WE find in Holy Writ, that, in the Jewish Law, it was expresly provided by the supreme Legislator, That a Bastard should not enter into the Congregati­on of the Lord, even to the tenth Generation: But it seems the unhappy Kingdom of Franc allows the Bastard himself, not on­ly to enter into the Congregation, but to settle himself upon the Throne, and to bear it higher than all the preceeding Kings be­fore [Page 6] him, with had a better Right to do it, as being the Off-spring of Kings, and not the Sons of the People, the proper Term the Roman Law gives to Bastards. We have heard of the Salick Law, in force in that Kingdome, for a great many Ages, by which the Crown of France cannot fall from the Sword to the Distaff; but ill the blessed Days of our August Monarch, we never had the Happiness to be acquainted with a Law or Custom, by which that was in the Power of a Queen of France, to pro­vide us an Heir to the Crown, without the Concurrence of her Husband, and to impose upon us for our King, a Brat of another Man's making All the Reign of our In­vincible Monarch, has been a constant Series of Wonders; but among them all, this is none of the least, That he who was, in the Opinion of all the World, the Son of a pri­vate Gentleman, from his Birth till the end of the Prince of Conde's Wars, has had the good Fortune to be ever since no less than the Son of Lewis the Thirteenth. After this, let no Body call in question the commonly supposed Fable of the Transmutation of Iphis from a Woman to a Man, since to be translated from a Bastard to a Son lawfully begotten, is equally as difficult.

Among a great many other Quarrels, I have with the English Nation, this is one, [Page 7] That they are a People too nice in belie­ving Miracles; and their Haughtiness is such, as they scorn, forsooth, to believe Impossibilities; for albeit, they, and all the rest of the World about them, are firmly perswaded, that the little Bable Prince of Wales was never of Queen Marys bearing, much less of King James's begetting; yet if these Infidels had been as well mannerly credulous as we in France have been, of the wonderful Transmutation of our Lowis le Grand, they needed not have made all this Noise about the little Impostor-Infant, but might have comforted themselves in the hopes, that he, who was a Spurious Prince of Wales to Day, might some Years hence, by a new French way of Transubstantiation, become a lawfully begotten King of England. But the Mischief of all, is, these stiff-necked Hereticks, ever since they fell off from the Communion of the Holy Church, make bold to call in question all our Miracles; and such a one as this would be, I am af­fraid they would stick at, among others.

Good God! how happy had it been for France, yea, for a great part of the World, that the French had been as great Infidels, upon th point of Miracles, as the Heretick English! and that our Lowis the Fourteenth had been hurl'd out of France when but Dauphin of Viennois, as the little mock Prince [Page 8] of Wales has been out of England. when scarce well handled into the Light! What dismal Tragedies has our French Impostor caus'd in Christendom! how many Cities laid in Ashes, Countries ruin'd, Families extin­guished, and millions of Lives sacrific'd to the Vanity and Ambition of a Bastard!

The Hugonots of France, of all People in the World, have most reason to be ashamed of their Conduct, with Relation to this un­grate Monster, in the time of his Minority, and of the Prince of Conde's Wars: And these People, who disown a thousand things in the Catholick Religion, meerly upon the account of their being, in their Opinion, irreconcilable to Reason, did strangely contra­dict, not only common Fame, but even Rea­son it self, in being brought to think, that it was possible, that Lowis the Fourteenth should be the true Son of Lowis the Thir­teenth, after near half a Jubilee of Years past in Marriage betwixt him and Ann of Austria, his Queen, without the least hope of Issue, with all the concurring Signs of a natural Impotency upon his side. But these Gentle­men have paid dear enough for their Opini­ons, and have had sufficient time and occa­sion to read their past Folly, in their present Affliction, and to call to mind, with Regret, their unaccountable Madness in assisting him to re-ascend the Throne of France, whom [Page 9] almost the whole Nation, the Princes of the Blood, and the Parliament of Paris, had combin'd together, to tumble down, and had cetainly done it, if the Hugonots had not turn'd the Scale. These poor Hugonots have had so many sad Occasions since to re­pent their Fault, that I confess it's scarce generous to upbraid the Miserable with the Follies they cannot now amend, and which had brought upon them so many Misfortunes. And yet I must beg leave to tell them. That as their Zeal to Lewis the Fourteenth's unjust Interest, was the original Cause, in my Opinion, of Heaven's thus afflicting them by his Hands; so it was indeed the true Motive that induc'd this Ʋngrate to ruin them. For thus it was, that he and his Jesuitick Cabal reason'd among themselves; If the Hugonots, in the late Prince of Conde's Wars, when the Crown was at Stake, were able to turn the Ballance, and to draw Vi­ctory and Success to the side they espoused, which at that time was ours: By the same Parity of Reason, If the same Hugonots shall at any time hereafter be induc'd to join a­gainst us, and to take our Enemies; part, they will without all doubt turn the Scale on the other side, and prove as dangerous Ene­mies as formerly they were Friends; and thence, by a Diabolical way of Reasoning, it was concluded, that it was the true Inte­rest [Page 10] of the Crown, that the Hugonots should be utterly destroyed.

By the way, I must tho' contrary to my Inclination, do a piece of Justice to Lowis the Fourteenth, in vindicating him from a common Aspersion cast upon him by the Hugonots, and it's this: Over and above the foulest Ingratitude imaginable, (in which Charge I heartily agree with them) he is chargeable with a to them, they will needs load him to the boor, with no less than Per­jury and Breach of Faith, in not observing the famous Edict of Nants, which was granted to them by King Henry the Fourth, and declared by him to be in all time co­ming, an irrevocable and fundamental Con­stitution of the State; which Edict, say they, Lewis the Fourteenth swore at his Co­ronation inviolably to observe. I confess this is a heavy charge; but to speak no worse of the Devil than he deserves, in my Opinion our Lewis le Grand is not chargea­ble upon that Scove, as not being bound to tho Observance of that Edict, even tho' ha­ving sworn it: If we shall consider, that by the express words of the Edict it self, King Henry obliges himself and his lawful Succes­sors only, that is, those who shall succeed to the Crow of France in a lawful Descent of Royal Blood. Now, I think no Man will say, That by this Clause of the Edict, an [Page 11] extraneous Person, such as our Interloper Lewis the Fourteenth is, can be included; and therefore, as having none of the Royal Blood of France in his Veins, he cannot be justly charg'd with Perjury or Breach of Faith, in not observing one Edict, which was declared and meant to oblige only the lawful Successors of King Henry the Fourth.

Here I cannot but relate a Discourse I had once with one of the Fathers of the Capucian Order; the very day after the Revocation of the Edict of Nants, and which may serve to answer one Objection naturally arising from what I have said upon this Head. All Paris was filled with the Noise of his Affair, and in every corner, both Papist and Protestant was reasoning upon it; among the rest, the good Capucin and I would needs turn both States-men and Casuists on the Subject. We lost, betwixt us, all the Arguments we could fall upon, to vindicate, if possible, the King's so apparently unjust Action; and in the end we came to reason how far the King was obliged to the Observance of the Edict of Nants, upon the account of his not being indeed the lawful Successor of Henry the Fourth, the Granter of it. But, said I, Fa­ther, tho' I should agree, that the King is not obliged by that Edict at first, for the Reason we have named, yet his Posterior Swearing to observe it, makes him as lyable to the Obser­vance [Page 12] of it, as if he were really the true Suc­cessor of Henry the Fourth, and of the Royal Blood of France. To this the Capucin re­turned me a very satis factory Answer: Sir, says he, it seems you are but little acquainted with the Casuistick Doctrine and Principles of the Jesuits, and have not the Happiness to be acquainted with Father le Chese, the King's Confessor, so well as I; and therefore I'll tell you one Evasion, a Wit, like his, will soon find out to remove all needless Scruples from the King's Mind, arising, from his Swearing the Edict of Nants, and it's this: The words of the Oath, which the King did take at his Coronation, was these; And seeing this Edict was declared by King Henry the Fourth, our Grand-father of glorious Memory, to be irre­vocable, and that his lawful Successors, the succeeding Kings of France, should swear the same at their Coronation, therefore we do hereby promise and swear faithfully and invio­lably to observe the said Edict all the days of our Life-time. Now, these being the very words of the King's Oath, (continues the Capucin) how proper and easy was it for the Revered Father le Chese to tell him, Sir, you are not at all obliged by this Oath, because it leans upon, and contains in its very Bosom a Supposition, upon the removal of which, the whole Oath it self does necessarily fall, viz. Your Majesty's being the Grand-child of Henry the Fourth, which neither you your self, nor [Page 13] no Body else does believe: So that if your Majesty has sworn an Oath, wherein there is an express Supposition that you are the Grand­child of Henry the Fourth, which you are not, the Oath it self, as leaning on that false Sup­position, must necessarily fall with it, and be­comes in it self void. I hope you are wiser, (concludes the Capucin to me) but to think that Father le Chese might use all this Free­dom with his ignorant bigotted Pupil, enslaved to his Direction, especially that he is acquaint­ed with all the Villanies of his Life, and in particular with his criminal Privacies with the Dauphiness. Thus far the Capucin's Discourse and mine, and I must say, upon Reflection, I cannot devine an Evasion which Father le Chese could have fallen upon more plausible, to perswade his enslav'd Pupil to revoke the Edict of Nants, than this the Ca­pucin hinted at.

But I know the Reader will tell me, What means all this puther upon a meer Supposi­tion, that Lowis le Grand is a Bastard, with­out making it appear, or proving that he is so? I acknowledge, that of all the Tasks one ever ventured upon, that of proving a Man to be a Bastard is the hardest; for when a Woman designs to bring another than her Husband to her Bed, she uses not to order such and such Persons to stand by, that they may bear Testimony of her Crime: [Page 14] And tho' some Women may come the length of Inadvertence or Impudence, in being too open in their Amours, yet when they have to do with a Gallant that's concern'd in Ho­nour, and oblig'd by his Character to be more reserved in his Pleasures, it's not be be imagined but she will be taught to play her part, if not chastly, yet cautiously. All the World knows, that the Cardinals of Ri­chelew and Mazarin were capable of keeping their own Secrets; and yet it's to be regrat­ed, that their Amours with our invincible Monarch's Mother were hard enough to be concealed, so many are the Spies about the Courts of Princes.

That Ann of Austria found a way to pro­vide an Heir to Lowis the Thirteenth, with­out putting him to the Pains of getting it himself, will appear clearly enough, if we take a view of all the Circumstance that meet in this Affair, which all taken together, leaves us no room to doubt of that Queens Concern for perpetuating her Husband's Me­mory at any Cost.

Common Fame was ever lookt upon as a great Presumption of the Truth of a thing, especially if joined to other concurring Cir­cumstances: and never did that prating God­dess extend her Voice louder, than in pro­claiming to the World the Spurious Birth of [Page 15] our August Monarch. Time was when she did not whisper it in Corners, but express'd it in publick Pictures, Plays, Farces, and what not? Modesty will not allow me to mention the baudy Shapes of those two sorts of Bread, called to this day, the Queens Bread, and the Cardinal's Bread, sold thro' Paris, and in most Places of France; so that at that time one could scarce sit down to eat, but he was put in mind of the Queens and the Cardinal's Amours. It were in vain to enumerate the thousand part of the Satyrs and Rasquils on this Subject, for a great ma­ny Years; each Pen out-vying one another, in the Glory of propagating to Posterity the Love-Passions of these two mighty Cardinal Ministers of State; let this one upon Car­dinal Richelew, affixt on his Palace, serve for all:

Impotency is not of those Imperfections a Man is most unwilling to take with, being that which un-mans him, and renders him the Scorn of his own, and the Abhorrence of [Page 16] the other Sex: It can only be proved by Pre­sumptions; and these are for the most part reducible, either to his Indifference for the fair Sex in general, or for his own Wife in particular; the Weakness of his Constitution, or his co-habiting with a Woman of a sound Body and proportion'd Age for a considerable time, without having any Issue by her. All these Presumptions, and some more than perhaps Decency will allow me to name, will be found in Lowis the Thirteenth, the sup­posed Father of our August Monarch.

I think there can be no greater Proof of a Man's Indifference for the fair Sex in general, or his own Wife in particular, than when a Man, in the Heat of his Youth, has a Right, by Marriage, to the Bed of a beautiful and young Princess, has her constantly in his View, and in his Power, and yet at the same time can, for some Years together, abstain from those Embraces which Marriage has not only made lawful, but a Duty: And this un­wonted Coldness in Youth is the more to be jealoused, that, previous to the Marriage, the Man did express an eager Impatience to enjoy his young Bride; for the subsequent Coldness and Abstinence does clearly insinu­ate a Consciousness of his being mistaken of himself, and that upon Tryal he has found his Power not answerable to his Will.

Of all this, we have a pretty clear Instance in Lowis the Thirteenth: Upon his being Married by Proxy to Anna of Austria, Infan­ta of Spain, afterwards Mother to our invin­cible Monarch, he express'd the greatest Ea­gerness to enjoy her, and having gone the length of Burdeaux to meet her, his Desires vented themselves in the following Letter, sent her some few days before her Arrival:

The Strain of this Letter seems to be warm enough, and the word Offer of himself, is pretty expressive, as coming from a young Bridegroom to a young and beautiful Bride. Now, who would have dream'd but this Skirmishing by Letters should have produced [Page 18] a fix'd Battel at meeting? But, alas! our Youngster having Bedded his Queen but for the space of two hours, rises up from his Nuptial-bed, too late conscious to himself of his Unfitness for the Sports of Venus: And albeit he was in his Queens Company every day for four Years thereafter, his false De­sires never led him once again, during all that time, to try a second Rencounter: Yea, it was expected by every Body he should ne­ver have ventured to Bed the Queen again, if his Favourite Luyenes had not trickt him into it the very Night of his Sisters Marriage with the Prince of Piedmont; for Luyenes finding the King in a good jolly Humor, and talking more wantonly than ordinary, he grasps him out of his Bed in his Arms, and throwing a Night-Gown about him, brings him unexpectedly into the Queens Bed. It was indeed pretended, that the Reason of this four Years Abstinence was for fear the Marriage-bed might hinder the King's Growth, and enervate his Strength; And yet it's hard to believe, that such a politick Con­sideration could prevail with a Man that had any boiling Blood in his Veins; but every Body will be apt, at the first dash, to draw this Consequence from it, that there was more in it of a Winter-Chilness than usually suits with Youth.

From the beginning of the Year 1619; to 1638, King Lowis the Thirteenth continued to [Page 19] Cohabit with his Queen, and often in his Melancholy Fits, to which he was naturally subject, he would complain to his Confidents, That he knew certainly the Queen would have no Children to him. Upon which fell out a remarkable Passage, that serves mightily to unriddle some difficulties in this Affair; one day at Fountainbleau, the time of his Brother Monsieur's Wars against him, being in a sul­len Fit, he began to regrate to some few a­bout him, his Misfortune of not having Chil­dren of his own Body, which he said was the cause of Monsieur's Insolence against him, and of his Power with the People, as being presump­tive Heir of the Crown. Hereupon some of them began to tell him, That for Reasons of State, it was very fit to procure a Divorce from the Queen, and that perhaps another Wife might bring him Children to Heir the Crown of France, and put Monsieur beside the Cushion. But Luyenes, who knew the Kings Infirmity best, taking him aside, told him with his usual freedom, Sire, Ʋnless you resolve to ruine your self for good and all, let there never be the least mention made in time coming of a Divorce from the Queen, for if any such thing shall come to her Ears, she will be sure to lay the blame of her Barrenness upon your Majesty, and this every Body will believe, and which will render Monsieur's Pretensions insupportable. And indeed it was from this Consideration, that the motion of a Divorce [Page 20] was ever afterwards laid aside, least the Queen should be provoked to tell out the Truth, and thereby Monsieur's Interest ele­vated a pin higher than suited with the Kings safety.

There is another great presumption of ones Impotency, when a Man evinces himself to be indifferent, not only for his own Wife, but for the whole fair Sex in general, Lowis the Thirteenth gave ample proofs of this sort of Vertue, if it be one, having been never seen to cast one single warm glance at any of the Beauties of the Court and never heard to utter one Expression that could be interpret­ed Amorous.

Of this indifference of his for the fair Sex, there is one pretty instance, in an Expression he had to Monsieur his Brother, upon the oc­casion of his Marrying the Duke of Lorrain's Daughter, against the King's Will; Monsieur having told him, by way of excuse, that he chus'd rather to Marry at any rate, then to Live in Whoredom, and one of the two he said his Constitution obliged him to. Bro­ther, replies the King, You and I it seems are of different tempers, for I could Live all my Life without either of them. Here was a mo­dest, tho' untimous confession of his Indif­ference, if not Impotency, and indeed Mon­sieur was not wanting to improve it in his Circular Letters, he wrote to his Partisans, a few Months after, upon his retiring to Brussels.

There is another Story much of the same nature, that passed betwixt the King and his Favorite Luyenes, about the Divorce from the Queen, when it was first talkt of: Luyenes told him, That the only way to stop the Queens Mouth in the matter of the Divorce, was for the King to give an evidence, that her Barrenness was not from his fault, by trying to get Children by some other Wo­man; and hereupon he mention'd one of the Handsomest Ladies about Court, as a fit Mi­stress for him. The King answered coldly, Mais je vous assure Luyenes, je ne songe pas a telles choses: But I assure you, says he, Luye­nes, I do not think upon these things. And so the Discourse was dropt.

I shall only name one other instance more of the King's indifference for the fair Sex, be­cause it was so publick, and had so much of Raillery in it: The King being one day play­ing at Cards with Mademoselle Ramboulet, it happen'd that the King alledged upon her, she had dropt a Card on design, saying, he would have it, be where it will; the Lady finding she was discover'd, slipt the Card in­to her Breast, saying, Sir, I am assured you will not take it out here: Which was true, for the King gave over any further search, when he see the Card was in her Bosom.

A great many attributed this indifference of the King's for his own Lady, and all other Women, to the weakness of his Constitution, [Page 22] and indeed he was of the tenderest and sick­liest imaginable, being from his Birth weak in his Limbs, and Asthmatick to his Dying day. The Duke of Espernon rallying one day with the King's Physician, told him, he was afraid the King might over heat himself in the Embraces of a Young and Beautiful Queen. The Physician nodding his Head, answer'd him, It must be a great heat that will thaw his Majesty's Ice.

But tho' Lowis the Thirteenth had been a just Admirer of his own Queen, and of the fair Sex in general, and had neither been branded with Impotency, nor known to be of a weakly Constitution, what a wonderful thing was it, that what a Man could not do in the heat of his Youth, he should in the beginning of the Autumn of his Age, and that there should be Twenty Three Years betwixt their Marriage and the Birth of their first Child? I remem­ber the Poets tell us, that Jupiter, when he was to beget Hercules, was necessitated to make a Night three times longer than the or­dinary, so difficult was it even for the Father of the Gods to beget an Hero, but our Invin­cible Hero, Lowis le Grand, required a long­er time to be gotten than Hercules, and Twenty Three Years was little enough time to produce our August Monarch. What a shame was it for Cardinal Richelew to throw away so much pains to no purpose? And how easie had it been to have made the King [Page 23] a Father, and the Queen a Mother, in the twentieth part of that time, if he had but understood the new English way of getting and bearing Children? But it seems the Art of imposing Infant Princes was not then brought to that perfection it has been of late, and Anna of Austria was not so good a Pro­ficient in the Trade as Mary of Modena. What needed the former have made herself the talk of all France, for her Intrigues with her two Cardinals? It had been the easiest thing in the World to make her a Mother, without the trouble of one single throw: a close Balister about the Bed, and a convenient Passage at the head of it, with a wary Mid­wife, and one or two more trusty Confidents, might have done just as well.

But the Curse of all was, our Lowis the Thirteenth was neither to be impos'd upon in such an Affair, nor could be brought into the Design himself; his Malice to his Bro­ther, the next Heir, tho' at War with him, came not up to that length, as to cheat him of the Throne: And tho' Lowis the Thir­teenth had been capable of so great a Weak­ness, or rather Madness, his Brother Mon­sieur was too much concern'd to let the Queen impose upon him, one to exclude him from the Crown: During the Queens bigness, Monsieur had his constant Spies about her, to watch her Motions, and to tell him eve­ry thing that past: Upon the News of the [Page 24] Queens being in Labour, Monsieur was not out of the way, but hastens away to her Bed-Chamber, and his Sedulity and Watchfulness was scarce allowable in Modesty, the least Circumstance about the Mother and Child did not escape his prying Curiosity, and the Field of Nature it self was laid open to his view; such is the Misfortune of Princesses, when bearing Children, in prejudice of other Mens Rights. Monsieur retiring himself to his Chamber, in a Melancholy Mood, (as he had good reason) was asked of by Espernon, what he had seen: Alas! says he, I am sure I saw it come out, but who the Devil put it in, I know not.

Queen Mary of Modena took a shorter cut, and a more modest Method of Lying in; she would neither allow the Princesses concerned to search into her Bigness, nor permit any in their Name to be present at her Labour; the poor Princess of Denmark was hurried away to the Bath, upon the pretence of her Health, and the Queen Dowager was not brought in till the Game was over; and who can blame a Modest Italian to be more reser­ved in the Secrets of Nature than a blunt Spa­niard? How happy was it for the first, that instead of two Princesses at a distance, she did not meet with a Blustering Duke of Orle­ance, to peep more narrowly into the Scheme of her Contrivances, and render her and her Plot ridiculous.

But to return to the Happy Birth of our Lowis le Grand, it seems all the Endeavours of Cardinal Richelew, to provide an Heir for France, were unsuccessful, whether hss Brain and his other parts were not of a piece, or his pressing Cares of State, join'd to some natu­ral Impediment, were the cause of it, I can­not tell; but it was reserved for a Person of a meaner Condition, tho' of a more robust Con­stitution, to effectuate, what this Consummate Church Man had attempted in vain; Monsieur le Grand, a Gentleman of a comely Person, and sprightly Spirit, and a courtly Genius, was lookt upon as the fittest Person to make up the defects of an Impotent King, and a Wearied Favorite-Cardinal. This Carpet Knight was admitted into the Embraces of the Queen, and by her teeming Belly, she found, within a few Months, that she had hit upon a fit Stallion to propagte the Royal Family of France.

It's generally thought this Gentleman was not so much the Queens own choice, as that of Richelew, and that this Refin'd Minister persuaded the Queen to entertain Monsieur le Grand for her Gallant, out of a meer Prin­ciple of State, as being more likely to make the Queen a Mother, than he himself was; and this is the rather believed, that it is ge­nerally known, that immediately after the Queen was found to be with Child, M. le Grand was dismist the Court, upon the Ho­nourable [Page 26] pretence of being made Lieutenant Criminal of Provence, the wily Cardinal fear­ing his intimacy with the Queen might pre­judice him in her Favour; and indeed after this Jobb was done, the Cardinal had no more use for him, as the sequel made it too evi­dent.

Pliny tells us a Story of the Wolf, That he never sees his Sire, because, says he, he is Murdered by the rest of the Wolves, out of envy, that he was prefer'd by the she Wolf before them. The same Fate had the Father of this Rapacious Creature, Lowis the Four­teenth, for being noos'd into the Conspiracy of Monsieur de Monmorancy, he was behead­ed at Tholouse, by the Cardinal's express Command, who was unwilling the Queen should have an abler Gallant than himself for the future.

I cannot but regrate the Fate of this poor Gentleman, in being first brought to the Bed of a Queen, and thereafter in having his Head chopt off, meerly that he might not tell Tales, or give any Jealousy to his Rival in the Queens Favour; yet I judge him Happy in this, that he did not Live to see the Monster he had begotten.

There happen'd a memorable passage at his Death, which was this. Being all along, after his Condemnation, laid asleep, with an assurance of a Pardon, even upon the Scaf­fold, to the end he might not discover any of [Page 27] his Criminal Secrecies with the Queen; at last, being desir'd to lay down his Head, for the blow, he came to understand, too late, that he was cheated out of his Life, and just when he was beginning to express himself in these Words: O! la Vanite d'estre aime d'une fame cruele, &c. O! the Vanity of being Lov'd by a Woman cruel, and devoted to the Villanous Counsels of a Church Man. Here the Fatal Ax did put an end to the Sentence, and to his Life together.

This end had Monsieur le Grand, Father of our August Monarch; and it's but just his Son should bear the Name of Le Grand, not as an Epithet, but as the Sirname of his Father, Le Grand, by way of Epithet, being never his due; and thus was Cardinal Richelew seven­ged upon him, for being a fitter and abler Gallant to the Queen than himself, tho' at first he was not only the Privado, but the first Incourager of their Amours.

When I am on this Subject, I cannot but mention a Droll sert of Letter, Written about that time by Monsieur to the Duke of Lorrain, his Brother in Law, from Brussels, which was afterwards found among the Duke of Lor­rain's Papers taken at St. Michel, which was to this purpose. Your Highness accuses me unjustly, for not obtaining from Monsieur le Grand, when he was with me, a Declaration of his Privacies with the Queen, which you say would have mightily furthered my Affairs: [Page 28] But, Sir, tho' M. le Grand, at some certain times, out of a transport of fury against the Queen, for her Ʋnkindness, as he term'd it, would confess to me the whole Secrets past be­twixt the Queen and him, yet the very next moment he would pass from all he had said, and affirm, that what he spoke formerly, was but in jest. One Night, when we were speaking of retiring from Court, I brought him to promise, that he should wait on me the next Morning, to give me an ample Declaration of what I sought of him, but he changed his Mind that very Night, and told me the next day, that he would do it some other time, when our Affairs were better ripened. Being astonish'd at this sudden change, I found by inquiry, that the Cardinal had sent for him that very Night, and that he was in his Privy-Chamber above an Hour to­gether, and what past betwixt them two, I can­not devine, but by the event. Notwithstand­ing of all this, concludes Monsieur's Letter, I cannot think but this Ʋnfortunate has left some such Declaration in the hands of some of his Friends, which if it could be fallen upon, would mightily conduce to the good of our Af­fairs, &c.

In this Letter, we see Monsieur asserts plainly, that Monsieur le Grand confessed to him his Privacies with the Queen, and had promised in his angry Fits, to declare them under his hand, tho' I must say, it was not generous on his part, let the Queens Ingra­titude [Page 29] to him be what it will; and it's more than probable, that the taking vent of this Affair, hastned his Ruine. It seems Ma­demoselle, who is yet alive, Daughter to Monsieur, was perswaded of the truth of this Intrigue, and that her Father had told her how little Right Lowis the Fourteenth had to the Crown, since a great many Years after, at the Barricado of Paris, this Princess went in Person to the Bastile, and with her own Hand Fir'd the first Gun against the King's Forces, with this Expression, I know of no Right he has here.

If likeness be a Sign of a near Relation, never was there two Faces liker to one ano­ther, than these of our Invincible Monarch, and M. le Grand; and I must acknowledge the Wisdom of the Queen, in causing M. le Visme, her Painter, to call in all the Pictures of M. le Grand that he could possibly get into his Hands, when she found her Son betray'd his true Father by his Physiognomy; for those who have seen both the Originals, will say, there was need of all this caution.

Thus the Cardinal Richelew had the Ho­nour of being a Gallant to a Queen, and upon trial of his own want of a prolifick quality, had the goodness to provide another better qualified than himself: Notwithstanding of this Obligation the Nation has to him, I can­not forgive his Insolence in ordering these Words to be Engraven in Capital Letters up­on [Page 30] on the Pedestal of Lowis the Thirteenth's Sta­tue, in the Palace Royal, Cardinalis Rich­lieus Coadjutor suus in omnibus suis Negotiis, The Cardinal Richlew his Helper in all his Affairs: As if it had not been enough to have Cuckold'd his Master, without erecting him a Statue, meerly to tell the World that he did so.

As Similitude in Faces is often a Sign of a Relation in Blood, so the Likeness of Conditi­on is as often an Incentive to Love, and the Motive to Friendship: Let no Body therefore blame Lowis the Great, for Patronizing the little Prince of Wales; it's but reasonable the Great Bastard should protect the Little One, and endeavour to set upon the English Throne just such a Creature as is already upon the French one.

It's just with our Great Bastard, as with the Fox in the Fable, who had the Misfor­tune to lose his Tail; he would needs per­swade his Neighbours to cut off theirs, that thereby he might hide his own Infirmity. It's certain Lowis the Fourteenth would be content, that all the Scepters of Christendom were only sway'd by Bastards, that his own Spuriousness might be the less taken notice of. And if it be true, that some Lawyers affirm of the old Law of Normandy, that by it Ba­stards did exclude the lawfully begotten, no Body has Reason to exclaim against Lowis le Grand his Succession to the Crown of France, [Page 31] since he is a Norman by Birth, as Born at St. Germain en Laye, the hithermost Town of that Province.

Methinks I hear the little Prince of Wales, or rather his true Parents, exclaiming against me heavily, for calling him so often a Ba­stard, and thus pleading against the Injustice of my Pen: What Devil must inspire a Man to call one a Bastard that is really begotten in lawful Wedlock! and though he had the good Fortune to be brought into Queen Marys Bed by a skilful Midwife, to be there own'd for her own Son, yet all this makes him not a Bastard: And pray who would have refused to lend their Son to be the Heir of three Crowns? I confess there is Reason in all this; and I am very inclinable to excuse both the little Imposter and his Parents, since few would have refu­sed such an Offer; and I oblige my self, That if ever I happen to be in England when the Gentleman comes to be King, I shall beg his Pardon, for giving him a Name he deserves not.