I replied to him That the Prince of Conty and the Mareschal of Turenne had implor'd the King's Clemency and were returned to their Duty with the greatest Submission without pretending any thing and without any other condition than that of being re-establish'd in the honour of his Favour that as to Hoquincourt and Foucaut the King had done what the exigency of his Service requires and that I well saw that Spain could have wish'd any thing else to the end the first delivering them Peronne Monsieur the Prince might have the liberty of ranging as far as the Gates of Paris and that the other * Besides the Mareschal's Staff he had Fifty Thousand Louis Dor's given him in ready Money holding firm in Brouage and the Isle of Oleron it should be impossible for us to end the Civil War to recover all the places of the Kingdom which she had made us to lose and to reduce Guienne and other Provinces as had been done That as to the rest it was true the French were more prone than the Spaniards to fail in their Duty but that the Kings far from encouraging them by too much Mildness to hold always this ill Conduct had always used them with the greatest Rigour when the welfare of their Service had not oblig'd them to do otherwise that herein they varied not in France from the manner was used in Spain seeing when they could not remedy Rebellions and Insurrections which happened they had Patience as is apparent in relation to the Portuguise and Catalonians who have been always sought to and offer'd not only a Pardon but moreover new Priviledges and great Recompences to those of the Country who had most Credit In fine I hereunto added the Example of the Hollanders who having maintained their Rebellion to the end had at length been acknowledged by the King of Spain for Free and Independent States and their Embassadours treated as those of Soveraigns And I concluded That if more Rebellions and Revoltings were seen in France than in Spain this mishap was somewhat lessned by the facility wherewith the French return'd to their Duty which could not be said of the Subjects of the King of Spain who having once thrown off the Yoke never return'd to their obedience again but by force as appear'd sufficiently by the Example of the Hollanders who are peaceable Possessors of several Provinces which were the Patrimony of the King of Spain not an Age past That all the Revolts which had hapned in France had not yet caus'd the King to lose a Thumb's breadth of Land who on the contrary by the apparent Blessing of God had extended on all hands the limits of his Kingdom maugre the Union of so many Princes and Parliaments who had conspir'd the Ruine of the State So that the proneness of the French in failing in their Duty was corrected by the facility of their Return whereas if the Subjects of Spain do more rarely forget themselves yet when they do it they as seldom return I well perceiv'd this Discourse rack'd Don Lewis and I told him I was troubled he had oblig'd me to it but the Honour of France and that of the King required it In fine shewing some emotion he spake to me again in more earnest terms of the satisfaction of Monsieur the Prince telling me his Master's Honour was therein engaged so that he could not excuse himself from doing something considerable for him without exposing himself to a perpetual blemish and therefore he pray'd me once for all to tell him clearly what he might expect in this point seeing this being adjusted all the rest would be easily accorded in one single Conference It was here that I judg'd it conducing to the good success of this Negotiation for the Service and Dignity of the King and to know the bottom of Don Lewis's Heart to transport my self by Address in raising a little my Voice I told him then Sir you speak with a great deal of liberty and freedom on the subject of Monsieur the Prince which you regard as the principal decision of this whole Affair For my part I must declare to you that having suffer'd more patiently than I ought Four Conferences to be taken up in contesting a thing already adjusted in the Treaty of Peace Signed at Paris and ratified without therein changing a word That the King will do nothing beyond what I have declared to you and that even when his Majesty would permit me to make a longer stay on this Frontier and we should have an Hundred more Conserences you will obtain nothing more of me because his Majesty will never consent that the King of Spain should give the Prince a Recompence which may serve as a Monument to Posterity of his Rebellion and of pernicious Example to Persons of his Rank to engage themselves in the service of Spain against the King and their Country to gain like Recompences He would have interrupted me here but entreating him to let me to go on I continued to say to him That Monsieur the Prince must resolve as I have several times affirm'd to become wholly a Frenchman or wholly a Spaniard That the King would never suffer he should receive from his Catholick-Majesty other gratification than that I already mentioned That it not being reasonable Christendom should longer remain plung'd in the Abyss of Miseries wherein a long War had thrown it for the Interests more or less of a particular Person to whom for the sake of the Peace the King had parted with a thousand times more Favours than he ought and the success of the Affairs of this Kingdom permitted Besides Justice required the King should use towards the Prince the same manner as the King of Spain would use in relation to Portugal otherwise I well saw with a sensible displeasure that the consideration of Monsieur the Prince which had already hindred Three Years before the conclusion of the Peace at Madrid to the prejudice of all Christendom of which they must give an account to God who had been the cause might moreover occasion the rupture of a Peace Concluded Signed and Ratified and that if the Emissaries of Monsieur the Prince and some other Persons were able to perswade Don Lewis that holding out on this point I would yield my self in the end it being impossible for me to resolve to return without the work of the Peace receiving its perfection lest I incur the hatred of the People I therefore declared to him that tho' it were true I should be greatly grieved in not succeeding in an Affair so much desired of all the World yet I should return with this consolation That no body could with the least shew of Reason impute to me the fault of the rupture of the Peace for the conclusion of which I had so happily laboured at Paris That I believed the King might expect from the Divine Goodness in the continuation of the War the same Advantages and it may be greater than those had
therefore send back again to you the same Currier you sent me and who delivered me your Letters as I was going into the Coach to go to the usual Rendezvous which I cannot answer till to Morrow when I shall likewise inform you of what past to day Yet I will tell you in short to satisfie in some sort the curiosity their Majesties may have that Affairs become every day more easie Don Lewis having spoken very soberly to me touching Monsieur the Prince and in such rerms as farther confirm me in the opinion that this Negotiation will be happily ended I intreat you to represent to their Majesties that I cannot have a greater pleasure than in writing to them every hour what passes but this is impossible for without Hyperbolizing I have scarce time to breath all the Ministers of the Princes which are here striving to visit me at every moment the Conferences consuming a whole Day considering the time which is spent in going and returning to the Isle which is two Leagues hence and the way thither very tiresome And moreover I am not only oblig'd to write to you as I do that their Majesties may be inform'd of what passes but moreover in general to all the King's Ministers more exactly than I did when I had the honour to be near his Majesty I write to you in such haste that I have not so much time as to read over what I have dictated so that if there be any fault and every thing be not in so good order as I would have it I intreat you to give your self the trouble to excuse me hereupon to their Majesties LETTER XVII To Monsieur le Tellier Fifth Conference Compliment of Don Lewis Portraict of the King News of the Infanta Restitution of Juliers Ratification of the Treaty made with the Duke of Modena Six Articles which remain to be adjusted Earnestness of Don Lewis for the Prince The Cardinal perplexes him by his Answer Proposes to him to give Sardaignia to the King of Portugal Of Navarre Disposition of the Affairs of Europe advantageous to the Spaniards in the opinion of Don Lewis Contrary Reasons of the Cardinal His remarkable Discourse on the Vnion of the two Kings Cardinals Titles To Monsieur le Tellier From St. John de Luz the 25th of August 1659. I Thought that Yesterday's Conference which was the Fifth would have begun by the point of Monsieur the Prince because Don Lewis had entertain'd Monsieur de Lionne a long time on his telling him by my order that I was not well satisfied in understanding the intention of the King of Spain was not to make satisfaction to Monsieur the Prince as Don Lewis had so many times protested but only to render him considerable by Places which might enable him in certain Conjunctures to disturb the State and likewise to incourage by the greatness of such a Recompence the Persons of his condition and others to engage readily on the side of Spain But he began by asking me News of the King and Queen's Health and by telling me that the King his Master had laid his Commands upon him to intreat me to bring him to the Feet of their Majesties these are his own terms and to assure them he wisht for nothing more passionately than to see himself there in effect and that he expected this Happiness with great reason seeing by the Letters he had received from Madrid he knew that the King his Master resolved on setting out sooner than the First of October He afterwards added that being entred into my Apartment he had admired the King's Picture done by Mignard had observ'd in it a Prince well shaped of good Meen and great Majesty that he would write this afresh into Spain and could tell me without Flattery That the Serenissima Infanta Tenia muy linda cara y muy buen entendimiento had a good Countenance and as good Sense and that in fine she was worthy to be the Spouse of such a King I will make a digression and tell you how I find confirm'd what Don Lewis told me in reference to the Catholick King which is That Don Pedro Coloma has shewed Monsieur de Lionne a Letter from his Wife in which she signifies to him the King would not let the Infanta come alone without accompanying her himself as the King his Father did in respect of the Queen seeing he loved no less his Daughter than Philip III. loved his and that it was resolved on it should be Don Lewis who should perform the Office of conducting her that another might not have this Honour In effect the Duke de Lerma chief Minister of Philip III. should have conducted the Queen had he not been surprized by Sickness which oblig'd him to remit this Honour to the Duke d'Vzeda his Son She says farther in the same Letter that giving the Infanta a visit to tell her that the affair which respected her was much advanced and that her Gallant drew near the Frontier She answer'd muy cara y alegra nueva mi padre me lo ha dicho todo which is to say This news rejoyces me my Father told me as much I return'd to Don Lewis who largely discours'd to me of the manner how the interview might be made on the Frontier but this being a thing of which I must more particularly entertain their Majesties I shall not mention any thing farther on this point He entred in discourse on what regarded the restitution of Juliers to the Duke of Newbourg on which point Monsieur de Lionne had largely discours'd the day before with Don Pedro Coloma in examining with him the points which remain to be adjusted He told me 't was surprizing he should have such a pretension and that it was so equitable that he would not stick to counsel his Master to do what I advised him hereupon for he did not doubt but I would make some reflection on the manner the Duke of Newbourg had used after having been so long time under the protection of the Catholick King making a Treaty with France and engaging himself to embrace its Interests as he had done with so little respect to his Catholick Majesty and so great prejudice to his Affairs that he would make me judge whether his proceeding deserved a Recompence and he to be put into a better condition than he was in when he was allyed with France that he well saw all I could fairly pretend to was to the end it might not appear the King my Master abandoned his Allies that the Catholick King should forget what was past and promise to consider the said Duke and his Interests as he did before he took the King's part I replied to him We were far from our reckoning seeing I was perswaded there was nothing so just as to restore Juiliers to the Duke of Newbourg to whom this place belong'd in just and full right the King of Spain having none to it having been only put into his hands as a Pledge
must likewise be made to the Secretary of State Don Pedro Coloma LETTER XXXV To Monsieur le Tellier Eighth Conference Begun in such a manner that the Cardinal thought all would be broke off Earnest instances of Don Lewis for the Prince the Cardinal's answers From St. John de Luz September the 3d. 1659. YOu will find hereunto adjoyning the Relation I told you should be delivered to you by the Sieur Charlet and I defer till to Morrow the sending you that of Yesterday's Conference if we do not hold one again to Morrow For although I employ every moment to dispatch Business yet I question my strength and their Majesties must bear with me if I do not inform them of every thing so succinctly as I would I have put something into the Letters which I gave to Messieurs de Noailles and de Vardes for their Majesties touching what past in Yesterday's Conference but seeing the Sieur Bartret will arrive sooner than they to give an account to their Majesties that I thought in the beginning of the last Conference that all would break off considering how Don Lewis spake to me of the satisfaction of Monsieur the Prince in telling me with great concern 't was very strange that after so many Instances made he might not obtain that the Catholick King should recompence the Services which Monsieur the Prince had done him In fine the business proceeded so far that I express'd my self in terms which left it to his own choice whether we should break off the Negotiation but he quickly grew cool and hindred me from rising up with great protestations his Intention was always the same in relation to the Peace the consummation of which was no longer to be doubted so that having been sometime without appeasing my self I began again to treat with him as before and the end of this Conference which lasted near Six Hours was well enough as their Majesties will see by the relation I shall send them I must not omit the saying by the way that I well foresaw I should hazard no great matter in resenting so stifly the dissatisfaction Don Lewis gave me about the Prince for I immediately read in his Countenance he came with intention to make this last tryal at the pursuit of Monsieur the Prince's Agents and some Spaniards his Abettors who have near access to Don Lewis so that 't was no difficult matter for me to make Head against Don Lewis Sally and I am bold to say I did it in such a manner that all the advantage remained on my side and I hope this action will produce something considerable for the King He earnestly entreated me not to communicate to any body what â—past Yesterday between us which is what I promis'd him and I have kept my word and therefore it is fit no body should be acquainted with it LETTER XXXVI To Monsieur le Tellier Particular relation of the Eighth Conference Of the Duke of Lorrain Discourse of the Cardinal with the said Duke's Envoy Small inclination of the Spaniards to this Duke His Treaty with France in 1639. The Elector Palatine scarcely recovers half of his Countries tho' protected by France and Swedeland Great effort of Don Lewis for Monsieur the Prince as strongly repulsed Of the Constable of St. Paul Rebellions severely punish'd in France Replies of Don Lewis furnish'd him by Monsieur the Prince's Agents His new Proposition in favour of him Contrary Proposition of the Cardinal Of the Duke of Newbourg From St. John de Luz Sep. 4. 1659. I Will now make you a Rehearsal of what past in Yesterdays Conference which was the Eighth to the end their Majesties may know the particulars of it It began with the Interests of Monsieur de Lorrain on occasion of the Sieur de la Chaussee who came from him and brought Letters for Don Lewis and me Don Lewis told me this Duke desired leave to come here to sollicite in person his own Affairs but he must see the King his Master first and he spake to me in terms whereby I easily found his intention was not to bring him here in haste and Don Lewis having ever spoken to me about the Duke as of a Person who enjoy'd his full liberty I thought it therefore not amiss to hint to him by the way that this Gentleman knew otherwise seeing he told me that the Duke of Lorrain thought himself under a greater constraint than ever in that he was oblig'd to give it under his hand not to stir from Toledo and the adjacent places and not to come within Six Leagues of Madrid so that he was more confined now than when he had his Guards for then he flatter'd himself with some hopes of escaping of which he could have no thoughts now I told him moreover something of the Conversation which I had with this Gentleman to confirm him by the answers I had made that the King intended to alter nothing which had been determined at Paris in relation to Lorrain But it 's fit their Majesties should know the discourse I had with the Sieur de Chaussee He began by telling me his Master would see the best Friend and most affectionate Servant I had in the World that he desired nothing with greater passion than my Alliance that his intention was not to marry nor to return into Lorrain if 't were not desired but to remit all to Prince Charles his Nephew and to go into Germany into England or any other place his Majesty should prescribe that he would resolve on all this with Madam and with his Brother and other Princes of his House and that in fine he had still some interest in the World and Friends to render some signal Service to France if his Majesty thought fit to employ him the rest of his days Hitherto all went well but the end spoiled all for he added that his Master would chuse rather to dye a thousand Deaths than to re-enter into Lorrain on condition of sacrificing the least part of it and that I ought to interess my self herein by reason of the Alliance he proposed to me In fine he talk'd to me of restoring all to Monsieur de Lorrain just as if it had been no more than a pair of Gloves I told him I was sorry for the Proposal of the Alliance which his Highness had ordered him to make me because this stopt my Mouth and hindered me from speaking so much as one word in favour of his Interests it being impossible to hinder every one from believing that my own would make me speak tho' in effect I could never have any other than those of the King and the State for the least of which I should think my self happy to sacrifice both my Family and my own Person that after this his Highness would plainly see I was the unlikeliest Instrument to procure any change in what had been determin'd at Paris with the King of Spain's Plenipotentiary and ratifyed afterwards that I might truly say the King's
carriage very complaisant and in fine such a one as is necessary to beget a good opinion of him I added That by this particular knowledge which I had of Monsieur the Prince I might tell him in the first place That his Excellency would find himself much wearied were he to endure all the Importunities of Monsieur the Prince when he should be near him and that in truth he would little value my Friendship should it not presently produce to him in some sort or other the Advantages he sollicites and that I was sure his Excellency knew this as well as I. It was then he replied to me Would you have a Prince of his Merit return into France without Reputation without any Places Offices or Governments How will you have him live I briskly answer'd him As Five Hundred other Princes of the Blood who without attempting any thing against the King and the State have yet never had any Government or Offices That most of the Princes of the Blood only desiring them to do mischief there is therefore great reason not to give 'em them For their security and the receiving marks of respect from all Frenchmen they need only to live well and serve the King faithfully as they are hereunto obliged more than any other Subjects Here he offered me a Thousand Flatteries and said to me Seeing you are not willing we should give Mounsteur the Prince Places in Soveraignty can I not at least obtain from the King to give him some State as the Two Calabrias or the Kingdom of Sardaignia I told him I scarce believ'd him in earnest and that he dexterously made me these Offers to shew the Prince's Followers the desire the King his Master had to do great things for him knowing well 't would cost him nothing in the end there being no likelihood that the King would consent that the Prince should having this Establishment return into France To which I yet added That if Monsieur the Prince taken with the Present of a Kingdom would receive it from the King of Spain I would consent to it He replied to me That in this case Monsieur the Duke D'Anguienne might return into France to keep there the place of his Father and enjoy whatever the King should consent to restore to Monsieur the Prince But I replied to him That herein the Father and Son were the same and that such a kind of division would be on a thousand accounts prejudicial to the Crown of France and I concluded that his Excellency must resolve to give some considerable Sum of Money to Monsieur the Prince with which he might buy a considerable Estate in Land which would remain to him and his Heirs for ever and would be more advantagious than Places which he must lose when he dyed But he likes not this saying That if they gave him Money 't would be a Gratification and not a Recompence for the Services he had done and what he had lost in France In the heat of the Discourse he was so transported as to say That his Master would have no Allies after the Promises he had made to Monsieur the Prince should he abandon him and suffer him to be stript of whatever might render him and had heretofore rendred him considerable to France I answerd him Three things The First That Subjects who revolt against their King and put themselves under the protection of another should never be term'd Allies because this term is only applicable to Soveraign Princes who are at liberty to Ally themselves and to do whatever they thought good The Second That we have great Interest to use all our endeavours to treat these Allies in such a manner as might not be easie for the Crown of Spain to have any of them for the future The Third That the King 's earnest desire for Peace made him lay aside all those regards to Portugal which Spain affected to have for the Prince The conclusion of my Discourse was That we should once for all end this Astair that whatever respected the Interests of Monsieur the Prince had been wholly concluded at Paris and had it not been so I had never taken such a long Journey That what remained behind was to agree about the Gratification which the King of Spain should give the Prince to which the King would be obliged to consent provided it was not prejudicial to his Majesty and contrary to what had been stipulated by the Article of the Treaty concerning this matter Don Lewis ended the Conference in saying to me That he would think again on the Quality and Form of this Gratification which he still call'd a Recompence and that he hoped we might agree upon it the first time we should see one another which was referred to Saturday I shall not enter on a particular relation of what past on divers other Points because those which we agreed on were not of great consequence and there was nothing concluded on others Neither will I tell you that he omits no occasion to speak of the King in the most obliging terms imaginable and expresses himself always on the Match as if already concluded and in the last place he told me that the Infanta's Person would be well liked of in France and that the Beauty of her Mind was no whit inferiour to that of her Body We resolv'd a-fresh that to abridge the time Mr. de Lionne and the Secretary Coloma should set to the drawing up the necessary Form to those things of which we were agreed and even go over again certain points on which they should agree together as being not of the greatest consequence But being inform'd by a Letter which Monsieur de Lionne wrote me this Morning that not only he advances nothing with Don Pedro Coloma but that he could do nothing with Don Lewis whom he had seen Yesterday I thereupon sent him word I could no longer bear with these delays and that he would tell Don Lewis I wish'd we had our Conference in which I should perceive by his Conduct what success we might expect from this Affair And having instructed Monsieur de Lionne in the things I thought needful for him to insinuate to Don Pedro Coloma that by this Channel they might come to Don Lewis he has very well executed it to the telling him I was afraid Monsieur the Prince would prove fatal to Christendom and be the cause of not making that Peace at Madrid which was determined and agreed on at Paris I believe it 's fit their Majesties should know my opinion in this matter which is That Don Lewis of his own humour and by the hopes of obtaining something to the advantage of Monsieur the Prince will drive out the time as long as he can according to the sollicitation of Lainet and other Adherents of this Prince In the Second place I believe that Lainet by his manner of acting has gotten some ascendant over the Spirit of Don Lewis seeing he has not the power to determine
to go and cast my self at his Feet to supplicate him and that however I protested to him he could not do me a greater pleasure than not to take me at my word and to end this affair as is mention'd in the Treaty of Paris in converting into Silver the Prince's Gratification as I have already above denoted I forgot to tell you that I had made him before this Proposition That if he would give to the King of Portugal the Kingdom of Sardaignia which he had offered to Monsieur the Prince I would signifie as much to his Majesty and use my utmost endeavours to make him relish this Proposition with which the King of Portugal might be satisfied and I pleasantly enlarged my self hereupon to put him from insisting any more in hopes of succeeding in the behalf of Monsieur the Prince I told him Sir here 's the best Expedient in the World to satisfie this King and to give an opportunity to the King my Master to shew to the World that he obtains for his Ally a handsom Retreat as likewise to end the War on all hands seeing the King of Portugal embracing this Expedient the Catholick King without drawing his Sword may put himself in possession of several Kingdoms the least of which is more considerable than that of Sardaignia But this Proposition served only the more to perplex him without his being able to offer any solid reason to oppose it Neither indeed can there be any for it would be far more advantagious to his Catholick Majesty to recover Portugal without striking a stroke in yielding Sardaignia to this King than to give as a pure gift this Province to Monsieur the Prince And forasmuch as the principal end of the Relation I here make you is to inform the King and if I may express my self so to instruct his Majesty in whatever there is most important for his Service and most conducing to the interests of his Crown so I will not omit as far as my little leisure will give me leave to make known to the King all the accidents which happen in several occasions in our Conferences And therefore I will tell you that Don Lewis having taken again this last time occasion to exagerate the extraordinary advantages received from this Peace by the means of which his Majesty assured his Conquests and extended their limits on all sides I told him that the King would willingly renounce all this if his Catholick Majesty would only deliver him Navarre in exchange which all the World knows belongs to him by so good a Title that there 's not a Frenchman who from the first use of his Reason is not perswaded the King has no less right to this Kingdom than to the City of Paris He ask'd me if I knew what Navarre was seeing 't was no greater than Rousillon Accept then the Proposal I made you said I to him assureing you that if you take me at my word the King will make it good but I suppose you will do nothing herein but had rather keep this little Country wherein there is not above Two or Three Places for you well know that the King my Master had once Pampelune his Catholick Majesty would be forced to dislodge from Madrid He told me in another Rencounter that the effects of War are uncertain that the Affairs of the Allies of France proceeded not so well in Germany as we could wish that they were near seeing in England such changes as would give Spain as many advantages as France had during the time of Cromwell that there was nothing to be expected from the Commotions in Naples and supposing the Peace was not made there might a great many things happen in Portugal which would give the King his Master an opportunity to draw this Thorn out of his Foot and to employ elsewhere the Forces he had hitherto been constrain'd to use on that side I answer'd him in two Words Do you know why It is because all is asleep and that you do not see several things break forth on all sides which will give you just reason to apprehend the progress of France for the future more than you have done hitherto it is because the King expecting whether the Peace will be made has ordered me to supersede all Negotiations which may make him enter into new engagements with Swedeland England and Portugal although we be continually sollicited from all sides with such offers as would affect any other Prince who can be less sensible than him of the Miseries which so long a War has brought on Christendom And I concluded That perhaps we had shut our Ears to more plausible Propositions and which might better succeed in the Kingdom of Naples than all those which had been made to us heretofore and that I prayed to God with all my Heart that the execution of the Peace might oblige me to lye still otherwise I could easily shew France to be in a more likely condition than ever to make her self seared We pass'd afterwards to entertaining our selves very friendly on the conveniencies which the two Crowns would find from the Peace and I told him that I could not comprehend how those who had heretofore held our Places and our selves too had not always laboured with all our powers to unite our Masters seeing this Union rais'd equally the power of both without giving them the least jealousie that I could assure him the greatest part of the Princes of Europe would not have a Peace and that those whose Interest it was to see it concluded seared nothing more than to behold a strict friendship made between the two Kings because both one and the other grounded their advantage in the continuation of the War or at least in the fomentation of Jealousies and Mistrusts between the two Crowns that the Conduct and Intentions of these Princes seemed to me to learn us what we should do and that it was strange we being able to give Laws to all of 'em we should put our selves into a condition to receive it from them and that in stead of obliging them to make their court to our Masters by jealousies one of another they should court 'em themselves to the great prejudice of their dignity But after all said I to him again what reason can the two Kings have to make War so obstinately against one another and with so great damage to their States and Subjects seeing it is certain that neither the Revolutions which can happen thence nor the progress which the Arms of the one can make over the other in diverse times will ever be capable of ruining so well one that the two Powers become entirely one single Body He testified he liked very well my discourse and having repeated it he told me there was no replying to what I said but I will tell you in your Ear to the end only their Majesties may know it that it troubles me to see him so indifferent for the executing of any great Enterprise
intentions and to propose to me some expedient which he believ'd I might like of And though it seems to me that if he had any agreeable proposal to make he would have made it himself yet to judge of his intention we must tarry till the arrival of Pimentel who has written to Des Meaux that he will be here to night without fail and I shall not omit to make known immediately to their Majesties the subject of our Conversation by the dispatch which the Sieur Bartet shall carry who may set out to morrow night However you will find here the relation of what past in the curious Conference which I wrote you shall receive by the said Bartet I would not have a bad judgment made of the boldness with which I make Propositions to Don Lewis and offer him certain things pretending to be very earnest he should accept of them for though I know very well if he should we should be prejudiced thereby yet I am sure we run no risk knowing well by the information I have of their interests that it is impossible for them to close with them so that without hazarding any thing I draw by this dealing more advantage than you can well imagine and I hope 't will appear so evidently in what remains to be adjusted I consider sometimes that if there were an Embassador in my place he could not give such bold strokes as I do because fearing he should be taken at his word in offering certain things he will likewise dread the being disowned and recalled with disgrace So that I see it a great advantage to Kings when they employ such Persons in great affairs who being fully assured of their good will negotiate boldly and hesitate not to propose a thousand Expedients to get their ends LETTER XXIX To Monsieur le Tellier Particulars of the sixth Conference Of the signing the Treaty of Marriage The Spaniards cannot be ready so soon for the Ceremonies of Marriage Of the Train the two Kings will bring along with them Of the demand of the Infanta by the Mareschal de Gramont Of the Dowry King's Conquests Of the valuation of the Dowry Earnestness of Don Lewis for Monsieur the Prince and Cardinal's replies Of the King of England's Ministers visit Lockart Embassador from the Common-Wealth of England Pleasant adventure hapning to the Abbot Siri with Don Christoval and their discourse To Monsieur le Tellier From St. John de Luz August the 30th 1659. TO inform their Majesties of several particulars which have past in the last Conference which may serve to discover to them what has been said on the points which have been discust and contested I must enter on a particular account of what I could yesterday give you only in general But the curiosity which they may have having I think been satisfied in what was essential by the Letter I wrote to you returning from the said Conference I will begin by telling you that being agreed in the Articles which respected the Marriage which I proposed my self to sign when it should be time in Don Lewis's Apartment to the end it might appear as it is reasonable that this Ceremony had been performed in Spain in the same manner as the Duke of Mayenne did it at Madrid when he went thither to make the demand of the Queen Don Lewis thankt me for the thoughts I had though to speak the truth 't was a thing about which the Secretary of State had already made some proposal to Monsieur de Lionne There may arisâ— some difficulty on the Signing of the Witnesses which are ever chosen on both sides of the greatest Quality but I have considered to remedy this we may do as is done in the Treaties of Peace which is to say make two Writings the one signed by the Spaniards which we shall keep the French signing the other It 's certain Don Lewis expects some Currier from Madrid to be instructed in the impossibilities there are to consummate the Marriage in the time prefix'd for he took a great deal of care to reckon up to me whatever must precede the departure of the Infanta But I perceive the real reason was that their Liveries and other necessary preparations for such an Action could not be finished so soon telling me that what was gotten ready in Fifteen days at Paris could not be so in Two Months at Madrid That the Treasurer had wrote to him he had orders from his Catholick Majesty to spare no cost to hasten things and had already paid out Two Hundred Thousand Crowns for the Liveries of his Majesties Houshold and the Livery of his Guards which consist of Three Companies of an Hundred Gentlemen each one of Spaniards another of Burgundians and the other of Germans I have learnt since that this is the real cause of this delay Don Antonio Pimentel having freely told me as much by the order of Don Lewis who came the other day to visit me here He told me among other things that should the King of Spain give a Million of Gold more he could not thereby hasten the preparations Four Days that the great Lords who must necessarily accompany him by reason of their Offices were forced to send to Naples and Milan to get their Cloaths and Liveries made Don Lewis speaking to me of this attendance of Persons of Quality on both sides gave me to understand the Two Kings would do well to bring along with them only such a number as would be absolutely necessary whereby they might shorten their Journey and lessen the expence of their Subjects who had been at great charge already by the War I upheld his Discourse saying That the King had already thank'd most of the Persons of the highest Rank in his Kingdom who had offered themselves to wait on him with all the Splendour usual on the like occasions so that his Majesty would bring scarcely any one along with him beyond what is necessary for his actual Service He much approved of this Overture and I believe it will not be his fault if his Master does not do the same and I suppose I have very well palliated the truth of what passes in your Court which is empty enough of persons of Quality for this occasion seeing the Princes Dukes and Peers and other Officers of the Crown excuse themselves from this Journey from the reasons you know I told afterwards Don Lewis that according to the Overture he had made neither the Catholick King nor the Infanta would be much concerned if in the necessity there was of gaining time in this conjuncture a Person was not sent of the same Quality as the Duke of Mayenne nor with the Splendour he shew'd in this occasion seeing the Person on whom his Majesty might cast his Eye might ride Post that I had dispatch'd a Currier to the King to propose to him the Mareschal de Grammont who besides his Birth was Duke and Peer and an Officer of the Crown spake Spanish and who in
my judgment had all the Qualities requisite for this Employ Whereupon he assured me he should be very glad if his Majesty would make this choice He afterwards spake to me of the Dowry and drew a Letter out of his Pocket which Don Antonio Pimentel had writ to him from Lyons in which he signified to him that speaking to him about the Dowry I had hinted That part of it might be raised from the Conquests which the King had made since the rupture of the Negotiation of Madrid Whereupon he enlarg'd himself according to his usual manner exaggerating the great Advantages which France would draw from this Peace and that the least thing the King could do was to accept of the Dowry from these Conquests I confess I had charg'd Pimentel at Lyons to write in the manner he had done in the belief they would never pretend in Spain the Infanta should make a general renunciation of what ever might appertain to her in certain occasions and he had been told we intended not to restore a Finger's breadth of Land of whatever the King's Arms had conquer'd since the year 1656 and I not only confirm'd to Don Lowis the same thing I had told Pimentel but I farther inform'd him that thinking it just to do for the sake of so great a Minister something more than what had been done for the Sieur Pimentel I therefore declared to him that after having yielded on the point of the Renunciation the King would consent to give to his Catholick Majesty not one part of the Dowry but the whole for some of the Conquests we had made since that time provided they entirely remained in our hands He replyed to me he thought we had 'em entirely seeing that instead of Valentia Mortaria Oudenarde and Ipres which were agreed to be surrendred as well as Dixinude Menin and Comines which I well knew to be Posts not able to hold out Four Days against him that should be Master of the Field he yielded us Thionville Damvilliers Bethune La Bassee and le Quesnoy which were agreed on at Madrid to be restor'd and moreover Hesdin which was the strongest and most important place which Spain could yield up to France besides the Bailiwicks of Artois Aire and St. Omers which consist of to great a number of Villages that they reach further than twenty Leagues and which render the King Master of a Province the more considerable in that it borders on France adding That I had farther the address to draw from Pimentel the Provostship of Jury and Wardenship of Bourborg on which we had not the least reason for a pretension But though there be nothing more true than what he told me hereupon and that what we draw hence is worth without question the double of what we yield yet I boldly replied to him and without fearing to be taken at my word considering the knowledge I have of their interests and intentions that he would give me occasion to merit greatly with the King if he would insist both parties should keep in reference to the Conquests to what was determined at Madrid and the King retain what his Arms have acquired since that time But it concerns 'em so greatly not to leave us a Foot in the State of Milan nor pieces as Oudenarde and Ipres which are capable of keeping always Peoples minds restless that I did not doubt but he would answer me as he did That we should hold what had been determined and that the question being only about Money he did not believe it was for the King his Master's Honour to dispute on that Head as he also believed I could what Monsieur de Lionne had said to Don Pedro Coloma to augment the Sum of the Dowry which was given to the Queen which would not work the same effect at present as it did then because Money was in that time scarcer than now I replied to him I should not do the King a pleasure should I stop a moment on an affair of this nature for the same reason he had told me that it was not for the honour of so great a King to contend for more or less of Money and I told him in laughing that if he would take the pains to defray the charge which would be made in this occasion I would give him a faithful account of it and we would take nothing for the Dowry He might indeed tell me justly that if any Princess were married without a Dowry it should be the Infanta by reason of the excellent qualities she possest That which I am afraid will give us the greatest trouble is that the valuation of Five Hundred Thousand Crowns which were given the Queen was made in Silver which is to say in Rials and as in that time the Crowns in Gold were not worth much more than the half of what they are now we shall come to lose above Twelve Hundred Thousand Livers should they pay us in this manner in which perhaps they would not be ill grounded seeing the words of the Contract converting into Silver the Crowns of Gold say the like Sum should be given in Rials However I have thought of a way how to make our reasons pass and extricate my self out of this affair to the King's advantage remembring I have heard him say when 't was discoursed that the Daughter of la Baziniere had 500000 Crowns Portion that he did not believe her whom he should marry would have more For if I compass the thing as I hope to do in making be valued the Crowns in Gold mention'd in the contract on the current price of our Crowns the Sum will amount very near to three Millions of Livers which will come very seasonable to stop a gap of the expence which we cannot be exempted from in paying almost the like Sum to be given the Arch Dukes for Alsace which is yielded to us by the Treaty of Munster Having spent almost two hours in regulating whatever concern'd the Marriage and supputing the precise time in which the Infanta might be here with the King her Father Don Lewis to whom his Catholick Majesty has design'd this honour according to his own report very earnestly told me having perhaps considered within himself we might conceive some suspicion on the delaying the Infanta's Journey and the consummating the Marriage that we should without any more ado sign execute and proclaim the peace send to Rome for the dispensation sign here the Articles of the Marriage and in general perform all that is necessary to engage the Prince so that no accident may make him change assuring me that on their side they would use their utmost endeavours to gain time We must not wonder at the care Don Lewis has taken to speak to me after this manner being perswaded the King most passionately desires to see this affair ended considering him as a Gallant who impatiently expects the hour he is to see his Mistress I believ'd this Conference would have past without
his returning to the charge on the point of Monsieur the Prince but having repeated to me the Declaration he had made me in the two preceeding he began by professing he was much perplexed in this Affair not only for the reasons he had with great prolixity deduced to me heretofore but like wise because this Prince had ordered his Agents who are here to solicit nothing but to approve entirely whatever Don Lewis would do touching his interests So that he found himself at present his Plenipotentiary but at the same time incapacitated to procure him any advantage He agreed with me that this was a cunning piece of dexterity for the Prince to do thus in a desperate case to try whether this way of proceeding might procure him any advantage which he could not hope for by any other means And continuing his discourse he insisted more than ever he had done That I would like Monsieur the Prince should come here and that seeing our selves together we might be good Friends which is what he most passionately desired that he Don Lewis greatly wisht the same as likewise to see this Prince the most faithful and zealous Servant the King can have That he believ'd as this was for the advantage of Monsieur the Prince so it was no less conducing to his Majesties Service and my credit He afterwards much insisted on the sincerity with which this Prince would faithfully and punctually execute whatever he had promised in relation to the King and my Person in particular and on the just apprehension of being undone if he dealt otherwise seeing he would not have only the King's power to fear but moreover the resentment of his Catholick Majesty the Infanta and of him Don Lewis who would become his greatest Enemies should he fail in the least particluar he had promised To which I replied That being assured of his good intentions and the freedom with which he spake to me I had all the grateful sense which I ought but that it was fit his Excellency should know something might so happen in France That not only the Prince of Conde would have a mind to stir but that he would do it without mattering the complaints which the King of Spain and his Excellency might make against him provided he therein found his advantage seeing it had been seen by experience as this Prince knew perhaps better than another that the Cabals Commotions and Revolutions of France had never deeper roots nor produced greater effects to the prejudice of its Kings than when it did not appear they had any relation to Spain because the French generally speaking were very prone to engage themselves in the Commotions exited by the great ones of the Kingdom for particular interests but regard with horror whatever tends to the making them enter into a Confederacy with Strangers and especially Spaniards from whence his Excellency might easily perceive whether there is reason to believe that Monsieur the Prince could be withheld by the fear of his Catholick Majesty and his Excellency in case he had a mind to do mischief and an opportunity offered He afterwards urged me to tell him whether 't was not possible for some security to be granted to the Prince as he knew had been given in France in several occasions to Persons of less quality than he I answered there was no Example of this usage to any body except the Protestants to whom the good of the State and other considerations required the giving some places which have since been drawn out of their hands that his security had been provided for by what had been inserted in his favour in the Treaty signed at Paris and that it was his own fault he had not a greater seeing that returning with a Resolution to live well and to serve faithfully the King not only he had nothing to apprehend but might expect favours from his bounty and generosity of which he had less reason to doubt than any body having had more experience of this than any Subject besides Don Lewis prest me afresh to obtain of the King that Monsieur the Prince might come hither saying for this he would owe me the greatest respect and hereby all would be ended to the Prince's satisfaction I answered it depended on him to give it himself in fifteen days time and I should have the honour of presenting him my self to the King and Queen and that he had nothingelse to do but to accept of the favours which the King and Queen offered him by the Treaty and this answer was the cause he spake to me no more about it but it was I who pursued the matter making him dextrously value the Overture I had made him to use my endeavours with the King to give some recompence in France to Monsieur the Prince if he gave himself his helping hand thereto in casting himself at the King's Feet and remitting to his Majesty the places which the Catholick King should give him which I did with the address I have already mention'd to you informing him that my proposing this Expedient had no other motive but the drawing his Excellency out of the perplexity he seemed to be in though I well knew I should have a great deal of trouble to make the King relish it because Monsieur the Prince would owe all the obligation of the favours I might procure him from the King to his Catholick Majesty his most Christian Majesty chusing rather generously to bestow some on him in another time when he shall deserve them than to grant him 'em at present as a Recompence for what he should yield to his Majesty I farther added That if he liked to sâ—nd me Caillet I would make him value the firmness with which his Excellency acted in favour of Monsieur the Prince and that I might moreover engage him to make me Propositions more positive than those he had made me going and coming from his Master on the remitting to the King the Places which his Catholick Majesty should give him But he told me he would have no body meddle in this Affair but himself and he seemed to me more tortured at my having reduced him to the point of making me necessarily know that he had no intention of giving such like Recompence to the Prince or that he had done it for an ill end that is to say to render him always dependent on the King of Spain and to put him into a condition to make one day use of such an Establishment to the great damage and disservice of this Crown And I press'd him in this occasion more than I had done in any before telling him That if the Prince and his Agents could discover the Overture I had made him they would not let him rest a day till they had prevail'd with him to take me at my word for otherwise they would not have stuck to have taken it for granted that his Excellency never had the thought really to oblige Monsieur the Prince seeing if he
and those of the Peace according to your orders after which I will go and end my days at the place you shall enjoyn me content with the happiness of having served for 30 Years the King your Father and your self your Arms nor affairs having lost any of their reputation I beg only the favour of you to be perswaded that whatever may happen to me I shall be to the last moment of my life the most faithful and zealous Creature you have LETTER XXXIII To the Queen He imparts to her his grief at the King 's discontent The same day I Am on the brink of despair beholding your trouble at what you have had the goodness to write me would to God I could ease you at the cost of my own blood for I would part with it on this occasion with all imaginable joy The Confident's answer is exprest in terms which sufficiently discover he has no affection for me nor my interests so that I have nothing to do but to execute his orders to abridge the time of the Marriage and having signed the Contract and Articles of Peace which will be glorious and advantagious for his Person and State take the resolution which shall be the most proper to deliver him from my importunities and the best for his Service beseeching God to bless my intentions For in this case the Confident will be the greatest and happiest Prince in the World My heart is so full of anguish that I can say no more and you may easily believe it if you reflect never so little on what passes in my mind in this conjuncture I might have dissembled in the Letter I wrote to the Confident till my return to him but God forbid I should deal thus with my Master to whom I am wont to open my whole heart without reserve Let me entreat you to pray to God for me for I never more needed his assistance I would not send the Confident word that my Nephew designed an escape from Brisac and though he said when he was taken his intention was to get to me thinking you would approve of it the truth is this was the least of his thoughts and I believe my Niece has contrived this and you may judge what this may oblige me to suspect Be pleased to reflect whether the Confident has reason to desire I should love her and believe her affectionate to me and desirous of my Master's Honour We must take care the Confident mentions not a word of this to any body LETTER XXXIV To Monsieur le Tellier Seventh Conference Of the sending a Gentleman to Portugal and of the Affairs of that Kingdom Discourse of the Cardinal with Mr. Locker New entreaties of Don Lewis for Monsieur the Prince Renunciation of Spain to Alsatia Proposition of Don Lewis touching Olivenz rejected Pimentel repeats the Propositions of Don Lewis Reflections of this Letter proposed to the Cardinal who makes answer Presents to be made To Monsieur le Tellier From St. John de Luz September the 2d 1659. I Have already signified to you that I had no great account to give you to inform their Majesties of what past in the last Conference which lasted not above half so long as the others The first thing Don Lewis askt me was whether I would dispatch a Gentleman into Portugal as I had told him I would to impart to the Duke of Braganza what had been inserted in the Treaty concerning him and I told him I thought it not so convenient to hasten this Envoy altho' the Gentleman was ready and had the King's Dispatches before I came here It being imprudent to send News which most certainly would not have a welcome reception in Portugal without first ending whatever concern'd Monsieur the Prince whose interests his Excellency still maintained with such heat and constancy though in truth I should rest satisfied with the reiterated Declarations he had made me That this point should not in any fort retard the proclaiming and execution of the Peace He afterwards perswaded me to lay aside all suspicion of the Success of this Negotiation and that I should no longer defer thesending away this Gentleman because perhaps the Dutchess of Braganza who is of the Family of the Gusmans and his Cousin German seeing an impossibility of maintaining her Son in the State he is in after the Peace concluded between the two Crowns might resolve on having recourse to the Catholick King 's Clemency to shelter her Person and all her Family from the inevitable misfortune which threatned them and thus he might be freed from the trouble of bringing Troops from Italy and Flanders into Spain to form a great Army to be employed in the recovery of Portugal I could easily perceive by his discourse in which he much enlarged himself he could wish this War were ended rather by a Treaty than Arms and I believe if the Queen of Portugal would take this course she might greatly advantage the condition of her Son and her self in returning her self a Subject of Spain which is what I shall not fail to acquaint this Queen with to the end that considering well in what condition affairs will be in after the Peace she may take that resolution she shall judge most proper Neither do I doubt but if she would have elsewhere the recompence of her Son's and her Estate in that Country and even with Usury and also any thing else fitting for her she might easily obtain it seeing Don Lewis has told me in several occasions that if she would be content to have conferred on her Son the Office of Constable of Castile and other Honours of this nature he believed the King his Master would grant 'em them for the sake of the Peace and the cessation of all hostilities I hereupon took occasion to draw advantage from our Entertainment in acquainting Don Lewis that I was willing to do him a pleasure to dispatch the said Envoy I dexterously engaged him to grant me a continuation of the suspension of Arms from the part of the King his Master for the whole Month of December with Portugal although according to what had been determined at Paris it should end at the conclusion of the next Month which certainly is very advantagious in the present conjuncture to the King of Portugal for hereby he has more time to prepare himself and to make an accommodation with Holland and engage the States and England to assist him Being informed by Mr. Locker that the Embassador of Portugal will set forward immediately for London this makes me observe to you on the business of Portugal that having discoursed sufficiently of the presumption of this Nation he ended by exagerating to the utmost point that they are incapable whatever Peace is made and whatever facility by this means his Catholick Majesty has to employ all his Forces against Portugal ever to yield they have any reason to be afraid For said he to me they will always maintain at they do at present
Reasons he had alledg'd to me in favour of the Prince setting perpetually before me that Rebellions were common in France and that those who had been guilty of 'em had been always re-establish'd and hinting to me again what was done in respect to the Constable of St. Paul I thought my self oblig'd to answer him that I was tired with hearing the same things so many times repeated and so much the more in that I did not doubt but he was convinc'd by the answers I made him to inform him and give him means to confound Lainet and the other Adherents of Monsieur the Prince who continually furnish'd him with Arms tho' weak ones to defend his cause that we should once for all agree to bring no more into debate such points as had been already decided it seeming to me I had sufficiently shew'd him that if Rebellions were more frequent among the French they were more dangerous and of longer durance among the Spaniards that if he would take the pains to examin after what manner they were chastised in France when there was an opportunity of doing it he would soon see by the severity which all its Kings have used that they were not very encouraging to the French to make revolts that not to ascend higher than the Reign of Henry IV. he would find the Marshal of Biron with his Head taken off without having executed any thing of what he had projected against the State he would see the last Duke of Montmorency so Illustrious by the Services of his Ancestours chastis'd in the same manner as Biron the Quality of his Relations and the endeavours used on all hands to obtain his Pardon being not able to prevail with Lewis XIII He would see Monsieur de Cinqmars Grand Escuyer and Favourite of this King and Thuanus punish'd in the same fashion the first having executed nothing of the Treaty made with the Count Duke D'Olivarez nor the second committed any other crime than that of having known the thing in which he had no part and not having revealed it that as to Monsieur the Prince I could not but remember his Excellency that Lewis Prince of Conde his great Grandfather would have had his Head taken off at Orleans had not Francis II. dyed suddenly on the Eve of the Day he intended this Execution to be done I ended in desiring him to advertise Monsieur the Prince's People not to have so often in their mouths the Example of the Constable of St. Paul for if he made often his accommodation and even with great advantages because the necessity of Affairs required it yet he at length lost his Head The Don Lewis cryed out 't was true but in the accommodations he was always re-establish'd in his Estate and even in the Places he had on the Somme Ah Sir said I to him would you have Monsieur the Prince now re-establish'd and make such an end as the Constable of St. Paul did I believe you love him too well to wish him the same Fortune It is fit their Majesties should know that by the Discourse Don Lewis has held to me in this Rencounter I have plainly found out that he repeated to me the substance of the Letters which Croisy wrote to Brussels and the Memoirs which have been sent to Paris by Monsieur the Prince I have likewise experimented that it has befall'n Don Lewis what usually happens to those who are constrain'd to fight by their being shew'd their Honour is therein engag'd which is to say to depart the Lists with disadvantage because they therein entred against their Wills and only to deliver themselves from the importunity of their Friends He has been most certainly perswaded he might boldly say what he list and without any danger threaten the breaking off of the Treaty without this endangering of me to resolve on a Rupture And therefore I have omitted nothing to deliver him from this conceit makeing known to him as I have done in this Conference that tho' the Passion with which their Majesties wish for Peace be apparent to all the World and that on my side I should have an extreme regret to return hence without concluding any thing and in the assurance of seeing the War begin again yet I must esteem it advantagious and even glorious this should happen on Monsieur the Prince's account it being certain that not only this Action would be blamed by the Spaniards but that even the very Stones in the Street would rise up against those who had been the cause of this Don Lewis replyed to me what is precisely in one of Croisy's Letters which is that all France would be in an uproar if it were known the Peace fail'd of being concluded because a reasonable Satisfaction was not given Monsieur the Prince Afterwards using me with great gentleness he told me after a Thousand Flatteries he could swear we should part the best Friends in the World and began to enter on the Overture I have already denoted I made to give to the King the Places with which Monsieur the Prince was to be gratified and that in this case I would cast my self at the King's Feet to entreat him to bestow on the Prince and his Son some favours by means of which both one and the other might be better assured of his Majesty's Goodness to ' em He told me then that if I made this Overture to give him a mark of my Kindness to the end to handsomly disengage the King his Master from Monsieur the Prince and that I had no other motive of supplicating the King to make him a better Treatment assuring his Majesty that the Prince should lay at his Feet the Gratification which the King of Spain should make him we might soon come to an Agreement seeing he did not believe that in this case I should insist on the more or the less I interrupted him here entreating him in no sort to speak to me of this because I could not see any Reason to hope that the King would consent to it and that it was out of pure Affection I undertook to intercede with his Majesty to the end that when the Prince begg'd Pardon for the fault he had committed and did remit into his Hands the Places which his Catholick Majesty should give him he might then give him and his Son some proof of his Reconciliation And I greatly extended this Discourse omitting nothing which might warrant him and engage him to accept of this Expedient endeavouring to edg him on by the refusal I made And perceiving from the beginning he pretended to acquit himself in giving something of small consideration I replyed to him That should he consent to my proposing to the King whatever I knew had been offered to Monsieur the Prince I had very strong Reasons to be perswaded that his Majesty would be against it and the Queen would in the opinion which she had of the Prince confirm his aversion He entreated me not to doubt of the Offer
of it desiring nothing more than to embrace all those which might put an end to this Negotiation without prejudicing the Honour or Service of the King But I must confess to you I was strangely surprised when I found by the discourse Pimentel held me that instead of offering me Proposals on the Overture I had made to use my endeavours with the King to obtain some new favour for Monsieur the Prince if he laid at his Majesties feet the Places should be given him by his Catholick Majesty he repeated to me the same things Don Lewis had mentioned to me to excite the King's Generosity and to oblige me to contribute what in me lay thereto and let slip before me that Don Lewis had promised to make him the happiest man in Spain if he could prevail with me on this point I replied to all this that I had reason to be angry with Don Lewis in thinking me capable to give at the stances of a Person whom he sent me what I had refused at his and as to the rest I took Monsieur Pimentel to be too honest a man to design the raising his own Fortune on the ruine of my Reputation After this I pretended to be in a passion at Don Lewis's Proceedings and to apprehend he had concealed Ends in these delays he brought in setling matters which might have been adjusted in one only Conference adding I did not doubt but if I imparted this manner of proceeding to the King his Majesty would command my return it being apparent this delay greatly prejudiced his Affairs For besides his losing several advantages which he might reasonably expect in this Campaign he is likewise obliged on the belief the Peace will be soon proclaimed to hold his Allies in Suspence who press him on all hands to make particular Treaties with them In fine to avoid the prolixity wherein I should fall were I to give a particular account of what past with Pimentel I shall content my self with assuring their Majesties that I sent him away as well satisfied with my reasons as I could be my self and in a disposition of apprehending greatly the Resolutions I might take thereupon and being not yet satisfied with whatever I had said to him I wrote to Monsieur de Lionne who was at Andaye to the end that communicating my Note to the Sieur Pimentel he might the more easily remember to represent the same things to Don Lewis and in a manner as earnest as I had explained my self in of which charge I do not doubt but he will well acquit himself hoping that in the first Conference Don Lewis will yield to the putting an end to this affair The business ended not here for continuing to speak to me still on Monsieur the Prince he told me he could safely call God to witness that he had no other motive in this pursuit than to see all Parties so well satisfied that there might never happen the least alteration in the Peace which was about concluding and that as my particular friend he would entrust me with a scruple which came into his head which was that he greatly apprehended lest the Infanta who on one hand had a great deal of wit and on the other a great deal of tenderness for the King her Father having heard talk of nothing else for several years but the great services Monsieur the Prince had rendred him that he had been the cause by the diversions made in France of the taking of Barcelona and the reduction of all Catalonia and other Advantages which Spain had obtained whether in taking Places from us and especially Cambray the preservation of which they believe they wholly owe to him that he apprehended I say That coming into France with all these things in her mind she should prevail in all occasions relating to the Prince's Service in procuring him the King's favour and all the marks of it he could desire which perhaps might not produce a good effect whether in relation to the Publick or what might particularly concern me I replied to him with a smiling Countenance that I found my self greatly obliged to him for his good intentions and the Friendship he shewed me in opening to me his heart on so nice an affair but I entreated him not to be much troubled at whatever might happen hereupon because that though I no ways doubted of the inclinations of the Serenissima Infanta towards Monsieur the Prince whom she loved as a faithful Servant of her Father and the Spanish Monarchy not knowing at present other interests than those of the King her Father yet I assured my self that being the King's Wife she would prefer the Interests and Service of the King her Husband and his Children before any other consideration and look with an ill Eye on Monsieur the Prince as believing him capable of falling again into the same faults to the prejudice of a Kingdom of which she would be the Queen and though I had well observ'd that his Excellency had contented himself with speaking of the inclination of the Infanta for Monsieur the Prince without mentioning any thing of the aversion she had for me who have done a great deal more against the House of Spain than Monsieur the Prince had done for it I ever doubted of the Hatred of the Infanta to me without any great trouble considering from the same reason that becoming Queen of France she would honour with her good will a Person who has served the King and Kingdom with all the Fidelity and Industry possible and who would continue to do it to his last breath So that marrying the King Monsieur the Prince and I should change places in her affections where she would give me that he possesses at present and to him mine I am now to tell you to the end their Majesties may know it that I have learnt from Pimentel that the Horses which Don Lewis would give to the King which according to the relation of those who have seen them are the stateliest in the World will not be presented in his name but in the name of the Catholick King who has ordered him to put them into my hands to take care they be sent to his Majesty So that we must think of returning a Present to the King of Spain which I will remit to Don Lewis by the King's order to the end he may carry it to the King his Master I have already wrote to Paris what I judge fit and in due time will send the Memorial of things of which I think the Present should consist and though 't is usual to give things wherein there is more Art than Riches yet I will endeavour so to order it that here may be both We must also make a considerable Present to Don Lewis as well for that he will sign the Articles of Marriage as that it will be he that will Espouse the Infanta in Virtue of the King's Power and sign the Treaty likewise of Peace A Present
Goodness in relation to the Duke and Lorrain and his Family had been extraordinary seeing that if his Majesty had stood out from yielding the point of Portugal and restoring so many Places as he yields by the Treaty of Peace on condition of retaining Lorrain no body doubts but the Catholick King would have consented to it I told him further That there were several Persons who well knew Don Lewis his mind and who affirm that if we would only re-establish Monsieur the Prince in what he had before his Rebellion he would willingly have yielded all Lorrain to the King I shew'd my self afterwards very much surprized at Monsieur de Lorrain's having so much as a thought that others could obtain more for him than he could obtain for himself seeing by the Treaty he made in 1639 with the deceased King he authentically yielded the Comte of Clermont Stenay and Jamets Besides that having promis'd and ratify'd several other things with an express protestation to forfeit all his Countries in case he fail'd therein yet he had kept nothing which he had promis'd since his re-entrance that the King dealt very favourably with him in restoring to him all Lorrain on the conditions mentioned in the Treaty of Paris seeing since this Treaty his Highness had continu'd with more obstinacy than ever to serve Spain against France that all the World must needs be surpriz'd at the King's Generosity who possessing all Lorrain and being able easily to keep it yet restor'd it almost entire to the Duke who Fifteen years before had omitted nothing to signalize his aversion against this Crown and that this Generosity appear'd the greater in that the King of Spain whom the Duke had so long time and so successfully serv'd had clapt him up in Prison instead of rewarding him I ended this Discourse in praying the Gentleman to tell or write to his Master that he had reason to think himself happy for the manner after which France dealt with him and to have a livelier sense of this he need only to call to mind the History of Princes who had unfortunately lost their Countries tho' they had not done the Hundred part of what his Highness had done against France and that without having recourse to past Ages there were Examples to be met with in this as those of the King of England and so many Princes of Germany wholly stript or deprived of the greatest part of what they had and especially the Elector Palatin who having been no longer out of his Countries than the Duke of Lorrain and having had the good fortune to be protected by France Swedeland and the Protestants of Germany who obstinately refused to hearken to any terms of Peace if the Emperour did not entirely re-establish him he I say thought himself very happy to sacrifice one part of his Country to recover another And to shut the Duke of Lorrain's Mouth I added that supposing the Spaniards had as much affection for him and as great desire to oblige him as the contrary has appeared by the rigorous usage they have shew'd him it being not very ordinary to detain Soveraign Princes yet the necessity of their Affairs would hardly permit them to do more for the Duke of Lorrain than France and Swedeland could do for the Palatin when their Armies were victorious in Germany Besides there could be no likelihood that the Spaniards should obtain more for the Duke of Lorrain than they could obtain for themselves and so much the less in that they having lost a great many Places by the War were constrain'd to give up a great part of 'em for the procuring a Peace I return to Don Lewis who being prepared as I have already told you to make a fresh sally with all his Forces in behalf of Monsieur the Prince saying that the King his Master would not be content with this Peace if we were resolv'd to accept of no expedient by whose means he might in some sort acquit himself of his Engagements in as much as Monsieur the Prince having no security and wandring where God should direct him it would be impossible to enjoy the effects of the Peace so perfectly as the King his Master wish'd And tho' he shew'd a great earnestness in saying to me what I now tell you yet I affected to answer him with great sedateness saying that I was very much obliged to him for his freedom of expressions to me in what he had now uttered being a kind of declaration that the Peace should not last long that I no longer wondered at what Don Christoval told the Abbot Siri that if he were not obliged to publish so soon what past in relation to the Peace he would have occasion to write in another manner in a short time so that I saw I had nothing else to do but to take my leave of him with the greatest grief in having been so good a Prophet when having seen him return so many times to press me about the Prince I had said that the consideration of Monsieur the Prince having hindred the conclusion of the Peace of Christendom at Madrid above Three years since his Interest would still hinder the conclusion of the Peace which was so lately Signed and Ratified at Paris and that I trusted God who had bestowed so many Blessings on France for a Recompence of the King's intentions who in the midst of his Successes had sent even to Madrid for a Peace without obtaining it by reason of the firmness with which his Catholick Majesty had insisted on the Prince's satisfactions that he I say would crown his Majesties Arms with greater Successes for having brought on his side so great facilities towards the conclusion of the Peace when his Arms were in a condition to make on all sides a greater progress than ever I cannot sufficiently represent to their Majesties how greatly he appear'd astonish'd at my answer and I should be oblig'd to a long Discourse if I would write all the particulars he uttered to me and all the entreaties he made me not to take in ill part what he had said to me protesting again that the consideration of Monsieur the Prince should never hinder the execution of the Peace and that if he had told me the King his Master would not be satisfied it was not with the Peace he meant but only for the not having obtain'd what he desired in favour of Monsieur the Prince It will be enough to say that by his way and expressions I had cause quickly to appease my self but I dexterously kept my self from shewing it to induce him the more to put an end to our satisfaction I told him then this was a new method of Negotiating to say that Monsieur the Prince should not hinder the consummation of the Peace whilst in effect he did hinder it by a continual returning to his Interests and having before he spake to me of this ill satisfaction of the King his Master replied to me all the same