Salvation of Souls and the Safety of the State depends on that which is prejudicial to both As none but such as are wicked or blind can be insensible or disown that Religious Houses are not only very useful but also necessary so none but those who have an indiscreet Zeal can be ignorant that the excess of them is inconvenient and that it might come to such a point as would be ruinous That which is done for the State being done for God who is the Basis and Foundation of it to Reform the Houses that are already establish'd and to put a stop to the excess of new Establishments are two Works very agreeable to GOD who loves Rule in all things SECT IX Of the Obedience which is due to the POPE THe Order which God requires in all things gives me an occasion to represent to your Majesty in this place That as Princes are oblig'd to acknowledge the Authority of the Church to submit to their Holy Decrees and to pay an entire Obedience to the same in what relates to the Spiritual Power which God hath placed in her hands for the Salvation of Mankind and that as it is their Duty to maintain the Honour of the Popes as Successors of St. Peter and Vicars of Jesus Christ so they ought not to yield to their Attempts when they endeavour to extend their Power beyond its Bounds As Kings are oblig'd to respect the Thiara of the Soveraign Pontifs the same Obligation lies upon them to preserve the Power of their Crown This Truth is acknowledged by all Theologians but it is very difficult to distinguish the Extent and Subordination of these two Powers aright In such a matter Princes are neither to credit the Gentlemen of the Long Robe who commonly measure the King 's by the Form of his Crown which being round has no end nor those who by the excess of an indiscreet Zeal declare themselves openly in favour of Rome Reason advises us to hear both the one and the other in order afterwards to resolve the Difficulty by Persons of so much Learning that they may not be liable to mistake through Ignorance and so sincere that neither the Interests of the State not those of Rome may prevail with them against Reason I may declare with Truth That I have ever found the Doctors of the University of Paris and the most Learned Monks of all Orders so reasonable on this Subject that I have never observ'd the least Weakness in them that could hinder them from defending the just Rights of this Kingdom neither have I ever observ'd any excess of Affection in them for their Native Country which could induce them contrary to the true Sentiments of Religion to diminish those of the Church to augment the others In such Cases the Opinion of our Fathers must be of great Weight the most famous and most impartial Historians and Authors who have written in all Ages must be carefully consulted on those Occasions in which nothing can be more dangerous than Weakness or Ignorance SECT X. Which sets forth the Advantage of Learning and shews how it ought to be Taught in this Kingdom HAving represented that Ignorance is sometimes prejudicial to the State I am now to speak of the Necessity of Learning one of the greatest Ornaments of States this being the most proper place for it since the Empire of it is justly due to the Church by reason that all sorts of Truths have a natural Relation to the first the Sacred Mysteries of which Eternal Wisdom has been pleas'd to make the Ecclesiastical Order Depositories of As the Knowledge of Letters is absolutely necessary in a Commonwealth it is certain that they ought not to be taught without distinction to every body As a Body having Eyes in all its Parts would be monstrous a State would be the same if all the Inhabitants thereof were Learned we should find as little Obedience in it as Pride and Presumption would be common The Commerce of Letters would absolutely banish that of Trade which enriches Nations would ruine Husbandry the true Mother of the People and would soon destroy the Nursery of Souldiers which encreases more in the Rudeness of Ignorance than in the Politeness of Sciences Finally it would fill France with Litigious Persons more proper to ruine private Families and to disturb publick Peace than to do the State any good If Learning were prophan'd to all sorts of Minds we should see more Persons capable to form Doubts than to resolve them and many would be fitter to oppose Truths than to defend them 'T is this Consideration which induces Politicians to say that a well regulated State requires more Masters of Mechanick Arts than Masters of Liberal Arts to teach Letters I have often heard Cardinal du Perron for the same Reason earnestly wish the Suppression of part of the Colledges of this Kingdom he was desirous to have four or five famous ones establish'd in Paris and two in every Metropolitan City of the Provinces He added to all the Considerations I have urg'd that it was impossble to find a sufficient number of Learned Men in every Age to supply a great number of Colledges whereas being contented with a moderate number they might be fill'd with worthy Persons who would preserve the Fire of the Temple in its Purity and would transmit by an uninterrupted Succession the Sciences in their Perfection I cannot forbear thinking when I consider the great number of Men who profess the Teaching of Letters and the multitude of Children that are instructed that I see an infinite number of Sick People who only aiming to drink pure and clear Water for their Cure are press'd with such a disorderly Drought that receiving without distinction all those that are presented to them the major part drink such as are impure and often out of poyson'd Cups which encreases their Drought and their Distemper instead of easing either In fine this great number of Colledges indifferently establish'd in all places produces two Evils the one by the mean Capacity of those that are oblig'd to Teach there not being a sufficient number of eminent Persons to fill the Pulpits the other by the want of natural Disposition in those whose Fathers oblige them to study by reason of the Conveniences of it without examining their Capacity which is the reason that most of those that study have only a mean Tincture of Learning some for want of more Capacity others for not being well instructed Tho' this Evil is of great consequence the Remedy is easie since it only requires to reduce all the Colledges of such places as are no Metropolitans to two or three Classis sufficient to free the Youth from gross Ignorance prejudicial even to those who design to follow Arms or to spend their Lives in Trading By that means before Children are determin'd to any Condition two or three Years will discover the Capacity of their Minds after which those that have a good Genius being sent to great Cities will succeed the better in their Learning both upon that account and by their being instructed by abler Masters Having
as that of the Ecclesiastical Order depends more on those who have the Administration of them than on Laws and Regulations which remain useless unless those who are employ'd to see them observ'd are willing to perform it Although the Laws were defective if the Officers are Men of Honour their Integrity will be capable to supply that Defect and let them be never so good they prove ineffectual when the Magistrates neglect the putting them in execution much more when they are so wicked as to pervert the use of them according to their Passions Since it is difficult to be a Judge and young at the same time I cannot forbear observing after what I have said That it is a thing of no small Consequence in order to reform the Courts of Justice to put the Ordinances in execution in what relates to the Age of Officers In my Opinion it is impossible to be too exact in it nor consequently too severe towards the Attornies General who shall be wanting in their Duty in taking care that the Parties concern'd may not be able to surprise the Judges on that Subject nor to elude the good Intentions of the Prince by Suppositions or Concealments Thereby the Evil of Youth which is considerable will be avoided as well as that of Ignorance which is the Source of many others Officers not being able to precipitate themselves as they do at present in their Reception will study more since otherwise they would remain idle which seldom happens to those who have study'd until they have obtain'd the End they propose I must not omit saying on this Subject That it would be fit absolutely to retrench the Practice of certain Doctors who prompting the Young ones like Parrots often teach them to say things they do not understand and only make them Learned in cheating the Publick and themselves also Such Men may be compar'd to fencing-Fencing-Masters who are only good to instruct Men to their own ruin and to hinder them from Learning the true Exercises of Soldiers which are only learn'd in Armies with a great deal of time and fatigue The banishment of such would be of great use which in the Practice would be found as difficult as it is easie in the Proposition Therefore I rather chuse to condemn the Fathers in this place who suffer their Children to be instructed thus and to advise them no longer to commit any such Faults against their own Blood than to intreat your Majesty to prescribe new Laws upon that Subject which would be no sooner made but a thousand ways would be found out to elude the Effect of the same and to avoid the putting of them in practice The Experience which Twenty Years of continual Occupation I have had in the Administration of Publick Affairs has given me obliges me to observe That though it were to be wish'd that the Sedentary Courts which are absolutely establish'd to administer Justice to every one and to prevent and regulate all the Disorders of the Kingdom should acquit themselves so well of their Duty that there might be no necessity to have recourse to extraordinary Commissions to maintain them in the same It is nevertheless so difficult to hope for that which is to be wish'd on that Subject that I dare be bold to say That in order to maintain this great State in the Policy and Discipline without which it can never flourish nothing can be of greater use than to send from time to time in the Provinces Chambers of Justice compos'd of Counsellors of State and Masters of Requests well selected to avoid the Thorns of Parliaments which foment Difficulties upon every thing to the end that the said Court receiving the Complaints which may be made against all sorts of Persons without any exception of Quality may remedy the same immediately I am sensible that the Soveraign Courts will be loth to suffer any such Establishments to be made But as they must needs know that a Soveraign is not oblig'd to suffer their Negligence and that Reason obliges him to remedy those Defects I am not afraid of saying That it is safer on that occasion to acquire their Esteem in performing one's Duty than to preserve their Good-will in being wanting in what is due to Publick Good But whereas it is impossible to send such Commissions at one and the same time in all the Provinces and that it will suffice for one of that Nature compos'd of the same Officers or different to make the Circuit of France in six Years time I am of Opinion that it will be necessary to send often Counsellors of State into the Provinces or Masters of Requests well selected not only to perform the Function of Intendants of Justice in Capital Cities which may serve more toward their Vanity than be of any use to the Publick but to go into all the Parts of Provinces to enquire into the Behaviour of the Officers of Justice and of the Finances to see whether the Impositions are rais'd according to the Ordinances whether the Collectors commit no Injustices in vexing of the People to discover how they perform their Offices to know how the Nobility behaves it self and to put a stop to all Disorders especially to the Violences of those who being Powerful and Rich oppress the Weak and the King 's poor Subjects SECT III. Which represents the necessity of hindring the Officers of Justice from incroaching upon the King's Authority AFter having represented what ought to be practis'd and may be done with ease to render the Officers of Justice such as they ought to be in relation to private Persons I cannot without a Crime abstain from proposing what is necessary to hinder so Potent a Body as that which they compose from being prejudicial in the whole to the State One would think there were a great deal to be said upon that Subject and yet I will say as much as is necessary in three Words if I set forth that it only requires to restrain the Officers of Justice from medling with any thing but the administring of the same to the King's Subjects which is the only End of their Establishment The Wisest of your Predecessors have made it their Business and have found the Benefit of it your Majesty has follow'd their Example as long as I have had the Honour to serve you And indeed it is a thing of such moment that unless a strict hand be kept over those Powerful Societies it would be impossible afterwards to keep them within the Bounds of their Duty It would be impossible to hinder the ruin of Royal Authority in following the Sentiments of those who being as Ignorant in the Practice of the Government of States as they presume to be Learned in the Theory of their Administration are neither capable to Judge solidly of their Conduct nor proper to make Decrees upon the Course of Publick Affairs which exceed their Capacity As nothing must be suffer'd from those great Companies to wound Soveraign Authority
THE POLITICAL Will and Testament Of that Great MINISTER of STATE CARDINAL Duke de RICHELIEV FROM WHENCE LEWIS XIV the Present French KING has taken his Measures and Maxims of GOVERNMENT In Two PARTS Done out of French LONDON Printed and are to be Sold by the Booksellers of London and VVestminster MDCXCV ADVERTISEMENT TO THE READER THE World would have reason to Wonder that this Political Testament of Cardinal de Richelieu could have been conceal'd so long did not the Consequence of it and the use to which it was designed convince us that he never intended the publishing thereof But whereas it is the Fate of Mysterys to have a certain Date and that it is impossible not to confide things of this Nature to some Indiscreet Persons there is no reason to wonder at their falling at last into Liberal hands who are glad to Impart them to the World It would be a Reflection on the Judgment of the Public to Imagine that they could mistake this Work for tho Men can never be too Cautious to avoid being imposed upon It is impossible to read this without discovering all the Characters of that great Man's mind The Elevation and Beauty of his Genius joyn'd to the Nobleness of his Expressions appears clearly in this but moreover what variety of matter is not found in it They are all handled with so much Solidity that it is obvious that he knew them by a profound Meditation seconded by a consummated Experience and that none but himself was capable to Write them If it be very delightful to read the Reflections and Political Precepts which the best Authors make on the principal Events they Relate that satisfaction is considerably lessen'd when we consider that most of them only reason after the Fact and in their Study's and that they would be at a great loss themselves to overcome the difficultys of the least Negotiation or of the least dangerous Intrigue But this Political Testament is of a different Nature It is a favourite and a first Minister of State who has Govern'd upwards of 25 years one of the most considerable Kingdoms of Europe who has Guided it and as it were held it by the hand in the first years of its Rise Who prescribes no Councel but what he has often practis'd himself and Finally who by his Steadiness and Courage has overcome an infinite number of Obstacles and Intrigues which would have overwhelm'd any other Man Therefore there never was a Work of more use for those who are called to the administration of great Affairs Kings Princes Favorites Ministers Councellors of State Ecclesasticks Nobles Magistrates Courtiers and in fine all sorts and degrees of Men find instructions here of an Inestimable Value Not that this Work is in the Condition in which it would undoubtedly have been had he had leisure to revise it but tho some carelesness is discovered in it and some Expressions less happy than others nevertheless all the parts of it compose so fine Body that those little faults can only be look'd upon like those Strokes in fine Pictures which tho' careless discover the skill of the Artist It would be an Extraordinary Presumption to endeavour by Words to Inhance the excellence of a Work which sustains it self so well and is infinitely above the Elogys that could be given to it The reading of one Chapter of it will speak more in its behalf than whatever we could say The first Edition of this Book and the two others which follow'd it close have been taken from a Manuscript which seems to be of thirty years standing and to have been written with great precipitation by two different hands without any blots but with many faults The most Essential have been mended in this fourth Impression and we thought fit not to alter the rest for fear of mistaking the sence of the Author As there is no reason to believe that the Copy we have made use of is the only remaining one we intreat those who have a better and who shall observe any Capital faults to Impart the same to us in order to correct them in a fifth Edition The very Contents seem to be written by the Cardinal de Richelieu himself as he was a very methodical Man it is very likely that he begun his Work by the said Contents lest the Matters should anticipate upon each other The World will certainly be surpris'd at the Title of the first Chapter which speaks of the General Peace of which he design'd to mention the Year which he has left in blank since there was no General Peace at that time But we have been oblig'd to follow the Manuscript and it is apparent that he design'd it and thereby to conclude the relation of the King his Master 's great Actions As for the time when this Work was written it is very likely that he did it at several times In the first Chapter he prosecutes the relation of the King's Actions until the Year 1638. Yet in some other Places he seems to write in 1635. since he gives the King but 25 years Reign It may also be question'd whether what he writes of the Jesuites is before or after the Intrigues which Father Causin the King's Confessor and Father Monod Confessor to the Dutchess of Savoy set on foot to remove him from the Court which had like to have succeeded If he writ the said Chapter after he had defeated the said Intrigue no body can sufficiently admire his Moderation in speaking so soberly of them and if he writ it before it is impossible to praise him enough to have left his Work in its first State without expressing more marks of his resentment in the same That which seems most surprising is that he does no wise mention the Birth of the present King in his Political Testament from whence we may infer that it was written before that Event being too considerable to pass it under silence Moreover we must consider that he had given over Writing long before his Death by reason of the mischance of his Arm being oblig'd to dictate all his Dispatches and whereas it is very likely that he would not trust his Political Testament to any other hand he was no longer in a condition to do it himself and that may be the reason of the said Omission All the Notes of the present Edition are in the Manuscript but the Historical Observations on the first Chapter were lately communicated to me and are peculiar to the fourth Edition if ever any Work deserv'd to be adorn'd with Remarks it certainly is this The Life and Memoirs of this Great Man will furnish abundance but that is not sufficient it requires something more particular yet to heighten the Intrigues of that Court which have not been divulg'd which would be of great Use for the better Understanding of the History Several useful Remarks might also be made upon the then State of France and that to which it is grown since Wherein the Councels
all of them knowing that Princes are apt to impute the ill Success of things that have been well advis'd to those that are about them so few expected a good Event of the Alterations it was said I design'd that many concluded my Fall even before your Majesty had rais'd me Notwithstanding all these Difficulties which I represented to your Majesty knowing what Kings can do when they make a good use of their Power I presum'd to promise you without Temerity in my Opinion what is come to pass in your State and that in a short time your Prudence your Power and the Blessing of God would alter the Affairs of this Kingdom I promis'd your Majesty that I would use my utmost Endeavours and all the Authority you were pleas'd to give me to ruine the Huguenot Party to abate the Pride of the Grandees to reduce all your Subjects to their Duty and to raise your Name again in Foreign Nations to the Degree it ought to be Moreover I represented to your Majesty that in order to compass a happy end it was absolutely necessary you should conside in me and that notwithstanding for the time past all those who had serv'd you had thought no way so proper to obtain and to preserve your Confidence as to remove the Queen your Mother from it I would take the contrary way and that nothing should be wanting on my side to keep your Majesties in a strict Union so necessary for your Reputation and for the Welfare of the Kingdom As the Success which has attended the good Intentions which God has been pleas'd to inspire me with for the Settlement of this State will justifie to future Ages the steadiness wherewith I have constantly pursued that Design so your Majesty will be a faithful Witness that I have us'd my best Endeavours lest the Artifice of some Evil-minded Persons should be powerful enough to divide that which being united by Nature ought also to be united by Grace If after having for many years happily resisted their divers Efforts their Malice has finally prevail'd it is a very great Comfort to me that your Majesty has often been pleas'd to express That while I was most intent on the Grandeur of the Queen your Mother she labour'd for my Ruine But I refer this matter to another place to keep to my present Subject and not to break the Order I am to keep in this Work The Huguenots who have never slipt any occasion to increase their Party having in 1624. surpriz'd certain Ships which the Duke of Nevers was preparing against the Turk afterwards rais'd a potent Navy against your Majesty Notwithstanding the Care of the Sea had been so far neglected till then that you had not one Ship your Majesty behav'd your self with so much Address and Courage that with those you could get among your Subjects 20 from Holland and 7 from England you defeated the Army the Rochelois had put out to Sea Which prov'd the more wonderful and happy in that this advantageous Effect proceeded from a Succour which was only granted to serve you in appearance You took the Isle of Ré by the same means which the Rochelois had unjustly made themselves Masters of long before You routed 4 or 5000 Men they had put into it to defend it and forc'd Soubise who commanded them to fly to Oleron which your Friends not only drove him out of but also forc'd him to fly the Kingdom This happy Success reduc'd those Rebellious Souls to make a Peace so glorious for your Majesty that the most difficult were pleas'd with it and all agreed that it was the most advantagious that had been made till then The Kings your Predecessors having for the time past rather received from than given a Peace to their Subjects though they were diverted by no Foreign Wars they were Losers in all the Treaties they made with them and tho' your Majesty had many other Occupations at that time you then granted it to them reserving Fort St. Lewis as a Citadel at Rochel and the Isles of Re and of Oleron as two other Places which serv'd as a good Circumvallation about it At the same time your Majesty secur'd the Duke of Savoy from the Oppression of the Spaniards who had attack'd him openly and notwithstanding they had one of the greatest Armies that had been seen of a long while in Italy which was Commanded by the Duke of Feria a great Man you hinder'd them from taking Verua of which your Arms jointly with the Duke of Savoy's sustain'd the Siege with so much Glory that they were finally forc'd to raise the Siege shamefully The Spaniards soon afterwards making themselves Masters of all the Passes of the Grisons and having fortify'd the best Posts of all their Vallies your Majesty not being able by a bare Negotiation to free your ancient Allies from that Invasion in which those unjust Usurpers had the more success by reason that the Pope favour'd them upon the vain Hopes they gave him of procuring some Advantages for Religion did that by force of Arms which you had not been able to obtain by strength of Reason Your Majesty had by that means for ever freed that Nation from the Tyranny of the House of Austria had not Fargis your Ambassador in Spain at the Sollicitation of Cardinal de Berulle made as he has confess'd it since without your Knowledge and contrary to your Majesty's strict Orders a very disadvantagious Treaty to which you adher'd at last to oblige the Pope who pretended to be concern'd in that Affair The late King your Father of Immortal Memory designing to marry one of your Majesty's Sisters in England the Spaniards thought themselves oblig'd to break that Project by marrying one of their Infanta's there The Treaty thereof being concluded the Prince of Wales was so ill advis'd as to expose himself to the Discretion of a Prince who being Master of his Person might impose whatever Law he thought fit upon him and pass'd through France incognito in order to go into Spain to marry her As soon as the thing was known here such Negotiations were set on foot that notwithstanding the great Honours he receiv'd in that Court where the King gave him the Right Hand all the while he tarry'd there altho' he was no Crown'd Head at that time the Marriage was broken off and soon after it that of France was treated of concluded and accomplish'd with Conditions three times more advantagious for Religion than those which were design'd to be propos'd in the late King's time Soon after that Powerful Cabals were form'd at Court into which the Duke of Orleans your Brother was engag'd by those who had the Care of his Conduct before his Age made him capable of it Being constrain'd to say with great Regret that a Person of the greatest Consideration was insensibly drawn into it with several others who fomented and follow'd her Passions I cannot omit the Merit you acquir'd before GOD and before Men in
to be dissatisfied since they will be employ'd in others which will prove better but such great difficulties will be met with in the Practice of such an Order that it will be impossible to overcome them A Man may be fit to Govern in Piccardy by reason of his being born there who will not be fit to be employ'd in Brittany where he has no Acquaintance and where the Place which will be given him will hardly be able to maintain him The Governments of France are for the most part of so little Profit that unless they are given to Persons who are more desirous of them upon the account of Honour and for the Convenience of their Neighbourhood than out of any other Consideration there are few who are able to bear the Expence of them Besides there are not Men enough in the Provinces for the Alterations which must needs be made if Employments are made Triennial Those Mutations are not only practicable but absolutely necessary in the great Employments of Spain as those of the Viceroys of Naples of Sicily of Sardinia the Government of Miâ—an and other Employments of the like Consequence And all of them are so profitable to those that possess them that in quitting the Abundance of the one they enter into the Wealth of the other Places which are distant from the abode of Princes require a Change of Governours in Places of the Consequence of those I have mention'd by reason that a longer Residence than that of Three Years might enable them to form Projects to settle themselves there for ever seeing particularly that the Ambition of Men is so prevailing that they are easily inclin'd to change the Condition of Subject into that of Master But the case is different in France where the Governments are not so distant from the abode of the Kings as to fear such Inconveniences nor the said Employments so great as to give the Possessors a sufficient Authority to make themselves Masters of the same Therefore provided your Majesty and your Successors keep the Power of Changing the Governments as you shall think fit upon real Cause given so to do which you may always do with Justice provided they are given gratis and not sold I dare be bold to say That it is better in that point to follow the ancient Custom of France than to imitate that of Spain which is nevertheless so politick and so reasonable considering the extent of its Dominion that though it cannot be usefully practic'd in this Kingdom yet it will be proper in my Opinion to make use of it in those Places of which France will preserve the Possession in Lorrain and in Italy SECT III. Which condemns Survivorships THe Survivorships in question in this Place are granted either against the Will of the Possessors of Places or by their Consent All Men are sensible that it is very unjust to nominate the Successors of a Man while he is alive against his Will since it exposes his Life to the Artifices of the Person that is to profit by his Death and that the Dread which may justly seize his Mind is a kind of Death to him That Practice which was formerly very much in vogue in this Kingdom is at present banish'd from thence It is so dangerous that the Councils and the best Constitutions of Temporal Princes do condemn it as well as Reason Neither can the Consent of the Possessors any ways justifie that Proceeding since that whatever Confidence they may repose in those who are appointed to succeed them they are often mistaken Though it is impossible to satisfie every body in a State by Grants yet it is necessary at least to afford hopes to those to whom nothing better can be given Which can never be done if Places Offices and Benefices are given to Children who in the height of their Merit and of their Age would perhaps hardly dare to expect those Honours and Dignities which are granted them in the Cradle Such Favours in which the State is greatly concern'd hardly oblige any body A Man does not think that that is given him which his Father or another Relation is in possession of he looks upon the Survivorship of it as a Right of Inheritance rather than as an effect of the Prince's Goodness Notwithstanding that the Good of the State requires that in the Promotion of Offices Merit should be preferr'd to all other things in what relates to Survivorship a greater regard is had to the Service of him who demands a Successor than to the persons that is to succeedhim can do The Favour of the one on such occasions often serves in lieu of Merit in the others who have nothing but their Importunity to recommend them Therefore I conclude that the less Favours of that kind are granted is certainly the best and that it would be better yet never to grant any seeing that whatever particular Considerations can be alledg'd the Consequence of them is dangerous in States where Examples have often more Force than Reason If any one observes that I condemn a thing in this Article the practice whereof I have suffer'd even in respect to my own Relations * When the Command of the Sea was given to the Cardinal Trade was almost totally ruin'd and the King had not one Ship I am sure that he will remain very well satisfied if he considers that while a Disorder is in vogue without any possibility of a Remedy Reason requires that Order should be extracted out of it Which was my Intention in preserving Places which had been establish'd by my Cares to Persons whom I could more strictly oblige to follow my Intentions and my Steps If it had been possible during the Troubles of a Reign agitated by divers Storms to settle the Regulation I propose I would have been a very Religious Observer of it CHAP. VI. Which represents to the King what Men think he ought to consider in relation to his Person GOD being the Principle of all Things the Soveraign Master of Kings and He who makes them Reign prosperously if your Majesty's Devotion were not known by all the World I would begin this Chapter which relates to your Person in representing to you That unless you follow the Will of your Creator and submit to his Laws you must not expect to have yours observ'd and to find your Subjects obedient to your Orders But it would be superfluous to exhort your Majesty to Devotion you are so naturally inclin'd to it and so much confirm'd in it by the Habit of your Vertue that there is no reason to fear that you will ever deviate from it Therefore instead of representing to you what Advantages Religious Princes have above others I will content my self with saying That the Devotion which is necessary in Kings must be free from Scruples I say it Sir because the Niceness of your Majesty's Conscience often makes you dread to offend GOD in doing things which certainly you cannot abstain from without Sin I
in Kings who ought to be guided by Reason above all others And indeed whenever Passion inclines to Good it is by chance seeing that by its Nature it makes us swerve so much from it that it blinds those in whom it reigns and that though a blind Man may chance to hit upon the right Way yet it is a wonder if he does not lose himself and he must needs stumble often unless he has an extraordinary Fortune So many Misfortunes have befallen Princes and their States when they have follow'd their own Sentiments to the prejudice of Reason and that instead of consulting Publick Interest they have been guided by their Passions that it is impossible not to intreat your Majesty to reflect often upon it in order to confirm your self more and more in what you have all along practis'd to the contrary I also humbly crave you would be pleas'd often to call to mind what I have represented several times to you That no Prince can be in a worse Condition than he who not being always able to do those things himself which he is oblig'd to do is loth to permit others to do them for him and that to be capable to suffer himself to be serv'd is not one of the least Qualities a great King can have seeing that otherwise occasions are often sooner fled than Men can dispose themselves to take hold of them whereby favourable Conjunctures for the advancement of the State are lost for Subjects of no consideration The late King your Father being reduc'd to a great Necessity paid his Servants with good Words and made them do things by Caresses which his Necessity did not allow him to incline them to any other way Your Majesty not being of that Constitution has a natural driness which you take from the Queen your Mother as herself has often told you in my presence which hinders you from imitating the late King on this Subject I cannot forbear representing to you that it is your Interest to do good to those who serve you and that at least it is reasonable to take particular care not to say any thing to disoblige them As I shall have an occasion in the sequel to treat of the Liberality which is necessary in Princes I will say no more of it in this place but I will enlarge upon the Evils which attend those who speak too freely of their Subjects The Wounds which are receiv'd by Swords are easily cur'd but it is not so by those of the Tongue particularly by the Tongues of Kings the Authority of which makes them incurable unless the Cure comes from themselves The higher a Stone is thrown from the more impression it makes where it lights many would freely expose themselves to be run through by the Swords of their Master's Enemies who cannot bear a Scratch from his hand As a Fly is not Meat for an Eagle as the Lion despises those Animals which are not of his Force as a Man attacking a Child would be blam'd by all the World so I presume to say That great Kings ought never to wound private Persons with Words because they bear no proportion to their Grandeur History is full of the ill Events which have been occasion'd by the liberty great Men have formerly allow'd their Tongues to the prejudice of Persons they deem'd to be of no Consideration GOD has been pleas'd to favour your Majesty so much that you are not naturally inclin'd to do harm and therefore it is reasonable you should regulate your Words so much that they may not do the least prejudice I am certain that you will not willingly fall into that Inconvenience But as it is difficult for you to stop your first Motions and your sudden Agitations of Mind which do sometimes transport you I should not be your Servant unless I acquainted you that your Reputation and Interest requires your taking a particular care to suppress them seeing that though such liberty of Speech should not wound your Conscience yet it would very much prejudice your Affairs As to speak well of one's Enemies is an Heroick Vertue A Prince cannot speak licentiously of those who would venture a thousand Lives for his Service without committing a notable Fault against the Laws of Christians as well as against sound Policy A King whose Hands are undefiled whose Heart is pure and whose Tongue is innocent has not a common Vertue and those who possess those two first Qualities eminently as your Majesty does may easily acquire the third As it suits with the Grandeur of Kings to be reserv'd in their Words that nothing may come out of their Mouths capable to offend private Persons so in Prudence it behoves them not only to take care never to say any thing to the disadvantage of the Principal Communities of their State but moreover to speak in such a manner of them that they may have reason to believe they have an Affection for them The most important Affairs of the State oblige them so often to cross them for Publick Good that Prudence requires they should be satisfied in things which are not of that nature It is not sufficient for great Princes never to open their Mouths to speak ill of any body but Reason requires they should shut their Ears against Slanders and false Reports and that they should turn out and banish the Authors of them as dangerous Plagues which infect the Courts and Hearts of Princes and the Minds of all those who come near them If those who have a free access to the Ears of Kings without deserving it are dangerous those who possess their Hearts out of pure Favour are much more so seeing that in order to preserve such a Treasure they must needs make use of Art and Malice to supply the want of Vertue which is not in them I cannot forbear adding upon this Subject That I have always dreaded for your Majesty the Power of such Men more than the Power of the greatest Kings of the World and that it behoves you more to beware of the Artifice of a Menial Servant than of all the Factions the Grandees could form in your State though they should all tend to the same End When I was first introduc'd into the Management of Affairs those who had had the Honour to serve you before were prepossess'd that your Majesty believ'd whatever was reported to their prejudice and upon that Foundation their principal Care was ever to keep some of their Confidents about you to secure themselves against the Evil they were afraid of Though the Experience I have of your Majesty's steadiness in relation to me obliges me to acknowledge either that their Opinion was ill grounded or that the Reflections which Time has allow'd you to make upon me have remov'd that Easiness of Youth yet I must needs conjure you to settle your self so firmly in the Conduct you have been pleas'd to use towards me that no body may have reason to dread a contrary Fate In the
almost parch'd up within Such Distempers must be prevented in time without staying for a perfect Knowledge of them because it often happens that we can only have it by the Event and the Effect of the ill Design which is projected Those who make such Enterprises are too sensible of the Danger to which they expose themselves to begin them without a Resolution to go thro' with them On such occasions Men begin slowly and fairly but afterwards the nature of such Affairs obliges them to double their pace and to run for fear of being surpris'd by the way In that they imitate the Stone which is flung from the top of a Mountain its first motion is slow and the more it descends the more weight it receives and redoubles the swiftness of its fall And as it requires more force to stop it in the midst of its fall than in the beginnig so it is very difficult to stop a Conspiracy which not being stifled in its Birth has already made a great Progress The more considerable a Place is the more the Enemy endeavours to seduce the Governour of it the more a Woman is beautiful the more Men endeavour to engage her Affections So likewise the more a Minister is useful to his Master powerful in his Mind and Favour the more Men envy him and are desirous of his Place and endeavour to supplant him to come in his room Among faithful Governours those are most esteem'd who do not only resist the Propositions which are made to them against their Duty but also refuse to hear them and who immediately stop the mouths of those who will tempt them by such means Among chast Women those who have no Ears to hearken to the ill Discourses which Men would make to them to seduce their Purity are by the Judgment of the Wisest preferr'd to those who open them even when they shut their Hearts So among Masters who have Servants whose Fidelity has been tried on so many occasions that they cannot question it with Reason those are the Wisest who stop the Mouths of those would speak ill of them Whatever Virtue there may be in resisting Temptation Princes and Husbands are esteem'd too Indulgent when they allow their Governors and their Wives to give Ear to those things which they would not have them adhere to and to which they cannot consent without a Crime and Masters must condemn themselves when they give Ear to what Men would tell them against those whose Fidelity is unreproachable The Primitive Reason of this decision consists in that as to expose ones self boldly to danger in a just and useful occasion is an Act of Valour so to do the same without Cause or Reason is an Act of Temerity and it is in that Sence it has been said with great Reason that whoever gives Ear to Calumnies deserves to be deceiv'd Perhaps some will say that there is a great deal of difference between the Duty of the Governor of the Woman and of the Prince in the case which is represented That it is true that the Governor and the Woman do a great deal better not to hearken because they can in no wise consent to what is to be propos'd to them but that the case is different in relation to the Prince who must keep his Ears open since he may be told Truths of that consequence that he will be oblig'd to provide against them To that I answer in the first place That in speaking only of such Servants whose Fidelity is unreproachable and whose Conduct has heen try'd on many occasions of that importance that it is impossible to meet with greater the disserence will be so inconsiderable in the Comparison aforesaid that in Reason it must be look'd upon as none the Rule of Moral Things obliges to look upon those things as nothing which are of slight consequence I add in the second place That the some inconvenience might attend the closing of ones Ears against what any body would say against a Servant of approv'd Fidelity It is so inconsiderable in respect to those which are inevitable in opening them to the prejudice of Persons thus qualifi'd that I may say absolutely that the Governor the Woman and the Prince must equally shut them in the occasions above-mention'd There is no ground to presume that he who has been faithful all his Life would become unfaithful in a moment without Cause or Reason principally when the Interest of his Fortune is joyn'd to his Master's An Evil which can happen but seldom must be presum'd not to happen at all particularly when to avoid it we must expose our selves to others which are inevitable and of greater Consequence which is the Case in question It being certain that it is almost impossible for a Prince to preserve his most faithful and most assured Servants if under pretence of not shutting his Ears against Truth he opens them to the Malice of Men besides that it is certain that he will lose more in losing one thus Qualify'd than if for want of giving Ear he should tolerate in any one Faults which cannot be of great consequence if he finds him faithful in the most important Occasions If he who gives a free entrance to the Murtherers who kill a Man is guilty of his Death he who receives all sorts of Suspicions and of Calumnies against the Fidelity of one of his Servants without examining the Case to the bottom is answerable before GOD for such a proceeding The best of Actions are deem'd ill by two sorts of Men by the Malicious who impute every thing to Ill by the excess of their Malice and by those who are naturally suspicious who explain every thing ill by their Weakness There is no Man on Earth though never so vertuous that can pass for innocent in a Master's Mind who not examining things himself gives ear to Calumny As there are but two ways to resist Vice either by Flight or by Combat so there are also but two to resist the Impressions which are made by Calumnies the one consists in rejecting them absolutely without hearkning to them the other in being so careful in the Examination of what is told that the Truth or Falshood thereof may be averr'd To avoid all Inconveniences to secure one's self against the Artifices and Snares that are laid by the Wicked to ruin honest Men and not to be depriv'd of the means to discover the ill Behaviour of those who serve ill the Prince must look upon all those things as Calumnies which are only whisper'd to him and upon that account refuse to hear them And if any Man will maintain what he has to say in the presence of those he accuses then he may give ear to them thus on condition of a good Recompence if he says any thing material to the Publick which proves to be true and of a great Punishment if his Accusation prove false or not considerable and important though it should prove true I have
of its Nature has inclin'd them to do that which was most advantageous to the State The others suiting all things to their Private Interest or Capricio have often diverted it from its own end to apply it to that which was most agreable or most advantagious to them Neither Death nor the Alteration of Ministers have ever occasioned any Mutation in the Council of Spain But it has been otherwise in this Kingdom in which Affairs have not only been alter'd by the removal of Councellors but they have taken such variety of Forms under the same Persons by the variety of their Councils that such a Proceeding had undoubtedly ruin'd this Monarchy did not God out of his infinite Goodness extract out of the Imperfections of this Nation the Remedy of the Evils it creates Tho the diversity of our Interests and our Natural Inconstancy incline us often to dangerous Prejudices the same Levity does not permit us to remain firm and constant even in those things which are for our good and turns our mind with so much swiftness that our Enemies not being capable to take just measures upon such frequent Varieties have not time enough to improve our faults to their advantage The Proceeding of your Council being alter'd of late your Affairs have also taken a new face to the great advantage of your Kingdom and if your Successors take care to follow the Example of your Majesty's Reign our Neighbours will not have the advantages they have had for the time past But this Kingdom sharing Wisdom with them will undoubtedly share their good Fortune since that notwithstanding Men may be wise without being happy the best means we can use not to be unhappy is to tread the Path which Prudence and Reason direct us to and not to follow the Irregularities to which the Minds of Men are subject and particularly the French If those to whom your Majesty will confide the Care of your Affairs have the capacity and probity above mention'd you will have no further care in what relates to this Principle which of it self will not prove difficult since the particular Interest of a Princes reputation and those of the Publick have the same End Princes easily consent to the general Regulations of their States by reason that in making them they follow the dictates of Reason and of Justice which Men easily embrace when they meet no Obstacles to lead them out of the right way But when occasion offers it self to practise the good Settlements they have made they do not always show the same steadiness because that is the time when divers Interests Piety Compassion Favour and Importunities solicite them and oppose their good Intentions and that they have not always force enough to vanquish themselves and to despise particular Considerations which ought to be of no weight in respect to those of the Publick It is on those occasions it behoves them to muster up all their Force against their Weakness considering that those whom God appoints to preserve others must have none but such as may serve to discover what is advantagious for the Public and proper for their Preservation CHAP. IV. How much Foresight is necessary for the Goverument of a State NOthing can be more necessary for the Government of a State than Foresight since thereby we may easily prevent many things which cannot be redress'd without great difficulties when they are come to pass Thus a Physitian who has the skill to prevent Distempers is more esteem'd than he who only labours to cure them Therefore it is the Duty of Ministers of State to represent to their Master that it is more necessary to consider the future than the present and that Distempers are like the Enemies of a State against whom Prudence obliges us to march rather than tarry till they are come to drive them out again Those who do not follow this Method will fall into great Confusions which it will be very difficult to remedy afterwards Yet it is a common thing among weak Men to drive off time and to chuse the preserving of their Ease for a Month rather than to deprive themselves of it for a while to avoid the trouble of many Years which they do not consider because they only see what is present and do not anticipate time by a wise Providence Those who never consider to morrow live happily for themselves but others live unhappily under them Those who foresee at a distance never do any thing rashly since they consider betimes and Men seldom miscarry when they consider before hand There are some occasions on which we are not allow'd to deliberate long because the nature of Affairs does not permit it But when they are not of that kind the safest way is to slumber over them and to recompence by the prudence of the Execution the delay we use the better to digest it There was a time in which no Orders were given in this Kingdom by way of prevention and even after the evil was come to pass none but Palliating Remedies were apply'd to it because it was impossible to proceed absolutely against it without wounding the Interest of many particular persons which was then prefer'd to publick good For which reason they only endeavour'd to ease the wound instead of curing it which has caus'd a great deal of harm in this Kingdom Of late years thanks be to God this way of proceeding has been alter'd with so much success that besides Reasons inviting us to continue the same the great benefit we have receiv'd by it obliges us strickly so to do We must sleep like the Lion without closing our Eyes which must be continually kept open to foresee the least inconveniencies which may happen and to remember that as Phtysick does not move the Pulse tho' it is mortal So it often happens in States that those evils which are imperceptible in their Original and which we are least sensible of are the most dangerous and those which finally prove of most consequence The extraordinary care which is requir'd not to be surpris'd on such occasions is the reason that as all those States have always been esteem'd very happy which were Govern'd by Wise Men so it has been thought that among those who did Govern them the most unwise were the most happy The more capable a Man is the more he is sensible of the weight of the Government that lies upon him Publick Administration takes up all the thoughts of the most Judicious insomuch that the perpetual Meditations they are obliged to make to foresee and prevent the Evils that may happen deprives them of all manner of Rest and Contentment excepting that which they receive in seeing many sleep quietly relying on their Watchings and live happy by their misery As it is very necessary to consider before hand as much as is possible what success may attend the designs we undertake in order not to be mistaken in our reckoning The Wisdom and Sight of Men having bounds beyond
Power whereas they have despis'd it hitherto with an incredible infidelity In that case the Barbarians will either live willingly in Peace with your Majest's Subjects or if they are not so wise as to do it they will be compell'd to do that by Force which they have refused to do by Reason Whereas at present tho' we think we have no War with them we receive all the Evils of it and we neither enjoy Peace nor the advantage we ought to reap by it We will find Calm and Safety in War which is very advantageous with Men whose natural Infidility is so great that there is no way to avoid it but by Force It now remains to examine the Expence which will be necessary for the maintenance of the number of Ships above projected which tho never so great will be inconsiderable in comparison of the advantages we will receive by it And yet it may be done with two Millions and five hundered thousand Livers according as it will appear by the Settlement which will be inserted at the end of this Work SECTION VI. Which Treats of Trade as a dependency of the Power of the Sea and specifies those which aremost Convenient IT is a Common but a very true saying that as States often are Inlarg'd by War so they are commonly inriched in time of Peace by Trade The Wealth of the Hollanders which properly speaking are only a handful of Men reduc'd into a Corner of the Earth in which there is nothing but Waters and Meadows is an Example and Proof of the usefulness of Trade which admits of no contestation Tho that Country produces nothing but Butter and Cheese yet they furnish all the Nations of Europe with the greatest part of what is necessary to them Navigation has made them so famous and so powerful throughout the whole World That after having made themselves Masters of the Trade of the East Indies to the prejudice of the Portugueze who had been long settled there they have cut out a great deal of Work for the Spaniards in the West Indies where they injoy the Major part of Brasil As in England the greatest part of those whose Circumstances are the least easy maintain themselves by common Fisherys the most Considerable drive a greater Trade in all the Parts of the World by the Manufactures of their Cloth and by the Sale of Lead Tynn and Sea Cole which are productions of their Country The Kingdom of China the Entrance into which is allow'd to no body is the only Country in which that Nation has no Place settled for their Trade The City of Genoa which only abounds in Rocks makes so good a Use of its Trade that I may safely affirm that it is the Richest City in Italy if the succors of Spain * The Manuscript is defective in this place France only abounding too much within it self has hitherto neglected Trade tho they are as conveniently seated for it as their Neighbours and might free themselves of the assistance they receive from them on that account at their own Cost The Fisheries of the Ocean are the easiest and most useful Commerce which can be made in this Kingdom It is the more necessary in that there is no State in the World so well Peopled as France That the Number of those who are out of the Road to Heaven is very inconsiderable compar'd to the Catholics who living under the Laws of the Roman Church abstain the third part of the year from the use of Meat And that none of the dispensations practised in Spain are used there to eat Meat at all times under a specious pretence Trade will be the easyer for us in that we have a great number of Sea Men who heitherto have been oblig'd to seek out imployment among our Enemyes having none at home and we have made no other use of them hitherto but to get salt Fish and Herrings But having wherewith to imploy our Mariners instead of being Constrained to strengthen our Enemies by weakning our selves we will be able to carry into Spain and other Countrys that which they have hitherto brought to us by the assistance of our Men who serve them France is so fertile in Corn so abounding in Wine Flax and Hemp to make Cloth and Riggings so necessary for Navigation that Spain England and all other Neighbouring States must have recourse thither And provided we know how to improve the advantages which Nature has given us we will get money of those who have occasion for our Goods without troubling our selves much with their Commoditys which are of little use to us Spanish English and Dutch Cloths are only superfluous we may make them as good as theirs getting Wool from Spain as they doe Moreover we may have them more conveniently upon the account of our Corn and Linen Cloths if we will exchange them to make a double gain * The Draps de Sceau are made at Roan and the Draps de Meunier at Remorantin and Elbaeuf Our Kings having made a shift with Draps de Berry we may very well make a shift now with Draps de Sceau and de Meunier or Millers Cloth which are now made in France without having recourse to those that are made abroad the use of which will be abolish'd by this means as well as the Serges of Chalons and of Chartres have abolish'd those of Milan And indeed the Draps de Sceau are insomuch request in the Levant that next to those of Venice made with Spanish Wool the Turks preferr them to all others and the Citys of Marselles and of Lyons have heitherto driven a very great Trade in them France is Industrious enough Not to stand in need of the best Manufactures of our Neighbours such fine Plushes are made at Tours that they are sent into Spain Italy and other foreign Countrys the Plain Tafetas which are made there also are so much in Vogue throughout France that there is no need to look for any elsewhere Red Purple and Spotted Velvers are made finer there now than at Genoa It is also the only place in which Silk Serges are made Mohair is made as good there as in England the sinest Cloths of Gold are made finer there and Cheaper than in Italy So that we may easily forbear that Trade which only serves to foment our Laziness and to feed our Pride to stick solidly to that which may increase our Wealth and imploy our Mariners insomuch that our Neighbours may not improve our labours at their cost Over and above those above specify'd which are the best in the Ocean many others may be made The Skinners Trade of Canada is the more necessary because there is no need of carrying Money there and that they take such Commodities in Exchange as scizzer Cases Knives small Pen-knives Needles Pins Bills Hatchets Watches Hat-bands Points and other sorts of Mercery Wares That of the Coast of Guiny in Africa in which the Portgueze have long possess'd a place call'd
on that occasion the Cardinal bethought himself to attack Spain by Fontarabie The Arch Bishop of Bourdeaux or some other had inspired him with that thought several years before But the Duke D' Espernon and La Valette his Son who were sent to View the Place at that time always found very great difficultys in it The Son was sent for and repaired to Court without knowing it was upon that Subject After a much better reception than he expected from the Minister he desired him to give him an account of what had past at Corbie about the proposition of the two Princes but he had either so much Credit or so much Address as to prevent his being pressed to the utmost and they were or seem'd to be satisfied with him without his ever saying any thing farther to the King or Cardinal but that a Man spoke to him near a Mile that he had broken all his Measures by a speedy refusal That he had not thought it necessary in an Affair in which he saw no appearence of any success to turn Informer without proofs against two Princes of the Blood whom he thought he had sufficiently persuaded to remain faithful by his Reasons and by his Example After this Eclaireissement the Siege of Frontarabie was proposed to him Nevertheless I will never believe what others have written Bona fide that it was with a real design to engage him and the old Duke his Father in an Enterprise in which they must needs perish That is driving suspition too far and the Cardinal was not capable of such a false Policy against the Interest of France and his own but it is very probable that the said Minister who ever since the Siege of Rochel and the expedition of Italy thought every thing easy for him made use of that occasion to send a Prince of the Blood in Guienne with considerable Forces both by Sea and Land which he might Imploy after that Victory as he thought fit against the Duke D' Espernon himself and against all his Family it is most certain that the Command of the Army was only offer'd to the Duke de la Valette upon two Conditions the one that the Prince of Conde should be Generalissimo over him the other that the Naval Army should be Commanded by the Archbishop of Bourdeaux who was or seem'd to be reconcil'd to the old Duke for some years pass'd The old Duke had refused more than once to Command Royal Armys under a Prince of the Blood not said he but he had a very great and most profound respect for that Rank but he was too old added he to learn towards the end of his Days to receive orders from any but the King his Master It was easy for the Duke de la Valette to foresee the ill consequences of a subaltern and divided Command but the Cardinal his Brother and another Person less Faithful who ow'd his Elevation to their Familly but yet was secretly a Creature of the Minister persuaded him with great difficulty that it was not fit always to oppose the Inclinations of a Man who had an absolute power as if they had design'd to break with him at a time when he seem'd to have a mind to be reconcil'd to all the Family That what the Court had much ado to bear from the old Duke would neither be excused nor pardoned in his Son in the same manner Moreover that whereas he would Act more in the Army than any other the Presence of a Prince would nowise lessen his Glory if the Siege had a good success but would totally discharge him if the event should not prove favourable These reasons induced him to ingage himself to the Minister before he had time to consult the old Duke his Father who nowise approv'd them but thought he ought not to find fault with what he had agreed to If any body has written the Contrary either they were not acquainted with the whole secret or thought they might dissemble part of it The resolution the Duke took himself show'd sufficiently that he was not pleased It was to ask leave to go to his house of Plassae in Zaintonge to take Milk as he sometimes used to do but at that time it was with a resolution never to return to his Government untill the Siege of Fontarabie were ended However he tarryed till the Prince was come to Bourdeaux to pay his Respects to him and taking his leave of him after having represented the difficultys of the Enterprise to him which ought only to have excited him the more by the glory of overcoming the same he offered if it were necessary to come back upon his first Orders at the head of a thousand Gentlemen to serve as a Volunteer under him The sequel has sufficiently testifyed the prudence of that Resolution for that has been known since which he was ignorant of at that time Which is that the Prince had brought secret Orders from the King to Command him to do that which he did of his own accord The Siege was begun with great hopes The Duke de la Vallette was praised for that he was the first who with Sword in hand at the head of his Forces cross'd the River of Bidassoa which divides the two Kingdoms through the Water up to the Waste he forced the Retrenchments the Enemy had made there to defend the Entrance into the Country It is also known that his attack was very much advanc'd and in a fair way to take the Place when an Order in writing from the Prince of Conde oblig'd him to yield that Post to the Arch-bishop of Bourdeaux which indeed he had much ado to digest and from that time forward finding an open and always ready contradiction to what ever was propos'd by him and being weary with giving good advices which were not follow'd he reduc'd himself only to command in his new Quarter which he thought himself oblig'd to answer for it is also most certainly true that even before that Incident there was no perfect intelligence between our Generals and that the strongest Armys commonly prove Ineffectual when discord reigns among them The Archbishop of Bourdeaux was far more mindful of the old differences he had had with the Duke and all his Family than of a forc'd reconciliation The Prince of Conde dreaded nothing more than that all the honour of the success should be imputed to La Vallette From the very beginning he had not answer'd either in relation to the Father or to the Son the Affection they both expected to find in him and which they had had proofs of on other occasions he perhaps being instructed in this by the Court and being desirous to oblige the Minister But after all as far as ever I could hear the true or principal Reason of the raising of that Siege with so little honour reflected upon the Cardinal himself more than upon any other in his Quality of Admiral without laying any stress upon his having joyn'd Commanders
thus provided against this Evil which is much greater than it seems to be we must also provide against another into which France would infallibly fall if all the Colledges that are establish'd were in one Hand The Universities pretend that a great deal of wrong is done them in not leaving them exclusively from all others the faculty of Teaching Youth The Jesuits on the other hand would not be displeas'd perhaps of being the only Persons imploy'd in that Function Reason which ought to decide all sorts of Differences does not permit the frustrating of an ancient Possessor of what he possesses with a just Title And Publick Interest cannot suffer a Society not only recommendable by their Piety but famous for their Learning as the Jesuits are to be depriv'd of a Function which they are able to perform with great Advantage for the Publick If the Universities should teach alone there would be cause to fear they would in time resume their former Pride which might prove as prejudicial for the future as it has been heretofore If on the other hand the Jesuits had no Companions in the instructing of Youth besides that the like Inconvenience might be fear'd there would be moreover a just subject to fear many others A Society which is govern'd more than any ever was by the Laws of Prudence and which devoting it self to God without depriving themselves of the knowledge of the things of this World lives in so perfect a Correspondence that the same Spirit seems to animate the whole Body A Society which by a blind Vow of Obedience is submitted to a perpetual Chief cannot according to the Laws of Sound Policy be much Authoriz'd in a State in which a powerful Community must be formidable If it be true as it is most certain that Men have a natural Inclination to advance those they have receiv'd their first Instructions from and that Parents have always a particular Affection for those who have educated their Children It is also true that the absolute Education of Youth cannot be committed to the Jesuits without being expos'd to give them a Power which would be the more obnoxius to States in that all the Places and Honours which give the management thereof would be fill'd by their Disciples and that those who take an Ascendant early over the Mind sometimes retain it during their whole Life If we add that the Administration of the Sacrament of Penance gives that Society a second Authority over all sorts of Persons which is of no less weight than the first If we consider that by those two ways they penetrate into the most secret Motions of Hearts and Families it will be impossible not to conclude that it is not fit to leave them the said Ministry alone without Competitors Those Reasons have been so powerful in all States that we have no Example of any hitherto who have been willing to yield the Empire of Letters and the absolute Education of their Youth to that Society alone If that Society good and harmless in it self created so much Jealousie in the Arch Duke Albert one of the most pious Princes of the House of Austria who only acted according to the Motions of the Council of Spain that he thought fit to exclude them out of certain Universities in which they were actually settled and to oppose the new Settlements they design'd in Flanders If they have behav'd themselves so as to induce some Republicks to remove them absolutely out of their Dominions tho' with too much Rigour it is the least that can be done in this Kingdom to give them some Check seeing not only that they are submitted to a Foreign and Perpetual Chief but moreover subject and at the Devotion of Princes who seem to desire nothing more than to humble and ruine this Crown As in point of Faith all the Catholick States of the World have but one Doctrine in that which does not relate to it there are many who differ from whence the Source of their Fundamental Maxims is often deriv'd for which reason standing in need of some Theologians who may on certain occasions couragiously defend the Opinions which have been always receiv'd there and preserv'd by an uninterrupted Transmission they require some free from any Ingagement with any suspected Powers having no dependance to deprive them of Liberty in things in which Faith allows it to all the World History informs us that the Order of St. Benedict was formerly so absolutely Master of the Schools that no body was taught in any other places and that it decay'd so absolutely in point of Science and of Piety together in the Tenth Century of the Church that it was call'd Unhappy upon that account It also informs us that the Dominioans have afterwards enjoy'd the same Advantages which those good Fathers were first possess'd of and that Time has depriv'd them of it like the others to the great prejudice of the Church which happen'd to be infected at that time with many Heresies It also informs us by the same means that Letters are like passing Birds which do not always remain in the same Country And therefore Policy requires the preventing of the said Inconvenience which being come to pass twice is with Reason to be fear'd a third time and which probably will not happen if that Society has Companions in the Possession of Letters All Parties are dangerous in point of Doctrine and nothing can be more easie than to form one under pretence of Piety when a Society thinks it self oblig'd to it by the Interest of their Subsistance The History of Pope Benedict the 11th against whom the Cordeliers nettled upon the account of the Perfection of Poverty viz. of the Revenue of St. Francis were animated to that degree that they did not only declare open War against him by their Books but moreover by the Emperour's Arms by favour of which an Anti-pope arose to the great prejudice of the Church is too great an Example to require any thing more to be said upon that subject The more Societies adhere to their Chief or Superiour the more they are to be fear'd particularly by those to whom they are not favourable Since then Prudence obliges not only to oppose whatever may be prejudicial to the State but also to prevent whatever might contribute thereunto since the Power of so doing often creates a Desire so to do Since also the Weakness of Humane Nature requires a Counterpoise in all things and that it is the Foundation of Justice it is more reasonable that the Universities and the Jesuits should Teach in Emulation of one another to the end that the said Emulation may whet their Vertue and that Sciences may the better flourish and be certain in the State in that being deposited into the Hands of Two Guardians if the one should chance to lose this sacred Pledge