Prince who was his Nephew and had been bred up with him at Sedan and the Duke discovered some Ambition to have his Nephew a King when he wrote to some Friends at Paris that whilst Lewis was making Knights at Fountainbleau he was making Kings in Germany But this Royalty did not continue above 6 months so that his Enemies called him a King of Snow because the single battle of Prague in the beginning of the year 1621 lost him all Bohemia Silesia Lusatia Moravia with the adjoyning Provinces and the year following the Spanish Forces marching from the Low Countries deprived him of the Palatinate itself in which he was not re-established but by Adolphus's Descent into Germany Charles Duke of Lorrain who died many years after one of the oldest Captains of the age signalized himself very much at the Battle of Pragne where Count Harcourt was likewise tho very young But to return to Prince Maurice France being so apparently inclined to the Interests of Barnevelt's Party its Ministers which were then in Holland used to say that Prince Maurice would have pretended to the Soveraignty of the United Provinces but that such People who in the beginning had been hottest against Mr. Barnevelt and most devoted to the Prince yet when they fathom'd his designs became averse to them notwithstanding their former obligations besides the Exile Death and Imprisonment of persons who had been so considerable in the State and had likewise a great many Friends and Dependants wrought a mighty change in the Peoples affections to the Prince which appeared very visibly for whereas before when he went through the Towns of Holland every body came out of their houses praying for him with extraordinary Acclamations now as he was one day going through the Market-place at Gorcum which was full of people there was scarce a single man that pull'd his Hat off to him For the common people were so variable that the very Writings which heretofore had made Mr. Barnevelt become suspected by them were now produced as so many motives for their pity and compassion towards him To this they added that the assistance which probably he might have hop'd for from the Elector Palatine was since the loss of the battle of Prague no longer to be expected and the Emperor Ferdinand the 2d having by the happy success of his Generals Count Tilly and Wallestein made himself absolute Master of all Germany even to the Baltick Sea where he established an Admiralty at Wismar reduced all the Princes and Imperial Towns under his Obedience Prince Maurice could no longer expect Succors from Germany whatever Friends he might heretofore have had there But those who adhered to the Interests of Prince Maurice and the House of Orange acquitted him of a Design so prejudicial to the good of the United Provinces by maintaining that it was a perfect Artifice of his Enemies to make him become odious to the People of the Low Countries for said they what probability was there that Prince Maurice ever had it in his thoughts to become Soveraign of his Country since after the extirpation of Barnevelt and his party he never made one step towards it which he might have done having then no farther obstacles Prince Maurice did not long survive a great Conspiracy which the Sieur de Stautemburg youngest Son of Mr. Barnevelt had laid against his Life which being happily discovered some hours before its execution obliged him to punish a great number of the Conspirators throughout the pincipal Towns of Holland The Prince was never married but had several Natural Children the most considerable of them all was Mousieur de Beververt a man very well made and very brave he was Governor of Bolduc after whose death the Prince of Tarentum had that Government and was succeeded by Collonel Fitz Patrick a Scotchman Prince Maurice died in the Spring of the Year 1625 when the Marquess Spinola besieged the Town of Breda And as some pretended it was for grief that he did not succeed in the Soveraignty so others said that it was because he could not relieve that place which was his own propriety and had been surprized by him 34 years before FREDERICK HENRY Prince of Orange Henry Frederick of Nassau Prince of Orange and his Posterity THis Prince was born the 28th of February 1584. He was of a good mein and of a strong make and his parts were as eminent as his person was agreeable He was a very great Captain and equall'd the Glory of his Brother Maurice who taught him the Art of War and lead him into the most dangerous Adventures and amongst others at the battle of Newport where though he was very young he contributed much by his Valor to the gaining that great Victory in a conjuncture where the Army of the States General had before them a powerful body of men commanded by Albert the Arch-duke in person and the Sea behind them so that it was absolutely necessary either to make themselves Conquerors or to perish When Prince Maurice died in the year 1625 he advised his Brother Henry Frederick his chief Heir to marry Madam de Solmes who was come into Holland with the Queen of Bohemia whose Beauty and good Carriage were accompanied with a great deal of Modesty and Prudence she died a little while ago being very antient and her Name was Amelia Daughter to Iohn Albert Count de Solmes This Prince had one Son and four Daughters the eldest of these Ladies married Frederick William the Elector of Brandenburg by whom she had several Children This Prince has the greatest Territories in all Germany they reaching from the Low Countries to Poland and Curland The 2d Daughter Henrietta Emilia married the Count de Nassau The 3d Henrietta Catherina married Iohn George Prince of Anhalt and the 4th married the Duke of Simeren the youngest Son of the House Palatine who died a little while ago The Son was called William was born in 1626 and died the 6th of November 1650 after the business of Amsterdam He was a Prince naturally ambitious and of great Courage so that his Enemies reported of him that though he was so young yet he aimed at the execution of that design which had been laid to Prince Maurice's charge by Barnevelt and his Adherents His sudden death changed the whole face of affairs in the Low Countries He had great prospects from his alliance of England having married Princess Mary Daughter of Charles the first King of Great Britain by whom he left Prince William Henry of Nassau now King of England c. who was born the 14th of November 1650 some days after the death of his Father This young Prince William was very remarkable in his Infancy for his reservedness and moderation his Prudence increased as he grew up and such people as were nice observers of merit and took great notice of him have affirmed that never Prince gave greater hopes than he even in the most tender years He suffered with an admirable temper
that he had four Wives His first Wife was Anne D' Egmont Daughter to Maximilian D' Egmont Count of Burem and Leerdam a great Heiress whom he married by the Favour of Charles V. and had by her a Son and Daughter The Son was Philip William Prince of Orange of whom more hereafter and the Daughter Mary de Nassaw who was married to Philip Count de Hohenlo commonly called de Holac a great General who after the unexpected Death of the Prince of Orange which put the United Provinces into a strange Consternation generously resisted all the Efforts of the Spaniards and taught the first Rudiments of War to Prince Maurice his Brother in Law who was at the College at the time of this unhappy Accident His second Wife was Anne of Saxony Daughter to the Great Maurice Elector of Saxony who made head against the Emperor Charles the V. by whom he had the Famous Maurice of whom we shall give a very large Relation and a Daughter named Emilia de Nassau who married Emanuel King of Portugal Son to King Anthony of Portugal who was dispossessed by King Philip the II. This Prince Emmanuel won so much on the Princess by his Civility Courtship and Addresses that she chose him for her Husband as poor as he was and of a contrary Religion and tho' Prince Maurice opposed the Match as advantageous to neither They had two Sons whom I knew in my youth one of whom left a Son among other Children who went lately into Holland to demand of the Prince of Orange the Remainder of his Grandmother's Fortune and many Daughters some of whom were married to Persons of a very unsuitable Quality She was a very good Princess but about the end of her Life having fallen out with the Prince of Orange her Brother she retired to Geneva An. Dom. 1623. and died shortly after of Melancholy leaving six Daughters whom I saw at Geneva An. Dom. 1624. She was Godmother to one of my Sisters and gave her Her Name Emilia who is still alive and is married to the Seigneur de Montrevil near Menetoon in Champagne Her Godfather was the Count de Culembourg Son to Florent de Pallant Count de Culembourg whose House at Brussels was pulled down by Order of the Duke of Alva and who having done nothing after the Address of the Nobility retired into Holland and lived so privately that he died unknown to those of his own Party The third Wife of William Prince of Orange was Charlotte de Bourbon of the House of Montpensier whom I have declared before to have been a Religieuse or Abbess of Iouarre But the Love of Liberty which is an invaluable Blessing prevailed over all the Vows she had made in her youth which she pleaded she had been forced to and had made several Protestations against She died of a Pleurisy at Antwerp A. D. 1582. leaving six Daughters behind her The eldest Lovise Iulienne de Nassau was married to Frederick the IV. Elector Palatine Father to Frederick the V. Elected King of Bohemia who by the Princess Elizabeth of England Sister to Charles the I. King of Great Britain had many Princes and Princesses The eldest Henry Frederick Design'd King of Bohemia with his Father A. D. 1620. was a very handsom and hopeful Prince He studied at Leyden and Our Tutor Benjamin Prioleau Author of the Latin History of the last Regency carried us duely every Sunday after Dinner to play with this young Prince who loved us extreamly which made us the more regret his Death when we afterwards heard of it He perished unhappily in the Sea of Haerlem going in Company with the King his Father to see the Spanish Galleons laden with an inestimable Booty which had been taken by Peter Hain the Dutch Admiral near the Island of Cuba A Vessel by Night sailing full Speed having fall'n soul on his split it in two thus the Prince and all that were in it were drowned except the King his Father who by great Fortune having caught hold of a Rope that was thrown out to him from the Ship was miraculously drawn aboard The Second is the present Elector Palatine who has several Children by the Princess of Hesse among others Madam the Dutchess of Orleans a Princess of great Wit and Judgment who has already Children who are the first Princes of the Blood in France The third is the Famous Prince Robert who has won so much Reputation by Sea and Land having not deceived the hopes which he had given in his Infancy by the Martial and Manly Look which was then taken notice of The fourth was called Edward who lived a long time in France where turning Catholick he married the Princess Anne de Gonzague Daughter to the late Duke of Mantua Montferrat and Lions and Sister to Maria Louise Q. of Poland and Wife to two Brothers Uladislaus and Casimir Kings of Poland She was celebrated for her Beauty under the Name of the Princess Maria. Concerning whom I add this by the way that having been designed Queen of Poland and understanding that I was very well acquainted with the State of that Kingdom where I had been twice she desired me by the Duke de Noailles to give her some Instructions of it which I did several Afternoons and in Token of her Acknowledgment she would be Godmother to my eldest Daughter with Monsieur the Coadjutor of Paris then Archbishop of Corinth who is the famous Cardinal de Retz the learnedst Prelate in the Kingdom But to return to the Prince Palatine Edward He left three Daughters by the Princess Anne of Mantua the eldest of whom is Madam the Dutchess of Enguien already the Mother of several Princes and Princesses of the Blood The other married the Duke of Brunswick Hanouer who had only Daughters and the third the Prince of Solme who was made prisoner at the Battle of Seneff If I well remember for I write all this by my memory which is very good without the Assistance of any Book there was another Son of the King of Bohemia a very handsom Man Godson to Prince Maurice of Nassau called Maurice I saw another Son of his called Philip who retired to Venice for an Action which 't is better to pass over in Silence than mention Another Son was called Louis who died young whom my Father named so for the late King who was his Godfather by an Order of his Majesty which follows Monsieur de Maurier BEing acquainted with the Desire my Cousin the Count Palatine of the Rhine has to invite me to be Godfather to the last Son which God has given him I shall be extreamly glad to pay him this Testimony of my Friendship and good Affection and that you should perform this Office in my Name when the time is first informing him of the Charge I have given you and renewing the Assurances of my Affection to him Referring this to your Care I desire God Monsieur Maurier to keep and preserve you Written at Paris
long Combat where abundance of persons of France England and the Low Countries ran from all parts to see from the shore so extraordinary a spectacle The greatest part of so powerful a Fleet was burnt destroyed or separated and those which escaped put themselves under the covert of some English Vessels and so retreated into the River of Thames or some Port in Flanders The Spaniards lost above 7000 men that were burnt or drowned besides 2000 who were made Prisoners by the Hollanders This Victory was very great and memorable for there were 40 large Vessels sunk burnt or taken and amongst others the great Galeon of Portugal called Mater Tereza was burnt which was 62 foot broad and had 800 men on board who all perished This Tromp was the Father of Count Tromp who was engaged in the King of Denmark's service and gained great advantages over the Swedes In the year 1641 Prince Henry Frederick married his only Son Prince William to the Princess Mary of England eldest Daughter to Charles I. King of Great Britain and Madam Henrietta of France and this Marriage was celebrated with a great deal of Pomp and Magnificence The year 1645 was remarkable for the taking of the important Town of Hulsh in Flanders which was carried in spite of the Spaniards who could neither put succors into it nor make Prince Henry raise the Siege This Prince during the space of two and twenty years that he had the Government in his hands was remarkable for his wife and moderate conduct Because the Princess Louise de Coligny his Mother had maintained Barnevelt's Party some people thought that the Prince following his Mothers inclinations would re-establish that Party and recall such of them as had been banished and among others Mr Grotius But this Prince like a good Politician thought it better to let things continue in the posture he found them in than to embroil'em afresh by bringing a prevailing party upon his back I have seen Mr. Grotius in a great passion upon this occasion and he has spoke very ill of the Prince accusing him of Ingratitude and of having no respect for those who had been Friends to his Mother Prince Henry was very rich but instead of finding any support from England he was forc'd to help King Charles in his necessity with all his ready Money The greatest part of which has been repaid by the King of England since his Restauration to his Nephew the Prince of Orange Henry Frederick died the 14th of March 1647 and was buried with a great deal of State Besides his Children that we have mentioned before he left a Natural Son remarkable for his Valor his name was Mr. Zulestein Collonel of the Dutch Infantry who died at the attack of Vorden Prince William of Orange laid the Foundation of the Commonwealth of the United Provinces and was their first Founder his eldest Son Maurice secured and established this Commonwealth by his Victories which forced the Spaniards in the Treaty of Truce for 12 years to acknowledge the United Provinces for a free State and Henry Frederick Brother to Maurice and Grandfather to the present King of England by the continuation of his Conquests at last forced the Spaniards to renounce entirely the right which they had pretended to that Country so that we may say with reason and justice that this illustrious Father and his two generous Sons who have imitated his Vertues are the Founders of this Commonwealth which sends Ambassadors that are covered before the most powerful Kings in Christendom even before the King of Spain himself whose Vassals they were about 100 years ago Henry Frederick had for his devise this word Patriaeque Patrique intimating thereby that he thought of nothing but serving his Country and revenging the Death of his Father WILLIAM II Prince of Orange THE LIFE OF WILLIAM II. Prince of Orange THis Prince was born in the year 1626 the States General were his Godfathers and by the appointment of his Father was called William after the name of his Illustrious Grandfather In the year 1630 this young Prince was declared General of the Cavalry of the Low Countries and the year following the States granted him the Survivorship of the Government of their Province He was no sooner of Age to bear Arms but he followed his Father to the Army and was present at the Siege of Breda giving great proofs of his Courage though but 13 years old Immediately upon the death of his Father Frederick Henry he took the Oath of Fidelity to the States for the Government of which they had granted him the Reversion All Europe was in a profound Peace upon conclusion of the Treaty at Munster which was done the next year after Prince Henry's death The States considering the vast Debts they had contracted by the extraordinary Expences they had been obliged to make resolved to retrench all unnecessary ones having a great number of Troops in their pay that were of no use now the War was at an end they proposed to disband a considerable part of them William the Second who had succeeded in all the Places of the Prince his Father and knowing very well that nothing but the Army could support the credit of the Places he was possessed of made a strong opposition to this design of the States General He represented that it was against all the Rules of Policy to disband Troops who had been so faithful to the Provinces and that France or Spain might make use of this opportunity to fall upon their Common-wealth in a time when they could not be in a condition to defend themselves The States who were already resolved to break 120 Companies to make some sort of satisfaction to the Prince offered to continue the ordinary Pay to the disbanded Officers The Prince agreed to this proposal but the Province of Guelders and the City of Amsterdam opposed and protested against it for several reasons They who were in the Prince's Interests advised him to visit the principal Cities of the Netherlands to perswade the Magistrates to take a Resolution of leaving not only the Officers but the Troops in the same condition they were in before the War that they might be in a readiness to serve where-ever there was occasion Pursuant to this advice the Prince having sent for the principal Collonels of the Army went in person to four or fiveCities of Holland The Burghers of Amsterdam who were well assured that the Prince would visit them too and apprehending his presence would cross the Resolutions they had taken desired him by their Deputies to put off his intended Journey to this City for several Reasons which they gave him Haerlem Medemblic and several other places followed the Example of Amsterdam The Proceedings of these Cities was so considerable an Affliction to the Prince and incensed him so much that in a meeting of the States General he resented it with inexpressible concern He endeavoured to insinuate to them by a great number of Reasons
been defeated by the Suisses he sent the Seigneur de Contay his Favorite to Louis the XI at Lyons to court his Friendship in the most humble and submissive Terms imaginable contrary to his usual Custom upon which Philip de Comines says these very Words If a Prince would take my Advice he should behave himself with so much Moderation in Prosperity that he should never be forced to change his Language in Adversity He adds that the Seigneur de Contay as he pass'd through Lyons had the Mortification to hear Songs sung in honour of the victorious Suisses and to the disgrace of his Master whom they had routed But most Princes and Ministers display all their Sails to the favourable Gales of good Fortune without thinking of contrary Winds which often shipwrack them Since we have been talking of the Sieur Beuningen or Boudin in French I make this Observation that at the Beginning of the War the principal Officers and Ministers of Holland had very odd pleasant Names Their great manager of Business was the Sieur de Boudin in English Pudding their Mareschal de Camp the Sieur Urst dead lately at Hamburgh he was of Holstein of mean Birth and raised his Reputation by defending Cracovia so long time for the Swedes against the Imperialists Urst in Dutch signifies Hogs Guts season'd their other General that defended Groeningen and retook Grave was the Sieur de Rabenhaupt which is Ravens-Head and one of their Colonels was Paen Bread and Vin Wine who had his Head cut off 'T was observed also that the Swedish Ministers and Commanders had strange Names Oxenstiern signifies Ox-forehead One of their most Famous Colonels was called Douffell which is Devil who was killed at the Battle of Leipsick and another Sthtang a Serpent and Colonel Wolfe who defended Stetin so bravely I am of Opinion these Digressions will not be disagreeable to the Reader which serve to divert and refresh him after he has been tir'd with Narrations all of the same Nature This has been practised by Herodotus and others with general Approbation But to return to our principal Subject the Affairs of the Low Countries Don Iohn of Austria natural Son to Charles the V. Famous for the Victory of Lepanto succeeded the Commander de Requesens in the Government of the Netherlands and arrived at Luxemburg the very day that Antwerp was sack'd He went Incognito through France and passed for an Attendant of Octavio de Gonzague and saw Henry the III. at Dinner and at Paris he was informed of the State of the Low Countries by Don Diego de Zunega the Spanish Embassador Don Iohn of Austria despised the Dutch and thought them very easy to be imposed upon as did the Duke of Alva who used to say he would stifle the Hollanders in their Butter But these heavy stupid Men as he thought them having more Solidity and good Sense than florid Wit easily discovered that he had a design to deceive them by fair Words and affected Civilities He was at that time thirty years old a man of high and ambitious Thoughts He had formed a Project of making himself King of Tunis by the Assistance of the Pope but King Philip would never hearken to it Afterwards being made Governour of the Low-Countries he had a design to depose Queen Elizabeth and rescue Mary Queen of Scots whom he pretended to marry by the Favour of the Guises her Relations who encouraged him to this Attempt for their own private Interests These vast Designs gave great Jealousy to King Philip who was apprehensive with Reason left a war-like Prince as he was and who had won so much Reputation over all Europe by gaining the Battle of Lepanto by this new Accession of Power suffering himself to be hurried away with his Ambition and the natural desire of Empire should one day endeavour to make himself Master of his Dominions to the prejudice of his Children These Thoughts frightned him extreamly with Reflection on the old Example of Iugurtha who though a Bastard possessed himself of the Kingdom of Masinissa by the Murder of the lawful Heir and the fresher Instance in his own Family of Henry the Bastard his Predecessor who dispossessed and put to death Pedro the Cruel the lawful King of Castile King Philip who to rid himself of the like Fears had not spared his own Son Don Carlos had more Wit than to suffer any longer the just Grounds of Suspicion which his bastard Brother gave him he resolved to set himself at ease of that side Iohn d' Estovedo Secretary to Don Iohn who was accused of inspiring his Master with these ambitious Designs being dispatched into Spain about some Affairs of consequence he was privately assassinated by Antonio Perez Secretary of State and Favorite to King Philip by his Orders whose death made all the World believe that Iohn's which happened not long after had been hastned Upon Iohn's arrival into the Netherlands his favouring the Spaniards who were declared publick Enemies made a Rupture between him and the States who took up Arms against him by the Advice of the Prince of Orange He earnestly exhorted them not to suffer themselves to be deceived by the false Hopes which Don Iohn gave them from the Part of the King of Spain representing to them that angry Princes dissemble for some time but they never forget an Injury but when 't is out of their Power to revenge it and that they are sparing of no Words nor Promises to conceal their Resentments quoting that Maxim of the Roman Emperours that They who had offended their Princes ought to be numbered among the dead In fine the perpetual Edict was concluded between the States on one side and Don Iohn on the other in the Name of the King by the Mediation of the Emperour Rodolphus and the Duke of Cleves and Iuliers on the 17th of Febr. An. Dom. 1577. By this the Treaty of Ghent was ratified a general Amnesty granted and the holding of the States The Departure of the Spaniards and Germans out of the Low-Countries was agreed to and that they should leave behind them all the Provisions Ammunitions and Atillery which were in their Garrisons The Spaniards promised to punish the Soldiers who had been guilty of so many Outrages and to set at Liberty the Count de Burin Prisoner in Spain But the Prince of Orange and the States of Holland and Zealand entered their Protestation against the Edict maintaining That a great many things particularly those which related to Religion had not been sufficiently explained In pursuance of this perpetual Edict the Spaniards went out of the Castle of Antwerp and Philip de Croy Duke of Arschoite was made Governour of it who took an Oath publickly bare-headed to Iohn Escovedo that he would keep the Castle of Antwerp for King Philip his Master and deliver it up to no Man but Himself or his Successors but by his express Command to which Escovedo replyed If you perform what you promise God will
Gerard Trucses Archbishop and Elector of Cologne and on his Left Count de Hohenlo or Helac This was that Elector who falling desperately in love with Agnes de Mansfield a Nun chose rather to lose his Soveraignty and Electorate than his Mistress He was of the same Opinion with that Greek Poet who writ that a beloved Nymph stood in instead of all things and that we can want nothing with her but not enjoying her we are poor amidst the plenty of all other Goods This Archbishop delivered into the Hands of the United Provinces the City of Reneberg in the Diocess of Cologne It was so often taken by the Spaniards and Dutch that the Marquess Spinola called it the Whore of War and it was seven years since in the Hands of the States the Consideration of which made the present Elector of Cologne join with France to recover again this Place of his Electorate which this Trucses had alienated and this Alliance gave us an Opportunity of falling upon Holland behind which some years since was almost over-run The Gravers of Holland have represented this Magnificent Funeral Pomp of the Prince of Orange upon several Sheets of Paper glu'd together which take up the whole side of a great Hall in order to perpetuate the Memory of so remarkable a Mourning Count Maurice his Son built him a very stately Monument of Marble where his Images stands made to the Life the Basis of this fine Monument is adorn'd with several Statues representing all the Vertues and the upper part is surrounded with weeping Loves It stands in one of the principal Churches of Delft and is not inferiour to the most sumptuous and stately Tombs in Italy Reflecting on this Tragical Death of the Prince of Orange I have often wondred that so wife a Man and who had so powerful Enemies had not better guarded himself For when he passed through the Cities he was commonly attended by only three or four Domesticks and I wondred at it the more because not long before Iouregny had like to have killed him at Antwerp where he escaped miraculously And there were many Salcedes in the Country who wanted only an Opportunity to assassinate him For after his Death the Spaniards gave out that when he was murthered by this Burgundian there was the same time at Delft a Lorrainer an English Man and two more of different Nations who had the same Design and could not have failed to put it in Execution It seems to me that his own Dangers ought to have made him provide better for his Security but he feared only two Nations the Italians and Spaniards imploying all others but these two and in the City of Delft which he had made the Seat of his Residence there was neither Spaniard nor Italian He observed that though a Price had been set on Admiral Coligny's Head nevertheless no Man durst run the Hazard of Assassinating him in hopes of a Reward which could prove of no Service to them when they had lost their Lives for there was no Appearance of making an Escape after they had killed a Prince in his own Country and in the midst of his Attendants Had he lived till the year 1589. and seen a little Monk spurred on by a false Zeal of Religion have the Boldness to assassinate Henry the III. at St. Cloud in the midst of his Army he would have taken more Care of his Safety These dismal Accidents and the deplorable Death of Henry the IV. massacred in the middle of Paris were a Warning to Richelieu who had always in his Mind this Proverb that Suspicion is the Mother of Security For when he saw all Europe had conspired his Ruin he stood upon his Guard and died peaceably in his Bed in spite of all the Disgusts of his Master and the Contrivances of his Enemies The Superstitious Catholicks and Spaniards celebrate this Belthazar de Guerard and have ranked him in the Number of their Martyrs Upon which Subject I cannot but admire that Famianus Strada in his excellent History of the Low Countries has insinuated that Iouregny who narrowly missed of killing the Prince at Antwerp had a good Design because he had fortified and prepared himself before he executed it with the Sacraments of the Communion and Pennance as if God Almighty who has expressly forbid Murther in the Decalogue and our Lord Iesus Christ who hath said and taught that he who should strike with the Sword should perish by the Sword would guide and strengthen a Murtherer in his Attempt Some Examples of the Old Testament will not serve to justifie him where God Almighty for the Preservation and establishment of the people of Israel and for other Reasons best known to himself allowed of such Actions otherwise there could be no Security for the Life of any Prince The Huguenots on the other side made a Martyr of that execrable Poltrot who killed the Great Francis of Lorrain Duke of Guise who had given him a treat in his House and made him eat at his Table insomuch as Adrianus Turnebus one of the learnedst men of his Age made a Latin Poem in Honour of this Poltrot who was called Iohn de Merè where he says Conspicuus fulvo stabit Mereus in auro And toward the End Plurimus ut maneat Mereus in ore nepotum Another learned Heretick said this in his Poem Praemia multa Meret alluding to his Name de Merè Another Heretick goes so far as to say among other things in French Verse Ce valeureux Poltrot qui tant s'ever tua Que le tyran tueur de Chretiens il tua I knew in my youth the Lady of the Sieur Alard a Captain in the French Troops in Holland so prepossessed with false Zeal and Bigotry for Calvinism that she shewed publickly to all the World the Picture of Poltrot like Iudith having killed Holofernes which she kept in the Reuelle of her Bed as a great Martyr and whom she considered as the Deliverer of the little Flock The Doctors of the League honoured with many Elogies Iames Clement a Iacobin the Murtherer of Henry the III. comparing him to Ebud who freed the people of Israel from their Servitude by killing Eglon Prince of the Moabites in his Chamber For Men's Passions are so violent and their Animosities prejudice them in such a manner that they celebrate Actions which deserve not only the Blame of all good Men but an exemplary Punishment William Prince of Orange made more noise in Europe than all the Kings of his time put together and has left behind him a renowned Posterity who pursuing his glorious Example have amazed all the Christian World by Actions which are immortalized in History He may boast to have been the Father of two very great Captains to have produced Kings Electors Landtgraves and Sovereign Princes in Germany to have peopled France with Princes Princesses Dukes Cardinals Mareschals and many great Lords But for a clearer Understanding of the Matter we must first declare
shall speak hereafter Besides his celebrated Posterity of legitimate Children the Prince of Orange left a Natural Son called Iustin de Nassau who led a considerable Body of Men to the Assistance of King Henry the IV. before the Peace of Vervins He was a Brave Vertuous Man and died Governour of Breda I have heard my Father say that in the year 1616. having dispatched to Court upon some important Affair a Garson Captain named Lanchere famous in the Netherlands where he served This Courier in his Return passing through Breda Monsieur Iustin de Nassau asked him what News He answered nothing considerable but the Imprisonment of the Count D' Auvergne since Duke of Angoulesme Iustin de Nassau asking him the Reason he replied bluntly striking him on the Back for he was acquainted with his true Extraction Don't you know Sir that a Son of a Whore was never good for any thing A Fault which the poor Lanchere confessed to my Father when he knew that he was a Bastard Which is a proof that 't is good to be informed of Pedigrees and Alliances otherwise we are liable to Mistakes and to offend innocently Persons of Quality The End of the Life of William of Nassau Prince of Orange THE LIFE OF LOVISE de COLIGNY THE Fourth and Last Wife of WILLIAM of NASSAU Prince of ORANGE THIS Lady had very excellent Vertues without having the least Mixture of any Weakness incident to her Sex through the Course of her whole Life though it was very long She had been married to Monsieur de Teligny before the Famous Day of St. Bartholomew which was in 1572. and she died in 1620. The Admiral her Father esteem'd her very much both for her Modesty and Prudence She gain'd every Body's Heart and Affection by her Way of Conversation which was easy and graceful and had an universal Respect as well for her true Sence as her extraordinary good Nature She was very well shap'd though her Stature was but low her Eyes were very beautiful and her Complexion lively The Admiral who loved her tenderly and passionately desired to have her well disposed of after having cast his Eyes upon all the Persons of Quality that were of his own Religion and Party he found none so deserving to marry this excellent Lady as Monsieur de Teligny Son of Monsieur de Teligny a Famous Captain in the Wars of Italy in whom he had observed more Valour and Conduct than in any other Gentleman of his time besides his Vertues were so considerable that those who writ in Favour of Queen Catharine Queen of Medices who mortally hated the Admiral have confessed that she and the King her Son had very great Difficulty to consent to the Death of Monsieur de Teligny who had rendred himself agreeable to both of them by his handsom Deportment and by his sincere and noble Way of Acting which shews that Vertue is always attractive from whencesoever it proceeds and that it has uncommon Charms to make it self admired and favoured though in the Person of an Enemy The Admiral then advised this beautiful Lady to accept of Monsieur de Teligny and to preferr a Man indued with so many good Qualities though of moderate Fortune to others who though they had greater Riches and Titles were still less worthy to possess her But she soon lost so good a Husband together with the Admiral her Father in the cruel Day of St. Bartholomew Having heard of this Misfortune in Burgundy her Mother-in-Law and she with the young Lord of Chatillon her Brother had much ado to get into Switzerland to secure their Lives the Massacre of the Protestants being universal throughout all France This great Admiral was Son of another Gaspar de Coligny Lord of Chatillon upon Loyr Mareschal of France under Louis the XII a Famous General who died at Aix as he was commanding the French Army against the Spaniards and of Louise de Montmorency Sister to Anne de Montmorency Constable of France He left behind him three Sons that were very considerable Odet Cardinal of Chatillon the eldest who was Patron to all the Wits and Learned Persons of his Age Iasper Admiral of France who before that had been Governour of Paris and Picardy and lastly Francis de Coligny Lord of Andelot Colonel General of the French Infantry A Son of the Admiral named Francis was likewise Colonel of the French Infantry he signalized himself as well upon the Bridge of Tours by saving the Persons of Henry the III. and the King of Navarre from the Forces of the League and afterwards in the Battle of Arques by which he gained the Reputation of surpassing the Admiral He left two Sons by a Daughter of the House of Chaune de Pequigny the eldest who promised much was taken off by a Cannon Bullet at the Siege of Ostend the other was the Mareschal de Chatillon Father to the Count de Coligny that died young and the Duke de Chatillon who was killed at Charenton The Mareschal Chatillon had likewise two Daughters one married to the Prince of Montbeliard and the other named Henrietta Countess of Adinton and Suze had so great a Genius for Poetry that she has out done Sappho her self by her exquisite Works which are the Delight of all such as are Lovers of Gallantry Madam de Teligny having lived during her Widowhood with a Conduct that made her admired by the whole World she was sought to by Prince William of Orange after the Death of Charlotte de Bourbon and he married her in the year 1583. upon the Reputation of her Vertue But soon after by a Fatality that usually snatches from us That which is most dear she saw him assassinated before her own Eyes having had but one Son by him born a little before his Father's Death who was the Famous Henry Frederick Prince of Orange She had this Advantage to be Sprung from the greatest Man in Europe and to have had two Husbands of very eminent Vertues the last of which left behind him an immortal Reputation but she had likewise the Misfortune to lose them all three by hasty and violent Deaths her Life having been nothing but a continued Series of Afflictions able to make any one sink under them but a Soul that like hers had resigned her self up so totally to the will of Heaven She has told my Father freely that at her coming into Holland she was very much surprized at their Rude Way of Living so different from that in France and whereas she had been used to a Coach she was there put into a Dutch Waggon open at Top guided by a Vourman where she sate upon a Board and that in going from Roterdam to Delft which is but two Leagues she was crippled and almost Frozen to death There never was one of a more noble Soul or a truer Lover of Justice than this Princess But it was observable during the great Differences between Maurice Prince of Orange her Son-in-Law and Monsieur