Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
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A34772
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The political testament of M. Jean Baptist Colbert, minister and Secretary of State wherein is contain'd all that hath pass'd under the reign of Lewis the XIV unto the year 1684 : with remarks upon the government of the kingdom of France / translated out of French.; Testament politique de Messire Jean Baptiste Colbert. English
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Courtilz de Sandras, Gatien, 1644-1712.
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1695
(1695)
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Wing C6601; ESTC R1535
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181,821
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348
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of his doing somewhat to the purpose he slept upon his good Fortune which occasion'd many Plots and Conspiracies against him however 't was his good Luck to be deliver'd from 'em all Viscount Turenne being come to his Army found it in a very good Condition by what Marquess Vaubrun had done for since the taking of Dachsteim they had plenty of all Provisions and being eager to Signalize themselves he pass'd the Rhine and offer'd Montecueuli Battel which he refused He could not force him to fight because he was so Advantageously Posted but having tryed all ways he at last reduced him to so great a scarcity of Victuals and Forage that Montecuculi must have certainly been forced to decamp first and then Turenne would have fall'n upon him but advancing to the top of a Hill to take a view of the Imperial Army he was unfortunately kill'd with a Canon Bullet This sad Accident chang'd all things in an instant so true it is that an Army without a General is like a Body without a Soul Montecuculi who was making the best of his way when he knew in what a Consternation your Forces were by the Death of Monsieur Turenne returns again to charge ' em The Lieutenant Generals who Commanded thought of nothing but repassing the Rhine While they were consulting what course to take a Souldier said a very pleasant thing General Turenne crys the Fellow aloud us'd to Ride upon a Pied Horse take the Bridle and but lay it on his neck he will know better than our Commanders where we should go But Count de Lorge conducted the Army safe over the Rhine after having given the Enemy Battel who thought to have made a much better hand of it The Merit of this great Man made your Majesty very sensible of his loss which will every day appear greater by the want you will find of him But it was otherwise with Mounsieur Louvoy who when all France mourn'd for his Death he and his rejoyc'd I certainly know what I tell your Majesty is true and if he could have hinder'd his being so Honourably Buried he would have done it His Funeral Pomp was very great and I know no body but your Minister that spoke against it The Memory of those Great Things he had done is so deeply Ingraved in the Hearts of your Subjects that it is hard to say whether he was most Esteem'd or Beloved He did not only deserve to be commended for those his Military Accomplishments which are the Glory of a Hero but for all other Moral and Christian Vertues so rarely to be found in one Person The Duke of Lorrain was upon the Moselle with his own Troops and those of Lunenbourg Munster and some of the other Confederates and having heard of this Accident laid Siege to Treves where Vignori an old Souldier Commanded Of whose Experience the Prince of Condé under whom he had Served all his Life assured your Majesty He was not at all discourag'd at the Siege knowing Mareschal Crequi was marching to his Relief but while he was giving Orders on Horseback his Horse frighted with a clap of Thunder threw him headlong from a Bastion of which he dyed in a few days This fatal Accident made the Mareschal hasten his March fearing that Vignori's Death might so dishearten his Souldiers as to deliver up the Town But the Duke of Lorrain sav'd Monsieur Crequi the labour of advancing further and met him at Consarbrik where the Sarre and Moselle join The Duke past the River where the Mareschal if he pleas'd might have taken the advantage of charging part of his Army before the rest could have got over But neglecting it I know not for what Reason nor perhaps he himself he was so soundly beaten that all his Troops ran some one way and some another and he narrowly escaping with four more got into Treves where in perfect despair he resolv'd to bury himself in defence of the Place tho' it was of no great importance Indeed the resistance he made was so much greater than the Enemy expected that they offer'd him very good Terms but resolving not so much as to talk of yielding a Captain of Foot called Boisjourdan told the Garrison they had nothing to do with the Mareschal's desperation that tho' he had a mind to perish yet they were not bound to follow his Example Some were of his Opinion and told the Mareschal the Place was not in a Condition to hold out any longer but his Passion not permitting them to say any more Boisjourdan Treated with the Enemy and let 'em into the Town Mareschal Crequi saved himself in the Church where he resolved with some Officers who did not approve of what Boisjourdan had done to stand it out but seeing the Enemy preparing to force 'em they told the Mareschal your Majesty and all France would blame his desperate Resolution and at last perswaded him to yield at discretion Your Majesty in truth was not pleas'd with what he had done and would have been less satisfy'd if his desperation had carry'd him further But knowing what was done by Boisjourdan was an ill Example not to be endur'd you caused him to be seized and he and some of his Companions were Condemn'd by a Council of War to be Beheaded The Sentence was Executed at Metz in the presence of the Garrison No body pitying him because no Souldier can be a Man of Honour who is guilty of Disobedience Your Majesty after these ill Successes had reason to fear the Enemy would enter into France but your Prudence prevented it by raising a Jealousie between the Princes of the House of Brunswick and the Duke of Lorrain the Princes maugre all the Duke could say resolv'd to return to their Country 'T is the Fate of Confederates never to agree what one will the other will not and it would be a Miracle to see them hold together while they have different Interests which is the Reason their Designs so seldom prosper After the Death of Monsieur Turenne your Majesty fearing the Enemy would prevail in Alsatia you sent thither the Duke de Duras whom three days after his Uncle's Death you had made a Mareschal of France You conferr'd the same Honour on some other Officers and Monsieur Louvoy so far prevail'd with you as to let Marquess Rochefort be one of that number tho' he had done nothing more than he had before to deserve it The others were the Count d' Estrades the Duke of Navailles whom you had recalled from his Banishment Count de Schomberg the Duke de Vivonne the Duke de la Feuillade and the Duke of Luxembourg But because the Duke de Duras had not so much Experience as his Uncle you gave the Command to the Prince of Condé whose Reputation only was of great advantage to your Majesty in the present conjuncture The Enemy having past the Rhine at the Bridge of Strasbourg the second time this Town had falsify'd their Promise to you believed they should
ought to prefer them before all that can be propos'd for his own particular Benefit I have lately in my own Case put this Rule in practice for a very good Match being offer'd to me for my eldest Son it did not move or at all tempt me because it consisted not with your Majesty's Service The Duke of Lorrain knowing that by his Address he had put his Business into a fair way feigns himself in Love because he found the Cardinal had more mind his Niece should Marry him than his Nephew for he thought thereby to gain time and to put in practice some new Invention To this piece of Dissimulation he adds another to deferr the propos'd Marriage He pretended he was Sick but this feigned Sickness did not hinder him from pursuing the Success of his Business he engag'd the Duke of Guise in it deceiving him first so that he very faithfully promoted the Duke of Lorrain's Interest The Duke of Guise who indeed was a Prince of great Sincerity and whose great and generous Soul would never have suffer'd him to be instrumental in deceiving any body this Duke I say believing the Duke of Lorrain to be a Man of his Word acted for him with as much Zeal as he could expect from so noble a Prince and the Cardinal knowing him to be a Man upon whose Honour and Faith he might rely put so much Confidence in him that he sign'd a Treaty in your Majesty's Name much more to the Duke of Lorrain's Advantage than that which past in the Isle of Phesants The Cardinal now expected his Niece should be Dutchess of Lorrain either by being marry'd to the Duke himself or to his Nephew Prince Charles But the Duke who glory'd in never performing any thing he promis'd and having obtain'd all that he could desire disclaims what was promis'd by the Duke of Guise which was that he should Marry the Cardinal's Niece presently after the Signing of the Treaty It may perhaps be thought Strange that this Cardinal who was so very cunning did not cause the Treaty to be ratify'd by the Duke of Lorrain before the performance of that which the Duke of Guise promis'd in his behalf But the Reason was because your Minister would not have your Majesty know what was the Price the Duke of Lorrain was to pay for this new Treaty which was so much in his Favour So that for being too Crafty the Cardinal was deceiv'd which teacheth us that there is no trusting Men of a certain Character and that too much Cunning sometimes doth Men more Harm than less would do There was Reason to think that the Cardinal who was an Italian and consequently loving Revenge as all that Nation do would never pardon the Duke of Lorrain and in the Post the Cardinal was it was almost impossible but he should meet with a very fit Opportunity of being reveng'd But having now taken his Bed he was to think of Things of much greater Consequence which was to render an Account to God It was his Custom to make every one pay him and he to pay no body The Account he was to make up with Heaven so much perplexed him that he fell into great Convulsions but believing in the Condition he was he should hazard nothing if he told the Truth he confess'd he had robb'd your Majesty and your People Mr. Joly Curate of St. Nicholas in the Fields who was his Confessor told him he could not give him Absolution unless he made Restitution which as Rich as he was was more than he could do and beside he lov'd his Wealth so well that he could not find in his Heart to part with it He had run a Risque of dying without being absolv'd if your Majesty had not had the Goodness to make a Gift to him of all he had taken from you Mr. Joly satisfy'd himself with the Declaration your Majesty made to that purpose which so quieted the Cardinal's Conscience that he dy'd much more peaceably than he would have done without it Your Majesty that very Night came into your Closet where you ask'd me whether the Cardinal had not hid some Effects and the Place where I thought they might be I told your Majesty all I knew and you seis'd upon what was of great value but yet left a great deal to his Niece Hortensia whom he made his Heir upon Condition that her Husband should bear the Name and Arms of Mazarin which gave great distast to all the Princes of the Blood but your Majesty who was alway very kind to him continued it after his Death for you would let no body touch any thing of that which he left to his Niece All France now fix'd their Eyes upon your Majesty to observe how you would behave your self being upon the Cardinal's Death left to your own Conduct For tho' by what you had done before it appear'd by a thousand Things you wou'd one Day be a Great King yet the ill Education you had had with your having been alway if I may so say under the Ferule of that Minister made People doubt whether you had been guided by your own Discretion or by his Dictates Beside as the Vivacity of our Nation doth not incline us to have any great esteem for that which looks Heavy and Dull there were a great many who found fault with your looking so Grave and Serious in all your Actions they could not believe that a Prince of your Age could be so Wise especially in a Court where there were so many weak Heads who without making the least Reflexion said all that they thought But I made a contrary Judgment of your Majesty by the first Conference I had the Honour to have with you you weigh'd all things so well that I was perswaded the Advantages of a good natural Disposition very much prevail over an ill Education It was not long e're all your Subjects were of my Opinion especially when they saw you knew so well how to Act the King You obliged them to pay as much Respect to you as they had taken Liberty under your Minister Cardinal Mazarin the just Answers and so much to the purpose which you gave to those Ambassadors that resided in your Court begot a great Opinion of your Wisdom so that in a little time Foreigners as well as the French were undeceiv'd in some Discourses that had past to your Prejudice The least appearances are enough to make People speak ill of a Prince upon the Throne but a Multitude of Events and considerable Actions full of prudent Conduct are requir'd to give him Reputation which teacheth Princes that they ought always to do Good when Occasion requires it Every one hath his Eyes upon 'em to give them their due according to their Actions whether Good or Bad. But your Majesty had nothing to fear upon that Account I can bear Witness to Posterity that you did an Action worthy of immortal Glory As I have already said you were educated among Women and