French extend to the Dutchy of Milan which is the Basis that bears the rest of their Countries in Italy In the second place it seems a happy Fate for th' House of Savoy to produce such excellent Princes for Peace and War And that Heaven had granted them High Qualities to supply what it hath denied them of Power That with Wit and Courage they might make the Counterpoise to the Greatness and Powers of other Princes Add that th' Alliances of Blood which theyâ—ve from all times contracted with th' one of the two Crowns and hath been desired for their particular Ends have much relieved them in time of Need and have not onely served t'hinder them from falling but to raise them from their falls And speaking freely Though the Duke of Savoy have no greater wishes to make than for the good Intelligence of those two Crowns nor any thing more t'appreâ—end than their Contests when they do fall out Th' Ordinary Law of the Dukes Interest requires That being unable to stand Newtral he takes part with the French and they ought not to do otherwise unless some extraordinary Conjuncture of Affairs doth exempt them from it without running Hazard to be lost and overcome with the Forces of a great Kingdom before Spain hath means to stop th'Inundation and to divert the Spoils whereof there are so many Instances that no person can make a question of it And not to speak of Savoy which may be taken without much Resistance and where there is but one Fort which may be made useless by a Block-house that may almost defend it self Who knows not in how little time Charls led by the perswasion of his wife being a Portuguese and chained to the fortune of Charls the Fifth was stripped of the best part of Piedmont by Francis the First who had left his Posterity in their shirts if the Virtue of Philibert his son who defeated us at St. Quintins and th' ill Fortune of France had not opened by a Treaty of Peace the Gate to many places formerly shut unto him for many years of War It would be a superfluous thing no person being ignorant of it To speak of the Conquest the late King made of all Savoy and of the Progress he might have made in Piedmont if a powerful Conspiracy that formed it self in th' Heart of his Kingdom and the Reverence He bore the Pope had not obliged him t' hearken to the Peace presented unto him from th' Holy Chair I pass also in silence th'Expeditons of the King in Savoy and Piedmont which all Europe hath seen To what extremities he forced the late Dukes of Savoy in view of the Spanish and Imperial Forces and in despight of their conjoyned Armies The Dukes of Lorrain are not much different in Constitution nor less obliged in Dependency upon th'Interests of this Kingdom than those of Savoy That if the present Duke Charls had well understood this Truth which was of so great Importance to him And if some evil Spirit or rather some evil Counsellor had not blinded him from seeing what was so visible and so full of Light H' had not suffered as H' hath done H 'had not s ' often conspired against France nor quitted the Way his Predecessors held to their Happiness to cast himself upon By-ways which have made him wander from his Interest and have led him to the Precipice wherein he is now fallen At least if he had maintained Newtrality betwixt the Princes in War and had been a Spectator of the Quarrel without being a Party H' had been in esteem of both sides and might have made use of the Fortune of both Parties and his Country having been for some time one of the Theatres of the War had not been one of the fairest Members of the Kings Conquests and one of the principal Pieces of his Triumph Third Discourse Wherein the Second Example is brought spoken of in the First Discourse to shew th' Artifices Princes use in assaulting of Forein Princes t'hinder their Friends to Relieve them THe second Example promised in the First Discourse shall be taken also from the Republick of Venice and from a difference had with th' House of Austria upon the Subject of the Uscoques I will now give the whole Picture for the Curiosity of the Reader and that he may observe the more distinctly and in their proper places the Draughts which are of most importance for my design and deserve a serious Pause and a prudential Reflection 'T is a pleasure to see in the Lists two famous Combatants upon mutual Trials of their Skill And they who 've Inclinations for th' Affairs of State cannot be present at a more useful sight than th' Encounter and Justle of the two Powers of Spain and the Republique of Venice dextrous in th' Art of Reigning and almost equally strong in Artifices and politique Stratagems Such and the like Observations are the fruits that Ministers of State in Reading of History ought to make their principal Harvest And are the true Lights they ought to be furnished with to guide their Conduct and to clear the rich Matter whereof their Knowledge ought to be composed to make up their Profession The Subject then of this Discourse shall be the disturbance of th' Uscoques which gave much trouble to the Republique of Venice and travers'd it by the most sharp and intricate Negotiation it ever managed And determined at last in a War which consumed a part of their Treasure and caused an infinite number of their Men to perish Take the beginning and progress of this Affair Th' Adriatique Sea very famous in Antiquity for the great Pyracies exercised in it was rendred by the care of the Venetians the safest Sea of the World It was a protection for the Ships chased by the Corsaires and for the safety of Navigation upon the coasts of some other Princes as upon the Coasts of the Republique and were not much troubles till Soliman's time then th' Uscoques did violate their security yet they were quickly suppressed by th' Arms of the Republique which by the Peace made with Soliman in the year 1639 was obliged to clear the Gulf from Pyrats and to repair at their Charges the Dammages the Subjects of the Grand Signior should suffer in their Navigation upon that Sea This Calm lasted during the Time of th' Emperour Rodolphus and Mathias and of th' Archdukes Ferdinand and Leopold and untill some of th' Uscoques did interrupt it and the Gulf was so much vexed with their Violence and Robberies That they extended them to the Republiques Havens and in one of them Robbed a Galley and having killed all the persons in it by a Barbarian Inhumanity of the New World did Eat th' Heart of the Captain that Commanded it These Uscoques are a sort of People gathered of many Nations Croates Hungarians Esclavonians and banisht persons from the Republique who have neither Lands nor Industry but Live and Maintain themselves by Rapines and Murders
Lands liable to be taken at all hours for a Soveraignty above price and a fortress almost Impregnable And the great pressures they have since made and th' Extream Heat they have since expressed to put a value upon the pretences of the Princess of Stigliana to Sabionere was not to leave her the free disposition of that place But to keep it under her Name and to make it serve as a Bridle and as a Citadelle to three or four Neighbour-states in the midst whereof 't is Inclosed Did they not also in a strange Manner protect the Prince of Monaco ' gainst the pretensions and Designs of the Genoese to that Principality And in What did that protection at last Terminate but in an heavy and severe yoak which oppressed him and compelled him to shake it off to cast himself into th' Arms of a more just power and more humane domination Such and the like Examples which I could bring in great Number make a sufficient Discovery of the Genius of that Nation and of the boundless Avarice which transports them openly to Ceize upon other Mens Lards or with subtilty to Enter upon them by a breach or postern gate Seventh Discourse The second Rule which a Prince ought t' observe in Relieving of his Friends THat notwithstanding what hath been said A Prince that undertakes a War for the Love of his Neighbour may Lawfully pretend t' a Reembursement of part of his Charges If the person whom he relieves hath sufficient Means and may take Cautionary Towns for the security of his Disbursements or for the Retrait of his Troops or for Engagement of the Faith and Constancy of his Neighbour For truly 't is very just That who spares not his own blood nor the life of his subjects to secure his friend from servitude should find Him liberal of the goods and substance of his subjects to preserve in some sort his Protector from dammage and pay willingly some of the Charges for the Remedies that save his Life My meaning is in Case it may Conveniently be done and that th' estate relieved hath not been so much plundred and emptied of victuals and Riches that little remains for life and sustenance and that the least Emanation would serve to make it yield up the Ghost and force it to th' Extremity of th' Evil against which it took up Arms Otherwise th' Aid given Would not be so much a civil Charity as the Supercery of a Robber and of a Pyrate And by killing the sick person to draw away his disease When Matters are in that Condition a Prince ought to Content himself with the glory that shall rebound upon his Name and Conduct in protecting his Neighbour from oppression and with the benefits that redound to his states in breaking the designs and hindring the growth of an Ambitious Master wh ' having devoured the Meaner would infallibly thrust at the greater persons and respects his first victories but as Means and bridges to pass hikm over to new Conquests I say the same and for the same Reasons of those States that have but one fortress wherein all their safety Consists and all their hopes It may be received and kept till th' End of the War as a bridle and a security for the faith of him to whom the Relief is given but not to be râ—teined after the Peace for the Charges have been laid out to Conserve and hold it for that were t' exact the life of a Man for having furnished him with Victuals and speaking generally To seek th' End for the price and Reward of the Means which have been Contributed to produce it And the Prince ought to secure t' his power the Land and goods of his friends Subjects Whereof he is not Proprietary but the Dispensor and Steward and is bound to husband them with more Circumspection and retention than his own Lands and Goods 'T is then an Act of singular prudence and a Maxim of subtle policy to take hold of some important place for security of the Moneys that shall be Lent and advanced for th' Affairs of Allyes or Friends The Venetians have often practised this prudence and many good pawns have remained in their hands for Want of Redemption and and th' Owners have been at last Constrained to pass unto them the Revenue and Inheritance So did Queen Elizabeth of England when after the Defection of th' Hollanders from their Obedience to Spain she relieved them with Money and Men and received Flushing Brill and Ramachin in deposite till she should be reembursed of the moneys lent them which did not happen till the Reign of King James her successor 'T is to b' ignorant of King-Craft and t' offend shamefully against th' Art of Reigning not to demand places for the Retreit of his Troops in case of Disgraces and to want an Haven for Harbout when the Wind is Contrary The Necessity of this is Entire and inevitable to retain by that Bond and hold with that Anchor the Will of them who are relieved lest they Change and faulter after Engagement and leave us to the mercy of Winds and Waves and Accept without our Consent Advantagious Conditions that may be offered them in fear of our Armes and to disingage them from our Allyance The French have often struck against this rock for want of Care and have fallen into these Ambushes for want of foresight It cannot be believed how often their facility and excessive freeness have drawn infidelities and Defection from them who did not seek our Protection or implore our Aid but t' agree with their Enemies to greater advantage and to make at our charges and under the shadow of our Armes a more Honourable peace This Unhappiness happened twice to Henry the second and Octavus Duke of Parma whose defence the King undertook against th' Emperour and the Pope who would have reduced the Duke to his shirt made his peace with them without his Majesties knowledge and participation And in the League which Henry made with th' Elector Maurice and th' other Confederates of Germany against Charls the fifth The King having intelligence of their Treaty of Accommodation and seen Evidences thereof which th' Elector contrived t' our Disadvantage was compelled to decline the faults he had begun in accepting of Ostages instead of Places and to ceize upon the City of Mets with the consent of the Bishop and people as shall be discovered in the Treaty of Monarchy for his security against the Germans who came to fall upon him and to stop the Torrent was ready t' over-flow his Kingdome The present Elector of Saxe a most Worthy Branch of Maurices Blood and a true sprout of such a stock did not degenerate from the faith of his Parent For hee did not onely imitate by the peace of Prague the supercery that was done us at the peace of Passau but the Coppy surpassed th' Original and without finding such advantagious Conditions as th' others were He did not onely abandon the two
Eighth to divert Henry the Seventh the King of England from relieving the Duke of Britany to whom h' had a purpose to make War T' allay then the storm that might arise from that side and stop the Relief which Henry might bring or send in favour of his Neighbour Charls made a shew of desiring the Peace and offered to submit t' Henry the differences h' had with the Duke and t' acknowledge him Arbiter and Mediator of the Quarrel Charls with this delicate Bait and subtil Charm of Honour disarm'd Henry's warlick spirit who was fully engaged with affections and inclinations t' Aid the Duke of Britany But Charls made so powerful and quick a Levy and raised such great Forces that the Duke was over-run before notice was taken of it in England That Charls was entred into his Country with an Army and the Tragedy ended before it was known that the first Act was plaid Fourth Discourse Some Rules that Princes and especially they that are Weak ought t' observe when they have need to make use of the Relief of their Friends IN the precedent Discourse hath been seen th' unhappy Destiny of Weak Princes when they are assaulted by Powerful Princes and the various Artifices exercised t'hinder or slacken the Reliefs which might come to them from their Friends But since 't is necessary that there be such Princes in the world and that in the distribution of the parts of that little Engine for which men give themselves so much Labour and make so great a noise Equality hath not been observed 'T is of necessity that the Weaker follow the General Law and remain the Prey of the Stronger wh ' assault them or that they seek protection from them wh ' are able to give it and secure themselves under the shadow of their Authority or by the force of their Arms some Rules are to b'observed as of Importance to be known The first is That they make the strongest preparation in their power t' oppose th' Enemy that comes t' assault them and to resist his first Impetuosity which ordinarily is the most violent and put by their first strokes which are ever the most Dangerous For this purpose and in this publick Necessity theyâ—re to sell or engage their best and most precious things To sink deep into the purses of their Friends and upon their Subjects to make great Levies And 't is better for their Subjects t' endure a little blood-letting and for a short time by their Prince than totally and for ever ruin'd by strangers And a wasted Country as 't is said is better for him than a lost Country and Subjects a little plundred than Subjects constrained to change Master And though they cannot long bear that extraordinary Levy nor resist that excessive Charge It may fall out that th' Heat of th'Assailant may grow cold by a greater Resistance made on the sudden than was expected And may not b' offended at Proposals of Accommodation and that a door b' opened unto them to get our with Honour from an Enterprize whose Beginnings being unhappy the Progress might b' abated without doing more than making of a Noise and may return to th'Haven without other danger than the fear of a Tempest Or if th' Enemy do not withdraw upon th' ill usage Fortune affords them at the first Attempt and refuse to quit the place or to retire In gaining of time they 've done much which is the great Remedy of Unfortunate and Weak persons and gives Means to their Friends to come to their Relief and to bring them fresh Troops wherewith they may not onely maintain themselves but cause the face of War to change and turn the Defence in t ' an Assault and become th' Assailants of their Enemies The Duke of Savoy Grand-father of the present Duke did the like since the death of the late King in the Wars the Spaniards made him or H' had been suddenly over-run at the first sight and swallowed by the Spanish powerful Armies wherewith the Governour of Milan entred Piedmont and gave fear t' all Italy but to that Prince And yet with that wise and bold proceeding he not onely received and resisted their first assaults but gave them affronts And precedent it hath been observed that after the loss of Verceil which had it been well defended might have been kept strengthned by that fair and flourishing Relief Sir of Esdiguieres brought unto it who put the Spaniards upon the Defensive and compelled them to desire Peace which was concluded at Paris to their Advantage The second Rule is That as great sums of Money are to be expended and a great Army to be raised 't is of great importance to make them timely and not t' expose them to th'hazard of surprises which being dangerous in all sorts of affairs are much more in the business of War and d'ordinarily make breaches by which ill fortune enters so far into the Country That it proves a difficult matter to drive it out And it often falls out that they die of those strokes or are long sick of them And 't is what sometimes hath been to be desired by way of Addition to the Wisdom of the Venetians and to their excellent Conduct Their Historians also confess That one of the causes of the loss of the Kingdom of Cyprus was the delays they used in preparing against the Storm which they saw coming And in the Motions which troubled Italy about the Succession of the last Duke of Mantoua we 've seen them Arm slowlier than was necessary for their very design and have suspended many times th' Orders and Commissions they ' d given for the War upon uncertain and wild reports of a Treaty of Peace and were onely a studied Deceit and an affected Artifice of the Spaniards for to possess them with a coldness and relaxation of spirit 'T is certain at least That if after the King had forced his passage at Suza and taken away the Barrier that shut up their Entry into Italy They had not recalled th'Orders given to their General t' enter into Cremona They had taken of the Spaniards some eminent Advantage whilst they wanted Forces failed of Courage and th'Inclinations of the people were adverse unto them Who can I say doubt but if they had taken possession of Cremona which opened her Arms unto them and breathed after so easie a Yoke as theirs but that they had greatly fortifi'd the Party which they favoured and had obliged it may be by that Declaration the Spaniards t' have observed the Peace of Sutza and t' have caused to be sent to the Duke of Mantoua th'Investiures Accorded by that Treaty rather than t' have shut themselves up betwixt two so considerable Powers as France and Venice and some other Forces which Venice might have drawn t' its assistance or if the War had re-kindled as it did the following year and the Spaniards touched with th'Affronts they received from all parts have been forward at any price to take
Virtue raised it and made him think of the Means of Return to his former Condition and to withdraw with Honour from that ill posture his Imprudence had cast upon him The King for that purpose recalls Sir of Guise from Italy where he left none of his Reputat on though he made no progress there who was no sooner arriv'd in France but he took Calais from the English and Thionville from the Flemings who all obeyed one Master These great Beginnings were the presages of a company of greater Successes and there was place for belief that the conjunction of Duke John of Saxes Army to ours which was very fair would bring back to us the Victory whereof our Enemies seemed to be in possession and would render us with interest our lost glory under a Chief so valiant and so wise as the Luke of Guise But a Design as imprudent to make Peace ceized on the King as that which prevailed with him to return to the War And though according to all the Rules of Civil Prudence and to all the Maxims of Reputation and Profit he should have continued the War though it had been ill begun it was staid in the strength of the prosperity that did accompany it and Fortune was repelled that pressed to be favourable unto us He that exposed so generously the Motion of an unjust War was th' Author and Instrument of a pernicious Peace and gave a pregnant Example of th' ordinary humor of the greatest part of the most eminent Servants to second th' Interests of their Masters when they concurr and agree with theirs but quit them readily when they disagree and when it cannot otherwise be done secure their particular Interest to the Damage of the publick The Glory of the Duke of Guise hath long made the Constables heart to ake and he perceived that the Dukes Genius had th' Ascendent of his and that the Elevation of the Dutchess was his Descent and Decadency The Constable by vertue of the Peace how disadvantagous soever to France labour'd to withdraw from the Duke th' opportunities the War had given him of Advancements and of making further progress in th' Affections of the King and in th' Esteem of all France He regained also by the same Means his Liberty which enabled him to put a value upon himself without patience which is a Virtue that is not of great merit nor of great eminency in the Civil Life and resumed the Place which he held before in the Direction of Affairs And so Henry in being too compliant to th' covetousness of a Mistress and to the jealousie of a Favourite made a Peace and a War unseasonably and gave up to Love and Friendship th' Interests of Royalty and the Duty of his Charge which were incapable of Alienation His Father understood it much better and expressed a much stronger Passion for his Country when prest to receive his liberty upon exorbitant and ruinous conditions he protested That he had rather die in Prison that receive a Maimed Crown and to leave his Successors a Lesser Kingdom then he had received from his Ancestors The Second Example is of Philip the Second whom all the world knew to be so desperately taken with the love of Soveraignty and with the Good of his Affairs that he pardon'd not his own Blood nor the Life of his onely Son upon th' Advice was given him that he studied Mischief and was to pass into Flanders and there t' Establish himself Nevertheless this Prince so Amorous of his Greatness and so Jealous of his Interests hath declined sometimes from that strong Inclination in favour of his Ministers of State and to indulge their passions to his prejudice When the Flemings began to rise against him and t' open that famous Scene where hath been spilt so much domestick and forein blood Marguerita Princess of Parma their Governess reduced them partly with Gentleness and Address partly with Justice and Arms to a reasonable good Acquiescence But Tranquillity being not well setled not all the Winds which might trouble it fully appeased It was proposed in the Council of Philip what was fit to be done in that Exigency The Council was equally divided and as it were torn into two opposite Factions the Chief of th' one of the Parties was Roderigo Gomez Prince of Eboly who had for Followers the Duke of Feria a good equal Instrument of Peace and War and Antonio Perez no less famous for the long and hot persecution he suffered as for the Charge of First Secretary of Spain which he had long exercised Gomez was dextrous onely for the Cabinet and such Affairs were more in his Element than the War But his best Quality was th' Inclination Philip had for him and th' Art whereby he adjusted himself dextrously to all th' Apprehensions and to all th' Humours of his Master The Chief of th' other Faction was the Duke of Alva whose Name carries in it self Reputation and Lustre enough without giving it any other Addition to make him known His Adherents were the Cardinal of Spinola who formerly had so absolutely governed Philip that he was called the Monarch of Spain and Granuelle Bishop of Arras who nourished always Warlike thoughts under a Prelates Robe and had a particular Revenge for them by whom he had been ill handled and Renouncing his Administration forced Philip to Recall him The Duke of Alva was Improved in the Cabinet Counsels and dextrous in th' Intricacies of them But his principal Talent was the War as the great Theatre of his Virtue A Person more considerable to his Master for the Services he had rendred and might render to Spain than Acceptable for the Conditions of his Person who being of a Proud and Severe Temper was not beloved of them for whom he had done good Upon the Relation then which was sent by the Dutchess of Parma of the state of th' Affairs of Flanders the Chiefs gave their Advice singly and Declare in shew and with Colourable Reasons for the good of Philip but in Effects and bottom of their Intentions Answerable to their Passions and particular Ends. The Prince of Eloby fearing that if Philip went for the Low-Countries to compel by force the Flemings to their Duty and to return them by Arms to the yoke they had cast off the Duke of Alva would be in great esteem with the King by reason of the Necessity of his Service and draw the greatest part of Gallant Persons and the best part of the Court in Relation to his Charge and principal Command of th' Army rejected absolutely the way of Arms and Adviseth that of Sweetness and to permit the Little heat of Inquietude which remained in the Rebels to go out of it self and without violence But the Duke of Alva who saw that the Peace had almost put him out of work or left him on the Stairs whilst Gomez staid at the Feast maintained that Nothing but the Sword and the King's Presence could Cure the Disease
at a great Expence and that it riseth with much pains and sweat to the Felicity it ought t' Enjoy and is not far from itâ— But as the last slâ—ps of a long Journey are the weariest and most painfull And as the last drops of Potions give the greavest distaste to the sick persons that take them so the Remainder of â—â—â—ill Time which France is to bear and the last breathings the War yields Lay the greatest Weight and Complâ—ats the Wearinâ—ss and Fainting where with she Labours but besides the Brevity of Time it hath to suffer and the fait hopes for the future she ought to Consider as hath been already observed in another place That the past Evill was necessary and that the War which hath â—asted so many years is not of the Cholâ—e of â—â—iclination of the Prince or of his Ministers of State but an they table effect of some Malignant Constellation which affects Christendome or to speak to the Height of our Reason and according t' Experience A fire which th' Enemies of this Staâ—e havâ— voluntarily kindsed and which the King and his Ministers of Staâ—â— what Caâ—â—â—nd Dexterity soover was used could not â—â—stinguish This I will now without any figure of 〈◊〉 bâ—â—orique and Elegant 〈◊〉 sâ—uation discover by a brief and faithfull Relation of what hath passed since the peace of Moâ—tpellion and the Return of the Queen Mother to th' Affalts even to this present Conjuncture In another place I speak of the true and affected Causes of the breach of the Bâ—ace which was attended by the War th' English made in cur Islands and with the third Time of taking up of Armes by th' Hugonots since the Kings Reign The Ministers of State who had neither made not broken that Peace as th' Hugonots pretended and it may be untruly which I will not here discover were obliged to prevent th' Affronts that might b' offered to the state and t' oppose th'Evill others had drawn upon it and whereof they had laid the foundations and sowed the seeds when they had overcome that great storm and that th' Island of Rhé became the Sepulchre of them who would have made it the Seat of their new Domination projected in France The King conceived that the fatal Instant was come wherein the Nest of the Rebellion was to be beaten down and Rochelle the Sanctuary of the discontented Persons What the greatness of that Siege was and what an Incredible Wonder the success will make appear to Posterity 'T is unnecessary to explain it here since no person is ignorant of the proceedings and may Judge of them Whilst that great Affair was in dispute and that all Europe was exercised in th' Expectation of th' Event of so high an Enterprize The Spaniards to make use of th' Occasion made another Attempt upon the States of the Duke of Mantoua and put themselves into a posture to strip him of his New Succession for no other Reason but that it was Convenient for them and that the Duke was not Acceptable to them because he was a French-man How much France was offended with this Assault and what a shamefull Reflection it made upon it in the Ruine of a Prince stript to the shirt for their sake 'T is easie to Comprehend Extreme Remedies nevertheless were not used to revenge the publique Injuries And as before â—ouquingans preparations for Sea and th' Expedition of th' English to th'Island of Rhé an Extraordinary Ambassadour was sent in t ' England to divert the breath was intended And before Engagement in the War of Italy and to pass the Mountains for the relief of Montferral The King had recourse to the Ways of Treaty and sent Sir of Boutru t'offer such Civil and reasonable Conditions of Accommodation that the Spaniards could pretend to Nothing but the Victory of more Advantage This way falling and the Reducement of Rochelle upon whose subsistence the principal Hopes of the good Success of their Armes had been raised having given Means to the King to pass th' Alpes and t 'had on to the Relief of Cazal upon its last breathly He made th' Enemies retire upon a Treaty that left Moitsertan for that time safe and hindred the State of Milan to change it the Master of it That so favourable and obiliging a Treaty should not give an End to that War And that the Spaniards would not observe it so long as they ought to have done to prepare for a new Assault and to return to the List from whence they were come with some loss even of their Reputation but with th' Entire Conservation of what they might have losâ— in Italy was Hard of Belief They behaved themselves nevertheless in that Manner and to pay the Câ—â—tesie done them or to speak according to their sense to revenge th' Affront they had received an fall They caused a part of th' Emperours best Troops to march from Germany into Italy and sent the Marquis of Spinola thither from Spain with much Money and great Forces to renew the Quarrel which we thought had been ended And to deprive us of any thoughts of th' Affairs of the Duke of Mantoua and to force our Armies the second time to pass th' Alpes They had prepared two powerfull Irruptions against France The one in Champaigna by Walsthein to whom the present Duke Charls of Lorrain gave passages through his Countrey and furnisht Victuals for his Army And th' other in Languedoc by the Duke of Feria who drew not thither either for want of Forces or by Reason that Walsthein changed his march towards Ratisbone t' allay the storm that broke upon his head in that Dyeâ— Such was the Spaniards proceedings and the Design they hatched against France whilst we thought only of Composing the differences they had with the Duke of Mantoua in a friendly Manner and caused Endeavours to 〈◊〉 used in Italy and in Germany to withdraw the Spaniards with sweetness from that prejudice whereinto they had Cast the Duke without offence given by him And that the Sir of Sabran was sent to Vienna to make Plausible and Just proffers That undoubtedly th' Emperour had Accepted them if he had been Master of his Desires And if thâ— Spaniards who are predominant in his Counsels had not had the spirit so full fraught with the Thoughts of War that there was no room left for a Thought of Peace nor a Motion which tasted not of Passion and Violence Th' Armes then of th' Empire of Spain and of Savoy Conjoyned against us and against our Allies had in the beginning and in the Sequel of that War Considerable successes Mantoua was lost by surprize and Caâ—ull th' onely Piece saved from the Ruine of the Dukes Fortune and the last Anchor of the safety of Italy was in danger to be lost by Siege But it was relieved by a Miracle and there was made a kind of Accommodation which skinned th' Evil rather than healed it And Fenâ—a who succeeded to Saint Croix in the Government of
to th' Appointed places for that Holy-work And omitted nothing of what might be expected from a Prince really desirous of Peace And the demonstrations he hath given were not false Ensigns or deceitfull Evidences but certain marks and Conclusive Arguments of the desire He had for it I affirm nothing but what the Pope and his Nuncioes do certifie that Newtral Princes and their Ministers of State have acknowledged that the greatest part of Christendome knows and whereof the Conscience of our Enemies is Convinced But they made onely false shews and studied Countenances of desires for Peace and for the quiet of Christendome whilst they Imployed their Wits to find out Inventions to continue the War and laboured with all their powers to lengthen the Troubles and to Perpetuate th' Actions of the VVar. They sent indeed Deputies to Collen wither they might go with Safety and Honour but 't was for two Ends both advantagious to them but were not such as the Christian Common-vvealth aspired unto with so much heat and whereof there was not so great need as the Cessation of the VVar. The first to deceive the VVorld by that fair Apparance and to make simple persons believe that they had not onely a desire for Peace but that they made haste to make it and burned with Impatience to give a beginning to so necessary and to so much desired a VVork And all this to secure themselves by these Illusions and Dexterities of the Blame would be given them for keeping of Christendome so long in Trouble and for powring out so much Oyl and Brimstone on the fires that they have there kindled and which have almost reduced it t' Ashes The second End was to lay us asleep by that shew and to render us more Defective and Cold by that their exteriour Desire for peace to put our selves into a Condition of susteining the VVar which they would make us To dead also by the same Means them who had a mind to joyn with us and t'hinder them to be of that Party where their Interest and Honour obliged them And t' untye from our Amity and allyance them who were already entred by proposing to them Conditions in shew of more advantage if they treated apart than such as they should have in a Treaty of Generall Peace And in persecuting them with that politique Maxim That in the matter of Society and Leagues the storm falls upon the Last that treat who pay the Charges of the VVar and that the first are the Persons who gather the Profit and vvho Carry in the Crops of the field vvhich others have Husbanded and thereof sovved the Seed But our Deputies and those of our Confederates for vvhom they sent no Pasports or such as vvere Lame or Defective in the form or the matter vvould not render themselves in the place appointed for the Treaty because they had denied them th' Entry and shut up the passages by that Artifice A proceeding certainly very Injurious to th' Holy Chair vvhose Mediation they have long abused to dissemble their Deceit and Comical Demeanor to the rest of the VVorld vvhich the Spaniards have Acted by Apparances very distant from their Intentions and very contrary to the Truth as we shall prove by two Infallible proofs Th' one is Th'Answer made at Vienna in the month of July in the year 1637 to th' Ambassador of the Duke of Florence upon th'instance he then made t' have Authentique Pasports as well for our Deputies as for them of our Allies They would not as they said grant Pasports to the Crown of Swede with whom they had a particular Treaty nor for the Princes in Rebellion to them whereof they that were in Arms as the Landgrave of Hesse laboured to make their Accommodation apart and th 'others upon whom the storm fell and had been put into the Proscription of th' Empire were incapable to Treat and had no difference to determine but what was determined by th' Emperors Sword and by the Laws of th' Empire And in general it was their sense That it did not belong to Dependent and Subaltern Princes in which number they comprehended all the Princes of th' Empire to send Deputies to an Assembly such as was to be kept at Collen where none ought t'Intervene but the Deputies of Absolute and Independent Princes And that the King of Spain was justly to be condemned if he had not promised the contrary which they were well assured he had done Not to meddle with th' Affairs of Germany And that he would take it ill if th'Emperour should intermeddle in th' Affairs of his Kingdom and favour the Revolted of his Subjects and give heat to their Rebellions That if he desired Pasports to send to treat of the Quarrel had with the King of Spain and of the difference had with the Duke of Lorrain they were ready to grant them 'T is easie by the whole course of this Answer and by the secret sense it contains that th' Hatred they bear us is immortal and that th' Envy they conceive against us is th' ordinary Devil which torments them That the particular Peaces they have sought with so much Vehemency and Artifices were not planks for them to pass with more case t' an Universal Peace but the means of making us th' hotter and more violent War and to charge us in more places and by a greater number of Engines And to make some reflection upon the matter of this plausible Answer I will say That being as the world believes them such great men of Policy and so dextrous in th' Art of dissimulation whereof they have gained the Reputation They too openly vented their design to change th' Empire into Monarchy and to leave no mark of Soveraignty or any impression of a Free Power in Germany Or to declare the Truth and make it out as it was 'T is not though they then had their spirits full and heated with the design That they wanted power to retain it if they had been willing t' have concealed it and t' have denied it the Light but since th' unhappy and fatal Peace of Prague they believed t' have so well and effectively adjusted their Arrows and weather'd them that nothing could hinder them of success and that th' Answer was made in the strength of their Hopes and in th' Highest Elevation of their Thoughts For what other Thing could it signifie in Comparing the Princes of th' Empire with the Subjects of the King of Spain and to put them in a parallel and equal degree of condition Than to begin to degrade them of their Soveraignty which no person to this day hath contested with them Than to make the Transmutation spoken of and reduce many States who have particular Lords under a single Monarque And yet no person is ignorant of the Dignity of th' Empire of the West as of the Powers that constitute it And that they reside not in the sole Person of th' Emperor As the Power and dignity of
the Conquest of them or they are under shelter from th' Enterprises of th' one by the Jealousie of th' other and preserve their Liberty for that th' Ambitious hinder one another to ceize upon them and to become the Masters The Petty Republick of Ragousa maintains it self by the Tribute it pays to the Grand signior and by the Presents it makes to the Great Persons of th' House of Porta and th'Insolence of the Petty Sangiacs their Neighbours is restrained by Mony And it doth Homage to the King of Spain to be free from disturbance And permits what may please the Venetians who could be content to find some just occasion to possess themselves of it if they durst being a State very convenient for them and seared in the midst of the Gulf whereof they call themselves Lords And it would make their Possession and Enjoyment the more complete and firm There 's no question but the Duke of Florence would take from the Republique of Luca the Liberty and Peace it enjoys if Spain did not Support and Relieve it with its protection which is not given but sold as t' all th 'others that depend upon it It would be a great trouble to th' House of Austria if that State should fall to the Mercy of a Power that might prove too great by this Addition after it had been made considerable And would recall if it might the Bounties as it boasts laid out upon it or retain the Recompences as th' other says that have Rewarded their Service What had become of Geneva without th' Alliance of the Suisses and without the Protection of France Who knows not how often the Dukes of Savoy have resolved t' assault it with open Forces upon th'hopes of promised Spanish Relief when they were Amity with it and with th' Holy Chair which had not failed if they 'd been engaged in an Enterprise whose Appearence had been holy and Pretence pious And how often also Fortune and th' Incounter of things having discomposed their Designes and sent into smoak th'hopes of those Princes have they formed Conspiracies and prepared secret Parties to surprize and carry that place That if they now believe themselves free from that fear during the Minority of the Duke of Savoy under its particular dependency upon France and if the Suisses also seem to them a stronger Rampart than they were by reason of the present Conjunction which renders them more Considerable to them from whom they had cause to fear so 't is that this perpetual Vicissitude which alters human Things and that Incessant Motion wherewith the Wheel of Fortune doth turn them may produce such a Conjuncture when the French shall not have the Power or the Will to protect them And it would not be impossible If the Revolution which hath threatned Germany for many years were Ended But that it might extend to the Suisses Country which is the Frontier and that the Catholick Cantons might invade the Protestants as they have often projected And make by consequence the Rampart which defends Geneva to fall on the Catholiques side How much safer and with greater advantage might some of these petty Princes be made the Government rather than under the protection of a great Prince And might they not be happier to belong to a powerful Master who would watch for their safety and deliver them from the Fears and Expences they are at to conserve themselves Their Privileges also would be as Entire as they are and their Liberty greater since at least they should be Healed of the Passion whereof hath been lately spoken and of th'Importunate Pursutes made to them by those that Receive Pensions to Relieve them The Princes to whom they shall give themselves will be more concerned in their own Interest than in that shall depend onely upon their Crown And the Breach made in their Country if it should be lost would be much greater by th' Interest Reputation than if they lost it themselves being upon their Faith and charged solely with their defence And the more they are at the devotion of their Friends the more they will be indulged and in favour of their Inhabitants lest they should be perswaded to some change and that th'easiness of shaking off the Yoak they have voluntarily put on and to return to themselves oblige them t' undertake it But Mans condition is subject to so much Weakness and our Reason is assaulted with so many Errors that not onely Particular persons but whole Companies are often deceived in th' Election of the Good that is most proper for them and are taken with the Pomp and Apparences rather than with the Solidity and Truth of things Or else truly the Custome they 've practised and the Course exercised in some kind of Life and in some form of Policy is so strong a Band and so powerful a Charm for them who are taken with it That 't is very hard for them t' have so much as a thought to break and destroy Or else th' Absolute Power and Soveraign Authority are things so dear to them who ' njoy them That there 's no Recompence for which they would quit them and they had rather onely possess the shadow with Notorious Incommodities than to live in th'easiest Dependency and in the most commodious Subjection in the world or at last as there 's nothing in this world that hath not two faces or Good without Inconveniencies so though these Petty Princes are very sensible of the perjudice they suffer to conserve the fancy of Soveraignty they Adore the Matters of Subjection be they never so pleasant appear unto them more insupportable And they would b' afraid to worst their Condition in the Changing of it and to quit a known and Certain Good for a Doubtful and unknown Good And exchange Evils which the Newness would make Sharper and Heavier for Evils whose Custom had dulled the point and allai'd the bitterness What I have said is not to prepossess the thoughts of any person nor to perswade what a man hath not a will to believe but onely to shew one of the faces of the Medal That by such a Representation they may the better judge of th' other or else truly they may take it for a game of Wit and for an exercise of Reasonings which is void of Design and Consequence As to Princes who have but a Moderate Power as the Duke of Savoy for Example There 's no question but the Nearness of two great Crowns betwixt which he is shut is his Security And the Jealousie th' one hath lest th' other seize upon the Dukes Countries and take away that Medium and Barrier which makes betwixt their Territories the separation sollicites them effectively t'hinder the Conquest of it with all their Forces There 's no doubt I say but the French had rather have that Duke for their Neighbour than the King of Spain and that the Spaniards would not bear any thing with more impatience than to see the Domination of the
proving to be Wind and Vain and hollow promises and the Republique having been long and too often Cheated by them and preparing in Earnest to Carry by Force what they could not Gaine by ' ntreaty Comissaries were sent upon the places who Banished or put to Death some of the Meanest and Least Culpable of th' Uscoques Touched not upon the Chiefs or upon th' other most Considerable Members But Cut off some Light and Unprofitable Branches of Evill and left entire the Body and th' other parts of the Tree And so the Disorder being rather Pruned than Rooted up by this Proceeding sprouted more freely than before And resembled to the waters of a stopped Torrent which over-flows with the greater Impetuosity and Ruine Th'obstacle which held them in being taken away that when the Waters run at Liberty and their force not provoked by the Restraint There 's cause of Astonishment in the Number of Treaties which were had upon that dispute as of the success and as it were of the destiny of those Treaties whereof not one was Executed and that all of them vanished into smoak There was a Treaty at Ratisbone at Lints at Pragne and principally at Vienna of the 12. of May 1612. By which it was Agreed that th' Archduke Ferdinand should Clear th' Adriatique Sea of Pyracies and t'hinder them of Segna to Rob on that Sea But th' hour of Execution on was deferred and the Spaniards had use of the Continuance of th' Evill and that the Republique should be diverted out of Italy That it might not be forward to look after the Spanish proceedings in Piedmont and give less Heat to th' Affairs of the Duke of Savoy All the Commissioners sent t' execute the Treaties fell sick on the way and were recalled by an affected pretext And some Accident ever Intervened which Disappointed the Republique of th' Hopes wherewith it was so long fed and made to know that Nothing but â—ron could cure th'Ulcer which had Eaten to the bone and festred by their Connivence This made the Republique to resolve upon a War against th' Archduke Ferdinand and t'hinder th'Evill from streaming any further to fight in the Spring for this purpose they commanded Gradisque to be besieged and spared neither Money nor Men to Recover that place which had been built against th' Invasion of the Barbarians in Istria and opened them the Way to the Conquest of Goritia The Republique with these two places as with a stretched Chain had shut up the passage to the German Troops which might have descended into the German Troops which might have descended into the Friol by the Mountains of Carso and by the River of Lizonso This conveniency was of great Importance to the Venetians and th' opportunity of putting a powerfull Bar betwixt the German Territories and theirs whereof they have alwaies Apprehended th'Inundation gave occasions to some to say vvho measure alwaies the Designs of another by their own Rule and know no other Law t' Act by but their Profit That the Proceedings of th' Uscoques were but the Pretext of that War and that the Conquest of these two places was the Cause But they who Consider the pressing Interest the Republique had to repress th' Attempts of th' Uscoques and the perillous Consequences which would arise to their prejudice by a longer Patience will easily judge that they could not do less And that in case their Conduct was to be blamed It was for too much flowness and flegm and by discovering too great an Insensibility which emboldned th' Insolence of their Enemies and encreased th'out-rages that were Acted against them This is not the proper place of reporting the progress of that War or the different faces that Fortune shewed sometimes in favour of th' Archdukes and sometimes in savour of the Venetians and of the Spaniards and to represent the various Means wherewith two powerfull Princes as hath been said in Artifices and politique Prudence made War and the Mines and Counter-mines wherewith they mutually assaulted and defended themselves The Breach made betwixt the Venetians and th' Archdukes and the War growing Hot on both sides The Duke of Ossona whose humour was naturally troublesome and who as the Natural Heat cleaves to the Radical Humidity when outward Aliment fails not finding abroad Matter enough for disturbâ—nce raised it in the Countries of his Master which was the cause of his Ruine The Duke of Ossona I say notwithstanding the Continuation of the Peace with Spain Armes at Sea to Trouble the Republique Scoures the Gulf under the conduct of Alonzo Rivera takes away Ships and to be in a posture in case of necessity to be disavowed and by an Artifice worthy of the Spanish spirit sets forth this Fleet under his own Ensigns But th' affairs growing by time more and more grievous and th' Animosity of the Parties becoming stronger by the various accidents which the War daily produced He displayed the Royal Ensigns and by a Novelty of latter Times and unknown to former Ages makes War without declaring of it or confessing it to be made That all this was done It was said by form of diversion and t' exchange it with the Venetians who fomented underhand as it hath been reported else-where the Duke of Savoy and paid him every Month a certain sum of Mony to maintain the War on Piedmont side And that the Spaniards being exercised by that Prince might not touch upon their Frontiers unfurnished of old Soldiers and provided onely of Men who served to make up the Number as the Militiaes of Italy The danger on the Land-side which vexed the Venetians more than the Spanish Enterprises at Sea And the Jealousie of conserving their Campagnia wherein they are more sollicitous than any Persons of the world occasioned that they resolved to cause some form of Accommodation to be proposed in Spain betwixt th'Arch-dukes and themselves And to comprehend also the Duke of Savoy with whom they were in society of Interests and in some sort in community of Fortune It was t' oblige the Catholique King upon the deference not t' undertake upon their Estates and not to treat them as Enemies who had chosen him Arbiter of their differences and committed their affairs so freely unto him This Proceeding might have sweetned the Courage of the Spaniards it they had been as Magnanimous as Proud and allai'd th' Indignation they had conceived against the Venetians by reason of the War they made to the Arch-dukes and the secret Aid they gave to the Duke of Savoy But in stead of softning the Spaniards by this great Respect which was offered them and abating of their Animosity by a Submission that did them so much honour They ' xpressed the greater difficulty and resisted the more t' hear of any Accord They were Exalted the more for th'Humility of the Venetians and taking them for Persons that wanted Courage or Power they handled them with Reproaches and Threatnings they seemed without doubt the more Froward
to be the more Entreated They believed to find less resistance in making the Conditions of the Treaty by th' Indisposition they shewed in Intermedling in th'Accommodation and conceived that they who were in the dirt would think themselves happy to be delivered though they were rudely drawn out and that there was not a Haven too Incommodious to them who were secured from shipwrack But they were deceived for th' affairs of the Republique were not then so desperate as to repair to dishonorable Means t' establish it and it never fell into such desperate disgraces but that it was always in power to rise again with honour That the Spaniards in effect were more reserved than th' had been t' offend the Venetians and that they did not violate on the Land-side the Peace th' had made with them were the things th' effected and the principal Intention and Design of the Venetians The Proposition of th' Accommodation being abortive at Madril and th' humour of the Spaniards and of the Venetians Incompatible for that time The differences were remitted to Rome where the difficulties which interrupted the Peace were no more taken away than in Spain for as the Pope was suspected of passion in savour of the Spaniards and that in th' Affair then acted there were some also who believed That the Pope was not dextrous enough to manage it and would not willingly give others the glory to determine it So th'Inclinations of their Ministers of State in Italy were too strongly carried to War that produced a present and certain Profit which they had not in time of Peace Accompani'd with th'hopes of some famous Success which would have rendred their Administration remarkable And they endeavoured still to gain Time and the Game was plaid till the Spanish Arms had gained Reputation in the taking of Verecil And the fears the Venetians had that the Spaniards would not be restrained in the Frontiers of the Mildnois but over-run their Country being by that Accident Encreased They re-took the Paths they had quitted in relation to Spain and to replay their old Piece but much better adjusted and with more Colour to desire a Conclusion than they had done the first Time The Spaniards also gave over their Subtilties Rodomontadoes The Duke of Lerma a Person of a pacifique humour and who had long sought for some specious way to get off with honour from the War of Italy embraced the Conjuncture It could not be more advantagious to th' Affairs of his Master because the Peace came after the Victory nor more favourable to his particular Affairs because by that Means he discharged Don Pedro of Toledo from the command of th' Army who was of a contrary faction and began to lessen the Dukes Cabinet power wherein th' other was in his proper Sphere by the glory of his Actions done in the Field He receives then with great Approbation the Proposals of the Venetians promiseth to remember th' honour they did his Master by the most profitable and most honorable Conditions he could procure them and no Treaty ever had th' Apparance of a more certain Conclusion that this But as Tempests are not more frequent at Sea than Revolutions at War and that the Constitution of Piedmont had that in particular in it As t' observe the form of the French Government and was dependent upon th'Inconstancy and Changes of a Court which at that time was more Changeable and Uncertain than ever It hapned that the Marshal of Anore a passionate friend for the Spaniards and a great Promoter of their Interests being suddenly killed And the Spring he held shut up of the principal Reliefs which ought t' have passed to the Duke of Savoy being opened by his death such great numbers of French passed into Piedmont That the Duke found himself in a condition to make his Enemies Army to quit the Field which the Siege of Verceil had much difordered That by taking of many Towns he took from them the Remainders of their Army That he was ready to force into the Milanois and that 't was in his power to give fear to the City of Milan if the course of the Victory had not been interrupted from France and the Thunder restrained that was ready to break out on the Spaniards And Fortune that had ill used the Venetians before Gradisque began to declare in their favour and a glorious Re-enforcement of Hollanders under the conduct of Count John of Nassau promised them an happy success and quick Reducement of that place which had cost them great sums of Mony and much Forein and Intestine Blood In this Change of fortune and in this new face of Affairs the Venetians changed proceedings in relation to the Spaniards and took off the Masque under which they then concealed their Intentions which never were That the Spaniards so powerful and formidable in Italy by reason of th'Estates they there possessed should become the Judges of the Quarrels there rais'd and add to the Powers they had in Italy th' Authority of determining the Differences and to regulate th' Affairs wherein they 'd no power They commanded it then to be told the Catholique King That their Ambassador had no command to make other addresses t' him than to know his Sense and take his Advice upon the Matter of the War of Gradisque and that of Piedmont And that they ' ntended to consult him as a Friend in that Matter but not to refer the Decision t' him and to constitute him for Judge And so giving the Spanish King thanks in magnificent Terms and in words of great Respect which they 've accustomed to lay down in abundance upon things they 've no Will to grant They disappointed the Spaniards of their design and reserved for France th' Honour the Spaniards had passionately desired So that in the whole course of this Intrigue and in all this Cabinet-War the Field remained to the Venetians who found not nevertheless their Account in France but either th' Interest of the State or the Genius of the Ministers of State too much carried t' oblige Spain or for fear of disobliging it Was the cause that too great a respect was had to the Dignity of that Crown or too little to that of the Republique and to th'Interests of the Duke of Savoy Th' Emperors and th'Arch-dukes disocntentments had upon this Peace against the Spaniards is not to b' here concealed nor their Complaints against and Accommodation that had not better'd their Condition but had return'd them to the posture they were in by the Treaty of Vienna and had put them into th'Haven from whence they were put out after th' expence and hazards of an unprofitable Navigation Thus the Spaniards have accustomed to sacrifize to their Interests some of their best friends and to strain them to their Ends without Exception of Means of Persons Th' use of this Artifice was not new in the world nor th' Invention of the Venetians It was practised long ago by Charls th'
Swede being in some sort under their pay they might dispose of him as they pleased and might retain him justly to the necessary Considerations for the suppressing of th' Ambitious Designs of th'Emperour and to restore to th' Empire its lost Peace and its antient Privileges But they were not well advised for that Prince was so brave and so full of courage that he could not act such a person And as a Torrent is not to be stopped at pleasure which the force of dissolved Snows forceth from a Mountain nor a great Fire easily put out which the Wind blows and is fastned t' a great quantity of combustible Matters So this Prince rendred himself so powerful and so formidable by the Victories which crowded upon him For his Conquests were th' Adamants which drew others unto them that many of the Confederates before his death had him in great jealousie But let 's leave there those Apprehensions the suspition of an Evil which did not happen to speak of that which concerns us 'T is easie to judge by what hath been said That the League which is now of foot between us and our Confederates hath all necessary Conditions for Continuation of the War so long as it may be useful and to make the Peace that must determine it Sacred and Inviolable This great Power whereof it hath been spoken is there to be found which hath not onely the right of Birth before all other Powers of Christendom by th' Antiquity of its Original but hath it also by the greatness of its Forces and by'n abundance of Mony and Men which resembles not to the Waters of Cisterns which are easily drawn off but to them that issue from living Springs which refresh and renew themselves as they run off This Truth is so certain and of an Experience so general and so confirmed that to b'ignorant of it is not to be of the world or to know any thing of what passeth in it 'T is not to know that w'have done in Italy in favour of the Duke of Mantoua And not t' have understood that notwithstanding the fearful difficulties which accompani'd that War The Desolation which the Plague and Famine had made in our Armies and the Disgraces hapned t' our Allies by their ill fortune or by their fault We forced Germany Spain and Savoy associated to restore what they had usurped and to re-establish the Duke of Mantoua and the Grisons in their Estates and Garisons 'T is to b' ignorant what the King did for the Swedish Party and for his Confederates since the Battel of Nortlinghen What he daily doth in Germany in the Low-Countries in Italy and in Spain The Money and Men which he sent thither and the number of his Armies by Sea and by Land which filled our Enemies with fear and all Europe with astonishment As to the second Condition The Moderation of Desires and that fair Temperance which puts a Bridle into the mouth of Ambition and ties up Courage which th' Heroes are more troubled t' observe than to defeat Armies and to tame Monsters It cannot also be denied that 't is the more admirable in the Kings Soul that having all the Lights which enlighten the Cabinet and all Qualities that are active in the Field He hath besides these the Forces of a great Kingdom to put them in Motion He hath all that 's necessary for Invading and for Usurping if he did not believe That 't is more Magnanimous and more Glorious to conserve and to defend Somewhat more divine t' exercise Justice than to make Conquests I have sowed so many proofs of this Truth in so many places of this Book that I conceive it a superfluous thing to repeat them and repoint to the eye of the Reader the same Figures However I do beseech him to remember that in the long and tragical actions which vex Christendom the King never began t' any person and that he stirred not nor engaged but to relieve his Friends which were oppressed and t' abate the Designs which would have consumed their Estates That he never took Arms till he had tried the ways of sweetness and of good Endeavours That before he passed th' Alps for the delivery of Casal which Gonsailes had besieged he sent into Spain He caused Endeavours to b' used at Vienna He prevailed with the Pope t' interpose his Authority t' oblige the Spaniards to retire and with honour their Arms from Montferrat As before the beginning of the War he commanded a Treaty with the Duke of Savoy by several Agents and with most advantagious Offers that could be desired if he could admit of equitable ones to compose civilly the differences h' had with the Duke of Mantoua And after h' had raised the Siege of Câ—sal in forcing th' Alps and had given peace to the Spaniards which was so necessary for them He sent to Vienna t' hinder them from being perjured and to divert the Seeds of a second War in causing to be delivered to the Duke of Mantoua th'Investitures promised by the Peace of Suza As to Germany all the world knows that the King did not for present interpose in the Troubles that have vexed them but t' appease them And that in the Quarel of th' Emperour and the Count Palatine for the Kingdom of Bohemia he sent a famous Embassage to th'Interâ—ssed Princes to determine it friendly and caused a Peace to be concluded at Ulms as hath been already said which re-established th' Affairs of th' Empire in the Conditions they ought to be and in the Temper if it had been observed which is assigned them by their Constitutions Since that time th' Affairs of th' Empire being raised to a prodigious Success and the King observing that the Treaties of Ratisbon and of Cairasque had not shut up all the Winds which might trouble the third time the Tranquillity of Italy and carry the Storm further if th' House of Austria had nothing to do ' n Germany He caused a Treaty to be made with the King of Swede whom the Protestants had called into Germany and furnished him with some Money to give him the better means to give Employment and Exercise to that House that it might no longer think of giving trouble t' his Allies nor t' himself in his Kingdom To conclude h 'had never declared a War to Sâ—ain in the Spaniard had not commanded th'Elector of Treves to be taken away wh ' had put himself into the King's protection and had provided for his safety by his Intervention In the second place t' assure the world that the King's Arms are not mercenary nor moved by the spirit of Particular Interest let the last Treaty be remembred which he made with the Duke of Cleves and the generosity wherewith he renounced in favour of the Duke one of the Justest Conquests which could arise from the right of War Be 't remembred how freely h' abandoned by the Treaty of Cairasque almost all Savoy and a part of Piedmont which h'