First Discourse.
Whence it proceeds, That Beasts of the same Kind do not make War amongst themselves as Men do; That Irregular Passions are the Cause of that Disorder; That Duels are against the Right of Men, and particularly against th' Authority of the Prince.

AT th' Entry of this Discourse, there's Matter of Astonishment; That Wars are seen amongst Men; Rules invented, and an Art formed to direct them; That among all th' Arts exercised in the Society of Men, there's none that casts so great a light, or that gains so great a por­tion of glory. And that in th' Old Law, War is found to be so solemnly Authorised, and, in a manner, Conse­crated, by the Command of God, as that amongst his high and most glorious Titles, He hath chosen That of the God of Armies. Th' inclination which naturally the greatest part of Things hath, not onely to Conserve It's Beeing, but also to Multiply it, is evidently contrary to this Visible folly which incites Men to the Destruction of one another; And we do not see, That other Creatures of the same kind, make amongst themselves particular assigned Combats, or that they assemble in Troops to decide any difference by Murder, and by the slaughter of the greatest part of them. That Dereliction and [Page 2]Prostitution men make of their Lives, and the Subjects for which they so willingly Sacrifize them, being many times but a little smoak and opinion; Are they not th' effects of a secret Instinct? That it is not their Chiefest good, nor their Ultimate felicity, which without doubt it should be, if there were not a greater Good: And the Wars, which God permits or commands, where Life is given up as a prey to so many Accidents that destroy it, are they not Clear evidences, and a Manifest conviction, of the small Account God makes of it, and that it is not the fairest present he makes to men, nor the subject, wherein accomplished th' End for which he gives them their Beeing?

But not to wander out of our way, and to take off th' Amaze­ment, whereof we have proposed the Causes; I say, It must not be thought strange, that men enter so often into Quarrels with their fellows, since they are so seldome at Accord with themselves, and are scarce free from Troubles and Disorders within, and that their very Souls are the Fields of the Combats that are fought, and th' Enemies that make the War quarter always within them. This disorder, which happens in the condition of Men, and not of Beasts, in whom no discords, seem t' arise, nor contrariety of parts to be formed, hath many springs from whence it issues; the first is, as all the world knows, the Constitution of their Nature, and the divers or­ders of the parts that compose it; th' Inclinations of th' one are or­dinarily opposed to th' inclinations of th' other, and their Appetites agitated with such Contrary motions, that they which cause the Fire t' arise are not more opposed, than they that make the Earth to de­scend. So that there is neither peace nor quietness in th' Interior of Man, longer than the Superior part is obeyed by the Passions, and that th' Appetite where they are formed, permits the yoke, and resists not th' orders that are imposed upon it.

If it happen, and 'tis the second Spring of disorders, That in these Intestine Wars and Skirmishes, which tear the Soul, th' Interior part obtains the Victory, yet Calm and Rest attends not upon that fatal Conquest, but greater Emotions, and more dangerous Tempests are raised: And as there are People of so unquiet a Nature, and of a humor so turbulent, as that they can never remain in peace, and that of necessity they must stir within, when they have nothing to do without, and kindle Civil, when they have finished Forein Wars: So when the Passions find no resistance from Reason, and have neither Bridle to retain them, nor Barrier to stay them, they abate not of their Inquietude; they turn their Forces against themselves; they trouble and hinder one another in the pursute of their Objects: Love flacks th' activity of Ambition; Avarice stops, the progress of Love; and th' poor Soul, the Subject which these Furies torment, and the Sea these Winds agitate, suffers more by their violence than can be expressed; yet Reason is never so fully obscur'd, nor so generally disarmed by the Passions, but that some beam always remains, which [Page 3]makes visible to the Soul, at least at certain encounters, the Defor­mity of her condition, and points out her shame and remorse for base condescentions. I could here produce, if it were not a little from the purpose, though not unprofitable, another Cause of Man's mis­fortune, who delivers himself up to the mercy of his Passions, and per­mits them to take the place of his Reason, which she ought to have over them: Man being unable to put of the Desire of happiness, which Nature hath planted in the Centre of his Soul, nor to forbear acting to its Content, though he intend it not; and incapable to fill or calm it, but in the possession of that End for which he received his Being, as the cause it was given unto him, or in the exercise of the Virtues, the means of conducting him thither, having obtain'd th' other good things pursu'd, and enjoy'd th' other desired objects, is to begin again, and is as empty as He was before; that instead of going streight on, He turn'd the back to th' aspir'd felicity; And no­thing remains, if more were not to be fear'd, but a dull saciety that besots him, a profound weariness of spirit that renders him insup­portable to himself, and such an inevitable melancholy as gnaws and frets men who fall from their hopes.

As then, th' Irregular Passions are the cause of th' Intestine Trou­bles which men suffer, and of th' ill intelligence they hold within themselves; they are also the cause of the Quarrels raised amongst particular persons; and of the Wars made amongst Princes. Th' enterprises, which Ambition, Avarice, and the like disordred moti­ons forme in some, to the dammage of others, and th' oppositions made to their violence and rapidity, put all Civil Societies into com­bustion, and cut asunder all the Bonds of the Politique Body. It were to the loss of my Expressions, and to th' abuse of the Readers patience, to labor the confirmation of a truth, which Experience hath taught in all places, Reason causeth to be touched with the finger, and where­of History gives constant evidences.

As to Beasts, 'tis no wonder if they are not subject to so great stroaks, and to those furious storms, wherewith God hath per­mitted Man's conditition to be beaten; Their Souls are not divided by its Powers into opposite Regions, and make not in them the con­junction of two different worlds, the Spiritual and Temporal, as the Souls of Men do; but all it's Inclinations and Faculties are drawn, as the Philosophers say, from the breast and power of the Matter; it hath no Appetite but what is bounded, and a small thing satisfies it; and as Nature guides it by a true light to th' Objects most proper, and prescribes the degree of Enjoyment that is most convenient, and can­not exceed; she provides also objects in such Abundance, and of so Easie an acquisition, that all th' Individuals of the same kind find what is necessary for them, and without labour.

To divert these evils, wherewith th' Humane condition's afflicted, or to correct the malignity, and to dull th' edge of them, Divine Provi­dence hath not deprived the Soul of Means and convenient Remedies; [Page 4]if that had been, it had left too shameful and too visible a stain up­on that fair Oeconomy, wherewith it governs the World; and that admirable congruity it hath observ'd in all th' other parts which com­pose it, had been belied in the noblest part of them, It had acted with th' imprudence of an Artificer, who lays out all his force, and th' ex­cellency of his Art, upon a base subject, and takes pains to carve a piece of Glass curiously, and to commit great faults in a matter of much price, or to set a rich Diamond ill, which must abate the lustre of his Art, and honor due to Nature. But that is prevented; for as to the principal good of men, as th' inward calm and traquillity of the Soul, and victory of Reason over the Passions, whence tranquil­lity and calm do issue, the Means to obtain them, is in their power, and therein they depend not upon the fancies of Fortune, nor upon the Passions of other Men: Yet since th' Infidelity of Adam, and th' unhappy destiny of corrupted Nature, there are not onely great Combats to be fought, and strange Difficulties to be overcome for that Victory; but also great Reliefs to be expected, and eminent supplies for Philosophy, and greater from Religion; and the Grace of God is never wanting to them, who are not wanting to themselves, and the good successes of this War attend always upon good Designs, and lawful Resistances.

As for the spoils which Passions commit without, and th' im­petuous motions wherewith they disorder Society; if they overflow against particular men; and if they produce injuries and outrages, and the Revenge and Reparations which offended persons take by their hands; greater and more dangerous Excesses succeed the first, The Preservatives and Remedies against these evils, are found in the same Society wherein they are seen to bud and grow.

Wherefore there's no Government in the world, of what Spirit soever 'tis animated, and under what Form soever 'tis establish'd, which hath not restrained from th' hands of particular persons th' use of Vengeance, to transmit it to their Magistrates, as persons disin­teressed; and for fear also, lest Corruption should penetrate even to the Functions of their Charges, and that the Justice they ought to di­stribute, should be changed by some tincture of Passion which might invisibly steal in, it hath been ordain'd, That the dispensation should be made by the ministration of the Laws, that are incorruptible, and being incapable of Affection and Knowledge, are by consequent in­capable of Passions, and inaccessible by Love and Hatred, by Favour and Riches: And that there may be no power in the State, but what shall bend under that of the Laws, nor so petty a person that shall not have Reason of the Greatest that may offend him. The disposition of publick Forces is committed to the Soveraign, wherewith he may reduce the most refractory and fierce Subject to th' obedience of com­mon Right, and confine him within the bounds of Equity and Justice.

From hence it may appear, That th' use of Duels, whereby par­ticular [Page 5]persons endeavour to do themselves Justice, and to draw Reason with their hands of th' injuries received from particular men; is a manifest violation of the Right of the People, and a particular Invasion upon the Princes Right. And this Evil began by the per­nicious example of Francis the First, and Charls the Fifth, and by the fatal accorded permission of Henry the Second, encreased wonder­fully in the time of our Civil Wars, and in that general depravati­on of th' obedience and fidelity which Subjects owe to their Prince, and hath since risen to its height, and is multipli'd infinitely by th' in­dulgency of Henry the Fourth, during the peace of his Reign. And as fruitful and fat grounds, if good Seeds are not cast into them to ex­ercise their fruitfulness, produce Thistles and Gorst, and other hurt­ful Weeds; it hath so happened to us, that men of courage wanting matter t' ingender lawful acts of valour, have given themselves up to unlawful productions, and not being able to gain the Body, have pursu'd the Shadow, in these particular Combats, wherein France hath lost more Noble Blood in a few years of Peace, than it had done in many years of War. But 'tis to no purpose to preach to our No­bility upon this Text, or to declaim against this Abuse or excess of Courage, or to seek Remedies in Philosophy or Religion against so Brutal a disease; or that the Blood which Henry the Second permitted to be poured out in the Combat of Jarnac and Chasteneraye cried for vengeance to Heaven, and obtain'd it; or that the Prince, whose Qua­lity exempted him from th' hazard of Duels, lost his life in a Sport which was the Representation of it; that the most warlike Nations, except ours, of the world, have not admitted of that Bastard-Va­lour, or at least Naturalized it; That the Lacedemonians, who made a more express profession of true Valour than th' other Grecians, and whose Goverment seem'd t' have for Soul nothing but that Vir­tue, had no knowledge of Duels; That the Romans; who were the Conquerors of so many Nations and People, resign'd it to their Vilest kind of men, and to whom they had assigned Criminal lives onely for their objects; That the Spaniards, who have conceiv'd that great de­sign of th' Absolute Monarchy, which hath agitated them above an Age, and for that purpose have declared and made War to so many other Nations, have by consequence more need of Valour than any other Virtue, laugh at our modern folly; and if a sleight imita­tion corrupt them, or others of our Neighbours, 'tis but a spark that flies to them from the great fire which devours us; That 'tis an hor­rible injustice, that a person that hath sweat in Arms, and been victorious in many Combats, Battels, and Sieges, should be obliged to put his Reputation and Glory to Question against a young Fool, who hath not seen any other Field of Battel than the Hall of a Fencing-Master, whose courage rests upon th' agility of his body, and swiftness of his hands, and upon a long exercise of Assault and Defence: 'Tis to no purpose, I say, to represent all this to our Nobility, which can never be converted or healed, but by their own [Page 6]cure of this Folly, and by fixing their honour no longer in that false and furious Valour, and by beating down with its own hands th' ldol it hath erected for Adoration.

Second Discourse.
Why God hath left Princes the Right of doing themselves Justice, when they are offended by other Princes; That Lawful War is in th' order of Virtues, and a Branch of Justice; Why 'tis called the Flayl of God's Anger.

WHAT hath been said in the Precedent Discourse, is one of the Motives which have obliged Particular persons to make choice of Superiors, and t' impose on them the duty of distributing Justice; The price in part of the Liberty quitted for the love of their Superiors: But that would not serve for perfection of th' end pro­posed to themselves in th' establishing of them; And'tis not enough for the safety and prosperity of a Country, exposed to the spoils of the Seas and Rivers, to raise Causeys against the overflowings of the Rivers, if Banks and Sluces are not provided against the Seas Inun­dations. The Invasions made by Soveraigns upon th' Estates of other Soveraigns, and the Ruines they bring, when they enter with Ar­mies, are evils of another weight and of another consequence, than those evils particular men suffer from other particular persons; and other labours and effects are required to stop the causes of these pub­lick Springs of Desolation, when they break out, than to suppress the small disorders, and appease the petty troubles which arise betwixt private persons.

'Tis visible from hence, since Princes have no Superiors on Earth, to repair the wrongs suffer'd by other Princes, that they may do themselves Reason; and that the Right of Nature, which permits to every man th' exercise of Revenge, when'tis just, is not suspended, as to Princes, by the Right of the People, which takes it from particular persons for the reasons above mention'd. Whence it follows also, That God having taken away that Right, by reason of the Ignorance which doth usually accompany them, or Passions that betray them, and walking in darkness, would grope to find the ways of Justice, or in weighing the worngs received, and satisfaction due, the perpetual motions of their lives might shake their hands, and hinder them to hold the Ballance streight, This Right hath he given to Soveraigns, with this precise Obligation, That in their Understandings and Counsels, Reason should preside in all the purity of its light; that Passions should have no admittance to their Cabinet Counsel, and that this holy place ought to be like th' highest Regions of th' Air, without emotion or trouble; That the mischief is, that their Cabinet Counsel, instead of resembling that high Region, is but too often [Page 7]the representation of the Middle Region, and instead of calm and se­renity, which ought to reign there, nothing is heard but the noise of Passions, and seen, but the fruits of Ambition and Avarice, and those other great wandrings of mens understandings.

Though this be so, and that Evils are never small, which grow from the disorders of publick causes; 'tis nevertheless the gentlest de­stiny, and most favourable entertainment, which the present condi­tion of men can receive: Providence, after the loss of Primitive Inno­cency, and Original Justice, hath sufficiently provided against this Inconvenience, and strengthned Society against the designs of In­justice and spoiles of Violence, by inspiring men with Policy and Judgment to make choice of Soveraigns, that should be obliged to defend them against the force of strangers, and against th' unjust en­terprises of their fellow-Citizens and Countrymen; and by imposing upon them a stricter Obligation and severer Laws to do their duty; because the sole faculty of doing Justice, and Inflicting of punish­ment is reserved to them against such as disobey. To conclude, God hath not onely filled up the measures of good, which he did unto men, but hath also given them over-measure, in sending the Law of Charity, and causing to descend from Heaven that holy fire, which dries up the very spring, and consumes the very root of all sharpness and violence, that may arise against ones Neighbour in the Souls of men. That if men fall so often sick, and die in th' abundance of Good things, notwithstanding the many Preservatives and Remedies, and the large effusion of graces and Relief, wherewith God hath supplyed them; If they are mastered by Vices, and led in triumph by their Passions; if instead of Reason and Equity, Injustice and Force Reign and condemn th' Innocent with the Nocent; He hath permitted it, not to deprive men of th' use of that Liberty, which he had given in favour of them, nor to take from them the matter of Merit, by im­posing the Necessity of doing good; but that wicked persons might punish one another, and honest men exercised by their contraries; and that all may learn, There's nothing more vile and more despica­ble than life; That there's nothing but vanity and affliction of spirit in it; and that no true love is to be had for a Country, which for a few Flowers it bears, produceth many Briars and Thorns; and hav­ing but a narrow path that leads to life, hath many ways, and large roads that lead to death, and end in precipices. This is to th' honor of Divine Providence. Let's return to our Subject.

'Tis easie to conclude from what hath been now said, That as God is th' Author of the Justice, which Soveraigns distribute to their people, He is also th' Author of that Justice which Soveraigns exercise against other Soveraigns; that both of them have the Seal of his Approbation; and that th' use of Lawful Arms is no less a Virtue than th' use of Laws, when they are well dispensed. And this first kind of Justice, resting upon the Basis of its Nature, and not ex­ceeding the bounds of the Right of the People, is more noble and [Page 8]glorious than th' other; is a livelier Beam of the power, which God confers upon Princes, and a more illustrious evidence of th' honor they enjoy, to represent him on earth, as I have shewed in another place. 'Tis no wonder then if God, in th' Antient Law, commanded War to be made, and if he be there styled, The God of Armies; 'tis of that Justice whereof we have lately spoken, and whereof we will draw the Platform and Habit the Figure in the subsequent Discourses.

It may be demanded, whether the Doctrine which I have now de­livered be true, and that War is a Branch and a Stream of Justice, and in th' Order and Classis of Virtues? As, whence it proceeds, That in the Bible, 'Tis called one of the Flayls of th' Anger of God? And wherefore in the New Law, God takes not the Title of, God of Armies, wherewith he seems t' adorn himself, and t' exalt his Majesty in th' Old Law?

As to the first Difficulty, 'tis not uneasie to resolve, and many Rea­sons may be brought to prove it: The First, That the Justice Sove­raigns execute upon other Soveraign [...], is called a Flayl, in comparison of that justice they render to their Subjects; so that th' administration of this Justice being forbidden to particular persons, and committed to a third kind of persons, and of a disinteressed condition, is, by con­sequence, less subject to Corruption than th' other sort of Justice, where parties are Judges in their own cause, and where there's dan­ger, lest self-love entring the Counsels of War with Passions, where­with it is usually accompanied, occasion a mixture of Injustice. The second is, That although Right and Equity onely are proposed in the project and birth of War, Accidents unseen do many times happen in the sequel and progress thereof, which change its nature, and degenerate it into a greediness of Vengeance, or into a sole de­sire of Ambition; and 'tis certain, that th' Appetite is provok'd by the facility of giving it content, and th' abundance of Meats makes it exceed the bounds of Temperance. The third Reason is, That the Justice which Soveraigns distribute to their Subjects, is rendred without Effusion of blood, and without Violence, at least in Civil affairs; the Justice they exercise against other Soveraigns is never guided but by Force and Arms, breathes nothing but death and murthers: And were the Question onely for one inch of Earth, or a spoonful of Water, many Subjects must perish on both sides, for the just or unjust Quarrels of their Masters; which ought not to be found strange, since Soveraigns being th' Heads of the Body, whereof the Subjects are the Members, and as such, being not able t' Act but in communion and conjunction with them; That they make an indivisible communication in all things amongst themselves, and that th' Head being struck, the Members must be offended; nor can th' Head defend it self, without exposing the Parts to blows, which make one Body with it.

So that the manner of Exercising this Justice, which is full of blood, desolation, and ruine, may justly be called a Flayl; as Fire and [Page 9]Poyson us'd in Medicines may be called by such names, to distinguish them from th' other Ingredients made use of to heal ordinary Dis­eases: And it must not be denyed, but that the Justice rendred to particular persons is subject, though not so often, nor so dange­rously, to the same Inconveniencies, and exposed to th' Assaults and Ambushes of Vices, which are contrary to it; It must be confessed, That Reason and Equity do not always weigh down the Ballance; That there are bad Judges, as well as wicked Princes; And that in both Capacities, the Great oppress the Mean persons, and the Poor are the Prey and the Sacrifices of the Rich: And since it is the con­dition and common Portion of Moral Vertues to Lodge betwixt two Extremes, and in the Confines of two opposed Vices, 'tis no wonder, if Man be troubled to contain himself in the midst of these two Confines, without Entry into the Country of Vices, where he finds on all sides the passages Easie, and where th' Errors and Inward Inclinations, th' Objects and outward Examples press him frequently to pass.

The fourth reason it, That God hath sometimes commanded a People to make War effectively upon another People, t' Exterminate them from the face of th' Earth, and to purge them with Sword and Fire, of the Crimes wherewith they had offended His Divinity, dishonored Nature, and defac'd the Politique Body: Many Exam­ples there are of this Truth in th' Old Testament, and among the Jews, that besides th' express Commands God hath given to make War, He hath sometimes raised and caused Soveraigns and their People to take Arms by occult and unknown Means, which are not here to be discussed, to chastise other People and other Soveraigns, that had offended Him: And this is proved in the Choice given to David by God, of the three Flayls of his Anger, the Plague, Famine, or War, t' expiate th' Excess of Pleasure and Pride, conceiv'd at the sight of the Numberless Number of the People, whereof he was the Master.

In the third place, That he causeth Accidents and Conjunctures, when he pleaseth, which constrain Princes to make War that would continue in Peace, and to break the Chains of Concord that bind them, though they Act cordially to preserve it, as I might prove by many Examples, If I had not fear to be tedious, and had not brought some Instances already in the First Part of my Discourse, That the Fire being kindled betwixt two Princes, tired with Labour in so painful, rugged, and dangerous a way, breathe nothing but Peace and Rest; yet God hinders them to attain it by unexpected Acci­dents, which respectively beget one another: and when th' Haven is in hope to be gain'd, some contrary Wind is raised that forceth them to Sea again, and exposeth them to new and more dangerous Storms.

These Considerations, and many more whereof I am ignorant, are the Cause, That all War, how just soever, may be called a Flayl [Page 10]of God's Anger, and an Effect of his offended Providence; It may be demanded, since War may enter into the Classis of Virtues, and is of th' Apurtenances of Justice, how comes it to pass, that God takes not, in the New Law, the glorious and fearful Title of, God of Ar­mies, as he hath done in th' Old Law?

To this truly th' Answer is very easie, and who is it that knows not, if he have received any Tincture of Religion, and learned the first Elements of Christianity, that the New Law is a Law of Peace and Love towards our Neighbour? That the Disciples of Jesus Christ are known by that Mark, and are distinguish'd from other Men by that Sacred Character; That the Father could not give a greater Evidence of his Love to men, than in giving his onely Son for their Redemption; That the Son gave the highest Proof of Charity in offering Himself Willingly, and Sacrifizing His Life Voluntarily for the Love of them; That th' holy Spirit was not seen but in the Form of a Dove, or in the Figure of fiery Tongues; And that the Church his Spouse caused Oyl and Balsome to be put into th' use of the Sa­craments, and other Holy Things, and no Violent Substances; which denotes, That the Spirit of the New Law is a Spirit of Sweetness, of Indulgency, and of Peace, and commands or adviseth no other War, than what ought to be made to Passions and Vices; 'tis so far from allowing any Usurpation, or Retention of other mens Goods, that it permits not men to Covet them; and ordains not onely, that Justice be done to our Neighbour, but adviseth the support rather of In­justice and Injurie, than the Pursute of Reparations by Lawful Powers; nor to ravish from Religion th' Evidences of that fair Maxim, which proceeds securely from it, That Action is less Noble than Sufferance. If Justice then, which the New Law recommends so powerfully, and is the Vital Spirit and Natural Heat of the Civil Body, were impartially executed; and Charity that covers faults, which Justice would expose to light, and makes up the Breaches that Justice would leave open, were cherish'd by Christians; such men least, would have need onely of the Conditions of Peace, and of the Counsels of Natural Equity amongst themselves, and there would be no occasion for prescribing to particular persons the Forms of Plead­ings, or to Princes the Laws of making War; there would be no occasions for Judges or Captains: All that are enclosed in the Womb of the Church would breathe nothing but gentle and peace­able Air, the Revenge of Outrages would be taken in the Retribu­tion of good Deeds, and there would be no cause t' implore th' Arm of the God of Armies, of the Powerful and Terrible God, but only t' in­voke the Name of the God of Peace, and Father of Mercies.

But the Mischief is, say the Poets, that Justice staid not long amongst men, and having carried the Ballance into Heaven, whither she is re­tired, hath left onely the Sword on Earth, which Injustice and Vio­lence have laid hold on; That Charity, the Preserver of Union, and the great Virtue of Christianity, hath not reigned but amongst [Page 11]the Faithful of the first Generation; That its Heat hath ever sin [...] diminished; and 'tis visible, that the present Christians are more divided among themselves than the Mahometans; and instead of acting against that Immortal and Implacable Enemy of their Re­ligion, and publick Detainer of their Estates, have neither Under­standing, nor Courage, nor Power, but to hurt and destroy them­selves; Were Christians entire, and their Forces united, it might cost the Turk too dear to assault them; but by their Discords and diminution of Forces, they make the Victory easie for their Ene­mies, the Blood which they pour out, and the Moneys they consume, are th' Evidences of their Design, and a Proof, That if they have not Resolution enough to fight the common Enemy, they have at least Desire enough to be taken. The Reader will excuse this small Di­gression, and this Complaint on the By, which the Zeal of Publick good hath forced from me.

Third Discourse.
That Princes ought to Imitate God in th' Use of the Right he hath given them to do Justice themselves; That 'tis very difficult even for Princes, who Love and Understand their Affairs, t' effect it; which is confirmed by two Examples, th' one of Henry the Second, th' other of Philip the Second.

IN the precedent Discourse hath been shewed, That the Right God hath given to Princes of doing Justice themselves, is the richest Effusion he makes them of his Power, and the fairest Beam he com­municates to them of his Light; whence we may conclude, To make this Representation perfect, and that the Copy differ not much from th' Original, 'tis necessary, that they Imitate His Conduct, and March upon th' Impressions of his Providence, in th' use of that destroying Right, and in the dispensation of that bloody Justice. In the first place, As God never descends to this mournful Exercise, either pre­possess'd with Error, or troubled with Passion, Princes, if possible, should do the same, they ought to see clearly into th' Action before they do Embark, and be well assured that they do nothing, but what is lawful for them to do; and to that end they ought to use the ut­most of their Power, that Reason onely have place in their Counsels, and that that great Tribunal, where such important Resolutions are taken, and the Sentences of Life and Death given, hold onely in that high Region of the Soul, where no smoak doth arise from the lower Region, as is above declared.

But as this is very easie to be said, so'tis very hard to be put in practice; and 'tis as possible to resist th' entry of the Sea, when the Winds drive it, as to shut the door of the Counsels of Princes upon their Passions, or upon the Passions of their Ministers of State. I will [Page 12]not here speak, because I have done it in the first part, of th' opposed Motions, and contrary Inclinations of the Sword-men and Roab­men, equally admitted into the Counsels of Princes; the first lean or­dinarily to the War, as to their Element, and to the Field, where the principal Harvest is made of their Greatness and Glory; th' other en­cline to Peace, as to their Centre, and as to the Season which brings them the fairest days; and where their good Qualities expatiate themselves in Pomp, and are in their proper Lustr [...]. All the world knows of the violent Schism which divided the Thoughts of the Con­stable of Montmorancy, and of the Chancellor of th' Hospital, upon the Matter of the troubles, which vex'd the Minority of the Children of Henry the Second: And the famous Answer the Chancellor made to the Constable, who reproached him, That it belonged not to him, nor to them of his Profession, to meddle with th' Affairs of Wars; That is belonged not to him nor to his Associates to make War, But it belonged to him and to his Associates to judge of the Time when it ought to be made. No person also is ignorant of th' obstinate and invincible Aversion to Peace, which the Marshal of Biron had, and what he said one day to his son, who being not so great a Politician as the father, nor so foreseeing of the Future, acted vigorously to put out and extinguish the fire of the War, which the father endeavoured to cherish and en­flame; That if Peace was made, he resolved to set Cabages at Biron, and to renounce the Court and Fortune. In this, truly there's nothing that is not very ordinary, and 'tis but too natural for every person to love his Profession, and what contributes most to his Advancement and Pre­ferment. But this is very strange, that intelligent Princes do some­times abandont their Interests to wed other mens, and are indulgent to the Jealousie or Ambition of their Ministers of States, to the pre­judice of their Affairs. Behold two memorable Examples, th' one drawn from our History, th' other from the Spanish History. Henry the Second was without doubt a Prince well instructed in th' Art of Reigning, and when he came to the Government of the State, very capable ot conduct it, his Prudence and Valour equally shined in the first years of his Reign, and his Fortune prevailed above Charls the Fifth's; and it may be said, That th' Orient of his glory was the Couchant of th' others: After his Victories obtained in all places by his Arms, and Triumph in his Artifices, as we shall shew in another place, he saw the Course of a happy War suspended by a Truce, which Crown'd the good Success with great Profits, and an incre­dible Reputation. But the things of this world cannot stay long in the same condition, and that the favours of Fortune are not fixed; or that as men have accustomed to be weary of their proper felicity, and to love the change of good, it happen'd, that Henry did not stand firm in that posture, which th' Heavens seemed t' have chosen to make him happy. After the promotion of Paul the Fourth to the Pon­tificate, th' Ambition of his Nephews heated immeasurably th' ha­tred he naturally bore to the Spaniards, and put it into his head t' en­deavour [Page 13]a League with Henry, to drive the Spaniards from Naples, and to conferr it upon a Son of France, with very advantagious Con­ditions, as may be seen in th' Articles of that League: The thing was very difficult, and it was no small affair to enage Henry in an Enter­prise which offended his Conscience, in the manifest violation of pub­lick Faith, and was evidently hurtful to the State, in making it put forth of th' Haven, whither it was arrived with so much Honor and Profit, and t' expose it again to th' infidelity of the Sea, and to the dan­ger of Tempests. Moreover, Henry had so good a sight, as to discover th' Apparances wherewith they endeavour'd to blind him, and had in his Council Persons, that were proof to the Subtleties of th' Italian Wits, and to the Force of the Spirits of Lorrain. But the Caraffes and Sirs of Guise laid their Batteries to break the Truce, and the Queen was assaulted from all parts, and by all sort of Engines, to perswade the King to condescend. The Proposition at first was ill received, for the Reasons alleg'd; the Constable of Montmorancy, principal Minister of State, and principal Favourite, opposed it couragiously and con­stantly; the Marshal of Brissac, an able man in business, and a great Captain, presented Remonstrances from Piedmont, which were capa­ble to perswade all that were capable to submit to Reason, and give way to Truth; and there was no apparance, but that Reason and Truth should prevail in th' Understanding of Henry, upon the Matter of their Contradictions.

But they did not prevail, and what one of the Caraffes, who was then at Court, could not obtain by th' Authority of the Pope his Uncle, wherewith he was armed; what th' Address and Eloquence of the Cardinal of Lorrain; what the Credit and Reputation of the Duke of Guise, who was second Favourite, and the Constables Rival, could not obtain, the Dutchess of Valentinois carried; and that Lady, whom the Sirs of Guise had gain'd into their Interest and Alliance, was the Devil that had taken absolute and possession of the King, and forced him to yield after a long defence, and to consent to what she would have done, or rather to what the Sirs of Guise, or the Caraffes did desire, though it justled Honesty, and was contrary to the Good of the State. Time made discovery of th' Imprudence of that Design, and broke the Charm which Reason could not defeat. Our enterprize upon the Kingdom of Naples failed, so soon as it was Embarqu'd, and we received Affronts instead of making of Conquests; France that was unfurnished of her fairest and best Forces, and of the most of her Moneys, to give them to Sir of Guise, found it self weak to resist the Storm that came thundring upon Picardy by Flanders, and being not fore-seen, because it was secretly raised, made the more dange­rous Impression in the Surprise. The Constable was overcome and taken prisoner before St. Quintins, and a little after the Marshal of Furnes defeated near Graveline. Though France was astonished at those two great Blows, it was not beaten down, and those interwoven ill Successes, instead of choaking the Kings Virtue, raised it, and made [Page 14]him think of the Means of Return to his former Condition, and to withdraw with Honour from that ill posture his Imprudence had cast upon him; The King for that purpose recalls Sir of Guise from Italy, where he left none of his Reputat on, though he made no progress there, who was no sooner arriv'd in France, but he took Calais from the English, and Thionville from the Flemings, who all obeyed one Master. These great Beginnings were the presages of a company of greater Successes; and there was place for belief, that the conjunction of Duke John of Saxes Army to ours, which was very fair, would bring back to us the Victory, whereof our Enemies seemed to be in possession, and would render us with interest our lost glory, under a Chief so valiant and so wise as the Luke of Guise. But a Design, as imprudent, to make Peace, ceized on the King, as that which pre­vailed with him to return to the War: And though according to all the Rules of Civil Prudence, and to all the Maxims of Reputation and Profit, he should have continued the War, though it had been ill begun; it was staid in the strength of the prosperity that did accom­pany it, and Fortune was repelled that pressed to be favourable unto us: He that exposed so generously the Motion of an unjust War, was th' Author and Instrument of a pernicious Peace, and gave a preg­nant Example of th' ordinary humor of the greatest part of the most eminent Servants, to second th' Interests of their Masters when they concurr and agree with theirs, but quit them readily when they dis­agree; and when it cannot otherwise be done, secure their particular Interest to the Damage of the publick.

The Glory of the Duke of Guise hath long made the Constables heart to ake, and he perceived that the Dukes Genius had th' Ascen­dent of his, and that the Elevation of the Dutchess was his Descent and Decadency; The Constable by vertue of the Peace, how disadvan­tagous soever to France, labour'd to withdraw from the Duke th' op­portunities the War had given him of Advancements, and of making further progress in th' Affections of the King, and in th' Esteem of all France; He regained also by the same Means his Liberty, which enabled him to put a value upon himself without patience, which is a Virtue that is not of great merit, nor of great eminency in the Civil Life, and resumed the Place which he held before in the Direction of Affairs: And so Henry, in being too compliant to th' covetousness of a Mistress, and to the jealousie of a Favourite, made a Peace and a War unseasonably, and gave up to Love and Friendship th' Interests of Royalty, and the Duty of his Charge, which were incapable of Alienation. His Father understood it much better, and expressed a much stronger Passion for his Country, when prest to receive his li­berty upon exorbitant and ruinous conditions, he protested, That he had rather die in Prison, that receive a Maimed Crown, and to leave his Successors a Lesser Kingdom then he had received from his Ancestors.

The Second Example is of Philip the Second, whom all the world knew to be so desperately taken with the love of Soveraignty, and [Page 15]with the Good of his Affairs, that he pardon'd not his own Blood, nor the Life of his onely Son, upon th' Advice was given him, that he studied Mischief, and was to pass into Flanders, and there t' Esta­blish himself; Nevertheless this Prince, so Amorous of his Great­ness, and so Jealous of his Interests, hath declined sometimes from that strong Inclination, in favour of his Ministers of State, and to indulge their passions to his prejudice; When the Flemings began to rise against him, and t' open that famous Scene, where hath been spilt so much domestick and forein blood, Marguerita Princess of Parma their Governess reduced them, partly with Gentleness and Ad­dress, partly with Justice and Arms, to a reasonable good Acqui­escence: But Tranquillity being not well setled, not all the Winds, which might trouble it, fully appeased; It was proposed in the Council of Philip, what was fit to be done in that Exigency: The Council was equally divided, and as it were torn into two opposite Factions; the Chief of th' one of the Parties was Roderigo Gomez Prince of Eboly, who had for Followers the Duke of Feria, a good equal Instrument of Peace and War, and Antonio Perez, no less fa­mous for the long and hot persecution he suffered, as for the Charge of First Secretary of Spain, which he had long exercised: Gomez was dextrous onely for the Cabinet, and such Affairs were more in his Element, than the War; But his best Quality was, th' Inclination Philip had for him, and th' Art, whereby he adjusted himself dex­trously to all th' Apprehensions, and to all th' Humours of his Master.

The Chief of th' other Faction, was the Duke of Alva, whose Name carries in it self Reputation and Lustre enough, without giv­ing it any other Addition to make him known; His Adherents were the Cardinal of Spinola, who formerly had so absolutely governed Philip, that he was called the Monarch of Spain, and Granuelle Bishop of Arras, who nourished always Warlike thoughts under a Prelates Robe, and had a particular Revenge for them by whom he had been ill handled, and Renouncing his Administration, forced Philip to Recall him. The Duke of Alva was Improved in the Ca­binet Counsels, and dextrous in th' Intricacies of them: But his prin­cipal Talent was the War, as the great Theatre of his Virtue; A Person, more considerable to his Master for the Services he had ren­dred, and might render to Spain, than Acceptable for the Conditi­ons of his Person, who being of a Proud and Severe Temper, was not beloved of them for whom he had done good.

Upon the Relation then, which was sent by the Dutchess of Parma of the state of th' Affairs of Flanders, the Chiefs gave their Advice singly, and Declare in shew and with Colourable Reasons for the good of Philip; but in Effects, and bottom of their Intentions, Answerable to their Passions and particular Ends. The Prince of Eloby fearing, that if Philip went for the Low-Countries to compel by force the Flemings to their Duty, and to return them by Arms to [Page 16]the yoke they had cast off, the Duke of Alva would be in great esteem with the King, by reason of the Necessity of his Service, and draw the greatest part of Gallant Persons, and the best part of the Court, in Relation to his Charge and principal Command of th' Ar­my, rejected absolutely the way of Arms, and Adviseth that of Sweetness, and to permit the Little heat of Inquietude, which re­mained in the Rebels, to go out of it self and without violence; But the Duke of Alva, who saw that the Peace had almost put him out of work, or left him on the Stairs, whilst Gomez staid at the Feast, maintained, that Nothing, but the Sword and the King's Presence could Cure the Disease of the Flemings, and that the Power of Re­belling was to be taken from the Rebels to secure from future Re­bellions, And cut down the Tree at the root, to hinder the boughs from growing and putting forth.

Philip enclosed between these two Contrary Opinions, and seeing clearly though th' Intentions of those two Counsellors, loving Gomez with Passion, and esteeming Alva to his Merit, forgets his Maxims, and departs from his own Inclination, which was the Good of his Affairs, to content the Passion of them, by a Moderation that was fatal to him; He resolved then for the satisfaction of Gomez to stay in Spain, under pretence that his Presence was necessary to keep the Moors to their Duty, and hinder his Son Charls to disturb in his Ab­sence; and to comply with th' Indocile and Imperious humour of the Duke of Alva, He constitutes him Governour of the Low-Countries, and gives him the Command of an Army capable to subdue them, in case of a general Revolt, and to force to submission all persons that opposed him: Gomez found his Reckoning plentifully in being the chief of the two Patties, and remaining the most powerful of the Kings Council, was in some sort superior to the Duke of Alva, who ought to receive Orders from the Council, and as to the Duke's Actions, could give what countenance he pleased to them, being not cleared before the King's eyes: The Duke of Alva also had cause to be ontent with the King's Design, to send him Commander of so powerful an Army, and t' exercise a great Charge in a Country, where no person was above him, and where he should be Arbiter of the destiny of a great number of people, and of seventeen fair Provinces.

But th' Interest of Philip, and the Laws of good Policy, re­quired, that no Regard was to be had to th' Inclination of Gomez, nor to that of the Duke of Alva, and that he should have gone in Person, and with a good Army into the Low-Countries, to confirm the Tran­quillity, as yet unsetled, and to dispense Rigour and Clemency ac­cording to the disposition of Spirits, and exigency of Conjunctures; Or if it was not expedient for the King for important considerations to go from the Escurial, and to break the chains wich ty'd him to Spain; He ought not to have recall'd the Governess from Flanders, who might easily have finish'd what she had happily begun, and had [Page 17]no need for that End but of a small encrease of Forces to render her Administration a little more fearful than it was to the Flemings; who had in other Things Love and Reverence for her Person.

By these Example you may see, how hard it is for the Coun­sellors of Princes t' enter their Counsels free from particular Passi­ons; since th' ablest Princes and most interessed, are sometimes struck with contagion, and spoil their Affairs by Compliance. It follows not, but that the persons whereof we have now spoken were Great persons, though sometimes they committed faults, and that their Lives were excellent Looking-glasses for them that Govern, though the Glasses were not without spots; There are Illustrious Reigns, as Glorious Temples, and Magnificent Palaces; And though great effusion of Riches have been made, and choice of the best Architects of the world to build them, some errors have been found in them. And the Things of Art have that in common with the Natural, not to be in all parts perfect. As in th' Oeconomy of the Manners of Men, Reason doth not always hold th' Ascendent over the Passions, but that Passions sometimes take it above Reason, and what is of the Dominion of th' Understanding, gives place to what is belonging to a Beast; So, though Princes oblige themselves as strongly as they can to represent the persons of Princes, they cannot forbear many times to act the persons of particular Men, and to cherish th' Incli­nations of Nature above the Duties of their Charge; Immutability from Good, is not of the Lot and portion of this miserable Life; And Constancy unshaken, but by some great change, is, in my sense, one of the greatest Wonders of the world; There is no Soul so mean, that is not capable of some fire, and of some strein of Heroick Virtue; but there's none so Heroick, that can maintain without slacking the strength of the flight, which it hath taken, and hold all things under it without ever coming under them: such Souls as approach nearest to this state, and rise and fall, whatsoever happens, less than other Souls, are certainly the Noblest and Fairest of all Souls. And that Equality of Conduct, such as may be gained in this Life, is more admirable and of greater price in it self, th [...]h not of so great pomp nor of so great profit, as the Science to ma [...] War, to conduct Ne­gotiation, and to govern Empires.

The second Rule, which Princes ought t' observe in th' Use of this severe Justice, whereof we draw the Picture, is, That as God doth not punish sinners at th' Instant they have offended, nor permit his Thunder to break upon the first crimes of Men; Soveraigns also ought not to hasten t' extreme Remedies, and take Arms so soon as they have receiv'd an Injury; They ought to consider, that of all Imployments and humane Enterprises, there's none, wherein Preci­pitation is so dangerous as in beginning a War, nor wherein more passages are to be sounded, or more ways know before the War be undertaken. They ought to remember, that besides the sad Ne­cessity, which is inseparable from the most Innocent War in the [Page 18]world, to devour a great number of Goods and Livers; There's none, wherein the Revolutions are so suddain, and the Conclusions so uncertain; A Wheel moved with violence turns not down with more swiftness, what was above; The Sea is not more unfaithful, nor changeth her calm with more promptitude; And th' hope of Labou­rers is not so often deceived by the sterility of Harvests; That the prosperities of Arms are subject to change, and th' Entries of War are belyed by th' Issues; That after many Fires kindled, and Tem­pests raised; After a great quantity of spilt blood, and wealth de­voured; After a long Circumvallation, the High way to desolation and ruine; 'Tis of Necessity, that the Lists are to be re-entred, or a Retorn made to the firit posture of Peace.

Fourth Discourse.
That Justice is to be observed in the Form as Matter of the War; That Faith is to be kept with Heretiques and Insidels; That Christians hate just Cause of Warring with the Turk without mak­ing use of the pretext of Religion.

TO Avoid so dangerous a Precipitation, and not t' Engage herein t' ill purpose, and hoise sail to the Wind out of season, 'Tis not sufficient to know that the War is Just, which is to b' undertaken, but that 'tis Necessary to b' undertaken; And 'tis the good of the State, which a Prince undertakes is this occasion, more than any other Interest; 'Tis of Importance, that what is ho­nest and profitable march together; and that the whole Motion of the War ought to turn upon those two Poles. But the Mischief is, That this second condition is not always, as the first, in the power of Princes, and that there's no certain Rule or Proof establish'd to b' assured of it, as of th' other: Some light therefore shall be given to sobscure a Matter, and some Addresses communicated to pre­vent wandrings in a Co [...]y so little known, when some thing hath been said of Justice; [...] what concerns it? In the first place, I say, that 'tis necessary it Reigns, if it may be over the whole Extent of the War, and expatiate it self over the Accidents, as Matter of the War, and over the Form, as the Manner and Form, wherewith they ought to be conducted; For there are Matters, whereof I will treat to the bottom, and others which I will but lightly touch: For cer­tain, 'tis unworthy of a Man of courage to foul his hands in the cold blood of his enemies, and a most shameful thing for the feet to tread upon what the hands have beaten down, or to take away the life from him who demands it. Heat and Choler ought to be contained within the bounds of Victory, and ought not to be carried beyond it, unless of necessity to be done, which happens rarely, t' assure [Page 19]the Victory, or in Right of Revenge, to give no quatter to them, who Book would give no quarter; And permits that Plunderings be destroyed by Desolations, and Fireings by Combustions. There are neverthe­less, some actions, wherein Revenge ought not to be taken, and 'tis unlaw full t' Imitate Robberies and Sacrileges, or to give th' Ene­mies inhumane Deaths by their Example; there are Laws, which are called the Laws of good War, which the Marshal of Brisac hath heretofore made so famous in Piedmont, that they ought to b' obser­ved, and made an Act of Justice, according to th' Intention of the God of Armies, and not a pure Violence and a manifest Breach of the Right of Nations, following the suggestions of the God of this World and of the Prince of Darkness, T' use expressions of the Bible.

'Tis true then, That a Priuce ought not to Draw his sword, but when Justice puts it into his hand, nor Handle it, but under some form of Honesty and shew of Conveniency. 'Tis also true, that h' ought not to confound what is Honest and what is Profitable, be­cause they are not the same Things, nor blend two Distinct qualities, as some of th' Ancients and Moderns have Done. Th' occasion of growing Greater, and the facility of Conquering, ought not to tempt a Prince, unless he may Inlarge with a Good conscience and Con­quer Lawfully. Such a Moderation will be esteemed more Co­ragious and Magnanimous than any Act of valour, and no Victo­ry can be so Fair and of so High a price as that which is gained up­on himself.

But to depart from general Termes, which are too Wild and In­definite, and to descend to particular Considerations, which are more instructive and pressing than the general. In the second place, I say, That care is to be taken not to judge of the justice or injustice of an enterprize by th' Event, or to call it Bad or Good as it shall posper and have the Winds Propitous or Contrary. Let him Observe with Aversion th' Expression of that sottish paniard, who sollowing the party of the Commons raised against Charls their King, writ to a friend of th' Adverse party; That the gain or loss of the Battel, to be fought the next day, would declare, who had the Right of his side, and that the Mark and Reward of the Justice of the good party would be the Victory. Let him abhorr th' Advice th' Admiral Cha­stillon gave to the Prince of Conde, To make no Difficulty of brea­king the Treaty, whereby he had obliged to go out of the King­dome.

If the Sirs of Guise Retired from Court of purpose to charge the Kings Army, which they had laid asleep, with th' hopes of Peace and Confidence in their promises, would the Victory make his Cause honest and his Armies just? and all other Justice ridiculous if it fell to the King, and all other Reason vain? If that be true, as it may be true, and if Davila, who reports it be no tdeceived, It were rightly to understand Machiavelles Maxim, Not to be wicked at Halfes; And to know how to satiate Malice: It were some what more than to [Page 20]sew the Foxes to the Lions skinn. It were not to make Warr in th' Ordinary Way, but with poysoned Armes; 'Tis then a prefixed point and a Constant Maxim of the Moral and Politique, That as a true Measure cannot alwaies be taken of the Prudence of an Enter­prize by the Good success, so true Judgment can never be made of th' Honesty of an Action by the Good success, nor the Justice of a War by the Victory that may Crown it.

In the third place, I say, As there's no War of so strong a Necessity, and that hath th' Outside so specious, as when Piety is joyned in it to Justice, and th' Altars Defended in maintaining our Interests; To Interess God in these Designs must be avoided, unless he be truly in­teressed; As to imitate Ferdinand of Castille, who did much Worse than take Gods Name in vain, for He ever Employed it to give Co­lour to th' Evil which was beneficial to him; And his fears had been very much troubled to palliate their Ambition and Avarice, If there had been no Religion, Infidelity or Heresie in the World: It ought not also to be believed, as some have perswaded themselves, or En­deavoured to perswade Princes, That the goodness of th' End, to the Glory of God, or the Salvation of Souls, can rectifie the Means, which are Ill in themselves, or that the Venome or Malignity of a cause, is Corrected or tempered by th' Antidote of a Good and pro­fitable Effect, as shall be shewed hereafter.

In the fourth place I go on and say, That though a Hearty Sub­mission is to be given to th' Authority of them, whom God hath pla­ced in th' Highest Administration of Religion, and in th' absolute Di­rection of Consciences; They must not, neverthelesse, b' obeyed in all things, as they do not pretend unto it; nor believe, that they can give License to do Ill, and disingage us from th' Obligation of the first and second Right of Nature. If Ladislaus King of Hungary had resisted the Legate who perswaded him to break without Cause, or without other Cause than Conveniency, the Peace made with Amu­rat Emperor of the Turks, He had not permitted himself to b' a­bused by that pretended Power, which the Legate assumed, t' untye the knot the Right of Nations had tyed; He had not lost his life at Uarnes, with the loss of the Battel; And Amurat had Reason, when in the midst of the Fight and Heat of the Charge, the Victory seemed t' Incline of Ladislaus side, to call Jesus Christ to the punishment of a Crime committed against him, and to chastise th' Infringer of a Trea­ty, wherein his Name was used to confirm it. If Henry the second had followed th' Advice of the Constable of Mountmorancy and of the Marshal of Brisac, who perswaded him t' observe the Truce made with th' Emperor, which the suggestions of the Sirs of Guise and of the Dutchess of Valentinois diverted him from, under the pre­text that the Pope had given him a Dispensation for it, He had not Expiated that Infraction by th' unhappy success of his Armes within and without the Kingdome, and by that Long and Heavy chain of E­vils, wherewith France was after fettered.

Religion is not descended from Heaven to destroy the Virtues she finds on Earth, or to Demolish Society, the most admirable Work that Reason hath brought forth, in over-throwing Faith its first foun­dation and principal Basis; That, if she forbids Commerce sometimes and Communication with Infidels and Heretiques, 'Tis when that Communication may be Contagious to th' Understanding, and Dan­gerous lest th' Errors and Vices be transmitted and pass Joyntly with the Things permitted. And this is not so much a new and po­sitive Right, which Religion hath Introduced, as that Ancient Com­mand of the Right of Nature, T' avoid th' occasions of Evil, which she renews; or rather, 'tis that vast and unlimited Command which she gives and applies to a particular Use and to a certain Matter; But though the Generation of Men be sine torn in pieces by beliefs and customs, yet General Law; are left unto them, and a common Right; and since Infidelity or Heresie impede not Soveraigns from being Lawful Lords of their Estates, nor Particular Persons to be pro­prietaries of their Goods; and by consequence, that th' use of Commu­tative and Distributive Justice b' equally open, and the Commerce for Temporal things, whereof they have need amongst themselves, permitted to all Princes and to all People, To Christians and to Infi­dels, To Catholiques and Heretiques, The Catholiques, as making profession of a more Heavenly Doctrine and of a more Innocent Life, are obliged t' observe more Inviolably the Laws, and to maintain more Religiously the Privileges of their Nation than any People; To give no example of Infidelity and Deceit, which the Wicked may rebound upon Religion, and to make that fair Evidence of the sanctity of their Beleef, to shine alwayes in the sincerity of their Acti­ons. Not to sink too deep upon a Matter, which I handle fully in a­nother place, I will content my self in relation to what I have now said, to place here this Argument; To declare the Necessity of Keep­ing faith with Heretiques and Infidels; as that with all them, with whom treaty and commerce may be had with a good Conscience, Men are bound in Conscience to perform things promised, when the Treaty is made, without fraud and violence, and without Just fear, which falls into the Souls of Valiant Men, and leaves them but a Lame Liberty. This Conclusion streams so naturally and necessarily from its Principles, that there's no Need of other proofs t' Establish it, not of other Lights t' Evidence it.

And yet, as there's no day so Fair, that is not over-cast with some Cloud; so this Truth so Cleer and so Comformable to Reason, hath been exposed to th' Art of Sophisters: But who knows not, that this Depravation of Judgment hath proceede from an hot and blind Zeal, which many times ceiseth upon the greatest Doctors? or from a base and prostiture Compliance to the wills of Princes, who would not stick at Perjury, If it might serve their turn, but would not publickly appear in it, lest it should Disgrace them; so, this Doctrine truly, which came into the World but by Chance, hath not appeared [Page 22]by day, but by the violence of some causes, which have thrust it on, and hath ever disappeared with the causes that produced it. And St. Lewis, whose Piety cannot be questioned, but by impious persons, was not strucken with remorse, when he had treated with the Sara­zens; And they that make use of such means, would be very sorry the like were offered them: As they who have conceived, though falsly, no better thoughts of the Truth of the Religion they profess, and believ'd it was permitted them to do the like in their time under the same pretext; The force and weight of this consequence shall be ex­amined at large in another place. If to this truth it be objected, That what is promised to Men, obligeth not more strictly, nor ties a more indissoluble knot, than what is promised to God, wherein, 'tis certain, the Pope may dispense some occasions for important causes: it may be answered, That the Pope may do it, and may discharge th' observation of the Vow of a good thing for another of a better condition or equally good; But in this He doth but discharge his Charge from God, by virtue of his General and Particular Com­mission, to seek always what is most for his glory, and for the great­est good of Souls; he doth but manage God's Interests; but and in setting a value upon the Talent of the Faithful, and to be the good Husband and prudent Dispensator of the Benefits and Graces of his Master, whereof the Bible speaks.

That to change a thing of small, for a thing of greater price; 'tis to gain always by the Exchange, and to receive what is superiour in value and goodness to what was quitted; 'tis to be a good Steward for God, t' Accommodate himself to the Necessities of Souls, and t' exercise a reasonable Indulgency; 'tis t' observe th' Intentions of his Master, and the sweetness of his conduct; 'tis to act the disposition of that generous Creditor, wh' exacts not in rigour of his creatures what they owe him, but grants them always the compsition they desire of him, and demands no more of them than what they can pay him conveniently, and without violence. But as to the Rights and Interests of Heretiques and Infidels, they have not, as the World knows, constituted the Pope Master or Arbitrer of their con­cernments; wherefore he cannot ordain or dispense any thing to their prejudice in matters of Treaty, confirmed by mutual Oathes, and of common Right in th' affairs of Civil Commerce and Temporal Policy.

I pass from this Matter t' another, wherewith 'tis naturally en­chained, and say in the fifth place, That Religion alone, whether it be for the planting of it in places where 'tis not known, or for the defence of it in States where 'tis persecuted, cannot be the founda­tion of a Just War. That if the Writing of some holy persons are fill'd with Exhortations to Christians to take Arms against the Turk, and if the Predicants endeavour every day t' enflame them with that holy zeal; If Popes have heretofore published Croisades for that sub­ject; And if the greatest Princes of Christendome did Enroll them­selves, [Page 23]and have raised for that purpose great Armies; It must not be believed, it was done directly t' Exterminate the Sect of Mahomet, and t' abolish th' Alcoran, that Arms were taken up; or that it was to constrain the wicked persons to change their Religion, or to force Christianity into their spirits by the sword: That is much estranged from the condition of our Religon, and very contrary to th' exercise of the Primitive Church, which opposed patience onely to force, and permitted no other blood, but the blood of her Children to be spilt, when it was oppressed, as shall be declared in another place, where the proofs of the second branch of the Proposition proposed shall be produced. 'Tis then to the Limits of the Temporal Interests, that the War against the Turk is chiefly restrained; 'Tis directly against the Power of th' Ottomans, and no against th' Errors of Mahomet, that Christians draw their Swords, and for their Commission they have Right Valuable Titles; Th' Usurpations made of the fairest Members of their Empire, and the spoiles of so many Estates, where­with the Tyrant adorns himself, are subjects which put it out of question, that they may Lawfully Arm to Recover their Losses, and to Recollect the Pieces, which are taken from their Interests: And 'tis his constant design, and his Religion by a perpetual Vow binds him to labour the Destruction of Christianity; and the spirit of that barbarous Religion, adorned onely with Rapines and Murders; with the Proscription and Confiscation of the Lives and Estates of all them, who are not of their Judgment, do give a just power to Christians not onely to defend themselves, when they are assaulted, and to resist the storm when it Beats on that side, but also t' assault, and to prevent, if some other Consideration do not oppose it. That if the Course of the War and the Lot of Arms make it sometimes necessary for a Christian Prince to conclude a Peace or Truce with the Turk; He ought Legally t'observe Conditions, so long as the Turk observes them on his part, and to make no breach, if th' other do not begin or prepare to break. But if the Turk, who keeps his Soldiers in Exercise, and his Men of War in Action, and coasts the Countries of his Neighbours to gain some prey, doth rush upon the State of a Christian Prince in Confederacy with the Turk, any Chri­stian Prince may relieve him with a good Conscience, and Act Law­fully against the Turk, without being a Violator of his Faith, or De­sertor of his World; For, besides the Duty of Charity, and that ge­neral Obligation, which the Right of Nations Imposeth to protect the Weak against the Strong; 'Tis Matter then onely of Defence, which is ever permitted, though it be Indirect, and ceaseth not to be Just, though it be Anticipated. And to speak the truth, what else doth a Christian Prince, in repelling the Violence made t' another Prince, than prevent what is prepared against himself? Than make haste to Quench the Fire which burns his Neighbours House, before it lays hold on his, and assists to make Rampars and Barricadoes against the Sea, which might over-flow his, after it had drowned the [Page 24]Country of his Allies? But whilst the Design of Ruine reposeth in the Turks breast, and that th' Execution of the Vow is suspended, the Conditions of the Treaty made with him ought inviolably to b' observed, without the least infringement of the Zeal of publick Commerce, and of Faith, the principal Bond of the Civil life.

'Tis easie t' infer from what hath been said; That Christians in general have but too many formed Subjects, and too many prepared ways t' Enter, when they please, upon a just War against the Turk; and there's great cause of Astonishment, as I have observed in the first Discourse, That instead of turning their Arms against an Enemy that is not less Powerful than Irreconcilable, they convert them against themselves; they thrust them into their own bowels, and make themselves drunk, if it may be permitted t' use that Poetique bold­ness, in the blood of their Brothers.

Fifth Discourse.
That the Defence of Injured Reputation is the subject of a just War; Wherein that Reputation consists; That the King could not with honour avoid breaking with the Spaniards, who had caused the Town and th' Elector of Treves to be surprised, being under his Majestie's Protection.

'TIs not to the conceived that the defence of a Country, whether Direct or Indirect, in the Manner as it hath been circum­scribed, should be the sole Title of making just the Arms of a Prince; There are also other Titles and other Considerations which put Arms Lawfully int' his hand; There are other wounds t' heal, and other breaches to make up, than the Ruine of his Subjects; th' outrages acted against his Honour are to be revenged, and the spots wiped off which are imprinted upon the Reputation of his Crown, as one of the Pillars which bear up his Greatness, and therefore to be carefully preserved from Blows, that it fall not in contempt. But in regard some may equivocate upon this word Reputation, and take upon that occasion a subject of dangerous consequence; it may not b'unnecessary to clear and distinguish it, which may be done by a very easie distinction, and in a manner is already declared.

'Tis certain then, that there are two sorts of Reputation peculiar to States, and which may be ranked in the number of Goods that be­long to them; th' one consists in th' Esteem which the strength of a Country hath gained from abroad, and in the glory of it; this is formed of the Merit and good fortune of the Prince; of the Num­ber and Virtue of his Subjects; of the Duties of Subjection, and of the Rights of Soveraignty; in th' Extent and Situation of the Coun­try; in the Fecundity of Mines; in Fortresses, and Arms, and Am­munitions [Page 25]of War. Th' opinion then which streams and flows from these things and other the like in the spirits of Men, Is the Reputa­tion I speak of, and where of no question is to be made, but that the Prince ought to be very Jealous of it, as of a thing which sometimes is of great Consequence, when his forces are weak, and which some have compared very aptly to the credit of Merchants, which main­tains them in honour and lustre, though they b' effectively poore, and gives them often Means to fill up the Concealed emptiness of their affairs, and to repair the weak Invisible condition of their fortune; But when a Prince is wounded in this kind of Reputation, and his Forces are cryed down; when His prosperities are lessened, and dis­graces Encreased; when Endeavours are used t' obscure this Lu­stre of greatness and force, wherewith th' Eyes of Strangers ought to be dazled, and to draw a Curtain before th' Exteriour face of his Affairs; 'Tis not the subject of a just war; The reason of it is, that Strong Remedies are never to be used but against Extreme Evils, nor Violence acted against accidents that may be Over-come by Industry; There ought to be some proportion betwixt th' Arms of Resistance and those of Assault; When the combate is made by the forces of Wit, there's no Reason to bring the forces of our Body for defence; False Reports are scattered abroad to our disadvantage; Make the Truth shine in all places, which is contrary to them; Vigilancy and In­genuity need not fear such Artifices, and the designs of our Enemies will have a chance answerable to that of Mines, which do no hurt, if Vent be given them.

But there's another kind of Reputation and another sort of Honour, wherein the Prince ought not to suffer the least decay, but pursue a Reparation with Armes, if it may not otherwise be had, when offen­ded. To speak it in a Word, 'tis the Dignity of the Crown, and th' honour of Soveraignty: There are certain Privileges and Preroga­tives, which the Right of Nations have fastned unto them, that ought not to be touch'd without Resentment, or Violated or slighted with­out opposing it by force; Injury, for example, done to an Ambassa­dour, whose person is Holy and Consecrated by common Right, and by consent of all people, and of all Ages, is the subject of a Lawfull War; And Francis the first cannot be blamed for breaking with Charls th' Emperour by reason of th' Assasinat of Rignon and of Fri­gose, his Ambassadors, whom the Marquis of Gast had caused to be Murdered, and could never have justice, in what posture soever he put himself to Demand it; The Breach of a Treaty, which is the mark of Disdain thrown at a Prince, or of the small consideration had of his Country, is another Title of just War; That if the Persons of Am­bassadours are Inviolable, and ought universally to be respected, be­cause they are the Living Bonds of Commerce, and th' Animated Instruments of the correspondency of Princes; By the same Reasons Treaties which are th' Inanimate Seals and dead Impressions of that Commerce and Correspondency, ought to be holy; and the breakers [Page 26]thereof corrected with the punishment the Right of Nations permits to be inflicted; And as one of the Princes will take advantage of the violation of the Treaty th' other promises to perform, so by a neces­sary Consquence th' other must receive Dammage, and that Right and faculty is obtained thereby to take reason of that Injury with the sword in th' hand, if it be not given Civily and in a friendly Manner. It may be seen by this, That the War which the King made to Duke Charls, is no Unjust violence, nor the Conquest of Lorraine an unjust Invasion since it hath been drawn on himself by the violation of ma­ny Treaties made with France, and who can take it ill, if he have not lost all sense of good, and the Taste of all that's just, That what was left in pawn and for security of a thing promised, should be forfeited, when the promise is not performed; and the deposite Detained when the condition for restitution is broken? But I purpose to Treat fully of this Matter in the second part, and t' undraw the Curtain which I d' here leave, at least if the condition of the time permits it, and prudence adviseth it.

Observe another Essential point wherein Reputation is offended, and for which Armes may lawfully be taken in hand, and War made. 'Tis to redeem a Prince from vexation for the hatred is born us, and because his Interests have some Conjunction with ours. The King had just cause to defend the Duke of Mantoua by his Protection and Arms against the design of the Spaniards to strip him, even for that Reason, that he was born the Kings Subject, and that they could not suffer a Frenchman to be a Soveraign Prince in Italy. How deeply the honour of France was Wounded with that stroak, and what shamefull Reflection was made by that Attempt upon the Dignity of the Crown, There's not a person but may judge of it without Ex­planation. There's not a person if he be not altogether blind with passion for Spain, that can approve of their project t' establish in all places their Dominion and t' extend their Monarchy; They shut the Door into Italy, and forbid Entrance to the French, what Justice soe­ver opens it, and what Right soever calls them thither. And they who Take at all hands and Usurp on all sides, will not permit the true and Lawful Masters t' Enjoy their Lands, or gather what belongs to them, if they are friends to France. The Reasons the King had, are remitted to another place, and th' other Motives which excited him t' Espouse the protection and undertake the defence of the Duke of Mantoua.

Honour obligeth also a Soveraign, besides other duties which may invite him, to make the protection given to a weak Prince to be estee­med, and to cause the Sanctuary offered to an unfortunate Prince to be respected; I will explain this proposition by an Example. After that the late King of Swede was Entred Germany with that Extraordi­nary success which accompanied his Virtue, and that He had taught the House of Austria to know that it was not Invincible, and had a­stonisht it with the blows received from th' hands of a Conqueror; Its greatest Care was t' avoid a Ruine, and as in a wrack to get some [Page 27]planks whereon to save what remained of goods and hopes. The King wh' alone could put a bridle upon th' Ambition of this brave Prince, and Resist the Tempest which threatned the Catholique friends of that disconsolate Family, offered them his Royal protection, and the shade of his Authority, without which there was no Safety nor Recovery for them.

Th' Elector of Treves beleeving He was not bound to perish with them who probably could not save themselves, nor hinder him from falling, but to fall onely for Company, accepted of his Majesties pro­tection. After that, who makes question but the King in honour and Reputation was obliged to defend th' estates and the person of that Elector from all th' Enemies Excursions, and to turn also his Armes upon the Swedes in case they did not consider as they ought his pro­tection, but should violate his safeguard? And in truth the King was so Religious in this behalf, that He considered not what was Profita­ble in comparison of what was Honest, nor the good of his Affairs in comparison of th' honour of his Word. That his Majesty entred up­on some Coldness with the Swede, when he delayed the satisfaction was desired, and to restore a place the King was obliged, after the Swedes had taken it, to cause to be rendred to th' Elector. That if the King had reason t' use such a proceeding in favour of his Allyes, and t' hold forth to them some Little Rigour upon that occasion; 'Tis visible that he had cause upon Stronger terms of Justice and Duty to break with them who gave such Advices, and Lent their Armes not only t' undertake upon th' Estates of th' Elector of Treves, but also t' attempt upon his Liberty, and to make a Prelate and a Soveraign Prince their Prisoner, with whom they had no cause of dispute, not had offended them, and against whom they had not declared any War. What can they allege to sweeten this Violence? and what play­ster can they find to disguise and make plausible so heinous a busi­ness? If it were for the Love of us, and for the protection we did grant him, that they opposed an Innocent Person, It must be confessed that the hatred they boar us was not onely very Implacable but also very Unjust, since it labours to kindle a fire and exhale Venome even out of our good Actions which are not opposite to them; since it cannot permit us to Protect them whom they could not Relieve, and secure them as shelter against the storm wherewith they were first beaten; since they deny us even the duties of Charity, which flow from the Right of Nature, and would take from us all sorts of cor­respondence with other Princes, and even the power of doing good offices.

It being thus, I leave it to the Judgment of the free and unpassi­onate Reader if they or we in this have begun the Quarrel, Who were the Breakers of the peace at Vervins and the first Authors of the War; Have they not done the same things, as if they had broken th' Express clauses of that Treaty, when they have violated that for which ther's never any Treaty, and which is sufficiently understood [Page 28]without being put into a Treaty; that one Crown ought not t' at­tempt against th' other, nor offend it in the person of them it pro­tects and shadows with its Authority and Arms; since they have not respected our Allies, and what the Peace of Vervins laid Quiet hath been Inviolable in relation to them; Can it be said, that they have not been the beginners of this Quarrel? that they have not lighted the Torch of the Dissention of the two Crowns, and begun the War by Surprises and Robberies which have been continued openly upon us, and after declaration of it? If they do remember the Moderation of our Conduct, and the Favour shewed, that was not less than of Life, to th' Imperial Troops which had surprised Heilderberge, they may see, that we have always avoided with great care to Break with them, who have no Love for us, and having no fear for the Forces of our Enemies, have always apprehended the Ruines of the War, and the Deluge of th' Evils that attend it; That if they will say, they have not immediately assaulted us, and did not directly undertake us, and that they looked onely upon th' Elector of Treves, whom they had right to chastise for departing from the protection he was bound to receive from th' House of Luxumburge, whereof they are Heirs, and for repairing to a forein protection, which is a kind of Diso­bedience▪ That 'tis the Crime they have pursued, and their offended Honour they would repair at the Charges of him that was culpable; Observe truly the Foundation which bears and sustains all the Justice of their specious Cause; behold the Pretext where with they do pal­liate it; behold the fair Colour wherewith they do paint it: There's nothing nevertheless easier than to ruinate that foundation, than to destroy that pretext, than to rub out and deface that colour, for when it shall be true, as they say, as 'tis not, and that there were no Example, as we are assured there is contrary to what they pretend, that th' Elector of Treves is under the protection of the House of Luxumburge, which they have annexed to theirs; dare they deny, when that protection is unable to defend it, and the Fort not so well guarded as to secure it, but that 'tis lawful to repair to a more Power­ful protection, and to seek a stronger Sanctuary? Doth a first pro­tection exclude a second? Is there but one Sanctuary open against persecution? and may not Society be made, and an Intelligence formed betwixt two good things of the same Nature? The City of Geneva, hath it injur'd the Canton of Berne, and wounded the Dukes of Savoy, when it fought ours, and put Her self into Harbour and un­der the protection of this Crown? Did the King prosecute and pursue to violence the Duke of Mantoua, for obtaining the protection of the Venetians, at the same time he did enjoy his Majesties? And have the Venetians made War with him, or Incursions into his Estates, or In­vasions upon his person, for having so often implored the Pope's pro­tection? And there's nothing more compatible or more sociable, than a permanent and ordinary protection with an extraordinary, which doth not continue, but passeth and ceaseth with the danger [Page 29]that procured it; And a Prince is very Unhappy, or very Impuru­dent, who is reduc'd to a single Expedient of Conservation, which may fail, and to get out of a croud and violence of affairs, knows but one Issue, which is not always Free, and hath but one Gate whereof he is not always the Master.

But since the Safety of the People is the Soveraign Law of Go­vernours, and that other Laws of States have neither spirit nor life, but what is derived to them from that Principal; who can imagine that a Prince had made a Treaty, by the which He had bound him­self to perish, as often as another Prince had not the power to protect him, and should embrace a Dependency, by which he renounced all the means of providing for the Conservation of his Subjects, which should oppose the pleasure of th' other Prince? Such and the like Treaties should be rather Prodigies and Monsters to be extermi­nated out of the Politique, than valuable and lawful Acts that had proceeded from the Authority of Princes, which is not instituted to destroy and to demolish States, but to divert the fall, and repair the ruines. I add to this, that the word of Protection sufficiently de­clares, what th' operation and use thereof ought to be, and having the safety chiefly of Estates, and good of the persons protected, for its Mark and End; It ceaseth to be what it was, if it falls into Impu­issancy, and if it hath not force nor vertue to conserve and to defend; It changeth its kind, and passeth into another Nature contrary to hers, if it become a principle of Ruine to them whom it ought to serve for relief against ill fortune, and if it degenerate into Poison in­tead of being a Preservative.

Let's conclude, Since th' House of Austria was not in a condition to warrant any person from th' ill weather wherewith it was beaten, and that even they who were Embarqued in the same Vessel with her were in danger to be lost, if they did not quit it, th' Elector of Treves did not offend th' House of Austria in making Addresses to Franoe, that was his onely safe Haven to secure him from a strong Wind and an angry Sea; I say further, That He did not onely an action of Duty towards his Subjects, in diverting by our mediation th' infallible desolation which hung over their heads, or an act of Piety towards the Church, in securing by our means th' Holy Places and Sacred Persons; but hath not a little merited from th' House of Austria, if it were capable of some sense of Acknowledgment, and would be sensible of a good Turn, by hindring his great and formi­dable Adversary by his fore-sight and address, from growing greater by the Conquests of those Estates, and to make a dangerous con­junction of the Rhyne with the Mosselle, and at the same time t' extend his Arms into Flanders and Germany; And therefore let the World judge upon these true and pertinent Facts, if that Elector hath deserved th' usage he hath received for his love to us, or whe­ther the King could pass by such injuries without resentment, and de­claring a War to them, who have so highly offended in the person [Page 30]of one of his Allies, and in the sight and knowledge of all Europe.

This Example, and many others which I shall speak of in their place, will make it clearly appear, that the King did not engage in all the Wars, wherewith miserable Christendome hath been vexed for many years, but for the protection of the weak against the stronger; and that th' House of Austria by its untameable Ambition, hath broken the Bands of publick Concord, and kindled the fires, whose destruction it may feel, as well as any other House, before its burn­ing be quench'd; God alone knows, what Event shall be of so many Armies raised, and where th' agitation of so many provoked Nations shall determine. But the King ought to have this satisfaction and rest of conscience, that he hath not been th' Author of these lamen­table troubles, but hath done his Endeavour to divert them, spared nothing to stop them; and having laboured much, and taken much pains t' establish and settle the tranquillity of his Kingdom, Had not a livelier and hotter passion than to procure th' entire felicity of his people, and to see that peace flourish he vvould have given them, by th' abundance vvherevvith he had crovvned it, had he been Master of the Hearts of Strangers, and Arbiter of the Destiny of Things.

Sixth Discourse.
That a War ought not onely to be a Just, but also Profitable for him who undertakes it; Some Rules, which Princes should observe when they relieve their Allies.

AFter Discourse of the Causes, that make a War Just, and handling of that Thorny Matter, that hath, yet, some need of culture, which may be given it in its proper place; The Profit of a War must be handled, which is th' other Condition that ought t' accompany a War, and without which a Prince ought not t' en­gage, though it should be, not onely full, but filled up with Justice.

If follows not, nevertheless, that this Profit ought to be present and sensible; nor is it in th' order of things to Reap in Sowing, nor that the first Prescriptions heal a sick person, or that a Picture be finish'd at the first Draught: God alone, in giving the first stroak, can give the last hand to his Works, and finish in beginning; yet, he hath not always done it, and he made use of six days to create the World, and to produce and publish the pieces of that Marvellous Frame.

As for the Works of Men, Time and Patience are necessary be­fore th' End can be obtain'd; there are many degrees to clime before they can get to the Feast, and ordinarily 'tis with them as with those of Nature, where the Generation of the most Excellent things, is but the sequel of a precedent Corruption; It sufficeth then, that it be a [Page 31]future Utility, to th' end it oblige t' act, and that it be known for such: not with Infallibility and Certitude, which appertains onely to God; But so far as one may judge of it by the disposition of Se­cond causes, and by the Rules of Civil prudence, which is all that can be required from the conduct of Men, and from the chance of this Life. Th' Advantages which ought to return from the War made in favour of Friends and Allies, and from the Relief is afforded them, shall be here treated of; as for others, either there's no dif­ficulty in them, or what shall be said of this may clear the Trou­bles that be in it.

I will give thee some Rules then, which will discover to Princes the ways they ought to take, and the Rocks they ought t' avoid, when they engage in such Aids; The first Rule is this, That th' Uti­lity they ought to pursue and propose to themselves before they take up Arms in favour of their friends, ought not to be Mercenary; not of the nature of what Merchants seek for their Traffick; th' ulti­mate End of their Ambition, and the principal Object that stirs up their Industry, is the Encrease of their Riches; they hazard Little to gain Much; they do like the Husbandmen, who sow not onely to recover their seed, but to multiply it; and 'tis not, to shut the door of their house upon Poverty, that they labour, but t' introduce Abundance; The Reputation also of able and intelligent Persons in their profession concerns them not, or very little, they think onely of being Rich, and Profit makes up all the Glory of their Exercise, and all the Price of their Industry. There have been Princes in all times, who have acted in that Manner, and have been possest with that base passion; that the greatness of th' Object and Enormity of th' Evil, have caused to be called, Illustrious; but they that are enflamed with the Love of true Wisdom, and with the Desire of a fair Reputation, ought to sail with another Wind, and take a very different way.

Let this then be a constant and indubitable Principle, That a Prince ought not to be perswaded to take Arms in favour of another Prince by the spirit of Avarice, and by a greediness to grow Greater at his charges, t' enrich himself by his Spoils, and to keep the Securi­ties, which th' other Prince hath put into his hands for assurance of his faith, or to serve him for retreat; If that were modeable, no person would be found, that had not rather try th' Hazard of Arms, and runne of the Fortune of Wars, whose Events are doubtful and un­certain, than expose himself to th' infallible Loss of all his Estates, or of a great part of them. That as there's no question but the Wounds received in the heat of the War, and from an Enemy to whom one doth the worst he can, are less offensive and grievous, than those that are received in Cold blood and from a Friend; so the Losses re­ceived from them, who ought to secure us, are of worse taste and of harder disgestion, than those occasioned by such persons, as have de­clared the War against us, and have undertaken to ruine us. And the late King had reason, after th' Arch-Duke had besieged Calais, [Page 32]and the Queen of England had sent to offer him her Sea-Army up­on exorbitant conditions; to refuse that relief, and to command it to be told her, That he had rather his Enemies should strip him than his Friends.

By this Artifice, the Romans have partly marched to the Conquest of the World, and from People that made War against one ano­ther, they possessed the Country of him who call'd them to their aid, and subdued th' others Country; 'tis by that means, the misera­ble Grecians finished their destruction, and that their divisions and disorders delivered them up to the ambition of that People, who found no better Expedient to determine their differences, and t' ex­tinguish their partialities, than to take from them the power of Quarrelling, and to deprive them of their Estates, which were the subject of all their hatreds. 'Tis with this pernicious Artifice, and de­ceitful Charity, that th' House of th' Ottomans hath seized upon some Members of th' Empire of Christians, and caught into their Nets the fairest part of Hongary. The passage of Protection t' Usurpation, is so pleasant for the Conquerors, and their Limits so near, that the most Religious stick not at leaping over them, and to confound the two Actions, in distinguishing of them onely by Name, and giving the shadow of difference for what in effect is but the same thing-In Christendom a Family is to be seen struck with the same disease, the design of Monarchy, as th' antient Romans were, and th' Ottomans are of this time, that hath marched, to th' uttermost of their strength, upon their steps, and plaid, among Christians, the like game; Their custome hat been to take part in all affairs, and to run to the least noise of discord they hear amongst men, and to the least flame of diversion that appears to them; they never observed a Neutrality whilst War was amongst their Neighbours, and considered not so much the Justice of the Party they made choice of, as the Means to gain by it, and thereby to get some Pawn to keep, or make a Con­quest; their protections have been the impositions of many Yoaks; and where it hath not imposed a Subjection, it established a Depen­dency, not much lighter, and though less grievous, yet assured them who depended upon their power, and held them by as strong and indissoluble Bands.

There's no need of going out of Europe, or this present Age, to confirm this Truth, by antient and forein Examples; Germany and Italy have been the Theatres, wherein it hath evidently appeared in our time, and entred in pomp and glory. In two the most remarka­ble actions which have been there represented, a more illustrious example of this nature can hardly be seen, for the novelty of th' In­cidents, and for the rarity of the Circumstances, which are there en­countred, than that whcih hapned in the Succession of the Duke of Cleves, claimed by the Duke of Newbourge, who was protected by the Spaniards, and by the Marquis of Brandebourge, whom the Hollan­ders assisted. But in regard I have an exact and ample Treaty of [Page 33]this Affair in the third part, I send the Reader thither, to speak of a­nother Example which Italy hath furnisht; after that the succession of Mantoua and Mo [...]ferrat fell to the Duke of Nevers, against which the Spaniards planted their Batteryes, and did their uttermost t' ex­clude him; T' attain then their End and t' hit their mark, They made use of a double Artifice, and planted both pieces in Battery; The first, in stirring up the Prince fo Guastalde t' intermeddle with that succession, and t' oppose an Apocryfal and Imaginary pretension to the Cleer and indubitable Right of the Duke of Nevers, They En­deavoured, if what was published then in Italy be true, to raise even a Bastard of the Precedent Dukes, named Yacinthe, to make him En­gage in the Quarrel, in purging him from the Viciousness of his birth, under pretences that had some Colour, but which Justled directly a Constitution of the Council of Trent received in Italy. But Lets leave the business of Yacinthe, t' hold us to that of Guastalde, which admits of no question, as publisht to th' Eyes of all Europe, and raised a scandal, as far as Constantinople. The second Artifice is, That they abused the Name and Authority of th' Emperor to Compel the Duke of Mantoua to put his Forts in Deposite into th' hands of a Commis­sioner, who was their subject, till th' Emperor had declared his Judgement upon that difference, and done Right to th' interessed Par­ties; That's to say, to give time to the Spaniards to form a Multi­tude of Incidents and of Tricks to stretch and perpetuate the Matter in Contest; That the Length of the pursute, and despair of the success in a Court where the Parties were Judges, might force the Duke of Mantoua to Consent to their Will, and to yield a visible Title of Justice to a pure Oppression and an effective Violence.

The design then of th' Ayd they offered to Guastalde, or that he, if you will have it so, had implored from the, did not extend to the raising him to the Soveraignty of Mantoua and Montferrat; But to make themselves Masters of Casal, and to deliver themselves of the Jealousie that Fort gives them; and from th' Apprehensions it gives to the state of Milan, for which they have so much Love and Ten­derness; And that their Injustice might reign in all parts, and be dila­ted as the soul, in all the body of that affair; And that there might not be Principal or Accessary, but should taste of its venome and of some Tincture of violence; 'Tis to be Considered, that before Guas­talde had attempted this Action and formed his Complaints at th' Imperial Court; whilst the Prince of Mantoua paid there his ne­cessary Duties on his Fathers behalf, and made his requisite submis­sion; Whilst they gave him fair Words and Hopes at Vienna; When the greatest part of the World believed, That th' Emperor offended not Willingly, but of Ignorance, and that he Was not Ea­sily induced to do it, but under the Species of good, and would not oppose the Right of the Duke of Mantoua; The Governour of Mi­lan ruined the Montferrat with an Army, and was within Little of ta­king Casal b' intelligence of a Treaty, which he had long practised [Page 34]for the buying of that place; They staid not there, but having hoised sail to the Wind, they were Engaged to pursue their Navigation, and to try the Conclusion of that Course with honour which they had begun with so little success; when they saw their stroak fail; That the war might be drawn int' a damageable Length and gain in th' End nothing but shame and displeasure, the Rewards of unjust Enterprizes, when they are not happy; They Caused other Mines to play, and pressed the Duke of Mantoua t' Accept a Recompence for Cassal in the French County or in Cremonois, not Comprehen­ding therein the Citadelle of Cremona, That's to say, That an inde­pendent and absolute Prince, as he Was in his Country, They would have made him in another Countrey their Subject or their Dependent, and offered him in Exchange, a Limited Revenue, and Lands liable to be taken at all hours, for a Soveraignty above price, and a fortress al­most Impregnable.

And the great pressures they have since made, and th' Extream Heat they have since expressed to put a value upon the pretences of the Princess of Stigliana to Sabionere, was not to leave her the free disposition of that place, But to keep it under her Name, and to make it serve as a Bridle and as a Citadelle to three or four Neighbour-states, in the midst whereof, 'tis Inclosed; Did they not also in a strange Manner protect the Prince of Monaco 'gainst the pretensions and Designs of the Genoese to that Principality? And in What did that protection at last Terminate but in an heavy and severe yoak which oppressed him, and compelled him to shake it off, to cast himself into th' Arms of a more just power and more humane domi­nation? Such and the like Examples, which I could bring in great Number, make a sufficient Discovery of the Genius of that Nation, and of the boundless Avarice, which transports them openly to Ceize upon other Mens Lards, or with subtilty to Enter upon them by a breach or postern gate.

Seventh Discourse.
The second Rule which a Prince ought t' observe in Relieving of his Friends.

THat notwithstanding, what hath been said; A Prince that undertakes a War for the Love of his Neighbour may Law­fully pretend t' a Reembursement of part of his Charges, If the per­son whom he relieves hath sufficient Means, and may take Cautio­nary Towns for the security of his Disbursements, or for the Retrait of his Troops, or for Engagement of the Faith and Constancy of his Neighbour: For truly, 'tis very just, That who spares not his own blood nor the life of his subjects to secure his friend from servitude, should find Him liberal of the goods and substance of his subjects to [Page 35]preserve in some sort his Protector from dammage, and pay willing­ly some of the Charges for the Remedies that save his Life; My mea­ning is, in Case it may Conveniently be done, and that th' estate re­lieved hath not been so much plundred and emptied of victuals and Riches that little remains for life and sustenance, and that the least Emanation would serve to make it yield up the Ghost and force it to th' Extremity of th' Evil against which it took up Arms; Other­wise, th' Aid given Would not be so much a civil Charity, as the Supercery of a Robber and of a Pyrate. And by killing the sick per­son to draw away his disease. When Matters are in that Conditi­on, a Prince ought to Content himself with the glory that shall re­bound upon his Name and Conduct in protecting his Neighbour from oppression, and with the benefits that redound to his states in breaking the designs, and hindring the growth of an Ambitious Ma­ster, wh' having devoured the Meaner, would infallibly thrust at the greater persons, and respects his first victories but as Means and brid­ges to pass hikm over to new Conquests.

I say the same, and for the same Reasons of those States that have but one fortress, wherein all their safety Consists and all their hopes; It may be received and kept till th' End of the War, as a bridle and a security for the faith of him to whom the Relief is given, but not to be r [...]teined after the Peace, for the Charges have been laid out to Conserve and hold it; for that were t' exact the life of a Man, for having furnished him with Victuals, and speaking generally, To seek th' End for the price and Reward of the Means which have been Contributed to produce it. And the Prince ought to secure t' his power the Land and goods of his friends Subjects, Whereof he is not Proprietary but the Dispensor and Steward, and is bound to hus­band them with more Circumspection and retention than his own Lands and Goods.

'Tis then an Act of singular prudence and a Maxim of subtle po­licy to take hold of some important place for security of the Moneys that shall be Lent and advanced for th' Affairs of Allyes or Friends; The Venetians have often practised this prudence, and many good pawns have remained in their hands for Want of Redemption, and and th' Owners have been at last Constrained to pass unto them the Revenue and Inheritance. So did Queen Elizabeth of England, when after the Defection of th' Hollanders from their Obedience to Spain, she relieved them with Money and Men, and received Flush­ing, Brill and Ramachin in deposite, till she should be reembursed of the moneys lent them, which did not happen till the Reign of King James, her successor, 'Tis to b' ignorant of King-Craft and t' offend shamefully against th' Art of Reigning, not to demand places for the Retreit of his Troops in case of Disgraces, and to want an Haven for Harbout, when the Wind is Contrary. The Necessity of this is En­tire and inevitable, to retain by that Bond, and hold with that An­chor, the Will of them, who are relieved, lest they Change and [Page 36]faulter after Engagement, and leave us to the mercy of Winds and Waves, and Accept without our Consent Advantagious Conditi­ons that may be offered them, in fear of our Armes, and to disingage them from our Allyance. The French have often struck against this rock for want of Care, and have fallen into these Ambushes for want of foresight; It cannot be believed, how often their facility and ex­cessive freeness have drawn infidelities and Defection from them, who did not seek our Protection or implore our Aid, but t' agree with their Enemies to greater advantage, and to make at our charges and under the shadow of our Armes a more Honourable peace. This Unhappiness happened twice to Henry the second, and Octavus Duke of Parma, whose defence the King undertook against th' Em­perour and the Pope, who would have reduced the Duke to his shirt, made his peace with them without his Majesties knowledge and par­ticipation. And in the League which Henry made with th' Elector Maurice and th' other Confederates of Germany against Charls the fifth; The King having intelligence of their Treaty of Accommoda­tion, and seen Evidences thereof, which th' Elector contrived t' our Disadvantage, was compelled to decline the faults he had begun in accepting of Ostages, instead of Places, and to ceize upon the City of Mets, with the consent of the Bishop and people, as shall be dis­covered in the Treaty of Monarchy, for his security against the Ger­mans, who came to fall upon him, and to stop the Torrent was ready t' over-flow his Kingdome.

The present Elector of Saxe a most Worthy Branch of Maurices Blood, and a true sprout of such a stock, did not degenerate from the faith of his Parent; For hee did not onely imitate by the peace of Prague, the supercery that was done us, at the peace of Passau, but the Coppy surpassed th' Original, and without finding such advantagi­ous Conditions as th' others were; He did not onely abandon the two Crowns, which had spilt so much blood, and consumed so great Treasure for the Liberty of Germany, but conspired against them, and Consented to fight them, who Laboured Earnestly to Deliver the Captives from the Chains they seemed to be in Love with, or to compel them to Happiness who had not the Courage to be happy; However, 'Tis certain, that the fair peace of Prague, wherein th' Ac­cepters of it believed to be secure without running the danger of lo­sing themselves, as in the Continuation of the War they made to th' House of Austria, had not been concluded, if the two Crowns had not engaged in th' affairs of that Countrey; And th' Emperor Had not Accorded unto them that respite from their ruine, if H' had e­steemed himselfe powerfull or happy enough to resist at one Time their forces and Ours; That if th' Interessed Persons are the better for it, and are at shelter from the Tempest they feared, they d'ow us th' obligation, which they have very ill acknowledged; That if their Peace be Captious and unsetled, as 'tis, and if they have need, as there's no Question of a General peace, which is the seal of the Security and [Page 37]Duration of particular Persons. 'Tis also from the two Crowns, they ought principally to receive that good, and 'tis from them that the Perfectest Cure ought to be made of the German body, Instead of those Lucid Intervalls, which particular Treaties do produce, and of those deceitfull Recoveries which give Ease for some time to the sick Person; but take not away the Cause nor the Root of the Dis­ease. 'Tis for this Reason, that they Act with so much Contest and Heat; that they raise such great Armies, and support so great an ex­pence; and they may be assured that Armes will never be laid down till the Work b' Accomplished; That they have not made so great expences to lose them; And How painfull soever the Cariere be wherein they are ingaged, They will never stay till they have past through it; And either all Apparences are false, or the time is not far off, and Christendome will very shortly see a Discovery of the good it desires, though it have yet some Convulsion fits to suffer, and the Light it expects, will quickly appear, though it hath also some sha­dows to disperse, and Clouds to dissolve.

Th' Easiness spoken of hath not been pernicious to the French a­lone but also to the Dutch; They have been also mistaken in their March into this Kingdome upon the single faith of its confederates; And if that Prodigious Army of Reiters which marched to Over-run our Nation under the Conduct of the Duke of Bovillon and the Ba­ron of Dona, had surprized some strong place; It had not been so ill handled, as it was, in its Retrait, nor Feasted the plains with so ma­ny Dead bodies, as it left there; It had been at least admitted to Capitulation for the safety of its Return, and for a part of the Money which had been promised in rendring what it held to its Lawfull Master.

The Queen of England, of whom W' have already spoken, was much better Advised, and her Conduct more prudent, when she would not open her Purse not Command her Army t' enter France in favour of the Prince of Conde, Till h' had put Havre of Grace into her power, and delivered up that famous Haven, to give her En­trey at pleasure into this Kingdome. 'Tis true, That I cannot ex­cuse the pretence, whereby she seemed to receive it, nor approve of the Declaration she published, That it was not to break Amity with the Kings, with whom she desired t' entertain a good Correspon­dency, that she had Commanded it to be taken; but to take it out of th' hands of his Rebell Subjects, who might keep it t' his preju­dice, and to Conserve it for him, during his Minority, and till he might Act personally in his Affairs, and hold th' Helm of his state in his own hands, which was handled by persons who were not, as she said, Prudent enough or Well enough disposed.

This Playster was too gross, and this Masque too visible to Cover and disguise so visible an Usurpation, and the Councel of the King had reason to declare her fallen from the Conditions of the Treaty of Cambray in Relation to the business of Calais, since sh' had vio­lated [Page 38]it in aiding the Rebels t' his Majesty; and that sh' had been the Receiver of places, which they had taken from him. The Duke of Savoy, Grand-father to the present Duke, endeavoured t' exercise the like Charity towards Henry the Third, and render the same good Office to the Crown, when h' had seized upon the Marquisate of Saluces, for fear, as He said, lest Esdiguieres should prevent him, and untill the Troubles, which troubled us, were appeased, and that our Civil Tempests were allaid. The late King paid him that Charity, as a Debt of the Crown, so soon as h' attained it, and made him see, that Great Princes know how to force Little Princes to b' honest in spight of their subtleties, and t' ease them better than any Persons of the world, of th' Obligation they are under to make Restitution of unjust Acquisitions. The Method then spoken of, and for the Rea­sons alleged, to require places, hath been at all times familiar with Princes, who know how to Reign, and particularly with the Spaniards. But if the Duke of Parma demanded no place, the first Incursion he made into France, and marched to secure Paris from th' Armies of the late King, without seeking any place of Security for his Retreat, but in the Forces He commanded; it was for a more important Rea­son; 'twas to blind the world by that shew of Liberty; 'twas to leave an Impression that his Master sent him, not to fish, as 'tis said, in our Troubles, and to make benefit of our Disorders, as many mur­mured within and without the Kingdom, but onely to drive away Heresie, or at least t' hinder th' Ascent of it to the Throne, where none but the True Religion ought to sit, as He made a solemn Oath in the great Church of Meaux in the Name of King Philip. But he drew not long that breath of Generosity, and could never be per­swaded to come to the Relief of Roven, till the Fere was delivered unto him and put into his Custody, which assured his Entry into the Kingdom and his going out. As to the rest, the sequel of time and course of affairs made it appear, that Philip made him take a false Oath, and had deceived his General to make him deceive others. The Duke of Sessa declared it sufficiently at Rome, when He could not hinder th' Absolution of the late King, nor his Re-union to th' Holy Chair, the Center of the Church; He protested against it, as prejudicial to the Pretensions his Master had upon France, and the Charges expended to conserve Religion, and expel Heresie. It was therefore to the Spaniard an extraordinary Case, and an Exception to their general Rule, which they seldom break; as the proceeding of the Duke of Parma in his first Expedition into France. For they have such an unsatiable Appetite after other mens Goods and Lands, and are so violently transported with that Passion, that they have not excepted th' Holy Chair, even at such times as they made a shew to relieve it. In th' Heat of th' Interdict at Venice, and when the Marquis of Veillane, Ambassador at Rome for the Catholick King, had oblig'd the Pope to cast himself into th' Hands of his Master, and t' accept of his Protection, amongst the things he demanded of his Masters be­half [Page 39]for the Relief He promised him, which was but in Paper, and for that Evidence of Good, which was but in Ostentation; what He most insisted upon was, that Ferrara should be delivered t' his Master for the Retreat of his Army by Land, and Ancona for his Army by Sea; and the Count of Fuentes, who breathed nothing but Fire and Sword, and was the principal Promoter of the Troubles, had the boldness to demand Charbonnieres, of the Duke of Savoy, who was not interressed in the Quarrel, as he said, t' hold the Key of the Passage by which Esdiguiere might descend to the Relief of the Republique.

Eighth Discourse.
That the Conduct which the King hath observed in the Relieving of his Allies, is full of Moderation and Generosity; That the Conduct of some other Princes of this Age is not the same.

THis Subject may be wonderfully cleared and beautified by the Relation of the Conduct which hath been observed by four different Princes of this Age in the Relief of their Allies. The Man­ner is very different, though it hath been exercised upon the same Matter, and in the course of the same business, the troubles of Ger­many. Though there was no Power in Christendom uninteressed in that affair, and that did not represent some Person in that famous Tragedy. 'Tis certain, that the King of France, of Spain, of Swede, and the Duke of Bavaria, have appeared in them with more glory than others, and that their Policy was not less eminent than their Arms. But search being to be made in the third part into the most secret Motions, wherewith these Princes have acted, and what their Cabinet-Counsels have infused, of the most particular and remarka­ble considerations in that long and sharp War, I will beseech the Reader, to suspend his curiosity to that Edition, which shall follow this immediately. And we shall see, that Spain never moved but upon the same foot, and never sailed but with the same Winds of Am­bition and Particular Profit; That the French motions have been sometimes Slow and Irresolute, and sometimes Quicker, and directed to the General good of the Christian Common-wealth. But that the publick good was always its principal Mark, and th' ultimate End proposed in its Interventions and Arms.

As to the King of Swede, He could not truly with better Judgment or Symetry adjust the design he had formed for the Relief of Ger­many, and to take off the grievous Fetters th' House of Austria had imposed upon it, Th' Innate spirit of a Conqueror considered, or to make his spirit serve the Relief under a more specious and plausible conveniency. Consider him then in this High and Difficult Exercise, from his Landing in th' Haven in the Island of Usdome to the Plain of [Page 40] Sutzen, where he lost his Life without leaving the Victory t' his Enemies, who took his Life from him. The boldness of his Treaty with the Duke of Pomerania, t' establish himself in his Country, shall be represented, the valiant Artifice h' used to cause Spomdau to be put into his hands by the Marquis of Brandenburge; And after that Tilly, a famous Captain, was entred with strong hand into the Coun­tries of the Duke of Saxe, and had promised to that Elector, unless he would be of the Party, t' expound unt' him the mystical sense of that saying, familiar with Charls the 5^th, Wh' is not with m' is against me. Consider the Prudence the King of Swede made use of in this oc­casion, by raising advantage from th' inevitable Necessity th' Elector of Saxe had of his Virtue and Fortune, against so fortunate and great a Captain as assaulted him.

At last, after that by gain of the Battel at Lipsick, and by the De­feat of th' old Troops of the League, H' had forced all th' Obstacles, and taken away all the Barriers, which hindred to penetrate into Germany, and th' Imperial Cities opened unt' him their Gates at contest, and the Princes of th' Empire crowded to b' on his side; It shall be seen how he gave them the Law, for whom he gained Li­berty, and imposed a kind of yoke, which in time would have become heavy, and began to be born with jealousie. This kind of Policy truly is not the custom of all Princes, and enters as seldom into the Train of th' affairs of the world, as it ariseth rarely from Conquerors, and from those extraordinary Persons, who come as the King of Swede did, to chnage the face of things.

As to the Duke of Baviere, this praise is not to be denyed him, That being skilful in th' Art of making War, he gave not place t' any Prince of his Age in the Science of the Cabinet Councel; and that Germany hath not born of a long time, more dextrous and knowing Persons, to give Motions to those secret Wheels and invisible En­gines, which stir and cause to turn, what is most Heavy and most Immoveable in th' Affairs: And since his Art and manner of Acting may be reduced more commodiously into Practice, and drawn int' Imitation, than that of the King of Swedes, a longer and more parti­cular stay shall be made upon his Conduct, than upon that of the King of Swedes; and all the Draughts and Proportions for th' Instru­ction of other Princes and their Ministers of State; the divers Persons he personated, and the different faces wherewith he disguised him­self t' attain his Ends, and to maintain the posture gained by his In­dustry, shall be fully discovered; how he raised himself to th' Electorat, and maintained it, notwithstanding the Spanish Jealousie, th' Op­position of England, the Contradiction of the Protestant Electors, and the Resistance also of th' Imperial Constitutions.

In giving frequent Jealousies to th' House to Austria by th' Hold he seemed to take of France, and then joyning more strictly with th' Empire, and tying the knot of their Conjunction the stronger t' his advantage, H' often prevailed over it; H' holds the power of it [Page 41]to this day, without being holden by it, and hath so blended his In­terests with theirs, that he can sever them when he pleaseth, and that he will do, when 'tis no longer good for him, or that it will be better in another place for his affairs.

When he was delivered by the death of the King of Swede of the greatest danger h' had run, and of the most furious Tempest that ever threatned him, He believed, that h' had no cause to fear any future ill times, and to speak the truth, so long as th' English were content to make Generous Deliberations, and to send Magnificent Embassies in favour of the Palatine House, it would not b' easie for that Duke to part willingly with what h' had received, not to depart with, but by th' highest violence of ill fortune; and the Necessity must be strong, if he could find no means of delivery from it, and all the Gates strongly shut upon him, if he did not escape at some Postern door.

As to France, to speak again one word thereof, and so permit some Draughts of her proceedings to pass by; it shall be represented entire and wholly, such as it stood in the divers occurrences of the Troubles; She will appear in their Birth and Progress as Mediatrix of the Quarrel, and Cause of the Conclusion of the Peace at Ulms, which had re-established th' affairs of Germany, and restored to th' Empire its first Countenance, If they to whom it served for shel­ter and plank of safety, had not broken it, and oppressed by surprise them, who believing themselves out of danger by the conclusion of the Treaty, and under the shadow of publick Faith, were unpre­pared for defence. Since that time, its action at Languy, and its Cares, have been faint in the behalf of Germany, and the Cabinet Contests, to which the frequent changes of the Ministers of State did ever con­tribute some obstructions to their resolutions, and the fire which the factious Religionaries kindled easily in its bowels, hindred the re­lief, till the Mantouan War was ended; then truly it began to return with warm thoughts and cares; and th' Experience gain'd in Italy, and the present constitution of things, having given her t' understand, that the Septentrion Wind was onely to b' apprehended in relation t' her self and Allies, She resolved t' assault the Spring of th' Evil, and to set, as 'tis said, th' Ax to the root of the Disorder, and t' act vigorously in that behalf, and to make its first attempt eminent in the Dyet of Ratisbonne; And that as France knew to make use of th' occasion of the King of Swedes entry into Germany, whither the Princes of that Country, suffering, or fearing oppression, had call'd him; as since of the Treaties that Charnasse made at Berwalde with the King of Swede, even to the Renewing of th' Alliance with the Swedes, which Sir of Avaux made the year before at Hambourge; so she hath t' admiration, and with great dexterity managed two Inte­rests. The first that most possest her spirit, was that of the Church and Holy things, which it espoused with hot and constant zeal. Whereupon I dare boldly say, that I hope to make it appear, there, [Page 42]and in other places, That the true Reasons of State do not justle the Maxims of Religion; and that the same Authority which hath put a distinction betwixt the Secular and Ecclesiastick Powers, would have them bound up together in Amity, and their hands stretched out to th' aid of one another; That a wise Prince ought never per­mit their Harmony to be broken, nor the bounds, which sever, to be confounded. In the troubles of Christendom, and mixture of Par­ties of different Religions, which tear it in pieces, the King had not onely the care to put in safety the Catholique Interests, and to secure th' Holy Places and Sacred Persons, against th' Enterprises of such men as might have violated them; but his Conduct may be found less prudent, since for his Love to the Church he'th sometimes quitted th' advantages, which he might have assumed with a good consci­ence, and was firm for the good of Religion in all things, where he might have safely taken his Liberty for the good of his Affairs, had he not strongly believed, that the small prejudice he did himself would be plentifully repaired by God, who suffers not a glass of wa­ter given in his Name to pass unrewarded; and would not onely ac­company with his Blessings the justice of his Arms, but also crown his Piety and the Passion had for the things which relate unt' his Service; And to consider the Greatness and Number of them, which he had undertaken, and the long course of Affairs which had enter­tained him, It may be truly said, That a Prosperity less interrupted hath been seldom seen, nor a Reign that hath received from Heaven more propitious and favourable Aspects.

I dare als' affirm a second Truth, which adorns the Kings Reign with a particular Glory, and promise to make it out clearly, That w' have not onely made faithful Societies with our Neighbours, but protected th' interests of them, whom we were bound to protect; and have exceeded our Limits, and in some Cases, the King may b' accused t' have been Indulgent to the Business of Strangers, and too little sensible of the Necessities of his Subjects; were it not, that from the Good of his Allies Success, he makes an inevitable refle­ction of Good upon his own Affairs, and that in diverting the loss of his Neighbours, he conserves the Borders of his Country, and hin­ders th' Invasions of his Enemies; And were there no other Reasons, than that th' Evils and Sufferings of his Subjects might the sooner de­termine, as the Seeds of a permanent Prosperity, and to re-build the Temple of Peace, which was shaken, and trembled for fear of Ruine; it was necessary, that the War should precede that Holy and ad­mirable Edifice; That in the Tragique and Common Misery which makes Christendome to groan, the King hath this Consolation, That the Guilty are the sole Authors of unjust Wars, and that the Fire­brands are justly punish'd, but such are not to be condemned who suffer losses in the flames. But God and the World know, the De­faulters in the Quarrel, which at this day do exercise Christians; that the King engaged in it as an Assistant, and if his good Offices and [Page 43]Prayers had been able to resist the Violence which acted upon his Allies, h' had never drawn his Sword to defend them. And I will shew, that although all Christendom may witness, and his Allies taste the fruits of his Labours and Charges for their safety; since He was compelled to procure it by his Arms; He may be blamed with too great a Retention, and with too slow a Resentment for th' In­juries received in their Person, before he could resolve to repell them by force; He may be blamed, I say, for it, if the fear of avoiding and drawing upon his Subjects the Consequences of a War be blame­worthy, or not willingly to descend int' an Abysse, from whence there's no ascent at pleasure, or to take the Flayl of Gods Anger in hand, whose stroaks fall without distinction upon all sorts of persons, and strike down equally th' Innocent with the Nocent.

The Reader will excuse, if he please, this light Digression, which may not be disagreeable to him, and this little Interposition, which may give him some taste, and serve him for an Essay of what is pre­pared for him in abundance and bounty in the Sequel of this Work; And that he may judge of th' Equity and Freedom of the King's pro­ceedings towards his Allies, whom He defends and protects, I will here say a word of his Generosity in the behalf of one of his Neigh­bours, whom h' had obliged t' his Power to be's Friend, wh' hath not omitted any Acts of Hostility against the King, and to ren­der him all proofs of Hatred; and though he was engaged in many formed Conspiracies against France, and that it had no secret or pub­lick Enemy, with whom He'd not declared or had Intelligence; and though he was guilty, as all the world knows, of breaking many Treaties, and of many Attempts made against France; yet so soon as he made shew of Repentance, and t' abjure the contrary Party, the King opened his Arms unto him, and re-established him in his Estates, with exception onely t' a few Fortresses, which the King would not commit to the Faith of so changeable a Prince, and to the flux and reflux of th' humours that perpetually agitated his Soul; That if this Prince was hardned in th' habitude of failing; and if th' acknowledgment of good received, nor hope of what was pro­mised after the War, could retain him in his Duty, nor stop his moveable Spirit, there's great cause highly to praise the Kings Mo­deration and his magnanimous Spirit, in rendring Voluntarily what he might Lawfully have kept; And there's no cause t' accuse him of Facility and Imprudence, for being deceived, for that he made judgment of the Duke's Conduct by the Law of his Interest, as the most certain Rule to judge by, that Prudence affords; And there was no reason, that a Person in good condition, and in a way to be better, should destroy himself in a capricious humour, and chuse ra­ther t' Erre once more at the pleasure of another, and of Fortune, and float in th' Incertitude of what He might become, than to rest in a Commodious posture, and enjoy a Safe condition.

Moreover, 'tis of no use to dissemble or to speak but half the [Page 44]truth; Th' Event contrary the Presumptions raised, though very rea­sonable, have not deceived the Kings fore-sight, and the Defection of Duke Charls did not surprize him, but shut up bewixt two Ex­tremes, to run th' hazard of being deceived, or the reproach of the re­jection of him, who did cast himself at his mercy, and implored his clemency, He judged it more honorable for him t' expose his Judg­ment to the first, than second Hazard, and to convince the world by such an infallible evidence, That he could submit t' any thing in or­der to Peace, and for remove of th' Impediments that did obstruct it.

Ninth Discourse.
Whether it b' Expedient t' hazard the Remains of the Forces of a State, to Recover Reputation lost by some Notorious Disgrace; That 'tis not safe t' act alone, or to permit all things to be done b' others in difficult Enterprises.

THings being thus established, as they have been in the former Discourses, a Scruple is to be taken away, and a Difficulty cleared, which enters into the Matter to be treated of, Whether to repair the Reputation ruined by some infamous disgrace, and th' Ho­nour abused by some notorious loss, The Prince ought t' oppose the fortune that oppresseth him, and put all his strength to resist the Ruines of the Violence, and t' hazard what remains of the Wrack, rather than conserve it beaten with ill fortune, and covered with shame. That which most sharpens this Scruple, and gives most co­lour to this Difficulty, is, That the Reputation of th' Affairs of State ought not to be less dear to the Prince, than Honour is t' every Par­ticular honest man; And yet, since all agree, that the Wise as well as th' Ignorant conspire in this Judgment, that Honour is a Good which must be conserved, when 'tis gained, and recovered when 'tis lost, at the charges of Life, and that 'tis better to die Honourably than to live Infamously; Why should not the same Judgment be made upon the Reputation of the State? And will they not believe, That a Prince is obliged to maintain it, and to recover it without any exception of Means, and without reservation of Lands or Lives?

And it may b' observed, that the Reputation now to be spoken of, is different from the two others, already spoken of in the pre­cedent Discourses, and 'tis of another value, and of another im­portance, than the first, whereof mention hath been made, which consists in the sinister Reports scattered b' Enemies, and in th' ill sa­vour they raise against the glory of a Prince, and to the disadvantage of his Affairs, which is not, as hath been said, the Subject of a Just War; though the like offences done to Particular persons, and the like stains imprinted upon their honour, are but to' often the foun­dation and original of their Resentments and Quarrels; which [Page 45]makes it appear, and I will say this by the way, That this sense of Re­putation and Honour, wherewith the most Excellent Men of all Countries, and of all Ages have been touched, and which they 've not only Authorized by their Precepts, but also Confirmed by their Examples, Cannot proceed but from a Spiritual Nature; And this Privilege, which our Soul hath to raise it self above the Matter, and to despise not only the sensible objects which flow from it, but Life it self that Depends upon it, to subsist by that which is not born, but in the thoughts of others, and Conserved only in their memory, suf­ficiently shews, That sh' is of a more Exalted Spirit, and hath a fair­er Birth than the souls of Beasts. To return to th' Objection made, I say, that there's a great Disproportion and a Notable difference be­twixt th' Honour of a Particular person and the Reputation of th' Affairs of State; That in the State, Reputation is a subaltern good to the real force, and a Means, which hath for its End the most Essenti­all powers; That this is th' Health of the body, whereof th' other is but the Colour, and that agreeable Light, which appeares without, from the good Constitution within, & darts into th' Eyes of the Beholders; And 'tis of the same Concernment to a Prince, as I've formerly said, what Credit is to Merchants in order t' effective Riches; And therefore, as what is Superiour in any order is never abandoned for what is Subaltern, nor th' End for the Means, which are Constituted for its Accomplishment; As to destroy health for beautifying of the face, and t' hazard all our Lands to maintain our Credit, would be Condemned; so a Prince would offend most shamefully against the Laws of Civil Prudence, and be not only a most unjust dispensator, but a very ill Husband of the Powers of the State, to deliver them up wholly to Fortune, and t' expose them wholly to th' uncertain and unfaithful Lot of Arms; To support the sinking Reputation of Affairs, or to raise it when 'tis fallen to the ground, all he can do in Gene­ral, and what he ought to do, if he be dextrous for th' Interest of the Reputation of Affairs, 'Tis t' Imprint in Men a great Opinion of his Virtue and Fortune; To give as much as he can Relief and day to the good Successes shall befall him; And t' Imitate Romulus, whom Titus Livius commends for his Admiral Address and Incomparable Grace in giving Value t' all his Actions; And to raise it in the least part of his Greatness and Power. What Advantages will arise to the State from such Apparances dextrously managed, and from that light dispersed Artificially abroad; What great Respect and Confidence in Friends these superficial things created from Opinion do produce, cannot fully b' expressed, and t' Enemies of Reservation and fear; As of what great Importance 'tis, to sick States, for preventing th' obstructions of Recovery, and of Restitution t' Health, That it be believed they are in Health, and have also Forces for defence against Assaults, The two Principal parts of the Greatness of a State. But when Power and Reputation meet in Conjunction, and that some Notable Diminution of th' one, or th' other is to be suffered; 'Tis [Page 46]better endured in the last, which may alwayes Spring again, and re­take its Glory, so long as the first shall subsist, but cannot long sur­vive the Ruine of th' other; nor stay long above ground after its fall; And truly, 'tis not a New thing or Extraordinary to see Vicissitudes in the Reputation of Princes and States; There's nothing more fre­quent in the World, and there was never State that hath not suffered some Eclipse, and been Assaulted with some Ill success, that hath in­terrupted the Course of his Glory; But there may be a Resurrection when the Fall is on that side; A spot Imprinted in the Reputation of Affairs, is not a Spot that cannot be taken out; The first Considera­ble good Fortune that happens doth Efface it; And a Tree, which Winter hath stript of its Leaves, and left Naked, renews in Beauty and Flourisheth, as before, if it thrust out other Leaves.

But it seems that some Corruption is permitted in that part, That a fairer Generation may put forth; And 'tis certain, that the Glory, of the Romans, was Livelier and more Entire, in that the Victory, after the loss of three Battails, and the sight of Hannibal at the Gates of Rome, remained unto them upon the Carthaginians, than if they 'd stopt them upon the Borders of Rhone, or at th' Entry of th' Alpes.

The Defeat of Quintilius Varus by th' Almans was not s' infamous to the Reign of Augustus, as the Revenge which Germanicus took, was honourable to the Reign of Tiberius, The Virtue of the Repub­lique of Venice, was more admired, and did Dart out fairer Rayes, in their Return from the greatest stroak it received at Gyradade, Than if it had not received it; and in rising to its Ancient greatness, than if it had not fallen. And without flattering of the Kings Reign, and the present Administration, It may be said, That if it hath sometimes hap­ned, yet but rarely, that some small storm of Disgrace hath fallen up­on the Long Prosperity that accompanied his Armes; And if the Commanders have not alwayes Happily Commanded them; For­tune hath so ordained it, as well to conserve by those high Accidents the Right sh' hath upon all humane Actions, As to make the power of the State the better to be known, which was not shaken by sha­kings that had overthrown other States; And to make the Prudence, the Boldness, and Activity of the Conduct of the King and of his Mi­nisters of State t' appear with the more Lustre and Glory; who al­wayes made th' advantages the Common Destiny of War had given them, unprofitable to th' Enemies; who alwayes cut off the Wings of their Victory, and hindred them from Flying over the Limits of the same Field, where they gained it; And have so shut it up in the midst of a great Number of Good successes that preceded and fol­lowed on our part, That it may be said in some sort, that it hath Dis­appeared and vanished away, as if there had been no Victory. Before handling of th' other branch of Comparison proposed in the begin­ning of this Discourse, which is the sense of Particular Persons in re­lation to their Honour; Two other very Important Maxims shall b' [Page 47]added to what hath been already said in Relation to the Reputation of the State ; The first, That there are some points of Reputation Ambiguous, or Contested, and some Delicacies of Honour not suf­ficiently Cleered, or which are Called in Question, whereupon a Prince or his Ministers of State ought not to Contest opinionately, nor to debate Violently, when there's no Question then made of it, and that some Affairs are to be Treated and Concluded, As a Peace, an Alliance of bloud, or a League, &c. For then Endeavours must b' used to slide upon them with Dexterity, and handle those Thorns without pricking the Fingers. Queen Elizabeth of England did the like upon the Contest that hapned at Bolognia, betwixt the Spanish Ambassadour and Hers, for the Precedency. Th' Expedient found was to Treat by Writing, and by Proposals, and Reciprocal Answers. The same Moderation was observed in the Conference of Vervins betwixt or Ambassadours and those of Spain, Ours were lodged there in such a Manner, that w' had reason to believe, That the Right, Justice and the Prescription of Time out of mind had given us, was preserved unto us, and there remained to the Spaniards some Appa­rance and shadow, I know not what, t' hide and Cover the Disad­vantage they had received in th' unjust Pretension that torments them upon that Subject, and entred into their Spirits with the design of U­niversal Monarchy.

But when there's no Cause to pass beyond it, or to labour for some Treaty necessary to the publique good; Great Care must be taken of the Byassed Men, and to lose Nothing of those Rights in matters of Importance; The Dignity of the State must not directly or obliquely be put to Reference, nor a Pretension of Equality admitted where the Superiority hath been gained. Such was the practice of Pibrac and Ferrier at the Council of Trent, who chose rather to Retire than t' Assist at a Ceremony, where Precedency before the Spanish Ambassa­dour was not fully Accorded unto them, nor their Dignity sufficient­ly acknowledged; And at the Wedding of the King of Denmarks Son some years past, Sir of Avaux the Kings Ambassadour to that Grown, Prudently Rejected and without Reserve, All the proposed Means that left in the least Jealousie the Precedency claim­ed by him without Difficulty and Modification, above the Spanish Ambassadour.

It must not therefore be forgot here; That there are sometimes lit­tle Delicacies and Formalities of Nothing, whereon th' Agents of Princes our friends do ketch, and for which they cause Disorders; And are the Cause, that whilst they amuze themselves in the Cleer­ing and Debating of them, much time is lost to the prejudice of th' Affairs of their Masters. And that the secret Acrimonies which have taken Root in th' Hearts of those Agents, hold them alwaies di­vided, and occasion, that a good and sincere Correspondence is ne­ver formed amongst them; That fierce and proud Spirits are subject to fall into these Inconveniencies, and particularly, when they begin t' [Page 48]Act, and at th' Entrey to their Imployments, they will publish it by some thing of Noise, and to gain Reputation by some Novelty, that obligeth the World to turn their Eyes towards them, and to speak of their Administration; But the Dextrous and Wise Men will divert, as much as may be, those stones of Offence, and avoid them, against which their Fortune may break and make Shipwrack; And to speak generally, they ought not t' Engage, if it may b' avoi­ded with Honour, their Masters in any Trouble, but Conceive that they have business enough on Foot without making of New mat­ters, and Quarrels enough that arise from th' Incounters and mix­ture of things they do Manage, without th' Interposition of any Evil Humours, or of th' Imprudent or Undiscreet Conduct of their Am­bassadours.

The second Maxim is, That the Love of a great Reputation, or the desires of great Profits, ought not so strongly to Possess or Trans­port us, as in Difficult and Long Enterprises t' act All for to gain All; And t' admit of no Companion; To be free from sharing the Glory of the Success, or to Divide with any Person the Conquest, which they would reserve to themselves. On the Contrary, It ought ever to be Conceived, That in th' Affairs of Great Importance too much Safety cannot b' used to make their Business prosper, or too many work-Men hyred to fix a Design, a thousand unexpected Ac­cidents may Cross, and which Fortune hath a thousand Inventions to Destroy, and to Convert into smoak. I should never finish, if I did report all th' Experiences the World hath made, and all th'Exam­ples History relates of this Important Truth; There's no need of go­ing from the present Time, nor from th' Affairs of Europe, to find out Lively and Sensible Instances; There's before our Eyes, what passed this year in Germany, which cannot be Newer; And to go a little high­er, if after the death of the King of Swede, and the Loss of that Incom­parable Prince, from whose Discipline did issue no less Famous Cap­tains, nor in less Number, than from the Discipline of Alexander the Great, The Swedes had Acted with France in better Corresponden­cy, Their good Successes which began to Decline in Alsatia by the raising of the Siege of Constance, and Blocking up of Brisac, had not expired at Nortlinghen; And it had not been restored to the point of Elevation, where 'tis seen, without the perfect Intelligence now Entred into with this Kingdom. I pass by that Inordinate sense which strikes the persons of Courage to a contrary Apprehension, whereof the Wise are sometimes sick by too much Prudence; and the best way to draw the Figure of a Virtue perfectly, and to represent it to the Life, is to Consider that she is lodged betwixt two Extremes, and to be drawn by th' Opposition of two Contraries where she Con­fines.

There are Princes then to be found, who for staying too long from Declaring for a Party in Communication of Interests and Fortune, and in Contenting themselves by giving a secret Heat and a faint and [Page 49]oblique aid, see them at last fall; Whence it falls out, That they are bound t' oppose themselves alone to the progress of the Contrary party, and to the course of a Prosperity difficult to restrain, as t' hin­der th' Over-running of all that should oppose it, and to stop its Im­petuosity and Violence; This truly happens but too often; but if from the beginning, and when the forces of both parties were ballan­ced, They had Joyned theirs, to them they favoured in secret and un­der-hand, There's no Question but they had Carried it, and had made the Ballance to fall on the side they desired to have it fall.

I will explain my thoughts by a Memorable example. A conspi­racy was formed some years past by the Barons of the Kingdome of N [...]ples against Ferdinand th' Old and the Duke of Calabria his Son, who acted Jonytly with his Father in the Government of that Coun­try; The Duke of Lorrain by Reason of the pretensions he had upon that Kingdome, and the Pope to whom th' Ambition of those two Princes was in Jealousie, and their greatnesse odious, Joyned in the Consederacy. The Republique of Venice wounded with the Popes passion, and whom th' Arragons apprehended as the greatest obsta­cle and strongest Barrier to the Designes they had in Italy, would not, nevertheless, Embarque with the Barons of the Kingdome, nor Enter into the League with the Confederate Princes, but made Choice of a Temper, which prospered not, and of a middle Way, that at last was fatal unto Venice. The Republique discharged from their service Robert of Saint Severin, a Captain of great Name and of great Me­rit, and a part of those Troops, which she suffered him to take, and some Money she gave him under-hand to pay them, and t'hinder that great body of Men of War to dissolve till the Republique had taken party. I will say, on this occasion, That 'tis to be seen from hence, That this manner so much in use in making War, without declaring of it, and t' exercise Acts of Hostility, under the Vizard of Newtral Persons, Is not an Invention of these modern dayes, nor an Artifice peculiar to th' House of Austria, though they make use of it more than any other Princes; But it Comes from an Ancienter Date, and descends from an higher and older spring. In this Equipage then, and with this Masque, Saint Severin offered his service to the Pope, by order from the Republique, and was ordained chief Commander of th' Armies of the Church, and Principal Director and first Instrument of that War. But that which usually happens to the greatest part of Leagues, specially, when they are Composed of weak Numbers, hap­ned to this; Lorraines Army marched late in th' year and out of sea­son, during which Time the Forces of the Barons and of the Pope were ill handled, Innocent. 8. and th' Activity used by the Duke of Calabria in his March to find his Enemies, who were not half Ready nor Well drawn together, and the good success he had against Saint Severin, who left in that War a part of the Reputation gained in many others, suddenly untied that Chain and broke that League. The Pope was [Page 50]very glad t' hear of an Accomodation, which was desired with heat by th' Arragons and the Barons, except the Prince of Saleme, who stood inflexible, even in ill Fortune, and chose rather to quit the King­dome, than to Live under a Domination he hated, though others Laboured to return to the good Graces of the King and of the Prince.

The Venetians, observing that th'Effort of that League against th' Arragons had served only to make them the more powerfull, and that th'Engines framed t' over-throw, had re-inforced them, knew the Fault they had Committed in not being of the party, and after an un­successfull solicitation of the Pope and of the Duke of Lorrain to re­new it, did resolve t' oppose singly the growth of Ferdinands power and of his Sons, and to put a Bridle to th' Ambition of those Princes which did over-flow without Measure.

This Consideration now represented, invites me t' another, which is not far off, and may b' annexed without Violence, That there are also some Princes, who loving too much their Ease, or fearing too much the Charges, will alwaies stand Newters betwixt two parties, that make War, and be immoveable spectators of their Actions; Though they have a Considerable Interest, That th' one fall not, and that th' other become not the Master. The Reasons wherewith these Princes, whom I suppose powerfull, do support their Judgments, and flatter their Proceedings, are these; That if the party who Labours for their Interests receives ill Entertainment from Fortune, and be­comes assaulted with some great Disgrace, They shall come in time to relieve him, and that with the scattered pieces of their Over­throw, which must be Considerable, and with his fresh and Entire forces, shall not only make the Counterpoile of th' Enemies powers, aw [...]ary of their long Marches, and even tyred with the gained Victo­ry, but be able also to reduce them to Reason, and Confine them to Limited bounds; That in the mean time they spare their Men, and make a stock of moneys Open to their Subjects Commerce, that will be Shut t' Others, and enrich them with their substance and spoyles; That if he to whom they desire good, obtains it, and have th' Heavens favourable and Fortune propitious, They shall Enjoy th' Effects of their good success, without Contributing any thing to it, and have their part of th'Harvest, without sowing of any seeds.

This truly, hath some shew of good sense, and is a specious Man­ner that hath Cheated some Politiques, who practise or Counsell it; As for me, I cannot Apoprove of it, and what Colour of profit at first sight, it presents, or flash of Prudence it may Cast, 'Tis Certain that it ordinarily Conceals the Motions and Principles of a great fu­ture Ruine, and hides Evils, which do not appear, and are not disco­vered, but when there's scarce any Remedy; for, as 'tis, a kind of In­justice, and seems to justle the General Law of the World, to desire Goods without giving any thing for them, and to participate of the fruits of another mans pains and expences, without laying out any [Page 51]labours or Charges for them, They, who build upon that Founda­tion, and feed themselves with the Fancy, That they can stop when they please the fury of a Victorious party, have not well Considered the Condition of the Conquered, and the Sequel of a Victory; They do not remember, That they are but the Leven of affrights and Consternations, which infect all that mingle with them; And that a Generall Victory, if it be not forced to languish, but pursued with force and diligence, resembles a Torrent, which makes a Precipice, having forced its resistance, and to the Sea that over-flows, when it hath broken its banks. I leave it to the Judgment of these two Chri­stian powers, wh' have stood Immoveable to this time, and have aided only, as a spectacle prepared for sight, To what hath been done since in Germany and in Italy, If they with whom th' House of Au­stria had to do in that Countrey had fallen, They had been in a state t' have re-established them, and t' have taken the Burthen of Rui­ned and Cast affairs upon them. It must truly b'avowed, That the Constitution of th'humane spirit, is ordinarily so Weak and of so soft a Metall, that it unwillingly resolves t' enter upon difficult En­terprizes though they be necessary, or when it enters timely hath not the Constancy to presevere, and wants Breath to go to th' End and finish the Course.

Tenth Discourse.
Of the difference betwixt th' Honour of Particular persons, and the Reputa­tion of States, And whether the Prince be Master of th' Honour as of the Life and Lands of his Subjects when Publique Necessity requires it.

LEts Come now to th' Honour of Particular persons, and to that sort of Reputation, which is raised in th' opinion of Men, above all, that the greatness of Fortune can give, and the Matter and objects of the Senses, as most Acceptable can contain. By honour, I do un­derstand, the glory which redounds, and the perfume exhaled from th' Exercise of Probity and of th' other duties of every particular Condition, which leave in the spirits of Men a good Impression, and an high esteem of him, who doth practise them. 'Tis the Civil life, exclusive to Beast, and whereby the Reasonable Creatures have a strong Inclination, and a violent Instinct to Live and t'Ennoble their ordinary and natural Being. This kind of life, as formerly observed, hath been in all times the passion of great persons, who have not only preferred it to Pleasure and Riches, but even to the Natural Life. The reason of this difference is; That Honour, being of th' Appur­tenances of Virtue and of her ordinary Train, partakes of the Digni­ty of her Principle, and takes an Impression and Tincture of the same order with her, and of a Superiour value t' all that can be exalted in [Page 52]th'Empire of Fortune, and t'all that can b' attractive in the womb of the World.

I have said, that Honour is of th'Appurtenances and Train of Virtue, because there's not a Nation of so dull and gross intelli­gence, and of so barbarous and barren manners, that esteems not th'Actions of Probity, and commends those inviolable duties, which no Legislator invented, nor any particular Right hath re-establish'd; but a common Nature, and an universal Law have ordained to be rendred to God, to our Neighbour, and t' our selves; That, if in the corruption of the Manners of Society, and in th'unjust distribu­tion of Recompence and of Punishment, Honest Men are loaden with shame, and the Wicked with glory; That Crowns are set up­on th' Heads of Criminal persons, and Thunder broken upon inno­cent Lives; It doth not happen by a publick confession, or open profession made to disgrace Virtue, and give honour to Vice; to judge Vice worthy of Esteem and Veneration, and Virtue of Re­proach and Ignominy; But that in effect, The Colours of th'one and of th'other are disguised and falsifi'd, and their Ensigns transposed; That in making War to Virtue, they seem to pursue Vice with violence, and to do honour to Virtue, when their labour is to erect Statues and Trophees to her Adversary; but there's no example that the most unlimited License, or the most imprudent Calumny of the world ever dared t'assault Virtue in her Name, and under Her Figure, or to procure it pain or shame.

Wherefore, since Virtue hath so much Dignity and Elevation, and that in this life 'tis th'Ultimate End of Man, and Crown of the Faculties and Operations of the Soul; 'Tis no marvel, if Men are not onely taken with her beauty, and the form that constitutes her, but are so sensible also of what toucheth th' outside, and is called Honour, that they prefer it t'all, that is not of its Order and Classis, and had rather suffer Natural Death, than permit the Civil Life to be wounded.

The Reputation of States, is not the same, whereof so often hath been spoken, and it proceeds not from so pure a Spring, and hath not so noble a Birth, as th'Honour of Particular persons: Virtue is not the sole Cause, as of th'other; The greatness of Successes, from whence it ariseth, is no lesse the work of Fortune, than an effect of the Merits of Men; Princes are as formidable for being happy, as for being Valiant; And some Pagans have affected particular Com­merces and secret Communications with some Divinity, to make their Victories the more easie by that belief; And 'tis certain, That th'Honour of Particular persons is preserved many times from the Wrack, which falls upon the Reputation of Publick Affairs. Hani­bal lost nothing of the name of a Great Captain, when he was over­come by Scipio, though the Glory of Carthage was extinguished by that disgrace; The Prince of Conde marched full of Honour out of the lost Battel of St. Quintins, where so great a Breach was made upon [Page 53]the dignity of the French Crown; And th'Admiral of Chastillon boasted, a few days before th' Execution on St. Bartholomew's day, That he had that Advantage of Alexander, and of Julius Caesar, That the loss of four Battels, which had ruin'd or much weakn'd the Re­putation of his Party, had not diminish'd the least of His Reputation. The proportion that may be found, and th' Adjustment to be made betwixt the Reputation of States, and th'Honour of Particular per­sons consists in this, That as the first is but th' Opinion derived, and the noise spread of their greatness and power, in the spirits of Stran­gers; The second also is but th' Impression received, and the fair Re­presentation made of the Virtue and Merits of others; And again, as the Reputation of States, is less Considerable than the power, from whence 'tis derived; That the honour of Particular persons, is infe­riour also in dignity to the Virtue, that is its principle; which carries me to a Consideration a little alienated from my Subject, but no stranger to it, That there's not any corruption which hath so strongly ceized upon Mankind, nor disorder, which doth more universally dis­figure, than this; That though there be but a Few persons in the world, truly Virtuous, and that acquit themselves faithfully of the duties of their condition; yet there are none, but would pass for men of Honour, and are offended when they are accused for such, as they know themselves to be, and if False Evidences are not given in their favour.

Since we are thus far engaged in this matter, and entred into so fair a Field as that of Honour; it will not be amiss to make some pro­gress, and t'agitate a difficulty upon this subject, eminent in the Politicks; Whether Princes are as well Masters of th' Honour of their Subjects, as of their Lands and Lives; And whether they have a Right to make them appear Culpable of some crimes, though Innocent, and to charge infamous disgraces upon their Reputation, though but a few persons are guilty of them, to discharge, from those crimes, the Princes Reputation, of so great importance to ma­ny persons. In th'Affair of Antonio Perez, which gave so great trou­ble to Philip the Second, and made of great a noise over all Europe; Diego Chavez Confessor to Philip, judged it expedient to sacrifize th'Honour and the Person also of Perez to shame and torments, to save the King's Honour, and to divert the dangerous consequences, which would have resulted against the State, if they believed him th'Author of th'Assassinate, executed by his order, and by the dire­ction of Perez, on the person of Escovedo, Secretary to Don John of Austria.

This opinion nevertheless, seems not to me to be sufficiently grounded or coloured; And there's reason, that although th'Autho­rity of a Prince over his Subjects be very large, and much dilated, yet not infinite, and receives exceptions, which limit th'extent of it; And as 'tis certain, that a Prince hath not a Right t'oblige his Sub­jects to violate the Laws of Probity, and to become Perjur'd, Sacri­legious, [Page 54]or Adulterers; so 'tis probable, that he hath not a right to re­quire them to disgrace their Name, and to defame their Memory with dishonour that ariseth from Crimes, much lesse t'expose them, for the salvo of his own Reputation, to punishments and torments, where­with Criminals are punish'd; As Perez was exposed by th'advice of Philip's Confessor. I conceive also, as 'tis unlawful for a King to for­bid his subjects for any cause the duties of Probity, and th'exercise of necessary Virtues; so 'tis not permitted him, to deprive those Virtues of their esteem, being their first and natural Recompense, or to take from them the Lights that guide them, and the Beauty that adorns them, and gives them new graces t'improve their value, and to be­get in others a greater Love and Industry. The foundation of my opi­nion is this, That Soveraigns have ordinarily no other power over their Subjects, than what their Subjects have transferred unto them; nor Right, but such as Soveraigns have received from them; 'tis pro­bable, they did not intend to deliver up unto them the disposition of their Honour, as they submitted unto them their Lands and Lives; nor to disseise themselves, for the Love of Princes, of that fair Possession and rich Inheritance, which they derive and gather from their Virtue; 'Tis confirmed by this Consideration, which seems to me de­finitive, That the Goods and Lives of the People being committed to the protection of Soveraigns, and laid up in the benefits of the protection they owe unto their Subjects, and obligations to watch for their safety, and to preserve them from the Usurpations of cove­tous men, and from the force of violent persons; it was very just, that to acquit themselves of that Duty, and fill up that Obligation, they should be armed with the strength of particular persons, and aided with their riches, that it might be in his power t'imploy a part of them to conserve the rest, and t'expose a few lives for the security of a great number of persons.

But 'tis not the same with the true Honour of Man, and with that just Esteem, which accompanies naturally th' exercise of Probity, and th'other necessary duties of every condition; as it hath no need of the Soveraigns Authority to conserve it, but of the Cause that produce it, and is no more subject to the violence of a Tyrant, than to th'Empire of a just Prince, and whithout the intervention of the Laws, as having Laws that ordained it; 'Tis not, I say, a marvel, if for that consideration, as it enters not into th'End of th' Institu­tion of Soveraigns, so 'tis not compriz'd under th'extent of their Power, and they have no right to sacrifize it to publick necessity, as the Lands and Lives of their Subjects, whose protection and safeguard they have undertaken, and ought of secure it unto them.

In pursuance of this, it may be demanded, Whether Particular persons ought to abandon their Honour for the Publick Interest, and permit it to be sullied by some villanous disgrace, to save the Princes honour, and the Reputation of Affairs; This difficulty, I avow, ap­pears to me so great, that I dare not undertake to decide it, and that [Page 55]on both sides I see so many Reasons, and to such equal force, that they ballance my understanding, and hinder me to take a Side; but I will onely say here, That I have admired in th' Instructions, the Marquis of Bedemar, since called Cardinal of Cueva, left to Lewis Brave, appointed his Successor to th'Embassie at Venice; That amongst other things, the Cardinal doth advise him, That to render himself the more Acceptable to the Venetians, and t'insinuate the more readily into their understandings, provoked against him and the Duke of Ossona, by reason of Renauts Conspiracy, whereof the Venetians believed them th' Authors; That the better to gain their belief, he should make no difficulty to dissemble and approve of their Resentment, or to Charge them with the malice of that design, and with th'hatred of that Attempt, to discharge the King his Master of it; And that he should endeavour it by private instructions, after great protestations made of the Cardinals and of the Duke of Ossona's innocency, and after a subtil and artifical discourse, to shew, that that Conspiracy was but a dream and a stratagem the Senate of Venice forg'd t'afright the people, and to make them suffer with more ease the Subsidies and Impositions they did intend to charge on them, and whereof they had need, to continue the War, they made to th'Archduke Ferdinand, and to the Duke of Ossona.

In favour of this counsel, it may be said, which seems so generous, and hath so plausible an appearance, That if the Marquis of Bedemar was innocent, as he would have perswaded it, and as piously it may be believed; He knew, that it would be very easie for him to clear that blot, and that Time, the Father of Truth, and which draws to light the things that Ignorance or Malice have hid, would have cured the world of that Error and ill Impression conceived against him; That if it otherwise hapned, and that he continued, as the Ve­netians did report, culpable in the publick opinion, It would have been but of those Illustrious Crimes, that ambitious men take for Virtues, and which the Reason of State, that permits th'Acting of the Worst to its declared or secret Enemies, doth authorize and re­compence. 'Tis true, that the Spaniards, to whom the Reason of State is not unknown, lookt upon the Venetians at that time as their Ene­mies, by reason of the War they had with th'Arch-duke of Gre [...]s, their Kinsman, and of the moneys they furnish'd secretly to the Duke of Savoy, whose ruine the Spaniards had sworn, and whom they per­secuted with violence; But though you do permit that Reason of State, whereof it hath been spoken; It was a very foul things, if it were true, to stir up Traitors, and send them to the service of a Prince in Amity with them, and to whom they sent Ambassadors, and with whom they cherish'd all the Appearances and outward marks of Friendship, to kindle the fire in their Gates, in their Towns, and in their Magazins; As Renaut, Emissary of the Duke of Ossona, was accused or covicted t'have done against the Republick of Venice. That if this State were in War with the Arch-duke of [Page 56] Grets, Brother in law to the King of Spain; And if the Destiny of the Things of the world, which of custom leaves them not long in the same condition, and traversed by a perpetual vicissitude of [...]or­ments and Prosperities, forced them to break with him, That Breach was such a War, as God permits amongst [...]overaign Princes, and wherein all the Rules, which the Right of Nations ordains, were ob­served; As to the Mony which they sent to the Duke of Savoy, it was not forbidden them t'aid a weak Friend with their purse against a powerful Enemy, in whose ruine they might have received much prejudice, who would have stripped the Duke to his shirt, and by the conquest of his Countries, have shut the gate to the relief, which might have come from France to Italy, t' hinder the formed design, to finish the Conquest of that fair County, and to reduce it into a Province. To make yet a little further progress into this Matter, and to raise some Judgment upon it, because a clear sight and cer­tainty cannot be had of it; I will onely say, That if the Conspiracy whereof the Question is, was not true, as the Spaniards did main­tain it, That it had colour enough to dispose the Republique to the punishment was executed upon them, whom it believed culpable; For t'imagine, as the Marquis of Bedemar hath published it, that it was but a half Alarm which they raised to their Subjects, and a Fancy the Republick formed to make them afraid, for the Reasons he supposed; And that being a Question of fact, it was of difficult proof, and of hard discovery; [...]he belief, it may be, if there had been no more, would not be impossible; but that to gild th'Artifice the better, and to give the fairer colour to the deceit, the Republick had caused some persons to be put to death, and in an extraordinary manner, whom they knew to be Innocent, whereof I cannot be per­swaded; And 'tis more probable, that two particular persons, as the Duke of Ossona and the Marquis of Bedemar, the first whereof plaid always with Religion and Conscience, as all the world knows, and th'other hated the Venetians, from whom he believing to t'have re­ceived ill entertainment, composed that Fable, and not that a whole great Body, as the Senate of Venice, wherein are many persons of wisdom and eminent Virtue, would consent to so wicked a pro­ceeding.

To conclude, since men hazard their Virtue and Conscience so often for humane Interests and subaltern hopes; since men do as the simple Inhabitants of the New World, who prostitute their Gold and Silver, for Glass and for old Rings; 'Tis not to be wondred, if sometimes, upon the like occasion, Honour be exposed, which is but an accession of Virtue and good Conscience, chiefly, when that prostitution is covered with so specious a cloak, as that of the Princes Service, and the good of his Affairs; In all times, it hath been the lot of the Court, to poison men, if not with the profession, at least with the practice of dishonest Maxims, which ruine Honour and Virtue, to gain Goods and Power. Few long-livers in Court secure them­selves [Page 57]from the Temptations; and Reason hath need of a particular Grace, and of an extraordinary Relief, to resist the force of Objects, which continually besiege the Senses, and the multitude of Exam­ples, which from all parts assault it. The Lustre raised by Luxury, makes Riches, as th'Aliment to be beloved; And the Reverence ren­dred to Power, makes it to be sought for with so much heat, and conserved with so much pain: And as men fall not suddenly into the bottom of Evil, but descend by degrees into it; so they, who pur­sue these things, or enjoy them, accustom themselves by little and little to make it their Soveraign Good, and t'esteem all other things which serve not to this End, for vain and ridiculous.

But this determines not, [...]hat all Courts are so corrupt, or that all they, who are obliged to live there, are corrupted; There are some whom God calls thither, and maintains there, to give good Examples, and to make Riches and Power th'Instruments of Virtue; and the Matter of good Works; There are some, that know and feel, that without such Considerations; these things being but va­nity and affliction of spirit, as well as all others of that kind, have but this advantage, That they are a Greater vanity and a Greater af­fliction of spirit. However, the Faith of Courtiers, who are so vio­lently taken, and desperately possessed with the desire of making their Fortune, That there's no treachery they will not do, nor base­ness they will not act for the love of them, from whom they expect it, ought always to be much suspected; And there's great cause of distrust, that such persons, worshipping onely the Power men have of doing good, will change their Affections with the change of Masters, and fail of Acknowledgments when they fail of Hopes; And 'tis that distrust, which in my opinion is th'original of a Maxim, which is but too familiar with great Princes; T'hold always the less considerable persons, that are useful unto them, by the bands of that passion; And to cherish them, who ought to be conserved, by not doing for them all the good at once they do intend them. But if Men of Honour, they will always have a condign gratitude for their Benefactors, and will raise no Hopes, if able Men, upon them that are in power, but look upon the things of the Court, as the things of the World, the fullest of Incertitude, and to resemble Lotteries, where for one Prize there are fifty Blanks.

Eleventh Discourse.
When the War becomes too Ruinous to the Subjects of a Prince, He ought t' endeavour, if it be possible, th'End of it; That the King hath been forced to make and continue the War till now, by an Inevitable Necessity; That his Enemies rather than himself have always estranged themselves from Peace.

AFter the making of so great a Circuit, and so long Jour­neys, 'tis time to return to the place from whence we part­ed, and to finish the clearing of the point of Profit, by a third Rule, which shall b' added to the two precedent; This ought, as hath been said, t'accompany or follow the War; In the third place, I say then, When the War inflames with violence and fury, and that there's danger, lest it consume inavoidably the good of the State, and the substance of the People, The Prince ought, if it be possible for him, to quench it, and t'imitate those wise Pilots, who use to strike sail, and to gain some safe Harbour, if the Tempest be too strong. Lewis th'Eleventh oractised wisely this Rule, as Philip of Comines hath observed it. The Venetians also have done the like in all times, as I could give you several Examples; and even the Spaniards, not­withstanding the fierceness of their humour, and jealousie for their Reputation, have not always declin'd it, as they have done of late, in their prosecutions of the Duke of Savoy, since the death of the late King, and when they believed themselves to be sole Arbiters of the Destiny of Italy; As Inexplorable as they were, when th'Hea­vens smiled upon them, and that Fortune was propitious to them; Nothing was seen more tractable or docile than they, when Fortune changed her favour, and expressed a greater desire for Peace, than they had made our for War. And the passage of Sura, being forced for the Relief of Casall, and the State of Milan in danger to be our Prey, if our Thoughts for Conquest had been as aptly disposed, as th'Advantage and Justice: No persons ever were more submiss to the King's Will in all things, or better disposed t' Accept of all the conditions his Majesty was pleased t'impose upon them.

The foundation of this Rule is, That the Felicity of Subjects, be­ing the principal Law, and th'ultimate Measure of th' Actions and Conduct of a Prince; To decline it, is never permitted him, but to return with great advantage, and t'imitate the Sun, which draws not up the vapours and fatness of th'Earth, but to make it the more fruit­ful, and of a livelier spirit, and of a more active virtue; Wherefore they, who by obstinacy, or by some other particular passion, nourish a War that is fatal to their Subjects, wander very much from th'End of their Charges. And the memory of Francis the First, and Charls the Fifth, is not recorded with Honour in History, for that [Page 59]both of them, and particularly Charles, by a pure Animosity, and by a pure mutual Violent Hatred, laboured one another Ruine, which could not be effected but by the Rume of their Countries; And chose rather to see Christendome swim in bloud, and t'Expose it to the common Enemy, who made benefit of their Discords, than to lay down Arms and t'h [...]a [...]ken to a reasonable Treaty of Peace. Charles was so highly transported with this Passion, and so strongly agitated with this Eury, That He permitted Rhodes to perish, t'Intend wholly the Desolation of France, and abandoned Austria to Soliman, to make War to the Duke of Oleves, who being the King of Navarres Ally, was Entred into our Conjoyned Interests.

This rule, thus laid, and this Maxim established, as an Inviolable thing, which receives no exception, but what hath been expressed; A little must be said of the Kings Conduct upon this subject, and of the Condition of France, by reason of the War; since He hath been the Master of it. Whereupon, I say, That though this Countrey ne­ver saw since Charlemains time, so great a Collection of Forces, or so high an Elevation of Glory as hath been manifested under the Reign of this Prince; That though all the Course of his Reign be full of Splendour, and every part of [...]o remarkable by some Illustrious Acci­dent; Though this, I say, be very true; It must also be Confessed; That the War, that doth now exercise in hath been made at a great Expence, and that it riseth with much pains and sweat to the Feli­city it ought t' Enjoy and is not far from it [...] But as the last sl [...]ps of a long Journey, are the weariest and most painfull; And as the last drops of Potions give the greavest distaste to the sick persons that take them; so the Remainder of [...]ill Time, which France is to bear, and the last breathings the War yields, Lay the greatest Weight and Compl [...]ats the Wearin [...]ss and Fainting where with she Labours; but besides the Brevity of Time it hath to suffer, and the fait hopes for the future, she ought to Consider, as hath been already observed; in another place, That the past Evill was necessary, and that the War, which hath [...]asted so many years, is not of the Chol [...]e of [...]i­clination, of the Prince or of his Ministers of State, but an they table effect of some Malignant Constellation, which affects Christendome; or to speak to the Height of our Reason; and according t' Expe­rience, A fire, which th'Enemies of this Sta [...]e hav [...] voluntarily kindsed, and which the King and his Ministers of Sta [...], what Ca [...] [...]nd Dex­terity soover was used, could not [...]stinguish This, I will now with­out any, figure of [...] b [...]orique and Elegant [...] s [...]uation, discover by a brief and faithfull Relation of what hath passed since the peace of Mo [...]tpellion and the Return of the Queen Mother to th' Affalts; even to this present Conjuncture. In another place, I speak of the true and affected Causes of the breach of the B [...]ace; which was attended by the War th' English made in cur Islands, and with the third Time of ta­king up of Armes by th' Hugonots, since the Kings Reign. The Mi­nisters of State, who had neither made not broken that Peace, as th' [Page 60] Hugonots pretended, and it may be untruly, which I will not here discover, were obliged to prevent th' Affronts that might b' offered to the state, and t'oppose th'Evill others had drawn upon it, and whereof they had laid the foundations and sowed the seeds when they had overcome that great storm, and that th' Island of Rhé be­came the Sepulchre of them, who would have made it the Seat of their new Domination, projected in France; The King conceived, that the fatal Instant was come, wherein the Nest of the Rebellion was to be beaten down, and Rochelle the Sanctuary of the disconten­ted Persons; What the greatness of that Siege was, and what an In­credible Wonder, the success will make appear to Posterity; 'Tis unnecessary to explain it here, since no person is ignorant of the pro­ceedings and may Judge of them. Whilst that great Affair was in dispute, and that all Europe was exercised in th'Expectation of th' Event of so high an Enterprize, The Spaniards to make use of th' Occasion, made another Attempt upon the States of the Duke of Mantoua; and put themselves into a posture to strip him of his New Succession, for no other Reason, but that it was Convenient for them, and that the Duke was not Acceptable to them, because he was a French-man. How much France was offended with this Assault, and what a shamefull Reflection it made upon it, in the Ruine of a Prince stript to the shirt for their sake, 'Tis easie to Comprehend▪ Extreme Remedies nevertheless were not used to revenge the pub­lique Injuries; And as before [...]ouquingans preparations for Sea, and th' Expedition of th'English to th'Island of Rhé, an Extraordinary Am­bassadour was sent int' England, to divert the breath was intended; And before Engagement in the War of Italy and to pass the Moun­tains for the relief of Montferral; The King had recourse to the Ways of Treaty, and sent Sir of Boutru, t'offer such Civil and reasonable Conditions of Accommodation, that the Spaniards could pretend to Nothing, but the Victory, of more Advantage. This way fall­ing, and the Reducement of Rochelle, upon whose subsistence, the principal Hopes of the good Success of their Armes had been raised, having given Means to the King to pass th' Alpes and t'had on to the Relief of Cazal upon its last breathly He made th'Enemies retire, upon a Treaty that left Moitsertan for that time safe, and hindred the State of Milan to change it the Master of it That so favourable and obi­liging a Treaty, should not give an End to that War; And that the Spaniards would not observe it, so long as they ought to have done, to prepare for a new Assault, and to return to the List from whence they were come with some loss, even of their Reputation , but with th' Entire Conservation of what they might have los [...] in Italy was Hard of Belief; They behaved themselves, nevertheless in that Man­ner, and to pay the C [...]tesie done them, or to speak according to their sense, to revenge th' Affront they had received an fall; They cau­sed a part of th'Emperours best Troops to march from Germany into Italy, and sent the Marquis of Spinola thither from Spain with much [Page 61]Money and great Forces to renew the Quarrel, which we thought had been ended; And to deprive us of any thoughts of th'Affairs of the Duke of Mantoua, and to force our Armies the second time to pass th' Alpes, They had prepared two powerfull Irruptions against France; The one in Champaigna by Walsthein to whom the present Duke Charls of Lorrain gave passages through his Countrey, and fur­nisht Victuals for his Army; And th' other in Languedoc by the Duke of Feria, who drew not thither, either for want of Forces, or by Rea­son that Walsthein changed his march towards Ratisbone t' allay the storm that broke upon his head in that Dye [...].

Such was the Spaniards proceedings, and the Design they hatched against France, whilst, we thought only of Composing the differences they had with the Duke of Mantoua in a friendly Manner, and cau­sed Endeavours to [...] used in Italy and in Germany to withdraw the Spaniards with sweetness from that prejudice, whereinto they had Cast the Duke, without offence given by him; And that the Sir of Sabran, was sent to Vienna to make Plausible and Just proffers; That undoubtedly th' Emperour had Accepted them, if he had been Ma­ster of his Desires; And if th [...] Spaniards, who are predominant in his Counsels, had not had the spirit so full fraught with the Thoughts of War, that there was no room left for a Thought of Peace, nor a Motion which tasted not of Passion and Violence.

Th'Armes then of th'Empire, of Spain, and of Savoy Conjoyned a­gainst us, and against our Allies, had in the beginning, and in the Se­quel of that War, Considerable successes, Mantoua was lost by sur­prize, and Ca [...]ull, th' onely Piece saved from the Ruine of the Dukes Fortune, and the last Anchor of the safety of Italy, was in danger to be lost by Siege; But it was relieved by a Miracle, and there was made a kind of Accommodation, which skinned th' Evil rather than healed it; And Fen [...]a, who succeeded to Saint Croix in the Govern­ment of Milan, had a Design to convert it into smoak, so soon as our Forces had repassed the Mountains, and should be in Condition to break it with Advantage; He had truly done it, and had made it to be sufficiently understood, as it shall be fully deduced in th' Apolo­gy of th'Acquisition of [...]ign [...]roll, if the Vigilancy of our Minister of State had not Countermined his Mine; And if th'Arms of the King of Swede, which began to flourish in Germany, had not caused th' Im­perial Forces to be re-called from Italy, without which the Spanish Forces had not strongth enough t'Act powerfully, nor Pretext to co­ver their Enterprizes; that was the Cause, the Spaniards were Con­strained t'Acquiesce in the Peace Concluded at Quierasque, because they were not the Principal parties in the War, which they had not begun, as they said, not pursued, but for th'Interests of th'Emperour, and as Auxiliaries of th'Empire.

Before the Raising of the Siege of Cosall, and during the sitting of the Dyet of Ratesbone, The King treated with the King of Swede, whom the Protestants of Germany had Invited to their Relief, and up­on [Page 62]whom they had Cast their Eyes, as upon their last Refuge, and the sole Haven, which was left them, against the storm that did threaten their Countrey. Whilst this great Adversary was upon the Stage, to try his strength with the formidable House of Austria; And to speak the Truth, the Victory was not much less to be feared on the Friends, than on th'Enemies part, in Parties so full of Ambition; Reason of State advised, That the King should be in Armes, to Cause his Au­thority the more to be Respected, and his Protection the more to be Valued, which he so Generously and Christianly offered t' all the Catholiques of Germany, as a Means to retain, if there were Cause, the Victorious in their proper Bounds, and t' hinder th' abuse of the Victory, and th'Enlargement of it, further than it might be expedi­ent for the Good of Religion or for the German Liberty. That if the King had been as mortal an Enemy to th' House of Austria, as th' House of Austria is to France, and had sworn its Ruine, as th' other had the Ruine of France, It cannot be doubted but with the least Effort made, when the King of Swede did so violently shake it, He had laid it upon the ground; And if after the Death of that Magna­nimous Prince, and whilst good Fortune could not then be separated from th'Armes He Commanded, He had joyned his Forces with the Swedes for the Relief of Ratisbone, where all the Forces of th'Empe­rour were Engaged, It had probably fallen under that Weight. The King truly Religious to a scruple in preserving the Peace that was betwixt us and them, and in sparing it in a time when we might have lawfully disturbed it, hath been ill requited for that grace, and the same Men, to whom we gave life at Heidelbourge, were the Troops, as hath already been observed, which surprized Philisbourge from us, and made that great Wound, that will bleed it may be to th'End of the War. But the Spaniards having Commanded Treves to be taken, and Carried away th'Elector, who took himself to be safe un­der the shadow of the Flowers of Lillies and Inviolable under our Protection, as to them with whom we were not in War; Having forced us, by all sorts of Reasons, to declare it to those Ravishers, and to purge that Injury, by Armes against them, who would not re­pair it friendly; Since Peace appears, as a Monster t'affright them, what shew soever they have made to desire it, and what person soever they have put on to blind the World with that Apparanc [...]; 'Tis cer­tain, that they were never in Earnest; And being alwayes flattered with hopes that some Change would happen amongst [...], that might make the Way plain to Victory, or that it might be made th'Easier with their Armes; They raised so many Punctilioes, and so many Dis­putes upon the form of Passports, Necessaries to treat of Peace, and then, upon the Quality of the Persons, who ought therein to be Comprised, and upon other studied Incidents, to delay that affair, as shall be represented in the following discourse, That the worst sigh­ted Men, have seen that the Spaniards thought of Nothing less than Peace, and that all their Endeavours were but an Illusion to Chea [...] simple Persons.

But th'Heavens, a weary of their Hypocrisie, and abhorting the loss of so much Christian Bloud, which their Ambition had Caused to be spilt, disappointed their hopes in th'highest Ascendant they were ever arrived into; And they who had an Aversion for Peace by reason of th'Immense Advantages which they represented to them­selves in the Continuation of the War, were Constrained to make a good shew, and to keep it at distance, t'Endeavour the Recovery of what they had lost, and to see whether the Wheel of Fortune that had brought them so low, might not make one turn in their Favour, and restore them to the place from whence she had Caused them to descend; They must nevertheless, after Contest upon that Attempt and after a Tryal of all Means to rise again, bore under the Destiny, that handled them so ill, and resolve to quit something whereof they had no sure Hold, and to save the rest they might have lost. Either all the pressages the present State of things doth hold forth are false, or this time, as hath been said, in another place, is not far off. And so soon as Germany is reduced to Reason, which may be effected by some small Attempts made on that side, The last Act of the Tra­gedy will be plaid, and Peace shut up that bloudy Theater, which hath been so long open to the War.

Twelfth Discourse.
Where 'tis shewed, by two manifest Proofes, That 'tis the House of Austria that hath alwayes resisted the Design of Peace: To which the King and his Confederates were disposed in Earnest.

THe World is to be satisfied of a most Important Truth, which is necessary to be known, and the Matter more exactly handled, which hath been but lightly touched in the precedent Discourse. It must be made t'appear; That 'tis not the King that hath broken the Rule, which hath been formerly established, but his Enemies, who have forced from him the Means of observing it; They have alwaies oblig'd him t' have th' Armes in his hands, though he had a Desire to quit them; and having pitty for th'Evils of his Subjects, and trouble for all the Wounds, which Christendome received, and for the great effusion of blood in the War, made all the proffers he could make with Honour, t'obtain an honest and sure Peace.

In effect, He hath hearkned with the most favourable Eates, and with a spirit the best prepared that could be desired, t' all the good Offices, which his Holiness laid out upon that Occasion; He deli­vered Faithfully and in Warrantable form, the necessary passe­ports for our Enemies Deputies; He named his Agents to go to th' Appointed places for that Holy-work; And omitted nothing of [Page 64]what might be expected from a Prince, really desirous of Peace; And the demonstrations he hath given, were not false Ensigns or de­ceitfull Evidences, but certain marks and Conclusive Arguments of the desire He had for it; I affirm nothing, but what the Pope and his Nuncioes do certifie; that Newtral Princes and their Ministers of State have acknowledged, that the greatest part of Christendome knows, and whereof the Conscience of our Enemies is Convinced. But they made onely false shews, and studied Countenances of de­sires for Peace, and for the quiet of Christendome, whilst they Imploy­ed their Wits to find out Inventions, to continue the War, and la­boured with all their powers to lengthen the Troubles, and to Per­petuate th' Actions of the VVar. They sent indeed Deputies to Collen, wither they might go with Safety and Honour, but 'twas for two Ends, both advantagious to them, but were not such as the Christian Common-vvealth aspired unto, with so much heat, and whereof there was not so great need, as the Cessation of the VVar. The first, to deceive the VVorld by that fair Apparance, and to make simple persons believe, that they had not onely a desire for Peace, but that they made haste to make it, and burned with Impatience to give a beginning to so necessary, and to so much desired a VVork; And all this, to secure themselves by these Illusions and Dexterities, of the Blame would be given them for keeping of Christendome so long in Trouble, and for powring out so much Oyl and Brimstone on the fires that they have there kindled, and which have almost redu­ced it t' Ashes.

The second End, was, to lay us asleep by that shew, and to render us more Defective and Cold, by that their exteriour Desire for peace, to put our selves into a Condition of susteining the VVar, which they would make us; To dead also by the same Means them, who had a mind to joyn with us, and t'hinder them to be of that Party, where their Interest and Honour obliged them; And t' untye from our Amity and allyance them who were already entred, by proposing to them Conditions, in shew of more advantage if they treated apart, than such as they should have in a Treaty of Generall Peace; And in persecuting them, with that politique Maxim, That in the mat­ter of Society and Leagues the storm falls upon the Last that treat, who pay the Charges of the VVar, and that the first are the Persons, who gather the Profit, and vvho Carry in the Crops of the field vvhich others have Husbanded and thereof sovved the Seed. But our Deputies, and those of our Confederates, for vvhom they sent no Pasports, or such, as vvere Lame or Defective in the form or the matter, vvould not render themselves in the place appointed for the Treaty, because they had denied them th' Entry, and shut up the passages by that Artifice; A proceeding certainly very Injurious to th'Holy Chair, vvhose Mediation they have long abused to dissemble their Deceit, and Comical Demeanor to the rest of the VVorld, vvhich the Spaniards have Acted by Apparances very distant, from [Page 65]their Intentions, and very contrary to the Truth, as we shall prove by two Infallible proofs.

Th'one is, Th'Answer made at Vienna, in the month of July, in the year 1637, to th' Ambassador of the Duke of Florence, upon th'in­stance he then made t' have Authentique Pasports, as well for our Deputies, as for them of our Allies. They would not, as they said, grant Pasports to the Crown of Swede, with whom they had a particular Treaty, nor for the Princes in Rebellion to them; whereof they that were in Arms, as the Landgrave of Hesse, laboured to make their Accommodation apart; and th'others upon whom the storm fell, and had been put into the Proscription of th'Empire, were in­capable to Treat, and had no difference to determine, but what was determined by th'Emperors Sword, and by the Laws of th' Empire; And in general, it was their sense, That it did not belong to De­pendent and Subaltern Princes, in which number they comprehend­ed all the Princes of th'Empire, to send Deputies to an Assembly, such as was to be kept at Collen, where none ought t'Intervene, but the Deputies of Absolute and Independent Princes; And that the King of Spain was justly to be condemned, if he had not promised the contrary, which they were well assured he had done; Not to meddle with th'Affairs of Germany; And that he would take it ill if th'Em­perour should intermeddle in th'Affairs of his Kingdom, and favour the Revolted of his Subjects, and give heat to their Rebellions; That if he desired Pasports to send to treat of the Quarrel had with the King of Spain, and of the difference had with the Duke of Lorrain, they were ready to grant them.

'Tis easie by the whole course of this Answer, and by the secret sense it contains, that th'Hatred they bear us is immortal, and that th' Envy they conceive against us is th'ordinary Devil which torments them; That the particular Peaces they have sought with so much Vehemency and Artifices, were not planks for them to pass with more case t' an Universal Peace, but the means of making us th' hotter and more violent War, and to charge us in more places, and by a greater number of Engines; And to make some reflection upon the matter of this plausible Answer, I will say, That being as the world believes them, such great men of Policy, and so dextrous in th'Art of dissimulation, whereof they have gained the Reputation, They too openly vented their design to change th'Empire into Mo­narchy, and to leave no mark of Soveraignty, or any impression of a Free Power in Germany; Or to declare the Truth, and make it out as it was; 'Tis not, though they then had their spirits full, and heated with the design, That they wanted power to retain it, if they had been willing t' have concealed it, and t' have denied it the Light, but since th'unhappy and fatal Peace of Prague, they believed t'have so well and effectively adjusted their Arrows, and weather'd them, that nothing could hinder them of success, and that th' Answer was made in the strength of their Hopes, and in th'Highest Elevation of their Thoughts.

For what other Thing could it signifie, in Comparing the Princes of th'Empire with the Subjects of the King of Spain, and to put them in a parallel and equal degree of condition, Than to begin to degrade them of their Soveraignty, which no person to this day hath contested with them? Than to make the Transmutation spoken of, and reduce many States, who have particular Lords, under a single Monarque? And yet no person is ignorant of the Dignity of th'Empire of the West, as of the Powers that constitute it; And that they reside not in the sole Person of th' Emperor, As the Power and dignity of Monarchies have their seat in the Persons of the Princes that possess them, But in th'Assembly and Conjunction of th'Electors, and of th'other Princes of Germany, who together, make the Body, whereof th'Emperor is the most considerable Member, and Superiour in Excellency to th'other Members, considered apart, and sever'd from the Body they form; There's no person also but knows, That the Majesty of th'Emperor, and that August Character which doth distinguish him from Monarques, are not derived from the power he hath over a great extent of Country submitted unto him, and over a great number of Subjects, which he governs, but arise from the Greatness to which he is raised, and from the Rank that he enjoys above many Soveraigns that encompass him, who do him honour, and are bound in certain occasions, as receiving th'In­vestiture of their Estates from th'Emperor, to serve him with their Lands and Persons, and owe him (with exception t'other Soveraigns not of the Body of th'Empire) a particular Honour and an extraor­dinary Veneration.

But lest th' Emperor, following th'humour of Great Persons, should give too great an Extent t' his Authority, and make Inva­sions upon the Rights and Liberties of the Princes of th'Empire; And lest, the Princes puffed with the spirit of Soveraignty, which they bring with them into the world, and drunk with the sweetness of the Command they exercise over their Subjects, should become Indocile towards th' Emperor, and undertake to draw to them all th'Authority of th'Empire, Constitutions have been made, and Laws established, which bound their Jurisdiction, and qualifie their distinct Powers, and hold the Ballance at its just point amongst them, and make the necessary Counterpoise, Lest that th' one be­coming too strong, should force and destroy th'other; And 'tis that temper which th'Emperour and the Princes of th' Empire have as­saulted, by several stratagems on divers occassions, and the Limits, which they would have often defaced; 'Tis that Counterpoise which they have endeavoured to unsettle, and to ruine that Harmony, in whose conservation th' Happiness of Germany principally consists, the safety of Christendom, and the most assured means of resisting th'Ottoman Forces, when they over-run on the Land side; And 'tis that, th'House of Austria, doth enforce more of late, than ever to perform, what they labour with Sails and Oars; 'Tis the great [Page 67]work of their Aim and Ambition, and could they master it, as ma­ny times since the Battel of Prague they have been very near it, it would not b' Impossible for them to convert Kingdoms into Pro­vinces, and to make up in time the Monarchy, whereof they have so many years past laid the Design.

And therefore th' Affairs of th'Empire being in this condition, I leave it to the Judgment of every Impartial Person, whether the King had not a great Interest in th'Affairs of Germany; and great reason t'engage; And whether h'ought t'have promised to th'House of Austria the liberty of finishing at his pleasure, and without re­sistance, that pernicious design of Universal Monarchie? Whether h'ought with Newtral Eyes and folded Arms have permitted th'In­heritance of his Neighbours to be burnt, whose flames might easily reach his Countries? To Judgment I submit it, whether th' Aiding of Princes oppressed and stript, be to protect Rebellious Subjects? And whether distinction ought not to be made betwixt them, in whose hands God hath put the sword to defend their Rights against Strangers, as well as to punish th' Enemies of their Country, and them, who have no other Right to bear Arms, than what they re­ceive from th' hands of their Prince? The King then could not aban­don the cause of miserable Germany, nor permit the Liberty of its Princes to be ravish'd, without being an Enemy to his People, and Desertor of the Christian Republique; And he was no less obliged to maintain, by his Endeavours and Arms, the Constitution of th'Empire, against th'House of Austria, which laboured to destroy it, than He was at that time, when He used his Authority, and per­mitted his Forces to march out of his Kingdom t'oppose the Count Palatin's design of Alteration; And that the resolutions taken in th'Assembly at Worms should not be executed. But this matter shall be further cleared in the Treary of the Monarchy of th' House of Austria.

As to the Princes of Germany, who did not co-operate with th'holy Intentions of the King, and departed from his Alliance and that of Swede; who thought to secure their Estates and Fortune by a parti­cular Treaty, and to find in the Peace of Prague an Inviolable San­ctuary against the Evil they did apprehend; These Princes, I say, are very blind, or of small courage, if they do not see the servitude is pre­pared for them; if they dare not refuse to put their hands to the making of that Chain which is t'hold them; if they have been taken with the Charms th'House of Austria had presented unto them, and have followed th' ill inspirations have been given them by pretended friend; if the Peace they thought to make, hath not been so much a Peace as a change of War, and passage to new Troubles, and to more dangerous Emotions than those they had quitted; if in their present condition they march betwixt Precipices, and ought to be the Prey of the Victor, on what Side soever the Victory falls, and bear the punishment of their defection from the good Party, or be­come [Page 68]their last Conquest, and make the Conclusion of the Design, they had in Judgment; In this Dereliction, wherein their impru­dence, and the Corruption of some other causes had cast them; 'Tis yet better for them, to return to the good Party, and find safety and honour by aiding in order to the Victory, than to persevere in a Society, where they must perish whatsoever happens; I know well, that 'tis not easie to get out of a Precipice, nor out of a Laby­rinth, when a man is far advanced into it; But, notwithstanding th' Artifices of th'House of Austria, and the Toils they set in all places to stop the Princes escape from them; Th' offences they have com­mitted against them, who came so generously to relieve them, and th'high ingratitude wherewith they have paid the precious Blood was spilt, and the life of one of the most Illustrated Persons of the world lost for their safety; If there remains, I say, in their Souls any dram of Love for the Liberty of their Nation, which hath been in great veneration vvith them, and that they be ready to receive good fortune, vvhen she offers herself unto them, The favourable Revolution that begins to shine upon Germany, vvill give them means to break the Bonds that hold them; [...]o reconcile themselves to their antient friends, and to recover their first Correspondency vvith them, vvhose Amity is their present Security, and future Protection; But they shall be entertained more fully on this Subject in another place.

As to the particular Treaty which th'Austrians then conceived to make with the Swedes, and pursued to make with much vehemency, which hath been very often out in sunder, and as often tied up again; which was the design of the last Resolutions of the penultime Dyet of Ratisbone, and the foundation of th'hopes of the good Success of th'Enemies Affairs, The time hath made it appear, that it was no­thing but a countermine of the Swedes, t'amuze th'Imperialists; As it was the design of th'Imperialists, in case the Treaty became abor­tive, to lull asleep the Swedes, and to render them flower and less inflamed to make War; or it was a studied stroak of Addresse, and a subtil Artifice to cheat their Confederates, with some shew of Apprenhension and Jealousie, and to provoke them t'intend with more vigour, and with stronger subventions, th' Affairs of the League; For that wise and advised Nation was not so great an Ene­my to their Good, nor so ill-sighted in the Truth of their Interests, as to be deprived willingly, in favour of the King of Poland, of a great and rich Province, easie for them to be conserved, and to be at greater Liberty to defend his Conquests in Germany, and to make progress upon the Usurpators and Desertors of the Liberty of that Country; And afterwards to renounce, what he enjoyed, as most stable and Immovable, for a sum of Money offered him, and for so casual a Benefit, as Mony, that may easily be spent or wasted. That if the House of Austria consented, that the Crown of Swede should keep the Provinces and Places, which it could not take from them; [Page 69]The Designs of that Ambitious House, and the Policy of its Mini­sters of State, were too well known to be perswaded, That it was for no longer Time than was necessary t'Accomplish in other places their Designs, or to procure unto themselves either the greater Vi­ctory, or the more advantagious Peace; That no Christian Power could or would oppose the War to be made them, whom it calls Agressors of th'Empire, and the disturbers of the peace of Germany. In another place, Discourse shall be made of the Certainty may be raised on the promises of that House, when it may break t'ad­vantage.

Th'other Proof to be made use of is fresh, and Memory need not be strained to remember it, 'Tis present to th'understanding, and to the sense of them; who know any thing of our Affairs; 'Tis that which passed this year at Hambrough touching th'Adjustment of ne­cessary Conditions, for proceeding in the [...]reaty of the General Peace, and finishing that Lamentable War, which in the conclusion, will make of Christendom but a shambles and a Glass-house; That Ad­justment was pursued by the Mediation of the King of Denmark, who to render himself the more considerable to both Parties, and to give Jealousie to him, that should seem opposite to the Peace, raised a great and powerful Army to make the Ballance fall on the Side he should take in that hot Quarel, whilst th' Ambassadors of the King and of the Crown of Swede submitted, as the ever did, to Reason, and made all th'Advances that could be expected from persons acting in Earnest, and without Personating. It first hapned, that Sir Sutzan, Deputy to the King of Hungary, retired, when th'other Deputies were upon the point of Resolving some thing for that pretended Adjustment, without giving notice of it; in Imitation of the Count of Curts, who practised the same a little before, And re­turned six weeks after with imperfect Authorities, and with defe­ctive Letters of Credence, that it might not fail on the King of Spain's part; The Negotiation was stopped: What th' Imperialists did, was to thrust Time by the shoulder, and to see whether that great Clowd gathered near France, would not produce something to their advantage, and bring upon that Kingdom the Tempest, which they had promised to themselves, and whereof they had furnished a great part of the Matter.

Moreover, not t'appear Averse to Peace, nor to be Charged with th'Hatred that would be charged on them by the Voluntary Continuation of the War, They permitted, that the broken Treaty should be set on foot, and sent to Hambrough the Count of Avers­bery with a more Ample power, by virtue whereof, after long Dis­putes, and long Contests of spirit and words, Th' Adjustment de­sired, was resolved, and Conditions signed, to which nothing was wanting for Execution, but the Ratification of Interessed Princes in that Affair. But that failed on the part of the King of Hungary, who instead of sending a pure and simple Ratification, as was necessary, [Page 70]and as his Deputy was obliged to procure, and as the Kings was made, sent it lame, and Limited with so many Modifications and Reserves, that it was easie to see; That it was but Co­medy, and the continuation of the Game, which the Sir Sutzan had plaid, t'Amuze the world, and to give [...]ime to ripen the Great Designs formed against France. And that they may not accuse me to have supposed, what is not, and t'have rais'd a fancy at pleasure to quarrel them, I will onely make use, for Justification of what I have said, of the force of a Libel against us, which not long since they did publish in Spanish, and under the sign of a pair of Spectacles; After a number of foolish proffers, and of th' Impostures vomited against the good Intentions of the King, and of his Ministers of State; Th' Author concludes it with a Prognostick, or rather with a Threat­ning, he makes of the great Disorder, that was ready to Thunder in this Kingdom in the Concurrence of two Parties, that would di­vide the Court, and which, as he said, ought to shake the Pillars of this Monarchy.

I add to what I have before said, To discover the true passion the King had to remove all the Rubs that might stop the way to Peace, and t'omit nothing that might hasten that Holy Work; that he had given power to Sir of Avaux his Ambassador, t' Accord, in the Pasports, he should deliver to the King of Hungary's Commissio­ners, a Title, which to that time h' had vainly desired of us, and had always constantly been refused him, for the Considerations, which shall be laid down in the Treaty of the Monarchy; And to shew also th'Indubitable Aversion the King of Hungary, with all his House, had to the Peace, which all Christendom demands, and is so necessary for it; At the same time that he refused it, by his Eva­sions and Proffers, He bought dearly the Continuation of that Peace he had made with the Turk, and consented, That almost two hundred Villages should be cut off from his Frontiers, to lengthen the Territories of the Turk.

First Discourse.
That it is a great Misfortune to a Prince to want Power to make Defence against th' Assaults of a Forein Prince, and thereby to depend upon the Will of others: Which is confirmed by two Examples; The first, of the League made betwixt the Pope, the King of Spain, and the Venetians, for the Relief of Cyprus.

HAving given some Advises, and prepared some Di­rections for such Princes, as will reliever their Al­lies; It may not be improper, t'instruct them who have need of Relief, of the Manner whereby they may be most safely Relieved, and to shew them the dangerous places, and discover th'Ambushes, if Fortune casts them into it, they will meet with in that way. T'handle then this Matter, and to distribute it in Order, I say, That although a Prince ought to b' Industrious to fortifie himself with Alliances, and t'interess the greatest number of Powers he can in his Conservation; 'Tis ever an ill fortune for him, if the good weal of his Countries, and the Matter of his Fortune depends upon another Mans will; And if he have not in himself, and in his Power, the prin­ciple of his safety, and the Revenge of Disgraces; If that fail him, and a powerful Enemy assault him, He is often oppressed before his Friends put themselves into a posture to defend Him; And th'Evil [Page 72]hath struck its stroak, before his Allies are resolved to go to fight bis Enemies.

The Reason of this is, That a wise Prince ought not, but with the Latest t'Embarque in a War, or expose himself with precipitation in a thing that hath nothing certain but th'Expence, that therein is to be made, and whose success more than all other things in the world, depends upon th'incertainty of Fortune, and upon the mo­tions of other Incident Causes. Wherefore he must ever labour to divert the storm with Address, before he undertakes to break it by Force; And endeavour timely the ways of Accommodation, and that the Means of his Intercession and Proposals precede the Motion of his Arms; And when all this shall prove unprofitable, and that the gentle Remedies to but sharpen th'Evils, and that he must re­solve to make use of Extremes; There is much way to be gone over, and difficulties to be overcome, before arrival there, many things are to be furnished and fitted before Entry [...]nto the Lists, and beginning of the Course for Contest.

And if he send but weak Supplies, and light Refreshings to his Friends, what will it prove but an impertinent advance, and a lost Expence; To cast a few drops of water upon a great fire, which kindle it rather than put it out; Provoke the disease, rather than cure the sick person? And if he resolve t'Arm powerfully, and to raise great Forces in favour of his Allies, but will not do it without tak­ing of Sureties and Pawns for th'others faith; without agreeing upon Re-embursment, and without many other Conditions, which oc­casion a long Contest and Debate; The Prince who hath th'Enemy upon him, and the fire in his Country, shall perish at leisure, or make some considerable loss: But th' Assailant makes his prepara­tions before-hand, and in silence, the quickest and suddenest Invasion possibly to surprize him, and t'oppress him, before he can know it, or can be Relieved; and will cause all sorts of Inventions and En­gines to play to stop or subvert the Subventions which might come from his Allies.

I will produce, for the clearing and confirmation of what I have said, two Illustrious Examples, and from two of the wisest and most famous Nations of Europe, in th' Art of the Conduct of Negotia­tions, and governing of Enterprizes. It must b' endeavoured by th'aid of the Narratives, to make the face of the Discourse cheerful, which too long a Reasoning would render austere, and to divert the plunge him, if it were not interrupted. The first Example shall be taken from the League made betwixt Pius the 5^th, Philip the 2^d, and the Venetians, against Selim the 2^d, who had assaulted th'Island of Cyprus. This Evidence is to be given to the Piety of Philip, that he did not expect Solicitation for the Relief of the Venetians in this oc­casion, and that he offered them, and sent them his Maritine Forces a year before the conclusion of the League; But what was done in [Page 73]the pursute of it, brought not the fruit that was expected; The Re­medies came not time enough, and the Relief was prepared, with so great Tediousnesse, and Marched so slowly, That Nicosia was lost before the Spanish and Venetian Forces met, That was the Capital City of Cyprus, and one of the best Fortifications of th'East. As the Spaniards put not to Sea, but with the Belief to secure it, so they a­bated of their Edge, when they knew it was lost; And though in the beginning, they'd made shew t' and the Venetians in Earnest; It was not possible, after that losse, to make John Adre Doria their General t'advance for the Relief of Famagoust, which then held out, and wherewith, if it had been Conserved, there had been hopes to Recover what was lost, and to retake Nicosia.

Though this was so, yet it was not the sole Rigour, which Doria Exercised towards the Venetians, nor the sole Bitternesse they had to drink from his Cup, during the time of th'Expedition; whilst th' Armies were at Sea, and that they were apparantly to march for mutual Conservation, Hee Commanded his Ships apart from the Venetians, and marched separately, To be free from Engagement in any Enterprize, or to second th' heat of the Republique, which could not resolve to retire without some undertaking. The small Designs they proposed unto him, he rejected, as unworthy of the For­ces [...]e Commanded and the Reputation of th'Army. In the great and difficult Matters, He would not Engage by Reason of the small Time that rested to finish them; And that they were upon the De­clination of Autumn when the Tempests are frequent in the Levant Sea, and Navigation dangerous. So that two fair-Armies re­tired without doing more than making of a Noise, and one of the greatest Preparations that hath been seen upon the Sea of a long [...]ime, Acted no memorable thing, but in producing nothing that was memorable.

It was said, That it was not of Kindness but of Jealousie, That Philip so freely offered his Forces to the Venetians, and was Encli­ned to that Design for fear, lest if they went alone to dissipate that storm, and to resist the great Powers of Selim, Their Reputation might be raised to some Excess, and make them Considerable in Christendome, and particularly in Italy, beyond what was expedient for the Good of his Affair. But he sought a Temper of Aid, which was impossible for him to find, and as his Retentive Spirit and dis­trustfull humour disposed him naturally in all things t' allow the least He Could to hazard, In this Action, He Endeavoured to gain without danger of loss, and to Defend the Venetians in declaring on­ly a desire to Conserve them, and t' hinder the progress of the Turk by the sole Reputation of his Armes, and by the single Demonstration of his Forces.

But this Design miscarrying, The League above spoken of, vvas Concluded the following year, though it vvas not without much Contest and Labour, The violent and passionate Endeavours of Pius [Page 74]the fifth for that business, vvere stronger than all the Difficulties the Spaniards framed, and all th' Inconveniences vvhich they Caused t' Arise. A little stay must be made here, to relate the proceedings which the Spaniards and the Venetians had there, and to represent the subtilties and stratagems, which they practised mutually in the war of Wit; It being the subject, which engaged me to product this Ex­ample, and what hath been said above, was only to serve it for pas­sage and Avenue. They were then eight entire Months in Contesting upon the Conditions of the Treaty, without finding an End of them; Much was agitated and little resolved, and the flow and Dif­ficult humour of the Spaniards furnished alwaies Matter for the Lengthning of it, and sometimes Pretexts for the Breaking of it. In the mean Time Famagousto was lost; Insolence Encreased in the Turk with the Victory; And th'Irresolutions the Christians Labou­red of were a necessary Argument to him of their Fear and Weak­nesse.

And yet it was impossible to Joyn spirits, which had such different Interests and such Contrary ends, as the Venetians and the Spaniards; They that were first Exposed to the Turks Armes, and upon whom the greatest weight of the War was to fall, prest the speedy Quen­ching of the Fire; But the Spaniards more remote from the danger, had not so great a desire t'expell it, and being out of distance to be suddenly toucht with th'Evill that prest the Venetians, Endeavoured only to be delivered of another Evill, The Barbarian Piracies, which constantly vexed them, They would have had the War Carried in­to that Country for to represse them, or at least, be assured, that it should be done hereafter; And that the Venetians and they should Joyntly endeavour, and with all their powers, to force from the Pi­rates their strong holds, and from the Turks, their Harbours for their Fleets; But for Accord in this proposall an expedient could not be found, nor security offered that would be received; The disposition of the Venetians was suspected by them, and they were diffident of such an interessed Policy as theirs; and believed it full of Artifices and Snares; And as they who have Inclinations for deceit, have al­wayes fear of being deceived, They feared that the Venetians being in th'Haven, would forget who Aided them thither, and being safe from the Tempest that threatned them from Constantinople, They would no longer think of the Warr at Argieres and Thunis, nor Continue for anothers Interest the same Expences, they had laid out upon their own Interest.

Th'End then they pursued, and the Mark they aimed at, was this; To form a League offensive and defensive the Pope and Ve­netians; That this League should be perpetual, That it should have For­ces alwayes at Sea, and that the Confederates should make use of them, ac­cording to th' Exigency of th' Occasions and Necessity of their Affairs. Thereupon they made proposalls, as Ridiculous as Magnificent, and formed upon that foundation Designs as much swollen as their Cou­rage, [Page 75]And as high as their Hopes; They desired, after the taking of Constantinople, and Ruining of the Turk, That they should be bound to make War to the King of Persia; To destroy Byserte, Thunis, and Argieres; T' Exterminate the Seriphes from Africa, and to pursue in all places Mahomets Sect with Sword and Fire, and to pay him with use, what He had so largely borrowed of Christendome; They did af­ter these Proposalls made, raise the powers of their Master above all that was great or formidable upon Earth, and Amplifie his Zeal to Religion, Exalt his prosperities and give Wings to his hopes.

It was easie to be seen, That all their Proceedings were nothing but Illusion and Artifice; And that they laboured only to preserve th'Apparances of good Christians, and gain Reputation amongst Credulous Souls and Weak spirits, who are ever in greater Number than the Wise; But when it was necessary to Come to the Particular Affair, and to the Subject for which they were met, The Relief of Cyprus; There was nothing so Cold, as they; nothing less Treatable; and after a long Debate and much Circumlocution about th' Affair, They returned alwaies to their diversion; That they much desired a League, and that all Christendome would Unite in a Common Quar­rel; That Forces should be Constantly on foot to Counterpoise and Check the Turkish Forces; But after all this Discourse, they desired that their first Proposalls might prevail, and for the present nothing Undertaken or Assaulted but on the Coasts of Barbary.

This League, as they had formed it, secured all their Estates, and no Design was ever better Contrived for them, nor more to their ad­vantage; for without Hazard of any thing, they put themselves into a Condition to gain much; They reaped without sowing, and contra­ry to th'ordinary disposition of the things of this World, their ad­vantages Came purely to them, and without any Precedent or Sub­sequent Evill. The Levies permitted them to be made upon the Lands of th'Ecclesiastiques, and the Croysades the Pope granted them in th'Old and New world, gave them means to prepare a Fleet, and t'Entertain the Ships they were obliged to furnish by the Conven­tions of the League; They made no new Enemy nor new War, They Continued only what they ever had with the Turk; And car­rying it into his Countrey they held it by Consequence at distance with theirs, as they had done their Coasts; And without being Con­strained to Fortifie with Garrisons and Ships, They became free from th' Invasions of the Pyrates, whose Aid the Turk made use of at Sea, and of such petty Invasions, as ruined particular persons, and much Incommodated Trade, and they gained a great Reputation by that means in all places; And with the great Forces they had in Rea­diness to pass from Italy into the Low Countreys, They kept all their Enemies in Check, and rendred themselves formidable from Levant to the Ponant with the same Forces.

The Condition of the Venetians was very different from theirs, and the present State of their Affairs had another Colour and Face; [Page 76]They had an Enemy in hand, whose Friendship they were careful to cherish, and with whom they could not b' at difference without great losses, and without running of great danger; They were ex­posed, as it hath been already said, to the first Impressions of his Arms, and to the first strokes of the Tempest; some parts of their States by Sea, were at distance with th'others, and they could not relieve them but at great charges, and powerful Fleets; Candy alone was not less worthy of th'Ambition and Fortune of Selim, than the Kingdom of Cyprus, and that Island, which bridles the Archipelagus, and is the Passage, by which the Pirats of the Ponant ought of ne­cessity t'enter, gives him as great cause of Jealousie as th'other, and no less desire of being their Master; And the nearness of the Turk to Dalmatia, Esclavonia, and Frioul, obliged them t'Arm no that side, and t'open all the veins of their Treasures to furnish so great an Ex­pence. Notwithstanding all these Considerations, and all these diffi­culties, The League was concluded, The greater Interest over-swai'd the lesser, and the general Afrights, which threatned Christendom, recollected particular Affections, which had been estranged under a common design of Opposition, and to stop the Course, and repress the Violence of their Enemies. Since it hath been seen in the things which have preceded the Negotiation of the League now repre­sented, what a dangerous Rock, and fatal Obstacle it is, to a Prince in trouble, to depend upon another to get out: It may not be unne­cessary t'observe also the same Inconveniencies, and the same Stone of offence, in the things which have followed the Counclusion of that League.

When the League then was signed, and that each Confederate in the signing of it, had made his Reservation, as 'tis the custom, of some secret Intention, and some particular End, which he would not manifest; The time, which had been vainly spent in Delibera­tion, was redeemed in executing their Resolutions. The Confede­rate Forces were put to Sea with diligence, and the Turk, whom prosperity made insolent, and boasted, that he wished nothing more to Christians, than the courage t'attend him, heard that our Army sought him; In the mean time, his Army moved, and Selim know­ing that ours drew towards his, would meet it half way, and take a part of th'advance, for to see ours, and to fight it. (But though both Armies burnt with the same heat, and desired equally th'Encounter, 'tis a remarkable thing, that both of them were equally astonish'd at the first sight; so true it is, that Mansspirit stays not long in the same station; That the Sight of an Object hath another effect than the Thought of it; And that th'Apprehension of a danger, operates di­versly, according to the nearness or remoteness of it; The two Ge­nerals onely, Don John of Austria for the Christians, and the Bacha Aly for the Turks, felt not the weight and chilness, which had seized th'Armies; And they resolved to fight, against the Judgment almost of all the Chiefs that did accompany them. Don John of Austria was [Page 77]violently sollicited by the Counsellors of Spain that were with him, not t' indanger the safety of all Christendome, and the fourtune of his Master; They represented unto him, That although th'Hazard of the Battel was equal, the Consequences of the Victory were not the same; And that of Forces gathered together, as the Christians were, the like use could not be made, as of them which depended upon a single Prince, and were animated with the same Spirit, and carried on with the same Interest, as those of the Turk: But he, whose Soul was full of the Representation of the Glory this great Action pro­mised unto him, and of th'nopes of the Victory h'ought to gain, made them this Generous Answer, That it was time to fight, and not to deliberate, and that he had no need of Reasonings or of Counsel for that End, but of Courage and Execution. Th' Event deceived not his Expectation; Fortune declared for the Christians, and the Victory they gained, opened the vvay for them to fairer Suc­cesses, if the Spaniards had not Betrayed them: But they had done enough, and according to their Intention, vvhich vvas, to prevent the Turk from making any nevv Progress upon the Christians, or that the Venetians should at their Charges repair themselves of their Spoils, and be revenged of their Losses. [...]is certain, that if Don John of Austria, after the Battel, had Advanced, in stead of Retire­ing, and had entred into th' Archipelagus, when all persons were afrighted, and under the consternation of the noise of than great and happy Event, H'had taken those Islands without Resistance, H'had shaken the Fortune of th' Ottomans, and Constatinople might have seen the Crucifix planted in the places, where the Crescent is adored; And Selim having lost his best Maritine Forces in the Battel of Le­pantha, and the Sieges of Nicosia and of Pamagouste having spent the best Men of his Land-Soldiers, he was almost void of Defence, and his Empire remained, like a great Body that shrunk with Weakness, and wanting Force of sustain it self, and to bear its proper Weight, falls of Necessity, so soon as it is Jus [...]led.

Second Discourse.
Of th'Unhappy Condition of Small Princes.

IT must not be conceived here, when I speak in the precedent Dis­course of Perty Princes, who 've need of Relief from their Allies for their Conservation, and in pursuance thereof, have brought th'Example of the Republick of Venice; That I did intend to place that Common-wealth absolutely, and without Relation, in that Rank; or that I do not know, that amongst all the Princes of Italy, there's none greater, or whose power is established upon more solid Foundations, and upon a more immovable Bas [...]s; I had not then other aspect in th'Example made use of, than to make it appear, That 'tis a hard Chapter, and sad Necessity, to whomsoe­ver [Page 78]it happens, to depend upon anothers will, to repel a violence of Fortune, and to resist th'Effort of an Eenomy, who being Supe­riour in Forces, is ever carried with a hotter passion to Plunder and destroy, than any friend can be to Conserve and defend; That at the best, there is so much time to be lost, and so many Rocks to pass over, before a Conclusion can be had of a Treaty, that 'tis a wonder, if in the mean time, some shipwrack be not suffered, or some great Loss.

Moreover, though the Republick of Venice bears in it self much greatness, and from all times, hath joyned to the Truth of a conside­rable Power, the Reputation of an extraordinary Wisdom; Never­theless, 'tis true, That opposing it to the Great Signior, and making a Parallel with that proud Dominator of Asia, of Afrique, and of a part of Europe, It stands obscured, and therein, 'Tis to compare the Course of a little Stream to the Rapidity of a great River.

A word more, since It will not be impertinent, and that the Thread of our Discourse leads us to it; Of the Destiny of Princes, who are little in themselves, or who have but a moderate strength; 'Tis a pitiful thing to see to what Necessity the Petty Princes are reduced to maintain themselves, and to how many Real Evils they are ex­posed to conserve that vain Image of Liberty, and that sweet Illusion of Soverain Authority that doth bewitch them. In Expences, they consume themselves for their defence, and almost give All that might be taken from them, that Nothing might be taken from them; They are obliged t'observe all the Fancies and Motions of their Enemies and Friends; And if they subsist, 'tis not by their Strength, because they have none, but by their Weakness, and because their Coun­tries are of so little Concernment, that they beget not a Desire in Ambitious persons, nor that Justice should be violated in the Con­quest of them; or they are under shelter from th' Enterprises of th'one, by the Jealousie of th'other, and preserve their Liberty, for that th'Ambitious hinder one another to ceize upon them, and to become the Masters.

The Petty Republick of Ragousa maintains it self, by the Tribute it pays to the Grand signior, and by the Presents it makes to the Great Persons of th'House of Porta, and th'Insolence of the Petty Sangiacs, their Neighbours, is restrained by Mony; And it doth Homage to the King of Spain to be free from disturbance; And permits, what may please the Venetians, who could be content to find some just occasion to possess themselves of it, if they durst, being a State very convenient for them, and seared in the midst of the Gulf, whereof they call themselves Lords; And it would make their Possession and Enjoyment the more complete and firm. There's no question, but the Duke of Florence would take from the Repub­lique of Luca, the Liberty and Peace it enjoys, if Spain did not Sup­port and Relieve it with its protection, which is not given but sold, as t'all th'others that depend upon it. It would be a great trouble to [Page 79]th'House of Austria, if that State should fall to the Mercy of a Power, that might prove too great by this Addition, after it had been made considerable; And would recall, if it might, the Boun­ties, as it boasts, laid out upon it, or retain the Recompences, as th'other says, that have Rewarded their Service; What had become of Geneva, without th'Alliance of the Suisses, and without the Pro­tection of France? Who knows not how often the Dukes of Savoy have resolved t'assault it with open Forces, upon th'hopes of pro­mised Spanish Relief, when they were Amity with it, and with th'Holy Chair? which had not failed, if they'd been engaged in an Enterprise, whose Appearence had been holy, and Pretence pious; And how often also (Fortune and th'Incounter of things having dis­composed their Designes, and sent into smoak th'hopes of those Princes) have they formed Conspiracies, and prepared secret Parties to surprize and carry that place? That if they now believe them­selves free from that fear during the Minority of the Duke of Savoy, under its particular dependency upon France; and if the Suisses also seem to them a stronger Rampart, than they were, by reason of the present Conjunction, which renders them more Considerable to them, from whom they had cause to fear; so 'tis, that this perpetual Vicissitude, which alters human Things, and that Incessant Motion, wherewith the Wheel of Fortune doth turn them, may produce such a Conjuncture, when the French shall not have the Power, or the Will to protect them; And it would not be impossible, If the Revolution, which hath threatned Germany for many years, were Ended, But that it might extend to the Suisses Country, which is the Frontier, and that the Catholick Cantons might invade the Pro­testants, as they have often projected; And make by consequence the Rampart which defends Geneva, to fall on the Catholiques side. How much safer, and with greater advantage, might some of these petty Princes, be made the Government rather than under the pro­tection of a great Prince? And might they not be happier to belong to a powerful Master, who would watch for their safety, and de­liver them from the Fears and Expences they are at to conserve themselves? Their Privileges also would be as Entire as they are, and their Liberty greater; since at least, they should be Healed of the Passion, whereof hath been lately spoken, and of th'Importunate Pursutes made to them by those that Receive Pensions to Relieve them. The Princes to whom they shall give themselves, will be more concerned in their own Interest, than in that shall depend onely upon their Crown; And the Breach made in their Country, if it should be lost, would be much greater by th'Interest Reputation, than if they lost it themselves, being upon their Faith, and charged solely with their defence; And the more they are at the devotion of their Friends, the more they will be indulged and in favour of their Inhabitants, lest, they should be perswaded to some change, and that th'easiness of shaking off the Yoak they have voluntarily put on, [Page 80]and to return to themselves, oblige them t'undertake it.

But Mans condition is subject to so much Weakness, and our Rea­son is assaulted with so many Errors, that not onely Particular per­sons, but whole Companies are often deceived in th'Election of the Good that is most proper for them, and are taken with the Pomp and Apparences, rather than with the Solidity and Truth of things; Or else truly, the Custome they 've practised, and the Course exercised in some kind of Life, and in some form of Policy, is so strong a Band, and so powerful a Charm for them, who are taken with it, That 'tis very hard for them t' have so much as a thought to break and destroy; Or else th' Absolute Power and Soveraign Au­thority, are things so dear to them, who 'njoy them, That there's no Recompence for which they would quit them, and they had ra­ther onely possess the shadow with Notorious Incommodities, than to live in th'easiest Dependency, and in the most commodious Sub­jection in the world; or at last, as there's nothing in this world; that hath not two faces, or Good, without Inconveniencies; so, though these Petty Princes are very sensible of the perjudice they suffer, to conserve the fancy of Soveraignty they Adore, the Matters of Sub­jection, be they never so pleasant, appear unto them more insup­portable; And they would b' afraid, to worst their Condition in the Changing of it, and to quit a known and Certain Good, for a Doubtful and unknown Good; And exchange Evils, which the Newness would make Sharper and Heavier, for Evils, whose Cu­stom had dulled the point, and allai'd the bitterness: What I have said, is not to prepossess the thoughts of any person, nor to per­swade, what a man hath not a will to believe, but onely to shew one of the faces of the Medal; That by such a Representation, they may the better judge of th'other; or else truly they may take it for a game of Wit, and for an exercise of Reasonings, which is void of Design and Consequence.

As to Princes, who have but a Moderate Power, as the Duke of Savoy for Example, There's no question but the Nearness of two great Crowns, betwixt which he is shut, is his Security; And the Jealousie th'one hath, lest th'other seize upon the Dukes Coun­tries, and take away that Medium and Barrier, which makes betwixt their Territories the separation, sollicites them effectively t'hinder the Conquest of it with all their Forces. There's no doubt, I say, but the French had rather have that Duke for their Neighbour, than the King of Spain, and that the Spaniards would not bear any thing with more impatience, than to see the Domination of the French extend to the Dutchy of Milan, which is the Basis that bears the rest of their Countries in Italy.

In the second place, it seems a happy Fate for th'House of Savoy, to produce such excellent Princes for Peace and War; And that Heaven had granted them High Qualities to supply, what it hath denied them of Power; That with Wit and Courage they might [Page 81]make the Counterpoise to the Greatness and Powers of other Princes. Add, that th' Alliances of Blood, which they [...]ve from all times contracted with th'one of the two Crowns, and hath been desired for their particular Ends, have much relieved them in time of Need, and have not onely served t'hinder them from falling, but to raise them from their falls. And speaking freely, Though the Duke of Savoy have no greater wishes to make than for the good Intelligence of those two Crowns, nor any thing more t'appre [...]end than their Contests, when they do fall out; Th' Ordinary Law of the Dukes Interest requires, That being unable to stand Newtral, he takes part with the French, and they ought not to do otherwise, unless some extraordinary Conjuncture of Affairs doth exempt them from it, without running Hazard to be lost, and overcome with the Forces of a great Kingdom, before Spain hath means to stop th'Inundation, and to divert the Spoils; whereof, there are so many Instances, that no person can make a question of it. And not to speak of Savoy, which may be taken without much Resistance, and where there is but one Fort which may be made useless by a Block­house that may almost defend it self; Who knows not in how little time, Charls, led by the perswasion of his wife, being a Portuguese, and chained to the fortune of Charls the Fifth, was stripped of the best part of Piedmont by Francis the First, who had left his Posterity in their shirts, if the Virtue of Philibert his son, who defeated us at St. Quintins, and th'ill Fortune of France, had not opened by a Trea­ty of Peace, the Gate to many places formerly shut unto him, for many years of War? It would be a superfluous thing, no person be­ing ignorant of it, To speak of the Conquest the late King made of all Savoy, and of the Progress he might have made in Piedmont, if a powerful Conspiracy that formed it self in th' Heart of his King­dom, and the Reverence He bore the Pope, had not obliged him t' hearken to the Peace presented unto him from th'Holy Chair.

I pass also in silence th'Expeditons of the King in Savoy and Pied­mont, which all Europe hath seen; To what extremities he forced the late Dukes of Savoy, in view of the Spanish and Imperial Forces, and in despight of their conjoyned Armies. The Dukes of Lorrain are not much different in Constitution, nor less obliged in Dependency upon th'Interests of this Kingdom, than those of Savoy. That if the present Duke Charls had well understood this Truth, which was of so great Importance to him; And if some evil Spirit, or rather some evil Counsellor, had not blinded him from seeing, what was so vi­sible and so full of Light, H' had not suffered, as H' hath done; H'had not s' often conspired against France, nor quitted the Way his Predecessors held to their Happiness, to cast himself upon By-ways, which have made him wander from his Interest, and have led him to the Precipice wherein he is now fallen; At least, if he had main­tained Newtrality betwixt the Princes in War, and had been a Spe­ctator of the Quarrel, without being a Party, H' had been in esteem [Page 82]of both sides, and might have made use of the Fortune of both Par­ties, and his Country having been for some time one of the Theatres of the War, had not been one of the fairest Members of the Kings Conquests, and one of the principal Pieces of his Triumph.

Third Discourse.
Wherein the Second Example is brought, spoken of in the First Discourse, to shew th' Artifices Princes use in assaulting of Forein Princes, t'hinder their Friends to Relieve them.

THe second Example promised in the First Discourse, shall be taken also from the Republick of Venice, and from a diffe­rence had with th'House of Austria, upon the Subject of the Uscoques. I will now give the whole Picture, for the Curiosity of the Reader, and that he may observe the more distinctly, and in their proper places, the Draughts which are of most importance for my design, and deserve a serious Pause, and a prudential Reflection. 'Tis a plea­sure to see in the Lists two famous Combatants upon mutual Trials of their Skill; And they, who've Inclinations for th' Affairs of State, cannot be present at a more useful sight, than th'Encounter and Justle of the two Powers of Spain and the Republique of Venice, dextrous in th'Art of Reigning, and almost equally strong in Arti­fices and politique Stratagems; Such and the like Observations are the fruits that Ministers of State, in Reading of History, ought to make their principal Harvest; And are the true Lights they ought to be furnished with to guide their Conduct, and to clear the rich Matter, whereof their Knowledge ought to be composed to make up their Profession.

The Subject then of this Discourse shall be the disturbance of th'Uscoques, which gave much trouble to the Republique of Venice, and travers'd it by the most sharp and intricate Negotiation, it ever managed; And determined at last in a War, which consumed a part of their Treasure, and caused an infinite number of their Men to perish.

Take the beginning and progress of this Affair. Th' Adriatique Sea, very famous in Antiquity for the great Pyracies exercised in it, was rendred by the care of the Venetians the safest Sea of the World; It was a protection for the Ships chased by the Corsaires, and for the safety of Navigation upon the coasts of some other Princes, as upon the Coasts of the Republique, and were not much troubles till Soli­man's time, then th'Uscoques did violate their security; yet they were quickly suppressed by th'Arms of the Republique, which by the Peace made with Soliman in the year 1639, was obliged to clear the Gulf from Pyrats, and to repair, at their Charges, the Dam­mages, the Subjects of the Grand Signior should suffer in their Na­vigation [Page 83]upon that Sea. This Calm lasted during the Time of th' Emperour Rodolphus and Mathias, and of th' Archdukes Ferdinand and Leopold, and untill some of th' Uscoques did interrupt it, and the Gulf was so much vexed with their Violence and Robberies, That they extended them to the Republiques Havens, and in one of them Robbed a Galley, and having killed all the persons in it, by a Barba­rian Inhumanity of the New World, did Eat th'Heart of the Cap­tain that Commanded it.

These Uscoques are a sort of People gathered of many Nations; Croates, Hungarians, Esclavonians, and banisht persons from the Re­publique, who have neither Lands nor Industry, but Live and Main­tain themselves by Rapines and Murders, And whom th'Enormity of Crimes, and the Fear of Punishments, or the Lusts of an Irregular Life, Exempt from the Bridle of Laws and Magistrates, have cast upon a violent Association, and into a bloody Commerce; They dwell in Esclavonia, otherwise called Venade, and anciently Liburnia, under the Mountain Morlache, which makes a part of that, which is called the Chain of the World; their principal Habitation and Den of Theeves, are the Towns of Segna and the Fortress of Serisa, which was taken from them by James Zane, Governour of Dalmatia. They're Subjects to th' Emperour and to th' Archduke of Grets, who may boast of Men at their Command, born only to d' Evill, and to be the Flayl of other Men; As God hath under the Generality of his Creatures, and in th'extent of his Empire, Devils, as good Angels, Thundrings and Lightnings, as well as delectable and wholesome Meteors. These person then made Incursions upon th' Adriatique Sea, and though the pretence of their Robberies, was to make War to the Turk, and as good Subjects, they Armed themselves with that fair Colour, which is so familiar with their Masters; yet they did not forbear to Rob and put Christians to Ransome, and above all Men, the Venetians, as the Turks. And the Banner of St. Mark, was not more Inviolable to them, than th'half Moon of Constantinople. Their Inroads and Invasions stopped not at Sea; They Landed often, and passing by the Lands of the Republique forced into the Grand Signiours Countries, from whence they took all they could carry away, and re­turned Loaden with spoyls, whereof the Richest and most Precious were the Booty of the Officers of th'Empire, and of th' Archdukes; Besides the Duties belonging to th'Admiralty, which they paid, as 'tis the Custome of Protected Pyrates, better than any people of the World.

There was no need of this occasion, to put the Turk into an ill humour against the Venetians, and t' Heat the Blood of those Ava­ritious Souls, who do not use to suffer Losses from their Christian Neighbours, but are in perpetual Avarice to draw Tributes, or to take somewhat from them; Quick expression were made of it to the Re­publique, and their Resentments were accompanied with sharp Complaints and Threatnings of Revenge, if they did not speedily re­medy [Page 84]the disorder, and cause that evill to cease which increased day­ly, and strengthned by their Connivence.

This was the Read Design of the Princes of th' House of Austria, and chiefly of the Spaniards, who endeavoured to raise an ill under­standing betwixt the Vanetian and the Grand Signior, and to put them into disorder; That the Necessity of their Relief, if the Turk broke with the Republique, might take away their desire of Crossing them in the Plot they had laid t'oppress the Duke of Savoy. But the Republiques Dexterity, which is as great as the World conceives it, and the Credit they had at the Porte which was not small, frustrated the Spaniards of their projected success; The Knowledge the Turks had of this Artifice, allayed th' Heat which began t' inflame them, and retained Patience and Moderation in the Bounds which are not natural unto them.

The like Accident hapned during the disorder of th'Interdict, and a design drawn from the same Idea, and Cast in the same Mould, and had an End very like it, and fell away in the same Manner, whilst th' ill Intelligence betwixt the Pope and the Venetians was much infla­med, and that Matters of all sides enclined visibly to a breach. The Spaniards sent the Marquis of St. Cross with forty Gallies into Alba­na, who took and plundered Duras a Town belonging to the Turk, and of some Reputation in that Province, Their intention was not t' Incommodate the Grand Signior by the Taking of a Place where they had no Hold, and could not take Root, They prentended only t' awa­ken by that Enterprize the proud Enemy, and t'oblige him to Revenge that affront, which could not be executed, but part of the Burthen of the War must fall upon the Venetians, and that their Countries would make out the first Scean where th'Ensigns of the Turks Armes would be displayed, or at least, that they would pass by their Gulf t' assault the Coasts of Naples, which would give a great Cause of Jea­lousie, and of Expence to the Venetians; but the Grand Signior ha­ving given vent to the Mine, no prejudice fell upon them against whom it was prepared; But instead of assaulting the States of the Republique, He sent t'offer them his Forces against the Spaniards and the Pope, and Commanded Glassar Bassa with five and fifty Gallies t'Advance towards Gomonicics near Corfu, to Joyn with the General Paschaligo as often as it should please the Venetians, who had not the Will or the Necessity to make use of a Remedy, whose Operation was most Dangerous, or t'enter into a Society wherein there was for them but a little Hope, and much Fear.

Lets return to our Subject, The Republique seeing that th' Affairs of th'Uscoques required a prompt Remedy, and that from that Root might bud, if it were not timely Cut off, some great Accident to their prejudice, put themselves into a posture to Repress it; for that pur­pose it tryed first, as 'tis their Custome, the way of Negotiation and Endeavours, before their Taking up of Armes; but in all their Trans­actions they received Words only without Effect, and perpetual [Page 85]Changes were given them, studied Invasions, and disguised Deceits, and no Proceeding was ever more Oblique, more Empty, and more Irresolute than what was practised upon them. When the Republique solicited th'Emperour to suppress th'Attempts of th'Uscoques, and to divert their violences, they were remitted to th' Archdukes as Gover­nours of the Countrey where th' Uscoques dwelt; when they repaired to th' Archdukes for the same effect, They answered, that it belon­ged to th' Emperour, as Soveraign, to provide against it, and not to them, who had but a subaltern power; when they had brought their Answers together, and put them in a condition to make no further use of Collusion and Deceipts, They said, that th' Affair would be best determined in a Dyet of Hungary, which should be called, be­cause the place of th' Uscoques Dwellings were dependent, and a Feife of that Kingdome; Sometimes they protested, that it dit not belong to them to receive Immediate Addresses, but to the Count Sosimo and to Frangipani as to the particular Lords of those places; That Order was to b' observed, and the Degrees of inferiour Ju­risdictions tryed before Address could be made to the Supreme Authority.

But after many Evasions and Windings, wherewith the Repub­lique was delayed; It declared, that their Patience was abused, & that it would assume the Right of a Soveraign, and take Reason of them, who'd refused it. Agents were sent unto them in the Name of th' Emperour and of the Catholique King, who promised that satis­faction should be given them, and that Complaints should be remo­ved. But all their proffers proving to be Wind, and Vain and hollow promises, and the Republique having been long and too often Chea­ted by them, and preparing in Earnest to Carry by Force, what they could not Gaine by 'ntreaty, Comissaries were sent upon the places, who Banished or put to Death some of the Meanest and Least Cul­pable of th'Uscoques, Touched not upon the Chiefs, or upon th'other most Considerable Members, But Cut off some Light and Unpro­fitable Branches of Evill, and left entire the Body and th'other parts of the Tree. And so the Disorder being rather Pruned than Rooted up by this Proceeding, sprouted more freely than before; And re­sembled to the waters of a stopped Torrent, which over-flows with the greater Impetuosity and Ruine, Th'obstacle which held them in being taken away, that when the Waters run at Liberty, and their force not provoked by the Restraint. There's cause of Astonishment in the Number of Treaties, which were had upon that dispute, as of the success, and as it were of the destiny of those Treaties, whereof not one was Executed, and that all of them vanished into smoak. There was a Treaty at Ratisbone, at Lints, at Pragne, and principally at Vienna of the 12. of May 1612. By which it was Agreed that th' Archduke Ferdinand should Clear th' Adriatique Sea of Pyracies, and t'hinder them of Segna to Rob on that Sea; But th'hour of Executi­on on was deferred, and the Spaniards had use of the Continuance of th' [Page 86]Evill, and that the Republique should be diverted out of Italy; That it might not be forward to look after the Spanish proceedings in Piedmont, and give less Heat to th'Affairs of the Duke of Savoy. All the Commissioners sent t' execute the Treaties, fell sick on the way, and were recalled by an affected pretext; And some Accident ever Intervened, which Disappointed the Republique of th' Hopes, wherewith it was so long fed, and made to know that Nothing but [...]ron could cure th'Ulcer which had Eaten to the bone, and festred by their Connivence.

This made the Republique to resolve upon a War against th' Archduke Ferdinand, and t'hinder th'Evill from streaming any further to fight in the Spring; for this purpose, they commanded Gradisque to be besieged, and spared neither Money nor Men to Recover that place, which had been built against th' Invasion of the Barbarians in Istria, and opened them the Way to the Conquest of Goritia. The Republique with these two places, as with a stretched Chain, had shut up the passage to the German Troops, which might have de­scended into the German Troops, which might have de­scended into the Friol by the Mountains of Carso, and by the River of Lizonso. This conveniency was of great Importance to the Veneti­ans, and th' opportunity of putting a powerfull Bar betwixt the Ger­man Territories and theirs, whereof they have alwaies Apprehended th'Inundation, gave occasions to some, to say, vvho measure alwaies the Designs of another, by their own Rule, and know no other Law t'Act by but their Profit, That the Proceedings of th' Uscoques, were but the Pretext of that War, and that the Conquest of these two pla­ces was the Cause. But they who Consider the pressing Interest the Republique had to repress th' Attempts of th' Uscoques, and the peril­lous Consequences which would arise to their prejudice by a longer Patience, will easily judge that they could not do less; And that in case their Conduct was to be blamed, It was for too much flowness and flegm, and by discovering too great an Insensibility, which em­boldned th' Insolence of their Enemies, and encreased th'out-rages that were Acted against them. This is not the proper place of repor­ting the progress of that War, or the different faces that Fortune shewed, sometimes in favour of th'Archdukes, and sometimes in sa­vour of the Venetians, and of the Spaniards, and to represent the va­rious Means wherewith two powerfull Princes, as hath been said, in Artifices, and politique Prudence, made War, and the Mines and Counter-mines wherewith they mutually assaulted and defended themselves. The Breach made betwixt the Venetians and th'Arch­dukes, and the War growing Hot on both sides, The Duke of Ossona, whose humour was naturally troublesome, and who, as the Natural Heat cleaves to the Radical Humidity, when outward Aliment fails; not finding abroad Matter enough for disturb [...]nce, raised it in the Countries of his Master, which was the cause of his Ruine. The Duke of Ossona, I say, notwithstanding the Continuation of the Peace with Spain; Armes at Sea to Trouble the Republique; Scoures the [Page 87]Gulf under the conduct of Alonzo Rivera, takes away Ships, and to be in a posture in case of necessity to be disavowed, and by an Ar­tifice worthy of the Spanish spirit, sets forth this Fleet under his own Ensigns; But th'affairs growing by time more and more grie­vous, and th' Animosity of the Parties becoming stronger by the various accidents, which the War daily produced; He displayed the Royal Ensigns, and by a Novelty of latter Times, and unknown to former Ages, makes War without declaring of it, or confessing it to be made. That all this was done, It was said, by form of diver­sion, and t' exchange it with the Venetians, who fomented under­hand, as it hath been reported else-where, the Duke of Savoy, and paid him every Month a certain sum of Mony to maintain the War on Piedmont side; And that the Spaniards being exercised by that Prince, might not touch upon their Frontiers, unfurnished of old Soldiers, and provided onely of Men, who served to make up the Number, as the Militiaes of Italy. The danger on the Land-side, which vexed the Venetians more than the Spanish Enterprises at Sea; And the Jealousie of conserving their Campagnia, wherein they are more sollicitous than any Persons of the world, occasioned, that they resolved to cause some form of Accommodation to be proposed in Spain, betwixt th'Arch-dukes and themselves; And to comprehend also the Duke of Savoy, with whom they were in society of Inte­rests, and in some sort in community of Fortune. It was t'oblige the Catholique King upon the deference, not t'undertake upon their Estates, and not to treat them as Enemies, who had chosen him Ar­biter of their differences, and committed their affairs so freely unto him. This Proceeding might have sweetned the Courage of the Spaniards, it they had been as Magnanimous as Proud, and allai'd th'Indignation they had conceived against the Venetians, by reason of the War they made to the Arch-dukes, and the secret Aid they gave to the Duke of Savoy.

But in stead of softning the Spaniards by this great Respect which was offered them, and abating of their Animosity, by a Submission that did them so much honour; They 'xpressed the greater difficulty, and resisted the more t'hear of any Accord. They were Exalted the more for th'Humility of the Venetians, and taking them for Persons that wanted Courage or Power, they handled them with Re­proaches and Threatnings, they seemed without doubt the more Froward to be the more Entreated; They believed to find less re­sistance in making the Conditions of the Treaty, by th' Indisposition they shewed in Intermedling in th'Accommodation, and conceived, that they who were in the dirt, would think themselves happy to be delivered, though they were rudely drawn out, and that there was not a Haven too Incommodious to them, who were secured from shipwrack. But they were deceived, for th'affairs of the Republique were not then so desperate, as to repair to dishonorable Means t'establish it, and it never fell into such desperate disgraces, but that [Page 88]it was always in power to rise again with honour. That the Spa­niards in effect; were more reserved than th' had been, t'offend the Venetians, and that they did not violate on the Land-side the Peace th' had made with them, were the things th' effected, and the principal Intention and Design of the Venetians.

The Proposition of th' Accommodation being abortive at Ma­dril, and th'humour of the Spaniards and of the Venetians Incompati­ble for that time; The differences were remitted to Rome, where the difficulties which interrupted the Peace were no more taken away than in Spain; for, as the Pope was suspected of passion in savour of the Spaniards; and that in th'Affair then acted, there were some also who believed, That the Pope was not dextrous enough to man­age it, and would not willingly give others the glory to determine it; So th'Inclinations of their Ministers of State in Italy, were too strongly carried to War, that produced a present and certain Profit, which they had not in time of Peace, Accompani'd with th'hopes of some famous Success, which would have rendred their Admini­stration remarkable. And they endeavoured still to gain Time, and the Game was plaid till the Spanish Arms had gained Reputation in the taking of Verecil; And the fears the Venetians had, that the Spa­niards would not be restrained in the Frontiers of the Mildnois, but over-run their Country, being by that Accident Encreased, They re-took the Paths they had quitted in relation to Spain, and to re­play their old Piece, but much better adjusted, and with more Co­lour, to desire a Conclusion than they had done the first Time. The Spaniards also gave over their Subtilties & Rodomontadoes; The Duke of Lerma, a Person of a pacifique humour, and who had long sought for some specious way to get off with honour from the War of Italy, embraced the Conjuncture; It could not be more advantagious to th'Affairs of his Master, because the Peace came after the Victory, nor more favourable to his particular Affairs, because by that Means he discharged Don Pedro of Toledo from the command of th'Army, who was of a contrary faction, and began to lessen the Dukes Cabi­net power, wherein th'other was in his proper Sphere, by the glory of his Actions done in the Field. He receives then with great Ap­probation the Proposals of the Venetians, promiseth to remember th' honour they did his Master, by the most profitable and most ho­norable Conditions he could procure them, and no Treaty ever had th' Apparance of a more certain Conclusion that this.

But as Tempests are not more frequent at Sea, than Revolutions at War, and that the Constitution of Piedmont had that in particular in it, As t'observe the form of the French Government, and was dependent upon th'Inconstancy and Changes of a Court, which at that time was more Changeable and Uncertain than ever; It hap­ned, that the Marshal of Anore, a passionate friend for the Spaniards, and a great Promoter of their Interests being suddenly killed; And the Spring he held shut up of the principal Reliefs, which ought [Page 89]t'have passed to the Duke of Savoy, being opened by his death; such great numbers of French passed into Piedmont, That the Duke found himself in a condition to make his Enemies Army to quit the Field, which the Siege of Verceil had much difordered; That by taking of many Towns, he took from them the Remainders of their Army; That he was ready to force into the Milanois; and that 'twas in his power to give fear to the City of Milan, if the course of the Victory had not been interrupted from France, and the Thunder restrained that was ready to break out on the Spaniards; And Fortune that had ill used the Venetians before Gradisque, began to declare in their fa­vour, and a glorious Re-enforcement of Hollanders, under the con­duct of Count John of Nassau, promised them an happy success, and quick Reducement of that place, which had cost them great sums of Mony, and much Forein and Intestine Blood.

In this Change of fortune, and in this new face of Affairs, the Ve­netians changed proceedings in relation to the Spaniards, and took off the Masque under which they then concealed their Intentions, which never were, That the Spaniards, so powerful and formidable in Italy, by reason of th'Estates they there possessed, should become the Judges of the Quarrels there rais'd, and add to the Powers they had in Italy th'Authority of determining the Differences, and to regulate th' Affairs, wherein they'd no power; They commanded it then to be told the Catholique King, That their Ambassador had no command to make other addresses t'him, than to know his Sense, and take his Advice upon the Matter of the War of Gradisque, and that of Piedmont; And that they 'ntended to consult him, as a Friend in that Matter, but not to refer the Decision t' him, and to consti­tute him for Judge. And so giving the Spanish King thanks in mag­nificent Terms, and in words of great Respect, which they've ac­customed to lay down in abundance upon things they've no Will to grant, They disappointed the Spaniards of their design, and re­served for France th' Honour, the Spaniards had passionately de­sired; So that in the whole course of this Intrigue, and in all this Cabinet-War, the Field remained to the Venetians, who found not nevertheless their Account in France, but either th'Interest of the State, or the Genius of the Ministers of State, too much carried t' oblige Spain; or for fear of disobliging it; Was the cause, that too great a respect was had to the Dignity of that Crown, or too little to that of the Republique, and to th'Interests of the Duke of Savoy. Th'Emperors and th'Arch-dukes disocntentments had upon this Peace against the Spaniards, is not to b' here concealed, nor their Complaints against and Accommodation, that had not better'd their Condition, but had return'd them to the posture they were in by the Treaty of Vienna, and had put them into th'Haven, from whence they were put out, after th'expence and hazards of an unprofitable Navigation. Thus the Spaniards have accustomed, to sacrifize to their Interests some of their best friends, and to strain them to their [Page 90]Ends, without Exception of Means of Persons. Th'use of this Ar­tifice was not new in the world, nor th'Invention of the Venetians; It was practised long ago by Charls th'Eighth, to divert Henry the Seventh the King of England from relieving the Duke of Britany, to whom h' had a purpose to make War; T'allay then the storm that might arise from that side, and stop the Relief which Henry might bring or send in favour of his Neighbour, Charls made a shew of desiring the Peace, and offered to submit t'Henry the diffe­rences h' had with the Duke, and t' acknowledge him Arbiter and Mediator of the Quarrel. Charls with this delicate Bait and subtil Charm of Honour, disarm'd Henry's warlick spirit, who was fully engaged with affections and inclinations t' Aid the Duke of Britany; But Charls made so powerful and quick a Levy, and raised such great Forces, that the Duke was over-run before notice was taken of it in England, That Charls was entred into his Country with an Army, and the Tragedy ended before it was known that the first Act was plaid.

Fourth Discourse.
Some Rules that Princes, and especially they that are Weak, ought t' observe, when they have need to make use of the Relief of their Friends.

IN the precedent Discourse hath been seen th'unhappy Destiny of Weak Princes, when they are assaulted by Powerful Princes, and the various Artifices exercised t'hinder or slacken the Reliefs, which might come to them from their Friends. But since 'tis necessary, that there be such Princes in the world, and that in the distribution of the parts of that little Engine, for which men give themselves so much Labour, and make so great a noise, Equality hath not been observed; 'Tis of necessity that the Weaker follow the General Law, and re­main the Prey of the Stronger, wh' assault them, or that they seek protection from them wh' are able to give it, and secure themselves under the shadow of their Authority, or by the force of their Arms; some Rules are to b'observed, as of Importance to be known; The first is; That they make the strongest preparation in their power t'oppose th'Enemy that comes t'assault them, and to resist his first Impetuosity, which ordinarily is the most violent, and put by their first strokes, which are ever the most Dangerous.

For this purpose, and in this publick Necessity, they [...]re to sell or engage their best and most precious things; To sink deep into the purses of their Friends, and upon their Subjects to make great Le­vies; And 'tis better for their Subjects t'endure a little blood-letting, and for a short time, by their Prince, than totally and for ever ruin'd by strangers; And a wasted Country, as 'tis said, is better for him [Page 91]than a lost Country; and Subjects a little plundred, than Subjects constrained to change Master; And though they cannot long bear that extraordinary Levy, nor resist that excessive Charge, It may fall out, that th'Heat of th'Assailant may grow cold by a greater Re­sistance made on the sudden than was expected; And may not b' offended at Proposals of Accommodation, and that a door b' opened unto them to get our with Honour from an Enterprize, whose Beginnings being unhappy, the Progress might b' abated without doing more than making of a Noise, and may return to th'Haven without other danger than the fear of a Tempest.

Or if th' Enemy do not withdraw upon th' ill usage Fortune affords them at the first Attempt, and refuse to quit the place, or to retire; In gaining of time they 've done much, which is the great Remedy of Unfortunate and Weak persons, and gives Means to their Friends to come to their Relief, and to bring them fresh Troops, wherewith they may not onely maintain themselves, but cause the face of War to change, and turn the Defence int' an Assault, and become th'Assailants of their Enemies. The Duke of Savoy, Grand-father of the present Duke, did the like, since the death of the late King, in the Wars the Spaniards made him, or H' had been suddenly over-run at the first sight, and swallowed by the Spanish powerful Armies, wherewith the Governour of Milan en­tred Piedmont, and gave fear t'all Italy, but to that Prince; And yet, with that wise and bold proceeding, he not onely received and re­sisted their first assaults, but gave them affronts; And precedent it hath been observed, that after the loss of Verceil, which had it been well defended might have been kept, strengthned by that fair and flourishing Relief Sir of Esdiguieres brought unto it, who put the Spaniards upon the Defensive, and compelled them to desire Peace, which was concluded at Paris to their Advantage.

The second Rule is, That as great sums of Money are to be ex­pended, and a great Army to be raised, 'tis of great importance to make them timely, and not t'expose them to th'hazard of surprises, which being dangerous in all sorts of affairs, are much more in the business of War, and d'ordinarily make breaches, by which ill fortune enters so far into the Country, That it proves a difficult matter to drive it out; And it often falls out, that they die of those strokes, or are long sick of them; And 'tis what sometimes hath been to be desired by way of Addition, to the Wisdom of the Venetians, and to their excellent Conduct; Their Historians also confess, That one of the causes of the loss of the Kingdom of Cyprus, was the de­lays they used in preparing against the Storm which they saw coming. And in the Motions, which troubled Italy about the Suc­cession of the last Duke of Mantoua, we've seen them Arm slow­lier than was necessary for their very design, and have suspended many times th' Orders and Commissions they 'd given for the War, upon uncertain and wild reports of a Treaty of Peace, and [Page 92]were onely a studied Deceit, and an affected Artifice of the Spa­niards, for to possess them with a coldness and relaxation of spirit; 'Tis certain at least, That if after the King had forced his passage at Suza, and taken away the Barrier that shut up their Entry into Italy, They had not recalled th'Orders given to their General t'enter into Cremona, They had taken of the Spaniards some eminent Advantage, whilst they wanted Forces, failed of Courage, and th'Inclinations of the people were adverse unto them.

Who can, I say, doubt, but if they had taken possession of Cre­mona, which opened her Arms unto them, and breathed after so easie a Yoke, as theirs; but that they had greatly fortifi'd the Party which they favoured, and had obliged, it may be, by that Declara­tion, the Spaniards t'have observed the Peace of Sutza, and t'have caused to be sent to the Duke of Mantoua th'Investiures Accorded by that Treaty, rather than t'have shut themselves up betwixt two so considerable Powers as France and Venice, and some other Forces, which Venice might have drawn t' its assistance? or if the War had re-kindled, as it did the following year, and the Spaniards touched with th'Affronts they received from all parts, have been forward at any price to take revenge of the shame by Arms; The War without all doubt had taken another form, If the Venetians had been Engaged in it; Mantoua in Apparance had not been lost; All the designes of th'Enemies had been Abortive; And insted of th'unhappy success of th'Expedition of Valese, for being undertaken too late and with precipitaion, The Republique had seen the fruits ripen at leasure, if it had been timely acted, of so generous a Design, and without much hazard; Nor had it been for that Action the more Hated of th'House of Austria; It had been the more respected; And all Italy had taken the greater courage for defence of the common Liberty, if it had had before their Eyes so great an Example of Courage from them, who give every day so great Examples of their Wis­dom. But however, 'tis the Lot of Human Wisdom to be some­times defective, or rather, 'tis the property of Evil Events to b'al­ways attributed t'Unreasonable Causes; or else 'tis the Nature of all th'affairs that are put in Deliberation t'have many faces and reasons of all sides, which encline t'Act or not t'Act one manner or other; Right of Providence, which governs the World, to frustrate, or cause to b'observed, as it shall seem good, the reasons of th'effects in­tended, and of the promised success.

The third Rule shall be, That if the Prince, who is assaulted, en­deavours t'execute what hath been advised him to do, and yet shall have need of Relief from his Allies to make th'Evil to cease, or to stop th'Enemies further progress, He must make use of their Forces for Diversion, and cause them to march into th' Enemies Country, if he be not over-pressed in his own Country, and if th'Evil he feels or fears may attend that Remedy. By that means he may ease his [Page 93]Country of them, who would have laid it waste, and had sworn the ruine of it, and will secure it also from the spoil of Auxiliaries, which cannot b' avoided; And which may properly be compared to Physicians, who cannot cure the body without th' use of it, nor drive away th'ill humours which cause Alteration, without the disordering of it, and without leaving also sometimes some Ill Impression. As to the success of this Diversion, 'tis Impossible, but it must prosper, and have th'effect it Aims at, because it hath the character and mark of efficacious diversions, and to b'executed upon a Country, which is ordinarily of greater Importance, and of stronger Concernment, being his own, to th'Enemy, than that from which they would force him; And there's no apparance, That a wise Physician will neglect th'Heart, or some other Noble part, t'intend the cure of a light Con­tusion, or of some smal Scratch.

Let's also say, before return be made t'our principal Subject, and for the better clearing the Matter of Diversion, which will not much divert us, and is a Neighbour to't, That one of the most memorable and the most judicious Diversions, which the past Age hath seen, was that which Francis the First made upon the Spaniards, when the Constable of Bourbon, the Marquis of Pescary, and th'other Chiefs of th'Imperial Army, came t'assault Provance; Instead of marching streight t' oppose them, and to fight them in his Kingdom; He marched quickly with his Army int' Italy, and fell upon the State of Milan, and upon the Country in most favour with th'Emperor, and upon the parts of all the rest of his Estates, which were dearest t' him next to Spain; nor was he disappointed of his Thoughts; for th'Imperial Army failed not at the first Noise of that Expedition to quit Provance, and to march towards Italy with so strange a Nimble­ness, and such an Incredible Diligence, That it prevented our Ar­rival in the State of Milan, and gave means to recruit and fortifie some places, which were the security of the rest.

That if the Subsequent Success was as fatal to us, as the first fa­vourable; And if the Cause of that War was Ended in th' Impri­sonment of King Francis, and by the Ruine of his Army; This Dis­grace ought not to b' Attributed to the Nature of the Diversion, which was very pertinent; nor a Prudential Cause charged with the production of a Malignant Effect, which proceeded from another Cause; This Disgrace, I say, is to b'attributed to the design of For­tune, which undertook to mortifie French-men by th'ill Conduct of their Prince, and by the faults of His Ministers of State, and by that unhappy and undiscreet Diversion, which he made upon the King­dom of Naples, whither he sent the Duke of Albany with a part of his Army; For besides the great Weakness it brought to the Re­mainder of his Forces, and the fair Game it made for his Enemies t'advance for th'Assault, as they failed not to do in that Weakness; He considered not, that the Kingdom of Naples being less Impor­tant to th'Emperour, and of less Esteem with him, than the State [Page 94]of Milan, His Army could not abandon the Milanois to Relieve Naples.

The Fourth Rule, That if an inevitable Necessity b' upon a Prince, to procure Forein Forces to march int' His Country, and strengthen his Army; It may b' of great advantage t' him t'have need onely of moderate Forces, and such as b' inferior t' his; That he may always give the Law, and receive no Jealousie from them, lest they should put him int' a kind of Subjection in the sight of his Subjects, and abate the glory of Authority which governs his Peo­ple, and th'opinion of his Greatness, by that mark of Dependency, wherein he must inavoidably fall upon the Reception of str [...]nge Armies. I speak not of other Inconveniencies, which may arise up­on th'introduction of Strangers into a Country, and particularly, if Ambition enters with the Power, or if the Beauty of the Country, or Riches of th'Inhabitants, may serve them for Temptation to de­sire it, who being born under a Rigorous Climate, and in Salvage Countries, are but too much tempted to change Dwellings, and to gain Richer Habitations. Philip, father of Alexander, by such an Invitation, attempted the Liberty of Grece, whereof the Romans, as hath been observed, made a Conquest. That the Goths, the Vandals, and other Septentrionals, have possessed themselves of their Coun­tries, who called them to their Relief; And that six thousand Turks marching from Asia into Europe, to serve th'Emperours of Constan­tinople, charmed with the sweetness and felicity of that pleasant Country, invited their Country-men t'establish themselves in Eu­rope; And it was the first cause of the Revolution of that Empire. Wherefore wise Princes and Republiques, well instructed in th'Art of Governing, have at all times avoided th'Use of so dangerous a Remedy, and th'Exercise of a Means so full of Jealousie, as th'In­troduction of a great Forein Army into their Country. In the War which th'antient Romans made against Pyrrhus, and when by the gain of some Battels, that brave Prince had shaken the foundations of that Republique, They refused the Cathaginian Army, sent to their Relief under the command of Mago, and resolved in that great Extremity t' owe onely to Virtue and to their own Powers, the Re-establishment of their Affairs, and the Return of their Fortune.

After the Rout of Giragdade, and the sad success of that Battel, which at one Blow took from the Venetians all their Lands; The Republique would not accept th' offer of Forces made them by Bajazet the Second, nor use that Means to deliver themselves of th'ill fortune that pursued them, which was violent, and to get out of a Precipice which was dangerous; 'Tis certain, that their ill for­tune could not be greater, nor the Precipice deeper; All Christen­dome was combined against it, and a powerful victorious Army; And it had lost an Army, when it was impossible for them to raise an­other; Terror and Despair entred int' all their Towns, upon the [Page 95]Noise of this Disgrace; And by a strange Motion of Prudence, and an Extraordinary Act of Policy, it was constrained t' advise their Subjects t'open their Gates to the Victorious, and to do that with­out breach of Duty, or guilt of Treason, which the Consternation they were fallen into, and the Current of th'Enemies Victory would have forced upon them; And yet, chose rather to seek safery and resurrection in its Wisdom, and in the sole Means left to restore it self, by th'Imploying of all their strength, for the Disunion of the Confederates, and Breach of the League, than to draw into their Country those barbarous Soldiers, from whence they could not withdraw them when they would, or t'expose Italy to the same conditon, the Neighbour Provinces to Constantinople were in, under the Turk, as hath been formerly spoken.

In the growth of Heresie in this Kingdom, and of the first fires which burnt it for the matter of Religion; Francis the second re­fused Philip his Brother in Law, who fearing that the Contagion of th'Errour and Treason, which reigned amongst us, should pass into Flanders, and complete the Corruption of his Subjects, that had then taken some taste of it, sent to make offer of all his Forces to fight them; The duke of Alva also, after h' had obtained in the Low-Countries many happy Successes against the Rebels of his Master, besought Charls the Ninth to give him leave to bring 15000 Foot and 5000 Horse, all Men of War, and accustomed to Victory, to reduce his Subjects t'Obedience.

But the King, by th'advice of his Council, refused also that offer and would not in accepting of it, either discover the Weakness of his Reign, or give to the factious Religionaries more pretence to call Strangers to their Relief, and to them the more colour of coming into his Country; or t'introduce into th'Heart of his Kingdom an Army of valiant Persons, whom He could not easily drive away, who would have demanded places of security for their Entry, and Immense Dammages for their Return, and might in time be the cause of a more dificult and longer War than what troubled him. That whereas a part onely of his Subjects were in question, and that the Rebels to be reduc'd to reason, made a profession of fidelity, and by consequence might easily be disarmed by Indulgence, when it should appear too dangerous to repress them by Force; H' had been under the Necessity of a defence against his Subjects and Neighbours, and to fight Enemies, wh' having some Title of Ju­stice, and making War without Remorse or Scruple of Conscience, would have made it the more violent, and the less susceptible of Accommodation.

From what hath been now said, a fresh Rule to clear it may be raised; That an Army of Forein Forces to be drawn int' a Princes Country, and in so great a number, as to give the Law, or raise Jea­lousie in him that Imploys them, is to b' avoided; And that H' ob­serve, also if it be possible, two things; T'Endeavour, that the stranger [Page 96]Forces depend more upon the Prince that calls them in and pays them, than upon him who leads them in and commands them; And that their Relation t' him be stronger and more absolute, than their Dependency upon their Commander. Th' other thing is, t' hinder their Conjunction in a Body, and to keep them always se­ver'd, if there be not special cause to draw them together; and to re­joyn them. The Venetians not long since Endeavoured to divide the Troops, which the Sir of Roquelaure brought them, and to take the Command from him: And the Hollanders laboured to do the like to the Count of Mansfield, after he had Relieved Bergenopson; But they met with bold spirits that resisted their Artifices, and defeated the subtil Attempts of their Policy; 'Tis true, That this Trial is not to be made upon any Persons, but Casual Chiefs, who depend onely up­on their Sword, and upon the Prince that Imploys them, and having drawn together such Troops by their Industry and Credit, maintain them also in Dependency by their Authority and Address.

As to th'Impeding the Conjunction of Forces, that might make great and considerable Bodies, 'Tis an undubitable Means to divert the Disorder, and to prevent the License, which of custom grows in Mercenary souls, from th'Hopes of Impunity; As th'hopes of Im­punity are usually ingendred from the multitude of Culpable per­sons: From this Root, Sedition and Mutinies have often budded in th' Antient and Modern Armies; And the boldness of the Pretorian Troops, did heretofore stream from this spring, in killing and choos­ing their Emperours, and abused too often the Royal Purple, in taking it away, and giving it to whom they pleased, by that blind incitement, which animates Courages, and being not Regulated by Reason, are not restrained by Respect or Fear. Seianus, the greatest Favorite of all Ages, and the first Example the world hath seen of excessive Favour, Having the Command of the Pretorian Troops, resolved to draw them together, To render himself the more for­midable by the quick and present Relief had in hand of the best Sol­diers of th'Empire; The Soldiers provided their Quarters, and drew them into the form of a Cittadel to Command Rome, and t'hold, in subjection the Capital City of the World. The great number of Janissaries, which the Gram Signi [...]r keeps at Constan­tinople, is the cause of the Tumults which often arise there, and of th'Insolencies they commit in that City, which are extended some­times to the violating of the Seraglio, the Grand Signior's Palace, To compel their Prince to deliver unto them his Favourites, To do Justice, as they say, upon them, and not to spare his Person, but even to kill him. That if the Prince ought t'avoid with great care, and for the Consequences which have been represented, the draw­ing together of a great Number of his subject Soldiers, H' ought much more to be careful to keep them sover'd, so long as it may con­veniently be done, who depend not upon Him; but by the conside­ration, as strangers of their Pay; And respect him at the Rate [Page 96]they fear Him, and fear Him at the Rate of his power to Punish them.

The sixth Rule is; That a Petty Prince Assaulted by a Greater, wh' hath need of a more prompt and Efficacious Remedy, than Diversion, against the Violence that oppresseth him, before He resolves to re­ceive int' His Countrey a Forein Army, stronger than his own, and to give him place if they be demanded for Security and Retreat, ought to make a just and exact Comparison of th'Evills, to which he doth expose Himself in the doing of it, and of them, he must of ne­cessity fall into, if He do it not; ought t'Examin Coldly and without Passion, the Nature and Circumstances of th' Affair which vexeth him; The conditions of his Enemies and of his Friends; The Faith and Ambition of all of them; The conveniency of his Countries or of any of his places for them; And the Comparision and Examina­tion being made of th'Inconveniencies, he must run of all sides, H' ought to make Choice of the least offensive; H' ought t' Agree with his Enemies, if they are tractable, or make use of the Relief of his Friends, if they are Faithfull; And when H' hath made a good Choice, and shall put into th' Haven without Shipwrack, He must praise God for it, as his peculiar Grace and Extraordinary Fa­vour.

The last Rule is; That in General, a Prince ought if He can t'have one or two Fortresses, for the security of his Countrey, and to serve for a stop to the Forces which may over-run him, and to th'Invasions of an Enemy, who without Impediment may suddenly become Ma­ster of it. For example, The Duke of Sax at Dresde and Vittemberge; The Marquis of Brandburge at Custrin and Spando; The Lantgrave of Hess at Castel and Sigenham. In these places Consists without all doubt the safety of their Countries; and without them they would become the Prey of the first Possessor; As are the Countries of some other Princes of Germany, wh' have no Fortresses upon their Fron­tiers; And what had become, I pray, of Montferrat, but for the Cita­delle of Casall, that Excellent Piece, which had defeated so many and so great Armies of th' Enemies, whose Situation and the Jealousie given by its strength, have invited to besiege it?

But Care must Here be taken of a specious Fault, and t' avoid the Defects of some Princes, who through Weakness fall to th'Extre­mity of other Princes by a certain Irregularity of Fancy, not to think themselves Powerfull or Considerable Enough. If their Estates be little, and their Revenue small, they ought not to Charge their Coun­tries with many strong Places, nor t' imitate Intemperate persons, wh' Eating t' excess, Cannot Digest what they Eat, and fill them­selves with so great a Quantity of ill Humours, that the Natural Heat cannot dissolve them, or discharge the body of that plentifull spring of Incommodities, and of that fruitfull Mine of Maladies. The desire of many Fortresses ariseth from an irregular Appetite, and from an Intemperate spirit, which the Prince being unable to finish, [Page 98]and to furnish with necessary Provissions, or to keep the Garrisons well manned and paid; some of them are lost by some of the named Defects; And it happens also that th'Enemy upon the Taking of a Fort finisheth the Fortifications and Garrisons, and by that means makes himself so strong an Establishment in that Countrey, and takes so deep Rooting, that 'tis a difficult Business to get him thence, but by a Treaty of Peace, and by that Lassitude and [...]nability which the War produceth, and Compels him t' hearken t' an Accommo­dation.

From this Principle also is derived another Inconveniency that puts the whole State in danger, and Cuts the Sinews and Nerves, which Bind and Joyn the parts together; That th' Excessive Number of Garrisons the Prince is obliged to keep, is the cause that He becomes Weak when he is to draw into the Field; And that th' Enemy be­ing Master without resistance of the flat Countrey, all places at once are blocked up and lost, and at Contest, which shall begin to Render, for want of an Army to relieve them, and t' avoid th' ill usage of an unnecessary Defence, and having no reasonable Means of security, can have no Thoughts but of perishing a little later than others, and of Consuming th'Assailants by delay.

The Dukes of Savoy are fallen into this Inconveniences; In having a great Number of Fortresses, and the greatest part of them Accom­panied with some of the Defects which have been represented; The Situation truly of their Countrey, and particularly of Piedmont, shut up in the midst of the Countreys of very great and formidable Prin­ces, as a King of France and a King of Spain, hath contributed much to this Disorder; And that some of the places have been often taken; And 'tis impossible but that amongst so many weak Forts in their Countr [...]ys, some Fort or other will be taken, and that a very dan­gerous prejudice must arise from that Improvidence. The Duke of Rohan hath also observed in his Remembrances, That one of the Ruinous Causes of th' Hugonot party, and Principal Means of the dissolution of that great Body, was the great Number of their strong Cities; And that by Endeavouring to save them, they lost them all; And unable to dispute the Field, with the Kings Armies, as it for­merly had Done, That they fell under the Virtue and Power of the King. It belongs only to the Flemings and to th'Hollanders t'have their Countries full of strong Holds, and all those strong Holds Man­ned with powerfull Garrisons, and at the same Time to raise great Armies.

But as to the Flemings; Thought their Countries be of the best of the World, and are called th'Indies of Christendom, by reason of their Wealth; It had been quickly drawn out and Left Drye, but for th'Influence of Spain, and th'Abundance of both Indies laid out to nourish the War, and to support the Motions which have vexed that people for many years; Nor hath it been alwaies in their power to furnish the Necessities of that War, and th'Hunger of that insatiable [Page 99]Monster. And we've often seen th' Armies of that Countrey pe­rish for want of Moneys, and from that want Considerable Bodies of Mutineers t' arise, as so many Republiques, which subsisted by Or­der and Discipline without Rejoyning to the body from whence they drew away, till payment was made of what was due to them, and so thereupon desisting from being their Princes Creditors, they re­turned to the Duty of Subjects.

As to th' Hollanders, who knows not also that they 've not been alwaies in their present Condition, nor ever had so many strong Holds or so well Manned as now they Have; That they've been long upon the Defensive, and with so Mean an Army, As that they believed to Gain what they did not Lose, and t'overcome effective­ly when they were not overcome; It was at that time when they subsisted only by the good pleasure of others, and by the subventions and Reliefs which came to them from France, England, and Germany; when th' had not made Acquaintance with th' Indies, or Robbed the Spanish Fleets, or sailed into the Levant Seas, but under the Ban­ner of France; when they were not Masters of Trade and Naviga­tion, as they are at this day; but since the Sea hath Enriched them of all sides, and hath caused great Wealth to come to them from all parts of the World, 'Tis no wonder if their Forts and Armies are supplied with all Necessaries; And being so great Husbands, and ta­king so true Measure of all things, which is the property of Repub­liques, They never fall short in their Military Expeditions; And yet, 'tis not to be denied, but that they cannot draw their Armies several years together into the Field without being weary of it, and consuming of their Treasury, and that they will have need of rest and breath, or to receive Contribution from abroad, as they have of­ten received from France.

These are General Propositions, which for the most part are true, but not alwaies, no more than the greatest part of other Rules of Po­licy. 't will concern the prudence of Governours t' Adjust them to the Nature of th' Affairs they 've in hand, and to the condition of their present Conjunctures; But not t' adjust th'Affairs and Conjunc­tures to the Propositions and Rules.

Fifth Discourse.
What Kind of Confederacy and Correspondency may be formed betwixt a Prince and the Subjects of another Prince in Rebellion with their Prince; That the King ought in Consequence t' Aid the Catalans.

HAving discoursed the Manner of the Relief that ought to be gi­ven or taken amongst Soveraigns; It shall not b' Impertinent t'Examine here another Matter which is fastned to it, in searching [Page 100]what Kind of Confederation and Correspondency may be formed betwixt a Prince and the Subjects of another Prince in Rebellion with him. Whereupon, I first say, That the Risings of the people against their Prince, and th'Intestine Agitations of States, being ordinarily the stroaks of th'Anger of Heaven, or rather th' Effects of his Justice, have also very different successes, according to the different provoca­tions; sometimes they make a Total change, & introduce New forms, if it be resolved in the Councel of Providence; And then no Force nor humane Industry can divert th'Event; A small spark doth then kindle so great a Fire, that no Relief can put it out, And Daniels little stone overthrew Huge and Prodigious Statues. The defection of the Su [...]sses from th'House of Austria of Germany, and the defection of the Flemings from th'House of Spain, are such cleer proofs of this Truth, that others are not to be Looked after. Sometimes these Disorders are nothing but bare Threatnings from God to Direct Princes, and the People wh' have offended him, to Repentance; And then, what­soever Disposition there may be in th'Inclination of Second Causes, and how steep soever the descent or Precipitation, yet the Fall is pre­vented, as by Miracle, the disorder of Affairs is reconciled against all hopes, as th'Intrigue of a Comedy, and Things return to their first Beeing, without discovery almost of the Way of their Return. France hath made many Experiences of this Truth, without speaking of other Countries. The most Modern of all shall here content me, The descent of th'English in th'Island of Rhé. There was no Appa­rence to the contrary, but that their Design ought t'have been Exe­cuted, and they t'have been Masters of that Island; And therefore if it had hapned, It had been a difficult Matter to resist the Tempest that then Threatned us, and to secure from Loss Provinces of this Kingdom.

The Mouths of the Rivers of Loyre and Garronne which th'English Naval Army ought t'have seized upon, and by consequence all Man­ner of Communication shut up from thence to Britany, Poitou, and Guienna. A considerable Army ready to Joyn with th English, and marching from Languedock had been Encreased by a great Number of Hugonot Forces, that would have joyned with them, as a River swells in Rowling, by many Rivers that do discharge themselves into it; A great Captain at th'head of them to make use of all Advan­tages they should gain, and all that Fortune should offer them, and many other Circumstances formed a very dangerous Conjuncture against France.

'Tis not to be doubted, but that the Virtue and Fortune of the King, The Prudence, The Courage and th'Activity of his Ministers of State, and the Forces of a powerfull Kingdome might have Cor­rected all that this Conjuncture had of Malignant and deplorable in it; But 'tis also to be Confessed, that they could not have been put to a stronger proof, and that Less than that, was not Convenient to break the Designs of the Rebellion, and t'hinder th'Establishment of it in [Page 101]the State, which might have lasted as long as the Monarchy. But the Love of God to France was so great, as not to permit it to come to such a proof; And the Glory of the King was to be raised upon a fairer Occasion than the Necessity of the Defence. For th' Inva­ders of the Island of Rhé were struck with the Spirit of Confusion from the beginning of th'Enterprize; A fatal Blindness, which did not abandon them from the time it had ceized them, till they were lost, and had made Abortive one of the boldest and best laid Pro­jects, which of a long time hath been contrived; And it hapned unto it, as to those formidable Engines, sometimes seen in War, which a little thing renders useless and unprofitable, at th'Instant that they begin to break.

In the second place, I say, That it must be laid for Foundation and Maxim; That Subjects may of themselves rise against their So­veraign, and break the Bonds of Obedience which they owe him, by the sole strength of their Passions. But that this Rising can main­tain it self in heat, if it be not heated from abroad; Or this new Liberty long Lived, if some Forein Power did not nourish it, Is that which hath been seldom seen, and there be but a few Examples of it, But there are a great number which testifie, that th'One can­not be without th'other; And that a Revolt is Ill seated, that hath for Foundation but the Forces of a Rebellious People. I will also make use, to confirm this Truth, of th'Example of the Suisses, and of that of the Flemings, because I have already made mention of them. There's no Question, but that after th'Inhabitanes of that salvage and rule Country, to which the Village of Suits hath given the name, had taken Arms against the Princes of Austria, and to deliver themselves from that Long Violence, and Insupportable Tyranny, which they exercised over them by their Governours, and that they were delivered from the Domination of their bad Masters; But that the Republique remained a long time Trembling, and ill Assured; That it did not begin to settle and draw a free Air, but under the protection of Charls the Seventh, and received not its en­tire Consistency, and its perfect Establishment, but from the Alli­ance it made with Lewis the Eleventh. When the Flemings had re­solved to shake off the yoke of Spain, and t'adore no longer an ill manag'd Power, though it was Lawful; They had not held out long, if Neighbour Powers had not interessed themselves in their Con­tests, and if several Reliefs had not been drawn unto them from Germany, France, and England. I add to what hath been above-said, That, when in the time of our Fathers, Heresie and Ambition united against Soveraign Power, and that from these Two Springs of Rebellion, a Party did arise, which left to our Kings but a part of their Authority, and to this Kingdom but a part of their Forces; Though this Party was animated by them of the Blood of our Kings, and guided by one of th' ablest Commanders of his time; Prince of Con­dé and Chastil­lon Admiral of France. Though it had all th'Allurements that Novelty gives t'Error, and all the [Page 102]Zeal which accompanies the Confederates of growing Sects. Though th'Union amongst the Member [...] could not be greater, nor th' Accord of their Wills more Universal; 'Tis nevertheless certain, That with such Advantages, and such favourable Encounters, they had not maintained themselves, as they did, nor had made so deep foundations in the State, nor stretched so far its Branches, [...]f Forein Forces had not supported them, and if it had not been often relieved by English Gold, and German Forces. For the Decay and Ruine of that Party was dated effectively from the driness of the Springs, which had furnished it with powerful Contributions, and that the Veins which had brought it Blood and Life, were obstructed, and no longer open; When Germany fell into an Inability, and England became Fearful or Weak, and Spain Slow or Irresolute to relieve it. Thence it ariseth, That the People who study Changes, and dispose themselves for bold and violent Resolutions, never undertake them but upon some Forein Inspiration, accompanied with promises of great Reliefs, or in such a Conjuncture of Time and Affairs, as makes out unto them some Haven which may put them in safety, and secure them in time of Tempest. But to speak of present things, and of the Rising of the Catalans, There's no question, but that th' had never undertaken it, what pretence soever they had, which is not here to be examined, but by favour of their present Conjuncture; And though it was contrived long before, and the whole matter pre­pared, whereof it was then formed, yet it had not issued from the Womb of its Causes, not taken Light, if th'Arms of France had not been Triumphant in all places; If those of Spain had not been unfortunate in Flanders, and in Italy, and if the Reputation of th' Imperialists had not been abated in Germany. In the third place, I say, That in the Matter of the People's Emotions, nothing of cer­tainty can be promised, nor of Knowledge of the Duration, till they have treated with the Prince from whom they Implored Aid, and have given him Pledges of their Faith to content; And that there's no greater or surer Pledge, than in giving up themselves; Till then, he may have cause to doubt, that the shew he shall make to protect them, will serve onely to raise Jealousie in the Prince, whose Sub­jects they are, and provoke him the more to Turn all manner of Wheels, and Employ all possible Inventions, to reduce them to their Duty, and to disolve th'Union that is not well assured; Till then, I say, he will have just cause to distrust an Accommodation with their Prince; And lest, shaken betwixt th' Apprehensions of the Troubles and Miseries that attend the Victory, if it should re­main to their Prince, and th'offers not onely of Impunity, but also of Recompence, wherewith h'endeavours to blind them, They take th' occasion to return to his favour; It being the nature of the Peo­ple to change readily their passion; As to return willingly to a more peaceable condition, and to a gentler state than theirs may appear to them in their Revolt. That being so, there would not be less fear of [Page 103]Evil in their Accommodation, than hopes of Good in their Dis­order; Their Repentance might prove as fatal to him, as their Sin favourable, and they would b' obliged to purge at his Charges the fault they had committed, for the not finishing of it, and to turn against him the Forces they had prepared against their Prince.

That if they resolve, not t'undertake by Halfs, what otherwise they ought not t'have Begun; If they resist th'Offers and the Threat­nings of their first Prince, and take them, as it may be they are, for the Snares he lays, and for th'Ambushes he sets for them; If they perswade themselves, That he will not believe himself bound to keep that to them, which he had promised with all Ill-will, and they had Forced from him; nor t'observe the Faith h'had given them, since that, he may say, he would not break it, but for their good, and t'hinder them another time to become Rebells: But if they pesevere in the desire of shaking off the Yoke, wherewith they may believe themselves in time oppressed, and t'implore th'Aid and Protection of another Prince, There are some Considerations to be had before He consents to their Relief.

At first sight, It seems to be a thing of an ill savour, and of a dan­gerous Example amongst Princes, That a Prince should oblige him­self by Treaty to defend and protect another Princes Subjects in Re­bellion; That 'tis to wound a Right wherein all Sovereigns are in­teressed in the Consequence, and give Heart to Rebellion to b' in all places more busie and bold than it would be, if it did believe it self destitute of Forein Aid, and of Auxiliary Forces. 'Tis not truly to be denied, but that generally taken, 'tis so; And it happens not often, that Princes declare themselves publickly in favour of the Sub­jects of other Princes, nor that they relieve them openly and with flying Colours; When they do it, 'tis ordinarily done without noise, and as it were in private; 'Tis like hiding th'Arm after the Stone is thrown; 'Tis either in furnishing of Money secretly, as Philip the Second did to the Chiefs of the League during the life of Henry the Third; or in Licensing of Troops, and permitting them to pass to the Rebel Party, as the Venetians did in the War of the Barons of Naples against th'old Ferdinand and the Duke of Calabria his son, as it hath been observed in another place.

In this, a Distinction is to b' used, which will clear this Doubt, and reconcile what may seem to b'opposite and contrary; 'Tis, that nei­ther the Law of Conscience, nor that of Civil Prudence doth permit, That in time of Peace and Calmness, and at least, when there's no cause of Revenge, or to divert a Storm that threatens, that Troubles should be stirred up in the Neighbouring States, nor that Subjects b' invited to take up Arms against their Prince; But when War is kindled betwixt two Princes, and that they burn with a Reciprocal heat to do their worst, and to destroy one another, The Difficulty is abated, and there's more reason to ask, Whether one of the Princes may with a good Conscience cherish the Rebellion of another [Page 104]Princes Subjects? Or to repeat the same things in various Forms, or to rehabit the same Idaea and the same sense with different Ex­pressions, Whether a Prince with a good Conscience may Joyn his Forces with Rebel-Forces, and Act joyntly, and by way of Con­servation with them against an Enemy whom he may with a good Conscience fight without their aid? Or if it be permited him to di­minish the number of his Enemies, in giving Heat to persons, who will be of Necessity Against him, if they are not For him, and will become His Enemies if He holds them not in good humour and Power to remain His Friends? or else, if that be less allowed him, than to receive Officers and Soldiers from the contrary Party which come to Joyn with his Army; Than to make use against his Ene­mies of Horses, of Canon, and of other Instruments of War, He shall gain from them? And in general, Whether H' have the same right t'use th'Enemies Arms which Fortune presents unto him, and causeth to fall int' his hands without Labour, As those which he gains with his Arms, which by force He makes His, and are of Law­ful Conquest, and fruits of a Justs War.

But 'tis certain, That these things move upon the same foot, and equal force; And that if th'one are permitted, whereof there's no Question, There's no difficulty nor scruple for th'others. At the worst, there's no doubt, but that his proceeding is gentler and less odious, than to corrupt the fidelity of the Governour of a place, which is every day practised by the most Religious Princes, who make no conscience t'endeavour the taking of that by Good-will, which they believe is permitted unto them to take by force; And to buy with a little Mony that, which would cost the Blood and Lives of a great Number of their Subjects. In this, a very notable difference may be seen, for in the first Case, whereof there hath been dis­course, Princes are sollicited, Protection demanded, their Aid im­plored against Violence and Tyranny; They give onely Aliment to what hath already Life, and make profit of th'Evil, if there be any, which others have committed, and make use of the Benefit which Fortune offers them. But in the second Case, they seek, they draw, they debosh, they do in some sort give birth t'Infidelity and Treason; And nevertheless they believe, that 'tis permitted them in good Conscience, and they practise it whithout scruple, and with glory. 'Tis true, that the Justice which Soveraigns exercise against So­veraigns hath a long extent, and its bounds are enlarged beyond the distributions made to Particular Persons; That the Right of War, which is a Right of Force and Subtilty, is maintained by strange Means, and with Addresses forbidden to the Right of Private Per­sons, and that the safety of the People is in the Souls of Princes, a Law predominant t'all other Laws, and th'obligation they have to procure it, is superior to th'other Obligations of their Charge. From hence it may appear, That the King in receiving the Catalans, who did cast themselves int' his Arms, hath not committed so great a [Page 105]Crime, as ignorant, and Passionate persons for Spain have published it; That therein he hath done nothing, that was of ill Example, but what he might Lawfully have done, which the Law of Con­science hath appointed, and that of Prudence advised. And since that in the midst of Peace, which the Spaniards had with us, They made no difficulty openly to favour, and in the sight of all the world, the Rebels of France; And that before any breach, they treated with the Duke of Rohan, whilst he was Head of a Party; and made use of the discontentment of one of our Pritces, and sent with him into this Kingdom some Troops of casual Polaques; who live onely of Prey, and whose Valour consists not in the Taking of Places, that Resist, but in Burning them, which cannot Defend themselves; nor in gaining of Battels, but in Killing after the Victory. Since that the Right of Revenge belongs to Princes, and that 'tis Lawful for them to render, what hath been lent them; I do not think, that in the Terms we were with the Spaniards, and in th' Heat of the War had with them, the King ought to make difficulty of granting to the Catalans the Protection they desired of him, or to receive them, who gave themselves up voluntarily, since it was lawful for him to take them by force, and t'have made himself Master of them by His Armies.

Sixth Discourse.
Wherein the Protection ought to Terminate which Princes give to the Rebel-Subjects of another Prince; That it b' effected faithfully by the Prince, and securely by the Rebels; This is Confirmed by the Proceeding the King hath observed in the business of Catalognia.

IN the precedent Discourse, we have cleared the Doubt that con­cerns Conscience upon the matter of Relief, which Princes give to the Rebel-Subjects of other Princes. We must now treat of an Inevitable Inconveniency in this Matter, and of a more difficult Re­solution, To wit, wherein this Protection shall Terminate, and what the Prince who gives it shall do'n their favour, in case Peace be made; How at last it must be made, that Rest may succeed Trou­ble, and a Calm t' a Tempest: For Rebel-Subjects must return to their Natural Princes grace by means of a Treaty, and be reconciled unt'him by the Mediation of th'other Prince their Protector, or must be freed from his Domination, and make a State apart, and a sepa­rated Body, As the Suisses have done, and as th'Hollanders do; or that they hold of him, wh' hath delivered them from servitude, and as the second Master, whom they make choice of to get out of th'others Yoke; or that they b'abandoned and left, as a Prey, to the Displeasure and Anger of their Prince.

As to the First Point, (the same Judgement may be made, and in stronger Terms of the Second and Third) It must be a very difficult thing for a Soverain to digest, That another sould take that Ad­vantage over him, as to be the Mediator and Arbiter betwixt him and his Subjects, and Fortune must put him int'a low Station, and offer him a strange Violence, to make him accept of such hard Conditions, and such dishonorable Terms. In the Treaty of Madrill, and that of Cambray, which was, to speak properly, but the Cor­rective and Moderation of th other, some particular French Persons indeed, who followed the Spanish Party, were restored to their Honours and Goods by those Treaties. But who knows not in what Constitution France was at that time? Who knows not that th'Heavens had none but malignant Aspects and froward Influences for it? And that Fortune pouring out her Favours upon Spain, had forgot she was Changeable. It hath been seen, what a hard Labour it was some years past t'obtain Pardon for the Marquis of St. George, and for some other Montferrans, who served the Duke of Savoy in the VVars He had since the death of the late King, with the Dukes of Mantoua. The difficulty the Genouese Expressed, and the Re­sistance they made against pardoning the Prisoners, hath been seen, whom th' Accused t' have Conspired against their Country with the Duke of Savoy, to give him Entry into Genes; And that at last in th' Accommodation the Republique made with the Duke, a Means was Invented, and a Temper found t'hinder these Criminals of the State to perish; And that it might not appear, that the Re­publique had given them grace. And in the Treaty of Vervins, the Deputies of the late King opposed vigorously the Comprehension of any French-man, that had taken part with the Spaniard, and to deny any favour to th'Intercession of Strangers, of what belonged to the Clemency of a Prince.

Moreover, it was not without a great grief of heart, and a great Repugnancy, that the Spaniards permitted th'Embassadors of France, England, and Venice, not onely to sign, as Moderators, but also as Sureties on their Masters behalf, the Treaty of Verceil, which de­termined the War raised from the not Execution of that of Ast; And nevertheless, the Question was not herein, of a difference be­twixt Subject and Soveraign, and of those Quarrels of State, which are not Appeased, but by the Submission or Punishment of th'One, and by th' Indulgency or Justice of th'Other. The Question was onely of a Punctilio of Honour, and of a Preheminence of Autho­rity, which the Spaniards affected, to Treat in all Italy as Masters; T' [...]mpose Laws on Princes; To give Form, as it shall seem good to them, t'Affairs, and to put out the Fires, which they permitted to kindle by the sole signification of their pleasure, and by the single de­monstration of their Arms. It angred much those ambitious Per­sons, That a Duke of Savoy had the boldness t' oppose that publick Necessity, and to resist the common Destiny of the petty Princes of [Page 107] Italy. They could not endure his Thoughts of a Free Pince, nor that he should use the Privileges of Soveraignty, and Act th' In­dependent near them. It was the cause of the Troubles they raised upon him, and renewed two or three Times. This obliged France not permit him t' yield under so just a Cause; This made France with England, and the Republick of Venice, t' undertake the Warrantry of what was Accorded to the Duke by the Spaniards; and this was the cause of bitterness and grief to them, to be con­strained, for th' Avoiding of worse, and to draw upon them, with the War, Strangers int' Italy; following the Maxim they then held, and which they ought never t' abandon; To be compelled, I say, after th' Offer of all imaginable Advantages to the Duke, and search of all possible Expedients, to divert the Mediation of the forementioned Ambassadors, to consent, That they should be­come Pledges of th' Observation of the Treaty. That if we've seen happen somewhat like it between the King and his Rebel-Subjects; And if England mingled with their Affairs, and Interposed in the Treaty which was given them before Montpellier; 'Tis to be con­sidered, that 'twas permitted by that hard and Inexorable Law, which makes the Lesser Evil to b' Accepted t' avoid the Greater; and that in respect of the Weariness which oppressed France, It was adjudged to be more Expedient to procure its Rest with a Little shame, than to Leave it in the Trouble of War, with an Extreme peril; Or truly it must b' avowed, That there was not Vigour and Courage enough in the Councel, or Care enough of the King's Honor, and of the Dignity of the Crown, and that the veins of them, who Governed in that Time, were not filled with those Ge­nerous Spirits, and that Magnanimous Blood whereof so great Effects are seen in the present Administration. And to speak the Truth, these forced Peaces, and these violent Reconciliations are not of Long Duration; They must quickly break, from what side soever the fault comes; And the Subjects proud and fierce upon this Forein Protection, cannot contain themselves within their Bounds, which are marked out unto them, or the Prince cannot permit his Subjects t'have relation t'any other Soveraignty than his, whereby shadow only of Authority remains t' him, and from which he receives onely an Apparence of Affection, whilst they give th' Heart and Reality t' another Prince.

What followed the Peace of Montpellier hath given us occasion to verifie this Truth, and shew, that it being made of necessity, or for fear, and Forced rather than freely Accorded; That th'Intervention and Warrant of th' English was of use to give the greater Jealousie to the King against them, wh'had made Addresses t' England, to give him a greater curiosity in th' observance of their Deportments, and a greater Inclination t' interpret them with a spirit of distrust; That they served onely to make them the more Tender and Sensible [Page 108]of the least scratch, they Imagin'd to be given to the Peace; to make them the more bold in demanding of Reparation, and to demand it with Threatnings; T' Encourage them to proceed rather as Equals than Subjects in all these Troubles; From what cause it proceeded this is not the time t' enquire after, and that I've design'd it for another place. At last, all things conspired t' an open breach, as hath been observed, and from all those Collective Causes, was formed the most dangerous War that threatned the State, since the birth of Heresie. Nevertheless, God Converted into Good those sad Apparences, and hindred th' Evil t' Accomplish its period; He stopt it in the strength of its Motion, and in the midst of its Course; And raised to the King Ministers of State, who would not strip him of his Virtue by their Coldness, but give him an Edge by their Courage; not to go awry at the sight of the Disor­ders, and to cut off some Branches; but t' Assault it in a strait Line, and to cut it up by the Roots; Not t' Allay for some time the Re­bellion with Promises, which they knew would not be kept, and may be believed ought not to be kept; but to put it in a Condition to Capi­tulate no more with his Master, and to take from it for the future, the Will to rise, in taking from it the Power of Rising. And that fell out happily, for th' English were beaten, and th' Hugonots humbled in that War; Rochel fell to the ground, and Spain became Blind or Lazre in not furnishing the Relief it had promised to the Dying party.

Somewhat like to this last Circumstance hath been seen in the Peace which the late Emperor made a little before at Lubec with the King of Denmark. The Princes whose Protection h'had underta­ken were admitted only under the General Clause, which was a Mark of Dereliction, That th'Emperor should not disturb any Person against Justice and Equity: That during such time the King of Denmark should not Engage in th' Affairs of th' Empire, And that he should no more Inter­pose in th' Affairs of Germany, th [...]n th' Emperor in th' Affairs of his Kingdom. It must nevertheless be confessed, to speak Truth of that Occurrence, That th' Advantages th' Emperor [...]ew from that Treaty, were not the Just price of the Successes H' had obtain'd in that War; And that the Collection of the Fruits Answered not the Promises which did precede it. In the King of Denmarks Condition, His Declining the Protection of his Allies was no more, than to Part with that which was not in his power to Maintain, and to Quit that he could no longer hold, and to Renounce that which produced no real Thing to th'Emperor, In the Month of June, 1629. and was but an unprofitable mark of Superiority, which Victory had made very visible. He did receive solid Benefits, redeemed all his Losses, and allayed the Tempest that was ready to break upon the Rest of his States. But th' Ambition of the Spaniards, and the pressure th'used to th'Emperor to send his Armies into Italy, against a Catholick Prince, wh' had done him no hurt, compelled him to make e Peace, as hath else-where been observed, [Page 109]with a Protestant Prince that had offended him; To cool his good Fortune in its greatest heat, and to restrain the Current of the Victo­ry, which might have passed the Bounds of the Baltique Sea; And t' have stopped that fatal Power which hath since Over-run th' Em­pire, and shaken the very Foundations of th' House of Austria. How­ever, 'tis a proof of great Superiority in Power, or of a great height in Success, t' Exclude out of Treaties of Peace, or to Comprehend in them, whom they will. And Interests of State must be very Violent, which oblige Princes to forget their Friends in their Ac­commodations, whose Faithfulness they've made Trial of in the Quarrel. In such a Dereliction, they cannot save their Honour, but by th' Extreme Necessity of their Affairs, nor be dispensed from th' observation of their Faith, but by that Supreme Law, which ought to regulate their Conduct in the safety of their Subjects. Whereupon they that would Excuse them, may say; That 'tis a Condition which Enters privately int' all their Alliances, and a Reserve which needs not be Comprised, because it cannot b' Excluded, and which Equal­ly concerns th'Interest of all the Confederates; And there's none but makes use of it in case of Necessity, or that believes himself obliged to perish, if he cannot be secure in Company; There's none that believes himself forsworn, when h' holds not that, which he believes never t'have promised. And though in the Treaties of Confederations all do promise, not to make Agreement without the Knowledge and Consent of one another; All understand it, nevertheless; with that Exception, But it the case of an Extreme ill Fortune, which allows n' other Security; or from an utter Ruine, that admits of no Safety, but by such a Breach; That if this were not so, it were t'act against th'End of Confederates, wherein many d'Engage and Unite them­selves, to resist together an Evil, which would be Superiour to the Forces of each particular person, but none of them would shut up himself, if it were not Lawful for him to go out, when he shall not find safety there, and should be Lost in a Longer stay; That they're like Ships, where they that guide them, oblige themselves to work all they Can to defend them against a Storm, but where every person re­serves t' himself the Liberty to provide for his safety in forsaking of them, when they're ready to strike ground, and that the Wrack is Inevitable. That Countries are in th'hands of Princes, as the goods of Minors; They're the Guardians, but not in all Senses the Masters of them; And in the whole humane Society there's no Deposite so Sacred and so Inviolable as that is to them. The people from whom they hold it, have committed it unto them indeed, but have not ab­solutely given it unto [...]hem, and without a Condition. They've indeed given them the Tuition, but have not given them the Power of Alienation, or to put them in Danger of Perishing, and of chang­ing Master.

To what hath been already said, may also b'added, That' tis better [Page 110]that one of the Confederates giving way to Time, and striking Sail before Fortune, make his Peace alone, the better t' Endeavour th'Im­provement of th' others Conditions, and to serve them for Relief, than that they should Lose themselves by the pretence of a false Courage, and by a Delicacy of humour, which may indeed be per­mitted in the Conduct of Particular persons, but ought never to b' ad­mitted into that of Princes, nor find place in their Affairs. That, be­sides this, theres no doubt, but that 'tis a most base dishonour for them to fail in th' observation of promises; And that no Greatness can be gained, or Establishment made, that can repair the breaches of violated Faith, and purge the shame of Perjury.

These are Considerations, which have entred into my Understan­ding, to discharge as much as may be, the proceedings which Princes sometimes are Constrained t' use in the matter of Treaties. I do not pretend, nevertheless, to warrant my thoughts from Infallibility, or to make them pass for Decisions and Dogmatiques. I leave t' every person the Liberty of Judgment, according t' his Sense to Condemn or Approve them, as it shall seem good t' him, and to take them for sound Reasons, and for Addresses of good Direction; or onely for Colours, which paint, or for Ways that occasion Wandrings. How­ever, great care must be taken not t' Exercise and Practise so ticklish a Conduct every day; And no other use is to be made of them, than as of Poisons in Medicines, That's to say, sparingly, and against Extreme Evils, and with Excellent Correctives, and Exquisite Pre­parations. I add also, that in th' Example, which I have alleged of Demark, I do not understand Fundamentally to condemn the Con­duct of that Prince, nor to Constitute my self Judge Soveraign of a thing whereof I do not know all th' occult Reasons by which that Nation might have cause to get out, which ought to be presumed to be Just, nor all th' hidden Wheels that gave it Motion, which might have rendred it necessary; I've onely drawn th'Exterior, and what hath appeared without, and hath not a plausible shew, which I've endeavoured to Temper & Sweeten by my Lenitive Considerations. Not touching then upon what may b' of Truth in the Foundation of such proceedings, what appeared without, seems to b' an Argument of Infidelity or Weakness, and both of those Qualities are Precipices, wherein a Prince will never fall if he be Virtuous, and will seldom fall into th'other, if he b' of good foresight, and knows well how to take his Measures. From whence I conclude, That the last may not happen, And that the Prince who protects, be not compelled to give the World so shameful an Evidence of his Weakness, That either h' ought at first Instance to Reject the proposals of the people, who Implore his Protection, and shut the Door t' all Importunities; or if he receive them, t' Act Vigorously with so Considerable Forces, that apparently Nothing ought to deprive him of the Victory; nor hinder by consequence the Peace to be made upon his own Tearms, and Se­cure [Page 111]the People, whose defence h'had undertaken, and with whose safety h'had charged himself. A worthier Example to follow cannot be presented, nor a more excellent Model for Imitation in like Oc­currences, than the Conduct the King observed in the Business of Catalognia. So soon as it appeared, and that so great an Occasion t'advance our affairs shewed it self, He wisely judged, That there was no reason to permit it t'escape; That there was no Cause for Re­sisting the good Fortune, which came to seek us without a Call, not to refuse a Favour, which th'Heavens offered us so freely. And as 'tis seen sometimes in difficult Maladies, that Nature makes some Demonstration, which declares to the Physicians the way th' ought to take to cure the sick Persons, and discovers to them the place by which the disease is to b'assaulted; The King also very well under­stood, That by this unlook'd for Accident, and by this unhop'd for Chance, of the rising of the Catelans, God marked out unt'us one of the ways w'ought to take, t'arrive at th'Haven we went to Sea for, and t'attain that End for which w'undertook the War; A sure and honest Peace, a firm and lasting Rest to Christian Princes.

He understook, That if h'had reason t'undertake the War in that Country, when all Spain opposed it, and that all the People joyned with the Prince to ruine our Designs, and to make our Arms fruit­less; The same Causes and Reasons being on foot, The best Peopled, and the most Warlick Province of that Nation being sever'd from th'other Provinces, and Joyned with our Forces; There was no pro­bability, but that we might promise to our selves a good success of that business; H' ought indeed so to believe it, and believe also, That if that affair was happily Embarqu'd, and that the favour of Heaven did not abandon the progress of it, That the prosperity would not be confined to the Frontiers of Catalognia, That its good Influence might extend its self further; And as a Needle rubbed with the Load­stone hath the virtue to draw others, That the subsistence of the Ca­talans might be th'Attractive to draw th'other discontented Pro­vinces after it. He knew that the Portuguese were full of good will to rise, since the time of their submission to the Crown of Spain; That they could not bear any Yoke with more Impatience; That they always breathed after their antient form of Government, and that th'hatred they had for the Castillians was so natural and strong, that no length of Time, nor moderation of Conduct, could efface th'Impression, and allay the Violence. He judg'd, that th' Arragons, wh' have not yet lost the Remembrance of Philip the Second's usage, wh' are outragious with spite for the breach of their Privileges, and loss of their Liberty; Who know that of Right it belongs t' Us, would observe what the first Successes of their Neighbours Arms would be; What form of their Establishment, and what the signes and presages of their future duration, to Joyn themselves, it may be with us, if they might do 't with safety, and if they saw in that Union Resistance and Force enough against th' Enterprises of their [Page 112]common Enemy. H' also judged, That if that War could be drawn out into length, and that the first Effort of the Troops the Spanish King should draw together to reduce or confound the Catalans, be­fore they were in a condition to Resist him, failed of its effect; It was of Necessity for him to recall from the Low-countries, or from Italy, some part of his Forces t'oppose them which were drawn out against him in the midst of his Country, and as in the Centre of his Monarchy. And by Consequent, that his other States remaining naked and weak, they would b'exposed to very dangerous strokes, and to very great wounds; And that many other good Effects and happy Encounters might derive themselves from that Cause and Spring. And therefore the Kings proceeding upon th'Occurrence of Catalognia, could not be more Judicious, nor the motion of his Arms better adjusted to the Laws of Civil Prudence.

Seventh Discourse.
That 'tis a great Secret in War, to know how to make best Choice of the Place against which the strongest Assaults are to be made. That the Spa­niards are seldom deceived in that Choice: With some other Observations upon their Conducts. That the King's Conduct is Admirable, in ordering the War he makes in so many places in Christendome.

WHat I have said of the King's Proceedings upon the Insur­rections of Catalognia, carries me t'another Consideration, which is not of small weight for the managing of a War made in several places, and divides it self into many Branches at distance with one another; 'Tis, that in this Action, the supreme degree of Mili­tary Wisdom, and as it were the precious Elixar to render any War happy, Is, t'Endeavour industriously to know the place, which ought to be the principal Siege, and to turn on that side the chief of their Forces; As to b' always ready to change Conduct, as cause shall be given, and the War to take another Conduct, and another Form in order to that End. Th'House of Austria hath always understood and practised this secret t'Admiration; And if the late Emperor for­sook it, when he made War to the Duke of Mantoua, and neglected that of Germany, t' apply himfelf powerfully to the War of Italy; 'Tis that he was forced thereunto, as hath been often observed, by th'Ambition of the Spaniards, who preferring their Interest t' his, obliged him to draw his Forces where they might b' of most use for them, and to labour their Greatness in Italy, which then con­cerned them more than the Greatness of th'Emperor in Germany.

The cause why the Spaniards possess this secret in perfection, and are seldom deceived in the Knowledge and Choice of what is most [Page 113]important in their Affairs; Is th'order of their Government, and that variety of particular Councels, whereof it is composed, as their various Countries or their Domination is distributed, and where their Arms are exercised. For Example, as to what respects Italy, There's an establish'd Councel in Italy, which is formed of the Cor­respondencies and Relations observed amongst the Ministers of State whom they there entertain; And especially betwixt the Go­vernor of Milan, and the Vice-King of Naples, and their Ambassa­dor at Venice. In th' occasions then which happen in that Country, the first Declarations are made by these four Heads, which consti­tute, as it were, the first Tribunal, where the Difficulties are agi­tated, and Resolutions taken of what is most expedient to do in the present occasion. The Result of th' Advises of that first Councel, with a faithful Relation of the Facts whereon they were formed, and the Reasons whereon they were grounded, is sent into Spain t'another Councel framed of Intelligent Persons in th' affairs of Italy, and who, having past the great Employments of that Country, have also the greater Lights and exacter Motions. There the second Examination of the Business is made, and th'advices and Reasons of the first Councels are put again to the Trial and Re-examination.

And, as in th'Oeconomy of th'Human Body, the Spirits which are formed in the Liver, pass to th'Heart to be purifi'd, and there to discharge themselves of the grosser part, and from thence arise to the Brain, where they receive th' ultimate degree of subtilty and light, whereof they are capable, and such a temper as renders them the nearest Organs of the Motion of the Body, and of th'Operation of the Senses; In like manner, the Resolutions of this second Coun­cel are carried to a Third, which is the Councel of State of the Prince, to receive there a Third Examination, and to see, if they may find a place in th'order of his affairs; And if that which is conformable to the good of th'affairs of Italy, whereunto the two first Councels have onely their Aspect, be not contrary to the general good of their Monarchy. They Act not onely in this Order, and with so great a Refinement of Prudence in their own Affairs, and which immediately concern them, but they bring also the same Cares, and the same contest of Spirit, t' Examine th' Affairs of th' House of Austria in Germany; and to direct the Form and Motion that ought to guide them; Nevertheless, with this difference, That although they address, as to their Centre, the Particulars which they have collected, as to the general Good of their House; They so order it, That the general Good remains always inferiour and subaltern to the particular Interests of their House, and to the great Design they've had to greaten it without Measure, and to raise it to th' Universal Christian Monarchy. I've already brought some Examples for the proof of this Truth, and I could bring others above number to confirm it, if there were need, and if it were not so evi­dent and known, that it would seem to give light to the Sun, and to [Page 114]make his Light visible; So that you must not b' Amazed, if the Councel of Vienna is but th'Instrument of the Resolutions, whereof the Councel of Madril is th'Author; And if you see nothing come from that, which bears not the mark of th'other, and receiv'd th'Im­pressions of their Maxims and Conduct.

And since the knowledge of facts, and of the true state of things, is the Basis of Reasonings, and that these have no subsistence, if th'others b'ill grounded; And resemble the Colours of the Bowe in Heaven, that are false, though they are full of brightness and come­liness, for want of a Body, wherein they might b' infused and fast­ned; They provide against this Inconveniency two way; Th'one is, by an unlimited Power they give to their Agents to distribute Mo­neys, and not to consider any sort of Expence to be well informed of what passeth; As to penetrate what is deliberated and resolved at the Results of their Enemies and Friends; And that Expence is fully allowed them without Examination or Restriction, and upon the single Account which they present. Their Reason is, that although this be Matter for Deceit and for Avarice to make unjust Harvests; They'd rather run th'hazard, as Inconsiderable, for the good which may arise to them, as very great; And they believe, That an Ex­pence well imploy'd in that behalf, and a good advice given to pur­pose, make them Recompence with Interest for a hundred lost Ex­pences, and for a hundred unprofitable Advices. Th' other way is, That no People of the world were ever more careful t'entertain their Correspondencies, or a greater Number of them; They do not af­fect onely specious ones, and with illustrious Persons, but they also form Correspondencies with all them that will b'obliged with them; And Experience hath taught them, that a Person of a Low Condi­tion, and of little sense, may discover to them sometimes an im­portant Truth, which might have past by the Cares and Subtilty of great Personages. So that 'tis a wonderful thing, and I've been sometimes a [...]onish'd at it, to see the great Number of Persons, who make Copies in the Chanceries of their Ministers of State, and the great quantity of Letters, which their Ambassadors by every or­dinary Messenger write by way of Original; And 'tis incredible to believe their diligence t'inform the Prince, and his other Ministers of State, of War or Peace, of what is necessary for them to know; As well the Bad as the good News is speedily sent away unto them, and above all th'ill news, as that, which is of Importance to be timely known, and without disguise, to remedy in time, and with necessary Provisions, th'Evil which they declare or presage; And that the Posts that bring them are as largely paid, and as civilly used, as they who bring the good tidings. After then that they've un­derstood the present state of their Affairs, and observed the place where it imports them most t'Act, They turn on that side, as hath been said, the chief of their Forces, t' Act the more safely, and to break and overcome by an excess of Power all that may oppose it, [Page 115]and give Resistance; They resolve to permit small Losses, and light Disadvantages in one place, t'obtain great Successes in another; and they well know, that the Branches cannot remain safe, when the Body of the Tr [...]e is cut down, and that after the wounding of the Nobler parts, th'others Die of themselves. 'Tis by this Principle, that we've sometimes seen our Frontiers covered with fearfull Clowds of their Men of War, which have been nevertheless dis­persed, and that the Lower Germany hath seen formed against it great and formidable Bodies of Imperial Armies, which have also been defeated.

Since w' are in the way to speak of the Conduct, which the Princes of th' House of Austria have accustomed particularly t' ob­serve in the War, it may not be amiss to remark also here, That when they resolve upon any great Design, and that they prepare for some High Enterprize, Th' act it with the most Privacy, and with the least possible Noise; Th' use their greatest care, that it take no Air, as if they wrought in a Mine; They make shew of Rest and Sleep, when they Labour most, and are most Awake; They're not angry when they're accused of Impuissancy, and they scatter of themselves Colourable Reasons, and furnish Specious Colours to make that Accusation probable. 'Tis not hard to divine th'End of that Artifice, which is to lay asleep and to surprize: And History and Experience do sufficiently instruct us, what incredible Advan­tages they do sometimes draw thereby to themselves, and what great and prodigious stroaks they make by the force of that Artifice, and by the favour of that Silence. Th'ill success of the Battel of St. Quin­tin had its beginning in those secret and hidden Preparations, which Philip the Second made of the great Forces wherewith he did enter Picardy; And in that fatal Credulity that possessed us of his Weak­ness, and of the small Means h'had t' Arm powerfully, till we learned it at our Charges, and were beaten with the Thunder, be­fore w' had any sight of the Lightning: W' have not lost the me­mory of a thing so fresh and sensible as the surprize, which had al­most oppressed Banier in th'High Palatinate, and the Storm that broke s' unexpectedly upon him, that it failed but little, but that the whole Power of the Swedes in Germany had with that stroke been over­thrown with the German Liberty.

I add also, that when th'Heavens second their Providence, and becomes propitious to their Designs, there's not a People in the world, to speak ordinarily, wh' understand better to make good use of her favours, and to serve themselves of their Advantages; Whereas others do become remiss by their good Success, and Pros­perity seems t'abate and dissolve their Vigour, and do stop to take breath in the best of their way, and letting pass good fortune before them, without the Courage of pursuing it, They lose the sight of it. But the Spaniards never Labour more than after a good Success, and are never hotter to Fight, than after the gaining of a Battel, [Page 116]nor more desirous to return to the Carier than after the Victory: They know how to pursue a Victory to the last, and they lose not a happy Sequel that it may produce, nor a Fruit that may rationally be gathered from it, That of Norlinghen, to go no higher, is an evi­dent proof; and if France had not interposed to stop the Current, and restrain the Rapidity, [...]h' had had nothing more to do in Germany than t'have taken possession of what would have rendred, or to march and present themselves t'overcome in all places.

So that if the wonderful power of th' House of Austria be consi­dered, which maintains it self, and stands up after it hath received so many shakings; after the loss of so many Battels; after th' Insur­rection of Provinces and Kingdoms; And on th'other side, if their constant and politique Order, and the Virtues practised in the Ca­binet Council, and exercised in the Field, be well observed, It must be confessed, that t'hinder the compleating of their Designs, it was necessary, that th'Heavens did undertake particularly to cross them, and to raise Forces t'oppose them, equal or superiour to theirs; A Policy at the least as Wise, and incomparably more Just, and Vir­tues as strong and active, but more true and effective. Wherefore th'obligation, which the whole Christian Common-wealth hath to the King, cannot be sufficiently comprehended; And whatsoever th' Acknowledgment be, it cannot be proportionable t' his aid and him, for confirming its Liberty so violently shaken; for giving stop to th'Ambition of so powerful and Enemy; for having raised so great Forces upon that Occasion, which might have been reported too great, but that they were necessary. The Reader will not take it ill, that I have here made this rough draught of the Conduct of that House, and particularly of the Branch of Spain, which is as the Mobile and Soul of the Conduct of th' other. If it cannot entirely b'imitated by other Princes and States, for the Reasons not here to b'expressed, It may be in part, and with some proportion. How­ever, 'tis no small Matter t'have made it known, that a Defence may with Power and Knowledge be made against it.

Let's see now, if in these last Times France hath well understood the publick Mystery, whereof it hath been spoken in the beginning of this Discourse [...], and if in th' execution of its Design, it hath ob­served th' Order as hath been said ought to be kept, and changed Conduct according to the change of Conjunctures. To be satisfi'd in this, it must be supposed, That th' Intention of the King having been onely t' oppose th'unjust and unmeasurable Greatness of th' House of Austria, and t'hinder th'Usurpations that it projected on all sides to make; The Law of Contraries required, That he repaired chiefly to the places, where it endeavour'd to make its principal Establish­ments, and to break the Design, where the strength of Industry ought to be, and the gross of the Work which it designed; And it cannot be doubted, that almost in all the course of that long and sad War, which devours Christendom, to the raising of the Siege at [Page 117] Casall, and to the rising of the Catalans, which followed it, but the places have been Germany and Italy. As to the first, 'tis certain, That 'tis a constant Resolution, and an Immortal Design in the Soul of those Princes, who take up th'Empire, as by Succession, to make al­so Germany their Patrimony. No person is ignorant what Charls the Fifth did, and what he did not, t'attain that End; And all the world knows also, and we do deduce it fully in the Treaty of Monarchy, How that Vast and Warlick Nation, whereof he did promise him­self the Conquest, did escape him, and broke the Nets, wherewith he had entangled them. We have seen where it failed, That th' Em­perour did not finish the Work h' had more than half done. But for the Peace of Lubec, whereof we have spoken, and the Degradation of Wa [...]sthein at the Dyet of Ratisbon, whereof we will speak in the Third Part, nothing visibly could have hindred him t'have given the last stroke; And it may be said of him, That after his Entry into the Port, he was beaten back to Sea, and reduced to the danger of drowning; We have seen th' hopes which Fortune made to flourish in the Soul of the King of Hungary, by a most desirable Conquest and how far the Success was advanced, If Torgau Banier in his Retrait, had not disingaged himself, as by Miracle, from so many Armies as environ'd Him; And had, it may be, been destroyed, but for that wonderful and unheard of passage of the Rhine, made by Sir of Lon­gueville, and but for but for the Relief and Courage which the Kings Arms commanded by that brave Prince, gave to them, who fought for the German Liberty, and to them who durst not have but good Intentions for the same Liberty. W' have formerly observed th' Extreme peril the Swedish Army, which had to that time been the Basis of the good Party of Germany, run in th'Higher Palatinate, and how near that Foundation was to b'overthrown, and th'Imperial Party t'have gained th'Ascendent, which might have been impossible for the Swedes t'have taken from them.

Moreover, as the flight from Evil is the first and the strongest In­clination of Nature, and as the Smarts of Pain and Image of Death stir the Soul Livelier, than th'Attractive of Pleasure, and th'Idaea of a Happy Life; so in th'Order of Passions which a Prince ought t'have for his Countreys, the love of Conservation ought always to precede the desire of Conquest; And before the thoughts of un­dertaking and making of any progress abrode, h'ought to provide for his safety within, and ought to submit to the publick Preserva­tion at home, and cut off the Passages by which Disorder might En­ter. And therefore since Germany onely can do us the most conside­rable mischief; since it is that Country which hath always sent th'Armies which have always over-run France, and that 'tis certain, That if th'Imperial Arms should be Victorious in Germany, they would not be confined to that Country, and that being augmented by th'Access of Confederate Forces, and with a number of other Forces, who would run thither by a Contest of Envy, They would [Page 118]discharge themselves upon our Country; They might fall into Italy, and make there the same Spoils, and cause the same Desolation, as when they descended there under the command of Colasto; or at least, they might so fortifie the Spaniards there, and affright th' Ita­lians, that it would have been a great trouble t'us t'hinder them to finish the Designs, which th'had much advanced in Germany, and to divert th'Italians from accepting the Chains of Servitude or De­pendency which had been prepared for them of so many years.

Since, I say, that all this is possible, I conclude, that th'heat, which the King gave to th'Arms of the Late King of Swede, and which h' hath Continued to the Party he left in Germany; That th' endeavours h' used to raise it after it had been almost beaten down before North­linghen; That the Supplies of Money and Men which he sent divers times into the Countrey; That the Treaties he made t' uphold th' Affairs, with the Late Duke of Weimar and the Troops he Com­manded, and with that Generous Princess,Madam the Lantgrave of Hesse. whose Judgement and Con­stancy may serve for Example to the most Magnanimous Princes, and for shame to Cowards. I conclude, That whatsoever it hath Cost or may cost this Crown, That nothing was projected or done, but accor­ding to the Rules of good Policy, and particularly according to the preventing of it, and not to stay till it hath made it Impression for the Repelling of it. I go on, and say further, That the King not on­ly ought t' have sent into Germany Forces capable of Conjunction with the Confederates, to Counterpoise and hold in Check th'Impe­rialists, as th' have done to this time; But that in that posture the least favour of Fortune might remove them out of Check, and that in a just Counterpoise, Nothing would be Easier for him than to make the Ballance fall on th'others side. This King then cannot be too much Commended for the Resolution he took to send such pow­erfull Armes; That they put th'others Indubitably upon the defence; That they gave them Constantly the Law, and prepared a sure way for the German Liberty, and for the General Peace of the Christian Common-Wealth.

As t' Italy, there's no Question to be made, but that it hath been a fixed and unchangable Design in the Spirit of the Spaniards to put th'Italians to the Yoak, and to Rob its Princes of all th'Estates they possessed there, or to reduce them to a Dependency which should not be much different from Subjection, but by the Vanity of Titles and by th'Exteriour of Forms. There's No need of Refreshing their Memory with th'Attempts of Charls the fifth, against the Liberty of this fair Countrey; The Violence he Committed and th' Ambushes he formed against it; That shall be represented at Length in the Treaty of Monarchy. There's no need also of Reporting all that the Spaniards undertook, since the Death of the late King; Sometimes against the Duke of Savoy; Sometimes against the Venetians, and a­gainst the Valtoline; Sometimes against the Duke of Mantoua; That's [Page 119]to say all th'Attempts they've made, and all the Quarters they En­deavoured t'Assault, and to Weaken what remained there most En­tire and Vigorous; [...]t shall fully be seen in the Third part, in th' Apo­logy of the Treaty of Moncon, and in that of th' Acquisition of Pignerol. 'Tis necessary only, that memory b' had of the pittifull Condition of that Countrey and of th'Auguries which appeared of its Approaching Ruine. That when the Spaniards had forced the Duke of Parma, Subdued the Grisons, Usurped Zabionette and Mi­randa, Invaded almost all Piedmont, and all the Montferrat, and be­sieged Casall, All th' hopes of its safety were reduced to th' Heroick Courage of a Prince, who would perish, or save that place, and to the good success of the King's Arms, which are not subject to th'Order of things, and sometimes makes that facile which appears im­possible.

I speak not of our Expeditions in Flanders, where it seems the King for some years hath imploy'd the principal part of his Arms. It belongs not to me t'undertake the Revealing of that Mystery, and t'hoise the sail of a thing, which the Prudence of Governours would have secret. There are in the Matters of State places, as dangerous for particular persons to talk of, as Banks and Sands are to them who sail; And as to them, the Motives of the Conduct of wise Princes in many things, ought resemble to the Roots of Trees, which are covered and invisible, whilst the Body and Branches are visible; or to the Virtues of th' Heavens, whereof the Nature is not known, though th'Effects are felt, and the Power admired; So, no Question is to be made, but the King had great Reasons t'apply his Arms, as h'hath done, to the War of the Low-Countries, though they be not known t'all the World, and that the prospects had on that side were Just, though they pass the Reach of our sight.

Besides, what appeared and falls under the sense of every person, which was to deliver our Frontiers from the Jealousie they received from some of th'Enemies places, and chiefly to secure and re-inforce Paris the more, which is as th'Heart and Noblest part of France; He was also, it may be, engaged there by other Interests, which are not altogether his, and t'adjust himself to the Interests of some of his Neighbours, by that prudent Maxim of Policy, which holds forth, That great Persons ought sometimes to take the Law from their In­feriours, and follow their Motions when they have use of them; And that a Disagreement would endanger th'Enterprize, If any of the Wheels, to which it ought to give Motion, came to fail and to be loose from the others. It may be, that in the Subjects of great and profound Designs, which the King had upon that Country, [...]e fore­saw, that if they were all as happy, as they were wisely projected, some Resolution might happen, that would for ever deliver his Kingdom from Alarms, and from Incursions, which are made some­times from that Neighbourhood. And truly, if th' Assault of Calo, and the Siege of St. Omer had prospered, as in apparance they [Page 120]ought t'have done, or if an unexpected stroke, which made a Noise upon the Frontiers of Campagnia, had not diverted the favourable progress, which promised the taking of Ayres, Th' Effects of that Princes prevoyance, it may be, had been seen; It may b'also, That h' had a will to shut the Gates for a time, by which the Forces of Germany entring into Flanders, might over-run and make spoil in France.

But when things changed their Countenance, and that the Risings of the Catalans formed another Conjuncture, he changed also Conduct, and judged, as it hath been already observed, That after th'Affairs of Germany, there was none whereunto h' ought t' apply himself with more heat, and to make a greater shew of his Forces, than to them of that Country; He foresaw, that the fruits which might be gathered from that Expedition, were not ordinary, and that th' advantages which might arise to the common cause might prove strong Motives to the Peace, for which the War was made: For besides, that the Spaniards could not long act powerfully in Spain, in Flanders, and in Italy, and the nourishment they ought to give to their Original Country, would consume the food of th' others Countrie, If the King of Hungary was seen full of troubles in Germany, and the King of Spain assaulted in th'Heart of his Estates, and troubled to defend his Life. It was not impossible, but that two Benefits also might arise very considerable; Th'one, that the Princes of Germany, separated from the good Party, might take courage to rejoyn with it; Th'other, that the League, wherein to that time they had laboured unprofitably, t'introduce th'Italian Princes, might be formed, and that they would not lose so fair an occasion to drive them away, who had stollen the Liberty of their Country, and to take away the mixture and confusion of Nations, and forein Man­ners, which sully and disfigure it. For t'imagine, that for less than that, the Republique of Venice, the most considerable of all those Princes, for what concerns Temporal things; That can give a shaking t'other Princes, and after that make no difficulty t'enter the Lifts it had opened, would be perswaded to that League, 'Tis to b'ignorant of their spirit; It were to b' a stranger to their Maxims; And to believe, what is desired, upon the single Motions of passion. This point shall b'examin'd in the following Discourse, this having been but too long. I add onely, for advise of them who might find cause to desire something here on our part upon the subject of great Extremities, wherein th'Affairs have sometimes fallen in Germany and Italy; That the King could not do all things in all places, and that it may be he had done too much, as hath else-where been ob­served, but for an absolute Necessity and Inevitable, even for the good of his own Kingdom, to do it; That he could not alone divert all th'Evils that might happen in that Country, by the failings and insensibility of them, who were more interressed than himself, and for whose Liberty he took so great pains, and made so great an [Page 121]Expence; That in the course and great variety of Affairs, which exercised him, he could not always ordain, That they who received his Orders, should b'as happy t'execute them, and to compleat them, as he was prudent in laying of the Design, and preparing the Model; But 'tis a wonder, which will appear almost incredible to future Ages, and will be one of the fairest Beams of the glory of this Prince; and one of the Noblest Monuments of his Incomparable Reign, That by his Wisdom, his Courage, and his Power, he raised at home, and with his Allies, what was ready to Fall; That he did set straight there all that began to Lean, and ever disappointed Fortune of her Malitious Progress, and of the Consequences of her Surprizes.

Eighth Discourse.
In what Conjuncture it may be probably thought, That the Venetians will enter int' a League against the Spaniards.

THough I do not think it necessary that this League, whereof hath been spoken, be made, or that the time of a General Peace be so backward, as t'attend the finishing of so difficult a Ne­gotiation; I have believed nevertheless, that it would not b'imper­tinent for me to speak my thoughts, to make the Genius of the Ve­netian Republique to be the better known, and what may b' ex­pected from it on like Occasions, and at the same time to make it ap­pear to th' Author of a small Pamphlet, which appeared a little after the last Stege of Casal, under the name of a Montferrat Soldier, That the Season was not then come to form that League, as he did pre­tend it, and that the King was not ripe, according to the Sense of that Republique, and the Maxims of their Policy.

The foundation whereupon I do build my Opinion is this, That it being th'ordinary Nature of Republiques to be very distrustful, and to fear more than hope, when th'Apparances of Evil and Good are equal; It may be said, That Venice, of all other Republiques, Labours most of that humour; And that th'Inclination it hath in all it undertakes to give the least it can t'Hazard, and the most to Pru­dence, is the cause, that 'tis seldom enclined for the War, which is an Element of Fortune, unless an extreme Danger do force it, or a visible Benefit invite it. I could bring a number of antient Examples to confirm this Truth, if I did not believe, that Modern would be of most use and credit, as most efficacious, and of greater Instruction than th'others. In that high and wonderful Design, which the late King had formed against th'House of Austria, and to put the Quiet of Christendom, so often troubled by that House, in some state of consistency, he caused the Republique to be solicited to be of the Party; And notwithstanding the power h' had with them, which could not be greater, and th' Advantages h' had proposed unto [Page 122]them, which were not small, for the Price of their Arming, and for th' [...]nterest of th'Expence it should make; Though it was onely in­tended for the breaking off th' [...]rons of Italy, and to force from the Spaniards what they held unjustly there; Though all the fru [...]ts of the Conquest, whereof the greatest part was to be at his Charges, and by his Forces, were to be gathered for th'Italians, and that he reserved onely the glory of being their Liberator, and to make the Spaniards lose the place of drawing together the greatest part of their Armies, which was then the State of Milan; Yet he could never draw from that Republique, but general Words of Good-will and of Praises, which were uttered above measure, as 'tis its custom, to that Magnanimous Prince, who had no lesser Thoughts than to be the Flayl and th'Exterminator of Tyrants, the Restorer and Arbiter of the Christian Common-wealth.

The Republique then of Venice was not so blinded with the pro­posals that were made unto it, nor with th'Apparences wherewith they were cloathed, but that they had before their Eyes th'Instability of Human Things, and th'ordinary Games of Fortune, the perpe­tual Motion of her Wheel, and the sudden and frequent Revolu­tions which sh' occasions in the World. It apprehended, that before the Work, whereof the Platform was represented was finished, or else well begun, th'undertaker might fail, either by a natural Death, which would not be strange, or by a violent End, which was not without Example. It desired to see all the Contexture of the League; The Seat and Action of the Pieces of that Engine, and the Success of its first Motions; That if it saw cause to renounce it, or to b'assaulted with some sad Accident, there might be no cause of Repentance for Joyning, not t' accuse themselves of Precipita­tion and of falling, for having made too much haste; That if th'Hea­vens look'd favourably upon that League, and gave it a propitious Wind, It knew well, that the door would b'always open unto't; It knew, that without her, th' Expedition which was discoursed of for Italy, would be weak and lame, and that the perfections of its good success depended upon the conjunction of their Arms with those of other Princes. And then in entring the League it should run but a little hazard, and make but a small Advance of Moneys; It might find th'Harvest ready; It would have nothing to do, but to pursue the Remainders of the Victory, and should come rather to the Dividing, than Taking of the Prey. Such was the belief of the late King upon the Demeanor of that Republique, and to that purpose he gave charge to Sir of Bullion to speak to the Duke of Savoy, to whom h'had sent him to Conclude and Terminate the League, which the Sirs of Nemours and of Vaucelas had begun with him. The Reader may see it at length in th' Instruction given to the Sir of Bouillon, which in my opinion is a very excellent Piece, and one of the best things that I have seen in its kind. Let's go on.

After that Cordova had besieged Casall, and by an Attempt, whose [Page 123]beginning wanted a pretence to colour it; And had made it appear to th'Italians, That his Master would make no difference betwixt what might accommodate him, and what did belong to him; The Republique armed vigorously, and made some demonstration of interessing themselves in that Quarel. Nevertheless, of whatsoever Importance the conservation of Casal was for the safety of Italy, and though th' Ambition of Spain had not a stronger Barrier in that Country than that place; The Republique could never be perswaded to relieve it, or to send their Army into Montferrat t'assault Cordova's Army, which was not Invincible, or to make a diversion on Cre­mona's side, which was very easie to be done. But after it had seen th'happy Success of the Siege of Rochel, and the passage of Suza forced, and by consequence one of the Gates of Italy open t'our Ar­mies; The Republique resolved to command their Arms t'enter into the State of Milan, in whose defence it saw but a few Astonished Troops, and the Reliques of an Army, which Winter and the Be­sieged had ill used before Casal, and which had no strength, but to flie and to save it self at the sight of ours.

Though it was so, and that probably the fruits of the Victory the King had obtained could not be more certain or more fruitful, if it had been pursued; Though it seemed then, that no labour re­mained, but to gather the Favours which Fortune offered us of Her self, and to receive what would be rendred, yet many strokes ought t'have been made, and Combats fought, to make the Republique resolve to send Orders to their Generals to pass the Rubicon; That is, t'enter with a Warlike Posture into Cremona, and to Leap the Bounds had been almost an Age Sacred and Inviolable unto them. It was not without a long Agitation of Thoughts and extreme La­bour of Spirit, that it was perswaded to that bold Resolution; Th'Eloquence and Address of Sir of Avaux, how great soever, was never more pusled than to make the Republique t' undertake it; It brought the same Formalities, and the same Precautions, as when it determin'd t'accept the War, which th'Herald of Lewis the 12^th de­clared against it on the behalf of the League of Cambray; Or that which the Chaoux of Selim the Second did intimate unto't for the possession of Cyprus: And since, after that, for Important Conside­rations, which I have touched in the First Part, the King had stop­ped the course of the Victory of Suza, and given Peace to the Spa­niards, who were no longer in a condition to d'Evil t'our affairs; The Republique many times avowed to Sir of Avaux, That their Resolution to break so suddenly with Spain was Matter of great Astonishment to them, and was done by a kind of surprize, and contrary to th'ordinary course of their Conduct, so far t'Engage in the Quarrel of the Duke of Mantoua.

It may also b'observed by the War, or rather by the Persecution which the late Emperour and the King of Spain exercised upon that Duke, That 'tis very hard to draw the Venetians t' an Offensive [Page 124]League, and t'engage them in a War, but by the Temptation of some great Advantage, which may appear to them as infallible, or by the Fear of a great Evil, which assaults them with Fury, and is ready, if it be not staid, to break upon them. So they could not b'in­duc'd to draw into the Field against the Spaniards, when Casal was at Bay, and all the Montferrat at Mercy; Till they saw on th'other side the Mountains, the French Colours to be displaied, and with them th'Hopes of the Conquest of Milan, and of the partition of that fair Country, which seem'd to b'open'd unto them by the For­tune of France; When they saw Mantoua in danger, and upon th'in­stant of loss; When they saw that th'Affair prest on that side, and that th'Evil was Inviolence; And by consequence, that the place which, in th'Hand of the Duke of Mantoua, served for a Rampart to some parts of their Country on the Land-side, falling into th'Hands of th'Emperour or the King of Spain, would be made as a Cittadel to command it; They gave orders for their Army t' ad­vance for the Relief of Mantoua. But whether the Remedy came too late, or that the Malady was no longer capable of Cure, or that th'ill Conduct or Imprudence of them, who were ordered to dispense it, corrupted the Virtue, or hindred th'Operation, It hapned, that it did not produce th'effect which the Venetians had proposed to them­selees, and t'express the matter, as it was; The delays they used in resolving upon that Relief; Th'Order of that Design the Duke of Rohan had contrived, which one of the chief Commanders of their Army changed by Jealousie, and th' Ill Intelligence which did arise betwixt the Duke of Candale and the Marshal of Estree, were the fatal Causes of the Losse of a place, which was of so great Concernment to the Venetians to Conserve. I conclude, from hence, That th' Eminent danger which excites them t' Act, hang­ing no longer over their Head, and the defeat of the Spaniards before Casall; the great losses they suffered before Thurin; And th' other disgraces which have since hapned unto them, Having dissipa­ted the fears they Laboured of, lest the Spaniards should extend their Invasions upon the rest of Italy; And seeing that the Fortune of th' House of Austria was Highly sustained in Germany, and that the Spring which might send powerfull Reliefs to the State of Milan was not drawn drye, 'Tis not to be wondred, if they do refuse t' embarke in a Quarrel, wherein there's no great Evill for them to fear, nor certain good t'hope for, in case they did embarque in it. But if they saw the Confederate Forces Superiour, and prevalent in Germany, as they saw in Spain, the Seeds of a long War, and the Matter of a lasting Quarrel; And by consequent, that it should act no more in Italy, but by languishing and weak Means; There's probability that they would make use of the Conjuncture, and would have been glad t'have gained some part of the State of Milan, which might have been convenient for them; Or at least, that they would put them­selves int' a posture to make the Spaniards throw up th'Usurpations [Page 125]th' had made in Piedmont and Montferrat, being able to do't safely and without fear of Revenge. And in truth, it would be a strange and very unjust thing, that being so interessed as they are in the Li­berty of Italy, and having so much there to lose, they should ever stand there, as immoveable Spectators of what passeth in that Coun­try; And in rest and ease, leave their Friends always to labour the Work of their Safety, and contribute nothing to th' advancement of the Peace, and raising of the Temple, that is prepared for them; but Idle Reasonings; but superfluous Wishes and Endeavours without Effect. For that Peace, I say, which is th' End of the Kings Arms, and th'object of his Hottest and Constant desires, for which, He lays up so many Cares and Labours; Exposeth His Person to so many Dangers, and draws so much Money from the purses of his Subjects, and so much bloud from their Veins; for that Peace, which ought not only t'ease the Wounds of Christendome, but ought fully t' Heal and strengthen it; which ought not only to be a Remedy against present, but also a preservation against future Evils; which ought to put In­feriour Persons in safety from the Violence and Attempts of the grea­test Persons, and under whose shadow all shall enjoy what shall be­long to them without Trouble or Jealousie.

Ninth Discourse.
What Conditions that Peace ought t' have which all Honest Persons desire, That it may be Just and Sure; That the particular Peaces which th' House of Austria Endeavours to make would be the Ruine of them who make it.

WHat I've said of the League, which the Republique of Ve­nice might be disposed to make, and of the Peace, to which it ought to Contribute more reality and effect, than wishes and En­deavours, Invites me to say a Word of the Conditions, which such a Peace ought t'have, and of th'ill Fortune of those Princes, wh' have estranged themselves from it in Germany. To th'end then, that it may be such, as all Honest Men desire, and to lay the Foundations so deep and solid, That there may be no fear of the falling of the build­ing, or that it Crack of a long time, It must of necessity be a Gene­ral Peace, And that all they wh' associate to make War, make but one Composed Body of many Members, and have but one soul to Move them, and but one End t'Aim at; That the Confederates pro­cure to themselves mutually and without the spirit of Emulation, all th'Honest Helps and all the Reasonable Advantages, which may serve for common safety; That although the League offensive doth separate, and their Armies disband, a defensive League do remain [Page 126]ever a foot, As Guardian of the Peace, and as th'Holy Ancre upon which it may repose, by which all the Confederates ought t'oblige themselves to run the first down, that shall undertake to break it, and to rekindle the Torches which it had put out, and revive the Trou­bles which it had quieted; And that from th'Indissoluble union and the perfect Correspondency of Princes and others of that League, so powerfull a Counterpoise be formed, and so Strong and High a Levy made against th' Ambition of th' House of Austria, That it might be Compelled to contain its self, within the Limits, which shall be prescribed, and t' enjoy the good of Acquiescence it would lose by taking it away from others.

'Tis of this Matter, that the peace whereof Christendome hath need, ought to be made, that it may be durable; 'Tis upon this Basis that it ought to be raised, if Men would have it subsist. Besides this way, I do not see, That strength Enough or subsistence can be given it; And 'tis certain, that if the Confederates shall be tempted by the Baits and Advantages, which will be presented unto them by par­ticular Treaties, and that the Members of the League do sever from the body, that they compose; They will infallibly be lost; And it will befall them, as to those Insects, which are cut in peeces, that preserve for a little time some Motion and Life, but Dye and Pe­rish a little after, for being deprived of the Virtue, that did arise from th Union of all the parts, as the Principle of their Duration. From whence it may be seen, what Imprudence the Duke of Saxe is guilty of, and th'other Princes of Germany who followed the course of the first Mobile, to sever themselves from the Swedish Alliance. For, without speaking of th'offence committed against Honesty, by that separation whereof, mention hath been made; of that Villainous Blot of Ingratitude, wherewith they have Charged themselves in the Me­mory of a Prince to whom they were so much indebted; Their In­terests obliged them alwaies to stand united; And instead of that unlucky Peace of Prague, which was sold unto them so dear; They should have Laboured a General peace, which had not left open any Wounds nor Burning-firebrands in th' Empire; which had not left any Snares, nor concealed any Ambushes, and which might have been gained by a shorter or a less grievous War, than that which was shut up in th'other and yet continues. In Effect, if Powder had not been Cast into th'Eyes of those Princes, and if their Councel had not deceived them; If some little Light or some little Liberty had been left them to see, what they did, or t'hinder the doing of it; Is there any Apparence but that they had seen the Precipice, whither they brought them, or that they would have descended Voluntarily into it? Is there any Probability that they would have taken so grosly th'Exchange that was given them; That they would depart from a Society to put themselves into Chains, and that from Equals and Companions as they were of the Swedes, They would have made themselves slaves of th'Imperialists, and Dependents upon the Spani­ards? [Page 127]Would they not have Known, that instead of passing by a light discontent and a small distaste received from one of the Mini­sters of State of the Crown of Swede, wherein an easie Remedy might have been found, They exposed themselves t' all th'Injuries, which Tyranny hath Accustomed to practise with them, of whom they will b'assured, and are afraid of, lest they should Escape them? That in th' Alliance of that Crown, what they Contributed to th' Enter­tainment of the War, was voluntary, or could not exceed the Con­tents of the Conditions of the Treaty; what they ought to Contribute to that of th'Emperours, had no other Limits but their want of pow­er; That the Charge of th'Expence, which they would be obliged to make would re-double without stint, and would b' Heavy without Measure; And that they would not less endeavour in that deceifull and unfaithful Confederation to cause all their Heat and Spirits to b' exhaled, and to draw from them Monies and Men, Than t'extermi­nate the Swedes out of Germany, and to purge, as they say, th'Empire of forein Nations, wh' have Cast themselves into 't, that they might have nothing to doe, but with them, when they 've done with o­thers?

If from the Principles of the Spanish Policies, which Reign as freely at Vienna as at Madrid, they will not draw so necessary a Conclusion; Let them inferr it at least from their own Experience, and Con­sider, That if others would not Hold them but by the Bands of Friendship, and by the sense of good Turnes; if they had not a design to Consume them in destroying the Swedes and other Strangers, and to make use of them against Swedes and Strangers, as the Refiners do Lead, to Purifie Gold and Silver in the Refining Vessel, which, in the same instant it sends into smoak th' other imperfect Metalls, Evaporates it self and is lost with them it forceth away. They would not have made, as they have done to their power their Countries the Theatre of the War; They would not have made the same scorn of their Troops, as of their Enemies; And they should have recei­ved at least, as gentle Entertainment, as what the Duke of Baviere received. Let them remember the discourse held at Rome by th' Ambassadors of the Late Emperor upon the Complaints there made of the Concession their Master had granted of the Goods of the Church to the Duke of Saxe, to the great Damage and Disdain of Religion, and to the great scandal of good Catholiques. That it was the small Aid and Subvention received from th'Holy Chair, which constrained him; That it was the Violence of his Affairs that had forced him; And that it was th'hardest and most Inexorable of all Laws, That of Necessity to which He had obeyed.

Let the Clearing now of this Mystery and of the Concealed sense of these Words b'examined; Let the secret spirit they contain be drawn out; And it may be Judged in my opinion, That that peace Holding more of Force than of Election, and Being rather torn, than freely past from the Will of th'Emperor; There would be no want [Page 128]of Doctors to prove that it ought not to b' observed, at least by his Successors who had not made it; That they could not b' obliged t'hold what was not lawfull for their Predecessors to grant, and that no Promises were more unlawfull, and whose Ligament is sooner to be Cut, and Damage repaired, than such as wound Religion, and dissipate the goods of the Church, for the Protection and Defence whereof, they 've a particular and inevitable Obligation. The Princes then, who 've quitted the Confederations so Solemnly sworn, and so often renewed with their true Friends, to cast them­selves into the peace of Prague, ought t' hold for certain, that they 've abandoned the pursute of a Reality, and of a Body, t'embrace an Apparition and a shadow; And that there's but one of these three wayes open to their future Condition, Either to remain for the final prey of th'Imperialists, as hath been expressed, and to make up the Conclusion of the Game they play in Germany, if the Confederate party be subdued; or if the Victory fall on the Swedes side, T' en­dure the Troubles of the violation of publique Faith, and th'Effects of the Vengeance which the bloud of the King of Swede requires, poured out for the Redemption of their Liberty; or at last, if they will see the Truth of this Amnestia, which is the Subject of the Confederate Armes, instead of that other Imaginary, which hath been the Bait, wherewith th' House of Austria hath caught them; If they would see the Constitutions and th' Ancient Order of th'Empire to reflourish; If they woud see a perpetual Fence made to th' Ambition of them that throw it open, That I say, This may be done Quickly and Ea­sily, There's nothing to be done, but to return to the good Party, and to rejoyn with them who Labour with so much vehemency at this Immortal work. I go on and say also, That as there's no doubt to be made but th' House of Austria will move all the Wheels of their Policy to disunite the League, which is on foot in Germany, and to reduce the present Troubles to particular peaces, and like to that of Prague; And 'tis not, I say, to be doubted, but it will be made, that every one of the Confederates Engaged for his particular, and seve­red from the body of the League, may be found the weaker to re­sist him, when he shall be Assaulted, Though the Contrary be pro­mised. And to be secured from this Inconveniency, 'Tis necessary to take the Counter Course taken by that House, and to put in pra­ctice the Law of Contraries, which is of so great Use in th' Affairs of the World; All the Confederates ought to resolve never t' Dis­unite; To reject all proposals, that may be made them of particular Treaties, as a designed Poyson which shall be presented to them in the form of a Remedy; and t'Insist upon it till it be concluded in the project of a General Peace; That it be not declined, till it be Ac­complished, and in such a Defensive League, as I've here above described.

But lest, that in Threatning them with the License, which is said, Th' House of Austria gives it self to violate all Treaties, whose [Page 129]Observation is Damageable, and the not Observation Advantagious unto it, I may give them a false Alarm, and raise fear from a false Imagination. It may be, that 'tis as Carefull to perform what she Promiseth, and particularly, when the Name of God is Interposed, as it hath been, th' other specious Apparences of Piety, and th' out-side of Exemplary Religion; And that it Aims at nothing more than a good Peace, and that its Intention is, when it hath gained this Haven, to put it self no more in danger for the Future, unless it be forced upon so Dangerous a Sea, as the Warr. I will demonstrate here the Contrary, and make it Evident, That in truth, it gives it self that License, and that it doth abuse the Name of God, and plaies with the Publick Faith, when their Interests require it, more than any Prince of the World. For this purpose, I do not intend to play the Orator, nor to make use of an Art, which boasts of her Colours, and lights, to Change, when it pleaseth the state of Things, and to make them seem Great or Little, Fair or Ugly, when it shall seem good unto Her; This is as much Estranged from my Humours, as 'tis above my Forces; And I do Heartily renounce an Exercise, which I should discharge Unhandsomely, if I did un­dertake it. I will not here neither, produce all the Breaches of the Treaties, which this House of Austria hath made, nor all th' Infide­lities, wherewith it hath stained its Conduct. Great Volumes are only capable to Contain them. I will touch only upon somewhat more Modern, as more Sensible, and upon what hath passed in these latter times in Germany and Italy.

As t' Italy, who knows not that the last Warrs the Spaniards have made to the Duke of Savoy, Grand-father to this Duke, have alwaies budded from the Breach on their part of th' Treaties, which preceded? And so soon as the fear of th' Evil, which had Obliged them for Accomodation, was over, and that the hope of th' End which they had Proposed to their Arms, began to Revive, They lost the Memory of the Peace they had Sworn, and made no Diffi­culty to renew the Quarrel, and to re-kindle the Disorder at the Charges of their Faith, and against all Justice. So that what Inter­vened betwixt two Warrs, was not so much Peace as a Suspension of Arms, nor the Cure of the Feaver, as the Remission of th' Ac­cess; The fire was Covered under th' Ashes, but Dyed not in th' Intention of the Spaniards, and it hapned t' all that Affair, as to Wounds ill Dressed, which often break out; It was renewed fre­quently; And that Game lasted till new Accidents made the Spa­niards take new Designs, and that the Troubles of Germany allayed them of Italy.

I speak not here of the Peace of Suza, which they Violated with­out other Colour, than that they were Necessitated to do 't, for th' Interest of their Reputation; nor of th' Ingratitude, wherewith they requited the Courtesie, which the King did in their behalf, and that rare Moderation which made him bound his Prosperity by the [Page 130]delivery of his Allies, and permitted him not t' Overcome, but where it found Resistance. It hath been spoken of in another place, and shall be Spoken of more fully in the Third Part. I remit also to speak there of the Treaty of Cuirasque, which the Necessity of the German Affairs forced from them, rather than the Love of the Peace of Italy; And to which, the Resolutions of the Dyet of Ratis [...]one, and th' Entry of the King of Swede into Germany, where th' Evi­dences of the Tempest did them Appear, which hath since fallen upon th' House of Austria, forced them to consent, and to set their Hands with design not t' observe it, so soon as they had sent us over the Mountains, as shall be declared at large, in th' Apology of th' Acquisition of Pignero [...]. I will not also, Revive here the Deceits they practised towards the Venetians, and th' Alterations they gave them upon the business of th' Uscoques. It were to repeat, but what hath been said. I pass also in silence the various [...]ricks which at several times they put upon the Grisons, and th' Artifices, and open Force, wherewith they have s' often assaulted their Li­berty, against the Faith of the Treaties, made with them, and with their Allyes.

That will be seen in the Third Part, in th' Apology of the Treaty of Moncon, where I give a very Exact Table of th' Affairs of that Common-wealth. I come to them of Germany, and to what passed upon that Scean, not less Famous by the Treaties, than by the Warrs, which were managed there: Who knows not that the Peace of Ulmes, Concluded by the Mediation of France, gave Means to th' Emperour t' Ease himself of the Weight of the Warr under which he Groaned, and t' unravel the Perplexities from which he could not be dis-intangled but by that Expedient? And who knows not also, That he observed it no longer than was Necessary for to prepare for a Warr, which he resolved in Swearing the Peace; And that the Ruine of the Count Palatine, and of his Friends, pro­ceeded only from the Confidence they raised in that Treaty, and from that Ruinous Foundation, whereupon they trusted, as upon an Holy Anchor, by the Right of Nations, by the Reverence of the Name of God, which therein was Interposed, and by th' Authority of so Great a Mediator as the King of France?

After the Gain of the Battel of Prague, and that fatal Series of Prosperities which follows great Victories; After that th' Imperial Arms had Triumphed over all that favoured the Palatines party, and that the Count of Tilly, and Marquiss of Spinola, had stripped Na­ked that unhappy Prince, Th' Emperour transferred his Electorate to the Duke of Baviere, and divided his Country between him and the King of Spain; But it being pretended, that the Formalities Ordained by the Golden Charter, and by th' other Pragmatique Sanctions, had not been observed in that Translation and Partition; and for fear, that proceeding which they supposed to be Violent, should Offend th' other Electors by a common Interest, and Provoke [Page 131]the King of England to a Revenge, and to Prosecute the Reparation of th' Out-rage done to his Son-in-Law; Th' Emperour protested in the Dyet of Ratisbone, in the year 1662. That h' had transferred th' Electorate to th' House of Bavi [...]re for the Dukes Life only, that was Invested with it; And for what Concerned the Palatinate, he would make Reparation to the Count Palatine, and give Satisfaction thereupon to his Friends: He gave the same Assurances to the King of England by his Letters, in the year 1623. which the Duke of Baviere also Confirmed by his Letters, and signified the King; He understood that it was only for his Life, that his House should Enjoy th' Electo­ral Dignity, and that h' had Accepted it upon Condition of Return to th' House, from whence it was taken, and should be the Pri­vilege of his Person, and not th' Inheritance of his Heirs. It was th' Allay that was alwaies Presented to the King of England, and wherewith he Suffered himself alwaies to be Surprized; And his Inclination naturally disposed to the Sweetness of Rest, and to the Delicacies of Peace, was Easily diverted by that shew, which was made of giving him Content, from the Thoughts of Warr, which were not Natural to him. In th' Expectation of th' Effects of those hopes, he finished his Life, which from time to time were renewed unto him; And th' Earl of Gondemar, who had seized upon the Kings Understanding, and taken Soveraign Possession of it to Govern him absolutely, knew how to represent th' Execution of that Affair so infallible, as not only t' Hinder the King from Arming against the Usurpators of his Son-in-Laws Lands, but Enclined him also to Lend Ships to his Master, to secure against th' Hollanders the Spanish Fleets, which Sailed from th' Indies.

That business hath ever since been in the same Condition on th' Emperours part, and stood alwaies floting in Irresolution and In­certitude, till the Accident of Northlinghen, which was fatal to the Swedes. The grearest part of the Princes, and free Towns of th' Empire, fell from their Confederation, and Conspired at Prague with th' House of Austria, against the German Liberty. Th' Empe­rour High and Proud with his prodigious Success, and believing himself Master of Affairs and Fortune, forgetting the Promises he had so Solemnly made to the Late King of England, and the Faith h' had so often given him in Favour of his Son-in-Law, though nothing had passed against him on that Princes occasion, nor by the Means of his Children, but a Sad and Lamentable Progress of Calamity, and of Disgraces, declared by his own Authority, (though he could not Lawfully do it) but by th' Authority of a Lawfull Dyet, and all Parties heard, declared I say, Th' Electorate duely Translated to the Duke of Bavaria, and to his Heirs, and that it could not Devolve t' any other Family till his was Extinguished; More­over, He declared th' Opposition made by the Duke of Newbourge, as Prince of the Palatine Family, to be Void, and that he was not to b' admitted upon his Claim; And that this was done upon great and im­portant [Page 132]Considerations, known t' his Imperial Majesty; That he Main­tained and Confirmed in the Partition and Possession of the Palatinate, them, Wh' had taken it in his Name, and by his Authority, with Respect to b' had to the Count Palatines, and to the Requests of Princes, who should Intercede for them, and under such base and shamefull Con­ditions, That he knew well they would never b' Accepted.

But remembring the Bloody affront done to the present King of England, and the Counterpoise that he might bring to the Ballance, where the Victory hung betwixt two Parties, if he should declare for his Enemy; Remembring also the Damages the Low-Country­men would receive in the Cessation of the Recruits th' English might bring them; And other Consequences that might arise from th' Hatred of a Prince, provoked to Revenge by frequent disdains offe­red unto him, and by th' Extreme injuries done t' his Nephews; He re-assumed the Foxes skinn, which h' had put off at the Treaty of Prague, and Exercised the first Art, wherewith h' had so often play'd his Game with the Father, t' abuse the Son, and to suspend the Resolution he might take, to seek by Force, what had been de­nied t' his Intercession and Endeavours. He made shew then of Entertaining the profers of Accommodation, which were made to Him; He received the King of Englands Message for that purpose, and seemed to desire a Solemn Embassage t' yield with the greater Honour, and to give the more Glory to the Treaty he would Conclude. But th' Journey of th' Earl of Arundel; The several Distast [...]rs, which he there received, and the Dissatisfaction, which at last he brought back, made Clearly manifest to the World, the Truth of th' Emperours Intentions, and that it was a studied Ar­tifice to gain Time, and to try the Fortune of Warr with the more Advantage, having to do with the fewer Enemies.

I speak not of what hapned to the last Ambassadour, that was sent from England, nor of the success of his Embassy, which hath not given the Lye to the former; 'Tis a matter too new and present to b' unknown by any Person. And this may be said in favour of th' House of Austria, That it being necessary, the Treaty to be Con­cluded, should be debated by the King and Parliament of the King­dome; The time was not proper for it, whilst the King and his Par­liament were divided; That truly is not without Reason and plausible Pretence, but the secret of th' Affairs is, That so long as the Schism shall last, and the Fire which th' English have kindled in the midst of their Country, be maintained in Heat and Force, The King of Hungary, and they of his Party, have no Cause to fear their Arms, nor t' hasten a Treaty. And if it b' Expedient, that they treat in Earnest, it may be time enough, when th' English have re­assumed their former Union, and the design of restoring the Palatines House, and re-establishing of the Princes, th' Emperour and his Adherents had stripped to their Shirts.

That whilst they run th' Hazard of the Warr, either they may [Page 133]gain so Considerable Successes, and their Power may Encrease so Plentifully, That when England shall enter into the League, which all sorts of Reasons d'invite it to do, and to Joyn his Forces with the Forces of the Confederates, They would have nevertheless Cause t' hope for Victory, and should not b' obliged to part with that Willingly, which they could not take from them by Force.

These Prejudications, which are Offered, accompanied with many others shall be set down in the Third Part, may suffice to make it appear to our Confederates, what Foundation they can raise upon the Duration of particular Treaties, to which th' House of Austria doth press and sollicit them. And the Swedes above all Persons, whom they would debosh from the Confederation of France, and against whose Faith they raise their strongest Batteries, and Arm their subtilest Artifices, are too Dextrous to b' ignorant of the constant Resolution, and immoveable Will of those Princes of that House, not to Suffer them, having advanced their Power so far into Germany, to take deep Root there, or that so Powerfull a Member, and of so Warlike a Nation, should b' adjoyned to th' Empire. I believe also, that they doubt not, as to what respects the Duration and Subsistence of the particular Treaty they should have made with them, but that they would find a thousand Pretences of Honour to break without Disgrace, and a thousand Evasions of Cons;cience to Violate it without Scruple, and that they will bring to their Relief, as hath been in another place Discoursed, that Maxim, which they hold ever in Reserve to make use of in time of need, That they are not obliged t' hold Faith with Heretiques; Chiefly, when it hath been given in things which help to confirm Heresie in any Country, from whence they have a design to Banish it, which furnish it with Food and Strength, which swells and makes it proud with Temporal and other Human advantages for Subsist­ence. That giving them the Reputation of Robbers of the People, and for Ravishers of Estates, as infallibly they will do; They make use against them of that Opinion of the Casuists, which is derived from the Root of Nature, and whereof th' Heathen have not been ignorant; That promises made to Robbers by force, when Men are at their Discretion, and the Power is in their Hands, oblige not by Consequence th' Observation of them, and impose not a Yoak, which may not be broken without doing Evil.

Briefly, they ought t' hold for certain, That the Spaniards enjoy­ing Spain, the fruitfullest Mine, and the fullest Spring of the Cases of Conscience that is in Christendome; And being Masters of the Stock, from whence more abundantly, than from any other place, the sharp and subtil Doctors, who make when they will, such curi­ous and exquisite Anatomies of th' Actions and Manners of Men, and wh' have full Magazines of Colours to disguise things; who decide with a wonderfull Boldness, such Difficulties, as the Bible, the Councils, the Popes, and the Fathers would not touch; And [Page 134]failing for the most part of a fixed Point t' establish their Opinions upon▪ and making use of so soft and flexible a Rule to measure them by, as their Reasoning; Know by consequent t'accommodate them when they please, to th'Inclinations of them who consult with them.

The Swedes, I say, ought t'hold for certain, That the Princes of that House will ever find some of their Doctors (for the same Judg­ment is not to be past upon all of them) who will maintain, That not t'hold t' Heretiques what hath been promised them, is no Evil, when a Good may arise from it to Religion; And to strip them of Temporal Goods, which serve for Nourishment, and A [...]d t'Heresie, though the possession of them had been promised, is not an Action more blamable, than to take a Sword from th' hand of a furious Person, who might run it through his Heart, what promise soever had been made to the contrary. At the worst, The Princes of the Time, and particularly they of th'House of Austria, are too Intelli­gent and too Ingenious to want th' occasions of Troubles, when they've use of them; And th' Affairs of Christendome are at this day so vexed and confused, that what care soever is taken to clear and compose them, 'tis certain, that for a long Time there will be but too much matter of Quarrel and of offence, for them wh' have a mind to't.

Tenth Discourse.
That the Confederation between the King and his Associates hath all the necessary Conditions required in a durable Peace; Some Con­siderations upon the Nature of Leagues, that they may the better be maintained.

IT appears clearly by what hath been above-said, that the Troubles of Christendom cannot b' appeased by such deceitful and unfaith­ful Means, as particular Peaces; And that it were to build its Ac­quiescence upon Ice, which would dissolve at the first Beams of the Sun, to raise it upon so uncertain and shallow a Foundation. And that it may be such, as is desired, it must be raised upon the Basis of a General Peace; And that a permanent Confederation of them, wh'are associated to make War, be the Buckler of that Peace, and the Rampier to secure it, from th'assaults that may be made against it; It must b'also the perpetual obstacle to restrain th' House of Au­stria, and t'hinder it from making Invasions upon his Neighbours, and to vex it for the future, as it Hath done others for the time past. And as there is so strong a Bond, and so streight a Correspon­dency between the Branches and the Dependences of that House, that it may be said, they've all but one Interest, and that th' are seen to run to the Relief of one another with the same Heat and Impetuosity, as if it were their own business. In like manner, all [Page 135]other things laid aside, the Confederate Powers ought always to b'of a good understanding, and ever ready t'act unanimously against th'House of Austria, as often as it shall stir injuriously against any of them; And resuming the spirit of Ambition, which is so natural to't, and gives it so much trouble, shall presume again to conspire against the Peace of Christendom, and against the Liberty of those Princes.

And it seems to me, that the Confederation now on foot between the King and other Princes, who joyn with him to procure a just and sure Peace to the rest of Christendome, hath all the necessary Conditions to form and maintain that fair Union and perfect Cor­respondency, which we would oppose to that which unites and conjoyns th'House of Austria, and its Dependences. 'Tis what, I pre­tend to make appear in the following Discourse, and in examining the Nature and the Conditions of the most famous Leagues, which Christendom hath seen for the two last Ages, and in discovering the Defects and Weaknesses where they have failed, and which have been the Means of their Dissolution and Ruine.

To discourse then of then Matter, I say, That although there are two sorts of Leagues, or that they may be considered under two different Considerations, and under two distinct Functions; Both of them have need of the same Supports for their Establishment, and of the same Cares for their Duration. There are some Leagues which, according to the first Intention of them that made them, have no visible Action in them, nor Motion, nor Life, that is sensible, which properly signifie no more than to secure from apprehended Motions of War, and t'impede turbulent Princes from making of Troubles; As Banks stop the Sea from over-flowing, and restrain th'Invasions and Spoils which otherwise it would make. Other Leagues are all in Motion, and the first Idea under which they're projected, is to serve for Remedies against th'Evils which press, and not against them which are feared; To repel the Tempests which break forth, and not to cherish the Calms that reign. I will give you of both some Examples, which shall be the Foundations of our Reasonings, and may render th'Instructions to be drawn from it more easie and sensible. In the time of Lawrence of Medicis, the greatest Politician of his Age, a League was formed and flourished, and many other Princes and States of that Country associated to conserve the publick Peace, and t'Arm unanimously against him that should first disturb it, and break that sweet Harmony of the People, which made Italy happy.

The League had aspect chiefly upon the Venetians, who being then the most powerful of all the Princes of Italy, were esteemed also the most ambitious, and it may be for that reason onely, that they were the strongest; And that they did not believe, That the Moderation of Desires, accompani'd willingly with Great Forces, nor that Sobriety could b'observed in the Temptation of Abundance. [Page 136]But the Cement of that League being the wisdom of Laurence of Medicis, and that it wanted somewhat of more strength and dura­tion for its subsistence; It hapned, that it fell by the death of Lau­rence, and that Lodowick Sforza was the first that broke off from it to gain the State of Milan from his Nephew, and which opened the Gate by which the French entred Italy, and after them the Spaniards, and the Germans. It hapned also, as by a just Judgment from God, That th'Usurpator of the State of his Nephew, and the Perturba­tor of the Peace of his Country, saw himself stripped of that State, and banished his Country, to pass the rest of his days, and die a Prisoner in a Forein Country. That which was to be desired to com­plete that League, and which made it break, was the want of a real and effective great Power to support the weak Pieces of it, which should not have been subject to yielding by death, nor of falling by disgrace, and might serve t'all of them for a Haven in time of Tem­pest, and for Resurrection in case of Misfortune.

But in th'Establishment of durable Leagues, and in the collection of Pieces that compose it for duration; 'Tis not sufficient, that a great Power be conjoyned, unless the Motions of that Power be Moderate, and have the General Good of the League for its End, to which it serves for Chief and Centre. Otherwise, if that Supe­riour Power do determine the Ruine of others, and aim at doing Its business, and not theirs, they will quickly sever, and so soon as the great Evil they feared is over, and that the Torrent which gave them trouble is stopped, they will withdraw their Contributions, and no longer furnish Materials, nor lend their Arms to constitute a Society, which might in time prove fatal unto them. Let Examples explain our Meaning.

When th' Heresie of Luther had taken root in Germany, and stretched its Branches almost over all the North, a League was formed at Smalchalde against Charls the Fifth, of the greatest part of the Princes and States that had embraced their new Sect; Th'Em­perour was constrained to form another League to this, and t' im­plore th'aid of Catholique Princes in an occasion, where th' Antient Religion had cause to fear all that could issue of sad and tragical, from the fury and zeal of the new Sects; Some Catholique Princes refused to Joyn, as the Venetians; Others did Engage, whereof the most considerable, and who sent the fairest and greatest Army, was th' Holy Father; Th' Emperour with this Supply, which was useful, and with his Virtue and ordinary Fortune, got the better of th' Associated Protestants, and had forced his Victory further into Germany, if the Pope, who knew, that Charls aimed not at the He­retiques, but at the Rebels of th'Empire, had not staid his course, and withdrawn his Forces, whereby th'Emperour was disappointed, and stood as Immoveable in the pursute of his designs, as a Ship, when the Wind suddenly abates, and is surprized with a Calm.

Two things are here to b'observed, which establish and confirm [Page 137]the Propositions proposed, Th'one, That the Protestant League fell by the first Blow it received, without rising again, and one lost Battel made it vanish into smoke; for the first Reason given, and because it wanted some great Power that might have rallied the scattered Forces; That might have raised new Men, and have drawn them together to fight their Enemies, and for other Trials of Fortune. And indeed, to speak truly of the thing, 'Tis the same with petty Princes, who make a League against a more powerful Prince, as with a Society of Gamesters, wh' are not rich, and having made a Stock, to which every one contributed all the Mony h' had, so soon as that Money is lost, are out of countenance, and are constrained to break up company, and to retire with their loss; In like manner, th'others setting a foot at first all their Forces, and straining to their uttermost, being defeated, are without recovery, and disband imme­diately, if some great Power do not interpose to rally them. W' have also seen the same thing happen to the Protestant League, which took its beginning from th'incident Troubles between the Pre­tenders to the Succession of Cleves, and which dissolved upon th' oc­casion of th'Election of the Count Palatine to the Kingdom of Bo­hemia; The first great Blow that was given became mortal to't; And it was so astonished at the loss of the Battel of Prague, that it could never recover its strength again; And all that the King of Denmark, Halberstat, and Mansfielt have since done, to re-inforce that Party, have served onely to make it languish the longer, and resembled the precious Waters are given to desperate sick persons, which make th'Heart a little to recover, and prolong the life some few howers, but restore not health, and prevent not death.

Th'other thing to be considered in the Catholique League, which subdued the Protestants, is, That it held indeed of great Powers, and that it had for Foundation and Ligament a great Emperour, who made th' Eagles of th'Empire fly higher than they'd done since Charlemain's time. But being more Ambitious than Powerful, He carried not falsly that Embleme which discovered th'Immensity of his Desires, ‘Never to stop, but to pass always further.’ For without respect to the good of his Confederates, He studied onely his Particular profit; That was the cause, as hath been ob­served, that they retired from the League. The same Emperor en­deavoured, after the re-establishment of Sforces in the State of Milan, to form in Italy another League of the first sort, under pre­tence of employing it against the French irruptions that should un­dertake to trouble their Peace, and to draw thither to raise Quarrels; or to make use of them against the Turk, if his Fleets assaulted the States of any of the Confederates, and Infested their Shoars. But th'Italians were as Cautious as he was subtil, and dis­covering [Page 138]th' Hook he did cast into so specious a Bit, They would not be taken with it. For it was very visible to them, That th'Emperor aimed from thence to confirm his Power in Italy, which the French alone were able to shake; And in holding the Turk at Bay, to labour with more ease and less opposition the ruine of Christians. The Germans were not so well advised and wise, when they formed that League of Suaube, which served so long to do th' Affairs of th'House of Austria, and t'advance their Greatness, under colour of suppressing the Rebells of th'Empire, and the Disturbers of the Peace of Germany; It had not staid there, and th'Ill which it did, believing to do well, had not so soon ceased, if it had not been dissipated by th'Endeavours of Francis the First, and by th'Industry and Eloquence of Sir of Langey, who made the Dutch to comprehend th'Austrian Artifices, and laid open the Stratagems that were on foot by that Family to destroy them.

In the precedent Discourse, I've given you the platform of that League, which Philip the Second endeavoured to make with the Pope and with the Venetians, after the Selim the Second had assaulted Cyprus, and that the noise of th'Ottoman's Arms, with the consterna­tion and fear of them, had flown about Italy. We've also there seen the Resistance made by the Pope and the Venetians, to the proposals of that Prince, which breathed onely his particular Interest. And we shall see in the Third Part the small satisfaction that the Venetians drew from that League, which was concluded with him, and that at last they were constrained to make a separate Accord with the Turk, and without the privity of Philip, as many years before they'd been obliged to buy their peace of Soliman, after that the proceed­ings of Charls the Fifth, with whom they were in League, gave them occasion to know, That they could not continue the War in so ill Company, and in so unfaithful a Society, without running th'hazard to Ruine. It hath not been dangerous onely to make Leagues with Charls the Fifth, and with Philip his Son; Th' Evil came from a higher Line, and the Corruption hath a higher Spring; Ferdinand of Arragon their Grandfather transmitted unto them with his Blood, that too much interessed Inclination; As he was one of them who broke the League of Cambray, to the prejudice of Lewis the Twelfth, who had so Legally observed it; And the League he made at Blois was to strip the King of Naples his Kinsman, of his Inheritance, and for the full Conquest of his Kingdom. And after he had gained by the Valour of the Great Captain, what did be­long t' his Partition, he caused us to be vexed, and made studied Quarrels to take away the Partition that did belong to us; By th' In­vincible Habit th'House of Austria hath acquired not t'observe, what it hath promised; And from their subtil Art to dispose the Leagues where it Enters, to its particular Ends, without respect of the Good of th'other Confederates. In that of Germany, which subsisted under the name of Catholique; In apparence, it avoided the direction of [Page 139]that Army t [...]abate the Jealousie of the Confederates, and that the Forces of that League were put into th'hands of the Duke of Bava­ria, a Prince of another House, and under the Count of Tilly, a Lieutenant General, which depended upon him. But in this there was but a Transpostion of Colours, whilst the Things were the same; And th'Emperour gained that by a by-way, which he could not obtain by a streight; whilst the Forces of that League held the Protestant Arms at a Bay, and hindred all that they could undertake against the Catholiques; Heresolved to raise others in his own Name, and under General Wallestine, that had dependency and re­lation onely upon himself; Th' Emperor with these Forces, which made themselves formidable and prodigious by th' inventions of Quarters, which this great General gave to th'Officers to make their Levies, began to give the Law t'all Germany, and threatned all that was independent and free; And when th'Affair of Mantoua hapned, it appeared then certainly to the Catholiques, that it was not so much to the Religion of the Protestants that th' Emperor made War, as to their Estates; And the Peace he made with the King of Denmark, t'intend th'oppression of the Duke of Mantoua, made them understand, That if the progress of the Arms was not stopped, Ca­tholiques and Protestants should be concerned in the same Mis­chief; And that they had not begun t'act by the ruine of th'one, but for to finish, by the ruine of th'others. The descent then into Italy of th'Emperours best Forces, under the Conduct of Cosalto, and the condition Germany found it self in from thence to be discharged of that burthen of Soldiers which oppressed it, gave courage to the Duke of Bavaria and his Party, to speak high at the Diet of Ratisbon, in favour of the German Liberty, and then to demand the Degrada­tion of Walsthein, who was the Flayl, and the most proper Instru­ment th'Emperour could have found t'impose servitude on Germany. The Spaniards also, to whom the fierce and indocile humour of Wallesthein was odious, and who looked upon him as the greatest Obstacle they could have encountred upon the way they had made plain, for the re-uniting of th'Empire to their Branch, thrust stoutly at the Wheel the Duke of Bavaria had set a going. The Protestants on th'other side, who had been plundred, or believed that they should be plundred, and to whom th'exorbitant Contributions, which Wallesthein had raised on their Estates, were as fore-runners and presages of their approaching ruine, Treated with the King of Swede to come to the relief of their dying Liberty, and to make use of the Conjuncture of the disarming of Wallesthein, and of the Li­censing of his Troops, who demanded but safe retrait and protection against the Commissions which were t'issue t'enquire of the Spoils his Soldiers had committed upon the Lands of th' Empire. And so the Catholique Princes breathed away the fear th'House of Austria gave them, and were assaulted with a greater and more dangerous fear, raised from the Swedish Victories. But if that Evil had not pre­ceded, the Remedy had not followed; And if the Designs of that [Page 140]House had been moderate, th' Arms of that Prince had never entred into Germany, and that House had not tried the same Lot it made other suffer.

As to the League made between the King of Swede, and the Pro­restants who called him to their Relief, It cannot truly be said, that the King of Swede was one of the great Powers, whereof we speak, if they are considered by the fertility and riches of their Country, By the Multitude of their Subjects, and by other Advantages, which are rather fastned to the Domination, than to the Person of Princes. But this Prince had such admirable Conditions in his Person, and such a collection of natural and acquired Virtues, that the quickly put himself into the posture of being that great Power, whereunto the Powers of the League were subaltern and dependent. At first they cast their eyes upon him through Jealousie had of their Country­men, and gave not th'Honour t' one of their Nation, but made the King of Swede chief of the League; Or they thought, it may be, none of courage and understanding enough to bear the weight of that War; And judged also, That the King of Swede being in some sort under their pay, they might dispose of him as they pleased, and might retain him justly to the necessary Considerations, for the sup­pressing of th'Ambitious Designs of th'Emperour, and to restore to th'Empire its lost Peace, and its antient Privileges. But they were not well advised; for that Prince was so brave, and so full of cou­rage, that he could not act such a person; And as a Torrent is not to be stopped at pleasure, which the force of dissolved Snows forceth from a Mountain, nor a great Fire easily put out, which the Wind blows, and is fastned t' a great quantity of combustible Matters; So this Prince rendred himself so powerful and so formidable, by the Victories which crowded upon him; For his Conquests were th' Adamants which drew others unto them; that many of the Con­federates before his death had him in great jealousie. But let's leave there those Apprehensions, the suspition of an Evil which did not happen, to speak of that which concerns us. 'Tis easie to judge by what hath been said, That the League which is now of foot between us and our Confederates, hath all necessary Conditions for Conti­nuation of the War, so long as it may be useful, and to make the Peace that must determine it Sacred and Inviolable. This great Power, whereof it hath been spoken, is there to be found, which hath not onely the right of Birth before all other Powers of Christendom, by th' Antiquity of its Original, but hath it also by the greatness of its Forces, and by'n abundance of Mony and Men, which resembles not to the Waters of Cisterns, which are easily drawn off, but to them that issue from living Springs, which refresh and renew them­selves as they run off. This Truth is so certain, and of an Experience so general and so confirmed, that to b'ignorant of it is not to be of the world, or to know any thing of what passeth in it. 'Tis, not to know that w'have done in Italy in favour of the Duke of Mantoua; And not t' have understood, that notwithstanding the fearful diffi­culties [Page 141]which accompani'd that War; The Desolation which the Plague and Famine had made in our Armies, and the Disgraces hapned t' our Allies by their ill fortune, or by their fault; We forced Germany, Spain, and Savoy associated, to restore what they had usurped, and to re-establish the Duke of Mantoua and the Grisons in their Estates and Garisons; 'Tis to b' ignorant what the King did for the Swedish Party, and for his Confederates, since the Battel of Nortlinghen; What he daily doth in Germany, in the Low-Countries, in Italy, and in Spain; The Money and Men which he sent thither, and the number of his Armies by Sea and by Land, which filled our Enemies with fear, and all Europe with astonishment.

As to the second Condition, The Moderation of Desires, and that fair Temperance, which puts a Bridle into the mouth of Am­bition, and ties up Courage, which th'Heroes are more troubled t'observe, than to defeat Armies, and to tame Monsters, It cannot also be denied, that 'tis the more admirable in the Kings Soul, that having all the Lights which enlighten the Cabinet, and all Qualities that are active in the Field, He hath besides these, the Forces of a great Kingdom to put them in Motion; He hath all that's necessary for Invading, and for Usurping, if he did not believe, That 'tis more Magnanimous and more Glorious, to conserve and to defend; Some­what more divine t' exercise Justice, than to make Conquests.

I have sowed so many proofs of this Truth in so many places of this Book, that I conceive it a superfluous thing to repeat them, and repoint to the eye of the Reader the same Figures. However, I do beseech him to remember, that in the long and tragical actions which vex Christendom, the King never began t'any person, and that he stirred not, nor engaged, but to relieve his Friends, which were oppressed, and t'abate the Designs which would have consumed their Estates. That he never took Arms till he had tried the ways of sweetness; and of good Endeavours; That before he passed th' Alps for the delivery of Casal, which Gonsailes had besieged, he sent into Spain; He caused Endeavours to b' used at Vienna; He prevailed with the Pope t' interpose his Authority t' oblige the Spaniards to retire, and with honour, their Arms from Montferrat; As before the beginning of the War he commanded a Treaty with the Duke of Savoy by several Agents, and with most advantagious Offers, that could be desired, if he could admit of equitable ones, to compose civilly the differences h' had with the Duke of Mantoua; And after h' had raised the Siege of C [...]sal in forcing th' Alps, and had given peace to the Spaniards, which was so necessary for them, He sent to Vienna t' hinder them from being perjured, and to divert the Seeds of a second War, in causing to be delivered to the Duke of Mantoua th'Investitures promised by the Peace of Suza.

As to Germany, all the world knows that the King did not for pre­sent interpose in the Troubles that have vexed them, but t'appease them; And that in the Quarel of th' Emperour and the Count Pa­latine for the Kingdom of Bohemia, he sent a famous Embassage to [Page 142]th'Inter [...]ssed Princes to determine it friendly, and caused a Peace to be concluded at Ulms, as hath been already said, which re-esta­blished th'Affairs of th'Empire in the Conditions they ought to be, and in the Temper, if it had been observed, which is assigned them by their Constitutions. Since that time th'Affairs of th' Empire being raised to a prodigious Success, and the King observing, that the Treaties of Ratisbon and of Cairasque had not shut up all the Winds, which might trouble the third time the Tranquillity of Italy, and carry the Storm further, if th'House of Austria had nothing to do 'n Germany. He caused a Treaty to be made with the King of Swede, whom the Protestants had called into Germany, and furnished him with some Money, to give him the better means to give Employment and Exercise to that House, that it might no longer think of giving trouble t'his Allies, nor t' himself in his Kingdom. To conclude, h'had never declared a War to S [...]ain, in the Spaniard had not commanded th'Elector of Treves to be taken away, wh' had put himself into the King's protection, and had provided for his safety by his Intervention.

In the second place, t'assure the world that the King's Arms are not mercenary, nor moved by the spirit of Particular Interest, let the last Treaty be remembred which he made with the Duke of Cleves, and the generosity, wherewith he renounced, in favour of the Duke, one of the Justest Conquests which could arise from the right of War. Be't remembred, how freely h' abandoned by the Treaty of Cairasque almost all Savoy, and a part of Piedmont, which h' had lawfully gained, to cause Mantoua to be rendred, which was but a coloured Usurpation, and the Country of the Grisons, which was an Usurpation without colour. That if it appears the King and some Garisons of th'Empire in his hands, the number whereof is very small, or some others of his Allies in Italy, It must be considered, that 'tis onely to keep them for the Owners, wh' are not able to de­fend them, which to the King is matter onely of great Expence; or to free his Frontiers from the Jealousie they would, receive from them, if they fell into th'hands of his Enemies; or to serve for a Re­trait or safety t'his Armies, when they're obliged to march far for the good of the common Cause; Or lastly, to sacrifize them to the good of the same Cause, and to the re-establishment of his stript Friends in the Treaty of a General Peace.

That if Pignerol remain in the King's power after the Wars of Italy, which have preceded the Peace of Cairasque; And if that place seems to be the recompense of so many thousands of the Kings dead Subjects, and of so many millions of Money, spent for the Liberty of that Country; 'Tis a thing, in my opinion, which cannot reasona­bly be reproached unto him, nor envied; since he doth not keep it as a Conquest, but as an Acquisition, and that he hath bought it with the good-will of him, wh' had power to sell it; since it was not done so much of serve for Rampart t'his Kingdom, and to secure the Frontiers, as t'have a free Entry int' Italy, and to make the more haste to its Relief, when it should b'assaulted. Let the Disinterest and [Page 143]Magnanimity be considered, which have appeared in all the Treaties on the Kings part made in Germany, since that which Sir of Charnasé made at Beerwalde; And that which Sir of Avaux renewed the last year at Hambrough. Let the sweetness and equity of the Conditions be considered, wherewith he received into protection th'Elector of Ireves, as may be seen in the Treaties made with him by the Sirs of St. Chaumont and of Saludie; Let the cares had of the Swedish Inte­rest be considered, and th'effective and real Acknowledgments which the Swedish King always exhorted His Confederates to pay the King, as may be justifi'd by the Orations which Sir of Feuquieres made to th'Assembly of Hailbrun and Franckford. Let Consequences at last be drawn out of the like Actions from the Kings Promises to the Princes of Italy, concerning the places h' holds in Piedmont, and which he confirms in this manner, in the third Article of the Treaty he made with Sirs the Princes of Savoy. That the King newly ratifies the Declarations which have been made by his Ambassadors in divers Ot­cafions, and by the Letters his Mejesty hath written to the Pope, and to the Republique of Venice, upon the restitution of the Places which his Majesty holds in Piedmont, since the death of the late Sir Victor of Amedeé Provided, that such Places as are held by the Spaniards his Enemies, be reciprocally restored, and that Sir the Duke of Savoy remain certainly the Master of them, under the Tuition and Regency of Madame. Let the consequence of this, I say, be taken into consideration, and it will appear, that our Confederates may take a full and entire con­fidence in this Conduct; And that the Counsellour of th' Elector of Mayence, above all question a very able Man, in the Dyet held some months past at Mayence, believing to decipher the Kings Designs t'establish himself in Germany, deviated from the Truth, though it was by way of probability, and that he discovered effectively the Means, wherewith he might do it, if he had had the Will.

Before this Discourse b'ended, the Reader is to b' advised, That I had finished two Treaties which are of the Subject I handle in these two Books; Th'one of the Nature of Equivocations; Th'other, of the force of Opinions, which are of great importance for Ministers of State to know. But insomuch that this Book is already too long, and that these two Treaties may enter commodiously into the Third Part, I have believed it was most convenient to place them there.

First Discourse.
That the true Exercise of the Magnanimity of a Prince Consists in Secu­ring his Countrey from Civil Wars, and in Diverting of Forein Wars; That the King hath Admirably Prospered in these two Things.

'TIs certain, That the true exercise of the Magna­nimity of a Prince, and the Just handling of his Arms, Consists onely in these two things, Th' one in quieting of his Countrey, when it is a­gitated, and in Cutting up the Roots, and stop­ping of the Springs of the Troubles, which may there arise; Th'other in defeating th' Enterpr­zes, which strangers may set on foot against him, or his Allies, and in Confining Ambition, within the Bounds of Justice: When He hath gained these two Ends, and that these great Conclusions have prospered with him; He may say, that nothing is wanting to his glory; That his Life hath nothing more in desire to become th'Ex­ample of Princes and th'Admiration of the people; And such a pros­perity is th'ultimate proof of the Love of Heaven, and the most won­derful effect that Virtue can produce.

'Tis not truly to be denied, but that the Kings Reign is very ob­servable [Page 145]by these two wonders; That h' hath effaced the glory of the fairest precedent Reigns, and hath not lest to subsequent Generations, Matter for Equality, nor any thing to Mow, the whole Crop being carried away; As to the first point, which respects th'inside of the Countrey, and th'obedience which Subjects owe their Pricne, who knows not that is was so loose amongst us, That very often it was entirely divolved into th' Hugonots, and that it was not rendred so Pure or so Neat, as it ought t' have been, from the greatest part of Catholiques? France was a horrid Spectacle, and a Monstrous Con­fusion; for in the midst of the State, another State was to be seen, where a confirmed Faction did Reign, which was maintained at the Charges of the Prince, and became Rich by his Wealth; To whom leaving places of Security, It was a Tacit Declaration to the world, that their faith, which ought to b' as firm and Immoveable, as the Poles of Heaven, and Foundations of th'Earth, was doubted and fus­pected; Where there was n' other discourse than of Assemblies, of Circles, of Abreges of Circles, of Chiefs of Parties, and of the like Denominations of ill Augury, which were th' Evidences of a pre­sent and future revolt. How just a thing then, and how necessary was it, that such a Faction should be suppressed, and that they wh' had a common Birth, and drew the same Air, and rested under the cares of the same Prince, and under the Protection of the same Laws, should be reduced t'equal Subjection, and Pay a common Obedience to the Power that Protected them? It Question be made of this, Let the same Faction now Live, and the same Insurrections and Vi­olences Assault us.

But as this was very Just, so it was very Difficult; And if it were th'Effect of an ordinary Address, and of a Mean force to destroy so bold and opinionate a Rebellion, and to Remit to their Natural places, the parts torn from their Head and from the rest of the Bo­dy, as were some of this Nation; Philip the second and his Successors have made Experiment of it, in the Defection of the Low Countreys. And truly a Party, as that of th' Hugonots, Rooted in so many places of this Kingdome; Animated to its Defence by Religion, the most Violent and undaunted Motive that can provoke the Spirit of Man; Proud and fierce, not only by the Consideration of Effective Advan­tages, and present Forces, but also by the Memory of the Losses from which it was relieved, and of the Weaknesse from which it was Restored; A Party, I say, such as that, strengthned with three hun­dred places, whereof some were strong; Aided by many Chiefs of Repute and Merit, and supported by a great Forein Power, was visibly Invincible.

In effect, It could not have been overcome, but by such a Warlike Prince as ours, wh'had the Courage t'undertake all that was not Impossible, if it was necessary; The Prudence to Conduct that great Design, and to disunite them, whom it head not been safe t'have Assaulted, Joyned and united; T'apply gentl Remedies, where vio­lent [Page 146]had been dangerous, and to Move by perswasion and Addresse, where it was difficult to prevail by force, and Constraint; wh' had resolution to force the businesse to the Wall, and not to stop on th' Half way, as it had been often done, nor to retire by reason of the length of Time, or Difficulty of the Work, nor for the secret Contra­dictions of his Counsellors, nor for th'open Oppositions his Enemies would make him, nor for the Resistance He might Encounter in th' Elements, nor for the contrary Alterations, the starrs might raise a­gainst Him; Wh' had a strong Piety t' attract the favour of Heaven upon his Enterprizes, and t'Invite them to descend upon his Armies, without which, all the powers of Men are Impotent, and all their Designs Barren. To declare now, what Fruits we've gathered from the Ruine of this Party, and what the benefit of them shall be, which are yet unripe, and cannot long be ripening. No person can truly doubt, but that the first fruits are very great, unless it be thougt a small thing, That the King hath recovered this Party to the Sove­raignty, which his Father could not leave him, and his Predecessors had lost; That He is become Master of all his Subjects, and Possessor of all his Kingdome; That his Countrey, which division rendred weak and open to many Injuries, hath reassumed its forces, and repaired its breaches, by th'Union and Concord of its Inhabitants; That the most culpable have no places of Refuge for their faults, nor the most dis­contented any Retrait, where they may Meditate and form Rebelli­ons in safety; That by this, the King, in Imitation of God, hath drawn Good from Evill, and so strongly reunited them t' his service who had given him Troubles, that they've since laboured profitably in his Designs, and Aided Joyntly with the rest of his Subjects to gain him Victories, and to prepare Triumphs for him; That by this Ge­neral and profound peace, which h' hath established in his King­dome, H' hath been more safe and free to march abroad, to quenon the fire that burnt his Allies, and to break th' Irons were forged for Italy, and for Germany.

As to the good, which the future Time doth provide for us, as one of th' Happy Consequences of the suppression of th' Hugonot party, We cannot indeed Rellish it sufficiently, whilst the Miseries of the Want do afflict us, and Peace onely can make us truly sensible of it. 'Tis then we shall know by Experience that the King hath no other­wise done in the Levy of Moneys, and in the subventions, which the necessity of his Affairs forced him to draw from his people, but as a good Father of a Family, who doth not demolish any part of his House, but to make it better than it was, and of a fairer Structure; The bounties wherewith he desires, though to this day he cannot per­form it, to gratifie his Subjects, Resemble to certain Rivers, which be­ing hid for some time in th'Earth, break not out, but never to re­turn, and to Run alwaies upon its surface. The time of this favou­rable Change, and of this profitable Revolution, is very near; The Clemency of God is ready to disarm his Justice, and to take out of [Page 147]her hands the Flayl wherewith h' hath beaten us for so many years. All the causes of our Expence cease with the War; Peace, which never comes into the World, but Crowned with Abundance, and hands full of Riches, will issue shortly from the midst of this Con­fusion, and from the Chaos, wherein Christendome is plunged. It shall not be a Peace of Glass, as many others which have been seen, but a Peace of Diamond, which shall have beauty and solidiy; And the foundations, which the King makes and layes in all places, shall be so deep and large, so entire and sound, that of a long time, a fault is not to be feared.

It hath not failed truly on this part, but that It had been Accom­plished; And the Moneys He hath advanced, and the things h' hath quitted upon that Accompt are a sufficient Evidence to Christendome, that nothing is so dear to him as the Repose of it. The passion h' hath for Peace, will Triumph at last over th' Inclination of th'House of Austria for War: Though it cannot be stronger or more obstinate than it hath of late appeared; 'Tis not nevertheless Invincible, and the great Engine that susteined it, whose wheel was even in Motion in this Countrey, being stopped, and th'Hopes, which do yet Nou­rish and give it a little Life, which is Germany, being of short Con­tinuance, It must of Necessty shortly fall and be destroyed. And though the King had Power and Means t' overcome, and to make more Conquests than that House hath t'Engage and Lose; He ne­ver had a greater desire to lay down Arms than at this time, and th' Higher he is in Prosperity, the Readier to descend for the General Good, and the stronger and more Impetuous the Current is of his Victories, the more he's disposed to stop it for publique benefit. By virtue of his Magnanimity, he will do more than all the forces of his Enemies can constrain him to do, all will render Generously, what will b' Impossible to take from him. Nevertheless t'induce the German Circles to furnish them with Money to Compel us t'hearken to Peace, whereunto by their Report w' are adverse, they fail not to publish in all places, That the Treaty of Hamborough was not staid by them, nor the Peace of Christendome. But the contrary is so fully de­clared in Germany, The King of Denmark hath so cleerly understood it, and th' Ambassadours of Newtral Princes Resident in the Court of the King of Hungary, have expressed it in such certain and posi­tive Tearms, that there's not a Person, wh' hath not discovered the Deceit and the Design.

As to the second point; 'tis certainly much advanced, if not effected, and all their Apparences will prove false; for the King by th' Aids of his Confederates, will destroy in the Souls of the Princes of th'House of Austria, and especially in that of the Spaniards where its principal Seat is, the Design of th'Universal Monarchy, whereof they're Accused, and that Eminent Crime imputed to them, which hath been the Spring of so many Troubles and Disorders. And 'tis that, which will make the Reign of the King, Remarkable and Glo­rious [Page 148]above the Reigns of all his Predecessors, and will be the Cause, that Christendome have an Immortal Obligation to him for hindering that Proud House, that had Devoured it in Thought, t' Advance one pace towards that End, or to take any Measure thereof that hath not been Broken. But that no Person may sup­pose that I d' Offer at this by Chance, and that speaking of the design of this pretended Monarchy, I make a Monster of my Self in the Contest; I am resolved here to Lay out some Pieces, and to give you a Part of the Platform framed in Spain, as well as it hath been Understood; others may make up what shall be wanting to Compleat the Discovery, and Finsish the Painting, whereof you shall receive now only the first Draught. I will take this Design from its first Original, and from the most Concealed Spring, and Continue it to the Troubles of Bohemia, where it appeared most Evidently, and broke out with greater Light, Noise, and Violence, than it had done before; for tis true, That the first Motion of Defection or Revolt, call it what you please, raised in the Minds of the Bohemians against th' House of Austria, and the first Thoughts they had to withdraw themselves from that Power, and to submit t' another Yoak, proceeded from the fear they had to fall in Time under the Spanish Domination. The Love of Liberty, wherewith the Northern people are more taken than any people of the World, made them Apprehend the Death of their Liberty, wounded in many places by a Power, which alwayes holds Strangers by such Charms, as they cannot break; And is never Confident of their Faith, but by th' Impotency wherein they are Cast, not to Re­bell.

On th' other side, the Zeal of Religion, which is equally Violent, whether Good or Bad, in all them that have it, suffered them not to make a Representation of that severe Tribunal without horrour and despair, which in permitting them but one Religion, hath Sword and Fire to Root up and to Destroy all others. From these two undaunted Passions did Grow and Bud, as the Fruits of that Seed, and the Bows of that Tree, that memorable Rising, which they made against th' Emperour Ferdinand, and their fatal Election to the Kingdome of Bohemia, which they fixed in the Person of Fre­derick Count Palatine. It shall be made t' appear at th' End of this Book by Authentique proofs, That his Judgement of the Bohemians was not Vain, not their fear Panique; And that the Spaniards had of a long time forged that Project, That they did daily lay the Foundations, and brought Materials to Continue it, and to Cherish it to the Rearing. As to what is of the sequel of Defection, which is not yet Finished, and the Troubles it hath caused in Europe, which are not yet Ceased, It hath been spoken of in many places of this Work, and it shall more fully be spoken of in the Third Part, where I hope to make 't appear, That whether th' History b' Ancient or Modern, Theres not a Mapp to be found, where [Page 149]more Rapid and more changeable Passions are to be seen from Men, more suddain and unexpected Stroaks from Fortune, and more fa­mous Occurrences, and of greater Instruction for Princes than those that hapned in th' Affairs of Germany.

Before th' handling of this important Matter, and Entring into so fair a Field, I cannot hold from Speaking a few Words of the Deportments of a part of them whom th' House of Austria imploy to make War, and of the wayes they take t' assure their Conquests. These men then whom we've often in hand, and from whom w' have been sometimes Troubled to defend our Frontiers, Are a cer­tain race of Men, in whom the Vicinity and Commerce of the Turks, whereof their Troops are made up, have made lose all Sense of Humanity, and of Religion; And that th' Impurity of their Crimes, which they received instead of Pay, had begot an Invincible habit in th' Exercise of all manner of Cruelties, and in Committing all sorts of Sacrileges. The Laws of Civilized War, which the Marshall of Brisae [...]ondred heretofore so famous in Italy, and which were more Indulgent and Favourable to th' Ene­mies Country, than the Laws that are now Executed in a Friends Country, are to them a Subject whereof they've not so much as heard; They never enter in a Country, but the Sword in one hand, and Torch in th' other; They make the Fire to Consume, what the Sword cannot Destroy; They spare Sacred things no more than Profane; The Religious Women, and such as are not, are th' Equal Object of their Brutality; And their Pleasure would not be Compleat, if Murder did not succeed Rape; And if after Satis­faction given to what is most Indocile, and most Disordered in the Concupiscible part, they did not surfeit also with horrible Punish­ments, and by barbarous Deaths, of what is most Inhuman and most Savage in th' Irascible part: I say nothing, but what Expe­rience confirms, and whereof Lorrain and other Countries have seen th' Examples, wh' are at this day th' Astonishment of all Na­tions, and for the future shall be the Reproach of our Age.

As to them, in whose favour these Tragical and sad Conquests are made, 'Tis certain, That if they beat down or destroy and thing of a Country, 'Tis so far from being their Design, as ' [...]s of a Lawfull Prince, to Repair the Ruins to his Power, and to Re-build in a more Magnificent and Stately manner than it was before; That they would lay it flat to the Foot and Earth; That if they could, they would pull up Foundations; That they would plow up th' Earth, and sow Salt in it; That no Impressions of their first Go­vernment might be seen, nor one single Draught of its Ancient form; And their Method t' Establish themselves, and to give Root to their Domination, is to take off all high Heads, till none are left, but what are Humble and Low; And t' Esteem the Courage, and th'Understanding of th' Inhabitants, for Treasonable Crimes, and t' hold all them Rebells, wh' have Qualities capable of Rebellion; [Page 150]To Destroy or to Transport them into other Countries, where they shall raise no Fears, and where they shall not provoke so tender a Jealousie, and so delicate a Distrust as theirs. And insomuch, that they well know, that many Generations must pass, and many Ages slide away, before the Conquered people forgetting their first Do­mination under which they Lived, b' Accustomed to the New, and that forced Obedience, and such as is not in their power to Refuse, agrees better with their Proud and Imperious Humour, than Volun­tary Obedience, which may be lost, as often as Subjects change their Affections, and gain New Masters; They secure them by Garrisons and Colonies, and by the Power of Governments and Magistrates, which they put into th' Hands of their Country-men, with Exclusion to strangers, and by that means are Punished for the Vices of their Birth, and make Repentance for Sins, whereof they are not Guilty.

'Tis a Picture, whose Touches are not from my Pencil or Fancy, but which hath been borrowed from their Relations, and from their Histories, and whereof Italy, th' Indies, and other Countries are yet the True and Indubitable Originals. And 'tis the Desolation the King would prevent, before it grow Dangerous, and bear even upon the Heart of his Affairs; 'Tis the Tempest that he would allay before it break forth; 'Tis the true cause of the Relief, he requires from his People, and the Reason that compells him to set on foot that hard and sad Law of Conservation, which permits the Diver­sion and Aversion of the greater, by the lesser Evils.

Second Discourse.
Of the Spring of the Design of the pretented Monarchy of th' House of Austria: some Advantages, which th' Imperial Dignity brings with it above th' other Secular Dig­nities of Christendome.

FErdinand of Arragon, one of the Greatest Politicians of his Time, and who had alwayes Vaster Thoughts than Power, was the Person that began to Conceive the design of the Monarchy hath been spoken of, and did lay the first Foundation, in giving in Marriage his Daughter and Heir, Jane, to th' Arch-Duke Philip, Son of Maximilian th' Emperour. His Marriage with Isabella of Castile, had United, and as it were Grafted int' his House all the Countries of Spain, with Exception to the Kingdome of Granada, whereof after a Ten years War, and by the Courage of Ferrant of Gonsalve, h' became Master, and carried away the Sirname of Catholique, which he hath Left t' his Posterity. The same Success in Arms, and the Vertue of the same Captain gained him from us the Kingdome of Naples, recovered from the Kings of Naples his [Page 151]Kinsmen; And rejoyned in his Person, to the part w' had allowed him, what w' had by Conquest kept for our selves. Th' Interdict, which Julius the Second thundered against Henry King of Navarre our Ally, gave him Colour, and Furnished him with a pretence t' usurp that Kingdome. Hazard rather than Reason, or t' Express it better, a secret disposition of Divine Providence, which inclines sometimes t' its Ends, above the Reasons of Men, and contrary to th' Appearance of Things, made him hearken to the Proposals of Christopher Columna, for the discovery of the West-Indies, and Expo­sed unt' him the benefits of the Richest Mines of th' Earth, and th' Abundance of the longest Labour of the Sun, since it hath Shined. So that his Daughter brought Great Countries, and Fair Hopes to th' Arch-Duke her Husband, wh' Enjoyed from his Mother, the Low-Countries, and the Country of Bourgognia, above what he was t' Enjoy from his Father, which was not small or In­considerable in Germany.

The Conjunction then of th' Heat and Courage of Germany, to the Driness and Prudence of Spain, being made, and so many diffe­rent Countries Collected in one House, As so many Arms Expatia­ted into diverse places, to surround and straighten the rest of Christendome, He laid it for a Ground and Principle of the Doctrine he left t' his Posterity, to retain alwayes th' Empire in their Juris­diction; As the Basis that ought to bear the greatness of their Ambition, and as the Center, where all the Countries, whereof the Conquest was intended, ought to Unite to make the Circle of th' Absolute Monarchy. This was the first Idaea of this great De­sign, and the Bud from whence he discovered himself; This was the fore-cast of Ferdinand, and his sweetest Hopes. And though th' Ambition of his Son-in-Law gave him much personal Trouble, and was the Disturbance of his Rest, and Torment of his Age; it might b' Endured with the same sense, That Agrippina Mother of Nero, did th' Advice of an Astronomer, who threatned with the Sad and Tragical Entertainment her Son would give her if he came to th' Empire, Answered; Let me Dye, provided that he may Reign.

Lets make a Halt here, that shall not be unprofitable, and Consider before we go on, what the Possession of th' Empire may Contribute to the design of the Monarchy. 'Tis certain, that as, amongst the secular Dignities of Christendome, There's none so High, or whose Light shines so Lively as th' Imporial; It hath also Extraordinary Means to become great, or to draw where it please, Unjustly or Justly, all the Countries that depend upon it; And th' House of Austria 'th made it appear, since Charls the fifth was Elected to that Dignity, and had Fortified the Powers of th' Empire by the Conjunction of so many gathered or usurped Countries. The most remarkable Means, and which have made most Noise, whereof he and his Successors have made Advantage, or Endeavoured it t' Extend their Greatness under the shadow of that Dignity, are these.

The first is, the Leagues which they've made or found in Germany, and which they've ever had th' Address to fit to their Interests under other Pretences, and to Convert them to their par­ticular Ends under colour of Searching and of Pursuing the good of their Confederates. This Invention hath been one of the Rarest and Subtilest Stratagems of their Policy; And they 've scarce ever moved any Wheel that hath produced such great Success; That had so present a Benefit; That hath so long Acted, and so Insensibly as this. By this means they've disposed of Forces that did not belong to them, as of their own; And having not the Foun­tain in their Power; The Countries of their Friends; They 've had nevertheless, the Commodity and use of the Stream, That's to say, of their Powers. All the World well knows how much time they Imployed t' Invade and Obstruct the League of Snaube, which was not Setled, as hath been observed, but to prevent th' Invasions that were in preparation, and to repair the Violences that were Acted in th' Empire. And th' History instructs us sufficiently of the Troubles Sir of Langey had, to break the Charm that Bound the Members of that League; To give them a Clear sight of it, and to make them Understand that what was prepared for a Remedy, was become their Poyson, in th' hands of th' Emperour Charls, and of Ferdinand his Brother; so great a Truth it is, That France hath alwayes been the Providential Buckler of Germany, and th' Ap­pointed Rampar, to stop the Motions of them, wh' undertake upon its Liberty.

'Tis also a Thing sufficiently known in History, and whereof w' have made Mention in the last Discourse of the second Book, That if th' Emperour had not found Means to form in Italy and in Ger­many a Coun [...]-League t' oppose that of Smalchalde, where all the Protestants almost of the North had united to strip him of his Powers; It had Reduced him to his Shirt, Degraded him from th' Empire, and made the Rodomontada of the Duke of Alva ridi­culous; who answered him, That to describe the Greatness of Forces, and the Number of Powers united against his Master, said, That the Duke of Saxe, The Lantgrave of Hess, The King of Den­mark, and Swede, &c. were of the party; That the King of Spain, and of Naples, th' Arch-Duke of Austria, and the Count of Tirrol, the Duke of Milan, and the Lord of the Low-Countries, were entred int' a League, which his Master would oppose to the Mul­titude and Forces of th' united Powers. But by the Power of that League, he suppressed th' other; forced the Gates of the Mutinous Cities to be opened, and might, it may be, have finished his De­sign, which hath been since so often and unprofitably Attempted, The Reduction of all Germany, if he had not been hindered from other places, as hath been related in the precedent Discourse.

I will not now Speak of it, because I have amply spoken in the second Book of that League, which in Germany is called Catholique; [Page 153]'Tis true, That never any League was made of greater Importance, or of a more regular or stronger constitution for th' interests of th' House of Austria. And though it had only for Foundation, and pretence of it's Establishment, the defence of Religion against the Threatning of the Protestants; 'Tis certain, that it hath not La­boured, or Lent its Forces to this Time, but to relieve the Ruinous Affairs of th' Emperour; And to make his Success the more Glo­rious, and his Power the more Fearfull. Another Expedient which the Possession of th' Empire hath furnished to th' House of Austria, t' enable it t' undertake without Punishment upon other Christian Princes, and to make the preparations of their Enterprizes without Trouble and Allowance of Jealousie to their Enemies, hath been the special Obligation th'Empire imposeth upon Germany to make War to the Turk, and the particular Personage, which th' Empe­rour sustains of Adversary to that great Enemy of the Faithfull. And nevertheless, how often hath Charls the fifth raised Great Forces, and Commanded Germany to do the Like under that pretence; And how often hath he deceived the World, and given the Germans the Dog t' hold, in Turning his Arms against France, or to th' Oppression of some of our Allies? As it hapned to the Duke of Guelders; And when we made shew of raising Men at the Noise of those preparations; when we put our selves into some Posture to secure our selves against the Storm that Threatned us; when we would have used some Precaution to give a Necessary security; Then the Declarations and Invectives were busie; Then their Cartells and Manifests were published; That the Conclaves and Dyets were Troubled with the Complaints they made against our Kings, and th' Accusations wherewith they did Charge them, in diverting them from an Holy War, and by th'Intelligence they held, as they would have it, with the Turk, to the prejudice of Christendome, and the Princes of it; so that by th' Artifices and Practices of th' Empe­rour, we were reduced to that sad Condition, and to that hard Necessity, either to Suffer our selves to be surprized in th' Ill of the Time that was framed; as it once hapned to Francis the first; or t' hazard the blame of Insensibility and Coldness for Religion, if we prepared not some Shelter and some Recrute to secure us; as it hap­ned t' Henry the Second.

I will say, upon this Occasion, and for the Direction of the Reader; That the Successors of Charls have not lost by his Exam­ple, and that they've been most Worthy Imitators of so good a Master. Barbary hath been often the Visible Subject of th' Armies they have Raised, and of the Naval Forces they've sent against France; 'Tis an Artifice, which seems Natural and Infused into the Blood of Spain. And Examples have been seen in the past Ages; And in Times, when Deceits did not pass for Prudence, and when there was Ordinarily in the World, Faith that was pure, and sincerity that was not Sophisticated.

Behold, a Remarkable passage; After the Peter the third King of Arragon had lost Sicily, and that w' had taken that fair Island from him, which was not less dear t' him than the Kingdome of Spain; As he was a Great Master in th' Art of Dissimulation, He presently made shew of Consolation in his Loss, and though his Heart bled inwardly, He made no shew of Grief, and discovered no Thoughts of repair but on the Barbarian Coast. Upon so specious a Report, which he scattered in all places, and plausible Impression for t' Entertain other Christian Princes; H' obliged some of them, and amongst them was St. Lewis, t' aid him with Money, to pro­vide Ships, and to make ready a Naval Army, which h' intended for so Holy an Expedition. That good Prince, who knew not how to Reign but for the Glory of God, and on whom the Crown he woar, had weighed too much, if Charity had not supported it, failed not t' assist so pious an Enterprize, and was easily surprized by so subtil a Device, and by so delicate a Bait. But this Army which ought t' have Conquered Afrique, and put to the Sword th' Infidells of that Country, had n' other Object than the Ruine of the French, that were in Sicily, and by a Supercery without Ex­ample, and by a Sea of spilt Blood, not to be parallel'd, Comman­ded those infamous Vespers, which since have been called Sicilian Vespers. 'Tis not, to speak Clearly of this Affair, That it was a Crime in Peter, if there had been no other Thing in it than to con­ceal a Design that could not have prospered but by silence, or that th' Answer he made to Martin the fourth, deserved not Commen­dation, who sent to Demand of him, For what place that great preparation and powerfull Fleet was intended; That if his Shirt knew, what he had in his heart, He would burn it at that instant. Princes truly are not obliged to make known their Secrets t' other Princes, and to give Account of all their Actions to them that would Demand it. But theirs no Colour no Art, that can disguise or Sweeten the breach of Faith in Peter, and that black proceeding, which made him Divert the Money which St. Lewis had given to make War against th'Infidels, to th' Oppression of the Christians. And to Convert a Matter ordained to an Holy use, to the Massacre and Slaughter of Lewis his Subjects. What I shall Inferr from these Examples, and from many others of the same Nature, which th' House of Austria may abundantly Furnish, is; That there's too great a Facility, and too stupid a Disposition in the Souls of many Persons, and particularly in the Souls of them, wh' are inflamed with Devotion, and make profession of a Life, more reformed than that of other Men, To believe all things, which the Confederates and Agents of th'House of Austria publish in favour of its Piety; That the Zeal which seems to burn there for Religion, is sometimes Nothing else but a fire in Picture, and a Zeal in shew; And that the fair Apparence which dazels so many mens Eyes, resembles the Co­lours of the Bow in Heaven, which are but an Illusion and a Deceit for th' Eyes of silly Persons.

That particular Obligation, which the Christian Emperours have t'oppose the [...]urks Armies, and to be the Rampar of Christendome on Hungary side, provides for them also of special power, which other Princes have not, in making of Leagues, and t' ingage other Princes when 'tis necessary t' Arm against th' Immortal Enemy of their Re­ligion and Countries.

Third Discourse.
Other Advantages that attend upon th' Imperial Dignity above the Secular Dignities of Christendome.

A Third Expedient, which th'Empire doth furnish their Empe­rours withall, t' advance, and promote their Affairs in distri­buting of favours, or in raising of Troubles, is the power, be it law­full or usurped, they have from all time assumed to the Convocation and Assembly of oecumenique Councils. There's no question, that being the most exalted Heads of the Secular Body of Christendome, or by reason of some particular Right annexed to their Dignity (If any hath been annexed) But that they 'nterpose with more Authority and Awe than other Princes in those great and Important Assem­blies; And especially in these last Ages, where it hath been of Ne­cessity to Treat of Temporal as of Ecclesiastical affairs, In regard of th'Heretique and Infidel Powers; That th' Emperour had it in his Choice to render himself formidable or indulgent to whom he plea­sed. And as 'tis the condition of Mans Spirit t' over-reach things permitted, and t'Enlarge the Limits of Jurisdiction; And instead of providing a Remedy, against th'Invasion of Infidels, and the De­fection of Heretiques by convenient Means, hath endeavoured t' im­pose a yoak upon Popes, and to put Fetters upon their feet; As th' Ambassadours of Charls the fifth said upon the Subject of the Councel of Trent; And have Cherished the Murmurs of Heretiques and their Complaints against the Church, by reason of the Catholiques de­portments, and chiefly, in respect of the vices and th'abuses whereof they Accused the Court of Rome.

This Reformation truly of particular Manners, is a thing much to be desired, and it hath been alwaies the wish of Honest Men to see th' antient Discipline reflourish, and th'Innocency of the Golden Age of the Church to Revive. But works are no so easie to be done, as wishe made; And the Pope by whose Authority the Councel of Trent was Called or Hold, had reason to Declare it Just; That the Church should be purged of the Corruption stollen into some of its Members, and the Spots taken away that had Disfigured some of his Legates.

And it was no less Just and Reasonable, That the Princes who de­sired [Page 156]with so much Heat and Vehemency that Reformation and Re­novation of Ecclesiastique Spirits, should labour on their parts, to make Clean what was Sullied in their Dominions, and to Cure their Souls of those furious passions of Ambition and Revenge, wherewith they were vexed; and filling Christendome with fire and Sword, made nothing but Desolation and a Burying place. That the War ought first to be banish [...] as the Mother of all Vices, and as the Springs of the License of some Ecclesiastiques, and the cause of their Ignorance; That Peace ought to be given to the World t' abate the sharpness of spirits, and th'hatred of parties; That the Fathers, wh' are called to Councel, might appear there, free from their Masters passions, and their Souls full of the Churches Interest.

As to th'Heretiques, who've separated themselves upon the pre­tence of observing Corruption in the Church, and have done it, sup­posing it to be true, upon th'occasion of a greater Curruption; That they were unworthy Brothers, wh' instead of Labouring the Reco­very of their sick Brethren, suffered them to dye for want of Help, and unnatural Children who forsook th'old Age of their Mother, upon Pretence, that Her beauty decayed, and that they discovered some Spot or Wrinkle upon her face. That the superfluities and Excrescencies of the Tree, if there were any, and the hanging Boughs ought to be cut off; but not the Tree cut down at the root; That they made War, to the Luxury, to the Pomp, and other Vices of the Court of Rome, which were th'Appurtenances of the senses, and of the Matter; And to the Pride and Felony, and to th'other Sins, which Arysing from the Spirit had the more dangerous Venome, and were of a Superiour order in Malice.

Let's return to our Subject, and for Proof and Confirmation of what we've above said; Let's not forget t'observe, that the Coun­cel of Trent in the Progress of its Convocation, or in its Continuance, was in th'hands of Charls the fifth, like a knife that did one while Cut against the Pope, another while against the Protestants of Germany; or as an Instrument, whereof He made use, sometimes to gain th' Inclinations of the very Protestants, and to draw them t' his side; Sometimes to make himself Acceptable to the Pope, and to place him in his Interests; And so by the Means of Fear and Hope, and by the Ministration of those two powerfull passions, Endeavoured to Go­vern all Rome, and in Germany, To give the Law to the people of Christendome, and to Circumvent and Undermine France, and to take away the great Counterpoise he found against th' Execution of his Designs by the force of this Kingdome.

To the Protestants, full of Luthers Spirit, and poysoned with his Doctrine, who burnt with Hatred against th' Holy Chair, He pro­mised the Convocation of a Councel, wherein the Popes Authority should be reformed; And to the Pope, ready to burst with Grief, to see such great Schism, and defection of so many Souls, who breathed not, but for their Return to the bosome of the Church, and their Re­union [Page 157]to the Center of its Unity, th' Holy Chair, He gave hopes of commanding the Protestants t'attend at the Councell; And in case they should refuse to submit t' its Resolutions and Decrees, to con­strain them; And for that purpose, he caused his Threatnings to b' Intimated to the Protestants, and frighted them with th'Armies of th'Holy Chair, which he would strengthen with his Armes; And 'twas then, when they appeared averse t' his desire, and that they would not Conspire and Labour Joyntly with him in the Ruine of France, which was th'End of his Artifices. At another Time he 'n­deavoured to terrifie the Pope, and threatned so to Bridle him by the Councel, and to reduce his power to such streight Limits, That He would repent him of the want of Compliance to his desires, and of consent to the passions He had against France; And to render us O­dious to the Protestants, and to sharpen th'Hatred H' had Imprinted against us, and to make fruitful the Seeds which H' had long before Sowed, He made them believe, That we were the Cause that the Councel did not hold in places Convenient, and afford Convenient Conditions for them; And at other times, He would aggravate be­fore the Pope the Precautions which were offered, and the Preserva­tives, wherewith we were furnisned, to provide against the practi­ces they formed, and th'Evils they prepared against us at Rome and the Councel.

Insomuch, that we had an hard Task t'undeceive the Germans, to whom h' had given such Sinister Impressions of our Conduct, and had use of an Extraordinary Industry, Boldness, and good Fortune to make abortive the proposals, which his Ambassadors made at Trent; That all Christendome would make a League to force us to re­nounce th' Alliance made with the Turk, though no use was made of it, but for the Good of Christians, and for a necessary defence; And to re-establish the Duke of Savoy his Uncle in the places of his Countrey, which w' had taken, though Lawfully and by a Just Title of War; And for other Ends that concerned them, and not Christen­dome, and that tended to the Promotion of their Interests, and not to th' Advancement of the Churches Interest. From thence Issued those prudent Necessary protestations, which Henry the second Com­manded to be publisht at Rome, and at Trent, by his Ambassadors, a­gainst those Conspiracies, and Monopolies; From thence came that General Resistance, which the Suisses made to the practices of the Popes Nuncio, Invented by th' Emperor, and to the violence of his Endeavors to remove them from our Allyance, and t' impede the permission of the Levies of Souldiers to be made in their Countrey in our favour.

I will not here forget a Remarkable passage of Charls's ill-will to France, though the Turk was the publique Adversary, as we've al­ready said, which th' Imperial Dignity did assign him, and that the Contributions of th'Empire, which they call Romas Zuk, are princi­pally ordained to make War against the Turke. That though the [Page 158]Princes and Protestant States, t'ease them of th'importunities th' Em­peror made them t' aid him against us; As unwilling to shake the foundations of their subsistence, which are in the Protections of this Crown, and to give th'occasion of a nobler Trial, more worthy of his Dignity, made an offer to serve him with an hundred thousand Men against the Turk; Yet he refused them, and was obstinate in having that relief and subvention against the Crown of France. Another passage also, no less remarkable, must not be forgot, of the respect this Prince paid, and th' esteem he rendred to th' Holy Chair, and to the Councel, for to gain th' heart of the Protestants, and t' employ their Forces against us; He permitted them, during the sitting of the Councel, and before, in the view of the Legat, and the Nuntios of the Pope, and without their interposition; He permitted them, I say, divers Assemblies and Conferences, t' handle there, and resolve of several Points that concern Religion, and which ought t'have been decided by the Councel. This was in effect to settle He­risie by his Authority, which had been planted by his Connivence, and give a new Title to those Errors, which were believed to be but too deeply rooted. If any thing of like nature had been acted by our Kings, and if they had so insolently forgot, that they were children of the Church, there had not been Lightning enough in the Vatican t' have darted on our heads in the judgment of our Adversaries; There had not been Colours black enough t' obscure their Honour, nor Satyrs violent enough to blast it. No question will be made of this Truth, if memory b' had of the Noise, which the Discourse of Poissy made at our Neighbours Courts and ours, though it was as­sembled by the Pope's consent in the presence of th' Apostolique Le­gat, and t'appease the Schism which toar us in piece, and to degrade Heresie with the greater Solemnity, as the Cardinal of Lorrain had made the King to believe it. And nevertheless, for such wicked En­terprizes, and such sacrilegious Attempts, as those of th'Emperour, they murmured at Rome, but betwixt the Teeth, and secret Com­plaints onely were made, and Discourses in th'Ear; And whether the softness of some of the Court would not permit the Power and Fortune of Charls to be justled, or that Prudence did advise Dissi­mulation, and the Concealment of an Evil, which to chastise had been a dangerous thing; This proceeding passed unpunished at Rome; Th'Arms of th' Holy Chair were not employed to punish it; And th' House of Austria hath not since failed to conserve amongst its Subjects, but also amongst the Subjects of other Princes, the Re­putation of being the Sword and Buckler of the Church; For that House is so powerful in Artifices, that it hath close and subtil Wheels to remove beliefs, and fine and small Plaisters to disguise its foulness, and cover its faults; And 'tis true also, that France is un­happy in that behalf, and that the zeal it hath ever had for Religion, and respect it hath ever born to th' Holy Chair, have scarce gained belief amongst men, and t'insinuate into the spirits of its own Chil­dren, [Page 159]and also of them wh' have truely piety and good Intentions, but give too much way to their heat, which is not sufficiently en­lightned nor discreet, and too little credit to the light of others, whose heat is prudent and considerate.

A fourth Expedient, capable to gain Countries at easie Charges, and Victories without Combat, which th'Emperors of th'House of Austria would introduce into th' Empire, and would have carried them far, if they had not been hindred, and if France had not been found in their way to stop them; Is, The device of Sequestrations; This Stratagem hath so bad a Consequence to the Liberty of the Princes and States which depend upon th'Empire, that even the most affect onate to th'House of Austria have been afraid, and were scan­dalized. And the Duke of Bavaria, who from all times hath been one of the Pillars that hath supported the Greatness of that House, suffi­ciently understood it in that sense, by a Letter of the 13^th of Decemb. 1629. which Sir Jocherius writ in his name to Sir the Nuntius Bagny, in Answer to what the said Nuntius had written of the 5^th of October in the same year, by which he represented unt' him on the Kings behalf, The consequence of th'Emperor's Refusal, at the request of the Spaniards, to give th' Investiture of such Estates to them who were the Lawful Heirs, and comprehended in the first Investitures, and to strip them to the said Estates by the means of Sequestration. This concern­ed the last Duke of Mantoua.

They began to take this way, and to put this Design in practice, after the death of William Duke of Cleves. The Spaniards, that would upon any account invade his Succession, which, besides th'Extent and Goodness of the Country, was of marvellous con­veniency for them; Obtained of th'Emperour, That he would ceize upon Julliers by th' Arch-duke Leopald their King's Brother in Law, and hold that place in Sequestration, till h' had judged to whom of right the Succession did belong, and had in Justice determined that famous difference, wherein there were so many knots t'untie, and so many Parties to content; That the decision could not but be very long, and very difficult. This Invention of Sequestration, if it had been in their power t'have setled it, would have given them Means, under the pretext of Justice, t'have assured themselves in time of the possession of what did not belong unto them, and whereof they were ceized by a meer congruity. And there's nothing truer, but that of Pretenders, whereof there's ever some of them at their dispositions; or the nature of the business, which cannot be so neat and clear, but that there will ever be some Shadow or Clowd that would be hard to disperse; or the Forms also of Justice, s' often contrary to th' Ex­pedition of Justice, would make so many Difficulties t'arise, and dis­cover so many Incidents, that the true Masters of a contentious Good, tired with delays, without an end, and dispairing of ever drawing it from so powerful and covetous hands, as theirs that re­tained it from them, should be compelled t' hearken to Proposals [Page 160]made them, to receive a Compensation, and to take some real and effective thing, for a few hopes ill grounded, and for some vain and frivolous Titles. Insomuch, that they would become in Apparence Lawful Masters of that, whereof they were before but unlawful De­tainers; And what in the beginning, and in its original, was nothing but force and violence, would in its progress and sequel take the vi­sage and the colours of Justice.

In that manner, the Spaniards had resolved t'handle the Duke of Mantoua, if he would have consented to the Sequestration of the Cittadel of Casal; And they would, it may be, have done the like t'him, if they had taken that place by force, as they made great Assaults to take it. Th'Offer which they caused to be made unt'him of Cremonis, with reservation of the Cittadel of Cremona, or of some other Country of like value in the French County, instead of Mont­ferrat, is a tacit Approbation of the Violence they exercised, because they did endeavour in some measure to repair it, and a manifest Ar­gument of the proceeding they would hold in th' use of Sequestra­tions, and by th'Introduction of that new Expedient, t' insinuate in­to the Countries, which are commodious for them, under some form of Equity, and in preserving th'Apparences of Justice.

Charls the Fifth in truth, in the difference which hath so long ex­ercised the Dukes of Savoy, of Mantoua, and of other Princes, upon the subject of Montferrat, did not proceed by way of Sequestration, before h' had given judgment upon that Affair. Th' Enterprise seemed unt' him too bold and jealous, respect being had to the pre­sent Conjuncture; And h'understood well, that it cooled the good­will or them whom h'had a desire to keep in Newtrality; That fear stopped his desire t'usurp Montferrat, under the pretext lately men­tioned; And he chose rather to draw that business into length, and to make use of it as a Lure or a Bait to draw the Duke of Savoy t' his Party, and to debosh from our Interests the Marquis of Salusse, in hopes that the Montferrat, on which h' had also pretensions, should b'adjudged t'him; As Antonio de Leve had given him t'under­stand. At last, having long plaid with the Duke's credulity, and de­ceived the Marquis, h' adjudged the possession of Montferrat to the Duke of Mantoua, and left the claim to the Duke of Savoy, to pursue it civilly, and according to the forms of Justice in th' Imperial Chamber. He did not intend to make him Greater, on whose Countries h' had great designes, and whom he would not permit to be Master of the Barriere which severs France from Italy, and Keeper of the Gate by which the French might enter. His Successors have been more hardy and inconsiderate than he was, and have stirred an Engine, which is never shaken, but to their shame and ruine; For that cause they raised a cruel and long War in Italy, but what they gained thereby, was to fall by the just judgment of God into the Precipice they would have avoided, and to draw the French into that Country, whom they would for ever have excluded.

Let's return to the Matter of Sequestrators, who've plunged us so deep into this Subject, and observe it, as a strange thing, that the Spaniards, wh' approved of them as plausible and just in other mens affairs, will not hear talk of them in matters of Contest that concern them. And all the world knows, that in the Succession of Portugal, Which five or six Pretenders rendred famous in the time of our Fathers, Philip the Second would never consent, that that Kingdom should be put in Deposite, or permit, as he said, his Right to depend upon another mans Judgment, which nevertheless was ne­ver so clear and indubitable, as that of the Marquis of Brandeburg, and of the Duke of Newberge for the Succession of the Countries of Cleves; And that of the Duke of Nevers to the Succession of Mantoua.

A Fifth Expedient to grow Greater, and a Right which th'Empire sometimes appropriates for its Advancement and Enlargement, Is the Confiscation of the Feifes which do arise; But in regard that we will treat of them in the Third Part, of th' Affairs of th Palati­nate, and make a stay therein of purpose, at least if some prudent consideration do not hinder us, we will content our selves in sending the Reader thither, and pass on, having onely observed, That th'Im­perial Dignity brings with it these great Rights, and fair Preroga­tives, and that it shines by these Illustrious Privileges, above all the Secular Dignities of Christendom. But insomuch, that th'Abuses and Excesses of great Powers are not less dangerous, than the over­flowings of great Rivers; And that they resemble to the Chariot of the Sun, the Poets feign, which cannot go out of its natural walk, nor quit the Ecliptick Line; without burning a part of the World. The Powers of Emperors are limited, as in other places hath been said, and Boundaries are raised, that they may not go out of their Places, nor pass their Limits; The Pathes H' ought to walk in are set out unt' him, and the Course h' ought to take, by the pragmatique Sanctions, and by the Resolutions of the Dyets of the Princes and States of th'Empire. Those Laws and Resolutions Moderate that Power, and make that Symetrie of Temper, and Harmony of Hu­mours of all the Body, whereof th'Emperors are but th'Head; 'Tis, what th'Elector Maurice of Saxe intended, when he said, That Ger­many advanced so many paces to its ruine, as th'Emperor added new Degrees t' his Power; and that it might b' ever free and flourishing, it was necessary always to conserve the Princes Authority and their Power, in the Constitution of th'Empire, which were the Counter­poise that ballanc'd it.

But since it was very hard to maintain the Evenness of the Counterpoise, and that Ambition, like the Fire, says, 'Tis never enough; And that to rule it breaks all the Chains that Justice thinks to with-hold it by, and respects neither Laws nor Customs to sa­tisfie its Ends; Support for th' Empire hath been sought out of th'Empire, and the Subsistence of the Body and Liberty of the Members have in a special manner been under the Protection of [Page 162] France. In what way this Protection is formed, whether by Reci­procal Treaties, or by Custom changed into the Force of a Law; What this Crown hath ever practised t' hasten the Relief of th' Em­pire, and hinder the Dissolution of the Body, and th' Annihilation of its Natural Form; 'Tis not any business here t'enquire after; 'Tis sufficient that the Germans are agreed, and have always declared it in their Treaties, which they've made with our Kings, when they were to be redeemed from vexation, and came t'implore their En­deavours or Arms. This Formal Acknowledgment, and Express Declaration is seen in the League of th'Elector Maurice, and th'other Princes his Associates, made with Henry the Second, to se­cure Germany from th'Irons which Charls the Fifth would have im­posed on it; That theres no question to be made of it; Insomuch that France cannot b'accused of Temerity, or of Undertaking, when it appears in th'Affairs of Germany, and that it interposeth its Cares and Arms, That the Ballance spoken of stand streight, and Lean not on th' Emperor's, nor on the Princes side, and Free Towns of th'Empire.

I speak not here, because I've else-where done it, of that General and Indefinite Obligation, which Great Persons have to relieve In­feriour persons when they're oppressed; The common Law of Hu­manity, whereof they're not exempt, and the particular Law of Charity, which sometimes enters into their Conduct, exact this Du­ty of all that can render it; And the Law of their Interest, which is the supreme and powerful Law of Princes, doth sufficiently press them t' hinder the Great from devouring the Lesser persons, lest they should grow too Great, and lest Power enflaming their Ambi­tion, thrust them on, and extend it to the Dominions of other Princes. I speak not also of another Obligation, more Bounded and Circum­scribed, which France hath to protect some Princes and particular States of th'Empire, and to b' a Shelter and Haven unto them in time of Persecution and Tempest; Such as the protection and safe­guard it owes particularly to th'Elector of Treves, which was re­spected by the King of Swede, and Sacred with victorious Heretiques, with whom neither he nor we had any War; 'Tis true, That th'aid which France owes to th'Empire, when 'tis threatned with Ruine, hath not much appeared since it entred into th'house of Au­stria, but in favour of the Members against th' Enterprizes of the Chief; As also th'oppression and violence which hath been opposed, proceeded from that side, and had their Beginning in th'Invasions the Princes of that House would have made upon the Liberty of others. Yet France failed not the last Emperor, when there was need of it. And if in the Troubles of Bohemia, and after those happy beginnings, and the visible Evidences of a more happy Sequel of the Palatine's Arms, the King had not permitted the French to go out of France, to fortifie th'Emperor's Troops, and sent the most Solemn and Il­lustrious Ambassy, which of a long time hath gone out of this King­dom, [Page 163]t'untie the Protestant League, and break the Course of their Prosperity, Th' Emperor had run th' hazard of being stript of his Countries, and t'have tried the same fortune he hath made the Pa­latine to suffer, and to become Pensioner to the Spaniards, as th'other hath been to th' Hollanders.

'Tis easie to conclude, from what hath been above-said, That 'tis not without Reason, that th'House of Austria makes th'Empire the Basis and Centre of their pretended Monarchy; That 'tis not with­out Reason, that the late Emperor writing to the King of Spain, t' incline him t' approve of the translation of th' Electorat of the Count Palatine to the Person of the Duke of Bavaria, represented unt' him the consideration, That it had ever been the Judgment of their Predecessors, that the Seat, whereupon the Greatness of their House ought to rest, was Germany, and that th' Empire was th'highest and the most eminent piece of all Germany; That that Dignity was to be conserved in their House above all other things; And that the promotion of Baviere, and of his Successors to th' Electorate, ren­dring the Suffrages of the Catholick Electors superior in number, which should ever descend to the Princes of that Race, the posses­sion of th'Empire would be the better established, and what in Form and Apparences might appear Elective, would in Effect and Substance become Hereditary. And the late King, wh' had so many Natural and Acquired Lights of the things of this world, and in whom the good sense, wherewith he was born, was so much im­prov'd by th'Experience h' had gain'd, said in a contrary sense to that of the Duke of Anhalt, when he was sent unt' him from the Princes of Germany, wh' had made a League with him, to be delivered in good earnest from th'Attempts and Allarms, which they s' often re­ceived from th' House of Austria, That it was necessary to force th' Empire from that House, where it seem'd t' have taken root, and to pass it int' another Catholique House, but less Ambitious; And having shorter and weaker Wings, might not extend them so far, nor flie so high.

But Death caused that magnificent Project to miscarry, when it was but in the Flower, and th' Execution it may b' is reserved for some of his Heirs, who may inherit such magnanimous Thoughts, and march upon such generous Impressions as the King doth at this time; Wh' is as worthy an Imitator of the Virtues of his Father, as Lawful Successor of his Kingdom; He's inflamed with the same zeal for th' establishment of the Peace of Christendom, and hath this satisfaction, t' have omitted nothing that might b' instrumental to cut off that fatal Succession of th'Empire from th'House that en­joys it; And that Transaction of ill Augury, which is made from th'one to th'other, in the Persons of their Princes. That he spares not any thing to reduce th' Empire to its first Condition, and antient Form; That what they would make Absolute and Monarchick, is temper'd by th' Aristocracy convenient and proper for it; And that [Page 164]all is Governed in Germany by the Laws and Constitutions there Established, and not by th' Ambition and Capricious humours of them, who would put themselves above the Constitutions and Laws. That by the Re-establishment of that fair Order, and by th' Observation of Things that ought to maintain it, The Peace, which ought to be given to the World, b'Established in great Safety, and that the Remembrance of Evils past, whereof the re­turn will not be feared, serve only t' Augment the sweetness of pre­sent Benefits, which are not in danger to be lost. We shall shortly be sensible of the Time of this most happy Condition, and though the War seems to be stronger and hotter than it hath formerly been, 'Tis the last Breath it yields up, and the Liveliest flames of a Torch, which is ready to go out.

Fourth Discourse.
Charls the fifth was of Opinion, That t' attain the Monarchy; H' ought to make himself Master of one of these three Countries, France, Italy, or Germany; That he failed of all of them, and could not subdue but a part of Italy.

HAving cleared and unfolded that Principle of the Doctrine, which Ferdinand left t' his Successors to gain the Monarchy; Lets see, what profits they've made of it, and what hath been th' Harvest of s' admirable a Seed, Death which took away Philip of Austria in the Life of Maximilian th'Emperour his Father, permitted him not to carry his Thoughts out of Spain, nor to La­bour at the Work, whereof his Father-in-Law had drawn the Platform, and which so long Exercised, and so Vainly, his Son Charls. This Charls then failed not, to turn his first paces of Youth towards th' Empire; And though the Steps which carried to this highest Dignity, were Rude and Slippery, and that many Enemies were to b' Overcome, and Barriers broken before Arrival there, yet he undertook it. The Maternal Family, from whence he issued, was had in Jealousie with the Germans, wh' had no mind to sub­mit, but t' a Blood purely German, and that should receive no Al­teration by a proud and subtil Mixture, as was that of Spain; He found also upon his way, a brave and powerfull Competitor; And Francis the first, as well as himself, aimed at the purchase of a Mi­stress, for so th' Emperour called th' Empire, which was worthy of all his Love, of all his Fortune and Powers.

H' overcame, nevertheless, these two Obstacles, and was happy enough in allaying th' Aversion of the Germans, and in Triumphing over the persutes of the French. The manner of the proceedings of these two Princes in this glorious Address, was very different; [Page 165] Francis, it may be, who was too Magnanimous for a Prince, at least for th' Age wherein he Lived; and whose Soul did breathe no­thing but Generosity and Liberty, said that Charls and himself offered at the purchase of th'Empire, as two Honest Men preten­ded to the Love of a Fair Lady; That they desired it, without wishing ill t' one another, and for that cause were provoked by Emulation, and not by Envy; And having Acted in that Concur­rence only by good Endeavours, with Promises, and with Money, He [...]ood inferiour t' his Rival, who besides th' Advantages of his paternal Birth, added Threatnings and Force, and made his solici­tations in th' Equipage of a Man of War, and accompanied with a good Army. This high pretension having been Crowned with the Success he desired, invited him to form another, to which that served, as a Plank, as hath been said, for the Christian Monarchy; And the youth wherein he then found himself, made him also hope, That h' had time enough for the Cariere, and was long t' Enjoy the good h' ought to gather at th' End of that course.

But th' Execution of this great Project, answered not his Hopes, and Fortune made them to Vanish, when they made the fairest and most pleasing shew; The Monarchy wherewith he was so be­witched, slipt almost out of his hands, and resembled th' Apples of the Fables, which falling upon the Lips of the famished Tantalus, and having Kissed them, fell back and flew away: That hapned twice unto him, The first after th' Journey of Pavia, where Francis the first was taken Prisoner; And the second, after the defeat of the Protestant League of Germany, where the Duke of Saxe was also defeated. In this success, he was stopped, when he was most Elevated, as hath been often said, and the fore-sight of Paul the third hindered his Progress, and cut the Wings of his Victory in the strength of its Flight, and rapidity of its Motion. In th' other he was Blinded with that unexpected prosperity, as with an Excess of Light, and finding his Success higher than he had proposed it, his Head turned in that manner, that he knew not how to take th' Advantages over us, which h' had before his Eyes, nor give his hands to Fortune that would have Led him effectively to what h' had before but in Desires and Thoughts.

However, Charls had no sooner turned his Eyes to the pretended Monarchy, and faced that charming Object, but he found himself Opposed by two great difficulties in th' Acquisition of it, which neither he, nor his could ever Overcome, nor heal one of the two Wounds, but th' other was open. The first and the most Impor­tant, was the want of Men of War, which nevertheless was less felt in Charl's time, than in his Successors; And the second is the want of Money, wherewith Charls was much Troubled, and his Successors less felt. And for that Reason, it hath hapned unto them for their great design, as t' him that would raise a great Building in a place where there are no Materials, and having not Command [Page 166]of Quaries or Forests for Stone and Timber, know not almost, where t' have any, nor from whence to bring any. Above all Im­pediments, God permitted, that a constant supply of Men; the most necessary thing for th' Accomplishment of their Work, failed them; for without Men, as all the World knows, great Warrs cannot b' Entertained or Continued, permanent Progress cannot be made, nor lasting Conquests; A warlike Prince may run and pillage a great Extent of Country, but he cannot take Root, nor settle with­out supplies of Men. And that Collection of Bergers and of Vaga­bonds, from whence issued the Republique that Commanded all the World, began the Monarchy, which their Successors raised in making a Provision of Men; in changing th' Inhabitants of Con­quered Cities into Citizens, and Burgesses of Rome; And by 'sta­blishing in the Circumvallation of Rome, the principal Body, from whence their Armies should be formed, from whence their Gar­risons should be drawn, and from whence their Colonies should be sent. These things nevertheless, did not cool th' heat of Charls, and these Difficulties did but the more inflame his Courage t' over­come them, and above all t'Endeavour th' Opening of some Spring of Men of War that might be Plentifull, and t' assure himself of some well peopled Country, that might serve for the Recrute of his Armies, and the Relief of all his Losses: for that End, Italy was very Rich, and well Peopled; Germany that was well Peopled, and indifferently Rich, and to which, the Low-Countries, whereof he was Lord, served for a Binding and Fringe; And France, which had both these Conditions, almost in an Equal degree, and was equally Peopled and Rich. As to France, h' had no Lawfull pre­tence t' assault it, and there's no Country in the World, whose Possession was more Entire or less Troublesome to its Master; Be­sides, that it was then so strong, and so well semented a Body, and th' Union of th' Head with all the Members was so strict and firm, that in the Condition wherein Charls then found himself, there was no place for hope to Conquer it by Land, not so much as to Shake it. For that purpose then, t'was necessary for him t'attend till he became more Powerfull, and that Fortune offered him some just Object, or some specious Colour t'undertake it, which hap­pens, but too often in th' Intricacy of Affairs, and in the Confusion of the Things of this World.

As to Germany, and that Vast and Warlike Country, where the Men of War do not decay, and where Men are seen to be Born, as to Dye in their Armies, Th' Enterprize would bring with it Extreme difficulties, and almost Invincible; for though Charls was invested with th' Imperial Dignity, which is particularly Known and Reverenced in that Country, and that he had there a conside­rable Patrimony; yet, the Dignity being in it self but a single personal Title, or at least not bringing to him, wh' Enjoys it, a handfull of Hereditary Land; And the power Joyned to it, being [Page 167]but Subaltern and Dependent upon the Resolutions of the Dyets, and Voluntary contributions of the Princes, and free Towns of th', Empire. But that, and all the rest of the Revenue of Charls, was not sufficient t' oppose the Powers of those Princes and Towns, who would not fail t' unite themselves to defend the Common Liberty, so soon as it should be Threatned; And to draw to their party other Powers, who would be Jealous of s' Ambitious a Design, and In­teress themselves in Impeding the setting up of a New Monarchy in the midst of Christendome. So that he well Understood, that he could never subdue Germany, so long as it Continued Entire, and that nothing but the Wind of Division could bring him to th' Haven of his Ambition, and to gain it, many Ships must be Rigg'd, and many Tempests Endured; And to Conquer it, many Parties were to be stirred up, and disorders kindled in Germany, or to b' ever in Arms, and ready t' Embrace all Occasions that should appear, and to make use of the Disorders which should arise.

But till Fortune provide so propitious an Occasion, and so fa­vourable a Conjuncture, the most present Object, which then ap­peared to tempt Charls's humour, was Italy; And that fair Country had lo many Temptations to make him in Love, That the passion of Conquest began to fix on him, and to Dart his first flames at it, which truly was no strange thing for th' Emperour, nor for Italy. Th' Advantagious situation of it, by which it borders France, Spain, and Germany, and upon the Countries of the Grand Signior; The Greatness and M [...]nificency of its Towns, The fertility of the greatest part of the Lands; Th' Havens, wherewith they abound, and the great summs of Money which Trade brings thither; the Wit of its Inhabitants, and the Temper of their Souls, make up in one person an Excellent Negotiator, and a great Souldier; And above all these Temptations, the Seat of the Chief of the Church contained in it, and th' Advantages might be raised there in Tem­poral Matters by the Master of it, are capable to quicken a Soul, less sensible of greatness than Charls's, and to provoke an Appetite less greedy of Domination than his.

Though all this be true, and that th' Excellencies and Inchant­ments of Italy might oblige him t' undertake the Conquest, yet th' Execution was not easie, and many Inches were to be gone over, and ill wayes to be past, before be could Arrive there; for though Charls had then one foot in the Country, and was possessed of Na­ples, one of the fairest Portions and powerfullest Members of Italy; 'Tis to be considered, That the Country being but at one End of it, and by consequent, Frontiere to the rest, He could not advance without Encountring the Church Dominions, and without an Hostile Entry, which would have been an odious Business and Matter of scandal t' other Princes, and have raised an ill Sent a­mongst the greatest part of his Subjects, and even in Spain; That th' Italians were not a people to be surprized by Artifices, or ama­zed [Page 168]at Apparences; That they looked far into the future, and very clear int' others Intentions; That they would discover his Design at the least noise he should make, and smell the sent that should evaporate, though never so little; That the Jealousie they had for their Liberty was so tender, that a very small Emotion would serve t' awaken it; And distrust is so natural to them, and they sharpen it so keenly by the vivacity of their understanding, and by the subtilty of their speculations, that they would not onely take Apprehensions of visible things, but also suspect often what was not, and give themselves many false Alarms, not to be found asleep when true ones hapned. And as that Prince in many occasions was Happy beyond his Hopes, and Prudent above his Contempora­ries, in making good use of occasions, Fortune presented him with a favourable Opportunity for his Design, and managed it with so much Circumspection and Wisdom, that he gained Milan, and was seized at last of the noblest part of Italy. This Country is the Centre, whose Extremities confine almost upon all th'other States of Italy, and the Line which makes the Communication of Spain with Italy, by the vicinity of Genes, an Appertenant; And of Italy, with the Suisses, the Grisons, and the rest of Germany, by the vicinity of the Voltoline; 'Tis the place of Arms, and the Rendevous to receive from the Low-Countries, or to send thither from Italy, Germany, and from Spain, the Men of War, where­of those Countries may have need. Insomuch that since th' Em­perour was assured of that Country, and had put his foot in Pied­mont and in Toscany, H' had his Reckoning, and took his Measures to that End, holding all the Ecclesiastique Countries, as Environed, and the Gulf of Venice in Jealousie, by the Means of the Coasts of Na­ples; He commanded Sienna, Porther cule, and some other places which h' held on that side, to be Fortifi'd, to bridle all Toscany; He would have had Montferrat of the Duke of Mantoua, in exchange of Cremona, and transmitted it to the Duke of Savoy, with the Reservation of Casall, Trin, Mont calne, and Pontdesture; To draw from him Vercel, Gallinare, Inree, St. Germacia, Mazin, and Crescentine; H' intended to fortifie those Ten places, so strong, and to raise such powerful Barriers against th' Irruptions of the French, that they should for ever lose th' hopes of forcing them, and of marching int' Italy, and th' Italians by consequent the Will of calling them in, and solliciting of them t' an unprofitable Pro­tection, and impossible Defence. Besides all this, He conceived to pinch so near the Genoues, and so to straighten them, that they would permit of a Cittadel, and deliver up t' him Savonna, to make him Master of the Ferry of Barcellona, and of Genes, and that the Duke of Savoy would also accord unto him Nice, and hold in subjection the Coasts of Provance, and of Languedoc, and t' have in his hands the Key of the Commerce of those two Provinces in Italy.

There remained also to Consummate the Work, and to finish the Circumvallation, which had taken away from th' Italians all Hopes of Relief, and all Apparence of Resurrection; but t'Invade the Vol­toline, and to ceize upon that famous Gate, by which the Suisses, the Grisons, the Germans, and the French and enabled to descend int' Italy; but H' had Eyes only to Covet that Valley; And it had been then too Dangerous for Him t' have used force to Ravish it; The Vene­tians also, whose Spirits were never more Warlike, nor Arms sharper than at this Time, would never willingly have suffered such an Usur­pation upon the Liberty of Italy, and such a particular Block-House against their Country of Ferme Land. Besides the strong Troops and Excellent Chiefs of War which they'd on Foot to fight th' Evil in its Spring, They'd as they've now a back-door open by Sea, and the facility of setting forth a Powerfull. Navy, to make a Diversion up­on the Kingdome of Naples.

But what most affrighted Charls, and Tempered most th' Heat wherewith He burned for the Conquest of the Voltoline, was th' In­terest which the Suisses would make use of, t'hinder him, and with all their Forces t'oppose him. 'Tis certain, that there was not a Nati­on in Christendome more Warlike and more to be feared than that of the Suisses; The variety of Religions which hath since Traversed them, did not weaken them in the Division, and the Time which changeth and alters all the World, had abated nothing of their strength, nor diminished their accustomed valour. These Considera­tions suspended for that time th'Emperors design, and made him re­solve t'attend till Time and Fortune made some occasion t'appear more favourable for th' Execution. In the mean Time, by th'Even­ness and Beauty of the Platform, which h' had drawn to subdue Italy, may be seen, what a Great Master this Prince was in the Science of Conquering, and Ingeniere in the Work of Destroying and Foun­ding of Republiques. It may also be seen by the Success, which be­fell him in that behalf, How God Confounded his Wisdome, and laughed at his Projects; How He made them miscarry, when they seemed to be the most Happily advanced, and nearest to their Period, and how his Posterity, which hath stuck to 't, have found the La­bour of a Squibb, which scatters, as it is fired, and th'Exercise of Homers Penelope, whose Web untyed, as fast as it was Woven to­gether.

Let's return to th'occasion, which Fortune made t' arise for Charls, and to the way it opened for him to pass through int' Italy. That proceeded from the Quarrel, which kindled betwixt Francis the first and Sforces by reason of the State of Milan, whereof they were in possession, and which Francis would Recover, as a Piece that did be­long to him, and as a Member Dependent upon the Succession which was fallen to him. It was not difficult for a Prince great in Virtue and Powers as Fancis was, to strip Petty Princes, as the Sforces were, whilst they were alone to resist him, and sole supporters [Page 170]of the Quarrel. But they staid not long in that Posture, and th' o­ther Princes of Italy suffered with too great Impatiency of Heart, and as in the Centre of their Countrey, a King of France, who be­sides the pretensions h'had t'other States there, had also, as they Con­jectured, too great a power for small Designs, and t' Ambitious a Soul to be their Neighbour only, to whom he might become a Ma­ster. But all that was nothing to the Jealousie Charls Conceived, and h' had there a stronger Interest than others, by reason of the King­dome of Naples; The possession whereof being but staggering, as of a Countrey newly Conquered, to which Francis had Right, and whose Inhabitants were naturally Lovers of Change, and greedy of No­velty; That made him resolve t' Aid th' Italians Design vigorously, and to Labour with all his Power the Re-establishment of the Sforces.

But He staid not there, and He was so happy, That the French were not only driven from Milan, and that the Sforces re-entred it; but that the Sforces dying without Children, He retained it for Himself, or at least Conferred it as Emperor, and as a Feif of th' Empire upon his Son Philip; And so th' Italian Princes had the good luck to gain their desires in sending us beyond the Mountains; but they had not all they aimed at, which was, that the State of Milan should not depart from a Prince of their Countrey, and of Italian Birth. In that, Fortune supplanted their Providence; and in being delivered of a stranger, whose Neighbourhood was in Jealousie with them, They had the displeasure to see his place taken by another, who was not in less suspition with them; or who knew better than the French to keep his Conquests, and gather the Fruits of his Victory, as Charls and his Successors have done. 'Tis not here to be forgot, that after the Gain of the Battel of Pavia, and the taking of Francis, which were Acted in that War; Th' Emperor took off his Vizard, and declared himself publiquely for the design of the Christian Mo­narchy; That hapned at the Consultation made, whether he should set Francis at Liberty, and whereupon the Duke of Alva gave his opi­nion boldly, That h' ought not to do it, and that the fatal Time was Come, wherein it was necessary to Collect the many different Coun­tries, which compose Christendome, into one Body, and under one Head, t'oppose it entire and united against the Turks Empire, and th' Otto­mons Greatness; as the sole Means t' abate and destroy it. But in­somuch that the strongest Opposition, and the most Invincible Obsta­cle, which th' Emperor had Encountred to his designs, came from France, and on what side soever He turned, H' alwaies found French Forces in his way, or th' Authority of this Crown; He resolved to turn all his Arms against us, and to destroy the Foundation upon which the safety of Italy and of Germany was raised. But all these Assaults did but discover an Impotent Will of doing mischief, and the various Expeditions he set a soot upon that occasion on Picardy side, Cham­pagna and Provance, amounted at last to shamefull Retraits, or to [Page 171]great Losses of Armies. And what appeared most admirable, and made the Deceit of the Discourses of Men the more Visible, and the vanity of their Wisdome, was, That th' Enterprize which Charls supposed to be the most certain and happy proved the most unhappy and Ruinous.

In the Journey He made to Provance, th' Expedition whereof I speak, He came not, as to make a Conquest, but to take Possession; And Antonio of Leve the first Author of the Design, disswaded it not, as Judging it Difficult, but as esteeming it Infallible; And that his Master might have all the Fruits of the Success, and all the Glory of the Design, Italy, Germany, and the Low-Countries were Infected with a certain Prophecie, which th' Emperor had caused to be scat­tered in those Countreys; That France ought to change Master this year; And upon that Ridiculous Fear, and upon Hopes no less Ridi­culous, The Marquis of Salusse General of the Kings Armies in Pied­mont, quirted his service, and by the Basest and most Infamous Trea­son, whereof Mention ever hath been made, became the Desertour of th' Army he Commanded; As a Pilot, who gets out of his Ship at the first Noise of a Tempest. 'Twas then, that th' Emperor pub­lished it openly, and in th' Excess of his vanity, That the King of France ought to strip him, or be stripped by him, And that the King of France should become Emperor, and King of the Spaines, or that he would become King of France. That is to say, The Monarch of the Christian Republique, by a necessary Consequence. And yet the Success gave the Lye to that fair Prophecie, Antonio de Leve paid with his Life, which he left in Provance, the Rashness of his Counsel, and Novelty of his Dissimulation. And th' Emperor had the shame with his Ferrant Gonsalve Marquis of Gast and Duke of Alva, To re­tire without doing any thing, but the loss of thirty thousand Men, in Taking what we did not defend, and in Entring of Places, which we had abandoned.

Fifth Discourse.
Of the third Enterprize of Charls the fifth to gain the Monarchy, and how it failed him.

TH' Emperour having failed of his stroak upon Italy and France, applied himself to a Third Enterprize; And as they wh'Assault a place by a Quarter which they found stronger than they did Ima­gine it, Change their Design, and Assault it another way, which they believe Weaker and less Defensible; He resolved to trye whether the wind would be more favourable unt' him, and the Conquest of Germany more easie. Two Heads shall here be proposed to Consi­deration, which may serve to whet th'Understanding, and open the Reasonings of them, wh' are yet in th'Elements of Policy; And, if [Page 172]I may dare, to turn a word in some manner Sacred, t' an unsacred use, wh' are but Catechumenes in this Science; 'Tis for them also for whom alone I write. And I am not so vain as to pretend t' Instruct and Discipline them, wh' are actually Ministers of State, but onely them who may be such, and labour to strengthen themselves with necessary Experiments, and proper Dispositions, to receive so noble a form. As t'others, by whose Conduct my Works are enriched, and my Discourses draw spirits and life, I should not be less ridi­culous, if I had undertaken it, than if the Stars, having Reason and Liberty, should presume to give a great Light to the Sun, from whom they receive all their Light, and all the Beams they send us.

The first Head then whereof I will speak, is, what I have already discovered, of the Constitution th' Emperor found Germany in; That's to say, as a strong and thick Body, which could not b' overthrown at once, but must be divided and put into parts, t' usurp them all, in getting them by parts. The division ought to b' in part a work of Fortune, and some effect of a Malign Planet to fall on that Coun­try, and partly a stroke of Human Industry, and the fruit of that Rea­son of State, which may be called, if you please, Prudence or Malice.

As to the second, 'tis certain, that Charls was a great worker of Division, and a dextrous sower of Discord; And 'tis certain also, that 'tis not uneasie to sow that Grain, and to make it fructifie where there are different Interests, and where many may pretend to the same things of Right of Conveniency. But for th' effecting of Charls's great design in th' Usurpation of all Germany, and of so many Soveraign Members that compose it, to make a Monarchical Body, A light and short Discord was not sufficient, or to divide it into parts, unless it were of Continuance, to prevent their Rejoyning; There ought to be somewhat of permanency and of duration; The Fire ought to be lasting and opiniated, and the Matter to maintain it ought to be combustible, but not perishing; Otherwise ther's no­thing more natural and ordinary, than that a general Interest, as of Liberty oppressed, rally them, whom a particular Interest had divided. And it hath been often seen, that the Conjunction of Ene­mies hath restored Concords and good Intelligence in Armies, which before were but Partialities and Discords.

But Fortune did that in favour of Charls, which his Industry could not effect for his Interests, and kindled that durable and opiniated Fire in raising Heresie, whereof h' had need, that cut all the Sinnes of the German Body, and broke for ever all th' Union of its Members. The business is but too well known and tried; That there's no sub­ject, wherein the Wills of Men are so Irreconcileable, as that where­in Mens Understandings have contrary Apprehensions in Matters of Salvation, or Wounds so hard t' heal, as them which Heresie makes in the Politique Body. Wherefore Charls connived at the Birth of Luther's Heresie, and choked it not when he might have done it: supposing, it may be, that He could when He pleased smother it. [Page 173]And having beaten his Enemies with that Flail, suppress them, and even by their Means whom He would beat. But He was deceived in both, and God did not permit that so subtil a poison as his, should make his Operation, and so studied a Mischief b' happy. For that new Sect had so many wishes from the Princes; to whom they did abandon the Goods of the Church, which were yet in Germany; And so many Courtesies from the People, whom they freed from the va­rious Mortifications of the Blood and Flesh; That no Sect ever made so suddain a progress, or took so rapid or so impetuous a course; So that, whether th' Emperor had not then strength enough to justle it, or that He would permit the Zeal to cool, wherewith all young Sects do burn, or that more pressing occasions did call him int' other places, as the defence of the State of Milan in Italy; He resolved for some time not to disturb the Religionaries of Germany, but to make use of th' Advantages, which the permission of that Novelty might prepare for him, and to serve himself of the Demands, of the Threat­nings, and of the Forces of th'Innovators, for the Designs h' had in Italy, and in France, as it hath been represented.

But the Destiny of worldly things, and the Concatenation of th' Affairs of Europe, having ordained, that th' Attempts of Chals in Italy and in France, should prove abortive and vain in both De­signs; And having no hopes of acting any thing in those places, where He was emptied of Invention and Forces, and where H' had lost so much without the least gain, as in France; and gained so little by his Labours and Conquests as h' had done in Italy; He resolved t'apply himself to the Conquest of Germany, and to revive in good earnest the Design, which till then h' had laid asleep, for the re­ducing it t' his obedience. For this purpose, and it shall be the se­cond Head whereof hath been spoken, the Considerations shall be made out which probably prevailed with him, and the Reasonings whereupon He grounded his Resolutions t'engage in that Enter­prize, and hoise Sail, which was not at last propitious t' him.

Germany then torn in pieces by different Religions; And the Powers of Evil having been so efficacious, and its progress so active, that the number of the sound were found much inferior to the sick parts, and these more uncapable to return t' health by the proximity and influence of others, than they to be spoiled by the Contagion and Malignity of the first. And time, having opened the Protestants Eyes, and the various face of Affairs, by which th' Emperor had managed them, betwixt contrary Motions of Hope and Fear, of Promises and Threats, giving them cause t'understand, that his In­tention was never to make use of them, but as th' Instruments of his Designs, and Agents of his Passions to torment Italy, and give trouble to France; And wearied with so many Artifices, and so many Changes, and knowing Charls's humour impatient of rest, and his Spirit trans­ported with a perpetual Ambition, and agitated with a continual Flux and Reflux of Turbuleht Projects, and Warlike Thoughts; [Page 174]Considering, that having stirred so much, and overthrown so much in other places, sometimes with success, and sometimes unprofitably; And having cast his last hooks, and employed his last strength, with­out taking or carrying away what he desired; Making no question, but at last would assault them, as a more probable and easie prize of prey; And as Victims sacrifize them t' Ambition, th' Idol he did inwardly serve, under pretext of sacrifizing them to the Religion he outwardly professed; They did resolve to think of their safety, and not onely by attending th' Evil to repel it, but t' advance for to fight him, and to be the first in the field, where they fore-saw th' Empe­ror would endeavour to be before them. For that purpose, they made a League at Smalchald, which had for principal foundation, the consideration of giving a Coadjutor to Charls in th' Administra­tion of th' Empire, and to revive one of the Constitutions of the Golden Charter, which says, That to divert the Succession of th' Em­pire, there ought not to be three Emperors successively of one Family. Th' Emperor, who knew, when there was occasion, how to make use of force and subtilty, seeing that he could not Master the Pro­testants by surprize, as was his design, made no scruple in taking off his vizard, and in going boldly to them, as 'tis said, with displayed Ensigns; To compass it the more easily, and to make the way to Victory the plainer, He practised a double Artifice, which at th' in­stant prospered and had a present effect, as h' had projected it; He made it to be reported at Rome, that he marched t' oppose th' He­resie, which excessively overflowed, and which had the design to pass from Germany int' Italy, by the destruction of the true Religion, and upon the Catholiques heads; Nothing could more provoke the spirit of the Pope, and stir up his zeal to Religion, which in his per­son was assaulted; He knew well, that Heresie knocks most particu­larly at his dore, and that the first Groans and Attempts it had made upon its entry into the world, had been imployed against his Power; He considered, that the number of enemies was great, and appre­hended the same fury, He did, when the Troops of Fustenberg marched to Rome, in the Name, and under th' Authority of Charls, a Catholique Prince, and was nevertheless but in his passage; H' had cause also to fear from them the conjunction of the duration to the violence, that came thither in their own name, and under th' Auspi­tious Motives of Heresie. Wherefore in th' Emperours favour h' opened the Treasures of the Vatican, and them of the Castle of St. Ange; Accorded unt' him Croysades and Tenths in all his Coun­tries, in th' Antient and New World; Commanded great and strong Levies of Men of War to be made, which he sent him, and procured him from all Quarters powerful Reliefs and considerable Subventions. Th' other Artifice was, Considering the great Col­lection of Men, which the Protestant Party of Germany raised, and other Northern Forces, which were of Smalchald League; That h' ought to labour the diminution of those Powers, to deprive that [Page 175]League of the greatest number he could of the Princes which were not yet engaged, and t' impede the greatning and swelling of that Torrent, by the concourse and confluence of those Waters that might run into 't; He knew the Nature of Leagues, and their Weakness; He knew, that they were made onely for Conservation and Defence; That in them the most Ambitious and most Powerful made haste t' Embark; So that they were the Men, wh' ought to ga­ther the principal fruits of the Victory, and allowing others a share of the Conquest, keep to themselves the most rich and fair things of the Body and Spoil; That the most Moderate and Weakest would engage slowly; These, by reason of th' Accidents of War, which are always full of obscurity and incertitude; And th' others, that if Fortune were contrary, and the Vessel wherein they'd put them­selves should make wrack, they should be the first to be carried away by th' ill success, as having least Means of resistance, as to be the first drowned, as they wh' had on the sudden neither Boat nor Plank to save themselves.

And upon this foundation, and to give colour not t' enter into the League, to them who were not very desirous of Emotion, nor so transported with hatred against him; As the Duke of Saxe, and the Lantgrave of Hesse; He withdrew the cause of Religion, for which the coldest and most fearful are accustomed to take heat, and to grow bold, and the most wicked and the most prudent are asham'd t'appear without Zeal and Violence; This obliged him to give it our in Germany, That his Arms were not raised against the new Reli­gion, and Liberty of Consciences; That his design was onely to suppress Rebellion, which being hatched in the Heads of the Duke of Saxe and of the Lantgrave of Hesse, was discovered in th' Empire; That th' intention of those Princes was not to defend or preserve their Religion, which was neither assaulted nor threatned, but to suppress th' House of Austria, whereof he was the Chief, and t' Ex­tinguish or Appropriate to themselves th' Empire, whereof his House was the Guardian.

This pretext striking at the root of Rebellion, He made no que­stion, but that it was less powerful than it would have been, if the Conspirators could have covered their design with so specious a sail, as that of th' Honor of God, and that the wisest and least in­teressed of the Protestants could be content to see the first successes of those Arms, and on what side Victory would encline, knowing well, that if it favoured them of their Sect, they should be always wel­come amongst them, and that th' hands of the Society should be also stretched out unto them; But if th' Heavens declared in favour of Charls, and that he triumphed over the Confederate Forces, They did conceive, that the Thunder prepared against Rebellion would fall onely on the Conquered wh' had rebelled, and that the vengeance would rest upon the Borders of their Estates, wh' had not acted cri­minally, nor given Trouble, or excited Revolt. So that th' Empe­rour [Page 176]held it for certain, That if nothing were stirred up against him but what appeared in Germany, he should Easily overcome it; And that the great Forces he saw on foot, resembled the waters of a Torrent, which descent with Pride, and over-flow with Noise and Spoil, but run not far, and whereof th' Impressions only are seen, and th' Evidences of their Violence. To these prudent Considera­tions, h' added them of particular Interest. To fortifie Virtue; and to Whet the point of it; He made great promises of Honour, and of Goods, to th' Ambitious and Covetous, who might b' use­full to him; And with this Lure, he drew to his party the Duke Maurice of Saxe, To whom he promised th' Electorate, and the Lands of this Cozen, which are to this day in th' hands of th' heirs of his Brother Augustus. This Age hath brought forth somewhat like this, which shall be spoken of in the Third Part.

As to the Strangers, which the Protestants might Engage in their Quarrel, He knew well that there was none, but the French King, that could powerfully Aid them, and that could Contribute to so great an Expence, and to the Necessaries of a long War; That he alone could long Feed that great Monster, which alwayes Eats without ever being Satisfied, and which wants alwayes some ne­cessary Food, though there be all provided that Industry and Force can Contribute. But for this, he fore-saw, that the Germans being naturally Valiant and Feirce, and Nourished in an Air like to that of the North, which puffeth up and ordinarily inspires a good Opinion of themselves, would move slowly to the posture of Sup­pliants, and publish to the World that they had need of Relief; That they would not demand it, till they saw themselves Lost, and would not repair to the Remedy, till th' Evil became Stronger than the Remedy, and that oppressed Nature had not Force nor Virtue to Support it; That it was the Custom of Princes, whose Aid was Implored, to try first a Diversion of th' Evil, and to Conjure down the Tempest which fell upon th' Heads of their Allies, by good Offices and Intercessions, before any Force was raised; And by consequent, That th' Overthrow might be given before any Per­son could appear to Support, and the deadly Stroak before any Hands could be raised t' hold th' hands of them that Struck it; And 'tis the Nature of the Relief, which Princes give t' one Another, to prepare slowly, To send fewer than are necessary in th' Judge­ment of them that seek it, and that they are rendred less in Number than they are intended by them that send them.

That this being common t' all States; In that time, it was par­ticularly so to France, and that it often lost its Charges and Loans for not Acting in Time, or not Sending of sufficient Forces; As to this business, it did not resolve t' Act Powerfully, nor to make any great Collection of Monies and Men in favour of the Germans, without knowing the Reasons, under what Conditions, and what the Fruits should be of so much Money and of so many Lives to [Page 177]be hazarded; That it would have some security for the Faith of them, with whom it was to make Society; As politique Prudence doth advise, and demanded places of surety for the Retrait of their Armies, and not to remain there the Prey of their Enemies, and the Laughing stock of Friends in case of Disgrace; As the Maxims of War require, and other Conditions of a long Contest and diffi­cult Resolution.

That it was the Custom of the Germans of that Time, t' expect a freer Relief when they had need, than any people in the World; And when all that could be done, was done, to think, that enough had not been done for them, and that the Debt of doing more did remain on our score; That it would Trouble them to resolve upon giving places of surety for the Retrait of th' Armies, which should March to relieve them; To Bridle themselves by Voluntary Block­houses, and to make Wounds in th' Empire which peradventure could never be healed; That if the Providence for the future, and the present Constitution required, that the French should be Ac­commodated with some place to secure their Return, when they should b' Engaged in anothers Country, The Germans might have Jealousie of their design, and fear lest under an apparent Protection, the French should introduce amongst them a Visible Usurpation, and repel one Servitude in the precipitating of them into another; That such an Apprehension would make them Agree without the French, when they might do it with an Advantage, and to Leave the French in the Dirt, when they had got out of it, and by th' Aid of them; That such a Pretext would not be wanting to turn against their Liberators, and to pass from the Defection t' Hostility, and of Unfaithfull Confederates to become Declared Enemies.

That France would make good Pawses upon all this Matter, and deliberate long before it did Embarque in so high an Enterprize, and in so Jealous an Expedition; And by Consequent, he pro­mised himself t' have Dissipated that great Body of Tumultuary Troops, which made the Protestants so Proud, and t' have Anni­hilated th' Enemies League, before it could find a forein Relief, or that France would stir in their Aid. This prospered with him as he did Project it, and h' had then Finished, what h' had happily be­gun, and which h' had above half done, if h' had not been hin­dred by the Causes which have been in other places reported. To this League another succeeded, under the Direction of th' Elector Maurice of Saxe; It was truly wiser than the former, and th' Entery of Henry the second into Germany, and th' Apparition of that new Star, which in some sort might be said t' have hastned the setting of th' Emperour, and darkned his Light, gave them such a Fright, that he sought an Accommodation with the Protestants, and offered such advantagious Conditions, provided they would quit the French protection, that they Accepted of them, and made their Peace at Passau, without Comprizing of the King of France, who did perso­nally [Page 178]assist them; They made it also without remembring the two Princes, whom they 'd given him for Hostages; And he restored them to their Liberty, with as high a generosity, as the confidence h' had expressed unto them, In asking no other gages of their Faith, nor n'other earnest of their Constancy. It had not been sufficient for Maurice t' have Violated his Faith, and failed so Magnanimous a Protector; He who betrayed his own Blood, and made War t' his Cozen Frederick, to gain his Countries and Elector at Dignity from him, In the year 1552. If to Compleat his Baseness, and Crown his Ingrati­tude, H' had not [...]als' Accorded to th' Emperour that the Troops of the League should march for his Service, and b' imployed against France, which had so much Contributed to make them Victorious, and to free Germany from Servitude.

The Pretext the Germans made use of, t' excuse that foul pro­ceeding, and the Plaister they used to Cover that black Spot, was the Recovery of the City of Metts, which Henry the second had taken in his March, with the Consent of the Bishop and People, who chose rather to Live under the Government of a Just and Powerfull Monarch, as was Henry, than under the Tyranny and Weakness of many Masters, as were the Majestrates who Governed it. The King having taken the Wind of th' Infidelity of Maurice, whose Interessed and Changeable humour was not unknown to him, and fore-seeing of future Tempests that might break upon France, believed that the least he could do, was to Seize upon some Important place, to put a Bridle into th' Easiness of the Confede­rates Mouths, and t' hinder them from breaking, for fear of losing that place; And in all Accidents, to Secure and Strengthen his Frontier at their Charges, for whose Security h' had hazarded his Country, and exposed his Life, and the Lives of his Subjects so Liberally for their defence. That was but very Just, and therein nothing done but what the Right of Nature permitted, and the Law did Command. And truly, he that Remembers by what Title and Pretext th' Emperour did seize upon Cambray and Constance, which were Imperial Towns, and that it was done only to make Cambray a Rampar against France, and Constance a Bridle to curb the Suisses, would have Judged the King too delicate, and too weak, if upon better Foundations, and stronger Considerations, h' had made scruple to take Possession of a City, whose greater part of Citizens did Invite him thither with earnest Desires, and to March within their Walls, after they had Lodged him in their Hearts and Af­fections.

All the Forces then of th' Emperour were drawn towards Metts, the Rock, against which th' Emperours Fortune was broken, and where he began t' understand, that it was necessary for him to Leave the World, where he could not be, what he had been, and descend from the Theatre, where he could no longer appear but in the po­sture of an Unfortunate Prince, and as th' Example of Fortune. [Page 179]The March to Ranty finished the Piece, and the fear h' had there to be taken, as infallibly h' had been by Sir of Guise, if one of the Commanders of the Kings Army had not caused the Retraict to be sounded in th' heat of Fight, and confidence of the Victory; The fear, I say, which Charls had of that Accident, confirmed him in that noble and bold Resolution, which h' had taken, to Leave the World, and to Renounce Ambition, th' Empire, and so great a Number of Kingdomes; He well saw, that by th' Experiences h' had made, and by the Disgraces h' had received since th' Access of Henry to the Crown, that the Genius of that Prince was Superiour t' his, and that h' ought not t' oppose his declining Age, and th' in­firmities of old Age, to the growing Vigour of a flourishing Youth; He considered, that Henry was in Power t' affront him in War; That h' had alwaies th' Advantage of him in Negotiations and Treaties; That h' avoided the Nets were set for him at Rome, and in their Councils; And having dissipated the Practices that were hatched there, to stirr up all the Catholique Christendome a­gainst him, h' had the Dexterity to cast the Protestant part of Ger­many on th' Emperours back.

Behold then Charls out of the World, wherein h' had made so much Noise, and disordered so many things; behold his Monar­chical design fallen, and the three Countries in safety, any of which might have served for a Plank, if h' had Conquered it, to pass him to the Conquest of the rest. But what is most considerable, and the greatest Treachery that Fortune ever plaid him, Is, That while he Lived, he saw th' Empire transferred out of his House, and to pass into th' House of his younger Brother; That he saw that Breach, and had not the Power to prevent it, and his Power and Credit unprofitably imployed to repair it. The Germans Inclination t' have no Emperour but of their Nation, and the Necessity h' had of them in the Wars h' had in hand, obliged him to Consent, that his Bro­ther should be named King of the Romans; He did indeed consent, Conceiving in time, either that Ferdinand should give the Demission in favour of his Son, or to cause his Son to be named King of the Romans, in quitting th' Empire to his Brother.

But Ferdinand, wh' had remembred all things that might raise him to that Dignity, and for that End, had been every Pliant to the Germans, even to the prejudice of his Conscience, And who saw himself reproached at Rome, in the Person of his Ambassadors, That h' had made way to th' Empire by the disdain of Religion, and by th' Injuries h' had permitted to be done him, would not willingly devest himself of a thing, which h' had so dearly bought, and h' had too much passion for his Son, to prefern his Nephew before him in th' highest Dignity of Christendome.

Insomuch, that th' Emperour having sent before his Retreat, the Queen of Hungary his Sister to Ferdinand, and Maximilian his Son, t' obtain either a Demission of the Kingdome of the Romans, or a [Page 180]Substitution to the same Kingdome in favour of his Son Philip, sub­mitted to what he could not Avoid, attended the Destiny which had Enthralled him, and delivered th' Empire to his Brother, which he could not settle upon the Person of his Successor.

Sixth Discourse.
That Philip the Second applied himself principally to the gaining of France, t' open the way t' himself of the Monarchy; That his Successors have Endeavoured t' Establish them­selves in th' heart of Germany, to make th' Empire return to their House, and pass from thence to the Monarchy.

PHilip the Second was sick, as his Successors have been, of Charls's passion, and was in Love with the Monarchy, as a part of his Heritage; but insomuch that England which had much Aided th' Advance of his designs, had taken the Wing, and that th' Empire which would have furnished him with Pretexts and Forces, for th' Execution of many great Enterprizes, had failed him; He gave rest for a time t' his Passion, and made no other Passion t' appear than for the Conservation of what his Father had left him, and to fix what he found Changeable in his Countries; He gained in­deed at that time some Eminent advantages from Henry the Second, which had the same Effect upon the Son it had upon the Father, and which paid for the breach of the Truce, wherein Sirs of Guise, the Dutchess of Valentinois, and the Caraffs did seduce him, by the Loss of the Battels of St. Quentin, and of Graveline, and by the the Peace made at the Castle of Cambresis, where he Delivered up in one day, what could not have been taken from him in many years, and opened the Gate of Civil Wars in France, and shut it for the be­nefit of their Enemies, since the success of the discovery of th' In­dies, which made him Depopulate Spain, and Exchange Men, whereof h' had great need, for Money, whereof h' had not so great Need. The Flemish Defection, which he could not prevent by his Power, though h' Enjoyed so many Kingdoms, nor by his Wis­dome, though he was called the Solomon of his Age; And the Mu­tinous and Unquiet humour of the Mores, gave some allay to his great Design, and abated in him that Monarchique Spirit, which had so vexed Charls the Fifth.

But so soon as h' heard the Noise, that the differences of Reli­gion made, and saw the Troubles, which the Civil Wars had raised amongst us; H' awakened a Desire, which was but laid Asleep; H' Embrac'd the occasion which did Smile upon him; He resolved to Cut out the way to the premeditated greatness through [Page 181]the Ruins of France; He conceived that he could not Work upon a Richer stuff for th' use he had proposed; That he might find a­mongst us, what h'unprofitably sought amongst others; And the Spaniards having ordinarily that Advantage of us, which grows from the Temperament of the Body, and from the Constitution of the Climate, t' Act with more fore-sight than the French; Th' A­bundance of Wealth and Men, whereof this Kingdome cannot b' Emptied, would Cure them of a Defect, to which w' are not subject, in making the preparations of their Enterprizes with great Slowness and destructive Length. But this hath not as yet hapned, and the same Providence, which to this Time hath not permitted Men to cut the Istmes and the Streights that sever the Seas, which God would have divided, hath not permitted th' Advantages which one Nation hath upon another, to Conjoyn with duration under the Power of a single Person; Though Philip set all sorts of En­gines in Motion, and imployed all manner of Work-men, he could never make such a Conjunction; And France could not become his Prey, though it was his Envy, and he could not Enjoy it, though he was passionately in Love with it; And having lost great Forces, and thrown away many Millions amongst us; having Trassiqued much, and made much War in France, and stirred up the good and bad Religion t' attain his Ends; nothing remained of Conso­lation t' him in the failer of the true matter of his Arms, and Practices imployed for th' usurpation of the Crown, but the Beauty of the Pretext, by 'ndeavouring to give us a Catholique King.

For the Diversion of the Reader, I will here observe, and for an illustrious Example of the Vanity of Greatness and Instability of human affairs; That 'tis hardly possible to find a Life more Inter­woven with good and bad, and more Embrodered with happy and unhappy Accidents, than the Life of Philip. 'Tis certain, that if he got much one way, he lost much another way; And that if one part of his Designs hath prospered, another part hath mis-carried, and become abortive; Th' Accomplishment of his Marriage with the Queen of England, which Encountred with so many Contra­dictions and Difficulties; The Victories of St. Quentin, and of Graveline, whereof it hath been already spoken; The Re-establish­ment of the Duke of Savoy, stripped for th' Interests of his House, and the French forced from Italy; so many Countries Conquered, and Mines discovered in the West-Indies; the Succession of Por­tugal with its Dependences, which he secured by his Arms against five famous Confederates; The suppression of the Privileges and Liberty of th' Arragons; The defeat of the Mores; The gain of the Battail of Lepantha, wherein h' had so great a share, and the Re-taking of Thumis and Gouletta, are indeed great Successes, and will make a Noise to the Worlds End.

But on th' other side, the Death of the Queen of England with­out Children, and by Consequent, the Possession of that fair King­dome [Page 182]Eclipsed; The loss of the true Religion in the Low-Countreys, without preserving, as our Kings have done, the faith and obedience due t' him; France delivered out of his hands, when he held it as taken; Th' Assault of Gelves, and the Landing of his Troops in Ireland, which were unhappy t'him; And th'Invincible Armado, that would have put England to the Chain, and for which the Rodomonts it carried, said, That they desired no more of God, than that he would not meedle in that Affair, and Leave them to themselves; That Invin­cible, I say, Armado, that was but the sport of a grain of wind, and th'Example of the greatest Shipwrack that th' Ocean hath disgraced since the time of Tiberius. In a word, of the three places, which his Father had recommended unt' him to keep with greatest Care and Jealousie, as the Key of Spain, of the Low-Countreys, and of Africa; Cadis was taken by th' English; Flushing by th' Hollanders; and the Goulete by Bosha Pialy. These disgraces nevertheless, and this variety of Accidents, took not from him that Reputation which hath flown through all the places of th'Earth, and which will be repeated in all th' Ages of the World, And as no wonder or new thing; since it hath been the destiny of the greatest part of great persons to b' expo­sed to the flux and reflux of Fortune, and to dye rich in honour after many Losses. Though it was the Progress and Catastrophe of Phi­lips Life, He could not forbear to turn his Eyes towards the Monar­chy, and to cast some Glances upon Germany the Seat of th' Empire, which is the Foundation and Centre; It was, it may be, to shew his Successors the way they ought to follow t'attain it, and the string by which they might recall and bring th' Empire to their House; from thence proceeded th'Expedition of th' Admiral of Arragon beyond the Rhyne, whereof shall be fully spoken in the third part, in the Treaty of the Succession of Cleves; from thence issued the Renewing of the same Enterprize by Spinola, under th' Archdukes of Flanders, and un­der Philip the third; And though both of these Expeditions had a nearer End, which was the Communication of Germany and the Low-Countreys, and the Conveniency of making War with most Advan­tage to their Enemies, and to draw them into their Chanels and Ri­vers, yet the Spaniards, whose spirits are alwaies much vexed with fu­ture Considerations, and in all their Actions, have more than one mark to shoot at, besides the Particular and present Design, had also in memory th' other General, and more forein design, t' open the way for themselves to th'Empire, and to the Monarchy.

The Successors of Philip did not suddenly cast themselves upon so vast Enterprizes, nor discover Designs that would much enlarge their Domination and Limits; And to the Time of the Kings Death, the Low-Countreys were the Field wherein they did most exercise their Armes, and where they've most appeared; Sometimes in the Qua­lity of Assaulters, and sometimes in the Quality of Defendants. A little before, and presently after the Death of that Prince, wh' of right was called the Great, and to whom amongst all our Kings the Title [Page 183]of Incomparable was Justly due; if h' had not left a Successor that did Equal him. The Spanish Armes raised Troubles, and occasio­ned some Innovation in Germany upon the Succession of Cleves; But their Armes were Chiefly exercised in Piedmont against the Duke of Savoy, and they made their strongest Assaults to strip that Prince, and to Ceize upon th' Intermedium, which severs France from Italy; This bloudy Game wherein France Acted sometimes with Faintings and Weakness, and sometimes with Force, and with some strains of Courage, continued to the Troubles of Bohemia, and to the last Emo­tions of Germany; Th'Empire also from Charls the fifths time to that time, had so much Changed from what it was, that nothing almost re­mained, but the Name and Armes, and instead of that proud and high flight, which their Eagles heretofore made and have since done, they did now beat only with one Wing.

But after that the Count Palatine had begun that famous Quarrel, which could not b' ended by the fighting of above fifteen Battels, and Angred them, whom since he could, neither overcome nor appease; when he had taken Bohemia from th'Emperor, and carried the War into the Heart of Austria, and to the Suburbs of Vienna; The two Austrian Powers being United, had speedily their Revenge of that Affront, and having changed the Course of th' Action, and turned their Defence into an Assault, thrust out the Victory with [...] great Advantage, that they were within little of the Compleating of it, in seeing it Crowned with th'Entire Conquest of Germany, That with­out doubt had hapned, if th' Impatient greediness of the Spaniards, as hath often been expressed, had not made them forget that old Max­im which was so familiar with them; Never t' undertake New Con­quests, till the first had been well setled. And if the Countries of the Duke of Mantoua, which in apparance ought t' have changed their Master, Had not made them quit the Certainty, for th' Uncertain­ty, and t' Hazard what they Possessed in Germany, t' Usurp what they could not take in Italy.

But let's leave th' Affairs of the Duke of Mantoua to the third part, and take up the Designs of the Kings of Spain to cause th' Empire to return to their House, and to put under the Wings of those Eagles, what they had in their Possession, and to Joyn, what they did not Possesse, and was necessary to make up the Wheel of their Monar­chy. They well saw, That after they were Possest of th' Avenues, and had Ceized upon the Borders of Germany, That if they advanced but slowly in that great and vast Countrey, The business would be too long, and that upon the way they should meet with so many Rubs and Impediments, that they might peradventure be Constrain­ed to stay or retire. That did not divert them, from the project of In­vading the Voltoline for the Communication of Italy with Germany, and t'establish themselves beyond the Rhyne for the Comerce of Ger­many with the Low-Countries. As to the first, th' Inhabitants of the Voltoline, whom they'd long prepared to Revolt against the Gri­sons, [Page 184]their Soveraigns, and the grain of Discord which they had there Sown and Husbanded with great Care, made them believe that they should alwayes find the Door open there, when they'd a Mind t' en­ter, and that the pledges would remain in their hands during the Con­testation of the Parties. As to the second, the Death of the Duke of Cleves without Children, and the Concurrency of many Pretenders to that Rich Succession, put it out of Question, that if they did not pos­sesse themselves of all the Countrey, yet they should gain some Im­portant Member, and some Considerable peece. But their Provi­dence carried them further, and by an Intrigue Contrived with much Subtilty, and Cherished with Constancy in the Family of the Prin­ces of th'other Branch of their House, They endeavoured to fix them­selves in th'Heart of Germany to gain there great Countreys; To take away the great stone of scandal, and the fatal Obstacle, which hin­dred them from Attaining th'Empire; Thay they were Strangers to th'Empire, and no Members of the German Body.

Two Principal Considerations gave them Courage to frame this Design, and to Contrive th' Intrigue; The first the Weakness th' Empire was fallen into since the Death of Charls the fifth, and th'use the present Emperors had of their Aid and Protection against the fervent Invasions of the Turk, wherewith Hungary was much annoy­ed, and against th'Enterprises of Protestants, who were held at Bay, and hindred to stir for fear of their Powers; The second Conside­ration was, th'Imbecillity of th' Understanding, and base Inclinations of th'Emperour Rodolphus, under whose Reign the Peace begins, which shall shortly beset forth. His Brother Mathias's humour being alwayes unquiet, and to whom Novelty, troubles and disorders were vvonderfull Baits to carry him any vvhither; And th' humors of the tvvo younger Brothers, Maximilian and Albert, vvh' had neither Action nor Vigour, and vvere vvholly for Dependency in a Submis­sion, and a blind obedience.

On th'other side, The Genius of Ferdinand th' Archduke of Grets their Cozen, and Brother in Law of Philip the third, bred to Devo­tion, and by the Custome of Dependency upon Spiritual Things, much disposed to be Governed, and to permit Direction in Temporal Things; And no marvel, since it often happens that one of the De­pendencies draws on th' other, as well on their part who submit and follow, as of them who Govern and Conduct, and not being content with so absolute and delicate a Domination, as that which is exer­cised upon th'understanding, cannot forbear from enlarging of it upon material Objects; And if they make not firm and durable Usurpati­ons in that Province, to make there at least from time to time, Ir­ruptions and Incursions; And in Relation to th' objects themselves which are often much Complicated, and Mixed and Composed of what regards th' Understanding, and Concerns the Matter, and in which by Consequent, their Princes have no less need of the Councel of Conscience, than of Councel of State, and to b' enlightned with [Page 185]Lights of Christian Morality, as with the Lights of Policy. So­that though Ferdinand naturally loved Justice, and hated Im­probity, It was no difficult thing to perswade him to Consent to things, which justled Justice and Probity, in Colouring of them with th' Apparences of Religion, and in gilding them with the Pretext of the greatest glory of God.

Besides, That Prince had a Weakness, to which all of his disposi­tion are Subject, being of a benign Nature and sweet Temper, not to resist a long Importunity. The Spaniards easily foreseeing, that Assaulting him in that place they should gain divers things, to which H'had an Aversion, and Accord them, to Redeem himself from Vex­ation. And for to Compel him to yield, It was necessary only to re­double their batteries, and to summon him often to yield, which fre­quently hapned; As it also fell out, that in Consideration of his zeal for Religion, of his Love for Justice and other good Qualities in that Prince, God sent him prosperities, which had no mixture or proportion of Moral virtues; And for the punishment of his defects and weaknesses, which he permitted to be th'Organs and Instruments of other Mens passions, he sent him such violent disgraces, that he thrice saw himself within a little of being lost without Remedy, and upon the brim of a Precipice from whence no person falling in, re­covers himself; but at last good Successes carried him over all disgra­ces, and H' had this Satisfaction before Death, to see the Promoti­on of his Son to the Kingdome of the Romans, though it was held un­lawfull, and the greatness of his House in some safety, and in some good condition of Subsistence.

Let's Resume, what we have quitted; Ferdinand had a Brother called Leopold, who was not truly a Prince of high Understanding, nor of great Ambition, nor Unfurnisht of Common Sense and Martial Heat, and obliged to depend, as younger, on the Motions of his El­der Brother. The Spaniards Judged also, That He would b' obli­ged to depend on them, who gave the Law t' Actions, and to th'others Conduct, and that He might b' a proper Instrument t' advance the Designs they had on the Grisons Liberties, and for th' Usurpations of the Voltolines.

Seventh Discourse.
In what manner the Successors of Philip Endeavoured t' establish them­selves in Germany; The Motives which obliged the Bohemians to withdraw themselves from the Government of th' Em­perour Ferdinand, and to call th' Elector Pala­tine to the Crown of Bohemia.

THe Conditions of these Princes carefully observed, as hath been said, and in strength and weakness well known to the Spaniards, [Page 186]They began to Work at their Business, and to give Fire to their Artifices, whilst Rodolphus made a Shop, and forge of his Cabinet, and reduced all his Emperial Thoughts into the search of the Phi­losophers Stone, and to make Watches and Dialls. They made a Treaty with Paul the fifth, In the year 1606. and with th' Archdukes, by which, And all for the Conservation and Exaltation of the Catholique Reli­gion, It was resolved with a Common consent, to declare to Rodolphus, That he Dying without issue Male Lawfully begot, Th' El­dest of th' House of Austria should succeed him in his Hereditary Countries; which Declaration being made, He would Endeavour to cause him to be chosen King of the Romans, lest th' Empire should fall into th' Hands of the Protestants, but if this could not th' Effected, He would declare him King of Bohemia; That this Protestation should be made to th' Emperour with an Army, to Compell the Bohemians t' Accept of this Declaration, in case of Refusal, and the Confederates bound themselves t' Aid him with Moneyes and Men, if they were thereunto required.

In this business, the Pope's zeal is excusable, wh' had truly for his End the Conservation and Exaltation of the Catholique Religion, whereof He was th' Head, who believed, that it could not receive a more dangerous wound, than in permitting th' Imperial Crown to fit upon an Heretiques Head; And to whom, without question, Ad­vice was given [...]that th' Election of the Kingdom of Bohemia was an Usurpation made by the Bohemians, whereof they ought to be delivered, and an Invasion of the People upon the Right of it, which they would restore t' its Original. Moreover, Popes pretend to some right of Superiority and Superintendency over the Matters of th'Empire, and which concern th' Electors, whereof one of them is King of Bohemia. They pretend t'have been the Founders of th' Em­pire of the West, and that Leon the third made the separation of the Body of those Countries, which belonged to the Graecian Empe­rours, and gave to Charlemain the Western parts, as Members at too great distance from their Head, to receive any influences of Life. They call themselves th' Establishers of th' Electoral College, Gregory the Fifth. and th' Authors of reducing the Suffrages to the present Number, for th' Election of th' Emperours; Thus one Lonigy amongst the Modern Writers, hath published it, not Problematically, as a Thing to be disputed, but Affirmatively, and by positive Resolutions, in th' Aphorisms which be published at Rome upon the promotion of th' Electorate to the Duke of Bavaria, when he sent to Demand the Confirmation of it, to Gregory the Fifth. Upon these Founda­tions, and with these Titles, Popes. presume to mingle safety with th' Affairs of th' Empire, and that they are bound to provide that what is of their Institution, and hath Issued from th' Authority of th' Holy Chair, turn not to the prejudice of the Church, and make waste in Gods Vineyard, committed to their Charge. Whether Popes are well or ill setled in those Pretensions, and whether there are pertinent Replies, and just Exceptions to those Aphorisms, [Page 187]'Tis the business of interessed Persons, and not mine, to make the discoveries. I say only, that in Case these pretensions are probable, and likely, they're secure from Injustice and Unbelief, when they 're to b'used; And that Opinions truly probable are sufficient Prin­ciples t' Act Lawfully and with a good Conscience, as I shall make it appear in the Third Part.

But as to the Spaniards, as they had another End, than that of Religion, or at least, that they did but Obliquely look upon it; I know not, how their Proceedings can b' Excused, or the Violence Swee [...]ned, that gave Trouble to the Peace of th' Emperour and Empire; They were busie where they had no right of Intervention, and entred by a Breach, when they could not enter at the Gate. I know not by what Law of Conscience they could raise a Subject against his Soveraign; How they could make Mathias a Felon a­gainst his Brother Rodolphus, and Compel him with a strong hand and with a raised Arm t' Act Mathias's Will, though it were Just, though it were Holy; not by what Right of Nations they could deprive a Kingdome from all times Elective, of the Liberties and Customs, which were not unknown to them, and Violate the Pri­vileges, which to that time had been Inviolable.

But if in this, as in mamy other things, they would Cover them­selves with their old Cloak, and say, that it was still to pare the Wings of Heresie, and to Cut off its way, lest it should pass fur­ther into Germany; To that, Answer may be given, That th' End was goods, but the Means were not, and that they took a way to gain it, wherein were so many ill passages to get over, and so many pre­cipices t' avoid, That there was as much cause of Fear as of Joy, In behalf of Religion, and th' hazard betwixt Gain and Loss, was equally uncertain; That in matters of Religion, th' Heavens ought t' Act, and Providence to Govern; And an Entire submission ought to be given to that Power, which Conducts things to their Ends, according to the good pleasure of its Will, and not according to mens Fancies; That it did not belong to them to Command the Times, which were not Ordained in the decrees of th' Eternal Councils, nor t' hasten the Maturity of Accidents, which appear only in their Season, and discover themselves in th' Appointed hours of then Time; That they were to be Confined to the Limits of the received Order of things, and in Obedience, not to Wander from the Common Right, nor t' Honour God by Vice, or to seek his Glory in the way of Injustice, Violence, and Breach of Faith. Nevertheless, by this proceeding of the Spaniards may be seen, how Licentious their Appetite is of Governing, and their Ambi­tion boundless; How Active and Destructive that fire is, and Nourished with all sorts of Materials; That it Consumes not only them that are not of Relation to them, but Burns their own Pa­rents, and dissolves the Cement of Blood, and of Alliances. Lets return to our Subject. [Page 188]When the Plot spoken of was formed, and the Conspiracy re­solved upon against Rodolpe, Th' Evidences thereof were suddenly Visible, and Mathias made haste to give them credit by memorable Attempts; And for that purpose, he Commanded th' Army to march towards Prague; where th' Emperour was, which had been raised in Goritia; And having, as it were Enclosed him in that Capital City of Bohemia, He sent him, in that Posture, and with that Equipage, the Protestation which had been agreed with the Spaniards and the Pope. What should a Disarmed poor-Spirited and Ignorant Man do, as Rodolphus was, in the streight wherein h' had shut himsels, but receive the Law from him, wh' had Power to give it, and to yield to th' yoak, that was forced over his Head? An Agreement then was made in the Moneth of June, in the year 1608. by which it is ordained; That he deliver up to his Brother Mathias, the Crown of Hongary, the Scepter, the Royal Hat, and th' other Ornaments which were carried unto him by the Cardinal Dietres­thien; That he reserved for himself the Title of that Kingdome, to bear it Joyntly with Mathias; As also he did relinquish unt' him the Lower and Higher Austria, whereof he retained only the Title, discharging th' Inhabitants of the Country from their Oath of Fi­delity, which they had Sworn unto him, and Consents, that the said Archduke should be nominated Heir to the Crown of Bohemia, in Case he Died without Heir Male, and all this to be done without prejudice to the States of the Kingdome, in their Right of Election and other Privileges. The States of the said Kingdome consented to the said future Succession upon two Conditions, which were, That no prejudice should be done to their Privileges, and that the said Archduke, during the Life of his Imperial Majesty, should not in any sort meddle with the Government of the said Kingdome, nor with the Provinces Incorporated to it; And in Case he did, that he should be deprived and forfeit the Right of Nomination, which was Accorded unto him, and that he should Entitle himself only, the designed King of Bohemia, Rodolphus was not Entirely degra­ded by this Treaty, nor the Liberty of the Bohemians wholly sup­pressed; There's alwaies a middle betwixt two Extremes, and some kind of distance to pass from th' one to th' other. All the Wounds which are received, do not Kill a man suddenly, and the Vigour, which that people Expressed, and the Resistance they made in th' Occasion, secured to th' Emperour and them, the Remainder of Li­berty which appeared in that Treaty. The boldness of Mathias, and the practices of the Spaniards, staid not there, and stopped nor in so fair a way. They had not begun so well without Resolution to pursue it, nor so happily Entred upon their business without finish­ing of it; The Dye was cast, And it was an Inviolable destiny in their Judgment; t' Abolish the Right of Election in the States of Bohemia, and to make that Kingdome Successive and Hereditary; For that purpose, it was thought necessary to vex the Bohemians; [Page 189]Their yoak was to be made heavier, and their Servitude larger. All obstacles were to be broken, and all Gates opened that opposed that design. The Cardinal Clessel, Rodolphus's Confident, and Governour of th' Affairs of Bohemia, made a great Opposition against them in the Councels, and feared not to resist them publiquely, and break all their Stratagems; It was the Cause that Mathias at the suggestion of the Count of Ognate, the Catholique Kings Ambassadour, caused him to b' Imprisoned, unknown to th' Emperours and without any Consent of the Nonce resident in that Court; And thus having dis­armed Rodolphus of his faithfull and bold Minister of State, and taking down that head, which infused vigour and understanding into the Bohemians, he thought to reduce them easily to what they desired.

After these Actions of Mathias above spoken of, and th'Innova­tions h' Introduced in th'Emperours Court; after h' had there done for a time all that he would do, and Governed at his pleasure th'Em­pire under the Name and Authority of his brother, He came at last to his desire; but he was no sooner setled in his Throne, whereunto the Spaniards had aided him t'ascend, but they made him t' Adopt his Cozen Ferdinand, to th' Exclusion of Maximilian and Albert his Brothers, and declare him his Successor t' Hungary, Bohemia, and th' Hereditary States.

This Declaration was not barren and vain, it was attended with its effect, as the Lightning is sometimes with the Thunder; Ma­thias caused Ferdinand to come to Prague by deceit, and with Mo­ny, but more effectively by the power of th' Army h' had in Bohemia; He compelled Ferdinand to Crown him King of Bohemia, leaving out the word of Election, and without any Apparence of th'Interven­tion of the States Authority, which was the work the Spaniards aimed at, and for which they had long given themselves much trou­ble; The Complement of the business, and the Conclusion of it was, That they made a Transaction with Ferdinand, by which it was resolved, In the year 1617. That th' Election of the Kingdoms of Hungary and of Bohemia should b' abolished, and that the King of Spain should succeed to those King­doms, in case of default of the strait Masculine Line of Ferdinand; Provided, That the King of Spain should relinquish all the Rights h' had in that Country in title of Granchild of th' Eldest of that House.

Whereupon 'tis to b' observed, that all this was done and con­cluded betwixt the Spaniards and Ferdinand, with full Power, and pure Violence, and without the knowledge or participation of the States of those Kingdoms, which are Elective; And it was th' occa­sion of a great displeasure conceived by the Bohemians, when it was made known to them, and the greatstone of scandal, against which they struck, and which carried them to the Resolution they after­ward took, to reject Ferdinand from being their King, and to call int' his place Frederick Gount Palatine, under whom was framed in Germany an Intricacy of Affairs, which five and twenty years of War could not dissolve; And that a thousand new Accidents, which [Page 190]every day arise, forbid the wisest Men to discover th' Events, and the way to get out of that Labyrinth. That the Transaction was the principal and most violent Motive of th' Insurrection of the Bohe­mians, appears by the Declaration of the States of Bohemia, upon the rejection of Ferdinand, of the 23^d of May 1618. by which they complained amongst other things, That there was an endeavour to transport the Kingdom t' another House; It appears by the Letter, which th' Elector Palatine wrote to th' Emperor the 25^th of June in the same year, wherein he says expresly, That th' Authors of those Troubles were Persons, who sought th' Improvement of some Fo­rein Greatness, and represents the Troubles which the Provinces of th' Empire would feel, if Strangers were Introduc'd, as had been done in the Dutchy of Juliers. It appears also by the Declaration made by the Bohemians in the year 1619. upon th' Election of Fre­derick the First, wherein they clearly said, That Ferdinand endevour'd to translate the Kingdom of Bohemia under a Forein Power.

But since there's nothing so easie as t' Accuse and Disguise an Ac­cusation; That every Person flatters himself in his own Cause, which h' adjusts and beautifies as he pleaseth; And that the Paper receives what is imprinted upon it, as a Glass doth represent all that is set before it. Let's produce the testimony of Ferdinand, and the proofs h' hath furnished to the Bohemians Complaints; 'Tis certain, that his Predecessors speaking of their States ever put this Expression, of our Kingdomes and Hereditary Provinces; The word Hereditary Accompanying onely the Provinces and not the Kingdomes; He Transposed the word to the beginning of the Clause, that he might Fixe and Incorporate himself upon the Kingdomes as Provinces, and made it thus, of our Hereditary Kingdomes and Provinces; And in his Monitory Letters of the 30. April 1620. agaist th'Elector Palatin, by which he summons him to Leave in a Month, The Kingdome of Bohemia, and pretends that that Crown was fallen to him by Natural and Successive Right.

There was another Cause, which was doubtless known to the Bo­hemians, and obliged them to change their Master, and to seek ano­ther yoak than Ferdinands, whose person otherwise was not unaccep­table to them; 'Tis the strong and Implacable Aversion that Prince had against Heresies, and th'hot and burning zeal t'Exterminate them out of his Dominions, and in all places where his Authority was ac­knowledged. At twenty years of Age, He made a vow t' our Lady of Loretta; He renewed it at th' Age of forty three, to our Lady of Celles, which is betwixt Austria and Styria, and Confirmed it a little before his Death by the Report of Father Lamorman in that Book of the Virtues of that Emperour. The Zeal truly of seeing the Ruine of Heresies, and of placing living stones in the Temple of God, t' use the words of th'Apostle, is very Commendable in it self, and t' have no sense thereof is to be wholly deprived of Charity towards ones Neighbour, which is one of th'Ends of Christianity; There must be [Page 191]a want of Piety to the Church, to which Heretiques make Wat; No Love for the Glory of God, which is Prophaned by Fable Worship. But though this Zeal may be as hot in th' Heart, as it should be, and burn within; Though it may be much inflamed in it's Principle; yet it ought not t' appear but Tempered with Discretion, nor break out but by measure and Rule; thought not to procure its End but by con­venient means; by the waies which God hath ordained, or hath left to Prudence to make Choice of; Above all, he may b' assured that its Operations are ordinarily better effected by gentle and peaceable, than by violent and bloody hands. And suppose it to be an ill Inven­tion, to Kill instead of Healing, and to pull down an Edifice t'hinder the burning of it; That in Truth, there are Constitutions and En­counters, where strong Remedies are to be used to stop the Conta­gion of Diseases which gathet, and where Houses are broke down to prevent the fire, which they cannot put out from burning of others mens houses, and consume that which might have been preserved. In this, I have given some Rules in the first part, and in several places, I say some what of it here and there, as conceive it necessary, and as th' Abuses, which I see there Acted oblige me.

But tis Chiefly necessary, in kindling that Zeal in the Spirit of Princes, t' infuse also convenient Lights for their Conduct. And what I have said in other places ought to b' observed, and cannot too often be remembred, That great Persons cannot commit small faults, nor Ge­neral Causes removed by small Ruines. Sebastian, the last King but one of Portugal, before that Kingdome was subdued to the Power of Spain, is a very Remarkable Example of what I have now said, The Queen Catherine his Mother having trusted his Education with Reli­gious persons, honest Men indeed, and of Eminent Learning accord­ing to their profession, but unexperienced in th' Affairs of the World, and in the Science of Princes; Their greatest care was, t' imprint deeply into the Soul of this Prince, naturally valiant, the desire of making War to the Mahometans, and to Convert that great Principle of valour, wherewith he was born, to the Destruction of th'Infidels. This was truly very good, but the precepts were given him, and th' Impression made without Discretion and Choice, without Modera­tion and Rule, which spoyled the Goodness, and corrupted the Vir­tue of that Education; So the fruits, which it produced, were not be­neficial to Religion, though it was his Principal End, but fatal t'his Countrey, which changed its Government, and fell under a yoak, which it hath since born with much Impatience, and at last shaken off, after the losse of all patience. As to Ferdinands vows, which are much esteemed by them, not to permit any Heretiques in the places of its Dominions, and to suppress the least Impressions there of Heresie; Not to speak of the Nature of those Actions, which may b'Excel­lent in themselves, I find great Imprudence in the Solemnity, and in that Eminent condition of Acting them publiquely, and to the know­ledge of many persons. There are Actings indeed, which ought to [Page 192]b'Acted in the sight of the World, and Exposed t'high Noon, and put, t'use our Saviours Comparison, in High places, as Cities built upon the Top of Mountains, that they may be the better seen, and that they, who shall see them, give God the Glory; And a Doctor that shall make a vow t' Apply himself wholly to the Combat of He­resies, and to purge the Spirits by his Doctrine of the venome, which is the more dangerous and mortal to them wh' are the least sensible of it at their Deaths, might perform an Act of great value, and a thing in some sort Heroique: But for a Soveraign Prince that would Ex­ercise Proscriptions and Punishments against that kind of Diseases, not t' use greater Circumspection and Secresie than a particular per­son, and to publish his Zeal and declare his Design by some publique formality, what other things is it, than t' advise his Enemies to b'up­on their Guards; Than t' awake them that sleep, lest they should be surprized; Than to give them the Will and the Leasure to put them­selves into a posture of defence; To seek Friends and Protectors; to Fortifie themselves with Confaederations, And to Cast them into Despair, which is more to be feared than Courage? This hapned to the Bohemians, and 'tis the second spring of the German Troubles, which Ferdinand opened, and one of the principal Causes of th'Emo­tions in Germany, which continue to this day.