thought it better to lose the advantage of such an Allyance rather than to run the hazard of Your Majesty's Displeasure Tho' your Majesty had to do with so many Enemies yet you took care to secure the Peace of Italy which was upon the point of being disturb'd by the difference which happen'd between the Duke of Savoy and the Republick of Genoa But by interposing your Authority your Majesty prevail'd with both Parties to accept of your Mediation and you brought both to an Agreement You had the same work to do over again in Poland upon the Death of the new King there without Children who had Marry'd the Empeperour's Sister before she was Marry'd the Prince of Lorrain was in Love with her and it was said if she might have had her will she would have preferr'd him tho' he had lost his Country before the King and Crown of Poland Whatever was the matter she made so great a Party for him in the Kingdom that every body thought he would have been chosen King The Poles were so little satisfy'd with the Deceas'd King that they were inclin'd to revive the Law which was against chusing a King of their own Nation Your Majesty seem'd to approve the reviving of this Law by your endeavours to have the Eldest Son of the Duke of Newburg preferr'd before the Prince of Lorrain In the last Election you were for the Old Duke of Newburg the Father with whom then stood Competitors the Prince of Lorrain and the Prince of Condé But because the Poles then objected against the Duke as being too Old and his Age now being greater than it was then your Majesty to please them now propos'd the Son in stead of the Father and spent a great deal of Money to get him Elected which if not might at that time have been prejudicial to your Affairs But tho' the Prince of Newburg was not chosen yet by the Address of your Embassadour the Prince of Lorrain was likewise put by and a Native of Poland preferr'd before all the Princes propos'd For John Sobiescki great Marshal of Poland was made King which very much displeas'd your Enemies they imagining he would be a Friend to your Majesty because he had Marry'd a French-Woman who was the Daughter of Marquess d'Arquyen Captain of the Hundred Swisses of your Brother's Guard You had need of this Aid against the Designs of the House of Austria who fancy'd you would never come off with Honour in the War you had begun The Emperour possess'd with this Opinion did two things which were mightily cry'd down by all People not transported with Passion against you One was the seizing upon Prince William of Furstenburg in Collen who was Abbé of Stravelo and the Elector of Collen's Plenipotentiary under which Character he could not be seized without violating the Law of Nations The other was the taking away by force Fifty Thousand Crowns wich your Majesty had in the City and which for the same reason ought to have been Sacred But because the House of Austria had a mind to obstruct the Peace and could find no better Obstacle it past over all other Considerations Prince William was first carry'd to Bonne where he had Ten Hours Conference with Marquess de Grana Governour of the Town Who reproach'd him with being born a German yet had in several Occasions which he particularly named betray'd his Country Which Prince William deny'd but own'd he had serv'd your Majesty after he had many times endeavour'd to deserve the Emperour's Favour but could never obtain it From Bonne he was Conducted to Newstat where the Emperour resolv'd to have him put to Death in Prison after a private Sentence past against him where only a few Persons were present who Condemn'd him to be Beheaded But your Majesty who beside all your other good Qualities hath that of diving into the most secret Councils of your Enemies found a way to ingage the Pope's Nuncio to represent to the Emperour that he ought not in such a manner to put a Church-Man to Death The scruple being easily put into the Emperour's Head he stopp'd the Execution and caus'd him to be remov'd to another Prison Your Majesty complain'd to the Court of Vienna of the Violence offer'd to the Person of Prince William and at the same time demanded Restistution of the Fifty Thousand Crowns that had been taken from you But receiving no satisfactory Answer to either you recall'd your Embassadours who were still at Collen The other Princes did the like seeing after what had been done there was no more safety for them than for Prince William But since they that are strongest are still thought to have most reason on their side your Enemies listed so many Troops that few were of Opinion your Majesty would ever be able to make Head against ' em The Bishop of Munster was of that mind and therefore quitted your Party The Elector of Collen would have done the like if the Bishop of Strasburg had not disswaded him But when People thought you could not but sink under the weight of so many Enemies you attack'd Franch-Conté to which you had offer'd a Neutrality The Swiss who had concern'd themselves in the Negotiation were angry with the Spaniards for refusing what you offer'd and therefore guarded their Frontiers to keep the Spaniards from being assisted by their Allies Your Majesty went into Franche-Conté in Person and there did that which was never before known to be done at the taking of any place You caused Canons to be hoisted up and planted upon Mountains so very high and steep that a Man could hardly clamber up by which you became Master of Besanson that your Enemies thought impregnable The Conquest of this Province gave your Majesty new strength of which you had need enough in the condition you were in For the King of England was in a manner forced to a Peace with the Dutch by his own Subjects who were more jealous of your Conquests than others But the King of England still left his Troops in your Majesty's Service They were some Regiments of which the most considerable was called the Royal Regiment Commanded by the Duke of Monmouth Some of the Officers were very insolent so that one of them gave ill Language to one of Monsieur Louvoy's Grooms who to go the nearer way crost their Camp Your Minister who expected Respect should be paid to his very Liveries put this Officer under a Guard whereupon the others Mutiny'd But seeing the Marquess had not the same Power over the English that he had over your Troops he was obliged to release the Officer this was some Mortification to Monsieur Louvoy's excessive Pride A Minister or any Person of greater or less Quality might well be ashamed to take a Servant's part against a Gentleman unless the ill usage of the Servant were intended for an Affront to the Master One of your Majesty's Captains was of a more phlegmatick Temper who seeing his Coachman that used
imprint on Mens Minds a magnificent Idaea of your Power But ought your Majesty to be contented with it Would it not turn more to your Advantage that your Justice should be extoll'd rather than proclaim the Condition you are in at present to oppress your Neighbours That has never been the way to enlarge Empires The Romans who boasted themselves Masters of all the World had more regard for their Allies than your Minister hath for yours To subject them requires more address 'T is better Policy to weaken 'em by War of which let 'em suffer the Inconveniences but reap none of the Advantages Conquests are not ordinarily made for them tho' they are the Baits wherewith they are usually tempted and drawn in They may be wean'd from their part in them under specious Pretences As in the last War when your Majesty made the Neighbour-Princes restore the Places they had taken from the King of Sweden and which the Emperour did not oppose because it was his Interest that those Princes should not increase their Power and which was all the Reward he gave them for taking his part I know not whether that which I have now said be a Digression because it hath carried me from my Subject But I could not find a sitter place for it than here and the reflexions to be made upon it are of as great consequence as those I have yet to make on the choice the Queen your Mother made of Cardinal Mazarin To excuse her preferring him before others three Reasons were given The First was because he was acquainted with Foreign Affairs the Second was That not being a Native of France he had no kindred or Relations to enrich the Third was That more People would have been displeas'd and dissatisfy'd had he been a French Man But these Reasons are so weak that I believe they do not much sway your Majesty as for the First if Cardinal Mazarin knew Affairs abroad he was ignorant of those at home which were as necessary to be known as those that were Foreign and indeed the Inconvenience is visible seeing that which comes nearest the Heart is of much greater consequence than that which lyes remote from it Beside the knowledge of Foreign Affairs is not so very difficult to be acquired the Situation and the State of Countries is the greatest part of it and by that a Man ought to regulate himself The Second Reason is not better but the contrary for there are a hundred things to be objected against it A Stranger hath as great a desire as any other Person to enrich his Kindred in what place soever they be Beside he can send for them when he finds himself well setled Three of his Nephews and seven Neices who came quickly into France are an undeniable Testimony of this Truth and a Minister could hardly have been taken out of any other Family wherein there was to be found a greater number of Kindred and Relations But a greater Inconvenience in the Choice was that he being a Foreigner and not certain how long he should keep his Post would be every Day transmitting into his own Country that which might plentifully maintain him in case he fell into disgrace Beside it was not to be supposed that a Stranger could be so well affected to France as one that sucked in the Love of his Country with his Mothers Milk to which I will add that seeing he was not Married nor in a condition ever to be so he could not look upon France as a Country wherein he himself or his Posterity could ever hope to be setled The Third Reason is much weaker than the other Two which was that when in so great a Kingdom as your Majesty's People of very great Quality and Merit see the Ministry put into the Hands of a Stranger Who is he that hath so ill an Opinion of himself as to believe he doth not better deserve it than a Man to whom no body is related Whose Manners and good Qualities are not known and to whom were People never so much convinc'd of his Merit they would not be so just as to give him his due For my own part I believe the Queen your Mother had some other Reasons than those alledged for her Choice Perhaps it was because other Pretenders did not make use of her Interest to obtain the Place and consequently foreseeing they would not thank her she for that Reason made the Choice she did But whatever it was her Majesty quickly saw so many new Troubles break out that tho' she had been us'd to the like in the Reign of the deceased King yet she was very much surpris'd Their beginning seem'd not so much to be fear'd because among all the Malecontents that openly declared themselves there was neither a Duke of Orleans or a Prince of the Blood as there was in the time of Cardinal Richelieu's Ministry But it was in this Men were most deceived for Popular Commotions are more difficult to be appeas'd than those wherein some great Person is ingag'd for he by some particular Favour seasonably bestow'd on him is usually bought off from doing farther Mischief whereas many Arts are to be used to calm a mutinous Multitude and especially when they have taken a fancy to Command The Revolt of which I shall hereafter speak to your Majesty was of this kind for the Parliament of Paris was concern'd in it though they decreed the Queen your Mother should have the Tuition of your Majesty with a more ample Power than that which the deceased King by his Declaration left her yet this being done by the solicitation of her chief Almoner the Bishop of Beauvais who had a great many Friends and to whom she had given hopes to be first Minister as soon as he saw himself deceived and not able to undoe what he had done he did all he could to stir up Enemies against her Her Majesty who had a great Soul and worthy of her high Birth thought this was but a Wave which would break of it self and whereof she was not so much as to seem to take any notice nevertheless still aiming at your Majesty's Grandeur she gave Orders to the Duke d' Anguien who after the Battel of Rocroy had given the Garrison of Landrecis great Liberty by demolishing certain Castles that straighten'd it to lay Seige to Thyonville Mareschal de Guebriant who was on the other side of the Rhine endeavoured to amuse the Enemy that they might not relieve the Place nevertheless Mello who had gotten together the scattered Troops of the Spanish Army joyning with General Bek resolved the Place should not be taken without Blows But your Majesty's Fortune supported by the Duke d' Anguien's Valour frustrated all their Endeavours so that this Conquest which made such a Noise abroad began to make your Reign so Illustrious that your Allyes who fear'd the Death of the deceased King would make a change in your Affairs did now again begin to take Courage It was
down Your Majesty approved of all I did relating to the Parliament of Thoulouse You sent a Letter under the Privy Seal to displace the President of the Bench who past the first Sentence and gave a Pension of Two Thousand Livers to the Premier President who past the Second For Reward and Punishmeut ought to go an even Pace to encourage those that do Well and to terrify those that do Ill otherwise there would be no such thing as Emulation or Restraint both absolutely necessary to make a State flourish Yours hath flourish'd so much that the very sound of your Name kept the Prince of Lorrain from being elected King of Poland which otherwise he might have been That Nation chose a Soveraign contrary to their usual Custom and against the Constitution of the Kingdom which they resolved rather not to observe than discontent your Majesty who would have been displeased if the choice had fallen upon that Prince About this time your Majesty appear'd very Pensive and I taking the Liberty to ask why you were so you did me the Honour to open your Heart and tell me there was something a brewing against the Peace of your Kingdom and that there was a Man whom you did not yet know but whose Description had been sent you out of England that went into all Courts where under pretence of preserving the reformed Religion he stirr'd up all Princes against you That out of England he was gone to the Northern Kings to perswade them to enter into the triple League That this deserv'd Exemplary Punishment but you knew not how to take this Fellow and make an Example of him because you thought no Prince would deliver him up and therefore you resolv'd to surprize and take him by force which appear'd impossible every one being jealous of his Liberty it would expose those whom you employ'd in it to too much danger Beside you said you knew not whom to trust in an Affair of such Consequence that ought to be kept Secret and which you had communicated to no body but my self I ask'd your Majesty whether the Man of whom you spoke were a French-Man you told me he was and it was that which made you so very angry I could not blame your Resentment but said my Opinion was that your Majesty could do well to acquaint Monsieur Turenne with the Business who knew better than any body who were Men of Courage and Resolution and that he could chuse such as would undertake to seize this Man and bring him into France or if that could not be done they should kill him Your Majesty said you would not have him kill'd because before you punish'd him you would willingly know his Confederates believing he had many but that in every thing else you would follow my Counsel which you approv'd of because you were confident that Monsieur Turenne would be faithful to you tho' he were a Hugonot for he was not converted till about two or three Months after I took the Liberty to pray your Majesty you would say nothing of the Business to the Marquess de Louvoy because I knew his Spleen against Monsieur Turenne might perhaps prevent the Design 's taking Effect which was enough to let your Majesty know I did not think Monsieur Louvoy so well affected to your Service but that for his own Private Ends he might forget the Publick Interest Your Majesty understanding what I meant promis'd not to say a Word to any body but yet reprov'd me for judging so ill of my Neighbour Your Majesty kept your Royal Word and said nothing of what had past to any but Monsieur Turenne who appointed Five Officers to undertake the Business And seeing your Majesty knew where the Man in question was and what he had been doing the Officers went into Swisserland where he had newly arriv'd they seiz'd him as he was travelling from one Place to another and brought him into France having very prudently avoided the danger they were in if they had been taken You put him into the Hands of Justice to be immediately prosecuted This miserable Wretch was a Cittizen of Rochel and a Hugonot and tho' he was taken as it were in the Fact and by the Proofs against him must conclude that what he had been doing was discover'd yet he would not confess a Syllable nor answer to any thing that was ask'd him so that he was Tried and Condemn'd When he saw that he was to dye a shameful Death God so forsook him that he resolv'd to kill himself and finding some Pieces of Glass in the Dungeon where he was he with the Glass made a shift to cut off his Privy Parts hoping to Bleed to Death and avoid the Punishment which he was condemn'd to suffer His Keeper coming into the Room and seeing him look very Pale suspected what he had done and found the Glass he had hid Upon Notice given to your Judge of it he was broke upon the Wheel within Two Hours after This was the end of this Miserable Man who indeavour'd in those Courts to which he went to cover his Crime with Zeal for Religion and tho' People do not think they can be deceived in the Profession they make of it because they verily believe 't is the certain way to Salvation especially when they have been educated in it yet it is certain their Religion doth oblige them to be obedient to their Soveraign and not to instigate other Princes to make War against him because both Divine and Humane Laws condemn it So that we see Religion is commonly made a Cloak to cover Mens Crimes as it was in this Case wherein all that was done did plainly proceed from a false Zeal seeing it was follow'd by a desperate Action wherein there appear'd so little of God that he who attempted it must necessarily be forsaken by him I have been a little the larger upon this Subject the Circumstances whereof are perhaps of no such great Concern to your Majesty as to deserve so particular a Relation But I am glad of this Occasion to mind your Majesty of all that past that I might at the same time tell you the Persons employ'd by Viscount Turenne did you a piece of Service great enough to have been better consider'd by Monsieur Louvoy But he being angry that this Business was done without acquainting him with it he became so much the Officers mortal Enemy that he caus'd them to be cashier'd one Year after another under divers pretences and at last treated Briquemaut a Collonel of Horse so ill that to avoid his Persecution he quitted his Country and went to seek an Employment under the Marquess of Brandenburg It is impossible that your Majesty should know every thing that is done in your Kingdom having so many weighty Affairs to look after and therefore ought not to be troubled with things of little Moment Nevertheless your Majesty being often abus'd I desire you should know it because it concerns your Service
poyson'd but it will be very difficult to make Posterity believe the Truth of their Report Whatever was the Cause of her Death yet the King of England was satisfied with what your Majesty did to make a Discovery of the Truth and continued his Resolutions to humble the Hollanders Your Brother the Duke of Orleans being now a Widdower your Majesty thought of marrying him again into Germany to secure to your self the Friendship of some Prince of the Empire The Elector Palatin had a Daughter very fit for your Purpose and your Majesty making her your Choice you negotiated the Match with her Father There was but one Obstacle against it which was difference of Religion but the Rub being quickly remov'd both sides agree'd upon the Marriage Terms The Bishop of Munster likewise promis'd to joyn with your Majesty in abasing the Dutch while you set upon them on your side he design'd to attack them on his so that they should hardly be able to defend themselves against both But in such a Case I do not comprehend the Policy of a little Prince who is so blind to believe he shall share with a greater in the Spoils of an Enemy whose wealth is so great that every Body envies and is still contriving to get it They must come to an Account sooner or later where he that is strongest will be sure to give Law to the weaker I find this still practis'd tho' 't is dangerous for a weak Prince to interest one that is very Powerful in his Affairs When the Princes to whom appertain'd the Succession of the States of Juliers and Cleves call'd in to their Assistance the House of Austria the Emperour seiz'd upon the Succession and could never be brought to restore it but by down right Blows For an Example of another kind let what past in the War I am now about to speak of be remember'd Would the Emperour ever part with Phillipsbourg tho' he promis'd before he took it that as soon as he was Master of it he would restore it to the right Owner who is the Bishop of Spire 'T is great weakness in any Prince to depend upon one that is greater than himself France is not freer than others from Injustice of this kind so that Princes who are not very Potent ought to have a Care how they trust themselves with those that can talk to them like Masters and that make their own Interest the only Rule of their Actions The Dutch when they saw themselves threaten'd on all sides were in such a Consternation that may better be imagin'd than describ'd There was likewise such a Division and Confusion among 'em that the Consequences of it were more to be fear'd than the Danger wherewith they were threaten'd from abroad They had not yet conferr'd any Authority upon the Prince of Orange because applying themselves wholly to Trade they thought of nothing but making it flourish in all Parts of the World so that their Power and Strength was reduc'd only to that which they had at Sea taking little or no Care to keep up any Forces at Land John de Wit Pensionary of Holland was at the Head of the Common-Wealth a Man very well vers'd in the Government of it But tho' he had many good Qualities which his greatest Enemies cannot deny him yet he was guilty of that Fault whereof I have already spoken which was to prefer his own Private Interest before the Publick He resolutely oppos'd the Prince of Orange's being invested with any Power or Authority because his Father had been ill treated by the Prince's Father who kept him for some time in Prison But seeing no State can long subsist without credit and Reputation and that which this Commonwealth had consisted only in their Riches and Strength at Sea some of the Wisest Heads propos'd restoring to the Prince of Orange the same Power and Authority which his Predecessors formerly had in the Government The Reason they gave for it was That they ought to have a Soveraign whose Name carry'd some Stroke in Foreign Countries where de Wit was known but to some particular Persons who look'd upon him as a very good Merchant but no great States-Man That the Prince of Orange was an otherguess Man whose Ancestors brave Actions spoke for him that he was near of Kin to most of the Princes of Germany which would facilitate making Allyances with them That he was Nephew to the King of England which deserv'd their Consideration in the present Juncture the Prince being thereby capable of warding off England's Blows and of managing their Interests These Reasons at last prevailing with the Major Part supported by the Prince and by all those that were Friends to his Family he was declared Stadholder that is to say Captain General and Governour of the Country de Wit who openly oppos'd it because the Common-wealth upon the Death of William II. had past a Decree that those Places and Powers which that Prince enjoy'd and which consisted in being Stadholder and great Admiral should never more for the Future be conferr'd upon one single Person De Wit I say seeing himself like to be discarded us'd his Endeavours to have this Decree executed and to cross the Prince all he could The Prince of Orange on his Part made it his Business to destroy de Wit 's Cabals whom he hated the more for being so Insolent as to think himself the Prince's Equal and he had Reason for there is nothing more provoking to a Person of great Birth than to meet with a Minister who so much forgets himself as not to pay his Superior the Respect that is due to him 'T is what is unpardonable and in any Government but a Republick he that is Supream ought to take notice of it and in a prudent Manner punish it if he do not the evil Consequences of it may fall on himself for if a Person of Quality be Injur'd or Affronted and his Prince will not take cognizance of it nor resent it he himself becomes the Object of the injur'd Person 's Hatred who because he hath not Right done him may perhaps stir up great Troubles which a little thing will do and the least neglect sometimes hath very ill consequences A Prince nevertheless is oblig'd to take his Minister's part against all the World otherwise no body would care to serve him especially in such a Post wherein 't is impossible for a Man not to create Enemies But then a Prince ought to weigh things and do according to what Justice requires of him he ought to make a right Judgment of what his Minister doth and to discern whether he acts out of Zeal for his Service or abounding in his own Sense doth things out of mere Humour and Caprice CHAP. V. Containing that which past from the War of Holland to the Treaty of Nimmeguen THese Reflexions I have last made having interrupted the Course of the Relation I was giving your Majesty of your great Actions I now begin
totally defeated that they have never since been able to recover their loss But without robbing that Prince of any part of his Glory we may say That this success was owing to none but God for had he not taken your Majesty into his Protection the Enemy might have advanced to the head of a narrow Way through which the General must have past in their presence They might also have fallen upon him when by the inconvenience of the Ways he was oblig'd to divide his Army But beside all these Difficulties there was an apparent danger in giving Battel for had it been lost the Enemy might have march'd to the very Gates of Paris But 't is sometimes God's Will that neither Party shall think of doing that which they should do and then he leads those step by step whom he hath resolv'd to protect The happy success of this Battel of Rocroy was follow'd with a Joy that was the more sincere because your Subjects had a tender Love for your Majesty and the Queen your Mother The Persecution she had suffer'd as well as Mary de Medicis during Cardinal Richelieu's Ministry procur'd your Mother a great deal of pity and as Pity is usually accompany'd with Esteem the more unhappy she had been the more People resolv'd to follow her Fortune However it ought to be observ'd it was otherwise with Mary de Medicis for all People saw her departure out of the Kingdom with dry eyes no body was concern'd but her own particular Servants and Domesticks Upon which may be made this very good Reflection That Princes soon lose the Love of their best Subjects by their ill Government She had shewn too much Favour to Mareschal d'Ancre and his Wife both of her own Country to be pity'd by the People And as in France as well as in other Places they do not love to obey Strangers the Grandees murmur'd at it and left the Court because the Queen little regarged their Complaints The King your Father also grew jealous of their Power which caus'd the Assassination of the Mareschal and the tragical end of his Wife However it was very ill digested and God be thanked we have not seen your Majesty's Reign stain'd with any thing like it A King never doth well to dip his Hands in the Blood of his Subjects When they deserve Punishment they ought to be legally prosecuted in a Court of Justice which perhaps sometimes cannot be safely done when a Subject becomes so great that his Master hath just cause to be afraid of him Wallestein was such a one and therefore the Emperour Ferdinand III. was excusable for commanding he should be kill'd Henry III. had the same reason to rid himself of the Duke of Guise when he was upon the point of usurping his Kingdom and shutting him up in a Monastery But except in such cases a Criminal is to be put into the hands of Justice not only for the Prince's own sake but because it is necessary the People should know that the Person is guilty Henry IV. took this course with Mareschal Biron for tho' he fear'd that if Biron perceiv'd his Designs were discover'd he might raise Troubles in the Kingdom yet that did not hinder the King from having a greater regard to what he ought to do for his own sake than for what might thappen The Queen your Mother SIR had done well had she taken example by that which befel Mary de Medicis she had not then brought the State as she did within so near being lost by the choice she made of Cardinal Mazarin to succeed Cardinal Richelieu His being a Stranger made all your Subjects forget the Obedience that was due to their Soveraign It was to no purpose to tell them He had already done great Services to the Crown and was still able to do greater because he understood foreign Affairs better than any other Person which indeed is absolutely necessary for a Publick Minister But they fancy'd these Reasons not so good as their own nor could they be beaten out of their Opinion That he being born a Subject of the King of Spain was never to be trusted And accusing the Queen-Mother of being more a Spaniard than a French-Woman they seem'd to repent the Pity they had had for her which appear'd in their confessing Cardinal Richelieu had reason to persecute her tho' all the Sufferings she had endur'd had no other foundation than a pretended private Intelligence she kept with the King of Spain her Brother But so People might satisfie their Passion they car'd not at what Price they did it I have reason to call all that Passion which was done a little after the Death of the King your Father since it is certain that your Subjects do not alway call Reason to their Aid If they had they would have seen that the Queen your Mother was not so much to be blam'd as they thought seeing she had preferr'd before others a Man that was able to keep up the Reputation the Crown had gotten in foreign Countries and knew what course was to be taken to meet there with success 'T is that which all the World doth not know tho' it be a thing of very great Consequence My Brother whom your Majesty Honour'd with making him Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs took the liberty many times to represent it to your Majesty but the Marquess Louvoy who hath Maxims very contrary to those Great Men's who have preceeded him in the Administration of the Kingdom destroy'd in a moment all that he strove to do But I know not whether the Marquess will always have Reason on his side because he makes use of the Strength only of your own Subjects which Cardinal Richelieu who knows as much as he did not do when he carried the War into Germany made Catalonia and Portugal revolt and led the way to the low'ring of the House of Austria Indeed tho' your Kingdom be very powerful and your Majesty hath a third part at least increas'd its Strength by your Conquests yet 't is contrary to good Sense to exhaust all its Forces Your Majesty will be better able to maintain the War by arming other Princes in your Favour But to do that you must treat them like Soveraigns as they are and not pretend as Monsieur Louvoy doth because they are your Majesty's Inferiours they ought to look upon themselves as Slaves Your Majesty perhaps knows not what Answer he made to the Elector Palatine's Envoy who complaining at the beginning of the Holland War That his Master was no better treated than those who were actually in Arms against you the Marquess told him That it did not become such a petty Prince as his Master to make so great a Noise about so small a Matter That your Majesty was not bound to give an account to any Man of your Actions And That the Elector's standing so much on his Points was the way to lose the Honour of your Friendship Such great Words SIR may
by your means that the Swedes did not only keep their Conquests in Germany but enlarged them The Dutchess of Savoy likewise by your Assistance retook Trin and Pontdesture which were in the Possession of the Spaniards But that which gave them more Trouble was the Duke of Braganza's putting the Crown of Portugal upon his own Head by the Aid your deceased Father had given him and still kept it in spite of all Spain by the succours he receiv'd from you The Spaniards had no better Success in Catalonia where Monsieur La Mothe frustrated all their Designs so that that Province revolted at the same time Portugal did and maintained it self against all the Power of Spain Your Majesty likewise beat them at Sea where the Duke de Bressé who commanded your Fleet set upon them in the Port of Cartagena These Miracles were done in the first Year of your Minority and lost none of their Lustre but by the raising of the Siege of Alexandria which Prince Thomas had a little too imprudently undertaken and by a Tumult rais'd in Rovergne which was quickly quash'd That which is yet more wonderful is That your Realm which was not very quiet did not promise such favourable Events and that you were also obliged to cause the Duke of Beaufort to be seised who conspired against your Prime Minister You at first resolved to have Exemplary Justice executed upon him and therefore ordered your Court of Parliament to prosecute him but you being the best of Men caused all proceedings against him to cease and you were contented he should expiate his Crime only by imprisonment The following Year 1664. was not altogether so prosperous at least the beginning of it For Mareschal Guebriant's Army was defeated at Teuteling by their fault under whose Command it remained after his Death That General who towards the end of the preceeding Year had besieged Rotuiel was there hurt with a Faucon Shot whereof he died Which may put your Majesty in mind of how great consequence it is to you to have an experienc'd General as such a one is hard to be found so your Majesty ought not only to set a high Value upon him but likewise oblige others to follow your Example For is it not a strange thing to see with what Haughtiness Monsieur Louvoy treats your Commanders even from the highest to the lowest 't is with so much Pride that it disgusts all Men of any Courage and they would certainly desert your Majesty if their Love for you did not prevail over their Resentments I very well know when he gives your Majesty an Account of things he very much Mis-represents them He makes you believe that unless your Commanders be kept Humble they will not Obey you and you shall never be served by them as you ought to be But he is much in the wrong For all your Subjects love you so well that they all blindly obey you The Marquess with this Pretence cloaks all his exorbitant Ambition he is very well pleased to mingle his own Interest with your Majesty's which might be of dangerous consequence to a King not so Wise and Virtuous as you are It would be an Insensible Usurpation upon his Authority and there needed nothing more to plain the way to his Throne Your Majesty perhaps doth not know that to get Preferment 't is much better to be his Creature than to have Merit so that he hath a greater Court than yours and all the difference between them is that to meet with Success in the one Men must Cringe and make low Bows but in the other it is enough to be a Brave and an Honest Man The great Affairs which your Majesty had then upon your Hands did not hinder you from giving Refuge to a Princess persecuted by Fortune The English who made War against their King and by their evil Designs against him made it evident they would carry on their Attempts to the utmost extremity your Majesty mollified his Misforune by giving a Retreat to the Queen his Wife which will not be one of the least remarkable Passages in your History since pity doth not always reign in the Hearts of Kings they oftner giving ear to what Policy suggests than to the Dictates of their Duty But I can without deceiving my self say that this Policy is none of the best since the same Fate may befal all Soveraigns and it were better they would with their Arms punish Rebellion Then perhaps it would not be so frequent as it is in all Kingdoms But this is to advise what is impossible it being now the general practice rather quite to undoe than help an unhappy Man For an Action so acceptable God soon rewarded your Majesty you made your self Master of Gravelins notwithstanding all the Spaniards under the Command of General Picolomini could do to hinder it your Army kept them from succouring Germany You sent thither the Duke d' Anguien who there gain'd the Famous Battel of Friburg your Troops fighting three Days together to get a compleat Victory The fruit of your Labours was the taking of Phillipsbourg and all the places upon the Rhine near it Beside you reconfirm'd your Allyes who were in great Consternation for what had happened at Teuteling The House of Austria had it's Revenge in Catalonia where Mareschal de la Motthe was beaten in endeavouring to relieve Lerida which was taken and he forc'd to raise the siege of Terragonne which he had invested to make a diversion Balaguier was also reduced and so had been the whole Province if the Spaniards Affairs had gone well in Portugal But having lost a great Battel there they were forc'd to carry some Troops thither which did so weaken them that they could do nothing more all that Campaign That of Italy likewise was not very prosperous after several Ingagements wherein the Spaniards as well as your Majesty met sometimes with good and sometimes with ill Fortune Your Army was forced to quit the Siege of Finall but you succeeded better in the prosecution of your Rights at Rome where some endeavoured to affront you in the Person of your Ambassadour The Protection which you gave to the Duke of Parma from whom the Pope for his convenience had taken the Dutchy of Castro weighed much with many in that Country so that by your Medition Peace was made with many Princes who had taken Part in that Quarrel So many great things were not able to satisfie your Mind you cut out work for the Emperour who endeavoured to do the like to your Allyes and seeing he made the Danes Arm against the Swedes you were not only quit with him in stirring up the Prince of Transilvania against him but you sent an Ambassador to the two Crowns to hinder their differences from proceeding any further And since it was not your humour to give Counsel to others which you would not follow your self you consented to treat of a general Peace at Munster where some were come together with
a resolution to put an end to so great a work Your mediation was received by the Northern Crowns in spite of all the Traverses made by the House of Austria to render it suspected and your Ministers finding so great a Progress made towards the ending of their Differences their Endeavours succeeded so well that a Peace was concluded The Sweeds being delivered from their Troubles caused by this War you ordered Vicount Turenne whom you had sent the Year before into Germany to take upon him the Command of Mareschal Guebrient's Army and to act in concert with them but tho' he was a great Captain he was defeated at Mariendall it being impossible for him to avoid it Here begun the Campagne of 1645. wherein you had quickly your Revenge almost in all places where you had Souldiers You took Roses in Catalonia having sent thither Count Harcourt in the place of Mareschal la Motthe whom you caus'd to be seized not only for the Faults he was guilty of the former Campagne but because to excuse himself he endeavour'd to blemish the Reputation of your chief Minister whom he accus'd to be the cause of his ill Success pretending he had let him want all things But 't is not reasonable that any Person should justifie himself at another Man's cost at least when things are not as clear as the Day The Spaniards endeavoured to relieve Roses but Count Harcourt having opposed their Passage while the Count du Plessis Praslin was before it they tryed to put in Relief by Sea but met with the same Difficulties because your Fleet was there Your Majesty who takes pleasure in rewarding Men of Merit sent a Mareschal's Staff to Count du Plessis The taking of this Town was follow'd with the defeat of the Spaniards in the plain of Livrons and the re-taking of Balaguier so that after so many happy Successes all that had gone ill in the former Campagne was quite forgot The Duke d' Anguien whom you sent again this Year into Germany quickly reveng'd Vicount Turenne by defeating the Enemy at Norlingue while the Duke of Orleans in Flanders took the Fort of Mardyke Link and Bourbourg Your Majesty multiplied your Conquests with adding those of St. Venant Lilliers Armentiers and Bethunes You caus'd the Fort of la Motthe to be demolish'd out of which the Lorrain Troops were driven with great difficulty and which served them for a place of Retreat after committing a thousand Robberies Prince Thomas had again signaliz'd the Glory of your Arms in Italy if he could have kept Vigevane and its Cittadel which he had taken But it was impossible for him to resist the great Efforts the Enemy made to retake ' em The Emperour on his side sent so strong an Army to the Rhine that he re-took all the Places he had lost Phillipsbourg only excepted Perhaps it had not been done if the Duke d' Anguien had been at the Head of your Majesty's Troops but he was fallen Sick and return'd to Paris Vicount Turenne in the mean time took Treves and your Maiesty restored it again to its lawful Prince whom after a long Imprisonment you set at Liberty You have always been a Sanctuary to the Unfortunate witness the Barbarines to whom you gave protection though all Europe thought them unworthy of it for the War they had kindled in Italy which was but just then extinguish'd But it was enough when they were persecuted to have the Honour of your Protection of which the Duke of Monaco being confident threw himself into your Majesty's Arms and quitted the Spaniards Party which till then he had followed The Year 1646 was full of great Events your Majesty took a second time the Fort of Mardyke which the Enemy had re-taken towards the end of the Campagne your Majesty likewise took Furnes and Dunquerque which gave so great an Allarm to all Flanders that they thought themselves irrecoverably lost Vicount Turenne enter'd into the very Heart of Germany which made the Emperour perceive it was better to make a Peace than to hearken to the Spaniards who endeavoured to perswade him that your Majesty during your Minority was not able to bear the Burden of so many weighty Affairs you had then upon your Hands Nevertheless your Minister engag'd you in an Enterprize for which he ought never to be forgiven since it was in no wise to your Majesty's Advantage and that the publique Interest was less consider'd in it than his own He had married one of his Relations to a Nephew of the Barbarin's and this Allyance disposing him to do all he could for them he carry'd the War to the Borders of Tuscany and caused Orbitelle to be besieged His design in this was to mortifie the great Duke the Barbarin's capital Enemy but this Enterprize having allarm'd all Italy it gave such Succours to the Spaniards as raised the Siege tho' your Fleet had repulsed the Enemy's The Success which your Arms had at Piombino and Portolongonne did drowne the Memory of this Loss but the Joy for that Success was damp'd by the raising of the Siege of Lerida wherein Count Harcourt had spent seven Months to no purpose The Protection which your Majesty gave to the Barbarines was so great an Advantage to them that their Goods which had been seiz'd by the Pope's Order were restored to them The Cardinal Desté was also sensible of the Honour you did him in embracing his Interest for without it the Admiral of Castile would never have done him reason who took a pleasure to insult him in the middle of the City of Rome You were indeed at that time the Protector of the Oppressed which you made appear to the Venetians in whose favour you sent an Ambassador to the great Turk to dis-swade him from the War he was about to make upon them The Respect which the Grand Signior had for your Majesty made him promise all things but Interest will prevail over Promises when one hath to do with Barbarians the Turk quickly forgot this when he saw that Republique was not in Case to defend it self The Year 1647. was remarkable for your Majesty 's then having the Small-Pox by which you were in great Danger But we were soon rid of our Fear when we saw the greatness of your Courage for you ask'd Pardon for one of your Officers whom the Queen had commanded not to come near you she suspecting you were infected by him What a loss had it been for France and how great a happiness for Spain if your Sickness had been Mortal as 't was feared The Spaniards whom as young as you were you daily made to feel the weight of your Arm were so astonisht that they sent into Flanders the Arch-Duke Leopold hoping that the greatness of his Birth would incite him to out-do those that had preceeded him in the Government of those Provinces and make better Head against your Majesty He came into the Country with a good Army and re-took Amentiers Landrecis and Dixmude
But you took from him la Bassée and Lens where you lost Mareschal Gassion who was there Mortally wounded Your Majesty who had been the last Year on the Frontiers came thither again this Year and inspired Courage into your Souldiers by giving 'em great marks of your Liberality But the Arch-Duke hindering you from making any further Conquests in that Country your Majesty was very well pleased with the great Success your Arms had in Germany The Duke of Bavaria was forced to accept of a Neutrality as the Duke of Saxony had done some time before so that the Emperour had at that Instant concluded a Peace had not the Spaniards disswaded him from it their Reasons were the appearance of some Sparks of the Civil-War which soon after broke out but the Mischief they wish'd us fell more upon them than upon us and the Revolt which hap'ned at Naples put them into strange Confusion Your Majesty supported that Commotion with all your Forces and equip'd a brave Fleet to carry Succors thither But the Duke of Guise who had thrown himself into the Place acting there independently from your Majesty Cardinal Mazarin who did not love him took occasion to recall the Fleet without furnishing him with the Necessaries he wanted The Cardinal was inexcusable since it was a capital Crime not to lay hold of so fair an Opportunity if your Majesty had not been in full Minority you had been better served Notwithstanding the Duke of Guise maintain'd things with a great deal of good Fortune and Courage while the Duke d' Anguien who had now after his Father's Death taken the Name of the Prince of Condé saw the Laurels he had gather'd in Flanders and Germany wither by his ill Success before Lerida which he had besieged I wish I could pass over in silence the Year 1648. a Year Fatal to our Monarchy and wherein the greatest part of your Subjects began to fail in their Obedience to your Majesty you know the pretence they had for it were the many Taxes wherewith they were burdened but the real Cause was the Ambition of the Parliament which pretended to enlarge its Authority they began to examine all that your Majesty did in your Cabinet and tho' you commanded them not to assemble about any other Business than to judge and determine the differences and Law-Suits depending between your Subjects yet they regarded not your Commands but condemned your Edicts whereof the necessity of your Affairs required the publication This put the Kingdom into so ill a Condition that the Arch-Duke took Furnes Ettere and Lens The Prince of Condé whom your Majesty sent against him having taken Ypres the beginning of the Campagne retook Ettere and at Lens gave the Arch-Duke Battel and beat him This Success encourag'd your Majesty to try to suppress the Sedition you caused the chief Rebels to be seized at their going out from the Te Deum sung at Notredame for the Victory but instead of having by this brisk Action the Success you had reason t' expect it heightened the Rebellion to such a degree that you had cause to be surpriz'd at it The Parisians took Arms in Favour of the Prisoners and having made Barricadoes in all the Streets within an Hundred Paces of your Pallace they oblig'd you to release them I draw a Curtain over the remembrance of an Action so displeasing to you and so shameful in them if the Queen could have prevailed she wou'd never have consented to it for she maintain'd it would be such a Blow to your Authority as would be of dangerous consequence I think she was in the right and indeed this Condescention served only to increase the Boldness of the Mutineers so that they were not long without making new Demands However this did not hinder the Emperour from concluding a Peace with your Majesty who by having gain'd the Battel of Sommerhausen reduced him to such a condition that he and those that had taken up Arms in his Favour had been lost without it You took care of the Interest of your Allyes whom the Spaniards by their Intriegues endeavoured to separate from you but what is more remarkable you shewed your self the Protector of the Catholick Religion though all your Allyes are Protestants and which might very well have embroyled you with them But the Emperour minded only his own Interests and quite forgot those of Religion which he had many times during the War made a shew of maintaining but there is great difference between Words and Deeds which teacheth us that if we will not be deceiv'd it is much better to trust to the one than to the other This Treaty wherein your Majesty shew'd your self more firm to the Interest of your Allyes than to your own procur'd you the Friendship of all the Princes of the Empire who begun to look upon you as their Protector They did no longer fear the Emperour's bereaving them of their Liberty or that for the future there would be any more Princes who like Charles V. would endeavour to subject them What mischief hath Monsieur Louvoy done to trouble a Harmony so necessary to both Parties from which the Emperour could never hope for any good It may also be said that this Minister's Imprudence hath been very great seeing notwithstanding the just Fears all the Empire ought to have of his Imperial Majesty's Power yet he hath so very ill treated all its Members that they are now again ready to unite against your Majesty many Politicians wonder at it and say that seeing they have more Reason to fear the Emperour than your Majesty they will take the wrong side if they joyn again with the Emperour But to be of their Opinion it ought to be known what this Minister of yours requires of them he never speaks to them but with a Cudgel in his Hand and since Soveraigns are not used to be so treated they think if Chains are to be avoided they are those which are presented with so much rudeness Your Majesty carry'd the War into Italy notwithstanding you had so much to do in the Heart of your own Kingdom But the Spaniards having taken the Duke of Guise Prisoner and pacified the troubles of Naples they made the Duke of Modena rise from Cremona which he had besieged after his taking part with your Majesty But the Spaniards fail'd in the Design they had upon Marseilles where they intended to burn your Majesty's Ships wich were in that Port and to seize upon the Town where many of the Inhabitants held Intelligence with them Your Majesty to whom this was of extream great Consequence caus'd those that were most guilty to be punisht and pardon'd others that by your Goodness they might be induced not to fail for the future in the Obedience they ow'd you But the continual Attempts of the Parliament being of very ill Example to those that were dis-affected in many Places People lost all respect due to your Majesty so that the Hollanders whom your
Majesty according to the Example of the King your Father and of Henry IV. of glorious Memory had assisted against the Spaniards made Peace with them Your Majesty notwithstanding all this maintain'd the War in Catalonia with a great deal of Reputation you rais'd the Siege of Flix which the Enemy had invested and made your self Master of Tortose in sight of the Enemy's Army Commanded by Mello who went out of Flanders thither and had it not been for the Rebellion of your Subjects to how great a pitch had your Glory been rais'd It was very much increas'd by the Victory your Navy had in the Mediterranean tho' it was much Inferiour to that of the Enemys for it consisted not of above twenty nine Vessels when they had Forty Two Notwithstanding this Inequality did not hinder you from sinking Three and had not Night came on they had reason to fear the loss of more So many Affairs and of so great consequence were enough to take up your thoughts and seeing they always tended to the good of your State you minded what pass'd in Poland where the Glory of your Name frustrated all the Spaniards Endeavours to have a King elected that should be a Friend to their Interest But they were baffled in their Design for Casimire Brother to the deceased was preferr'd before the Person the Spaniards propos'd for which he was wholly obliged to your Majesty CHAP. II. Containing what pass'd from the Paris War to the Peace of the Pyrenées THE Parliaments Attempts daily encreasing notwithstanding the continual care your Majesty took to suppress them it would have been weakness to have longer dissembled your Resentments which made you resolve to punish the Offenders You left the City of Paris ingag'd in the Rebellion and retir'd to St. Germains in Laye you caused Paris to be block'd up by your Flanders Army commanded by the Prince of Condé This punishment ought to have made the Mutineers return to their Duty but their Boldness equal'd their Disobedience and after they had stirr'd up other Cities of your Kingdom to take their part they rely'd on their own Strength to relist your Majesty Scarce one even the Coadjutor himself forgetting his Character but rais'd a Regiment against you The Duke of Beaufort who had escap'd out of Prison was likewise one of your Majesty's mortal Enemies the Prince of Conti Brother to the Prince of Condé also took Arms against your Majesty the Dutchess of Longueville his Sister with the Duke her Husband fell in with the Parliament and she by her Beauty drew in the Prince of Marsillae who had more mind to her than to signalize his Disobedience but this Passion LOVE which blinds Men to that degree that they know not themselves made him forget that respect he always had for your Majesty and in which he was better instructed than others because he had an infinite deal of Wit This was not the only mischief which Love did your Majesty the Jealousie which this Prince of Marsillac had against the Husband of the Dutchess together with the fear he had his Passion might be discover'd would not let him rest till he got into Normandy where he made that Province revolt being Governour of it We see what Springs Love sets a going which we often attribute to Ambition for want of searching things to the bottom but it is a dangerous Passion and very much to be condemned when a Mistress makes us fail in our Duty to our Soveraign to whom we are so closely ty'd that we cannot be unfaithful to him without being so to GOD. The Bloccade of Paris had not the Effect your Majesty expected and tho' that great City suffer'd extremely yet the Parliament continued so great an Aversion to your publique Minister that they were so Bold as to require his being sent out of the Kingdom before they would lay down their Arms. This insolent Proposition was accompanied with others of the same nature but since the Resolution of these Mutineers did not answer the Hopes they had of giving Law to your Majesty they had Recourse to the Enemies of the Kingdom to procure Bread which they very much wanted for your Majesty had shut up the City so close that it was at an excessive Price and without speedy Relief they were ready to fall into extreme Necessity Your Majesty cannot reflect upon these terrible Marks of Rebellion without being sensibly toucht with them and seeing it was of great Consequence to you not to suffer your Enemies in that unhappy Conjuncture to enter into the Heart of your Kingdom you did that which brought the Parliament again to themselves you sent a Herald at Arms to make some Proposals to them whereupon the Parliament being assembled they thought in some manner to repair what had been done in sending back the Herald without hearing him but at the same time assured your Majesty they had refused him Audience out of the profound Respect they had for you because they could not pretend to receive such a Person as was never us'd to be sent but to Soveraigns This returning to their Duty gave your Majesty occasion to exhort them to do better for the future than they had done at present and the Conjuncture requiring that you should seem not to resent the bold Attempts they had made on your Authority you granted a general Amnesty to the Parliament and to those that had follow'd their Party Your Enemies did not fail to take Advantage of these Disorders the Duke of Lorrain whom the King your Father had driven out of his Country for having often fail'd of performing the many Promises he had made him entred again into it and made himself Master of many Towns he was likewise almost assured of retaking Nancy from which Marquess de la Ferté's Avarice had diverted all manner of Provisions But when he saw that it might cost him his Head he quickly came and caus'd all the Harvest of Corn and Fruit thereabout to be carry'd into it and thereby made some amends for the Fault he had committed upon which your Majesty and all other Monarchs may make this Reflection That when a Subject prefers his own private Interest before his Prince's he is not only unworthy of any Favour but is likewise responsible for all the Evils the People suffer For 't is plain that what they do suffer is from such Men in Authority who care not how they Ruin 'em to Inrich themselves However your present Circumstances did not then permit your Majesty to take such Order in that Case as at another time you might have done Beside this Marquess behaved himself so Prudently on other Occasions that his Wisdom and Courage in some measure excus'd his Covetousness The Parliament did not cease to pursue their Designs tho' your Majesty had had the Goodness to pardon them yet they were not altogether so bad as the Parliament of England who were so wicked as to cut off their King's Head Your Majesty was never seen
to be so angry as when you heard that News but the great Affairs wherein you were then engag'd hinder'd you from punishing so foul a Crime You had enough to do to oppose the Archduke who retook Ypres and St. Venant while Count Harcourt was besieging Cambray but that Enterprize did not succeed Tho' he was oblig'd to quit it yet he attack'd Condé and took it by Composition Maubeuge open'd her Gates to him so that the Enemy would not have had much cause to brag if they had not prevail'd in Catalonia This Province being so remote that your Majesty could not send any Troops thither without a great deal of charge and no Recruits going to supply the place of those that perish'd there the Year before the Enemy took Constantin de Salo and de Sirges but Count Marein brake their Measures as to Barcelona which they thought to have taken In Italy also your Affairs receiv'd a considerable check The Duke of Modena who fear'd the War of Paris would put it out of your power to give him the Succours he wanted quitted your Party whence follow'd the loss of many considerable Posts which had cost a great deal of trouble and many Men. But it was of much greater importance to your Majesty to settle a Calm in your Kingdom than to preserve your Conquests which were so far off Therefore after you had reduc'd Paris to its Obedience and sufficiently provided for the Frontier of Piccardy which the Enemy threatned all your aim was to make Provence and Guyenne submit where there were as great Commotions as in the Capital City of your Kingdom This was happily effected by your Majesty and having also the good Fortune to divert a Storm that was gathering on the Frontier of Germany where Viscount Turenne instigated by his Brother endeavour'd to debauch the Troops he Commanded your Kingdom would have recover'd its former Lustre if the Prince of Condé had not set so high a Price on the Services he had done your Majesty that it was almost impossible to satisfie him His Ambition could not without murmuring bear his being denied some Favours tho' he had obtain'd many from your Majesty for his Relations that had born Arms against you who for that Reason rather deserv'd to be punish'd than rewarded It was Prudence however in your Majesty to conceal your Displeasure for his Affronts and there was danger in opposing the Prince because the great Things he had done had got him much Credit in the Army The intelligence which he also kept with the Frondeurs who all and every where declared themselves against your Majesty made you Prudently dissemble the Distaste you had against him but your Minister having found an Italian trick to sow dissention among his Party which would not have been pardonable were it not to secure the Liberty of your State you resolv'd to cause the Prince to be Arrested which was executed with a great deal of Dexterity Your Minister in the mean time was so afraid you would miss your Blow that he kept himself Booted to be gone the very Moment it had fail'd But Success having answer'd his Hope he again took Courage so that there was no question of preventing the ill Consequences of so bold a stroke your Majesty provided against 'em by doing two things which were absolutely necessary The one was to let the People know the true Reasons you had to arrest him The other was to march in Person where it appear'd he had most Friends and consequently where there was most likelihood of any Commotion What an excellent thing SIR is Prudence Your Majesty had already been accus'd of not acknowledging the great Services a Subject had done you Your Minister likewise pass'd for a very ingrateful Person in the Opinion of the People He knew had it not been for the Prince he could hardly have secur'd himself against the Hatred of the Parisians and the Parliament But when the People knew the Prince's Services had been rewarded with the Place of Great Master of your Majesty's Houshold with the Governments of Burgundy Berry and Guyenne with a Grant of the Demesnes of Clermont Stenay and Jammets of Pont de l'Arche and of Diep which he had gotten for the Duke of Longueville of Danvilliers and the Government of Champagne for the Prince of Conti and a great number of other Favours as well for himself as for his Creatures There was not a Man but chang'd his Opinion and loudly declar'd That if there were an ingrateful Man in the World it was the Prince of Condé The Voyage you first made into Normandy and after into Burgundy and Guyenne pacify'd those Princes where the Prince's Creatures supported by the Prince of Conti and the Duke of Longueville whom you likewise caused to be Arrested endeavour'd to animate the People against your Majesty You did not think sit to go your self into Berry where the Danger did not appear so great because that Province was shut up in the middle of your Kingdom and could receive no assistance from the Spaniards who watch'd an Opportunity to take advantage of so many Accidonts that seem'd favourable to them You sent thither the Count St. Agnan who kept the Province in Obedience but had not Strength onough to drive the Marquess Persan out of Montrond a strong Place that belong'd to the Prince of Condé How well had your Majesty been pleas'd could you so easily have setled things in other places which you had reason to fear could not be done in the midst of so many Troubles that lay so heavy on you and under which another must have sunk Viscount Turenne who retir'd to the Arch-duke after he had miss'd his Blow came to Stenay where his Love to the Dutchess of Longueville did not keep him from entring into the Kingdom at the head of an Army which he had rais'd with the Money lent him by the Archduke and with his Mistress's Jewels which he pawn'd to the Jews of Metz. He thought during this time of Disorder and Confusion he should be able to get again into Sedan which the Duke of Bouillon his Brother had given to the deceas'd King to spare his Life in great danger for his having enter'd into the Treaty of Madrid He came near the Place thinking the Memory of his Ancestors would have procur'd him Friends but every one kept to his Duty and seeing the Town was well provided and a brave Man with a good Garrison commanded in it he was oblig'd to turn his Arms another way If a Man may make any Reflections upon his Attempt it seems to me not well design'd or at least that the Inhabitants of the Town would have done very ill had they preferr'd the Government of his Family before your Majesty's for those People are unhappy who are Rul'd by petty Princes they having not Forces enough of their own to secure their Fortune are under a continual Obligation of being assisted by foreign Troops where their Subjects are often expos'd to
the Calamities of War and are sometimes a Prey to one and sometimes to another Which are not to be fear'd when People are under the Government of a Great King who when any Storm ariseth can quickly allay it It was not only your Frontier of Champagne which was threaten'd but likewise that of Piccardy The Spaniards appear'd there with an Army and having made themselves Masters of Catelet and la Chapelle they attempted Guise but not thinking it fit to lose Time about it they resolv'd to join with the Arch-duke and Viscount Turenne who were enter'd into Champagne Viscount Turenne who knew what was best to be done advanc'd so far as Ferté Milon with an intention to deliver the Prince of Condé out of Vincennes But your Majesty having broke his Measures by causing the Prince to be carry'd to Marcoussis and from thence to Havre de Grace the Viscount was oblig'd to return and join the Arch-duke who had taken Rhetel and some other Places Champagne which groan'd under the Tyranny of the Spaniards who put all to Fire and Sword took Arms and augmented the Army of Marquess du Plessis whom your Majesty had sent to guard that Frontier He thought with these Succours to have been able to retake Rhetel and having invested it the Arch-duke endeavour'd to raise the Siege This prov'd of great Advantage to your Majesty to whom the Defeat of your Army would have been of very dangerous Consequence Nevertheless since it was impossible for you any longer to see your Enemies in the heart of your Kingdom you sent Cardinal Mazarin to the Mareschal that upon his own knowledge of your Strength he might give order either to fight or retreat The Cardinal who was naturally very fearful where there was danger was at first of Opinion not to run any hazard but the Mareschal du Plessis who convinc'd the Cardinal of what ill Consequence it would be to give the Enemy any signs of their Weakness it was resolv'd in a Council of War wherein this Minister was present to fight The Mareschal du Plessis having rais'd the Siege march'd directly toward the Enemy who was now become more numerous by the Duke of Lorrain's Troops The Fight was sharp and obstinate on both sides but God gave your Majesty so compleat a Victory that Viscount Turenne was forc'd to fly only with sixteen Persons being abandon'd by all his Troops for the Arch-duke went off one of the first and left him to shift for himself He was very near being taken in so long a retreat as he had to make and wherein he was so hotly pursu'd but having defended his Life and Liberty at their cost who attack'd him he sav'd himself in Barleduke into which when he enter'd People thought him very much wounded being cover'd all over with Blood but it prov'd only the Blood which he had drawn of your faithful Subjects Your Majesty heard of this Victory with unspeakable Joy and sent to Marquess d' Aumont d' Hoquincourt and de la Ferté each a Mareschal's Staff who had very particularly signaliz'd themselves in that Battel It was to excite others to follow their Example for there is nothing more animates your Nobility than the Honours you bestow on them and the French are of that Temper that they will sacrifice a thousand Lives if they had so many in the Service of their King if he give 'em but a good Word or the least Preferment 'T is for this also that your Majesty is belov'd by your Subjects you that have the Secret even in refusing to grant Requests to oblige those whom you deny by your manner of denying them For a Prince ought to have the Gift of not only making himself to be fear'd but that also of making himself belov'd For Fear without Love degenerates into Distrust which makes People suspect that he who ought to be both Father and Master will turn Tyrant And this Suspicion is so dangerous that there is nothing which a King should not do to keep it out of his Subjects Minds If the Prince of Condé's Party which he had in France did your Majesty so much harm upon the Frontiers of Picardy and Champagne it did you a great deal more in Italy where it was impossible for you to succour Piombino and Porto Longonne which fell again into the Spaniards hands Your Majesty to whom the Preservation of Catalonia was of great importance sent thither the Duke of Mercoeur who seiz'd Count Marcin the Prince of Condé's Creature and who did all he could to debauch the Troops you had in that Country This foresight sav'd Barcelona where the Enemy kept intelligence having a great mind to recover that Place But the Duke of Mercoeur being no great Captain and the state of your Affairs not permitting you to send him any considerable Succours all languish'd in that Country and your Reputation began to decline in those Parts However the Choice of this General was not to be imputed to your Majesty it was a Court-Intrigue that oblig'd you to prefer him before many other Commanders of much greater Experience But there being a Reconciliation made between your Minister and the Duke of Beaufort whose eldest Son Mercoeur was he was to have a share of those Favours which when the Accommodation was made were agreed on Beside the Cardinal design'd to marry one of his Nieces to him and therefore thought it much better to prefer him than another Your Majesty was then too young to perceive what prejudice you receiv'd by it and how dangerous it is for a Minister to prefer his own Interest before his Masters But God be thanked it was not long ere our Eyes were open'd in so nice a point and no Prince ever knew better than you to give to all Persons those Employments which are sit for them This was not the only Fault which Cardinal Mazarin did The desire he had to be the sole powerful Man in the Kingdom made him seek how to amuse those he made use of to destroy the Prince of Condé The Bishop of Langres Favourite of Monsieur the Duke of Orleans your Uncle without whose privity the Prince was arrested from that time never forgave the Cardinal so that joining himself with others who envy'd the Fortune of that Minister they all strove to ruine him The Parliament who sought by all means to augment their Authority and being perswaded that during your Minority was the properest time to effect it divers Counsels were held wherein they resolv'd to demand the Enlargement of the Prince of Condé and his Brothers with the Banishment of Cardinal Mazarin Your Majesty oppos'd it with a Resolution becoming your great Courage but Monsieur the Duke of Orleans heading those who design'd the Destruction of this Minister and all the States of the Kingdom joining with 'em you were oblig'd to grant what they desir'd in point of Policy tho' it was very much against your Will Cardinal Mazarin seeing himself forced to depart the Realm thought
to make the Prince of Condé's inlargment a piece of Merit to himself he went to Havre de Grace and deliver'd to him a Letter under the Privy Signet antidated before another which was sent to set him at Liberty The Prince who had been informed by Perraut Overseer of his Household who had leave to see him under pretence of his Mothers Will what endeavours had been us'd to get him out of Prison own'd the Cardinal's Civility which he shew'd in coming himself to bring him such good News yet it was impossible not to suspect all the Protestations he made him of his Friendship and those humble Submissions he used in desiring the Prince's The Prince of Condé did not break out into any Passion against him were it that he thought him not worth his Anger or that the Joy he had for being at Liberty calmed his Resentments Cardinal Mazarin retir'd to the Elector of Collen and the Prince came back to Paris where he was received in Triumph tho' they had made Bonfires throughout the whole Town when he was Arrested But such hath always been the Peoples Inconstancy that no body knows how so to fix 'em as to secure their esteem but as soon as a Man steps out of the way be it to the Right or Left they presently return to their old Inclination The Prince was ador'd by the People when he fought with so much Reputation against the Enemies of your Kingdom but lost their Favour when he took Arms against them tho' he only obey'd your Majesty's Orders in punishing their Treason which was so great that they deserved to be treated by him as the most cruel of your Enemies The Parliament past divers Sentences against your Minister without at all consulting your Majesty They caus'd his Library to be sold by Out-cry they set a Price upon his Head and did many other things of like Nature which your Majesty very prudently Dissembled because it had beeen a gross Fault to have oppos'd a Torrent which was become so violent Your Majesty forgave Viscount Turenne who having acknowledged his Fault came to ask Pardon for it In the mean time the Prince of Condé grew very Powerful but your Minister was Faulty in not performing his Promise to those who had taken part with him in Arresting the Prince Which was not warning sufficient to the Prince to keep him from doing the like For he began to despise and disoblige his Friends Viscount Turenne was one of the first of those who were so treated by him for having desir'd the Prince to give good Winter-Quarters to some Troops which he look'd upon as his own tho' your Majesty pay'd 'em the Prince took no notice of his Request The Viscovnt also knew the Prince us'd to rally him for his Love to his Sister and made it a common talk among those who were most in his Favour which touch'd the Viscount so much to the Quick that he came to the Queen your Mother and promis'd her that nothing in the World should make him fall into the same fault he had committed and that for the future he would do all he could to blot out the Memory of it assuring her Majesty she might rely upon his Fidelity He said as much to your Majesty and oblig'd his Brother the Duke of Bouillon to make you the same Protestations This Example teacheth us how dangerous Railery is and how much it provokes Men of great Courage But this is a needless Reflexion to be made to your Majesty who never speaks ill of any body and when you speak of your greatest Enemies 't is only of those Qualities you know commendable in them neither will your Majesty suffer any to speak evil of others in your presence wherein your Majesty is much in the Right seeing there is little difference between evil speaking and approving it The Prince did very ill in another thing He had assured the Duke of Beaufort the Dutchess of Cheveruse and the Coad jutor that for the future his Interest and theirs should be the same and that the Prince of Conti should Marry the Dutchess's Daughter This Promise being made when he was in Prison was not thought Valid by the Dutchess because it looked as if it had been forced she therefore came to the Prince and releas'd him of it But he told her tho' he was not oblig'd yet because she treated him in so civil a manner the thing should be done Tho' he was now doubly oblig'd yet such was his Humour that he would not be beholding to any body He quickly forgot his Obligation nor was he so Civil as to do any thing to discharge himself of it In the mean time your Majesty who did not like your Minister's being forc'd from you tryed all ways to have him return handsomly without causing any new Troubles in your Kingdom But the aversion which every one had against him and the Arrests that had past to exclude all Foreigners from the Ministry would have made it very difficult had it not been for the Prince's ill Conduct which daily increas'd being press'd by the Prince of Conti passionately in Love with Mademoiselle Chevereuse to consent to his Marriage he told him he would not and that he would not have him take the Coadjutor's the Marquess of Laicques and Caumartin's leavings These Three often visited her and there needed no more to make the Prince of Conti believe that what the Prince of Condé had said was true He presently quitted her in spite of his Love and seriously told all the World how much he was oblig'd to his Brother who had drawn him from a Precepice from whence he was falling headlong This Discourse was carried to Madam Chevereuse and to those who were concern'd in it and wrought more for the return of your Minister than all that your Majesty could have done So true is it that Chance produceth many unforeseen Accidents which prevail over all humane Reason and Prudence The Dutchess of Chevereuse whose Cabal was very strong offer'd your Majesty to employ her Friends to facilitate your Minister's return And now your Majesty being in your Fourteenth Year you were declared of full Age you went to the Parliament to have the Declaration register'd and at the same time carried thither two Edicts which serv'd for marks to Posterity of your Piety towards God and of your Love to your People The first was against those that blasphem'd God's holy Name The other was against Duels which you swore on the holy Bible to see exactly executed that you might never be importun'd concerning it and resolv'd never to retract what you had sworn In this you did not like many others who in a few days forget their Promises For ten or twelve Years after some considerable Persons of your Nobility having fought contrary to this Edict you had made them an Example had they not gone out of the Kingdom but that which is more remarkable is that the Pope interceded with you for them and
offer'd to absolve you from your Oath but the tenderness of your Conscience would not suffer you to grant what he desir'd You thought that when once People believ'd your Pardon might be obtain'd by Mediation those disorders would never cease to which your Majesty was fully resolv'd to put an end Beside you would not let it be said that Recommendation had a greater Power over you than Justice Your Majesty could not endure your People shou'd give Law to you concerning your Mininister Cardinal Mazarin's return You retir'd a second time from Paris The Duke of Orleans your Uncle would not follow you neither would the Prince of Condé who a few Days after possest with a Panick Fear he should be Arrested left the City and being gone to his House at St. Maur you did all you could to cure him of this Suspicion but because when a Man knows himself guilty he never thinks himself secure from Punishment he went into the Country and retir'd to Montrond The Prince of Conti the Prince Marsillac and some others at the same time took up their Quarters in Guyenne The Duke of Rochefoucaut having stir'd up some Troubles in Poitou you had those two Provinces to reduce as well as the City of Paris which openly declar'd against your Majesty The Pretence of all these Revolts was that you would have Cardinal Mazarin return against your Word given to the contrary But seeing most of the Heads of this Party had promis'd you to consent to his Return for Favours done them you could not believe that was the true Reason You plainly saw that Ambition had a greater share in their Disobedience than the Hatred they had for the Cardinal It was easie for the Spaniards at this time to do their Business They re-took most of the Places you had conquer'd since you ascended the Throne But your Majesty thought the safety of your Kingdom to be of greater Consequence to you than any thing else You ran to the Place where there was most Danger you went into Poitou after you had in Person reduc'd Berri where the Prince of Condé had rais'd some Troubles You declar'd him a Rebel and a Disturber of the publick Peace with all his Adherents But this made none of 'em return to their Duty and your Authority was so little regarded that in two Months time the Parliament wou'd not register your Declaration tho' their Interest were different from the Prince of Condé's and with whom they did not act in concert The strongest Cabal which took part with your Majesty was that of the Duke of Vendosm and the Coadjutor But you were necessitated to buy both which was by giving one the place of Admiral of France and by promising the other you would nominate him for a Cardinal's Cap at the next promotion that should happen You thought these Favours nothing in comparison of the Services these Men cou'd do you in so nice a Conjuncture especially in relation to Paris which had not yet declared for the Prince of Condé and where they had many Friends Your Presence in Poitou quickly suppress'd the Rebellion there the capital City of that Province open'd its Gates to you and the Cardinal being come thither to you with some Troops which he had rais'd in Germany you forced the Rebels to quit the Siege of Coynac you drove them also out of some Posts they had possest but could not reduce 'em in Bourdeaux for the Prince of Condé who was come thither had infus'd new Courage into those who before seem'd dispos'd to submit to your Majesty In the mean time Paris which went nearer your Heart than any thing else seeing Cardinal Mazarin return publickly declar'd for the Prince of Condé Monsieur the Duke of Orleans likewise acted against your Majesty tho' he had many times said he was not to be suspected for his not being at Court But how cou'd he clear himself from Suspicion who had hearken'd to evil Counsel all his Life and alway had near him the Bishop of Langres who was enrag'd to miss the Cardinal's Cap which had been so often promis'd him Beside Mademoisolle de Montpensier who had a great desire to be Marry'd feeding her self with the hope the Prince of Condé gave her she should have his Son spoke for him to her Father without making any Reflection that she was old enough to be the Mother of him she had a mind to make her Husband Among so many declared Enemies there were some secret ones whom your Majesty did not distrust but on the contrary had reason to think them your most Faithful Subjects The Duke of Beaufort for a time was one of this Number notwithstanding all you had done for him and his Family But weary of wearing the Foxes Skin he put on the Lions and took the Field against your Majesty The Coadjutor did not declare himself so openly but vex'd to see that by Cardinal Mazarin's Return he was never like to come into his place did underhand all he could to ruin him tho' he was sure it would very much displease your Majesty The Jealousie which arose between the Duke of Beaufort and the Duke of Nemours who were both joyntly to command an Army gave your Majesty an Opportunity to draw near to them that you might take some Advantage of their division But the Prince of Condé prevented you by passing incognito through all the Provinces beyond the Loire and by putting himself at the Head of the Army where his Presence was necessary to settle a right understanding between the two Princes of whose disagreement the only cause was their Ambition to command singly and exclusively to one another Your Majesty did all you could to have taken the Prince in so long a March and where there were so many Rivers to pass you set guards upon all the Fords and sent out many Parties into the field which was all you could do But since all the care in the World is to no purpose where Men will be false and treacherous Bussy Rabutin let him pass so that he came safe to his Army which was then near Chatillon upon Loin Your Majesty who knew not at first in what manner he had escap'd thought to repair this Blow by a Battel wherein you hop'd to have the better The two Armies join'd near Bleneau where the Avantguard of yours commanded by Mareschal Hoquincourt was so ill treated that if Viscount Turenne had not come to his Relief your Majesty who was at Gergeau had been in danger of being taken But his Experience having placed you Beyond a narrow Pass he defended it with so much Courage till Night came on that the Prince who promis'd himself an entire Victory could he have pass'd the Defile was oblig'd to be contented with that advantage he had gotten Your Majesty was happy that the Prince had then so great a desire to go to Paris where he thought this new beam of Glory would procure him a Reception with some kind of Triumph 'T is
certain that Ambiton was not the sole cause of this Voyage and that Love had a great part in it For he had given up his Heart to the Dutchess of Chatillon and the desire he had to see her made him lose the Advantage he might have drawn from this Victory This was a Fault which many great Princes commit and 't is a Miracle if they conquer their Passion The Prince of Condé is not the only Person that hath been faulty in this kind and your Majesty knows that there is a Prince beside him whose Reputation is much greater than his that is fallen into the same Fault A Man may be in Love and yet do his Duty for tho' it be dificult yet 't is but to remember that every one hath his Eyes upon what he doth and nothing can stop their observation A Prince who hath care of his Honour will never suffer such hold to be taken of him he will rather conquer himself for a time than give the least Stain to his Reputation Beside an Opportunity once lost is not easily retriev'd whence we are to conclude that when a thing can be done it never ought to be put off till to Morrow The Prince of Condé's Absence gave your Majesty an Opportunity to recruit your Army with ease so that in some time after it was again in a Condition to be fear'd The Duke of Orleans who had wholly declar'd himself against your Majesty fearing to be run down sent to his Brother-in-Law the Duke of Lorrain for his Assistance and the Spaniards who every Year hir'd his Troops consented to it He enter'd France and march'd toward Estampes which Viscount Turenne had besieg'd The Place of it self was not considerable but being defended by a good Garrison it held out longer than People thought it wou'd so that the Duke of Lorrain might have come time enough to have reliev'd it which much troubled your Majesty but according to his ordinary Practice being more us'd to Plunder than to Fight he made such little Marches that the Place was taken before he came to it Viscount Turenne in perfect spite march'd against him and forc'd him to repass the Seine he encamp'd at Villaneue St. Georges where without great disadvantage he could not be forc'd to fight he pillag'd all Brie as well as the plain Country about Paris for which he had the Curses of the Parisiens who flatter'd themselves he was come to relieve and not to Plunder 'em But all their Complaints were to no purpose your Majesty who was as much concern'd as they seeing they cou'd not be ruin'd without your being sensible of it endeavour'd to gain the Duke of Lorrain that he might cease pillaging the Country there was some appearance of prevailing with him your Majesty having wherewith to tempt him for you were possest of his Country which you offer'd to restore upon reasonable Conditions But he lov'd ready Money better than Offers so advantagious to him your Majesty having granted him a Pass he went out of the Kingdom to their great astonishment who called him in Your Majesty was likewise much surpris'd not believing a Prince of his Birth cou'd act in such a manner upon so base an Account But Kindness to his Children which he had by the Princess de Cantecroix made him think of nothing but getting Money seeing he cou'd not settle the Country of Lorrain upon 'em for two Reasons the one was because it was his Wife's Inheritance the other was he had those Children not by his Wife and therefore being incapable of succeeding him he resolv'd to give them Portions in Money for their Maintenance The King of England the unfortunate Son of a more unhappy Father who was come to seek Refuge and Relief from your Majesty serv'd you perfectly well in this Treaty which troubled you very much till it was ended For if the Duke of Lorrain wou'd he might have put Viscount Turenne hard to it whom you thought for some time in great danger because he was come too near his Camp but he happily got out of the Briars by his admirable Conduct which gain'd him a great deal of Reputation as well with the Enemy as among his own Souldiers Your Majesty having made a good end of so difficult an Affair gave no leisure to the Rebels and by your Presence so encourag'd your Army that the Prince of Condé saw himself and his Troops ready to fall into your Hands For you pursued him so hotly that he was forced to possess himself of the Bridge of St. Cloud by which he thought to avoid a Battel but your Majesty having laid a Bridge over the Seine he saw himself ready to be attaqu'd in Front and Rear he then got under the Walls of Paris and march'd round it to get to Charenton Viscount Turenne who observ'd it follow'd him so close that he begun to charge his Reer near Port du Temple and Port St. Martin which oblig'd him to hasten his March and being come to the height of the Fauxbourg St. Antoin he made use of some Retrenchments which Chance afforded him they having been made to secure the Citizens against the Thievery of the Duke of Lorrain's Troops There he lodg'd his Foot in better Order than the shortness of the time seem'd to permit and drew in his Cavalry he sent the Duke of Beaufort into the City to perswade the Citizens to let in and secure his Baggage and declare for the Prince But the Fear the Parisiens had to be pillag'd made them shut and place Guards at their Gates The Prince of Condé when he saw this rang'd all his Baggage along the Ditch and caus'd Holes to be made through the Houses where he saw your Forces advance Your Majesty was posted at Menill to see this Attack which would have rejoyc'd your great Heart had it been to fight with your Enemies and not against your Subjects The Onset was furious and your Troops having forc'd the Retrenchments Vicount Turenne brought up his Canon to a Place call'd the Throne because one had been there erected to receive your Majesty when after your Marriage you made your entrance into the City The Prince of Condé did all he cou'd to sustain your Peoples Efforts who encourag'd by your Presence did Wonders and God who would not suffer the Rebellion to continue gave your Majesty an entire Victory so that the Prince of Condé had been utterly lost if Paris had not open'd its Gates to him where he sav'd his remaining Troops Mademoiselle Montpensier did the Prince this Service and caus'd the Canon to be discharg'd upon your Majesty and your Minister who was very near you This Victory astonish'd the Parisiens and those who were of the Prince of Condé's Party your Majesty having some faithful Subjects in this great City who made People sensible how much they had fail'd in their Duty to your Majesty so that they were a long time in suspence before they agree'd to give the Prince that Assistance he
so much wanted This occasion'd an Assembly which met two Days after at the Town-House where were a great many Persons who in some manner represented the States general of whom a Convocation had been demanded of your Majesty and which you had promis'd to free your self of their Importunities But as you had there your Creatures as well as the Prince had his while they were disputing what Resolutions to take the Mutineers broke open the Doors and kill'd some of the Deputies an only Son of a Councellor of the great Chamber a considerable quality in that time was with some others slain This Murder having caus'd great Confusion those of your Majesty's Party put Paper in their Hats to be known by one another the other Party wore Straw in theirs which Mark some of the greatest Lords in your Court were forc'd to wear as well as others in Paris They that put Straw in their Hats quickly became the stronger Party and falling upon those that wore Paper the Mareschal de L' Hopitall Governour of the City had much ado to save himself Many were of Opinion that it was the Prince of Condé who stir'd up this Tumult and wou'd have charg'd it on Cardinal Mazarin to render him the more Odious but whether the truth were discover'd or People begun to be weary of disobeying their Master every one thought of making Peace with your Majesty the Duke of Orleans made Propositions to you and so did the Parliament but you found them so high and so void of that respect which was due to you that instead of hearing them you were so angry with the Parliament that you remov'd it to Ponthoise This Action accompany'd with many other of the like Nature quite astonish'd the Mutineers the Prince of Condé nevertheless endeavour'd to warm his Party again who were ready to leave him But the Parliament being upon the point of turning their backs upon him as well as your Uncle the Duke of Orleans he threw himself into the Arms of the Spaniards Your Majesty made a prudent use of this Conjuncture and to unite all Parties you feign'd to send Cardinal Mazarin away a second time whom many made the pretence of their Rebellion so that no longer having a Cloak to cover it they all resolv'd to return to their Duty provided your Majesty would grant them a general Act of Oblivion you did not think sit to refuse it and the Duke of Orleans being retir'd to Blois a Town assign'd him for part of his Appanage your Majesty had now no more to do but to return to the Capital City of your Kingdom You were humbly importun'd to do it by your Parliament and in the Name of the Clergy by the Coadjutor who according to the promise given him had been made a Cardinal and who came expresly to wait upon you at Compiegne your Majesty call'd a Council there to be advis'd whether you should not cause him to be Arrested to punish him for his breach of Faith in not performing the Promises he had made you But it was thought sit first to make a firm settlement of your Authority and when that was done you would be much better able to do what you thought good 'T is indeed Prudence to let things ripen and to do a thing out of season is to spoil all Some blame the Prince who might have had your Majesty's Pardon had he sought it in a decent manner because he took a fancy to follow the Duke of Lorrain's example who pillag'd and plunder'd Friends and Enemies without any distinction but it is not to be believ'd that a Prince of his Birth and great Mind cou'd have any Thoughts unworthy of the one or the other yet he ransack'd the Frontier of Campagne as he went off and after he had taken Rhetel and St. Menehout he retir'd to Namur He had there some Conference with a Minister of the Arch-Duke's who before he wou'd let the Prince come to Bruxells would know whether he would give him the Hand This Proposition made the Prince sensible to what Displeasures he had expos'd himself by his Disobedience but his great Courage not suffering him to hesitate what answer to make he sent the Arch-Duke word that the Honour he had to be the first Prince of the Blood of France had too well taught him what was his Right for him ever to part with it He therefore pretended to take place of the Arch-Duke were he not in the Low-Countries where he represented his Catholick Majesty in that Quality he would give him the upper Hand when he went to visit him but when the Arch-Duke in his turn came to see him he expected the same The Arch-Duke was not pleas'd with so haughty an Answer and believing that after what the Prince had done there was no more returning for him into France he insisted upon the Prince's giving him place every where to which the Prince wou'd never consent The thing at last went so far that he caus'd the Arch-Duke to be told that unless he accepted the Offer he made him he would in eight Days be gone and that he was not yet so to seek but he knew very well where to go the Arch-Duke was then forc'd to let him have his Will but seeing it was much against the Arch-Duke's it shew'd the Prince what Inconveniences attend a Man's forsaking his own Country and going into a Foreign Court especially when a Man is look'd upon as a Rebel and is oblig'd to buy his Protection whatever the Price be he must pay for it He had the same dispute with the Duke of Lorrain who liv'd for the most part at Bruxells and many times 't was thought they wou'd come to Blows but 't was hinder'd by their Friends without undertaking to decide the Difference about eithers Pretentions for the Duke of Lorrain wou'd not endure any Competition and the Prince of Condé cou'd not hear of giving place without falling into great Passion but that which gave him the greatest Distaste in that Court was that Prince Francis the Duke's Brother did likewise dispute Precedency with him which caus'd such Heats as were not like to end without Fighting That which most anger'd the Prince of Condé was that the Arch-Duke wou'd not regulate the business tho' the Prince pray'd him to do it confiding in the Justice of his Cause The Arch-Duke had a mind to mortify the Prince of Condé and would not disoblige Prince Francis whom he resolv'd to keep still with him especially at that time when he fear'd he wou'd be gone into France where many endeavours were us'd to gain him See what unexpected Displeasures Men meet with when they put themselves into the Service of a Foreign Prince but 't is otherwise when a Man stays in his own Country where the Place due to his Quality is not only regulated but it is also the Sovereign's Interest to do nothing to the prejudice of a Prince of his Blood 'T is but just a Man should do
Pennance for his Faults because it brings him again to himself and there is nothing which makes us wiser than those Mortifications which we did not expect they that have the Wind still with them run the hazard of never knowing themselves The Prince having quitted his party your Majesty thought rather of pacifying your Kingdom than of driving the Enemy from the Frontiers which you flatter'd your self might be easily done when it was at Peace within it self The Province of Guyenne was still in Arms for the Prince of Condé the Prince of Conti was in Bourdeaux where as a Prince of the Blood he was so considerable as to draw many to take part with him in his Disobedience the Count d'Ognon was in Brouage where ill Example made him play the Tyrant Great Forces were requir'd to reduce those People because of their Intelligence with the Spaniards from whom they receiv'd Assistance But your Majesty considering it wou'd be easier to gain them by fair means you made the one Mareschal of France upon Condition he deliver'd up the Place he kept into your Majesty's Hands and granted the other very considerable Terms if he wou'd quit his Brother's Party Your Majesty who had found a way to make Cardinal Mazarin return and to settle Peace in Paris where you had again fixt the Parliament in its usual Seat And having now no more Domestick Troubles to fear you did not only raise Forces to secure your Frontiers but to raise your Reputation very much lessen'd abroad You had lost all you had in Catalonia your Affairs in Italy were also in an ill Condition those in Flanders not in a much better Case and of so many Conquests which I have already mention'd no more remain'd to your Majesty but Arras in Campagn the Enemy kept St. Menehout Mouzon and Rhetel upon the Frontier of Picardie Le Catelet and Capelle in Bourgundy Bellegard wherein were the remains of the Prince of Condé's Faction Here was work enough for a young Prince who had not yet the experience of Riper Years but your Majesty having prudently begun with that which seem'd to be of greatest Consequence you besieg'd Bellegard and became Master of it having thereby cut off the Head of the Rebellion You hardly knew what to do next so much were you press'd on all sides The Prince of Condé was enter'd into Picardy where he had taken Roye the Arch-Duke threaten'd Campagn these two Places were of like Importance to you but you cou'd not remedy all at once the Forces of your Kingdom were exhausted so that your Majesty was oblig'd to do things by degrees one after another You march'd to the Relief of Picardy made the Enemy quit Roy and afterwards besieg'd Rhetel which being taken you made your self Master of Mouzon In the mean time the Enemy possess'd themselves of Rocroy for which you were reveng'd by reducing St. Menehout to your Obedience Your Arms in Catalonia began to be dreaded you took there several strong Places and you had taken the Town of Gironne had it not been for a Miracle wrought by Heav'n in favour of your Enemies They plac'd on the Rampart a little Cabinet wherein were the Reliques of a holy Bishop of that City and presently there appear'd such an infinite number of Flies which fell upon your Army that all your Cavalry was astonish'd at it The Horses not being able to abide it broke their Bridles and run cross the Fields they roll'd themselves in the Mire to get rid of the Flies and many perish'd so that seeing the Enemy was ready to make use of the Advantage they had by so favourable an Accident it was thought fit to raise the Siege In Italy you carry'd the War into Milanez where the Count de Grancé whom you had made a Mareschal of France took Carpignan and beat the Marquess Caracene whom the King of Spain sent against him You were now oblig'd to acknowledge the Government of England tho' at the same time your Kindness and Justice led you to protect him who was the lawful Prince thereof But the Spaniards who sought to make an Advantage of your Aversion to Cromwell's Usurpation and were treating with him to your Prejudice you had recourse to the only means left you to secure your self against the Mischief they intended you You offer'd him your Mediation to accomodate the differences amicably which were then between England and Holland of which you were very willing to see an End because they might have proved very much to your Enemies Advantage This was a great deal for a State which had been so Sick to be free from Convulsions which had like to have brought it to its Grave But as in long Sicknesses there are often Relapses Count Harcourt whom your Majesty had made use of to reduce the Rebels to their Duty became one himself He found a way to get into Brisac where the Garrison being at his Devotion he design'd to erect a Kind of Soveraignty in Alsatia if he had been strong enough to support the Burthen The Spaniards did all they cou'd to oblige him to put the Place into their Hands but not offering enough to tempt him he refus'd them and thought of agreeing with the Duke of Lorrain who had enough to pay him well for there was not a Prince who had so much ready Money as he but being an Idolater of it he could not resolve to part with so much as Count Harcourt demanded so that the Business hanging long in Suspence it came at last to nothing because the Spaniards who distrusted him caus'd him soon after to be arrested Your Majesty to whom this Business appear'd to be of great importance as indeed it was sent often to and again to make him return to his Duty But seeing he cou'd not come to any Resolution you besieg'd Beffort to cut off all Relief which he might hope to have from that side you made your self Master of it in the midst of Winter for it is fit the French should learn to make War in any Season they who under your Majesty ought to despise Heat and Cold and to habituate themselves to either This Conquest joyn'd to the very good Terms you offer'd Count Harcourt prevail'd with him to accept 'em You gave him the Government of Anjou you let him enjoy all his Estate and his Place of Grand Ecuyerr he being to deliver up all he held in Alsatia This Business being thus over and so well for your Majesty you next thought of re-taking Rocroy where the Garrison spoil'd all the Country round about it under the Command of a Governour who was not a sleep and had learnt his Trade under the Prince of Condé I mean Montall whom your Majesty hath so succesfully employ'd and who did you great Service in the last War But you believ'd the taking of Stenay was of much greater Advantage and therefore you march'd your Army thither under the command of Mareschal Fabert This General was much to be valued
whence the Enemies continually made Inroads into Rousillon but you did not make the same Progress in Italy tho' you spared nothing on that side to signalize the Glory of your Arms. For the Duke of Guise who had engaged you in great Expences under pretence of his maintaining correspondence with Naples and that he should no sooner appear but that whole Kingdom would rise yet came back without taking any thing but Castellamar which he was forced to quit This Enterprize however gave Your Majesty Reputation tho' the Spaniards endeavour'd in that Country to make people believe you were a Prince that could not easily get out of that confusion into which the Civil Wars had cast you tho' you now scarce feel the effects of it having put all things into so good order every where for it is not only on the Frontiers that you have establish'd your power but you have likewise done it in the heart of your Kingdom where there remain'd but two things to be done and which appear'd very pressing and absolutely necessary The one was so to settle again the Power and Authority of your Minister that he might meet with no more such Strokes as had like to have tumbled him quite down The other was to punish those who under pretence of being your Friends betray'd you You did the first by marrying his Eminencies Nieces to such great Lords that the chief Persons in your Court were engag'd to preserve him one of his Nieces was married to the Duke of Mercoeur and another to the Prince of Conti. This begot a great desire in the greatest and most Eminent Men about you to court the other who were not yet old enough to be Married and who might pretend to any thing after their other two Sisters had gotten Husbands of such Quality As to the Punishment of those who had deceiv'd you you made that Exemplary in the Person of Cardinal de Rets whom you caus'd to be Arrested but because the regard you had to his Character would not permit you to punish him according to what your Justice requir'd you therefore only resolv'd to take from him his Arch-Bishoprick which gave him by the Dignity of it so much Power over the Clergy as to be able to engage them in Factions prejudicial to your Service you propos'd to him a Resignation of his Bishoprick into the Hands of the Pope and that then he should have his Liberty Monsieur Bellievre first President of the Parliament who was sent to him to let him know your Majesty's Pleasure was his Friend but none to your Minister so that instead of counselling him to accept of the Proposition he advis'd him to the contrary saying he spoke to him as a Friend and not as one sent from the Court. Now seeing this Magistrate had the Reputation of being one of the Honestest Men in France and a Judge of as great integrity as hath been a long time in Parliament It will not be impertinent to give your Majesty a Character of the Man 't is very true that he was an Honest Man and incapable of doing a base thing however I can say your Majesty did your self no good when you prefer'd him if he were a Vertuous Man his Vertue was very Austere and would never consider the necessitie of your State He affected the Name of being a Man for the Publick Good which kept him without any other consideration from acting conjunctly with your Majesty for the Good of your Affairs He was also of so high a Spirit that if Cardinal Mazarin had sent for him unless it were in your Majesty's Name he would not come and then if your self were not upon the Place to tell him what your Pleasure was he would not stay yea such was his Pride that he could not endure his Eminence should think there was any difference between them But your Majesty should never put such froward untractable Men at the Head of your Parliaments which have already done enough to convince you that you ought never to let them have a President that will joyn with them to usurp upon your Authority Nothing is of greater Consequence to your Kingdom and when there wants such a Head you ought to prefer a Subject who will be a Curb to them Your Parliament hath already Power enough not to covet more and that which I have before said of them relating to the War of Paris is a sufficient Reason for you to set Bounds to their Power But the Inclination you always had to reward your Servants joyn'd with the necessity wherein you then were made you take the first comer who offer'd to repair his ill Fortune who before had the Place and whose extream Poverty you could not see without blushing being not then in a Condition to help him so that you permitted this Magistrate to treat with his Predecessor which nothing but the Misery of the times could excuse For I can assure your Majesty it may occasion many Inconveniences as your self will confess when you consider that they who arrive to Places of Honour for which they think they have no Obligation to their Master are never so submissive to him as they are who for the Places they hold depend solely on him The Cardinal de Rets took his Friend's Advice because there is nothing so grievous to a Man as the loss of his Liberty he thought to procure his by feigning to hearken to what was proposed He sent your Majesty word he was ready to sign a blank Resignation but when that was done since the Price offer'd for it was what depended only upon the Cardinal whom he could not trust he would be glad to know before hand what assurance you would give him he should have his Liberty Your Majesty who acted with great sincerity but would not be trick'd gave him to understand that you left it to his choice to take such Measures as he best lik'd and that you would be contented provided you might be secure So that now the matter being left to him to resolve he agreed with your Majesty that if you would let him out of Vincennes he would remain under the Guard of Mareschal Meilleray who had marry'd one of his Relations till the Pope had accepted his Resignation He was conducted to Nantes where the Mareschal was whose Vigilance he design'd to deceive because he well knew that the Pope with whom he dealt underhand to make him refuse that which the Cardinal seem'd to desire would not fail to declare himself against your Majesty The Mareschal who was a good honest Man and did not think the Cardinal a double Dealer commanded that he should not be kept too close but some Liberty should be allow'd him so that the Guards let him go daily out upon a Bastion and did not keep the Door by which he went to it but he who thought of nothing but escaping got a Rope made of Silk of the heighth of the Bastion and his Physician who was with him holding it
he let himself down by it and got away upon a Horse purposely brought thither Some thought his Design was to go to Paris there to foment new Disorders but his Horse falling on the Pavement of Nantes which is very bad he fled to Machcoul a Castle which belong'd to the Duke of Rets his Brother Mareschal Meilleray prepar'd to go thither and besiege it which made the Cardinal go thence to Bellisle The Mareschal would likewise have follow'd him if your Majesty would have given him leave but one Reason of State why you would not permit him was because you fear'd that the Mareschal who was very powerful in that Province would not keep it for you and that after your Endeavours to put things into good Order you your self might be the occasion of new Disorders But seeing it had been a kind of braving your Majesty to have stay'd in your Kingdom after he had been so unhappy to incur your Indignation he went into Spain and from thence to Rome from whence your Majesty would not suffer him to return till he had given you the Satisfaction you expected Indeed it concerns the Majesty of a great King not to suffer a Subject to beard him but to reduce him to his Duty otherwise it would be an Example to others of dangerous consequence Your Majesty knowing that the Spaniards had not well recover'd their Rout at Arras hasten'd to take the Field where after having taken Landrecis Condé and St. Guillain the Arch-Duke was so allarm'd that he thought every Moment you would attack him in Bruxells the fear of it made him employ ten thousand Peasants to make a kind of Fortification about it and 't is for your Majesty's Reputation Posterity should know it because it cannot but take notice that after the Arch-Duke had made you tremble in your Capital City of Paris you should do the like by him in so short a time and that you must be a great King to do such Miracles But what I can say is That you forget nothing which is for the publick good of your Kingdom and that then you knew as well how to Treat as to make War It plainly appear'd in the Treaty you made with Prince Francis whose Design you discover'd by his letting the Lord Inchequin who manag'd all his Affairs fall into your Hands at the Rout of Arras For instead of thinking he was taken Prisoner by chance you concluded it to be a premeditated Contrivance which made you stand so stiff upon the Propositions that Lord then made Who still pretended all that he said was from himself without having any Order from the Prince his Master But even from his Feign'd Story your Majesty rightly judg'd necessity oblig'd him to treat with you which shew'd you a prudent and well advis'd Prince seeing to conclude only from appearances is the way to be deceiv'd in all a Man doth It were to be wish'd your Majesty had been able to be present in all your Armies as well as in that of Flanders you then had seen with your own Eyes in what manner things went you might then have weigh'd all Enterprizes before you gave your consent to their being put in execution but seeing your knowledge of Places and your Enemies Forces were but imperfect you met with a check in Italy of which only Cardinal Mazarin's easiness can be accus'd He was so fast tyed to his own Country notwithstanding all the Wealth and Honours he had heap'd in France which ought to have made him forget it that he endeavour'd to get a Husband there for the Sister of the Princess of Conti and the Dutchess of Mercoeur but of all those that presented themselves he lik'd none so well as the Duke of Modena This Allyance the Cardinal represented so considerable to your Majesty as if he had no other end than drawing in this Prince to espouse your Interest so that he prevail'd with you to give the Duke the command of your Army in that Country jointly with Prince Thomas and these two Generals being joyn'd broke the Marquess of Caracene's Measures who design'd to surprize Regio which so rais'd their Courage that they thought themselves in a condition to besiege Pavie But they were forc'd to quit the Siege which had very much lessen'd your Majesty's Glory if that which happen'd elsewhere had not repair'd your Reputation for beside that which you did in Flanders your Army in Catalonia did not only preserve its Conquests but enlarg'd 'em For it seis'd upon Cap-daquiers and being enter'd into the Campourda put all under Contribution home to Gironne The Fault whereof your Minister was guilty in Italy was not the only one of which his Ministry may be accus'd he was very fond of a Maxime which no body but himself approv'd and which your Majesty suffer'd because you had so much confidence in him he employ'd in all your Affairs two Persons instead of one which was always the Ground of perpetual jealousie between 'em and which must necessarily produce very ill Effects For two Men with equal Power and Authority look upon one another as two Enemies tho' they seem not to do it and they will never let slip an Opportunity of doing one another an ill turn they are never better pleas'd than when one of them doth a Fault and they commonly suborn People to procure each other's Ruine To redress this is very difficult but 't is absolutely necessary for the good of your Kingdom Your Majesty is far from liking this Maxim you know that the most perfect Government is that which comes nearest to GOD's and therefore you give absolute Power to those that act under your Orders 'T is enough that they render you an Account of what they do but you do not put Persons in equal Ballance one with another if you did you should be sure to be but ill served for if they that have Commission to do a thing do it not with all the Authority of their Master they are always ill obey'd Beside if two Persons have Power to command the same thing one usually crosseth what the other undertakes their differing in Opinion produceth this Effect as well as the Jealousie which is between 'em so that we ought to conclude a State is ill govern'd where there are so many Masters We likewise see that Monarchical Government is counted the most perfect and that the best Policy'd Republicks are those where there is the least Confusion Whatever was the matter this Disorder reign'd in your Revenue and in your Armies you know that in Italy there were two Generals in Flanders likewise Cardinal Mazarin was pleas'd this Year to joyn two Men together whose Humours and Inclinations were quite contrary to one another's I mean Viscount Turenne and Mareschal de la Ferté who could never agree and who also had lately quarrel'd The Mareschal took out of the Viscounts Hands a Prisoner under pretence of exchanging him for one of his Men taken by the Enemy but in truth it
have notice of it but the Prince of Condé who unluckily took a review of his Troops the Day after yours encamp'd before the Place and being on Horseback when the News was brought him he presently March'd and so well took his time that he pass'd through your Army without being known after which you were oblig'd to raise the Siege but resolving to repair this Affront by some considerable enterprize you besieg'd Montmedi The Enemy's Army full of Pride for that which had happen'd to you at Cambray flatter'd themselves they could give you the like Check before Montmedi The Prince of Condé who was their Hero was pray'd to undertake the care of it but Viscount Turenne who observ'd him having march'd Night and Day with a Party of the Troops which he commanded and Mareschal la Ferté whom you had charg'd with this Expedition being in a good Posture tho' his Lines were not yet finish'd The Prince of Condé durst not undertake the Attack so that you reduc'd this strong Place under your Obedience Viscount Turenne went and rejoyn'd his Army after the departure of the Prince of Condé who as great a Captain as he was could not hinder Turenne from taking St. Venant When the Prince of Condé saw that he with Don John of Austria went and besieg'd Ardres hoping that Viscount Turenne would either quit his Enterprize or let him finish his without giving him any Trouble The Prince thought he should sooner do his Work than Turenne because St. Venant was defended by a good Garrison and that there was scarce any body in Ardres But Viscount Turenne who knew that one of the best Qualities in a General was not to lose a Moment of time us'd such Diligence that he oblig'd the Enemy to Capitulate two days sooner than the Prince of Condé imagin'd and presently march'd against the Prince who having notice of it was half Mad for had he given the Prince but four Hours time more he had made himself Master of Ardres being just ready to spring a Mine which had done all that he could desire and then there was no appearance the Governour could have held out longer but he knowing he was so near being reliev'd refus'd to hearken to any Capitulation The Prince not being so strong as Turenne resolv'd to raise the Siege which was no little Honour to the Viscount whose Diligence had made the Prince fail both of relieving Montmedi and of taking Ardres Not to lose any time is so necessary a Quality in a General that without it no Man can ever hope to be a good Captain For in War some times All depends upon an Instant and he that knows not how to make use of it doth not deserve any great Esteem Turenne did not yet end his Campagne he likewise took La Motthe au Bois and many other Forts upon the Canal of Bourbourg after which he made himself Master of Mardik That which pass'd in Catalonia would not deserve to be told were it not convenient it should be known that the Reason why your Majesty made no more Conquests there was because you thought it enough to keep those you had already The Country which is divided from Rousillon and Cerdaigne by a Chain of Mountains of a prodigious Heighth and whose Avenues are so narrow that two Men can hardly pass in Front seems to be made for another Soveraign and it would be to force Nature to unite them under one Government so that your Majesty contenting your self with the Bounds which God seem'd to have set between your Kingdom and that of the King of Spain you resolv'd not to enter into his but only to let him see you had Troops sufficient to guard your own so that all which afterward pass'd was only some light Skirmishes which caus'd little alteration till a Peace was concluded The Prince of Conti who commanded in this Country the last Year seeing there was now little Honour to be gotten by him there pray'd your Majesty's leave to go and supply the Place of Prince Thomas who was dead You granted his Request but it had been much better for his Reputation to have stay'd in Rousillon than to go into Italy and be forc'd to raise the Siege of Alexandria de la Paille which he had joyntly undertaken with the Duke of Modena If your Majesty would know why you met with more ill turns of Fortune in that Country than in any other 't is easie to give your Majesty a Reason for it The Spaniards look upon the Milanez of very great Consequence to them the loss of which would certainly draw after it other Places they possess in that Country so that whenever they are attack'd they use all imaginable means to relieve them Beside the Princes of Italy do not ordinarily Pray for you when your Armies come amongst 'em They are very well pleas'd with your Protection but do not care for your Neighbourhood It is enough for your Majesty to have a Door open to help 'em in time of need and if you suffer no body especially Spain to meddle with 'em you shall still be in great Reputation among 'em All then which I think you ought to do in that Country is to continue the Allyance which you have with the Duke of Savoy with whom a good Correspondence is not only necessary for the keeping of Cazall but likewise of Pignerol That of other Princes is of no use to you but may prove prejudicial by making others believe you have great Designs upon their Liberty and therefore may put them upon entring into a Confederacy against you I know that at this time your Majesty is in so great Reputation that a League of the Princes of Italy against you would turn to their Confusion if it were not supported by the Forces of all Europe But your Majesty must take heed the Italian Princes do not serve for Trumpets to other Potentates who are Jealous enough of your Majesty and would readily joyn to interrupt your Prosperity Beside you must do all you can to avoid allarming the Swiss of whom you have more need than you Imagin for should they recall the Troops they lend you it would deprive you of a Strength you cannot spare To which I may add that in such a Revolution the Duke of Savoy may leave you and then by his Defection your Frontiers which are not fortify'd on that side will suffer very much I know very well that when a Prince resolves to make War he ought not only to think by what means he may succeed but also what is like to be the Sequel and End of it I consequently know that the Princes of Italy are too well advis'd to declare themselves against your Majesty from whom only they can hope for help when they are oppress'd and against whom they cannot arm any other Potentates but those of whom they ought to be extreamly jealous To which Branch soever of the House of Austria they address themselves they have reason to
ought to prefer them before all that can be propos'd for his own particular Benefit I have lately in my own Case put this Rule in practice for a very good Match being offer'd to me for my eldest Son it did not move or at all tempt me because it consisted not with your Majesty's Service The Duke of Lorrain knowing that by his Address he had put his Business into a fair way feigns himself in Love because he found the Cardinal had more mind his Niece should Marry him than his Nephew for he thought thereby to gain time and to put in practice some new Invention To this piece of Dissimulation he adds another to deferr the propos'd Marriage He pretended he was Sick but this feigned Sickness did not hinder him from pursuing the Success of his Business he engag'd the Duke of Guise in it deceiving him first so that he very faithfully promoted the Duke of Lorrain's Interest The Duke of Guise who indeed was a Prince of great Sincerity and whose great and generous Soul would never have suffer'd him to be instrumental in deceiving any body this Duke I say believing the Duke of Lorrain to be a Man of his Word acted for him with as much Zeal as he could expect from so noble a Prince and the Cardinal knowing him to be a Man upon whose Honour and Faith he might rely put so much Confidence in him that he sign'd a Treaty in your Majesty's Name much more to the Duke of Lorrain's Advantage than that which past in the Isle of Phesants The Cardinal now expected his Niece should be Dutchess of Lorrain either by being marry'd to the Duke himself or to his Nephew Prince Charles But the Duke who glory'd in never performing any thing he promis'd and having obtain'd all that he could desire disclaims what was promis'd by the Duke of Guise which was that he should Marry the Cardinal's Niece presently after the Signing of the Treaty It may perhaps be thought Strange that this Cardinal who was so very cunning did not cause the Treaty to be ratify'd by the Duke of Lorrain before the performance of that which the Duke of Guise promis'd in his behalf But the Reason was because your Minister would not have your Majesty know what was the Price the Duke of Lorrain was to pay for this new Treaty which was so much in his Favour So that for being too Crafty the Cardinal was deceiv'd which teacheth us that there is no trusting Men of a certain Character and that too much Cunning sometimes doth Men more Harm than less would do There was Reason to think that the Cardinal who was an Italian and consequently loving Revenge as all that Nation do would never pardon the Duke of Lorrain and in the Post the Cardinal was it was almost impossible but he should meet with a very fit Opportunity of being reveng'd But having now taken his Bed he was to think of Things of much greater Consequence which was to render an Account to God It was his Custom to make every one pay him and he to pay no body The Account he was to make up with Heaven so much perplexed him that he fell into great Convulsions but believing in the Condition he was he should hazard nothing if he told the Truth he confess'd he had robb'd your Majesty and your People Mr. Joly Curate of St. Nicholas in the Fields who was his Confessor told him he could not give him Absolution unless he made Restitution which as Rich as he was was more than he could do and beside he lov'd his Wealth so well that he could not find in his Heart to part with it He had run a Risque of dying without being absolv'd if your Majesty had not had the Goodness to make a Gift to him of all he had taken from you Mr. Joly satisfy'd himself with the Declaration your Majesty made to that purpose which so quieted the Cardinal's Conscience that he dy'd much more peaceably than he would have done without it Your Majesty that very Night came into your Closet where you ask'd me whether the Cardinal had not hid some Effects and the Place where I thought they might be I told your Majesty all I knew and you seis'd upon what was of great value but yet left a great deal to his Niece Hortensia whom he made his Heir upon Condition that her Husband should bear the Name and Arms of Mazarin which gave great distast to all the Princes of the Blood but your Majesty who was alway very kind to him continued it after his Death for you would let no body touch any thing of that which he left to his Niece All France now fix'd their Eyes upon your Majesty to observe how you would behave your self being upon the Cardinal's Death left to your own Conduct For tho' by what you had done before it appear'd by a thousand Things you wou'd one Day be a Great King yet the ill Education you had had with your having been alway if I may so say under the Ferule of that Minister made People doubt whether you had been guided by your own Discretion or by his Dictates Beside as the Vivacity of our Nation doth not incline us to have any great esteem for that which looks Heavy and Dull there were a great many who found fault with your looking so Grave and Serious in all your Actions they could not believe that a Prince of your Age could be so Wise especially in a Court where there were so many weak Heads who without making the least Reflexion said all that they thought But I made a contrary Judgment of your Majesty by the first Conference I had the Honour to have with you you weigh'd all things so well that I was perswaded the Advantages of a good natural Disposition very much prevail over an ill Education It was not long e're all your Subjects were of my Opinion especially when they saw you knew so well how to Act the King You obliged them to pay as much Respect to you as they had taken Liberty under your Minister Cardinal Mazarin the just Answers and so much to the purpose which you gave to those Ambassadors that resided in your Court begot a great Opinion of your Wisdom so that in a little time Foreigners as well as the French were undeceiv'd in some Discourses that had past to your Prejudice The least appearances are enough to make People speak ill of a Prince upon the Throne but a Multitude of Events and considerable Actions full of prudent Conduct are requir'd to give him Reputation which teacheth Princes that they ought always to do Good when Occasion requires it Every one hath his Eyes upon 'em to give them their due according to their Actions whether Good or Bad. But your Majesty had nothing to fear upon that Account I can bear Witness to Posterity that you did an Action worthy of immortal Glory As I have already said you were educated among Women and
you fell in Love with the Eldest of Cardinal Mazarin's four Nieces then at Court you lov'd her so desperately that they who had not the Honour to know you believ'd your Passion would make you forget your Duty to your self This Niece fomented your Passion cunningly enough and every day more and more to enflame you us'd those Arts which crafty Women practise who are proud of their Conquests But your Majesty instead of running into the Snares she laid for you consented she should be Marry'd and saw her part notwithstanding all her tender Reproches and tho' your own Heart told you you were cruel to your self in resolving not to enjoy in the Condition you then were the sweetest of all the Pleasures of this Life This Victory over your self was follow'd by another relating to the same Person The Pleasures which she had tasted at Court and perhaps also the Remembrance of your Majesty which she could not blot out of her Mind having made her not live so very well with her Husband she quickly return'd into France Many believ'd that she had great Hopes that the Fire which had been so quick and ardent would be easily rekindled She was therefore returning to Court with full Sailes but your Majesty having Notice of it sent a Courrier to tell her she must retire into a Monastery I know very well Sir I have antedated the time when this past and to do things in order I should not have spoken of this in this Place but the connexion which is between this Circumstance and the other I have mention'd would not suffer me any longer to forbear speaking of it I do not undertake to write your History in due Method therefore this Transposition may be pardon'd Your Majesty having no confidence in the inconstant and unquiet Humour of the Duke of Lorrain and fearing he might enter into Cabals which might be to your prejudice you design'd to Marry his Nephew Prince Charles who was right Heir to the Dukedom of Lorrain and Bar to some Person in France His Father who stay'd in Paris was ravish'd that your Majesty had so good Intentions for his Son whose Uncle without you could never be brought to do him right He propos'd to you his Son 's Marrying Mademoiselle Montpensier and your Majesty consented to it because it was indifferent to you what Lady he chose provided he put it out of the Duke of Lorrain's Power to do you any mischief Mademoiselle who had willingly hearkend to the Proposal that had been made her of the Duke d' Anguien who was then but a Boy was much more pleas'd with this of a Handsom Prince and of an Age more suitable to hers She grew so much in Love with him that she became jealous of her Sister whom the Prince of Lorrain could have better lik'd had she not been design'd by your Majesty for another you had indeed promis'd her to the Duke of Tuscany eldest Son to the Duke of Florence who not long after Marryed her She and the Prince of Lorrain tho' both knew they were not born for one another could not refrain from being often together and the Prince growing daily more and more enamour'd of her gave her a Picture which he had from Mademoiselle Montpensier The Vanity which all Women have to boast of their Conquests especially when they think they can vex a Rival made her discover what the Prince had given her tho' it concern'd her very much to have kept the thing secret Your Majesty did not like it and she being to go so speedily into Italy to be married it was not fit her Husband should suspect her guilty of any amorous Intriegue but all those Reflections did not hinder her from making this false step So true is it that Youth Prudence and Love very seldom keep Company Mademoiselle Montpensier no sooner knew this but she broke with Prince Charles his Father who was extreamly troubled that his Son should miss in all respects so considerable a Match did what he could to bring the Business about again but Mademoiselle whose high Spirit was answerable to the greatness of her Birth despis'd all the Promises which were made to appease her Your Majesty would not force her tho' you thought this Marriage necessary for the good of your State In the mean time Prince Charles having lost so good a Fortune by his own Fault some body propos'd to him the Dutchess of Longueville newly become a Widow and who was very Rich Were it that the Prince could not forget the Dutchess of Tuscany or that the Widow had some Defects he did so little relish the Proposition that he could not make one Step towards her The Duke of Lorrain who could not part with his Dukedom was much troubled that his Nephew should marry Mademoiselle Montpensier tho' it appear'd 't was a thing to which he had given his consent But knowing his aversion to the Dutchess of Nemours he press'd him to marry her purposely to clear himself from the Suspicion your Majesty had of his playing a Thousand Tricks to hinder the other Match with Madam Montpensier But the more Pains he took to bring him to it the further was Prince Charles from it yet he felt in himself an Inclination for Mademoiselle Nemours the Dutchess's deceas'd Husband's Niece who had somewhat more than her Aunt to engage the Prince so that at last he became so entirely hers that he quite forgot the Dutchess of Tuscany Your Majesty being told of it by the Prince's Father who at first did not approve of this Match because he valued Wealth more than Beauty your Majesty made him consent to it and there was no Qestion of your making the Duke of Lorrain do the same But the little disposition he had to give him his Estate made him make a thousand Excuses which your Majesty finding very frivolous and without any Foundation you told the Duke if he did not take a Resolution conformable to your Will and to Reason the thing should be done without consulting him any further This Declaration was like a Clap of Thunder to him and believing it was impossible to prevail with your Majesty to altar your Resolution he offer'd to declare you Heir to all his Dominions if you would grant him the Honour of your Protection against his Nephew His Design in making this Proposition was to deceive your Majesty and having cunningly insinuated that his Nephews Right and Title to the Dukedoms of Lorrain and Bar was not so firmly establish'd but that he could dispute it with him and quoting some Precedents to prove the Salique-Law was still in force in his two Dutchies your Majesty treated with him and left the Prosecution of the Marriage with Mademoiselle Nemours which wanted nothing but Consummation all the Ceremonies having been perform'd by Proxy See how Interest sometimes works upon great Souls as well as upon those of meaner Quality which yet is not so pardonable in them because they ought to have more care
to be none of the first Number but will in due time make it appear that Monsieur Louvoy abusing the Credit he hath with you hath advis'd you to do that which is directly contrary to your Interest and hath stirr'd up a world of Enemies against you For tho' the prosperous Condition wherein you now are keeps them yet silent nevertheless to make good what I have said there needs no other Proof than the Answer which the Baron Delval made to your Minister Monsieur Louvoy when shewing him the Arsenal at Douay he said if ever your Majesty had a War this would make a brave Noise I believe it answer'd the Baron and I am sure such a Noise as will awaken all Europe I think there is no need of explaining this Answer to your Majesty it sufficiently expounds it self and nothing could more ingeniously reproach your Majesty for the many Enemies your Minister hath rais'd against you I know his Enterprizes have been prosperous which keeps him still in your Favour but upon serious Reflection your Majesty will find it had been a thousand times better for you you had never been so Powerful and that you had been much happier had you been quiet For now your Mind must be still taken up with the Intriegues which you know are daily hatching against you in Princes Courts heretofore full of Affection toward you but as things now stand instead of concurring with you for your Safety there is not one but is now to be suspected by you If your Majesty be not sensible enough of these Truths that you may be fully convinc'd of 'em I beseech you to call to Mind that which happen'd in the Year 1662. and compare it with what hath past since and you may thereby judge what Power Justice supported by a good Reputation had over those who were not accustom'd to bow And I believe if the like should fall out now Satisfaction would not be so speedily given you the hope of being assisted by your Enemies would encourage People to affront and oppose you and your Majesty would be oblig'd by actual Arms to obtain that Satisfaction which in those Days cost you but a Threat to make use of ' em I might likewise mention what happen'd to your Embassador at Rome to whom the Corses of the Pope's Guard shew'd so little Respect that to Revenge some of their Comrades who had been ill treated by your Embassador's People they affronted him in his very Palace The Dutchess of Crequi his Wife was likewise in danger of her Life for in her Return out of the Countrey to the City they shot at her as they had at her Husband so that she had a Page kill'd and some of her Servants wounded The Tumult at last grew so great that they both left Rome and went to St. Quirico of which when your Majesty had notice you sent your Complaint to the Pope who encourag'd by some Cardinals that were no Friends to your Majesty seem'd to approve what the Corses had done but you firmly and positively resolving to have Reparation for the Affront Ambition having no part in the Quarrel the Pope's Quality did not hinder you from requiring Satisfaction and tho' his Holiness did not think you would have push'd things on so far yet because you demanded nothing but what was just it was agree'd that the Corses who always us'd to guard the Pope should not only be cashier'd but a Pyramid should be erected whereon should be inscrib'd in golden Letters what Satisfaction had been given you His Holiness also consented that Cardinal Chigi should come into France and pray your Majesty to accept this Reparation and to forget what had past Behold an Effect and Proof of what I have been saying and as I have already observ'd I very much doubt should the like happen now whether your Majesty would meet with the like Satisfaction I have already given you Reasons for it to which I will only add that Reputation is as necessary for a Prince among his own Subjects as his Neighbours for Power is not founded upon Force and Injustice his Subjects may Fear him but they will never Love him and by Fear without Love he will never compass his Ends The one without the other commonly does more Harm than Good Fear continues no longer than People see the Prince in a Condition to make all bow and submit to his Pleasure but as soon as his Fortune changes they presently despise him On the contrary tho' Fortune changes Love doth not and the more unfortunate a Prince is the greater Endeavours are us'd to restore him to the Prosperity he hath lost Your Majesty who so Gloriously supported your Interest in Foreign Countries did that upon your Frontier which was of very great Advantage to you you bought the Town of Dunkirk of the English for Two Millions and Two Hundred Thousand Livers which you gave for it and thereby safe-guarded your Kingdom The Treaty which you made with the Duke of Lorrain so much displeas'd his Nephew that leaving a Ball where he danc'd with your Majesty he got out of the Kingdom and went to Rome where he thought the Pope would espouse his Interest But his Holiness desiring to be excus'd he went to Vienna where the Emperour gave him a Retreat at which you were not troubled because you had nothing to do with him to make good your Title But it appear'd his Presence was necessary to the Treaty because of the express Terms in it that it should be ratify'd by him and all the Princes of the Family You went to the Parliament to have it register'd but your Majesty fearing you might meet with opposition because there was a Clause in the Treaty that all of the Family were to be acknowledged Princes of the Blood and capable of succeeding to the Crown in case the House of Bourbon should come to fail you went thither with your Regiment of Guards which consisted of Three Thousand Men. The Respect which was paid to your Presence was the Reason why your Majesty was not told that this Treaty wanted other Solemnities to make it valid for it was not the Parliament's Business to examine it but the States of the Kingdom to whom it belong'd to chuse a Master when they had none And it was this Clause I meant when I said it was an invincible Obstacle to your Designs For beside this Difficulty there were many others among which the most considerable was that which concern'd other Foreign Princes now naturaliz'd and setled in your Kingdom who would receive Wrong by it paticulatly the House of Longueville which pretends the States of the Kingdom heretofore declar'd that for a Reward of the Services done by the Count de Dunois to the Crown it should belong to that Family whenever the Throne became Vacant The Dukes and Peers who likewise would not give Place to any of these Lorrain Princes were also a great Obstacle to this Affair Nevertheless your Majesty flattering
your self that you should effect this Business by your Power press'd the Duke of Lorrain according to this Treaty to put into your Hands the Town of Marsall and because he doubted what Resolutito take you threatned by Force of Arms to make him do it But notwithstanding all your Threats he continued irresolute and you went towards Lorrain with so great a number of your Nobility that never were so many seen together at one time You found the secret of making People pay that Respect which was due to your Majesty by the Favours you so seasonably bestow'd and which engag'd a great Number of Gentlemen to wait on you who in the time of your Minority would not have taken the Pains to have gone out of their Doors Your Court shin'd brighter than ever it had done and the more for the many Blue Ribbands you made which were no little Ornament about your Person Soon after this you also created a great many Dukes and Peers wherein you shew'd a great deal of Policy for most of the Grandees who had no mind to this Dignity kept close to your Majesty to avoid the like Reward The Prince of Condé who at his Return thought to find you the same you were in Cardinal Mazarin's time was much surpriz'd to see you so different from what he thought you He look'd so little in your Majesty's Presence and you took so little notice of him that scarce any body would believe when they saw him this was the Famous Rebel that had been so much talkt of But you took Pleasure to mortifie him at his first coming to make him leave his Proud Humour of expecting to be every where Lord and Master If you made the Prince of Condé tremble I need not say his Example taught others not to depart from that Duty which by their Birth they were oblig'd to pay your Majesty All Persons appear'd in your Presence with a Respect that added Lustre to your Royalty and gave it quite another Figure than it had in the time of which I have already spoken The Desire every one had to please you made People apply themselves to that which before they scorn'd to do All the young Gentlemen of good Families listed themselves either in your Company of Musqueteers which your Majesty had again set on foot or in your Regiment of Guards and seeing you took delight in all that look'd like War which your greatest Enemies cannot deny you spent a great part of your time in disciplining this Company so that If I may make a Comparison which perhaps some will not like I will presume to say never did any Spanish Jennet better perform the Exercises of Manage under a skilful Rider than this Company did every thing that was commanded by your Majesty Of this I can yet say more which others observ'd as well as my self and by which a Man might judge what you one Day would be able to do seeing you did it in your Youth What could those Seven or Eight Hours together signifie which your Majesty stay'd in the Court of the Louvre exercising that Company in the depth of Winter But the Application wherewith you would in time to come do your Duty and that you would despise both Heat and Cold when you design'd to get Glory But yet it cannot be said this was a domineering Humour in your Majesty because you took the like care of all that concern'd your Royalty I have already said your Majesty commanded me to bring you Cardinal Richelieu's Memoirs the esteem you had for the Memory of that great Man and your own sincere Piety without Ostentation inclin'd you to perfect what he had so happily begun which was the extirpation of all the Hereticks in your Kingdom But your Majesty knowing that it is very dangerous to pass from one Extreme to another you have by little and little so prepar'd things to ripen that in Twenty Years time the Work may come to Perfection Your Majesty's Presence brought the Duke of Lorrain to a fix'd Resolution he having agreed to the Terms upon which he was to deliver the Town of Marsall to your Majesty You came back from Metz in so little time that the Post could not make more haste you having order'd the best running Horses in your Stables to be laid on the Way Every one took the Liberty of enquiring why your Majesty made such Haste and as there are always some that guess right what you intended to keep secret was presently talk'd of all the Town over Which ought to teach Princes not to undertake any thing which they would not have People know For they cannot with all their Power keep Mens Curiosity from prying narrowly into all their Actions Your Majesty being pleas'd with my Services I took the Liberty to lay before you all that Cardinal Richelieu had design'd for the Glory of your Realm There was nothing of so great importance in his Papers as Trade and Navigation but neither could be maintain'd without making your self strong at Sea which was properly your Majesty's Work To me you committed the care of this as well as of your Buildings wherein there were great Disorders I acquitted my self in both to the best of my Power In the mean time your Majesty having thought sit to attempt something on the Coast of Gigeri the Success whereof promis'd great Advantage to the Trade of the Levant and to your Majesty's Reputation in that Country you caus'd some Troops to pass into Provence where Vessels lay ready to receive ' em They were safely Transported and Landed almost without any Opposition made by the Barbarians But the chief Commanders on whom you rely'd having taken ill Measures the Business miscarry'd tho' well design'd and better digested For 't is not enough for a thing to be so well order'd in Council as that none can object against it unless it be likewise well executed So that a Prince cannot take too much care to make a good choice of those he employs seeing his Reputation depends upon it especially when his Enterprises lie so far off that he is not able to remedy the Faults that are there committed Some would make me believe that Monsieur Tellier was not well pleas'd with that free access I had to your Majesty's Person nor with my being trusted with what concern'd the War He would have had your Majesty chuse more experienc'd Officers in whose Hands the Bâ—â—â—ness would have prosper'd better but tho' I have heard such Reports I will do him right and I had rather attribute that which happen'd at Gigeri to Fate which sometimes ruines the best laid Designs rather than wrong Monsieur Tellier's Reputation To make that Misfortune yet greater the Vessel upon which the Chief Officers of the Regiment were embarqu'd was so Leaky that it sunk which extreamly troubled your Majesty My Enemies who must be many after that which I have said would have imputed the Misfortune to my Fault pretending that I having the Oversight of the Marine
While this pass'd your Majesty being convinc'd that since it was the Duke of Lorrain's Interest to live in Amity with you he would avoid all occasions of giving you Distast and that he could no longer retain the Suspicion he had that you would take his Country from him yet instead of dealing sincerely with you he grew jealous of your endeavouring to get his Nephew out of the Emperour's Hands believing still it was to keep him in awe His Trouble was so great that tho' the thing did not succeed yet without considering what would follow he begun to fortifie Chaté and Epinal contrary to the Treaty he had made with your Majesty He was likewise so bold as to take away the Posts upon which were plac'd your Majesty's Arms for a Testimony of your Jurisdiction there which he would by no means allow Beside your Majesty knew that he rais'd Forces in Germany and that he still kept up those Regiments which he pretended to disband Your Majesty being no longer able to bear this sent the Marquess Fourilles into his Country where he miss'd but a Quarter of an Hour of taking the Duke who as soon as your Troops appear'd had notice given him time enough to get on Horseback and being conscious of what he had done sav'd himself in the Mountains of Voges where not thinking himself secure to avoid your Displeasure he went wandring up and down sometimes not daring to tell who he was A strange condition for a Prince to be brought to who might have liv'd at his own ease if he had been Wiser which shews us what difference there is between the Fortune of a Wise Man and a Fool 's Your Majesty then took Possession of his Country which made little resistance and having demolish'd the Places you suspected you acquainted the Dyet of Ratisbone with those just Reasons you had for what you did because you thought he would endeavour to make the Empire jealous of you and consequently take Arms against you You proceeded in this manner to prevent his evil Design and that Europe might not attribute that to your Ambition which was but the Effect of your Justice Thus all Wise and Prudent Princes use to do for should they be silent and not justifie themselves the World would say they knew themselves to be Faulty or that they presum'd upon their Power and would not vouchsafe to give any Account of those Actions which might be justly suspected especially when they carry Two Faces and Ambition so plainly discovers it self that People must be blind not to see it The Duke after having been some time a Fugitive retir'd to Collen where he stay'd brewing new Mischief against your Majesty and in perfect spite to you counsell'd the Town to receive a Dutch Garrison He likewise treated with the Spaniards to let them have some Regiments he had still on Foot giving the command of them to Prince Vaudemont his Son by the Princess of Cantecroix to whom he would willingly have given Lorrain and disinherited his Nephew Your Majesty who had now more mind than ever to make War with the Hollanders seeing the Duke not satisfied with what he had done but still endeavouring to league the Princes of the Empire against you you sent Ministers thither to counter and oppose all his Designs and knowing that nothing could be a greater advantage to you than the breaking of the Triple League which still continu'd you drew near to England upon pretence of visiting the Places which belong'd to you on the Sea-Coast and when you were there Madam the Dutchess of Orleans being now not far from England was so desirous to see the King her Brother that she ask'd your Majesty's Leave to go thither You could not refuse her all Things being before concerted between you particularly that when she was with her Brother she should endeavour to draw him off from the Triple League and perswade him to espouse your Interest She carry'd with her a very pretty Woman called Madam Kerouel who had done all she could to make your Majesty in Love with her but her Stars being averse to your liking her so well as she wish'd she descended to content her self with the Conquest of the King of England whose Weak Side was the Fair Sex The Dutchess of Orleans who knew his Constitution had Madam Kerouel gloriously drest and to make her Shine the more presented her with fine Jewels The Dutchess took her time when her Brother was in a good Humour to make her Propositions Madam Kerouel by her Mistress's Order very dextrously slides into the Room and promis'd the King she would come back to him as soon as your Sister-in-Law was return'd into France if he would grant what her Mistress desir'd Thus did this Prince sacrifice the Dutch to his new Passion renounc'd the Triple League and took new Measures with your Majesty to humble that Commonwealth The Marquess de Vitry whom at the same time you sent into Sweden in the Quality of your Embassador extraordinary prevail'd also with his Swedish Majesty to quit the Triple League he being as much in Love with your Money as the King of England was with Madam Kerouel Every thing contributed to your good Fortune and Satisfaction The Elector of Collen who had a good while been your Friend endeavour'd to make the Dutch recall the Garrison they had in the Capital City of his Electorate which was very difficult because the Inhabitants pretended to a greater Power there than the Elector which is the Reason they are still jealous of him But while this was a doing your Sister-in-Law the Dutchess of Orleans dyed in an Hour's time after she had drunk a glass of Succory-water This sudden Accident considering her Constitution which in all appearance was very good together with her Youth made many suspect she did not dye a natural Death she her self saying before she dyed that she was poyson'd This was thought Probable because your Brother the Duke of Orleans kept a sort of People about him who made it their Business to make him jealous of her Your Majesty did all you could to find out the Truth of the Matter For as you were concern'd to punish so foul a Crime if it had been prov'd so you had Reason to fear it might have made a Breach between your Majesty and the King of England Beside it was necessary to search this Business to the Bottom to discover from whence this Poyson came whereof the Consequences were very dangerous Especially when many begun to talk of the like Accidents in Paris where People every Day dyed suddenly which could not be imputed to any Natural Cause Your Majesty caus'd the Dutchess's Body to be open'd by your Surgeons your Physicians were likewise sent for to declare their Opinions in the Presence of the English Embassador whom you had also desir'd to be there But tho' they narrowly inspected all her Entrails they said they saw nothing upon which to ground a Suspicion of her being
guard that which is called French-Flanders upon which the Spaniards seemed to have a design While this past the King of Sweden's Mediation was accepted by all Parties to end this great difference There was a Congress at Collen where they met from all parts but the Preliminaries as is usual in such Cases being very long there was no appearance things would be soon Accommodated In the mean time your Fleet still joyn'd with the English beat the Dutch three several times this Campagn and was so far from losing the Reputation you had got the Year before that your Fleet very much increas'd it by the Courage and Resolution it shew'd in those three Naval Combats There was nothing decisive on either side and because your Conquests gave cause of jealousie to your Allies the English begun to think of leaving you But your Majesty did all that was Humanly possible to be done to preserve their Allyance You provided a Wife for the Duke of York presumptive Heir to the Crown of England This Prince had so many Mistresses in five or six Months time that one would have thought he would have Marry'd all the World The first he had was Mademoiselle d'Elboeuff upon which account he sent my Lord Peterborough to Paris who conferr'd with me about it According to the Orders I receiv'd from your Majesty I was very desirous that the business should take effect because I had a great value for that Princess But my Lord Sunderland the then English Embassador and my Lord Peterborough falling out the mis-understanding between them broke off the Match After Madam d'Elboeuf the Princess Mary Anne of Wirtemberg came upon the Stage and the Business was carry'd on so far that your Majesty Signed a Contract with Commissioners deputed by the Duke of York for that purpose I had Orders to write to Madam the Dutchess of Wirtemberg to come and be present at her Daughter's Marriage but when every body thought the business sure it quite broke off upon some Ill Things reported of the Lady her Enemies pretended she had certain defects which I never perceiv'd Whatever it were that was said of the Princess a mean Person whom she had disobliged was thought to be the Author of it So true is it that a very little Enemy may sometimes do a great deal of Mischief against which the best fence and remedy is never prepensly and with set purpose to do to any body the least harm A Rule seldom observed by Princes and Great Men who take such a liberty of saying what they please that many times they let fall words which they would give a great deal to recall But when an Injury is once done it can never be undone and wounds given by the Tongue are incurable 'T is an Offence which Brave Men will resent the longest day of their Life and will certainly be revenged unless God turn their Hearts But thanks be to God this is a Vice whereof your Majesty is not guilty for as you say little so you always speak to the purpose and without ever reflecting upon your Neighbour To your Honour be it spoken I can also say that you know not what 't is to be Angry I have lived at Court full Forty Years and Five and Twenty of them I have had the Honour to be near your Majesty in which time I can safely Swear I never saw you but once a little mov'd It was when Monsieur Werthamont who tho' a severe Sentence had past upon him for several Crimes was yet so bold as to come into your Presence I observed your Majesty grew Red with Anger and the Tone of your Voice when you told him he should come no more to Court was not like that wherewith you used to give your Commands at other times The Marriage of the Princess Mary Anne failing for the Reason I have hinted That of Mademoiselle Crequi who hath since married the Duke of Tremouille came next to be talk'd of It was said her Father was very Rich and had made his Fortune while he was Embassadour at Rome where others use to undo themselves But the Duke and Dutchess of Crequi being resolv'd not to give so much as a Match of such advantage for their Daughter requir'd they lost by their Covetousness that which others would have bought with their Blood The Duke of York at last pitch'd upon the Princess of Modena to whom Monsieur the Cardinal her Uncle had left a Hundred Thousand Franks which I had in my Hands This Marriage was without any difficulty concluded to the Satisfaction of both Parties From what I have said the Lesson which a Prince ought to learn is that he should still so well manage his Affairs as never through weakness to do any thing unworthy of his Birth For tho' Mademoiselle Crequi were a Woman of Quality yet she was not a Person suitable and considerable enough for a Prince who was so near stepping into the Throne of England But yet I know without looking very far back into the History of that Nation Henry the 8th Marry'd two Wives who were not of a better Family perhaps of not so good But there is a great deal of difference between what Love doth and that which is done with design and after mature deliberation The two Cases are quite different and tho' there may be faults in both yet whoever doth an imprudent thing deliberately and wilfully is more to be blam'd than he who in what he doth is not Master of himself Seeing I am now discoursing of Marriage I will not leave the Subject till I have given your Majesty an account of somewhat whereof I lately boasted I told your Majesty that I did refuse a considerable Match offer'd me for my Son It was Mademoiselle Bournonville now the Dutchess of Noailles The Proposition was made to me by her Father who sent me word it should be upon such advantageous Terms for my Son as should likewise satisfie me Civility oblig'd me not absolutely to refuse what he propos'd and therefore I thank'd him for the Honour he did me but when we came to treat further concerning it he requir'd that I should endeavour to prevail with your Majesty to restore him to the Government of Paris which your Majesty had taken from him because he was so great a Friend to Monsieur Fouquet and had also behav'd himself so ill that tho' he had for several Months liv'd in a House near the very Gates of Paris without ever coming to pay his Respects to your Majesty when he was in very good Health and daily made Merry with his Friends that came to visit him yet he made your Majesty believe he was troubled with Vapours which would not suffer him to go any where out of his House But the Feasts he made and the pleasant Life he led giving his pretence the Lye and your Majesty being inform'd of it thought fit to use him as you did I thank'd him for the Honour he intended my Son but I
of his doing somewhat to the purpose he slept upon his good Fortune which occasion'd many Plots and Conspiracies against him however 't was his good Luck to be deliver'd from 'em all Viscount Turenne being come to his Army found it in a very good Condition by what Marquess Vaubrun had done for since the taking of Dachsteim they had plenty of all Provisions and being eager to Signalize themselves he pass'd the Rhine and offer'd Montecueuli Battel which he refused He could not force him to fight because he was so Advantageously Posted but having tryed all ways he at last reduced him to so great a scarcity of Victuals and Forage that Montecuculi must have certainly been forced to decamp first and then Turenne would have fall'n upon him but advancing to the top of a Hill to take a view of the Imperial Army he was unfortunately kill'd with a Canon Bullet This sad Accident chang'd all things in an instant so true it is that an Army without a General is like a Body without a Soul Montecuculi who was making the best of his way when he knew in what a Consternation your Forces were by the Death of Monsieur Turenne returns again to charge ' em The Lieutenant Generals who Commanded thought of nothing but repassing the Rhine While they were consulting what course to take a Souldier said a very pleasant thing General Turenne crys the Fellow aloud us'd to Ride upon a Pied Horse take the Bridle and but lay it on his neck he will know better than our Commanders where we should go But Count de Lorge conducted the Army safe over the Rhine after having given the Enemy Battel who thought to have made a much better hand of it The Merit of this great Man made your Majesty very sensible of his loss which will every day appear greater by the want you will find of him But it was otherwise with Mounsieur Louvoy who when all France mourn'd for his Death he and his rejoyc'd I certainly know what I tell your Majesty is true and if he could have hinder'd his being so Honourably Buried he would have done it His Funeral Pomp was very great and I know no body but your Minister that spoke against it The Memory of those Great Things he had done is so deeply Ingraved in the Hearts of your Subjects that it is hard to say whether he was most Esteem'd or Beloved He did not only deserve to be commended for those his Military Accomplishments which are the Glory of a Hero but for all other Moral and Christian Vertues so rarely to be found in one Person The Duke of Lorrain was upon the Moselle with his own Troops and those of Lunenbourg Munster and some of the other Confederates and having heard of this Accident laid Siege to Treves where Vignori an old Souldier Commanded Of whose Experience the Prince of Condé under whom he had Served all his Life assured your Majesty He was not at all discourag'd at the Siege knowing Mareschal Crequi was marching to his Relief but while he was giving Orders on Horseback his Horse frighted with a clap of Thunder threw him headlong from a Bastion of which he dyed in a few days This fatal Accident made the Mareschal hasten his March fearing that Vignori's Death might so dishearten his Souldiers as to deliver up the Town But the Duke of Lorrain sav'd Monsieur Crequi the labour of advancing further and met him at Consarbrik where the Sarre and Moselle join The Duke past the River where the Mareschal if he pleas'd might have taken the advantage of charging part of his Army before the rest could have got over But neglecting it I know not for what Reason nor perhaps he himself he was so soundly beaten that all his Troops ran some one way and some another and he narrowly escaping with four more got into Treves where in perfect despair he resolv'd to bury himself in defence of the Place tho' it was of no great importance Indeed the resistance he made was so much greater than the Enemy expected that they offer'd him very good Terms but resolving not so much as to talk of yielding a Captain of Foot called Boisjourdan told the Garrison they had nothing to do with the Mareschal's desperation that tho' he had a mind to perish yet they were not bound to follow his Example Some were of his Opinion and told the Mareschal the Place was not in a Condition to hold out any longer but his Passion not permitting them to say any more Boisjourdan Treated with the Enemy and let 'em into the Town Mareschal Crequi saved himself in the Church where he resolved with some Officers who did not approve of what Boisjourdan had done to stand it out but seeing the Enemy preparing to force 'em they told the Mareschal your Majesty and all France would blame his desperate Resolution and at last perswaded him to yield at discretion Your Majesty in truth was not pleas'd with what he had done and would have been less satisfy'd if his desperation had carry'd him further But knowing what was done by Boisjourdan was an ill Example not to be endur'd you caused him to be seized and he and some of his Companions were Condemn'd by a Council of War to be Beheaded The Sentence was Executed at Metz in the presence of the Garrison No body pitying him because no Souldier can be a Man of Honour who is guilty of Disobedience Your Majesty after these ill Successes had reason to fear the Enemy would enter into France but your Prudence prevented it by raising a Jealousie between the Princes of the House of Brunswick and the Duke of Lorrain the Princes maugre all the Duke could say resolv'd to return to their Country 'T is the Fate of Confederates never to agree what one will the other will not and it would be a Miracle to see them hold together while they have different Interests which is the Reason their Designs so seldom prosper After the Death of Monsieur Turenne your Majesty fearing the Enemy would prevail in Alsatia you sent thither the Duke de Duras whom three days after his Uncle's Death you had made a Mareschal of France You conferr'd the same Honour on some other Officers and Monsieur Louvoy so far prevail'd with you as to let Marquess Rochefort be one of that number tho' he had done nothing more than he had before to deserve it The others were the Count d' Estrades the Duke of Navailles whom you had recalled from his Banishment Count de Schomberg the Duke de Vivonne the Duke de la Feuillade and the Duke of Luxembourg But because the Duke de Duras had not so much Experience as his Uncle you gave the Command to the Prince of Condé whose Reputation only was of great advantage to your Majesty in the present conjuncture The Enemy having past the Rhine at the Bridge of Strasbourg the second time this Town had falsify'd their Promise to you believed they should
The poor Village of Courtisoux in Champaign whose Wealth consists only in Cheeses hath for several Years given Charpentier three thousand Livers per an to free them from Quartering Souldiers But when they could no longer pay him so great a Summ and desired an Abatement he forgot their Presents and order'd Souldiers in their passage to Quarter upon ' em I might fill this Paper with the like Abuses yet should never have done Your Majesty knows it was not long since I shew'd how you were cheated in what was appointed to defray the extraordinary Expence of the War Where you were made to pay one Regiment twice by a secret Compact between the Commissary and the Treasurer I know very well this cannot be directly charg'd upon Monsieur Louvoy but as he is bound to Answer for those that are employ'd by him so 't is he and not I that is to supervise them My place finds me work enough and I desire no new Imployment 'T is your Majesty is concern'd and your People upon whom the burden of all these disorders falls because 't is from them you expect Mony when your Exchequer is empty I do not pretend to give you a particular Account of these Frauds 't is impossible for me to do it without depriving my self every Night of four or five Hours sleep which are absolutely necessary for my Repose after I am quite wearied with more Business than I am able to bear Your Majesty I hope will reflect on what I have said when you think fit in the mean time I return again to the prosecution of your History The Spoil which the Garrison of Phillipsbourg made in the Elector Palatin's Country oblig'd the Emperour to be rid of his continual importunities to keep that place block'd up all the Winter and promis'd him to take the Thorn quite out of his Foot by besieging it in the Spring which no body durst undertake while Monsieur Turenne was alive The Count de Lorges importun'd your Majesty to bestow the same favour on him that you had upon his Brother and so many others whom you have Honoured as I have already said with a Mareschal's Staff of France He brought to your Account the Service he did your Majesty in conducting your Army over the Rhine after his Uncle's Death and the long time he had serv'd your Majesty You had no great mind to grant his Request not but that you thought him a Man Brave enough and that he very well understood his Trade But having a small Estate you thought he would be unable to support the Dignity of his Title Monsieur Louvoy who look'd upon him as the Nephew of a Man he never lov'd did him ill Offices believing he would never be his Friend When I perceiv'd it and that your unwillingness to grant Count de Lorge's Request was only for the Reason I have now mention'd I told your Majesty if the Count would make Love to Fremont's Daughter and had but her Father 's good Word I would undertake he should certainly get her Now to do him effectual Service I threatned Fremont under-hand to have him question'd concerning some Affairs and how he came to be counted the Richest Man in all Paris This frighted him and knowing he had need of Protection he hearken'd to the Proposition made by Count de Lorge upon condition he was first made a Mareschal of France I acquainted your Majesty with what was like to happen in Count Lorge's Favour so that you being perswaded this Marriage would much better his Condition you gave him the Staff he so earnestly desired He then Married Mademoiselle de Fremont who brought him so great a Portion that he bought with ready Mony the Captain 's Place of your Majesty's Guards He also Treated for the County of Quintin which is one of the most considerable Estates in all Brittany the Yearly Rent whereof amounts to Fifty Thousand Livers And as Fortune when Men begin to be Happy heaps upon 'em her Favours so it fell out in this case for he of whom this Land was bought who was to have his Debts discharg'd and a great Pension paid him during his Life died in a short time after so that Mareschal de Lorge had a very good bargain What I had contributed to his good Fortune made Monsieur Louvoy keep him out of Imployment this Campaign tho' he had behaved himself much better than Mareschal Rochefort who did not Execute his Orders to put Men and Provisions into Phillipsbourg Your Majesty knows what a Fault he committed in endeavouring it and that he dyed with grief for having fail'd in the attempt which was more for want of Courage than Conduct This should teach us never to be exalted too high lest our Heads turn and our Fall be the greater A Man may get that Reputation in an inferior Post which perhaps he would lose in a higher Prudence prompts us to measure our Ambition by the knowledge we have of our selves otherwise to our own ruin we may find there was Truth hid in the Fable of Phaeton Your Majesty open'd this Campaign with the taking of Condé which was follow'd by that of Bouchain The Prince of Orange drew near your Army in order to their relief but did not think it safe to attack you with an Army so much inferiour to yours After the taking these two Places you return'd to Versailles leaving the greatest part of your Army under the Command of Mareschal Schomberg The rest you sent to the Duke of Luxemburg who Commanded in Germany The Prince of Lorrain was there at the Head of the Emperour's Army and at last besieged Phillisbourg which made so good a defence that the Duke of Luxembourg had as much time as he could wish for the relieving it The Prince of Orange sat down before Maestricht where the Commander in chief as the Governour of Phillipsbourg had done so well perform'd his Duty that Mareschal Schomberg gave Mareschal Humieres time enough to form the Siege of Aires For which he lent him part of his Troops but recalling them again when the Siege was ended he Marched directly towards Maestricht so that there had been a bloody Battel if the Prince of Orange who had lost six weeks time and six or seven thousand Men at this Siege had not thought fit to quit it This prosperous Success of your Majesty's Arms made the Dutch sick of the War but that which troubled them more was the misfortune that befel them the beginning of this Year at Messina They had sent into those Seas the Famous de Ruyter who from being at first but a common Sailer was now preferr'd to the chief Command of their Fleet. Never was a Man more fam'd upon the two Seas he came off so bravely in all Engagements that his very Name was enough to make his Party Victorious but your Fleet got the better of him About three Months after not thinking himself sufficiently beaten he try'd a second Engagement and was worse handled
than at first for he was not only beaten but received a wound of which in ten days after he dyed at Syracuse After these two Victories your Majesty could desire nothing more to compleat your Glory and continue your Protection to the Messineses than to have had the like happy end of all your Enterprises in Germany But the Duke of Luxembourg met with so many difficulties there that having tryed a hundred ways in vain to relieve Phillipsbourg he quite abandon'd the design So that after a Siege of more than three Months the Prince of Lorrain who had never yet commanded in chief had the pleasure of reducing so strong a place But he was like to have met his Death in the midst of his Triumph for the Bridge by which he was to enter into the Town as he was passing over it fell under him Which Report says was contriv'd by some of the Greatest Persons in the Emperor's Court who seeing him in so much Favour had resolv'd to destroy him The Swedes continued the War but unfortunately lost Elsembourg Lanscron Christianstat and some other places And tho' they had an advantage over Major General Duncan and a Victory at Lunden yet were they never the better for it Fortune was constant to none but your Majesty The City of Valenciennes fell into your Hands the next Campaign tho' it was one of the strongest in all Flanders and defended by a good Garrison If you would have taken the advantage you might have put all to the Sword but your Clemency became an Advocate for those poor unhappy People and you freely gave 'em both their Lives and Goods when they did not expect to have saved either After this you attack'd Cambray and St. Omer at a time which oblig'd you to divide your Forces so that the Prince of Orange thought now or never was his time to do somewhat He advanc'd as far as Cassel where he was defeated by Monsieur your Brother After which Cambray and St. Omer did not long hold out your Majesty having done all this before the time other Generals use to take the Field your Reputation which was already very great throughout all Europe was now exalted to so high a degree of Glory that you were look'd upon as the greatest Man in the Universe The Prince of Lorrain whose great and generous Soul did rather emulate than envy your brave Exploits redoubled his Courage and came to your Frontiers at the Head of a gallant Army Having taken Mouzon a Place of no defence he sent a Detachment over the Meuse which put the Province of Champagne into a Fright but did them no great harm For this Detachment durst not go far from their Army nor their Army follow the Detachment Mareschal Crequi being advanc'd in order to observe ' em But 't is not so easy a thing to enter into an Enemy's Country for a General must consider whether he can go out again when he pleases especially when he hath no Places near to retreat to nor Neighbours from whom he can expect any assistance However the Prince of Lorrain did not despair of entring again into his own Country to which he now pretended a greater right than before by the Death of his Uncle which happen'd a little after the taking of Treves But since this depended upon the Prince of Orange who had promis'd to march into France he waited for the Effects of that Promise to regulate accordingly his own Attempts The Prince of Orange's hope was grounded upon your Majesty's way of prosecuting the War You had not many Troops but made use of them with that Judgment and Prudence that tho' the Enemy's forces were more numerous than yours yet every Year you added some Town to your Conquests which you did by keeping your Troops together all the Winter whereas the Enemy was oblig'd to separate theirs and quarter them in places so remote from one another that they could not come together when you open'd the Campaign Taking this course you did your Business early in the Spring and then sending a Detachment into Germany you acted the defensive Part in Flanders all the rest of the Campaign It was upon this account the Prince of Orange resolv'd so late in the Year to attempt the Siege of Charleroy I have already told your Majesty why he had such a mind to this Place But he had now another Reason he pretended if he took it he could march into France when he would tho' he was much mistaken in his account for upon notice that Mareschal Schomberg was marching directly to him and that your Majesty was preparing to follow he stay'd for it her but rais'd the Siege Upon this Check given to the Prince of Orange the Prince of Lorrain saw he could no longer depend upon him but frustrated of his hopes he quitted Mouzon and march'd back again up the Rhine Mareschal Crequi followed him and after divers Encampments on both sides they came so near together at Kokesberg that there pass'd a very hot Skirmish between ' em The Emperour's Cuirassiers handled your Majesty's light Horse very rudely but your Guards de Maison had the same advantage over them so that both Armies fled before and pursu'd the Enemy in half an Hour's time The Prince of Lorrain judging by this little Tryal that it was better to go into Winter-Quarters than to stay longer in the Field retreated farther back into Germany Mareschal Crequi made a feignt as if he would have done the like but marching back again he attack'd and took Fribourg before the Prince could come to relieve it You beat the Enemy in Catalonia and ravag'd that Country every Year The Spaniards lost there the Battel of Pouille Nor could they do any thing at Messina tho' they distributed a great deal of Money in hopes to have 'em cut the Throats of your Garrison Your finish'd this prosperous Campaign with the taking of St. Guillain which so abated the Courage of the Hollanders that tho the Prince of Orange had marry'd the Duke of York's Daughter and promis'd by that Match to make England declare for them yet the Dutch had more mind than ever to make Peace Monsieur Louvoy had serv'd your Majesty so well in all your Enterprizes and was become so great a Favourite that I was no longer able to stand against him When Chancellor Seguier died I was a Competitor with Monsieur Louvoy's Father for that Place which he did all he could to obtain for him I got my self to be made an Advocate A Qualification requir'd in the Person that hath that Office but your Majesty to reconcile us gave it to Monsieur d' Alligre Councellor of State tho' his great Age and Infirmities render'd him incapable to execute it so that his Son officiated for him But he was of so odd a Humour that no body car'd to have any thing to do with him D' Alligre dying Monsieur Tellier and I renew'd our Contest which lasted not long on my
Part for your Majesty commanded me to quit my Pretensions and gave that honourable Office to Monsieur Tellier The Prince of Orange's Marriage wrought a real Change in England it begot such contentious debates that the King of England was in a manner forc'd to sign a League against your Majesty He re-demanded his Troops which not being able to refuse you sent back to him But by so long a way about that Monsieur Louvoy had time to debauch the greatest part of ' em For instead of suffering them to imbarque at Calais or some Port near their Country he chose one that was farthest off pretending that his Britanick Majesty had no just cause to complain because no particular place was nam'd in your Treaty with him Which may serve for a Lesson to all publick Ministers when they treat with a foreign Prince For if the least thing be omitted in their Negotiation they may be sure it will be made use of against their Master and when a Fault is once done 't is too late to think of mending it This Change in your Majesty's Affairs oblig'd you to quit Messina where there was no longer any safety for your Troops For if the English joyned their Forces with the Dutch it was impossible to resist them This was what I long ago foresaw and I took the liberty to tell your Majesty that you would be necessitated to augment your Fleet by building more Ships but Monsieur Louvoy who would if he could have destroy'd the Marine Establishment always oppos'd it pretending two Reasons for it The First That no cause of Jealousie was to be given to England The other That your Kingdom was not able to support so great a Charge He made use of the same Pretence to dissuade your Majesty from the making a Harbour upon the Coast of Normandy which you will want in case you ever have a War with England For if your Ships at any time should receive much Damage where shall they find a Retreat 'T is a long way out of the Channel to Brest and Rochefort which ought to be seriously consider'd by your Majesty 'T is not long ago I gave you my Opinion concerning such a Port. The Bay of Colville seems a Place to have been expresly design'd by Nature for it I thought your Majesty when you had heard my Reasons was so well satisfied that you would presently have given order to begin the Work But I since understood that Monsieur Louvoy put by the Business tho' so absolutely necessary for the good of your Kingdom insinuating that the Place I have mention'd was not so sit as I represented it And that the Reason why I did so much commend it was because I was willing to oblige the House of Matignon to which my Son was ally'd whose Lands lying near the Place and they having the King's Lieutenancy in that Country it would both increase their revenue and augment their Credit What Poyson there is in Malice and what dangerous Effects it doth produce I leave your Majesty to judge But it seems very difficult for a great King who sees with other Mens Eyes to defend himself against the Artifice of those that would deceive him especially when they have done him such Services as may incline them to think their Intention is good I know but one way for a Prince to secure himself in such cases which is to trust no body but strictly to examine things himself and rather be upon the Place to see what is done than be deceiv'd by being too credulous for in trusting a third Person there are many Inconveniences There are few Princes but must rely upon a Minister in most of their Affairs and tho' it is not so in your Majesty's Court where there are two or three Persons who will not bend and submit to Monsieur Louvoy's Authority yet for certain there is a secret Jealousie still retain'd in the Heart which commonly works the very Effects that are fear'd Your Majesty's Prudence which never forsakes you in the reverse of Fortune seem'd to increase you were not at all daunted with the Change of his Britanick Majesty but on the contrary rather made it serviceable to you in bringing the Dutch to a Peace You put such Jealousies into their Heads that they wrote to their Embassadors they should endeavour to remove all Difficulties that would obviate a Peace Your Majesty knowing that the way to make them more desirous of it was to terrifie them by some new Conquest you besieg'd the City of Gand which made little resistance You knew so well how to blind your Enemies by pretending to attack some other Place that the Town was in a manner taken before they perceiv'd your Design You afterward made your self Master of Ypres and of Fort Lewen which by its advantageous Scituation was thought impregnable But was surpriz'd one clear Night by the Garrison of Maestricht and taken by Scalado Such prosperous proceedings should in all appearance have made the Spaniards as desirous of a Peace as the Dutch But they knowing that what had pass'd in England had already made your Majesty quit Messina and inferring from thence the League they had made with that Crown would do Miracles in their Favour they endeavour'd to keep the Dutch from making a Peace but your Maiesty remov'd all those Obstacles by a piece of Policy which Posterity will admire You concluded a separate Peace with Holland But before the Prince of Orange was inform'd of it he concluded if he fell upon your Army which then block'd up Mons and could give it a Blow he should hinder the conclusion of the Treaty he very furiously charg'd your Troops The Duke of Luxembourg who had heard the Peace was concluded and imagin'd the Prince of Orange likewise knew it relying upon it was not in such a Posture of Defence as he should have been so that he and the Intendant had like to have been taken The Spaniards and the Emperour were after this so happy as to come to an accomodation with your Majesty but the Northern Princes were unwilling to restore to the King of Sweden what they had taken from him Your Majesty oblig'd them to it by the Treaty you had sign'd in consideration of which you restor'd Maestricht to the Hollanders and several Places to the Spaniards from whom you had lately taken Puicerda Prince Charles of Lorrain who was this Year come again into Germany where he made no better a Campaign than he did the Year before because Mareschal Crequi not only prevented his design of retaking Fribourg but beat a party of his Troops in the Plain of Rhinfield took Sekinghem Offembourg the Fort of Kell burnt the Bridge of Strasbourg and did so many other Exploits in that Country as made him pass for another Turenne The Prince of Lorrdin I say was comprehended in the Emperour's Treaty by which your Majesty was oblig'd to restore to him his Country but under such hard conditions that rather than submit
to them he chose to retire to his Imperial Majesty whose Sister he had married the beginning of that Winter CHAP. VI. Containing that which past after the Treaty of Nimeghen till the Year 1684. YOVR Majesty having now nothing more on your Hands than the War of the North for which the Emperour was to give you passage You order'd your Army to march on that side Mareschal Crequi who commanded knowing the Truce which your Majesty had made with your Enemies was expir'd drew near to the Weser where Spaen General of the Marquess of Brandenbourg's Troops resolv'd to oppose his Passage But your Army which had pass'd the Rhine in the Face of your Enemies pass'd this River also in spite of Spaen The Elector and his Allies then saw they were not able to deal with your Forces and it being in your Power to make what Treaty you pleas'd you restor'd those Places to the King of Sweden he had lost among which were some of greater consequence than those I have mention'd Your Majesty having in this manner given Peace to Europe the King of Spain sent the Marquess de les Balbaces to your Majesty to demand Mademoiselle your Brother's Daughter in marriage This Princess who would have been much better pleas'd to marry Monseigneur the Dauphin wept bitterly when she heard the News But your Majesty without any delay nam'd the Chancellor the Duke de Villeroy Monsieur Pompone and my self to treat this Affair with the Embassador but no body could pacifie the Princess Your Majesty thinking there could no where be found so good a match for her without consulting whether she lik'd it or not sign'd the Treaty of Marriage She was now to leave France and your Majesty which she did with such a torrent of Tears that made all the Court pity her She never ceas'd weeping all the way tho' Prince Harcourt and his Lady who had the care of conducting her told her what prejudice it might be to her in the Court of Spain where were those who without any occasion would be ready enough to do her ill Offices But her Affliction was so great that she was incapable of Counsel and she seem'd to have a secret Sence and Forefight of that which afterward happen'd to her I had pray'd your Majesty to give this Employment to the Prince and Princess Harcourt who stood in need of your Majesty's Favour for his Father was very unkind to him and led so strange a Life that I thought sit to speak of it to your Majesty he kept a Woman and as some say caus'd her Uncle to be drown'd because he was against their living so scandalously together Your Majesty who will suffer no such Disorders commanded me to send and Exempt of your Guards to Harcourt to bring away the Woman to Prison who was supected to be accessary to the drowning of her Uncle but he had sent her into England so that the Exempt came back without her This was a Lesson one would have thought might have made the Son wiser But Examples are sometimes to very little purpose unless we have dispositions in our selves to make good use of them This Prince tho' he Married a very handsome discreet vertuous Woman yet car'd very little for her and manag'd all his other affairs so imprudently that by his own fault he lost a very great fortune The Family of Guise was extinct by the death of the last Duke of that name who was the Son of a daughter of Monsieur the Duke of Orleans your Majesty's Uncle Madam Guise Heiress to the deceased Duke was an old Princess never marry'd and being a very good Woman had a mind to revive her Family She cast her Eyes upon Prince Harcourt a Friend of hers but who was more a Friend to the Prince having given her a very good Character of him So that she sold him the Dutchy of Guise whereof the yearly Rent amounted to Forty Thousand Crowns beside other Lands He not being Master of Money enough to pay for it she acquitted him of a Million But instead of giving his Friend Thanks who had done him so great a Kindness he began to speak ill of him to the Princess who judging by his horrible Ingratitude what an unworthy Man he was undid all all she had done having by contract reserv'd to her self a Power of Revocation Thus we see what great Fortune Men sometimes lose by their own Folly But to your Majesty's Praise be it spoken you gave the Duke of Main better Counsel when you preach'd Gratitude to him on the like Occasion when Madam Montpensier gave him the Principality of Dombes and the County of Deu Two as considerabe Estates as any in France whereof one alone cost Seven Hundred Thousand Crowns Certainly there can be no Fault in Man greater than Ingratitude and if it be so great in a Private Man 't is much more in a Prince who ought to have a generous Soul and a Disposition always to do Good Your Majesty whose Power was become considerably greater by the advantageous Peace you had made began a war in your own Dominions which necessity had for a while kept back the Circumstances of your Affairs requiring you not to disturb the Hugonots of whom you long ago resolv'd to purge your Kingdom but you went on with this Work first by taking away the Chambers of the Edict establish'd in the Parliaments of Tholouse Bourdeaux and Grenoble Your Reputation was great enough now to venture upon many things which you durst not attempt before You caus'd Mass to be said in Geneva which had never been done since the Year 1535 when the Priests were driven out of that Town There are certain times more proper than others to give success to what one undertakes and it is in chusing such times that a Prince shews his admirable Prudence A Prince cannot expect absolute Submission to his Will and Pleasure till he hath magnified his Name by some great Actions and he ought to know that sometimes his Reputation will do him more Service than his Power The Neutrality which the Duke of Bavaria observ'd during the War cost your Majesty a great deal of ready Money Beside you promis'd the Dutchess his Wife that Monseigneur the Dauphin should marry their Daughter But seeing a Prince should always take care before-hand what he promiseth because he must never break his word you sent to enquire whether this were like to be a sit Match and whether this Princess's Person and good Qualities did deserve so good a Husband But finding nothing to discourage you from desiring this Allyance a good Education a great deal of Wit and in appearance great respect for your Majesty and the Dauphin who tho' he were not above Nineteen Years of Age yet you resolv'd no longer to defer marrying him you sent my Brother who had been one of your Plenipotentiaries at Nimeguen to the Court of Bavaria to conclude this Match and you were so impatient to hear whether some
which would be suddenly because you had fix'd a Day to go and receive her in Champagne You and your Queen went near Fifty Leagues to meet her but I know not whether your Majesty thought your self paid for your Pains since it was impossible for you not to observe this Princess's Pride of which the Dutchess of Richelieu had given me Notice For my own Part I saw it but too well when I had the Honour to pay my Respects to her she scarce vouchsaf'd to hear what I said and I should certainly have been more troubled if I had known she had treated Monsieur Louvoy any better But I my self was a Witness with what coldness she receiv'd him and all other Persons of Quality Your Majesty whose Prudence is to be admir'd in all things some Days after begun to praise the Queen your Wife and said in her presence she had so gain'd the Love of all the French by her Courtesie and and sweet Disposition that they lov'd her better than they did you The Dauphiness who had Wit knew well enough that this discourse was intended for her But it being very difficult to reform those Faults which are natural to us she could never bring her self to that affable and gracious Air which gains the Hearts of the French Nation and which they value a thousand times more than they do any other thing This Marriage follow'd that of Mademoiselle de Blois a very beautiful Princess in whose Praise I should be large were it not that some would say I thereby design'd to recommend my own Wife who had the Care of her Education She marry'd the Prince of Conti the Son of him of whom I have already spoken who died about the Year 1666. and was Governour of Languedoc which Government your Majesty afterward bestow'd upon the Duke de Vernevil who was very old so that this young Prince hoping after the Duke's Death you would gratifie him with it behav'd himself very dutifully to your Majesty but did not treat the Princess his Wife so well I took the Liberty by your Majesty's Order to tell him of it You said he ought to set a greater Value upon so beautiful a Princess and whose Wit was equal to her Beauty But the ill Company he kept made him deaf to all I represented which so much displeas'd your Majesty that when the Duke of Vernevil died you gave his Government to the Duke of Main This shews us that in a Court virtuously govern'd men must be virtuous if they expect Rewards No Man should value himself upon the greatness of his Birth nor upon the Protection he naturally ought to have A Monarch regards neither who as your Majesty regulates all his Actions according to Merit and Justice In such a Court as yours a Person of great Birth who doth not do his Duty is less regarded than another because he hath been better taught Your Majesty will know all that he doth and of what he is capable which is the Reason why your Majesty makes so little Account of some Persons who by the Rank they hold in the Kingdom one would think should make a better Figure than at present they do But 't is a difficult thing to be both Young and Wise When the Prince I now speak of shall come to riper Years I will undertake that your Majesty will be better pleas'd with him No young Person is free from Faults and the deceas'd Prince of Conti who died like a Saint was guilty of more than his Son There is no remedy against the Follies of Youth I can give your Majesty a Proof of it in my own Family be pleas'd to cast your eyes upon my Son I have been many times forc'd to treat him very ill without being able to do any good upon him nothing but time wrought his change so that he would have put me out of all patience if I had not had enough to wait till his understanding grew riper It was in this year that Monsieur Fouquet died at Pignerol whom you condemn'd to perpetual imprisonment instead of the Banishment to which he was sentenced He bore his disgrace with a constancy which could never be expected from a man who in the midst of the troublesome affairs of his place mingled all the pleasures I should rather say all the Debaucheries of Youth but God gave him the Grace to recollect himself and die a good Christian Whence we ought to conclude that God knows better than we what is fit for us and that we are not sensible of our own wants when we murmur against Providence since we oftner lose our selves in prosperity than in adversity but nature is so corrupt that we would have the way to Heaven strew'd with flowers instead of the thorns we meet in it The Peace was already become a burden to Monsieur Louvoy tho' it were so lately made that people scarcely had had time to reap the fruits of it He advis'd Your Majesty to make your self Master of Strasbourg and Casal but seeing he knew that to attempt it would again Arm all Europe he sent persons he could trust to both those places with Bills of Exchange for very great Sums in hopes to succeed in their Negotiation While this was transacting Your Majesty resolv'd to send your Fleet against the Corsairs of Tripoli under the Command of du Quêne who was another de Ruiter Eight of their Ships not being able to recover the Port from whence they came retreated to Chio where they thought themselves safe because that Island was under the protection of the Grand Seignior with whom they believ'd Your Majesty would never willingly have any Quarrel But du Quêne knowing that by the Treaty of Commerce which you had made with the Turk he was not to give any Retreat to those Pyrates he fell upon 'em and beat 'em to pieces with his Cannon This boldness of du Quêne occasion'd great trouble to your Embassador at the Port where he was very ill treated and had been us'd much worse had he not pacified the Grand Seignior with very considerable Presents You had no mind to consent to it yet knew there was a necessity for it when you consider'd your Dominions were too far distant from his to make him sensible of your Power Besides if you had not prevented what he threatned you might have lost the advantage you made of the Levant Trade so that a Prince is as much obliged as a private man to have a regard to his interests which are often of such consideration that he is in prudence bound to dissemble many things The secret Negotiation concerning Strasbourg and Casal had all the success Monsieur Louvoy could wish These two considerable places deliver'd themselves into Your Majesties hands without striking a blow But though they made so great an addition to your Power that it seem'd you now made all Europe tremble yet I know not whether I may Congratulate Your Majesty upon it seeing it hath done that
Manufactures in your own Kingdom So that the French have now at home that which they were obliged with great Expence of their Money to seek for abroad and what is yet more this hath your Majesty done of your self without receiving the least light or advice from others You were Educated very tenderly amongst Women I cannot forbear saying so because it would rob your Majesty of that Glory which is your due when it is known that notwithstanding so ill an Education you are become that which we now see you are I have yet a great deal more to say of those many things your Majesty hath done which appear so great and surprising considering what I have just now said of your Education But I pass that by to keep my self to the Subject I have here proposed I must tell you with all the Respect I owe your Majesty that the only thing wherein you can be blamed is that you are too good to and put too much confidence in those on whom you rely in some of your Affairs It is not to shew my own Parts that I pretend to find fault with other Mens Actions Perhaps I am more subject to Faults than they but the Zeal I have for your Majesty's Service will not suffer me to be longer silent Be pleased therefore to let me give you the History in short of all that hath past in your Majesty's Reign and shew you wherein I think you have been ill serv'd Be also pleas'd to let me tell you by what means I Imagine you may yet make your Kingdom more Glorious I mâ—st humbly beseech your Majesty to pardon this Liberty and to believe I would never have presum'd to have said any thing on this Subject were it not that I cannot better testifie my Zeal to serve your Majesty That which more particularly obligeth me to tell you my Thoughts is That I find my self daily declining and that according to all appearance I have but a very little longer time to do you any Service Curts and Night-watchings shorten Men's Days and I have toil'd enough since your Majesty was pleas'd to trust me with the Management of your Revenue to think 't is now time to leave my Place to another How happy should I be if in dying I could persuade your Majesty to believe That I am what all Days of my Life I have been with most profound Respect SIR Your Majesty's most Humble Most Obedient Servant and Most Faithful Subject J. B. Colbert A TABLE OF THE CHAPTERS CONTAINED In this Volume CHAP. I. COntaining a brief Recital of what pass'd in the Reign of Lewis the Great from his first coming to the Crown 'till the Year 1649. in which the Paris War began CHAP. II. Containing that which pass'd after the War of Paris 'till the Peace of the Pyrenées CHAP. III. Containing that which pass'd after the Peace of the Pyrenées to the Treaty of Aix la Chapelle CHAP. IV. Containing that which pass'd after the Peace of the Pyrenées to the Holland War CHAP. V. Containing that which pass'd after the War of Holland till the Treaty of Nimeghen CHAP. VI. Containing that which pass'd after the Treaty at Nimeghen to the Year 1684. CHAP. VII Which endeavours to shew that all those very particular Favours which his Majesty receiv'd from GOD oblig'd his Majesty to render to GOD all that was due to him and that no Kingdom could prosper without the Fear of the LORD CHAP. VIII Of the Obedience which is due to the Pope CHAP. IX Of the Love which a Prince ought to have for his Subjects and where somewhat is also to be spoken of Taxes CHAP. X. Of all the Kingdom in general CHAP. XI Of the Clergy CHAP. XII Of the Nobility CHAP. XIII Of People belonging to the Courts of Justice CHAP. XIV Of Men of Business CHAP. XV. Of Merchants and of Trade CHAP. XVI Of Husbandmen and Tillage THE TESTAMENT OF M. John Baptist Colbert CONCERNING GOVERNMENT CHAP. I. Containing a brief Account of the Reign of Lewis the Great from his coming to the Crown 'till the Year 1649. in which the War of Paris began DID not your Majesty know so much better than I do that what is most necessary to make a Kingdom flourish is a perfect Harmony and Agreement between all its Members I would presume to shew here what Care a Prince ought to take that there be no Discord or Division among 'em But since this depends upon a right Establishment of Subordination your Majesty is better able than any Man to order that as it ought to be who so well understand to act the Part of a King that 't is enough to distinguish by your Air and Mien that you was born to Command We see then what it is that gives Beginning to a Kingdom 's Prosperity and what it is continues it For if he that is the Soveraign doth not know or is not able to do what he ought he must then have a Minister under him And because the same Respect which People have for his Master is not usually paid to him thence arise those Canvasings and Contests that frequently turn to Rebellions and sometimes cause the total Ruin of a Kingdom The Reign of the King your deceased Father was full of such Accidents The Royal Family was so divided that the Mother was against the Son and the Son against the Mother the Brother likewise sought to destroy his Brother and his King The other Princes of the Blood stood not much better affected All which proceeded from his Majesty's giving so much Power to his Prime Minister that the Princes thought it was he that did all as they had great reason to believe otherwise the Queen-Mother had not been so abandon'd as to die at Cologne in such distress that she had not the one half of what she wanted to relieve her Necessities Your Majesty's Minority was expos'd to the same Inconveniencies because you were not then able to direct your Affairs The Queen your Mother when the King died found them embroil'd and in so great confusion that it was not possible for a Woman to reduce 'em into order Your Father when he died left no Prime Minister Cardinal Richelieu who with a great deal of Reputation discharg'd the Duties of that Place had left it vacant four or five Years A thousand People expected to succeed him in it and tho' all France did agree That among so many there was hardly one to be found worthy of the Ministry Yet so great a number of Competitors striving to obtain it occasion'd by your Father's limiting the Queen his Widow's Power who should have been Regent made the Spaniards think our Disorders might turn to their Advantage they then besieg'd Rocroy which they believ'd they should quickly carry and enter into the heart of the Kingdom But God confounded their Pride by the loss of a Battel given them by Louis de Bourbon Prince of Condé then call'd Duke of Anguien wherein they were so