and Disappointments now and then happen in the World A man would be apt to conclude that this Princess is destined never to be married But pray tell me what sort of Accident this was Elector Why upon the upshot of the matter they found that the Infanta had never been consulted and that she had disposed of her heart elsewhere Lorrain I fancy you are in a humour of Raillery For does not all the World know that the Daughters of Princes are but so many Politick Victims which they use to Sacrifice to the Publick Good without ever consulting their Inclinations in private and though we don't so much take advice of their Hearts as of a certain thing which is Christen'd by the Name of Raison d'Etat when we dispose of them by way of Marriage Let the Infanta give her heart to whom she pleases provided she 'll allow the use of her Body to the Spouse whom the King her Father has provided for her Elector But what will you say if she disposed of her Body at the same time when she gave away her Heart or if a Clandestine Marriage put a stop to the procedure I dare not positively affirm that the Case was so with her But however it was the Marriage with the Dauphin was broke off the Infanta is at present in a Convent and one of the Grandees of the Court lost his life under a pretence for being concern'd in a certain Intrigue As for the Electoral Prince my Son he is in the same Condition he was in when you left the other World Lorrain The Adventures of this Princess are very singular and I question whether we can furnish our selves with any thing so surprizing either in History or Romance She was first of all to have been married to the Duke of Savoy but he had no great Inclinations for her and all his Subjects opposed it Many years after this a Match was proposed between her and the Duke of Tuscanies Son but the great Duke took care to set some Invincible Obstacles in the way Then they thought of giving her to the Prince Palatine but the King of Portugal deceived him After all that Monarch promised her to the Dauphin of France and then she her self stept in and opposed it She gave her self to a Grandee of Portugal and that cost the poor Lover his life for I perceived very well that that was your meaning when you first made mention of a Grandee of that Court. After so many Disappointments and unlucky Chances there was no other way left than to make a Retreat But how comes it about that the Prince of Poland's Marriage with the Princess your Daughter has been so long protracted for I thought I left it just upon the point of being concluded Elector The King of Poland who saw how ardently the Emperour desired that Alliance has been the only Remora in the Business Lorrain Now I always thought that the Match was no less for his Interest than his Imperial Majesties By this means he could promise himself to secure the Crown to his Son and what could he desire more Elector Why in truth the King of Poland believed that it was better to have something that was real and positive than to feed himself with Chimera's and Uncertainties He considered that I was old that after my Death the Scene of Affairs might be altered and that the Affection which the Emperour exprest for the Match might hereafter happen to be changed When it was no longer supported by my Authority with him that as his Imperial Majesty had a numerous Family so it was not impossible but that he might be prevailed upon one time or another to prefer one of his own Children before the Prince of Poland who would only be his Brother in Law Lorrain What could the King of Poland demand besides Elector He pretended that they ought to give him Moldavia and Malachia whose Princes you know abandoned the Turks to become Tributaries to the Emperour You are not ignorant how he has had an aking Tooth for those two Provinces this long while ago and he believed this was a favourable Opportunity to obtain the Possession of them Lorrain And did the Emperour then agree to this Demand Elector No No he was far from liking the Proposal Those two Provinces you know formerly made a part of the Kingdom of Hungary they are very advantageously scituated near it so that nothing but meer Constraint could ever make the Emperour part with them to Poland now he had them in his hands Lorrain So then the Marriage of the Princess of Newburgh which every one concluded was as good as over by this means is broke off to all Intents and Purposes Elector Why there you are mistaken The Grand Seigneur has made up the Breach and thanks to his Endeavours the Match of which we have been discoursing was happily concluded after all these Difficulties Lorrain The Grand Siegneur did you say made up the Breach That is a Mystery I confess which I cannot decipher Pray explain the meaning of this Riddle to me Elector You know there 's such a man in the World as Teckely Prince of Transilvania The Grand Seigneur lent him an Army to enter that Province a considerable Body of Tartars joyned him The Hospadars of Walachia and Moldavia seeing him so well supported have reassumed their Ancient Engagements and turned Tail upon the Emperour His Imperial Majesty seeing himself utterly abandoned by them and not in a Condition to keep them any longer in his hands made no difficulty they say to resign them to Poland with this Proviso that the two Provinces may make this Cession void when they judge it expedient Lorrain Behold a strange and surprizing Revolution I did not at all question the ill Inclinations of the Hospodars but I thought they were not capable to put them in execution but that making a Virtue of Necessity they would submit to the Emperour's Yoke since they could not otherwise avoid it Why surely the Turks and Tartars have been very well employed by the Polish Forces to be able to make themselves Masters of Transilvania so soon Elector You mean that they have not been at all employed there And now when any one would believe that these new Engagements into which the King of Poland has entred would oblige him to use his utmost Efforts to repel the Common Enemy is it not Matter of the greatest Admiration to find him not only negligent as to the adjusting his Affairs against the next Campaign but also to act less if it were possible than he has done for some years last past Some People imagine that all this proceeds from want of Ability but others believe he has very good reason to make use of this Conduct Lorrain Methinks I am acquainted with some of them This Prince without question is more apprehensive of the ill Neighbourhood of the Emperour than that of the Hospodars Those you know are not in a Capacity to ravish the
That you know is a City without any matter of Defence and you may batter down their Walls with rotten Apples But Geneva is at present in a Condition of defending it self and besides we shall give you time enough to come to our Assistance Advoyer I would advise you not to flatter your self dear Friend of mine Geneva is not in a better case than Basle 'T is true you have Fortifications but they don't signifie much your City is easily Commanded from several Places I would only desire three Bombs to reduce all your Houses into Ashes and make your Burghers cry Pecavi Besides you may consider if you please that a Siege is not so easie to be raised and that if you were once invested and the French well intrenched in their Camp it would be a difficult matter for our Militia to oblige them to decamp Now Savoy being possessed as it is by the King of France nothing can hinder you from being invested even before you dream of any such thing Sindic I begin to apprehend that your Suspicions and Fears are not ill grounded and that the Affairs of Savoy which we looked upon to make for our Security may for all we know carry a very doleful Consequence Advoyer You will be the more effectually convinced if you will carefully listen to my second reason Have you never heard it said That the Turk never Attacks the Christian Princes where they are in Arms one against another fearing lest he might oblige them to agree and turn their Forces against him Perhaps something like this may befall your Republick and that without falling upon either Lewis the Fourteenth or the Duke of Savoy these two Princes may come to agree at your Expence and Sorrow You need not be informed that both of them have a great longing to enjoy your City and particularly the Duke who looks upon you as no other than a pack of rebellious graceless Subjects who have withdrawn your selves from your Allegiance Now may it not so fall out that the King to gratifie that Prince may sometime or other deliver you into his hands I fancy now I have said nothing but what is agreeable to reason Sindic Such a thing might happen I confess if 't were the King's Interest to make the Duke of Savoy great but you know 't is his Interest to keep him as low as may be and the Case being so he will never permit him to make himself Master of so considerable a place as Geneva Advoyer What you say seems probable enough at first sight But if you 'll compare the Advantage which his most Christian Majesty may draw from a Peace with the Duke to the Advantage which will arrive to him by suffering Geneva to fall into the Duke's hands 't is not to be set in the Ballance he will gain infinitely more by that means than be a loser Afterwards you know some occasion or other may present it self to make him retake that which he has given But as you rightly observe that would be no great Comfort to you it would only make you change the manner of your Slavery and not be restored to your former liberty Sindic I apprehend your Reason very well and begin to perceive that they carry a great deal of Evidence and Strength with them It seems at present that I ought to fear your Rupture with France which I desired so earnestly a little while ago In short it would be a very powerful Temptation to the Duke of Savoy considering his present Circumstances if the King should offer to restore all he has taken from him and joyn both their Forces against Geneva and the Suisses upon Condition to deliver that Place to him and a certain part of the Vallies which formerly belonged to him But let me conjure you to tell me how you will order your Affairs as to prevent all those Evils that threaten both you and the rest of us Advoyer We depend very much upon the Duke of Savoy who has solemnly promised and sworn that nothing shall be capable of making him to depart from the Interest of the Allies though it be at the Expence of the last drop of his Blood and the loss of his Territories At the same time not to mince matters we are under some Perplexities 'T is true we want no Men but then we want both Money and good Captains and what is a greater Mortification to us we don't know where to supply our selves with either We have indeed Provisions enough before hand to serve us for two or three Months and that is all but as for Generals we have none and yet you know our Troops cannot well be supported without them Sindic Why then recall your Troops out of France they are well enough furnished with experienced Souldiers and Generals Advoyer Pray don't talk of that matter I cannot think of it without being sensibly afflicted Can you inform me what would happen in Case we should judge it expedient to recall them The better part of them finding themselves better in France than they would be at home amongst us would refuse to obey our Summons and judge you what a terrible Mortification it would be to us to see they are rather the Subjects of the most Christian King than ours Besides 't is not to be doubted but that the King would keep them as Prisoners of War but especially all such as should entertain any Designs of coming home and those to be sure would be the smallest number Sindic To be plain with you both of us are at present under very unpleasant circumstances and those People that condemn the Suisses for not declaring speak indeed for their own Interest but don't sufficiently consider what they say Advoyer You are in the right and I believe a more politick refined People than we pretend to be would find themselves embarrassed enough in Conscience under our Circumstances DIALOGUE VIII Cardinal Ottoboni The Duke de Chaulnes Cardinal HIS Holiness has told me a hundred times that the fear he has of quitting the World before he sees a general Peace concluded amongst the Christian Princes will certainly hasten his Death and I can assure you you have no better way to make your Court to him than by perswading the King your Master to Sacrifice all his particular Interests for the good of Christendom Duke The King will be ready to make a Peace at any time but then he ought not to be affronted he will never endure that They are mightily mistaken in their reckoning that believe the prodigious number of his Enemies whom he has upon his hands can make him lose an Ace of his Resolution and Courage 'T is on the other hand apparent he understands his own Strength a great deal better than ever he did and the Case being so he is not a Prince that you can suppose guilty of making a false step Cardinal Let him never demand a Peace say I but till he pleases yet let him not at the same
time reject the mediation of those Princes who are not engaged in the War and who declare their Inclinations to procure it Duke The King my Master has never refused to listen to such a Proposal But 't is worth your while to observe that the Enemies who have declared War against him are of two sorts One is composed of Catholicks the other of Protestants Now the best way to procure a Peace is to divide these two Interests and to oblige the Catholicks to agree with France and unite themselves in a strict League with her in order to reduce or destroy all the Heretick Princes Cardinal That Consideration of yours is not amiss and I dare engage that this Holiness never examined your Advice well enough to conceive that that was the bottom of your Design You may believe that no body desires the Suppression of Heresie more passionately than my self and if it would cost me the better half of my Blood to put it in Execution I would part with it very freely But Sir you must give me leave to tell you that this Design is no sooner conceived but a man may see t is impossible to effect it at least as the World goes now and therefore that is the reason I abandon it Duke Why do you say 't is impossible In my Opinion now nothing appears more feasible The more Interests you have to manage the more difficult you 'll find it to conclude a Treaty and I dare say 't is a harder matter to conclude a Peace amongst all the Christian Princes than a particular Peace with the Catholick Princes Cardinal What you say is true in the general but there are abundance of particular Occasions where 't is an easier matter to adjust several Interests than to accommodate a few The first and principal Obstacle to the Design you have proposed is this I question whether the Protestant Princes who are wise and politick enough did not take some secret Measures that are unknown to us at the time when they made a League against France in case they should ever happen to be deserted and abandoned by the Catholick Princes Duke For my part I don't know what Measures they could take but it appears to me they are not able to think of one Expedient that can prevent this Inconvenience In short we don't see that so much as one of the Catholick Princes has surrendred any strong Place to the Protestants by way of Security for what they promised and I am inclined to believe they have given no other Assurance but their bare Word Cardinal Supposing what you say were true yet still 't will be a difficult matter to break the Union The Emperour who is Head of the Catholick Princes is too religious an Observer of his Word ever to be induced to violate it and you know he has solemnly promised not to make a Peace until they are comprehended in it Duke He has engaged his word you say and what of all that As if such feeble Obligations did not always give way to the Interest or as if Interest were not able to surmount all other Considerations Come come you may take my word for it if ever the Emperour finds his Account in a particular separate Peace he 'll make no Conscience of leaving the Protestant Princes in the lurch Cardinal You discourse now like a Minister of France and I am not at all obliged to believe you But not to engage in any impertinent Disputes that will never come to an end I will content my self to offer you one only Reason which to me seems unanswerable why 't is impossible to disengage the Catholick Princes from the Protestants in order to make a particular Peace with the first And 't is this That if you except the Interests of the Prince of Orange the other Princes of that Religion have nothing in a manner to adjust with France and so it would be no hard matter to incline them to a Peace On the contrary the Catholick Princes have the justest Pretensions in the World against the King your Master and such too that he will find it a very severe Mortification to satisfie The Hollanders only demand Liberty of Commerce the Brandenburgh desires nothing but the Security of his Dutchy of Cleve The Princes of Luneburgh and Hesse have scarce any other Motive to the War but the common Interest of the Empire 'T is the same Case with the Elector of Saxony and the rest of the Protestant Princes But then as for the Catholick Princes the Emperour demands the Restitution of Philipsburg Brisgau and almost all Alsatia The King of Spain puts in for the Dutchy of Luxemburgh for all the late Acquisitions in Flanders for the Franche-Comte Perignan and several other considerable places besides The Princes of Lorrain demand to be restored to their Dukedom the Elector Palatine to have satisfaction made him for all the Damages he has sustained in the War which you know will amount to an infinite Sum. The three Ecclesiastick Electors pretend the very same thing The Duke of Savoy demands to have Casal demolished and Pignerol restored to him besides all that has been taken from him of late Thus you see 't is a far easier thing for the most Christian King to make a particular Peace with the Protestant Princes than with the Catholick Duke I own that if all these Princes whom you have mentioned continued firm to their Resolutions there 's no such thing as a Peace to be expected The King my Master is not in the humour to restore so easily all that he has taken from his Enemies and I don't see at present how they will be able to regain them by force But Sir now we are between our selves do you think that these Pretensions are just You know without question that the most celebrated Lawyers have always placed the right of Conquest amongst lawful Rights whence it follows that a man is not constantly obliged to restore that which he has conquered by way of force but may still keep it in his hands if he so pleases and justly enough Therefore I don't see by what right they would have the King refund what he has taken Cardinal What you say is certainly true provided the Conquests you make were done during the Course of a lawful War But now these persons pretend that Lewis the Fourteenth did unjustly declare War against his Neighbours only to have a better opportunity of plundering them Duke That is the chief Question indeed but 't is such a difficult perplext Question that it will require a great deal of trouble to decide it I am not a fit man to engage in the Controversie but this I will say One invincible Argument to me that part of the King's Conquests were made in the Course of a lawful War is because they were totally yielded up to him in subsequent Treaties Nevertheless to secure the Repose of Christendom the most Christian King would do well to resolve to make some kind
of Satisfaction to the Catholick Princes and if you 'll be pleased to give me the hearing I will tell you in a few words what I think upon this Subject Cardinal I shall listen to you with a great deal of satisfaction Duke To begin then where you left off I don't believe the King will ever be prevailed upon to comply with the Duke of Savoy's Pretensions 'T is a long while ago since he has had Pignerol in possession and besides that is a place of too great Consequence to be given away As for Casal you know it has cost him a world of Money 't is true his Money may be repaid him but I question whether he will be brought to take it since he has more occasion for that Fortress than for Money Thus all that can be done in the matter comes to this the Duke perhaps may be re-instated in the possession of all those places that have been taken from him since the beginning of the War Cardinal But cannot the King be at least perswaded to give him that small satisfaction as to let Geneva fall into his Hands His Holiness earnestly desires such a thing you know Duke I am not acquainted with his Majesties Pleasure upon that Article But to tell you what I think the King is so mightily displeased with the Dukes late behaviour that I doubt whether he will give him that satisfaction However if 't is possible to make him amends with something else of equal Importance I believe it may succeed at last provided it will give no great Offence to the Suiss Cantons And now in my Opâ—nâ—on this is all that can be done to content the Duke of Savoy As for the Dukes of Lorrain 't is to no purpose to think of them for nothing but absolute Force will oblige the King to make a Restitution of that Dukedom Besides that their Country lies so conveniently for France the former Dukes of Lorrain have given such just re-iterated Provocations to the most Christian Kings that they would fill a large Volume Now who questions but that little Princes are obliged to pay all manner of Respect to great Princes who are their Neighbours and that we may lawfully dispossess them of their Territories when for want of a due submission they offer to insult over us and pretend to stand upon even ground Cardinal The Dukes of Lorrain are Soveraigns born and were always looked upon as Independant Princes They were at liberty to make Alliances with whom they pleased And 't is very unjustly done of the Kings of France to quarrel with these Dukes for preferring the Emperour's Interests before theirs Duke They are not only content to unite themselves with thâ— Enemies of France but always endeavoured to raise Civil Wars in that Kingdom by supporting and countenancing all the Male-contents But let this pass when they did nothing else but take the House of Austria's part against France that was sufficient to justifie the Conduct of the most Christian Kings as to this respect 'T is not for one of your petty Princes to engage himself in any Party unless he 's constrained to do it through Violence and when he ceases to observe an exact Neutrality 't is not without Justice that he 's punished by him whom he abandons Cardinal I am not fully convinced of the Righteousness of these Maxims But in a word is there no way in the World to satisfie these young Princes Duke There was formerly a Proposal made to make them amends in Money on this Condition that they would for ever renounce all manner of Pretensions to the Dukedom of Lorrain I don't know whether the King is in the Humour now to gratifie them that way But however there 's no great harm in proposing it Cardinal Well then let us now come to the King of Spain's Case if you please Duke As for what relates to the Franche-Comte 't is a Spot of Ground so far separated from the other Provinces of Spain and stands so prettily for the convenience of France that I believe the King my Master will never be content to part with it The same may be said concerning the Dutchy of Luxemburgh which we coveted so long a time 'T is an Estate of so great an Importance as well for guarding our Frontiers as opening a Passage into Germany that nothing but Force can get it out of our Hands As for what concerns the Low-Countries may be better accommodated and in order to settle a lasting Peace we may well enough consent to the demolishing of some places that chiefly incommode the Spaniards Cardinal But what will you do with the Electors Duke The Elector of Bavaria ought not to demand any Satisfaction since he has not been injured As for the Elector Palatine perhaps the King to comfort him under his Disgraces may release all the Pretensions of Madam to her Father's and Brother's Estate Cardinal I must needs own this is a pretty way of making a man amends You have ruined his whole Country demolished his Episcopal Palace dismantled his Fortifications burnt his Towns turned his whole Estate into one continued Desart And now to make him a Recompence for all this you â—ery generously offer to relinquish those Rights that were under dispute and perhaps were none of the best grounded in all the World Duke For my part I don't believe the King will do any more for him As for the Ecclesiastical Electors all they can lawfully pretend to is to have their Estates restored them in the Condition they are in And yet a great deal may be said with regard to the Electorate of Cologne which as we pretend does of right belong to the Cardinal de Furstemberg But it may be in favour of the Duke of Bavaria the King will pass over that Difficulty well enough Cardinal It now remains for us to discourse of the Emperour's Interests Duke The Emperour has no reason to complain as to his own particular This War has innovated nothing with respect to him unless you have a mind to trump Philipsburgh upon us and yet that place does not of right belong to him but to the Bishop of Spire Nevertheless I believe that one may still prevail with the King so far as to have this place restored to its lawful Prince and have Friburg demolished As for the rest you are not to imagine that the King for the sake of making a Peace will ever consent to surrender up those places that were given him in former Treaties Cardinal Is it possible then that these are all the Advances the King of France is willing to make in Case the Catholick Princes are resolved to make a separate Peace with him and not comprehend the Protestants in it Duke What I have said is only out of my own Head and I am not certain whether the King would approve of it or no. Our great Monarch is strong enough to give a great deal of Disturbance to his Enemies and nothing will sooner oblige him
to conclude a Peace than that he believes it will be far more necessary and advantageous for them than for himself Cardinal Upon my word if that be all you need not give your self the trouble to enter into any Negotiation The Catholick Princes that are leagued together have too certain a prospect of advancing their own respective Interests to content themselves with such pitiful Overtures Duke I see you make no reckoning of the Advantage they 'll receive by uniting themselves with the King to exterminate the Protestant Princes and divide the Spoil between them Cardinal One must be a very insensible person indeed to be cajoled with stupid Rhetorick The Protestant Princes are at present the right Arm of the Emperour to defend him against the Encroachments of your King How then can he be perswaded to sacrifice them I wish you would inform me what the House of Austria were able to do without the Assistance of the Prince of Orange the Hollanders the Electors and other Protestant Princes Don't they sustain the greatest part of the Burthen of the War and since with all these Forces she finds it difficult enough to resist your King what would she do I pray if she were deprived of all these Supports Duke But if the Hereticks were once destroyed the House of Austria would enrich herself with their Spoils and all their Forces would become hers Cardinal That would not be amiss I own if she were to reap all the benefit but would not your King do you think come in for his share of the Spoils Is it not very certain that being the strongest by much he would reserve the Lion's Portion for himself And so then when the House of Austria would fortifie her self on one side your King would do the same on the other in such manner that this new acquired Power would be ten times worse ballanced than it is at present After all when every thing comes to be considered 't is the Emperour's Interest not to suffer the Protestants to be run down at least under the present Exigences If that House should find it self in process of time as powerful as it has formerly been why then she may think of Extirpating Heresie But then 't is to be feared the Hereticks also would change sides and that in order to keep the Scales even they would make their Applications to France Therefore you must never think of separating the Catholick Princes from the Protestants with whom they have made so strict a Confederacy But now to procure a general Peace what expedient can you find out to adjust the Affairs of England Duke This is without dispute the most difficult Point of all and I don't see how we could at the same time satisfie the King my Master and the Allies upon this Article if a particular Peace with the Catholick Princes were proposed Cardinal You say right 't is indeed very perplexed and is more embarrassing of it self than all the Pretensions of the other Princes the Allies 'T is not to be supposed that the Prince of Orange has a mind to descend from the Throne to which he was so deservedly elevated He must either perish in the Post where he is or maintain it still There is no middle way The Church and Catholick Princes would be covered with everlasting shame should they abandon a King who sacrificed himself for their common Liberty How then can this matter be accommodated I only see one way and that is to oblige the King of England to Abdicate his Crown voluntarily He has a Prince of Wales still to manage his Interests after him Duke I can assure you the King will never abandon his Allie and if a Peace is not to be obtained without sacrificing that unfortunate Prince he will by no means agree to it He has too great a respect for his own Honour to make so inglorious and so base a Compliance Cardinal You had better say for his Interest for all the World knows he never was guilty of Idolatry towards the former I can only add That 't is not along of him that the King of England was not established in his Throne but one cannot condemn in the same Breath the Levity of a Nation that had not courage enough to support their lawful Prince and the Cowardize of a Prince who durst not show himself before his Enemies Duke All these Reasons will not content Louis le Grand and all these Obstacles are not capable of diminishing his Courage The more the pain the greater is the glory Heroick Souls despise the Paths of Ease And dangers only whet the edge of Virtue Moliere l'Etourdi I dare pretend to Prophecy that you 'll see the next Campagn greater Efforts used to re-establish the King of England than hitherto you have seen If the Prince of Orange does not make a vigorous Opposition we shall send towards the beginning of the Spring either into England or Ireland Thirty thousand of our best Men to be commanded by a Marshal of France or some other General who has more Authority and Experience than the Count de Lauzun Cardinal Nay if it be so 't is to no purpose to think of setling a Peace in Europe Things are not yet ripe enough nor are Mens spirits so weary of the War as to desire rest so soon Duke I am clearly of your Opinion DIALOGUE IX The young Prince Abafti Count Teckely Abafti IS it then true that after all the Obligations you had to the Prince my Father you could be so horribly ungrateful as to enter those Territories which he left me with your Army to the end that you may render your self Master of them to my Prejudice Surely you have not forgot how serviceable he was to you at the beginning of the War when you declared against the Emperour of Germany You had as free a Command of his Troops as if they had been your own and perhaps if he had not espoused your Quarrel you would not be in a Condition at this present to seize that Principality which of right belongs to me Teckely You are much mistaken young Prince in talking so hotly with me and I would Answer you after your own manner if I did not consider that 't is not so much you that Discourses as the Germans in you upon whom you have made your self so slavish a Dependant You need not refresh my memory with the good Offices your Father has done me and though the end did not Answer the beginning since at last he closed with my Enemies and joyned his Forces with theirs yet I shall ever preserve the remembrance of his mighty Obligations because I am willing to attribute his last Failures rather to the violence of the Germans and meer necessity then his own Inclination If I have entred Transilvania in Arms 't is not so much against you as the Emperour for he is the true Master of that Province you are only a poor Titular Prince Besides you know the Grand Seigneur
THE Present State OF CHRISTENDOM Consider'd In Nine DIALOGUES BETWEEN I. The Present Pope Alexander the VIII and Lewis the XIV II. The Great Duke of Tuscany and the Duke of Savoy III. King James the Second and the Marescal de la Feuillade IV. The Duke of Lorrain and the Duke of Schomberg V. The Duke of Lorrain and the Elector Palatine VI. Louis the XIV and the Marquis de Louvois VII The Advoyer of Berne and the Chief Syndic of Geneva VIII Cardinal Ottoboni and the Duke de Chaulnes IX The young Prince Abafti and Count Teckely Done out of French London Printed for R. Baldwin near the Oxford Arms in Warwick-Lane 1691. THE TRANSLATOR TO THE READER I Must acquaint the Reader that the following Dialogues having met with so Vniversal an Approbation beyond Sea and so few of the French Copies being come over into England I thought it would not be amiss if I endeavoured at leisure hours to Translate and so to communicate that Book to the World which gave me so much Diversion and Entertainment in the Reading The Design of these Dialogues is principally to offer Incense to our Heroick William the Third who has with so happy an Augury begun to deliver Europe out of her Chains and to check the Pride of that Ambitious Monarch whose Vanity and Injustice has thrown him upon no less a Design than of subjugating all the Western World In every Dialogue almost he takes occasion to expose the Intrigues of the French the Illegality of their Acquisitions their Rapines and Violences which were scarcely practised amongst the Goths and Vandals but I am sure were never carried to that height and refinedness as we see them in Modern France He advises the Allies all along to neglect no Opportunities to fall into no different Parties or Factions to espouse the Common Quarrel of the Empire cordially and vigorously to procure the same Common Interest and not by entertaining any contemptible thoughts of their Enemy or by thinking him weaker than really he is to slacken their Endeavours and lessen their Preparations against him I only foresee one Objection to the Book and that is because the Author whenever his Argument carries him into the Territories of Satyr his Efforts that way are too feeble and ineffectual In England 't is only good thorough paced substantial Scandal that pleases us we don't love to do things by halves and if we must write Satyr 't is expected we make our Thrusts home and push freely On the contrary the French rally always with a great deal of Decorum they are too intent upon the Punity of their Language to have any great regard to the justness of their thoughts and they forbear to speak severe bitter things lest it spoil the evenness of their Style as some Women in the World refuse to oblige their Gallants for no other reason than for fear it should russle or tumble their Clothes And now whether what we have been speaking of is an effect of French Civility or French Weakness I leave it to the determination of the Reader DIALOGUES BETWEEN Several Great Men UPON THE Present Affairs DIALOGUE I. Alexander the VIII and Lewis the XIV Alexander I Am over-joy'd to see you my dear Son Since you have quitted Versailles to come to Rome I make no Question but that you are now inclined to grant me what you have for so long a time refused both Me and my Predecessor And that being so you may be assured on my part that I shall be ready to expedite those Bulls which you have all along so impatiently desired Lewis To be free with you most Holy Father I am not come hither at this time to negotiate Had that been my design I should not have made such a long Journey besidâ—â— that the high Rank which I claim in the World would have obliged me to demand of you the meeting of me half way You are not ignorant that when Leo the X. and Francis the I. desired an Interview how the Pope met him at Bologna I believe you to be as good as Leo the X. but I believe my self withal to be full as good a Man as Francis the I. Alexand. You speak in a strange Dialect to me What is then your design Have you committed any Mortal Sin and so are come in Pilgrimage to visit the Churches of Rome in order to obtain Absolution Lewis Nothing less than that Bigottry is the least Fault I have though some will have me guilty of it I see you can't divine my Intentions and therefore give me leave briefly to unfold them to your Holiness The part which Princes are to act upon the Stage of this World has always very much perplexed me For that same thing which ye call Policy engages them never to shew themselves what they are their Words are never the faithful Interpreters of their Thoughts They talk and act all their Life time in Cipher as I may so say and he is counted the most politick and cunning that can best unlock the Cipher of other Princes and who has a Cipher of his own which others can never find out the way to unfold I must acknowledge that I have oft been mightily pleas'd with my self with an Imagination that I could get incognito into the Court of any Prince though as great as my self that it would not be impossible for me to oblige him to tell me the very bottom of his heart as I have a design to do the same for him and in regard this pleasure is so great in it self and has withal the Charm of being a Novelty I am apt to think that I shall taste a Felicity more perfect than any I have hitherto enjoyed I have made choice of your Court as believing that next to my self there is not a greater Prince than you in Europe and for that Dissimulation is much deeper and more at Rome than Versailles it must be in my Opinion an extraordinary pleasure to hear a Pope discover his Mind sincerely unfold his Sentiments clearly and call every thing ingenuously by its own name Alexand. Your Design is very surprizing and I can scarce imagine that you your self should conceive such a thing How for a Pope to utter his mind plainly and which is more for a Venetian Pope too What a Prodigy would that be Assure your self my dear Son that this is the greatest Design that ever you set on foot and to make a Judgment of it by the Rules of good Policy it will be an easier Task for you to subdue all the Princes of Europe and to set the Imperial Crown upon the Dauphin's Head then to oblige a Pope to tell ye his mind freely and sincerely and by that means to despoil himself of the Character of the Pontificate to put on that of Humanity Lewis The Design is great I must acknowledge but I have been told a hundred times that there is nothing impossible to me and I have some Inclination to believe it
farthing Alexand. What you say is very true but it concludes nothing to my prejudice If I say the Monks desire Bulls 't is not that they are glad for the satisfaction which the Bishops receives in that point A man could not be said to know them who had such an Opinion of them I must tell you that you cannot despise my Bulls and openly testifie your dislike without contemning my Authority and this is that which the Monks would oppose to the utmost of their power Now as you know they are Masters of the People and so long as they shall tell the People that there is nothing to be done without my Lead and my Parchment it would be a Point too delicate to be removed out of their Minds Lewis I understand you There is something in it indeed Bat this is not the most considerable thing So that if there were nothing more I would be your Bondslave if e're my Ministers should have Orders to press so hard upon this Article Alexand. Pray Sir explain your meaning to me under a Promise not to take any Advantage of it but after I depart from hence to go and drink two or three good Draughts of Lethe water to make me forget all that we shall say together Lewis I am resolved upon a perfect Reconciliation with you for fear my Enemies should take Advantage of our Quarrels and inveagle you to take their part and therefore 't is necessary for some time to put an end to this business of Bulls After I have well fastened you to my Interests it will be no difficult thing for me to oblige the Venetian to a particular Peace with the Turk either by making them sensible of their real Interests or by your credit in the Senate Moreover to incline them more powerfully thereto I can prevail with the Grand Master of Maltha who is my Creature to call home his Galleys which are in the Venetian Service under pretence that he has occasion for them to defend himself against the Turk who has a design'd revenge upon him for all the Losses he has received in the Morea Alexand. Is that all Lewis I am also in further hopes that having made a League with you you will remit no more Money to Vienna nor to Poland to carry on the War against the Turk and that you will no longer give the King of Spain leave to levy Subsidies upon the Ecclesiasticks of his Kingdom And I desire that you by your Emissaries will make all the Catholick Princes of Christendom sensible That this is a War for Religion and that if they will not unite with me against the Hereticks yet they might so order their Business that while they make a semblance of continuing the War against me they may throw all the Burden upon the Protestants Shoulders By this means they will insensibly be undermined and when they shall be at a Bay 't will be no difficult thing to ruine them quite Alexand. This is most excellently contrived but I do not find that this will be altogether for my profit as good a Catholick as you are For I have no less reason to be afraid of you then of the most formidable among the Hereticks and I know your Humour so well that I am no less jealous of your Authority then of the Power of William the Third Lewis To tell you my mind plainly I have no less a design to bring down your Grandeur then that of others And though I make less noise than Philip the Fourth one of my Predecessors yet my Intentions are as bad as his 'T is without contradiction that if I prosper your turn will come nor will I suffer St. Peter's Successor to continue that Authority which he has so long usurp'd over all the Potentates of Europe But alas I fear 't will never be in my power to execute these Illustrious Designs I grow old Death will surprize me Face of Affairs will Change and perhaps one Night will overturn the Structure which I have been rearing these fifty years However I shall leave good Directions with my Successor if he know how to follow them Alexand. I wish that all your Designs may prove Abortive for my own Repose and the Good of the Holy Church But what do you intend to do with the Duke of Savoy Soft and fair Sir Do you believe that all other Princes of Italy as well as my self will ever suffer you to despoil him of his Territories Do you think we do not visibly perceive it that if we let you go on and prosper you will not stop in so fair a way but that after you have swallowed the Duke of Savoy you will also endeavour to devour the Dukes of Mantua Modena and Tuscany and so all the rest Lewis And would you think me too blame in so doing Alexand. Perhaps not so much But let it be as it will no more shall we be to blame neither if we oppose your Projects Lewis You would do much more prudently to go halves with me You take one end of Italy and I the other All your Predecessors have had an aking Tooth for the Kingdom of Naples and mine of the Dutchy of Millain two Kingdoms that lye incomparably much better for Us than for the King of Spain Do you begin at one end and I 'le begin at the other and let us never stop till we meet in the middle Alexand. Find out some other Merchant Lewis of Bourbon find out some other Merchant I have but two days to live and you would have me undertake a War to ruin my self and when I am gone what will it signifie to me whether the Kingdom of Naples be joyned to St. Peter's Patrimony or no Shall my Nephews or I be a whit the farter for it Is it not better for me to get them a good Settlement in the World And are not they dearer to me then St. Peter's Chair Lewis And what shall hinder you then from giving the Kingdom of Naples to your Nephew Ottoboni after you have once made your self Master of it There 's never a Prince in Italy I dare answer for them that would not have more satisfaction to see that Kingdom in the Hands of a Person whom they have no reason to dread then in the Hands of the King of Spain who they know has for a long while designed to bring the two Ends of Italy together which he now possesses by making himself Master of the middle Besides I would have you consider how easie a thing it is to put this Project in Execution As for my self I will take care to employ my Brother of Spain in Catalonia and Flanders and if he sends Six thousand men to defend that which he possesses in Italy 't is as much as he will be able to do To be short I here promise you that as soon as I have on my side dispatched the Business which I intend to perform with all the Expedition imaginable I will assist you with
his best Market of her Spoils As for what relates to the Italian Princes let them not give you any occasion of fear Do but give a Comedy to one a Mistress and a set of B to another suffer the third to fill his Coffers peaceably and take my word for it you 'l have no reason to torment your self upon that score 'T is true your Family is none of the most Illustrious but what of that Is it the only Family in the World that raised it self from a mean Condition to a higher Dignity Pray tell me what were the Sforza's at first who were Dukes of Millain or the Medici who have possessed themselves of the Soveraignty of Florence And then as for what concerns the Example of Caesar Borgia who lost immediately after his Father's Death all that he had acquired during his Life let me tell you 't is no good Consequence There happens an ill-favour'd Accident to day which perhaps may never arrive any more Caesar Borgio was sick to the last Extremity when Alexander the Sixth died He was not prepared for that sudden Blow and when he found himself better 't was then too late the Opportunity was slipt But very certain it is that if he had not been so unluckily indisposed at that time he had not only preserved what he had gotten in his Father's Life but had also extended the bounds of that Estate which he gained by his Prudence and incomparable Dexterity Alexand. All this is not without a great appearance of truth I will consider of it In the mean time I must leave you by your self to dispatch a little business If you have any Advantage over the Spaniard you need not question put I 'le make good use of the favourable moment and endeavour to chase him out of the Kingdom of Naples provided at the same time that I find you are in a Condition to turn him out of the Dutchy of Millain Lewis I am ravished to find you inspired with such good Resolutions But before you go let me request you to expedite those Bulls which I have demanded of you with all the haste imaginable I will on my side take care to oblige my Bishops to dress up some odd fantastick Expedient or other to give satisfaction to your pretended Authority without doing any injury at the same time either to my own Rights or to theirs DIALOGUE II. Between the Great Duke of Tuscany and the Duke of Savoy Duke of Tuscany WEll I told you before that in my Judgment you had done much better to have complied with the King of France's desires then to come to trouble all Italy by your Opiniatreté and to consume us here with unprofitable Expences which 't is impossible for us to sustain Duke of Savoy How Could you ever imagine it to be my Interest to put Turin and Verceil into the hands of the French D. of Tuscany Look you there What a mighty disadvantage it would have been for you to have had your two best places guarded by the Troops of France You would rather have profited by it exceedingly since those Garrisons were to be paid at the Charges of Lewis the Fourteenth and must of Course have spent their Money in your Country D. of Savoy This is the true Language of a Prince who is only passionate to have his Coffers full but is not the Inclination of one who has a greater regard to his Glory than to his Interest Perhaps you are of Opinion too that I must lend my Troops to act against the Millanese D. of Tuscany Very well As if that had been the Design of his most Christian Majesty Don't you see that that Prince had no Resolution to make War in Italy He knew very well that the Spaniards armed with no other design but only to support you and that as soon as ever they had seen you reconciled to him they would have changed their Battery and as for himself he would have turned his Arms elsewhere D. of Savoy I am willing to believe what you have said though 't is to be feared he would have made his Advantage of that Occasion and finding himself stronger than the Spaniard would have attempted the Conquest of the Millanese But to come closer to you Do you think it fit that a Prince who is a Soveraign born should quit the most important Places of his Dominion and receive a Stranger into his Capital City to whose Laws he must be obliged to submit himself and to whose Rapines he must abandon his whole Country D. of Tuscany The truth is that Condition is somewhat mortifying but you should have considered withal that you had secured the Peace of Italy by that piece of Conduct The Duke of Mantua would have continued to go to Balls and Comedies according to his laudable Custom The Princes of and of would have continued to solace themselves in the Pleasures of Love The Republick of Venice had pursued their Conquests without Interruption and as for my own particular I had not been obliged to bleed my self as I may so say to maintain the War which is ready to pour its Fury upon us For in fine if France is powerful enough to chase you out of your Estate 't is not to be supposed that she will suffer the Millanese to enjoy their Repose long to whom she has a quarrel for declaring themselves in your favour Who knows but the Fire will spread further yet and if that happen shall we not be mightily beholding to you for forcing us to take up Arms to defend our respective Estates and to drive out the Enemy from thence who if he continue to make his Advances as he has begun will sooner or later enslave us all D. of Savoy By your reckoning I perceive I ought to have been the Ass in the Fable who was to be sacrificed for the good of the Common Cause But though I don 't altogether agree with you upon this Point yet I am very willing to be sacrificed for the Publick Benefit since I lye the nearest to the Enemy yet I desire withal that this Sacrifice may be done in such a manner that it may tend to some Advantage Now this is never likely to happen untill you will cordially assist and put me in a Capacity to support the Tempest of the War which is just falling down upon me If I had deliver'd up my strong Places and Troops as you know who demanded of me pray inform me what Advantage had you drawn from thence Had you not been exactly in the very same pain as you are at present and though you say that it was not his most Christian Majesties Design to push this Point any further who told you that he was possest with no such Ambition especially since he knew very well that as for your own part you had rather resign your self and all your Grandeur to your dearly beloved Ease than help to support the Burthen of War let it be never so just and necessary
not where to find a General in whom they reposed so much confidence as in your self The Army could not believe you were capable of taking any false Measures they assured themselves you forsaw all the Contingencies of War and therefore they slept with as much Security in their Camp as if they had been in the best fortified place of Europe They were sensible that you never went upon uncertainties that you never hazarded the main Chance or left things at random to the decision of Fortune and this made them march under your Orders to the Battle as to an assured Victory You must needs own after all that the French who have a considerable number in the English Army and many of whom served under you formerly in France you must needs own I say that the French regarded you as a Common Father that they were so well accustomed to your Orders that they understood you at half a word and that they had a certain kind of Emulation amongst them which should execute your Commands with the greatest readiness and vigour I am afraid that though King William the Third has placed himself at the head of them they will never have a General who was more agreeable to them and whom they obeyed with greater pleasure and submission In fine though they use to say that the Dead never afflict themselves with the Affairs of the other World yet I cannot forbear to be sensibly concerned at seeing you here considering what a loss the Allies have sustain'd in you Schomberg I am willing to confess that I was not altogether unuseful to the Allies but then there is a vast difference in this Case between you and me Experience has sufficiently demonstrated to the World that the loss is not equal I am informed by several of the Dead who are lately arrived here that my Death did not hinder the King from gaining the Battle that he rendred himself Master of Dublin afterwards and of the better part of Ireland so true it is that such a Person as my self might be spared well enough But now to come to you one cannot compare the last years Compaign with this without seeing sensibly how necessary your presence was to the Allies You took Mentz where there were posted near Ten thousand of the Enemy and afterwards marched to the City of Bonne which could not avoid Surrendring herself to you But since your death the Germans have done nothing at all and I am told that the last Campagn has past without taking the least spot of Ground And do you think now that Matters had gone at this rate if you had not been dead Lorrain Can what you say be possibly true You are ill informed without question and it must certainly be some Frenchified Ghost or other who has acquainted you with this piece of News Schomberg Nay what I have told you is true to a syllable That was visibly the state of the German Affairs when I left the World and the few dead Germans we see arrive here are a sufficient Argument to prove the truth of it Lorrain To say the truth I was somewhat surprized to see them drop so one after another What thought I with my self if they had given Battle upon the Banks of the Rhine or if they had been employed in the Siege of any place it were impossible but we should behold whole droves of them tumbling down every day And yet all this while we could see but a vew sad sorry Souls the Lord knows come down to us poor Vermine that dyed of Diseases in their Beds to inform us of what passed in the Campagn and what other remarkable Occurrences happen'd in the World Schomberg You reason'd justly enough Ever since we had no more of the Duke of Lorrain's Assistance the Emperour has made no further Advances and this may serve to prove how necessary you were to him Besides the general Interest of the Empire which principally moved you to embarque in that Affair you had likewise a particular Interest of your own to pursue and that so powerfully influenced to make use of all Opportunities against the Common Enemy You hated all slow phlegmatick Deliberations or if they were taken you gave your self no Repose till they were put in Execution All the World obeyed your Orders with joy The prosperity of your Arms gave occasion of Envy but to a small number of disaffected Men over whom you triumphed at last in the Emperour's Council He knew you went readily to work and that you had no Temptation upon you to protract his Affairs by a dilatory Conduct so he was accustomed to follow your Advice and to submit himself to what you judged expedient Lorrain But what has become all this while of the D. of Bavaria Who in an Age not so far advanced as mine was has all the Experience and Prudence that is necessary to Command the Imperial Forces Schomberg 'T is indeed very true that the Duke of Bavaria is a gallant Prince that he is the Honour no less than the Support of the Empire and that if his Advice had been always exactly followed the Emperour's Affairs had not been in so declining a Condition But the consideration of his being so young has been the Reason why his Counsels have not been always hearkened unto and why several of the Princes of the Empire have refused to serve under him There have been abundance of Disputes upon this Subject in the Emperour's Councel and if some Persons in the World might have had their Wills he had never received the Command of the Imperial Army Lorrain Give me leave to tell you That all this Mischief did not come only from that quarter I have often represented to the Emperour that it was high time to conclude a Peace with the Turk and if my Advice had been followed it had been ratified these three years ago It unfortunately happened that the Emperour's Interest at that Juncture seem'd to be linked with my own so every body believed that what I spoke was out out of a regard to my own particular Advantage and this was sufficient to make my Counsel be laid aside I would have fain given them to understand that it was not material to the Question Whether that Peace would be for my own Advantage or no for I was willing to agree with them in that point but whether the Interest of the whole Empire and Emperour did not require them to make a Peace and that was the thing I laboured to make appear But 't was to no purpose they believed I only spoke for my self and rejected every thing that seem'd favourable to my Designs and so they gave their Opinion for continuing the War At the same time I desired them to inform me what Advantage the Emperour would draw from thence Suppose says I he chases the Turk even to the Walls of Constantinople what will he be a farthing the better to make himself Master of a desolate uninhabited Country When
of what we have said Lorrain Upon my word it would be a very great trouble to find one of that Character You must know that Men carry along with them the very same Passions which they entertained in the other World into these Territories and as every one has engaged himself more or less in one party or another so 't is a difficult matter to distinguish them and make them quit their beloved Sentiments Schomberg Well then since 't is so let us e'en be silent for I perceive we are in the Enemies Country DIALOGUE V. The Duke of Lorrain and the Elector Palatine Lorrain WHat another yet Sure 't is a Clymaterick Year for the Enemies of France I am just now come from the Ghost of the Duke of Schomberg and I fancy I perceive that of the Elector Palatine Elector Nay you are not deceived 'T is the very same But I think it is not necessary to run to the influence of the Stars to give a Reason for either of our deaths I am Threescore and five years old the Duke of Schomberg was older and besides that at the Head of an Army There was no occasion for the Stars to be concern'd in our Destiny or to hasten our Death at this Age. 'T is nothing but what is very natural and if Lewis the Fourteenth is obliged to any thing upon that score 't is rather to the number of our Years than to the Influences of the Planets Lorrain 'T is very true what you say It is no difficult matter to perceive that only Nature is concern'd in these Events but still Nature is too simple and obvious a thing for some Men They love Mysteries dearly in every thing as well as in Religion and I dare engage that though there was nothing but what was meerly natural in my death that some People have not fail'd to assign it to a Secret Cause Elector You need not question it In short you died of Poison France took care to give it you by corrupting some of your Domesticks or else by dispatching a Jesuite to do you that kindness for the World says you had no over great esteem for that Society Lorrain Well but did not those who assisted at my Death attested that I died of a Squinancy Elector Yes But People answer'd again that 't was a Report industriously spread to hinder that Secret and disguise the true Cause of your Death Others said that there was store of all sorts of Poison in the place where you were that 't is the nature of some Poison to suffocate those Persons that take it and that 't was with a Dose of the latter sort that you were Regaled Lorrain Alas 't was the former I ought to be believed upon my word I really died of a Squinancy and as for the latter I leave it to the decision of those worthy Gentlemen the Physicians They are too ingenious a sort of Men to be mistaken in so palpable a matter and methinks I hear them very gravely maintain that the Occasion of my Death was for taking some Suffocativum toxicum Elector Nay let them look to what they say We shall not dye the less for all that but nothing grieves me so much as that France is like to be a Gainer by our Deaths Lorrain Likely enough One may say that you and I were the two great Wheels upon which the whole Affairs of Germany turned and especially all those measures that were formed against the Crown of France It was your Province to concert Matters as it was mine to put them in execution You know his most Christian Majesty in the Manifesto which he published at the last Siege of Philipsburg did not fail to acquaint the World that you had incessantly sollicited all the Princes of Europe to associate against him However I am in good hopes that the loss of you is not irreparable and that his Electoral Highness your Son as he has inherited your Estate has also inherited the Hatred which you had so justly entertained against Lewis the Fourteenth and the Authority which you had so deservedly acquired in the Imperial Court Elector As for his hatred I have nothing more to say to it but that I suppose he has enough for his occasion But as for the Authority of which you spoke I am afraid whether he is so fortunate as to possess it The quality of being the Empresses Father gave me a certain Authority which that of a Brother does not invest one with Besides I had been for a long while acquainted with the Imperial Court I perfectly knew all the Intreagues and Methods of it On the other hand the Electoral Prince my Son is but a Novice there and consequently is not in a capacity of taking the justest measures against the Enemy of my Family Lorrain You have however this to comfort you that after all you lived long enough to see an honourable Provision made for your Family though it was so numerous 'T is about a year ago since you were in danger of quitting this World but as if Death it self had a mind to favour you it gave you leisure enough to marry one of your Daughters to the Prince of Parma another to the Prince of Poland and to secure the Crown of Portugal to your House by obtaining the Infanta for his Electoral Highness your Son Elector For as much as I see you have been but very ill informed Lorrain What say you then Is it not true These three Marriages I thought were as good as concluded before I left the other World Elector The first is consummated the second is pretty well advanced but the third is clearly broke off Lorrain Why you mightily surprize me now From whence I pray proceeded this sudden Change Did not the Grand Master of the Teutonick Order conduct the Queen your Daughter into Spain and was he not to touch at Lisbon in his way home to conclude the Marriage of the Electoral Prince with the Infanta and carry her along with him into Germany Elector All this is very true The Grand Master effectually dispatched his Business in Spain and was just come to the Frontiers of Portugal when an unexpected Message he received upon the way obliged him to return back They made a Report be raised that the occasion of it was because the Grandees of Portugal were not as yet resolved to assent to this Business but indeed there was another Mystery in the Case Lorrain For God's sake deliver me of my pain and tell me what it was Elector We were informed that the King of France had appear'd in the Market before us and play'd his Cards so well with the King of Portugal as to obtain the Infanta for the Dauphin his Son Lorrain And is the Infanta then married to the Dauphin Elector No No. At the same time when she was ordered to prepare for her Passage into France there happened a strange unlooked for Accident that broke off the March. Lorrain See what Rubs