several Pro-Consuls were at Rome for having under their Administration duo Praetoria duo Tribunalia for though the fault may be in the Wife the scandal lies wholly upon the Husband and 't is he must answer for it In these Commands it is that the Nobles are allowed to exceed in all manner of magnificence because thereby they signify the extraordinary Grandure of the Publick Majesty and imprint love and veneration in the minds of the People The Captains at Arms. THE Office of a Captain at Arms upon the Terra-firma answers to the Military Tribune in Rome and in all Inscriptions upon publick Buildings he is called Praefectus Armorum or Tribunus Militum His Office is to Command the Souldiers of the City and all the Garrisons under his Jurisdiction he judges in all differences betwixt Officer and Souldier without application to the Podesta All the Chastellains of the Town and quite thorow his Territory receive his Orders and submit to his Jurisdiction as well Noble Venetians as others It is his care to look to the reparation of the Walls Gates Ports and Fortifications as he pleases He has the disposing of all the Revenue and Imposts in his Government and in all places belonging to it the Camerlingues who receive it giving an account to him and not daring to disburse a farthing without his Authority to the end the publick Money should be disposed to the publick Use and that those who keep it may not have power to purloin The Roman Praetors had the disposing of their Treasure but the Venetians will not allow that liberty to the Podesta's that by parting equally they might moderate their Authority and bring them to some balance and proportion with the Captains at Arms which are the two Officers that represent the Majesty of their Masters and are therefore called by one common name Rectores like the Provincial Harmostae of the Lacedemonians in their smaller Towns there is only one Rector who is Podesta and Captain at Armes both The Captains at Armes at Padua and Brescia are always Illustrious Senators who for their Services may challenge the Robe of Procurator par Merite when any of those places are vacant The Captain of Bergamo has a deliberative Voice in the Pregadi at his return as also the Chastelaine of Brescia by peculiar Priviledg above all the rest of the Governours of Castles or Forts When great Officers in a Town differ about Jurisdiction which happens very oft they are not allowed to defend their Cause with any thing but the Pen that is to say by humble Remonstrances to the Senat and if they come to Blows both parties are judged Criminal as well he that receives as he that offers the Injury In Friul THE Proveditor General of Palma Nova is the chief Officer of the whole Province and this Office always in the nomination of the Senat is biennial and supplied by a Senator of the first Rank The Governour or Lieutenant of Vdina is the second Officer in the said Province and at his return may be proposed for admission into the Council of Ten. There are under him two Officers one called the Marschal d'Vdina who is a kind of Chastelaine and the other a Treasurer The City of Vdina in the year 1415 came under the Dominion of the Venetians with the whole Province of Friul which before was under the Patriarchs of Aquileia to which the Counts Savorgnanes contributed much and were made Noble Venetians for their pains In Istria CApo d'Istria the chief Town in that Province and a Bishoprick is Governed by a Podestat and three Councellors of the poorer sort of the Nobility Cita-Nuova Parenzo and Pola all three Episcopal Towns have each of them their Podestats as also Piran Rovigno Cherso Osero and Raspo which last has the Priviledg of having a Senator because 't is a place where much is gained with little expence and therefore some of the poorer sort of Senators are sent thither In Dalmatia THE Proveditor General holds the first Rank and Commands all the Governours Proveditors and Chastelanies of Towns and Fortresses in that Province and therefore that Charge is always executed by an Illustrious Senator or Procurator for besides the Authority 't is a place of great Profit He has under him a Forreigner who Commands the Forces as General but can do nothing but by his consent not so much as gratify a Souldier with a Peny nor order him a loaf of bread more than his Comerade The Cities of Zara and Spalatra two Archbishopricks in Dalmatia are Governed each of them by a Count and a Chamberlaine who performs likewise the Office of a Chastelaine These Officers are two years in Office as is the Proveditor of Clessa a Fortress upon an inaccessible Mountain The Chastelains of Traeo and Zebenigo are biennial likewise Cattaro an Episcopal Town has two Magistrates one a Proveditor and the other a Camertingue each of them changed every two years Budoa the last place of the Venetians upon the Coast of Dalmatia has its Podesta whose authority continues but two years 'T is not many years since Dolcingo was under their Dominion but they lost it to Selymus II. In the Isles upon the Mediterranean Sea THE Commonwealth has always a Proveditor and two Councellors at Corfeu which she has possessed ever since the year 1382 in despight of all the efforts of the Turks it being one of the Keys of the Golf Corfeu is an Archbishoprick worth 4000 Ducats per annum always supplied by a Noble Venetian and furnishes Venice with 200000 Minots of Salt every year 't is guarded by Sant Ange a Fort thought to be impregnable The Isles of Zephalonia and Zante are Governed each by a Proveditor and three Councellors renewed every two years These three Islands have a General to whom the respective Proveditors are subservient and accountable He is always a Person of eminent Quality and continues in his Command sixteen Months And to the end all these Officers may be kept in their Duty by the fear of a scrutiny the Senat creats every five years three Syndics to visit all the Towns and Forts depending upon the State to hear the Complaints of their Subjects against the Podestats Captains and Proveditors and to inspect their several Administrations like the Inquisitors of Sparta called Thucydides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Persons sent by the Romans incognito into the Provinces to inquire into the Conduct of their Officers whereby the poorer sort who are not able to come with their Complaints to Venice have a way open to revenge themselves at their ease if their Governours have done them any injury It remains now that I speak something of their Principal Military Commands at Sea all of which are executed by Noble Venetians whereas those at Land are given to Strangers for the reasons above-said The Generalissimo or Captain-General at Sea THis General is always a Noble Venetian and Created by the Senat in time of War to
voice in the Councils can have no active voice there But when the Procurators are Sage-Grands which is a dignity in the nomination of the Senat they are admitted to the Grand Council as Sage-Grands not as Procurators Some are of opinion the reason of this exclusion is because these Lords are oblig'd to watch as Guards of the Palace and of the place St. Mark during the Session of the Grand Council that if in the mean time any popular Commotion should arise there might be persons of Authority ready to suppress it But though the Grand Council comprehends the whole body of the Nobles it has not the whole authority of the State for the rights of Majesty are divided betwixt the Council and the Senat. The first has Authority to make Laws or abolish them to elect Magistrates and other inferior Councils as formerly that in Rome was inferior to the People according to that ancient saying Auctoritas in Senatu potestas in Populo The second has power of making War and Peace Leagues and Truces to lay Imposts and Taxes upon the People to put the value upon money with the absolute disposition of the Treasury It disposes of all military Commands both at Land and Sea and all temporary Offices called by them Cariche a tempo created only upon emergency It sends Succors to their Allies names Embassadors Residents Secretaries of their Embassies who depend wholly upon it and are recall'd continued corrected or rewarded as it pleases So that the rights of Majesty being equally divided betwixt the Grand Council which consists of all the Nobles and the Senat which is a select party the Republick of Venice may be said to be almost an Aristo-Democracy like that in Sparta after the institution of the Ephori and that in Rome when the Authority was divided betwixt the People and the Senate who made distinct and separate Laws the first the Plebiscita the second the Senatus-consulta though to take it in strictness it is a pure Aristocracy seeing the Duke has no absolute power and the People no part in the publick administration Sometimes there have been contests about Jurisdiction betwixt the Grand Council and the Senat as it hapned in the affair of General Morosini where the Senat nam'd an Inquisitor to inform against the said Gentleman though the Grand Council pretended to name him But besides that these differences are rare they end always without noise or confusion It is the Grand Council the Nobles play all their pranks and exercise all their private animosities to exclude their adversaries from Office without the least regard to their merit There it is they pretend to do all by Lots but it is not with little balls of white stuff but with large presents quite contrary to their promises In a Monarchy 't is sufficient if we please our Prince in a Republick we must please every body which is the more difficult if not impossible because Birth Fortune Honour and even Vertue it self is enough to create a man enemies unless he manage with more than ordinary prudence Nobilitas opes omissi gestique honores pro crimine ob virtutes certissimum exitium Tacit. Hist 1. So that Nobleman was not ill-vers'd in their Policies who said that he made no difference betwixt the Noble Venetians that to him all the Families seemed equal and that there was not one of which he would not be a member For by pretending to know no such odious distinction of Case Vecchie and Case Naoie they assured themselves of the affection and favour of two thirds of the Nobility and were certain of their suffrages upon any occasion Furthermore because it is the Grand Council which makes the Laws in my judgment it is not unnecessary to take notice of such of the principal of them as do more particularly concern the Nobles as the predominant part of that State Principal Laws of the Government of Venice I. THE Ecclesiasticks as well of the Nobles as Populace are excluded from all Office and uncapable of being of any publick Council though the Bishop and Curats of that City were admitted into the Councils before the Reformation 1298. But this Regulation shuts the door upon all Enterprizes from the Court of Rome in temporal matters For the Pope having the nomination of the Bishops and the disposing of almost all the Benefices in that State it would be no hard thing for him to get a party in the Senat that might carry most of their deliberations by the assistance of such of the Nobles as like the Ecclesiasticks depend upon and expect recompence from him The Law excludes also such of the Nobles as have Cardinals to their Brother Unckle or Nephew from all deliberations touching Ecclesiastick affairs It excludes likewise out of that sacred Office those who are pretenders to the Cardinalship or any other dignity at Rome lest their private interest should dispose them to compliance with that Court to promote their designs II. No Nobleman is permitted to trade lest his private affairs should obstruct or delay the proceedings of the Publick Besides Traffick and Merchandize agree not with the majesty of Government Upon which consideration it was that Commerce was forbidden to the Senators of Rome III. All the Noblemen are subject to rules in respect of their age not one of them but must attend the just number of years and begin by inferior Offices rising by degrees Sin dalle ultime mosse as they say that is they must begin at one end of the course and from thence advance gradually to the other so that before one can arrive at the great Offices he must be of a considerable age as it was anciently in Lacedemon where they were to be old men before they could be capable of great honours In sola Sparta expedit seniscere And the same thing is imply'd by the two baskets of Medlars covered with straw which is painted at the foot of the great Stair-case of St. Mark by which we ascend to the Grand Council and to the Pregadi and shews that as the Medlars ripen in straw so the minds of young men must ripen with expectation till they have gain'd experience and qualification that may recommend them to the Government It is moreover no ill policy to conduct their Nobles by degrees and as it were from Tribunal to Tribunal if it were only to keep them in perpetual practice and emulation and to encourage them in the service of their Countrey by the hopes of arriving one day at the highest dignity and preferment Whereas if the young Noblemen should jump into the great Offices at Venice where there is nothing perpetual they would refuse the rest and there would be no body to execute them This has already hapned too often and those who have exercised great Offices thought it beneath them to accept of inferior For this reason the Seigniory has done wisely to prescribe bounds to the acquisition of Honour to prevent the insolence
of their Residence till their Successor be arrived and by them presented to the Prince if they do they are look'd upon as Desertors of their Embassy which is to be deliver'd over by his own hand and the new Comer put into possession of his Charge and instructed viva voce in whatever is requisite for him to know towards the discharging himself worthily of his Employment And this they do with great formality one to the other not only in obedience to the express Orders of the Senat but in honour to themselves by causing their Successors to take the same Measures and follow the same Methods as they had done before They are obliged to Present the Senat with a Relation in writing of their Embassies at their return for though 't is to be suppos'd they gave Account in retail before in their weekly Dispatches yet it is esteem'd for the interest of the Publick to have a Breviate of them that may save them the labour of rummaging among their Letters and Memorials to find out a thing that this way may be found in a moment Besides all those several pieces which asunder are like so many shreds being stitch'd together and compacted by the Author himself give a better Prospect of the Affairs and of the Minister who manages them And by these Relations it is the Senat understands the whole Strength of their Neighbours the Condition of their Territories their Armies their Revenues and their Expence and this Manuscript is a kind of a Journal like that Augustus made of the Affairs of his Empire and 't is according to that Model the Seigniory regulates and the Noblemen that go Embassadors do draw their best Lessons and their most refin'd Policies They are obliged likewise to produce the common Presents that are made them at the end of their Embassaries to be disposed of as the Senat thinks fit testifying thereby that they are content with the Honour of having serv'd their Country faithfully and that if they have merited any thing they will not receive it from any but the Senat. But yet they are never defeated of those marks of Honour unless they have done something dishonourable and contrary to their duty If a Nobleman carries his Wife along with him he is answerable for her faults according to the practice in Rome with the Governors or other Magistrates in their Provinces The Sons of the Duke cannot be Embassadors whilst their Fathers are living not so much to spare their purses but for fear the Duke should employ them with private Instructions for the particular interest of their Family XIX No man can be made a Nobleman of Venice but he must be a Catholick not so much to prevent that the body of the Nobility be divided in Religion but that their Honour might be continued Eminent and Illustrious to that Common-wealth which has the advantage of all States and Princes of Europe to have been born and continued constantly in that Church Upon which score she has been honoured like France with the glorious Title of Most Christian by several Popes and several Councils XX. Forreign Gentlemen that are Noble Venetians either by merit or favour as the Pope's Nephews and others being personally in Venice have liberty of coming into the Grand Council and Baloting as the rest But they cannot execute any Office in the State unless their constant Residence be there and to enter into the Council they must put on the Robe the Stole and the Woollen Bonnet Nevertheless in my time Prince Borgia was admitted by particular favour with his Sword yet not without great difficulty I shall not mention the other Laws which relate to the particular Magistrates because I shall have occasion to touch upon some of them in my Second Part. Furthermore in Venice new Laws are created every day but being too frequent they are seldom observ'd From whence proceeds that saying among them Parte Venetiana dura una settimana But the Seigniory swallows this abuse to cajole the People with a false appearance of liberty and to render their Government more gentle In short the Grand Council has made all Offices annual or for sixteen months to keep their Nobles in expectation and to enure them to Moderation by the continual vicissitude of Obedience and Command For if they grow proud and insolent in annual employments what would they do were they to enjoy them for life And if those excluded in the Balotation be discontent though they have hopes of succeeding in the next how would they be displeased at a refusal that should make them desperate during the whole life of the Possessor By this changing it is the industry of their Nobles is exercised Plato would have his Officers perpetual that long use and conversation in their places might make them more dextrous and beget more esteem and respect from the People But the Venetians find this change to be a better way of continuing them in their duty by keeping them in constant decorum in order to their Election to greater Offices afterward Besides thereby their Dependance is greater and their Authority less especially among the Provincial Officers who are but transient as I may say being scarce suffered to settle before they are called back to Venice to give an account of their Administration and therefore the Towns endure their Governors the more patiently because the advantages of the one does many times recompence the defects of the other and if any of them be ill they are not troubled with them long So much for the Grand Council We will come next to the Colledg Of the Colledg THE Colledg is composed of 26 Nobles that is to say of the Duke and six Councellors called the Most Serene Seigniory because when together they represent the Publick Majesty of the State of three Deputies from the Quarantie Criminelle who are chang'd every two months of six Sages-Grans who represent the Senat of five Sages from the Terra-firma whose Affairs pass through their hands and last of all of five Sages des Orders who formerly had absolute direction in all things relating to the Sea For these reasons this Chamber is called the Colledg that is to say an Assembly of all the Principal Members of State whose Hand it may be call'd because by it all Affairs are handed and distributed to the rest of the Councils especially to the Senat to which all disorders are addressed In the Colledg it is that all Embassadors of Princes all Deputies of Towns Generals of Armies and all other Officers have Audience there it is all Requests all Memorials are presented that are brought first to the Pregadi after which the Colledg returns them the Answer of the Senat in Writing which Answer is called by them Parte At their Audiences Embassadors do use this Apostrophe Serenissime Prince Tres Illustres tres Excellens Seigneurs Whereas in former times their Addresses was only to the Duke as they had
Dukes of that Name And Clement VIII had a great desire to have done it When the House of Este was in possession of this Dutchy the Venetians had in Ferrara a Magistrate call'd Bisdomino or Visdomino who alone administred Justice to all Subjects of that Republick with the interposition of any of the Duke's Officers according to agreement betwixt the said State and Duke By the said agreement the Duke was oblig'd to make no Fortifications upon the River Po by reason of the Polesin which being an open Countrey betwixt the Adige and the Po would be exposed to inroads and devastation The Pope has many times oppos'd it and particularly in War of Parma when he built Forts upon the Confines of this Province For these reasons the Venetian desires seriously the Dutchy of Ferrara were again in the hands of the Duke of Modena and if during the said War they would not grant him permission to make use of the Troops they had sent him to stop the Barbarini in their passage into that Country and to make an irruption into the Country of Ferrara to reprize himself for the losses of his Family it was because they foresaw it would beget a cruel and dangerous War in Italy the blame of which would result upon them And therefore the said Duke could not prevail with the Senat to procure that his pretensions upon Ferrara and Commachio might be comprehended in the Treaty of Peace because that proposition being insisted upon must necessarily have interrupted the whole Negotiation about the business of Parma upon the accommodation of which depended the quiet and tranquility of all Italy Furthermore though the Venetian is not much troubled to see this Prince in the interests and under the protection of the King of France they would have been better content he had stood Neuter as fearing his Ambition to be great may some time or other involve all Italy as it happen'd in the time of Duke Francis who join'd his Forces with the King of France for the Conquest of the Dutchy of Milan hoping that Crown would afterwards have given him all necessary assistance for the recovery of Ferrara And this gives great Umbrage to the Venetians for fear the French should come to be their Neighbours With the Duke of Parma THough the Duke of Parma has no particular Alliance with the Venetians yet he is well esteemed by the Senat to whom he professes great obligation for their assistance to his Family in the Barberine War which ended at length by the restitution of the Dutchy of Castro * And 't is thought the Venetians were not at all pleas'd to see that Country fall into the Pope's hands after they had endeavoured so much to wrest it out of the Clutches of Vrban VIII With the Republick of Genoa IF the Republicks of Rome and Carthage of Athens and Sparta made themselves famous by their Emulations and Wars The Common-wealths of Venice and Genoa contending for dominion 300 years have made themselves as famous by their long animosities and conflicts And though at present they be at Peace yet they retain still the old heart-burning which will last as long as the memory of the mischiefs that either of them has brought upon the other The Genoeses cannot with patience behold the Venetians Masters of the Adriatick Sea having disputed it with them so long and worsted them so often and the Venetian looks upon Genoa as jealous of his glory and power Nine times have they been at Wars together but the last so cruel and lasted so long that the memory of it is still fresh in Venice and there are a sort of Noblemen call'd Nobili della guerra di Genova as being taken into the Nobility at that time Never was Venice so near ruine as then when Peter Doria the Genoa General look'd upon it so sure that when the Venetian Envoy presented him certain Genoeses Prisoners from the Senat he told him that in a short time he would be in Venice himself and deliver the rest Upon which Answer the Senat dispatch'd with all diligence Frier Benoist General of the Cordeliers to the King of Hungary to beg Peace of him out of pure Commiseration and to beseech him that he would employ his Interest with the Genoeses in their favour and with the Lord of Padua But though the importunity of this Minister was very great and the humility of his Address had melted the King delivering himself still upon the knee yet the Embassador from Genoa Gaspar de l'Orbe and Baltazar Spinola being present at all his Audience diverted the good inclinations of his Majesty by perswading him the time was now come when he might have all he desired and that within a Month he would infallibly be Master of Venice Such was the miserable condition of the Venetian when being deserted by all People there was nothing left to them but a generous resolution to vanquish or die and this they resolv'd with so good success that advancing against the Genoa Navy with the shattered remainders of their own Fleet under the Conduct of Andreas Contarini their Duke in a few days time they retook Chiozza and return'd to Venice laden with good Prize and several of the Genoa Nobility who being Prisoners paid the best part of the Charge of the War for their liberty since which famous Victory the Genoese has been quiet and given over Rivalling the Venetian So that the Genoese are as much too blame for not having made an advantageous Peace when it was begg'd with such submission as Asilius Regulus was of old for not having done the same with the Carthaginians after he had defeated them which omission brought a long chain of inconveniences upon the Romans But the Venetians were brought so low the Genoeses would have been rather reproach'd for not knowing how to have conquered them had they made Peace with them at a time when their destruction in the opinion of the whole World was inevitable At the beginning of their War in Candia the Genosses offered the Venetians a considerable supply of Men and Money upon condition they might be treated as Equals but their Offer was rejected with contempt which netled the Genoese exceedingly who cannot easily brook being thought their Inferiors after they had so long contended for Precedence Besides the Venetian frustrated the design the Genoese had upon Sala Regia which Donna Olimpia had almost perswaded Pope Innocent to grant them From whence it may be presum'd the Animosity betwixt these two Rival States is not yet extinguished on the contrary both one side and the other do many times revive and exasperate them by their Railleries and Sarcasmes which being many times true leave a greater sting upon their spirits With the Republick of Lucca VEnice has but little Correspondence with the Republick of Lucea but the Conformity of their Government being Aristocratical makes them reciprocally favourable one to the other so that should the
Great Duke of Tuscany design any thing against the liberty of that State 't is probable the Venetians would not refuse their assistance With the Grisons THE Senat of Venice bear an Affection to the Grisons as a People whose Interest it is equally to hinder the Spaniards from entring the Valtolin and encreasing their Power in Italy where already they have several Princes under their dependance And therefore the Grisons no sooner understood the designs of the Duke of Feria Governor of Milan upon the Valtolin but they repair'd immediately to the Venetian for relief against the Valtolins who were Revolted at the instigation of the Spaniard and indeed that Affair alarm'd the Republick of Venice more than any other Prince of Italy by reason of the situation of that Valley which bordering on one side upon Tirol and on the other upon Milan serv'd as a kind of Gallery to the Spaniards to join their Dominions with the Emperors and to stop up the passage for forreign supplies against all Italy and particularly against their own Countrey which the Emperor and his Catholick Majesty kept block'd up as in a Circle This was the design of the Count de Fuentes not long since when he advised his Master to seize upon Monaco and Final and the Valtolin which was the ready way to reduce the Princes of Italy into servitude But because the execution of his design requir'd time he laid the first Stone by building the Fort of his Name at the mouth of the River Adda which since has produc'd that long and mischievous War to the Grisons But were it not for their interest the Venetian regards them but little as looking upon them as poor people and savage With the Swisses THE Senat on the other side courts the Swiss very much as knowing their fidelity and valour It raises Soldiers among them in time of War and takes of their Officers into their Armies paying them Pensions for their lives They have moreover a Resident constantly either at Zurick or Berne which are two of the best Towns in Switzerland where all the chiefest of their Affairs are transacted With Holland THE Commonwealth of Venice and Holland are under a strict obligation of Amity and Interest They are both at the same defiance with the King of Spain The Hollander withdrew himself from his obedience to that Crown and the other favoured the Revolt by Councels Money and Solicitations with Queen Elizabeth to engage her in the defence of their new Companion And though they be separated by a long tract of Land yet upon occasion they can easily unite by their communication at Sea where both of them are very powerful With England THE Senat maintains a perfect Correspondence with the King of Great Britain considering him as a Prince whose Amity may much import that State in their necessities by his great interest and reputation with other Kings King James had a great respect for the Commonwealth of Venice and in their difference with Paul V. he no sooner understood the King of Spain had declar'd in favour of the Pope but he declared for the Venetian promising their Embassador George Justiniani that he would not only assist him with all the force of his Kingdom but oblige all his Allies in their defence And if the quarrel had broke out into a War 't is believ'd he would have been as good as his word as well as the Hollander who upon his recommendation offer'd them a considerable number of Ships and of Men. King Charles I. continued the esteem and affection of his Father and by a just return they preserv'd for him in his misfortunes and even after his death all the Kindness and Veneration they shew'd to him during his life For they were the lást that sent Embassadors to the Protector and their forbearance was look'd upon by him as a silent reproach of his Government and a contempt of his Authority so many great Princes having as it were contended who by their Embassadors should honour him first And Cromwell having complain'd of their backwardness the Senat fearing his displeasure at a time when they were at War with the Turk was oblig'd to cause John Sagrede their Embassador in France to pass over to London to appease him At length Charles II. being restor'd they renewed their ancient Alliance with him which was answered by his Majesty in the solemn Embassy of the Lord Falconbridge who after he had staid two months himself in Venice left Mr. Dorington as Resident for his Majesty of Great Britain But how great soever the Intelligence is betwixt England and this State there is no probability that that King will ever send any Ships into the Venetian service against the Turk lest the Grand Seignior should seize upon the Goods and Effects of the Turky-Company of London which amounts to more than five millions of money Which would ruine the best branch of the English Trade and be a great diminution to his Revenue With Denmark THE Senat has no Correspondence at all with the King of Denmark their Countries lying so remote that they can neither expect relief from one another upon occasion nor apprehend any detriment With the Swede and the Pole IF Resemblance of Government or Interest be one of the principal causes of Amity there are no two States in all Europe obliged to stricter Alliance than Venice and Poland they being the only two Crown'd Commonwealths both of them govern'd by a Senat and an Elective Prince both Neighbours to the Turk and both famous for their Wars against that cruel and formidable Enemy For though Poland carries the name of a Kingdom 't is nothing but an Aristocracy mix'd with a Monarchy according to the old Model of Sparta Upon these considerations the State of Venice is much concern'd for all accidents in Poland whether they be good or bad And if the Progress made by Gustavus Adolphus in the Empire pleas'd them very well the Success of Charles Gustavus in Poland afflicted them as much because the impoverishment of that Kingdom would be an advantage to the Turk as it prov'd afterward 'T is not to be doubted then but the interest of the Pole is dearer to the Venetian than the interest of the Swede whose prodigious increase both at Land and at Sea it began to apprehend That King having taken the Northern Liconia from the Pole and all one side of the Baltick from the King of Denmark With the Great Duke of Muscovy THough the Senat has no particular affair with the Czar of Moscovy yet it puts a great value upon his friendship that King being very potent and of great reputation with the King of Persia whose Alliance is necessary for the Venetian thereby to give diversion to the Turk For whenever the Sophy of Persia invades him on that side the Venetian finds it no hard matter to repel him on the other and these Negotiations with the Persian are managed by the Mediation of the Czar So that if upon