the Country for these many Years We had indeed a Story in the English Gazette I think it was in 1692 of their burning the Admiral of Sallee but at last it proved to be but a small Boat that was run ashoar It might be expected that they should in some measure recover themselves during the late War in which other Seafaring Nations were embroil'd whilst they enjoy'd the Benefit of a Free-Trade as in effect they did almost to the doubling of their Trading Vessels But it does not appear that they made any great Improvement in the Art of Navigation for there was hardly Skill enough among them to carry a Ship into the English Channel very few if any of them daring to venture upon that Voyage without an English Pilot I suppose it is for want of Seamen that the King's Ships are so much crowded with Land-Souldiers for these make the greatest part of the Complement That of the biggest Ships as I have been told consisting of 60 Mariners 80 others not yet qualified for Able Seamen and 250 Land-Souldiers Of His Majesties First Queen MArie Françoise Elizabeth de Savoie youngest Daughter to Charles Amadee de Savoie Duke of Nemours by Elizabeth the Daughter of Caesar de Bourbon Duke of Vendome Natural Son of Henry the Fourth King of France by Gabriele d' Estrees Dutchess of Beaufort commonly called la Belle Gabriele She was Born the 21th of June 1646 Contracted to Dom Alfonso the VI. King of Portugal the 27th of June 1666 arrived at Lisbon the Second of August following and having cohabited with that King for the space of near Sixteen Months was Divorced from him and Married afterwards viz. the 2d of April 1668 to his Brother the Infante Dom Pedro now King of Portugal This Lady who before her Marriage went by the Title of the Mademoiselle d' Aumalle was at first designed for the Infante whilst a Match was in Treaty between the King his Brother and her Elder Sister Mademoiselle de Nemours the present Dutchess Dowager of Savoy but that Match not taking effect she was Contracted as I have said to the King and another Marriage was concluded between the Infante and Mademoiselle de Bouvillon Daughter to the Prince of Turenne and Niece to the Mareschal of that Name But this was Broke off because the Infante could not be prevail'd with by any Perswasions or Menaces the King his Brother could use or the Entreaties of the Ministers and his own Servants to stand to what had been agreed upon in his Name and by his Order The reasons for his refusal I could never learn Soon after the New Queens Arrival at Lisbon King Alfonso began to express an extraordinary coldness towards her and in a short time he estranged himself very much from her Company his Indifferency growing into an utter Aversion insomuch that he forbore not openly to Exclaim against the Authors of this Match who as he hath been heard to say had advised him to that which he should have cause to repent of all his life-life-time all this was said by such as were ill-affected to that Prince to proceed from a certain un-fitness for Marriage which the Queen afterwards laid to his Charge Others are still of Opinion that it was occasioned by some secret cause of Dislike that rendred her Person disagreeable to him They that accuse the King of Inability impute the cause of that and of his Incapacity for Government which they accuse him of likewise to his Sickness in the time of his Infancy for at Three Years Old he had been seiz'd with a Malignant Fever and that was succeeded by a Palsie whereby as it is said all his Right Side became withered from Head to Foot insomuch that he remain'd Lame ever after on that Side but they that tell this accuse him likewise of delighting to Ride the most fierce and un-manageable Horses and to encounter with Wild Bulls and other Violent Exercises which one wou'd think should suppose a vigorous Habit of Body they represent him also as guilty of many Extravagancies on the account of lewd Women as in truth his vicious Inclinations to them were apparently the cause of most of those Disorders they lay to his Charge And this may make one suspect their sincerity likewise when they tell us That the same Distemper had so affected his Brain that he was never in his right mind It may no doubt with reason enough be said of this King That some have taken the Liberty upon what grounds I know not to say of his Father before him that he was none of the wisest Kings that ever reign'd in Portugal but then the Faults he was guilty of may be as well imputed to his want of Education as to any Natural or Accidental Defect in his Understanding For perhaps there never was one designed for a Crown more neglected in his Youth than this Prince had been He had been suffered to abandon himself to all the Extravagancies his childish Inclinations led him to and not only his own but those of his Companions these were not the Sons of the Nobility but such as himself had pickt up out of the Streets from among the Boys that he us'd to behold from the Palace Windows dividing themselves into Parties and Pelting one another with Stones the usual Pastime of Portuguese Children They that were of the Party favoured by the King and signaliz'd themselves most at this Exercise had the largest share in his Affections and some of them as they grew up with him became his Principal Favourites these from the very beginning of his Reign found entrance into the Court and would at times entice the King down into the Stable-Yard of the Palace and there together with a lewd Rabble of Grooms Blacks and Moorish Slaves entertain His Majesty with Wrestling Boxing throwing the Bar darting Knives setting Dogs to Fight the Young King making One amongst them and what he learnt from the Conversation of this vile Crew he afterwards on some occasions put in practice Such Education was not we may be sure very likely to qualifie him for the Affairs of State 'T is true the Chiefest of his Companions had been put from him immediately before his taking the Government upon himself and he having had the happiness to fall into better hands a great alteration was observed in his Conduct yet he was not so changed but that he found himself obliged to leave Affairs of Importance to the Care and Management of others This the new Queen soon perceiv'd and as 't is very likely she was encouraged to make her Advantage of the King's Unfitness for Business and to endeavour to get the Government of him and his Kingdom into her own hands This is certain that notwithstanding the King 's Neglect of Her she was not wanting to her self but took all occasions to make her self considerable She not only procured from him a Grant for the Augmentation of the Revenue settled on her in Marriage but began
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
left the Court first threatning that if he continued there he himself would depart the Kingdom The King orders the Case to be drawn up and laid before a Consult of the Counsellors of State the Chancellor Judges c. and it was concluded among them by the Majority of Votes That the Infante not being a Sovereign Prince his bare Affirmation was not to be taken for Proof that the Suspension and Removal of the Conde was in it self a Punishment as it reflected Dishonour upon him and his Family but that he ought not to be punish'd 'till some Proof was made of his Crime The Infante would not yield that the Case had been fairly stated or the Votes free and signifies the same in a Letter to the King wherein he expresses his Resentments of the whole Proceeding with some heat While the Business was thus agitated by way of Letters and Messages each side was seeking by other ways to make his Party good the Infante had written to the Courts of Justice the Chamber and Council of Lisbon to acquaint them with his Case sending them Copies of his Letters to the King He afterwards called together at his Palace the Counsellors of State and the Nobility to inform them of what had past among whom besides those that had been all along devoted to the Cause the Conde had gain'd himself many new Enemies by his Advancement and his over-haughty Carriage as it seem'd to them in the time of his Greatness And the Party was so strong against him that 't was now evident his Ruin was at hand For many of those fawning Wretches on whom by a Fault common as 't is said to great Men he had misplac'd his Favours having rais'd them by his Bounty were now not only ready to abandon him but they would needs be employ'd in avenging the Infante's Quarrel upon their Benefactor The Infante at the beginning of this Broil was made to remonstrate in his Letters That if the King refus'd to do him Justice he should be forc'd to leave the Kingdom and end his Days in a foreign Country But was now put upon another Resolution which was to retire to the Province Tras Os Montes and join that part of the Army which was commanded by the Conde de St. John one of his principal Confidents many of the disaffected Nobility proffering themselves to follow him and share in his Fortunes The Conde upon the Infante's first Complaint petition'd the King for leave to retire but it appearing that the Contrivers of all this Bustle aim'd not so much at the Conde's removal from the Government as the King 's who was not like to stand long after the Fall of his Minister he was oblig d to continue at Court and they were not wanting about the King that were putting him upon vigorous Resolutions which might if followed have recovered his expiring Authority Some advised him to go in Person to Corte Real the Infante's Palace attended with his Counsellors of State the Nobility and Officers of the Army and Arrest the Infante together with the Camarists those he had named for Gentlemen of his Bed-Chamber supposed to be the Managers of all this Disturbance but this Counsel never took effect some think because it was delay'd so long that the Infante being inform'd of the Design had time enough to put himself in a posture of Defence it is certain that he immediately after declared He would run the same Fortune with his Gentlemen and never suffer them to be Arrested It is reported of a certain Person and as I remember I have been shewn the Man that he came and offered to the King and Conde That with his Majesty's Leave he would go to Corte Real and give a good Account of the Camarists but this Proposal was rejected as it well deserved to be The great Courage the King us'd to shew on other Occasions to the loss of his Credit now fail'd him when he had so much need of it his Authority and his Honour lying as they did at stake He seems to have been so much sunk at this time as to become incapable of conceiving or entertaining a Resolution befitting a King in his Circumstances The Conde when he saw that he cou'd do no good any other way wou'd have had him retire to Alemtejo and there put himself at the Head of his Army there being reason to believe that the main Body would prove faithful to him after having gain'd so many signal Victories under his short Reign Both sides were endeavouring about this time to make a Party among the Soldiery the Infante had wholly gaind the Conde de St. John but he had receiv'd Orders from Court that neither himself nor any Person under his Command shou'd stir out of his Province 'till further order and it could not be in his power to do any great harm supposing the rest continued in their Duty The Commanders had been made acquainted with the Differences at Court by the King's Order who had signified to them his Resolution to protect the Conde representing the Infante's Complaints as groundless The Fleet likewise which had been cruising on the Coasts was commanded into the River and Order given that none belonging to it should come ashore without leave It does not appear that they who were for setting up the Infante durst as yet openly solicit the Army It 's true the Queen had a very strong Party in it as appears by the strict Guard that was kept on the Frontiers this Year to prevent the coming of any Overtures of Peace from Castille which the French Faction that was headed by the Queen labour'd all they could to hinder but it was not as yet pretended that the King and Queen had separate Interests However her Majesty was working under-hand to promote the Grand Design sounding the Inclinations of those in Command against the time when it should be ripe for Execution Count Schomberg who was General of the Strangers and had in effect at this time the Direction of the whole Army was oblig'd by Orders from France to hold Correspondence with the Queen and to support her Interest The Queen took occasion to acquaint him by Letters how that all things were like to run to Ruin through Alfonso's Extravagances should he continue in the Government desiring to know of the Count What Reckoning might be made of the Officers in the Army in case the Differences at Court came to an open Rupture It is not probable for Reasons to be mention'd anon that the Count gave her any great Encouragement to proceed in the Design however he did as he was order'd and inform'd her Majesty how the principal Commanders stood affected and what might be expected from each of them severally in rhe Case propos'd he was so very particular in his Account that it took up about four Sheets of Paper and this Pacquet had like to have preserv'd the King and ruin'd the adverse Party for it narrowly escap'd falling into his Majesty's Hands
Had he been Master of it it might not only have given him great Light into the Plot but directed him whom to secure and whom he might trust in The Story is very remarkable even in its minutest Circumstances which shew how all things conspired to the Destruction of this unhappy Prince and it will be no Digression from our Subject to tell it which I shall the rather do because I am assured that the Substance of what follows came from the late Duke Schomberg's own Mouth It being somewhat late when this Pacquet was convey'd to the Queen her Majesty ordered those that attended to retire after having set up a Light at her Bed's-Head for that she had some particular Devotions to perform that Night She took the Papers with her to Bed and there they remain'd when she fell asleep The next Morning before the Queen was up News came that the King was gone to Chapel and it being the Custom for them both to hear Mass in the Tribunal together the Queen was oblig'd to get ready in all haste and her haste was so great that she never minded her Papers yet she could not get so soon into the Chapel but the Elevation which is the essential part of the Mass was over before she came so she was fain to stay for another Mass the King retiring when the first was ended When the King was gone the Queen bethought her self of her Papers and sent de Ville the Jesuit her Confessor who was in the Secret and is suppos'd to have instigated her Majesty to what she was acting against her Husband to secure them de Ville coming to the Chamber-door found that the King was got there before him and he having no Priviledge to enter while the Queen was absent stood there for some time and heard the King walking about the Room and talking aloud as if he were in some heat to the Condeça de Castelmelhor the Conde's Mother and chief Lady of the Bed-Chamber to the Queen With these doleful Tidings the Jesuit returns to the Queen Her Majesty upon this sends one of her Ladies to see whether there were any hopes of retrieving the Papers The Lady upon her coming found that the King had thrown himself upon the Bed This being told her Majesty she found it absolutely necessary for her to go her self but Mass was not near done And what Pretence could she have to leave it Or how should she hinder People from enquiring into the Cause of this sudden Motion De Ville was at her Elbow he suggested to her that she should be suddenly taken with a Fainting-fit His Counsel was put in Practice her Majesty swooning away immediately and in this Condition she was carried from the Tribunal into her Chamber The King surpriz'd and concern'd at his Queen's Illness would have had the Bed set in order for her to be put into it had he been obey'd her Majesty might have had a Fit in earnest for the Papers lay under some Cloaths that were upon the Bed The Fright brought her Majesty to her self so far as that she desired them without more ado to lay her upon the Bed immediately this done she felt about for the Papers found they were safe and in a little time all was well again But whatever were the Contents of these Papers it seems the Queen did not think it advisable for the Infante to put himself upon the Army For in truth those that she had greatest Reason to depend upon who were the French were like to give him but a cold Reception it was not for their Interest at that time to have the Portugueses embroil'd in a Civil War while they should be finding Work for the Spaniards in order to facilitate the French King's Conquests in Flanders As for the English who together with the French made a good part of the Army they had been sent into Portugal to serve King Alfonso and it was not to be thought that they wou'd upon any account draw their Swords against him nor is it credible but the Conde who had the disposal of all Places for above five years together must have bad Friends enough among the Portugueses themselves to make the King's Party good so that of the two it was doubtless the best way for the King to betake himself to the Army The Conde who was the best Judge in the Case thought that as things stood it was the safest if not the only Course he cou'd take to secure himself and he had once brought in the Mind to follow this Advice which was when he was just upon leaving the Court himself it being then resolv'd that the King should pass into Alemtejo in Disguise attended by the Conde But when this Project was to be put in Execution the King fell off and all the Conde's Remonstrances cou'd not prevail with him to move from Lisbon His Enemies say That he was so much in love with his Divertisements that he cou'd not bear the Thoughts of discontinuing them And in order to keep his Brother at home too he wrote him a most loving Letter inviting him to Court and disswading him from his Resolution to retire telling him That he shou'd choose rather to come to him who was ready to receive him with open Arms and with all the Love that was due to a Friend a Brother a Son and should he fail of Issue the Successor to his Kingdoms But as these kind Words were not believ'd to come from his Heart they rendred him the more contemptible to his Enemies While these things were transacting the Rabble of Lisbon was up and in a Fury against those that should occasion the Infante's Departure but resolv'd withal to put a stop to his Journey for fear of seeing themselves involv'd in a Civil War For the poor People had been strangely confounded at a certain Prophecy which was then buzzed among them That a Day was coming on when the Rua Nova the chief Street in Lisbon was to be overflown with Humane Blood so that the Horses should be bemired in Gore And they were under terrible Apprehensions that their Eyes were now to see the sad Day But however the Infante's Party had made so much Noise of his retiring that he could not handsomely draw back without giving up the Cause for now all that could be done against the Court next to offering downright Violence had been done already and all would have been to no purpose should this Design be laid aside For the Court when let alone might in a little time recover its Authority On the other side should they persist to send away the Infante the Rage of the Multitude might have been turn'd upon themselves for the Court had been tampring with the Ringleaders and in case they got safe to the Army they were like for the Reasons now mentioned to find but little Welcome And now it was high time for the Queen to appear again Her Majesty therefore sends De Ville to the Infante to
at this time or all they had been acting hitherto was like to end in their own ruine The King had still his trusty Officers with the Three Regiments at Command who were they to receive Orders from Antonio de Sousa might after all enable him to call them to account As for the Mob this Day 's Transaction shew'd that they were not much to be depended on their Rage dying away as it did when the Business came just to a Crisis even whilst all those horrid Stories that had been spread amongst them with so much Indrustry were fresh upon their Minds and shou'd they now disperse when nothing had been done the same Artifice was not like to serve again they might Cool and come to themselves and possibly in time be entirely disabus'd and then it wou'd be a hard matter to bring them together when there shou'd be further occasion for them Such and the like considerations went no doubt a great way to fix them in the Resolution they then took which was to keep Possession of the Palace 'till they had gain'd the Point that had been the Pretence of their coming thither which was the Removal of Antonio de Sousa this they knew the King wou'd never content to He was by this time sensible of his Error in parting so easily as he did with the Conde and fully resolv'd to keep Antonio de Sousa near him who was now the only support he had left He had shewn in the Morning how great a Value he had for the Man when thinking he was kill'd he cou'd not forbear to repeat his Meanaces to the Company that came to him in his Chamber as well attended as they were that he wou'd see them severely punish'd whoever they shou'd be that had a hand in the Murder And while he was passing to and fro through the Rabble he wou'd always have him by his side and not suffer him to be out of his sight as if he thought that whatever Mischief was done to the Secretary was much the same as if it had befall'n his own Person But the Faction on the other side were satisfi'd that they cou'd never be safe whilst this Man was suffer'd to be at Court and therefore it was concluded amongst them to keep the Infante in the Palace 'till the Secretary was gone they making him declare that now he was there he wou'd never stir 'till he had effected the Business he come about and Orders were given that Necessaries shou'd be got ready for his Lodging The Secretary being given to understand that in case he remain'd there that Night he was like to sleep his last This was the best Course they could take to hinder the Rabble from dispersing who either in expectation of some great Mischief to ensue or for fear lest the Infante's Person should be in danger would be sure to keep about the Palace In effect this Resolution did their Business and ruin'd the King For the Secretary tho' he was not to be frightned with either Threats or Dangers while there was any hopes left of his being serviceable to his distressed Master as he shew'd by his embarking himself in an almost desperate Cause yet seeing now that should he persist any longer all he could do was to get himself murdered which probably would but make the Faction the more desperate and hasten their Design upon the King he promis'd to be gone as soon as 't was dark it not being safe for him to appear in the Street before and two Persons of Quality undertaking that he should keep his Word the Infante return'd in Triumph to his own Palace attended as before The next Morning the King finding the Secretary gone as also Manoel Antunes who had made the same Conditions for himself sends all about to look for them ordering all the Convents to be search'd Antunes was found in Alemtejo but the Infante took care he should come no more to Court The Infante before this Business had been very seldom at Court ever since the Conde's departure the Queen as it is like afraid of a Reconciliation between the two Brothers which would defeat her Designs sending him word That it would be dangerous for him to appear there and now when all were gone that they had any Pretence of Complaint against he had the same Messages sent to him as before which kept him still at a distance from the King who as I have been assured by one that had good Reason to know how things pass'd at Court in those Days had during all these Broils some Remains of Love or Tenderness rather for his Brother believing that the young Prince was only made the Instrument of other Peoples Malice This I confess seem'd to me somewhat unlikely considering what had past between them 'till the same Person told me That Alfonso afterwards when a Prisoner hearing the Noise of the Guns and Ringing of Bells for the Infante's Marriage with the Queen when he was told the Cause of this Joy instead of expressing his Resentments of his own hard Usage fell a lamenting the Misfortunes of his poor Brother Pedro Who as he said would in a short time have enough of the French Woman and as much cause as himself to repent that he ever had any thing to do with her But to return Alfonso having now none near him that he could advise with being himself young and unacquainted with Business was for the short time that remain'd of his Reign on all occasions at a loss how to comport himself the Conde for some time after his removal us'd to be ever and anon sending him Instructions but he had now none with him to carry on the Correspondence and therefore was wholly to seek what Measures he should take sometimes he would refuse to be present at the Council as when he was there to confirm their Decrees The Chamber of Lisbon was set on to Petition him for calling the Cortes and he being sensible that this was in order to lay him aside sometimes would refuse to hear them or when they were admitted to return them any Answer Some there were and those perhaps none of his greatest Enemies for having him to allow the Queen and the Infante a Joint-share with him in the Government but he would hear no Talk of it The Council at last after many Denials obtain'd his Consent for calling the Cortes but when they had got the Writs ready they could not prevail with him to sign them Whether he shew'd so much Irresolution and Inconstancy out of Weakness or Design is uncertain his Enemies would have the World believe it proceeded from the former and had the Barbarity to publish several weak things which they report him to have said during the time of these Broils when perhaps a wiser Man in his Circumstances might have found himself at his Wit's-end But it appear'd that he was preparing for an Escape into Alemtejo and that his Horses as also several Barks to transport them over the River
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
himself into as many shapes to gain his ends as the Spaniard They that know any thing of Cardinal Mazarin's former Conduct would surely have expected a great deal more of this from him than from a Person of Don Luis de Haro's Character and Quality It s true his Eminence was at this time at the very heighth of his Greatness and Glory and might think it beneath him to be playing over his old tricks he would now be thought to have put off the Italian and pretended much to the Promptitude and Vivacity of a Frenchman but then had he any concern for his Allie he would surely have receiv'd some warmth from all that heat He observed in Don Luis at least that natural Vanity of his which was at this time encreased to as great a height as the station he was in could raise it should have put him upon doing something for a Prince who had no other Dependence but upon him and what could there have been more Glorious for this proud Great Man who had a Crown'd Head for his Client being so sensible as he was that the Eyes of all Christendom were upon him Princes and Nations expecting their Fate in the Issue of his Proceedings than instead of wrangling and squabbling about the exchange of every little Bicocque to be pleading the Cause of a Distressed and Orphan King But alas he did not lay the Cause of Portugal to heart at all nor concern himself for its Preservation He had used that People before so basely that he seem'd to desire their Destruction no less than the Spaniards themselves He contented himself sometimes to repell the most lively instances of Don Luis for the Prince of Conde by telling with all the Coldness and Phleme imaginable That his Master was so desirous of Peace that he had no such Considerations for the King of Portugal as he expressed for the Prince and that his Master might in Justice use the Prince of Conde in the same manner as the Spaniards intended to serve the King of Portugal It s true that in one of the first Conferences when he had no other way to put by the Importunities of Don Luis he told him knowing very well as he saith himself in his Letter to Mr. Le Tellier that he should not be taken at his Word that since he was so very Passionate for the Interests of the Prince he himself had one Proposal to make and would desire the King his Master's Consent which should be more advantageous to the Prince than any thing Don Luis had yet desired The Spaniard over joy'd at this News was impatient to know what the Proposal might be the Cardinal told him He would desire the King of France to restore the Prince and his Son the Duke of Anguien to all their Charges and Governments on Condition that the Catholick King would leave Portugal in the state it was then in The Offer was rejected with all the Indignation that the Cardinal look'd for and had he not thought as much it never had been made for as his Eminence saith to Mr. Le Tellier when he made this bold or hardy Proposal as he calls it he knew it would not be accepted Now if the French did not think it worth their while to rescue the Kingdom of Portugal from apparent Ruin at so small an Expence as giving the Prince of Conde his Employments again it is more unlikely still that they should be wiling both to do that and yield up the many strong Towns and some entire Provinces that they had possess'd themselves of in a five and twenty years War and this it is that tempts me to believe that the Proposal mention'd in the 60th Article of this Treaty was never made in earnest the Cardinal in the same Letter gives a little more light into this Mystery he saith there That he made these offers to let Don Luis see what vast Advances his Master had made towards a Peace and of what consequence his yielding in the point of Portugal was since rather than do that he would be content to restore the Prince to his Governments and give up all his Conquests and it is a great Ease to me continues he that when Don Luis is reckoning up the great Advantages the King gets by this Peace counting the Places and Provinces that remain to his Majesty that I can answer him again that all he said was nothing in Comparison to the Concession we make in the Article of Portugal though he gives a hint to Mr. Le Tellier by the by that for certain Reasons unknown to the Spaniards all this was no such great matter neither as he endeavour'd to make them believe I do not find by his Letters that he made this Hardy Proposal as he calls it any more during the whole time of the Treaty but I find him afterwards directing Mr. De Lionne to word the Preamble of the Article in the same manner as it now stands the Body it seems was adjusted before at the Treaties of Madrid and Paris so that possibly the Preamble had no better grounds for it than the occasional Discourse of which I have now given an account let the Reader then judge what we are to make of this formal Declaration vid. the 60th Article of the Treaty of the Pirenees That his most Christian Majesty desiring with an extreme Passion to see the Kingdom of Portugal enjoy the same Repose that other Christian States acquire by this present Treaty had to that end propos'd a good number of Ways and Expedients which he thought might be to the satisfaction of his Catholick Majesty among which notwithstanding as hath been said that he is under no sort of Engagement in this affair he hath gone so far as to be willing to deprive himself of the Principal Fruit of that happy Success which his Arms have had during the course of a long War offering besides the Places which he restores by this present Treaty to his Catholick Majesty to surrender up all the Conquests in general that his said Arms have made in this War and to re-establish entirely Monsieur the Prince of Conde provided and on condition that the Affairs of the Kingdom of Portugal might be left in the state they are in at present c. I cannot pretend to tell what the many Ways and Expedients here mention'd were finding little or nothing said of them in the Accounts of the Treaty that are yet extant or in the Cardinal's Letters who seems to have given an account of all the most material Passages and yet he mentions but one expedient as propos'd by himself and he saith too that he offered that rather to divert Don Luis from pressing him in behalf of the Prince than out of hopes that it would be accepted He made it on this occasion Don Luis had been very urgent with him that since the Prince could not be restored to his Charges and Governments in France he might be allow'd to accept of a
the force of these Syren's Charms be altogether so irresistible as he makes it for Portugal it self where they are more numerous than in any other Country stands yet undestroyed since their first coming in which is now more than thrice ten Years and indeed should we suppose the Sex to have never so ardent a Zeal for the Grandeur of their Monarch one would think it should be not a little cool'd in such as are thus sacrific'd to his Interests and sent in perpetual Banishment to so hideous a Country as Portugal must needs appear to them that have been accustomed to the Gallantrys of a French Court But granting that the great Monarch by procuring Husbands for these Ladies doth most strongly engage them to his Service he by the same means disobliges a great many others and renders them highly disaffected to His Majesty viz. the Ladies of the Country who as 't is said do not spare to make most bitter Complaints of the wrong done them by this intrusion of Foreigners and Jealousie together with those other Passions that usually accompany it have no doubt as great an Influence upon them as Loyalty and Gratitude have upon the others And the Portuguese Women if they do not belie their Character are as subtle and intriguing as the French can be Should they in revenge once take to Politicks why may they not Cabal together and form their Faction too Did they once set about it there is no doubt but they have power enough left to make a Party of their own amongst the Fidalgo's that shall be able to make head against that of their Rivals Together with the Ladies the Jesuits are reckon'd most zealous Promoters of the French Cause these Fathers as the World knows very well have been always Men of Intrigue since their very first appearance and the greatest Monarchs have thought fit to make use of them in carrying on their Desins In the last Age the Spaniards had them wholly at their Devotion and Philip the 2d was much obliged to the Society on many accounts and more particularly for their clearing his way to the Throne of Portugal had it not been for them it is thought that K. Henry the Cardinal had according to Justice and his own Inclinations settled the Crown in the House of Bragança but King Philip was then more in Favour with the Society and therefore was the Crown reserved for him But as the whole Order hath sometimes since chang'd Sides and come over to the French these in Portugal have not been behind the rest and are now supposed to serve that Party in this Court with as much Zeal as any of their Order do elsewhere some may perhaps be apt to accuse the Society of Inconstancy on this occasion but if any do so it is certainly without Reason for these Fathers are still what they were from the very Beginning The Fortunes of Spain and France are alter'd but not the Jesuits they continue firm to their Principles it was for the Interests of the Society in the last Age as it is in this to gain the Favour of such as had the greatest Power the Spaniards had it then and the French have it now and therefore Louis the 14th is to them what Philip the 2d was Since the Spanish Monarchy hath been falling to Ruin it was time for them to make their Court elsewhere for it is not to be thought that they have less Sagacity than those Animals who are ready to quit a decay'd Building when its fall is at hand But that which is most to be admired in the Conduct of these Fathers is that notwithstanding their being look'd upon as little better than Spys to those aspiring Princes that have bid fairest for the Universal Monarchy they have yet manag'd their Affairs with that Dexterity as to maintain their Ground as long as they thought convenient in all other Courts even those not excepted that were like to suffer first when ever the Design should take effect several instances might be given of this admirable Address of theirs in keeping in with all Parties both in the last and the present Age were I not to confine my self to Portugal In this Court they have enjoyed an uninterrupted Reign from the time of Simon Rodriguez one of the first Companions of Loyola and the first Jesuit that enter'd Portugal He getting into Favour with John the 3d. laid the Foundations of their greatness in this Kingdom in Sebastian's time the Jesuits govern'd all and the Blame is laid at their doors I know not how justly of the lamentable Destruction wherein that ill advis'd Prince involv'd both himself and his Kingdom yet notwithstanding this King Henry the Cardinal was wholly at their Devotion When the Spaniards got possession of this Crown none were more zealous in their Cause than the Jesuits Yet when Fortune began to frown upon them and the present King's Father regain'd his Right the Jesuits were ready immediately to assert his Title and that not only to this Crown but to all the World besides by way of Prophecy I mean for in Effect they are doing what they can to procure their so much talk'd of Fifth Monarchy for another Prince and in all the Revolutions and Turns of State that have happened since it was sure to be their Side which soever it was that chanc'd to come uppermost In the present Court their Power is certainly very great they having all along had the Direction of the Kings and both the Queens Consciences so that considering how religiously disposed his Portuguese Majesty is and his misfortune in having been so Educated that his improvements in Knowledge have not kept pace with his other great Accomplishments their Advice must necessarily go a great way with him I find in a Memoire written by one who seems well acquainted with the Secrets of this Court that the Jesuits have a great Influence not only over His Majesty but over the Ministers likewise who are said to be obliged to these Fathers for the great share they have in the Government and that one who hath the Address to get into Favour with their Reverences which is done by enlarging on the Praises of the Society may makc a very good use of them in any Business depending at Court provided that it doth not clash with the Interest of France for it seems they have always an eye to that which is now the grand concern of the Society My Author gives one signal Instance of their Zeal and Affection to the French Party which shows them to be capable of any thing in order to promote that even to the sacrificing of all other Interests it being of a Design which had it taken effect must have outed the present Ministers from Court or at least abated much of their Power for it was to bring the Conde de Castelmelhor into Business again and that because they know him saith my Author to be well affected to France I cannot tell upon what
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
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
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
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
his Sword in the Palace and given a Challenge which is a Capital Crime by the Laws These three had in the beginning of this Government constituted a kind of Triumvirate among themselves tho' the Conde always bore the greatest Sway but he is accus'd of having us'd those under Arts that are so much practis'd at Courts to work the other two out of Favour And I have not heard what is said in his Defence in regard to the former but as for this whom he found tampering with Conti I cannot see why he should be blam'd for disarming an Enemy whom he caught contriving his own Destruction The Conde having now clear'd the Court of his Enemies both publick and secret saw his Prediction fully accomplish'd and himself without a Rival in a manner sole Governour of Portugal and he might have continued so had he not unhappily laid a Train for his Master's Ruin and his own in the way that he took more firmly to establish the Throne of that unfortunate Prince Alfonso had now no longer cause to apprehend any Designs of his Mother she had before been obliged to retire into a Monastery and the Plot to restore her by so contemptible an Instrument as Conti seem'd to be the last Struggle of the Party However she died soon afterwards and by the Conde's prudent Management and good Fortune there seem'd to be such an Union between the Royal Brothers that there was no cause to fear any thing from the Infante the only Person that could give Umbrage to the King so that had it not been for his unhappy Marriage he might have dy'd with his Scepter in his Hand But no sooner was this fatal Marriage contracted than all things seem'd to go backward and tend directly to the Ruin of them both the Conde had been the Contriver of the Match as the King when in an ill Humour us'd to reproach him and he was the first that suffer'd by it He had been perswaded that there was nothing wanting to the King's Security but his Marriage which might possibly take him off from his wild Courses but he thought it a sure way to silence a Report concerning a certain Weakness in him which was whisper'd about in order to make People believe that the Infante was alone capable of securing the Succession the Conde being himself fully satisfy'd that this Report was groundless at least he solemnly protested that he look'd upon it as an Imposture when ask'd about it by the Marquess De Sande as he was going to France to conclude the Marriage he assuring the Marquess That he had a Natural Daughter of the King 's at that time in his own House But the Match concluded on he soon found cause to repent of his Diligence for the Faction began to revive and re-assume new Vigour and to prosecute the same Designs under the Infante's Name which they had before been carrying on in the Queen-Mothers The Queen-Mother is reported by her Friends as well as others to have endeavoured what she could to set up this young Prince in his Brother's place She had settled his Court when he was but Fourteen Years old in almost as great Splendor as the King 's who was Sixteen before he had so much as a separate Apartment in the Palace This look'd as if she was providing a future Head for the Party for their Encouragement to stick the closer by her for the present But after her Retreat the Ministers with great Prudence and Success endeavour'd to endear the two Brothers to each other having them often together at the Palace at Alcantara and Salva terra the Infante partaking with the King in all his ordinary Recreations and sometimes in his less innocent Diversions The Ministers did not a little value themselves on this to the great Regret of their Adversaries thinking that they had brought them to a perfect Agreement and put an end to all those little Jealousies and Animosities that had been between them But no sooner was the Princess d'Aumalle design'd for the King but a Breach began that never could be clos'd The Infante's Refusal to approve of the Match that was made at the same time by his own Consent between him and Mademoiselle de Bouillon reviv'd the King's Jealousies insomuch that he began to accuse him of having still his Mother's Design in his Head to make himself King and threatned to clap him into a Tower but all in vain for the Infante persisted in his Refusal I know not but it may be about this time that he was highly exasperated by an Expression the Infante had let fall That he was sure the King could have no Children by his Marriage When the new Queen's Arrival was expected the Infante found himself destitute of Persons of Quality to attend him the Queen-Mother when she settled his Houshold had plac'd about him several Lords of her Party not much inferiour either in Rank or Number to those in the King's Service but these being employ'd elsewhere he had others given him that were in the King and the Conde's Interest and it fell out luckily as it was then thought for the Conde that the Infante took such a liking to his Brother Simon de Vasconcellos that of his own accord he took him into his Service and this Favourite seem'd to have no less share in his good Graces than the Conde had in the King 's But the preference of Vasconcellos so disoblig'd the rest that they withdrew from the Infante's Service they return'd indeed again at the King's Request but upon the Infante's making his Favourite Governour of his Houshold they retired a Second time and the King thought it too great a Condescension to recal them The Infante demanded to have others in their room the King gave him the Nomination of such he should think fit he named those that were disagreeable to the King who refus'd to confirm them and offer'd to restore the old ones But the Infante would not accept of them and so he was fain to be attended by the King's Servants when he gave Audience to the Marquess de Rouvigni who conducted the Queen to Lisbon After her arrival he desir'd leave of the King to retire from Court since he could not continue there in a State agreeable to his Quality The King told him He might go if he pleas'd but should have no Order from him Yet he thinking fit to stay 'till the Queen had made her Publick Entry the King would several times ask him in Raillery Why he was not gone But otherwise treating him with great Kindness Upon which the Infante took occasion to declare before Vasconcellos That he perceived some malicious Persons had done him ill Offices with the King and that the Conde de Castelmelhor was not free from suspicion but in case he prov'd guilty he would find a way to chastise him according to his Demerits Vasconcellos offended to hear his Brother so ill treated would stay no longer in the Infante's Service The Conde
finding all the great Men that were disaffected at the Court gathering about the Infante and encouraging him in his Design to retire did his utmost with the King to perswade him to satisfie his Brother's Demands but could not prevail He waited himself upon the Infante to signifie his readiness to serve him but receiv'd from him a very harsh Answer The Infante at last retires to a Country-House about two Leagues from Lisbon orders another to be provided for him against Winter at Almada on the other side of the Water And it was given out That he withdrew because the Court could not hold him and the Conde together During the Separation of the two Brothers their common Enemies hoped they would become irreconcilable and that all things tended towards a Civil War The Infante never came to Court unless it were to wait on the Queen and she being taken with a slight Indisposition prevail'd with him to stay in Town during her Illness to avoid the trouble of coming to visit her in the Night and returning at undue Hours The Ministers laid hold on this Opportunity to make up the Business so that the Infante should choose what Gentleman he pleas'd those only excepted whom he had before named Yet this Difference was not so made up but the two Brothers continued disgusted at each other especially the King and he had so little Command of himself that he took all Occasions to treat the Infante with the harshest Language and to threaten him with worse Usage he grew every Day in a worse Humour as those about the Infante gave him Occasions to suspect they had Designs upon his Crown As when despairing to get him sworn Prince as they once design'd they advis'd him to request of the King that he might Command the Armies with the Title of Constable of the Kingdom which as the King was perswaded was sought for only in order to take the Sword and by that means the Scepter out of his Hand His Jealousie thus increasing his Anger against his Brother became more violent and upon pretence of other Employments he took Occasions to remove from about him those he suspected to have put these Designs in his Head While these things passed between the King and the Infante the Queen on her part was acting within the Court in concert as it were with those without in order to bring about the Conde's Ruin He soon perceiv'd by her Pretensions that this must be her Design and that if her Demands were satisfy'd his Power was not like to be long-liv'd and therefore he either found or made them so very difficult to be comply'd with that her Majesty grew highly dissatisfy'd and resolv'd entirely to break with him taking a solemn Oath That she would never speak to him more about Business And it was not long before she had occasion to make known her Resentments to the whole Court and Kingdom It happen'd that a certain French-Man was murder'd by a Carrier in the unfrequented Roads of Alemtejo The Murderer had fled to a Church and tho' he were forc'd from thence yet before Justice could be done it was first to be determined Whether he had any Right to Sanctuary For which Cause and for want of sufficient Proof the Trial was delay'd About the same time a Difference arose between the High-Steward of the Queen's Houshold a French-Man and her Secretary a Portuguese about Matters relating to their several Places and the Queen gave Orders to the Secretary of State that this Business should be referr'd to two of the Judges but the Secretary thought convenient to lay it before all the Judges and to communicate it likewise to the Council of State He waiting upon the Queen about other Busisiness she took occasion to enquire What had been done in these two Cases The Secretary gave the Reason why the Criminal was not yet try'd and told her That the other Business lay before the Council and that it was necessary the Conde de Castelmelhor should be spoken to about it The Queen at naming of the Conde flew into a violent Passion and after having severely reprimanded the Secretary of State for not having done his Duty by punctually observing her Orders she told him That she wonder'd he should tell her of the Conde since she had sworn never to have more to do with him who by thwarting her in every thing had reduced her to a State of Beggary he always wanting Power when her Occasions requir'd it tho' at no time else That for these eight Months she had not so much as an Alms to give by reason of his obstructing the Consignment of 20000 Crowns granted her by the King That a great deal of Artifice was used in concealing Matters from her as if she next the King was not the most concern'd in all Affairs And knowing how much she laid to Heart the Duke of Cadaval's Return they had not given her any Account of that Business notwithstanding her having so often interceeded for him as intercede she would let them blame her for it as much as they pleas'd that it was enough to set them against any Person to see her appear in his Favour even when she had Reason for it and when she desir'd any thing were it never so feasible it became impossible and that for no other Reason but because she desir'd it That it seems they affected to let the World know that she had no share in the Government and for her part she was glad of it as having no share in the Blame That she desired not to have Matters submitted to her Determination however she thought it was but Manners in them to make her acquainted with what they did But they had no regard to Decency And some People took a Pleasure in crossing her and were so proud that it seems they thought she came to Portugal not to be their Queen but their Slave These and other passionate Expressions of her Majesty put the poor Secretary into a Passion too he after having excused himself about the manner of his executing her Orders in Answer to her Complaints told her That the Conde and his Friends had made it their Business to serve and please her Majesty That it was none of his Fault if she was in any Straits that being no part of his Business That her Majesty had her Revenues and it was hoped she would proportion her Expences according to them That the Consignment of 20000 Crowns was a new thing and not easily settled That she had been made acquainted with all Matters of Importance and nothing of any Consequence had been kept from her Knowledge that the Court was full of unreasonable Pretenders who if favoured by her Majesty might engage her in the prosecution of their unjust Demands That he could give her no account concerning the Duke's Return to Court the King having himself come to a Resolution in that matter that for their parts they did not know how to please her since she
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
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
had been getting ready for that purpose so 't is not unlikely but that he behav'd himself in the manner he did to keep his Enemies in suspence and from coming to a Resolution 'till he could get out of their Hands and be at liberty to call his Friends about him but they that were then strongest prevented this Design While things were thus at a stand the Queen who us'd frequently to visit the Nunneries especially that of the Esperança of the Franciscan Order where several Ladies of Honour were profest took occasion Nov. 21st in the Evening to go thither in her Coach with her usual Attendance as soon as she was within the Nunnery she sent a Letter to the King to this purpose That she had left her Country her Relations and Friends and sold her Estate to come and accompany his Majesty in hopes that what she did might be to his Satisfaction and was inconsolable that she had not been able to attain to what she so much desired that as obliged in Conscience she was now resolv'd to return into France in the Ships that were then in the River for which end she desired his Majesty's Consent and hoped that he would order her Dower to be return'd her since his Majesty knew very well that she was none of his Wife c. The King when this Letter was brought him was making ready to ride out into the Fields but he no sooner understood the Contents of it than enraged at this the most sensible Affront he had ever yet receiv'd he put himself immediately into his Coach and with great Fury drove to the Esperança resolving to force the Nunnery and for that end assoon as he got thither was calling for Axes to hew down the Doors when the Infante came to the place so well attended that he oblig'd him to return to the Palace The next Day the Queen sent for the Infante and afterwards for the Counsellors of State and the Nobility about the Court The Business that she had in common with the one and the others was to acquaint them of her Resolution to return into France and to desire that they would assist her in it And much about the same time she dispatch'd away for France Monsieur Verjus who serv'd her Majesty in place of a Secretary but bore the Character of Agent for the House of Vendome and his Business was to procure a Dispensation for her to marry with the Infante The Queen gave Commission likewise to the Infante to signifie to the King in a more formal manner her Delcaration concerning the Nullity of their Marriage and to desire his Permission for her Return into her own Country When the Infante delivered his Message the King in answer to the first part of it pretended to refute the Charge and that as his Enemies say in very broad Terms To the rest he return'd him but a slight Reply However he gave others that were about him to understand that as sensibly touch'd as he was at this above all the Misfortunes that had befall'n him his Trouble did not proceed from his Regret for the loss of the Queen's Person he was so far from having any great Fondness for her Majesty that he declar'd That instead of putting a stop to her Journey he was ready on Condition she wou'd but be gone to present her with a much better Ship than that she came upon and to double the Money that she had brought along with her into the Bargain The Queen the same Day having made the Duke of Cadaval her Proctor sent a Letter to the Chapter of Lisbon to acquaint the Canons That she had withdrawn her self from the King's Company the Marriage they had agreed upon not having taken effect and because the Scruples of her Conscience would not suffer her to endure any longer what her Love to the Portuguese Nation had hitherto made her dissemble she hoped the King who was a better Witness in her Cause would declare the same that she might not be hindred from returning into France as soon as possible And for the Chapter of the Holy See of this City to whom it belonged to judge of the Cause by their Ministers she earnestly desir'd them to take order that it may be dispatch'd with all speed and to allow all just Favour to a Stranger afflicted with the Misfortune of not being able to live in a Country which she had come from a far to seek with so much pleasure and they might assure themselves that wheresoever she was she should gratefully acknowledge the Kindness they did her The Chapter which consists most of young Gentlemen that never were in Orders and seldom design it return'd Answer to her Majesty That they had read her Letter and were grieved at her Resolution of abandoning Portugal telling her withal that what Justice allow'd to particular Persons could never be denied to her Majesty but there being many Circumstances in the Case that required deliberation they desired her Majesty to allow them convenient time to consider of it The King as much concern'd as he was in what the Queen was doing had something else to do than to sollicit his Cause with the Chapter for the same Day that she brought her Case before them it was resolv'd upon that he should be Depos'd without more ado in order to which the Magistrates of Lisbon went to petition the Infante That they might the Day following wait upon him to the Palace and that he would then take the Government into his own Hands and that if this could not be done by fair means they might use Violence The Infante ordered them to be ready on the Morrow to accompany him if it should be thought convenient and it was agreed that the Council of State should before they proceeded any further endeavour to prevail with the King to resign up the Crown Early the next Morning the Marquess of Cascaes got to the Palace before the other Counsellors and coming into the King's Anti-Chamber told those that waited That he had a Mind to speak with the King They answering That he was yet a Bed He knock'd at the Door with so much Noise that he wakened him and coming to his Bed-side told his Majesty That this was not a time for him to sleep that if he did not awake and shake off the Lethargy in which he had lived he must in a few Hours be deprived of the Kingdom which he had already ruin'd and since he was unfit to Govern and useless in Marriage he advised him to do that freely and in a way consistent with his Honour which otherwise he must be forc'd to do with Disgrace that is to send for the Infante his Brother and deliver up the Government to him for by that means he might secure his Crown and preserve his Kingdom The Council came afterwards in a Body and endeavoured to perswade the King to resign but neither Menaces nor Arguments could bring him to comply He continuing resolute the
Duke of Cadaval was sent to give the Infante an Account how things stood and nothing was further done till towards the Evening which as it is pretended was to give the King time to change his mind but as 't is more likely to perswade the Infante to finish what they had begun He at last Night drawing on accompanied by the Magistrates of Lisbon the Nobility of the Party and a great Concourse of the People went to the Palace where he was received by the Council of State and at the Head of this Company went and lock'd up the King in his Chamber securing all the Passages through which he might escape A Form of Resignation was then drawn up read and approved of by the Council which before they broke up was sent to the King for him to Sign and accordingly it was brought back sign'd by him but it is not known by what Means he was prevailed upon to do it The Prince takes up his Lodgings that Night in the Palace he had no sooner thrown himself upon the Bed it being very late but a Message came to him from Alfonso to desire that John the Dog-Keeper might be sent to keep him Company the Message drew Tears from the Prince's Eyes 't is pretended that he wept in commiseration of his Brothers weakness and little sense of his Condition tho' 't is not improbable but the Dethroned King took this way to make his Brother sensible of the ill Usage he had met with perhaps from their hands that had been sent to make him Sign the Resignation which but the same Morning as hath been shown the most Brutal Menaces could not extort from him The King being thus Deposed the Prince Signs the Writs that had been prepared for Summoning the Cortes before they assembled it was debated Whether it might be convenient for him to take the Title of King but it pass'd in the Negative in a Committee of Judges and other Ministers to whom the Matter was referred and it was carried that he should content himself with the Title he then used viz. that of Curator of the King's Person and Governor of the Kingdom The same Question was afterwards long debated in the Cortes which met on the 27th of January 1668 but in the end it was concluded That he should have the Kingly Power with the Title of Prince Regent In the mean time the Queen having commenc'd her Process against Alfonso the day before he was deposed upon his Confinement was at liberty to prosecute the same with the utmost vigour There being no Bishops at this time in Portugal the Cause as hath been said was brought before the Chapter of Lisbon I shall for many reasons forbear giving a particular account of the Proceedings tho' there be no want of Materials but in short Alfonso after a few Days Confinement was as 't is pretended brought to sign an Acknowledgment of what the Queen had declared concerning the Nullity of their Marriage contrary to what he had asserted to the Infante when he signify'd her Declaration to him the Day after her Retreat while he was yet at liberty It fell out happily for the Queen as she thought at least that her Uncle the Duke of Vendome lately made a Cardinal-Deacon was at this very time commissioned by the Pope to represent the Person of his Holiness as Godfather to the Dauphin then seven Years old at that Formality of a Christning which is used for the Children of France For this end the Cardinal-Duke had the Title and Patent given him of Legat a Latere To him as invested with the Plenitude of the Pope's Power Monsieur Verjus who was sent as hath been said into France upon the Queen's first leaving her Husband applied himself for a Dispensation that the Queen might marry with the Infante The Cardinal was no doubt willing enough to oblige his Niece and to do for her whatever was in his Power but then he question'd much whether it was in his Power to help her out in this Case as well he might For who cou'd think that a Proxy to be Godfather to a Child in France should enable him to make it lawful for a Woman in Portugal to marry with her living Husband's Brother But Monsieur Verjus having satisfied the French King about what the Queen of Portugal had been doing the Dispensation was obtain'd without much difficulty for he and Monsieur de Lionne reading the Cardinal's Bull of Legate found out that it contain'd some Clauses that did as it were point to the very Case in Hand and to give the Cardinal as ample Powers as they could wish and so the Dispensation was granted without more a-do And in truth they in France were a little too hasty in this Business for the Dispensation was obtain'd there before they were ready for it in Portugal it bears Date the 17 Calends of April i. e. the 16th Day of March and in it 't is supposed and affirmed that the former Marriage had been declared null by Course of Law But the Chapter of Lisbon were not so very hasty for they did not pronounce Sentence 'till the 24th of March tho' considering how long Causes of Divorce between Royal Persons used to depend which we in England have good Cause to remember none will accuse them of dilatory Proceedings They at last by their Delegates appointed to examine and determine the Matter pronounc'd the former Marriage to be null by reason of Alfonso's incurable Inability to consummate it occasion'd by his Sickness during the time of his Childhood of which Inability as 't is affirm'd in the Sentence there was more than sufficient Proof and at least a Moral Certainty so that as they said there was no need of Inspection of Trial for 3 Years or any other limited time The Queen was now talking of nothing but returning into France by the Fleet that lay in the River to carry off the French Troops that had been in the Portuguese Service with this Design she made the three Estates of the Kingdom acquainted desiring that the Portion which she had brought with her might be return'd her The doleful News of her intended Departure saith the Writer employ'd to give the World an account of these Transactions was with great Grief heard by the States and they entring into politick Considerations in the midst of their Affliction find that this Princess on account of all the Conveniencies of State all the Endowments of Mind and all the Perfections of Nature was the most ready most convenient most worthy and most lovely Spouse that a Prince could wish for went all in a Body to the Nunnery saith another Writer of the same Stamp to supplicate her Majesty with Tears in their Eyes That she would not abandon them but stay and marry with the Prince because they were neither able nor willing to return her Portion But the Queen would give them no positive Answer then they went in a Body to the Prince begging of him to save
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
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
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
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
the Spanish Court from the most obliging Carriage of the Marquis de Castel dos Rios their late Minister at Lisbon one would think that Spain expected to reap all the advantage from the good amity little would one guess from the Conduct of this Minister that the King of Portugal was not many years ago lookt upon as his Master's Rebel there being scarce a Gentleman in Portugal more intent than he in making his Court or more careful to render himself acceptable He to gain their Majesties Favour hath during the whole time of his Residence that is for about seven years together on every Birth-night of the Eldest Prince entertained the Nobility and Foreign Ministers with a new Opera of his own Composure and acted by his own Family and all to Celebrate the future Glorys of his Highness It would perhaps seem trifling in any other times but ours to draw Consequences from any thing of this kind but in our Age Persons of his Excellencies Character do every thing by Prescription and the lightest matters of Ceremony are exactly weighed It does not yet appear what advances the King of Portugal hath made at Madrid towards the making good his Pretensions to the Succession the publick Relations of the Proceedings at that Court do as yet give but a slender Account of his Success however the frequent Couriers that pass and repass between the two Courts upon every alarm of the King of Spain's Indisposition show that his Agents there are busy in carrying on his Interests and his late Levies raised and maintained at an expence which his Kingdom is so little in a condition to bear are an Argument that he is resolved to make One among the Competitors as indeed it concerns him much to be considering the apparent danger of his own Crown in case he miscarries in his design upon that of Spain for whether a Prince of the House of Austria or of France shall inherit that Crown he 'll be Heir at the same time to Philip the 2d's Title to Portugal which as unjust as it was was strengthen'd by sixty years Possession and the Approbation of several Popes and whosoever reflects upon the Conduct of the House of Austria in the last Age or of the French King in this will find that very slender Pretences have served the turn when either of them hath had a fair opportunity to invade his Neighbour and see cause enough to be afraid for the House of Bragança should it ever have the misfortune to ly at their Mercy as it almost infallibly will do when either of them shall be in quiet Possession of the Spanish Monarchy for Spain upon any change of Government will almost necessarily recover so much of its ancient Vigor as to be overmatch for Portugal This small Kingdom may perhaps have some cause to hope that its destruction will come on more slowly in case it hath to deal with an Austrian Prince but whether it will be therefore the less sure is a question soon decided when we consider what a close Union there hath always been between the two Branches of that House each espousing the Interest and Quarrels of the other and making them its own how great a part the Spaniards had in the German Usurpations in the business of the Palatinate and the Catholick League and how far the German Line interessed it self in behalf of the Spaniards upon the Revolt of Portugal when to revenge their Quarrel the Imperialists contrary to all Faith and Honour the Right of Nations and the Laws of Hospitality seiz'd upon Prince Duarte the King of Portugal's Brother and made him end his days in a Prison Now when a Prince of the same House less Religious than his present Imperial Majesty and one of his Character does not arise in every Age shall come to have Portugal in his power can we think it likely that he will so far forget the Maxims of his Ancestors as to cherish a Race that hath occasion'd so many disgraces to a Family But if the King of Portugal hath little cause to expect security from that House he would have less reason to think himself safe should he fall under the Power of France 't is true indeed if words of Friendship could insure him he would be freest from danger while the French are putting themselves in a Condition to destroy him who till they are ready to give the Blow are always lavish of their kind Promises which such as have trusted in them have found to be the forerunners or the means rather of their Ruin Should a French Prince become possess'd of the Spanish Monarchy if Philip the 2d's Title will not do there are a great many others now dormant that will quickly be started up the Kingdom of Portugal will soon be found to have been a Dependance of Castille and it is but erecting a Chamber of Re-union to annex it thereto again or a Right of Devolution may be pretended by the forfeitures which the Kings have incurr'd they having been formerly Feudatorys to those of Leon or the Great Monarch may think it will be for his Glory or his Convenience to order his Generals to take Possession of this small Kingdom and that as appears from some Presidents may be thought right sufficient It is not to be imagined that the Court of Portugal is at this time of the Day insensible of the Dangers they are threatned with the Agonies that the Ministers were in not long ago during his Catholick Majesty's Sickness could scarce be thought to proceed from any other Cause and a Paper lately published in English shows that they have been setting their Wits at Work to find out means for their Preservation that is to make good their Master's Claim to the Succession which as they seem to be perswaded is the only visible way to secure themselves at this Juncture The Author of that Paper seems to have left nothing unsaid that may make for his Master's Cause and he hath gone a great way to prove him to have a much better Right than any other Pretender if it be true as he intimates that there is such a Fundamental Law in Spain as excludes Forreigners from the Succession and I believe there can be no Instance given of any such that have succeeded in a regular Way except it be Charles the 5th who was yet Son to the immmediate Heiress and possess'd of the Crown in his Mother's life-time As for his Son Philip the 2d and the rest that came after him they were all natural born Spaniards which Privilege must be granted to the Kings of Portugal while Portugal is allowed to be a part of Spain and it is certain that they are descended from Donna Maria Daughter to Ferdinand and Isabella and Sister to her who brought the Crown into the Austrian Family so that if there be any such Law as the aforesaid Author hints at the King of Portugal may have a very fair Title the Dauphin as 't is asserted by
Compensation elsewhere and that the Catholick King might bestow upon him either the two Calabrias with the Kingdom of Sardinia or the Government of the Low Countries with the same Authorithy and Emoluments as it was possess'd by the Cardinal Infante and some places for himself on the Frontiers but the Cardinal would consent to nothing of all this saying That the Prince must resolve to be wholly French or wholly Spanish that is have no dependence upon the King of Spain or have nothing to do in France Yet since the King of Spain was so willing to part with these Countries he desired that the Kingdom of Sardinia might be given to the King of Portugal and he would desire his Master to agree to it so as that the Portugueses should have cause to be satisfy'd This saith he to Don Luis is the finest Expedient in the World both to content the King and let the World see that my Master seeks to get a handsome Retreat for his Ally for if the King of Portugal shall embrace this Expedient the Catholick King will be put in Possession of several Kingdoms the least of which is more considerable than that of Sardinia I do not find that the Cardinal propos'd any other Expedient besides this and this is enough to show what an extream Passion he had to serve his Master's Ally he would have him surrender up all his Dominions for that poor and little Kingdom of Sardinia which the Spaniards on several such occasions have offered to give away but could never get any one to accept of it and yet it seems the Cardinal thought this was too much for the King of Portugal for he propos'd it as he saith himself without any hopes of succeeding There was indeed another Expedient offer'd at but it came from Don Luis which was That on condition the Prince might have some Place of surety given him such as Havre de Grace the Duke of Bragança should have Olivença bestow'd on him be re-establish'd in his Estate and Honour and have over and above the Office of Constable of Castille But this Expedient was laught at by the Cardinal he thought that what Don Luis offer'd was too dear at the price of Havre de Grace and therefore he would bid nothing at all When he was brought to consent at last that the Prince of Conde should have the Government of Burgundy with the Castle of Dijon and the Duke of Anguien his Son the Place of Grand Maitre he did not so much as pretend to an Equivalent for his Ally of Portugal but screw'd from the Spaniards avesness for his Master and the Restitution of Juliers for the Duke of Nieubourg As for the King of Portugal he was to surrender up all his Kingdoms and Dominions and content himself with his Paternal Estate and a Pardon for what was past which as the Article saith was all that his most Christian Majesty by his powerful Offices could procure for him but in case that he did not accept of the same within three Months after the Ratification of the present Treaty his said Majesty promis'd engag'd and oblig'd himself upon his Honour in the Faith and Word of a King for himself and his Successors not to give to the said Kingdom of Portugal in common or to any Person or Persons therein in particular of what Dignity Estate Quality or Condition soever any Aid or Assistance Publick or Secret Directly or Indirectly of Men Arms Ammunitions Provisions Ships or Money nor any thing else either by Land or by Sea or in any other Manner and that he would not suffer Levies to be made in any parts of his Kingdoms or Estates nor grant Passage to such as might come from other States to the Assistance of the said Kingdom of Portugal so that hitherto the House of Bragança hath not been very much obliged to France But before I proceed further I find my self obliged to justify the Cardinal's Memory from a most horrible crime which the French men themselves do not stick to charge him with for they among others pretend that at the making of this Solemn Promise he had already resolv'd to violate his Faith and that he was intending to send those succors into Portugal which afterwards arriv'd there from France at the very time when he was obliging his Master who was then but a young Man and under his Direction to swear the contrary but I think there is Cause to believe that so detestable a Perfidy had not as yet enter'd into his thoughts It s true what he saith to Mr. Le Tellier That for some reasons unknown to the Spaniards his yielding in the point of Portugal was not so advantageous to them as he made them believe would look very suspicious were it not a usual thing with him on all other occasions to affect being thought a greater Fourbe than he really was for we find him bragging in most of his Letters how he cheated the Spaniards in making them think more highly of almost every one of his Concessions than they deserved whereas they took his Eminence for the Duppe all the while But I do not in the least Question but that he really did design to abandon Portugal to the Spaniards at this time according as he was now obliged by all that is Sacred among Men I will not urge for a Reason that he all along most solemnly protested to Don Luis that in case the Portugueses submitted not to the conditions offer'd them by this Peace he would perswade his Master to hold them for his Enemies for I believe few will give much heed to Protestations made by his Eminence on these occasions but he spoke his mind without doubt in another Letter sent by him to Mr. Le Tillier to be communicated to the King wherein he represents the affairs of Portugal to be in so deplorable a State That the Queen Regent was neither in a condition to defend her self nor in any terms of accommodation with the Spaniards so that as things stood both she and her Son were in great danger not only of their Crown but of their Persons But notwithstanding all this he doth not advise the King that the Troops should be ready for a Voyage to Portugal against the signing of the Treaty in order to preserve that Crown and save the Persons of the distressed Queen and her Children had he any such design in his head at that time we should in all probability find him giving some hints of it in these Letters But to put this matter out of doubt he talks of sending to that Princess to let her know That he thought it most expedient for her to submit her self to the King of Spain from whom he was perswaded she might obtain an Equivalent to advantage elsewhere for what Estate she and her Son were possess'd of in Portugal since he had been often told by Don Luis that his Master in order to compleat the Peace would not stick to bestow on her Son the
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
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
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