he must endeavour to overcome those Obstacles by his good Conduct and by getting as much Credit in the Palace as he can to render his Talent the more profitable to the King and to destroy the malicious Reports that have been spread to his Prejudice Cardinal de Sourdis and he will acquaint him on what Terms the Affair between those of the Congregation of St. Lewis and the Fathers of the Oratory stands in order to apply such Remedies and Moderation as will be requisite in the Case jointly with them for His Majesty's Service and Satisfaction who is very well satisfied that those of Savoy and Lorrain have obstructed the Execution thereof The said Commandore is to take care to have the same remedy'd speedily by His Majesty's Authority And not to enter any further into several trivial Affairs which do not deserve being inserted in an Instruction He shall be inform'd there on what Terms they stand and shall behave himself therein according to the Time and Occasions to the best of his power And for as much as the good Fathers Minimes of the Trinity of the Mount have always been recommended to His Majesty's Ambassadors in order to their being preserv'd in the Purity of Life they have chosen and continued with great Praise and that none but those of the French Nation may be receiv'd in the said Monastery into which some Foreigners have slip'd heretofore who were not rightly qualified for the same the said Commandore is to take a particular Care of them He is often to visit the Cardinals of the sacred Colledge in the usual manner and is to be very careful to give each of them assurances of his Majesty's Favour according to the degree of their affection for the King's affairs which he shall be acquainted with by those of Sourdis and of Bentivoglio in order to confirm the Votaries of France in their Devotion and to endeavour by good Offices and Courtesies according to their Dignity to encrease their Number There has been some disorder of late in the Taxes of Benefices which has somewhat burthen'd his Majesty's Subjects the said Commandore is to conferr with those that are intelligent in those affairs about means to redress the same making use of his Majesty's Name and Credit according as he shall think it convenient As this Embassy has ever been look'd upon as the most honourable and most considerable in respect to his Majesty's Reputation and the wellfare of his Affairs as it is the first in Rank so his Majesty is fully persuaded that the said Commandore's Conduct will produce Effects resulting to the Grandeur of his Royal Name the Publick Good and his Holinesses Satisfaction by his deportment which he is to make as acceptable as can be preserving what is due to his Majesty's Dignity that he may have as much cause to commend the said Commandore's Services as the choice he has made of his Person for the knowledge he has of his past Actions and to reward him for the same to his Satisfaction Done at Paris the 18th of March 1622. Sign'd Lewis and Lower Brulart Cant given to the said Ambassador ROME GARDEN The Pope The Rose Cardinal Ludovisio The Carnation Cardinal Borghese The Pensy Cardinal Aldobrandin The Jasmin Cardinal of Savoy The Lawrel Cardinal Montalto The Cypress Cardinal de Sourdis The Peach Tree Cardinal Vincenzo The Quince Tree Cardinal de la Rochefoucaud The Pear Tree Cardinal de Rets The Plum Tree Cardinal de la Valette The Apple Tree Cardinal Bentivoglio The Abricot Tree Cardinal Bevilaqua The Cherry Tree Cardinal Barberini The Griotier or Sowre Cherry Tree Cardinal Ubaldini The Lote or Nettle Tree Cardinal Bandinis The Dazy Cardinal Medicis The May Blossom Cardinal Mellini The Orange Tree Cardinal St. Susanna The Lemon Tree Cardinal Verrallo The Fig Tree Cardinal Ara-caeli The Thym Plant. Cardinal Ursini The Marjorum Plant. Cardinal Campora The Lettuce Plant. Cardinal Esti The Bugloss Plant. Cardinal Savelli The Borage Plant. The Great Duke The Amaranth The Great Dutchess The Vine The Arch Dutchy The Grape The Bishop of Mantua The Wallnut Tree The Seignory of Venice The Almond Tree The Governor of Milan The White Thorn The Republick of Genoa The Linden Tree The Duke of Savoy The Tulip The Prince of Piedmont The Wind Flower The Duke of Mantua The Sauge Plant. The Emperor The Courser The King of Spain The â—arbe The Arch Duke Leopold The Sorrel Horse The Infanta of Flanders The Pad Count Olwarez The Dapple Gray Horse D. Balthazar de Cuniga The Dun Horse Germany The Stable Spain The Manger Flanders The Rack England The Fork The King of Great Britain The Groom The Prince of Wales The Little Nag The Elector Palatin The Curtall or middle siz'd Horse The Duke of Bavaria The War Horse The Duke of Lorrain The Sumpter Horse The Switzers The Stirrops The Grisons The Spurs Valtelina The Saddle Catholicks The Boots Protestants The Reins The Nuncio of France The Bit. The Nuncio of Switzerland The Bridle The Vice Legat of Avignon The Horse Cloth The Bishop of Lusson The Switch The Arch-Bishop of Lyons The Master of the Horse Monsieur de Villiers The Page Monsieur Marini The Manege The King's Ambassadors in Switzerland The Pillars Le Sieur Eschinard The List Le Sieur Rabi The Ring Secretary le Fevre The Launce Seignior Pol Fiesco The Career Seignior Frangipani The Pike Monsieur Ruccellai The Musket France Building The King Pedestal The Queen The Cornish The Queen Mother The Door The Duke of Orleans The Window Madam the King's Sister The Room The Prince of Conde The Hall Count de Soissons The Garret Monsieur de Guise The Yard The Prince of Joynville The Chimney The Duke of Longueville The Table The Duke of Vendosme The Chair The Duke of Nemours The Bench. The Duke d' Elbeuf The Bed Count St. Paul The Side-board Monsieur d' Angoulesme The Cabinet Monsieur d' Espernon The Carpet Monsieur de Montmorency The Chevron or Rafter Monsieur d'Esdiguieres The Beam Monsieur de Crequy The Boarding Monsieur de Schomberg The Window Frame or Cross Work Monsieur de Bassompierre The Small Pinacle The Marquiss de Couvres The Stair case The Commander de Sillery The Tabernacle Pavillon The Chancelor de Sillery The Chaplain Monsieur de Puysieux The Oratory or Private Chappe Madam de Puysieux The Chappe Monsieur de Marais The Priest Monsieur de Bellievre The Clerk Monsieur de Valencay The Choirist or Querister The Bishop of Chartres The Chanter The Chevalier de Valencay The Novice Monsieur de Berny The Deacon Monsieur de Leon. The Accolite or Boy that Ministers at Mass The Lord Keeper The Fire Lock Monsieur de Gesvre The Murrian or head piece Monsi de la Ville-aux-cleres The Sword Monsieur d'Herbault The Pertizan Monsieur de Beaumarchais The Holbard Monsieur Morant The Pistol Pensions of Rome The Balls The Duke Sforza The Powder The Duke de S. Gemini The Carabine Memoire for the
of defence We know the reasons that the Governour will alledge in his own Justification but he has utterly forfeited the Expectation which the World had conceiv'd of him As this is but a very small place and of little importance the loss of it is not considerable Therefore let not this Matter give you any Pain at all for I can assure you that the Forces we have in these parts are more than sufficient not only to hinder our Enemies from doing us any mischief but likewise to take our Revenge upon them if a fit Opportunity presents it self The King will not change his Designs of making the Army of the Franche-Comté act in these Quarters but not yours or that of the Duke of Weymar pursuant to the first Resolutions that were taken in these Matters Only perhaps a thousand Horse may be order'd to come from the Army in Burgundy into Picardy as soon as Dole is taken that we may be in a better condition to oppose the Enemy whose greatest Efforts seems to be upon the Frontiers of Picardy I cannot conclude this Letter without testifying to you once more my great regret for Monsieur Hebron I am likewise sorry to hear that Monsieur de Turenne is wounded Pray assure him of the continuance of my Affection and as for your own particular rest satisfy'd that no Man esteems you more or is more really than my self My Lord Your c. Charonne July 20 1636. LETTER LIV. To the Cardinal de la Valette My Lord I Have receiv'd your Letter which you were pleased to write to me upon the occasion of the taking of Saverne and have consider'd the Contents of it We shou'd be willing to put that place into the Hands of the Duke of Weymar to testifie the great Confidence we repose in him But certain it is that the Catholicks wou'd lay hold of such an Opportunity to raise great Clamours against us this place being the Seat of the Bishop of Strasburg whither the Catholicks have retir'd The Nuncio has already inquired very particularly how we design to dispose of it and his Holiness whom the Spaniards perpetually instigate against France as you know well enough wou'd carry himself wholly against us upon this occasion Pray give the Duke of Weymar to understand so much and to convince him how much we relie upon his Integrity and that no other reason in the World shou'd hinder the King from delivering the place up to him his Majesty is content if he desires it that you shou'd restore the Castle of Aubar to him and if he takes any other place in Alsatia or upon the Sarre which he thinks worthy of Consideration the King is well satisfy'd that it shou'd be consign'd over to him This My Lord is all that we have to say upon this Subject his Majesty referring the rest to your Prudence As for the rest when ever the Duke of Weymar thinks fit to make any stay in Alsatia the King is well enough content it shou'd be at Saverne provided he likes the place and will give Orders to those that he puts into the place to receive him with as much Honour and Deference as if the aforesaid place were absolutely in his Hands You must remember to chuse a Governour for it of a different Temper from the Wretch that had it last that if it happens to be attack'd he may follow the Example of those that defended and acquired it with so great Trouble and Expence since poor Colonel Hebron died there It belongs to your Discretion to consider whether you cannot re-inforce the Grand Provost with some Troops in Lorrain to make opposition against the Enemy that is there which is conformable to a Design I have seen in a Letter of the Duke of Weymar by approaching near the Sarre To conclude the King gives you full power to attempt whatever you shall judge worth the while As it is of the last importance that Saverne be fortify'd strongly I am persuaded you will take particular care about it When you were here I often heard you discoursing of how great Consequence it wou'd be if you cou'd get good advanced Quarters this next Winter inconvenient to the Enemy and advantageous for your selves It will concern you in point of Prudence to consider of this in good time As far as we are able to judge of the Designs of Spain particularly by a Dispatch of a fresh Date that was surprized by Monsieur de Grammont their intention is to induce Galasse and the King of Hungary to make an Effort to enter France in August It concerns you and the Duke of Weymar to oppose this Attempt and frustrate the Execution of it If you cou'd possibly disengage your self from putting the Castle of Aubar into the hands of the Hugonots it wou'd be much better for us Besides I don't look upon it to be in the least necessary to the Duke of Weymar since Saverne is already comprehended in Alsatia which the King has quitted to him pursuant to the Articles of the Treaty between them and that in consideration of this his Majesty will command the Person whom you shall establish in it to acknowledge him as much as he can desire You are Master of so much Address that I am confident you can bring over the Duke to any Terms that you judge most advantageous for the King's Service for which reason I shall speak to you no more upon this Head assuring you that I am and always will be My Lord Your c. Chaliot July 23 1636. LETTER LV. To the Pope Out of Monsieur du Puy's Cabinet MS. 363. Most Holy Father I Don't address these Lines to you as being Privy-Counseller to the greatest of all those Princes that have the happiness to be under the Conduct of your Holiness but as a Cardinal of the Holy See zealous for the Interests of the Church and for every thing that concerns the Person and House of Beatitude Now what happen'd lately in relation to the Mareschal d'Estreés being of such a nature that it may draw very ill Consequences along with it I shou'd plainly be wanting to my Duty if I did not make my humble Supplications to you to employ your Prudence upon this Occasion As the Mareschal has done nothing but what the King commanded him to do if any of his Actions have been disagreeable to your Holiness you ought to complain of his Majesty and not of him However I persuade my self that your Goodness and Justice will induce you to acknowledge that it never was the intention of that great Prince to displease you in whatever has happen'd but rather to serve you and hinder those who formerly have executed their Designs against the Holy See from putting themselves in such a condition during his Reign as to give the World any just Apprehensions of their playing the same Game over again Your Holiness about two Years ago sent a Nuncio Extraordinary to France upon an occasion as contrary to the Interests
of his Majesty as it was favourable to the Spaniards and recall'd him when that Court gave publick Signs that his Person was disagreeable to them and apprehended that he dealt for a Peace against their Intention Now if it should so fall out that your Holiness shou'd persist to oppose the Employ of the Mareschal d'Estreés in whose Person are to be found abundance of Qualities contrary to what the Enemies of this Crown may desire there is no Person but wou'd believe altho' erroneously that Spain by her Artifices had insensibly carry'd your Holiness to what she most of all desir'd As for my self this Thought never found any room in my Breast but it concerns your Holiness in the highest degree to prevent it from taking any footing in the Minds of other People who perhaps will conclude there is something in it if you shou'd continue to treat the King upon this occasion otherwise than you do other Princes that have Ambassadors at your Court I hope your Holiness will be pleased to make a difference between those that honour you with a cordial and everlasting Reverence and those that only give you a few exteriour Marks of it when their Affairs require such a Conduct The known Piety of the King naturally leads your Holiness to this Procedure his Person demands it of you the present Juncture seems to oblige your Beatitude to it since nothing can prove so directly contrary to a Peace as to show a disrespect to him who of all other Kings most earnestly desires a strict Union with you As it is an easie matter so it will likewise be a glorious one to your Holiness to preserve that absolute Power which you have in the Affection of this great Prince and I dare engage to you that the Mareschal d'Estrées for his part will endeavour nothing more zealously than to serve you and advance the Interests of your whole Family that by doing so he may render himself serviceable to his Master If it happens otherwise I freely consent that your Holiness shou'd lay all the blame upon my self who shou'd take it for a new Obligation if you wou'd condescend to think upon this most humble Supplication of mine and not barely consider it as such but as it concurs with his Majesty's Prayers which have no other End but what may be of most advantage to your Holiness and all your Family This I most humbly conjure your Holiness to believe as likewise that I shall always be Your Holiness's most c. July 25 1636. LETTER LVI To the Cardinal de la Valette My Lord YOU will particularly know by the Dispatch of Monsieur de Noyers what condition we are in at present and what the Enemy has been doing ever since they have approach'd towards the Frontier of Picardy The King daily strengthens himself with new Forces as much as he can that he may be in a capacity to beat them back into their own Territory His Majesty makes account so soon as Dole is taken which News we expect every hour with the greatest impatience to order two thousand Horse of Monsieur the Prince's Army to march and joyn that of Picardy where there are not above five thousand leaving the rest of the above-mention'd Army either to tarry still in the Franche-Comté and make Head against the Enemy if they offer to come there or else to march into Lorrain according as he shall find it most expedient for his Affairs As for what relates to your self My Lord the King leaves you wholly at your own liberty to act as you shall judge most advantageous to his Designs and does not prescribe you any Method to follow but trusts intirely to your Prudence and your Conduct to manage your self as the Motion of the Enemy and any emergent Occasions make it proper for you In the mean time I beseech you to believe that I can have no opportunity of serving you presented to me which I shall not embrace with the greatest eagerness that I may convince you every day more and more of the esteem I have for your Person and of the Affection wherewith I am and ever shall be My Lord Your c. Challiot Aug. 4 1636. LETTER LVII To the same My Lord YOU will soon imagine that the War goes but ill on our side in these parts since I have resolv'd at at last to go thither in Person with all the Pains and Illnesses to which you know me so subject The Cowardice of three Raskals that made no defence for the Garrisons they were intrusted with has so perplex'd our Affairs for the present that I am necessitated to make this Journey You never heard of such perfidious Villains soon after away they sled like Traytors as they were We have drawn them asunder between four Horses in Effigie with all the reproachful Marks of Ignominy that con'd possibly be thought of and their Persons will be treated after the same manner where-ever we happen to find them We shall have by the Sixth of the next Month above ten thousand Horse and twenty five thousand Foot With these Forces we shall march streight towards the Enemy On one side we have Monsieur of Lorrain to sear who designs to make a Descent upon us by the way of Burgundy with his own Troops and those that were quarter'd in the Franche-Comté and as I imagine Galasse who might very well have pass'd the Rhine to re-pass it at Brisac and so marched to joyn him This My Lord is the Province which we leave to be manag'd by your self and the Duke of Weymar in conjunction We have left a thousand Horse and three thousand Foot with Monsieur the Prince Besides these he may still raise three thousand Men and five hundred Horse with which he will be able to oppose the Enemy on one side while you will powerfully make Head against him on the other For this effect it will be wholly necessary for you to direct your Course towards Espagnol or Mircourt that you may afterwards take such a way as the marching of the Enemy will oblige you to observe As soon as you draw near to the Prince's Army care shall be taken to prevent all manner of Competition by sending down an Order to him to go to some other place and to leave his Troops with you I know very well that 't is impossible to propose a more mortifying Condition to you than to send you to the place where the obove-mention'd Person has any power But it cannot be avoided the necessity of our Affairs obliging us to follow this Conduct You are the only Man that together with the Duke of Weymar are able to regulate Matters in those Parts Although our Affairs on this side are in a very scurvy condition yet I hope we shall be able to retrieve them so soon as our Troops are got together Although the Spaniards quitted all other Designs to make their utmost Efforts in Picardy yet if they had not met with such treacherous Villains I
to serve him and that you will declare the same thing to the Officers of the Army LETTER III. To the same Person I Have desir'd my Lords the Secretaries of State to acquaint you from time to time with what passes on this side well knowing by Experience that it is no small trouble to those who are far remote from the Court as you are when they want Intelligence and are not duly inform'd of the State of Affairs and how the World goes They have promis'd me not to omit any opportunity LETTER IV. To the Prince of Orange after the Raising of the Siege of Louvaine THere are not any Great Affairs that are not attended with great Difficulties nor had this at the beginning those progresses which we could have desir'd since it is the end that crowns the work Monsieur Charnacè has represented to the King the Obstacles which you met with in your Enterprize and your Endeavours to surmount ' em His Majesty is very well convinc'd of the care you took for the subsistance of his Army in the midst of those necessities which surrounded it He returns you Thanks and promises himself that you will make so good a use of the remainder of the Summer that the time which has been lost shall be repair'd with Advantage in the Judgment of all Men. I passionately desire it for the Interest of his Majesty and of my Lords the States and for your own which shall be always dear to me Conjuring you to believe that whatever the issue may be it shall never cancel the Esteem which I have for your Person nor the Affection which I bear you Assure your self Sir that his Majesty will leave nothing omitted that lies in his power to favour the Enterprize which was only undertaken between him and my Lords the States for the Good and Repose of Christendom and that no ill success shall discourage him For my part knowing that perseverance is that which crowns affaires with a prosperous Issue I shall omit nothing that is requir'd for me to do for the advancement of those Affairs the Success of which depends upon your Conduct in which the King reposes a great Confidence Of this you may be assur'd Sir as also that I am c. LETTER V. From the King to the States of Holland upon Occasion of the Title of Highness given to the Prince of Orange MOst Dear Great Friends Allies and Confederates the particular Esteem which We have and always had for our most dear and well beloved Cousin the Prince of Orange not only by reason of his Birth and Family the Grandeur of which is sufficiently known but also for his Great and conspicuous Qualities and his Noble performances in the Conduct and Command of Armies whereby he has acquir'd so high a Reputation that there are no Marks of Honour which may not be justly attributed to him have engag'd us to give him new proofs of it by Honouring him with one more Title then hitherto has been Address'd to him concerning which we have sent express Orders to the Sieur Charnacè Our Ambassador LETTER VI. From Cardinal Richlieu to the Prince of Orange THe King's Letter which will be deliver'd to your hands by M. de Charnacè and what he has in charge to say to yee in his Majesty's Name will give you so particularly to understand the Affection which he has for your Person and the singular Esteem which he pays to your Vertue and your Merit that it would be superfluous to repeat it in these Lines And therefore I shall only testifie to yee my own particular and extraordinary Joy for the new Title wherewith his Majesty has been pleas'd to honour your whole Family now then that I may conform my self to his Will and follow my own Inclination be pleas'd that I may begin the change and that I may assure your Highness that honouring yee as I do it will be a greater favour then I can possibly express to serve your Highness and all yours upon all occasions and to let you know by the Effects that there is no person in the World that can be with a greater Passion or more Sincerity then my self c. LETTER VII To the Princess of Orange I Have not Written these Lines to let you understand the particular Affection which the King has for the Person of Monsieur the Prince of Orange and for yours and the singular esteem which he has for both by reason the Testimonies which his Majesty has given you in the Letter which his Majesty has Written to yee and what M. Charnacè has to say to yee in his Majesty's Name are such in my Opinion as will not permit you to doubt of it but only to acquaint you with my extraordinary Joy for the honour which it has pleas'd his Majesty to confer upon your whole Family by the new Title wherewith it is his pleasure that you shall be treated from this time forward I beseech yee to believe that no Content or Felicity that befalls his Highness can be so great but that I still wish him more and that there is no person who Honours his Vertue and his Merit so highly as I do or who is more sincerely then I am c. LETTER VIII To the Princess of Orange with a present of Diamond Pendants in the King's Name THe King's Command engages me to take Pen in Hand to entreat you in his Name to accept a Present no otherwise worthy of you then as it receives its value from the person that sends it The common Enemies of this Kingdom and the United Provinces not being able to do us any mischief but through the Ears his Majesty made choice of this Present such as it is on purpose not only to signifie to yee that he will never hearken to any thing that shall be to the Prejudice of the Common Good but also to let you know that he assures himself that your Highness and Monsieur the Prince of Orange will do the same on your parts For my part Madam I shall account my self extreamly happy if I can but meet with ways and means equal to the Passion I have to let you know by the effects that I am sincerely c. LETTER IX Cardinal Richlieu to the Queen upon the Birth of Monseigneur the Dauphin EXcessive Joys are generally mute This is the reason that I cannot express to your Majesty my Joy for your happy Delivery and the Birth of the Dauphin I desire and am willing to belive that God has bestow'd him upon Christendom to appease the Troubles that disorder it and to restore to it the Blessing of Peace This has been my Prayer to Heaven since his Birth which I make with the same passionate Zeal as I have always had for the King and your Majesty to whom I am and Eternally shall be c. LETTER X. To the Queen who had sent the Dauphin 's Portraiture to his Eminency I Cannot render those Returns of thanks which are due
what Natural Civility Dexterity and Wit inspires into those that are to make use of their Parts Only you must observe That for avoiding all manner of Jealousie there needs no other Order in the Visits that are to be made to Princes and Imperial Cities then what your Journey shall prescribe And that one of the most important things to persuade 'em is that we put a high Value upon their Alliance and that we have an unexpressible Care to preserve 'em and that upon all Occasions they shall receive our Assistance This is that which will slide into their Minds greatly to our Benefit if dexterously insinuated into the Compliments that shall be made 'em if in order to make 'em believe what we promise 'em for the future you artificially lay before 'em what we have formerly done for 'em and how that Henry II. carried his Arms into Germany in Defence of Princes prosecuted to the utmost Extremity How that Henry the Great always protected and favour'd em was strictly united with 'em by the Treaty of Hall and a little before his Death set a powerful Army on foot upon the Supplications of some of the Princes As to the Particular Means they are various according to the various Interests of Princes who have any thing of Quarrel with us The Memoirs presented by their Agents will inform yee of their Pretensions and our Answers annex'd to 'em will let yee know how far we can now go in order to treat 'em civilly upon their Demands After the execrable Parricide committed upon Henry the Great of immortal Memory upon the 14th of May 1610. the Queen being declar'd Regent by the King her Son sitting in Parliament upon his Seat of Justice and being as soon acknowledg'd by the common Consent of the Princes and Lords the Sovereign Courts of the Kingdom and in a Word by all France the first thing she set before her Eyes was the maintaining of Peace and keeping the King's Subjects fix'd to his Person by the Ties of Favours and Benefits To attain this End she renew'd the Edict of Nantes and by that means removes all manner of Jealousie out of the Minds of her Subjects She re-calls Monsieur the Prince of Conde and retrieves him out of the Arms of the King of Spain into which he had thrown himself enlarges his Pensions upon his Arrival makes him great Presents and heaps her Favours upon him opens her Hand of Bounty to all the rest of the Princes and Lords and engages 'em by great Sums of Money Considering that the â—trength of a Prince lies as much in his Counsel as in his Arms and being desirous in all things as much as possibly might be to follow the Steps of the deceased King his Lord and Father she makes use of those whom she finds to have been employ'd by him in the Management of Affairs Things being thus settl'd as she thought to have enjoy'd the Repose which France enjoy'd a Repose so entire that we may truly say she had no other Trouble but that of her Sorrow and her Tears her next Business was to take care of Foreign Affairs The Death of the Duke of Cleves and Juliers being attended with a great Dispute about the Succession the Competitors had Recourse to Arms upon which she takes the same Resolution which the deceased King had taken to interpose her Authority She sends Forces thither to render the Reasons for her composing that Difference more prevalent and powerful Having accomplish'd her Design to the great Reputation of this Crown she preserves the glorious Title which that great Monarch had acquir'd of Arbitratrix of Christendom This Foreign Tempest was no sooner calm'd but a Storm threatens France However she immediately procur'd fair Weather by dissipating the evil Designs of several factious Spirits who to take the Advantage of our Misfortunes would fain in the Assembly of Saumur have engag'd the Kingdom in a War Having warded off this Blow she maintains all things in Peace till the Troubles began at Mavieres in the fourth Year of her Regency Troubles which she stifl'd in the Birth by the Treaty of Monehould Following her Inclination which persuaded her to Clemency she pardons all the King her Son's Enemies and despoils him of some of his Towns to deliver 'em into their Hands opens his Treasure imitating in so doing that same ancient Prince who thought it behoov'd him to give away for the Good of the People what had been hoarded up to that End She endeavours to hold fast those turbulent Spirits with Chains of Gold But her Hands were no sooner empty'd of the Treasure which she had given away to purchase Peace but the Clouds began to thicken again presaging a new â—torm And now the Tempest pouring down she is not daunted but because she did not think fitting to avoid the Tempest by giving way to the Waves she resolves to resist the Weather and make head against the Whirl-wind And indeed her Resolution was attended with such good Success that marching against her Enemies she reduc'd 'em by Force to what she could not bring 'em by Reason Poictou and Bretagne being swept clean she returns in Glory with her Son to Paris The Peace of France being more firmly settl'd by this Progress a War broke out in Italy Thither she sends to quench it and she prov'd so successful that she accomplish'd what she undertook At the same time she declares her Son to be of Age causes the Edicts of Pacification to be re-publish'd and having a little before summon'd together the States of the Kingdom to regulate the Disorders of the Realm and remedy the Oppressions of the Subjects she most industriously labours to render the Fruit of that Assembly conformable to her Designs and being disturb'd in her Design by Branglings Factions and a Thousand Artifices she disappointed 'em all as much as possibly she could That Assembly applauded and thank'd His Majesty for that after he came of Age he had unloaded the Burthen of his Affairs upon her Vigilancy Presently to preserve the King's Dignity she re-demands the City and Castle of Amboise which had been granted to Monsieur the Prince and has 'em surrender'd She importunes the King to consummate tâ—… Marriage projected by the deceased King his Father and decreed by the Queen-Mother and all the Princes and Lords of the Council The King consents to her Request and resolves to accomplish it All those that wish'd him ill oppos'd it and to attain their Ends make use of all manner of Artifices The King departs that he might not perform what he had resolv'd upon with the Consent of the whole Kingdom Monsieur the Prince betakes himself to Arms and some Hugâ—nâ—… and some Catholicks forgetful of their Duty join with him Foreigners are also introduc'd into the Kingdom and nothing but Acts of Hostility firing of Houses Rapes and other Cruelties and Inhumanities are discours'd of The King's Journey is cross'd by the Sickness of Madam his Sister which gave
without us as things are now If it be a Contempt to suffer Prejudice that we may do another a Kindness we despise our Alliances and which is more we are resolv'd to despise 'em in that manner to the end that by that Contempt we may give 'em all the Cause imaginable not of Complaint but of Content and Satisfaction It appears from hence that our Confederates have all the reason in the World to be satisfied with us and now let us see whether we can satisfie those who are discontented at our Expences The good Husbandry of the deceased King's Treasury left us when he was taken from us Five millions in the Basteille and in the hands of the Treasurer of the Exchequer between seven and eight millions more which he had appointed for the payment of the Army which he had rais'd with an intention to have enlarg'd the Bounds of his Fame which could admit of no other than the Limits of the Universe But the Uncertainty wherein that fatal Accident plung'd us requiring that we should secure our affairs by the counterpoise of a considerable strength we were constrain'd to employ one part of those Finances toward the maintaining for some months a great number of Soldiers that had been raised before so that the said Expence the King's Funeral Charges and the Coronation of the Queen in a short time very much lessened the reserve After the death of that great Prince who was the true Pattern of Government it was impossible to prevent Disorders from growing to such a head while several measuring their Merits by their Ambition were not asham'd to demand and importunately to sollicit where they durst not so much as wish for during the King's Life But they made their Advantage of the Necessity of the Times they offer'd their Service they boast their Abilities to serve or otherwise to do mischief and at length clearly show that they will not be brought to their Duties but upon advantageous Conditions behaving themselves in such a manner that they themselves who had assisted the King in hoarding up his mony advise the Queen to comply with the Times by opening her hands and giving largely to every body In pursuance of this Counsel she augments the Pensions and Maintenances of the Princes Lords and old Servants she gives 'em new ones she augments the Garrisons of their Towns as well for the satisfaction of those that kept 'em as for the security of the Kingdom and keeps in Pay more Soldiers than she was accustom'd to do The augmentation of these Pensions one with another amounted to three millions every year The Roll of the Light Horse and Regiments in Pay is now at Three millions and three hundred thousand Livres whereas in the year 1600 they were no more than Fifteen hundred thousand Livres She bestowed a great number of Presents and so by Advice and Counsel without encreasing her Receipt but decreasing it Two millions and Five hundred thousand Livres upon the Salt every year she encreased her Expences to that degree that upon an exact examination of it and considering the Condition to which we are reduced by so many necessary Expences we are rather to be commended than blamed for being at so great a charge Monsieur the Prince in six years received Three millions six hundred and sixty thousand Livres Monsieur and Madam the Princess of Conti above Fourteen hundred thousand Livres Monsieur de Guise near Seventeen hundred thousand Livres Monsieur de Nevers Sixteen hundred thousand Livres M. de Langueville Twelve hundred thousand Livres Messieurs de Mayenne Father and Son Two millions and odd thousand Livres M. de Vendosm near Six hundred thousand Livres M. d'Espernon and his Children near Seventeen hundred thousand Livres and M. de Bouillon near a million of Livres All the Marshals of France whose number is encreased above half in half received four times as much as they had before their Pensions being augmented to 24000 Livres apiece within six years for every one to 144000 Livres and for eight as they were always wont to be one with another to One million one hundred fifty two thousand Livres Six other Dukes or Officers of the Crown received the same Gratification amounting in six Years to Eight hundred sixty four thousand Livres By this it is easie to see how the Treasure of France was exhausted seeing that eleven or twelve Articles in favour of the Grandees of the Kingdom amount to near seventeen millions not including their Salaries and the Fees belonging to their Employments besides the encrease of Pay for their â—roops of Gens d'Arms the Extraordinaries of War for the Garrisons of their Towns nor reckoning in the last place the Troubles occasion'd by some of 'em Troubles which having three times caused us to betake our selves to Arms have put us to the Charges of Twenty millions in extraordinary expences These things being consider'd can their Majesties be accused of wasting their Treasure must it not be clearly acknowledg'd that if France be in Debt 't is by reason of the Expences she has been constrain'd to be at for her own Children If they who are mentioned have received so many Benefits what have others done They were not remiss either in begging or receiving By consequence the publick Exigencies having constrained the giving not only to those that serv'd us but also to be liberal to the greatest part of those that begged of 'em as it appears by this that the encrease of Pensions concerning which we have spoken in general those of the Princes and Lords being deducted amounts for the last six Years since the King's death to seventeen millions those of the Soldiers in pay to above nine millions and the Gifts bestowed to one or other not to speak of those presented to the Grandees above mentioned to Sums almost incredible If the deceased King who was at liberty to be sparing in his expences because of his absolute Authority could not in ten years of uninterrupted Peace hoard up besides the payment of some Debts above thirteen or fourteen millions can it be a Wonder that in six years of continual Trouble wherein the weakness or misfortune of the times obliged us to have our Hands continually open we should be somewhat in Debt No body ever did so much with so little in so much time never did Vessel resist so great a Tempest with so few Wrecks as were observ'd in ours After this exact account of Expences who will not acknowledge the Blindness and Passion of those who impute the miseries and necessities of this Kingdom to the advancement of some Foreigners Who will not acknowledge that such People blame a Government which is not to be found fault with That they complain when there is no occasion that they condemn Expences which they know in their Consciences were made for their sakes 'T is no strange thing that a Foreigner should make his Fortune out of his Country that in this Kingdom such persons may be advanced
a manner that the Duke of Weymar may ingage to succor the Landgrave with the Forces the King is to maintain for him in case of need on condition that the said Landgrave shall also assist the King 's said Forces and the Duke of Weymar in the late case One might also give the said Landgrave some part of the Army which the King impowers you to give to the Duke Bernard of Weymar making the said Duke sensible that though he would get somewhat the less by it yet he would derive a far greater advantage by the correspondence he would have with the said Landgrave We are much at a loss how to divide the Honour of the Command between them Yet I fancy that if you could make them agree about the sharing of the Army which the King is to imploy in Germany you might do the same about the Command as followeth That the Duke of Weymar should Command the Forces he is to have as General of the Troops granted to the Confederacy And the Landgrave those that the King should furnish him by virtue of the Command he has from the King I am persuaded that your Address your good Fortune and your Wit will furnish you with expedients against all our Evils in your parts You may treat of the things above mention'd immediately If the War should chance to last and conquests be made the King promises such a share thereof to the said Landgrave as he shall desire At the very instant this Courier is dispatching to you another is going for Flanders to endeavour to dispose the Prince of Orange to permit Two Thousand Horse of the King's Army and Two Thousand Musqueteers mounted on Nags to march from thence to joyn the Forces under your Command I am of Opinion that it will be fit for you at the receipt of this to send some body to the Marshal de Breze to acquaint him with the Places through which it will be most convenient for them to march Sign'd the Cardinal of Richelieu Instructions for the said Cardinal de la Valette THE King reposes so much Confidence in the prudence and affection of the Cardinal de la Valette and His Majesty has receiv'd such real proofs thereof since his having giving him the Command of his Army in Germany that he does not only approve the reasons which have made him take the Resolution of passing the Rhine but moreover gives him full power hereafter to form such other designs and resolutions as he shall find upon the place to be most advantageous for his Majesty's Service and for the Reputation of his Arms being persuaded that he will not Engage them without reason and that he will undertake nothing without hopes of a good Success His Majesty sends this Courier to the said Cardinal to acquaint him that finding by his last dispatch as well as by that of the Sieur de Feuquiere the demand of Four Millions of Livers made by the Duke of Weymar to fix himself to the King's Service unless he had a great deal of confidence in the said Duke's Sincerity he should have reason to believe that he makes this excessive demand either for a pretence to break with him at this very instant if refus'd or at least to have one to quit his Majesty's Interest at some time or other in case the payment of the said Summ should not be perform'd Though by this Means His Majesty instead of receiving any Assistance from the Forces of his Confederates finds himself reduc'd to bear the whole Burthen of them and to maintain them at his own Charges which is very difficult for him to do at this time considering the great number of other Expences he is at in Iâ—aly the Grisons Lorrain Flanders and Picardy yet he thinks it so necessary for the Good of his Service to keep the said Duke stedfast to his Interest and so dangerous to lose him that he is of Opinion that nothing should be omitted in order to fix him in such a manner that there may be no Reason to fear his falling off for the future To this End His Majesty impowers the said Cardinal de la Valette to offer as far as Three Millions Two Hundred Thousand Livres which is about the Payment of Eight Musters for Six Thousand Horse and Twelve Thousand Foot in case he finds that he cannot come off at an easier Rate and that keeping him within the Bounds of a smaller Summ might induce the said Duke to engage in the contrary Party It will suit with the said Cardinal's Prudence to husband His Majesty's Interest in this Occasion which is of great Moment as advantageously as possibly can be and to yield only by degrees representing to the said Duke that it is much at this time to give him double the Summ that was formerly given to the Crown of Sweden which is that as has already been offer'd to him by Monsieur de Feuquieres After that he is to offer him something more if Two Millions of Livres are not capable to content him In fine he may go as far as Three Millions Two Hundred Thousand Livres if as abovesaid he finds the Refusal of the said Duke's entire Pretentions capable to drive him to an extream Resolution contrary to his Honour and Promises The said Summ being sufficient for the Payment of eight entire Musters for Six Thousand Horse and Twelve Thousand Foot which is what is expended in the best paid Armies of Christendom if the said Duke should make a Difficulty of being satisfy'd therewith there would be great Reason to believe that he seeks Pretences to quit His Majesty's Interest and that in that Case whatever Promises were made to him would be vain seeing that in order to effect his Desires he would raise his Pretensions ad infinitum and would never be satisfy'd In such an Extremity evidently known by the said Cardinal which the King nevertheless is unwilling to fear of a Prince who hitherto has acquir'd a great deal of Honour and makes a strict Profession of it the said Cardinal de la Valette is to use his best Endeavours to secure the King's Army and to free it from those Dangers to which it would be expos'd should the said Duke change Sides This is only hinted not to omit any thing that might happen or the proper Remedies to be apply'd in such a Case In case he will be satisfy'd with the said Summ of Three Millions Two Hundred Thousand Livres or can be dispos'd to take less which must be endeavour'd as much as can be the following Conditions must be agreed on at the same time if possible First That he will keep Six Thousand Horse and Twelve Thousand Foot in the Field for His Majesty's Service besides the Garisons that may be left in divers places Secondly That Six or Seven Hundred Thousand Livres shall be given out of the said Summ to the Landtgrave of Hesse for the Maintenance of his Forces Thirdly That the Form of the Command between the
is sent to him most religiously without making any Alterations because this Prince is captious and that it is certainly known that he has not the Intentions he ought to have It is moreover known that he has given an Account of the Overtures of the Treaty he is about to the Cardinal Infant saying That he is courted to it against his Will and that far greater Offers are made him than the Conditions the King is willing to grant him The said Duke has also communicated this Treaty to all the Princes of Germany and particularly to those of Bavaria and Cologne with the same Suppositions he has sent into Flanders It will be proper to let him know that we are acquainted with all his Artifices and Levities and that such a manner of proceeding does almost break off all manner of Treaty since he has nothing on his side to give the King but his Fidelity which he does not approve Nevertheless in order to give Monsieur du Hallier means to conclude a Treaty if there be any hopes to make a good one the King has been pleas'd once more to answer the three new Demands made by Videl in the Duke Charles's Name and to give the said du Hallier means to satisfie the said Duke if he be capable of acknowledging a Courtesie which he grants him beyond what he could expect in Reason The said Duke demands the Title of Sovereign in the Treaty That a Garison may be given him immediately in Lorrain And that those Garisons the King is to keep in the places that are to remain in his possession may not be paid out of the Revenues of Lorrain It is thought that by the first of these three Demands Duke Charles intends to oblige the King to decide the Salique Law pretended in Lorrain in favour of him which His Majesty cannot do without enquiring farther into the matter especially with a Person who is not as yet reconciled with him But to shew the King's Goodness he is willing that in the Third Article of the Project of the Treaty which Monsieur du Hallier has in his hands instead of these words Thus the Duke shall be restor'd to the Possession of the Dutâ—…y of Lorrain these may be inserted That he shall be restor'd to the Possession of the Soverignty of the Dutchy of Lorrain As to the Garison he desires were the King persuaded that he had a mind to treat sincerely he would condescend to it but it is impossible to resolve on it without that Assurance 'T is the said Duke's part to give us such an one I am of opinion that such an one might be had by incerting a Clause in the Treaty by which the Duke may shew that he is willing to deprive himself of the Means of failing The said Clause ought to be as followeth As to the City of La Motte His Majesty being mov'd by the earnest Intreaty the said Duke has made to him to have the said City deliver'd into his hands in order to his being the better able to execute what he promises by the present Treaty since it will put him in a Condition not to fear those whose Ill Will he will incur by making this Engagement His said Majesty has been pleas'd to grant it the said Duke consenting freely that in case he should make an ill Use of this Advantage by violating the present Treaty which he will be the better able to execute having a safe Retreat His Majesty should make him resent the Effects of his Indignation attacking his Territories anew and preserving to Perpetuity whatever he shall take there by Force of Arms. Though this Clause seems to give some Assurance the Experience of what is past which has shewn that nothing can hinder the said Duke Charles from following his Passions when-ever he is mov'd by them makes us sensible that this Pre-caution is not sufficient to venture to put a strong Place into the hands of a Prince who may chance to do a great deal of Mischief with it during the War Nevertheless If after having seen the said Duke Monsieur du Hallier thinks that there is more Sincerity in his proceeding than before His Majesty will run that hazard to promote a Peace As to the Payment of the Garisons the King restoring the said Duke to the Possession of his Territories out of his extraordinary Goodness His Majesty has no Thoughts of reserving any thing to himself there besides the places mention'd in the said Treaty with the Liberties thereof insomuch that in case the said Duke immediately passes the Treaty coming between this and the Month of January to pay his Respects to the King he shall begin to enjoy his Territories on the very beginning of the next Year It will be Monsieur du Hallier's part to decide the Liberties of the said Towns very advantageously for the King There will be no need of mentioning the Liberties of Clermont since the County is to remain in the King's Hands as well as the Town The King desires the said du Hallier to cause a Map to be made of all the Country round about the said Places in which the Liberties of the same are to be particularly noted according as he shall think they ought to be and so send the same to His Majesty who will acquaint him with his Pleasure therein Thus Monsieur du Hallier may acquaint the Duke of Lorrain That in treating with him he will treat as with a Sovereign and that he does not doubt in case the said Duke behaves himself towards His Majesty as he ought to do that he will pay the Garisons of the Towns that are to remain in his hands In a word That he is persuaded that when he sees him if he knows how to deserve His Majesty's Favour he will be able to give him Satisfaction But that he cannot explain himself farther without having seen the Disposition he is in and known the Security he is willing to give His Majesty of his Fidelity Moreover Whenever the said du Hallier sees the Duke it will suit with his Prudence to behave himself in such a manner that in case the said Duke be not in a Condition to perform his Duty freely towards the King he may not be able to say That he has been willing to restore La Motte to him immediately Monsieur du Hallier is to let him make the Proposition about it saying that he has no Order to grant it and that he does not believe the King will do it but that he will propose it to His Majesty And if he finds all things agreed on excepting that Point he is to promise to give him an Answer in seven or eight Days time and to dispatch a Courier to St. Germain where the King will be Memorial of Cardinal de Richelieu to Monsieur du Hallier From Paris this 20 th of November THE divers Circumstances of Duke Charles's proceeding who sends to Monsieur du Hallier upon a slight Pretence being join'd
LETTERS OF THE Cardinal Duke De RICHELIEU Great Minister of State TO LEWIS XIII of France Faithfully Translated from the Original By T. B. In Two Volumes VOL. I. LONDON Printed for A. Roper A. Bosvile and T. Leigh in Fleetstreet 1698. EMINENTISSâ—…â—…DVS IOANNES DV PLESSIS CARDINALIS RICHELEVS etc To his Excellency Sir Joseph Williamson Knight one of His Majesty's most Honorable Privy-Council Keeper of the Records of State a Member of the Honorable House of Commons and one of His Majesty's Embassadors-Extraordinary and Plenepotentiaries for the Treaty of a General Peace SIR THis having been esteem'd one of the best Pieces of the Ablest Minister of State in the Age wherein he liv'd I thought I cou'd not do a greater Justice to his Memory than to address these Remains of his to a Person whom the Greatest Wisest and Best of Monarchs has made Choice of to be imploy'd in the most Important Treaty that ever concern'd Europe as one who by a Consummated Experience in Negotiations of this Nature has approv'd himself an Able and Faithful Minister Nor can such a Work as this be Dedicated to any Person more properly than to your Excellency since it consists of Letters of State and some of the Choicest and most Useful Instructions relating both to War and Peace during that Great Man's Administration and which may be of Publick Benefit at this Time May the Success of Your present Negotiation answer the Expectation which Your Country has of Your Great Abilities such as may establish Christendom in a firm Peace and lasting Tranquillity This I conceive is the best Apology can be made for the Presumption of Your Excellency's most Humble and most Obedient Servant T. B. THE PREFACE OF THE PUBLISHER THE very Name of Cardinal Richelieu is enough to set a Value upon the Collection of Letters that are here published The least Productions of so great a Man cannot but find an Universal Esteem This Illustrious Minister not only signaliz'd himself by his extraordinary Address in the Management of Affairs but reduc'd that difficult and mysterious Art into certain Maxims He was not only acquainted with the most refin'd Politicks but he likewise writ concerning them with a Penetration and Exactness that are admirable His Politic Testament sufficiently confirms the Truth of this Assertion That incomparable Piece has been deservedly looked upon as the best in its kind and * In his Speech to the Gentlemen of the Academy Monsieur de la Bruyere who as he is one of the most profound Authors of this Age is Master of the greatest Politeness thought himself oblig'd to take Notice of that everlasting Monument of his great Abilities and considers it as a Work that deserves to live for ever If these Praises are due to the Politic Testament of Cardinal Richelieu as must be acknowledged on all hands it may safely be affirm'd that they belong as justly to the following Collection of Letters We may in them discover the same Genius and the same Solidity with this difference however that whereas in the above-mention'd Book Matters of State are barely deliver'd in Rules and Precepts we behold the Cardinal in these Letters acting by those Rules and Precepts upon all emergent Occasions Here we behold his incomparable Address in the happy managing of the nicest and the most perplext Negotiations his indefatigable Activity his great Foresight which extended it self as well to small as to great Affairs his prodigious Intrepidity that engag'd him in the boldest Undertakings which generally succeeded with mighty Glory to him In short That Superiority of Genius which elevated him even above the Prince he served and made him formidable to the Grandees of his own Country nay to all the Princes of Europe These Letters are written upon different Subjects and are addressed to several Persons however they all along preserve the Character which is suitable to them That Simplicity of Style which is perpetually visible in them is so far from being Disadvantageous to them that it only makes them more grave and more proper for the Person that composed them Every one knows that it would look with a very ill Grace for a Minister of State to affect that scrupulous Nicety and Politeness of Language in his Dispatches which sits well upon none but one that is a Bel-Esprit by Profession Here the whole is accommodated to the Subject The Reader will all along discover abundance of pretty Maxims and judicious Reflexions but they are every where imploy'd to the Purpose and without the least Spice of Affectation Besides these things which are without doubt sufficient of themselves to raise the Curiosity of the Reader he will meet with a world of Remarkable Passages that fell out under the Reign of Lewis XIII and are to be found no where else I mean some particular Circumstances that have escaped the Diligence of the Historians of those Times and cou'd never have been known but for Cardinal Richelieu or other Persons that were actually in the Bottom of those Affairs Since the World receiv'd the Letters of Cardinal Mazarin so favourably I may without Presumption dare to say That they will read these with greater Pleasure and Profit for there is much more of Action more particular Things and a greater Variety of Matter than the former do contain The Reader need only compare these two Collections to be convinced of the truth of what I have advanc'd ERRATA VOL. I. Page 169. Line 31. for Monsieur de Nesmes read the Bishop of Nesmes p. 174. l. 23. for Plat r. Plan. p 248. l. 1. for the Count r. the Count de Soissons p. 253. l. 30. where the Reader meets the Word Madam put by it self there and in several other places he must read the Dutchess of Savoy p. 307. l. 4. for her Son's States r. her Son's Country Vol. II. p. 1. l. 11. for Monsieur of Savoy r. the Duke of Savoy So Monsieur of Lorrain in any other place for the Duke of Lorrain p. 89. l. 1. for Monsieur de Bourdeaux r. the Archbishop LETTERS OF THE Cardinal de Richelieu VOL. I. LETTER I. To *** SIR 'T IS an unspeakable Joy to me to find by your Letter that his Holiness has condescended to grant me that Dignity which the King was willing to have me honoured with since so authentick an Approbation will without question cover those Defects that I may be guilty of I shall think my self extremely happy if while I serve the King and State he gives me as frequent opportunities of serving the Church as I do and ever shall desire to have so long as I live In the mean time I give you a thousand Thanks for the great Satisfaction you have express'd upon this Occasion humbly begging you to believe that it will be a most particular one to my self when I shall have an Opportunity to convince you by the Effects rather than by Words that I am SIR Your most affectionate Brother to serve you The
have for the Good of Christendom If the Legate makes any other Overtures that may be embrac'd without hurting the Reputation and Interests of his Majesty both he and those that have the Honour to be of his Council will be extremely glad to give all imaginable content to his Holiness and him I am SIR Your most Affectionate Brother RICHELIEU Fountainbleau June 21 1625. LETTER XI To the King upon his Promotion to the Dignity of Cardinal 1622. Out of Monsieur du Puy's Cabinet MS. 569. SIR AS God showers down his Blessings upon his Creatures not to receive any thing from them since of himself he possesses all but only to render them more happy and more capable to accomplish his Will so your Majesty who is a lively Image of the Divinity will not think it strange if in thanking you for the Honour to which your Goodness has rais'd me I can do nothing else but profess an entire and religious Obedience to your Commands and assure you that I wou'd rather choose not to live at all than fail to employ my Life and Dignity which I owe to your Majesty's Bounty as I do every thing I possess perpetually in your Service I beg of Heaven that it will permit me to be so happy in this Design that my Actions may signalize me much more than the Purple with which you have been pleas'd to Honour me Then SIR and not till then the Satisfaction I begin now to receive will become perfect for the only Passion I have in the World is by all imaginable Demonstrations to convince you that I am SIR Your Majesty's most humble most obliged and most obedient Subject and Servant RICHELIEU Lyons Sept. 23 1622. LETTER XII To the King SIR I Am sensible that as a Subject cannot without a Crime become troublesome to his Prince by making importunate Demands so he ought not to refuse the Effects of his Liberality Tho' I have hitherto preserved my self from the first of these Inconveniences yet to my great regret I find my self constrain'd to fall into the latter humbly imploring your Majesty not to be offended that I cannot accept of the two Abbies which you have been pleas'd to bestow upon me If I presum'd to make this Supplication without Cause I confess it wou'd be very criminal but since 't is grounded upon Reason I 'm persuaded you 'll approve of it Your Majesty knows that both these places are become vacant by the Death of the Grand Prior. Now as I was a Member of your Council when the Interests of your State oblig'd you to cause his Person to be apprehended I shou'd act directly contrary to my Conscience if I shou'd raise to my self any Advantage by his Misfortune or share in his Spoils I have already receiv'd several Marks of your Majesty's Bounty and since you have upon this occasion declar'd your Inclinations of conferring others upon me I can assure you that I will never be so ill advis'd as to refuse them if your Service does not oblige me to the contrary as my own Sentiments do in this matter I conjure you SIR to accept of these Considerations and to rest satisfy'd that the only Interests I will cultivate during the whole Course of my Life shall be yours and the Honour that may be acquir'd by serving so great a Prince I am SIR Your Majesty's most humble most oblig'd and most obedient Subject and Servant RICHELIEU Siran Feb. 15 1629. LETTER XIII To the Queen upon the taking of Privas MADAM THat your Majesty might be fully inform'd of all the remarkable Occurrences that happen here I have dispatch'd this Bearer to you with all speed to acquaint you that five or six hundred Men who had retir'd into the Fort of Thoulon having surrender'd themselves at Discretion to his Majesty the King was resolv'd to have part of them hang'd another sent to the Gallies and the least guilty among them to be pardon'd But so it fell out that as the Guards were entring the above-mention'd Fort to prevent any Disorder some Hugonots more desperate than their Fellows and among the rest one Chambelan of Privas who had as long as he was able oppos'd their Surrendring at Discretion by representing to them That such People were generally hang'd for their pains and that it was better to die by Fire than by a Halter I 'll immediately said he having a Match in his Hand set Fire to the Powder And had no sooner said so but was as good as his Word The Fire destroy'd some of them and others in the Fright threw themselves from the Bastion on which they stood clearly out of the Fort which was encompassed with the whole Army for we were forc'd to block up the place before they wou'd surrender But the Soldiers imagining that they had blown up the Guards who it seems were upon a high Platform above this Bastion fell so outrageously upon these poor Men that leapt down that they kill'd above two hundred of them and that with such Fury and Disorder that several of the Army were slain there and some principal Officers had much ado to save themselves Dr. Mullot fancied he shou'd have been dispatch'd thither as a Minister but at present is more vexed at the Quality that has been given him than at the Danger he underwent It looks as if it were a particular Judgment of God upon this City which has been always the Seat of Heresie in these Quarters At first it was not resolv'd to abandon it to Pillage but at Night its Fate was decreed so the Gates were left open for the Soldiers to march in and plunder it All Endeavours were us'd to save it from being burnt but in vain for not one House is left standing in the Town but all bury'd in Ashes Nothing was omitted that might serve to preserve those that were retir'd into the Fort of Toulon from the Fury of the Soldiers but they were constrain'd to expose themselves to it leaping down from their Fortifications and giving the Soldiers an occasion to exercise their Rage upon them with Fire with which some desperate Fellows among them thought to have burnt themselves with the King's People Heaven was so kind to me that I did not behold this cruel Scene for the small Fatigue I had undergone for about seven or eight Days during the Siege constrain'd me to keep my Bed that very Day on which these Wretches were us'd in this manner This involuntary Rigour which befel this City and the Clemency that his Majesty has shew'd towards those places that surrendred freely will convince the rest how much they are oblig'd in Interest to make their Peace in time and not stay till they are constrain'd to return to their Duty And indeed in these Parts four or five small Cities but well fortify'd have already surrendred viz. Bastide Vagnac la Tour de Salvas and Baulines Chabrille is to wait upon the King to Morrow and yield up to him all the small Castles of
yet I thought my self oblig'd to communicate this good News to you knowing what an extraordinary Joy it will give you as well for the Reputation that his Majesty as for the Glory that your Friends have acquir'd by it Above five thousand of the Enemy fell upon the place fifteen hundred were wounded and thirteen hundred taken Prisoners among whom is the Count de la Feire Governour of the Citadel of Antwerpe and Lieutenant-General of the Army Don Alonce Ladron Mestre de Camp of a Spanish Regiment Sfondrate Mestre de Camp of an Italian Regiment the Count de Willerval and several others of Quality with a great number of Officers They have lost sixteen Pieces of Cannon which is all they had and all their Baggage which is so much the more considerable because as 't is said there were two Waggons full of Money fifty or sixty Colours or Flags There goes a flying Report that Prince Thomas is slain and the Count d Bucquoy wounded in this Action but this wants a farther Confirmation The King has not lost above fifty Men in this Action among whom there is but one Captain and some other Officers and an hundred and fifty wounded which renders this Victory the more compleat The Army of the Enemies was compos'd of sixscore and ten Regiments of Foot and fifty Troops of Horse that were the best they had This is all I had to communicate to you in this Letter referring my self for the rest to the Abbot of Coursan who will assure you that his Majesty is in good Health and that I am with all imaginable sincerity My Lord Your most Humble c. RICHELIEU Condé June 2 1635. I have perused what you sent me concerning la Coudargis and Valin whom I shall remember Pray remember me to Monsieur de Turenne and assure him of my hearty Affection to him When you come into these Parts we will consider of the best Methods how to serve him You may if you please acquaint the Gentleman who married the Lady of Montpellier that I am extremely well satisfy'd with his Deportment upon the Occasion you writ to me about No Body has spoken a Word to the King to his Disadvantage as I find by your Letter he seem'd to apprehend Addition My Lord I Add these few Lines to the Letter I writ to you this Morning to tell you that being inform'd from good Hands that you frequently do things which your Quality and Condition ought by no means to permit You must excuse me if I conjure you to remember that a Person in your Station may very well discharge the part of a General without running the hazard of a private Musqueteer Once more therefore I beg of you to be determin'd in this Affair by the best of your Friends and most faithful of your Servants The Cardinal of Richelieu LETTER XXV To the Duke of Hallwin SIR FInding by several of your Dispatches how desirous you are to fight the King's Enemies in your Frontier I take this Occasion to acquaint you that his Majesty is not displeased at your Proposal provided you don 't engage his Arms and Reputation unadvisedly and that you attempt nothing the Success whereof is not only certain but wholly advantageous to the Prosperity of his Affairs For I don't think it by any means adviseable for you to take the Towns Villages and other unfortify'd places that lie near you since besides that 't is impossible to keep them such a Procedure wou'd oblige the Enemies to retaliate the same upon us and so fatigue our Troops that in case any important Action shou'd happen we shou'd certainly come by the worst of it If I were not well acquainted with your Prudence and Judgment I shou'd write a great deal more to you upon this Subject but that were to call both of 'em into question since I am satisfy'd no Man knows better than your self what may be useful or disadvantageous to his Majesty's Service in the Quarters where now you are In a Word Sir if you find your self in a Condition to take any place of importance I wou'd advise you to attempt it but unless you have some notable Advantage in prospect I think it will be your best way not to begin a War in your parts from which you may receive as much good as harm Monsieur de la Urilliere has sent you so particular an Account of every thing that has happen'd here that nothing remains for me to say but to assure you of the continuance of my Affection to you and that I am and ever will be SIR Your most Affectionate Servant RICHELIEU Ruel June 4. 1635. LETTER XXVI To the Mareschal de Châtillon SIR LOng before I receiv'd your Letter wherein you give me an account of the Battel between our and the Spanish Army I had rejoyc'd with you and Monsieur de Brezé for the Victory which God was pleas'd to give his Majesty upon this Occasion not only for the Glory and Reputation which France will derive from this good Success but likewise for the Honour you have hereby acquir'd the increase of which I no less passionately desire than your self can do It lies in your Power still to draw the best Advantages from so glorious a Victory but you need not be reminded of doing that for I doubt not but that every thing will be perform'd which your Prince may expect from your Prudence from your Affection and good Conduct One of the most effectual means in my Opinion to bring this about to the advantage of his Majesty's Affairs will be for Monsieur de Brezé and you to live in so perfect an Union and Intelligence that nothing may be ever able to alter it Besides the Service of the King who requires you to keep a good understanding among your selves you will also answer my Prayers who desire the same of you and indeed 't is so visibly the Interest of you both to live after this manner that I am satisfy'd neither of you will omit any thing that may contribute to so good an End I have writ to the Sieur de Brezé upon this Subject and am mightily mistaken if he will not do every thing on his side that can be expected from him Once more I conjure you and Monsieur de Brezé to live together in the best Understanding that may be because otherwise his Majesty's Affairs will receive a considerable Prejudice by it By some of the Enemy's Letters which we intercepted we find they don't a little depend upon the Division that as they pretend has hitherto appear'd between you and that they flatter themselves with hopes of reaping great Advantages by your not agreeing They likewise make mention that you and Monsieur de Brezé have refus'd to take Orders from the Prince of Orange which I cannot believe since 't is one of the Articles agreed upon in our Treaty Pray send me an Account of this and of all memorable Passages that happen in your Parts and be
assur'd that I am as much as it is possible for any one to be SIR Your c. RICHELIEU Bois-le-Vicomte June 8 1635. LETTER XXVII To the Cardinal de la Vallette My Lord SEnding the Bearer hereof to the Messieurs de la Force to condole with them for the Loss of Madam the Mareschal's Lady I was willing to acquaint you by the same Opportunity in what Condition I am at present least the News of my illness shou'd give you any inquietude The Distemper I had at Bourdeaux is now come to visit me the third time and in the same place but with this difference that it is not accompany'd with the same Accidents that attended the two first I was lanced yesterday about five a Clock in the Afternoon which was very painful to endure but with this good Success that within a Moment after the Operation was over I found extraordinary Ease So that at present I am free of my great Pains and hope in a little time to be perfectly cur'd Let this set you fully at ease for God be prais'd the danger is over I have writ so particularly to you by the Abbot of Coursan that I have no more to send you but the Continuance of my Affection and Service and that I am with all sincerity My Lord Your c. RICHELIEU Ruel June 5 1635. LETTER XXVIII To the Mareschal de Chastillon SIR THE Messieurs de Charnacé and d'Espenan will give you so particular an Account of what Resolutions the King has taken upon the Account of their Journey and the Condition in which they found Affairs in these Quarters that I need not give my self the trouble to say any thing concerning them For which reason I shall content my self with telling you that his Majesty having occasion for Persons of your Merit and Consideration to act in several places desires you will immediately repair to him upon the receipt of his Orders I have no more at present but to assure you that I am with all sincerity SIR Your c. RICHELIEU Ruel July 31 1635. LETTER XXIX To the Cardinal de la Valette My Lord J Am extremely pleas'd with your giving Galasse the slip as well because 't is for the King's Service as for your own Glory in particular I hope from your Conduct all that may be expected from a Person who has Zeal and Application joyn'd to his great Abilities and I promise you that nothing in my power shall be wanting to make the King's Armies under your Administration leave off their old Licentious Habitudes and be brought under good Discipline as they ought to be To effect this great Vigour must be shewn on your part it being utterly impossible without that to bring Matters to such a pass as you and I desire they shou'd be for our Prince's Service You will find by the exemplary Punishment which his Majesty inflicted on a hundred and fifty Officers that absented themselves from the Army in Lorrain that there is no other way to remedy Disorders but this This Severity will most assuredly be continu'd and indeed without it all will be lost In the Name of God never pardon any of your Deserters but make remarkable Examples of them One single Instance will make you dreaded as long as you live and put you in a way to be thought Merciful ever after I have already sent you Word that for the future you shall be abundantly supply'd with Bread To convince you of that I promise you that Nancy and Metz shall never be without sufficient Magazines As our Forces encrease every day it will be much easier to make such good provision for our Convoys of Corn and other Necessaries that our Carriages may be no longer incommoded Our four thousand Dragoons are arrived besides 1700 more that are to be sent to you and a thousand to Monsieur de la Force Five hundred of them are quarter'd at Toul to secure the above-mention'd Carriages and another five hundred in other places that were judg'd the most important If you have occasion for no more Troops than what you have already with you which I cannot believe considering what a necessity you have for Provisions we are of opinion that out of the remainder of those that are design'd for you a small Body shou'd be form'd at Metz to clear all those places that annoy your Carriages and particularly Cirk For this end Bellefonds is sent to Metz to receive two or three Regiments that you want and all the Dragoons that are design'd for you as also Canillas who is in Burgundy and the remainder of the Horse which you are to have that with these Forces he may possess himself of that troublesome place that has so long incommoded you If you believe that some other Design may turn to better Account 't is but sending word to the above-mention'd Sieur de Bellefonds and he will follow your Orders On the Twentieth of this Month the Messieurs de Angoulesme and de la Force will be reinforc'd with Matignon's Regiment of Horse and above 2500 Gentlemen Besides this we shall have at Langres a Body of eight hundred Horse and a thousand Dragoons to hinder the Enemy's Insults on that side The Levies of the Switzers are compleated We are raising twenty Regiments and four thousand Horse as I have sent you Word already and besides this we are going to raise two thousand Horse of new Cavalry which you writ to me about that will only carry a Cuirass a Helmet to cover the Cheeks and Nose a Carabine and a Pistol and I believe we shall call them the Hungarian Cavalry unless Monsieur Hebron gives us a better Name There is no question but we shall have Forces enough all the difficulty will be to employ them well Endeavours will be us'd on one side to beat back the Duke of Lorrain As for you My Lord I don't doubt but you will do what impossible The King has not order'd what you are to do but has that good Opinion of your Prudence and Conduct that he leaves you to act at your own Discretion for he knows you will weigh every thing deliberately before you take the last Resolutions Monsieur Servien has sent you a very large Letter which will excuse me from running into farther Particulars I can only assure you of the continuance of my Service and Affection to you who am and ever will be without the least Alteration My Lord Your most humble c. RICHELIEU Ruel Aug. 11 1635. LETTER XXX To the same My Lord SInce I writ you a Letter some five or six Days ago which you will receive by this Packet I have receiv'd yours by Monsieur de Cressia I cannot express to you how overjoy'd I am at the Success of your Journey I only hope the End will prove as lucky as the Beginning Monsieur Boutheillier will fully answer you as to all you can expect from him The King reposes so entire a Confidence in your Affection your Judgment and
the Messenger that was gone to arrest him arriv'd at Ham. This Article being confirm'd by the information of the Post-Masters and Postilions that directed the aforesaid Courrier of Monsieur de Saint-Simon and of the Innkeepers where he lodg'd his Majesty resolv'd to judge this Matter at the Tryal of the Sieur de Saint-Leger who was condemn'd to be drawn in Pieces by four Horses the Cardinal de Richelieu represented to his Majesty that it wou'd be much better to let it alone because it wou'd be too great an Affliction to Monsieur le Premier After which the aforesaid Sieur le Premier testifying a great Sorrow and Repentance for this Action the King out of his own Goodness advis'd him to go into the Army After he had been there fifteen Days he waited on his Majesty at Roye and upon some Reports running abroad that the Spaniards design'd to make a Descent upon Guienne begg'd leave of him to go to Blaye When he was gone thither his Majesty considering his disaffection to his Affairs to which he had preferr'd the Interest of a Man who had committed an inexcusable Action sent him Word to continue there and gave his Relations to understand that it was his pleasure they shou'd tarry at their respective Houses and not come to Court LETTER LXIII To the Cardinal de la Valette My Lord IF the News you sent me of the Retreat of Galasse and the Victory which the King's Arms have obtain'd over him gave me so great a Satisfaction I am apt to flatter my self that the surrendry of Corbie which this Gentleman brings with him will prove no less agreeable to you since I know how overjoy'd you are at every advantage which God is pleas'd to bestow upon his Majesty's Affairs The Enemy is to march out of the Place to Morrow according to the Capitulation agreed upon for the performance of which they have given us by way of Hostages three of the principal Officers of the Garrison without demanding any from us The extraordinary incommodities they suffer'd by the Plague and other Distempers and by the want of all sorts of Victuals besides Corn joyn'd to the great Fatigues they were constrain'd to undergo to resist four vigorous Attacks oblig'd them to surrender before they were brought to the last Extremities This happy Action and the retreat of Galasse will I suppose hinder the Enemies of France from boasting they have done us any great Mischief since they have suffer'd twice as much themselves their Country being without comparison more ruin'd than ours along of the Germans who committed all imaginable Cruelties there I cannot sufficiently wonder what makes Monsieur de Longueville him behind still several Courriers have been dispatch'd to keep to press him to joyn you nay I sent one of my own Gentlemen to represent to him how necessary it was to do it for the wellfare of his Majesty's Affairs who is not yet return'd If Galasse in his Retreat shou'd receive an Overthrow from us we might say truly enough that his Majesty's Affairs were never better than they wou'd then be And I hope it will so fall out I cannot express to you how well pleas'd the King is with your Conduct and Services nor how joyful I am in my own particular that his Majesty sets so great an esteem upon your Person Monsieur de Rantzau cannot be sufficiently commended The Action at Saint-Jean de Laune was so gallant that he deserves to have a particular Notice taken of him to which I shall willingly contribute all that lies in my own Power and pray let me desire you to signifie as much to him If you are so happy as to beat Galasse back into Germany with some remarkable Advantage besides what you have already obtain'd over him it wou'd be highly necessary for you if it is practicable to take your Winter-Quarters in the Franche-Comté and at Miremont Espinol Rambervilliers and Mirecourt At least 't is absolutely necessary to leave them to the Duke of Weymar in case you cannot enjoy them both together for it will be an Advantage to him and to say the truth our Frontier wou'd soon be ruin'd by the extraordinary Disorders that Strangers use to commit Rest assur'd that as long as I live I shall be My Lord Your c. Amiens Nov. 13 1636. LETTER LXIV To the same My Lord THE reason of my writing to you now is not to tell you how overjoy'd I am at the late Victory which your Army has got over that of Galasse in the Franche-Comté for you may easily imagine how great my Satisfaction is as well for the Advantage the King's Affairs receive by it as for the Honour you have acquir'd upon this occasion the increase whereof I no less passionately desire than your self can do there being no Man living that honours and loves you better than my self I shall content my self with telling you that this happy Event joyn'd with the good Success that has happen'd on this side a full account of which I have sent you by a Gentleman belonging to the Prince has re-establish'd his Majesty's Affairs in so great Reputation that our very Enemies are forc'd to own that they were never in a better Condition than they are at present By the Dispatch that the Prince's Gentleman brings you I have sent you my Opinion about the Winter-Quarters for the Duke of Weymar's Troops and your own I long to hear what your Sentiments are upon that Subject I will speak to the King about the two Commissions of Ayde de Camp that you writ to me about as soon as I see his Majesty In the mean time you may look upon it as actually done for I don't expect to meet the least difficulty in it Monsieur de Noyers is the Man that returns a particular Answer to all your Dispatches which is the reason why I forbear to add any thing concerning them here I writ to the Count de Guiche to come to me here in order to send him afterwards to Bayonne to meet his Father and in truth 't is absolutely necessary that he shou'd undertake this Journey Pray make no difficulty to let him go I am upon the Road now going towards his Majesty and have given Orders about every thing that I judg'd useful or necessary for the security of Picardy where we have made some change in the Governour which I believe you 'll approve of Where-ever I am you may assure your self that I shall always be and that with the utmost sincerity My Lord Your c. Bouillan-Court Nov. 20 1636. LETTER LXV To the same My Lord YOu 'll be astonish'd I know when you hear that so soon as Corbie was surrender'd the Count carry'd Monsieur along with him from Court and you 'll be more astonish'd when you are told that according to the common Report they have taken their Course directly towards Guienne I don't question but that Monsieur d' Espernon and Monsieur de la Valette will discharge their Duty but
Days ago for this purpose I have sent you thirty thousand Livres more that if you make an Attempt upon N you may want nothing All that I have written to you above being presuppos'd although the King gives you full liberty to act as you shall see most convenient for his Service and 't is a difficult matter for a Man to give his Advice at a great distance yet for all that I am of opinion that if you cou'd succeed at N and the place is really as advantageous as it is represented to be it wou'd be no very hard matter by keeping a considerable Body in all the good Country that lies between this Post and Maubeuge to take Avenes with a few Horse and no great number of Foot In a word My Lord I leave all to your Prudence beseeching you to believe that as I by no means desire you to attempt any thing above your power so we at least expect that you should perform all you are capable of doing Heaven be praised every thing goes well on all sides We do better and better every Day in the Franche-Comté Monsieur de Châtillon is in hopes to make some good progress in Luxemburgh And just now we have receiv'd Advice that on the First of this Month the Duke of Savoy met the whole Spanish Cavalry near Verseil beyond Sezia and resolv'd to attack them with Vigour Which he perform'd so well that there are at least two hundred of them dead upon the Spot two hundred taken Prisoners and above four hundred Horses made a Booty Spadin and several other Persons of great consideration were killed in this Aâ—…on This My Lord is all I have to communicate to you in this Letter I have no more to add but my desires that you wou'd believe me to be with all sincerity My Lord Your c. Challiot Aug. 8 1637. Le Plessis Bezancon will part within a Day or two You must excuse me if I tell you that in truth you write with so much deference of 44 that I am afraid you are not satisfy'd with him All the Letters he writes to me are full of Expressions of Gratitude for the great Civilities he has receiv'd from you He looks upon it as an honour to be under your command but shou'd he ever do any thing to disoblige you I wou'd most assuredly disown him My Opinion is that we ought to end this Campagne as we begun for since the Prince of Orange cannot march into Flanders as he proposed in his first Design nothing obliges us now to separate his Majesty's Forces any longer However if you find the Party aforesaid a Burthen to you the Friendship between you and me is great enough to make me find an Invention to rid you of him Addition SInce the writing of this Letter the Sieur Talon your Secretary brings us advice from the Sieur de Roquepine who commands for you at Metz that after an exact view of Picolomini's Troops that are quarter'd between Treves and Vaudreurange he judges them to be reduc'd to six thousand Foot and eight hundred Horse Since which advice the aforesaid Sieur de Roquepine assures us that they lose so many Men as well by want of Provisions as by sickness that he believes they cannot be above five thousand five hundred at most By this we may conclude that it will be impossible for him to march into Flanders at the head of 13 or 1400 Horse and 4000 Foot so that by God's help he will not be in a capacity to do us a Mischief I conclude from this Account and the Siege of Breda that till the 20th of August or thereabout you will have no great Business upon your hands because the Spaniards will endeavour all they can to hinder the Lines of Circumvallation from being finish'd at Breda and when they find there is no possibility of saving that Town 't is probable they will come to attack us in their own Country and that we may be so happy as to conclude this Campagne with a successful Battle I conjure you to take care that Landrechy be well fortify'd and that nothing be wanting there LETTER XCII To the Cardinal de la Valette My Lord I Was extremely glad to be inform'd by yours of the 9th of this Month after what manner Affairs went on your side You found by my former Letter which I gave Monsieur de Combour to deliver to you that the King gives you full liberty to act at your Discretion and that your Advices and ours did not differ I never knew particularly what sort of a place St. Guillain was for which reason I writ to you concerning it as a thing fit to be undertaken if you judged it worth the while The Difficulties we must expect to find there now upon account of the two Men that were hanged have wholly alter'd the Face of this Affair so that we must comfort our selves if Maubeuge as you represent it can do us the same kindness In such a case it will be necessary for you to fortifie your self there as well as you can I did not so much apprehend the difficulty of taking St. Guillain as that of keeping it which cou'd not be done without great Convoys that require abundance of Troops and in the Winter are almost impossible If we cou'd take Avenes as I most assuredly believe we may we shou'd have reason to say that this Campagne was employ'd happily enough This is therefore the Point to which we must stick and by keeping the Sambre whereof now you are Master still in your power you may hinder the Enemy from coming to the relief of it Bezancon when he was here promised to do Wonders in the good ordering of the Army for which reason we have sent him word to go to wait upon you that by your Orders he might as far as is possible hinder the Soldiers from making havock of the Corn for I well foresee that it will be an impossible Matter to furnish so great a Body with Corn enough if you don't make them sublist upon what you find in the Country where as I am informed 't is exceedingly plentiful In the mean time one Touches of Metz is gone to convoy four or five hundred Muids of Corn that are now at Guise to Landrechy in which he will be forced to employ more than two hundred Horses which you demanded and which have been employ'd in carrying one thing or another ever since you have taken the Field A Message has been sent to Monsieur Lambert to joyn de Bussy's Army at Estren between Capelle and Avenes and to stay there till you send him farther Orders As for the Owners of the Horses that bring Provisions to your Army they shall have all due encouragement to make them continue in the Service In the mean time you must take care to prevent them from leaving you I have seen a Letter of the Sieur Arnauld dated the 10th of this Month and written to the Reverend F. Joseph
of this you will have above Fifteen Thousand by the arrival of de Molondin whose Regiment if not Two Thousand will at least consist of Fifteen Hundred Men Of Bellefonds who commands above Twelve Hundred Men Of Fouquezolles which I don't reckon for above Five Hundred Men Of Decamp which I take to be about the same Number And of De la Saludie which in my Opinion cannot have less than Eight Hundred Men which make in all Four Thousand Five Hundred Men. As for the Marine Regiment you know it is impossible for us to spare it being one of the Principal Bodies that composes the Army of Monsieur de la Force and which if we should take from him that he would be considerably weakned I forgot to tell you Courtaumer is also upon his March who brings you above one thousand Men and that we have sent you Twenty Four Thousand Franks to advance your Works that the want of Money may not retard you one moment A God's Name Sir be very diligent and assure yourself that I will be always sincerely c. LETTER CXXIII To Mareschal Schomberg SIR THe successive Advices you have had of the Spaniards Designs upon Languedoc together with those we have receiv'd from divers other places of the same Intentions Oblige me to write you this Letter to conjure you to take so great care of yourself that you be not any ways surpriz'd 'T is hard to believe the Spaniards can be strong enough to defend themselves against the Prince's Incursions into their Country and Attack us on another side at the same time But admitting they were enclin'd to enter Languedoc they would certainly change their Resolutions when they saw the Prince's Army in Spain Nevertheless that they may not be capable to oppose the Prince's Undertaking you are reinforc'd over and above the Regiments of Languedoc Vitry and Monclar with that of St. Aunais and at need you may make use of those of Rousillon and Mirepoix making in all six Regiments and which at the head of the Militia of your Government are as good as the best Army we have But we must not think to let you have always these six Regiments for fear of over-burthening the Country but only so long as the Prince's Attack may experience what the Spaniards are able to do It is your business to have so great regard to every thing that if the Enemies will needs enter the Frontiers on your side you may be as ready as they not suffering yourself to be surpriz'd as you were the last Year We have sent you an Order of Ten Thousand Crowns on the Receipt of Languedoc to make use of upon Occasion I say nothing to what you writ me concerning the Prince because you have already been acquainted by Monsieur Noyer's Dispatches with the King's Pleasure therein I shall only conjure you by this to omit nothing in your Power to keep up a fair Correspondence with him and I desire you to believe that I am and will be always assuredly c. LETTER CXXIV To the Same SIR I Am extreamly pleas'd to hear that altho' Courtaumer's Regiment have not yet joyn'd you you have now effectually Fourteeen Thousand well disciplin'd Men in your Army and Three Thousand other Soldiers in case of need which is above the Number we promis'd and you have always desir'd You may know by this if we are sincere in our Promises or have engag'd you where we did not design you should succeed You may be assur'd we shall never put you upon any thing where we will not furnish you with Ability to go through and to convince you the better of the Desire we have that you should speedily accomplish your Siege The King was no sooner acquainted with your Request to be joyn'd by Monsieur de la Force to cover your Intrenchments but he immediately dispatch'd Orders to him to advance and to march directly towards Therouenne altho' he had prepar'd and was design'd for other Attempts and all this not to be thought unmindful of whatever was in our Power to farther your Designs and Success I am apt to believe de la Force's Army will not lye idle by yours for tho' it may not happen that you both engage the Enemy together yet he may perform something advantageous to the Affairs of His Majesty In the mean time I conjure you to contribute what ever you can to this end and to believe that no body Affects and Esteems you more and is more truly and cordially your Friend than c. P. S. Since your extraordinary Diligence in your first taking the Field was so advantageous to you I desire you to neglect nothing for the future that may advance your Siege And to remember that 't is from thence for the most part that proceeds the good or ill Success of any Vndertaking LETTER CXXV To Mareschal Chatillon SIR I Can never enough wonder at two Expresses you lately sent to Monsieur Noyers for I could never have believed that having had several days to view the Place you besieg'd without the Enemies opposing you in the least you could be so overseen as to leave a Canal open where the Recruits enter'd the Town without resistance I must confess at first hearing this I could not easily give credit to it not being able to imagine that you should not foresee a place where the Enemies might have effected whatever they could have desir'd As to the other Misfortune of the two Regiments defeated we might have been the easier comforted if the former had not depriv'd us of the means yet it is difficult to hinder my belief that a Convoy of Thirty Horse would not have been sufficient to have secur'd the passage of Two Regiments of Foot Notwithstanding these ill Accidents I am glad to hear your Resolutions still to continue the Siege in spite of 'em and which to encourage you in Monsieur de la Force is order'd to your speedy Assistance In short you must needs carry the Place and therefore for the future endeavour to repair these two false Steps by a more extraordinary Diligence Your Reputation and the King's Interest are more concerned in this than I can express tho' not than you can imagine In a word if St Omers were Ostend His Majesty is resolv'd to take it But in truth I must needs tell you we should be well busied to send Troops if you have not a more extraordinary Care to manage and to imploy 'em so that the Enemies might not bring their Designs about without a stroke struck I conjure you once more not to be discourag'd at this Misfortune but to be assur'd you shall always be seconded to his Power that loves and honours you particularly and who is c. LETTER CXXVI To the Same SIR THis Letter is nothing but to reinforce what I advis'd you yesterday that the King is resolv'd whatever it cost him to make himself Master of St. Omers and whatever difficulty may be found in the Attempt
Xaintonge by Sea which is the Reason that without great Incommodities and wasting the Scason they cannot be otherwise had But as the Armies lie this way will be the most convenient Also providing the Armies were at Marquion the Convoys could not come by Dourlans because of the Promise to the Merchants therefore there would be much greater Difficulty for the Carriages to come so near Bapaume than there is at present And tho' they could be secur'd from time to time by sufficient Convoys yet the Sutlers coming to and fro being very necessary for the Armies better Subsistence would be absolutely interrupted These Reasons conclude That tho' there be some small Inconveniences to be sufferâ—d even where the Army of Monsieur Chatillon is at present yet it is much better than to tempt unavoidable Hazards in going by Marquion Whereupon Mareâ—chal Chatillon is desir'd to make use of such Prudence Industry and Authority as Matters may proceed more conformable to good Conduct and the earnest Wishes of his most Affectionate Servant c. LETTER CXCVI. To the Same SIR I Have received with a great deal of Satisfaction the News that Monsieur Mont-bas brought me on your Account I hope it will always be to good Effect and that God will be pleased to continue the King's Success under your Command I wish it with a great deal of Sincerity and intreat you to believe that I will always endeavour to make your Merits sufficiently known I say nothing of your continuing in the Quarters where you are or thereabouts because I writ largely of it yesterday and that Monsieur Noyers has writ you of it at present I shall conjure you only to consider well of it and to be secure of the Continuance of my Friendship and Service and that I am assuredly c. LETTER CXCVII To Mareschal Schomberg SIR I Have seen your Letter importing That the Spaniards had a Design to besiege Narbonne now they had agreed with the Catalonians Whereupon I shall only say that such Advice ought not to be altogether rejected tho for my part I cannot believe they will undertake such an Enterprize so late in the Year and in a Country where there is neither Forage nor Wood to be had Nevertheless 't is good to be on our Guard that we may not be surprized There can be nothing more done for the Town 's Security than what you acquaint me has been already if it were to be attacked and I assure myself you will not be less careful and well-affected to prepare and assemble your Forces to drive out the Enemies if they should enter your Province Nothing shall be wanting from hence to assist you as Monsieur Noyers has writ you more at large to whom I refer you for further Instructions assuring you that I am affectionately yours c. LETTER CXCVIII. To Mareschal de Chatillon SIR YOU will know by Monsieur Heudicourt what I think farther requisite to be done for the rest of your Campagne I earnestly desire you to recruit your Horse well that being put into Garison they may be ready upon all occasions to resist the Enemy if they should be Fools enough to molest us at Arras I wish with all my Heart you may conclude your Campagne by beating up some of their Quarters if they shall give you an Opportunity to do it with good Success As I honour you extreamly I should be overjoy'd of having a fresh occasion of recommending your Deserts who am cordially c. LETTER CXCIX To Mareschal Schomberg SIR I Have often discoursed Monsieur Alby about matters relating to you His Letters I hope will sufficiently acquaint you with the Continuance of my Affection and Friendship All that I could desire for your greater Advantage is more Briskness The Prince is return'd towards your Government but which I hope will cause you no Uneasiness assuring you there is nothing in the Power of any Man that can prejudice you or hinder your Friends serving you to their Power He has assur'd me he has no ill Designs towards you there 〈…〉 have 〈◊〉 fresh occasions to believe the contrary I desire you to think him your Friend Monsieur Noyers has writ you amply his Majesty's Mind as to the present Affairs I conjure you to be hearty and careful and to be assur'd that I am and will be always c. LETTER CC. To Monsieur Chatillon SIR THE great Desire I have to see the Canal of Loire in the Seine finish'd as soon as possible obliges me to conjure you anew as I have done often before to further the Work to your Power according to the Letters Pattents sent you The Offer the Undertakers make you to indemnifie you seems to me so reasonable that I don't doubt but you will be satisfy'd with it and therefore will not fail to encourage the said Undertakers speedily about it that it may be finished in October as they have promised me if they be not interrupted Doing this you will oblige me in particular to testifie upon all occasions how much I am c. LETTER CCI. To Mareschal Schomberg SIR IT having come to the King's Ears that you have not behav'd yourself to Monsieur Epinan as you ought I thought fitting as your Friend to acquaint you with it and to give you my Opinion that he being employ'd on so important an Account you ought not to have entertain'd him with such Coldness and Indifference but on the contrary to have assisted him to your Power that his Majesty's Business might be the likelier to succeed His Majesty promises himself this from your Affection and your Zeal 〈…〉 on account of your own Interest assuring you I shall always endeavour to be serviceable and acquainting you I have no greater Pleasure in the World than to hear my Friends live in Amity together I believe you will do what is to be desired on your part as I earnestly conjure you as also to believe that I am truly c. LETTER CCII. To the Same SIR THE King having granted the Clergy a general Convocation the better to facilitate their assisting his Majesty with the Supplies desired I write you this Letter to desire you to employ your Interest jointly with the Prince that the Bishop of Nismes may be chosen for the Province of Narbonne and de Pamiers the Nephew or de Lombez for Toulouze Perhaps they may object that some of these were of the last Assembly But notwithstanding those who mean best think 'em the fittest to serve both Church and State Upon this occasion I am to inform you that the Regulations for deputing Bishops do not require observing either Place or Order I also desire you to take care that the Persons chosen for these Provinces of the second Order may be affable and easie to manage But you must be sure to conceal from all of 'em what I have writ to you hereupon Only you may let 'em know that I would be glad to have his Majesty satisfy'd herein In all which I
delivered out of the Precipice which through her own Neglect she is fallen into instead of doing her utmost to assist Count Harcourt in the Execution of a Design in which she is principally concern'd and to reinforce him with fresh Troops she not only took away those which were maintained at the King's Expence and which she was promised should be drawn off assoon as they had received the King's Money This Negligence affects me so sensibly that I confess I am out of Patience and I cannot tell what Opinion to have of Madam's Intentions after such an extravagant Trick I conjure you to represent to her the Prejudice she does to the general Affairs and to her own in particular by that ill Conduct which is enough either to ruine the Enterprize of Turin or at least to give this Advantage to the Enemy to take another Place without much Resistance while the King's Army shall regain with much Difficulty that which others have lost because they would not keep it Monsieur de Chavigny writes so fully in Cyphers upon the Subject of your Express that nothing remains but to conjure you to solicit Madam to do that which Reason and the Necessity of her Affairs together ought to have made her have already done that if she persevere to neglect her own Advantage the King will take his as Reason and the Publick Good shall require In the mean time be assured that I am c. LETTER CCXXXCVII To the Prince of Orange SIR MOnsieur d'Estrade will acquaint you what past with us in the business of Monsieur Bouillon in which your Highness's Intervention could not make for his Assistance He will tell you also how I acknowledge those advantageous Sentiments you had relating to my Sickness and of the Troubles some turbulent Spirits would have given to his Majesty's Affairs I want Words to express my Gratitude for the Favour you have done me on those Occasions but I desire you to believe that I will omit none to shew you by the Effects that I really am c. LETTER CCXXXVIII To James King of England Concerning the Marriage of the P. of Wales SIR THis is not the first time that I am sensible that great Kings often conceive things according to their great Qualities and not as they are in themselves that they magnifie mean things by the Esteem they have of them and those whom they honour by their Benevolence cannot be inconsiderable The Letter with which your Majesty was pleased to honour me confirms me in this Truth because it lets me see that I have so much Merit in your Esteem as in effect I have Admiration of those great and rare Qualities which are in you They are Sir so shining that if by the knowledge of them I have no Advantage above the rest of the World who may be ignorant of them yet at least I am assured that few admire them so much and none can do it more than I. Respect has always induced me in the Service of the King my Master to answer your Majesty's Expectation in accomplishing the happy Alliance projected betwixt the two Crowns It was no difficult thing for I satisfy'd my Desire and did my Duty at the same time Because that as on one side the King never thought but of proper Conditions to give you an opportunity to oblige the Hearts of your Catholick Subjects with new Chains which you have already gain'd your Majesty on your part hath of your own accord granted that which being desired for their Good was also principally for your Advantage If they receive much Favour from your Majesty you will thereby gain a Glory the more inestimable because it will be eternal It is a thing Sir not to be at all doubted of because that as the first Water of a running Stream is sufficient to let us know that its Channel is not stopt so it is enough to know that your Majesty whose Bounty is inexhaustible hath once engaged to be gracious to your Subjects to be assured that they will receive continual Effects of your Benevolence and consequently your Majesty will more closely unite those Hearts which are already yours Heaven without whose Concurrence nothing can attain to Perfection hearing the Prayers of so many Creatures who depend upon your Majesty will unite those two Monarchies with an indissolvable Knot that as their joint Forces have formerly made the Levant tremble so they will now strike Terrour in all their Enemies and dissipate all the Efforts of those who desire to hinder that Happiness that they may effect in Christendom I beg it of God with all my Heart and that he would bestow upon your Majesty all those Blessings which such singular Qualities which concur in your Person deserve I am eternally c. LETTER CCXXXIX To the Prince of Wales SIR THE Letter which your Highness was pleased to honour me with is a Favour which transcends all the Bounds of my Gratitude and for want of Words be pleased to let me preserve in my Soul a lively Sentiment of this Obligation In the mean time that I may not be ingrateful I every where proclaim those Great and Royal Qualities which shew that the Excellency of your Wit is equal to your illustrious Birth With this Sence my Lord I shall in some sort do my Duty but not according to my Desire which in matters relating to you can have no Bounds If God had given me all those Qualifications which your Highness believes are in me I should esteem myself very happy to employ them in your Service to acquire your good Grace which I will merit by the Obedience I will pay to your Commands I am c. LETTER CCXL To the Queen of England MADAM BEing inform'd by Mr. Montague of the great Desire your Majesty has of a strict Union of those two Crowns I have so much the more endeavoured to add weight to those Proposals which he has made that he may let you particularly know what was done about them and with what Sincerity the King was pleased to receive them and gave them a favourable Answer according to your Desire As for me beside the Zeal which I have for your Majesty's Service the particular Esteem which I have for your Person and the noble Qualities of the King your Husband and the Respect I have for them make me that I never omit any thing which depends on me for your Satisfaction which I am assur'd Mr. Montague will not fail to let you know And as it is a matter of importance that the King your Husband be pleased to send hither an agreeable Embassadour being certain that many things are frequently spoiled or advanced according as the Ministers who manage them are ill or well received by the Princes with whom they are concern'd I presume to beseech your Majesty to weigh those Considerations because they have no other Design but to promote your Service which shall always be so particularly considered by me that you shall be
Whatever happens I shall do my duty in Serving as I have done in Obeying And I hope God will bless my Zeal in seeking all occasions to render to the King and the advantage of his Realm whatever he can expect from a true Subject and to the augmentation of the Glory of his Person what a most obliged Creature owes him If with this design I have any opportunity to serve you as I desire I shall think my self a great gainer in letting you see by that means that among several mean Qualities which are in me I have one at least more eminent then all the rest which is to esteem Persons of your Merit which you will underdand by my Actions and which will testify more then my Words that I am c. LETTER XLVII To Monsieur de Balzac I Have receiv'd the Letter which you Wrote me and the beginning of the Treatise that you sent me I thought to have detain'd your Lacqueys till I had read it But the variety of Business which takes me up and my desire to view it at leisure and several times made me alter my design I send it you therefore back to testify how sensible I am of your Affection and to let you know what I judge of the Lyon by his Paw I have always lookt upon whatever came from you with great Contentment and all those who are capable of relishing good things could never receive 'em otherwise But I must confess to yee that this last piece has so far satisfy'd my Intellect that I must needs tell yee you have out-done your self In loring your Stile you have rais'd it and in writing more after the vulgar strain you are so separated from your self that though many fain would imitate yee few in my Opinion can do it When I have read the remainder of your Piece I will write more particularly to yee now I shall only testify thus much that if my Affection for yee be capable of encreasing it encreases with your Merits which causes me to desire all Opportunities to let you see that I am really c. LETTER XLVIII To Monsieur de Nogent-Bautru THIS day I leave this City where with a more then ordinary joy the people as loudly resounded the King's Name as he is exaalted above all the King 's of the Earth and where they shew'd as much Obedience and Submission to His Majesty's Arms as they had signaliz'd themselves till then in Disobedience and Obstinacy I shall not tell yee what Testimonies of Honour I then receiv'd because it was to the Authority which it has pleas'd His Majesty to entrust me with to whom they are due and not to me who am c. LETTER XLIX To Monsieur d' Argencourt I will not conceal it from yee that I was not a little surpriz'd at first when I understood you were Marry'd not believing yee to have been of a Humor to submit your self to such a troublesome Yoak as many times that of Marriage is But I was so far from finding any thing to object against the Resolution you had taken that on the other side I believe you have done very well and I commend yee for having made so good a Choice as that of Mademoiselle de Berricheres for whose Conversion I am infinitely glad I beseech yee to assure her of my Affection and for your own part to be confident that I am c. LETTER L. To Monsieur Bowart I Write yee these Lines to conjure yee to tell the King frankly when you think it proper for him to take Physick and not to conceal from him what you think requisite for his Health He is a Prince so Gracious and so Judicious that though your proceeding displease him at first he will be glad of the effects of it 'T is better in this particular to displease him a little for his good then to comply with him to his prejudice If thou think the alledging my thoughts will encline His Majesty to believe you and to make use of those Remedies you shall prescribe him you may produce my Letters and shew 'em to him it being certain that he will readily pardon the Counsel which I give you to press him for his own Health of which I shall always have a more singular care then of my own life In the mean time you will do me an unspeakable Kindness to send me continually the state of his Body and to believe that I am really c. LETTER LI. To the same Person THE Letter I received from you would have been a great Affliction to me to find therein the King's indisposition if at the same time you had not assured me that it is only an Ebullition of the Blood I must confess that in regard His Majesty's Health is so necessary for France and so dear to his Servants the least attack of Sickness upon it disturbs me beyond Expression I send this Gentleman to bring me back an account of the King's Condition which I passionately wish may be such as he himself could desire I make no doubt but you will contribute what lies in your Power toward his perfect Recovery that so his Health may restore to his Servants that Joy which his Indisposition has depriv'd 'em of To this end I send up all my Prayers to Heaven and in hopes that the News I shall receive from you will bring a Confirmation of the contentment I receiv'd by your first Letters I beseech yee to believe that I am assuredly c. LETTER LII To Monsieur dâ— Auriac THE King being inform'd at my Return after what manner you have continu'd to serve him in his Army in Italy has been pleas'd of his own motion to make you sensible of his acknowledgment of your Services as you will find by the Letter which his Majesty has Written to you as also by the Patent which he has commanded me to send you You need not put your self to any trouble in soliciting the payment of it for that I shall take care my self that every thing shall be done to your full Satisfaction desiring to let you see not only upon this Occasion but upon all others wherein your interest is concern'd the value which I have for yee and how affectionately I am c. LETTER LIII To the King THE Sentiments which Your Majesty had of my Distemper and your gracious manner of writing to me are of greater value then all the Services I ever did or ever shall do Your Majesty I feel my self so extraordinary touched and oblig'd that it is impossible for me to represent it to your Majesty The Series of my Actions shall return Your Majesty perpetual Thanks seeing Your Goodness is so extraordinary in my behalf my Passion for your Service never was nor ever shall be equall'd by any man what ever that serv'd so great a Prince 'T is about ten days ago that my Ague left me but still it makes me many times sensible of the visit it gave me However these Inconveniences
have not hindr'd me from coming to this place near to Montauban for the determining several Difficulties started every day by Persons breathing only Sedition There have been some Commotions in the City but thanks be to God things are reduc'd to that point that if I am not deceiv'd in my measures I hope within three days to make my entrance into it with that Dignity which becomes Your Majesty From thence I shall set forward to attend Your Majesty intending to stay two days only in Montauban in order to dispatch those dismissions which Your Majesty has commanded me I must not forget to send Your Majesty word that though the Gentlemen of the Parliament of Tâ—oulouse have always made some Scruples upon the Edicts of the Peace and the favours you have shewn to those of the pretended Reformed Religion yet they have purely and simply verify'd this with great Applause of Your Majesty's Goodness Piety Strength and Prudence Though never any Prince acquir'd so much Glory as Your Majesty has now done yet I hope if God permits me to live some Years to see you wearing many other Crowns which only your Vertue and the blessing of God will acquire Your Majesty This is that which I desire with the greatest Passion in the World promising Your Majesty that my life shall never be of any value to me in respect of your Grandeur your prosperity and particular contentment which I shall Eternally wish for in the Quality of c. LETTER LIV. To the King THE Letter Your Majesty was pleas'd to honour me withall obliges me in such a manner that I have not Expressions sufficiently worthy to testify my Gratitude to your Majesty I wish that for the Supply of this defect I might be so happy as to be able to pay Your Majesty as many faithful services as I have had and as long as I live shall have a chearful will to perform I am extreamly troubled that Your Majesty is not pleas'd with your stay at Paris and therefore have taken a Resolution for your ease to go into Champaign so soon as your Brother shall depart from Nancy The share which Your Majesty was pleas'd to allow me in your Prayers during the Jubilee was so great a favour that wanting words to return my due thanks to Your Majesty I have no more to say upon that Subject but that your Majesty shews your Goodness equal to your Piety I could passionately wish that I might be near Your Majesty as Your Majesty desires but my sorrow to see my self remov'd so far from your presence is in some measure allay'd when I consider it is for the Interest of your service which is the only thing that I regard I am now setting forward from hence in Order to cross the Mountains and hasten into Italy where I shall serve Your Majesty with that Zeal and Vigilancy which becomes c. LETTER LV. To the King I Have receiv'd a new dispatch from Monsieur the Marshal de Crequi who assures me a second time that he will not Sign the Suspension He sends me word more over that the News of the Motion of your Army has caus'd the Imperialists to raise the siege of Mantua from whence the Germans are retreated in so much disorder that 't was the Duke of Mantua's fault they were not utterly defeated However he cut some of 'em to peices in retaking Montenara and Courtentone which were two Posts distant from Mantua about five miles which the Enemy had a mind to have kept He believes that as soon as your Army arrives at Suza the Republick of Venice will resolve to do something to good purpose Provided the Duke of Savoy's delays do not retard the Passage of your Army I hope your Majesty will have no reason to complain Courrier is dispatched after Courrier to press the Duke of Savoy to whom I have also this day written Your Majesty's Express command to me not to lose any time which obliges me to conjure him that he would give Speedy Passage to your Army I expect to hear from him within these few days Your Majesty may be confident of being as punctually inform'd as it is possible of all that happens and that I desire not so much to preserve my Life as to please Your Majesty and to testify by real Effects That I am and ever will be c. LETTER LVI To the King HAving Yesterday given Your Majesty an Account of the Reducing the Citadel of Pignerol under your Obedience I now resume my Pen to let your Majesty know that 't is impossible for me to express the Vigilance and Passion for your Service of the Marshalls â—requi la Force and Schomberg and of all the Officers of your Army upon this Occasion And here I hope your Majesty will not take it amiss if I take the Liberty to tell you my Opinion that you cannot gratify any Person with the Government of the City and Citadel of Pignerol who better deserves it then Monsieur Crequi as well for the rare Qualities with which he is endow'd and with which your Majesty is so well acquainted as for that those Places are contiguous to the Dauphinate where his Employment obliges him chiefly to reside and be near at hand to provide for the Preservation of ' em Besides these Considerations I must not conceal from your Majesty that he has given me to understand that he should be infinitely engag'd to your Majesty if you would but be pleas'd to honour him with the Grant of his Request He also desires that you would be pleas'd to honour M. de Canaples with the Collar of your Order the next time you make any Knights This would be a means by new Obligations to engage both Father and Son to your Service to which I am so inseparably devoted that I shall always be to the last gasp of my Breath c. LETTER LVII To the King MOnsieur Marshal de Crequi having desired me to write to your Majesty that you would be pleas'd to confer upon the Sieur Aubery the Employment of the Queen's Chancellor I take that Liberty so much the more willingly to the same end because your Majesty knowing the Affection which the said Marshal has for that Family will readily consider that while he serves your Majesty as he does I could not deny him the kind Office of such a Letter your Majesty knows better then any person in the World how to supply that place with such a Person as you shall deem most Capable In the mean time I beseech your Majesty to believe that I am and shall be as long as I live c. LETTER LVIII To the King I Send this Courrier in hast to your Majesty at the heels of the Sieur de Folaine to deliver you the particular Relation of what the Gentlemen who command your Armies in Italy sent me concerning what happen'd at the Attacque of Pont Carignan I praise God with all my heart for the good success wherewith he is
the Cause that the West-India Fleet is not yet arrived in Spain While I was in Piedmont I believe I wrote a hundred times at least how necessary it was to keep an Army on foot upon the Frontiers of Spain and evidently made it out that 't was impossible to keep it under a good Discipline without Money After my Return I declar'd by Word of Mouth what I had set forth in Writing before I am my self at a loss as well you know for want of the Payment of some Assignations that were allow'd me towards the Re-imbursment of several Summs which my Friends had paid before-hand to the end your Army might be supply'd After this I have nothing more to answer seeing the Effects themselves speak for me But I could wish that they who have the greatest Desire to find Faults where there are none would tell me out of their Universal Knowledge for they pretend to have an Insight into all things whether there be any Kingdom in the World which is able regularly to pay two or three Armies at the same time I would have 'em tell me whether Reason does not require that we ought to be more careful of paying an Army which acts in a Foreign Country against a potent Enemy and where Scarcity and other Inconveniencies are not to be express'd then an Army that lies still in the Kingdom to prevent Mischief I would have those People eâ—quire after what manner the Spanish Armies are paid in Italy which for eight Months together have not receiv'd so much as one whole Muster but are contented with Bread only which I believe the Army in Champagne has not wanted After all this Monsieur the Superintendant has all along affirm'd that the Assignations which he had allow'd for this Army were good which I know not But this I know well that there is no Advantage accrues to him in making bad ones since he is oblig'd to make 'em good I have written to M. de Chevry in his Absence to endeavour as much as in him lies that the Army might be paid And this is all that I can say only that I am and shall be ever c. LETTER CLX To Mareschal d'Effiat I Have no need to be a great Orator to persuade yee into a Belief that the King is highly pleas'd with the Victory which his Arms have won from the Enemy at the Pass of Veillana or that I my self am less joyfully concern'd The Benefit which will thereby redound to His Majesty's Affairs and the Share I take in your Interests may give a better Confirmation of the Truth of what I say then I can express in these Lines Seeing then it is not sufficient to have begun well unless you continue I promise my self that in pursuance of this fortunate Success you will make the best of all Opportunities which you believe may bring any Advantage to the King's Service LETTER CLXI To Mareschal Vitry YOU will easily understand by the King 's sending the Bishop of Nantes into your Quarters His Majesty's Affection and Care for the Affairs of Provence since he has 〈◊〉 de choice of a Person of that Condition in whom he â—…s an entire Confidence He has particular Order to act by your Advice and to do nothing without your Consent He is a Person of Understanding well affected full of Courage and Zeal for His Majesty's Service for whom I will be answerable as for my self He will acquaint you with the King's Resolution to send you a Re-inforcement and to keep on foot near your Person besides the Forces which are necessary for the Guards of the several â—trong Holds in the Province three Regiments and Four Hunder'd Horse that you may be in a Condition to attack the Enemy and acquire that Honour which I wish you His Majesty promises himself that you will lose no Opportunity and that your Actions will answer the good Opinion he has of your Prowess your Prudence and your Conduct LETTER CLXII To the same I Know that M. de Noyers is so careful to let you understand from time to time the King's Pleasure and Intentions in Answer to your Dispatches as also to inform yee of what passes considerable in these Parts that it would be needless to make any farther Additions to his Informations I write yee therefore these Lines to thank you for the Favours and Assistance of the Galleys which you were pleas'd to afford my Nephew le Genet for those Occasions which he stood in need of since his being in Provence and to beg the Continuance of the Proofs of your Affection for him in what he may meet with of Exigencies for the future assuring you that the Obligations you lay upon me will be the same as if those Kindnesses were done to my self as you will find upon Accidents that shall give me an Opportunity to testifie my Acknowledgment I have written to M. de Nantes about fitting out the Vessels of Provence to the end they may be in a Readiness to put to Sea as soon as the Western Fleet shall arrive upon your Coasts I beseech yee to omit nothing that lies in your power to enable him that he may do something advantageous to His Majesty's Affairs whether it may be in having Soldiers ready to embark or in furnishing the Fleet with other Necessaries Which because I promise my self from your Zeal and Affection I shall say no more but only that I am and will be ever c. LETTER CLXIII To M. de Charnace AS I cannot sufficiently acknowledge and praise the Goodness of God for the Victory which he has been pleas'd to give the King's Army over his Enemies so I cannot but admire at the Order observ'd in lodging the Army not being able to apprehend how they could march in view of the Enemy not only lodging in two Bodies but each Body in several Places You know that before you came we had resolv'd rather to encamp then to hazard our Men by separating 'em into several Lodgments at a distance one from the other I am apt to believe the Inconvenience of Provisions hinder'd the exact Observance of Order But in my Opinion it had been better to have suffer'd a little then to have exposâ—d an Army to that Danger as yours was I am afraid this Accident will prove the Beginning of some Division and â—ealousie among Persons whose Union I much rather desire Great Care ought to be taken to avoid a Mischief which would be the Cause of many others The same Care is also to be taken that our Soldiers do not behave themselves more insolently then they ought to do towards the Dutch Army by reason of this Victory I desire yee to do what may be done together with Messieurs de Chaâ—…ilâ—on and de Brezâ— to prevent any such Disorders It remains now to make the best of so great an Advantage by following the Enemy close at the Heels Monsieur the Prince of Orange is too wise and too considerate to fail in that
was impossible for those who were in the Province to do other wise then they did without particular Orders At this time therefore Prudence will not allow his Releasment but under such infallible Assurances that he shall not act either directly or indirectly against France as are no way to be evaded He is and shall be treated with all the Respect that is due to a Person of his Quality and who is in that Station that he is And I shall deem it a great Honour to see him in a better Condition that I might be able to manifest to Your Majesty by my Respect to his Person the Reverence I shall always have for Your Name as being c. LETTER CXCIV To the Duke of Neubourg IF I thought you were capable of believing what you write to me I would make it my Business to convince yee of that Opinion nor would my Trouble be very great But I take you for too penetrating a Prince to believe that France is the Cause of all the Miseries which you foresee will be fall Italy or that I have refus'd any just Conditions of an Accommodation Monsiour the Legate knows that I made the Way as easie to it as it was possible for me to do But to consent to such a Peace as had only the Name of a Peace and which in three Months would inforce us to buckle on our Arms again I must confess I am not capable of being persuaded to it I have a greater Longing for a sound Peace in Christendom the Repose of Italy and the Satisfaction of the Holy See then they who most pretend to desire ' em I serve a Master whose Aim it is not to enlarge his Dominions with the Spoils of his Neighbours and who never display'd his Banners in Foreign Countries but to deliver from Oppression such Princes and States as are unjustly assail'd So soon as they shall really and not in Words alone surcease from doing Mischief on that side they shall find the King inclin'd to whatever can be expected from a most just Prince and though of a Warlike Disposition yet most desirous of Peace As to the Miseries wherewith you threaten France His Majesty's Arms are so long that though he has one stretch'd out into Italy he will with the other sufficiently defend his remotest Frontiers and if they think to force him to a Defensive War on that side they will force him to act contrary to what he designs and to what he thinks of least of all I am c. LETTER CXCV. From Father Joseph to Father Valerian a Confident of Marquis Spindola 's during the Siege of Pignerol Reverend Father I Have receiv'd the Writing sent me by a Trumpeter from the Duke of Savoy It would be needless to answer many things which your Reverence I am confident well knows to be a little too tart and which I am therefore willing to believe are not conformable to your Sentiments In the mean time I must tell yee that they who blame Artifice and Wily Craft upon such Occasions as these have great Reason for what they say since nothing has hinder'd the past Treaties about the Affairs now in dispute but those Tricks and Shifts which have been put in practise contrary to our Desire and Expectation 'T is easie to know the Designs of those who have always talk'd as loudly as they have acted openly on this side but impossible to make 'em talk things that are not in their power The Prudence of those who have meddl'd in this Affair is too much esteem'd for having design'd to delay the Preparations which they are desirous to make for the War If they are thought of on this side the Proverb Sivis pacem para beâ—…m is the Cause of it In a Word Neither the Thoughts nor Designs on this side are such as the Writing which you have sent me represents ' em Peace is sincerely desir'd but a safe and honourable Peace And when we shall see in reality the Securities which your Reverence has propos'd the Declaration of the Treaty of Monson which you speak of and the effectual Reparation of the Breaches of the said Treaty as your Writing declares that the Marquis Spinola is willing to do then we shall believe those Gentlemen have some Inclination to Peace and it will be clearly seen whether they have Reason to say that France has no mind to it You say that on our part we want Effects and that on your part you propound nothing but your Thoughts upon which you know there is no Foundation to be laid Mon Seignicur the Cardinal has always talk'd distinctly according to the Power wherewith he is intrusted in an Affair upon which he could not as yet have time to know the King's Pleasure He has no other End no other Aim then the Welfare and Repose of Christendom And when he understands His Majesty's Intentions he will speak 'em as freely as he has hitherto done his own particular Sentiments I pray to God to bring all things to a good Conclusion which I know we both of us ought and do desire LETTER CXCVI. From the King to the Duke of Lorrain I Am much troubl'd that the Sieur de Ville has brought me no Satisfaction on your part to my just Complaints of your Demeanour I beseech yee to consider well whether it can be a thing to your advantage to do quite contrary to what all your Predecessors have done in contemning that Union which they have always religiously observ'd with this Crown and persisting in the Breach of those Treaties which you have made with me I expect a speedy Answer and such Deeds as I may reasonably desire upon this Subject if you desire that I should afford yee those Marks of my Good Will which I shall be al ways ready to conferr upon yee if you do not force me to the contrary LETTER CXCVII From Cardinal Richlieu to the same YOU are too clear-sighted in your Affairs to have need of Counsel and living with the King as you do you ought to be too jealous of me to take my Advice But for all that I most earnestly beseech yee to consider well whether it be for your Advantage to lie under His Majesty's Displeasure And in case you do not think it for your Good a thing which in my Opinion Your Highness can never believe I as earnestly intreat yee to seek out all the Ways which you shall deem most proper to satisfie him for what has pass'd since the Treaty of Peace I beseech yee so much the more willingly because it is for the Good of your Service for which I shall always have a sincere Affection when you shall give the King what he ought to expect in pursuance of your Promises and Treaties Be pleas'd to believe what I say and moreover that I am c. LETTER CXCVIII. To the Duke of Parma YOU will understand from Monsieur the Count of Scoti how that the Succour which the King promis'd
more disposed seeing that the publick occasions seem to invite them all to a speedy and strict reconciliation He is also to complement him upon the late Marriage of the Princess his Sister with the Emperor wishing him and all his Family all manner of Prosperity and Content therein The King doubts not but the Duke of Savoy and the Cardinal his Son will put him upon the Subject of the Comprotection which he has been too much mov'd and offended at since his Majesty considering his quality the nearness of his relation to him and the place he has in his Affection never had or could have the least intention of doing any thing to his disadvantage When he honoured Cardinal Bentivoglio with the Title of Comprotector it was not to equal him with the said Cardinal of Savoy being very sensible of the difference of their Birth for he was expresly enjoyn'd to yield to him in all things and to meddle with nothing in his presence but what remain as they are at present than to make any Innovations since none can be made without prejudice to his Majesty's Affairs at Rome Therefore if it were possible to divert the said Cardinal of Savoy from this thought the said Commander would do his Majesty a signal piece of Service the management of which is left to his Judgment and Discretion according as he will discover the Temper and Disposition of the said Cardinal upon the Place as well as by Marini's Informations He is still to confirm his Majesty's Journey to Lyons as well to please and comfort the Allies in the affair of the Grisons as because their Highnesses have a great desire to see and wait on his Majesty which when they mention he is to assure them will be very acceptable to him The said Commander is also to assure the Princess his Sister of his Majesty's cordial Love and fraternal Affection and that whenever any occasion shall offer it self to give proofs thereof he will embrace it with great satisfaction that he rejoyces at the good and honourable Treatment she receives and will allways be ready to do her all manner of good offices towards the said Duke and the Prince his Son he is likewise to acquaint her with the charge and command he has re-iterated to the aforesaid Marini to let him hear often from her and what confidence his Majesty reposes in his devotion to his service He is also to visit the other Princes and Infanta's whom he is to complement and to assure them of his Majesty's Friendship and Good-will And without making any longer stay there he is to continue his Journey to Rome through Florence as it is usual where his Majesty is persuaded that he will be kindly receiv'd by the Great Duke the Great Dutchess Dowager and the Widow Arch-Dutchess At the delivery of his Majesty's Letters he is to renew the Declarations of his Good-Will which they have lately receiv'd from Father Arbinot Confessor to the Great Dutchess and after having perform'd the usual Duties Assurances of Friendship and of savouring their Affairs where he is going to reside He is not to forget before his departure from thence to reiterate the Instances that have often been made concerning his Majesty's Money carry'd thither by the late Concini which is justly due to him by reason that the sums drawn from Rome are but slight and inconsiderable in proportion thereunto and to acquaint them that a longer detention of the said Money might create misunderstandings as it has already been declar'd and fully prov'd to Father Arbinot in order to make their Highnesses sinsible thereof that according to their Equity and the good Correspondence they desire to hold with his Majesty they may have a due regard to his right and to the desire they ought to have to cultivate and maintain the same carefully The particulars hereof shall be explain'd by word of Mouth to the said Commander that he may be the better able to argue about it and he is to inquire and receive a more particular information in his Journey from the Archbishop of Lyons of what he has done and Negociated heretofore in the like case at Rome He is also to take care to let them know the perfect Union and good Intelligence that is between his Majesty and the Queen Mother in which that House of Medicis is highly concern'd which has always been one of his Majesty's most earnest desires as a duty to which he is oblig'd both by God and Nature as well as by the reciprocal affection he receives from the said Queen his Mother who is heartily sorry that the artificial Impressions and passionate Councils of Persons who endeavour'd to improve their Division to their own advantage have lasted so long But that having through the Grace of God discover'd the Truth and the Malice of the Authors and Contrivers of a course so prejudicial she has resum'd her former Confidence in his Majesty's mild and truly Royal Temper whose Soul rejoices thereat and will ever study by all the means and duties of filial Respect to confirm her said confidence to her satisfaction And in order to give the World a very evident proof thereof the King has lately admitted the said Queen again into his Council and most secret affairs to be assisted with her good advice upon all occasions He is to observe in what manner this representation will be receiv'd at Florence and the Judgment they will make of his Majesty's behaviour towards the said Queen to give his Majesty notice thereof that he may the better and more securely regulate his Conduct upon that knowledge for the future For really he has not had much reason to be satisfy'd with their Highnesses of late and particularly about the restitution of the Money of the said Concini their manner of proceeding therein which the Arch-bishop of Lyons is very well acquainted with being as unseemly as displeasing to his Majesty which was acknowledg'd by Arbinot himself If any of the Ministers should put him upon this subject he may inform them that the matter is very well known and that it cannot long remain in those terms which may be remedy'd by a speedy payment of the said Money Before his Arrival at Rome he is to inform Cardinal de Sourdis of his coming if he be still there to confer with him before his entry into the said City about the form thereof or else with Cardinal Bentivoglio who is Comprotector there He is to make it as Honourable and Solemn as can be according to the usual Custom to get informations from them about the general state of Affairs and of his Majesty 's in particular what he is do to at this beginning and to learn from them as persons better inform'd with the use of the Country how he is to behave himself to be admitted the very first Night of his Arrival to kiss his Holinesses Feet to whom presenting the King's Letters written with his own hand he is to confirm the assurances
for the good and peace of Italy as well as for the sake of the Catholick Religion the advantage of which he may assure himself his Majesty will ever be one of the first to promote with all his power But there is some danger as it has often been represented in being too obstinate for one of losing both together For it is most certain that the said Leagues of the Grisons are not oblig'd by the Articles of the Treaty to maintain the Catholick Religion alone in Valtelina and consequently the Spaniards cannot insist on this without a Breach of the Treaty and without wounding his Majesty's Royal Intermission But moreover to remove this borrow'd Veil and to go beyond them by a Zeal not apparent but truly sincere of Religion though this be not included in the said Agreement he will imploy his Credit and lively Remonstrances towards the said Grisons by his Ambassadors and use all other reasonable means to prevail with them for the preservation of the said Religion in Valtelina though not in the nature of a Condition as abovesaid it not being mention'd in the Treaty and they being oblig'd notwithstanding a refusal to accomplish the said Agreement and to perform the said full and intire Restitution That in case his Majesty can succeed in this design it will be a great comfort to his Holiness whose Nuncio in Switzerland must be order'd to facilitate with his Majesty's Ministers all honest and sure means to hasten the said Râ—stitution His Majesty presses this Affair being justly press'd by the thing it self and by the Persons concern'd therein which should invite his Holiness to double his vigilance and serious Instances in Spain otherwise he will find by real Effects that his Majesty's foresight has been good and his care in so many places very praise worthy But in order the better to convince his Holiness of the truth of the premisses here is a very certain and most visible Argument thereof The Spaniards who boast and seem very desirous of promoting the good and advancement of the Catholick Religion in Germany where they had promis'd to Invest the Duke of Bavaria with both the Palatinates are now out of Reasons of State more reserv'd in the matter out of fear of displeasing the King of Great Britain and lest the Duke of Bavaria should grow too powerful in Germany Causes altogether Temporal which hinder them from advancing the Glory and Holy Name of God in so fair an occasion while his Majesty shows himself more inclinable and favourable to it for though the Elector Palatin is Ally'd to him he knows in his Soul what he has done on that subject where it was necessary to show his good intention His Holiness's Officers and his Nuncio here have discover'd it themselves and that it was only a Blind u'sd by them to abuse the most simple but not capable of obscuring the prudence and clear sight of his Holiness who will be prais'd and bless'd by God and Men for endeavouring to prevent Usurpations and to maintain the publick Peace which are the only Ends his Majesty proposes But the said Commandore is chiefly to insist on the Mischiefs that may insue for the Publick these Crowns proceeding to a Breach which his Majesty will prevent to the utmost of his power by the advantages the Turk will easily gain by the division of the Christian Princes Whereas being united as it is his Holiness's Office to keep them and to which his Piety and other good Considerations should incline him above all things considering the present state of the Turks great progresses might be made against them But our Sins and Discords making us unworthy of that happiness we must implore the goodness of God and his Holiness by Prayers and Exhortations must use his utmost Endeavours to reconcile the hearts of Christian Princes to an Enterprize so holy so important and so seasible at this time according to the knowledge the King has of the now State of the Grand Seignor's Affairs and Provinces This business of Valtelina being adjusted before which nothing can be resolved on if his Holiness finds a good Disposition in other Princes His Majesty will ever be ready to second his good Intentions and to promote them to the utmost of his power It is His Majesty's Desire that the Honour of a Design so pious and so full of Glory should be reserv'd to the Happiness of this Pontificate and that in order thereunto His Holiness would be pleas'd to continue his best Endeavours for the Pacification of the Troubles of Italy as well as those that are kindling in Germany that the chief Princes of Christendom having no other Quarrels to decide may be the better able to unite their Wills and â—orces for this holy Enterprize His Majesty is very sensible that none are so busie on the Stage of the World as the Spaniards in order to extend their Empire more and more which will not only be the Occasion of neglecting the Opportunities of this Christian Project but also of uniting the Protestant Princes more strictly to oppose the Projects of the House of Austria And while this Game lasts the Turk will have many fair Occasions to improve it to their Cost and Shame and the Christâ—anâ— themselves will pay the Faults of their Ambition and Imprudence The Emperor having re-gain'd Bohemia which had been taken from him seems to have more Cause to let his Arms rest in order to provide against this common Enemy than to satisfie the Passion of another who leads him under his Authority to a Design which keeps him in Servitude himself and makes him share the publick Loss For here is Work cut out for a long time unless the Parties will put an end to it themselves since there is Reason to believe that the King of Great Britain with his Confederates will not let his Son-in-Law perish and that the States-General of the United Provinces will neither be so weak nor so destitute of Friends and of Assistance as to fall so soon by the Efforts of the Arms of Spain And in the mean time the great Occasions of doing good as to the general slip away Princes weaken each other by vexatious bloody Exercises thereby giving great Advantages to a potent Enemy who is only with-held by his Ignorance of our Condition or by the Hand of God who in his Mercy has not yet given us over to his Wrath. But we have reason to fear that the Continuance of this Misfortune will draw it upon us as being too unworthy of his Favours in not having made use of the fair Opportunities he had given us of making great Progresses against this Enemy in these last Ages The said Commandore is also to enquire of the Cardinals de Sourdis and Bentivoglio on what Terms the Marriage propos'd between Spain and England stands at present not to raise the least Obstacle against it His Majesty having had several Occasions so to do since he first was inform'd of it had he
Precedency of Cardinals in the King's Council collected by Cardinal de Richelieu MDCXXII From M. du Puy 's Study M.S. 478. THERE is no account to be given of the Treatment Cardinals receive in all other Kingdoms where Kings give them the Precedency before all others whatever But France having peculiar Laws to which it is reasonable to submit they pretend to no more there than what they have had for the time past and I am persuaded that the World will commend their Modesty if they consider that they freely suffer some diminution of the first rank they have had out of respect to the Blood of their Majestys In the Year 1467. at the Estates of Tours Cardinal Balue was seated on the King's Right Hand and Rene King of Sicilly Prince of the Blood on the left In 1493. du Tillet Reports That the King sitting in his Parliament the Cardinal of Lyons was seated immediately after the Dukes of Orleans and of Burgundy the King's Brothers and after him the Counts d' Angoulesme and de Montpencier Princes of the Blood The Possession of this Rank has been so clear that du Tillet says in express Terms that the Quality of a Cardinal is such that he preceeds all the Princes of the Blood after the second Person The first contest between the Princes of the Blood and the Cardinals happen'd under Charles the 9th not between a lay Prince of the Blood but between the Cardinal of Bourbon and the Cardinal of Lorrain The Cardinal of Lorrain was the most Ancient and was seated in the Council above the other without any Contestation They became Enemies and it was fear'd that the Princes of the House of Lorrain would become too great in the State Therefore in order to Temper and Humble the said House the precedence was given to the Cardinal of Bourbon after his having declar'd that he only pretended that Rank in the Council upon the account of the interest those of the Blood have in the State above others Since that time there have been disputes sometimes between the Princes of the Blood and the Cardinals in the Council But without the least Contradiction the Cardinals have always preceeded all others And it would be without the least ground or reason should any Constable or Chancelor pretend to dispute the said Rank with a Cardinal since they have ever been preceeded by Persons who do not dispute it with the Cardinals Du Tillet reports pag. 439. in a Sessions of Parliament That the Constable was seated after the Dukes of Guise d' Aumalle and Vaudemont In another Sessions under Henry the 2d after the Duke of Guise In another Sessions under the said Henry after the Dukes of Guise and Aumalle And yet in another after the Dukes of Guâ—se and of Nivernois He also says elsewhere in express words That the Prelates are after the Constables or Chancellors unless they are Princes or Cardinals Under Henry the 2d the Constable Anne de Montmorency was Favourite He did not love the Cardinal of Lorrain and yet he never thought of disputing his Rank Since the Cardinal of Lenoncourt has always been seated in the King's Council above the Lord Keeper officiating the place of Chancelor At the Declaration of the Queen's Regency in the Parliament held in the Monastery of the Augustin Fryars the Constable of Montmorency seated himself after the Cardinals of Joyeuse Sourdis and du Perron And no Constable or Chancellor ever had that thought except Monsieur de Sillery who imparting his Ambition to the Constable induc'd him to aspire to it All the Ancients of the Council remember to have seen Monsieur de Guise seated above Monsieur de Sillery and on the same side with him The Queen remembers to have seen the Cardinal of Joyeuse seated there and formerly the Cardinal of Sourdis She also remembers he complain'd to her one day that the Chancellor endeavudr'd to break up the Council to incroach that place The Expedient propos'd by the said Chancellor was That there should be one Side of the Dignities on which the Children of France the Princes of the Blood and other Princes Dukes and Peers should be seated consecutively And another Side of the Officers on which the Constable Chancellor Mareschals of France and other Officers should be plac'd And foreseeing that this would be look'd upon as a great Absurdity since by this Means he would be seated sometimes above the Children of France Princes of the Blood or Cardinals he propos'd the making a Declaration which setling the two Sides of Dignities and of Offices should at the same time express that the Second Place on the Side of the Dignities should be Nobler than the First Place on the Side of the Officers This Proposition destroys it self evidently seeing that not only Kings but even God himself cannot make the Vale of a Hill to be the Top thereof nor the Feet of a Man to be higher than his Head So that in reality whatever Subtlity was us'd the Chancellor had a mind to precede those who in Reason have always preceded him since the Second Person of the Right Side would not have been so nobly seated as the First on the Left This Design was openly to settle a perpetual Precedency in the King's Council by the Chancellor like unto that of the First President of the Parliament who has a certain fix'd Seat which he does not so much as yield to the Princes of the Blood This would be of very ill Consequence in the Council for several Reasons easily thought on No body can be ignorant of the End of this Pretension if they consider that the Jealousie of keeping this regulated Place has often induced the Chancellor His Majesty being absent from the Council to give the King 's own Place to qualify'd Persons which was never done before rather than quit his own Therefore the King has wisely condemn'd the said Pretension as being very prejudicial and given the First Place of his Council in which the Prince of Conde sits when he is there to the Cardinal de la Roch-foucaulâ— declaring that the said Prince coming the said Cardinal should remove to the other Side which is the Second Place And thus the Chancellor was absolutely depriv'd of the Advantage he expected by this Proposition which is the same that is continu'd at present contrary to the Judgment the King was pleas'd to give at that time Should any thing be alter'd about this Pretension at present it would be as unjust whatever Retrenchments were made as it was in the whole since it is evident by the Examples above-mention'd that the Cardinals have never yielded to any but the Princes of the Blood for the Reasons abovesaid which can only be of force in relation to them and consequently that next to them they ought to possess the first Places and of Course theirs in their Absence That the noblest Places have always been look'd upon to be those that are the first on the two Sides opposite to
each other and thus successively Du Tillet shews us by the following Words The Difficulty is when the Prâ—laâ—es are mix'd and not by themselves viz. to the Left or Right The first Rank due to them must be understood next to the Queen and the Children of France both Princes and Princesses It is most certain that all the Members of the King's Council keep their Rank according to the Dignity by which they possess that Place Since then Cardinals in all places precede those who at this time dispute the Precedence with them in the Council undoubtly their Pretension is unjust The Cardinals have always had a free Entrance into the King's Council with the Rank due to their Dignity And those who are acquainted with History cannot be ignorant that it is not so with Chancellors who have only been admitted there since a certain Time None of the Chancellors before Monsieur de Sillery were ever admitted to the Secret Council or to that of the Direction of the Finances And the Ancients of the Council know and can testifie that Messieurs de Chiverny and de Bellievre were not of the Council of the said Affairs nor of the Finances unless when on some extraordinary Occasions the late King sent for them thither To what End should an Innovation be made in a most Christian Kingdom under a most Just and most Pious King contrary to what has already been adjudg'd An Innovation to the prejudice of the Church of which he is the Eldest Son and that only to satisfie the Passion of one particular Person If the thing in question were to dispute a Point in which neither of the Parties contending had any Right the Cardinals then ought to be preferr'd How then can that be disputed which they are in possession of and they be depriv'd of that which belongs to them to give it to those who have no Title to it but their Pretension If that Overture were receiv'd one might henceforward pretend all to obtain part which would be a thing of very ill Consequence since no Man hereafter could be certain of any thing though lawfully his An ACT concerning the Precedence of one of the Cardinals in the Council above the Constable MDCXXIV THis Day being the 9th of May 1624. the King being at Compiegne after having heard the Duke de l' Esdiguieres Peer and Constable of France in his Remonstrances about the Seats in Council against the Cardinals his Majesty was pleas'd to admit into the same and taken his Reasons into serious Consideration His Majesty was pleas'd to command him to yield that which he did pretend to at the most earnest Entreaty of the Queen his Mother on Condition that it should not serve as a President against him or any of his Successors in the Constableship and that only to one of the said Cardinals Whereof His Majesty the Marquis de la Vieuville Knight of his Order and Superintendent of his Fiances and du Hallier also Knight of his said Order and Captain of his Guards being present and Witnesses to these Presents has order'd this Act to be drawn by us his Counsellors Secretaries of State and of his Commands who were present at the whole Action Sign'd de Lomenie and Potier Instructions for the Sieurs de Chastillon and de Breze Mareschals of France and the King's Lieutenants General THE said Mareschals must know that His Majesty has written to the Prince of Orange that his Army consisting of Five and Twenty Thousand Foot and Five Thousand Horse and a suitable Train of Artillery will repair to Rochefort on the 12th of May. The said Mareschals are to take a particular Care to cause all necessary Preparations to be made for the Passage of the King's Army in order to join that of the States The said Mareschals are to be at Meziers on the 28th of this Instant to put all things in readiness for their March in order to be at the aforesaid place on the 12th of May. His Majesty allows the said Mareschals in case they judge it more convenient and proper for his Service to join the said Prince of Orange by any other Way provided it be by the Consent of the said Prince If the Spanish Forces should oppose the Passage of the said Mareschals so as to hinder their Conjunction with the said Prince of Orange without coming to Action His Majesty permits them to combat the Enemy if they think they can do it with Advantage and great likelihood of Success unless they judge it more proper to encamp before the Enemies and to send the said Prince of Orange notice to advance on his side in order to inclose the Enemies between the two Armies His Majesty's Army being join'd with that of the said States the said Prince of Orange is to give the Word in both by virtue of the Power given unto him by His Majesty All the Resolutions of the two Armies are to be conserted between the said Prince and the said Mareschals only And the said Mareschals are to summons to the particular Councils they shall hold for the Execution of the things resolv'd on with the said Prince all such Persons as use to assist in the same in the King's Armies The two Armies being join'd His Majesty is of Opinion that the first thing to be done is to fight the Enemies which is to be endeavour'd as much as possible In case the Enemies should put themselves in such a posture by Encampment as to secure themselves from being forc'd to sight Endeavours must be us'd to starve and make them perish that way or else to force them in their Trenches if the Maxims of War permit it If any particular Considerations as the Abundance of the Enemies Provisions and the Dissiculties of getting them for the two Armies in Conjunction should prevent such a Design His Majesty's Opinion is That the only Remedy would be to march directly into the Heart of the Country towards Brussels Louvain Malines and such other places as shall be thought fit by common Advice And that for this Reason That besides the attacking the Enemies chief Cities by this Means their Forces being oblig'd to march to their Assistance will hardly be able to avoid a Combat If the Enemies instead of keeping the Field should divide their Forces into their best Garisons it is thought that the best way would be to attack the Place into which the Cardinal-Infant shall retire by reason that if he could be taken the War would be at an end in Flanders And in case he should retire into some Place belonging to his Neighbours and Allies it will be necessary to follow him there and if possible to force the Place into which he shall retire if the thing be feasible and advisable The said Mareschals are also to take notice That if it be needful to divide the 50000 Foot and 10000 Horse which are to be in His Majesty's and the States Armies into several Bodies the said Division must be made in
Articles CHarles by the Grace of God Duke of Lorrain Marquis Duke of Calabria Bar Gueldres c. To all whom these Presents shall see Greeting Finding Our Self at present in Our Territories which His Majesty has been pleas'd to restore unto Us according to a Treaty made and concluded at Paris on the 29th of March last past agreed on between His Majesty by the Cardinal Duke of Richelieu having a full Power from him and Us We declare That having all the Reason imaginable to praise His Majesty's Goodness and Generosity towards Us who in the midst of the Prosperity of his Arms and of the good Successes it has pleas'd God to bless him with on all sides has been pleas'd to use Us favourably Our Intention is to make him all the Returns of Gratitude and Acknowledgment We are capable of and in the mean time as soon as We have found Our Self in Our said Territories among Our good Servants and Subjects We have thought fit to Ratisie as by these Presents We do Ratifie Agree unto and Approve the aforesaid Treaty together with the Secret Articles Concluded and Agreed on the same Day between the Cardinal Duke of Richelieu in His Majesty's Name and Us according as We have sign'd and sworn the whole Promising moreover on the Word and Faith of a Prince as We did solemnly do on the 2d of April last to execute keep and inviolably maintain the said Treaty and Secret Articles according to their Form and Tenour without deviating or suffering the same to be deviated from on Our part in any manner whatever In Witness whereof We have sign'd these Presents with Our Hand and have caus'd Our Great Seal to be affix'd to the same at Bar the 21th of April 1641. Thus Sign'd CHARLES And upon the Fold By His Highness's Command John le Molleur And Seal'd with the Great Seal of the said Duke of Red Wax upon a double Label The Act or Form of the Oath taken by the Duke Charles of Lorrain in the City of Bar for the Observation of the Treaty above-written and of the Secret Articles WE Charles by the Grace of God Duke of Lorrain Marquis Duke of Calabria Bar Gueldres c. do Swear and Promise on the Faith and Word of a Prince upon the Holy Evangelisis and Canons of the Church by Us Touch'd in order thereunto that We will Observe and Perform cause to be Observ'd and Perform'd fully really and Bona fide all and singular the Points and Articles granted and set down in the Treaty concluded and agreed on at Paris the 29th of March last past together with the Secret Articles also concluded and agreed on the same Day between the Cardinal of Richelieu Peer of France in the Name of the most High most Excellent and most Puissant Prince Lewis by the Grace of God King of France and of Navarre and Us without ever deviating from the same directly or indirectly or suffering the same to be deviated from on Our part in any manner whatever So help Us God In Witness whereof We have sign'd these Presents with Our own Hand and have caus'd Our Seal to be affix'd to the same in the Chapel and Royal House of St. Germain en Laye the 2d of April 1641 The which We have since Ratify'd by these Presents in Our City of Bar the 29th Day of the said Month and Year Sign'd CHARLES of Lorrain And upon the Fold By His Highness's Command John le Molleur And Seal'd with the said Duke's Great Seal of Red Wâ—x upon a double Label Memorial sent in August M. DC XL. to Count Harcourt IT is difficult to give just Measures about the Propositions of Prince Thomas because it is most certain that unless he be reduc'd to the utmost Extremity he will propose nothing but in order to deceive and that in case he be reduc'd so to do he can make none equal to the Advantages that may be deriv'd by taking him Prisoner Prince Thomas cannot be desirous of staying in Turin with the Dutchess of Savoy with any Design but to deceive her and to take under pretence of an Accommodation to the prejudice of his Nephew the same Advantages in his Territories which he did pretend to by force Therefore whatever Treaty supposes the staying of Prince Thomas in the same place with the Dutchess of Savoy is not only to be look'd on as suspicious but is to be absolutely rejected It behoves those who are upon the Spot to keep their Eyes and ears equally open to penetrate as much as can be into the Miseries of the City of Turin and to hearken to the Propositions that the Prince will make to them which as soon as we are acquainted with they will know the King's pleasure If Prince Thomas has a good Intention the Extremity to which he is reduc'd and the Incapacity the Spaniards have been in to assist him discharge him sufficiently both before God and Men without his being oblig'd to use any other pretence to quit their Party His Father and his Brother's Prudence has made them do the same out of reason with less cause And when he seems to require nothing but an apparent reason to retire he only endeavours to conceal his Ill Will which is the more evident in that he is unwilling to believe he has a lawful cause to withdraw from the Spaniards unless he settles his affairs on the ruins of the Dutchess and of her Son as he would do for his own advantage The Spaniards not having been able to succour him he may honourably take the party of France and of his own Nephew the King declaring that he only keeps the Garisons he is in possession of for his said Nephew and for himself in case the Succession thereof should lawfully devolve to him and that he will most certainly deliver them into his said Nephew's hands whenever he shall be of Age and in a condition to preserve them or to the Cardinal his Brother or to himself in case that young Prince should chance to die he has all the reason in the world to be satisfy'd In case His Majesty should likewise think sit to restore his Pensions to him to give one to his Son and one to the Princess of Carignan and to intreat the Dutchess of Savoy to add to the Portion of the said Prince if moreover he should be willing to employ him in some of his Armies things that may be done and that may be promised to him he will not only find with the King all the means that are necessary to quit the Engagement he is in with Honour but also all the useful ones he can reasonably desire In case he should also require an immediate Proposition to be made by the King to the Spaniards for the restitution of all the places they are in possession of in Piedmont since the late War on condition that His Majesty will do the same Answer must be made That the King agrees to this Article and will make his