may be expected that I should say something of the reciprocal Benefits derived from the Holy See upon a People that hath done and suffers so much for its sake or at least of that Fatherly Tenderness which the Pope must needs have for a King of Portugal who purchases the favour of his Holiness by so constant and meritorious an Obedience His Holiness must by some very distinguishing marks of Affection put a Difference between this his Benjamin from whom he hath received so much comfort and those other Sons of his who by their untoward Behaviour have been always a crossing and tormenting him He that hath been so often worried by the head-strong Emperors in former Ages braved in Italy by the Spaniards in the last Age and more than once in his own Capital by the French in our Days and received so many Mortifications from the Italian Princes from whom he might expect that they should upon the Account of their Natural as well as their Spiritual Relation behave themselves more as becomes the Children of the Holy See He one would think should have reserved the greatest and best of his Blessings for this his most Obedient Son But the Holy Father seems to be affected with quite contrary Passions to other Men to have cast away his most endearing Favours where the utmost Rigour should be expected and where a Blessing was most lookt for to have entail'd his Curse The Royal House of Portugal hath certainly had great cause for Complaints of this kind as often as it hath been in distress and stood in need of his Protection When Philip the 2d while the Question concerning the Succession to Henry the Cardinal was depending was preparing by force of Arms to deprive the true Heiress of her Birthright Pope Gregory the 13th did his utmost indeed to divert him from the enterprize but it was to the end that he might seize upon the Crown for his own use as a Chattel of the Cardinals alledging that his Spoils among which he reckon'd the Kingdom were forfeitable to the Holy See and least this ridiculous Claim should be thought insufficient he added another Alphonso Henriquez the first King as hath been said would needs make his Kingdom Tributary to St. Peter and charged with the annual Payment of four Ounces of Gold and this was made a pretence by Pope Gregory for depriving the Posterity of that King of their Inheritance he pretending that Portugal was by this means become a Feif to St. Peter's Chair and as such by default of the Male-line was devolved to himself but his pretensions meeting with that contempt they deserved he still resolved to deprive the right Heiress at any rate and of all the Pretenders made Interest for him that had the worst Title that is for Dom Antonio the Bastard as if he had a mind to embroil a Kingdom that had deserved so well at his hands in perpetual Wars But it was for his convenience that King Philip should be diverted from troubling him in Italy and convenience at Rome is a just Excuse for the worst Actions However when Philip by force of Arms had baffled his Holiness as well as all the other Pretenders and had reduced the Kingdom to his Obedience the Pope made no scruple to acknowledge his Title and treat him as rightful King of Portugal Nor did he in this deviate from the practice of those that went before him the Popes having on many occasions found it Turn to account to approve the Titles of the most Illegal Usurpers ever since the extraordinary complaisance of Boniface the 3d. to the Emperour Phocas which gave Rise to the present Grandeur of the Holy See But John the 4th the present King's Father who had an undoubted Right to the Crown met with other usage at Rome of which I shall here give a short Account it being a most signal proof of the Portuguese Devotion to the Holy See but withal it has so far opened the eyes of this Court that the Ministers seem to be convinced at last of this truth that none are so hardly used by those of Rome as they that deserve best at their hands This is certain that the Memory of it is still fresh in their minds as the Nuncio's to their great Regret are frequently given to understand and is supposed to be in a great measure the cause why their Conduct in regard to Rome begins to vary so much as it does from that of their Predecessors After King John had been settled in the Throne of his Ancestors by the Universal Acclamation of his People and was possessed of all the Dominions belonging to the Crown the little Town of Ceuta excepted he began to think of sending a Solemn Embassy to pay his Obedience to the Pope which is a custom observ'd by all Princes of that Communion and was thought necessary by this King as well to satisfie his own Devotion as to establish his Authority among the People and he thought he had great reason to expect that this Embassy would be very kindly received for to say nothing of the merits of his Ancestors he relied much upon the Pope's great Partiality to the French who out of enmity to the Spaniards had espoused the Portuguese Interest and solicited their cause at Rome To render this Embassy the more acceptable he made choice of a Person that was of the first Quality and withal a Bishop Dom Miguel de Portugal Brother to the Conde de Vimioso But this Ambassador arriving at Rome found that he had been sent upon a fruitless Errand For the Pope as little as he cared for the Spaniards on all other occasions had so much respect for them at this time that for fear of displeasing them he was content to put the greatest Indignity in the World upon a King of Portugal This was Urban the 8th from whom better things might been expected than from those that usually fill the Holy Chair But his Holiness without having the least regard to the Ambassador's Character or Quality or the obliging Message he came upon refused to admit him into his Presence or suffer his Ministers to acknowledge him for an Ambassador so that after a whole years Solicitation for Audience he was fain to return as he came This the Portugueses thought to be an Indignity that could not have been put upon the Representative of any Idolatrous or Mahometan Prince without violating the Laws of Nations All the Favour that could be obtain'd at that time was That a Congregation should be appoinned on pretence of consulting what was fit to be done in the Case The Congregation consisted of the two Barbarini Cayetan and Pamphilio Cardinal Francisco the elder of the Barbarini was made Chair-man to take care that the result should be according to his Uncle's mind He obliged the Secretary of the Embassy to give him an account of the King his Master's Title and when nothing could be objected against that he began to pick Quarrels upon pretence
that the Ecclesiastical Immunities had been violated in Portugal and some very great affront given to the Apostolical Collector and when Reparation was offered to these Grievances his Eminence gave the Secretary to understand that he grew troublesome But Pamphilio who it seems was not of the secret was clearly of Opinion that that the Ambassadors of King John ought to be admitted at least after he had been four years in Possession supposing him to be an Usurper and to justifie his Opinion he wrote as 't is said a large and learned Discourse but when Cardinal Pamphilio came to be Pope Innocent the 10th he was quite of another mind and would not be persuaded that fourteen years Possession were sufficient to qualifie this King to send an Ambassador to Rome Upon the Exaltation of this Cardinal to the Papacy King John resolves to make another Tender of his Obedience to the Holy See but for fear of meeting with the like affront as before he signifi'd his intention by the French Minister then residing at Rome and received for answer That his Ambassador in case he sent any thither should not be suffered to come within the Gates of the City However his Holiness either prick'd with remorse for his barbarous Usage of this Prince or perhaps willing to make his Injustice known to the World in order to inhance his merit with the Spaniards appointed another Congregation to consider of the matter In this Congregation the case was again Examined and Debated and it plainly appear'd that according to the Civil and Canon-Laws the Portuguese Ambassador ought to be admitted even supposing his Master's Title were disputable so that it were granted with the Reserve sine Praejudicio Tertij This Result as little favourable as it was to one whom they at Rome could not but know to be a Rightful King instead of being notified to the Party most concern'd was sent to Madrid to be communicated by the Nuncio there to the Ministers of that Court his Holiness not having the Courage to do any thing that had the least appearance of Justice without leave first had from them It was indeed for his Interest to keep in if it were possible with both Parties but if that could not be done the weaker was to be Sacrifi'd to him that could do his Holiness most mischief However before so beneficial a Province as Portugal was utterly abandon'd the Nuncio at a Conference with the Spanish Ministers made use of all his Cunning to draw them in to consent that his Master might act in this Case according as Justice and what is more as his Interest obliged him and to make the thing go down the more easie with them he avoided as much as was possible coming to the merits of the Cause or giving the least intimation that his Master approved of the King of Portugal's Right to the Crown He allowed that Prince to deserve all the ill names that the Spaniards were pleas'd to give him and after all show'd that his Master thought himself obliged in Conscience to admit of his Ambassador stating the Case in these most obliging Terms That the Pope as Christ's Vicar is under an indispensable Obligation to use all means for preserving the Purity of the Catholick Faith throughout the World the first foundation whereof is Obedience paid by a publick Act to the Apostolick See and sworn by Princes in their own and their Subjects behalf and since the Habit of Faith is consistent with sinful Acts in the same Subject the Pope might and was bound to receive from a Robber and a perjur'd Person a solemn promise of Perseverance in the Catholick Faith so that though the Castillians held the Duke of Bragança for a Robber that had usurped the Crown of Portugal and for a perjur'd Person that had violated his Oath of Fealty to King Philip yet the Vicar of Christ was nevertheless under an indispensable obligation to receive him as a faithful Son of the Church by that Solmn Act which his Ambassador should perform in his Name at the feet of his Holiness The Spanish Ministers who by their frequent practice with those of Rome were as ready at their Quirks as the Nuncio himself answered him in his own way That his Holiness might as in duty bound receive the Duke of Braganza as a private Person but it would be a manifest Justice to admit of him as King of Portugal besides it had never been customary for those Dukes to send publick Embassys to the Soveraign Pontiffs nor did they ever in that manner pay their Obedience to the Apostolick See This being a Duty incumbent only upon true and lawful Kings and Obedience having been already paid by King Philip as rightful King of Portugal no Embassy could be received from the Duke of Bragança That a Robbery as the Law teaches did not deprive the Owner of the Possession of a thing stolen for though in fact he be no longer in Possession yet he retains it still in his mind and for that reason all Contracts made with the Thief are invalid for want of a lawful Possession from whence it follow'd that the Duke of Bragança having no lawful Possession could not do any Act that supposes it The Nuncio replies That a Person may be said to be Master of a thing two ways First by Possession Secondly by Detention that allowing the Duke of Bragança had not the Possession of Portugal King Philip still possessing it in his mind as his own by right yet it could not be denied but that the Duke of Bragança did detain the Kingdom by reason of which Detention the Pope was obliged not only to receive but encourage his Devotion to the Apostolick See least during this Detention the respect due to the Holy See might be lost and a whole Kingdom be in danger of wavering in the Faith The Castilians return That these were Metaphysical Speculations that the Law saith an unjust Pretension cannot be a ground for any Act of Justice especially in this case when the acceptance of Obedience in the Form proposed was to the end that the Pope should give all Princes to understand that a wrongful Detention was lawful Possession of a Kingdom that had been so unjustly seiz'd upon since the publick Actions of the Popes were taken for Authentick and drawn into Precedent Wherefore his Holiness should take care least by this Action he authoriz'd Injustice and made Contumacy and Rebellion a pattern of Christian Virtue The Nuncio would by no means admit that these Inconveniencies were to be charged upon the most holy mind of the Pope for First the Clause sine praejudicio Tertij left all claims of right good and valid Secondly his Holiness was ready to receive the Obedience of Philip himself as King of Portugal whenever he should be in actual Possession whereby his Holiness would manifest to the World that he intended only Edification in Spirituals and not the Destruction of Temporals But the Castillians told him That
was not satisfy'd after they had done all they could to serve her she having been treated with so much Respect that no Queen ever had so great an Authority But coming to that part of her Complaint wherein she said she had been treated like a Slave he chang'd his Note and in Portuguese for he had spoken French before he boldly told her That her Majesty was abus'd by some about her who deserv'd to be chastis'd had no Reason to complain of the Portugueses since the Respect they paid her came little short of Adoration The Queen after a warm Reply wherein she said She knew how to distinguish between the good and the bad Portugueses There being not above three or four that she complain'd of and signifying what she would do to those that had enrich'd themselves with the Rents belonging to the Queens of Portugal commanded the Secretary not to speak so loud He told her That if he spake loud it was that all the World might hear what he said The Queen bad him hold his Peace and be gone He not departing presently she rose from her Seat and was going away the Secretary imprudently laid his Hand upon her Gown either to kiss it according to Custom at her departure to signifie his Desire that she would hear him out but seeing her resolv'd to be gone he cry'd out to the Noblemen and Ladies present That he was unworthily us'd no King having ever treated a Vassal in this manner The Person who had this Dispute with her Majesty was Antonio de Souza de Macedo before mention'd as one of the first that came in to the King at Alcantara I cannot tell what he was by Birth but in himself he was a Person of Noble Qualities as appear'd afterwards by his Constancy in the Service of his Master and his Friend he was a Man of Letters and a Doctor in the Laws After the Revolt from the Spaniards he had written with great Zeal and Eloquence in defence of his Country's Cause and went Secretary to the solemn Embassy which King John sent to our King Charles the First to acquaint him of his having assum'd the Crown of Portugal and upon King Charles's Demand to know on what Right his Master's Claim was founded he drew up a Paper which entirely satisfy'd his Majesty In England he continued Resident for several Years and was very serviceable to the King in the time of his Troubles From hence he went Ambassador to Holland and in a very difficult Negotiation he acquitted himself much to his Master's Satisfaction and his own Credit and at his Return he was highly esteem'd at Court And the Conde could not do a more grateful thing to the Nobility than prefer him as he did to the place of Secretary of State tho' perhaps he might have some regard to himself as well as to the Publick in advancing this Man The Conde was young and Antonio de Sousa well practis'd in Business and by his Counsels may have been of as great use to the Conde as the Conde was to the King It is certain that he drew up Instructions for him to observe in the Administration of the Government and as the Conde was to be destroy'd before the King could be depos'd so it is very probable that this Quarrel was pick'd on purpose with Antonio de Sousa in order to make way for the Conde's Ruin The King coming to understand what had passed between the Queen and him did his endeavour to pacifie her Majesty promising that the Secretary should be severely punish'd but the Queen would not be appeas'd It unluckily fell out that this Broil happen'd at the time of Bull-feast The first Day was over and her Majesty could not be prevail'd upon to appear the second Day So that to conceal the Matter from the People the Bull-running was put off for that Day upon pretence that the King was indispos'd and she continuing out of Humour still the King was fain to be indispos'd the next and the following Days and by that time things were brought to such a pass that an end was put to all Sports and Pastimes for this King's Reign The Queen took so little care to conceal her Anger that the People soon came to know the Cause why the Bull-running was put off and began to murmur loudly against the Court that their new Queen should be so much abus'd and perhaps their Disappointment did not a little serve to raise their Clamours The Queen would be satisfy'd with nothing less than the Secretary's being turn'd out of his Place and banish'd from the Court which the Conde was very unwilling to consent to as thinking that should he give way to her in this Case he was like to be the next Man that should fall a Sacrifice to her Resentments however the Court perceiving a Storm ready to break upon them from another Quarter it was resolv'd in Council that the Secretary should absent himself from Court for ten or twelve Days and that the King should communicate this Order to the Queen and acquaint her That it was made only to content her Majesty and that it was hoped she would engage her self no more in such Matters for the future to prevent the ill Consequences that might ensue to the State Pursuant to this Order the Secretary to please the Queen departs from Court but the King forbore to communicate the Order to her for fear of exasperating her further at a time when he had his Hands full of another more troublesome Business While these things were done above-board a secret Plot was carrying on among the Heads of the discontented Party to seize upon the Conde and carry him off in the same manner as Conti had been serv'd before The Conde having Information of their Design may be supposed to have made the more hast to satisfie the Queen's Complaints For the very next Day he ordered the Guards about the Palace to be doubled the Cavalry to be mounted and the Centinels plac'd at the Avenues and as 't is said Command was given to the Soldiers to fall upon certain Noblemen in case they endeavoured to get into the Court it being suppos'd that they were coming to execute the Design Hereupon several Messages past between the Infante and the Court the Infante complaining That the Conde by arming the Palace had insinuated as if he was designing to violate it for which he requires Reparation of Honour accusing the Conde withal of attempting upon his Life by Poison and therefore desires that he might be removed from about the King's Person in order to his Punishment The King takes upon himself the doubling of the Guards and offers to send the Conde to throw himself at the Infante's Feet The Infante refuses to take this for Satisfaction and insists upon the Conde's removal The King offers to do him all Justice and desires him to name the Conde's Accusers in order to his Tryal But this the Infante would not yield to unless the Conde
Had he been Master of it it might not only have given him great Light into the Plot but directed him whom to secure and whom he might trust in The Story is very remarkable even in its minutest Circumstances which shew how all things conspired to the Destruction of this unhappy Prince and it will be no Digression from our Subject to tell it which I shall the rather do because I am assured that the Substance of what follows came from the late Duke Schomberg's own Mouth It being somewhat late when this Pacquet was convey'd to the Queen her Majesty ordered those that attended to retire after having set up a Light at her Bed's-Head for that she had some particular Devotions to perform that Night She took the Papers with her to Bed and there they remain'd when she fell asleep The next Morning before the Queen was up News came that the King was gone to Chapel and it being the Custom for them both to hear Mass in the Tribunal together the Queen was oblig'd to get ready in all haste and her haste was so great that she never minded her Papers yet she could not get so soon into the Chapel but the Elevation which is the essential part of the Mass was over before she came so she was fain to stay for another Mass the King retiring when the first was ended When the King was gone the Queen bethought her self of her Papers and sent de Ville the Jesuit her Confessor who was in the Secret and is suppos'd to have instigated her Majesty to what she was acting against her Husband to secure them de Ville coming to the Chamber-door found that the King was got there before him and he having no Priviledge to enter while the Queen was absent stood there for some time and heard the King walking about the Room and talking aloud as if he were in some heat to the Condeça de Castelmelhor the Conde's Mother and chief Lady of the Bed-Chamber to the Queen With these doleful Tidings the Jesuit returns to the Queen Her Majesty upon this sends one of her Ladies to see whether there were any hopes of retrieving the Papers The Lady upon her coming found that the King had thrown himself upon the Bed This being told her Majesty she found it absolutely necessary for her to go her self but Mass was not near done And what Pretence could she have to leave it Or how should she hinder People from enquiring into the Cause of this sudden Motion De Ville was at her Elbow he suggested to her that she should be suddenly taken with a Fainting-fit His Counsel was put in Practice her Majesty swooning away immediately and in this Condition she was carried from the Tribunal into her Chamber The King surpriz'd and concern'd at his Queen's Illness would have had the Bed set in order for her to be put into it had he been obey'd her Majesty might have had a Fit in earnest for the Papers lay under some Cloaths that were upon the Bed The Fright brought her Majesty to her self so far as that she desired them without more ado to lay her upon the Bed immediately this done she felt about for the Papers found they were safe and in a little time all was well again But whatever were the Contents of these Papers it seems the Queen did not think it advisable for the Infante to put himself upon the Army For in truth those that she had greatest Reason to depend upon who were the French were like to give him but a cold Reception it was not for their Interest at that time to have the Portugueses embroil'd in a Civil War while they should be finding Work for the Spaniards in order to facilitate the French King's Conquests in Flanders As for the English who together with the French made a good part of the Army they had been sent into Portugal to serve King Alfonso and it was not to be thought that they wou'd upon any account draw their Swords against him nor is it credible but the Conde who had the disposal of all Places for above five years together must have bad Friends enough among the Portugueses themselves to make the King's Party good so that of the two it was doubtless the best way for the King to betake himself to the Army The Conde who was the best Judge in the Case thought that as things stood it was the safest if not the only Course he cou'd take to secure himself and he had once brought in the Mind to follow this Advice which was when he was just upon leaving the Court himself it being then resolv'd that the King should pass into Alemtejo in Disguise attended by the Conde But when this Project was to be put in Execution the King fell off and all the Conde's Remonstrances cou'd not prevail with him to move from Lisbon His Enemies say That he was so much in love with his Divertisements that he cou'd not bear the Thoughts of discontinuing them And in order to keep his Brother at home too he wrote him a most loving Letter inviting him to Court and disswading him from his Resolution to retire telling him That he shou'd choose rather to come to him who was ready to receive him with open Arms and with all the Love that was due to a Friend a Brother a Son and should he fail of Issue the Successor to his Kingdoms But as these kind Words were not believ'd to come from his Heart they rendred him the more contemptible to his Enemies While these things were transacting the Rabble of Lisbon was up and in a Fury against those that should occasion the Infante's Departure but resolv'd withal to put a stop to his Journey for fear of seeing themselves involv'd in a Civil War For the poor People had been strangely confounded at a certain Prophecy which was then buzzed among them That a Day was coming on when the Rua Nova the chief Street in Lisbon was to be overflown with Humane Blood so that the Horses should be bemired in Gore And they were under terrible Apprehensions that their Eyes were now to see the sad Day But however the Infante's Party had made so much Noise of his retiring that he could not handsomely draw back without giving up the Cause for now all that could be done against the Court next to offering downright Violence had been done already and all would have been to no purpose should this Design be laid aside For the Court when let alone might in a little time recover its Authority On the other side should they persist to send away the Infante the Rage of the Multitude might have been turn'd upon themselves for the Court had been tampring with the Ringleaders and in case they got safe to the Army they were like for the Reasons now mentioned to find but little Welcome And now it was high time for the Queen to appear again Her Majesty therefore sends De Ville to the Infante to
very little of that Leudness in them which abounds in so scandalous a manner in those of another Country But though Crimes of this sort are not taught in the Play-House there yet it is much suspected that they are practised amongst them the Women that tread the Stage having no better Character there than in other Places And this I presume might be the Reason why their Admittance into Lisbon was so vigorously opposed by the Arch-Bishop who to put a stop to all Importunities in their behalf published an Excommunication against the Players in case they should Act and against all that went to see them It was in vain for the Fidalgo's to desire his Lordship to recall the Sentence but at last they apply'd themselves to Nicolini the Nuncio who had now a fair Opportunity presented him to engage a powerful Party against the Arch-Bishop nor did he let slip his Advantage It is true Religion and Vertue were like to suffer by what he was about but those of Rome think these are things to be minded when they prove subservient to their Designs he therefore without more ado takes off the Excommunication by Virtue of his Legantine Power The Play-House hereupon opens and fills the Fidalgo's flocking to it like so many School-Boys let loose from under the Discipline of their Master and perhaps the more eagerly that they might a little mortifie the rigid Arch-Bishop His Lordship withdraws for a time to his Country-House that he might not be a Witness to so great a Slur put upon him and to suppress his just Indignation against the Nuncio But this was only a short Mortification which considering the Occasion must doubtless have turn'd to his Lordship's Credit even among those that were pleas'd with it at that time The Court of Rome hath since thought convenient to present him with a Cap viz. in the Year 1697 at a Promotion wherein his Lordship and Monsignor Cornaro the then Nuncio at Lisbon were the only Persons advanced to the Purple Dom Anrique de Sousa de Tavares da Silva Conde de Miranda Marquis de Aronches Brother to the Arch-Bishop and acting in concert with him a Minister of great Sufficiency but too much as 't is thought addicted to his Pleasures He hath served in several Embassies as to England Spain Holland and remains well affected to the People among whom he has resided Insomuch that during the late War such as would needs have the Ministers of State to take Parties have always given the Marquess of Aronches together with his Family to the Allies and we may suppose them to be much in the right if we judge how the Noble Families stand affected to other Nations from the Alliances they contract with Foreigners This Lord having given his Daughter to the Prince of Ligne a Fleming Subject of Spain and Prince of the Empire who succeeds him in his Estate and Title the same Person who by Procurement of the Family was sent Ambassador Extraordinary from his Portuguese Majesty to the Emperor and made that splendid Entry into Vienna of which the Publick had so large an Account in the Gazettes c. If I do not mention the rest that are of this Honourable Body it is because I am not so well instructed as to be able to give a particular Account of them But I must not omit to mention the Secretary of State who tho' he hath neither a Deliberative nor a Decisive Voice in any of the Councils is yet as some term him the Primum Mobile of the whole Kingdom His Office is compounded of that of Clerk of the Council and another long since abolished but revived for a small time by the Conde de Castelmelhor he that executed it was called the Escrivam de Puridade Puridade in old Portuguese signifies Secrecy or Privacy but is now out of use in that Sense The Office seems to have been much the same as that of Privado in Spain or Prime Minister in France but nothing remains of it now at least in the Secretary of State but what is purely Ministerial The Office of Secretary at present as 't is a Place of Great Trust so it is in a manner a Place of infinite Business he gives an Account to the King of whatsoever is done in the Council of State he is address'd to by all sorts of People that have any thing to do at Court of what Nature soever their Business is he proposes the Matter to the King and returns his Answer and is apyly'd to by Foreign Ministers on all occasions This Place is at present executed by Mendo Foyos Pereira one rais'd by the House of Aronches and as some say greatly devoted to the Family He is a Person not so considerable for his Birth as for his indefatigable Diligence in his Employment of which he acquits himself so well that it seems to be without Reason that some represent him of a narrow Capacity Foreign Ministers find it to be much for their Convenience to Manage the Secretary and hold a good Understanding with him if they desire to have quick Dispatches or when Matters relating to the Ceremonial are in Question For if he be ill us'd they may chance to meet with more Rubs in their way than they look'd for The Nuncio's that have been on ill Terms with him have not been insensible of his Resentments However it is thought advisable by those that have to deal with this Minister that in the Measures they keep with him they beware lest he perceives they are in any Awe of him since an over-great Complaisance may be of worse Consequence than a Conduct that is quite contrary FINIS Books Printed for Tho. Bennet FOLIO THucydides Greek and Latin Collated with five entire Manuscript Copies and all the Editions extant Also illustrated with Maps large Annotations and Indexes By J. Hudson M. A. and Fellow of Vniversity-College Oxon. To which is added an exact Chronology by the Learned Henry Dodwell never before Publish'd Printed at the Theater Oxon. Athenae Oxoniensis Or an exact History of all the Writers and Bishops who have had their Education in the University of Oxford from 1480 to the end of the Year 1690 giving an Account of the Birth Fortune Preferment and Death of all those Authors and Prelates the great Accidents of their Lives with the Fate and Character of their Writings The Work so compleat that no Writer of Note of this Nation for Two hundred Years is omitted In Two Volumes A new Historical Relation of the Kingdom of Siam By Monsieur de la Loubiere Envoy Extraordinary from the French King to the King of Siam in 1687 and 1688 wherein a full and exact Account is given of their Natural History as also of their Musick Arithmetick and other Mathematick Learning Illustrated with Sculptures Done out of French by Dr. P. Fellow of the Royal Society Father Malbranch's Treatise concerning the Search after Truth The whole Work compleat to which is added his Treatise of
necessity but in that which is called Gravissima That it could not be denied but the Necessity of the Churches of Portugal for Bishops at that time was Gravissima and that of the Dominions thereof in other parts of the World Extreme This grand Arcanum of the Papal Empire that Bishops may be made out of Rome and without the Pope's concurrence being thus happily discovered the Portugueses were now put in a fair way to restore the Ancient Discipline to their Church and with it prosperity to their Nation it being evident that the Miseries they labour under as well as the horrible Corruptions in their Religion are no other than the necessary Effects of the Papal Usurpation and Tyranny and it appears that King John did for some time approve of the good Advice that had been given him at least that he would have it thought so at Rome for he ordered his Agent there to get a Remonstrance to be put into the Pope's hands wherein among other things he declares That he had been assured by very learned Men that when access and recourse to the Holy See could not be had it belonged to the Chapters to choose their Bishops upon his Nomination according as it had formerly been practised in Spain and was still observed in some places that his Holiness had no reason to be dissatisfi'd if he took up with this Resolution after he had suffered himself to be so much slighted while he had the Remedy in his own hands that if his Holiness were finally resolved to prefer the Interests of Castille to his just Rights he for his part would justifie himself before all Christian Princes so that the blame of what followed should never be laid on him Had the King proceeded so far as to convince the Pope that he was in earnest he had brought him no doubt to his own terms or else might have done that for which his Posterity and Country would have the greatest cause to bless his Memory that is have shaken off that intolerable Yoke under which they are now sinking The very mention of having Bishops chosen by the Chapters upon the King's Nomination put Innocent into a terrible Fright he had nothing to say against the practice or the necessity of it in the present case But here the Inquisition of Portugal interpos'd its Authority and delivered the Pope from the Agony he was in by condemning the two last Opinions and that for a reason which comprehends the rest they declaring the Pope as Universal Head of the Roman Church to have all Monarchical Power and to be the Fountain of all Spiritual Jurisdiction which cannot be derived to Ecclesiastical Ministers without his express Concession and Will This peremptory sentence of the Inquisition put a stop to all further Proceedings in this Affair The Pope reassumed new Courage and continued as Insolent as ever after the King's Declaration had brought him to his Wits-end for as the Conde da Ericeyra in his Portugal Restaurado tells the World his Holiness did not stick to declare That the Holy Office had delivered him out of the greatest Perplexity by cutting a knot which of himself he durst not meddle with The same noble Author tell us That the King desisted from his Resolution for no other reason but because the Inquisition did not approve of it while there were as he saith a great number of learned Men both within and without the Kingdom ready to justifie and maintain it so that according to the Conde it is to the Inquisitors that the Portugueses owe the continuance of their Bondage and there is no question but they did their utmost to obstruct the King's Design supposing that he had a real intention to shake off the Roman Yoke for should the Church of Portugal recover her Liberty and have her Bishops restored to their just Authority the Holy Office must fall of course were the design of that Office no other than is pretended it is at best but an encroachment upon the Episcopal Jurisdiction for to the Bishops it belongs of right to give Judgment in matters of Religion and superintend the Discipline of the Church and they all along exercised this Jurisdiction which they derive through the Apostles from Christ with that Gentleness Tenderness and Charity as became the true Fathers of the Church till the Popes began to usurp the whole Power to themselves or impart it to Creatures of their own and among the rest to these Wolves of Inquisitors whom in the heighth of their Tyranny they let loose upon the Church to dispossess the Shepherds and ravage the Flock but should an end be put to the Papal Usurpations there would be no further occasion for Inquisitors and therefore it had been no wonder if of their own heads they made this desperate Effort to preserve their Master and themselves But in Truth had King John been fully bent to break with Rome it is much to be question'd whether all the Power of the Inquisition as great as it is suppos'd to be could have frustrated his design for in reality this Tribunal since its last establishment in Portugal hath had its chief support from the Kings who on several occasions have maintain'd it in spight of the Court of Rome it self Had the King withdrawn his Protection it is not unlikely but the Bishops of themselves might have made their Party good For the People doubtless would prefer their Government to that of the Inquisitors as chusing rather to be under the Discipline of a Father than in the hands of those barbarous Executioners Besides it was an easie matter for the King to hinder the Inquisitors from giving him any trouble some of the chief of them ow'd their lives to his Mercy the Inquisitor General for one who stood convicted as a Principal of the most horrible Treason that ever Traitor was charg'd with it was for no less a Crime than a design to murther the King fire the City and betray his Country to the Spaniards It is said that in order to the Execution of this Treason the Holy House had been fill'd with Arms and that which made the Plot the more remarkable the undermanagers of it were some of the leading Men among the New Christians against whom the Inquisition was erected and upon whom the Inquisitors for the most part exercise their Barbarities and thereby gain what favour they have with the People for the rest of the Portuguses bear a mortal hatred against those among them that go by the Name of New Christians whom these Impostors represent as Jews in their hearts pretending that their Jewish blood makes them such whether they will or no. But on this occasion it was observed That the Inquisition and the Synagogue were of accord together to destroy their Country and it is very likely that the King had he pleased might have rendered the one as odious to the people as the other was But he took other measures and though several Noble Men of the first
the Spanish Court from the most obliging Carriage of the Marquis de Castel dos Rios their late Minister at Lisbon one would think that Spain expected to reap all the advantage from the good amity little would one guess from the Conduct of this Minister that the King of Portugal was not many years ago lookt upon as his Master's Rebel there being scarce a Gentleman in Portugal more intent than he in making his Court or more careful to render himself acceptable He to gain their Majesties Favour hath during the whole time of his Residence that is for about seven years together on every Birth-night of the Eldest Prince entertained the Nobility and Foreign Ministers with a new Opera of his own Composure and acted by his own Family and all to Celebrate the future Glorys of his Highness It would perhaps seem trifling in any other times but ours to draw Consequences from any thing of this kind but in our Age Persons of his Excellencies Character do every thing by Prescription and the lightest matters of Ceremony are exactly weighed It does not yet appear what advances the King of Portugal hath made at Madrid towards the making good his Pretensions to the Succession the publick Relations of the Proceedings at that Court do as yet give but a slender Account of his Success however the frequent Couriers that pass and repass between the two Courts upon every alarm of the King of Spain's Indisposition show that his Agents there are busy in carrying on his Interests and his late Levies raised and maintained at an expence which his Kingdom is so little in a condition to bear are an Argument that he is resolved to make One among the Competitors as indeed it concerns him much to be considering the apparent danger of his own Crown in case he miscarries in his design upon that of Spain for whether a Prince of the House of Austria or of France shall inherit that Crown he 'll be Heir at the same time to Philip the 2d's Title to Portugal which as unjust as it was was strengthen'd by sixty years Possession and the Approbation of several Popes and whosoever reflects upon the Conduct of the House of Austria in the last Age or of the French King in this will find that very slender Pretences have served the turn when either of them hath had a fair opportunity to invade his Neighbour and see cause enough to be afraid for the House of Bragança should it ever have the misfortune to ly at their Mercy as it almost infallibly will do when either of them shall be in quiet Possession of the Spanish Monarchy for Spain upon any change of Government will almost necessarily recover so much of its ancient Vigor as to be overmatch for Portugal This small Kingdom may perhaps have some cause to hope that its destruction will come on more slowly in case it hath to deal with an Austrian Prince but whether it will be therefore the less sure is a question soon decided when we consider what a close Union there hath always been between the two Branches of that House each espousing the Interest and Quarrels of the other and making them its own how great a part the Spaniards had in the German Usurpations in the business of the Palatinate and the Catholick League and how far the German Line interessed it self in behalf of the Spaniards upon the Revolt of Portugal when to revenge their Quarrel the Imperialists contrary to all Faith and Honour the Right of Nations and the Laws of Hospitality seiz'd upon Prince Duarte the King of Portugal's Brother and made him end his days in a Prison Now when a Prince of the same House less Religious than his present Imperial Majesty and one of his Character does not arise in every Age shall come to have Portugal in his power can we think it likely that he will so far forget the Maxims of his Ancestors as to cherish a Race that hath occasion'd so many disgraces to a Family But if the King of Portugal hath little cause to expect security from that House he would have less reason to think himself safe should he fall under the Power of France 't is true indeed if words of Friendship could insure him he would be freest from danger while the French are putting themselves in a Condition to destroy him who till they are ready to give the Blow are always lavish of their kind Promises which such as have trusted in them have found to be the forerunners or the means rather of their Ruin Should a French Prince become possess'd of the Spanish Monarchy if Philip the 2d's Title will not do there are a great many others now dormant that will quickly be started up the Kingdom of Portugal will soon be found to have been a Dependance of Castille and it is but erecting a Chamber of Re-union to annex it thereto again or a Right of Devolution may be pretended by the forfeitures which the Kings have incurr'd they having been formerly Feudatorys to those of Leon or the Great Monarch may think it will be for his Glory or his Convenience to order his Generals to take Possession of this small Kingdom and that as appears from some Presidents may be thought right sufficient It is not to be imagined that the Court of Portugal is at this time of the Day insensible of the Dangers they are threatned with the Agonies that the Ministers were in not long ago during his Catholick Majesty's Sickness could scarce be thought to proceed from any other Cause and a Paper lately published in English shows that they have been setting their Wits at Work to find out means for their Preservation that is to make good their Master's Claim to the Succession which as they seem to be perswaded is the only visible way to secure themselves at this Juncture The Author of that Paper seems to have left nothing unsaid that may make for his Master's Cause and he hath gone a great way to prove him to have a much better Right than any other Pretender if it be true as he intimates that there is such a Fundamental Law in Spain as excludes Forreigners from the Succession and I believe there can be no Instance given of any such that have succeeded in a regular Way except it be Charles the 5th who was yet Son to the immmediate Heiress and possess'd of the Crown in his Mother's life-time As for his Son Philip the 2d and the rest that came after him they were all natural born Spaniards which Privilege must be granted to the Kings of Portugal while Portugal is allowed to be a part of Spain and it is certain that they are descended from Donna Maria Daughter to Ferdinand and Isabella and Sister to her who brought the Crown into the Austrian Family so that if there be any such Law as the aforesaid Author hints at the King of Portugal may have a very fair Title the Dauphin as 't is asserted by
be permitted to return into France and be restor'd to the King's Favour but remain depriv'd of his Governments The Court hereupon removing to Paris the principal Articles were there adjusted that were afterwards confirm'd by the two great Ministers at the Pirenees But the Allies of France seem to have been quite forgot at this Treaty of Paris as it was called at least no mention made of Portugal unless it were in that Article whereby the French oblig'd themselves to abandon it but that Article had then none of the fine Preamble before it which now sets it off so much to advantage in the printed Copys of the Pirenean Treaty While these things were transacted the Conde de Soure was coming Ambassador extraordinary from Portugal with such Instructions as show'd that the Queen Regent was intirely satisfied of the sincere Affection of her intended Son-in-law for he was ordered to demand no less then 4000 Foot form'd into six Regiments and 1000 Horse and all to be paid by his most Christian Majesty even while they were in the Portuguese service or if France could not spare so much Money he was at least to raise the Men in that Kingdom He was likewise to choose out two General Officers and engage them in his Master's service Cardinal Mazarin undertaking for their Fidelity and Ability he was also to put the last hand to the League that had been so long in Agitation there being little Cause to doubt but that it would now be soon brought to happy Conclusion But the Ambassador upon his arrival at Havre de Grace was surprized with the News that a Truce had been Proclaim'd between the Crowns of France and Spain and a day fixt for a Conferences between the Cardinal and Don Luis de Haro in order to conclude the Peace When he was got to Roan he receiv'd a Message from the Portuguese Agent more mortifying than what he had heard before for the Agent having acquainted the Cardinal of the Ambassador's arrival was bid to advise him to come Incognito to Paris his Eminence doubting whether it was convenient to receive a Publick Embassy from Portugal whose Interests France was obliged to abandon by the Peace to be made with Spain Upon his coming to Paris the Cardinal entirely disabus'd him and put an end to all the hopes they had hitherto been feeding themselves with in Portugal for now there was no more talk of the League with France nor of any conditions to be made with Spain but such as the Cardinal might be assured that the Portugueses would never be brought to accept of so far was the Ambassador from obtaining the 5000 Men he came to Demand that he could not prevail to have two General Officers of that Nation The Cardinal having so much Honour left as to tell the Ambassador that should he recommend French Men to him in case the Peace with Spain ensued the Portugueses might well question their Fidelity and the Spaniards his Sincerity However he named to him two that were of other Nations whom he advis'd him to Treat with they being Persons of known Valour and Conduct and in all respects qualified to Command in the Posts they were design'd for The Ambassador took his advise after having consulted with Marsh Turenne who knew the Men and highly approv'd of the choice the first That the Ambassador treated with was the Earl of Inchiquin who presently embark'd for Portugal but had the misfortune to be taken in his Passage by the Algerines and after having regain'd his Liberty he had been but a little while at Lisbon when the News came of King Charles his Restoration which occasion'd his Return home He was design'd afterwards to Command the Forces which that King sent to the assistance of Portugal but he did not continue long there The other was the Famous Count afterwards Marshal and late Duke of Schonberg who when he came to have the Command of Men that were worthy of such a Leader soon chang'd the face of things in Portugal and restored the most desperate Affairs of that Nation to such a state that the Spaniards who now made sure of over running it were glad to sue for a Peace and the French who at this time were casting off the Portugueses with so much contempt thought fit to court their Alliance but those by whom the Count effected all this were not French men and the Cardinal was no Prophet At present he had so little consideration for Portugal that when he was presented with a Memorial containing twenty seven Reasons why France ought not to make Peace with Spain without including Portugal his Eminence having now gain'd his ends could not find so much as one Reason among all the seven and twenty that was conclusive though the Portugueses pretended to a Promise under the Hand and Seal of King Louis 13th After this came on the Conferences between the Cardinal and Don Luis de Haro at the Pirenees there indeed the Cardinal would sometimes put in a word for the King of Portugal but it was only in order to keep Don Luis quiet when he had nothing else to defend himself withal from the Persecutions of that Minister who notwithstanding what had been agreed upon at Paris and consented to in Spain could not help making some motion or other in almost every Conference for the Prince of Conde and sometimes he would do it with so much Vehemence that the Treaty was several times like to be broken off purely on this Account even when all other Matters were adjusted For Don Luis was so very tender of his Master's Honour which seem'd to him to ly at stake on this single point that he thought he could never do enough to retrieve it one would think were we to judge of the Conduct of these two great Men as 't is represented in Mazarin's Letters that on this occasion he had changed Characters with the Cardinal Don Luis is represented at other times as having all the distinguishing qualities of a Spaniard and the Cardinal on all other occasions complains of him for being stiff slow and cold but when he makes him Pleading for the Prince of Conde he represents him as transform'd into another Man He would then become supple on a sudden using all the most Insinuating and Engaging ways of Address to gain upon the Cardinal he would Caress Court and Flatter him enduring his Repulses without the least Resentment as long as he thought it possible to bring him to a Compliance and as he found all would not do he would then begin to take Fire grow Impatient and break out into the most passionate Complaints as unable to bear the Reproach that his Master must be forc'd to abandon his Allie The Cardinal did not show himself so very passionate for the honour of his Master or the safety of his Allie had the Affair of Portugal gone as much to his Heart it is not unlikely but the Italian would have fawn'd and cringed as much and winded
himself into as many shapes to gain his ends as the Spaniard They that know any thing of Cardinal Mazarin's former Conduct would surely have expected a great deal more of this from him than from a Person of Don Luis de Haro's Character and Quality It s true his Eminence was at this time at the very heighth of his Greatness and Glory and might think it beneath him to be playing over his old tricks he would now be thought to have put off the Italian and pretended much to the Promptitude and Vivacity of a Frenchman but then had he any concern for his Allie he would surely have receiv'd some warmth from all that heat He observed in Don Luis at least that natural Vanity of his which was at this time encreased to as great a height as the station he was in could raise it should have put him upon doing something for a Prince who had no other Dependence but upon him and what could there have been more Glorious for this proud Great Man who had a Crown'd Head for his Client being so sensible as he was that the Eyes of all Christendom were upon him Princes and Nations expecting their Fate in the Issue of his Proceedings than instead of wrangling and squabbling about the exchange of every little Bicocque to be pleading the Cause of a Distressed and Orphan King But alas he did not lay the Cause of Portugal to heart at all nor concern himself for its Preservation He had used that People before so basely that he seem'd to desire their Destruction no less than the Spaniards themselves He contented himself sometimes to repell the most lively instances of Don Luis for the Prince of Conde by telling with all the Coldness and Phleme imaginable That his Master was so desirous of Peace that he had no such Considerations for the King of Portugal as he expressed for the Prince and that his Master might in Justice use the Prince of Conde in the same manner as the Spaniards intended to serve the King of Portugal It s true that in one of the first Conferences when he had no other way to put by the Importunities of Don Luis he told him knowing very well as he saith himself in his Letter to Mr. Le Tellier that he should not be taken at his Word that since he was so very Passionate for the Interests of the Prince he himself had one Proposal to make and would desire the King his Master's Consent which should be more advantageous to the Prince than any thing Don Luis had yet desired The Spaniard over joy'd at this News was impatient to know what the Proposal might be the Cardinal told him He would desire the King of France to restore the Prince and his Son the Duke of Anguien to all their Charges and Governments on Condition that the Catholick King would leave Portugal in the state it was then in The Offer was rejected with all the Indignation that the Cardinal look'd for and had he not thought as much it never had been made for as his Eminence saith to Mr. Le Tellier when he made this bold or hardy Proposal as he calls it he knew it would not be accepted Now if the French did not think it worth their while to rescue the Kingdom of Portugal from apparent Ruin at so small an Expence as giving the Prince of Conde his Employments again it is more unlikely still that they should be wiling both to do that and yield up the many strong Towns and some entire Provinces that they had possess'd themselves of in a five and twenty years War and this it is that tempts me to believe that the Proposal mention'd in the 60th Article of this Treaty was never made in earnest the Cardinal in the same Letter gives a little more light into this Mystery he saith there That he made these offers to let Don Luis see what vast Advances his Master had made towards a Peace and of what consequence his yielding in the point of Portugal was since rather than do that he would be content to restore the Prince to his Governments and give up all his Conquests and it is a great Ease to me continues he that when Don Luis is reckoning up the great Advantages the King gets by this Peace counting the Places and Provinces that remain to his Majesty that I can answer him again that all he said was nothing in Comparison to the Concession we make in the Article of Portugal though he gives a hint to Mr. Le Tellier by the by that for certain Reasons unknown to the Spaniards all this was no such great matter neither as he endeavour'd to make them believe I do not find by his Letters that he made this Hardy Proposal as he calls it any more during the whole time of the Treaty but I find him afterwards directing Mr. De Lionne to word the Preamble of the Article in the same manner as it now stands the Body it seems was adjusted before at the Treaties of Madrid and Paris so that possibly the Preamble had no better grounds for it than the occasional Discourse of which I have now given an account let the Reader then judge what we are to make of this formal Declaration vid. the 60th Article of the Treaty of the Pirenees That his most Christian Majesty desiring with an extreme Passion to see the Kingdom of Portugal enjoy the same Repose that other Christian States acquire by this present Treaty had to that end propos'd a good number of Ways and Expedients which he thought might be to the satisfaction of his Catholick Majesty among which notwithstanding as hath been said that he is under no sort of Engagement in this affair he hath gone so far as to be willing to deprive himself of the Principal Fruit of that happy Success which his Arms have had during the course of a long War offering besides the Places which he restores by this present Treaty to his Catholick Majesty to surrender up all the Conquests in general that his said Arms have made in this War and to re-establish entirely Monsieur the Prince of Conde provided and on condition that the Affairs of the Kingdom of Portugal might be left in the state they are in at present c. I cannot pretend to tell what the many Ways and Expedients here mention'd were finding little or nothing said of them in the Accounts of the Treaty that are yet extant or in the Cardinal's Letters who seems to have given an account of all the most material Passages and yet he mentions but one expedient as propos'd by himself and he saith too that he offered that rather to divert Don Luis from pressing him in behalf of the Prince than out of hopes that it would be accepted He made it on this occasion Don Luis had been very urgent with him that since the Prince could not be restored to his Charges and Governments in France he might be allow'd to accept of a
Compensation elsewhere and that the Catholick King might bestow upon him either the two Calabrias with the Kingdom of Sardinia or the Government of the Low Countries with the same Authorithy and Emoluments as it was possess'd by the Cardinal Infante and some places for himself on the Frontiers but the Cardinal would consent to nothing of all this saying That the Prince must resolve to be wholly French or wholly Spanish that is have no dependence upon the King of Spain or have nothing to do in France Yet since the King of Spain was so willing to part with these Countries he desired that the Kingdom of Sardinia might be given to the King of Portugal and he would desire his Master to agree to it so as that the Portugueses should have cause to be satisfy'd This saith he to Don Luis is the finest Expedient in the World both to content the King and let the World see that my Master seeks to get a handsome Retreat for his Ally for if the King of Portugal shall embrace this Expedient the Catholick King will be put in Possession of several Kingdoms the least of which is more considerable than that of Sardinia I do not find that the Cardinal propos'd any other Expedient besides this and this is enough to show what an extream Passion he had to serve his Master's Ally he would have him surrender up all his Dominions for that poor and little Kingdom of Sardinia which the Spaniards on several such occasions have offered to give away but could never get any one to accept of it and yet it seems the Cardinal thought this was too much for the King of Portugal for he propos'd it as he saith himself without any hopes of succeeding There was indeed another Expedient offer'd at but it came from Don Luis which was That on condition the Prince might have some Place of surety given him such as Havre de Grace the Duke of Bragança should have Olivença bestow'd on him be re-establish'd in his Estate and Honour and have over and above the Office of Constable of Castille But this Expedient was laught at by the Cardinal he thought that what Don Luis offer'd was too dear at the price of Havre de Grace and therefore he would bid nothing at all When he was brought to consent at last that the Prince of Conde should have the Government of Burgundy with the Castle of Dijon and the Duke of Anguien his Son the Place of Grand Maitre he did not so much as pretend to an Equivalent for his Ally of Portugal but screw'd from the Spaniards avesness for his Master and the Restitution of Juliers for the Duke of Nieubourg As for the King of Portugal he was to surrender up all his Kingdoms and Dominions and content himself with his Paternal Estate and a Pardon for what was past which as the Article saith was all that his most Christian Majesty by his powerful Offices could procure for him but in case that he did not accept of the same within three Months after the Ratification of the present Treaty his said Majesty promis'd engag'd and oblig'd himself upon his Honour in the Faith and Word of a King for himself and his Successors not to give to the said Kingdom of Portugal in common or to any Person or Persons therein in particular of what Dignity Estate Quality or Condition soever any Aid or Assistance Publick or Secret Directly or Indirectly of Men Arms Ammunitions Provisions Ships or Money nor any thing else either by Land or by Sea or in any other Manner and that he would not suffer Levies to be made in any parts of his Kingdoms or Estates nor grant Passage to such as might come from other States to the Assistance of the said Kingdom of Portugal so that hitherto the House of Bragança hath not been very much obliged to France But before I proceed further I find my self obliged to justify the Cardinal's Memory from a most horrible crime which the French men themselves do not stick to charge him with for they among others pretend that at the making of this Solemn Promise he had already resolv'd to violate his Faith and that he was intending to send those succors into Portugal which afterwards arriv'd there from France at the very time when he was obliging his Master who was then but a young Man and under his Direction to swear the contrary but I think there is Cause to believe that so detestable a Perfidy had not as yet enter'd into his thoughts It s true what he saith to Mr. Le Tellier That for some reasons unknown to the Spaniards his yielding in the point of Portugal was not so advantageous to them as he made them believe would look very suspicious were it not a usual thing with him on all other occasions to affect being thought a greater Fourbe than he really was for we find him bragging in most of his Letters how he cheated the Spaniards in making them think more highly of almost every one of his Concessions than they deserved whereas they took his Eminence for the Duppe all the while But I do not in the least Question but that he really did design to abandon Portugal to the Spaniards at this time according as he was now obliged by all that is Sacred among Men I will not urge for a Reason that he all along most solemnly protested to Don Luis that in case the Portugueses submitted not to the conditions offer'd them by this Peace he would perswade his Master to hold them for his Enemies for I believe few will give much heed to Protestations made by his Eminence on these occasions but he spoke his mind without doubt in another Letter sent by him to Mr. Le Tillier to be communicated to the King wherein he represents the affairs of Portugal to be in so deplorable a State That the Queen Regent was neither in a condition to defend her self nor in any terms of accommodation with the Spaniards so that as things stood both she and her Son were in great danger not only of their Crown but of their Persons But notwithstanding all this he doth not advise the King that the Troops should be ready for a Voyage to Portugal against the signing of the Treaty in order to preserve that Crown and save the Persons of the distressed Queen and her Children had he any such design in his head at that time we should in all probability find him giving some hints of it in these Letters But to put this matter out of doubt he talks of sending to that Princess to let her know That he thought it most expedient for her to submit her self to the King of Spain from whom he was perswaded she might obtain an Equivalent to advantage elsewhere for what Estate she and her Son were possess'd of in Portugal since he had been often told by Don Luis that his Master in order to compleat the Peace would not stick to bestow on her Son the
Charge of Constable of Castille with other such like Honours This surely is not the Language of one who was designing to send Forces to her assistance to animate her to carry on the War so that it seems to be an unjust Aspersion upon his Memory to say that he made this Peace with a purpose to violate it as soon as it was Sign'd there is indeed cause enough to suspect that he was not so passionately concern'd for the Well-fare of his Master's Allie as is pretended in the Article or rather he may be justly accused of the greatest Inhumanity to say no worse who when he thought this Family was in so deplorable a Condition as he describes and the Castillians so disposed to an Accommodation procured no better terms for them as he certainly might have done while the Treaty lasted and the business of the Prince of Conde was in agitation But still he clears himself of that which would have rendered him more infamous to Posterity of engaging his Master in so black a Crime as is a premeditated willful Perjury But by whose fault soever it was this is certain That the Peace was no sooner ratified on both sides confirm'd by the Marriage between the French King and the Infanta of Spain and sworn to at the high Altar before the Sacrament which was exposed on this occasion but while the People were every where making publick Demonstrations of their Joy for so happy a Conclusion of a long and calamitous War great Numbers of the most expert Officers in the Kingdom Gentlemen Soldiers Engineers Miners were marching towards Havre de Grace in order to Embark for Portugal These were afterwards follow'd by the choice of the King's Troops till at last the French Auxiliaries in Portugal amounted to near 6000 effective Men. But this was none of the Cardinal 's doing for as little as he kept his faith with the Portugueses he dealt more sincerely with the Spaniards for he sent the Marquis de Choup upon the Message mention'd in his Letters to perswade the Queen Regent to surrender up the Kingdom in hopes that the Dukes of Brogança should hereafter be made perpetual Governors or Vice Roys of Portugal and these were all the Instructions he gave the Marquis as the Marquis declar'd when he arrived at Lisbon where he met with such a cold Reception as his Message deserv'd so far was he from giving any underhand encouragement to the Portugueses to carry on the War as some Writers affirm he did with great Injustice to the Cardinal It s true that while his Eminence was disabusing the Portuguese Ambassador as to all his former Promises he entertain'd him in hopes that ways might be found out for the French Troops to pass into Portugal after the Peace was made with Spain but when the Count de Harcourt offer'd the same Ambassador to put himself with two Regiments into the Portuguese service in case he could but have the Tacit Consent of France he was not only denied by the Cardinal but told that if he persisted in the Design he should forfeit the place of Grand Ecuyer which had been granted to his Son the Count d' Armagnac so that the Cardinal seems to be pretty clear of this so great and direct a Violation of the new made Treaty Nor is it to be thought that his Master could have any hand in it for his most Christian Majesty to manifest to the World how disposed he was to observe the Oath he had so Religiously taken when it appeared that the Portuguese Ambassador was listing Men in France sent him repeated Orders to depart the Kingdom and some time afterwards commanded the Agent of the same Nation to be turn'd out likewise and publish'd his Edicts to recal home such Officers and Soldiers as were in the Portuguese service confiscating the Estates of the Disobedient 'T is true the Ambassador after he had been order'd to be gone continued sometime at Havre de Grace with no less then 600 Officers Gentlemen c. about him that he had raised for the service and they did not lie concealed all the while for the Inhabitants of the Town rose in a Mutiny against them for eating up their Provisions and when they and others after them arrived in Portugal they were under Military Discipline so that should they offer to obey their King's Edicts Count Schonberg who was their Leader might have hang'd them for Desertion and the Count for his part when he return'd into France was rewarded with a Marshals Bâton Levies were afterwards publickly made indeed for the same service but then it was done in Marshal Turenne's Name who took the Portuguese Affairs upon his account and when the Spaniards made loud complaints of it as a manifest infraction of the Treaty their Ambassador was put off with a cold and contemptuous Answer that it was but the Act of a private Person and that the Court did not concern it self in the Business The same thing its true was at last done openly and without Disguise but it does not appear where the fault lay then As the French succors arrived in Portugal the affairs of that Kingdom began to change face for if they were before as the Cardinal supposed them to be in a bad state they now fell from bad to worse The Portugueses while they were left to stand on their own Leggs had as meanly as the Cardinal thought of their condition bravely defended themselves and gain'd several very considerable Advantages over their Enemies particularly at the two famous Battles of Montijo in 1644. and Elvas in 1658. This last Victory was the more considerable for that it gave a check to the fury of the Spaniards when spur'd on by the Pope who pretended he must be forc'd to acknowledge that King's Title they made their utmost efforts to quiet his Holiness and destroy them out of hand and had the year before taken Olivença the most important Place for strength next to Elvas that the Portugueses had and that year Don Luis de Haro himself at the head of all the Forces he could muster together had obliged them to rise from the Siege of Badajoz at the very time when the place was reduc'd to Extremity but at the last they entirely routed Don Luis when he laid Siege to Elvas which defeat so disheartned the Spaniards that for the two following Years they gave the Portugueses little trouble it seems they thought fit to defer their Revenge till the Peace was made with the French and then they took it to some purpose on the Portugueses and the French together For in the Years 1661 and 62. Don John of Austria at the head of a small Army in all not amounting to 20000 but consisting of Veteran Troops drawn from Italy and Flanders entred Portugal Ravaging Spoiling and Burning all before him 't is true he never gain'd any set Battle for by all the Havock he made he never could provoke the Enemy to fight though he several times
his time he wrote in the Year 1600. I have seen a large Collection of Priviledges granted by the several Kings of Portugal to the English beyond those enjoy'd by the Portuguese Subjects I know not whether I may call them Charters These were copied from the Archives of the Kingdom in the Torre de Tumbo but the most ancient was of King Ferdinand whose Reign began not till 1367. There are several of John the 1st his Successor some of which refer to others granted by his Predecessors By this it appears that the English had a great hand in setting up the Kingdom of Portugal and if the Historians of this Country deceive us not they had as great a share in Protecting and Securing it as often as it hath been brought into Danger by a Foreign Enemy Twice it was like to be wholly over-run by the Castillians who had possed themselves of the greatest part of the Kingdom and gain'd a numerous Party of the Nobility over to their side and had been very near taking Lisbon it self the first time in the Reign of Ferdinand the last of the lawful Descendants from Alfonso Henriquez the other time while John the 1st from whom all that have succeeded him derived their Titles was strugling for the Crown and they have been as often reliev'd by the English and enabled to carry the War into the Enemies Country our Princes of the Blood condescending to go in Person to their Assistance first Edmund de Langley then Earl of Cambridge and afterwards John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster And if after the several flourishing Reigns that succeeded they were at last reduc'd under the Spanish Yoke it was because they were wanting to themselves the English having sent out a Gallant Fleet and Army to their Rescue under Dom Antonio whom they had made their King but they would not accept Deliverance and so they remain'd under the Power of their Enemies In the last War after the French had given them up or assisted them in such a manner as they should not own without Confusion when all Europe looked upon their Ruin as inevitable some of the most considerable Persons in the Kingdom being so far of the same Opinion that they thought it now high time for them to save themselves and make their Peace with the Spaniards as the Duke of Aveiro and their Ambassador in Holland who went over to them Cardinal Mazarin making himself merry with our Locker at the Folly of all the rest for not doing the same and for thinking it possible for them to hold out longer Don Luis de Haro who was not accounted Sanguin making nothing of the little Expedition that his Master was about against the Duke of Bragança for after this rate he is reported to have talk'd to King Charles the 2d at the Pirences Those small Forces sent by King Charles after his Restoration by their unparallel'd Valour soon put an end to the Quarrel and the Victories obtain'd by their Means being seconded as they were by the Vigilence Dexterity and Conduct of the same King's Ministers recover'd Portugal and restor'd it to the condition in which it now remains These Forces consisted of about 3000 Men formed into three Regiments two of Foot which made near 2400 and one of Horse of about 800. They were at first Commanded by the Earl of Inchiquin but his Lordship returning to England before they took the Field they were by Commission from the King of England put under the Conduct of Count Schomberg who had himself the immediate Command of one of the foot Regiments They arriv'd in Portugal soon after Don John had made an end of that successful Campagne before mention'd in 1662. and were dispos'd of into Quarters till the following Spring when they joyn'd the Portuguese Army in order to relieve Evora but in their March towards that City they were met with the News of its being surrender'd without Resistance in a manner and upon very Dishonourable Terms though it had in it a Garrison of 7000 Foot and 700 Horse and was provided with all things necessary for a stout Defense till such time as the Army should come up and attempt to raise the Siege The News of this loss so struck the Commanders of the Army that 't is no wonder it should put the People into that consternation before described The Conde de Villa Flor the Gen. was so discouraged that his concern appear'd to the very Soldiers in his Looks which our Men who had been used to see their Commanders so Dejected observ'd with Indignation A Council of War being called it appear'd that the Army was in no condition to fight the Enemy and it was resolv'd not to attempt it as bad as their Case was Something might have been done had Evora held out they relying upon the Garrisons fallying at the same time when they should attack the Besiegers But the Garrison was now made Prisoners of War so it was resolv'd that they should encamp themselves at a Place call'd Landroal which lay so between the Enemies Frontier Places that they might cut off any convoys of Provisions coming from thence Don John in the mean while having possess'd himself of so Great and Populous a City in the very heart of Alemtejo became thereby Master in a manner of the whole Province and was providing for his Army at his Enemies Cost by putting all the Country under Contribution for which end and to gave the greater Alarm to Lisbon whereby to increase the Tumult there he sent that large Detachment before mention'd as far as Alcacere do Sal. The Court at this time apprehending no less Danger from the Multitude then the Enemy and seeing the Affairs of Portugal to be in all respects desperate was continually sending Orders to the Commanders to fight at any rate the Army at last being reinforc'd with what Troops other parts of the Kingdom could send or the Garrisons spare march'd towards the Spaniards hoping to find them divided but not being able to hinder their Detachments from joyning the main Body they were for retiring again Don John follow'd at their Heels to give them Battle but they had pass'd a small River call'd Degebe before he came up with them and they had posted themselves so advantageously that there were but two Passes through which he could come to Attack them That where the Portugueses thought the greatest Danger was it being in its self the easiest to be forc'd was defended by one of the English Regiments Don John made his greatest Efforts to gain it and there ensued a very hot Dispute for at several times he sent in fresh Troops to renew the Charge which were as often repulsed with loss so that he was oblig'd at last to desist from the Attempt Don John found now that he had other Enemies to deal with then those he had hitherto been used to Being frustrated of his Design he put a Garrison into Evora and began to march towards the Frontiers where he
commanded them to Retreat which they did in so gallant a manner as rais'd a Noble Emulation in the whole Army And since they that were neither Kill'd nor Wounded deserved no less Honour by what they did 't is fit it should be known who they were Of the first Regiment were Captains Francis More William Love Henry Boad and Andrew Maynard af the second besides Colonel Person were Lieutenant Colonel John Bellasise Major John Rumsey and Captains Richard Heafield and Charles Langley Certainly the English have behaved themselves with extraordinary Valour and to great satisfaction since their coming to assist us in this War and that which they are particularly esteem'd for is their orderly carriage towards the Portuguese Peasants in their Quarters On the second of this instant July enter'd the Port of Lisbon 150 foot Soldiers arrived from England which may in some measure repaire the Number of those that died in Valença but not satisfie our Regret for the loss of such Companions While the King of Englands Soldiers were fighting the Battles of Portugal his Ministers were no less busy in securing the Effects of their Victories by Negotiating the happy Peace which that Nation now enjoys King Charles had so great Commiseration for the Portugueses when in their most deplorable Condition that Sir Richard Fanshaw his Ambassador at Lisbon had Instructions from him in the beginning of the Year 1663. to interpose his good Offices and use all possible means in order to make their Peace with the Spaniard but the Spaniard was then Triumphant and could think of nothing but making a quick dispatch of the War When the Condition of Portugal began to mend Sir Richard was sent upon the same Errand to Madrid where 't is true he did not meet with that success as was expected in his Embassy for though upon Notice of his Arrival such Preparations were made for his Reception that the like had scarce ever been done for any Ambassador at that Court yet upon his coming near Madrid he found the Ministers mightily alter'd all of a sudden insomuch that it was six Weeks before he made his Publick Entry and the Court prov'd so untractable and unwilling to accommodate their Minds to their Fortunes that it was two Years before he could gain any thing upon them and when he had brought them to consent to a Treaty at last his Negotiations did not keep Pace with the Victories obtain'd in Portugal as appeared by the great disappointment he met with at Salvaterra in the beginning of the Year 1666. About the same time when our Ambassador was preparing for his Journey from Madrid to Portugal Sir Robert Southwel was sent as Envoy from King Charles to this latter Court to assist at the adjusting of the Peace between the two Crowns Upon his Arrival in Portugal he heard that Mr. de S. Romain had just got before him which made him hasten to Salvaterra where the Court then was His Instructions were of a fresher Date then the Ambassadors and consequently more accommodated to the state of the Portuguese Affairs at that time but the Ambassador being not yet come he found the Ministers unwilling to enter upon any Business before his Arrival they expecting from him such Conditions as should give them intire satisfaction The Ambassador not answering their Expectation but on the contrary highly disgusting them with the Title of his Project of Peace while Mr. de S. Romain was most profuse in his Promises of the mighty things that his Master would do for them the Treaty was wholly broke off for that time However Sir Robert Southwell applying himself to the Conde de Castelmelhor the next Morning after the Council had sent that hasty Answer formerly mention'd though he found him in a very great Heat yet had the Address to pacifie him and were it not that the Case was soon alter'd at Madrid he might have brought the Treaty on again The Conde expressed himself highly dissatisfied that it should be thought that they would ever Treat with Spain but upon equal terms saying That the Spaniards might perhaps conquer Portugal but should never conquer the Portugueses who for their parts would first leap into the Sea before they would come to any Accommodation unless it were made between King and King But the Envoy soon brought him to a Temper by representing that what the Ambassador had offer'd was only the first and rude Draught or the Embrio as it were of a Treaty so that there was little reason for him to be offended at the Inscription which was a thing of no Consequence it signifying nothing what Name or Title was given it now since No body ever Christen'd a Child before it was Born The Conde as he was pleased with the conceit so he would not deny but that it was apposite to the case in hand and the Envoy having assur'd him that his Instructions were ample enough to procure for Portugal all reasonable satisfaction it was agreed that a new Project of a Treaty should be drawn up which was done accordingly by the Ambassador and the Envoy together It contain'd the very same Articles which with some small alterations are now in force between the Crowns of Spain and Portugal With this they both took a journey to Madrid but the War newly broke out between England and France made that Court believe there was no such necessity as before of a Peace with Portugal and so nothing could be done then for that Year By the beginning of the next Year the Portugueses had concluded and sign'd their League with France It s true the Conde de Castelmelhor the supposed Author of that League on the Portuguese side was the same Year removed from the Ministry and the Court but this together with the other Changes that succeeded was brought about by the Queen and her Party who were more strongly ingaged in the Interests of France the Queen was so ingag'd both by Birth and Inclination and perhaps much more strongly yet as she hoped to be countenanc'd by the French Court in what she had done and was doing against her Husband and in her further design of marrying with the Prince so that the French Faction became now more predominent at Court then ever and they seem'd there not only averse to all thoughts of a Peace but afraid least any Overtures should come from Castille to put the People in mind of it wherefore the Frontiers were strictly guarded to hinder all Communication between the Subjects on both Kingdoms The precaution perhaps was needless for the Spaniads whether it was that their thoughts were wholy taken up with the War they had then with France or that they hoped when a Peace was made with that Crown by the Intervention of other Princes that they should be able after all to deal with Portugal made no Advances towards a Treaty This backwardness of the Parties concern'd was enough to make a Mediator out of love with his Office and might have given any