the Ecclesiastic State there was little probability that he should ever arrive to the Empire and marry as it since fell out the Eldest Daughter of the Queen his Sister Amongst several other persons whom the Emperor gave the Queen his Daughter to accompany her into Spain he chose Father Iohn Evrard Nitard a German Jesuit to be her Confessor His extraction was mean and obscure and he employed almost all his thoughts in the advancing of his fortune He was of a supple complaisant temper he exactly studied the respective characters of those persons to whom he belonged and took care never to differ much from them as to matters of opinion He finished his Studies in the Jesuits College at Vienna and there took upon him the Habit of his Order and afterwards was sent to govern one of their Seminaries in which office he acquitted himself very well When he came back again to Vienna he began to make himself known in the world and several Ladies of the Court desired him to be their Spiritual Director they omitted no opportunity to do him all the good offices they could with the Emperor and in fine spoke in such advantagious terms of him that he was well enough contented to let the Queen take him along with her This Princess was extreamly surprized at all the Spanish Customs which those who came to wait upon her from the King caused her to observe in the first days of her Voyage I have have been told that as she arrived to a certain City under the dominion of the King of Spain where the principal Commodities of the place consisted in Frocks Wastcoats and Silk Stockings they made her a present of a great quantity of them of different colours But her Major Domo Mayor who religiously observed the Spanish gravity despised the present and so taking up a bundle of Silk Stockins threw them at the heads of the Deputies of the Town Aveis de Saber says he to them in a very furious tone que las Reynas de Espagna no teinen piernas that is to say I would have you to know that the Queens of Spain have no Legs meaning that they are so far elevated above others by vertue of their rank that they have no Feet to touch the ground like the rest of their Sex However it was the young Queen who was not as yet acquainted with the niceties of the Spanish Language took it in the literal sense and began to weep saying that she was fully determined to go back to Vienna and if she had known before her departure from thence that they design'd to cut off her legs she would rather have died than stirred a foot It was no difficult matter to assure her of the contrary and she continued her Voyage When she came to Madrid they told the King of this innocent simplicity of his Queen he was so mightily pleased at the story that he vouchsafed to laugh a little at it and this was the most extraordinary thing in the world for him to do for whether it proceeded from affectation or was the effect of his constitution it was observed of him that he never laugh'd above thrice in all his Life The King show'd a great respect for Father Nitard because he was the Queen's Confessor who reposed an intire confidence in him but whatever desires she had to see him advanced he left him peaceably in his post without conferring any other Dignities upon him and he had unquestionably continued a long time in the same condition if the King had not hapned to die When that Prince found himself to be dangerously ill and saw he could not bequeath the care of his Kingdoms to Cardinal Sandoval upon whose management of affairs he always depended because he was at that time extremely sick and to say the truth died but 20 hours after him he made his will wherein he ordered that the Queen his Spouse should be Regent of the Kingdom and Governess of the young Prince who was then four years and an half old he named the Cardinal of Arragon Archbishop of Toledo and Inquisitor General the Count of Castrillo President of Castile the Count de Penarauda Don Cristoval Crespi Chancellor of Arragon and the Marquiss d' Aytona to the end that these six Ministers should assist the Queen in her Councils and thus the King died in the month of September 1665. The Queen resented the great loss she sustained with abundance of sorrow but she had been still more sensible of it if she had found her self in the condition of the other Queens of Spain who are obliged to enter into a Convent when they are Widows unless the King orders the contrary before his decease Nor was she insensible of the sweets of Governing The first use she made of her Authority was in favour of Father Nitard For Don Pascal of Arragon having been made Archbishop of Toledo and grand Inquisitor in the place of Cardinal Sandoval the Queen sent for him and by her repeated importunities prevailed with him to quit the last of these two Dignities He could not be brought to comply with this request without a great deal of trouble for he almost chose rather to be Inquisitor General than Archbishop of Toledo although that Archbishoprick is worth 366 thousand Crowns per annum But he was not able to refuse the Queen a thing she so passionately desired who as soon as she saw her self in a capacity to dispose of that important charge bestow'd it upon her Confessor As she engaged her self in this affair of her own proper inclination without consulting any thing else but the desire she had to see him made superior to the other Ministers so she took occasion to discourse of it to them who immediately began to murmur amongst themselves They read over the will of the late King where they found it expresly ordered that the Queen should do nothing without consulting their advice and yet notwithstanding all this precaution of the deceased they saw with no little concern that she had without ever communicating the matter to them disposed of one of the most considerable Offices in the Kingdom and that to a meer stranger who had been born and bred up in the Lutheran Religion till he was 14 years of age The desire they had to preserve their own authority and the jealousie which it is natural for all men to have of a Favourite made them speak very fiercely in the matter However the Queen being informed of their discontent took the true measures to appease them The charming manner of her deportment and particularly the obliging things she spoke to them upon this occasion prevailed with them to lay aside their murmurs so they agreed to dispatch Letters of Naturalization for the Confessor without which it was impossible for him to execute the office the Queen had given him Altho all those difficulties that at first threatned to hinder the Elevation of Father Nitard were removed
some of the Princes of the Empire followed their Example nay Spain could not hinder it self from doing the like The King of Denmark and Elector of Brandenburgh who as yet kept their Swords in their hands still laid them down likewise and a peace was concluded at Nimeguen that gave repose to all Europe In the mean time the King of Spain was upon the point of Marrying the Arch Dutchess the Emperor's Daughter this affair was so far advanced that the Articles were regulated and the Contract signed This marriage was of the Queen's doing who earnestly desired the accomplishment of it but Don Iuan at his return broke off this match not being desirous to strengthen his enemy's party as it must assuredly have been by the accession of this young Princess who was of the same Name and same Country with the Queen and besides all this was her Grand Daughter and Neice He too much feared the ill consequences of this affair to give his consent to it The King about his nineteenth year seemed to be setled in a healthful state of body which promised Successors to the Crown and he expressed a great inclination to be married he considered that of the House of Austria he alone was left remaining of the Spanish branch and that his whole Kingdom had an equal interest to see him have Children The circumstances of the Peace that hapned to be concluded at Nimeguen made him cast his eyes upon Mademoiselle Eldest Daughter of Monsieur who was the Kings only Brother She was almost of his own age amiable well-shaped of a sweet disposition witty and charming all her inclinations were noble and vertuous and Lewis the Great took an extraordinary affection to her because her humour so exactly suited with his so that all the Courtiers were surprized at it The King had accidentally seen some portraitures of this Princess and several Spanish Lords who had been at the Court of France spake of her as a Prodigy These advantagious testimonies so luckily concurring sensibly affected him he could not take his rest a nights he carried her Picture next his heart and held long conversations with it as if it understood him But what is the most incredible thing of all and yet is related for a certain truth is this that before he became enamoured he could not endure any woman near him but these dispositions were altered in him upon this occasion and he beheld the fair Sex never after with aversion All the people were ravished with joy to hear that the King desired Mademoiselle The memory of Queen Elizabeth of France the first Wife of Philip the IV. was so deeply imprinted upon the hearts of all the Spaniards that they desired to see one of the same blood sit upon the Throne again Don Iuan agreed with the King's inclinations as well as those of the people in relation to this Princess He sent orders to the Marquess de los Balbazez in Flanders who was come from Nimeguen where he had assisted at the treaty of peace to go and demand Mademoiselle for the King his Master Every one was surprized that the Prince lent his helping hand to this affair True policy would have required him to protract as long as he was able and to delay the Marriage because as it gave a Wife to the King so it might perhaps give an Enemy to the Favourite And here many people could not forbear to call to mind the first Ideas of that ambition of which he was suspected now it was for good and all to abandon the design of making himself declared Infant to content himself with reigning after the King in case he had no Children Many persons do likewise pretend that notwithstanding the great earnestness he showed in publick yet he had no over great desire to have the match succeed They alledge this for a reason that he ought to have done something before so open an Embassy by way of secret dispatches which might absolutely have had the success of a negotiation but that at the bottom whatever he did or whatever he said to the contrary he did not heartily desire it that he was afraid lest a French Queen supported by the authority of the greatest King in the world would never truckle to him that now he was Master but hereafter would become no more than a Companion Others were of the contrary opinion and said that he had a fair prospect of being well received by Mademoiselle especially since he had broke off the marriage with the Arch Dutchess and given the preference to her These different considerations embarrassed and perplexed Don Iuan to such a degree that he knew not which way to determine himself and even at the very time that the Marquess de los Balbazez demanded the Princess in France he very cunningly got the King at Madrid to see the portraiture of the Infanta of Portugal who was a Lady of admirable beauty He talked exceedingly of her charms and not knowing as yet that her marriage with the Duke of Savoy was agreed upon he underhand made a proposal to give her to the King but he was too deeply gone to alter his affections The Demand made by Don Balbazez was very agreeable to his Most Christian Majesty and Don Iuan who received advice of it did not at first doubt of its success Therefore he â—ow endeavoured to overshoot the favourable dispositions of France either to promote his own interest by it or else by demanding things that were too great to meet a refusal and by that means to find a plausible pretence to break off In effect he pretended that Mademoiselle not being the Daughter of a King they ought therefore for that reason on the side of the French Court to enter into particular considerations and restore to Spain some of those places that were yeilded up to France by the last Treaty of Nimeguen Upon this he held a Council where he was desirous to insinuate his own sentiments into them but he found no body inclined to hearken to them Every one concluded that they ought to have nothing else in view but the King's satisfaction that they were happy enough in finding out a Princess that was beautiful and capable to give them a Soveraign and that they ought not to take pains to destroy a thing of that consequence which all the world so earnestly desired to see accomplished The Queen who continued still very solitary at Toledo and who was consulted in no affairs wrote a Letter to the King wherein she told him she had received information that he was going to be married that she counselled him in the mean time while that affair was carrying on to go to Arragon and Catalonia to confirm the ancient priviledges of those people The King sent her barely word again that he would do it without explaining himself more openly upon his marriage Ever since the twenty fourth of Ianuary 1679. the King had nominated those persons who were to fill up the respective
command his Ambassadors and that they would obey him in every thing that if the King was not willing to have them assist at his Marriage he ought to signifie to them by an order in writing that they were not to be there The Camarera ravished with joy that she had an opportunity to show her zeal for the King of Spain altho this was a very improper time for it was so far transported with the matter and spoke several things so incoherent and so fierce that the Ambassadors left her and addressed themselves to the Marquess d' Astorgas he patiently listned to them and told them ingenuously that he would immediately dispatch a Gentleman to the King to know his pleasure herein This Gentleman found him on the way and he consented that the Messieurs d' Harcourt and Villars should assist at the Ceremony In short it was occasioned by the industrious diligence of some persons who had no inclination to the French that this thought was insinuated into the King They were of opinion that so August a Marriage ought not to be Celebrated in a poor Village where there were not above a dozen Houses and their Spanish vanity was so extreamly offended at it as to desire that the Ambassadors of so great a King might not be witnesses of so great a negligence not to say misery And now to excuse the matter they gave out that the King was young and amorous that every thing that hastned the pleasure of seeing his Spouse touched him so sensibly that he even forgot the magnificence and grandeur of his Rank that love alone made up the Honours of his Feast and that the King thought this alone sufficient The Queen having passed the night at Quintanapalla about ten a clock in the morning was told that the King was arrived this news caused a small emotion in her and spread a colour upon her Cheeks that made her still appear more beautiful and lovely She went to receive him in her Spanish dress and having met him as he was just going to enter her Anti-Chamber she would have thrown her self several times at his feet and kissed his hand but he hindered her still and saluted her after the Spanish fashion that is without kissing her but pressing her arms close with his two hands and calling her often Mireina Mireina my Queen my Queen They discoursed together a long time without being able to understand one another and this was certainly no little pain to them Monsieur Villars who perceived it advanced forward to serve as an Interpreter if he did not say every thing they said it is at least very certain that he spoiled nothing of their conversation and that he mingled a great deal of tenderness and passion with it The King was drest a la Scombergue which is properly after the French mode and all his attendants were clad after the same manner For the campagne habits of the Spaniards somewhat resemble ours The Marquess de Villars having observed that the Grandees of Spain took the right hand spoke to the King about it and represented to him the rank the Marquess de los Balbazez had given to him at Fountainbleau when the Queen was espoused there This reason prevailed so the King ordered the Ambassadors of France to be treated after the same manner The Constable of Castile could not be brought to quit his place without some trouble he had still a small dispute upon the point which continued a little time between the Ambassador and him however civility was still preserved on both sides and the rest of the Grandees placed themselves behind the King Don Antonio de Benavidez y Bazan Patriarch of the Indies and Grand Almoner gave them a second benediction the Ceremony was performed incognito in the Queens Anti-Chamber If the Arch-Bishop of Burgos had not been indisposed he had performed this Office Whilst Mass was saying they put a Ribbond of black Taffaty about the King and Queen tied up in a true Lovers knot and a white Gauze with a Silver Fringe upon the King's Shoulders and over the Queens Head The Dutchess de Terra Nova held up her Train When the Ceremony was over the King and Queen withdrew into a Chamber by themselves where they continued two hours alone they dined afterwards in publick and parted from thence to go and lie at Burgos There was no body with them in the Coach and since they did understand one another but very little one can scarce imagine what they said however the King appeared very amorous and affectionate several Grandees of Spain went before their Majesties with very stately Liveries and accompanied them to the Palace where a Comedy was acted and artificial Fireworks were to be seen The next day the King came to a rich Abby of Nuns that are called Las Huelgas which is not much beyond the Suburbs of Burgos She dined there and about three a Clock made her entry on Horseback being drest after the Spanish mode but appeared so beautiful and charming that she ravished the hearts of all the spectators Three Grandees marched before her the Marquess d' Astorgas followed her a Canopy was carried over her head the Old Dutchess de Terra Nova rode upon a Mule and the Maids of Honour accompanied her on Horseback On the twenty second of November Prince d' Harcourt made his entry and had Audience of the King and Queen after Dinner there was a Bull-feast which pleased the Queen exceedingly because the Cavaliers showed extraordinary dexterity and courage in the performance The day following she saw the Parejas that is to say an Horserace in which nothing is observeable but that two men who start together ride even without going a step one before the other altho they ride full speed Sixty Gentlemen clad in Silver Brocard ran after this manner After they had thus spent three days in different pleasures and diversions it was high time to think of going to Madrid most of the French Gentlemen and Ladies that followed the Queen took leave of her in this place so that the greatest part of the Houshold went back to France but this was not done without shedding abundance of Tears The Queen had the liberty still to keep with her her two Nurses two Women of the Chamber some Valets de Chambre a Gentleman to look after five or six English Horses she had ordered to be brought with her and some other Officers for her Table She presented the Prince and Princess d' Harcourt the Mareshal Clerembaut's Lady and Madam de Grance with her Picture enriched with Diamonds of different prices according to the Quality of the persons to whom she gave them and the obliging manner wherewith she knew how to accompany her liberalities augmented the price of them exceedingly They pretend that the present the King made the Prince d' Harcourt was worth twenty hundred thousand Crowns but it fell much short of it the Queen got a Pension of two thousand Crowns
him in the Cavalcade which is every year performed to present the Pope with a white Mare and a common Scedule for the Kingdom of Naples which the King of Spain holds in fief of the Holy See His Catholick Majesty's Council had delay'd to regulate this Affair ever since the year 1668. When the Roman Barons perceived that it was not determined in favour of them they searched new occasions to get the sentence revoked and to succeed in their designs they united themselves with the Heads of the Papal Families to write all of them together to Madrid about the Matter When the King was told of it he only answered What is judged is judged The Marquis de Liche Ambassador from Spain at Rome fell sick he sent immediately for the Pope's Physician to come to him and when his Friends demanded of him why he chose him before his own I am so weary of my Life says he that I purposely send for one who will soonest kill me if it were only to please his Master The Pope being informed of this answer sent one of the Gentlemen of his Chamber to visit him and ordered him to tell the Marquis that he desired his Health as much as he did his absence and by that he might judge whether he wished his recovery or no. About the beginning of December there was a great Earthquake in the Province of Salerne as also at Naples and the Places about it nevertheless it did no damage It was commonly said at Madrid that the Queen-Mother had engaged the King to nominate Cardinal Nitard to be Vice-Roy of Naples and that she hoped in a short time to see her two Favorites with her The Cardinal was the first and the Marquiss de Valenzuela the second The Marquiss de los Velez who had no desire to quit his place sent the King in order to six himself in his good Graces a stately Coach of admirable Sculpture and Embroidered all over most delicately But although the King had so many fine Coaches by him I never saw him in any of them he just cast his Eyes upon them and then they were shut up in a Coach-house where time and the dust absolutely spoiled them the King rather loves to ride in great Coaches of green Linnen waxed over made after the same fashion with ours and which a simple Citizen of Paris would not vouchsafe to go in The Marquiss de los Velez sent him likewise some Neapolitan Horses but so finely shaped that nothing certainly ever came near them Few days passed wherein the King and Queen did not go a hunting or else to see a Play they went to Buen Retiro to behold some Dutchmen skate upon the Ice after the fashion of their Country Some Ladies sent to acquaint the Queen that if her Majesty would permit them to appear masked because they had no mind to be known they would show her better sport than she had hitherto seen They were told that they might come if they pleased and immediately they went upon the Ice in short Petticoats fine Shooes and Stockings and Pattins after the Dutch manner they danced a Saraband with Castanets to admiration moving as nimbly as the dance would allow them but the Ice not being equally thick in all Places broke under one of them and let her fall into the water where she had certainly been drowned if People had not come to her help immediately Having lost her Mask by this Mischance they saw she was a veâ—y deformed old Woman who was near threescore years old When the Queen was told of it she smiled and answered That at that Age it was lawful for any one to go masked The two Queens on St. Nicholas's day made a Present of precious Stones to the Dutchess d' Albuquerque because it was her Birth-day She offered them in way of return some Curiosities of great Value and particularly a Prayer-book to the young Queen which was incomparably well painted with golden Clasps and adorned with Diamonds It being now towards the end of the Year I went according to the Custom to wish her Majesty a happy New Year she was drest in a slight Stuff of white Wool and had a prodigious quantity of large Pearls about her she sat near a great Vessel full of Olive stones and turning over the Leaves of the Prayer-book which the Dutchess d' Albuquerque had given her did me the honour to shew it me See says she here are Henry the Fourth and Mary de Medicis on their Knees stretching out their Arms in their Oratory it is certain that this Book was made for one of them I was desirous to know by what accident it came into Spain and told her that perhaps Queen Elizabeth brought it thither Upon this she called for the Dutchess d' Albuquerque and asked her how she came by it The Dutchess told her she could not tell but only that she had received it of her Mother The Queen said to me afterwards Are you not surprized to find me drest in white Wollen 'T is a small sort of Devotion which the King and I perform but no body shall know the reason of it Ab Madam reply'd the Dutchess de Pastrane we all of us take the liberty to divine How says the Queen without mistaking No I am not positive said the Dutchess And for you said she to me have you guess'd at the true cause Yes Madam very easily reply'd I and all Spain joyns its Vows with yours Don't you know says the Queen smiling that this is none of the best Places in the World to play the Sorceress in and that we have a horrible Inquisition here The King entred the Room at that moment so the Queen rising up told him with a chearful Air that she had two Sorceresses to shew him and that the Dutchess de Pastrane and I had divined the Mystery of her white Habit. The King although in all appearance he seemed to be in a good Humour looked so angrily upon us and particularly upon my self whom he knew to be a French-Woman that I made a profound Reverence and went immediately out of the Queen's Apartment An Order was here published to raise the price of Money which was reduced to a fourth part of its value Although the Duke de Medina Celi was indisposed yet he did not neglect to inform himself diligently of every thing that happened and he was not a little troubled to hear that the Plague began to rage again at Port St. Mary The Scarcity and Poverty of this Country was so extreamly great that several Persons died daily for Want And the Duke de Medina-Cidonia was obliged to send Corn from Andaluzia thither The Misery was not less at Naples The Pope's Nuncio by his Holiness's Order Summoned the Superiours of all the Regular Houses hither to oblige them to give the City some Relief in Corn. They granted two in a hundred of their Revenue and it was hoped that what with this Money and what with the
from publick favour and admiration to publick hatred This rule which generally holds aâ— all â—imes and in all places did not fail to be accomplished in the person of Don Iuan. Most people were concerned to see what harsh usage he gave the Queen and could not forbear to accuse his obstinacy for refusing to enter Madrid till the Queen was gone out and on her way to Toledo He was not content with this affront that he put upon her at his first appearance but to humble her still the more he added another that was full as mortifying he descended into a severe examination of her past conduct the particulars of which had not the least relation to the present state of affairs and only tended to defame her This Princess suffered with an incredible grief a treatment so unbefitting her high Quality and so injurious to her reputation but all other ways of shewing her resentments were denied her and she had nothing left to exercise save only her patience and virtue But several persons of Quality that were still linked to her whether out of affection or duty could not without a sensible affliction behold the oppression she lay under They generally spoke of it with heat and indignation and spread abroad a report that altho Don Iuan was no legitimate Prince yet he flattered himself that he should one day become absolute Master of the Monarchy Abundance of people maintained the contrary alledging that he was never guilty of such a design and that if he had been capable of harbouring any such thoughts he might easily have succeeded in them by the assistance of his own party which was very numerous and by his own power that the King was but fifteen years old and besides was equally destitute of authority and experience What occasioned this suspicion was his establishing of some innovations that were never practised by any Minister before him One that made the greatest noise was this that in his Chamber of Audience he would neither give the right Hand nor a Seat to the Ambassadors At first they shewed themselves extreamly disobliged at it but at last the Nuncio and the other foreign Ministers submitted to this Rule and visited him without difficulty The Queen's Creatures made a greater bustle about this affair than even the Ambassadors themselves who were only concerned in it and whether they discoursed of it with too much freedom or Don Iuan only suspected their private sentiments he caused several of them to be banished Among the rest were the Admiral of Castile the Duke d' Ossone the Prince de Stillano the Marquess de Mansera the Count d' Humanez the Count d' Aquillar and the Marquess de Mondejar The last of whom was accused for making the following Verses but they were mistaken in the Author for they were written by the Admiral who was a person of extraordinary wit Vn frayle y una Corona Vn Duque y uâ— Cartelesta An dubleron la lista De la bella Calderona Baylo y alguno blasona Que de quantos han entrado En ' la danca ha averiguado Quien Ilezo el prez del bayle Pero yo atingome al frayle Y quiero perder doblado I have here translated these Verses into English altho it is certain they have nothing of the bel air and Spirit the Spanish have Fair Calderona the pride of the Stage In her youth did with many a Lover engage Dukes Actors and Kings in spight of their state And Monks so demure on her Triumphs did wait The kind coming Nymph as besitted her station Receiv'd the Addresses of half the Creation And very well knew as Sh' had reason enough Who plaid his Cards surest and came the best off As for me without giving my Wherefore or Why The Monk the fat Monk did the business say I. De tan santa Confradia Procidio un hijo fatal Y coco al maâ— principal La pension de la obua pial Claro esta que les diera Lo que qui siesse su Madre Pero no haura a quien no quadro Vna rason que si offrece Mirese a quien parece Porque aquel sera su Padre Sole tiene uâ—a Sefial De nuestro Rey Soberano Que en nada pone la mano Que no le succeda mal A ca perdio a Portugal En las Dunas su aroganciae Dio tantos triumphos a Francia Que es cosa de admiracion Que dar tanta perdicion En un hijo de ganancia Mande pues Carlos secundo Ber si le huvo sin recelo El Rey que viâ—â—el Cielo De unia muger del munda En misterio tan presundo Solo puedo deâ—ir yo Que por suyo le jusgo Mas si contodo es estrasio No sea el primer engasio Que Felipe padecio In this Blessed Conjunction a Bantling was got And the King as best able did pay for the shot He got him nurst up in a little blind quarter And had it been the mode there wou'd have giv'n him a Garter The Politick Dame â—o Iilting well used With a thousand strange stories her Lovers amus'd But we that have no inclinations to flatter Are resolved to be rul'd by our Eyes in the matter And him for the Brat's real Father we 'll find Whom most he resembles in Body or Mind Of our late piouâ— Monarch no marks he retains But a constant ill conduct ill luck and no brains Through him all our hopes were in Portugal crost And Dunkirk alas by his folly was lost The Plague of our Counsels and Cause of our Woes Fresh losses attend him where ever he goos Well Fortune I 'll call thee a Strumpet no more For wer 't thou in truth and in earnest a Whâ—re Thou oughtst to have favour'd him more than another And shown him respect for the sake of his Mother Let Charles send an Envoy to the Mansions above And let the late King all our doubts to remove Tell us whether he 'll 〈◊〉 Don John for his Son Since more were conceâ—â—d as the runner does run His Mother we know was a good natur'd Dance That strove to oblige all Strangers that came If Philip at last in his judgment was gull'd Pray is this the first time that the Monarch was fool'd En sus definios penetro Por una y por otra acion Que no tiem otra entencion Don Iuan que empefiar el Cetro Abrenuncio vade retro Hi de Dame para el Reyno Enrique y a un fiel Noble y valiante le admira Hasta el dia de oy suspira La Lealtad porel cruel OCarlos gran Rey de Espana No te espantes ni te admire Que el mundo todo suspire Con oppression tan estrana Noes porque el pueblo engana El pretexto del rumor Si no que es tanto el aemor De la plebe lastimosa Es solo ana vos quexosa Que les oprime el dolor By his Conduct 't is plain both to Country
tenderness and importunity she was not able to succeed in her desires He diverted himself every day with hunting and seeing Comedies either at Pardo or Zarzuela which are two Houses of Pleasure belonging the King of Spain The Opera d' Alcine was represented before him it cost a world of mony but was miserably performed There was likewise a Bull-feast kept where two young Cavaliers unfortunately perished On the following day there was running at the ring About this time the Prince de Ligne arrived and a day or two after kissed his Majestys hand and took his place at the Council of State Father Francis de Relux a Dominican came likewise from Salamanca where he had been Professor of Divinity and was chosen by Don Iuan to be the Kings Confessor The Duke of Alva had engaged that he should submit himself intirely to Don Iuan's will who accepted him upon his parole At this time the Cardinal de Portacarero Archbishop of Toledo returned from Rome The Court at Madrid was very full and numerous On the twentieth of Ianuary the King of France named the Marquess de Villars to be his Ambassador in Spain who was at that time under the same Character at Savoy He was known to the Court of Spain for in the year 1673. he resided there in quality of Ambassador he arrived at Madrid on the seventeenth of Iune and those persons that were well acquainted with the disposition of Don Iuan very much doubted whether he would meet with that reception which he might reasonably promise himself they knew well enough that the natural haughtiness of Don Iuan would never comply with the instructions of that Minister who to be sure would never go to visit the Prince unless he were assured beforehand of receiving the honour of the Hand the Step and the Chair that Don Iuan would never consent to this proposal because it was not to be imagined that he would easily give up the rights he had obtained over the other Ambassadors and that it would be an inconvenient thing for him of France not to treat directly with the chief Minister What people surmised upon this occasion really happened for the Prince would not bate him an ace and the Marquess de Villars kept fast to his instructions Therefore they looked upon one another with great coldness but nevertheless this did not hinder the Ambassador from having a private Audience of the King on the eighth of Iuly and a publick one a little after upon the conclusion of his Marriage with Mademoiselle Don Iuan had three fits of a Tertian Ague towards the beginning of Iuly On the thirteenth the Secretary of the Marquess de los Balbazez arrived who brought word that the King had consented to the marriage of Mademoiselle with the King of Spain Nothing is equal to the joy that he shew'd upon this account for he had expected the news with the greatest impatience He ordered Te Deum to be sung at our Ladies d' Atocha all the Houses in the City were illuminated with white Wax Tapers and Bonefires were to be seen in every street An hundred and fifty Cavaliers of the best Families in the Kingdom performed a Masquerade on horse-back that consisted only of some embroiderie Tiffany Ribbons and Feathers for they were apparalled in black as they used to be but were not masqued at all After this manner they ran all night every man carrying a Flambeaux in his hand all these divertisements lasted three days and three nights A Courier arrived soon after who brought the contract of the King's marriage this was soon communicated to the Queen Mother who exprest a great deal of joy at it The Ratification was presently sent back and Bonefires were made as before While the people did thus endeavour to express their zeal to the King the servants of the Queen Mother were busied in finding out some means or other to advance her return The Marquess de Villars had refused to follow the example of the other Ambassadors in the conduct they used towards Don Iuan upon the occasion of those new customs which they suffered him to establish and this seemed a favourable opportunity to perswade the enemies of the Prince that Monsieur de Villars had some secret instructions which were not favourable to him They flattered themselves immediately with the hopes of making him one of their party and believed it would extreamly strengthen their own side if they could once bring him over to them Upon this consideration the greater part of the Courtiers applauded him mightily for his constancy and made him abundance of complements upon that score He was respected at Madrid and had the good fortune to find out several of his friends again and the Queen Mother shewed a particular esteem for him She gave him a very obliging proof of this when he came to wait upon her at Toledo for after publick Audience was over she was pleased to entertain him in private about her own Affairs and testified what an entire confidence she reposed in him But altho several proposals were made to him to be of a party against the Prince and besides his own natural disposition led him to espouse the quarrel of those persons who opposed a Minister whose civilities he had no great reason to applaud yet he was of opinion that in this present conjuncture it would be his best way to remain Neuter He considered still that the marriage of the King of Spain with Mademoiselle would bring along with it some agreements that were not to be expected before the arrival of that Princess that it was a sure unfailing way to oppose one power to another that this young Princess would never suffer theMinister of France to be run down in that Court where she was to become the Mistress and sole delight that it was certain she would link her self to the interests of the Queen Mother that the most Christian Queen who loved both the one and the other very affectionately would be sure to give her this in charge before her departure amongst the other counsels which she was always to observe that their credit being united together and seconded by all those persons that desired another Government Don Iuan would without question find himself obliged to give way Most persons reasoned after the same manner upon this affair and encouraged one another to stand firm against the Favourite they now began to speak those things aloud which before they were almost afraid to mutter in private they complained of him and importuned the King to call the Exiles home and openly promoted the return of Queen Mother Don Iuan was now more disquieted than ever the appearance only of his fall had prevailed with several persons who ought to have been his Creatures to abandon him for good and all and as for those that remained they had neither authority nor merit enough to support him He could scarce find any comfort but when he was alone but this sort of conduct
the Marquess very haughtily This dispute obliged the Queen to take Coach again She lay that night at Tolosette where as soon as she was arrived the Duke d' Ossone arrested the Guard who had abused his Coachman because he would not suffer the Coach of the Marquess d' Astorgas to go before his This quarrel was renewed upon the discharging of their Offices the Marquess pretended that all the honours of the Queens Reception belonged to him the Duke maintained that he being Master of the Horse ought therefore to have all the pre-eminences in her House To decide the matter they were forced to write to the King about it who decided it in favour of the Marquess The Duke not thinking himself justly dealt with continued his pretensions still but this obstinacy drew an Order upon him to return to Madrid with a prohibition to pass through Burgos where the King was at that time In effect the King left Madrid on the twenty second of October being but slenderly accompanied The Duke de Medina Celi Lord Chamberlain the Constable and Don Ioseph de Silva were all three in his Coach as for the Admiral of Castile he did not go along with them for he pretended that for want of mony he was not in a capacity to fit out an answerable equipage there might indeed be something of truth in this pretence but it is certain that his natural laziness was the real occasion he loved his pleasure he shunned all trouble and carefully avoided whatever might make him uneasie and this was the true reason why he did not meet the King and Queen till they were within a days journey of Madrid The King continued fifteen days at Burgos because he was extreamly troubled with a Cold in the mean time the Queen advanced forwards by small journeys She wrote to him several times and he answered her again Her Majesty was forced to send to him to demand leave to dine in publick and sometime to ride on Horseback for those two terrible Creatures the Marquess d' Astorgas and the Camarera Major would not consent to it till they had received positive Orders He granted it very freely and she sent to him in this place a Watch beset with Diamonds and a Cravat with a Knot of a fire colour He immediately put on the Cravat and ordered five hundred Pistols to be given to the Gentleman who brought him the Present The Count d' Altamire Grandee of Spain came to Ognate to complement the Queen from the King and presented her with Bracelet of Diamonds and Rubies She arrived on the eleventh to Victoria where a lamentable Comedy was prepared to Regale her There it was that she drest her self first a l' Espagnolle and she appeared no less beautiful and charming in that than in her French Habit. She went likewise to the Great Church where the Bishop of Calahorra received her at the Gate and held the Canopy over her she afterwards was pleased to go and see a Bull-feast in the Market-place but there was little or no magnificence in the sight because it was only performed by Citizens She received in this place a pair of Pendants for the Ears with Pearls to them of a Pear fashion this present was sent to her from the Queen Mother and was valued at four hundred thousand Livers Monsieur the Ambassador of France came to wait upon her at Bribiesca and tho he tarried but a little time with her and their Conversation was but short yet he could very easily observe that she exprest a great uneasiness and a particular distrust of him he could not penetrate into the reason of it however he presently judged that these dispositions were not natural to her he told her several things that might be serviceable to her he advised her not to amuse her self with the different impressions that any persons might endeavour to make upon her that she ought to consider that the greatest part of those that waited on her only minded their own proper interests that her surest way would be to love the King cordially and so by that means engage him to love her to unite her self to the Queen Mother and concert all affairs with her that she ought to rest satisfied that that Princess had a great kindness for her and that if she took care to make suitable returns she would find the affections of a true Mother in her The young Queen was already prepared for this discourse and particularly for what concerned the Queen Mother She had been tampered with upon that point before but if she had seriously examined what he spoke to her she had soon been made sensible as she was a person of extraordinary wit that the Ambassador dealt plainly with her and that whoever perswaded her to the contrary endeavoured to disunite her from her real interests He took his leave of her and went back to the King at Burgos and during this short time he had the honour to discourse with her she still entertained him with great coldness and indifferency The Prince d' Harcourt was advanced as far as Burgos to salute the King and since the Queen was to come to Quintanapalla which is within three leagues of it it was generally supposed that she would come to lie there on the nineteenth of November and that the Ceremony of the Marriage would be there solemnized But the Marquess de Villars having met as he was coming back the Patriarch of the Indies who was going to meet the Queen it came immediately into his head that the Marriage might perhaps be consummated without his being informed of it this thought made him inquire the news of Don Geronimo d' Eguya Secretary of State who only told him that the Queen was expected the next day at Burgos This doubtful answer which had nothing positive in it obliged our Ambassador to inform himself still more particularly and he understood at last that the King was to go the next day to Quintanapalla to celebrate the Marriage Being assured of this he took care to send advice of it to the Prince d' Harcourt and they departed together soon enough to be with the Queen before the King arrived thither When they came there they found it no difficult matter to discover that the Spaniards desired to have the Marriage solemnized without them The Camarera Major who was altogether of that opinion and to whom they spoke with abundance of honest freedom told them coldly that they were not to assist at the Ceremony and that the King would have no body be there except only those whose presence was indispensably necessary such as the chief Officers and some Gentlemen of the Bed-Chamber The Prince d' Harcourt and the Marquess de Villars answered that the King their Master had given them Orders to be present at it She fiercely replied that the King their Master had nothing to do to command in Spain Monsieur de Villars told her that the King his Master was used to
time to go to the Escurial All the Ladies of the Court and Six Women of the Bed-Chamber Accompanied the Queen The Marquess de Villa Maina Chief Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber and the Marquess de Astorgas Grand Master of the Houshold went along with her As for the Duke de Ossone who was Master of the Horse to her he tarried at Madrid upon the Account of a New Disgust he had received at Court The King was willing that the Queen should ride on Horse-back to take a few turns in the Walks of the Meadows and to meet him as he came from hunting She had Four Fits of an Ague but the following ones were so gentle that she was able to get up a few days after and divert her self as she had used to do ever since her Arrival to the Escurial The King who was altogether taken up with the Pleasures of hunting pursued the Sport from Sun rising till Night One day he ordered a Chase to be prepared after the German manner they had Toils which inclosed a great quantity of Ground and here with their Guns they killed above two hundred Bucks or Does The Queen was at first desirous to be there but being informed after what manner they used these poor Creatures she imagined that such a sight would rather give her occasion to employ her Pity than afford her any Pleasure The King in all his Chases generally took no more with him than the first Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber and the Great Forrester he loved to find himself alone in vast Solitudes and sometimes it was a long while before they could find him When he hunted after the German manner he would be accompanied by the Duke de Medina Celi and the Marquess de Grana At his return the Chief Minister following the King to the Queen's Apartment found that her Majesty did not cast her Eyes upon him he immediately penetrated into the Reason of this Alteration he found in the Queen's Behaviour for to say the truth she was displeased with him for disswading his Majesty to expedite a Parent for a Government in the Indies which he had granted to her But when the Duke knew it he told the King That the Queen begged this Grace of him at the intreaty of one of the Women of her Bed-Chamber who was a French Woman who would get considerably by it when in the mean time twelve thousand Pistols were offered for it The King thought it was the best way to take this Sum and after this would not hear the least Word of dispatching the Patent as he had promised But what provoked the Queen infinitely more was the Conduct he had used in her Absence towards the Constable Colonna's Lady The Dutchess de Medina Celi had passed her Word to the Queen as in her Husband's Name That during the stay her Majesty made at the Escurial nothing should be done to the prejudice of this Lady Notwithstanding these Assurances upon which she depended she was carried away from Madrid and by an Order from the King confined to the Casâ—le of Segovia To begin this Story from its Original the Reader is to know that this Lady was Niece to the late Cardinal Mazarine She brought a very considerable Fortune with her at her Marriage and perhaps the Family of the Colonna's had sunk very low without this seasonable Relief After she had passed the happiest and most pleasant part of her Life at Rome where she always appeared in great Pomp and Splendor having the liberty to live after the French Fashion and according to all Appearances seeming to be content with her Fortune She withdrew all on the sudden without so much as knowing the Reason of it her self through the ill Counsels of some Persons who hazarded not a little upon her Account in making her hazard every thing on her side So that she departed privately with the Dutchess of Mazarine her Sister They had disguised themselves so well that none knew them when they took Shipping And thus they arrived safely in France The Constable Colonna's Lady hoped to find here a Sanctuary against her Husband and some vain flattering Idea's that were not as yet perfectly extinguished in her Heart served to perswade her that she should be well received at Court but so far was she from meeting any Encouragement to make her Appearance there that she was prohibited by the King to come there I have heard her say That she resented this Treatment with so sensible a Grief that she was like to have died of it After this she went to Turin where she made a short stay and the uneasiness of her Mind led her at last to Flanders There she happened to find the Marquess de Borgomaine of the House of Este in whom she reposed an intire Confidence without remembring that he was rather a Friend to her Husband than to her self He flattered her in all her Projects in order to amuse her and to gain time till he might receive Advice from the Constable how to dispose of her for he had sent him a Letter by a Courier for that purpose to inform him that his Wife was at Brussels and in Answer to it the Constable earnestly desired him to Seize and Apprehend her He acquitted himself immediately of his Commission and carried her to a Convent from whence she was not to depart unless she would consent to be Shipt for Spain as they desired her When she was at Madrid she delay'd upon several Pretences to take the Religious Habit upon her she loved her Liberty and was desirous still to enjoy it But The Constable being informed of her Arrival sent Don Fernand de Colonna his Natural Brother with Letters to the King and the Ministers wherein he beseech'd them that either by fair means or Violence they would oblige his Lady to enter into a Convent This Necessity seemed very hard to her nevertheless she submitted to it and retired to the Monastery de Santo Domingo el Real upon Condition That if she happened to come out of it she would consent that the King should restore her to her Husband She continued there a long time and sometimes in an Evening she escaped out with one of her Women and often went to walk on Foot in a White Mantle in the Prado where she met with several pleasant Adventures because most of the Women that come there are Ladies-Adventurers and some Ladies of the best Quality at Court take a mighty pleasure when they can go thither and are not known The Constable Colonna being come to Madrid in his way to Arragon whereof he was Vice-Roy went every day to entertain her at this Grate and I have seen him show those Gallantries to her which a Lover may show to his Mistress He departed in a very good understanding with her but when the Queen made her Entry she having a great desire to behold her Majesty did not imagine they would hold her so strictly to the Word she had given the King
so important an occasion he would always remember him for his Services and that if he did not govern by himself he should at least govern by his Friend In this he found both Repose and Security together he flattered himself with disposing of Favours and being defended from the Aversion of the People These Reflections engaged him to employ all his Wit and all his Credit with the King to declare the Duke his Chief Minister But for all this Obligation which was transcendent and for which he was highly indebted to him he did not act fairly with relation to the Daughter of the Duke de Montalte for altho the Count de Oropeza was her Uncle yet he knew nothing of her Marriage The Marchioness de Los Velez Grand-Mother to this young Lady was no better informed of it they were married privately without any Ceremony for fear least any one should come to disturb the Feast The King and Queen being willing to divert themselves went to Prado to hunt there till St. Andrews Day they came back from thence by reason the Queen-Mother had a slight indisposition upon her and they were desirous to visit her every day About this time Don Philip Vinzani an able Chymist who came from Naples to Madrid with Don Pedro de Arragon received Orders from the Chief Minister to examine the Money which had been cried down some Months before in order to separate the Silver from the Brass It was pretended that the King by this means would get Six Millions of Peices of Eight and that he would employ them to send considerable Forces to Sea for the Pope was willing that the Money which was to be collected by the Bulls of the Crusade should be laid out to equip a Fleet to make War against the Corsairs of Barbary At the same time they were apprehensive that the Vessels sent to the Indies had suffered Shipwrack because they had received Advice that one of them arrived very much shattered at Barbadoes and they could not hear any News of the rest Although it is the Custom of Spain for the King to dine with the Knights of the Golden Fleece on St. Andrew's day his Majesty dispensed with it to take the diversion of Hunting As he came back from Prado towards the Evening the two Queens went out to meet him and conducted him to the Admiral of Castile's House where they had passed the time ever since Noon This Nobleman who was always generous and magnificent being informed that he was to receive this Honour ordered the Basons of several Fountains to be encompassed with large silver Pots filled with all manner of Victuals Flowers and Fruits as the Season produced and the diversity joyned to the Order had a very agreeable effect upon the Eye In all the Summer-houses which terminated the walks there were little Tables set out with pieces of Cristal Agate Cornelian Tapistry of Gold and Vermilion having all sorts of things in Basons after the same manner as the Tables had He got all sorts of Fruit counterfeited particularly of Grapes which hung with their Leaves and Branches in the Grottas they were composed chiefly of little Carbuncles of a Pomgranet colour Topazes and Amethysts and nothing could look finer or prettier The two Queens received a mighty satisfaction at this walk As soon as the King was arrived they went into the House where fifteen Ladies and as many Cavaliers immediately appeared drest after the fashion of the Country The Ladies came at first in their Mantles Tabados that is to say all their Face was covered except one Eye The Cavaliers for their part wore their Cloaks up to their Noses and their Hats over their Eyes this was a sort of Masquerade and to divert their Majesties they talked with their Fingers and by signs for some time with all the several turns and Jestures that are used in this kind of dumb Conversation Afterwards the Ladies quitted their Mantles and the Lords their Cloaks and began to dance a Saraband after the Moorish fashion holding one another with Taffata Skarfs of different colours and quitting them sometimes to carry Flambeaus in their hands The Women wore little Caps on their Heads covered with Plumes that were raised up on the sides very high When the Saraband was finished the Ladies kissed the Queens Hand and the Cavaliers the King 's their Majesties were pleased to declare that they were extreamly satisfied with this pretty Entertainment The Duke de Medina Celi and the Constable of Castile knowing what Honour the King had done the Admiral desired him that he would condescend to come and divert himself at their Houses whither he went along with the two Queens There were Comedies there and Artificial Fire-works and a noble Collation they omitted nothing that might testifie their Joy upon this Occasion and their acknowledgment of so great a Favour On the second of December the King demanded a supply of Mony of all the Councils and a hundred thousand pieces of Eight of the Council of Italy He proposed to fell some Places to raise this Summ because it was impossible to be raised any other way The King being informed that abundance of People died of several Distempers at Port St. Mary which were chiefly occasioned by the great scarcity of Provisions told the Duke de Medina Celi that some way or other must be found out to remedy these Miseries and that he could not endure to hear any more talk of them that they had been of a long standing which made him inclined to believe that all this proceeded from meer negligence The Duke replied that he would not lose one moment to redress them and that if his Life would do the People any good he was free to sacrifice it He went home very melancholy and having retired into his Closet with his Dutchess I have a great desire says he to her to abandon every thing I slave and kill my self here with business and after all meet with nothing but Reproaches for my Pains When you have once brought things into a good Condition says she you may quit them if you please but if you leave them at present all the World will conclude that it is through weakness She added so many reasons to these that she made him take Courage again altho' he was mightily dejected The Marquiss de Priego his Son-in-law being come to Madrid to see him as he entred the Room hit himself a little blow on the Temples against the Edge of a Cabinet he was immediately seized with a bleeding at the Nose and died of it within a short time after Our Ambassador prevailed with the King to give his consent to appoint a Judge Conservator whose only business should be to look after all Affairs relating to the French Nation The business was decided at last in Madrid in favour of Constable Colonna upon the difference he had with the Roman Knights Subjects to the King of Spain about the Priority they pretended to dispute with