THE Compleat Statesman OR THE Political Will AND Testament OF THAT Great Minister of STATE Cardinal Duke de Richilieu FROM Whence Lewis the XIV the present French-King has taken his Measures and Maxims of Government In TWO PARTS Done out of FRENCH LONDON Printed for R. Bentley at the Post-House in Russel-Street Covent-Garden J. Philips at the Kings-Arms and J. Taylor at the Ship in St. Paul's-Church-Yard 1695. ADVERTISEMENT TO THE READER THE World would have reason to Wonder that this Political Testament of Cardinal de Richelieu could have been conceal'd so long did not the Consequence of it and the use to which it was designed convince us that he never intended the publishing thereof But whereas it is the Fate of Mysterys to have a certain Date and that it is impossible not to confide things of this Nature to some Indiscreet Persons there is no reason to wonder at their falling at last into Liberal hands who are glad to Impart them to the World It would be a Reflection on the Judgment of the Public to Imagine that they could mistake this Work for tho Men can never be too Cautious to avoid being imposed upon It is impossible to read this without discovering all the Characters of that great Man's mind The Elevation and Beauty of his Genius joyn'd to the Nobleness of his Expressions appears clearly in this but moreover what variety of matter is not found in it They are all handled with so much Solidity that it is obvious that he knew them by a profound Meditation seconded by a consummated Experience and that none but himself was capable to Write them If it be very delightful to read the Reflections and Political Precepts which the best Authors make on the principal Events they Relate that satisfaction is considerably lessen'd when we consider that most of them only reason after the Fact and in their Study's and that they would be at a great loss themselves to overcome the difficultys of the least Negotiation or of the least dangerous Intrigue But this Political Testament is of a different Nature It is a â—…ite and a first Minister of State who has Goveâ—…d upwards of 25 years one of the most considerable Kingdoms of Europe who has Guided it and as it were held it by the hand in the first years of its Rise Who prescribes no Councelâ— but what he has often practis'd himself and Finally who by his Steadiness and Courage has overcome an infinite number of Obstacles and Intrigues which would have overwhelm'd any other Man Therefore there never was a Work of more use for thâ—se who are called to the administration of great Affairs Kings Princes Favorites Ministers Councellors of State Ecclesasticks Nobles Magistrates Courtiers and in fine all sorts and degrees of Men sind instructions here of an Inestimâ—ble Value Not that this Work is in the Condition in which 〈…〉 would undoubtedly have been had he had leisure to revise it but tho some carelesness is discovered in it and some Expressions less happy than oâ—hers nevertheless all the parts of it compose so fine Body that those little faults can only be look'd upon like those Strokes in fine Pictures which tho' careless discover the skill of the Artist It would be an Extraordinary Presumption to endeavour by Words to Inhance the excellence of a Work which sustains it self so well and is infinitely above the Elogys that could be given to it The reading of one Chapter of it will speak more in its behalf than whatever we could say The first Edition of this Book and the two others which follow'd it close have been taken from a Manuscript which seems to be of thirty years standing and to have been written with great precipitation by two different hands without any blots but with many faults The most Essential have been mended in this fourth Impression and we thought fit not to alter the rest for fear of mistaking the sence of the Author As there is no reason to believe that the Copy we have made use of is the only remaining one we intreat those who have a better and who shall observe any Capital faults to Impart the same to us in order to correct them in a fifth Edition The very Contents seem to be written by the Cardinal de Richelieu himself as he was a very methodical Man it is very likely that he begun his Work by the said Contents lest the Matters should anticipate upon each other The World will certainly be surpris'd at the Title of the first Chapter which speaks of the General Peace of which he design'd to mention the Year which he has left in blank since there was no General Peace at that time But we have been oblig'd to follow the Manuscript and it is apparent that he design'd it and thereby to conclude the relation of the King his Master 's great Actions As for the time when this Work was written it is very likely that he did it at several times In the first Chapter he prosecutes the relation of the King's Actions until the Year 1638. Yet in some other Places he seems to write in 1635. since he gives the King but 25 years Reign It may also be question'd whether what he writes of the Jesuites is before or after the Intrigues which Father Causin the King's Confessor and Father Monod Confessor to the Dutchess of Savoy set on foot to remove him from the Court which had like to have succeeded If he writ the said Chapter after he had defeated the said Intrigue no body can sufficiently admire his Moderation in speaking so soberly of them and if he writ it before it is impossible to praise him enough to have left his Work in its first State without expressing more marks of his resentment in the same That which seems most surprising is that he does no wise mention the Birth of the present King in his Political Testament from whence we may infâ—r that it was written before that Event being too considerable to pass it under silence Moreover we must consideâ— that he had given over Writing long before his Death by reason of the mischance of his Arm being oblig'd to dictate all his Dispatches and whereas it is very likely that he would not trust his Political Testament to any other hand he was no longer in a condition to do it himself and that may be the reason of the said Omisâ—ion All the Notes of the present Edition are in the Manuscript but the Historical Observations on the first Chapter were lately communicated to me and are peculiar to the fourth Edition if ever any Work deserv'd to be adorn'd with Remarks it certainly is this The Life and Memoirs of this Great Man will furnish abundance but that is not sufficient it requires something more particular yet to heighten the Intrigues of that Court which have not been divulg'd which would be of great Use for the better Understanding of the History Several useful Remarks might also be
made upon the then State of France and that to which it is grown since Wherein the Councels and Maxims of that great Minister have been follow'd and in what they have deviated from them and several other Remarks not only curious but important If any body will be so kind as to impart all those things to Us We will willingly communicate them to the Public TO King LEWIS XIII SIR AS soon as Your Majesty was pleas'd to admit me into the Management of Your Affairs I resolv'd to use my utmost Endeavours to facilitate Your great Designs as useful to this State as glorious to your Person God having bless'd my Intentions insomuch that the Virtue and Happiness of Your Majesty have astonish'd the present and will be admir'd in future Ages I thought my self obliged to write the History of your glorious Successes both to hinder many Circumstances worthy to live for ever in the Memory of Man from being bury'd in Oblivion thro' the Ignorance of those who cannot know them like me and to the end that the time past might serve as a Rule for the future Therefore I forthwith apply'd my self to it being perswaded that I could never begin that too soon which was only to end with my Life I did not only carefully collect the matter of such a Work but moreover I reduc'd part of it into Order and put the Transactions of some Years in the Form I design'd to publish them I own that tho' there is more Pleasure in furnishing the Matter of History than in putting it into Form yet I found a great deal of Satisfaction in relating what had been perform'd with great Labour While I began to relish the Delights of that Performance the Illnesses and continual Inconveniences which attend the weakness of my Constitution join'd to the Weight of Affairs forc'd me to lay it aside because it requir'd too much time Yet tho' I cannot possibly perform upon this Subject what I so passionately desir'd for the Glory of your Person and for the Welfare of your State I think my self oblig'd in Conscience at least to leave your Majesty some Memoirs of those things I think most necessary for the Government of this Kingdom Two Reasons oblige me to undertake this Work The first is The Fear and Desire I have of ending my Days before the Expiration of yours The Second is The Faithful Passion I have for your Majesty's Interest which makes me not only desirous to see you attended with all sorts of Prosperities during my Life but also makes me earnestly wish to see a Prospect of the Continuation of the same when the Inevitable Tribute we are all oblig'd to pay Nature shall hinder me from being a Witness of them This Piece will appear under the Title of my Political Testament because it is made to serve after my Death for the Polity and Conduct of your Kingdom if your Majesty thinks it worthy of it Because it will contain my last Desires in relation thereunto and that in leaving it to you I bequeath to your Majesty the best Legacy I have to dispose of whenever God will be pleas'd to call me out of this Life It shall be conceiv'd in the most concise and clearest Method I am capable of as well to follow my own Genius and my usual way of writing as to comply with your Majesty's Humour who ever lov'd that Men should come to the Point in few Words being as much pleas'd to hear the Substance of things as apprehensive of the long Discourses most Men use to explain them If my Spirit which will appear in these Memoirs can after my Death contribute any thing towards the Regulation of this great State in the Management of which your Majesty has been pleas'd to give me a greater Share than I deserve I will think my self infinitely happy To that end judging with Reason that the Success God has hitherto been pleas'd to grant the Resolutions your Majesty has taken with your most Faithful Creatures is a powerful Motive to invite you to follow the Advices I will give you for the future I will begin this Work with an Abstract of the great Actions you have perform'd with so much Glory which may justly be stil'd The Solid Foundation of the future Felicity of your Kingdom This Relation will be made with so much Sincerity according to the Judgment of those who are faithful Witnesses of the History of your Time that it will induce every body to believe that the Counsels I give your Majesty have no other Motives but the Interest of your State and the Advantage of your Person I am and will remain Eternally SIR Your Majesty's most Humble most Faithful most Obedient most Passionate and most oblig'd Subject and Servant Armand Du Plessis THE Political Testament Of the Famous CARDINAL Duke de RICHELIEU PART I. CHAP. I. A Short Relation of the King 's great Actions until the Peace concluded in the Year WHEN Your Majesty was first pleas'd to admit me into your Councils and to repose a great Confidence in me for the Direction of your Affairs I may affirm with Truth that the Huguenots shar'd the State with you that the Grandees behav'd themselves as if they had not been your Subjects and the most powerful Governours of Provinces as if they had been Soveraigns in their Imployments I may say that the ill Example of both was so prejudicial to this Kingdom that the best regulated Communities were tainted with their Behaviour and in some cases lessen'd your Majesty's lawful Authority as much as in them lay in order to extend their own beyond reason I may say that every Man measur'd his Merit by his Presumption that instead of valuing the Favours they receiv'd from your Majesty by their Intrinsick Worth they only valued them according as they were suitable to the Unruliness of their Fancy and that the most daring were esteem'd the wisest and often prov'd the most happy I may also say that Foreign Alliances were despis'd Private Interest preferr'd to Publick Good in a word the Dignity of Royal Majesty was so much debas'd and so different from what it ought to be by the Defect of those who had then the principal Management of your Affairs that it was almost impossible to distinguish it The Proceeding of those to whom your Majesty had intrusted the Helm of your State could no longer be tolerated without ruining all and on the other hand it could not be alter'd all at once without violating the Laws of Prudence which do not allow the passing from one Extream to another without a Medium The ill Posture of your Affairs seem'd to constrain your Majesty to take precipitated Resolutions without Election of Time or of Means and â—â—t Choice was necessary in both to improve the Alteration which Necessity exacted from your Prudence The Wâ—… were of Opinion that it was impossible without â— Shipwrack to steer through the Rocks that appear'd on all sides in times of such Uncertainty
beat the Duke of Savoy assisted by the Spaniards rais'd the Siege of Cazal and constrain'd all your Enemies to agree with you This glorious Action which restor'd Peace in Italy was no sooner atchiev'd but your Majesty whose Mind and Heart never found any rest but in Labour pass'd directly into Languedoc where after having taken Privas and Alez by force you reduc'd the rest of the Huguenot Party throughout your Kingdom to Obedience and by your Clemency granted a Peace to those who had presum'd to wage a War against you not by granting them Advantages prejudicial to the State as had been done till then but by banishing him out of the Kingdom who was the only Head of that miserable Party and who had all along fomented it That which is most considerable in so glorious an Action is that you ruin'd that Party absolutely at a time when the King of Spain endeavour'd to raise it again and to settle it more than ever He had newly made a Treaty with the Duke of Rohan to form in this State a Body of Rebellious States to God and to your Majesty at once in consideration of a Million of Livres which he was to pay him yearly for which he made the Indies Tributaries to Hell But their Projects prov'd ineffectual And whilst he had the Mortification to hear that the Person he had employ'd to be the Bearer of so glorious an Establishment was executed upon a Scaffold by a Decree of the Parliament of Thoulouse before whom he was Try'd your Majesty had the Satisfaction and Advantage to pardon those who could no longer defend themselves to annihilate their Faction and to use their Persons well when they expected nothing but the Chastisement of the Crimes they had commited I am sensible that Spain thinks to excuse so ill an Action by the Succours you granted the Hollanders but that Excuse is as ill as their Cause Common Sense will convince every body that there is much difference between the continuation of a Succours established upon a Lawful Subject if Natural Defence is so and a new Establishment manifestly contrary to Religion and to the Lawful Authority Kings have received from Heaven over their Subjects The late King your Father never enter'd into a Treaty with the Hollanders until the King of Spain had form'd a League in this Kingdom to usurp the Crown This Truth is too evident to be question'd and there is no Theology in the World but will grant without going against the Principles of Natural Reason that as Necessity obliges those whose Life is attempted to make use of all Helps to preserve it so a Prince has the same Right to avoid the loss of his State That which is free in the beginning sometimes becomes necessary in the sequel Therefore no body can find fault with the Union your Majesty maintains with those People not only in consequence of the Treaties of the late King but moreover because Spain cannot be reputed otherwise than as an Enemy to this State whilst they retain part of its ancient Demeans It is evident that the Cause which has given a Rise to those Treaties not being remov'd the continuation of the Effect is as lawful as necessary The Spaniards are so far from any Pretence of being in the same case that on the contrary their Designs are so much the more unjust that instead of repairing the Injuries they have done this Kingdom they increase them daily Moreover the late King never join'd with the Hollanders until they were entred into a Body of State and was constrain'd to it by an Oppression which he could not wholly avoid He neither occasion'd their Revolt nor the Union of their Provinces And Spain has not only often favour'd the Revolted Huguenots against your Predecessors they also endeavour'd to unite them in a Body of State in yours A holy Zeal has induc'd them to be the Authors of so good an Establishment and that without any Necessity and consequently without Reason unless the Continuation of their ancient Usurpations and the new ones they design rectifie their Actions so much that what is forbidden to all the World besides is lawful in them upon the account of their good Intentions Having treated this matter more at large in another Treatise I will leave it to continue the Sequel of your Actions The ill Faith of the Spaniards having induc'd them to attack the Duke of Mantua again to the Prejudice of the Treaties they had made with your Majesty you march'd the second time into Italy where by the Blessing of God after having gloriously cross'd a River the Passage whereof was defended by the Duke of Savoy with an Army of 14000 Foot and 4000 Horse contrary to the Faith of the Treaty he had made with your Majesty the Year before You took Pignerol in sight of the Emperour 's and King of Spain's Forces and of the Person and all the Power of the Duke of Savoy and that which renders that Action the more Glorious in sight of the Marquess de Spinola one of the greatest Captains of his Time By that means you took Susa and overcame at once the three most considerable Powers of Europe the Plague Famine and the Impatiency of the French of which there are not many Examples in History After which you Conquer'd Savoy driving an Army of 10000 Foot and 2000 Horse before you which had a better Advantage to defend it self in that Mountainous Country than 30000 to attack them Soon after which the Combats of Veillane and of Coriane signaliz'd your Arms in Piemont and the taking of Valence Fortify'd by the Duke of Savoy in order to oppose your Designs made the World sensible that nothing could resist the Just Arms of a King as Fortunate as Powerful Cazal was reliev'd not only against the Opinion of most Men but even against the very Thoughts of the Duke de Montmorency who had been employ'd to that end and against the Opinion of Marillac who was substituted in his Place who both publickly declar'd that it was an impossible Enterprize The Relief of the said Place was the more glorious in that a stronger Army than your Majesty's retrench'd at the Head of the Milaneze which furnished them with all sorts of Conveniencies and shelter'd under the Walls of Cazal which had been consign'd in their Hands was constrain'd to quit it and five other Places at the same time which the Spaniards held thereabouts in the extent of Mont-Ferrat Those who know that in the very height of that Design your Majesty was reduc'd to the utmost Extremity by a Fit of Sickness and that tho' your Person was dangerously Ill your Heart was yet in a worse Condition If they consider that the Queen your Mother at the Instigation of some malicious Persons form'd a potent Party which weakning you considerably strengthen'd your Enemies If they also consider that they daily receiv'd Advice that your Majesty's most faithful Servants whom they both did hate and dread would
Rancounters to pass for Duels and to be punish'd as such until those who have been guilty of them surrender themselves Prisoners and are absolv'd of the same by Law you will do whatever is probable to stop the course of that Frensie and your Care to preserve the Lives of your Nobility will make you Master of their Hearts and will engage them to so strict an Allegiance that they will pay with Usury whatever your Majesty can expect from them in all the Imployments they are gratified with CHAP. IV. Of the Third ORDER of the Kingdom TO Treat of the Third Order of the Kingdom with Method and to see clearly what is proper to be done to make it subsist in the State in which it ought to be I will divide it into Three Parts The First shall contain the Body of the Officers of Justice The Second of those who have the Management of the Finances And The Third the People which commonly bears the Burthen of the State SECT I. Which relates in general to the Disorders of the Courts of Justice and examines in particular whether the Suppression of the Sale of Offices and of Hereditary Offices would be a proper Remedy for such Evils IT is much easier to discover the Defects of the Courts of Justice than to prescribe Remedies for the same Every body is sensible that those who are appointed to hold the Scale even in all things have inclin'd it so much themselves on one side to their own Advantage that there is no longer any Counterpoise The Disorders of the Courts of Justice are come to that pass that they can go no farther I would enter into the Particulars of the said Disorders and of the Remedies which may be applied to the same if the Knowledge I have both of the Person of him who has the First Office of Justice at present and of his Design to render it as pure as the Corruption of the World will allow it did not oblige me barely to propose certain general Remedies to your Majesty to stop the progress of the principal Disorders In the Opinion of the Generality of the World the Chief consists in suppressing the Sale of Offices in extinguishing the Inheritance of the same and in giving them gratis to Persons of such known Capacity and Integrity that even Envy it self may not be able to contest their Merit But whereas it is a thing which cannot be done at this time and that it will be difficult to practice this Expedient at any other it would be useless at present to propose Means to that End Whenever the said Design is undertaken some will certainly be found which cannot be foreseen at present and those one might prescribe would be no longer in season when the thing might be attempted In the mean time though it is commonly dangerous to be singular in Advising I cannot forbear saying boldly That considering the present State of Affairs and that which may be foreseen for the future it is better in my Opinion to continue the said Sale and Inheritance of Offices than absolutely to alter the Settlement thereof So many Inconveniences are to be fear'd in such an Alteration that as though the Elections for Benefices are more ancient and more Canonical than the Nomination of Kings nevertheless the great Abuses which have been committed in the same and which it would be impossible to prevent render the Nominations more supportable as less subject to ill Consequences So notwithstanding the suppression of the Sale and Inheritance of Offices is consonant to Reason and to all the Constitutions of Right yet the inevitable Abuses which would be committed in the distribution of Offices depending so much on the bare Will of Kings and consequently on the Favour and Craft of those who should have most Power with them would render the present proceeding in the same more tolerable than that which has been us'd heretofore by reason of the great Inconveniences which alway attended it All reasonable Men must needs see the difference between these two Parties and heartily desire the suppression of the Sale and Inheritance of Offices supposing that in this case Places would be distributed by the pure Consideration of Vertue Neither can they be ignorant that in such a Case the Artifices of the Court would prevail before Reason and Favour before Merit Nothing contributed more to make the Duke of Guise so Powerful in the League against his King and Country as the great Number of Officers his Credit had introduc'd in the greatest Employments of the Kingdom And I have been told by the Duke of Sully That the said Consideration was the most powerful Motive which induc'd the late King to the Establishment of the Annual Duty That that great Prince had not so much regard to the Revenue which accru'd to him by it as to the Means to secure himself for the future against such Inconveniences And that notwithstanding Treasure had a great Influence over him Reasons of State were more prevailing on that occasion In the new Establishment of a Commonwealth it were a Crime not to banish the Sale of Offices because in such Cases Reason obliges to establish the most perfect Laws Human Society can permit But Prudence does not allow it in ancient Monarchies the Imperfections of which are turn'd to use and the Disorder of which not without Advantage composes part of the Orders of the State In such Cases Men must submit to Weakness and prefer a moderate Regulation to a more austere Settlement which perhaps would be less proper the Rigour of it being capable to shake the Fabrick which one would strengthen I am sensible that it is a common Saying That he who buys Justice by the Lump may sell it by Retail but yet it is certain that an Officer who lays out the best part of his Estate upon a Place will be kept from doing ill in a great measure for fear of loling all that he is worth and that in such a case the Price of Offices is not an ill Pledge of the Fidelity of the Officers The Complaints which are made against the Sale of Offices have been the same in all the Ages of the Monarchy but though they have ever been look'd upon as reasonable in themselves yet the Disorders upon which they are grounded have been tolerated supposing that we are not capable of the austere Perfection which is the scope of them Those who are not ignorant of History must needs know that some Writers not even sparing the King St. Lewis have upbraided his Reign because Places were not bestow'd gratis in his Time That they condemn others after him because the Traffick of Offices was already so publick that the Money arising by the same was Farm'd and that they cast an Odium upon the Memory of the great King Francis because he was the first who upon the account of the necessity of the Age he liv'd in made a Regulated Commerce of them which has lasted ever since I
would be pleas'd often to call to mind what I have represented several times to you That no Prince can be in a worse Condition than he who not being always able to do those things himself which he is oblig'd to do is loth to permit others to do them for him and that to be capable to suffer himself to be serv'd is not one of the least Qualities a great King can have seeing that otherwise occasions are often sooner fled than Men can dispose themselves to take hold of them whereby favourable Conjunctures for the advancement of the State are lost for Subjects of no consideration The late King your Father being reduc'd to a great Necessity paid his Servants with good Words and made them do things by Caresses which his Necessity did not allow him to incline them to any other way Your Majesty not being of that Constitution has a natural driness which you take from the Queen your Mother as herself has often told you in my presence which hinders you from imitating the late King on this Subject I cannot forbear representing to you that it is your Interest to do good to those who serve you and that at least it is reasonable to take particular care not to say any thing to disoblige them As I shall have an occasion in the sequel to treat of the Liberality which is necessary in Princes I will say no more of it in this place but I will enlarge upon the Evils which attend those who speak too freely of their Subjects The Wounds which are receiv'd by Swords are easily cur'd but it is not so by those of the Tongue particularly by the Tongues of Kings the Authority of which makes them incurable unless the Cure comes from themselves The higher a Stone is thrown from the more impression it makes where it lights many would freely expose themselves to be run through by the Swords of their Master's Enemies who cannot bear a Scratch from his hand As a Fly is not Meat for an Eagle as the Lion despises those Animals which are not of his Force as a Man attacking a Child would be blam'd by all the World so I presume to say That great Kings ought never to wound private Persons with Words because they bear no proportion to their Grandeur History is full of the ill Events which have been occasion'd by the liberty great Men have formerly allow'd their Tongues to the prejudice of Persons they deem'd to be of no Consideration GOD has been pleas'd to favour your Majesty so much that you are not naturally inclin'd to do harm and therefore it is reasonable you should regulate your Words so much that they may not do the least prejudice I am certain that you will not willingly fall into that Inconvenience But as it is difficult for you to stop your first Motions and your sudden Agitations of Mind which do sometimes transport you I should not be your Servant unless I acquainted you that your Reputation and Interest requires your taking a particular care to suppress them seeing that though such liberty of Speech should not wound your Conscience yet it would very much prejudice your Affairs As to speak well of one's Enemies is an Heroick Vertue A Prince cannot speak licentiously of those who would venture a thousand Lives for his Service without committing a notable Fault against the Laws of Christians as well as against sound Policy A King whose Hands are undefiled whose Heart is pure and whose Tongue is innocent has not a common Vertue and those who possess those two first Qualities eminently as your Majesty does may easily acquire the third As it suits with the Grandeur of Kings to be reserv'd in their Words that nothing may come out of their Mouths capable to offend private Persons so in Prudence it behoves them not only to take care never to say any thing to the disadvantage of the Principal Communities of their State but moreover to speak in such a manner of them that they may have reason to believe they have an Affection for them The most important Affairs of the State oblige them so often to cross them for Publick Good that Prudence requires they should be satisfied in things which are not of that nature It is not sufficient for great Princes never to open their Mouths to speak ill of any body but Reason requires they should shut their Ears against Slanders and false Reports and that they should turn out and banish the Authors of them as dangerous Plagues which infect the Courts and Hearts of Princes and the Minds of all those who come near them If those who have a free access to the Ears of Kings without deserving it are dangerous those who possess their Hearts out of pure Favour are much more so seeing that in order to preserve such a Treasure they must needs make use of Art and Malice to supply the want of Vertue which is not in them I cannot forbear adding upon this Subject That I have always dreaded for your Majesty the Power of such Men more than the Power of the greatest Kings of the World and that it behoves you more to beware of the Artifice of a Menial Servant than of all the Factions the Grandees could form in your State though they should all tend to the same End When I was first introduc'd into the Management of Affairs those who had had the Honour to serve you before were prepossess'd that your Majesty believ'd whatever was reported to their prejudice and upon that Foundation their principal Care was ever to keep some of their Confidents about you to secure themselves against the Evil they were afraid of Though the Experience I have of your Majesty's steadiness in relation to me obliges me to acknowledge either that their Opinion was ill grounded or that the Reflections which Time has allow'd you to make upon me have remov'd that Easiness of Youth yet I must needs conjure you to settle your self so firmly in the Conduct you have been pleas'd to use towards me that no body may have reason to dread a contrary Fate In the next place I must also tell you That as Prince's Ears must be shut against Calumnies so they must be open to hearken to the Truths which are useful to the State and that as the Tongue must have no motion to say any thing to the prejudice of any body's Reputation so it must be free and bold to speak when Publick Interest is concern'd I mention these two Points because I have often observ'd that it was no small trouble to your Majesty to have the Patience to hearken even to that which was most important to you and that when the Welfare of your Affairs oblig'd you to express your Will not only to Persons of great Quality but also to those of mean Condition you had much ado to resolve to do it when you suspected that it would be disagreeable to them I confess that the said Dread is a sign
of Goodness but to be no Flatterer I must also tell you that it is a sign of Weakness which though tolerable in a private Man cannot be so in a great King considering what Inconveniences it may be attended with I lay no stress upon that such a Proceeding would lay all the Odium and Hatred of Resolutions upon your Majesty's Council because that is inconsiderable if it could prove beneficial to the Affairs of the State but that which is worth considering is that there are often occasions in which whatsoever Authority a Minister can have it cannot be sufficient to produce certain Effects which require the Voice of a Soveraign and an absolute Power Moreover if the Grandees were once persuaded that an unseasonable Shame would hinder a King from performing the Office of a King in Commanding absolutely they would always pretend to obtain by Importunity the contrary of what has been order'd by Reason and finally their Audaciousness might proceed so far that finding their Prince apprehensive of acting like a Master they would grow weary of acting as Subjects Princes must have a Masculine Vertue and do every thing by Reason without being guided by Inclination which often leads them into dangerous Precipices if those which blind them and induce them to do whatever they please are capable to produce Mischief when they follow them with too much Inadvertency the natural Aversion they receive sometimes without a Cause may cause greater yet unless they are temper'd by Reason as they ought to be In some occasions your Majesty has stood in need of your Prudence to check the Tendency of those two Passions but more in the last than in the first since it is easier to do Mischief following the Dictates of Aversion which requires nothing but a Command in a King than to do good according to one's Inclination which cannot be done without depriving one's self of one's own which many Persons can hardly resolve to do Those two Motions are contrary to the Genius of Kings principally if reflecting little upon them they oftener follow their Instinct than their Reason They often induce them to engage in the Divisions which are frequent in Courts among private Persons which has occasion'd great Inconveniences in my time Their Dignity obliges them to reserve themselves for Reason which is the only Party they ought to espouse on all occasions they cannot do otherwise without divesting themselves of the Quality of Judges and of Soveraigns to take that of Parties and submitting in some measure to the Condition of private Men. They thereby expose their State to many Cabals and Factions which are form'd afterwards Those who are to defend themselves against the Power of a King are too sensible that they can never do it by Force to attempt it otherwise than by Intrigues Artifices and Cabals which often occasion great trouble in States The Sincerity which is necessary in a Man who makes a Testament does not permit my Pen to end this Section without making a Confession as true as it is advantagious for your Majesty's Glory since it will testifie to all the World That the Law of GOD has always been a Bound capable to stop the Violence of any Inclination or Aversion which could have surpris'd your Mind which being liable to the least Derect of Human Nature has always Thanks be to GOD been free of the most notable Imperfections of Princes CHAP. VII Which represents the present State of the King's Houshold and sets forth what seems to be necessary in order to put it into that in which it ought to be THe Order of Arts and of all good Discipline requires that a Man should begin his Work by that Part which is most easie Upon this Foundation the first thing an Architect does who undertakes a great Building is to make a Model of it in which the Proportions must be so well observ'd that it may serve him as a Measure and Foot for his great Design And when he cannot compass the said Project he lays aside his Enterprize common Sense making the dullest sensible that he who cannot perform the least is altogether incapable of the most In that Consideration as the meanest Capacities are sensible That as the Structure of Man is an Abstract of that of the Great Word so private Families are the true Models of States and of Republicks and every body being persuaded that he who either cannot or will not regulate his Family is not capable to Order a State Reason did require that in order to compass the Reformation of this Kingdom I should begin by that of your Majesty's Houshold Nevertheless I confess that I never durst under take it by reason that your Majesty having ever had an Aversion for the Orders you reckon'd to be of small consequence when any private Persons were concern'd in them no body could propose such a Design without openly shocking your Inclination and the Interest of many Men who being continually about you in great Familiarity might have prejudic'd you against those Orders which were most necessary for your State to put a stop to those of your Houshold the Irregularity of which were useful to them But as a Testament sets forth many Intentions which the Testator durst not divulge during his Life this will petition your Majesty towards the Reformation of your Houshold which has been omitted both by reason that though it did seem more easie than that of the State yet it was in effect much more difficult and also because Prudence obliges to suffer in some measure small Losses to gain considerably in others As it is obvious to all the World that no King ever carried the Dignity of his State to a higher degree than your Majesty so no body can deny that none ever suffer'd the Lustre of his Houshold to be more trampled upon The Strangers who have travell'd in France in my time have often wonder'd to see a State so exalted and a Houshold so debas'd And indeed it is insensibly decay'd to that degree that some are in possession of the first Places of it who under the Reigns of your Predecessors durst not have presum'd to aspire to the least All things have been in confusion there from the Kitchen to the Cabinet Whereas in the King your Father's time the Princes the Officers of the Crown and all the Grandees of the Kingdom did commonly eat at your Tables in your time they seem only establish'd for Servants common Chevaux Legers and Gens d'â—â—rms Moreover they have been so ill serv'd that some of them have been so nice as to despise them instead of being fond of them Strangers have often found fault even with your own being serv'd by common nasty Scullions whereas those of other Kings are only serv'd by Gentlemen I am sensible that this Custom has not been introduc'd in your time but it is never the more tolerable for being ancient since it is absolutely derogating from the Dignity and Grandeur of so great a
this advantage that they retain States for some Time in some considerations of Respect one towards another and to have a Value for them it is sufficient that they prove sometimes advantageous As the way to get good Fruit is to Graft the Princes of France who derive their Birth from Parents of Equal and high Quality must in Reason be more elevated and without doubt their Blood remains the more Illustrious in being less mix'd with other Moreover Alliances serve sometimes to extinguish Leagues and Ingagements among Princes and tho they do not always produce that good Effect the advantages the house of Austria derives by them shows that they are not to be neglected In matters of State all things must be improv'd and what may be useful must never be dispis'd Leagues are of that kind the Benefit of them is often very uncertain and yet they must be respected However I would not advise a great Prince to ingage himself voluntarily upon the account of a League in a design of difficult Execution unless he finds himself powerful enought to make it succeed altho his Colleagues should fail him Two Reasons oblige me to advance this Proposition The first draws its Original and Force from the Weakness of Unions which are never very certain among divers Soveraign Heads The second consists in that Petty Princes are often as careful and diligent to Ingage great Kings into great Enterprises as they are slow in seconding them notwithstanding they are strictly oblig'd so to do and that there are some who save their own stake at the cost of those they have ingag'd against their Will Altho it is a common Saying that whoever has Force has commonly Reason it is true nevertheless that two unequal Powers being joyn'd by a Treaty the greatest is in danger of being forsaken by the other the reason of it is Evident Reputation is a thing of so much Importance to a great Prince that no advantage can be propos'd to him to recompense the loss he would suffer by it in case he should forfeit the Engagements of his Word and Faith And such Terms may be offer'd to him whose Power is Inconsiderable tho his Quality is Sovereign that according to all Probability he will prefer his advantage to his Honor which will make him fail in his Obligation towards him who foreseeing his Infidelity cannot resolve to prevent it by reason that to be abandon'd by his Allys is not of somuch Consequence to him as the prejudice he would receive in violating his Faith Kings must take a great deal of Care what Treatys they make but when they are made they must keep them Religiously I am sensible that many Polititians teach the Contrary but without considering in this Place what the Christian Faith affords us against those Maxims I maintain that since the loss of Honor is greater then the loss of Life a great Prince should sooner venture his Life and even the Interest of his State than to break his Word which he can never violate without loseing his Reputation and consequently the greatest Force of Sovereigns The importance of this Place makes me observe that it is absolutely necessary to be exact in the Choice of Ambassadors and other Negotiators and that a Prince can never be too severe in punishing those who exceed their Commissions since by those Faults they expose the Reputation of Princes and the Well-fare of the Commonwealth at once The easiness or corruption of some Persons is sometimes so great and the desire of others who are neither so weak nor so wicked to do something is often so extraordinary that if they are not kept within the bounds which are prescrib'd them out of fear of absolute Ruin there will always be a greater Number of those who will be drawn in to make ill Treatys than to make none at all I have had so much Experience of this Truth that it forces me to end this Chapter saying That whoever shall not be Rigorous in those Occasions will be wanting in what is necessary to the subsistance of States CHAP. VII One of the greatest Advantages that can be procur'd to a State is to give every one an Employment suitable to his Genius and Capacity SUCH Misfortunes befal States through the Incapacity of those that are Imploy'd in the principal Places and most important Commissions that the Prince and those who have a share in the Administration of Affairs can never be too careful to employ none but such as are fit for the Places they are design'd for The most clear sighted being sometimes blind and there being but few Men who are willing to impose Bounds to themselves according to the Rules of Reason Those who are in credit about Princes always think themselves worthy of all sorts of Imployments and upon that false Foundation they use their utmost Endeavours to obtain them Nevertheless it is certain that a Man who is capable to serve the Publick in certain Functions may be capable to ruin it in another I have seen such strange Inconveniences proceeding from the ill choice that have been made in my time that I cannot forbear exclaiming upon that Subject to avoid the like for the future If Physicians will not suffer Experiments to be made on Persons of any consideration it is easy to conceive how dangerous it must be to put unexperienc'd Persons in Places of the greatest Trust since thereby you give way to Learners to make Essays on occasions in which Masters and Master pieces are so necessary Nothing can be more capable to ruin a State than such a Proceeding the true source of all sorts of disorder An Ambassador ill chosen to make a Treaty may cause a notable prejudice out of Ignorance A General of an Army incapable of such an Imployment is capable of hazarding all his Master's Fortune and the happiness of the State unseasonably I dare say on the contrary That if all those who are imploy'd in Public Trusts were worthy of them States would not only be exempted from many accidents which often trouble their quiet but they would enjoy unexpressible Felicities I am sensible that it is very difficult to meet Subjects which have all the Qualifications requir'd for the Places they are design'd for but at least they must have the Chief and when none that are accomplish'd can be found it is no small satisfaction to chuse the best that can be found in a barren Age. If the mask most Men put on and if the Artifices they usually practise to disguise themselves and to conceal their Defects deceive us insomuch that being once settl'd in great-Places they appear as malicious as they were esteem'd full of Virtue when they were chosen the said mistake must be rectifi'd immediately and tho Indulgence may induce to Tolerate some small Incapacity it must never excuse malice which is so to prejudicial to States to be Tolerated in consideration of Private Interest It is on this Occasion our Duty obliges us to
Country inclines them some times to take Arms against their King the Inconstancy and sudden Motions to which they are subject not permitting any body to rely upon them they do themselves more harm than they are capable of doing to their Country 'T is most certain that the Spaniards surpass us in Constancy and Steadiness in Zeal and in Fidelity for their King and Country but in exchange that Kingdom is so barren and so desart in some Places and so little abounding in Men that were it not for their Constancy it would often be abandon'd by it self Moreover if among the French some particular Persons ingage against their Master the Spaniards some times mutiny and revolt in Bodys in their Armys If the Emperor has the advantage to govern a Nation which is the Nursery of Souldiers he has the disadvantage that they easily change their Party and Religion together besides that they are very much addicted to Drunkenness and far more unrulythan ours in the Field In a Word all Nations have there defects and the most prudent are those who endeavour to acquire by Art what Nature has deny'd them It is more easy to add Flegm Patience and Discipline to the Courage Valour and Courtesy of the French than to inspire that Fire in Flegmatic Nations which they have not naturaly The French are Capable of every thing provided their Commanders are Capable to teach them what they are to do Their Courage which inclines them to seek out War all the World over Justifys this Proposition Since they live like Spaniards in their Armys like Sweedes in their Country like Crawats when they are listed among them and like Hollanders in their States They observe their several Disciplines which shows that if they keep their Natural Imperfections in their Country it is because they are tolerated and that their Officers do not know how to Correct them If they live in this Kingdom without Discipline it is not so much their fault as the fault of their Leaders who commonly content themselves with making fine Ordinances and do not take so much care as they should do to cause them to be observ'd Nothing can be more easy than to prescribe Rules to live well and nothing more difficult then to put them in practice however it is not impossible Endeavours must be us'd to show the Justice of them by reason and then no mercy must be shown to those who Violate them If one two or three Examples of Punishment do not put a stop to Disobedience the continuance of it will do 't and I dare assure your Majesty that if you find Chiefs worthy to command you will never want Subjects fit to obey It is most certain that the general Opinion of the World That the French are incapable of Rule and Discipline has no other Foundation than the Incapacity of their Commanders who do not know how to chuse necessary means for the Ends they propose The Siege of Rochel in which during thirteen Months an Army of 25000 Men receiv'd Orders and obey'd like Monks bearing Arms and the Expedition of Pignerol where they did the same plainly demonstrate what I have said But the General must be a Man of Resolution and no respecter of Persons and known to be so for it is certain that unless he has so much steadiness as to remain inflexible in the Rigor of the Rule he has prescrib'd no Man will think himself oblig'd to observe it or at least many will venture to break it in hopes of a Pardon But when a General persists as much in punishing as the Delinquents in their Faults his steadiness will stop the course of our excessive Levity and without such a Remedy it is in vain to expect to keep so hot and so impetuous a Nation as ours is within the Bounds of Reason The Punishments of Marillac and of Montmorency have reduc'd all the Grandees of the Kingdom to their Duty in an instant of time and I dare affirm that the same being practis'd against Ten Officers and Fifty Souldiers will maintain the Armys in Discipline and in a condition to perform whatever will be desir'd of them Punishing those thus who shall be wanting in the Performance of their Duty few Men will be punish'd since few will venture to expose themselves to ruin finding it inevitable and by the Death of a small Number the Lives of many will be preserv'd and Order observ'd in all things The Defects of this Nation never appear'd more than under your Majesty's Reign which being signaliz'd by great Prosperity and Power by your Conduct will also be signaliz'd in the opinion of the most judicious for many Insidelities you have suffer'd and by a World of Attempts against your Service After having made divers Inquiries into the Reasons of both I am not afraid of saying That they proceed from the Weakness of your Majesty's Minority during which Men have so insensibly accustom'd themselves to all sorts of Licentiousness that they thought they might continue the same under your Reign with the same Impunity as heretofore The first is that as there are more Colleges of Religious Orders more Officers of Justice and of the Finances than for the time past there are not near so many Souldiers for which reason the desertion of those who retire from the Armies is more apparent because there are not so many found as formerly to supply the room of those who forsake their Duty The second that Souldiers advanc'd their Fortune more formerly than in these Times in which the Officers of the Finances and the Partisans reap all the Fat to the great disgust of those who are constrain'd to expose their Lives almost to no purpose The third that Generals are less careful in our days of military Discipline and less severe in chastising those who swerve from it than our Fore-fathers were The fourth that the long discontinuation the French have had of Foreign Wars in which they had powerful Enemies to encounter had almost made them forget the Trade and disus'd them from the Fatigues they are little capable of tho they must go through many when they have brisk and potent Enemies to deal with I add to these considerations that your Majesty's health has not always permitted you to be in the Army and that the Injustice of the French is so great that they are never satisfy'd in a Place where they venture their Life unless they see their King whose presence they fancy does in some measure secure it None but the Enemies of this State can make War successfully by their Lieutenants the Flegm of their Nation gives them that advantage but the French are the most unfit for it of any other Nation because the eagerness of their Courage and the desire of fighting gives them an Impatience which can never be vanquish'd but by the presence of their King If at any time any great Enterprise has met with Success under Lieutenants it will either be found that those who
State may receive considerable advantages by which it will be depriv'd of whenever those in favour of whom they may be made will think they can get no more Money out of them But so many robberys are committed under that Pretence that I am of opinion upon mature deliberation that it is better to lose some advantages which may accrue by it than to be thereby exposed to all the abuses which may be daily committed to the ruin of the State However not to Obstruct the means of making some secret Expences to the advantage of the State a million of Gold may be allowed for the said private expences on condition that the laying of it out shall be sign'd by the King himself and that those who shall have a share in it shall give acquittances for the same If any one urges that these Comptans are necessary for the remitments which are in use I say that it is one of the reasons for which it is fit to remove them Since Men have liv'd in former ages without the aforesaid Compians the same may be done again and if in laying aside the use of them the use of Farming were also abrogated instead of doing any harm it will do a great deal of good Some perhaps may wonder why since I know the use of the Comptans to be of ill consequence I did not retrench it in my time The great Henry was sensible of the evil establish'd in his Predecessor's time and could not remove it The Troubles and Intestine broils the foreign Wars and consequently the great Expences and the extraordinary Farms the King has been oblig'd to make and to let out to raise Money have not permitted the thinking on the Execution of so good an advice The ruining the Huguenot Party abating the Pride of the Grandees maintaining a great War against Powerful Enemys in order to secure the future Tranquillity of the State by a good Peace are all means which have been used to reach the ends proposed since that is the way to remove the Causes of the Toleration of those abuses The Subject of the Comptains having given me an occasion to speak of the letting out of extraordinary Farms I cannot forbear saying that the great augmentations of the revenue which may be made that way are so far from being advantageous to the State that on the Contrary they are very prejudicial and Inpoverish it instead of Inriching it Perhaps this proposition may be looked upon at first as a Paradox but it is impossible to examin it carefully without discovering the Justice and Truth thereof The King's Revenue can only be increas'd by the augmentation of the Impositions which are laid on all sorts of Commoditys and therefore it is evident that increasing the revenue that way Expences are increased at the same time since those things must be bought dearer which were bought cheaper before If Meat grows dearer if the Price of Stufs and of other things rises the Souldiers will not be able to maintain themselves and consequently it will be necessary to augment their Pay and the salary of all Workmen will be greater than it was before which will make the increase of the Expence answerable to the augmentation of the Revenue and tho it will be a great grievance to the People the Prince will be but very little the better for it Poor Gentlemen whose Estates consist in Land will not improve their Revenue by such Impositions the Fruits of the Earth will hardly rise in Price at least for their advantage and if the Times make them dear the less of them will be sold so that at the Year's end the poor Gentry will find no augmentation in their Revenue tho a very considerable one in their Expences by reason that the new subsidys will raise the Price of all those things which are necessary for the maintenance of their Families which they will make shift to maintain at home tho' poorly but they will be no longer able to send their Children into the Armies to serve their King and Country according to the obligation of their Birth If it be true as it is most certain that the sale of those Commodities which your Subjects deal in diminishes according to the increase of Impositions it may happen that such augmentations will lessen your Majesties Duties instead of increasing them If we consider such as are imploy'd in the Kingdom it is certain that when Goods are at a reasonable price People buy and really spend more than when the price of them is excessive for then they retrench even those which are most necessary If on the other hand we consider those Commodities which are carry'd out of the Kingdom it is plain that Foreigners who have hitherto been incourag'd to buy them because they were cheap will provide their stores elsewhere if they can better themselves which will leave France abounding in the Fruirs of the Earth but unprovided of Money whereas the Impositions being moderate the great quantity of Fruits which will be Exported by Foreigners will recompense the loss some may fancy by the moderation of Subsidies Moreover the increase of Impositions is capable to reduce a considerable number of the King's Subjects to idleness since it is certain that the major part of the poor People and Workmen imploy'd in Manusactures will rather be idle and do nothing than consume their whole life in an ungrateful useless labour if the unreasonableness of the Subsidies hindering the sale of the Fruits of the Earth and of their Labour hinders them at the same time from receiving what they have earn'd by the sweat of their Body To resume the thred of my Discourse after having condemn'd the abuse of the Comtans and demonstrated that the augmentation of Subsidies is sometimes not only uselss but often prejudicial I say that there ought to be a Geometrical proportion between the Subsidies and the necessities of the State that is that no Impositions ought to be made but such as are absolutely necessary for the subsistance of the Kingdom in its Grandeur and Glory Those last words signifie much since they show not only that it is lawful to raise that upon the People which is requisite to preserve the Kingdom whatever condition it may be in but also to raise that which may be necessary to maintain it with Lustre and Reputation Nevertheless care must be taken not to extend those last conditions so far as to think that the Prince's bare Will should be under that pretence the Rule of those Impositions Reason must be the only Rule in those cases and if the Prince exceeds those bounds exacting more from his Subjects than he ought to do tho' even in that case they owe him Obedience he will be answerable for it before God who will call him to a strict account for the same Moreover Reason and Policy can never allow the increasing of the Peoples burthen to receive no benefit by it those that do it draw publick Maledictions
not being used better than another he sometimes let fall some free Ingenious and sharp Expressions which some retain'd with pleasure and never fail'd of being reveal'd but in that he did not sooth the Inclination of his Father with whom he was no better pleas'd than with the Minister himself he could not forgive him notwithstanding his having added to his share abundance of Lands over and above those of Candale to the Value of 50000 Crowns a year besides the place of First Gentleman of the Chamber the Governments of Saintonge Aunis Angoumois and Limosin for having given his younger Brother the Government of Mets and of the three Bishopricks in great Esteem at that time but above all the place of Colonel General of the French Infantry which was look'd upon as a Military Royalty because it gave the Possessor of it a right to nominate to all inferior Places without so much as excepting that of Colonel of the Guards and that Vexation particularly with some other domestic troubles made him acquire abundance of Glory in seeking War and the Command of Armys in foreign Countrys Bernard Duke de la Valette the second Son design'd all along to bear the Father's Name was indeed the first object of his Affection and of his Tenderness which he answered with a great deal of Gratitude Duty keeping measures with the Minister but without lowness and in such a manner that the Duke his Father could receive no prejudice by it Lewis the last of the Brothers either as being a better Courtier or as a Cardinal or out of Inclination or Esteem had contracted a Friendship with Cardinal de Richelieu But the Father not approving his behaviour often said It is no longer the Cardinal de la Valette it is the Cardinal Valet The only reward he had for his Assiduity and for his Cares was sometimes to command Armys which he had earnestly desir'd contrary to the sentiments of the old Duke his Father who had all along Endeavour'd in vain to dissuade him from it Perhaps it is a thing sufficiently remarkable to observe it by the by that Cardinal de Richelieu has not mention'd him once in all this Book notwithstanding he did him the greatest and most signal Service that ever he received from any other For it is very well known that in the Famous day of the Duppes when the Queen Mother having prevall'd with the King to dismiss him thought on nothing in her Palace of Luxemburg but how to dispose of the greatest Places of the State the Cardinal being ready to be gone seeing nothing but solitude and disgrace about him the only Cardinal de la Valette stood up to Incourage him and offering to accompany him to Versailles made him resolve once more to see the King and to speak to him as he did which on a sudden produc'd that great alteration of Affairs the Cardinal being allow'd to continue the Functions of his Ministry The Lord keeper Marillac who was come to succeed him Imprison'd and all the rest which is known without my repeating it Which shows how necessary the advice of a firm and faithful Friend is sometimes even to the greatest Souls in that uncertain and floating Condition to which great Passions reduce us But let us return to our principal and real Subject Those general dispositions did not promise a great union between the old Duke and the Cardinal Minister Add now to this a vast number of things which did divide them absolutely some of great Consequence others which would seem to be Inconsiderable if we did not know what effect they generally produce in Mens minds In 1624. Richelieu already made Cardinal was made first Minister against the King's Inclination by the earnest desires and importunitys of the Queen Mother The Duke who was absent from the Court at that Time and who thought himself very much in favour with that Princess as he had deserv'd it by his services was both surpris'd and vex'd thereat because she had not given him the least hint of it However he comply'd so far with decency and custom as to make Complements by a Letter to the new Minister but less capable to oblige than to displease him For he kept with him as with all other Cardinals to the end of his Life the singular method he had taken to write to them without leaving the whole Line and to conclude by Voâ—â—â—â—ien humble Serviteur The Cardinal being nettled made no answer at all but on the first occasion which offer'd it self soon after to send the King's orders to him he writ to him without hardly leaving any blank space in the Line and by your most Affectionate Servant which the Duke was very much offended at Those who knew how things pass'd in those Days look'd upon that beginning either as the Source or Omen of all that happened since Soon after this the Duke then Governor of Guienne by his haughtiness imbroil'd himself with the Parliament of Bourdeaux under the first president de Gourgues a Man of great sence and Vigor who easily persuaded the angry Cardinal to take their part The same Affairs return'd often and others of worse consequence with Henry de Sourdis Arch-Bishop of Bourdeaux one of the Cardinal's Creatures whose part he ever took as he was oblig'd to do In 1627. Fortune presented them with a fine Phantasm and great hopes as a notable Subject of discord It was the wreck of two Large Portugueze Carricks returning from Goa Their lading of Gold Silver Diamonds Ambergres and other precious Commoditys being valu'd at 15 Millions of Livers the one was lost on the Coast of Medoc The Right of the Wreck did belong to the Duke as it was adjudg'd since by Authentic Titles of the ancient Lords of Candale who had maintain'd that Right in Law even against their Kings The Cardinal did pretend to the same Right as well as Chofet superintendant general of the Navy and Commerce of France which in effect was the Office of Admiral disguis'd for him under that new Title The old Duke formerly Admiral himself remembred then with great regret that he had given that great and fine Place with the Government of Provence to John de la Valette his elder Brother to make him share his Fortune who dyed soon after it The Sea almost alone profited of those immense Riches of which the Duke after often having prov'd his Right did not get above ten or twelve thousand Crowns But the Process which he had maintain'd with Vigor befor the King's Commissioners chosen by the Cardinal himself left new Impressions of Spite and Animosity in the mind of that Minister In 1629 the time of the Cardinal's Triumph as I may say when after the taking of Rochel the expedition of Italy the Pas of Susa's being forc'd the succors of Cazal the Conquest of the Huguenot Citys of Languedoc he thought he had wholly suppress'd that Party by the reduction of Montauban there was need of a new Negotiation
any good but on the contrary their Ruin His Fortune was looked upon to be very much shook when the Enemy seem'd to settle in the Kingdom within sight of the Capital City and of the Throâ—â— it self by the taking of Catelet of La Capelle and of Corbie The success of that War which he alone had counceled and which he was proud of being the Author of was either his fafety or his Ruin having moreover so many Envious Persons Enemys and secret Intrigues to oppose he left no means unattempted to retake the Places of Picardy with powerful Armys Commanded by the Duke of Orleans the King's brother and by the Count de Soissons a Prince of the Blood The Duke de la Valette in an occasion which was look'd upon as a great Peril of the State desir'd leave to serve as a Volunteer in the Army of Picardy which could not be deny'd him But before his departure from Paris he made rather by his Misfortune than fault being as it were forc'd to it a new and very deep wound in the Minister's mind The Baron du Bec Governer of La Capelle was the Duke's Friend whether he had surrender'd it too soon out of Weakness or for want of all manner of Ammunitions as he pretended which I have not dicover'd the Cardinal thought it necassary to make an Example of him either to keep the Governors of the Frontier Towns in Awe by that severity or to clear himself before the King and the Public for the loss of that Place which through Picardy had given the Enemy an entrance into the Kingdom For those who are at the helm of Affairs are never in the wrong and the weakest is Commonly the most guilty He would have that affair examin'd in a Solemn Coucil the King being present in which all the Officers of the Crown were to assist The Duke excused himself three times from coming to it to avoid the danger he foresaw But Chavigny was sent to him the fourth to acquaint him that he must either break of with the Cardinal or not presist in his refusal Therefore he went to the Council but more faithful to Friendship or to Reason than to his own Interest he spoke for the Accus'd contrary to the intention of the Minister who not being commonly Master of himself in the first heat of his Anger as soon as the Council broke up calling him a side used hard and reflecting Language towards him which a good heart can never bear nor forget His answer was not only firm and bold but full of a heat which made the Cardinal sencible of his own which he endeavour'd to aleviate concluding with obliging words In this condition the Duke de la Valette went for the Army where it is true that the Count de Soissons and the Duke of Orleans caused him to be sounded in secret to ingage him to a revolt and to afford them a retreat in Guienne But it is equaly true that he refused both barely assuring the Princes on one hand of his Respect and moreover of secrecy and on the other that the old Duke without whom he could do nothing would never hearken to any such thing what ever Cause he had to complain of the Cardinal as well as himself It has never been known from the Dukes own Mouth who made him that proposition he kept his word but too scrupulously and never spake of it even when he might have done it without danger What the Cardinal sayes here that this crime is averr'd by the Mouth of two Princes whose Testimony is undeniable on that occasion is easily clear'd One of them who out liv'd that Minister has often own'd that he had been surprised and persuaded that the Duke de la Valette had accused him so that being irritated by his pretended Infidelity as well as by his Refusal he was glad to excuse himself by laying the whole fault at his door The sequel of things naturally represented in my opinion do's not allow the questioning of this Truth The said Negotiation whether rejected or receiv'd certainly was not prosecuted and was not known in a certain time after it But when Corbie was retaken and Picardy peaceable and the Cardinal's authority better settled than ever even those who thought him undone before were earnest to serve him and to inbrace his Interest At that time one of the Duke of Orleans false Servants to whom that secret was confided made haste to reveal it to him The two Princes who had notice given them thereof remov'd forthwith from the Court for fear of being secur'd The Duke de la Valette who was gone for Guienne some days before quietly prosecuted his journey They sent Bourdeilles and Montresor after him to excite him and the old Duke his Father upon the account of their common danger which both they said would endeavour in vain to defend themselves of considering the opinion the Cardinal had of that business and his desire to ruin them They both shut their Ears and the old Duke after Complements full of respect for the Princes gave them wise Councels to regain the King's favour The Duke of Orteans hearken'd to them and made his Peace The Count de Soissons neglected them to his Misfortune for he never returned to Court and dyed afterwards as it is known in Arms against his Prince and Country The Cardinal having as good intelligence as ever any Minister had was not ignorant of the old Duke's wise behaviour on that Subject which he never boasted of himself There still is a Letter extant which that Minister order'd the Chevalier Seguier his constant friend to write to him in which praising his prudence which he assures him the King is very well pleased with he Endeavours to make him discover more of the matter which the old Duke had the address to excuse himself from And so far from accusing him of any thing at that time nor La Valette his Son new orders were sent to both to drive the Spaniards out of Guienne For they had settled themselves in the Port of Secoa where they had two Forts and five or six thousand Men well Retrench'd Those orders to express the more Confidence gave the old Duke a power to raise such Forces as he should think fit and to make what ever Impositions he thought necessary on the Province to deliver it from the Enemy which he looked upon as a snare that was laid for him being warn'd by Ancient and new Examples and even by that of Marshal de Marillac Moreover he was persuaded that without Oppressing the People whom he lov'd naturally and whom it was his Interest to keep Measureâ— with he would be able to perform what he was ordered And indeed the Duke de la Vallette having put himself at the Head of a small number of Men he raised in haste besieg'd or block'd up as it were those Spaniards retrenched and much stronger than himself but in want of all things Notwithstanding the Sea
the Treaty which du Fargis made at Moncon in 1626 with the Spaniard's in relation to Valtelina we must consider that the said du Fargis had been six years before Ambassador in Spain and that he was sent thither by the Court of France before Cardinal de Richelieu entred into the Ministry which was in 1624. The instructions which du Fargis had receiv'd in taking leave of the Court from M. de Puisieux Secretary of State Son to the Chancellor de Sillery oblig'd him to treat with the Spaniards on the same Conditions as he did since at Moncon because the Council of State was resolved at that time not to break with Spain But Cardinal de Richelieu caused that resolution to be alter'd and the collection of the Pieces for the Justification of that Cardinal which were given to the Public by M. du Chatelet maintains in several Places that the said Cardinal sent M. du Fargis orders directly contrary to those he had receiv'd in France But M. du Fargis persisted constantly in denying that ever he received them and the thing remains undecided to this day Therefore it is not true that he himself confessed that he had concluded the Treaty of Moncon at the sollicitation of Cardinal de Berulle without the King's knowledge and contrary to his Majesty's Express Orders For among so many Authors who have attack'd and defended the Reputation of Cardinal de Richelieu none ever bethought himself hitherto to write this point of History and there is no reason to believe the said Cardinal upon his bare Word since he was so public an Enemy to the Cardinal de Berulle that his Panegyrists lose no occasion to blame him and to push it as far as ever it can go Finally it is yet less true that the Cardinal de Berulle and the Lord Keeper Marillac advis'd the King to abandon the Duke of Mantua to the injustice and insatiable Avidity of the Spaniards but that which is cerain in relation thereunto as the two Authors who are most devoted to Cardinal de Richelieu who are those that have written his Life and the History of his Ministry do acknowledge is that at the Death of Vincent Duke of Mantua and when the Duke de Nevers succeeded him it was put in agitation in the Council of France not whether the Duke of Nevers should be absolutely seconded but whether they should second him so far as to run the hazard on his account to break the Peace of Vervins which King Henry the Great had concluded with Spain and it was carry'd by the plurality of Voices that the King should not run the hazard of that risque Cardinal de Berulle who was then one of the Principal Councellors of State was of that opinion he persisted in it until Cardinal de Richelieu caused the said Affair to be examin'd anew in the Council and made them resolve to maintain the Duke de Nevers against the Emperor and against the King of Spain There was but six Months space between those two deliberations and they were both taken in the year 1627. If the Cardinal de Berulle during the Interval of the said six Months pretended that it was not fit to exasperate the Spaniards In that he only conform'd to the determination of the Council of State of France But I maintain that after the second deliberation which was to protect the Duke of Mantua towards and against all the Cardinal de Berulle never let fall any word to blame the War which France engaged into upon the account of the Duke de Nevers with the Emperor and the King of Spain and no Man can produce any Printed paper or Manuscript which says any such thing THE END THE Contents Chap. I. A Short Relation of the King 's great Actions until the Peace concluded in the Year pag. 1. Chap. II. Of the Reformation of the Ecclesiastical Order pag. 48. Sect. I. Which represents the ill State of the Church at the beginning of the King's Reign the Present State thereof and what is necessary to be done to put it in that in which it ought to be ib. Sect. II. Of Appeals and the Means to regulate the same pag. 53. Sect. III. Of Privileg'd Cases and the means to Regulate the same pag. 64. Sect. IV. Which shews the Consequence of the Regalia pretended by the Holy Chappel of Paris over the Bishops of France and opens a way to suppress the same pag. 68. Sect. V. Of the Necessity of Protracting the Delays that are us'd in the Course of Ecclesiastical Justice from whence it happens that three Crimes remain unpunish'd pag. 75. Sect. VI. Which represents the Prejudice the Church receives by the Four Exemptions several Churches enjoy to the Prejudice of the Common Right and proposes Means to remedy the same pag. 78. Sect. VII Which represents the Inconveniences that arise from the Bishops not having an Absolute Power to dispose of the Benefices that are under them pag. 90. Sect. VIII Of the Reformation of Monasteries pag. 93. Sect. IX Of the Obedience which is due to the POPE pag. 95. Sect. X. Which sets forth the Advantage of Learning and shews how it ought to be Taught in this Kingdom pag. 97. Sect XI Means to Regulate the Abuses which are committed by Graduates in the obtaining of Benefices pag. 104. Sect. XII Of the Right of INDULT pag. 106. Chap. III. Of the NOBILITY pag. 109. Sect. I. Divers Means to Advantage the Nobility and to make them Subsist Honourably ib. Sect. II. Which Treats of the Means to prevent Duels pag. 114. Chap. IV. Of the Third ORDER of the Kingdom pag. 119. Sect. I. Which relates in general to the Disorders of the Courts of Justice and examines in particular whether the Suppression of the Sale of Offices and of Hereditary Offices would be a proper Remedy for such Evils ib. Sect. II. Which proposes the general Means which may be us'd to put a stop to the disorders of the Courts of Justice pag. 131. Sect. III. Which represents the necessity of hindring the Officers of Justice from incroaching upon the King's Authority pag. 135. Sect. IV. Of the Officers of the Finances pag. 137. Sect. V. Of the PEOPLE pag. 140. Chap. V. Which considers the State in it self pag. 142. Sect. I. Which represents how necessary it is that the several Parts of the State should remain every one within the extent of their Bounds ib. Sect. II. Which examines Whether it is better to make the Governments Triennial in this Kingdom than to leave them Perpetual according to the Vse which has been practis'd hitherto pag. 143. Sect. III. Which condemns Survivorships pag. 146. Chap. VI. Which represents to the King what Men think he ought to consider in relation to his Person pag. 149. Chap. VII Which represents the present State of the King's Houshold and sets forth what seems to be necessary in order to put it into that in which it ought to be pag. 162. Chap. VIII Of the PRINCE's Council
and follow'd her Passions I cannot omit the Merit you acquir'd before GOD and before Men in suppressing the Noise her imprudent Conduct would have made had you not wisely wink'd at what you might have repress'd with as much safety as reason The English blindly engag'd in those Cabals Many of the Grandees of the Kingdom enter'd very far into them The Duke de Rohan and the Huguenot Party were to wage War within while the English with a Potent Navy were to attack the Isles and Coasts of this State The Plot seem'd to be so well laid that most Men were of Opinion that it was impossible to resist the Force of the Conspirators Nevertheless the taking off Colonel Dornano the Duke de Vendome and the Grand Prior the Chastisement of Chalais and the removal of some Princesses broke that Cabal insomuch that all the Designs projected in your Majesty's Court were dissipated and had no effect As it was not without a great deal of Goodness and Prudence together your Majesty consented at Nantes to the Marriage of Monsieur your Brother so the Sincerity of your true Servants in taking the boldness to represent to you before-hand the Inconveniences which might attend it was a very great Proof of their Fidelity and a certain Testimony they had no design to surprize you All these Disturbances which seem'd to weaken your Power did not hinder you from putting a stop to the course of Duels by the Chastisement of the Sieurs de Bouteville and des Chapelles I own that my Mind was never more agitated than it was on that occasion in which I had much ado to forbear yielding to the universal Compassion which the Misfortune and Valour of those Young Gentlemen imprinted in the Hearts of all Men to the Prayers of the greatest Persons of the Court and to the Importunities of my nearest Relations The Tears of their Wives mov'd me sensibly but the Sluces of Blood of your Nobility to which nothing could put a stop but the Effusion of theirs incourag'd me to resist my own Inclinations and to persuade your Majesty to cause that to be put in Execution for the good of the Kingdom which was almost against the Sense of every body and against my particular Sentiments As it was not possible to stop the Course of and to hinder the great Preparations the English had made for a War your Majesty was oblig'd to oppose them by Force of Arms. Those ancient Enemies of the State landed in Re and there besieg'd the Fort St. Martin while it was God Almighty's Pleasure to afflict France by the Illness wherewith he visited your Majesty at Ville-Roy This dismal Accident and the Ill Conduct which Le Coigneux and Puy Laurens endeavour'd a-new to inspire into Monsieur did not hinder your good Subjects from opposing the Efforts of that Warlike Nation by the Influence of your bare Name And your Majesty no sooner recover'd your Health but you Reliev'd the Place they had Besieg'd Defeated their Land-Army by a signal Combat and forc'd their Naval Forces to quit your Coasts and to make for their own Ports again After which you Besieg'd Rochel and took it after a Years Siege And your Majesty behav'd your self with so much Prudence that tho' you were sensible that the Spaniards neither desir'd the taking of the said Place in particular nor the Prosperity of your Affairs in general judging that the bare appearance of their Union would be of use in the opinion of the World and that it would be no small matter to hinder them by a Treaty from joining with the English who were your Declar'd Enemies at that time◠you made one with them which produc'd the only Effect your Majesty expected from it The Spaniards who only design'd to deceive you in order the better to cross your Majesty's Designs and the taking of the said City did animate the English as much as in them lay to relieve it And the Cardinal de la Cueva promis'd them positively to that end that his Master would send your Majesty no Succours until you had no further need of it and that he would recall it before it could annoy them Which was so Religiously perform'd that Don Frederick Admiral of Spain who Sail'd from the Coronna with 14 Ships after he was inform'd of the Defeat of the English in Ré refus'd to tarry one day at Rochel upon the Report that a new Fleet was coming to relieve the said City This Assurance incourag'd the English at two several times to attempt the Relieving of it and afforded your Majesty the Glory of taking it with your own Forces in sight of a Potent Naval Army which after two useless Engagements had the Disgrace to see it self wholly frustrated of its end Thus at one and the same time the Infidelity and Cunning of the Spaniards prov'd ineffectual and the English were over-reach'd During this Siege the Spaniards attack'd the Duke of Mantua in Italy They took that time on purpose thinking your Majesty would not be able to Succour him Cardinal de Berule and Marillac the Lord Keeper advis'd your Majesty to abandon that poor Prince to the Injustice and insatiable Avidity of that Nation which is an Enemy to the Repose of Christendom lest they should trouble you the rest of your Council prov'd of a different Opinion both because Spain durst not have taken such a Resolution immediately after your having made a Treaty of Union with the English and that tho' they should have follow'd so ill an Advice they could not have been able to stop the Progress of your Designs They represented to your Majesty that it would be sufficient not to Declare for the Duke of Mantua while you were engag'd in that great Siege and that you could do no more without committing a Baseness unworthy of a great Prince who must never consent to it whatever Advantages might accrue to him by it I should commit a Crime if I did not observe in this place that your Majesty according to the Sentiments of your Heart and your usual Practice took the best and most honourable Party on that occasion which was attended with so much Success that soon after it Rochel was taken and your Arms in a Condition to assist that Prince fo unjustly Attack'd Although at that very time Monsieur your Brother who was become a Widower a Year after his Marriage had a mind to marry the Princess Mary he was so ill advis'd that instead of favouring the Duke of Mantua her Father he cross'd him more than his Enemies by withdrawing from your Majesty and retiring into Lorraine at a time when it was his Interest to be strictly united with you in order to make your Power the more considerable This ill Conduct did not hinder your Majesty from continuing the Journey you had undertaken for a Design so glorious and God bless'd you so visibly that as soon as you came to the Alps you forc'd all the Passages of it in the midst of Winter
not much longer be in a Condition to do them any harm they must needs acknowledge that the Goodness of God has contributed more towards your good Successes than the Prudence and Force of Men. It was at that very time the Queen your Mother us'd her utmost Endeavours to change your Majesty's Council and to establish one to her own mind It was at that very time also the Evil Spirits which possess'd Monsieur's Mind were labouring in his Name as much as in them lay to ruine me The Mother and the Son had made an Agreement which was more contrary to the State than hurtful to those whose Ruine they openly prosecuted since in the present state of Affairs it was impossible to alter without ruining them The Son had promis'd not to marry the Princess Mary which the Mother dreaded to that degree that in order to prevent it she had put him into the Castle of Vincenne in your Absence where he tarry'd until that Agreement procur'd his Liberty in exchange of which the Mother had promis'd to put me out of your Majesty's favour and to remove me from Court In order to render these Promises the more inviolable they were put in Writing and the Duke de Bellegarde carry'd them long between his Shirt and his Skin to shew that they touch'd his Heart and to make those that had made them sensible that he would never lose them without his Life There never was a stronger Faction in any State it would be easier to name those who were not concerned in it than those that were And that which encreas'd the wonder of your Conduct on that occasion is that being sollicitous my self to withdraw from your Majesty to oblige the Queen who desir'd it passionately your Majesty being destitute of all other Counsel at that time had no body to consult with and to help you to resist the Authority of a Mother the Artifices of all her Adherents and my earnest Sollicitations against my self I say this because the Marshal of Schomberg who was faithful to you was absent at that time and that the Lord Keeper Marillac was one of those who seconding the Queen in her Designs serv'd her against her self Your Prudence was such that in removing the Lord Keeper of your own accord you deliver'd your self of a Man who had so great an Opinion of himself that he thought nothing well done unless done by his Order and who thought many ill ways lawful to compass the Ends which were suggested to him out of a Zeal which may be styl'd Indiscreet In fine your Proceeding had so much Wisdom in it that you granted nothing to the Queen to the prejudice of your State and yet refus'd her nothing that could be granted without wounding your Conscience and without acting as much against her as against your self I might forbear speaking of the Peace which was concluded at Ratisbonne between your Majesty and the House of Austria by reason that as it was agreed on by your Ambassador on Conditions which the Emperour himself was sensible he had no Power to grant for that reason it cannot be plac'd in the number of your Actions But if the World considers that tho' the Fault of your Ambassador could not be imputed to you as it requir'd a great deal of Goodness to suffer it it requir'd no less Address to repair it in some measure and not to lose the Fruit of a Peace which was so necessary to this State at a time in which your Majesty had so many Crosses This Action will be look'd upon as one of the greatest you ever did and consequently such as cannot be omitted in this place Reason and Conduct of State did require an Exemplary Punishment of him who had exceeded your Orders in so nice a Point and in so important an occasion But your Goodness ty'd up the Hands of your Justice by reason that tho' there was no Ambassadour but himself he had not acted alone in that Affair but with an Associate of such a Quality as made you rather consider the Motive of the Fault than the Fault it self They were both surpriz'd to that degree with the extream Illness you fell into at Lions that they acted rather according to the Condition into which the Kingdom would have been by your Loss than that in which it was and according to the Orders they had receiv'd Notwithstanding the ill Conditions of their Treaties the Imperialists were soon after forc'd to restore Mantua the Dread of your Arms oblig'd them to restore what they had usurp'd over the Venetians and Grisons and after your Majesty had suffer'd the Duke of Savoy's Forces to enter into Pignerol and into the Fort and Valley of Perouse according to the Treaty of Querasque You agreed so well with him that by vertue of a new Treaty those two Places did remain in your Majesty's Hands to the general Satisfaction as well as Advantage of all Italy which for the future will be less in dread of an unjust Oppression since it sets a Door open to its Relief At that very time the Discontents the Duke of Bavaria had receiv'd from the Emperour and from the Spaniards and the Dread which all the other Electors both Catholicks and Protestants were in of being divested of their States like many other Princes at their Sollicitations having induc'd them secretly to desire your Assistance your Majesty treated so dexterously with them and with so much Success that they hinder'd even in the Emperour's Presence the Election of the King of the Romans notwithstanding the Dyet of Ratisbone had only been Conven'd to that end After which to pleasure the said Duke of Bavaria and to satisfie the Electors as well as to confirm them in their Resolution of rendring the Catholick League not only Independent of the Empire but of Spain also which usurp'd the Direction of it your Ambassadors kept so good a Correspondence with those Princes that they facilitated the means to them of depriving Walstein of the Command of the Armies of the Empire which prov'd very prejudicial to his Majesty's Affairs Your Majesty's Credit prov'd as great towards the North since the Baron de Charnau without the Title of Ambassador procur'd almost at the same time a Peace between the Kings of Poland and of Sweden a Peace which had been attempted in vain by many other Potentates The said Peace gave way to the Enterprize the King of Sweden made soon after to prevent the Oppression of the Princes of the Empire in Germany which Design was no sooner known to your Majesty but to prevent the Prejudice the Catholick Religion might receive by it you made a Treaty with him which oblig'd him not to interrupt the Exercise thereof in all the places of his Conquest I am sensible that your Enemies who endeavour to justifie their own Actions by crying down yours have us'd their best Endeavours to render that Agreement odious but their Design had no other Effect than to discover their Malice
Regulation of ancient Monasteries so it behoves your Prudence to put a stop to the progress of the over-great number of new Monasteries which are daily establish'd In order whereunto it is necessary to despise the Opinion of certain Persons as Weak as Devout and more Zealous than Prudent who often fansie that the Salvation of Souls and the Safety of the State depends on that which is prejudicial to both As none but such as are wicked or blind can be insensible or disown that Religious Houses are not only very useful but also necessary so none but those who have an indiscreet Zeal can be ignorant that the excess of them is inconvenient and that it might come to such a point as would be ruinous That which is done for the State being done for God who is the Basis and Foundation of it to Reform the Houses that are already establish'd and to put a stop to the excess of new Establishments are two Works very agreeable to GOD who loves Rule in all things SECT IX Of the Obedience which is due to the POPE THe Order which God requires in all things gives me an occasion to represent to your Majesty in this place That as Princes are oblig'd to acknowledge the Authority of the Church to submit to their Holy Decrees and to pay an entire Obedience to the same in what relates to the Spiritual Power which God hath placed in her hands for the Salvation of Mankind and that as it is their Duty to maintain the Honour of the Popes as Successors of St. Peter and Vicars of Jesus Christ so they ought not to yield to their Attempts when they endeavour to extend their Power beyond its Bounds As Kings are oblig'd to respect the Thiara of the Soveraign Pontifs the same Obligation lies upon them to preserve the Power of their Crown This Truth is acknowledged by all Theologians but it is very difficult to distinguish the Extent and Subordination of these two Powers aright In such a matter Princes are neither to credit the Gentlemen of the Long Robe who commonly measure the King 's by the Form of his Crown which being round has no end nor those who by the excess of an indiscreet Zeal declare themselves openly in favour of Rome Reason advises us to hear both the one and the other in order afterwards to resolve the Difficulty by Persons of so much Learning that they may not be liable to mistake through Ignorance and so sincere that neither the Interests of the State nor those of Rome may prevail with them against Reason I may declare with Truth That I have ever found the Doctors of the University of Paris and the most Learned Monks of all Orders so reasonable on this Subject that I have never observ'd the least Weakness in them that could hinder them from defending the just Rights of this Kingdom neither have I ever observ'd any excess of Affection in them for their Native Country which could induce them contrary to the true Sentiments of Religion to diminish those of the Church to augment the others In such Cases the Opinion of our Fathers must be of great Weight the most famous and most impartial Historians and Authors who have written in all Ages must be carefully consulted on those Occasions in which nothing can be more dangerous than Weakness or Ignorance SECT X. Which sets forth the Advantage of Learning and shews how it ought to be Taught in this Kingdom HAving represented that Ignorance is sometimes prejudicial to the State I am now to speak of the Necessity of Learning one of the greatest Ornaments of States this being the most proper place for it since the Empire of it is justly due to the Church by reason that all sorts of Truths have a natural Relation to the first the Sacred Mysteries of which Eternal Wisdom has been pleas'd to make the Ecclesiastical Order Depositories of As the Knowledge of Letters is absolutely necessary in a Commonwealth it is certain that they ought not to be taught without distinction to every body As a Body having Eyes in all its Parts would be monstrous a State would be the same if all the Inhabitants thereof were Learned we should find as little Obedience in it as Pride and Presumption would be common The Commerce of Letters would absolutely banish that of Trade which enriches Nations would ruine Husbandry the true Mother of the People and would soon destroy the Nursery of Souldiers which encreases more in the Rudeness of Ignorance than in the Politeness of Sciences Finally it would fill France with Litigious Persons more proper to ruine private Families and to disturb publick Peace than to do the State any good If Learning were prophan'd to all sorts of Minds we should see more Persons capable to form Doubts than to resolve them and many would be fitter to oppose Truths than to defend them 'T is this Consideration which induces Politicians to say that a well regulated State requires more Masters of Mechanick Arts than Masters of Liberal Arts to teach Letters I have often heard Cardinal du Perron for the same Reason earnestly wish the Suppression of part of the Colledges of this Kingdom he was desirous to have four or five famous ones establish'd in Paris and two in every Metropolitan City of the Provinces He added to all the Considerations I have urg'd that it was impossible to find a sufficient number of Learned Men in every Age to supply a great number of Colledges whereas being contented with a moderate number they might be fill'd with worthy Persons who would preserve the Fire of the Temple in its Purity and would transmit by an uninterrupted Succession the Sciences in their Perfection I cannot forbear thinking when I consider the great number of Men who profess the Teaching of Letters and the multitude of Children that are instructed that I see an infinite number of Sick People who only aiming to drink pure and clear Water for their Cure are press'd with such a disorderly Drought that receiving without distinction all those that are presented to them the major part drink such as are impure and often out of payson'd Cups which encreases their Drought and their Distemper instead of easing either In fine this great number of Colledges indifferently establish'd in all places produces two Evils the one by the mean Capacity of those that are oblig'd to Teach there not being a sufficient number of eminent Persons to fill the Pulpits the other by the want of natural Disposition in those whose Fathers oblige them to study by reason of the Conveniences of it without examining their Capacity which is the reason that most of those that study have only a mean Tincture of Learning some for want of more Capacity others for not being well instructed Tho' this Evil is of great consequence the Remedy is easie since it only requires to reduce all the Colledges of such places as are no Metropolitans to two or three Classis
own that it is a Misfortune for that great Prince to have been the first Author of that evil Establishment but perhaps he would not be blamable if the Reasons which constrain'd him to do it were known The Knowledge he had that his Favours were sold by private Persons without his Leave and the Importance of the Affairs which overwhelm'd him persuaded him that there was no better nor more ready way to get the Estates of his Subjects voluntarily than to give them Honour for Money The late King assisted by a very good Council in a profound Peace and in a Reign free from Necessity added the Establishment of the Annual Duty to the Sale of Offices introduc'd by that great Prince It is not to be presum'd that he did it unadvisedly and without having foreseen as much as Humane Prudence could permit the Consequences of the same and it is most certain that those things which have been done by Princes whose Conduct has been Judicious cannot be chang'd without a Reason unless Experience discovers the Prejudice of them and that it is evident that one might do better The Disorders which have been Establish'd by Publick Necessities and strengthned by Reasons of State cannot be reform'd without Time It must be done by degrees without passing from one Extream into another An Architect who by the Excellence of his Art corrects the Defects of an ancient Building and who without pulling of it down reduces it to some supportable symetry deserves more Praise than he who ruines it absolutely to erect a new Edifice perfect and accomplish'd It would be very difficult to change the Order establish'd for the disposition of Offices without altering the Hearts of those that are in possession of them in which case there would be reason to fear That whereas in Times past they have been serviceable to keep the People within the Bounds of their Duty they would contribute more towards their Debauches for the future than any others Prudence obliges sometimes to weaken Remedies to make them the more effectual and those Orders which are most consonant to Reason are not always the best because they are not always proportion'd to the Capacity of those that are to put them in practice Whereas the suppression of the Sale and Inheritance of Offices ought to make way for Vertue it would only make way for Brigues and Factions and would fill Places with Officers of low Extraction often more loaden with Latin than Estates which would produce many Inconveniencies If Men could obtain Places without Money Merchandise would be forsaken by many who being dazled with the Splendor of Offices would sooner embrace Offices and their Ruin together than addict themselves to Merchandise which inriches Families Moreover it is very well known that the Weakness of this Age is such that Men yield more to Importunities than they are guided by Reason and that instead of being rul'd by Justice Favour oftentimes sways us The Experience of what is past should make us fear the future both because it has ever shewn us That the most powerful in Credit often gain their Cause to the prejudice of Vertue and that as the Prince and his Confidents can only know the Merit of Men by the Judgment of others they are often liable to take the Shadow for the Body A low Birth seldom produces the Parts which are necessary in a Magistrate and it is certain that the Vertue of a Man that is well-born has something more noble in it than that which is found in Men of meaner Extraction The Minds of such Men are difficult to manage and many of them have such a nice Authority that it is not only troublesome but also prejudicial It is with the first in respect to the second as with Trees which being planted in a good Ground produce better Fruit and finer than those which are in an ill one And therefore the Sale of Offices ought not to be condemn'd because it excludes many Persons of low Extraction from Places and Offices since on the contrary 't is one of the Reasons which rather makes it tolerable A good Estate is a great Ornament to Dignities which are so much heightned by exteriour Lusture that one may boldly affirm That of two Persons of equal Merit he whose Circumstances are the most easie is preferrable to the other since it is most certain That a poor Magistrate must have a world of Vertue to withstand the Temptations of Interest Experience also informs us That the Rich are less liable to Extortion and Bribes than the others and that Poverty constrains an Officer to be very careful of the Revenue of the Bag. It may perhaps be urg'd That though these Inconveniences may induce to suffer the Sale of Offices yet it is most certain that the Annual Duty ought to be suppress'd because it puts Offices out of Price and hinders vertuous Men from obtaining them even for Money The late King foreseeing that Evil had incerted in the Edict he made upon that Subject Precautions capable to prevent it excepting not only from the Annual Right the Offices of first Presidents Attorneys and Advocates General but moreover reserving to himself the disposal of the Offices that are compris'd in the same when they were vacant paying in lieu thereof to the Heirs of those who were in possession of them the Price they should be valued at Those Precautions were as equitable as necessary and to say the truth the Evils which the Annual Duty causes at present in the State do not proceed so much from the Defect of its Nature as from the Imprudence of those who have remov'd the Clauses which that great Prince had included in it Had the Edict been kept in its first Purity Offices had never come to the excess of Price they are at present The Alterations that have been made in it have made the use of it as prejudicial as it would have been innocent had it been left in the first from in which it was made and therefore it is fitter to correct the Abuses of it than to reverse it The Revocation of the Annual Duty would oblige the old Officers to quit their Offices when the Experience and Maturity of their Age would render them most capable to serve the Publick Yet it is necessary to have both old and young ones by reason that as the Prudence of the first may be of great use to direct the others the Vigour of the younger sort is necessary to revive and animate the old ones If I had a mind by this Work to acquire the Inclination of the People rather than to deserve their Good-will by making my self useful to the State I would maintain That it is necessary to suppress the Sale of Offices and the Annual Duty at once all Men are so prepossess'd that they are the two Sources of the Disorders of the Kingdom that the Publick Voice would decree Crowns for me without examining whether I deserve them or no. But being sensible
That it is a thing of no small Consequence in order to reform the Courts of Justice to put the Ordinances in execution in what relates to the Age of Officers In my Opinion it is impossible to be too exact in it nor consequently too severe towards the Attornies General who shall be wanting in their Duty in taking care that the Parties concern'd may not be able to surprise the Judges on that Subject nor to elude the good Intentions of the Prince by Suppositions or Concealments Thereby the Evil of Youth which is considerable will be avoided as well as that of Ignorance which is the Source of many others Officers not being able to precipitate themselves as they do at present in their Reception will study more since otherwise they would remain idle which seldom happens to those who have study'd until they have obtain'd the End they propose I must not omit saying on this Subject That it would be fit absolutely to retrench the Practice of certain Doctors who prompting the Young ones like Parrots often teach them to say things they do not understand and only make them Learned in cheating the Publick and themselves also Such Men may be compar'd to Fencing-Masters who are only good to instruct Men to their own ruin and to hinder them from Learning the true Exercises of Soldiers which are only learn'd in Armies with a great deal of time and fatigue The banishment of such would be of great use which in the Practice would be found as difficult as it is easie in the Proposition Therefore I rather chuse to condemn the Fathers in this place who suffer their Children to be instructed thus and to advise them no longer to commit any such Faults against their own Blood than to intreat your Majesty to prescribe new Laws upon that Subject which would be no sooner made but a thousand ways would be found out to elude the Effect of the same and to avoid the putting of them in practice The Experience which Twenty Years of continual Occupation I have had in the Administration of Publick Affairs has given me obliges me to observe That though it were to be wish'd that the Sedentary Courts which are absolutely establish'd to administer Justice to every one and to prevent and regulate all the Disorders of the Kingdom should acquit themselves so well of their Duty that there might be no necessity to have recourse to extraordinary Commissions to maintain them in the same It is nevertheless so difficult to hope for that which is to be wish'd on that Subject that I dare be bold to say That in order to maintain this great State in the Policy and Discipline without which it can never flourish nothing can be of greater use than to send from time to time in the Provinces Chambers of Justice compos'd of Counsellors of State and Masters of Requests well selected to avoid the Thorns of Parliaments which foment Difficulties upon every thing to the end that the said Court receiving the Complaints which may be made against all sorts of Persons without any exception of Quality may remedy the same immediately I am sensible that the Soveraign Courts will be loth to suffer any such Establishments to be made But as they must needs know that a Soveraign is not oblig'd to suffer their Negligence and that Reason obliges him to remedy those Defects I am not afraid of saying That it is safer on that occasion to acquire their Esteem in performing one's Duty than to preserve their Good-will in being wanting in what is due to Publick Good But whereas it is impossible to send such Commissions at one and the same time in all the Provinces and that it will suffice for one of that Nature compos'd of the same Officers or different to make the Circuit of France in six Years time I am of Opinion that it will be necessary to send often Counsellors of State into the Provinces or Masters of Requests well selected not only to perform the Function of Intendants of Justice in Capital Cities which may serve more toward their Vanity than be of any use to the Publick but to go into all the Parts of Provinces to enquire into the Behaviour of the Officers of Justice and of the Finances to see whether the Impositions are rais'd according to the Ordinances whether the Collectors commit no Injustices in vexing of the People to discover how they perform their Offices to know how the Nobility behaves it self and to put a stop to all Disorders especially to the Violences of those who being Powerful and Rich â—ppress the Weak and the King 's poor Subjects SECT III. Which represents the necessity of hindring the Officers of Justice from incroaching upon the King's Authority AFter having represented what ought to be practis'd and may be done with ease to render the Officers of Justice such as they ought to be in relation to private Persons I cannot without a Crime abstain from proposing what is necessary to hinder so Potent a Body as that which they compose from being prejudicial in the whole to the State One would think there were a great deal to be said upon that Subject and yet I will say as much as is necessary in three Words if I set forth that it only requires to restrain the Officers of Justice from medling with any thing but the administring of the same to the King's Subjects which is the only End of their Establishment The Wisest of your Predecessors have made it their Busmess and have found the Benefit of it your Majesty has follow'd their Example as long as I have had the Honour to serve you And indeed it is a thing of such moment that unless a strict hand be kept over those Powerful Societies it would be impossible afterwards to keep them within the Bounds of their Duty It would be impossible to hinder the ruin of Royal Authority in following the Sentiments of those who being as Ignorant in the Practice of the Government of States as they presume to be Learned in the Theory of their Administration are neither capable to Judge solidly of their Conduct nor proper to make Decrees upon the Course of Publick Affairs which exceed their Capacity As nothing must be suffer'd from those great Companies to wound Soveraign Authority it is Prudence to tolerate some of their Defects of another kind It is necessary to wink at the Imperfections of a Body which having several Heads cannot have the same Mind and which being influenc'd by as many different Motions as it is compos'd of different Subjects cannot sometimes be inclin'd to discover or to suffer its own Good Every body must needs blame their Proceeding when they act contrary to Justice and Equity but in condemning it with Reason it is difficult to find a Remedy for it by reason that in great Companies the number of the Wicked always exceeds the Good and that though they were all Wise yet it would not follow that the best
which cannot be secur'd unless they contribute towards the Maintenance of the State I know moreover that many Princes have ruin'd their States and their Subjects by not keeping sufficient Force on foot for their Preservation for fear of over-burthening them and that some Subjects have been expos'd to the Servitude of their Enemies by desiring too much Liberty under their Natural Soveraign But there is a certain Point which cannot be exceeded without Injustice common Sense teaching every Man that there must be a proportion between the Burthen and the Strength of those who beat it That Proportion must be so Religiously observ'd that as a Prince cannot be esteem'd Good if he exacts more from his Subjects than is necessary those are not always the best who never raise but what is absolutely necessary Moreover as when a Man is wounded the Heart which grows faint by the loss of the Blood which flows from it does not draw that of the lower Parts to its assistance until the greatest part of that which lies in the uppermost is exhausted so in the urgent Necessities of States Soveraigns must as much as in them lies make use of the abundance of the Rich before they bleed the Poor extraordinarily 'T is the best Counsel your Majesty can take which you may easily put into practice since for the future you may draw the principal Subsistence of your State out of your General Farms in which the Rich are more concern'd than the Poor by reason that as they spend less they do not contribute so much to the Product thereof CHAP. V. Which considers the State in it self SECT I. Which represents how necessary it is that the several Parts of the State should remain every one within the extent of their Bounds AFter having spoken separately of the divers Orders the State is compos'd of I have but little to say in the main but that as the Whole only subsists by the Union of its Parts in their Order and natural Situation so this great Kingdom can never flourish unless your Majesty takes care to keep the Bodies which compose it in their Order the Church having the First Rank the Nobility the Second and the Officers which are at the head of the People the Third I speak this boldly because it is as necessary as just to put a stop to the Incroachments of some Officers who being pufâ—'d up with Pride either upon the account of the great Estates they are possess'd of or by the Authority they derive from their Places are so presumptuous as to challenge the First Rank whereas they can only pretend to the Third Which is so contrary to Reason and to the Good of your Service that it is absolutely necessary to put a stop to the Progress of such Enterprises since otherwise France would no longer be what it has been and what it ought to be but a monstrous Body which as such could never subsist or be lasting As it is most certain that the Elements which are capable of weight have none when they are in their Place so it is certain that none of the Orders of your State will prove burthensome to the other while each do remain in the Place which their Birth has assign'd them And as neither Fire Air nor Water can sustain a Terrestrial Body because it is heavy out of its place so it is certain that neither the Church nor the Nobility can support the Burthen of the Officers when they endeavour to move out of their Sphere As I am very sensible that your Majesty knows how to keep all Orders within their Bounds without enlarging any farther upon this Subject I will proceed to two Questions which I incert in this Chapter because they have an equal Relation to the Threedifferent Orders of the State SECT II. Which examines Whether it is better to make the Governments Triennial in this Kingdom than to leave them Perpetual according to the Use which has been practis'd hitherto EVery body will fancy at first that it will be better to make them Triennial but after having compar'd the Advantages which may thereby accrue to the Inconveniences that are to be fear'd perhaps it will be thought as I have already observ'd it that though the Nomination to Benefices is not so Canonical as the Elections the Use of it is nevertheless more advantagious at this time for several Reasons as also that notwithstanding the suppression of the Sale of Offices is to be desired for several Reasons yet the not tolerating the Use of it would occasion many Inconveniences express'd in their proper places So it is impossible to render the Governments of Provinces and of Towns Triennial without being expos'd to far greater Inconveniences than those which may be fear'd by the perpetual Settlement of Governours I am sensible that some may urge That a Man having a Government only for Three Years will in all probability endeavour to quit it with Reputation and to behave himself with so much Prudence that his Administration may be preferr'd before his Predecessor's whereas having it for Life the certainty of it gives him more Licence But it is much more likely that he who knows he is not long to continue in his Office will endeavour to draw as much Profit out of it as he might expect during his Life if he were to enjoy it to his Death Moreover considering the Inconstancy of our Nation there might be some reason to fear the employing of some who foreseeing the End of an agreeable Administration might resolve to perpetuate it by receiving those as Masters whom they ought to look upon as Enemies If the Practice of Spain be urg'd which often changes Governours after having answer'd that Example shews us that nothing can be more dangerous than that Government I will add That as there are Fruits the Use of which is excellent in one Country and a Poison in another so there are Settlements the Practice whereof is good in one State but yet would prove pernicious in another Some may say to prevent the Objections which may be made against the Practice of the Order of Spain in this Kingdom That those who will lay down an Office after the expiration of the term of their Administration will have no reason to be dissatisfied since they will be employ'd in others which will prove better but such great difficulties will be met with in the Practice of such an Order that it will be impossible to overcome them A Man may be fit to Govern in Piccardy by reason of his being born there who will not be fit to be employ'd in Brittany where he has no Acquaintance and where the Place which will be given him will hardly be able to maintain him The Governments of France are for the most part of so little Profit that unless they are given to Persons who are more desirous of them upon the account of Honour and for the Convenience of their Neighbourhood than out of any other Consideration there
Foundation being laid as nothing can be more material towards the Welfare of your Affairs than the Preservation of your Majesty's Health I cannot forbear resuming so important a Subject The careful and diligent Observations I have made on all that relates to you makes me say boldly That nothing is requir'd to so important an End but your own Will which nevertheless is the greatest Enemy you have to encounter with on this Subject since it is often very difficult to prevail with Princes to will that which is not only very useful but absolutely necessary for them Your Majesty's Mind has so absolute a Sway over your Body that the least of your Passions seize your Heart and disturb the whole Frame of your Person many Experiences have convinc'd me of this Truth with so much Certainty that I have never seen you sick by any other Principle GOD has been pleas'd to give your Majesty Force enough couragiously to bear those things in which you are most concern'd in Affairs of the greatest Consequence but as a Counterpoise to this great Quality He has permitted your being so sensible to those things which concern you in Subjects of far less Consequence that even things which one should think at first could not displease you trouble you to that degree that it is impossible to ease you on such occasions according to one's Desire Time which makes those Fumes that surprise the Sense to evaporate has hitherto been the sole Remedy to such Distempers in your Majesty who has no sooner been seiz'd by them but the Consequence has prov'd a corporal Indisposition In that you are like those who despising the Points of Swords through the greatness of their Courage cannot nevertheless by a certain natural Antipathy bear the pricking of a Launcet If it were impossible for all Men to prevent by Reason the Surprises they receive by their Passions yet I would not think it so in your Majesty who has many excellent Qualities which others have not And therefore I am of Opinion That the first Heat of your eager Youth being past the Flegm of a riper Age will assist you to secure your self by Reason against an Enemy which is the more dangerous in that it is internal and domestick and which has done you so much harm particularly twice or thrice that it had like to have cost you your Life As it is a thing very important for your Health it is no less considerable for your Reputation and Glory which cannot suffer that any thing which is nothing in Reason should have an Influence over your Sentiments which ought to be regulated by it in all things Neither can I forbear on this Subject to reiterate a Petition I have often made to your Majesty conjuring you to apply your Mind to great things important to your State and to despise little ones which are unworthy of your Cares and Thoughts It will be advantagious and glorious to you often to meditate on the most considerable Designs which the course of Affairs will put in agitation whereas you will be so far from deriving the least Advantage by applying your Mind too much on those which are not of that nature that on the contrary you will receive great prejudice by it not only in that such Occupations will divert you from others of more Consequence but also by reason that as small Thorns are more capable of pricking than great ones which are easily perceiv'd it would be impossible for you to avoid many Vexations of no use to the Affairs of the State and very prejudicial to your Health The great Disquiets wherewith I have seen your Mind agitated on divers occasions oblige me to represent to you in this place as I have done on several other occasions That as certain Cares are necessary for the Welfare of Human Affairs there are some which can produce no other Effects than to alter the Good Disposition of Him who applies himself too eagerly to them and such a Surprise to those who serve that the Trouble of their Mind renders them the less capable to perform what is expected from them The Experience which a Reign and Government of Twenty five Years affords your Majesty does not permit you to be ignorant that in great Affairs the Effects never answer the Orders that have been given exactly It also informs you that you should rather pity those to whom you commit the execution of your Will when their Labour does not succeed than to impute to them the ill Events which they are not guilty of GOD alone can render his Resolutions infallible and yet his Goodness is such that letting Men act according to their Weakness he suffers the difference there is between their Events and his Dispositions which teaches Kings to suffer that patiently by Reason which their Creator only indures out of his Goodness Your Majesty being naturally of a tender Constitution not very healthy of a restless impatient Humour particularly when you are in an Army of which you take the Conduct upon your self I should think my self guilty of a Crime if I did not make it my humble Request to you to avoid War for the future as much as it is possible which I do upon this Foundation That the Levity and Inconstancy of the French can only be vanquish'd by the Presence of their Master and that your Majesty cannot without exposing your self to Ruin fix upon so lasting a Design nor consequently expect a good Success from it You have sufficiently shewn your Valour and the Power of your Arms to think on nothing for the future but to enjoy that Peace and Tranquility which you have acquir'd to the Kingdom by your Labour keeping your self in a posture to defend it against all those who contrary to Publick Faith would offend you anew As it is very usual to many Men to have no action unless they are animated by some Passion in which they may be compar'd to Incense which never smells sweet but when it is put into Fire I cannot forbear telling your Majesty that this Constitution which is dangerous in all sorts of Men is particularly so in Kings who ought to be guided by Reason above all others And indeed whenever Passion inclines to Good it is by chance seeing that by its Nature it makes us swerve so much from it that it blinds those in whom it reigns and that though a blind Man may chance to hit upon the right Way yet it is a wonder if he does not lose himself and he must needs stumble often unless he has an extraordinary Fortune So many Misfortunes have befallen Princes and their States when they have follow'd their own Sentiments to the prejudice of Reason and that instead of consulting Publick Interest they have been guided by their Passions that it is impossible not to intreat your Majesty to reflect often upon it in order to confirm your self more and more in what you have all along practis'd to the contrary I also humbly crave you
have bought Places very dear should not be allow'd to sell them again but as it is impossible to make any Settlements of great use for the Publick without their being attended with some Inconveniencies for private Persons the said Inconvenience is not considerable seeing that as they did not buy their Places with an assurance of leave to sell them again like those Officers who pay an Annual Duty to the King they may be depriv'd of the Hopes they had fram'd to themselves without any Injustice And though some private Persons may find themselves griev'd by such an Alteration all the Nobility and the Greatest will find a notable Advantage by it in that whereas they were formerly oblig'd to sell a considerable part of their Estates to get Places which has often ruin'd the best Famiies of the Kingdom there will be no means left to expect them but Merit which will hinder them from ruining their Estate and will oblige them to acquire Vertue which is despis'd in this Age because the Price of all things only consists in Money Moreover there will be so many means to satisfie those who upon the account of any particular Consideration will deserve to be exempted from the general Rule That the Publick will receive the Benefit of the Advantage your Majesty will be pleas'd to procure them and yet such private Persons as might have cause to complain with Justice will receive no prejudice by it As it is impossible to question the Usefulness of these Propositions the Facility to put them in Execution is evident since as abovesaid it only requires a firm and constant Resolution in your Majesty to reap the Benefit of the same and to restore your Houshold to its former Greatness CHAP. VIII Of the PRINCE's Council SECT I. Which shews that the best Prince stands in need of a good Council IT is no small question among Politicians to know Whether a Prince who Governs a State by his own Head is more desirable than he who not confiding so much in his own Abilities relies much on his Council and does nothing without their Advice Whole Volumes might be compil'd of the Reasons which might be alledg'd for and against it But referring this Question to the particular Fact which obliges me to introduce it in this place after having preferr'd the Prince who acts more by his Council than by his own Opinion to him who prefers his own Head to all those of his Counsellors I cannot forbear saying That as the worse Government is that which has no other Spring than the Head of a Prince who being incapable is so presumptuous as to slight all Counsel the best of all is that of which the main Spring is in the Sense of the Soveraign who though capable to Act by Himself has so much Modesty and Judgment that he does nothing without Advice upon this principle That one Eye does not see so well as many Besides that Reason discovers the Solidity of this Decision Truth obliges me to say That Experience has convinc'd me so much of it that I cannot forbear affirming it without doing my self a Violence A Capable Prince is a great Treasure in a State a Skilful Council and such as it ought to be is no less considerable But the Concert of Both together is of an inestimable Value since thereon depends the Felicity of States It is certain that the most happy States are those in which Princes and Counsellors are the Wisest It is also certain That there are few Princes capable to Govern States alone and moreover though there were many they ought not to do it The Almighty Power of GOD his infinite Wisdom and his Providence do not hinder Him from making use in things which he might do by his bare Will of the Ministry of Second Causes and consequently Kings whose Perfections are limitted instead of being infinite would commit a notable Fault in not following his Example But whereas it is not in their power as in GOD's to supply the Defects of those they employ they must be very careful to chuse them as perfect and as accomplish'd as possible can be Many Qualifications are requir'd to make a perfect Counsellor nevertheless they may be reduc'd to Four viz. Capacity Fidelity Courage and Application which includes many others SECT II. Which represents what Capacity is requir'd in a good Counsellor THe Capacity of Counsellors does not require a pedantick Knowledge None can be more dangerous in a State than those who will Govern Kingdoms by the Maxims they find in Books They often ruin them thereby because the Time past has no relation to the present and that the Constitution of Times Places and Persons is different It only requires Goodness Steadiness of Mind Solidity of Judgment true Source of Prudence a reasonable Tincture of Letters a general Knowledge of History and of the present Constitution of all the States of the World and particularly of that in which they are Whereupon two things ought particularly to be consider'd The First That the greatest Wits are more dangerous than useful in the Management of Affairs unless they have a great deal more Lead than Quicksilver they are no ways fit for the State Some are fertile in Inventions and abounding in Thoughts but so variable in their Designs that those of the Morning and of the Evening are never alike and have so little connexity and choice in their Resolutions that they alter the good as well as the ill ones and never remain constant in any I may say with truth as knowing it by Experience that the Levity of such Men is no less dangerous in the Administration of Publick Affairs than the Malice of many others Much is to be dreaded from Minds whose Vivacity is accompanied with little Judgment and tho' those who excell in the Judicious part should not have a great reach yet they might be useful to States The Second Remark to be made on this Subject is That nothing can be more dangerous in a State than to give a great Authority to certain Men who have not Sense enough to Govern themselves and yet think they have too much to stand in need of any body's They are neither capable to take a good Counsel from their own Head nor to follow the Advice of those who are capable to direct them and thus they commit gross Faults Presumption is one of the greatest Vices a Man can be guilty of in publick Employments and if Humility is not requir'd in those who are design'd for the Conduct of States yet Modesty is absolutely necessary since it is most certain that those who have the greatest Parts are sometimes the least capable to admit Society and Counsel Qualifications without which even those to whom Nature has given most Knowledge are not fit for Government Without Modesty Men of great Parts are so wedded to their own Opinions that they condemn all others though better and the Pride of their natural Constitution being join'd to their Authority
his being so against Calumnies and that all the Crosses he may meet with may never discourage him from doing well He must know that the Labour Men undergo for the Publick is seldom acknowledg'd by private Persons and that no other Reward is to be expected for it on Earth than that of Fame which is the true Reward of great Souls He must also know That the great Men who are employ'd in the Government of States are like those who are condemn'd to suffer with this difference only That those receive the Reward of their Faults and the others of their Merit Moreover he must know That none but great Souls are capable to serve Kings faithfully and to support the Calumnies which the Wicked and Ignorant impute to Men of Honour without disquiet and without slackning in the Service they are oblig'd to do them He must likewise know That the Condition of those who are call'd to the Administration of publick Affairs is much to be pity'd by reason that if they do well the Malice of the World lessens the Glory of it pretending that one might do better though it were absolutely impossible Finally he must know That those who are employ'd in the Ministry of the State are oblig'd to imitate the Stars which notwithstanding the Barking of Dogs lighten them and follow their Course which ought to oblige him so far to contemn such Injuries that his Integrity may not be shaken by it in the least nor he hinder'd from prosecuting those Ends steadily which he has propos'd to himself for the Advantage of the State SECT IV. Which represents what Courage and Force is requir'd in a Counsellor of State THe Courage which is necessary in this case does not require so much Boldness in a Man as to dispise all sorts of Perils nothing can be more likely to ruin States And a Counsellor of State ought to be so far from behaving himself so that on the contrapy it behoves him to be very wary on all occasions and to undertake nothing without great Consideration and in proper Time Neither does the Courage requir'd in a perfect Counsellor of State oblige him to think on nothing but Great Things which happens often to the most elevated Souls when they have more Courage than Judgment on the contrary it is absolutely necessary that he should stoop to the meanest though they may seem below him at first because great Disorders often arise from small Beginnings and that the most considerable Establishments have sometimes Principles which seem to be of no Consideration But the Courage in question requires a Man to be free from Weakness and Fear which render those who are tainted with those two Defects not only incapable of taking good Resolutions for the Publick Good but also from putting those in execution which they have taken It requires a certain Fire which makes Men desire and prosecute great things with as much Eagerness as the Judgment embraces them with Wisdom It requires moreover a certain Steadiness which makes Men undergo Adversities bravely and hinders them from appearing and from being alter'd in the greatest Alterations of Fortune It ought to give the Minister of State an honest Emulation of Glory without which the most capable and the most worthy seldom signalize themselves by an advantagious Action to the Publick It must give him the force to resist without being daunted Envy Hatred Calumny and all the Crosses which are commonly met with in the Administration of Publick Affairs Finally It must justifie the Saying of Aristotle in his Person who affirms That whereas those that are Weak make use of Cunning and of Craft those who are strong despise both equally by the just Confidence they have in themselves To this end we must observe That to be Valiant and to have Courage is not the same thing Valour supposes a Disposition to expose one's self willingly on all occasions to the Perils which present themselves which Courage does not require but only a sufficient Resolution to despise Peril when we are engag'd in it and to support Adversity patiently when we are involv'd therein We may even proceed farther and say That besides the Disposition above specify'd Valour requires another which is Corporal and which enables Men to shew their Valour by their Arm. I am sensible That those who have spoken of the principal Vertues of Man heretofore did not understand those Distinctions but if you consider them maturely you will find the first absolutely necessary and the second not superfluous because most Men only judge of a Man's Valour by the Performances of his Arm which shew his Worth Whatever sence you take Valour in it is not necessary in a Counsellor of State there is no need of his having a Disposition to expose himself to Perils nor even a corporeal Aptness to shew his Worth by the virtue of his Arm it is sufficient for him to have so much Courage that an ill-grounded Fear and the Crosses he may chance to meet with may not be able to divert him from his good and generous Design and as the Mind governs and not the Hand it is sufficient that his Heart should sustain his Head though it cannot influence his Arm. SECT V. Which represents what Application is requir'd in Counsellors of State APplication does not require that a Man should Labour incessantly in Publick Affairs on the contrary nothing is more capable to make him useless than such a proceeding The nature of State-Affairs requires respite by reason that the weight of it is greater and more burthensom than all others and that the Forces of the Mind and Body of Men being limitted a continual Labour would exhaust them in a short space of time It allows all manner of honest Divertisements which do not divert those who take them from those things to which they ought to be particularly apply'd But it requires that he who is engag'd in Publick Affairs should make them his particular Care and should fix his Mind his Thought and Affection on them it requires that the greatest of his Pleasures should be the good success of his Affairs It requires that he should often surround the World to foresee what may happen and to find means to prevent the Evils which are to be fear'd and to execute those Enterprises which Reason and Publick Interest advise As it obliges not to lose one moment in certain Affairs which may be ruin'd by the least delay it also requires that we should not precipitate our selves in others in which time is necessary to take such Resolutions as one may have no reason to repent of One of the greatest Grievances of this Kingdom is that most Men apply themselves more to those things to which they cannot apply themselves without a Fault than to those they cannot omit without a Crime A Soldier speaks of what his Captain ought to do the Captain of the Defects he imagines in his Colonel the Colonel finds fault with his General the General disapproves
and blames the Conduct of the Court and none of them move in their own Sphere or think of performing those things which their Station particularly obliges them to There are Persons of so little Action and of such weak Constitutions that they never apply themselves to any thing of their own accord but barely receive occasions which influence these more than they do them Such Men are fitter to live in a Cloister than to be employ'd in the Administration of States which require Application and Activity together so that when they are in them they do as much harm by their languishing Conduct as another may do good by an active Application We must not expect great Effects from such Minds no body is oblig'd to them for the Good they do neither can they be blam'd much for the harm they do since properly speaking Chance acts more in them than themselves Nothing can be more contrary to the Application which is necessary in Publick Affairs than the Inclination which those who have the Administration of them have for Women I am sensible that there are Minds so absolutely Superiour and Masters of themselves that though they are diverted from what they owe to GOD by some unruly Affection yet it does not divert them from what they owe to the State There are some who not giving those an Influence over their Will who sway their Pleasures only apply themselves wholly to their Business But there are but few of this nature and it must be granted That as a Woman lost the World nothing is so capable to ruine States as that Sex when influencing those who Govern them they often make them move as they please and consequently ill The best of Women's Thoughts being commonly ill in those who are govern'd by their Passions which generally usurp the Empire of Reason in their Mind whereas Reason is the only and true Motive which must animate and influence those who are employ'd in publick Affairs Whatever Force a Counsellor of State may have it is impossible for him to apply himself as he should do to his Trust unless he be free from all such Engagements He may chance to perform his Duty with them but heing free of them he will do much better Whatever Station he is in in order to do well he must divide his Time so as to have Hours to work alone about the Expeditions which are requir'd by his Place and others to give Audience to every body Reason obliges him to treat every one courteously and with as much Civility as his Staition and the distinct Quality of Men who have Business with him requires This Article will give Posterity a Testimony of my Integrity since it prescribes what I have not been able to perform in every point I have always liv'd civilly with those who had Business to treat with me the Nature of Affairs which obliges to refusâ— many Persons does neither allow ill Looks nor ill Words when we cannot satisfie them by Effects But the illness of my Health has not allow'd me to give access to every body as I could have wish'd which has often troubled me to that degree that that Confideration has sometimes made me desirous to retire Nevertheless I may affirm with truth That I have husbanded the Weakness of my Forces so well that if I have not been able to answer the Desires of every body they have never been able to hinder me from performing my Duty in relation to the State Finally Application Courage Integrity and Capacity form the Perfection of a Counsellor of State and the Concurrence of all those Qualities must meet in his Person A Man may be very honest who having no Talent for Affairs of State would be altogether useless in them and would keep Places he were not able to discharge Another might be capable and have the Integrity which is requir'd who not having Courage enough to sustain the divers Casualties which it is impossible to avoid in the Government of States would be prejudicial instead of being useful Another might mean well be capable and have Courage together whose Laziness would prove destructive to the Publick he not applying himself to the Functions of his Office Another may have a good Conscience be capable have Courage and Application to his Employment who being more sensible to the Object which touches him than to what Concerns the Interest of the Publick though he serves often usefully is nevertheless much to be fear'd Capacity and Probity produce such a perfect Agreement between the Understanding and the Will that as the Understanding knows how to chuse the best Objects and the properest means to acquire the Possession of them the Will also knows how to embrace them with so much eagerness that it omits nothing within its power to compass the Ends propos'd by the Understanding Integrity and Courage produce an honest Boldness to tell Kings what is useful for them though it be not altogether pleasing to them I say an honest Boldness because unless it be well regulated and always respectful instead of being reckon'd among the Perfections of a Counsellor of State it would be one of his Vices Kings must be spoken to with silken Words As a faithful Counsellor is oblig'd to mind them in private of their Faults with Caution he can never represent them to them in publick without committing a great Fault To speak that aloud which ought to be whisper'd is a Reproach which may become criminal in the Mouth of him who utters it if he Publishes the Imperfections of his Prince to advantage himself by it being more desirous out of a vain Ostentation to shew that he disapproves them than that he has a sincere Desire to correct them Courage and Speculation produce so much Steadiness in the Designs chosen by the Understanding and embrac'd by the Will that they are prosecuted with Constancy without being liable to the Changes which the Levity of the French often produces I have not spoken of the Force and Health of Body necessary in a Minister of State by reason that though it is a great advantage when it meets with all the Qualifications of Mind above-mention'd it is not nevertheless so necessary but that Counsellors may perform their Functions without it There are many Employments in the State in which they are absolutely necessary because the Body is to act as well as the Mind in repairing to divers Places which often must be done with speed but he who holds the Helm of the State and whose sole Care is the Direction of Affairs stands in no need of that Qualification As the Motion of Heaven only stands in need of the Intelligence which moves it so the Force of the Mind alone is sufficient to conduct a State and that of the Arms and Legs is not necessary to move all the World As he who Governs a Ship has no other Action than that of the Eye to see the Compass after which he orders the Turning of the Helm
in those things which are for our good and turns our mind with so much swiftness that our Enemies not being capable to take just measures upon such frequent Varieties have not time enough to improve our faults to their advantage The Proceeding of your Council being alter'd of late your Affairs have also taken a new face to the great advantage of your Kingdom and if your Successors take care to follow the Example of your Majesty's Reign our Neighbours will not have the advantages they have had for the time past But this Kingdom sharing Wisdom with them will undoubtedly share their good Fortune since that notwithstanding Men may be wise without being happy the best means we can use not to be unhappy is to tread the Path which Prudence and Reason direct us to and not to follow the Irregularities to which the Minds of Men are subject and particularly the French If those to whom your Majesty will confide the Care of your Affairs have the capacity and probity above mention'd you will have no further care in what relates to this Principle which of it self will not prove difficult since the particular Interest of a Princes reputation and those of the Publick have the same End Princes easily consent to the general Regulations of their States by reason that in making them they follow the dictates of Reason and of Justice which Men easily embrace when they meet no Obstacles to lead them out of the right way But when occasion offers it self to practise the good Settlements they have made they do not always show the same steadiness because that is the time when divers Interests Piety Compassion Favour and Importunities solicite them and oppose their good Intentions and that they have not always force enough to vanquish themselves and to despise particular Considerations whith ought to be of no weight in respect to those of the Publick It is on those occasions it behoves them to muster up all their Force against their Weakness considering that those whom God appoints to preserve others must have none but such as may serve to discover what is advantagious for the Public and proper for their Preservation CHAP. IV. How much Foresight is necessary for the Government of a State NOthing can be more necessary for the Government of a State than Foresight since thereby we may easily prevent many things which cannot be redress'd without great difficulties when they are come to pass Thus a Physitian who has the skill to prevent Distempers is more esteem'd than he who only labours to cure them Therefore it is the Duty of Ministers of State to represent to their Master that it is more necessary to consider the future than the present and that Distempers are like the Enemies of a State against whom Prudence obliges us to march rather than tarry till they are come to drive them out again Those who do not follow this Method will fall into great Confusions which it will be very difficult to remedy afterwards Yet it is a common thing among weak Men to drive off time and to chuse the preserving of their Ease for a Month rather than to deprive themselves of it for a while to avoid the trouble of many Years which they do not consider because they only see what is present and do not anticipate time by a wise Providence Those who never consider to morrow live happily for themselves but others live unhappily under them Those who foresee at a distance never do any thing rashly since they consider betimes and Men seldom miscarry when they consider before hand There are some occasions on which we are not allow'd to deliberate long because the nature of Affairs does not permit it But when they are not of that kind the safest way is to slumber over them and to recompence by the prudence of the Execution the delay we use the better to digest it There was a time in which no Orders were given in this Kingdom by way of prevention and even after the evil was come to pass none but Palliating Remedies were apply'd to it because it was impossible to proceed absolutely against it without wounding the Interest of many particular persons which was then prefer'd to publick good For which reason they only endeavour'd to ease the wound instead of curing it which has caus'd a great deal of harm in this Kingdom Of late years thanks be to God this way of proceeding has been alter'd with so much success that besides Reasons inviting us to continue the same the great benefit we have receiv'd by it obliges us strickly so to do We must sleep like the Lion without closing our Eyes which must be continually kept open to foresee the least inconveniencies which may happen and to remember that as Phtysick does not move the Pulse tho' it is mortal So it often happens in States that those evils which are imperceptible in their Original and which we are least sensible of are the most dangerous and those which finally prove of most consequence The extraordinary care which is requir'd not to be surpris'd on such occasions is the reason that as all those States have always been esteem'd very happy which were Govern'd by Wise Men so it has been thought that among those who did Govern them the most unwise were the most happy The more capable a Man is the more he is sensible of the weight of the Government that lies upon him Publick Administration takes up all the thoughts of the most Judicious insomuch that the perpetual Meditations they are obliged to make to foresee and prevent the Evils that may happen deprives them of all manner of Rest and Contentment excepting that which they receive in seeing many sleep quietly relying on their Watchings and live happy by their misery As it is very necessary to consider before hand as much as is possible what success may attend the designs we undertake in order not to be mistaken in our reckoning The Wisdom and Sight of Men having bounds beyond which they can see nothing God only being able to see the ultimate end of things it often suffices to know that the Projects we form are Just and Possible to undertake them with Reason God concurs to all the Actions of Men by a general Co-operation which seconds their designs and it is their part to use their freedom in all things according to the Prudence Divine Wisdom has indu'd them with But when Men are ingag'd in great undertakings which concern the Conduct of Mankind after having discharg'd the obligation they are under to open their Eyes doubly the better to take their measures after having made use of all the considerations Human Minds are capable of it is their Duty to rely upon the goodness of the Spirit of God which sometimes inspiring those thoughts into Men which are set down in his Eternal Decrees leads them as it were by the Hand to their proper ends CHAP. V. Punishment and Reward are two Points
to make others to prevent new disorders which would no sooner have appear'd but it would have been easy to punish the evil committed Ordinances and Laws are altogether useless unless thēy are put in execution which is so absolutely necessary that notwithstanding in the course of Common Affairs Justice requires an authentick proof it is not so with those which concern the State in such cases that which appears by pressing conjectures must sometimes be held as a sufficient conviction seeing that the Factions and Conspiracies that are form'd against publick safety are commonly carry'd on with so much Art and Secresy that we have seldom any evident proof of them but by the event which is past remedy In those cases it is sometimes necessary to begin by Execution whereas in all others proving the Fact evidently either by Witnesses or undeniable Authorities ought to precede every thing Those Maxims seem to be dangerous and indeed they are not altogether void of peril but they will most certainly be found good if not making use of the last and extream remedies in faults which will only be verify'd by conjectures the course of them is barely prevented by innocent means as the Banishment or Imprisonment of suspected persons The good Conscience and the penetrat of a juditious Mind who being learn'd in the course of Affairs is able to know the future almost with as much certainty as the present as well as a meaner capacity by the very sight of things will secure that Practice from ill consequences and at the worst the abuse that can be committed in it being only dangerous for private Persons whose life will not be in danger this way it ought not to be rejected since their Interest is not to be compar'd to that of the Publick Yet it requires a great deal of Prudence not to make it an In-let to Tiranny which will be avoided undoubtedly if as I have said in doubtful cases none but Innocent remedies are practis'd Punishment is so necessary in what relates to Publick Interest that we are not so much as allow'd to commit faults of Indulgence in this kind recompensing a present evil for a past good that is to leave a crime unpunish'd because the person that has committed it has done good service on other occasions Nevertheless this has hitherto been often practis'd in this Kingdom in which not only light faults have been forgotten in consideration of important services but the greatest Crimes abolish'd by services of no moment which is altogether insupportable Good and Evil are so different in their Nature that they can never be put in Parallel one with another they are Enemies among which there is no Quarter to be given nor Exchange to be made if the one is worthy of Reward the other deserves Punishment and both ought to be us'd according to their Merit Altho' Conscience would allow the leaving of a signal Action unrewarded and a notable Crime without Punishment Reasons of State could not allow it Punishment and Rewards relate to the future more than to the time past a Prince must be severe of necessity to prevent the mischiefs that might be committed in hopes of a Pardon if he were known to be too Indulgent and very kind to those that are of use to the Publick to encourage them to continue their Endeavours and every body to imitate them and follow their example There would be a great deal of pleasure in pardoning Crimes if the Impunity of the same had no ill consequence and the necessities of the State would sometimes lawfully excuse a Prince from Rewarding a Service if in depriving him who has done it of his Reward he did not at the same time deprive himself of the hopes of receiving others for the future Noble Souls taking as much pleasure in good as they are loath to do harm I quit the discourse of Punishments and Executions to conclude this Chapter agreeably by Favours and Rewards whereupon I must needs observe that there is this difference between the Favours which are bestow'd as a Reward of Service and those that have no other foundation than the inclination of Kings that these ought to be greatly moderated whereas the others ought to have no other bounds than those of the Services they have done the Publick The Good of States does so absolutely require that their Princes should be Liberal that when at any time it is come into my mind that there are Men who out of a natural propensity are not inclin'd to do good I have always concluded that this natural defect blamable in all Men is a far greater imperfection in Sovereigns who being in a more peculiar manner the Image of their Creator who by his Nature does good to all the World cannot fail of imitating him in that point without being answerable for the same before him The Reason of it is That it is his pleasure they should follow his example and bestow their Favours handsomly for those who oblige without that condition are like the Misers who serve good Meat in their Treats but so ill dress'd that those who are invited to them eat them without any pleasure and without thinking themselves beholden to those that have been at the charge of it I would enlarge more upon this Subject if I had not done it already in one of the preceding Chapters representing the necessity of Princes being kind to those of their Council who serve them faithfully CHAP. VI. A Continual Negotiation contributes much towards the good Success of Affairs STates receive such advantages by continual Negotiations when they are manag'd with Prudence that it is almost incredible to any but those who have had the Experience of it I own that I had been imploy'd five or six years in the management of Affairs before I discover'd this Truth But I am so certain of it at present that I dare affirm boldly that to Nagotiate continually openly or secretly in all Places altho no present benefit be received by it and but little Prospect for the Future is a thing absolutely Necessary for the good of States I may say with Truth that in my Time I have seen the Affairs of France and of Christendom quite alter'd by having put that Principle into Practice by the Kings Authority which till then had been absolutely neglected in this Kingdom Among the Seeds of them some produce Fruit sooner than others some are no sooner in the Ground but they sprout while others are a long while without producing the same Effect He who Negotiates finally finds out a proper moment to compass his Ends and tho he should not find it at least it is certain that he can lose nothing and that by the means of his Negotiation he is inform'd with what passes in the World which is a thing of no small Consequence for the good of States Negotiations are Innocent remedys which never do any harm it is necessary to Act every where far and near and particularly at Rome
Among the good Councils which Anthony Perez gave the late King he advis'd him to make himself powerful in that Court and not without reason since the Ambassadors of all the Princes in Christendom who repair there judg that those who have most Credit and Authority in that Court are in reality those who have most Power in themselves and most Fortune and indeed their Judgment is not ill grounded since it is certain that tho Popes ought to respect Reason above all other Men yet there is no Place in the World in which Power is more consider'd than in their Court which is so evidently true that the Respect which is paid to Ambassadors there increases or diminishes daily according to the good or ill State of their Masters affairs from whence it often comes to pass that those Ministers receive two different Faces in one day if a Courier who comes at night brings different News from those that came in the Morning It is with States as it is with Human Bodies the fresh Colour which appears in our Faces makes the Physitian conclude that all is well within and as that good Complection proceeds from the good Disposition of the Noble and Internal Parts so it is certain that the best way a Prince can put in Practice to be in favour at Rome is to settle his Affairs well at home and that it is almost impossible to have a great reputation in that City which has been long the Head and is the Centre of the World without having the same throughout the Universe to the great advantage of publick Interest Natural Reason teaches us that we ought to have a great regard for our Neighbours by reason that as their Neighbourhood gives them an opportunity to annoy it also puts them in a condition to serve as the Out-works of a Place which hinder the Immediate Approach of the Walls Persons of mean capacity limit their thoughts within the extent of the States in which they are born but those to whom God has been pleas'd to give more knowledg learning from Physitians that in the greatest Distempers Revolutions are made with most Violence in the most distant Parts they use their best Endeavours to fortify themselves at a distance It is necessary to act in all Places which is to be observ'd according to the humour and by suitable means to the capacity of those with whom we negotiate Different Nations have different Wayes some speedily conclude what they design to do and others are very slow Republics are of the last kind they proceed slowly and commonly they do not at first grant what is desir'd of them but one must be satisfy'd with little in order to obtain more As great Bodies do not move so easily as small ones those kind of States being compos'd of several heads they are much slower in their Resolutions and in their Executions than others And for that reason Prudence obliges those who negotiate with them to give them time and to press them no more than their natural Constitution permits It is observable that as strong and solid Reasons are excellent for Men of vast Genius weak ones are better for Men of meaner Capacitys because they are more suitable to their reach Men conceive Affairs according to their capacity the greatest seem easie and small to Men of good Understanding and great Courage and those who want these qualifications commonly find every thing difficult Such Men are incapable of apprehending the Weight of what is propos'd to them and sometimes slight what is most considerable and also often set a great stress on things which deserve no consideration It is necessary to act with every Man according to his Capacity On some Occasions to Act and to speak couragiously when we have fight on our side is so far from making a Breach that on the contrary it is rather the way to prevent and to stifle it in it's Birth In others instead of resenting unseasonably certain imprudent Expressions spoken by those we treat with we must suffer them with Prudence and Address together and have only Ears for those things which may conduce to our Ends. There are Men who are so presumptuous as to think they ought to shew their Bravery on all occasions hoping thereby to obtain what they cannot get by reason and what they cannot constrain People to do by force They think they have done harm by threatning it but besides that this proceeding is contrary to reason it never succeeds with Persons of Honor. As Fools are not fit to negotiate there are Minds so very nice and refin'd that they are as unfit for it as they by reason that subtilizing upon every thing they are like those who break the Points of Needles in whetting them The most proper Men are those who keep a Medium between those two extreams and the most subtle making use of their Wit to avoid being deceiv'd must take care at the same time not to use it to deceive those they treat with Men are always diffident of those that act craftily and give an ill Impression of the frankness and fidelity they ought to behave themselves with That never advances their Affairs The same Words have often two Senses the one depends on the Sincerity and Ingenuity of Men the other on Art and Subtlety by which it is very easie to turn the true Signification of a Word to voluntary Explications Great Negotiations must not have one Moments Intermission it is necessary to pursue what we undertake with a perpetual chain of designs never ceasing to act unless with Reason and not by a Relaxation of Mind Indifference wavering thoughts and contrary resolution Neither must Men be disgusted by an ill Event since it often comes to pass that what is undertaken with most Reason succeeds with least happiness It is difficult to combat often and always to be Conqueror and it is a Sign of an extraordinary Blessing when Success is favourable in great Undertakings and only contrary in those that are of little Moment It is enough that Negotiations are so harmless that one may receive considerable advantage by them and never any harm If any body urges that some of them prove prejudicial sometimes I give him leave to reject my Judgment if he does not find in case he will open his Eyes that instead of having any reason to impute the ill success he has observ'd in the Remedy I propose they are only to be imputed to those who did not know how to make a good use of it Tho it should produce no other advantage than to gain Time on certain occasions which happens commonly the practice of it would be very commendable and useful in States since a moment often serves to avoid a Storm Notwithstanding the Alliances which are often contracted by Marriages between Crowns do not always produce the Effect that might be desir'd yet they must not be neglected and they often prove the most Important matters of Negotiations They always produce
represent freely to Princes to what degree they are answerable before God when they give Places of great Trust out of pure favour which can never be possessed by mean Capacitys without prejudice to the State It is on the said Occasion we are oblidg'd to show that tho we do not absolutely Condemn particular Affections which have no other foundation but that natural Inclination which Men have rather for one Person than for another we cannot excuse Princes who suffer themselves to be prevail'd upon so far as to give those they Love thus Places in the administration of which they show themselves as prejudicial to the State as useful to themselves Those who have the happiness to Injoy the favour of Princes by the force of their Inclination must not be depriv'd of receiving Advantages from them tho they have not all the Qualifications requir'd to make them worthy of the same and the Public can not complain of it with Reason unless they are Immoderate But it is a sinister Omen for a Prince when he who is the most Considerable for his Interest is not the most consider'd by his Favour and States are never in a worse Condition than when the Inclinations the Prince has for some particular Persons prevail before the services of those that are more useful to the Public In such a Case neither the Esteem of the Soveraign nor the Affection one has for him nor the hope of reward do any longer excite Virtue Men remain on the contrary in an Indifference of Good and Evil and Envy and jealousie or Spite Induce all Men to neglect their Duty because that in performing it they have no prospect of reward A Prince who desires to be belov'd by his Subjects must fill up all the Places of Trust and the first Dignitys of his State with Persons so much esteem'd by every one that the Cause of his Choice may be found in their merit Such Men must be carefully sought after throughout the State and not receiv'd by importunities or chosen in the Croud of those who press most about Kings and about their Favourites If Favour has no hand in Elections and Merit be the Sole foundation of them besides that the State will be well serv'd Princes will avoid a great deal of Ingratitude which is often met with in certain Men who are the less grateful for the favours they receive in that they least deserve them It being most certain that the same Qualifications which render Men worthy of favours are the same which make them Capable and desirous to acknowledg them Many have good sentiments in the moment you Oblige them but the Constitution of their Nature sways them soon after and they easily forget what they owe others because they only love themselves and as Fire converts all things into its own substance they only consider Public Interests to convert them to their one advantage and equaly despise those who do them Good and the States in which they receive it Favour may innocently be allow'd in some things but a Kingdom is in a sad Case when the Throne of that false Goddess is raised above Reason Merit should always turn the Scale and when Justice is on our side favour cannot prevail without Injustice Favourites are the more dangerous in that those who are raised by Fortune seldom consult Reason and whereas it seldom favours their designs it proves commonly Ineffectual to stop the Course of those they form to the prejudice of the State In my opinion nothing is more likely to Ruin the most flourishing Kingdom in the World than the Apetite of such Men or the inordinate Passions of a Woman when a Prince is possessed by them I am the bolder in advancing this Proposition because there are no Remedies against those Evils but such as depend altogether on Chance and Time which often suffering the Sick to dye without any assistance must be look'd upon as the worst Physician in the World As the greatest Light in Nature cannot make the blind perceive one glimpse of their way so there is no Ray capable to unseal the Eyes of a Prince when they are seal'd by Favour and Passion Those whose Eyes are blinded can never make good Choices unless by Chance and therefore since the welfare of the State requires them ever to be made with Reason it also requires that Princes should not be possessed by Persons who deprive them of the Light they stand in need of to see the Objects which are put before their Eyes When the Hearts of Princes are ingag'd by such means it is almost Useless to do well because the Craft of those who are in possession of their Affections tarnish the lustre of the purest Actions and make the most signal Services pass for Offences Many Princes have undone themselves by preferring their particular Affection to Public Interest Such misfortunes have befallen some by the unruly Passions they have had for Women Some are fallen into the like Inconveniences by such a simple blind Passion they have had for their Favorites that in order to raise their Fortune they have ruin'd their own There have been others who having no natural Inclination for any thing have nevertheless been sway'd with so much Violence in favour of some particular Persons that they have occasion'd their Ruin Men perhaps will wonder at this Proposition which is nevertheless as True as it is easy to be conceiv'd and if Men consider that such Motions are distempers to the Minds that are influenc'd by them and that as the Cause of Feavours is the Corruption of Humors one may also say That those sorts of Violent Affections are rather Grounded on the defect of the Person in which we find them than on the Merit of those who receive the Effect and Advantage of them Such Evils commonly carry their Remedy along with them in that being Violent they are not lasting but when they continue they often occasion Death as well as the Feavers of that Kind or a want of health which is seldom repair'd afterwards The wisest Princes have avoided those divers kinds of Evils in making Reason the guide of all their Affections Many have cur'd themselves of them after having found to their Cost that unless they did it their Ruin was Inevitable To return precisely to the Point of the Question proposed in this Chapter the scope of which is to show how Important it is to discern those who are the fittest for Employments I will conclude it saying That since Interest is that which makes Men guilty of Male-adminnistration in the Places that are committed to them Ecclesiasticks are often to be preferr'd to many others in what relates to Places of great Trust Not that they are less subject to their own Interest but because they have a great deal less self Interest than other Men since that having neither Wives nor Children they are free from the Bonds which ingage Men most CHAP. VIII Of the Evil which Flatterers Detractors and Intriguers
commonly occasion in States and how necessary it is to remove them from Kings and to banish them from their Courts THere is no Plague so capable to ruine a State as Flatterers Detractors and certain Men who apply themselves wholly to form Cabals and Intrigues in their Courts They are so industrious to spread their Venom by divers imperceptible ways that it is difficult to scape it without abundance of care As they are neither of a Quality nor Merit to have a share in the Management of Affairs nor good enough to be concern'd for the Publick Good their only aim is to disturb both and expecting great advantages from Confusion they omit no means to overthrow by their Flatteries by their Crafts and by their Detractions the Order and Rule which deprives them absolutely of all hopes of Fortune since it is impossible to build any in a well disciplin'd State unless it be upon Merit which they are wholly destitute of Besides that as it is a common thing for those who have no share in Affairs to endeavour to ruine them those sort of Men are capable of doing all manner of Evils and therefore it behoves Princes to take all the precautions imaginable against the malice which disguises it self in so many different dresses that it is often difficult to ward it There are some who notwithstanding they have neither Courage nor Wit have nevertheless so much of both as to feign as much steadiness as a profound and severe Wisdom and to set off themselves in finding fault with every body's Actions even when they are most to be commended and that it is Impossible to do better in respect of the thing in question Nothing is so easy as to find apparent Reasons to Condemn what cannot be better done and what has been undertaken upon such Solid Foundations that one could not have done otherwise without committing a notable fault Others having neither Mouths nor Spurs dislike by their Gestures by shaking of their Heads and by aserious Grimace what they dare not Condemn with Words and cannot be blam'd with Reason Not to flatter in what Relates to such Men It is not enough for the Prince to refuse them his Ear he must also banish them from the Cabinet and Court together because that as their facility is sometimes so great that to speak to them and to persuade them is the same thing even when they cannot be persuaded there still remains some Impression which has its Effect another Time when the same Artifice is renew'd And indeed the Little Application they have to Affairs induces them often to Judge the Cause rather by the number of Witnesses than by the Weight of the accusations I could hardly relate all the Evils those Evil Councelors have been the Authors of during your Majestie 's Reign But I have so lively a Resentment of it for the Interest of the State that it forces me to say That there can be no room for mercy for such Men in order to prevent the mischiefs that have been done in my Time Tho a Prince be never so Firm and Constant he cannot without great Imprudence and without exposing himself to Ruin keep ill Men about him who may surprise him unexpectedly as during a Contagion a Malignant Vapor siezes in an Instant the Heart and Brains of the strongest Men when they think themselves soundest Those Public Plagues must be remov'd never to return unless they have cast all their Venom which happens so seldom that the care we ought to have of repose obliges more to the Continuation of their Removal than Charity can Invite to recall them I boldly advance this proposition because I have never seen any of those Lovers of Factions bred in the Intrigues of the Court lose their Ill habit and change their Nature unless for want of Power which properly speaking do's not Change them since the will of doing Ill remains in them when the Power has left them I am sensible that some of those Men may be sincerely converted but experience teaching me that for one who persists in his repentance twenty return to their old Vomit I decide boldly That it is better to use Rigor against one Person who deserves favour than to expose a State to some prejudice by being too Indulgent either towards those who keep their malice in their Heart only acknowledging their fault in Letters or towards those whose levity may give a reason to dread a relapse worse than their former Evil. 'T is no wonder that Angels should never do any Evil since they are confirm'd in Grace but that those who are obstinate in that kind of Malice should do any good when they may do harm is a kind of Miracle which must be wrought by the immediate Powerful hand of God and it is certain that a Man of great Probity will find much more difficulty to subsist in an Age corrupted by such Men than one whose Vertue they will not stand in dread of his Reputation not being so Intire Some are of Opinion that it suits with the goodness of Kings to Tolerate things which seem to be of small Consequence in the beginning but I say That they can never be too careful to discover and to extinguish the least Intrigues of their Cabinets and of their Courts in their Birth Great Conflagrations being occasion'd by small sparks who ever puts out one do's not know what mischief he has prevented but to discover it if he leaves any one unextinguish'd tho the same Causes do not always produce the same Effect he will perhaps find himself reduc'd to such an Extremity that it will no longer be in his Power to remedy the same Whether it be true or no that a little Poyson stops a great Vessel the Course of which it cannot advance of one Moment it is easy to conceive by what Naturalists relate to us of that Poyson that it is absolutely necessary to purge a State of that which may put a stop to the Course of Affairs tho it can never advance it On such occasions it is not sufficient to remove great Men upon the account of their Power the same must be done to the meanest upon the account of their Malice All are equally dangerous and if there is any difference mean Persons as those that are most conceal'd are more to be fear'd than the others As the bad Air I have already mention'd lock'd up into a Trunk often Infects a House with the Plague which afterwards spreads throughout the Town so the Intrigues of Cabinets often fill the Courts of Princes with partialities which finally disturb the body of the State As I may affirm with Truth that I have never seen any Troubles in this Kingdom but what did proceed form thence I answer once more that it is more Important than it seems to be to extinguish not only the first sparks of such Divisions when they appear but also to prevent them by the removal of those who make it their whole business
to kindle them The Peace of the State is too Considerable to neglect that Remedy without being answerable for it to God I have often seen the Court in the midst of Peace so full of Factions for want of practising this good Counsel that they were very like like to overthrow the State That knowledg and that which History has given your Majesties of the like Perils to which many and particularly the last of your Predecessors have often been exposed upon the same account having oblig'd you to seek out a Remedy I have seen France so peaceable at home while she had Wars abroad that considering the Repose it injoy'd no body could have thought it was oblig'd to oppose the greatest Powers Perhaps some may urge that the Factions and Troubles I have mention'd have been occasion'd more by the invention of Women than by the Malice of Flatterers But that Instance is so far from being against what I have urg'd that on the contrary it confirms it powerfully seeing that in speaking of Flatterers and the like I do not design to exclude Women who are often more dangerous than Men and to whose sex a World of Charms are annex'd more powerful to Disturb and to Imbroyl Affairs Courts and States than the most subtil and industrious Malice of any others whatever It is true that while the Queens Catherine and Mary de Medicis had a share in the Government and that many Women being Influenc'd by them meddl'd with the Affairs of the State many of them very powerful in Sence and Charms have done a world of Mischief their Places having acquir'd them the best Qualify'd Persons of the Kingdom and the most Unhappy they have drawn this advantage by it that being serv'd by them according to their Passions they have often prejudic'd those who were not in their Favour because they were useful to the State I might Inlarge upon this Subject but divers respects stop my Pen which not being Capable of Flattery when it condemns openly cannot forbear observing That the Favourites I have mention'd in the preceeding Chapter often supply the place of those whose Malice I have examin'd in this After those Truths I have no more to say but that it is Impossible to secure States against the Evils those sort of Persons may occasion but by removing them from the Court which is the more necessary in that it is Impossible to keep a Snake in ones bosom without exposing one's self to be stung by it CHAP. IX Which Treats of the Power of the Prince and is divided into Eight Sections SECTION I. The Prince must be Powerful to be Respected by his Subjects and by strangers POWER being one of the most necessary Ingredients towards the Grandor of Kings and the prosperity of their Governments those who have the chief Management of Affairs are particularly oblig'd not to omit any thing which may contribute to Authorise their Master so far as to make all the World Respect him As goodness is the object of Love Power is the cause of Dread and it is most certain that among all the Princes who are capable to Stir a State Fear grounded upon Esteem and Reverence has so much Force that it ingages every one to perform his Duty If this Principle is of great Efficacy in respect to the internal Part of States it is to the full as prevailing abroad Subjects and Strangers looking with the same Eyes upon a formidable Power both the one and the other abstain from offending a Prince whom they are sensible is in a condition to hurt them if he were so inclin'd I have observ'd by the by that the ground of the Power I am speaking of must be Esteem and Respect I add that it is now a thing so necessary that when it is grounded upon any other Principle it is very dangerous in that case instead of creating a reasonable Fear it inclines Men to hate Princes who are never in a worse condition than when it turns to public aversion The Power which induces Men to respect and fear Princes with Love is of many different kinds It is a Tree which has five divers Branches which all draw their nutriment and substance from one and the same Root The Prince must be powerful by his Reputation By a reasonable Army always kept on Foot And by a notable Sum of Money in his Coffers to supply unexpected exigencies which often come to pass when they are least expected Finally by the Possession of his Subjects hearts as we may easily see SECTION II. The Prince must be powerful by his Reputation and what is necessary to that End REputation is the more necessary in Princes in that those we have a good opinion of do more by their bare words than those who are not esteem'd with Armies They are oblig'd to value it beyond Life and they ought sooner to venture their Fortune and Grandeur than to suffer the least Breach to be made in the same since it is most certain that the least diminution a Prince receives tho never so slight is the step which is of most dangerous consequence for his ruin In consideration of which I declare freely that Princes ought never to esteem any Profit advantagious when it reflects in the least upon their honour and they are either blind or insensible to their true Interests if they receive any of this nature And indeed History teaches us that in all Times and in all States Princes of great reputation are always happier than those who being inferior to them in that Point have surpass'd them in Force and Riches and in all other Power As they cannot be too jealous of it their Counsellors can never be too careful to cry up the good Qualities they possess Those who will form their Conduct upon the Rules and Principles contain'd in this present Testament will undoubtedly acquire a Name which will be of no small weight in the mind of their Subjects and of their Neighbours particularly if being Religious towards God they observe the same Rule towards themselves That is in being true to their word and faithful to their Promises conditions which are so absolutely necessary for the reputation of a Prince that as he who is destitute of them can never be esteem'd by any body so it is impossible for him who does possess them not to be reverenc'd and credited by all the World I could instance many Examples of this Truth but as I do not design this Work for a Common Place easy to be perform'd by all sorts of Men who will extract good Books I will only instance such as are so certain and so clear that all sensible Persons will find the Proof of them in their own Reason SECTION III. The Prince must be Powerful by the force of his Frontiers NONE but such as are depriv'd of common sence can be unsensible how necessary it is for great States to have their Frontiers well Fortify'd It is a thing the more necessary in this
Kingdom in that that tho the Levity of our Nation should make it incapable of making great Conquests their Valour would render them Invincible in their defence having considerable Places so well fortify'd and so well provided with all things that they may be able to show their Courage without being exposed to suffer great hard-ships which are the only Enemies they have to overcome A Frontier well fortify'd is capable either to discourage Enemies from the designs they might have against a State or at least to stop the Course of the same and their Impetuosity if they dare venture to do it by open force The subtil motions of our Nation stand in need of being secured against the Terrour they might receive in an unexpected attack if they did not know that the entrance into the Kingdom has such strong Ramparts that no foreign Impetuosity can be capable to take them by Storm and that it is impossible to overcome them without a considerable Time The new method of some of the Enemies of this State being more to starve the Places they besiege than to take them by force of Arms and to ruin the Country they invade by a great number of horse than to advance by degrees into it with a considerable body of Foot as was done antiently it is clear that Frontier Places are not only useful to resist such Efforts but also to secure States in the Bowels of which it is impossible for Enemies to make any great Progress if they leave Places behind them to cut off the communication of their Countrys and their Convoys together These considerations oblige me to represent that it is not sufficient to fortify Places and to put such Provisions and Ammunitions into them as may serve to resist brisk attacks but also to furnish them with all things necessary for a year at least which is a sufficient time to relieve them conveniently I am sensible that it is almost impossible for great Kings to provide many Citadels thus but it is not so with great Towns in which the Society of Men produces a great store of many things which a particular Governor cannot make a sufficient provision of and it is easie to oblige the Inhabitants to provide Provisions for a Year which will always suffice for six Months and more if they turn out useless Mouths as reason requires I am so far from pretending that this Order should exempt Princes from having publick Magazins that on the contrary I am of opinion that they can never have too many and that after having provided them they must establish such good Orders to preserve them that the Governors to whom the disposition of the same belongs may not have the Liberty to dissipate them in vain either out of negligence or a desire to convert them to their own Uses I do not particularly specify the Number of Cannons* of Powder and of Bullets and of all other Warlike Ammunitions which are to be put in every place because it is to be different according to their different Largeness But I will say that Provisions for the Mouth are not more necessary than those of War and that it would be to no purpose for a Town to be well stor'd with Victuals if they wanted what is absolutely necessary both to defend themselves and to annoy their Enemies seeing particularly that Experience showeth us that those whoshoot most commonly kill most when a Place is besieg'd one might better spare Bread than Powder The Antients having observ'd very well that the real Strength of Towns consists in the number of Men I cannot forbear adding that all Fortifications are useless unless the Governor and the Officers who command in a place have a Courage equal to the Strength of the Walls and Ramparts and unless the Number of Men is proportion'd to the Largeness of the place and the quantity of the Posts that are to be defended Experience has show'd us in divers occasions that the least Holds are impregnable by the steadiness of the courage of those who defend them and that the best Citadels make no great resistance when those that are in them have not a Courage suitable to their Force Therefore Princes can never be too careful in choosing those to whom they intrust Frontiers since the Welfare and repose of the State depends chiefly on their Fedelity and Vigilancy their Courage and Experience and that often the lack of one of these Qualifications costs millions to States if it does not prove the absolute cause of their Ruin SECTION IV. Of the Power a State ought to have by its Land-Forces This Section has several Subdivisions upon the account of the abundance of matter it contains which will be specify'd in the Margin THE most potent State in the World cannot boast of injoying a certain Peace unless it be in a condition to secure it self at all times against an unexpected Invasion or Surprise In order thereunto it is necessary that so great a Kingdom as this is should always keep a sufficient Army on Foot to prevent the designs which hatred and envy might form against its Prosperity and Grandeur when 't is look'd upon to be in a secure Repose or at least to stifle them in their Birth Who has Force has commonly Reason on his side and he that is Weak is commonly thought in the wrong in the Judgment of most Men. As a Souldier who do's not always wear his Sword is lyable to many inconveniences that Kingdom which do's not always stand on its Guard and keep it self in a condtion to prevent a sudden surprise is in great danger Public Interest obliges those who have the management of States to Govern them so as not only to secure them against all the Evil which may be avoided but also from all apprehensions of it As Reason requires a Geometrical Proportion between that which sustains and that which is sustained it is certain that there must be considerable Forces to sustain so great a Body as this Kingdom Those that are necessary to so great an End may and ought to be of a different Nature that is that among the Men design'd for the preservation of this State some must be listed to be ready on all occasins and others actually in Arms in order always to be in readiness to make a good defence In order to provide for the Frontier Towns and to keep a Body on foot to oppose all unexpected Designs it is necessary to keep at least four thousand Horse and forty thousand Foot actually in Arms at all times and it is easie without burthening the State to keep ten thousand Gentlemen and fifty thousand Foot listed ready to be rais'd on all Emergencies It may perhaps be urg'd that the Defence of the State does not require such great Preparations but whereas the said Establishment is so far from being a Burthen to France that on the contrary the Nobility and the People will receive a Benefit by it I say that
advantageous occasions to imploy his Arms and thus if the first is capable of committing faults out of a desire to fill his Purse the last is lyable to do the same in order to secure his Life Among Men of Courage some are naturally Valiant and others are only so by reason The first are fitter to be Soulders than Captains by reason that their Valour is commonly accompany'd with Brutality but the last are good to make Commanders Nevertheless it is always to be wish'd that their reasonable Valour may not be void of Natural Courage because otherwise it were to be fear'd that the consideration of many incoveniences which may happen and yet do not happen might hinder him who proceeds with too much caution from undertaking that which might succeed in others with less Wit and more boldness Want of Judgment contributes considerably towards the Valour of some Men who perform Actions which are the more hazardous in that they are not sensible of the Peril to which they expose themselves Judgment is of no small use to others to feign a great boldness on some occasions which tho dangerous in appearence are neither so in Effect nor in the opinions of those whom God has indued with more knowledge than others As a General 's Valour must not be destitute of Judgment So tho he be Prudent and Judicious to the highest degree he must have sincerity to hinder him from making Artifices pass for Actions of Courage Men disguise themselves so many different ways that it is almost Impossible to distinguish the Effects which proceed from the head from those which proceed from the Heart There are Men so naturaly Valiant that they continue so to their dying day Others which not being so make an Effort in their Youth to appear such to gain some Reputation in favour of which they may pass their Life without Infamy These last have no sooner obtain'd their Ends but the Effects of their Valour disappear because they have what they desire and that Artifice is the Sourse of their Courage and not their natural Inclination Great Care must be taken not to chuse a Chief of that Nature remembring that Craft is as dangerous in those who Command as Judgment and Courage is necessary Those two qualityes ought almost to keep an even pace but they must be accompany'd with many others Great enterprizes not being Childrens Play they require a ripe Age in those who perform them but as the maturity of Judgment which advances with years is useful to form a design the Fire of Youth is no less necesseary to put it in execution and it is most certain that Fortune often Smiles on Youth and Frowns on Age. Therefore it is fit to observe that there is a great deal of difference between a Novice a young Man and an old one It is difficult to be good and bad at once To be Excellent it is necessary to be young in years but not in Service and Experience For tho Old Men are commonly the Wisest they are not the best to undertake because they are often destitute of the fire of youth which is requisite in such occasions In conclusion Courage Wit and good Fortune are three qualifications so Essential in a General that tho there are but few who possess them altogether it is difficult to expect without hazard great events from those who are destitute of either of them But if a Prince be so happy as to find any in whom these qualifications are met it will be easy to remedy the defects of those who shall be committed to their Conduct One of those which do's most harm as I have observed is the Inconstancy of our Nation which rendering it almost incapable of remaining long in the same State an Army is no sooner Rais'd but one half of it dwindles away I have thought sometimes that the best Expedient that could be taken to make Souldiers Subsist and to maintain them in Discipline would be to restore the Establishment of Legionarys formerly practis'd in this Kingdom adding some particular Orders to it altogether necessary to make it safe but Reason and Experience have alter'd my mind Reason in that it shows clearly that what is committed to the care of many is the less certain in that every one lays the blame upon his Companion and that the Elections which are made by the advice of Communities are rarely made by the bare motive of Reason because that tho there are many Persons of Wisdom and Probity among them the number of Fools and of Knaves is always the greatest Experience in that it Teaches every body that no money is laid out worse than that of Communities Besides that I may say with Truth that when ever the urgent necessitys of the State have constrain'd your Majesty to imploy Forces sent by Princes led and paid by their own Officers which I have seen Twice during this last War they have always cost double and have committed as much and more disorder than the others and have done less service than those which were rais'd at the same Time and conducted by particular Persons at your Charge Those considerations have convinced me that instead of Charging the Provinces with the Raising and maintaining of Souldiers Soveraigns ought to take the Care of it and that they may make them subsist with order if they will use proper means to that end according to the following order All Souldiers must be Listed their Names place of Birth and of abode Enter'd that in case they should run away from their Colours they may be the sooner found again The Register of every Place must be charg'd with the number of those that shall be rais'd within his Precinct and the Judges oblig'd to use their endeavours for the apprehending and punishing according to the Ordinances all those who shall come back from the Armys without leave on pain of the said Judges being turn'd out of their Offices upon proof of their having receiv'd Information of the return of your Souldiers without having prosecuted them for the same For the Listing of Souldiers every one must be oblig'd to serve three Years without demanding to be dismiss'd unless in the Case of an Evident Ilness on condition that the said Term being expir'd it shall not be lawful to refuse it them when demanded This condition is very necessary by reason that when the French think themselves constrain'd and kept against their Will they commonly think of nothing but running away tho they were to lose a thousand Lives if they had so many whereas when they are at Liberty to retire it is likely they will freely remain in the Armies Nature commonly inclining Men to have a less desire for what they are allow'd to do than to do that which is forbidden them Whatever Souldier shall obtain his dismission shall be oblig'd to enter the same into the Register of the Jurisdiction in which he was rais'd The Chiefs and Officers of a Regiment shall
Impression of fear to him he attacks the Impatient and Inconstant Temper of the French is as unfit for the defensive part as their fire and first eagerness qualifys them to perform their duty in the first Experience makes me speak thus and I am persuaded that those who are perfect Commanders will say the same SECTION V Of Naval Power THE Power of Arms do's not only require that the King should be strong a shore but also potent at Sea When Anthony Perez was receiv'd in France by the late King your Father and that in order to soften his misery he had secured him a good Pension That stranger being desirous to express his Gratitude to that great King and to show him that tho he was unfortunate he was not ungrateful gave him three Councels in three Words which are of no small Consideration Roma Consejo Pielago The advice of this old Spaniard consummated in Affairs is not so much to be looked upon for the Authority of him that gave it as for its own weight We have already mention'd the Care Princes ought to take to have a good Council and to be authorised at Rome it now remains to show how it behoves the King to be Potent at Sea The Sea is of all Heritages that in which Soveraigns pretend to have the greatest share and yet it is that on which the Rights of every body are least agreed upon The Empire of that Element was never well secur'd to any It has been subject to divers Revolutions according to the inconstancy of its nature so subject to the Wind that it submits to him who Courts it most and whose Power is so unbounded that he is in a condition to possess it with violence against all those who might dispute it with him In a word the old Titles of that Dominion are Force and not Reason a Prince must be Powerful to pretend to that Heritage To proceed with Order and Method in this point we must consider the Ocean and the Mediterranian seperately and make a distinction between the Ships which are of use in both those Seas and of the Gallies the use of which is only good in that which Nature seems to have reserv'd expresly betwixt the Lands to expose it to less Storms and to give it more shelter A great State must never be in a condition to receive an injury without being able to revenge it And therefore England being situated as it is unless France is powerful in Ships the English may attempt whatever they please to our prejudice without the least fear of a return They might hinder our Fishing disturb our Trade and in blocking up the mouth of our great Rivers exact what Toll they please from our Merchants They might Land without danger in our Islands and even on our Coasts Finally The Situation of the Native Countrey of that haughty Nation not permitting them to fear the greatest Land-Forces the ancient Envy they have against this Kingdom would apparently encourage them to dare every thing should our weakness not allow us to attempt some thing to their prejudice Their Insolence in the late King your Father's time towards the Duke of Scily obliges us to put our selves in a posture never to suffer the like again That Duke being chosen by Henry the Great for an extraordinary Embassy into England Embarking at Callis in a French Ship with the French Flag on the Main Top Mast was no sooner in the Channel but meeting a Yacht which came to receive him the Commander of it Commanded the French Ship to strike The Duke thinking his Quality would secure him from such an affront refus'd it boldly but his refusal being answer'd with three Cannon shot with Bullets which piercing his Ship pierc'd the Heart of the French Force constrain'd him to do what Reason ought to have secur'd him from and whatever Complaints he could make he could get no other reason from the English Captain than that as his Duty oblig'd him to honour his Quality of Ambassador it oblig'd him also to compel others to pay that respect to his Master's Flag which was due to the Soveraign of the Sea If King James's words prov'd more civil yet they produc'd no other effect than to oblige the Duke to seek for satisfaction in his own Prudence feigning himself cur'd when his pain was most smarting and his wound incurable The King your Father was oblig'd to dissemble on that occasion but with this Resolution another time to maintain the Right of his Crown by the Force which time would give him means to acquire at Sea I represent this Great Prince to my mind projecting in that occurence what your Majesty must now put in Execution Reason obliges to take an Expedient which without ingaging any of the Crowns may contribute towards the preservation of the good understanding which is desirable among the Princes of Christendom Among many that might be propos'd the following are in my opinion the most practicable It might be agreed upon that French Ships meeting English Ships upon the Coast of England should Salute first and strike the Flag and that when English Ships should meet French Ships upon the French Coast they should pay them the same Honors on condition that when the English and French Fleets should meet beyond the Coasts of both Kingdoms they should both steer their Course without any Ceremony only sending out their respective Long-Boats to hail each other coming no neerer than within Cannon shot It might also be agreed upon that without having any respect to the Coasts of France or England the greater number of Men of War should be Saluted by the smaller either in striking the Flag or otherwise Whatever Expedient is found out on that subject provided it be equal on all parts it will be just if your Majesty is strong at Sea that which is reasonable will be thought so by the English who are so much blinded on that subject that they know no Equity but Force The advantages the Spaniards who are proud of being our Enemies at present derive from the Indies oblige them to be strong on the Ocean The reason of a sound Policy does not allow us to be weak there but it obliges us to be in a condition to oppose the designs they might have against us and to cross their enterprizes If your Majesty be potent at Sea the just apprehension Spain will lay under of your attacking their Forces the only Source of their Subsistance of your making a Descent on their Coasts which have upwards of six hundred Leagues Circumference your surprising some of their places which are all weak and in great number that just apprehension I say will oblige them to be so powerful at Sea and to keep such strong Garisons that the major part of the Revenue of the Indies will be consumed in Charges to preserve the whole and if the remainder suffices to preserve their States at last it will produce this advantage that they will no
upon their Heads which are attended with very ill consequences since it is certain that the Prince who exacts more than he should do from his Subjects only exhausts their Love and Fidelity which are far more necessary towards the Subsistance of the State and the Perservation of his Person than the Gold and Silver he may hoard in his Coffers I am very sensible that in a great State it is always necessary to have a Fund to supply unexpected occasions but that Fund must be proportion'd to the Riches of the State and to the quantity of the Coyn'd Gold and Silver which is in the Kingdom and unless it be regulated by that the Riches of the Prince would prove his Poverty since his Subjects would no longer have any Fund themselves either to keep up Trading or to pay the lawful Duties they owe their Sovereign As a Prince ought to be careful to lay up Money to supply the necessities of the State and Religious in preserving it when there is no necessity to lay it out he must be liberal in imploying it when Publick good requires it and in doing it in due time for delays in such cases are often dangerous to the State and time thus lost is never to be retriev'd We have examples of Princes who to preserve their Money have lost both it and their States together and it is most certain that those who lay out their Money with regret commonly spend more than others because they do it too late It requires a great deal of Judgment to know the most important hours and moments and some may be capable to lay up who not knowing how to lay out may occasion unutterable misfortunes But whereas general Maxims are always useless unless a proper application be made of them there now remains to see What the revenue of this Kingdom may amount to What the Expence of it may be What Fund is necessary to be kept in the Coffers and to what degree the People may be eas'd The Revenue of this Kingdom may be consider'd in two respects Either as it may be in time of Peace without altering the advance of Money which is drawn at present out of the general Receipts and Farms making no other augmentation save that which may be made in reducing the old Rents which will be preserv'd to six per Cent as well as the Salary of certain Officers who will rather suffer the Diminution of the same than the Suppression of their Places with reimbursements Oâ— as it may be in making certain alterations thought so reasonable and so useful by those in whose Hands I have seen the Management of the Finances that in their opinion no other opposition is to be fear'd but that of Novelty By the first Settlement the Exchequer mâ—y expect to receive 35 Millions of Livers yearly according to the following acâ—â—nt By the Taille 17 Millions 350000 Livers By all the Gabelles 5 Millions 250000 Livers By the Aids one Million 400000 Livers By the Reduction of Rents to 6 per Cent one Million By the Reduction of the Treasurers of France to two thirds of their Salary which they will willingly consent to provided they are freed from the new Taxes they are daily plagu'd with 552000 Livers Des Parties Casuelles which is the Income the King receives by the Sale of Offices and the Annual Duty paid him out of the same two Millions By the Farm of Bourdeaux 800000 Livers By 3 Livers per Muid of Wine for the entrance into Paris 700000 Livers By the ancient 30 Pence and the new addition of ten more for entrance upon every Muid of Wine brought into Paris 503000 Livers By the Farm of 45 Pence instead of the Tolls 503000 Livers By the 9 Livers 18 Pence per Tun of Picrady 154000 Livers By the Farm of Brouage 250000 Livers By the Exportation of Goods from Languedos Spices and Drugs from Marseilles and two per Cent from Arles 380000 Livers By the third additional Tax of Lyons 60000 Livers By the five great Farms two Millions 400000 Livers By the new Impositions of Normandy 240000 Livers By those of the River Lâ—irâ— 225000 Livers By the Farm of Iron 80000 Livers By the Sales of common Woods 550000 Livers By the Demeans 550000 Livers By the second Settlement discharging the People absolutely of the 17 Millions of Livers which the King receives at present by the Tailes the Receipt may amount to 50 Millions as the following account will clearly justifie By an Imposition to be put upon Salt or upon the Fens in all the Provinces of the Kingdom the King may receive all Charges being paid 20 Millions By a Penny per Liver upon all the Merchandise and Commodities of the Kingdom 12 Millions By the Aids one Million 400000 Livers By the Reduction of the price of the Rents constituted on the Hostel de Ville six Millions By the Reduction of the Treasurers of France 550 thousand Livers By the Income the King receives by the Sale of Offices and the Annual Duty paid him for the same two Millions By the Farm of Bourdeaux 1800000 Livers By the three Livers per Muid of Wine entrance into Paris by a new Imposition 700000 Livers By the ancient 30 Pence and the new addition of ten more for the entrance of every Muid of Wine into Paris 580000 Livers By the Farm of 45 Pence instead of the Tolls and Grants 530000 Livers By the 9 Livers 18 Pence per Tun of Piccardy 174000 Livers By the Farm of Brouage 254000 Livers By the Exportation of Goods from Languedoc Spices and Drugs from Marseilles two per Cent from â—â—ies 380000 Livers By the additional Tax of Lyons 60000 Livers By the five great Farms two Millions 400000 Livers By the new Impositions of Normandy 250000 Livers By those of the River Loire 225000 Livers By the Farm of Iron 80000 Livers By the Sale of common Woods 550000 Livers By the Demeans 550000 Livers Summ Total 50 Millions 483000 Livers I am very certain that this Settlement being well understood will be found just and reasonable by all those who have any Experience and Capacity in the direction of States Among the several super-intendants of the Finances in my time I have known some of the most learn'd in what relates to the Treasury who equal'd the bare Imposition upon Salt or upon the Fens to the King of Spain's Indies and who preserv'd that secret as the true foundation of the ease of the People of the Reformation and of the Wealth of the State And indeed let Men be never so dull they must needs be sensible that it is impossible to express the discharge and satisfaction the People would receive if they were allow'd to use Salt as they do Wheat every one buying no more than he thought fit and could imploy It is certain that the suppression which would be made of the great number of Officers which are established for the Imposition of the Salt and the deliverance of
laid down by them for the same But tho' the Justice of the said expedient were allow'd of Reason wouldnot permit the making use of it since that in so doing it would be impossible for the future to find out Money to supply the necessities of the State whatever securities were offer'd Therefore it is necessary to observe that a thing may not be unjust and yet contrary to Reason and sound Policy and to take care never to have recourse to any expedient which without violating Reason would nevertheless violate publick Faith If any urges that the publick must be preferr'd to private Interest allowing his proposition I desire him to consider that in the discussion of this point those different kinds of Interests are not in the least concern'd but that those of the publick are counter-pois'd by others of the same nature and that as the future has a far greater Latitude than the present which passes in an instant those Interests which relate to the time to come must be respected before those of the present contrary to the custom of sensual Men who prefer what is at the least distance from them because the sight of their Reason has no greater extent than that of their Senses If we consider publick Faith in this point as I think it absolutely necessary the State will be far more eas'd by it than it would be tho' part of its Charges should be suppress'd without making any new Lives in that it will remain Master of the Purses of its Members on all occasions and yet will considerably increase its revenue The second means to diminish the Charges of the Kingdom consists in the reinbursement of the Money which was actually paid by private persons but the verification of it would prove difficult since that in order to facilitate the Sale of what the necessity of the State has oblig'd to alienate that has often been given at four years purchase which appears to be ingag'd at six This medium tho just in it self is not practicable without giving a pretence to many complaints tho' ill grounded The third means for the Diminution of the Charges of the State consists in reimbursing those that are not necessary at the same price at which they are sold among private persons Reimbursing the Owners of the Offices of the Rents and of the Duties which will be thought necessary to be suppress'd in this manner they will receive no prejudice and the King will not make use of the common advantage he has with private persons who have the liberty to free themselves of the said Debts when they are able to pay them at the rate they are commonly sold at This medium which is the only one that can be us'd may produce its effect divers ways either in many years time by the bare management of the injoyment of the said Charges or in one only by an immense sum of Money which must be had ready by the supply of an extraordinary Fund The natural Impatience of our Nation not allowing us to hope that we will be able to persevere 15 or 20 years in the same resolution The first way which requires so much time is nowise receivable The great Fund which is necessary to reimburse all at once such immense Charges as those of the State would make this second proposition as ridiculous as impossible and so the third only remains practicable In order to make use of it with so much Justice that no body may have cause to complain it is necessary to consider the charges which it will be necessary to suppress in three different manners according to the divers rates at which they are sold The first Rents constituted upon the Taille which are commonly sold at five years purchace ought only to be consider'd and reimburs'd at that rate according to which their Injoyment of the same makes the Reimbursement of them in seven years and a half The other Rents constituted upon the Taille since the late King's Death which are paid either in the Elections or in the General Receipts must be reimbursed at the rate of six years purchace which they are sold at the Injoyment of which will only reimburse them in eight years and a half The Offices of Elections with salaries Taxations of Offices and other Rights which they injoy must be reimbursed at the rate of eight years Purchace which is the common Price of such Places Reason requires the taking of the same method for the Reimbursement of the charges constituted upon the Aids upon all the Gabelles upon the five great Farms upon the Foreign Farm of Languedoc and of Provence upon the Customs of Lyons upon the Convoy of Bourdeaux the Custom of Bayone the Farm of Brouage and such Reimbursements can only be made by the bare Injoyment in eleven years time I am sensible that Rents of that kind are daily sold for less than eight years Purchace but I propose the Reimbursement of them at this Rate for the satisfaction of the partys concern'd being sensible that if in an affair of that importance there must be a loss it is better it should fall upon the King than upon them The Rate of all the Reimbursements which can be made being justly establish'd it is necessary to consider that there are some Charges so necessary in this Kingdom or ingaged at so high a Rate that I do not place them among those of which the Reimbusement is to be thought on by the way I am proposing Those are the salarys of the Parliaments and other sovereign Courts of the Presidials and royal Courts of the King's Secretarys of the Treasurers of France and receivers General Not that I think that no suppression ought to be made in those kind of Offices that 's far from my thoughts But to proceed with order towards the diminution of the Charges of the Kingdom Reason requires that one should begin by the Reimbursement of those which are sold at lower rates and which are inconvenient to the Public For that reason I prefer the suppression of the Rents establish'd upon the Tailles and that of many Places of assessors to all others That of those sorts of Rents by reason of the lowness of their Price and that of the assessors because those offices are the true source of the People's Misery both upon the account of their Number which is so Excessive that it amounts to upwards of four Millions in Exemptions as also of their Male-administrations which are so Common that there is hardly any one Assessor who do's not discharge his own Parish that many draw considerably out of those they have nothing to do with and that some of them are such abandon'd wretches that they are not affraid of loading themselves with crimes by adding Impossitions on the People which they convert to their own use That very consideration is the only one which hinders me at present from speaking of the suppressions of many Offices of judicature the Multitude of which is useless
Officers of this kind to be turn'd out those who will find themselves deprived of their usual imployments will be constrain'd to follow the Wars to ingage into Trade or to turn Labourers If in the next place all Exemptions are reduc'd to the Nobility and to the Officers in ordinary of the King's Houshold it is most certain that the Cities and Communities which are exempted the Soveraign Courts the Offices of the Treasurers of France the Elections the Salt Magazines the Offices of Waters and of Forests of the Demain and of the Tithes the Intendants and Receivers of Parishes which compose a Body of upwards of 100000 exempted persons will discharge the People of more than one half of their Tailles it being also certain that the Richest which are liable to the greatest Taxes are those who get exemptions by dint of Money I am sensible that it will be urg'd that it is easie to make such Projects like unto those of Plato's Commonwealth which tho' fine in his Ideas is a real Chimera But I dare affirm that this design is not only so reasonable but so easie to execute that if God pleases to grant your Majesty a speedy Peace and to preserve you for this Kingdom with your Servants of which I esteem my self one of the meanest instead of leaving this Advice by Testament I hope to accomplish it my self SECTION VIII Which shews in few words that the utmost point of the Power of Princes must consist in the Possession of their Subjects Hearts THe Finances being manag'd as above written the People will be absolutely eas'd and the King will be Powerful by the Possession of his Subjects Hearts who considering his care of their Estates will be inclin'd to love him out of Interest Formerly the Kings thought themselves so happy in the Possession of their Subjects Hearts that some were of opinion that it was better by this means to be King of the French than of France And indeed this Nation had formerly such a Passion for their Princes that some Authors praise them for being always ready to spill their Blood and to spend their Estates for the Service and Glory of the State Under the Kings of the first second and third Race until Philip le Bell the Treasure of Hearts was the only publick Wealth that was preserv'd in this Kingdom I am sensible that former times have no relation nor proportion to the present that what was good in one Age is often not permitted in another But tho' it is certain that the Treasure of Hearts cannot suffice at present it is also very certain that the Treasure of Gold and Silver is almost useless without the first both are necessary and whoever shall want either of them will be necessitous in Wealth CHAP. X. Which concludes this Work in showing that whatever is contain'd in it will prove ineffectual unless the Princes and their Ministers are so mindful of the Government of the State as to omitt nothing which their Trust obliges them to and not to abuse their Power IN order to conclude this Work happily I am now to represent to your Majesty that Kings being oblig'd to do many things more as Soveraigns than as private Men they can never swerve so little from their Duty without committing more faults of omission than a private person can do of commission It is the same with those upon whom Soveraigns discharge themselves of part of the burthen of their Empire since that Honour makes them liable to the same obligations which lie on Soveraigns Both of them being consider'd as private persons are liable to the same faults as other Men but if we regard the Conduct of the publick which they are intrusted with they will be found liable to many more since in that sence they cannot omit without sin any thing they are oblig'd to their Ministry In that consideration a Man may be good and virtuous as a private person and yet an ill Magistrate anâ—ilh Soveraign by his want of care to discharge the obligation of his Trust In a word unless Princes use their utmost endeavours to regulate the divers orders of their State If they are negligent in their choice of a good Council if they despise their wholsom Advice Unless they take a particular care to become such that their Example may prove a speaking voice If they are negligent in establishing the reign of God that of Reason and that of Justice together If they fail to protect Innocence to recompence signal Services to the Publick and to punish disobedience and the Crimes which trouble the order of the Discipline and Safety of States Unless they apply themselves to foresee and to prevent the evils that may happen and to divert by careful Negotiations the Storms which Clouds easily drive before them from a greater distance than is thought If Favour hinders them from making a good choice of those they honour with great imployments and with the principal Offices of the Kingdom Unless they are very careful to settle the State in the Power it ought to have If on all occasions they do not preferr Publick Interest to Private Advantages tho' otherwise never so good livers they will be found more guilty than those who actually transgress the Commands and Laws of God it being certain that to omit what we are oblig'd to do and to commit what we ought not to do is the same thing I must moreover represent to your Majesty that if Princes and those who are imploy'd under them in the first Dignities of the Kingdom have great advantages over private Men they injoy that benefit upon hard conditions since they are not only liable by omission to the faults I have already observ'd but also that there are many others of commission which are peculiar to them If they make use of their Power to commit any injustice or violence which they cannot do as private persons they are guilty of a sin of Prince or Magistrate by commission which their sole Authority is the source of and for which the King of Kings will call them to a very strict account on the day of Judgment Those two different kind of faults peculiar to Princes and to Magistrates must needs make them sensible that they are of a far greater weight than those of private persons by reason that as universal Causes they influence their disorders to all those who being submitted to them receive the impression of their movements Many would be sav'd as private persons who damn themselves as publick persons One of the greatest of our Neigbouring Kings being sensible of this Truth at his Death cry'd out that he did not stand in so much dread of the sins of Philip as he was apprehensive of the King 's His thought was truly Pious but it would have been much better for himself and for his Subjects to have had it before his Eyes in the heighth of his Grandeur and of his Administration than when in discovering the
pag. 171 Sect. I. Which sheâ—â—s that the best Prince stands in need of a good Council ib. Sect. II. Which represents what Capacity is requir'd in a good Counsellor pag. 173. Sect. III. Which represents the Integrity that is requir'd in a good Counsellor pag. 175. Sect. IV. Which represents what Courage and Foree is requir'd in a Counsellor of State pag. 181. Sect. V. Which represents what Application is requir'd in Counsellors of State pag. 184. Sect. VI. Which represents the Number of Counsellors of State that is requisite and that one among them ought to have the Superiour Authority pag. 191. Sect. VII Which represents what the King's Behaviour is to be towards his Counsellors and shews that in order to be well serv'd the best Expedient he can take is to use them well pag. 195. The second PART Chap. I. THe first Foundation of the Happiness of a State is the Establishment of the Reign of God pag. 2. Chap. II. Reason must be the Rule and Conduct of a State pag. 5. Chap. III. Which shows that Public Interest should be the only End of those who govern States or at least that it ought to be preferr'd to particular Advantages pag. 9. Chap. IV. How much Foresight is necessary for the Government of a State pag. 12. Chap. V. Punishment and Reward are two Points absolutely necessary for the Conduct of States pag. 16. Chap. VI. A Continual Negotiation contributes much towards the good success of Affairs pag. 24. Chap. VII One of the greatest Advantages that can be procur'd to a State is to give every one an Employment suitable to his Genius and Capacity pag. 32. Chap. VIII Of the Evil which Flatterers Detractors and Intriguers commonly occasion in States and how necessary it is to remove them from Kings and to banish them from their Courts pag. 38. Chap. IX Which Treats of the Power of the Prince and is divided in to Eight Sections pag. 45. Sect. I. The Prince must be Powerful to be Respected by his Subjects and by strangers pag. 45. Sect. II. The Prince must be powerful by his Reputation and what is necessary to that End pag. 46. Sect. III. The Prince must be Powerful by the force of his Frontiers pag. 48. Sect. IV. Of the Power a State ought to have by its Land-Forces This Section has several Subdivisions upon the account of the abundance of matter it contains which will be specify'd in the Margin pag. 51. Sect. V. Of Natural Power pag. 80. Sect. VI. Which Treats of Trade as a dependency of the Power of the Sea and specifies those which are most Convenient pag. 92. Sect. VII Which shews that Gold and Silver are one of the Principal and most necessary supporters of the State declares the means to make this Kingdom Powerful in that kind shows the revenue of the same at present and how it may be improv'd for the Future in discharging the People of three parts in four of the Burthen which overwhelms them at this Time pag. 140. Sect. VIII VVhich shews in few words that the uâ—most point of the Power of Princes must consist in the Possession of their Subjects Hearts pag. 132. Chap. X. Which concludes this Work in showing that whatever is contain'd in it will prove ineffectual unless the Princes and their Ministers are so mindful of the Government of the State as to omit nothing which their Trust obliges them to and not to abuse their Power pag. 133. THE END * Saxony first abandon'd the King of Sweden Brandenburg the Landgrave of Hesse several Hans Towns Wittemberg Parma and Mantua * The Judges Royal had already begun a little to affect the Cognisance of what only belongs to the Church under pretence of the possission of Benefices of which the Bull of Pope Martin given in the Year 1439. attributed the Cognisance to them * That first Regulation never had the Name End or Effect of Appeals * Ordinances of â—539 †The Word has its Original from the Practice of Attornics and Advocates who according to the Order of applying themselves before the Parliament by way of Appeal gave the same Name to the recourse Ecclesiasticks had there * Regulation of Church-Affairs * The like Remedy was practis'd 15 Years after the Pragmatical Sanction to stop the course of the Secular Judges Vsurpations over the Ecclesiastical furisdiction it was ordain'd That those who had a mind to get Letters out of the Chancery to oppose the Resâ—ripts and Letters of the Popes should â—â— oblig'd to quote evidently the means by which they did pretend to justifie that the Pragmatical Sanction was infring'd †Fifty Years ago this distinction of Priviledg'd Cases and of Common Trespasses was unknown to the Church Common Trespasses are all the Faults the Cognizance whereof belongs to the Ecclesiastical Tribunal * Agreement made between King Francis tâ—â— 1. and Pope Leo the 10. about Benefices * By Letters Patent of 1453. Charles the 7th granted that favour to the Holy Chappel injâ—â—ad of the Gift Charles the â—â—â— had made to them of the remainder of all the â—ccounts deliver'd in the Chamber which he desir'd to be employ'd for the Reparation both of the Palace and of the Holy Chappel * By the Edict of â—ebr 1569. †The Bishop du Bellay * The Deed begins with these words Dominus Rex †The Ordinance Dom Episcopus a â—cujus Episcopaâ—â—â— ubi Rex habet Regaâ—â—â—â— Philip the 4th in his Philippines of the Year 130â— uses these words Io â—â—quibus Ecclesâ—â— Regâ—â— Philip the 6th in his Ordinance of the Year 1334. speaks thus In the Bishopricks in which we have a Regalia Lewis the 12th in his Ordinance of 1499. cited by the first President Le Maitre We have and do forbid all our Officers in the Archbishopricks Bishopricks Abbies and other Benefices in which we have no Right of Regalia or of Guard to establish any there on pain of being punish'd as guilty of Sacrilege Pasquier in the 3d Book of Enquiries chap. 13. The late King Henry the 4th by his Edict of the Year 1606. Art 17. We only design to enjoy the Rights of the Regalia as our Predecessors and our selves have done heretofore without extending the same to the Prejudice of the Churches that are exempted from it And that good Prince believing that the Parliament of Paris would judge to the contrary suspended all the Causes about the Regalia for a year by his Letters Patent of the 6th of Octob. 1609. The King now Reigning having inherited his Piety as well as his Kingdom declares by the Ordinance of 1629. Art 16. That he only designs to enjoy the Regalia as it has been done for the time past And the Clergy having complain'd that those Terms were not express enough H. M. order'd his Commissioners to make this Answer That the Ordinance being refer'd to that of 1606. those Terms were sufficient to satisfie the World that he did not desire to enjoy the Regalia in those
it is necessary to make War when ever the Good of the State will require it In the opinion of the most judicious War is sometimes an unavoidable Evil and on other occasions it is absolutely necessary and advantagious States stand in need of it at certain times to purge their ill humours to recover what belongs to them to revenge an Injury the Impunity of which draws on another to free Allies from Oppression to put a stop to the Progress of a Conqueror's Pride to prevent the Evil one is threaten'd with when there is no other way to avoid them or in fine to prevent many other Accidents I maintain and it is an undoubted Truth that no War can be happy unless it be just and that not being so tho the Event should prove favourable according to the World yet an account must be given for it at the Tribunal of God Therefore the first thing to be done when a Prince is forc'd to take Arms is to examin the Equity of the Cause for which they are taken which must be done by Doctors of Capacity and Probity This Foundation suppos'd the means to carry it on vigorously must be consider'd and to time it well is not one of the least Material There is this difference betwixt him who pursues revenge with Anger and he who does it with Reason that the first does mischief at the venture of receiving the same chusing rather to suffer himself than to lose an opportunity to prejudice his Enemy and the last dissembles his resentment until he finds an occasion to punish him who has wrong'd him without sharing his Sufferings The first acts like a Beast according to the Impulse of Nature and the last behaves himself like a Man suffering himself to be guided by reason In order to succeed in War it is not sufficient to chuse a fit opportunity to have a strong Army abundance of Money of Provisions and warlike Ammunitions the main point is to have Men fit for the Service they are design'd for to know how to make them observe a good Discipline to make them live regularly and to manage ones Money Provisions and Ammunitions prudently It is easy to set down these general Principles but the practice of them is difficult and yet in case it be neglected the Success of a War cannot be happy unless by chance or miracle which wise Men must never trust to There is no Nation in the World so unfit for War as ours their Levity and Impatience in the least hardships are two Principles which are but too well known Tho Caesar says that the French understand two things the Military Art and that of Speaking I own that hitherto I have not been able to apprehend upon what ground he attributes the first of these Qualifications to them since Patience in Labour and Sufferings a Qualification absolutely necessary in War is but seldom found among them Were this Qualification joyn'd to their Valour the Universe would be too little to bound their Conquests but as the great heart God has given them makes them fit to overcome whatever opposes them by force their Levity and Laziness make them incapable of overcoming the least Obstacles which the delays of a subtle Enemy opposes to their Eagerness This is the reason why they are not fit for Conquests which require time nor to preserve those they might make in an instant of Time They are not only inconstant impatient and little inur'd to Fatigues but moreover they are accus'd of never being pleas'd with their present condition and to have no great Affection for their Country and the said Accusation is so well grounded that no body can deny that there are more among them who are wanting in those Duties which their Birth exacts from them than among all the other Nations of the World There are few who wage War against France without having French Men in their Army and when they are Arm'd for their Country they are so indifferent in what relates to its Interest that they do not use the least Endeavours to overcome their Natural Defects to it's advantage They run an hundred Leagues to seek a Battle and yet would notâ— expect the occasion of one a week the Enemy tires them out even before they have begun to work They are not afraid of Peril but they will expose themselves to it without any Pains the least delays are insupportable to them they have no Flegm to tarry one moment for their happiness and they are tir'd even with the continuation of their Prosperities At the beginning of their Enterprise their eagerness is not common and indeed they are more than Men that moment but they cool by degrees so that they become equal to those who have but a common Vertue and in process of Time they are disgustedand grow effeminate insomuch that they are less than Men. They still retain Courage enough to fight provided they are put to 't immediately but they do not keep so much of it as to tarry for an occasion tho their Hon the Reputation of their Country and the Service of their Master requires it They can neither improve a Victory nor resist the Fortune of a Victorious Enemy Prosperity blinds them beyond other Men and yet they have neither Courage nor Judgment in Adversity and in Labour In fine They are subject to so many faults that it is not without reason some judicious Persons wonder how this Monarchy has been able to subsist from it's Birth since that as it has always found faithful Children for it's Defence it has never been attack'd but it's Enemies have found Sectators in it's Bosom who like Vipers have us'd their utmost Endeavours to gnaw the Bowels of their Mother I am sensible at the same time that the French have good Qualifications to counterpoise those Imperfections They are Valiant full of Courage and Humanity their Heart is void of Cruelty and so free from Rankor that they are easily reconcil'd But tho these Qualifications are the Ornaments of Civil Society and Essential to Christianity yet it is certain that being destitute of Flegm of Patience and of Discipline they are exquisite Victuals serv'd without Sawce to relish them I am not ignorant that the Providence of God which is admirable in all things is particularly so in having counterpois'd the ill Qualities of every Nation by other advantages which make amends for their defects If the French Nation is inconstant and impatient their Valour and Impetuosity often makes them do that at the first Onset which others are a long time about If their uneasiness hinders them from remaining long in Armies willingly God's Providence has made it so abounding in Men that there are always abundance of them who being mov'd by the same Principle of Levity are ready to supply the room of those who are desirous to come home again and these are ready to go back before those who have succeeded them are weary If their want of affection for their