Vital Principle appears to be disposed or affected one may soonest discover the Symptoms of a Vigorous or a Weakly Constitution And one who is well acquainted with the State of That may be enabled to give a good Account of the Publick Proceedings by tracing them to their Original Causes and Motives and may withal make some probable Conjecture what they are like to be in any suppos'd Case for the time to come It was likewise thought necessary in order to understand the true State of Portugal to know in what Terms that Kingdom stands with its several Neighbours those more especially in whose Will or Power it is to do any great Good or Harm Now the best way to know how far Portugal is to expect either the one or the other from them is by considering what it hath receiv'd already former Experience being the surest Evidence in this Case It is therefore the Design of those Discourses that make the Second Part of this Piece to shew how Portugal hath been served by its real or pretended Friends as often as they have been put to the Trial or had any occasion to discover themselves and it is conceiv'd that the Transactions that have pass'd between this and other Crowns since the House of Bragança came to be in possession of the Throne are set in a just Light so far at least as that the Reader may easily perceive what the true Interests of Portugal are and whether or no they have been duly cultivated by such as have the Management of Affairs in that Kingdom But the chief Business of this Preface is to justifie the Author's Credit with the Reader which may possibly be called in question in regard to several Particulars in the following Account He is far from the Folly of thinking himself exempt from Mistakes it is very likely that he may have been guilty of many in that great variety of Matters which he hath had occasion to mention He does not remember that he ever saw any Relation of our English Affairs made by Strangers that had not many palpable Errors in it which makes him the less confident of his own Performance And he expects the like Allowances that are usually made to those that write of Foreign Countries However he must acknowledge at the same time that those grosser Faults that are commonly observ'd in ordinary Travellers wou'd be much more inexcusable in him he having liv'd for some Years in the Country he writes of his Acquaintance was amongst intelligent Persons who had lived there much longer he hath been somewhat conversant with the Portuguese Authors and hath brought away with him a Collection of such of them as are most esteem'd and out of these last he is ready to produce his Evidence for such Passages in this Piece as are most likely to be call'd in question In relating that great Transaction wherein His present Majesty's first Queen had so large a share he hath taken the principal Matters of Fact from the Catastrophe de Portugal written in Defence of the Party which got the Vpper-hand the Substance whereof as the Writer pretends was read before the Three Estates of the Kingdom It is true that Reflections very different from his are frequently made here upon the very same Facts The Author on many Occasions as little approving of that Writers Sentiments as he does of his Stile throughout the Book which is that of a most passionate and furious Declaimer rather than a just Historian In speaking of the Portuguese Affairs with relation to Rome he hath likewise made great use of the Publick Acts of the King and the Estates as also of the Conde da Eryceiras Portugal Restaurado He hath also followed the same Noble Author in what he relates concerning the Negotiations with the Court of France The Conde had Opportunities to inform himself of these Matters at the best Hand that is from the Reports and Letters of Publick Ministers His Lordship hath indeed given us in England great occasion to complain of him but that may have been for Reasons which will never make him suspected of being much prejudiced against either Rome or France Cardinal Mazarine's Conduct in the Cause of Portugal at the Pirenees is describ'd from his own Letters The Information received by the Author concerning the great part which the English had in the Victories obtain'd over the Spaniards and in concluding the
to 474 Mill 500 Reis According to the Rule of Composition to be explain'd presently for the first 200 Millreis he may compound for 6 Mill and for the remainder at 10 per Cent which makes 27 Mill 450 Reis and in all it comes to 33 Mill 450 but in case the Man be poor and unable to pay he may compound for 10 Years only and come off for fifteen Testons But this easie Composition is allow'd only in case of Conditional Vows and that before the Condition be fulfilled as for instance Suppose one in a Fit of Sickness shall make a Vow That if he recovers he will turn Fryar If he compounds before his Recovery he shall be admitted to this easie Composition but if he delays 'till the Condition be fulfill'd that is 'till after his Recovery his Commutation-Money shall be doubled All that is required of the Party in this Business of Commutation is for him to come and put his Money into a certain Cash Chest which is called the Vow-Box but he must be sure to put it in with his own Hands or take care that it be done by some other Person his Confessor excepted for the Confessor is not to finger the Money upon pain of Excommunication tho' it be in order to put it into the Vow-Box All that he has to do in the Case is to instruct his Penitent when and how he is to make his Commutation and he becomes guilty of mortal Sin saith the Commissary if he sets the Commutation at an Under-rate These are some of the Priviledges granted by this Bull and as if they were not enough to oblige People to buy it it suspends and derogates from all other Indulgences and Priviledges whatsoever making them of no validity to those that shall neglect to take out this And to make it more necessary and which may be a great Cause why every Body buys it it grants a License to eat Eggs Butter Cheese and all other Lacticinia in time of Lent There are some Diocesses in Portugal where by ancient Custom it was before lawful to eat those things in Lent but the Bull is nevertheless necessary there than elsewhere For it suspends as I have said all such Priviledges so that the Custom becomes unlawful when the Bull is published It likewise gives leave to eat Flesh upon Fast-Days all the Year about in case the Spiritual and Bodily Physician shall think it convenient The Spiritual Physician is any licensed Confessor tho' he gives his Judgment out of Confession and for the other the Opinion of an experienced old Woman may by Virtue of this Bull be taken in the case But it is to be observed that the Bull holds good only 'till the next Publication when another must be taken out and it is published every Year The Price of it to those that are worth 400 Millreis a Year which way soever it arises is three Testons Such as are worth 200 per Ann. pay two Testons the Wife paying always as much as the Husband All those that are above seven Years old pay 4 Vintains excepting these that follow who pay but two Vintains Young People that are maintain'd by their Parents Labourers and Journey-men that live only on their Wages Beggars Common Soldiers Widows and single Women that live on Alms Priests that have nothing but their Masses to maintain them or such of them as are Foreigners or go begging about the Kingdom all these pay but two Vintains Under the same Class are reckon'd such as have Houses of their own yet live miserably Coblers or Botchers that cannot set up a Stall but go about for Work Jesuits profest begging Fryars unless they have somewhat allow'd them by their Friends Pilgrims and Prisoners But then all Journey-men that can get two Testons a Day Priests that live with their Parents Servants to Persons of Quality whose Wages come to 40 Millreis must pay 4 Vintains So that the Tax we see is universal and being constant must amount to a considerable Revenue and the two other Bulls must mightily increase the King's Profits Supposing the People believe any thing of Popery as certainly they do in Portugal as much or more than in any Country in the World The Bull for the Dead is sold to all People alike at the same Price viz. for half 〈◊〉 Teston But then it is of no benefit but to such as have taken out the former By this a Man may apply all the Indulgences and Remissions contain'd in the other to any Soul in Purgatory let him choose which he will and shall Per modum suffragii obtain a relaxation of the Pains to which that Soul stands expos'd by the Divine Justice they are the Commissary's words More than this he may make a conditional Application of the Bull to any Soul with a Reserve That if that Soul shall have no occasion for it the Benefit shall go to another and if that be got out already to another and so on as far as he pleases as for Instance I take out a single Bull for the Soul of my Friend Francisco with this Condition That if he be gone to Heaven I take it then for Pedro and in case he does not want it for Diego c. but he must always determine the Application to some certain Person or he may say It shall go to him that stands most or to him that stands least in need of it that is to him whose Turn it would be to go first or last out of Purgatory But if he shall give it indefinitively to whomsoever God pleases the Bull loses its Virtue for want of a determinate Application And the Commissary declares That one and the same Person may deliver as many Souls as he pleases at the rate of half a Teston per Soul for each of them he is to receive an Extract of the Bull with this following Certificate at the end of it subscribed by the Commissary For asmuch as you N. N. have given half a Teston the Soul for which your Intention was to give the said Alms remains free from the Pains of Purgatory Lourenço Pires Caravalho But then the said N. N. must see that the Money be good For if he through mistake should think it so and it proves naught the Bull as the Commissary declares and the Casuists agree will be good for nothing This Bull may be taken out several times for one and the same Person which in my Opinion should make a body question its Efficacy and doubt of the Infallibility of that Determination of Pope Leo the Tenth concerning Indulgences that Tantum valent quantum sonant But however if it be renewed often it will increase the King's Incomes and therefore the Commissary thinks it advisable that a fresh one should be taken out once every Year for the same Soul and there can be no great loss in so doing by reason of the conditional application and by this Means the King comes to have a constant Revenue from the Dead as well
was not satisfy'd after they had done all they could to serve her she having been treated with so much Respect that no Queen ever had so great an Authority But coming to that part of her Complaint wherein she said she had been treated like a Slave he chang'd his Note and in Portuguese for he had spoken French before he boldly told her That her Majesty was abus'd by some about her who deserv'd to be chastis'd had no Reason to complain of the Portugueses since the Respect they paid her came little short of Adoration The Queen after a warm Reply wherein she said She knew how to distinguish between the good and the bad Portugueses There being not above three or four that she complain'd of and signifying what she would do to those that had enrich'd themselves with the Rents belonging to the Queens of Portugal commanded the Secretary not to speak so loud He told her That if he spake loud it was that all the World might hear what he said The Queen bad him hold his Peace and be gone He not departing presently she rose from her Seat and was going away the Secretary imprudently laid his Hand upon her Gown either to kiss it according to Custom at her departure to signifie his Desire that she would hear him out but seeing her resolv'd to be gone he cry'd out to the Noblemen and Ladies present That he was unworthily us'd no King having ever treated a Vassal in this manner The Person who had this Dispute with her Majesty was Antonio de Souza de Macedo before mention'd as one of the first that came in to the King at Alcantara I cannot tell what he was by Birth but in himself he was a Person of Noble Qualities as appear'd afterwards by his Constancy in the Service of his Master and his Friend he was a Man of Letters and a Doctor in the Laws After the Revolt from the Spaniards he had written with great Zeal and Eloquence in defence of his Country's Cause and went Secretary to the solemn Embassy which King John sent to our King Charles the First to acquaint him of his having assum'd the Crown of Portugal and upon King Charles's Demand to know on what Right his Master's Claim was founded he drew up a Paper which entirely satisfy'd his Majesty In England he continued Resident for several Years and was very serviceable to the King in the time of his Troubles From hence he went Ambassador to Holland and in a very difficult Negotiation he acquitted himself much to his Master's Satisfaction and his own Credit and at his Return he was highly esteem'd at Court And the Conde could not do a more grateful thing to the Nobility than prefer him as he did to the place of Secretary of State tho' perhaps he might have some regard to himself as well as to the Publick in advancing this Man The Conde was young and Antonio de Sousa well practis'd in Business and by his Counsels may have been of as great use to the Conde as the Conde was to the King It is certain that he drew up Instructions for him to observe in the Administration of the Government and as the Conde was to be destroy'd before the King could be depos'd so it is very probable that this Quarrel was pick'd on purpose with Antonio de Sousa in order to make way for the Conde's Ruin The King coming to understand what had passed between the Queen and him did his endeavour to pacifie her Majesty promising that the Secretary should be severely punish'd but the Queen would not be appeas'd It unluckily fell out that this Broil happen'd at the time of Bull-feast The first Day was over and her Majesty could not be prevail'd upon to appear the second Day So that to conceal the Matter from the People the Bull-running was put off for that Day upon pretence that the King was indispos'd and she continuing out of Humour still the King was fain to be indispos'd the next and the following Days and by that time things were brought to such a pass that an end was put to all Sports and Pastimes for this King's Reign The Queen took so little care to conceal her Anger that the People soon came to know the Cause why the Bull-running was put off and began to murmur loudly against the Court that their new Queen should be so much abus'd and perhaps their Disappointment did not a little serve to raise their Clamours The Queen would be satisfy'd with nothing less than the Secretary's being turn'd out of his Place and banish'd from the Court which the Conde was very unwilling to consent to as thinking that should he give way to her in this Case he was like to be the next Man that should fall a Sacrifice to her Resentments however the Court perceiving a Storm ready to break upon them from another Quarter it was resolv'd in Council that the Secretary should absent himself from Court for ten or twelve Days and that the King should communicate this Order to the Queen and acquaint her That it was made only to content her Majesty and that it was hoped she would engage her self no more in such Matters for the future to prevent the ill Consequences that might ensue to the State Pursuant to this Order the Secretary to please the Queen departs from Court but the King forbore to communicate the Order to her for fear of exasperating her further at a time when he had his Hands full of another more troublesome Business While these things were done above-board a secret Plot was carrying on among the Heads of the discontented Party to seize upon the Conde and carry him off in the same manner as Conti had been serv'd before The Conde having Information of their Design may be supposed to have made the more hast to satisfie the Queen's Complaints For the very next Day he ordered the Guards about the Palace to be doubled the Cavalry to be mounted and the Centinels plac'd at the Avenues and as 't is said Command was given to the Soldiers to fall upon certain Noblemen in case they endeavoured to get into the Court it being suppos'd that they were coming to execute the Design Hereupon several Messages past between the Infante and the Court the Infante complaining That the Conde by arming the Palace had insinuated as if he was designing to violate it for which he requires Reparation of Honour accusing the Conde withal of attempting upon his Life by Poison and therefore desires that he might be removed from about the King's Person in order to his Punishment The King takes upon himself the doubling of the Guards and offers to send the Conde to throw himself at the Infante's Feet The Infante refuses to take this for Satisfaction and insists upon the Conde's removal The King offers to do him all Justice and desires him to name the Conde's Accusers in order to his Tryal But this the Infante would not yield to unless the Conde
the Kingdom by marrying the Queen protesting they would never suffer him to marry any Body else for there was a Match about the same time propos'd between him and the Princess of Austria with great Advantages to the State the Prince told them That he for his part was willing provided they could but gain the Queen's Consent Then they return'd again in a Body to the Queen and with repeated Entreaties beseeched her to Consent Her Majesty at last preferring the Welfare of the Kingdom saith my Author to her own Satisfaction put off her Return to her own Country and by a heavenly Inspiration gave Consent that they should treat of the Marriage The Match was soon made up for the Sentence of Divorce pass'd but on Saturday the Eve of Palm-Sunday and on Wednesday in the Passion-Week the Duke of Cadaval her Proxy was married in a private Oratory of the Palace to the Marquess of Marralva who represented the Prince On Easter-Monday the Prince with a numerous Attendance fetched the Bride from the Nunnery and carried her to Alcantara where the Marriage was consummated Poor Alfonso sending his Complements upon it to wish Joy as 't is said to the new-married Couple They will have it likewise that he acquiesced all along to the Proceedings in the Cause of his Divorce and that by the Advice of two Dominicans and a Jesuit he confess'd the Inability objected to him by the Queen and at last submitted to the Sentence declaring that he would not appeal But he was a Prisoner all the while This dethroned Prince after he had been confined some time in the Palace was sent to the Terceira Island one of the Azores but having been kept there for some Years he was for greater Security brought back to Portugal and shut up in the Castle of Cintra formerly a Royal Palace where he ended his Days the 12th of December 1683. After Consummation of this Marriage between the Infante and the Queen the Pope was applied to to dispense with it which he did by a Breve dated the 10th of December 1668 directed to the chief Inquisitor and others impowring them in case they found the Allegations of the Petitioners true to annul the former Marriage and confirm the Second which was done accordingly the 18th of Feb. following This Bull hath some very extraordinary Clauses in it inserted I suppose Ex abundanti cautelâ which yet it will not be amiss to mention here if for no other Reason than to see how far the Plenitude of the Pope's Power reaches in such Cases By it the Commissioners are impowred and commanded to cancel dissolve and annul Alphonso's Marriage even without his Consent or in case the said Marriage did appear or should be found to have been valid and commands them to dispense with the Second Marriage notwithstanding the Impediment Publicae honestatis or any other Impediment of what nature soever that may arise or appear decreeing That altho' the said King Alfonso or any other Persons concern'd have neither given their consent appear'd been cited or heard and altho' the Causes for which these Letters were granted be neither sufficiently proved nor justified that all this notwithstanding the said Letters and the Contents of the same shall never be call'd in question retracted or violated for any lawful Cause or any defect how great or substantial soever that no Person shall obtain Relief against them upon any Plea of Right Fact or Favour and in case Relief be obtain'd it shall be of no benefit tho' granted de motu proprio with full Power and Apostolical Authority but that they shall be for ever valid in all respects without limitation to the said Prince c. So that the Pope had a great deal of reason to tell the Prince as he did afterwards in his Letter That in this Cause he had certainly shewn him all the Favour that the sacred Canons would permit Of this Marriage was born within the first Year the late Infanta of whom I shall speak anon but never any other Child tho' the Queen liv'd with the Prince for above 15 Years She departed this Life the 17th Day of Decem 1683 after having languish'd in great Misery for the space of six Months together under the Distemper that occasion'd her Death After having mention'd so many Particulars which seem to bear hard upon the Memory of this Princess common Equity requires that I should enlarge a little upon what is said in her Commendation She was much celebrated for her great Understanding and Insight into Affairs of which I think there can be no better Proof than this the Prince her Husband for he had not the Title of King 'till a little before she died had so high an Opinion of her Judgment as to consult her upon all occasions of moment and never came to a Resolution in any Business of Importance before he had first taken her Advice which may perhaps be one Reason why he regretted her loss so much as that he remain'd inconsolable for some time and as it 's said could not be perswaded to think of a Second Marriage 'till Pope Innocent XI by his Paternal Admonitions in a manner oblig'd him to it They are not wanting who make large Encomiums upon her other Vertues I have two Sermons now before me preach'd in her Commendation by two of the most famous for Eloquence in Portugal the one a little after her Second Marriage and the other upon her Death and I have consulted both these in order to give her Character to the best advantage The former speaks in general Terms of many wonderful Things that might be said in her Praise but when he comes to Particulars he falls a trifling He highly magnifies her Noble Birth chiefly because she was descended from a Bastard-Son of Henry IV. and reckons up the Titles that were related to the Family and among others the Prinpalities of Anet and Martignes the Duchies of Pontievre and Tampis the Marquisats of Sansorlem and Sasors He tells her Majesty for he preached before her That she was a very great Beauty and he hoped would be as handsome when she came to be 90 Years old as she was at 20. He thinks it was discreetly done of her Parents to Christen her with three Names since one was not enough to express her Merit For Astrologers call the finest Star in the Firmament Venus Lucifer and Vesper Speaking of her forsaking her Husband which he calls leaving a Crown to keep her Conscience unblemished he profanely compares it to Moses's refusing to be call'd the Son of Pharaoh ' s Daughter chusing rather to suffer Affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin for a Season And hence he infers That this Princess ought to be excepted from that general Maxim of Tacitus which represents the Female Sex as ambitious and greedy of Power The other is no less copious in her Praises but speaks a little more to the purpose he highly extols her great
Prudence speaks much in commendation of her Magnanimity and Patience in bearing the Disgrace when the Match was broken off between the Infanta her Daughter and the Duke of Savoy which she had set her Heart very much upon and for her other Vertues he would have her pass for no less than a Saint but he intimates that her Piety was best known to her Confessor and compares it to the Sanctum Sanctorum which was visible only to the High-Priest and indeed I do not find that it was much known to the People it being very little talk'd of amongst them Certainly if it was so very great as this Orator represents it her Majesty's Confessor had a great deal of reason when he us'd to tell those he convers'd with That the Portugueses did not know how good a Queen God had sent them Of the late QVEEN MAria Sophia Elizabeth Daughter of Philip William late Duke of Nicubourg and Elector Palatine of the Rhine by Elizabeth Amelia Daughter of George Lantgrave of Hesse d'Armstadt was born the 6th of August 1666 and Married to Dom Pedro the II. King of Portugal the 11th of August 1687 the day of her Arrival at Lisbon to which place she was conducted by a Squadron of English Men of War under the Command of the late Duke of Grafton This Princess was of a middle Stature exceeding Fair and a graceful Person I do not know whether they that are Judges in these Matters will allow her to have been a Perfect Beauty but no doubt all Strangers will agree that she appeared with great advantage among her Ladies one cause of this perhaps may be her neglect of those Arts which they have recourse to to set themselves off for the Portuguese Women of all Ranks do so discolour their Faces with Red Paint that it renders them a very disagreeable Spectacle in the Eyes of Strangers It was observed That her Majesty did seldom or never concern her self with the Affairs of State contrary to the Practice of the former Queen It is said that her Confessor Father Leopold Fuess a Jesuit who came along with her from Germany advis'd her not to meddle with the Government They tell indeed of one Design of hers which I may speak of in another place which she was put upon by the same Jesuit her Confessor it being a Matter wherein as 't is said the whole Society have concern'd themselves for some time and that was to bring the Conde de Castelmelhor into the Ministry again but if her Majesty ever had any such Design it is certain that nothing came of it for the Conde keeps from Court still and the Duke of Cadaval is since more firmly establish'd there than before But the Principal Parts of her Majesties Character are her great Piety and singular Devotion according to the Religion in which she had been educated she was a constant Hearer of the Fathers of the Cratory an Order of Men who some Years ago were famous for Preaching of true Christian Morality whereby they became and were it not for some very mean Compliances their prevailing Adversaries have extorted from them they had continued still the Glory of the Roman Church nor are they yet so far degenerated but People still take notice that their Sermons are the least stuft with those Fooleries wherewith Preachers of other Orders affect to raise Mirth in the Audience It is I suppose for this cause that notwithstanding the large Share the Jesuits have in her Majesties Favour she honour'd them so often with her Presence and that the Street where their Church stands was every Sunday in Lent crowded with Coaches for her Majesties Example seems to have had a mighty Influence over the whole Court especially among those of her own Sex It is a usual thing to see Ladys of Quality with their Prayer-Books open in their hands as they are carried along the Streets in their Litters and I have observed some of the younger sort as they were going to a Wedding of one of their Companious very hard at their Devotion in the midst all their Gayety I need not I suppose tell that her Majesty is zealously addicted to what is now so commonly called the Catholick Religion it is enough to make the Reader sensible of that to say she is of the House of Nicubourg The Princes of that Family by the very extraordinary Methods they take to promote their Religion have made their Zeal sufficiently remarkable to the World But as well instructed in Catholicism as she was in Germany her Majesty seemed to be much improved since her coming into Portugal especially in those smaller Devotions as the French call them of which good Catholicks are so very shy in Countrys where Hereticks are in sight and so mightily addicted to where they are at their own Liberty But it would be very difficult for one that is of another Religion to give an account of these Matters without being suspected of Misrepresentation or in the present case of disregard to Majesty I shall therefore give but one Instance of the Queens Devotion and concerning that I shall say nothing but what I have from the Jesuits who were her Majesties Directors and are at this day reckon'd among the most refin'd Courtiers in Europe and therefore may be supposed to understand best what is most fit for the World to know From these good Fathers then I learn that above all the Saints in the Roman Calendar the Queen had a singular and most devout Affection for the famous St. Francis Xavier I need not I suppose at this time tell who this Saint is since his Life has been written by the elegant Pen of Pere Bouhours and translated into English by our famous Laureat or 't is enough to let the ordinary Reader know that he was one of the first Set of Jesuits that appear'd in the World and that he is frequently address'd to by such as want Heirs to their Familys and is believed by his Devotes frequently to procure Relief in such cases The first occasion taken notice of by my Authors of the great Friendship between this Saint and her Majesty was this Soon after her Marriage the Viceroy that came from Goa brought along with him a certain Cap that had formerly belong'd to Xavier The greatest Treasure saith the Famous Jesuit Vieira that ever came from the Indies since the Arm of the same Saint that 's now at Rome was brought from thence This Cap her Majesty possibly prevail'd upon to comply with the Bigotry of those about her put upon her Head on the 21st of Nevember 1687 which in the Roman Calendar is the day of the Presentation of the Virgin and she happening to be with Child soon afterwards they would needs have it that she received great Benefit by the Cap but the Jesuits have made strange work of the Matter On which day saith the Jesuit Duarte Her Majesty amidst the sweetest transports of her Heart received for the first time the Sacred
Mistress she was and proves her to have been a most Endearing Wife and a Tender Mother Of the Queen Dowager of England HER Majesty being now to the great Regret of our Nation become a most considerable Part of the Portuguese Court this Account wou'd appear but lame and be more defective than it is should I forbear to mention her I have great Reason to believe that my Country-men wou'd think the Omission unpardonable finding them so very inquisitive as they are concerning her the first Question they put to such as come from Portugal and to which Satisfaction is most earnestly desired being commonly concerning their Queen-Dowager But her Majesty's Character is so well known to the World already that I shall not attempt it here To tell of her most exemplary Piety wou'd be no News in any part of Europe much less in England and it is needless to say that it is now the most distinguishing part of her Character For it was so while she Reign'd in one of the first Courts of Christendom and none will suppose her Majesty to be alter'd in this respect now in the time of her Retirement It did then as it does still give forth so bright a Lustre as to out-shine by far all the rest of her great Perfections which yet as those who are competent Judges and have the Honour to be near her Person affirm are such as would be highly admired in any other Person But tho' her Majesty be her self the same her outward Circumstances are somewhat alter'd since her leaving England her Court is lessen'd almost to a private Family those few Persons that waited on her from hence being for the most part either dismiss'd with their Salaries continued to them or excus'd their Attendance there is now no Noise nor Ostentation of Grandeur about her House but all things are quiet and still except it be on Days of Ceremony when Persons of Quality Will be coming to express the great Veneration they have for her then indeed her Court is as great and full as the Nobility of the Country can make it At all other times she convinces the World that the Formalities of Pomp and State are not inseparable from Majesty and that true Greatness instead of being set off by such Helps appears to the best Advantage without them But the Queen had doubtless a Nobler End still in getting Rid of those Incumbrances there being great cause to believe that it has been all along the chief Desire of her Heart to be at Ease and Liberty that nothing might divert her from enjoying her self as she now does at her Devotions Some speak of it as a considerable Alteration about her Majesty that the Jesuits are become her Directors whereas before she conferr'd that Trust on those of the Franciscan Order But her Majesty is not of a Character to be used by those Fathers as others may have been 'T is said indeed that they have tasted of her Liberality in a most plentiful manner but as great as their Profits are the Credit they have got by being favour'd by so discerning a Princess is certainly much greater since she cannot be suppos'd to have any Worldly Designs to employ them in For my part I take this Honour to be the greatest that ever was conferr'd on the Society and that by this mention of it I have more than made Amends for any thing I have said or may say to their Disadvantage Of the Late INFANTA DOna Isabel Luisa Infanta of Portugal was born the Sixth of January 1669 sworn Princess or Heiress to the Crown in 1680 died the Twenty-first of October 1690. This Princess was accounted one of the most Beautiful and Accomplish'd Persons of her Sex and Rank in Christendom and that not only by the Portugueses who admired her almost to Adoration but by more impartial Strangers such especially as bore a Publick Character who had frequent Opportunities to satisfie themselves that the favourable Esteem the World had for her was not without ground For which Reason and for the Prospect there was of her succeeding to the Crown 'till after the King's Second Marriage she was sought for in Marriage by most of the Princes and among the rest by some of the most considerable Monarchs in Europe as indeed there is none so great but might have accounted it a very advantageous Match The first that pretended to this Princess at least with any success was Victor Amedee the present Duke of Savoy Cousin-German to the Infanta Madame Royale his Mother Marie Jeane Baptist de Savoie Princess of Nemours being Sister to the Queen of Portugal His Pretensions succeeded so well that in the Year 1680 a Marriage was treated and soon agreed upon and nothing seem'd wanting to the final Conclusion but the coming of the Duke to Lisbon according to Agreement It will not be amiss to give what Account I can of this Match as how it came on and was unexpectedly broke off it being no inconsiderable Part of the History of this Age. It may easily be supposed that it was at first contrived between the two Mothers for howsoever it might have proved to others it afforded a very advantageous Prospect to each of them Madame Royale had been left sole Regent of Savoy during her Son's Minority by her Husband Charles Emanuel at his Death in 1675 But the young Duke entring at this time upon his 15th Year had a little before been declared Major and therefore should he have taken upon himself the Government her Authority was like to suffer no small diminution nor was there any so likely an Expedient to continue the Power in her Hands as the Duke's being sent away into Portugal the Desire of Rule together with the Ambition of becoming Mother of a King might make this Princess give a listning Ear to her Sister's Proposals The Queen of Portugal for her part as she had a great hand in the setting up of his present Majesty so she had a great share with him in the Government but her Power was not like to continue so great should a strange Prince be admitted into Court especially in case any thing should befal the King but by this Marriage between her Nephew and her Daughter she secured her Authority and took the best Measures to establish it both for the present and against the time to come These may be supposed to have been sufficient Inducements on both sides for the two Princesses to desire a Match between their Children and considering the great Power that each of them were possess'd of in their respective Dominions one would think there was no need of the Intervention of any others to bring the same about But some will needs bring the French in upon the Stage for in this latter Age there must nothing of moment be done in any Court of Christendom but what they have a hand in The Match indeed was for the Interest of France and that seems to be a great Argument why
may be expected that I should say something of the reciprocal Benefits derived from the Holy See upon a People that hath done and suffers so much for its sake or at least of that Fatherly Tenderness which the Pope must needs have for a King of Portugal who purchases the favour of his Holiness by so constant and meritorious an Obedience His Holiness must by some very distinguishing marks of Affection put a Difference between this his Benjamin from whom he hath received so much comfort and those other Sons of his who by their untoward Behaviour have been always a crossing and tormenting him He that hath been so often worried by the head-strong Emperors in former Ages braved in Italy by the Spaniards in the last Age and more than once in his own Capital by the French in our Days and received so many Mortifications from the Italian Princes from whom he might expect that they should upon the Account of their Natural as well as their Spiritual Relation behave themselves more as becomes the Children of the Holy See He one would think should have reserved the greatest and best of his Blessings for this his most Obedient Son But the Holy Father seems to be affected with quite contrary Passions to other Men to have cast away his most endearing Favours where the utmost Rigour should be expected and where a Blessing was most lookt for to have entail'd his Curse The Royal House of Portugal hath certainly had great cause for Complaints of this kind as often as it hath been in distress and stood in need of his Protection When Philip the 2d while the Question concerning the Succession to Henry the Cardinal was depending was preparing by force of Arms to deprive the true Heiress of her Birthright Pope Gregory the 13th did his utmost indeed to divert him from the enterprize but it was to the end that he might seize upon the Crown for his own use as a Chattel of the Cardinals alledging that his Spoils among which he reckon'd the Kingdom were forfeitable to the Holy See and least this ridiculous Claim should be thought insufficient he added another Alphonso Henriquez the first King as hath been said would needs make his Kingdom Tributary to St. Peter and charged with the annual Payment of four Ounces of Gold and this was made a pretence by Pope Gregory for depriving the Posterity of that King of their Inheritance he pretending that Portugal was by this means become a Feif to St. Peter's Chair and as such by default of the Male-line was devolved to himself but his pretensions meeting with that contempt they deserved he still resolved to deprive the right Heiress at any rate and of all the Pretenders made Interest for him that had the worst Title that is for Dom Antonio the Bastard as if he had a mind to embroil a Kingdom that had deserved so well at his hands in perpetual Wars But it was for his convenience that King Philip should be diverted from troubling him in Italy and convenience at Rome is a just Excuse for the worst Actions However when Philip by force of Arms had baffled his Holiness as well as all the other Pretenders and had reduced the Kingdom to his Obedience the Pope made no scruple to acknowledge his Title and treat him as rightful King of Portugal Nor did he in this deviate from the practice of those that went before him the Popes having on many occasions found it Turn to account to approve the Titles of the most Illegal Usurpers ever since the extraordinary complaisance of Boniface the 3d. to the Emperour Phocas which gave Rise to the present Grandeur of the Holy See But John the 4th the present King's Father who had an undoubted Right to the Crown met with other usage at Rome of which I shall here give a short Account it being a most signal proof of the Portuguese Devotion to the Holy See but withal it has so far opened the eyes of this Court that the Ministers seem to be convinced at last of this truth that none are so hardly used by those of Rome as they that deserve best at their hands This is certain that the Memory of it is still fresh in their minds as the Nuncio's to their great Regret are frequently given to understand and is supposed to be in a great measure the cause why their Conduct in regard to Rome begins to vary so much as it does from that of their Predecessors After King John had been settled in the Throne of his Ancestors by the Universal Acclamation of his People and was possessed of all the Dominions belonging to the Crown the little Town of Ceuta excepted he began to think of sending a Solemn Embassy to pay his Obedience to the Pope which is a custom observ'd by all Princes of that Communion and was thought necessary by this King as well to satisfie his own Devotion as to establish his Authority among the People and he thought he had great reason to expect that this Embassy would be very kindly received for to say nothing of the merits of his Ancestors he relied much upon the Pope's great Partiality to the French who out of enmity to the Spaniards had espoused the Portuguese Interest and solicited their cause at Rome To render this Embassy the more acceptable he made choice of a Person that was of the first Quality and withal a Bishop Dom Miguel de Portugal Brother to the Conde de Vimioso But this Ambassador arriving at Rome found that he had been sent upon a fruitless Errand For the Pope as little as he cared for the Spaniards on all other occasions had so much respect for them at this time that for fear of displeasing them he was content to put the greatest Indignity in the World upon a King of Portugal This was Urban the 8th from whom better things might been expected than from those that usually fill the Holy Chair But his Holiness without having the least regard to the Ambassador's Character or Quality or the obliging Message he came upon refused to admit him into his Presence or suffer his Ministers to acknowledge him for an Ambassador so that after a whole years Solicitation for Audience he was fain to return as he came This the Portugueses thought to be an Indignity that could not have been put upon the Representative of any Idolatrous or Mahometan Prince without violating the Laws of Nations All the Favour that could be obtain'd at that time was That a Congregation should be appoinned on pretence of consulting what was fit to be done in the Case The Congregation consisted of the two Barbarini Cayetan and Pamphilio Cardinal Francisco the elder of the Barbarini was made Chair-man to take care that the result should be according to his Uncle's mind He obliged the Secretary of the Embassy to give him an account of the King his Master's Title and when nothing could be objected against that he began to pick Quarrels upon pretence
the Pope might as he was bound both edify in Spirituals and preserve the Kingdom of Portugal to its lawful Soveraign at the same time That in the present state of things there were three sorts of People of the Portuguese Nation and that the receiving of an Ambassador from Portugal would manifestly turn to the prejudice of them all First the Rebellious and Obstinate who would believe him to be their lawful King whom Christ's Vicar should declare for such and thereby be confirm'd in their Rebellion Secondly the Timorous and Wavering who would go over to their sentiments whom before they took for Rebels arguing that a King receiv'd and approv'd of by the Pope ought not to be rejected by any Christian Thirdly the Constant and Loyal that were now at King Philip's Court who either drawn by their Love to their Country or wearied out by the inconvenicies they were under might come to some desperate Resolution so that by this Action of his Holiness the Kingdom of Portugal might be put out of a possibility of being conquered by King Philip wherefore to obviate these Inconveniencies they thought it to be the duty of his Holiness to thunder out his censures against the Duke of Bragança to the end that the Rebels might be reclaim'd the Timorous take courage and the good Subjects confirm'd in their duty The Nuncio thought That Censures in this case would do no good but turn to the prejudice both of the Pope and the King of Spain of the Pope because his Apostolical Authority might be slighted for the Duke of Bregança took himself to be either the lawful King or the Usurper of Portugal if the former he could never value an unjust Excommunication for what he had justify'd to his own Conscience and it would have less effect upon him in case he took himself for an Usurper it being plain that he would never renounce the Kingdom to the loss of his Life and the ruin of his Family Than an Excommunication would be of no benefit to the King of Spain for if the Duke and the People of Portugal should despise and take no notice of it as it was likely they would the probable and almost necessary consequence would be the introduction of Calvinism or of some other Heresie by reason of the Neighbourhood and Correspondence of that Kingdom with the Northern Nations in which case the conquest of Portugal would become the most difficult for all Sectaries being to be chastised not with ordinary Punishments but according to the Rigor of the Canons the Portutugueses seeing themselves branded with a perpetual mark of Ignominy would grow desperate and choose rather to die than in any case put themselves into the Power of King Philip. But here the Spanish Ministers took him up short and told him that these were Sophistical Subtilities and not fair Arguments without vouchsafeing them any further answer The Nuncio seeing that this way of arguing would not serve the turn betook himself to another quoting Precedents from the proceedings of former Popes in the Cases of Princes whose Titles were disputable and thereby demonstrated it to have been constant practice of the Holy See to acknowledge such as were Kings de facto without any regard to right alledging to this purpose a saying of Pope Pius the 2d Moris est sedis Apostolicae eum Regem appellare qui Regnum tenet and the practice of the same Pope both in the Case of Matthias Corvinus and the Emperor Frederick the 3d. contending about the Kingdom of Hungary and of Ferdinand and Renè about the Kingdom of Sicily to which Renè pretending while Ferdinand was in Possession was put off by the Pope with this Answer Siquid juris competit ablatum est Ferdinando Regni Principes Duces Comites Populares omnes obediunt eumque sibi Regem constitui expetiverunt But the Nuncio not content with one Example brings in that of Pope Zachary who being consulted what account was to be made of the Kings of France the later Kings of the Merovignian Race they having the Name and Dignity but others the Mayres of the Palace the Power determined the Question with this Answer That he ought to be stiled King and held for such who was found Reigning and who as King had the supreme Authority of the Common-wealth in his hands Of John the 22d who received the Ambassadors of Robert Bruce he being in Possession of the Kingdom of Scotland Of Innocent the 8th who received in publick Consistory the Ambassadors of Richard the 3d. of England as he did likewise those of Henry the 7th when they came to pay Obedience to the Holy See He show'd likewise that the same thing had been done for Alfonso Henriquez and John the 1st Kings of Portugal notwithstanding the great Opposition and Power of the Kings of Leon and Castille for Henry of Castille the Murtherer of his King and Brother Don Pedro against the consent and right of Constança Pedro's Daughter and for Ferdinand and Isabella to the Prejudice of D. Joanna the only Daughter of Henry the 4th These Instances were all home to the Point supposing the King of Portugal's Title to be as bad as his Enemies would have it for let him be a Traytor Usurper Tyrant or what the Spaniards pleased there had been as bad or worse acknowledged for lawful Kings and highly caressed by the Holy See But the Spaniards had another way to deal with the Nuncio than disputing they offered indeed at something of an answer to all these Instances affirming without the least grounds that the greatest part of the Princes now mentioned sent their Ambassadors not to pay their Obedience but to plead their Cause and justify their Pretensions and in that case granted it to be lawful for the Popes to receive them But to admit of an Ambassador from Dom John as King of Portugal after that the Kings of Castille have been in Possession of that Kingdom for the space of 60 Years and sworn to as lawful Sovereigns was they said a manifest injury to their cause They thought that there was no account to be made of any thing done or said by Pius the 2d because that Pope was guided only by his Interest and varied in his Sentiments every day and as for the Kings of France that were acknowledged by Pope Zachary they must needs say the Spaniards have been Rightful and Lawful Kings since the Oracle of the Holy See had pronounced them for such for otherwise this grand Absurdity would follow that Popes were no better than Incendiaries Instigators of Rebellion and Usurpation and instead of promoting Equity and Virtue gave encouragment to the most abominable Practises and in conclusion they told the Nuncio that the Pope had best consider well what was just and convenient for otherwise they should take such Resolutions as might not be well pleasing to his Holiness but to sweeten the menace a little they added that however they should always retain that most humble
Devotion which the Catholick Kings above all other Princes have ever born in mind and testify'd by their Actions towards the Apostolical See Their meaning was understood well enough at Rome and this Intimation of what they should do gave a strange force to their Arguments and so confirm'd the wavering Pope that he remained ever after steady to their Interest The Portugueses had apparently all the Right on their side but the Spaniards were Masters of Milan Naples and Sicily From this time forward Pope Innocent turned a deaf Ear to all that could be said in Favour of King John of Portugal and could never be brought to grant him that which was never deny'd to an Usurper That Prince had his Agents continually soliciting for him at Rome in his own Name and in behalf of the Clergy and of the three Estates of the Kingdom but all to no purpose The French made the most pressing Instances in his behalf but the Pope did not mind them at that time for France being embroil'd with intestine Dissentions He was sure they could do him no harm Great Court and Application was made to Donna Olympia as we are told by the Conde da Ericeyra who observes that she seldom used to fail in any Temporal Business that she undertook alluding I suppose to a Saying to that purpose which was current at that time in the Courts of Popish Princes where upon any Disappointment of their Affairs at Rome the Nuncio's were sure to be told That if the Business had been solicited by Donna Olympia it had never miscarried But on this occasion Donna Olympia her self could do no good for either she did not heartily espouse the King of Portugal's cause or if she did all her Artifices were ineffectual upon the obdurate Pontiff All the answer that could be got from this and the former Pope besides those frivolous Complaints before mention'd for which satisfaction was still offered was that the Pope as the common Father of Christendom thought himself bound to carry it equally between Castille and Portugal and not acknowledge or oblige one Son when it could not be done without offence to the other but the Portugueses could not perswade themselves that in this case He in any sort acted the part of a common Father whilst to gratify the unreasonable Ambition of the one he did not stick wholly to cast off the other and to use him in a more barbarous manner than he could have done an Infidel But in short the Spaniards were very rugged in their Threats and that stood them in stead of Right and Merit the Portugueses valuing themselves upon their blind Obedience to the Holy See kept within the terms of Respect which instead of gaining ought upon those of Rome gave encouragement to their Insolence Had King John but follow'd the Spaniards Example or come to any vigorous Resolution he had doubtless soon brought his Holiness to a compliance or he might have had a fair opportunity to vindicate his Country's Liberty in a yet more glorious manner than he had done already by shaking off the Spanish Yoke For we must know that all these Applications to the Court of Rome were not made to the end only that his Title might be acknowledged there but in order to have the vacant Sees in his Dominions supplied with Bishops for in a few years after the Revolution there was but one Bishop remaining in Portugal and he not Resident upon his Diocess being obliged to attend the Court and there was a like want of them in the East and West-Indies in the Madera and Cap Verde Islands and upon the Coasts of Africa the Portugueses therefore laboured all they could to make his Holiness sensible of the miserable state of their Churches thus destitute of Pastors petitioning for a supply the King according to the Practice of his Ancestors proposing the Persons for that end and to remove all Objections he agreed that his Nomination of the Bishops should be admitted with the Clause sine Praejudicio Tertij notwithstanding its being a clear Maxim in the Rota and confirmed by the practice of the Roman Church That the simple possession of an Inheritance City or Territory that has Jus Patronatus annext to it gives the right of Presentation to the Possessor but neither the reason of the thing nor the desolate condition of the Orphan Churches could have any weight upon the obstinate Pope He was more apprehensive of the Spanish Threats than the loss of Millions of Souls all that could be got from him was that He would appoint Bishops for Portugal on condition that he might name them de motu proprio he offered indeed another very strange Concession which was that the Bishops he chose of his own mere motion should be the very same Persons that the King had named But the Portugueses could not agree to this Proposal for this among other Reasons that the Popes might make it a Precedent for assuming to themselves a Right of nominating Bishops in after times which would prove a great grievance to the Nation since the Benefices that were already at his Disposal were generally the worst supply'd Things being thus at a stand the Gallicane Church undertook the cause of her Sister of Portugal and took the liberty to mind the Holy Father of his Duty in a Letter written by the Prelates assembled in a Synod which was presented in their Name by Cardinal Francisco Barbarini but the Pope at that time had as little regard to the French Church as he had to the French Coutt The Clergy of that Kingdom sent their Agent to Rome to take care of the concerns of the Portuguese Church as well as their own the Bishops whom King John had nominated sent their humble Petition to his Holiness that they might be admitted to the Exercise of their Charge and their Petition was rejected with scorn the Cardinals of the French Faction did all the good Offices they could but to no purpose Este signalized himself in a very particular manner on this occasion the Pope taking notice that he loytered about the City more than became him ordered him one day to his Diocess saying That it went against his Conscience to see him absent from it so long the Cardinal who was Young and Resolute answered That his Holiness had a great deal of reason to be thus scrupulous but being so much concerned as he was for one single Church he ought not wholly to neglect so many as there were in Portugal unprovided of Bishops and therefore he conjur'd him before God and in the Name of the King of France from whom he had Commission so to do that he would speedily grant Bishops to that Kingdom The Pope not a little surpriz'd at so brisk an Attack was going away without making any other reply than saying I shall pluck the Cap from off that Boy 's Head Este turns to him again and crys If you do I shall put on another of Iron and thereupon retires
been demonstrated to them that Popes did not Tacitly consent to the Election of Bishops in which for so many Ages together they had nothing at all to do no more than a King of France has to do in the choice of a King of Poland and would the Poles think we be content to abandon their Country to the mischiefs of an Interregnum and submit their Necks to the Yoke of a Foreign Tyrant because it can never be made out that their Kings have not been made by his Tacit Consent but when I see People laying so much stress upon the Tacit Consent of the Popes for my part I do not at all wonder that they ascribe so much virtue to a Rule in the Pope's Chancery that it shall be able to destroy the whole Hierarchy and turn into an Arbitrary lawless Tyranny that most Regular and Beautiful frame of Government which hath obtain'd in the Church ever since the Apostles days However these Reasons such as they were satisfi'd the three Estates of Portugal so that instead of helping themselves as they might and ought they took up with a Resolution to throw themselves wholly at the Holy Father's Mercy and in conclusion of their Bleatings declar'd That they would wrestle with Christ's Vicar the Roman Angel the Figure of God on Earth exerting all the vigour that their love and necessity inspired them with till they got from him his Blessing and would never let go their hold till his Apostolical Hand was upon them and till he offered his most Holy Feet to their Mouths The Pope finding them to be thus resolv'd thought he was sure enough of them and therefore let 'em Bleat and Bray too as they pleased for him for his part he would trouble his Head no more about them all his concern was how to oblige and humour the boisterous Spaniards who by their rugged behaviour were ever and anon threatning him into a Compliance with their unjust and unreasonable Pretensions He knew not what mischief they might do him While the Portugueses took care to satisfie Him that he had nothing to fear from them and I do not find but that they sent in their Money in the usual course so that he lost but little excepting what was to be got by the Bishop's Bulls which yet as the Spaniards would perswade him was like to come speedily in all in a lump they feeding him all along with hopes that they should make a quick dispatch of the War In this state did the Affairs of Portugal at Rome continue for part of Urban the 8th's Pontificat all Innocent the 10th's and Alexander the 7th's and till the latter end of Clement the 9th's and during the whole Reigns of this King's Father and Brother but upon Dom Pedro's coming to the Government the Spaniards having made Peace with Portugal and acknowledg'd the King's Title left his Holiness at Liberty to do so likewise And now Portugal having no such need as before of the Pope's Protection or Favour and being more at Liberty to make Returns of the ill usage it had receiv'd the Blessings of Rome began to shour down upon that favourite Kingdom without measure Clement the 9th had a happy Opportunity before he died to signalize his Fatherly Tenderness or rather indulgence towards his present Majesty and make full amends for all the Rigour used by former Popes towards his Father and Brother for a little before the conclusion of the Peace Alfonso was deposed in the manner as hath been related and Dom Pedro possest of his Throne and a little after of his Bed by marrying the Queen the King his Brother still living and here was a large Field for the Apostolical Graces For now it was not only the King's Title that was to be acknowledged but the Prince his Right to his Brother's Wife and Kingdom and his Highness found in the Pope all the easiness he could desire This Prince did but mention in a Letter written on another occasion his design of sending an Ambassador to pay his Obedience and his Holiness returns answer That his Ambassador upon his coming to Rome should as he thought but just meet with a kind and honourable Reception no scruple was made about the Prince's Right of sending one no enquiry into the manner of his taking upon him the Government nor so much as mention made of the Clause sine Praejudicio Tertij How different was this usage from what his Father met with King John had an undoubted Right to the Crown and the same was manifest to the World yet his Ministers were called to account at Rome to show the grounds of their Master's Title whereas the Reasons for deposing King Alfonso and placing Dom Pedro in the Throne whatever they were were not as yet well known to the Publick and yet after all King John was treated like a Traitor and a Robber and it was but just that Dom Pedro's Ambassador upon the first intimation of his coming should meet with a kind and honourable Reception at Rome The World is not to be informed now what work they used to make at Rome in Causes of Divorce especially between Royal Parties and one would think his Holiness might have taken some time to consider of it before he gave way to a Marriage which I believe never had a Precedent in the Christian World But here we have an instance of a Queens casting off her Husband without the least Difficulty and both that and her Marriage with her living Husband's Brother confirm'd by his Holiness with as much Facility as if these were things done every day of course so that it cannot be denied but the submissive Compliance of this Pope with the Will and Pleasure of the Portuguese Court now in the time of its Prosperity did equal at least if not exceed the insolence of his Predecessors towards that Nation in its distress It is certain that Clement did not a little value himself upon his having thus far stretch'd the plenitude of his Power in Dom Pedro's Favour he thought he had done enough to atone for all Offences and to inspire this Prince with as great Devotion towards the Holy See as any of his Predecessors have had before him Certainly saith he to him in his Letter on this occasion Certainly we have labour'd to do you all the Favour in the present Cause that the sacred Canons will permit and we receive the greatest content upon finding You so well pleased with this Pontificial Kindness But in Truth the thanks you give with so much Piety and Affection are no more than are due the thing it self consider'd so that we with Justice require that you acknowledge your self indebted for it to the Goodness of the Holy See and you will perfectly comply with this Obligation if you go on to show as truly you do on all occasions a greater concern and affection for whatsoever hath Relation to the Holy See and the Catholick Religion imitating herein the Ancient Devotion of
Vieira were well tasted by those of the Spanish Party at Rome at a time when the Enmity between the two Nations was at the highest but now all Animosities being laid aside perhaps the same or others of a like nature may be hearkned to at Madrid and incline those of that Court to distinguish the King of Portugal from among the rest that are Candidates for the Succession There was one Scruple that the Portugueses made themselves at that time they were unwilling to consent to a Re-union unless Lisbon was to be the Capital of the Spanish Monarchy but certainly the Spaniards if they knew their own Interests in case they agreed in other things would readily gratify them in this Point Lisbon by its Scituation so near the Sea and upon the noblest River in the World seems designed by Nature for the great Emporium of Europe and were it in the hands of a People that knew how to improve their Advantage it would go near to draw to it self the Trade and Riches of the World Philip the 2d was sensible of this and therefore when he came to take Possession of the Kingdom he promised and as it was thought designed that instead of keeping his Court at Madrid a 100 Leagues within the Land Lisbon should be thence forward the place of his Residence and in order thereto he began the Structure of a most magnificent Palace but it was well for Christendom that he continued not in this Resolution and that his Son Philip the 3d. took it not up after him for perhaps nothing could have contributed more to bring about the design they had laid of an Universal Monarchy I shall conclude this Chapter with this one Remark that it seems fatal to the Spanish Monarchy to owe her Preservation from utter Ruin to those who have brought her to a Condition in which she is unable to help her self they were the English that first humbled the Spaniards when in the very heighth of their Pride and from them do they now expect Relief in this their Extremity By that expensive War in the Low Countrys carried on successively by the three Philips this Monarchy was brought into a languishing State and the Dutch have since stood in the gap between it and destruction the Portugueses at last gave that Monarchy its mortal Wound since which it hath never been able to hold up its Head the French indeed had endeavour'd to do the the same in that long War which preceded the Peace of the Pirenees but did not effect it for the Spaniards stood upon the level with them at that Treaty it is true some thought their Ruin might have been then compleated had that War according to Mr. Turenne's Advice been continued a little longer and Don Luis de Haro if it be true what is reported of him was much of the same Opinion but Cardinal Mazarin was ambitious to have that Spanish Minister and all the World sensible of the Superiority of his Genius and so interrupted the course of Turenne's Victories and would needs meet Don Luis on the Frontiers that they might have a publick Tryal of each others Politicks Don Luis met the Cardinal and gave his Eminence occasion to make as great a flourish as he pleased of all his rare Talents but when the Peace came to be Sign'd he could hold out no longer nor forbear crying to his Friends Spain was lost but is now safe So that the French left to their abandon'd Friends of Portugal the Honour of working out the destruction of the Spanish Monarchy which by the help of their Allies they did effectually at the two decisive Battles of Ameixial and Montesclaros the Spaniards having never after been able to stand upon their own legs but as they were crutch'd up by the English and Dutch who ever since have had them lying on their hands as a Punishment for what they did towards bringing them into this deplorable Condition and now it seems that the Portuguses have their turn come to contribute on their parts to the Relief of this distressed Nation and who knows but the Spanish Monarchy may at last receive its Cure from the Hand that gave it the last and deepest Wound and recover new Life and Vigour by means of the Portugueses who have been the immediate occasion of its fall OF THE INTERESTS OF PORTUGAL With Relation to FRANCE SInce the Revolt of Portugal from the Spaniards there hath been till now of late an Appearance of a very close Union between This and the Crown of France which seemed to be so well cemented as if nothing were able to separate them and indeed were the common Opinion of the World true concerning the Obligations of the Portuguese Nation to the French it would be no wonder if their Friendship was in Effect so great as it appeared For they would then stand engaged to each other by the most endearing Tyes in the World France would have cause to account of Portugal as a Creature of its own raising and the House of Bragança would owe its establishment upon the Throne to his most Christian Majesty What greater Testimony of a sincere and cordial Affection can there be expected from one Ally to another than that which France gave to Portugal in the Preamble to the 60th Article in the Pirenean Treaty that very Article whereby Portugal was abandoned to the mercy of the Spaniards for therein his most Christian Majesty declares himself to be so passionately concerned for the good of this Kingdom that on condition he could but procure for it the Benefits of Peace he was willing among other things to yield up all the Conquests he had gain'd in the course of a tedious War of twenty five years continuance and all this out of pure Generosity He being as 't is there declared under no other sort of Engagement than that of his own Good-will But upon a Review of the Transactions that have pass'd between the two Crowns it will perhaps be found that the obligations of Portugal to France have not been so very great as the World is apt to imagine It cannot be denied but that the French have all along exceeded other People by far in their Professions of Kindness to this Nation but it will appear that those Professions have not always been accompanied with suitable Effects and it must have been some other means besides real Acts of Friendship whereby they have supported their Interest and Party in this Kingdom I shall in conclusion of this Chapter show as well as I am able what those means were When the Portuguses had shaken off the Spanish Yoke they found the French ingaged in a War against the same Nation and they look'd for mighty assistance from them considering the Diversion they were like to give to the common Enemy and in effect the Ambassadors sent by King John to that Court were received by Cardinal Richelieu with all the Demonstrations of kindness imaginable his Promises out running all that they
Countries lying convenient for France he laid claim to them in his Queen 's Right who being a Child of the first Venter ought as 't was said according to the Laws of those Countries to have inherited them from her Father who died the last year in Exclusion to the Male Issue by a second Marriage 'T is true that Princess had at her Marriage made a formal Renunciation of any Right or Title that might accrue to her to her Father's Dominions either in whole or in part But in all other respects the French King found himself in a condition to make good his Claim his Armies after a long breathing time had now recovered new Vigour His Brother-in-law the King of Spain was then but an Infant under Government of his Mother and the Widow and the Orphan were like to make but a feeble Resistance for their best Troops had been drawn from Flanders and consumed in this fatal War with Portugal but however for fear lest the Spaniards were not yet humbled enough to be securely trampled upon or if there were none else to fall upon them at the same time might make some dying Efforts to repell so unjust an assailant as they no doubt would take his most Christian Majesty to be It was judged convenient that while he was engaging himself in this hazardous Enterprize the Portugueses should be set on to keep the Spaniards in Play and animated to follow those deadly Blows they had already given them with a more vigorous prosecution of the War And therefore it was that France proposed the League Offensive and Defensive to this Court But to perswade the Portugueses to imbrace the Proposal was thought and with a great deal of Reason to be no easy matter for as much pleas'd and elevated with their Victories as they were they had as great cause as ever to wish for a Peace That poor People had been in Arms for these five and twenty years and were now harass'd out and almost spent in defending their Country a small Country indeed yet but thinly Peopled and stretched out in length with a Frontier of a hundred Leagues which must be continually guarded or lie exposed to the Enemies incursions In this long War their Youth had been destroyed their Lands laid wast their Stocks consumed and their Moneys brought to an end so that should the War continue let their Victories be never so many it must necessarily in a short time compleat their Ruin To a People in such a case all talk of prolonging the War must sound so harsh that it could not be imagin'd they should hear of it with any Patience and that which gave the French greater cause still to despair of gaining their ends on the Portugueses these had now for some time been flattering themselves with hopes that they should see a speedy end of their Miseries The stomachs of the Spaniards were by this time come down and they desired a Peace as much as the Portugueses Sir Richard Fanshaw the English Ambassador at Madrid had wrought so effectually upon them that the Articles were drawing up and all things making ready for a Treaty Sir Richard's Secretary had been in Portugal to give notice to that Court of what he was doing for them at Madrid and he had signified by Letters that he was preparing for his Journey to Lisbon in order to set the last hand to the Treaty These Tidings had been received in Portugal with the welcome they deserv'd and the blessed Messenger of Peace as Sir Richard was then call'd was look'd for with impatience They thought their Condition upon his coming would be a kind of Heaven to what it then was He being as one of the great Ministers express'd it to let them in to the Beatifick Vision The Portugueses being thus disposed the French saw plainly that it would be to no purpose to make any direct motion to them for carrying on the War so that in order to bring the Design about it was thought convenient to take a Compass and all their Talk was of Peace while they were preparing themselves and inciting their Friends to War or if War was mention'd it was only by the bye and as a last reserve in order to procure for Portugal a more firm lasting and honourable Peace But to secure this 't was pretended that a League with France was absolutely necessary for Portugal France being alone able as they said to procure good Conditions from the Spaniards and to see they should be well observ'd To this purpose had Messieurs Turenne and Colbert been several times discoursing with the Portuguese Minister at Paris And that the Portugueses might be sensible that nothing but their Good was aimed at the French Ambassador at Madrid who was there making the most solemn Protestations that the Pirenean Treaty should be kept inviolable had Orders likewise to interpose his Master's good Offices and make a tender of his Mediation to compose all Differences with Portugal and put an end to the War This offer being hearkned to as 't was pretended the Marquess de Sande then at Paris adjusting King Alfonso's Marriage and having the Character of an Ambassador for that business only was sent for to the secret Audience before mention'd and told that the Queen Regent of Spain had accepted of the Mediation and that in case such Proposals were made by that Court as were fit to be accepted the French Ambassador there had Orders to make a Journey to Lisbon and conclude the Peace or if any thing should detain him he was to communicate the Proposals to the Abbè de S. Romain at Lisbon who should impart them to the Portuguese Ministers there being no doubt but that the Peace would be soon adjusted considering to what a miserable condition the Portugueses had reduced the Spanish Monarchy But then his Majesty did not think it adviseable for them to take up with any doubtful or fallacious Truce and in conclusion bid the Marquess assure the King of Portugal that in case a Peace ensued He himself would be the Guarant if a War he would both bear a share in the Expences and become the King of Portugal's Companion in the Field Monsieur de S. Romain had the good fortune to arrive in Portugal and got Audience at the Court which was then at Salva Terra before Sir Richard Fanshaw came there and he displayed all his Eloquence in setting forth that the King his Master had so sincere an Affection for Portugal that understanding the Spaniards were coming to an Accommodation he was very desirous to see the Peace adjusted on condition that the Proposals made by Spain were Advantageous and Honourable but in case they should prove otherwise he was ready to assist the Portugueses with his Troops Fleets and Money at their choice and as their Occasions should require These fine Words as they were not wholly lost yet had not that effect upon the Court as to dispose them for a League with France they were wishing still
but lately come out of the destructive War that they had been prosecuting against each other took the Alarm and together with the Swede made the famous Triple Alliance in order to oblige his most Christian Majesty to lay down his Arms. This made that King begin to show some Deference to Pope Clement the 9th's Solicitation for a Peace and it was agreed upon by the Parties concern'd that a Congress of their Ministers should be held in order to adjust all Differences of this Agreement the French King gives notice to his Ally the Prince Regent of Portugal to the end that he should send thither his Plenipotentiary to act in concert with the French Minister And now to all appearance were the Portugueses in much the same condition as they had been at the Pirenean Treaty having no other hopes of a Pea 〈…〉 e but what the French should procure for them and what reason could they have to think otherwise but that they should be sacrificed in the same manner as they were then and sold for some of the controverted Places in Flanders Philipville and Marienburg were their Price then as such of their Writers that are most partial to France have declar'd to the World possibly the Spaniards might bid higher for them now and how could the Portugueses be sure that they would not be taken at their Word They had the French Faith indeed for their security and that engaged to them by the late League in a more solemn manner then formerly but not in so solemn a manner as it had been given before to the Spaniards when it was sworn in the manner before related That France would wholly Cast them off and not afford them the least Succors They were promis'd its true that if they would but put themselves wholly upon the French and leave them to make their Peace they should have such Conditions got for them as were both advantagious and honourable but then if France should think her self oblig'd to have greater regard to her own Interest and Conveniency then to all other Engagements and that such a thing was possible some former Transactions had sufficiently proved In that case why might the little Kingdom of Sardinia be once more thought to be a pretty convenient Retreat for a King of Portugal or the Office of Constable of Castille an honourable Employment for a Duke of Bragança But in case France should think it convenient to continue her self or keep Portugal embroil'd in the War then all that the Spaniards could give or the Portugueses ask might not be thought to be either honourable or safe it was not thought so upon Tryal as shall be made appear anon But however the Portugueses had now their Hands tied up and could do nothing towards their own Relief To the French they had given themselves and for any thing they saw to the French they must Trust The Prince was consulting about the choice of a Minister whom he should send as his Plenipotentiary to Aix la Chapelle when on a sudden they receiv'd an unexpected Deliverance from these their pretended Friends brought them by the same Hand that had rescued them from their Victorious though perhaps less Dangerous Enemies but this likewise must be spoken of in another Chapter These are the most memorable Transactions that have passed between the two Crowns since that of Portugal hath been in the House of Bragança and they afford us one Single instance of the so much talkt of French Friendship viz. the sending of their Troops into that Kingdom upon conclusion of the Pirenean Treaty an action which the French or all People in the World should be the last to remember they were ashamed as they had a great deal of reason to own it at the Time and the success that attended their Auxiliaries hath given them little cause to glory in it since but this kindness if it was meant for such has been more than out balanc'd by the hard usage which the Portugueses have met with at their hands for certainly never were People so trick'd abus'd and trifled withal as the Portugueses were during the whole course of Mazarin's Ministry never were Allies so dishonourably sacrific'd as they were to an enrag'd Enemy at the Pirenean Treaty for I think I have made it plain that they were then design'd to be utterly abandon'd and as for this last Business of the League and Treaty of Peace the French could have no other regard to Portugal than to make that Kingdom to its own great Prejudice subservient to all their designs So that it must have been by other means than Offices of true Friendship that the French have all along supported their Interest in Portugal and many are of Opinion that their Money hath had as free a course into this Kingdom as into any other part of Europe But other Instruments are likewise made use of and those of two very different kinds from each other but considering the Genius of the Portuguese Nation it is very hard to determine which of them are the most likely to succeed These are 1st the Ladies that are continually sent hither to marry with Persons of Quality who when they match out of their own Families do usually supply themselves with Wives from France and to say the truth they have been furnish'd out of some of the best Houses in that Kingdom and 't is reported that the French King to encourage these Alliances between the two Courts allows every Lady a Portion which perhaps contributes not a little to render them acceptable to the Portuguese Nobility who for the most part are not very easy in their Fortunes and when they marry among themselves have seldom any Money with their Wives for in Portugal Blood serves instead of a Portion It is hard to give a particular account what services these Ladies do for the Crown of France but the Portuguese Writer that sets forth his King's Pretensions to Spain gives a broad hint of what may be expected from them for he says that of the several methods used by the French to gain their ends upon those they have to deal with that of sending French Wives to govern them is the most infallible and that they have found this a surer way to succeed than all inveigling Perswasions or specious appearances of Advantage and that it excels the force even of secret Bribes for as he saith they in Consequence of their having married French Women shall be so bewitched that seeing and knowing they shall seek their own Ruin as if led thereto by a fatal kind of Necessity It is true this Portuguese speaks in the Person of a Spanish Noble Man and lays the Scene in that Court where I believe there are as yet but very few if any such Marriages so that there is cause to suspect that he speaks so feelingly from the Experience of his own Country However by his leave one that looks upon things at some distance may be tempted to question whether
grounds the Conde is thought to be so inclin'd he was indeed a kind of a Martyr for the French Cause for the League before mention'd is thought to have been in part the occasion of his Fall But his being obliged after all that he had suffer'd for them to take Sanctuary in England where he was honourably entertain'd and had a noble Pension assign'd him should as one would think have inclin'd him another way its true his eldest Son the Conde de Calbeta hath married a French Lady but that was since the Design I am speaking of was set on foot But however this be the Jesuits no doubt hop'd for some extraordinary advantage from his re-admission into Court since they durst venture to offend the Conde's great Rival the Duke of Cavadal from whom they were to look for a most Powerful Opposition But as the Attempt was great the way they took to effect it was somewhat surprizing for the Queen by the advice of Father Fuess her Confessor was to use her endeavours with the King to bring it about It is no wonder that Father Fuess being a Jesuit though a German should desire the advancement of one engag'd in the French Interest yet it is somewhat strange that a Daughter of the Palatine Family should so far forget her Father's House as to concern her self in such a Cause But they that are acquainted with the Intrigues of the Society will not wonder to see those carrying on their designs who in appearance should have the greatest reason to oppose them My Author who seems to be a very intelligent Person and who as I had it from a good hand was both a Countryman and a Servant to her Majesty saith that the Business was brought so far to a head that the Queen waited only for the time when her Confessor should think it proper for her to break it to the King How it came to miscarry I know not but it seems to be now wholly laid aside for the Conde has not yet appear'd at Court and it was about 1691. that this Business was in Agitation since which time the Duke of Cadaval hath by the Marriage of his Son to the King 's natural Daughter establish'd himself at Court more firmly than ever The French then having such Powerful Agents at the Court of Portugal as are the Ladies and the Jesuits tho' their Interest there be very consideraable yet it is some wonder that it is not much greater as without doubt it would be were there not so wise a Prince on the Throne as his present Majesty It cannot be denied but that the French Artifices in representing the late War as rais'd and carried on upon a religious account have prevail'd much and that not only among the common People but with them likewise that are in a much higher Station and have had in a great measure their design'd effect in byassing Peoples minds to the prejudice of the Allies It is reported of a certain very great Lady that when the News came to Lisbon of a great Disaster likely to befal some of the Allies upon the Coasts of Portugal she could not forbear expressing her satisfaction in a most unusual manner That the Hereticks were confounded But there are not wanting among them some so much wiser than the rest as to see through the French Artifices and perceive that all this trouble that they give World hath some other end in it than the advancement of their Religion and there are those that will not stick to give our King his just Titles of Europes Deliverer and the Restorer of Liberty to Mankind As for the King himself he is certainly not insensible of his own true Interest I have good grounds to believe that the Levies he was making in 1693. were design'd to help forward the common Cause and had actually march'd towards Catalonia had he not been assur'd from his Ministers abroad that the French were earnestly soliciting for a Peace and that the Fortune of the War had not turned so much to the disadvantage of the Allies as to make them want his Assistance And few I believe doubt but that the Forces now on foot have been rais'd upon a like design should there be occasion for them this Court being by this convinc'd what little account is to be made of French Protestations of Friendship and where they are like to end of these they have had as great or a greater share than any other People and they find themselves now to be first mark'd out for Destruction for while they are caress'd by the French Ministers at Versailles and Lisbon those of the same Nation are again making a Sacrifice of them at Madrid at least if the Author of the Paper concerning the King's Pretensions to Spain supposed to have been written by order of this Court be rightly inform'd for there we find among other Conditions offer'd to the Spaniards in behalf of the Duke of Anjou the Re-union of Portugal to the Crown of Spain proposed for one so that the Portugueses find it high time for them to look to themselves and in all appearance they will leave nothing unattempted to bring about that Re-union though in a different manner than is propos'd by France OF THE INTERESTS OF PORTUGAL With Relation to the Emperor Holland the Northern Crowns c. TIll of late Years there hath been little or no intercourse between Portugal and the Court of Vienna the reason of this strangeness was the cruel Treatment of Dom Duarte Prince of Braganca and Uncle to the present King This Prince at the Acclamation of his Brother King John the 4th had been eight Years in the Emperor's Service and was in the Post of a Major General under Piccolomeni and as it is said he had signaliz'd himself with great Courage in the War against the Swedes but he having no notice given him of his Brother's design the Spanish Ministers at Vienna assoon as the news of the Revolt came thither procured a secret Order from the Emperor Ferdinand the 3d. to have him arrested by way of Reprizal for what his Brother had taken from them and to please them this innocent Prince was by a manifest violation of the Liberties of the Empire and the Honour of the German Nation kept Prisoner for sometime at Grats and afterwards sold to the Spaniards for the summ of Forty Thousand Crowns and was by them carried away to the Castle of Milan where he was shut up for the remainder of his life he ending his days there after eight years of Confinement This dishonourable Act of the Emperor begat such a coldness between the two Courts of Vienna and Lisbon that there had been no Communication between them till of late Years the first advance towards a Correspondence by all that I can learn was not made till the Year 1683. when at the Pope's instance King Peter contributed a large supply of Money towards the Expences of the War against the Turks But his Marriage
they begin their March the Conde de Villa Flor is brought in to make a florid Speech which works so much upon them that at the last Words they are in Motion but the English being to the Left of all and nearest the Plain where the Cavalry on both sides were ingag'd are attack'd by four hundred Horse with great Bravery But they forming themselves into a close Body the Fire-locks keeping within the Pikes make such Resistance by their repeated Discharges that the Three Regiments led on by the two Commanders continue their March unmolested In ascending the Hill they think fit that they might make sure work of it to send a single Officer to see whether the Enemy might not have some Horse there to oppose them The Officer does as he is ordered making his way through Clouds of Bullets as the Author expresses it takes a full view of the Place and sees no Horse there with this Answer he encourages them to make up to the Top and then the Three Regiments act over again the very same things which as it hath hitherto been believ'd the English had done before This Account Publish'd as it is under the Name of Dom Luis de Menezes who was himself in the Battle as General of the Artillery and doubtless acquitted himself therein with Honour and afterwards had the Title Conde da Ericeyra must at first sight infallibly shake the Credit of the foregoing Relation if not intirely destroy it and so put our Country men out of Possession of an Honour which till the latter end of last Year they had enjoy'd as their undoubted Right However there are some further Passages to be told relating to this Battle which may possibly keep the former Account from being thought altogether incredible But before any thing be said in Defence of the one or Answer to the other there are certain Reports that have been current about Lisbon for some Years which the Publick ought to be inform'd of and that in consideration of the respect due to one of the Conde's Quality These Reports are such as if there be any Grounds for them may make one suspect that the Conde hath been much injur'd in the Edition of his Works It was the common talk in Portugal for several Years after the Publication of the first Volumn that some other Person besides his Lordship had a hand in Composing and Digesting his Papers but then its true that People differ'd much in their Opinions concerning the Person suppos'd to be thus Employ'd some would have it that it was a Person of Quality indeed but one of the other Sex Others were for a certain Priest whom the Conde as they pretend kept in his House for that purpose I will not undertake for the Credit of either the one or the other of these Reports as being altogether ignorant on what gounds they were rais'd but the Truth is there is great cause why they that wish well to the Conde's Memory should be glad they were believ'd and some Passages in the Book it self makes one think that there may be something in them the Language bestow'd by the Author on those he calls Hereticks Our King Charles the First for one when he reflects on the Behaviour of that Blessed Martyr in his last Agony is not common among Men of the Conde's Rank but seems to come rather from the indiscreet Zeal of a Bigotted Lady which is the only excuse its capable of And as for the Account now under consideration the Reader will soon perceive that it savours strongly of something that I shall not name but of which above all Men in the World one would soonest suspect a Romish Priest But to our Purpose King Charles the Second being informed of the wonderful Bravery of his Soldiers shown at this Battle of Amexial was pleased out of his pure Liberality to order Forty Thousand Crowns-to be distributed amongst them All that know any thing of the Character of that Prince know that he was not to be easily imposed upon by sham Relations of this kind and it was as apparent to the World that his Exchequer did not overflow with Money and consequently it must be some very important Action that his Majesty thought fit to Reward with so large Donative But was it possible for so understanding a Prince as King Charles to think it an extraordinary thing for above 2000 Foot to make Resistance against a Body of 400 Horse Yet this is all the part that our Author allows them in the Victory only in conclusion he saith that between Horse and Foot they Iost about 50 Men and that they and the French together behav'd themselves Valiantly Our Horse lost many more the greatest part of them being cut to pieces by their renewing the Charge so often as they did while they were abandon'd by the French But if the English Foot did any thing to deserve the Notice of their King it was on the Hill against which they were at first Posted and upon which the main Business of the Battle was transacted for there by confession of all the Spaniards were strongest and were first routed and unless it were up thither our Foot scarce moved from their first Station That they did something worthy of Admiration and upon this Place we may appeal to the Memories of all People of any Curiosity in Portugal for the fighting over of this and some other of their Battles was observed to be the main subject of Conversation amongst them for many Years afterwards and their own Officers in the Army did not stick to acknowledge that the Crown of Portugal was preserv'd by what the English did in this but I am writing in England and shall content my self with such Evidence as is at hand There are two Gentlemen in London who commanded in this very Action from whence the Author of Portugal Restaurado hath excluded our Country men the one hath a Command in my Lord of Oxford's Regiment the other is one of the Old Gentlemen in the Charter-house who are so far from magnifying the Performance that they contradict some circumstances in the Publick Accounts that made it appear more hazardous and daring then it really was They know very well that they were not only engaged on the foremention'd Hill but that till the Action was over there were none besides them the former of these gives a very demonstrative Proof that they could have no Assistants to accompany them at the beginning for where they ascended the Hill the nature of the Ground was such that it would not admit of the whole Regiment the Party consisted but of one for which reason two Companies that were to the Left were forc'd to return and joyn the other English Regiment that was drawn up in the second Line and was commanded by Colonel Person It s true the Three Regiments might get up afterwards by other ways but that they gave the English time enough to do their Business for them will appear from what
an occasion for doing over again all that they had done already But the Truth is there is so great an Agreement in some of the most material Passages in this Account with what the English had been doing before as 't is related by our Officers who never saw or heard of the 2d Volum of Portugal Restaurado that they all seem to speak of one and the same Action so that there is cause to suspect that the Conde had given an Account of the Part which our Country men had in the Battle and that the Revisors of his Papers or which is more probable the Inquisitors when the Book passed through their Hands out of their great kindness to the Hereticks resolv'd to make a Portuguese Action of it by changing the Names and Time There are more Reasons for this Conjecture then are necessary to be told at present It is not denied but that the Portugueses might come upon the Place where the Action was perform'd but it appears from what hath been said that it could not be till the Business was in a manner done and till the English were about leaving it so that they might have spared the Officers pains whom they sent to view it there being neither Horse nor Foot in any condition to withstand them All the work that they had to do was that usually done a broken scatter'd and confounded Enemy and which a Brave Man will never by his Good-will set his Hand to which is down-right killing The English being drawn off upon a Business that became them better had not been long there after the Enemies Horse were repuls'd but a Gentleman came Riding up to them from Count Schomberg with Orders to Halt adding that the Portugueses on the Right had attack'd and put to the Rout the Spaniards on the other Hill sometime afterwards Count Schomberg himself came to them and order'd them to joyn the Army that was going to incamp it them growing Duskish The Count staid with them part of the Night telling the Officers many diverting Passages and we may guess at whose Expence he diverted himself Were that Great Man alive now he had no doubt before this time receiv'd from Portugal a further occasion for his Mirth It is very likely that a Person unskill'd in Military Affairs must be guilty of many Errors in his manner of Relating this Transaction but as to the substance of what hath told he hath deliver'd it with that assurance which is Natural to one who himself believes what he saith he having receiv'd the most material Passages from several Competent Witnesses at several places and times all agreeing with each other and with what our Author himselves relates where he does not plainly do that which 't would be a great indecency to Name However since many cannot have the like opportunities to inform themselves he shall insist only upon this notorious Truth That at the Battle of Amexial part of the English Foot without the Assistance of Portugueses or others attack'd a great Body of Spaniards posted upon a Hill by themselves thought inaccessible Defeated and Routed them taking their great Guns their General 's Tent and Baggage and by this means occasion'd the Victory which preserv'd Portugal from imminent Destruction This he believes to be so evident a Truth that there 's scarce a Person of any considerable Rank in the several Nations that were concern'd in the Transaction but either is or may be convinc'd of it by Eye-Witnesses those that have convers'd with them Letters from Publick Ministers or the like And since on account of the suppos'd Author's Quality the History of Portugal Restaurado is likely to be communicated to those that are in the Highest Stations they who have prefix'd to it the Name of Dom Luis de Menezes have done a great discredit to their Cause and a most irreparable injury to the Memory of that great Man For while such as have a true sense of Honour shall think that Lord could be Author of a Peace wherein so little Gratitude is express'd to the Savers of his Country so much Artifice used to Defraud them of the Honour got while they were exposing their Lives to rescue a distress'd People from Destruction and all for no other apparent Reason but our difference in Opinions for there appears throughout the Work as great Partiality in favour of the French as Prejudice against the English How vile a thing must they take this ancient Popery to be and how mischievous amongst the People that can have so Maligant an Influence upon a Noble Mind Certainty should Dom Luis de Menezes prove guilty of so disingenuous a Work The General of the Artillery did not gain more Honour by his Sword when he fought at the Battle of Amexial then the Conde de Ericeyra forfeited by his Pen when he Discribed it In this Battle the Spaniards as 't is said of 16 Thousand had 4000 kill'd and 6000 taken Prisoners among whom were 2500 Wounded The loss on the Victors side was inconsiderable for among all the 8 Companies that were ingag'd on the Hill there were but 16 private Soldiers and an Ensign kill'd The Portugueses indeed while they were killing the Spanish Foot and fighting with the Horse lost a thousand of their Men and had 500 Wounded The King of Portugal being very sensible of the great services done him by our Men resolv'd to bestow a Largess upon them as a mark of his Esteem His Gift was very Extraordinary in its kind for it was three Pounds of Snuff to each Company and not despicable for its Value considering into how low a state Portugal had been reduced But our Foot Soldiers had not such consideration in them for when the Present was made in his Majesty's Name they took it and toss'd it up into the Air out of Contempt and Disdain and as they grew Angry they began to remember not their own services but the loss of their Valiant Country men of the Horse Regiment and to vent their Indignation that such Men that had been so often commanded on to the Slaughter should be so basely abandon'd as they were However their Passions cool'd and they came to themselves again upon the first occasion for Action and though they were to fight for Portugueses yet they behav'd themselves like English Men still insomuch that the remainder of the present Campagne and the two that follow'd seem'd just the Reverse of those made by Don John the two foregoing Years and the beginning of this Soon after the Battle Evora was besieged and taken and the next Year Valença in Estremadura at both which Sieges the English signaliz'd themselves in their usual manner of which several remarkable Instances might be given In 1665. the Spaniards made shift to bring another Army into Portugal under the Marquess de Caracena to be serv'd at Montes-claros in the same manner as Don John's had been at Amexial In this Battle while a whole Regiment of French fairly ran away some particular