call's Hereticks Article X. The Kings and Successors to the Crown of Spain shall prefer the Considerations of Religion before those of Politicks and by those means draw upon them the Blessing of God Answer That is the King shall be a muttering Ave Maria's while the Cardinal sits at the Helm and takes care of publick Affairs and concerns himself in more profitable Matters which shews there 's nothing like a Bigotted Prince for a Covetious States-man and a Soveraign possess'd with Superstition for a Disciple of Matchiavel to work on Article XI The Adoration of the Holy Sacrament which has been particularly established and founded in the Chapple of the Pallace shall be observed for the future as it is at present Answer As for this Article I have nothing to say to it let 'em elevate the Host as his deceas'd Majesty thinks fit Tho' something occurs observable enough from the frequency of his Orders against all manner of Alterations he has some suspicion of his Successor and can hardly be assur'd a Prince of the House of Bourbon can bring himself to a Castilians Temper without great difficulty Article XII The King declares that if God by his infinite mercy gives him lawful Children the Eldest of the Males shall Succeed him and by defect of Males the Daughters according to the Laws of his Kingdoms but it not having pleased God at the time of this Testament to grant him that inestimable favour and the first Obligation which is incumbent on him is to provide for the Welfare of his Subjects and the preservation of his Kingdoms in the Union conducive to the Publick Good they keeping the Fidelity they owe to their King and Natural Lord as they have done for the time past and regulating themselves most justly and wholy conforming with the Supreame Authority of his Disposal Answer The Commands which went before were only as so many leading-strings to what the Will is now pointing at God has not bless'd his Catholick Majesty with Issue from his own Body and the Welfare of his Subjects and Preservation of his Kingdoms make it but sitting he should declare a Successor who should be instrumental in continuing the Blessings they had receiv'd from his Auspicious Reign And the sequel will tell us what Provision he has made for it Article XIII By which his Majesty being convinced that the Renunciation of the late King of France having been made to prevent the Re-union of the two Crowns in one sole Monarchy and that when this fundamental Reason comes to cease the Right of Succession belongs pursuant to the Laws of the Kingdom to the next Relation and Heir which now happens in the Person of the Dauphin's Second Son His Majesty calls him in that Quality to the Succession of all his Kingdoms and States without any reserve or exception Authorizes him to take Possession thereof after His Majesty's Death by taking the Oaths to maintain the Laws Ordinances and Customs of the Kingdoms and States of the Monarchy and in case the Duke of Anjou should happen to Die or Inherit the Crown of France the Succession of the Crown of Spain shall pass to the Duke of Berry his Brother and if the same should fall out in the Person of the said Duke of Berry his Brother his Majesty calls to the Succession the Arch-Duke Second Son to the Emperor and not the King of the Romans his Elder Brother for the same Reasons which regard the Duke d' Anjou and in case the Arch Duke Charles should by the same Accident of Death be wanting his Majesty appoints the Duke of Savoy and his Children Willing and Commanding That his Will be punctually executed without any Partition or Dismembring of the Monarchy and his Majesty desiring Ardently that the Peace and Union between the Emperor and the Most Christian King be Conserved he Recommends and Exhorts that for the better Confirmation of this Union and the Tranquillity of Europe the same the rendered indissolble by the Marriage of the Duke d' Anjou with one of the most Illustrious Arch Dutchesses c. Answer Right the Renunciation was certainly made to hinder the Two Crowns from being United in the Person of one Sovereign but how well this Declaration agrees with it may be easily perceiv'd The Design of it without doubt was to keep a French Prince from Sitting on the Throne of Spain and to continue the Succession in the House of Austria Now That this is Frustrated to all intents and purposes by calling the Duke of Anjou to the Possession of a Prince of the Austrian Family is very Apparent and that an Union of the Two Kingdoms is now more to be feared than ever may appear from the French King 's own Words who said France and Spain should be one at his acceptance of the Will Which may be more easily made so by the Contiguity of their Frontiers to each other when it had been much more unlikely to have been effected by the Germans because of the distance of their Territories from each other had the Illustrious Arch Duke been chosen for His Majesty's Successor Article XIV His Majesty makes an Enumeration and Destinction of the Countries in which the Duke de Anjou is to Succeed him to the Title of Castile and those that depend on the Crown of Arragon Declaring that from the Moment it shall please God to remove him from this Life the Duke shall be ipso facto King of all his Countries notwithstanding all sort of Renunciation and orders all his Subjects and Vassals of what Condition soever to Acknowledge him as such without any Delay Answer The Testator has taken upon him to disanul the Validity of the Renunciation but how the Person that drew up the Testament could absolve him before he had repented of such an apparent injury to his own Ilustrious Family it is not in me to imagine If the poor King had lost his Senses what Injustice has the Cardinal done if he parted with his Conscience and made his Majesty Sign a Paper which approaching Death would not permit him to Read Which seems not impossible if we consider with our selves with what earnestness an Austrian Prince is made to recommend another with to the Inheritance of his Dominions whose Family had been at War with him from his very Cradle and laid his Country desolate in the most Savage manner imaginable Article XV. And it being necessary to provide for the Government of the Countries of the Monarchy in a manner Conformable to its Constitutions untill such time as his Majesties Successor might repair to Spain and in Person take care of the Goverment His Majesty Ordains that the same shall be put into the Hands of a Juncto which shall be Composed of the President or Governor of the Council of Castile the Vice Chancellor or President of Arragon the Arch Bishop of Toledo the Inquisitor General of a Grandee and a Counciller of State whom his Majesty will Nominate either in this present
Question shall belong to shall be called for or if there be no President the Dean of the same Council or at least he that shall be most Antient after the Dean Answer If the Queen's absence will make the Voices equal the President of the Council c. is likely to have the Casting Voice at every Sitting of the Juncto before his Majesties Arrival Article XXV Appoints the Morning for the time of meetting and the manner how they are to Assemble in Extraordinary Cases Answer The time is fix'd because their Lordships should know how many Hours they are allow'd to put on their Short Coats and Long Swords in Article XXVI His Majesty exhorts the Members of the Juncto to entertertain between them a good Correspondence necessary for the good of Affairs and prays the Queen to Animate them by her Example Answer This is better than all the rest the Queen must set before 'em a Pattern of Good Correspondence when she 's the only Member of the Juncto that gives 'em an Example she can hold no such thing with Persons who are against the Common Security of Christendom Article XXVII The Successors presence being very necessary for the Benefit of the Kingdom his Majesty Conjures him to repair thither with all possible diligence Answer They may take his Majesties Word for it he 'll answer his Pedecessor's desires in this Point how backward soever he may prove in giving Ear to his other Pious Exhortations For in short he 's in as much hast to be at Madrid as the poor Spaniards are to have him make his Publick Entry for the sake of the Pieces which his Grand-father has given him to scatter among 'em and has got forward on his Journey as soon as he could fear another Relation of the Deceas'd Kings should have reach'd Spain before him Article XXVIII In case the Successor be of Age the Juncto of the Regency shall render him an account of their Administration and the State of all Affairs immediately after his Arrival Answer Then they may make up their Accounts for he was Born in 1683 tho' it signifies very little since these worthy Patriots have done little more than put their Heads together to Endite the Contents of what he already knows or they may rest satisfy'd his Majesty would not undergo a Forty-days Fatigue to pay 'em a Visit in answer to 'em Article XXIX And in case he be still a Minor his Majesty 's Will and Commands that they shall not omit to give him an account of Affairs that shall be Treated of in the Juncto of the Regency proportionably to his Age and the Capacity of his Sence as well to inform him by that means for the Government as to render to his Authority and Royal Dignity due Respect Answer Had his Majesty's Father left the same Orders behind him at his Decease as the Royal Testator has in Relation to his Successor it 's all the World to nothing his Catholick Majestys defunct would have had such an insight into Publick Affairs as to have consulted his Subjects Good by another Testament Article XXX In case the President or Governor of Castile the Vice-Chancellor or President of Aragon the Arch-Bishop of Toledo and the Inquisitor General should happen to die immediately after his Majesties Decease or during the Successor's Minority their Places in the Juncto shall be Officiated by those which the same Juncto have chosen for succeeding their Offices and for what belongs to the Grandee of Spain and the Councillor of State the Juncto may chuse in their place another Grandee or another Councillor in case those his Majesty shall appoint should die and that his said Majesty had not provided for filling up their Places Answer The Articles still are contradictory in relation to the present Succession For what significe the Juncto when at his Arrival his Age Entiles him to the management of Regal Affairs and make what shall be done after it without his Approbation Null and Void However the Catholick King did well to make the Inquisitor General a Member of it in order to keep his Successor in fear of turning Heretick Article XXXI In their Sittings they shall observe the Precedency which His Majesty has before given 'em in their Nomination but if one of the Members of the Juncto be a Cardinal he shall have the first Place and in respect to the Grandee and the Councellor of State they shall take the first or the last place as they shall come In the manner of giving the Suffrages the Form of the Juncto shall be observed and not that of the Council of State Answer This shews the Spaniard all over who is a mighty stickler in Matters of Precedency but gives chiefly an insight into the knowledge of the worthy Person that was Author of this last Will and Testament if one of the Members be a Cardinal c. as Lord Porto Carero certainly is is enough to Point him out to us and tho' he had no great kindness for his Country any body may perceive he has no small value for himself Article XXXII All the Tribunals of the Kingdom shall keep their Authority and manner of Judging and Administring of Justice after the Kings Defase as formerly Answer If the Courts of Judicature were to cease at his Majesties Death it might have been said Justice had departed this Life with the Catholick King but the Nation has so little of that Commodity to spare that his Will-maker would not suffer his Royal Master to carry any out of the World with him Article XXXIII His Majesty recommends to all Tribunals Officers of the Kingdom to render Justice to the People with Integrity and to the Kings his Successor to make no alteration in the said Tribunals and Offices but rather observe punctually and religiously the Castoms and Priviledges of each of the Kingdoms States and Towns of the Monarchy and above all things to admit none in the places of the Government but such as are natural born Subjects of the Country without ever giving thereupon any Dispensation to any body Answer I dare lay my Life what ever the young King does in respect of his Majesty's Recommendation in the first part of this Article he can ne're be so perfect a Castilian as to be punctual in the observance of what he enjoins him in the last The Word Natural Born is hard to be comply'd with and if this Government is to be supported by the Politicks of Versailes without doubt some of the Courtiers there who are to be his Majesty's Instructors are design'd to have some Preferment or other for their pains Article XXXIV His Majesty ordains that immediately after his Decease there shall be given to the Queen all what has been granted her either by Dowry or otherways and as an addition the Sume of Four Hundred Thousand Ducats a Year for her Maintenance recommending expresly to his Successor to put this Point in Execution Answer Immediately after his Decease was
excellently put in for the Queen and without doubt the Cardinal had more than an ordinary fetch in wording it after that manner It s presum'd he himself had receiv'd his before his Majesty's decease of a certain Minister and to secure the Queen for his Friend in case the French King should stand hard and fast as he promis'd heartily by the Partition and his Nose should be out of Joint with the Arch-Duke for drawing up a Will so directly opposite to his Interest he is altogether for a prompt Payment of her Majesty's Legacies and Dowry But this might be the dying King 's one Sentiments for all that I know he having had several Instances in his Reign of the Dilatoriness of the French in performance of Articles and being perhaps not so well satisfy'd with his Successor as to believe He would think it adviseable to part with so much Money very soon when he was likely to meet with some Disturbances before he got possession of his Throne Article XXXV His Majesty bequeaths and gives to the Queen all the Jewels and Goods that are in her possession and are not inseparable from the Crown He orders his Subjects and Vassals to shew her a great deal of Respect and Love on all Occasions and affectionately recommends to the King his Successor to see executed what is above mentioned and if the said Queen of her own accord and Will should think fit to pass into Italy to Govern any of the Kingdoms of that Country he shall grant her forthwith the Government thereof and give her for Councillors and Ministers of State Persons of the greatest Consideration Experience and Wisdom But if the said Queen should chuse rather to reside in any City of Spain she shall have Liberty of Choice and the Government of that City with that of the Territories and Jurisdiction belonging thereto shall be given her Answer More Sugar Plumbs yet for the Queen This looks as if the Contriver of the Will was affraid that Philip the 5th would plunder his Royal Mistress and strip her of the Jewels her Husband had given her and therefore confirms the Right of Possessing her own Goods to her Sacred Majesty But what is chiefly worth Notice is the Grant which is made her of being constituted Regent or Governess of any Kingdom or City in Italy if her Majesty thinks fit to remove from her Residence in Madrid which its hardly thought the King of France will suffer his Granson to comply with because if her Majesty should demand the Regency of Naples or Sicily she has no such unkindness for her Sister as to keep out the Emperor her Husband from his Pretensions to it as a Fief of the Empire Her Majesty may take this as a Sweetner and she may expect her Court in Naples when the great Sums that are left her are paid which are not likely to be unless the most Christian King makes a tender of his Purse and offers the paying her Majesty for some private Consideration as he lately did to wipe off the Mortgages of the Dutch upon the Towns in Flanders Article XXXVI If the King that succeeds his Majesty be Minor his Majesty Wills and Ordains that he shall be served by the same Officers of his Houshold that are at present in place without making any Alteration therein and if he be Major he recommends to him to have some regard to the services of the said Officers and Servants and to continue them in their Employ during their Life Article XXXVII The Officers and Servants of the Houshold as also those of the Queen the King's Spouse and of the late Illustrious Queen Mother shall be continued in their Places Honours and Emoluments during their Life Answer 36 and 37. The Cardinal's Head was certainly running upon his Loue 's de Or 's when he hammer'd out these two contradictory Articles The first makes his Majesty lay his positive Commands on his Successer if in his Minority and requests him by way of Letters of Recommendation provided he is out of it to make use of the Officers and Servants his Majesty left behind him after his decease But the last enjoins him to keep 'em during life whether the Heir to his Crowns be Major or Minor How the provisional Command or Request can be reconcil'd to the positive Injunction it s not in my Power to determine unless his Eminence meant himself to be continued in his Post during life by the last and the Queen Regent and those who were not in the French Interest to be durante bene placito by the first Article XXXVIII The Guards du Corps being instituted to serve the Person of the actual King and not another his Majesty commands the said Guards to quit the Guard-House of the Pallace immediately after his Death without disbanding nevertheless but to continue in a Body in order to serve the King his Successor and the Government as he shall be pleased to ordain Answer As for the Institution of the Guard du Corps I know very little of the matter but I am satisfy'd that this is as trivial an Article and as unbecoming the Spanish Gravity as ever proceeded from Don's mouth Article XXXIX But the Spanish and German Guards shall continue their Service at the Pallace as hitherto as well for the Honour of the Crown as for the Service of the Queen his Majesty's most dear and well beloved Spouse Answer A pritty Compliment to the German Nation to have the same favour done 'em as the Spaniards themselves after he had slighted 'em as to their just Pretensions to his Dominions Article XL. The late King Phillip the 4th having added and annexed to the Crown the Golden-flower-de-Luce the Lignmum Crucis and abundance of other Relicks which came from the Emperor Charles the 5th and are to be found in the Reliquary of the Chaple Royal his Majesty conforms with this Disposition and confirms it Answer And if his Majesty should add to his Royal Predecessors's Gifts the multitude of Relicks he dy'd wrapt up with what would the Crown be the better for ' em Article XLI And whereas the same King Philip the fourth has also added and annexed to the Crown several Jewels Pictures movables and Rarities which are in the Royal Palace at Madrid his Majesty declares them a fresh Goods of the Crown and recommends the payment of the Creditors that furnish'd him with ' em Answer Jewels Pictures and other rich Moveables are something indeed in comparison of the Lignum Crucis which if it were alienated from the Crown would have as little effect upon the Subject as it had upon the King Article XLII His Majesty likewise adds and annexes to the Crown for ever all the Houses and Pallaces he possesses as well at Madrid as any where else with all the Jewels Pictures and Moveables that are there ordering that for that end exact Inventories he made thereof Answer Methinks the Spanish Gravity suffers very much by such needless Repetitions