the world beleeve but out of vertue and conscience for he was said to hate the very names of such vices more then others do the vices themselfs Whereupon it was said while his Southern brother in law sported in the pavilions of Venus he was busie in the tents of Mars and took Cities faster then the other did Maydenheads He was also temperat in a high degree nor would he ever wrong nature with the least exces or debauchments Moreover he was wonderfully constant in his affection where it was once settled which is rare in Soverain Princes especially in them of that Clime who have such a variety of choice and who have no other ground of fastnesse for their affection but their own fancy Not all the world could alienat his favor from Luynes though the greatest Princes of France did actually attempt to pluck him away from him by Armes nor after him from the Cardinal towards whom his love was in grain and would never lose colour Nor was he constant onely in his affection but to his own ends when once settled and resolv'd upon to attain which he was so actif and hot that when he went about it he not onely apply'd but gave up himself entirely to the thing Furthermore he was marvellously modest in an opinion of himself and so conscious of his own judgement that he resign'd his very faculty of reason and transmitted all his intellectualls to others a high point of prudence for that Prince who steers his course by the Compas of Counsell though he be himself but of indifferent abilities is a far wiser man then he who albeit never so politic and able of himself doth guid his affaires by his own fancy sole opinion being the worst kind of rule in Government And he was as fortunat as judicious in the choice of his Counsellors and chiefest ministers both of State and War He would not send an Ajax where he should employ an Vlysses nor a Saintre where Bouciqualt was fitter for the turn The two last were the most famous men that France ever bred one for the Gown the other for the Sword according to the verse I have read in an old Manuscript Beaucoup plus vaut pour un assault Saintrê que ne fait Bouciquault Beaucoup mieux vaut en un Traicté Bouciquault que ne fait Saintrê Thus unfrench'd and made English Were I to choose for an assault I 'de have Saintrê not Bouciquault Were I to treat then should for me Stand Bouciquault and not Saintrê So many high signall vertues which were naturally inhaerent in him were unquestionably the cause that he prosper'd so much So that 't is a question whom Fortune lov'd better the Father or the Son 'T is true his Father fought four great Battails wherein he prov'd victorious and so may be said to have come to the Crown of France by Conquest as much as by Succession yet all these and other exploits of Henry the Great 's were within the bounds of France and nought els but domestic achievments But France was too narrow a compas to comprehend and confine the exploits of the Thirteenth Lewis for besides thirteen severall Civil Wars in France her self and Navar which he suppress'd and most of them in Person so many Battailes were fought in Spain Italy Savoy amongst the Grisons in Lorain and in high and low Germany He had at one time in the yeers sixteen hundred thirty five and thirty six no lesse then 130000. foot by Land and Sea and 8000. effectif horse in six severall Armies whereas Henry the Great never had above 40000. horse and foot at once in all never any made France know her own strength so much and to find the length of her weapon as this King did He went a horseback betimes for at thirteen yeers of age he suppress'd in Person two Rebellions one in Poitou and another in Britany so that he began to triumph in those yeers that others begin to handle their armes and learn how to sit a horse in an Academy Afterwards he was forc'd to get his Queen by the sword and to bring her into his armes by Armes there being three severall Armies to stop her passage He then repells the English who had so boldly invaded France whereby he gain'd a greater addition of credit and fame then he did by worsting Spaniard Italian or German in regard of the admirable Victories that the English carried home from France in times pass'd by taking one of their warlik'st Kings prisoner and oftentimes by discomfiting whole Troupes with a handfull of men After this he beleaguers takes and batters the chiefest rampart of the Religion the impregnable Town of Rochell after a stupendous siege by Land and Sea where a prodigious Dike was cast up which serv'd as a bit in Neptunes jawes and whereby he may be said to have curb'd all the Elements No sooner had he shaken off the dust of Rochell but behold him cover'd with snow on the horrid Alpian Hills almost in the dead of Winter where he broke open his way with the point of the sword to relieve the Duke of Mantova he got Forts accessibly onely by birds amongst those clowd-topping Hills and so returns triumphant having done the work and overcome the rocks in this expedition as he did the Sea at Rochell He then goes on to perfect that mighty work of reducing his subjects of the Religion to an exact condition of obedience by dismantling their Towns whereof they had neer upon three hundred in France and Navar by casheering their Garrisons and bringing them to relye for the future upon royall favor a work which his five immediat Predecessors attempted to do but could not effect in seventy yeers whereas he did it in far lesse then so many moneths Then behold him Lord of all Lorain and of the greatest part of Alsatia by being Master of Brisach Rhinfeld and other places Then trace him to the Netherlands and you shall find him in the ancient Town of Arras and divers other places his predecessor Francis the First had given for his ransom Lastly look after him tovvards the Pyrenean Mountaines you shall see him boldly invade Spain entring the County of Roussillon like lightning and battering the vvalls of Perpignan which after a tough siege notwithstanding she had above 120. great Cannons and ten strong Bulvvarks he reduc'd to his will whereby he hath redeem'd vvith lead I mean good bullets that Countrey which one of his predecessors morgag'd for gold in times pass'd Thus hath he got three such keys that none of his progenitors not Emperors ever had Perpignan Pignerol and Brisach one to enter Spain the other Italy and the third to rush into Germany at pleasure Look upon him in his City Tovvn Vniversitie and Court at Paris and you shall find him enlarging her skirts and lacing them about vvith nevv vvalls according to the custome of Rome once the great Mistresse of the vvorld vvho upon the encrease of her Empire
LUSTRA LUDOVICI OR THE Life of the late Victorious King of FRANCE LEWIS the XIII And of his CARDINALL de Richelieu DIVIDED INTO SEVEN LUSTRES Consilium Armorum Cardo By IAMES HOWELL Esq. LONDON Printed for Humphrey Moseley and are to be sold at his shop at the Prince's Arms in S. Pauls Church-yard 1646. TO THE GROVVING GLORY OF GREAT BRITAIN The hopes of our Crown and the crown of our Hopes Prince Charles At his Court in Caesaria by vulgar contraction called IERSEY SIR I Present your Highnes with the Life of your Royal Oncle of France A successfull and triumphant King both at home and abroad throughout the whole course of his Raign and that in so constant a degree as if Fortune herself had bin his Companion and Victory his Handmayd They attended Him o're the Alps They usher'd Him o're the Pyreneys They were his Harbingers o're the Rhine and they brought his horses to drink of the Danube They were his Pilots at Sea and they fill'd his sayles upon the Ocean where he was incomparably more powerfull then all his Progenitors Nor would I adventure to expose thus to the present world and transmit to future Ages the Raign of a For rein King had not I bin Spectator of divers of his exploits and had occasion also to make my addresse to his Cardinal for the rest I have labour'd to gather as faithfull instructions and authentic notes as I could and those not upon loose trust or from light persons The Relations which are the ingredients of this Story were not taken at the Porters lodge but above staires and most of them from the Counsell Table and Courts of Parliament This Victorious King began to bear Arms and wear buff about the same yeers that your Highnes did for before he was thirteen He suppress'd in person two Insurrections in Poitou and Britany He quell'd divers more which at last turn'd to his advantage as we find great trees growing towards their full consistence corroborat and take firmer rooting being shaken with tempests by the resistance they make So by debelling so many civill commotions he came to finde his own strength the more and to be fear'd as well as belov'd of his Subjects and a mixture of these two passions make an excellent government For though the strongest Cittadel of a King be his Peoples love and their hearts his best Exchequer yet it is observ'd that Love without Feare commonly turns to Scorn and Fear without Love turns into Hatred In the perusall of this Royal Story if Your Highnes please to observe the circumstances and grounds of some intestin broyles You shall find that divers of them have a neer analogie with these of England for many grew from discontents that the great Convention of the three Estates was discontinued and that France adhaer'd to Spanish Counsels with other resemblances besides Of these and other kind of commotions there happen'd above ten in this Kings Raign Nor is it any news to hear that France hath such fits of distemper or indeed any Countrey else that labours with superfluous humors I mean that swels with exces of people and plentie for as the Natural body when it is too repleat must have some vent just so the Political must have some Evacuations at home or abroad when it is too full and t' will thrive the better upon 't afterward If we cast our eyes upon the great world we shall find restlesse motions reluctations and combatings between the Elements yet we cannot call this any incongruitie or disorder in the frame of things but it tends to the conservation of the whole and may be said to keep Nature herself in action and health That the Earth trembleth the Sea tumbleth that the Aire is alwayes in agitation that 't is rent with thunder coruscations and other Meteorological impressions that all the Elements are in an incessant feud it is for the Vniversal good and to keep things vigorous and fresh So in Man who is the microcosm the little world and made up of elements there be passions and humors which are in perpetuall reluctance within him and so break out into tumults preliations and war And where this war is well grounded 't is wholsom and the victories that are acquir'd thereby are Decreta Caeli the Decrees of Heaven but in an ill grounded war they are no other then Faelicia Scelera fortunat villanies Moreover to transcend the Elements if we mark the course of the heavenly bodies themselfs there are crosse motions amongst them they are in perpetuall revolutions and circumgyrations nay there are branlings and trepidations amongst them which yet the wisest of Philosophers held to be no other then an harmonious sound and sweet regular symphony And as the gran Vnivers runs thus alwayes round and carryeth all bodies after it So Man who is part or rather the Epitome thereof specially in reference to his actions may be said to dance in a circle For there is not any thing now acted but may be parallell'd and exemplified by some Age or other Therefore among other excellent fruits of Story this is none of the least to put one off from wondring at any thing because he meets with precedents and patterns of all sorts in former times He that wil observe how some of the great Roman Emperors were content to live in Capreae a petty Island how the Princes of Italy fled to the Lakes of Venice for safetie how some of our Kings to the Isle of Man how Charles the seventh had no other town to keep his Court in but Bourges in Berry one of the smallest Provinces in all France which made him call'd a good while King of Berry with a world of such examples will nothing wonder that your Highnes keeps his Court now at Iersey Nor is this present Story a plain down-right confus'd narration of things for to compile such a work is as easie as to make fagots or to trusse up a bundle of straw but besides other observations and excursions that which the Author chiefly aymes at is to make the method of providence in dispensing judgements and to make a research of the causes of them de longue main for they seldom come immediatly one upon another but many yeers and sometimes a whole age intervenes between the judgement and the cause Furthermore I have bin carefull in this Story to vindicat England touching the circumstance of some traverses of State and War twixt Her and France during this Kings Raign which are misreported by the French Chroniclers there will be other censures found here besides but this I have done as he that kill'd the Serpent upon the childs head without touching his body It remains that I implore your Highne's pardon not for the subject of this work because 't is rich and royal but for the forme thereof if it be not found adaequat to the height of the matter according to the desires and endeavours of Your Highne's most obedient most loyal and
sent to the King Condé to make his quarrel more colourable and being heightned by the said Arrest of the Parliament of Paris added divers Articles more to his Manifesto viz. 1. That further research be made for the assassinat of Henry the Great 2. That a reformation be made of the Kings Counsell 3. That the grievances of the three Estates be answer'd with divers other They of the Religion were yet Neutrals and thinking to fish in these troubled waters propos'd these high demands 1. That the independence of the French Crown be declar'd 2. That the Counsell of Trent be never publish'd in this Kingdom 3. That his Majesty shall be desir'd to declare that upon his Coronation oath for extirpation of heresies he understood not or comprehended his subjects of the Religion 4. That in all public Acts it shall be inserted no more the pretended reform'd Religion but only Religion 5. That their Ministers shall be payed by the King c. These with divers other Propositions were first made at Grenoble where the King permitted them to Assemble but Lesdigueres could not endure them there therefore they remov'd to Nismes and thence to Rochell notwithstanding that the King commanded the contrary The Prince of Condé had an Agent in the Assembly who much press'd them to enter into the ligue with him which they did at last and writ a Letter to the King of the cause of their conjunction with Condé And as the King was importun'd by them of the Religion one way so was he sollicited by the Roman Catholiques of Bearn on the other side that his Majesty would please to restablish them in the possession of their goods whereof they were depriv'd by Iane d'Albret his paternal granmother Amongst these counter-distractions there came news unto the King that the 6000. Suisses which he had from the Protestant Cantons had quitted his pay and party and return'd to their own Countrey by the perswasion and practises of them of the Religion Madame the Kings sister being recover'd He went to Bourdeaux where the Spanish Ambassadour came to demand her for the Prince of Castile The Duke of Guise had a Procuration to marry her the next day which he did the Cardinal of Sourdis officiating and the pietie of the King much appear'd in the ceremony because he commanded the Cardinals Chaire should be put on a higher ground then his The same day the Duke of Lerma married the Infanta of Spain in Burgos for the King of France These nuptial ceremonies being perform'd Madame now Princesse of Castile departed from Bourdeaux conducted by the Duke of Guyse and in regard a rumor ran that they of the Religion as also the Count of Grammont with others who were said to have ligu'd with Condé had way-laid the young Bride the King commanded all the Regiment of his gard to attend her putting himself in the interim in the hands of them of Bourdeaux The exchange of the two Princesses was made upon a river call'd Bidasso hard by St. Iohn de Luz which separats those two mightie Kingdoms there were two stately Barges to waft them the Spaniards on their side had a huge vast globe representing the world rais'd upon a pavilion very high which made an ostentous shew The Duke of Guise took exception at it and protested he would never bring o're the Princesse till it was taken down which was done accordingly The next day the young Queen came to Bayon where Luynes then favorit to the King attended her with a Letter all written by the King himself in these words Madame since I cannot according to my desire find my self neer you at your entrance into my Kingdom to put you in possession of the power I have as also of my entire affection to love and serve you I send towards you Luynes one of my confident'st servants to salute you in my name and tell you that you are expected by Me with much impatience to offer unto you my Self I pray therefore receive him favorably and to beleeve what he shall tell you Madame from your most deer friend and servant Lewis Luynes deliver'd her also from the King two rich Standards of Diamonds which she receiv'd and kiss'd and from her table at Supper She sent a dish of meat unto him In the morning She return'd this Answer to the King Sir I much rejoyc'd at the good news Luynes brought Me of your Majesties health I come therewith being most desirous to arrive where I may serve my Mother and so I am making hast to that purpose and to kisse your Majesties hand whom God preserve as I desire Anne Being come afterwards to Bourdeaux they both receiv'd the nuptial benediction in magnificence according to the qualitie of the act and the persons and medals were made and thrown up and down with this Motto aeternae foedera Pacis pledges of eternal peace but the Poet that made that peece of verse for a Motto was no good Prophet for the eternal peace he spoake of lasted not many yeers between the two nations who notwithstanding that nature hath conjoyn'd them neer enough in point of local distance there being but a small river whereon the two Princesses were exchang'd that severs them yet there is no two people on earth are further asunder and more differing in disposition affections and interests being herein right Antipodes one to the other By this alliance is verified the saying of the Italian that Kings may wed but kingdoms never It appears also hereby what a hard destiny and sorry condition attends the daughters of Soverain Princes who are commonly made sacrifices of State and oblations for Politicall respects being also to be maried to aliens and oft-times to husbands of a different Religion they are wood by Proxy they must choose by picture fancy upon trust and tied in a knot indissoluble to one they never saw but in effigie perchance and afterwards they must be contented to be unpatriated disterr'd and as it were banish'd for ever from their own sweet native soyle and the ayr they first breath'd yet as the Civilian saith although they are the end of the House whence they come they are the beginning of that wherein they enter While the King was celebrating his nuptials in his town of Bourdeaux by divers inventions and exercises of pastime and pleasure as masks tilting playes bals and dances Condé with his Confederats leads another kind of dance up and down France but while he danc'd and revell'd thus the poore Countrey sung lachrymae being pitifully oppress'd torn and harass'd in most parts there being six or seven armies in motion on both sides he encreas'd mightily by concourse of partisans by conjunction of them of the Religion and by divers successfull rencounters The King on the other side was at a very low ebb having exhausted that two millions and a half of liures he had taken himself in person out of the Bastile and being put to hard shifts to get money to
should be a generall peace now 'twixt the French people because of the businesse of the Valtolin where the Spaniard had a purpose to block out France in all places towards Italy which was very necessary to be prevented so that it was not fit to enfeeble France at this time by attempting to extinguish them of the Religion and to plunge the whole Countrey in an intestine war for it was as if one would cut off his left hand with the right This last counsell took more with the King and so he left no way unessayed to reunite all his subjects Hereupon to content the Reformists he caus'd their Temples to be reedified he appointed 60000. Franks for the payment of their Ministers and permitted them to call a Synod at Charenton with divers other acts of compliance provided that on their part they should entertain no strangers for preachers nor admit Ministers into politic Assemblies In these difficulties and anxious traverses of things the King made the Cardinal of Richelieu his principall Minister of State chiefe of his Counsell and Director generall under his authority in the government of the State He made this election by the advice of the Queen Mother principally nor was it an improper choice for the party had a concurrence of high abilities in him answerable to that transcendent trust and he prov'd as will appear by the sequele of things a succesfull Instrument though many doubt whether his Counsel was as succesfull to France as it was fatall to the rest of Christendom which he hath plung'd in an eternall war touching this we leave the Ingenious Reader a freedom of censure according as his judgement shall be guided by an unpartiall and unbiass'd relation of matters as they ly connected in the ensuing part of this story Thus our third Lustre concludes with the commencement of Richelieus greatnes The fourth Lustre of the Life of Lewis the thirteenth VVE began the last lustre with the espousals of the Lady Christina second daughter of France with the Prince of Piemont this begins with the mariage of the Lady Henriette Marie de Bourbon the yongest Royall branch of Henry the Great and this was the first great act that the Cardinal of Richelieu performed after he was come to the superintendency of affairs of State France had two causes of perpetuall apprehensions of fear one external th' other internal The still growing greatnesse of Spain without and They of the Religion within doors which were made frequent use of by any discontented Princes upon all occasions and were cryed up by the Jesuits to be as Matches to set France on fire at any time Therefore the first gran dessein that he projected with himself was to clip their wings and diminish their strength by dismantling their Cautionary Towns and making them dismisse their Garrisons The Cardinal knew the King his Master did not affect them since the Treaty at Lodun wherein they forc'd him to put another interpretation upon his Coronation Oth then his conscience did dictat unto him or the Prelat who administred it unto him meant which appear'd in a churlish answer that he gave them not long after when he was solicited to prolong the terme of holding their Cautionary Towns as Henry the Third and Henry the Great his father had done Which answer was That what grace the first did shew you was out of fear what my father did was out of love but I would have you know that I neither fear you nor love you To compasse that great work of taking from them their Garrison Towns it was thought very expedient to secure forren Princes from assisting them specially England and the united Provinces Touching the latter they were charm'd with money for in a fresh Treaty the King accorded them a million of Franks and six hundred thousand Franks every one of the two yeers next ensuing which they were to re-inburse the next two yeers that they should conclude a peace or truce with Spain The Holland-Ambassadors who were employed in this Treatie did promise the King that there should be libertie of conscience given the Catholiks at his Majesties request That the States should associat the French with them in the commerce of the Indies give them some choice ports for traffic and repaire some depraedations they had made by sea but the money being once got there was little care taken to perform these promises which were no more then parol engagements or rather complements whereupon an Ambassador was expressely sent to complain hereof but he effected little To secure England from succouring Them of the Religion the first overture that the Erl of Holland made for an alliance was yeelded unto to whom the Erl of Carlile was sent in joynt commission to conclude it The King told them that he took it for an honour that they sought his sister for the sole sonne of so illustrious a King his neighbour and Allie onely he desir'd that he might send to Rome to have the Popes consent for better satisfaction of his conscience and in the mean time the English Ambassadors might send for a more plenary power to England so in lesse then the revolution of nine moons this great businesse was propos'd poursued and perfected whereas the Sun ran his carreer through the Zodiac ten times before that Spain could come to any point of perfection This may serve to shew the difference twixt the two Nations the leaden heel'd pace of the one and the quicksilver'd motions of the other it shewes also how the French is more round and frank in his proceedings not so full of scruples reservations and jealousies as the Spaniard And one reason that the Statists of the time alledg'd why Spain amus'd the English and protracted the Treaty of the Match so long was that all the daughters of France might be first married to prevent an alliance 'twixt England and her There was a concurrence of many things that favor'd the effecting and expediting of this alliance some previous Offices and Letters of invitation from France wherein there were strains of extraordinary endearments wherewith the King of Great Britain corresponded also in an unusuall stile as appears by this Letter following Most high most excellent and most puissant Prince Our most deer and most beloved good Brother Cousen and ancient Ally Although the deceased King of happy memory was justly call'd Henry the Great for having re-conquer'd by arms his Kingdom of France though it appertain'd unto him as his proper inheritance Yet you have made now a greater conquest for the Kingdom of France though it was regain'd by the victorious arms of your dead father it was his de jure and so he got but his own But you have lately carried away a greater victory having by your two last Letters so full of cordiall courtesies overcome your good Brother and ancient Ally and all the Kingdoms appertaining unto him for We acknowledge Our self so conquer'd by your more then
and prudence who to the wonder of all the world had the comfort of two sons after two and twentie yeers expectation And to that benediction hath another now added to have not only the sole government of them but the supreme sway of that huge Monarchy which She is like to continue about nine yeers longer A just recompence from heaven for her so long patience as also for her wise comportment and moderation in refraining utterly to intermeddle with any the least matters of State while She remain'd under covert Baron Touching other circumstances of this Kings death with his constitution of body and disposition of mind you shall find it in the ensuing Corollary or Character Thus ends the Life and Raign of Lewis the thirteenth A COROLLARY ADDED TO THE LIFE of LEVVIS the Thirteenth ANd thus have we attended this Great King from the Womb to the Tomb from the Funt to his Funerall from Fountainbleau to Saint Denis Our story hath waited on him in his child-hood in his nonage and so ascended from his majority to his Meridian not leaving him tills he had clos'd his eyes at Saint Germans which was a good while too soon considering the ordinary longitude of time that is allowed man to live amongst the Elements for he reach'd not unto forty three yeers compleat which in some constitutions is accounted but the noontyde of virility In so much that when I consider the frame of his body and the actions of his life I find that he had more obligations to Fortune then to Nature yet was he of a comely middlesiz'd proportion of a spare but cleer making and though not strenuous or robust yet active enough and patient of toyle for he would be most commonly in the head of some of his Armies himself and take very much pains to drill and disciplin his Troups in his own Person and sit twelve howers together on horseback He was of a soft complexion though black hair'd which turn'd gray before he came to thirty yeers which put him to his dy and the reason that Nature did thus outrun Time in him was that she had not given him a competence of radicall moisture for seldom came any humidities from him from mouth or nostrill nor was he subject to sweat though he would agitat his body often in tough exercises as hunting the wild Bore and other sports wherein he would be earnest Divers eminent vertues did cohabit in him as piety in his way chastity temperance and constancy Touching the first two they shin'd in him with such a strength and lustre that his example might have had power enough to give law to all mankind cast the world into a new mould had it bin capable of reformation He was pious in an intense degree for though he was not known to be subject to any Vice yet would he be on his knees to his ghostly father every week rather to refresh as one said then to clense his conscience by confession nor in his prayers had he as much cause to ask for pardon as for perseverance defects he had but scarce any faults those rayes which enlightned his brain from above descended to his breast and became fire so fervent he us'd to be in his way of devotion when but a youth he went to the Countrey of Bearn at his entrance to Pau the Inhabitants bringing a Canopy to carry over his head he ask'd whether there was ever a Church in Town and being answer'd no he said He would receive no honor in that place where God Almighty had no House to be honour'd in And into all other Towns where he entred as Conqueror he would give expresse command that none should cry out Vive le Roy during the time of Procession When the Queen now Regent found her self quick he caus'd a solemn Declaration to be publish'd wherein he made the blessed Virgin Protectresse under the Holy Trinity of all his estates all which he consecrated to Her and for an immortall mark of this consecration he commanded the great Altar in the Cathedrall Church of Paris to be built anew with the Image of the Virgin which should hold in her armes that of our Saviour and the King to ly prostrat before the Son and Mother offring them his Crown and Scepter The Archbishop of Paris was enjoyn'd to commemorat this Declaration once every yeer upon Assumption day at the high Altar in the Morning and that in the Evening a generall Procession should be made wherein the Provost of Paris and all the soverain companies should be assistant with the Court of Parlement this command extended to all other Archbishops and Bishops throughout France that they should in every Cathedrall Church erect one speciall Altar for the Virgin Mary for this end and in commemoration of this act to perpetuity Many other instances could be produc'd what a great Zelot he was in the Religion and Ceremonies of Rome but the adding of one more shall suffice which was that when the old Marshall de la Force was admitted to see him a little before he expir'd he told him from his death-bed That he thought God Almighty suffer'd him meaning the Marshall to live so long upon earth expecting his conversion as he had done that of Lesdiguieres He put out sundry Proclamations against Swearers against Pride in apparell for he himself went usually very plain as also against Duells and the last was so strict that both the appellant and defendant whosoever did survive should suffer death without mercy and be depriv'd of Christian buriall but both rot upon the gallowes with their heels upwards As he was thus pious in a general way so was he towards his parents in particular For when he had pass'd nonage he sayed I am now a major to all the world except my mother to whom I shall be still a minor When he had given Vitry order to feiz upon the Marshall of Ancre yet he gave him a private instruction not to touch him in his mothers lodgings She was twice in actuall armes against him yet though he routed and broak her partisans and might have crush'd them all to peeces he pardon'd them all at her request his brother started out often against him yet such was his indulgence that he alwaies forgave him and receiv'd him again into his bosome But when the Cardinall came to sit at the stern he had such strong influxes upon him that he postpos'd both fraternall love and maternall duty to his affection towards him or rather towards his kingdom as he term'd it Insomuch that amongst other short memorandums he sent her word that it concernd him more to conserve France then to content Her viz. his mother Touching his continence and chastity he was a great example for he was not subject no not as much as in thought much lesse in action to the contraries of these according to the relatiō of some of his neerest servants nor did this proceed from impotence as some would make
vel jure vel injuria capite plecti voluit Magnates aliquot carcere perpetuo plures exilio damnavit multos ab Aula removit innumeros proscripsit ne ipsius consiliis obessent nec unquà m mitis Gallia tam frequentia supplicia vidit Magni Regis quem magno studio decepit nixus potentia foecundi Regni opibus adjutus infinitas sagittas perdidit ut scopum praecipnum a quo aberravit attingeret Aliquos exitus secundos insanis conatibus pepererunt mentis actio vel agitatio continua projecta est omnia tentans mentis audacia rigida severitas Brevi evertendus si inter hostes externos aliquos cautiores inter aversos Gallos ferè omnes vel adversarium unum invenisset Multùm illi favit quod eum vix quis noverit vel iis qui noverant crediderit Adeo fortunatus ut qui illi infensi erant nobiles milites pro illius gloria suum alienum funderent sanguinem dum ille regio jungeret suum In quo consilio Sejanus periit ipse perierat nisi Soissonensem Regium principem sustulisset Tam noxiae potestatis vestigia integro saeculo Germania Hispania Italia Belgium sed maximè Gallia vix delebunt Et Civium et vicinorum miseriis voluptatem captans ut istis capillos velleret illorum viscera laniaret Nec Regis sui sacrae valetudini aliquid indulsit illam agitavit dum suam exhausit curis vario animi pathemate Illi primò divinae nemesis brachium corrupit quod contra coelum tetenderat mox abstulit usum Dextrae quae bellis ultro illatis subscripserat illud octo ante obitum mensibus computruit unde haec exaruit Quod dolendum qui Deum ita Vindicem sensit non agnovit Id ex eo conjice quod furorem in hostes privatos ardentiùs exercuit Quod imminente morte politica magis prudentia quà m Christiana pietate plus suos Regi quam se Deo Comendavit Quod paucis diebus ante vitae tragicae catastrophen excogitatam a se fabulam quam Europam triumphantem vocabat exhiberi regia magnificentia voluit non tamen spectare potuit Quod Ecclesiam afflixit Cardinalis sanguinem effudit Sacerdos nullas injurias condonavit Christianus nec Homo meminerit se esse mortalem etiam cum ebullientes e multis ulceribus vermes admonerent quam fragili faetidae corruptioni obnoxious esset Ubi omnibus viis etiam impiis per 18. annos ad privatum dispendio publici cucurrit finem ad comnunem hominum placida in speciem morte sed multis quos praemisit tardiore tandem pervenit Fato functus est Lutetiae ante 57. cum tribus mensibus Galliam Domum deserens utramque incendere velle visus est illam extorta in Regis fratrem declaratione istam ad placitum foeminae condito testamento Caeterum nec unquum dives Gallia tantum homini contulit nec alium Natura satis impatiens tam diu pertulit nec pacis amans mortuum ullum tam hilariter extulit Haec palam assero quae tu clam suspicatus es sapiens Viator si quem adhuc dubitantem invenis roga ne deceptis vel corruptis adulatoribus credat sed mihi vera ex intimis sincerisque promenti Omnes verò Mortales ut sibi persuadeant velim plus apud Deum valere justitiam vel minimam quà m potestatem maximam nec aestimandam tam latè diffusam famam sed bonam Multa turbare non esse multum agere turbata componere plus esse ne turbentur impedire plurimum esse Vulgus felicia scelera pro virtutibus ducit tu contra nihil infelicius felici scelere cogita Fraudum egregius Artifex Richelius plurimos ad momentum decepit forte seipsum in perpetuum Heu Universa quae miscuit non rediget in ordinem qui pacem quae cum illius ingenio turbulento non conveniebat etiam fortunae suae non convenire credebat Inde tot mala quae Christianum Orbem a 15. annis afflixerunt Ora ne sit Deus vindex aeternus in authorem qui magna misericordiâ multisque miserationibus in magnis multisque criminibus indigebat Tu Hospes Christiane seriò perpende quam nihil sit quicquid momento praeterit Nemo ex istis quos purpuratos vides ex hoc ipso felix est non magis quà m ex illis quibus sceptrū chlamydem in scena fabulae assignant cum praesenti populo elati incesserunt et cothurnati simul exierunt excalceantur ad staturam suam redeant Adde parvus cinis modo est qui magnus Ignis fuit teter fumus nunc est qui nuper coruscans splendor omnium oculos perstringebat Utinam non et fax illi in alio sit orbe qui in hoc Europae fuit Haec jam pacem extincto bellorum fomite sperat Hortarer te Viator ut tanto pacis etiam suae dum viveret hosti pacem precareris nisi vererer ne illi molestus esses rem quam oderat illi apprecando precare tamen quia juberis inimicos deligere si ad illum non pervenerit pax ad te revertetur sic imperat Christus in quo vive pacificus ut in Illo placide conquiescas Interim vale This Epitaphicall Invective being a kind of Character of the whole man and a Legend of his life I thought worthy of rendring into English for the concisenes and weight of the style First O Passenger I desire thee to praise Almighty God that thou mayst read this securely in France Then admire that he is coop'd up in so narrow a compasse now dead whom living the whole Earth could scarce contain when he mov'd Her he also shook the Heavens arrogating to himself this Motto Mens sydera volvit That thou mayst know what an Intelligence this was He was in point of industry sagacious but turbulent being an Enemy both to the publique peace and his own In that great wit which neverthelesse some suspected some of his Familiars observ'd a great mixture of madnes All things puzzled his mind nothing settled it He stood so long not so much by the love of his great Master but by authority being more fortunat for the successe of things then solidity of counsell unhappy onely in the wrath of God being perpetually attended with foule diseases He was subject to both Choler 's the tormenters of mans life black and yellow so the poyson which he disgorg'd for others ruine was felt by himself He was ambitious above all men covetous above most prodigall of the Kings money and sparing of his own when cross'd he was cruell and more when he intended to crosse Being enrich'd by the Queen Mothers benefits promoted by her care and made potent by her power he deprived Her both of the Kings grace of her liberty goods and of France it self and at last of life at Colen where she died an exile He spar'd