de Luines and the removing of Monsieur Deageant were the only Obstacles that hindered the King from becoming absolute Master of Rochel at that time During the Employment of Monsieur Deageant no other Affairs of consequence were transacted in Italy but that of the Duke of Florence above mentioned the Marriage of the Prince of Piedmont the difference between the Dukes of Savoy and Mantua of which the King was Arbitrator and the Accommodation between the King of Spain and the Duke of Savoy And it would be needless for me to enlarge on them since there are many that are able to produce larger Memorials than I can as for the last Father Joseph can give a true account thereof since he was sent into Spain on purpose to cause the Treaty to be put in Execution that was made for the restitution of Verseil I shall only add one particular passage that happened to my Knowledge which perhaps may be thought worth the observing Cardinal Ludovisio who was afterwards promoted to the Pontificate negotiated for the Pope in the aforesaid Accommodation and Monsieur de Lesdiguiers was one of those whom the King had employed therein The Treaty being concluded Monsieur de Lesdiguiers went to take leave of the Cardinal and amongst other Complements wished him the the Mitre he smiled and made him this answer Will you promise me to become a Catholic when I shall be Pope Yes certainly replied Monsieur de Lesdiguiers who seeing him very Ancient and the last of the Cardinals could not imagine that he could attain to this Supreme Dignity however in a little time he was placed in St. Peters Chair and long after dispatched a Brief to Monsieur de Lesdiguiers to put him in mind of his promise to perform which he was already inclined as shall be hereafter observed he sent an answer to this Brief full of respect and even made use of the terms of most Holy Father and his Holiness notwithstanding the Remonstrances that the Deputies of the Reformed Religion and the Consistory of Lyons from whence he wrote exhibited to him on this occasion There were also certain Treaties in agitation concerning the Affairs of the Valtoline which were disannulled by the Venetians at the very first overture but because I knew not the succeeding Events I shall make no mention of them here And as for Spain excepting the Transactions that related to the composing of the differences between them and the Duke of Savoy there was no other matter of moment depending between the two Crowns and Peace hath been maintained in despight of the mutual Antipathies of of these two Nations one against another and the different Interests of their Kings There arose about that time a certain contest with England the Ambassador of France was come back and left le Cler his Secretary to act in his stead who proceeded so far that a resolution was taken to treat him somewhat severely he thereupon withdrew himself and having sent an express to the King of what passed he received a Command to find out some means to return which he afterwards did there was also an Ambassador from England with the King who upon notice that the other of France was in the Kingdom gave orders that he should speedily depart since contrary to the Law of Nations his Master had abused his The Duke of Savoy who kept a good Correspondence in England and treated there about the Marriage of his Son hoping that these two Kings being united together would assist him much in obtaining the Crown that had been propounded to him interposed and took much pains to reconcile them since their differences were produced on a very slight occasion The principal difficulty consisted in this Point which of them should first send his Ambassador The King alledged that since there was no composition between the two Crowns touching precedency the English having always yielded it to the French and the King of England having obliged his Majesty to recal his Agent it belonged to him to send his Ambassador first into France The King of England did not dispute about the matter of Composition but pretended that he had not treated the Agent of France after so rude a manner that he ought to have withdrawn himself that he was highly offended that his was sent back without any lawful Cause and that this offence could not be redressed but by sending a French Ambassador to excuse it after the arrival of whom he would cause his to depart At last it was agreed that the two Kings should nominate their respective Ambassadors that the English should first pass over the Sea and that as soon as he had given notice of his Arrival in France the King should order his to set forward the first being very active made so great haste that as soon as he landed in France he travelled to the Court and remained there some time before the later began his Journey An amicable Correspondence hath been since maintained between the two Crowns The King of England upon the recommendation of our King did often mitigate and abate the ordinary rigorous proceedings against the Roman Catholicks in that Country He was also very well pleased with the Propositions that were privately offer'd to him on behalf of his Majesty tending to re-unite him to the bosom of the Church insomuch that after some reiterated Conferences that were managed to that effect in the King's Presence without communicating any thing thereof in his Council lest the effect being made known should be obstructed or prevented the Arch-Bishop of Embrun made a Voyage into England as it were without any design in the habit and under the name of a Counsellor in the Parliament of Grenoble whom curiosity had induced to see England he had no sooner set his foot on Land at Dover but the Duke of Buckingham came to meet him and having saluted him whispered him thus in the Ear Sir You that call your self a Counsellor of Grenoble being the Arch-Bishop of Embrun are very welcome into these Dominions you need not change your Name nor conceal your Quality for you shall receive nothing but Honour here and especially from the King my Master who hath a very particular esteem for you Indeed the King of England treated him very honourably granted him several Favours in behalf of the Catholicks and even permitted him to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation to them in the House of the Ambassadour of France where there was a great Court the doors being open There were near eighteen thousand persons that received this Sacrament without having any thing said to them in the Entry at the Door or elsewhere although there was a great concourse of the English people in the street that saw this Ceremony performed During the time that he resided there he had several Conferences with the King who being satisfied as to all the points in Controversie wrote a large Letter to the Pope by a Catholick Gentleman his Subject whom he privily
condition I diligently examined my Conscience but could not find that I had offended any but God alone in thought word or deed Having committed no action that might give a just cause of complaint since I had for a long time before taken care to do nothing that might be the occasion of the least suspicion therefore I was apt to believe that the above-mentioned jealousies had mainly operated in this unfortunate conjuncture I was informed by some that my Antagonists to accomplish their designs had animated the Queen-Mother against me although in serving the King I was always very careful lest I should displease her as appears from the preceeding Relation Whilst I revolved these things in my mind a certain debauched young man that had been an Augustine Fryar afterwards was admitted into the Oratory and at last associated himself with the Libertins of the Court pretending to be an Abbot being committed to the Bastille for his Crimes and lodging in a Room over mine gave me an account that he had been employed to cause me to be put into this place after this manner At first a Letter of Complements that I had written to Madame de Lesdiguieres was produced to the intent that he might forge another like it for he had a singular faculty in counterfeiting all sorts of hands but he desired to be excused because he thought mine was very difficult to be imitated for several reasons that he alledged after this denial he was told that he ought at least to depose that for three months together he had seen me going at midnight without a light and only attended with a little Page into the Chamber of Monsicur the King's Brother as also the Sieur de Modene and that we remained shut up there above an hour to this he replied that he was unwilling to mention M. de Modene by reason that he being esteemed as a man of no great judgment it would not be thought probable that he should contrive any Plots but this could not be affirmed of M. Deageant however since he knew him only by hear say and not by sight he feared lest he should be compelled to justify these Depositions face to face before a Magistrate upon these difficulties it was agreed that he should only declare the matter privately to the King the Queen-Mother the Cardinal of Richelieu and the Lord Keeper of the Seals having received a promise that effectual care should be taken to prevent his being confronted The Abbot Fcuquan and l' Anglois his Brother informed me of divers other circumstances when they were brought into the Bastille the former being lodged in a Chamber next to mine insomuch that we could discourse one with another at certain hours though we were closely locked up They confessed to me that they were the persons that prepared the Bill of Indictment in order to my Examination without specifying the particulars of my accusation lest the truth should be thereby discovered for if they had been exhibited to me I could have very easily demonstrated my innocence by proving that I had no Foot-men but such as were biger than my self that it was above a year ago since I stirred beyond the bounds of the street where I lived after seven of the Clock in the Evening and that the Watch was set every Night either at my house or at that of my Brother-in-law over against it where they remained usually till one of the Clock in the Morning and never found me absent so much as once Praised be God for all and may he vouchsafe of his Infinite Mercy not to impute to my Calumniation the evils that they have caused me to suffer but to forgive them this and all their other Offences Perhaps this Digression concerning my own particular Affairs may be accounted very tedious and extravagant but I humbly entreat his Eminency to excuse this boldness since it proceeds from the extreme desire that I have always had that he should be informed of my innocence and of the forgeries that have been invented to withdraw me from the honour of his favour and protection as also to procure my ruin But all these attempts or any other that hereafter may be put in practice to this effect shall never be able in the least to divert me from the affection and service that I owed to him and have long since prosessed neither shall they hinder me from continuing the Prayers that I daily put up to the Throne of Grace for the preservation of his health for many years and for the happy success of his generous Enterprizes Whilst these Memorials were in the Press one of my Friends having shewed to me the Relation that the Arch-Bishop of Embrun composed for the use of the Cardinal of Richelieu concerning his Voyage into England I thought it would not be amiss to insert it here since it confirms one of the most considerable Passages related by M. Deageant touching the inclination of James I. King of great Britain to embrace the Roman Catholick Religion I have hereunto annexed the Duke of Buckingham's two Letters on this subject and the little Summary of the Negociations of the said Arch-Bishop which was adjoyned at the end of this Relation The Letter of the Cardinal of Richelieu to the Arch-Bishop of Embrun SIR HAving call'd to mind the Voyage that you took some years ago into England I could not forbear to lay hold on this opportunity to desire you to let me know whether you were sent thither by the King or whether you went of your own accord and to what end as also whether there were certainly at that time any Negociation depending between his Holiness and the King of Great Britain concerning his Conversion You will very much oblige me in giving an account of all those particulars that you shall judge worthy to be observed on this subject assureing you in the mean time that whensoever an occasion shall be offered to demonstrate my affection to you you shall find that I am Paris Febr. 19. 1635. SIR Your most Affectioned Brother to serve you The Cardinal of Richelieu THE RELATION OF WILLIAM D'HUGUES Arch-Bishop of EMBRUN IN the year 1624. the Embassadors of England on the account of the Treaty of Marriage between the Sister of the King of France and the Prince of Wales being arrived at Compienne where his Majesty then resided a certain English Catholick Gentleman came to me to deliver a Letter from a Scotch Fryer of the Order of St. Francis who had formerly received some favours from me in Italy and at my instance was employ'd by Pope Paul V. in the English Mission the Letter of this Religious Person contained many particulars relateing to the lamentable Condition of the poor Catholicks in England as also a Recommendation of this Gentleman who gave me a very large Account of all things and shewed to me the printed Copies of divers Acts made in England against the Catholicks insomuch that I acquired a perfect knowledg of
their Persecutions of the little support that France offered to them and of the general complaint that they had made thereupon even to that degree that they had sent a Relation to Rome wherein they Remonstrated how much the Proceedings of their King on their behalf during the Negociation of the Marriage with Spain differed from his Deportment towards them since the Overtures of the Marriage with France by the Fryer's Letter and by the discourse of this Gentleman I was earnestly entreated in the name of all the principal Catholicks of England to represent their miseries to the King and to make him sensible of the little relief that they received from his Generosity I thought my self obliged to relate the whole matter to the King which I took an opportunity to do very fully one morning a little after he rose and declared to him how much the Complaints of the English Catholicks contributed to cause an ill opinion amongst foreign Estates as to the point of his Majesty's Piety and Zeal how much it would obstruct the gaining of the dispensation at Rome and that it was much to be wished that his Majesty had an Agent in England that might be able particularly to give some consolation and satisfaction to the Catholicks I was patiently heard but all the answer that I could then obtain was that I should attend the next day at the same hour being come then at the time appointed the King told me that he had considered every thing that I had propounded to him and that he should be very glad to find out a proper Person to be sent for this purpose but he knew not on whom to cast his Eye after this reply and other discourses on this subject I took the liberty to acquaint him that if his Majesty thought me capable to undertake this Affair and would vouchsafe to give me a Commission I would very willingly go as a private Gentleman judging that as such I might more easily act than as one that bears a publick Character Thus it was sufficient for me that his Majesty wrote to M. de Effiat that I should go thither to take a view of that Country which was the only part of Europe that I had not as yet seen that it was by his leave and that he recommended me to him Moreover I insisted that this manner of negociating had always been very agreeable to me and that through the Grace of God I had often obtained good success therein For in several Voyages as I visited my Order I took an occasion even by the special Command of the late King to make application to diverse Princes of Christendom and dispatched many important Affairs that in appearance seemed to be transacted meerly upon my motion and amongst others the League of all the Princes of Italy with the late King and that of the Princes of Germany to cause Matthias King of Hungary to be elected King of the Romans against the open Opposition that the Spaniards made in favour of the Arch-Duke Leopold to this the King replied that he was not ignorant thereof and that he did not only consent that I should undertake this Voyage but that he very much desired it and the next day at Mass his Majesty did me the honour to acquaint me that he had commanded M. de la Villeauclerce to prepare my Dispatch and ordered me to go and take it He told me the same thing two Daies after seeing me again at Mass and urged me to depart which I did with all possible Expedition Assoon as I was arrived at Dover the Frier that had written to me came to see me having received notice of my Voyage by the Gentleman that carried his Letter and entreated me in the name of all the Catholicks to take Lodgings at London in a private House and not to reside with the Ambassador that they might have a more easy and private access to me I travelled thither under the name of a Counsellor of the Parliament of Grenoble who had been at all the Courts of the Christian Princes except that of England and soon met with the Duke of Buckingham by whom I was immediately discovered for he told me that one of the Physicians of the King of England a Native of Germany being lately come from France had reported to His Majesty that he had seen the Arch-Bishop of Embrun at Dover in a different Habit from that which he used to wear in France whom he had known long agoe having observed him at Rome when he was General of the Cordeliers at Prague and in Poland and that the King was very desirous to see me and to be informed of the design of my coming into England to this end he desired me to relye on him and freely to declare my Mind which I did being persuaded that since he was the Principal Minister of State I ought to confide in him afterwards he asked me several Questions concerning divers Negociations which the Physician had related that I had transacted in Germany and having given him a satisfactory Account thereof I perceived in him a good Disposition to hearken to whatsoever I should propound and was also confirmed in this Opinion by his Mother and by the Earl of Rutland his Father-in-Law that were almost the first Persons with whom I became acquainted at London by them and their Confessors I was instructed in all the particular Circumstances that ought to be observed in treating with the King of England and with the said Duke of Buckingham for the Consolation of the Catholicks Not long after his Grace appointed me instantly to depart to Royston where the Court then was to see the King he conducted me thither himself and introduced me into his Majesty's Presence who being in his bed indisposed with the Gout entertained me very graciously and ordered the Duke of Buckingham to hear every thing that I should say After several general Discourses that lasted above two hours relating to the Voyages and Treaties which he told me that he had heard that I had dispatched in Germany and especially that of the King of Hungary concerning which he was pleased to enquire of me very particularly at last he began of his own accord to insist on the point of the Marriage whereupon I represented to him the necessity of removing the Obstacles that were raised by the Spaniards at Rome and the measures that ought to be taken to effect it and that to obtain success therein it was expedient that the grievances of the Catholicks should be redressed on which Subject I discoursed very fully and indeed all that I said to him was so favourably accepted that I could not but acknowledg the peculiar Providence of God on this Occasion for at this first meeting I prevailed so far that Orders were given to release many Catholicks out of Prison in London and other Places that the execution of many Laws against them was suspended and that I was permitted to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation
me that the said Prince having instantly demanded to be admitted into the company of the Infanta and to discourse with her was repulsed and told that this could not be granted unless he would first make profession of the Catholick Religion in the presence of at least six or seven Witnesses to which they endeavoured to persuade him with all the Artifices imaginable but could not obtain their desire nevertheless he was permitted to write to her as he did at several times and received an answer which the Prince believed to be written with the hand of the Infanta but it appeared afterwards to be composed by one of her Ladies of Honour for upon the embarking of the Prince for England Cardinal Sapata that attended him according to the order of the King of Spain delivered a Pacquet to him sealed up which being opened in the Vessel there were found therein all the Letters written by him to the Infanta folded up and sealed as he sent them He acquainted me also that within a few days before my arrival Don Carlo Coloma Ambassador extraordinary from Spain had used his utmost Endeavours to induce him to believe that the difficulties that were raised at Rome in granting the Dispensation proceeded not from the instance nor consent of the King his Master therefore he offered and insisted very much thereupon that if his Majesty would defer the concluding of the agreement with France for six months he would procure the said Dispensation and would religiously observe every Article contained in the Conditions of their Alliance that was treated in Spain viz To restore the Palatinate to send considerable Supplies for the recovery of Guienne and Normandy to permit a free Passage and Commerce to the East and West-Indies and other particulars In opposition to these Proposals I represented to him divers Reasons taken from the very Discourses that he had rehearsed to me and from the Intrigues of the Spaniards already mentioned by him insomuch that he was convinced that all these new Offers were only so many fraudulent Artifices by which nevertheless he confirmed that the King was moved I gave notice thereof to M. d'Effiat who had already perceived somewhat in the Audiences that he had obtained of his Majesty and desired me to search into the truth of the matter as I afterwards did for which Service he protested that he was very much obliged to me Amongst these Discourses he shewed to me a Letter that the Prince Palatin had written to him from the Hague in which he entreated him to take care that this Condition should be inserted in the Treaty and to disannul it in case the Spaniards refused to restore the Palatinate and as an acknowledgment of this favour and also as a testimony of the perpetual Friendship that he intended to contract with the said Duke he proposed that his Daughter who nevertheless was not above seven years old should be instantly married to his Grace's eldest Son to which I perceived that the Duke was much inclined for he told me that the King was not very averse from it However having desired him to refer this matter to me and to hear my Opinion I alledged to him so many Reasons that his Majesty resolved not to oppose the rupture any longer and the Duke not to consent to this Marriage and both determined to conclude that of France with England and this is the meaning of these Words in his Grace's Letter bearing date the 9th of November the Copy whereof I have here annexed But the care of this great Affair to which you have incited me The English Catholicks having penetrated into the progress that was made and well knowing his Majesty's Discourses on my behalf the deliverance of so many Catholicks that were in Prison and the liberty that I had taken which was a thing never seen in England since Heresy prevailed in that Country to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation in London sent an Express thereof to Rome at which the Spaniards being enraged took an occasion to slander me with so many Artifices and false Insinuations that they exasperated the Pope against me under divers pretences viz. That I went into England without the knowledg of his Nuntio that I had confirmed People there without a Licence and that I had visited Persons of the highest Rank in that Kingdom notwithstanding that they were Hereticks even the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and the Earl of Mansfield insomuch that I was obliged at my return into France to write an Apology which I sent to Rome to represent to that Court that since I had diligently endeavoured to prevent a rupture between France and Spain and that this Marriage should not be celebrated without a Dispensation I ought rather to be commended than blamed for performing such Actions but not long after I received an answer from M. de Bethunes that the Pope being informed of all the circumstances of this Negociation was very well satisfied with my Conduct I also sent the Copies of several Letters of the Duke of Buckingham of M. d'Effiat Ambassador in England and of M. de Bethunes Ambassador of Rome which confirm all the principal matters contained in this Relation But that the Letters of M. d'Effiat may be more clearly understood I ought to add that I wrote to him concerning the malitious Accusations and Devices that were contrived against me and entreated him to give an account thereof to the King of Great Britain this is the tenor of his first Letter Moreover the King of England abhorred the Jesuits to that degree that he not only declared that he would never consent that the Confessor of the Princess should be of that Order nor that any one of them should belong to her retinue but his Majesty was also pleased to command me to desire the King France to change his Confessor affirming that this would be necessary for the Prosecution of the Designs that we had agreed upon and would be very advantageous with respect to the Protestant Princes Father Jaquinot coming to see me at Paris acquainted me that he was appointed to go into England with the Princess and entreated me to give a good Character of his person in that Country thereupon I freely professed to him urging several reasons that he would not be well received there since I believed that he would not be suffered to appear that he would be sent back again and that this would produce great dissentions between these two Crowns nevertheless to satisfie him I wrote to M. de Effiat what he had told me and what answer I had given and upon this account he sent me the Letter that the Duke of Buckingham had written to him as the result of his third Letter wherein he discourseth on the same Subject and declares that he intended to deliver my Letters to me himself that they might be burnt A Letter of the Duke of Buckingham to the Arch-Bishop of Embrun SIR THe Hopes that I have to see you
LICENS'D March 8. 1690. J. FRASER THE MEMOIRES OF Monsieur DEAGEANT Containing the most secret Transactions and Affairs of France from the Death of Henry IV. till the beginning of the Ministry of the Cardinal de Richelieu To which is added A Particular Relation of the Arch-Bishop of Embrun's Voyage into England and of his Negociation for the advancement of the Roman Catholick Religion here together with the Duke of Buckingham's Letters to the said Arch-Bishop about the Progress of that Affair Which happened the last Years of King James I. his Reign Faithfully Translated out of the French Original London Printed for Richard Baldwin in the Old Baily 1690. THE TRANSLATOR's PREFACE TO THE READER THE following Memoires need no other plausible Character to recommend them to the favour of the English Reader than that they contain matters of singular Importance manag'd with all imaginable Secresy and Art whereof this Nation had no small concern then and may have no less reason to be inform'd of now there is the more credit to be given them in regard they were written by the Person that was the chief Contriver and Manager of all the Intrigues and Plots that were then form'd to ruine the Protestant Interest in France and to supplant the same in England and for the particular information of the Cardinal of Richelieu when he entred upon the publick administration of the Affairs of France whose private Favourite the Author was We have two illustrious Instances of the indefatigable Industry of the Romish party in those Days hardly to be paralell'd elsewhere one in the Person of a French Hugonot Minister who being a Man of Intrigue and Ambition and having credit with some great Men of his Party was prevailed on by the fair Promises and plausible Insinuations of the Romish Emissaries to abjure the Protestant Religion and embrace that of Rome and yet obtain'd a Dispensation from Rome to continue in the Prosession of the Protestant Religion and Exercise of his Pastoral Function towards his Congregation for several Years on purpose to betray all their Counsels and Designs The other is of the Duke of Buckingham's being reconcil'd to the Church of Rome notwithstanding his continuing afterwards in the Profession of the Religion of the Church of England The whole Negociation of the Arch-Bishop of Embrun who came privately over into England about the latter end of King James the First his Reign to obtain a Toleration for Popery you will find at large at the end of the Book together with some Letters that past betwixt the Duke of Buckingham and the said Arch-Bishop in relation to that Design Besides this Book in the Original is become very scarce and hardly to be found at Paris and I know that it has been sold for a Pistole when it could be met with The Memoires of Monsieur Deageant containing the most secret Negotiations and Affairs in France c. SInce I never designed to commit to Writing any thing concerning the remarkable Occurrences in the Affairs of this Kingdom that happen'd during the time of my Employment therein after my retirement from the Court in the Year 1619. For several Reasons I burnt all the Papers that might be of use to me in preserving the Memory of those Passages that I had seen and been conversant in because I believed that I should never have any further occasion for them especially since I had firmly resolved for the future to lay aside all Thoughts of being engaged in Matters of the like nature Insomuch that it will be impossible for me to make a Relation so perfect and exact as I could wish which I have been nevertheless commanded to do by my Lord Cardinal of Richelieu and whereas I can refuse nothing on behalf of his Eminency that lyes in my Power to perform without transgressing by a manifest ingratitude against those Obligations that are common to me with all the rest of my Country-men as also against those particular Engagements that I lye under for many Favours received by me from his incomparable Generosity I would therefore make it my most humble Request to him graciously to admit the same Reasons that have formerly passed for a lawful Excuse on occasion of the like Commands that his Lordship hath formerly been pleased to lay upon me That I may not waste Paper to no purpose and to avoid tediousness in the description of those things that are commonly known or have been already brought to light I presume his Eminency will be satisfied if I only produce here those Particulars that my Memory can recollect which have not as yet been mentioned by any that I know and whereof as I believe few Persons have been informed About the end of the preceding Reign I began to be employed as well in the managing of Dispatches as in the Transaction of some important Affairs but because I was afterwards discharged from that Office and I have since made but little or no Reflection thereon I am not able to relate any thing very considerable although in reading what may be Written concerning those Times or in discoursing with any that shall have a mind to compose an History of them I could give sufficient Light as to those Particulars that fall within the compass of my Knowledge of which there might be some doubt Amongst other Employments at that time it was my business to make Private Payments to several Persons as well French Men as Foreigners that served the late King in his Grand Design which he was just about putting in Execution at that very instant when he was unfortunately snatcht away from France by that execrable and ever to be deplored Attempt And because as I imagined he would not that any of his Ministers of State not even the Sr. Beringuew the Elder who was his Treasurer as to his more Private and Domestick Expences should know all the particular Circumstances of this Design His Majesty would often in Playing put the Gold that belonged to the Game into his Pocket and secretly convey it into my hands sometimes also I was commanded to go and receive certain Sums of Money from Monsieur de Villeroy who in giving them to me never failed to tell me You may assure the King that I have not enquired how you are to dispose of this Cash By which I judged that he knew nothing of my Employment During that time Monsieur de Lesdiguiers being come to Court the late King Communicated his Designs to him and told him that he intended to give him the Command of an Army which being joyned with the Forces of the Duke of Savoy should make an Inroad into Italy and that he was resolved to appear in Person at the head of Another that was prepared to Invade Flanders and Germany where some Enterprizes were to be performed on certain considerable Places Moreover his Majesty was pleased to shew him the Platforms thereof and required all those that brought them and were employed in these Affairs
at London where during the time of my residence in that City above ten thousand English Catholicks received this Sacrament from my Hands at which their Enemies were extremely offended and complained thereof to the King but to no purpose for his Majesty answered them that I did nothing contrary to his Pleasure At this time and at all others wherein I had the honour to see this King he was so well pleased with my Propositions that he freely disclosed his Thoughts to me and if M. d'Effiat were now living he would be my Witness that this good Prince did plainly make it appear that he delighted in conversing with me In our Conferences he told me that next to the Happiness he wished for to be allied with France he desired to be revenged on the Spaniards for the Injury that they had offered to him rehearsing to me all the Particulars thereof with great Indignation to which he added the Interests of his Son-in-Law who was said he as it were banished into Holland with abundance of Children I instantly replyed upon this last Expression and acquainted him that to recover the Palatinate it was requisite that the two Crowns of France and England should be united with a firm Resolution to weaken the Power of Spain and to this end to enter into a League with the Princes of Italy who as I verily believed since they had formerly made an Alliance with France alone in the time of the late King would be so much the more willing to do the like again when they saw that England was also engaged with whom the Pope would easily be persuaded to join since he had reason to fear least the Spaniards should one day force him to submit to their Yoke but to procure this Union he ought to assure the Pope and the other Princes that the Catholick Religion should be indemnified upon this I proposed many Expedients which pleased him extreamly as the Duke of Buckingham afterwards related to me In exhibiting the methods to attain Union I took an Opportunity to represent to him that Liberty of Conscience in England would be one of the the most effectual means to give full Satisfaction to the Pope and the Catholick Princes thereupon the King putting his Hand on mine spake these Words I plainly see that you are the Person appointed by God in whom I ought to confide and to reveal the Secrets of my Heart afterwards he very freely acknowledged the good opinion that he had conceived of the Catholick Faith and so particularly that he omitted nothing protesting to me that during his Minority his Tutors having perceived his Inclination to that Religion he run great hazard of being assassinated As to this Liberty of Conscience he professed that he intended long agoe to grant it in his Dominions and that for this very purpose he designed to summon an Assembly of Prelats and other learned Men of England together with an equal number of Forreigners and on the Decisions therein concluded to found the said Liberty adding that he had already determined what Persons should be chosen amongst the English and that if the Assembly could not meet at Dover he would consent that it should be holden at Boulagne as soon as he should be in a condition to relye on the King of France by the means of the Marriage to which he had agreed on his part and to procure these good Effects he thought it convenient that after the Consummation thereof I should return into England under the pretence of accompanying the Princess at which time he would deliver to me two Letters written with his own Hand one for the King and the other for the Pope containing his generous Resolutions he would also give me a distinct Memorial concerning his Intentions which I should prepare and he would sign to the end that being furnished with these Dispatches I should go to Rome under colour of visiting the Apostolick See where I should treat with the Pope alone for whom he said that he had a great Affection and Respect ever since he understood that he had composed Verses in his Youth on the violent Death of the late Queen of Scotland his Mother in commendation of her and of the Family of the Stuarts which he shewed to me He was pleased further to declare that in case I returned from Rome with his Holiness's Approbation of the said Convention he would cause it forthwith to be assembled whereupon extraordinary and admirable Events would ensue but before he proceeded to discover his purpose as to his own Person he would negociate with the Protestant Princes of Germany and with the principal Puritan Lords of England and Scotland and promised that all things should tend to an happy end and to the great advantage of the Catholick Church This is the substance of all our Discourses at several times on this Subject but for a Testimony of the Trust that this King reposed in me I shall here insert the particulars of my Transactions on account of the Marriage A considerable Progress being made in this Negociation the Duke of Buckingham arrived near London and from one of his Houses wrote to M. d'Effiat that he was ready to treat with him about a new Affair desiring him to come thither and to bring me along with him We went accordingly and the Duke told us that the King remembering the Delays and Artifices of the Spaniards to hinder the procuring of the dispensation during the Treaty with them was sensible that they would endeavour much more to cause it to be refused at the solicitation of France that he was resolved not to incurr the danger of a second Affront and that for this reason it was necessary that the King of France should permit the Marriage to be celebrated before the Dispensation for he was informed that an Absolution for Actions already committed was more easily to be obtained at Rome than a Dispensation to do them Upon this the Ambassador alledged two Points first that the King his Master had altogether as much Power at the Court of Rome as the King of Spain and secondly that his Most Christian Majesty would very willingly grant this Demand however I seemed not to approve the last Answer which the Duke of Buckingham soon perceived and taking an occasion after Dinner to shew me his House he desired me to explain my meaning at large as to this Particular which I did and enumerated to him divers Inconveniencies very prejudicial to England that would ensue upon the Consummation of this Marriage without a Dispensation together with the examples of several Princes insisting that this would grievously offend the Pope that no favour could afterwards be expected from him and that by this means the good Designs that the King of Great Brâ—tain intended to prosecute would be frustrated besides I believed that the King of France would never consent to it The Duke having heard me replyed that since he distrusted his own Ability to relate to the
King all the Arguments that I had produced he would entreat me assoon as I should come to London to compose a Letter containing these Reasons and to direct it to him which he would shew to his Majesty and thereby supply the defect of his Memory he recommended this matter very earnestly to my Care and assured me that till it were performed nothing would be concluded We parted after this manner and as we returned to London M. d'Effiat told me that the Duke had promised to come to Town within four or five Days and to bring the final Resolution but this time being expired and the Duke not appearing M. d'Effiat grew impatient and resolved to ride post to him I had then finished my Letter and delivered it into his Hands but he met his Grace that very day in his Journey to London and came back along with him where being arrived at Night M. d'Effiaâ— immediately dispatcht a Messenger to give me notice that I should repair to his Lodgings the next Morning at Sun-rising and that the Duke of Buckingham would be there to determine all things I failed not to attend at the Hour appointed when M. d'Effiat acquainted me that the Duke at their first meeting had enquired of him concerning my Health and whether I had written to him that he instantly gave him my Letter and perceived by his Countenance that he was well pleased After we had waited about two Hours his Secretary came and approaching M. d'Effiat told him with a loud Voice that I might hear that the Duke had at Mid-night received an express Letter from the King by an extraordinary Courier with strict Orders that he should without delay take post to meet him and that afterwards he would return to London having delivered this Message he complemented us in his Name and took his leave at which M. d'Effiat was extreamly incensed and said that he would write to the King to give him an accouns of the perfidiousness of the English and that he ought no longer to confide in them I intreated him to forbear and to have a little patience till matters might be accommodated and retired to my own Lodgings where within a few Hours after I understood that he had already sent a Dispatch to the King thereupon doubting lest in the heat of his Passion he should have affirmed that the Negociation was quite broken off and having an opportunity to make use of the same Courier that had given notice to me of his Departure and of the Pacquet that was delivered to him by M. d'Effiat I immediately wrote a little Note to the Cardinal of Richelieu in which I assured him that the Affair was not desperate tho perhaps it might be otherwise represented to the King and that I hoped that in less than eight Days all things would be concluded to his Majesty's Satisfaction his Eminency received my Letter and I have been since informed by the late Marshal de Schomberg that it was read in a full Council and in the King's Presence Not many days passed e're the Duke of Buckingham wrote to me that he had presented my Letter to the King and that his Majesty referred himself wholly to me whether I thought fit that the Dispensation should preceed the Celebration of the Marriage or not provided that Delays were avoided I have his Letter in my custody that clearly demonstrates how far the King and he relied on me in the managing of this Affair as appears also by other Letters that I have and by the Commission that his Majesty of Great Britain gave me to write to Rome to facilitate the said Dispensation the Original of which I have in my Hands together with the Additions written by the Duke of Buckingham and dictated by the King which plainly shew his Majesty's good Inclinations to embrace the Catholick Faith Afterwards when the Duke came to London all things were concluded according to the effects that ensued These Proceedings being thus far advanced I returned into France but before my departure from London the Duke of Buckingham desired me in the King's Name to commit the principal matters to writing that related to the Spaniards and to the Union that had been proposed which I did and sent them to him Assoon as I arrived in France I gave a particular account to the King of all things that I had performed in my Voyage who was pleased to signify unto me that he was very well satisfied with the good designs of the King of Great Britain and declared that a Report was already spread abroad in France that I treated with that King about his Conversion and that several Persons had informed him thereof I replied that there were the same Suspicions in the Court of England that the King of Great Britain had earnestly enjoyned me to keep the matter secret and that therefore I was obliged to beseech his Majesty to do the like which he promised me very affectionately but all these generous Resolutions were made void by the Death of the King of England the first News whereof was brought to me at Mass by the King himself who expressed his Regret in these Words All our Hopes of England are lost and seeing me surprized he told me that their King was dead I shall only add that I received the marks of the extraordinary Kindness and Esteem that the King of Great Britain professed to me in France as well as in England for when I went to visit his Ambassadors at Paris they shewed to me one of his Letters wherein he ordered them in express terms to account me as his good and faithful Friend which was not a little serviceable in obliging them to surmount the Difficulties and Scruples that they had raised on the occasision of certain conditions mentioned in the Dispensation insomuch that I treated with them concerning this Affair very fully and effectually at the request of Father Berulle I could produce other Testimonies of the like nature but not thinking it necessary I shall finish this Relation with the last Transaction that I managed with the Duke of Buckingham during his residence at Paris wherein I persuaded him to use his endeavours to prevail with his new King to keep a good correspondence with the Pope and to that end to maintain a trusty Catholick Agent at Rome but he desired that the King should first propound it therefore I discoursed with his Majesty on this Subject who gave his consent and ordered me to impart it to Monsieur Tronson that he might put him in mind thereof on the Road as he accompanied the Queen of England which I believe that the King may remember Given at Embrun March 3. 1635. I have here inserted an Addition that I made to the above-said Relation and which was also sent to the Cardinal of Richelieu The Duke of Buckingham relating to me the particular Circumstances of the Negociation with the Spaniards during the aboad of the Prince of Wales at Madrid informed