long Combat where abundance of persons of France England and the Low Countries ran from all parts to see from the shore so extraordinary a spectacle The greatest part of so powerful a Fleet was burnt destroyed or separated and those which escaped put themselves under the covert of some English Vessels and so retreated into the River of Thames or some Port in Flanders The Spaniards lost above 7000 men that were burnt or drowned besides 2000 who were made Prisoners by the Hollanders This Victory was very great and memorable for there were 40 large Vessels sunk burnt or taken and amongst others the great Galeon of Portugal called Mater Tereza was burnt which was 62 foot broad and had 800 men on board who all perished This Tromp was the Father of Count Tromp who was engaged in the King of Denmark's service and gained great advantages over the Swedes In the year 1641 Prince Henry Frederick married his only Son Prince William to the Princess Mary of England eldest Daughter to Charles I. King of Great Britain and Madam Henrietta of France and this Marriage was celebrated with a great deal of Pomp and Magnificence The year 1645 was remarkable for the taking of the important Town of Hulsh in Flanders which was carried in spite of the Spaniards who could neither put succors into it nor make Prince Henry raise the Siege This Prince during the space of two and twenty years that he had the Government in his hands was remarkable for his wife and moderate conduct Because the Princess Louise de Coligny his Mother had maintained Barnevelt's Party some people thought that the Prince following his Mothers inclinations would re-establish that Party and recall such of them as had been banished and among others Mr Grotius But this Prince like a good Politician thought it better to let things continue in the posture he found them in than to embroil'em afresh by bringing a prevailing party upon his back I have seen Mr. Grotius in a great passion upon this occasion and he has spoke very ill of the Prince accusing him of Ingratitude and of having no respect for those who had been Friends to his Mother Prince Henry was very rich but instead of finding any support from England he was forc'd to help King Charles in his necessity with all his ready Money The greatest part of which has been repaid by the King of England since his Restauration to his Nephew the Prince of Orange Henry Frederick died the 14th of March 1647 and was buried with a great deal of State Besides his Children that we have mentioned before he left a Natural Son remarkable for his Valor his name was Mr. Zulestein Collonel of the Dutch Infantry who died at the attack of Vorden Prince William of Orange laid the Foundation of the Commonwealth of the United Provinces and was their first Founder his eldest Son Maurice secured and established this Commonwealth by his Victories which forced the Spaniards in the Treaty of Truce for 12 years to acknowledge the United Provinces for a free State and Henry Frederick Brother to Maurice and Grandfather to the present King of England by the continuation of his Conquests at last forced the Spaniards to renounce entirely the right which they had pretended to that Country so that we may say with reason and justice that this illustrious Father and his two generous Sons who have imitated his Vertues are the Founders of this Commonwealth which sends Ambassadors that are covered before the most powerful Kings in Christendom even before the King of Spain himself whose Vassals they were about 100 years ago Henry Frederick had for his devise this word Patriaeque Patrique intimating thereby that he thought of nothing but serving his Country and revenging the Death of his Father WILLIAM II Prince of Orange THE LIFE OF WILLIAM II. Prince of Orange THis Prince was born in the year 1626 the States General were his Godfathers and by the appointment of his Father was called William after the name of his Illustrious Grandfather In the year 1630 this young Prince was declared General of the Cavalry of the Low Countries and the year following the States granted him the Survivorship of the Government of their Province He was no sooner of Age to bear Arms but he followed his Father to the Army and was present at the Siege of Breda giving great proofs of his Courage though but 13 years old Immediately upon the death of his Father Frederick Henry he took the Oath of Fidelity to the States for the Government of which they had granted him the Reversion All Europe was in a profound Peace upon conclusion of the Treaty at Munster which was done the next year after Prince Henry's death The States considering the vast Debts they had contracted by the extraordinary Expences they had been obliged to make resolved to retrench all unnecessary ones having a great number of Troops in their pay that were of no use now the War was at an end they proposed to disband a considerable part of them William the Second who had succeeded in all the Places of the Prince his Father and knowing very well that nothing but the Army could support the credit of the Places he was possessed of made a strong opposition to this design of the States General He represented that it was against all the Rules of Policy to disband Troops who had been so faithful to the Provinces and that France or Spain might make use of this opportunity to fall upon their Common-wealth in a time when they could not be in a condition to defend themselves The States who were already resolved to break 120 Companies to make some sort of satisfaction to the Prince offered to continue the ordinary Pay to the disbanded Officers The Prince agreed to this proposal but the Province of Guelders and the City of Amsterdam opposed and protested against it for several reasons They who were in the Prince's Interests advised him to visit the principal Cities of the Netherlands to perswade the Magistrates to take a Resolution of leaving not only the Officers but the Troops in the same condition they were in before the War that they might be in a readiness to serve where-ever there was occasion Pursuant to this advice the Prince having sent for the principal Collonels of the Army went in person to four or fiveCities of Holland The Burghers of Amsterdam who were well assured that the Prince would visit them too and apprehending his presence would cross the Resolutions they had taken desired him by their Deputies to put off his intended Journey to this City for several Reasons which they gave him Haerlem Medemblic and several other places followed the Example of Amsterdam The Proceedings of these Cities was so considerable an Affliction to the Prince and incensed him so much that in a meeting of the States General he resented it with inexpressible concern He endeavoured to insinuate to them by a great number of Reasons
Infanta of Portugal Mother to Don Carlos That he murthered his own Son for speakiing in Favour of the Low-Countries and poisoned his third Wife Isabella of France Daughter to Henry the II. King of France in whose Life-time he publickly kept Donna Eufratia whom he forced the Prince of Ascoti to marry when she was big with Child by him that his Bastard might inherit the great Estate of this Prince who died of Grief if not says the Prince of a Morsel more easy to swallow than digest That afterwards he was not ashamed to commit publick Incest in marrying his own Niece Daughter to Maximilian the Emperor and his Sister But says the King I had a Dispensation Ay says the Prince only from the God on Earth for the God of Heaven would never have granted it These are the very Words of the Prince That it was as strange as insupportable that a Man blacken'd with Adultery Poisoning Incest and Parricide should make a Crime of a Marriage approved of by Monsieur de Montpensier his Father-in-law a more zealous Catholick than the Spaniards are with all their Grimaces and Preterisions That if his Wife had made Vows in her tender Age which is contrary to the Canons and Decrees according to the Opinion of the ablest Men And though she had never made any Protestations against it He was not so little vers'd in the Holy Scriptures but He knew that all Bonds and Engagements entred into meerly upon the Score of Interest had no Force before God To that Article where the King calls him a Stranger he answers That his Ancestors had possessed for many Ages Counties and Baronies in Luxemburg Brabant Holland and Flanders and that those who have Estates in the Provinces have still been reckoned Natives That the King is a Stranger as well as himself being born in Spain a Country which bears a natural Aversion to the Low-Countries and he in Germany a neighbouring Country and Friend of the Provinces But says the Prince they 'll say he is King to which he answers Then let him be King in Castile Arragon Naples the Indies and Ierusalem and in Africk and Asia if he please that for his part he will acknowledge but a Duke and a Count whose Power is limited by the Privileges of the Provinces which the King has sworn to ob serve That he must let the Spaniards know if they are not acquainted with it already that the Barons of Brabant when their Princes go beyond Bounds have often shown them what their Power was He ended this Discourse by saying That 't was strange that they had the Impudence to charge him with being a Stranger in regard his Predecessors were Dukes of Gueldres and Owners of great Possessions in the Provinces when the King's Ancestors were only Counts of Hapsburg living in Switzerland and their Family was not known in the World The Prince maintains that the Design of the Spaniards was always to enslave the Netherlands and erect a tyrannical Government as they have done in the Indies Naples Sicily and Milan That the Emperor Charles the V. being acquainted with it represented to King Philip in his Presence and the old Count of Bossut and many others That if he did not curb the Pride of the Spaniards he would be the Ruin of the Netherlands But that neither the paternal Authority nor the Interest of his Affairs nor Justice nor his Oath which is sacred among the Barbarians could bridle his unbounded Passion of Tyrannizing That the Country granted a considerable Supply of Money with which and the Courage of the Nobility of these Provinces having won two famous Battles and taken a great number of Prisoners of the highest Quality in France he concluded a Peace at Cambray as Profitable to himself as Disadvantageous to his Enemies That if the King had any Gratitude remaining he could not deny but that he was one of the principal Instruments in bringing it about having managed it in particular with the Constable de Montmorency and the Mareschal de St. Andre by the King's Orders who assured him that he could not do a more grateful piece of Service to him than by effecting a Peace at a time when he was resolved to go into Spain upon any Terms But these Supplies of Money and this great Success obtained by the Blood of their Nobility were reckoned Crimes of High-Treason because nothing would be granted but on Condition the States-General should meet and the promis'd Subsidies pass through the Hands of Commissaries of the Provinces to clip the Wings of these Harpies Barlaymont and others like him And these as he assures are the two great Crimes which created that implacable Hatred in the King and Council to the Low-Countries The first of these Crimes was the Demand of an Assembly of the States-General who are as much hated by bad Princes for bridling their Tyranny as they are loved and reverenced by good Kings the true Fathers of their Country who consider them as the most sure Foundation of a State and the true support of Soveraigns The second is the Demand they made of having Commissioners of the Provinces for managing the Subsidies the Prince affirming that these Devourers of the People reckon their Robberies and Cheatings a better Revenue than that of their Lands That seeing themselves out of Condition any longer to enrich themselves at the Expence of the publick with Indempnity they look out for all Pretences by flattering their Princes to incense them and set them at odds with their Subjects He concluded this Article by assuring the States-General to whom he addresses himself all along that he has seen their Actions heard their Discourses and been Witness of those Counsels whereby they designed to make a general Massacre of them as they had practised in the Indies where they had destroyed thirty times more People than are in the Low-Countries To that part of the Charge where the King accuses him of gaining the Hearts of all those who desired Innovation particularly those who were suspected of the Reformed Religion by his private Intrigues and of being the Author of the Request against the Inquisition He owns that he was always of the Reformed Religion in his Heart which had been established by his Father William Count of Nassaw in his Dominions That he heard the King of France Henry the II. say when he was Hostage in France that the Duke of Alva was then treating with him to root out all the Protestants of France the Low-Countries and all Christendom besides That they had resolved to establish the merciless Inquisition the Severity of which was such that the looking a squint upon an Image was Crime enough to deserve burning That he could not suffer that so many good Men and Lords of his Acquaintance should be design'd for the Slaughter which made him firmly resolve utterly to extirpate this cursed Race of Men and that if he had been well seconded in so just and generous a Design there would have been
shall speak hereafter Besides his celebrated Posterity of legitimate Children the Prince of Orange left a Natural Son called Iustin de Nassau who led a considerable Body of Men to the Assistance of King Henry the IV. before the Peace of Vervins He was a Brave Vertuous Man and died Governour of Breda I have heard my Father say that in the year 1616. having dispatched to Court upon some important Affair a Garson Captain named Lanchere famous in the Netherlands where he served This Courier in his Return passing through Breda Monsieur Iustin de Nassau asked him what News He answered nothing considerable but the Imprisonment of the Count D' Auvergne since Duke of Angoulesme Iustin de Nassau asking him the Reason he replied bluntly striking him on the Back for he was acquainted with his true Extraction Don't you know Sir that a Son of a Whore was never good for any thing A Fault which the poor Lanchere confessed to my Father when he knew that he was a Bastard Which is a proof that 't is good to be informed of Pedigrees and Alliances otherwise we are liable to Mistakes and to offend innocently Persons of Quality The End of the Life of William of Nassau Prince of Orange THE LIFE OF LOVISE de COLIGNY THE Fourth and Last Wife of WILLIAM of NASSAU Prince of ORANGE THIS Lady had very excellent Vertues without having the least Mixture of any Weakness incident to her Sex through the Course of her whole Life though it was very long She had been married to Monsieur de Teligny before the Famous Day of St. Bartholomew which was in 1572. and she died in 1620. The Admiral her Father esteem'd her very much both for her Modesty and Prudence She gain'd every Body's Heart and Affection by her Way of Conversation which was easy and graceful and had an universal Respect as well for her true Sence as her extraordinary good Nature She was very well shap'd though her Stature was but low her Eyes were very beautiful and her Complexion lively The Admiral who loved her tenderly and passionately desired to have her well disposed of after having cast his Eyes upon all the Persons of Quality that were of his own Religion and Party he found none so deserving to marry this excellent Lady as Monsieur de Teligny Son of Monsieur de Teligny a Famous Captain in the Wars of Italy in whom he had observed more Valour and Conduct than in any other Gentleman of his time besides his Vertues were so considerable that those who writ in Favour of Queen Catharine Queen of Medices who mortally hated the Admiral have confessed that she and the King her Son had very great Difficulty to consent to the Death of Monsieur de Teligny who had rendred himself agreeable to both of them by his handsom Deportment and by his sincere and noble Way of Acting which shews that Vertue is always attractive from whencesoever it proceeds and that it has uncommon Charms to make it self admired and favoured though in the Person of an Enemy The Admiral then advised this beautiful Lady to accept of Monsieur de Teligny and to preferr a Man indued with so many good Qualities though of moderate Fortune to others who though they had greater Riches and Titles were still less worthy to possess her But she soon lost so good a Husband together with the Admiral her Father in the cruel Day of St. Bartholomew Having heard of this Misfortune in Burgundy her Mother-in-Law and she with the young Lord of Chatillon her Brother had much ado to get into Switzerland to secure their Lives the Massacre of the Protestants being universal throughout all France This great Admiral was Son of another Gaspar de Coligny Lord of Chatillon upon Loyr Mareschal of France under Louis the XII a Famous General who died at Aix as he was commanding the French Army against the Spaniards and of Louise de Montmorency Sister to Anne de Montmorency Constable of France He left behind him three Sons that were very considerable Odet Cardinal of Chatillon the eldest who was Patron to all the Wits and Learned Persons of his Age Iasper Admiral of France who before that had been Governour of Paris and Picardy and lastly Francis de Coligny Lord of Andelot Colonel General of the French Infantry A Son of the Admiral named Francis was likewise Colonel of the French Infantry he signalized himself as well upon the Bridge of Tours by saving the Persons of Henry the III. and the King of Navarre from the Forces of the League and afterwards in the Battle of Arques by which he gained the Reputation of surpassing the Admiral He left two Sons by a Daughter of the House of Chaune de Pequigny the eldest who promised much was taken off by a Cannon Bullet at the Siege of Ostend the other was the Mareschal de Chatillon Father to the Count de Coligny that died young and the Duke de Chatillon who was killed at Charenton The Mareschal Chatillon had likewise two Daughters one married to the Prince of Montbeliard and the other named Henrietta Countess of Adinton and Suze had so great a Genius for Poetry that she has out done Sappho her self by her exquisite Works which are the Delight of all such as are Lovers of Gallantry Madam de Teligny having lived during her Widowhood with a Conduct that made her admired by the whole World she was sought to by Prince William of Orange after the Death of Charlotte de Bourbon and he married her in the year 1583. upon the Reputation of her Vertue But soon after by a Fatality that usually snatches from us That which is most dear she saw him assassinated before her own Eyes having had but one Son by him born a little before his Father's Death who was the Famous Henry Frederick Prince of Orange She had this Advantage to be Sprung from the greatest Man in Europe and to have had two Husbands of very eminent Vertues the last of which left behind him an immortal Reputation but she had likewise the Misfortune to lose them all three by hasty and violent Deaths her Life having been nothing but a continued Series of Afflictions able to make any one sink under them but a Soul that like hers had resigned her self up so totally to the will of Heaven She has told my Father freely that at her coming into Holland she was very much surprized at their Rude Way of Living so different from that in France and whereas she had been used to a Coach she was there put into a Dutch Waggon open at Top guided by a Vourman where she sate upon a Board and that in going from Roterdam to Delft which is but two Leagues she was crippled and almost Frozen to death There never was one of a more noble Soul or a truer Lover of Justice than this Princess But it was observable during the great Differences between Maurice Prince of Orange her Son-in-Law and Monsieur
of Nassaw who left a numerous and renowned Posterity behind him The Three other Sons were Lodowick Adolphus and Henry of Nassaw who signaliz'd themselves in the Civil Wars of France and the Netherlands They were never married and all three died with their Swords in their hands Couragiously seconding the Design of their elder Brother The Seven Daughters of William of Nassaw were all Married one to the Count of Bergues who was Mother to that Count de Bergues who in our days Commanded the Spanish Armies against his Cosin Germans Prince Maurice and Henry Frederick and afterwards quitted the Spanish Service upon some disgust The other Six were married to Sovereign Counts of Germany one amongst the rest to Count Schouarsbourg who had the misfortune to be present at Antwerp when Iohn Iauregny a Biscayner had like to have kill'd the Prince with a Pistol-shot and at Delft when he was Assassinated by Balthasar Guerard a Native of the Franche Comtè For she never left her dear Brother who loved her entirely William Prince of Orange was of a middle Stature a brown Complexion with Chesnut hair he talked little thought much but spoke always to the purpose and his words passed for Oracles No private Man in the time of Charles the Fifth liv'd with so much Splendour as the Prince of Orange he entertained all the Foreign Princes and Ministers at his House and in short was the Glory of the Emperours Court and his Sons who in his Proscription which he thunder'd out against the Prince of Orange having upbraided him with the Favours he had received from him how ill he had return'd them the Prince in his Apology replyed that he was so far from having any Obligations to the King or inriching himself in his Service that he had born the principal Expence of the Court composed of many Nations the King taking so little care of it that he was forced to desray it out of his own Pocket This splendid way of Living and this engaging manner of insinuating himself into all Peoples Affections gain'd him the Esteem and Friendship of all the World Besides he had a great advantage over all the Princes and Lords of the Emperors Court the House of Nassau having had the Honour to produce the Emperour Adolphus who was kill'd A. D. 1298. at the Battle of Spires upon whom these Verses were made Anno milleno trecent is his minus annis In Iulio mense Rex Adolphus cadit ense When King Philip who had been bred up in Spain came into the Low Countries in his Fathers Lifetime there appear'd such a vast difference between the Father and Son that all the People and particularly the Nobility conceived as much Aversion and Contempt for one as they had Love and Adoration for the other The Emperour was good Natur'd easie of Access treated all sorts of Nations familiarly and talked to 'em in their own Language which won him an universal Respect and Veneration King Philip rarely appeared in publick wore his Clothes always in the Spanish Fashion talked little and still Spanish which procured him the general hate of the Nobility and the People of the Netherlands who hating and dreading the Pride of the Spaniards that govern'd him demanded of him in full Assembly of the States held at Gand to withdraw all foreign Troops out of the Netherlands and use their own Forces for the Security of the Towns and make no Stranger Governour of the Low Countries these Demands surprized and incensed the King who believed all was done by the Instigation and Contrivance of the Prince of Orange but concealing his Resentment he gave the States hopes of complying with their Requests In this Assembly he made Margaret of Austria his natural Sister Wife of Octavio Farnese Duke of Parma absolute Governess of the Low Countries created many Knights of the Golden Fleece and then Embarked for Spain At his Departure he left Orders with the Governess to establish the Spanish Inquisition the in Netherlands and erect several new Bishopricks These Innovations were the Original cause of all the Civil Wars and Confusions so strange an Aversion had the People for the very name of the Inquisition and the new Bishops whom they considered as the Agents and under Officers of the Inquisition Anthony Perrenot Cardinal de Granville first Bishop of Arras and then of Malines was Minister of State and had all the Management of Affairs under the Dutchess of Parma He was Son to Nicholas Perrenot of Besancon Secretary of State to Charles the Seventh who for his personal Merit had advanced him from the Quality of a private Citizen This Cardinal naturally haughty and insolent treated the Nobility in a very imperious manner For which they hated him to that Degree that at last Count Egmont Count Horn and the Prince of Orange no longer able to bear his insupportable Pride writ plainly to King Philip that his Arrogance and violent Proceedings were abhorr'd by all the Nobility and People and would ruin the Netherlands if he was not recall'd in time This Remonstrance was considered as a criminal Boldness in Spain and from that time they took a Resolution to destroy these three Lords and all their Adherents But at that Conjuncture they were constrained to dissemble and recall the Cardinal Great disorders hapning in the Netherlands Count Iohn de Bergues Governour of Hainault and Iohn de Montmorency Lord of Montigny Governour of Tornay were dispatched into Spain with Orders to acquaint the King with what had passed and perswade him to compose the Differences by Mildness and Clemency rather than by Severity and Roughness But both losing their Lives there was a warning to the rest to stand upon their Guard Assoon as the Prince of Orange who was a great Politician knew of the Resolution the King had formed by the Advice of the Spanish Ministers and at the instance of Cardinal Granville who resented his being driven out of the Low Countries of sending the Duke of Alva with an Army of Spaniards and Italians into the Netherlands he wisely judg'd that the King design'd to revenge himself on the States for the Demands they had made him and the forcible removal of the Cardinal which was generally imputed to him Knowing besides that the Alterations which were to be made would infallibly occasion great Convulsions and Commotions he desired the Governess to request the King to give him leave to resign his Governments of Holland Zeland Utrecht and Burgundy which was denied him He was only perswaded to remove from him his Brother Count Lodowick who was thought to give him Counsels which were prejudicial to the Peace of the Netherlands Which he did not think fit to Consent too no more than the new Oath of Fidelity to the King which many other great Men refused to take for this Oath obliging him to root out Hereticks he must consequently have sworn the ruin of his own Wife who was a Lutheran Besides he alledged that having already taken
that he had four Wives His first Wife was Anne D' Egmont Daughter to Maximilian D' Egmont Count of Burem and Leerdam a great Heiress whom he married by the Favour of Charles V. and had by her a Son and Daughter The Son was Philip William Prince of Orange of whom more hereafter and the Daughter Mary de Nassaw who was married to Philip Count de Hohenlo commonly called de Holac a great General who after the unexpected Death of the Prince of Orange which put the United Provinces into a strange Consternation generously resisted all the Efforts of the Spaniards and taught the first Rudiments of War to Prince Maurice his Brother in Law who was at the College at the time of this unhappy Accident His second Wife was Anne of Saxony Daughter to the Great Maurice Elector of Saxony who made head against the Emperor Charles the V. by whom he had the Famous Maurice of whom we shall give a very large Relation and a Daughter named Emilia de Nassau who married Emanuel King of Portugal Son to King Anthony of Portugal who was dispossessed by King Philip the II. This Prince Emmanuel won so much on the Princess by his Civility Courtship and Addresses that she chose him for her Husband as poor as he was and of a contrary Religion and tho' Prince Maurice opposed the Match as advantageous to neither They had two Sons whom I knew in my youth one of whom left a Son among other Children who went lately into Holland to demand of the Prince of Orange the Remainder of his Grandmother's Fortune and many Daughters some of whom were married to Persons of a very unsuitable Quality She was a very good Princess but about the end of her Life having fallen out with the Prince of Orange her Brother she retired to Geneva An. Dom. 1623. and died shortly after of Melancholy leaving six Daughters whom I saw at Geneva An. Dom. 1624. She was Godmother to one of my Sisters and gave her Her Name Emilia who is still alive and is married to the Seigneur de Montrevil near Menetoon in Champagne Her Godfather was the Count de Culembourg Son to Florent de Pallant Count de Culembourg whose House at Brussels was pulled down by Order of the Duke of Alva and who having done nothing after the Address of the Nobility retired into Holland and lived so privately that he died unknown to those of his own Party The third Wife of William Prince of Orange was Charlotte de Bourbon of the House of Montpensier whom I have declared before to have been a Religieuse or Abbess of Iouarre But the Love of Liberty which is an invaluable Blessing prevailed over all the Vows she had made in her youth which she pleaded she had been forced to and had made several Protestations against She died of a Pleurisy at Antwerp A. D. 1582. leaving six Daughters behind her The eldest Lovise Iulienne de Nassau was married to Frederick the IV. Elector Palatine Father to Frederick the V. Elected King of Bohemia who by the Princess Elizabeth of England Sister to Charles the I. King of Great Britain had many Princes and Princesses The eldest Henry Frederick Design'd King of Bohemia with his Father A. D. 1620. was a very handsom and hopeful Prince He studied at Leyden and Our Tutor Benjamin Prioleau Author of the Latin History of the last Regency carried us duely every Sunday after Dinner to play with this young Prince who loved us extreamly which made us the more regret his Death when we afterwards heard of it He perished unhappily in the Sea of Haerlem going in Company with the King his Father to see the Spanish Galleons laden with an inestimable Booty which had been taken by Peter Hain the Dutch Admiral near the Island of Cuba A Vessel by Night sailing full Speed having fall'n soul on his split it in two thus the Prince and all that were in it were drowned except the King his Father who by great Fortune having caught hold of a Rope that was thrown out to him from the Ship was miraculously drawn aboard The Second is the present Elector Palatine who has several Children by the Princess of Hesse among others Madam the Dutchess of Orleans a Princess of great Wit and Judgment who has already Children who are the first Princes of the Blood in France The third is the Famous Prince Robert who has won so much Reputation by Sea and Land having not deceived the hopes which he had given in his Infancy by the Martial and Manly Look which was then taken notice of The fourth was called Edward who lived a long time in France where turning Catholick he married the Princess Anne de Gonzague Daughter to the late Duke of Mantua Montferrat and Lions and Sister to Maria Louise Q. of Poland and Wife to two Brothers Uladislaus and Casimir Kings of Poland She was celebrated for her Beauty under the Name of the Princess Maria. Concerning whom I add this by the way that having been designed Queen of Poland and understanding that I was very well acquainted with the State of that Kingdom where I had been twice she desired me by the Duke de Noailles to give her some Instructions of it which I did several Afternoons and in Token of her Acknowledgment she would be Godmother to my eldest Daughter with Monsieur the Coadjutor of Paris then Archbishop of Corinth who is the famous Cardinal de Retz the learnedst Prelate in the Kingdom But to return to the Prince Palatine Edward He left three Daughters by the Princess Anne of Mantua the eldest of whom is Madam the Dutchess of Enguien already the Mother of several Princes and Princesses of the Blood The other married the Duke of Brunswick Hanouer who had only Daughters and the third the Prince of Solme who was made prisoner at the Battle of Seneff If I well remember for I write all this by my memory which is very good without the Assistance of any Book there was another Son of the King of Bohemia a very handsom Man Godson to Prince Maurice of Nassau called Maurice I saw another Son of his called Philip who retired to Venice for an Action which 't is better to pass over in Silence than mention Another Son was called Louis who died young whom my Father named so for the late King who was his Godfather by an Order of his Majesty which follows Monsieur de Maurier BEing acquainted with the Desire my Cousin the Count Palatine of the Rhine has to invite me to be Godfather to the last Son which God has given him I shall be extreamly glad to pay him this Testimony of my Friendship and good Affection and that you should perform this Office in my Name when the time is first informing him of the Charge I have given you and renewing the Assurances of my Affection to him Referring this to your Care I desire God Monsieur Maurier to keep and preserve you Written at Paris
the 15th day of Novemb. 1623. Signed LOWIS and below Brulart In pursuance of this Order the Ceremony of the Baptism was performed Prince Maurice represented the King of Sweden who was likewise Godfather and the Countess of Nassau the Queen of Sweden My Father Walked as Embassador of France with the King of Bohemia on his Right Hand and the Prince of Orange on his Left The Ceremony was celebrated with great Pomp in a Church at the Hague called the Cloistre where I was present with my three Brothers For which great Honour the King and Queen of Bohemia thanked the King of France by Monsieur D'Ausson de Villeroul of the House of Iaucourt Brother-in-Law to my Father who was in their Service and afterwards unhappily perished with Prince Henry Frederick by the splitting of the Vessel which I mentioned before The Pope's Nuncio Resident at Paris hearing of this Baptism made great Complaints of it at Court and said 't was a great Shame for the most Christian King and eldest Son of the Church to have his Person represented by a Huguenot in an Ecclesiastical Ceremony The King and Queen of Bohemia left behind them several Princesses eminent for their Beauty and Merit one of whom turned Catholick and is now Abbess de Maubuisson The Princess Louise Iuliane de Nassau eldest Daughter of Charlotte de Bourbon and William Prince of Orange had also a Daughter by Frederick the IV. Elector Palatine who was married to the late Elector of Brandenburg Father to the present Elector I saw A. D. 1635. the old Electoress Palatine a Konigsberg the Capital of the Ducal Prussia where she had retired to her Daughter the Electoress of Brandenbourg after the Disorders of the Palatinate These two Princesses were extreamly civil to me The second Daughter of Charlotte de Bourbon and William Prince of Orange was Elizabeth de Nassau Wife to Henry de la Tour Duke of Bouillon a Famous General in the the Wars of Henry the IV She was living in the year 1641. and I saw her in the Castle of Sedan after the Battle wherein the Count de Soissons was killed She left two Sons and four Daughters who had Children The eldest was Frederick Maurice de la Tour Duke of Bouillon as great a Captain as his Father who by the Countess de Bergue had the present Duke of Bouillon Great Chamberlain of France and the Cardinal de Bouillon a Prince of great Learning and Merit and the Count D'Auvergne who has distinguished himself in our Armies and other Children among the rest the Dutchess D'Elbeuf The second Son of Elizabeth de Nassau and Henry de la Tour Duke of Bouillon was the Famous Henry de la Tour Viscount de Turenne a General of as great Wisdom and Valour who during the whole Course of his Life was held for one of the firmest Pillars of the State and in consideration of his extraordinary Valour and great Services was interr'd at St. Denys with our Kings by a just Order of his Majesty He married the Heireress of the House de la Force whose Vertue equalled her Birth she was Daughter to the deceased Duke de la Force and Grand-daughter to a Mareschal of that Name two Famous Captains and died without Issue but if she had left any Children behind her they could not have failed of being great Men being descended on both sides from an illustrious Number of generous Ancestors Besides these two great Sons Elizabeth de Nassau had several Daughters by Henry de la Tour Duke de Bouillon The eldest Anna Maria de la Tour married Henry Duke de la Trimouille and de Thouars her Cousin German Iuliane de la Tour was married to Francis de Roye de la Rochefoucault Count de Roussy Father to the Count de Roye very Famous in our Armies Elizabeth Wife of Guy Alfonse de Darfort Marquess of Duras Father to Monsieur de Duras Captain of the Guards du Corps to the King Mareschal of France Governour of the Franche Comtè and of the Count de Lorge likewise Mareschal of France I believe that the youngest was called Henrietta de la Tour Wife to the late Marquess de la Moissy of the House of Matignon She is Mother to the Marquese Du Bordage and the Count de Quintine who married a Lady of the Illustrious Name of Montgomery as considerable for her Beauty and Merit as the Greatness of her Extraction The third Daughter of Charlotte de Bourbon and William Prince of Orange was named Catharine Belgique who married Philip Louis Count of Hanau a Sovereign Lord near Francfort on the Main from whom besides the Counts of Hanau is descended Amelia Elizabeth Wife to that generous William Landtgrave of Hesse who died in the year 1637. after whose Death this Princess a Woman of a masculine Courage continued on the War against the Imperialists and pursued the Steps of her Husband who after the Peace of Prague where most of the Protestant Princes forsook their Allies and joined with the House of Austria had the Courage and Resolution to make head almost alone against so formidable a Power Among other Children she left the present Landtgrave of Hesse called William as his Father was the Electoress Palatine Mother to the Dutchess of Orleans and the Princess of Tarente Mother to the present Duke de la Trimouille who is married to the Heiress of the House of Crequi The fourth Daughter of Charlotte de Bourbon and the Prince of Orange was Charlotte Brabantine Wife to Claude Duke de la Trimouille and de Thouars Count de la Val who had Henry Duke de la Trimouille dead lately and Frederick de la Trimouille Count de Laval killed in a Duel in Italy by the late Monsieur Du Coudray Montpensier I saw him and knew him in my youth and because his upper Lip was slit they called him Bec de lievere or Hare-Lip Henry Duke de la Trimouille had by Mary de la Tour his Cousin German formerly mentioned the Prince de Tarent and de Talmont who is dead and who had the Duke of Trimouille already mentioned by the Princess of Hesse The fifth Daughter of Charlotte de Bourbon and the Prince of Orange was Charlotte Flandrine de Nassau who returning to the Religion of her Ancestors died Abbess of S. Croix in Poictiers She was a very good Princess I knew her but was little and so deaf that she could not hear without a little Silver Trumpet The sixth Daughter of Charlotte de Bourbon Princess of Orange was Aemilia of Nassau Wife to Frederick Casimir Count Palatine of the Branch of Duponts called the Duke of Lansberg This is the illustrious and great Posterity of this Fruitful Abbess The fourth and last Wife of William of Nassau Prince of Orange was Louise de Coligny Widow to Monsieur de Teligny and Daughter to the great Admiral de Chatillon by whom he had only one Son the renowned Henry Frederick Prince of Orange of whom we
that I am truly your very humble and very affectionate Servant From Poitiers Jan. 20th 1616. Puysieux Prince Philip and Madame his Princess had so much goodness as to disabuse the Princes and Grandees who had raised a war which they called the War of the Henrys because the greater part of the Heads of that Party were so called Mounseir the Prince was called Henry of Bourbon Monsieur du Mayne Henry of Lorrain Monsieur du Longeville Henry of Orleans and the Duke of Bovillon Henry de la Tour. They told them all that these injurious Speeches were pure inventions to animate them against my Father They acquainted them likewise that whilst he acquitted himself of his duty he all along continued to preserve that respect which was due to them That for what remained there was no reason to object it to him as a crime to have served his Master faithfully And that he could not without betraying his trust and endangering his own ruine but execute such orders as came to him from Court I remember that I saw them at our House in my infancy and particularly the Princess who had the goodness to make very much of us and did my Father the favor to think fit that one of my Sisters who was born at that time should have the honor of bearing her Name of Eleanor She was presented in Baptism by Prince Henry Frederick of Orange who was her Godfather This Daughter was married to the Baron de Mauzè near Rochelle Brother to the Marquess de la Villedieu and died without Children in 1660. She was a Woman who painted the best in France and writ the most correctly whose Letters were all of a vigorous and masculine Stile without one word that was unnecessary Prince Philip died at Brussels in the beginning of the Year 1618. He had the Hemorrhoids very much inâ—…amed and Gregory a German Chyrurgeon having hurt him with the Syringe whilst he gave him a Clyster a Gangreen insued and it was impossible to save him The Princess his Wife died likewise in the same Year After his Death Count Maurice his Brother took upon him the Quality of Prince of Orange and inherited his whole Estate whereas before he was contented with the bare Title of Count. Maurice of Nassau Prince of Orange THis great Captain has falsified the Proverb which says The Children of Heroes are generally good for nothing for though he was the Son of a most excellent Father who left behind him an immortal Glory yet he has not only equall'd him in his prudence and greatness of Soul but has likewise surpassed him in the Art Military and great Performances As the Father for 20 years together made the discourse of all Europe so the Son for 40 years successively did it much more than all the crown'd Heads in Europe for from the Year 1584 when he came first into action to 1625 when he died Prince Maurice was never mentioned without admiration and astonishment as being held for one of the greatest Captains that has ever yet appeared In truth though Nature does not always make extraordinary efforts to produce great men in the same family and succession yet the great Actions of the Father are powerful Incentives to stir up their Children to imitate them The Glory of their Ancestors being a Light which directs their posterity to march in those generous paths which they have trod before them If the vertue of strangers has often stirred up some couragious Souls to do great things as that Greek whose rest was discomposed by the Triumphs of Miltiades sure domestick examples must be much more moving that they may not incur the shame of having degenerated Upon this occasion I shall here relate what I have often heard my Father say in his latter years That he had undoubtedly past his life in the Country like some of his predecessors had not it been for the example of Iames Aubrey his great Unkle who by his Vertue his Knowledge and his Eloquence discharged the office of Advocate General to the Parliament of Paris was Lieutenant Civil of the Council to Henry the Second and his Ambassador Extraordinary to England where he concluded a Peace between Henry the Second and Edward the Sixth and left behind him the reputation of being the French Demosthenes and Cicero by that famous Plea which he made pursuant to an order of the King for the people of Cabrieres and Merindol and which Monsieur the Chancellor de Hopital admired so much that he has translated great part of it into Latin verse My Father therefore thought that by his labour he might arrive to honourable employments and so well ordered the Talents which God had given him that he likewise was employed in Embassies and admitted to the Council of his Princes Prince Maurice of Orange from his very childhood discovered the passionate desire he had to follow the glorious steps of his Father and took for the body of his Device the Trunk of a Tree cut off so as to seem about two foot high from whence there grew a vigorous Sprout which apparently would renew the noble Tree which had produced it with these words Tandem fit circulus arbor At last the Sprout becomes a Tree To show that he would revive the glories of his Father I do not pretend to represent the great Actions of this Prince in all the particulars I shan't say any thing that may be found in common Annals nor add to the number of those who transcribe other People my design is only to draw the Portraicture of his Person and his Manners to inform the World of some transactions of his Life which are not known and to set forth the causes of those great differences which hapned between him and Mr. Barneveld which as it was thought would have overturn'd the Commonwealth by an intestine division that has remained almost to this day and threaten'd its ruine if it had not been prevented But before we come to these things it is necessary briefly to represent his principal Actions and to tell you That Prince Maurice had a great stock of Constancy and Courage from the 17th year of his age when he was called to the government of Affairs upon the decease of his Father for he was not cast down by that torrent of Success which attended Alexander Farnese Duke of Parma Governor and Captain General for the King of Spain who had then taken Bruges Ghent Dendermond Deventer Nimeghen the Grave with a great many other places and even Antwerp it self which was held for impregnable by a Siege which was looked upon as a Miracle of the Age having stopped the River Schelde and repell'd the force of the Sea by a Dyke which was then held as a thing impossible and which afterwards set an Example for undertaking the same thing at Rochel Prince Maurice was not more disturbed by the confusion and disorder that had reigned for a long time in the Common-wealth occasioned by the haughty conduct
Prince who was his Nephew and had been bred up with him at Sedan and the Duke discovered some Ambition to have his Nephew a King when he wrote to some Friends at Paris that whilst Lewis was making Knights at Fountainbleau he was making Kings in Germany But this Royalty did not continue above 6 months so that his Enemies called him a King of Snow because the single battle of Prague in the beginning of the year 1621 lost him all Bohemia Silesia Lusatia Moravia with the adjoyning Provinces and the year following the Spanish Forces marching from the Low Countries deprived him of the Palatinate itself in which he was not re-established but by Adolphus's Descent into Germany Charles Duke of Lorrain who died many years after one of the oldest Captains of the age signalized himself very much at the Battle of Pragne where Count Harcourt was likewise tho very young But to return to Prince Maurice France being so apparently inclined to the Interests of Barnevelt's Party its Ministers which were then in Holland used to say that Prince Maurice would have pretended to the Soveraignty of the United Provinces but that such People who in the beginning had been hottest against Mr. Barnevelt and most devoted to the Prince yet when they fathom'd his designs became averse to them notwithstanding their former obligations besides the Exile Death and Imprisonment of persons who had been so considerable in the State and had likewise a great many Friends and Dependants wrought a mighty change in the Peoples affections to the Prince which appeared very visibly for whereas before when he went through the Towns of Holland every body came out of their houses praying for him with extraordinary Acclamations now as he was one day going through the Market-place at Gorcum which was full of people there was scarce a single man that pull'd his Hat off to him For the common people were so variable that the very Writings which heretofore had made Mr. Barnevelt become suspected by them were now produced as so many motives for their pity and compassion towards him To this they added that the assistance which probably he might have hop'd for from the Elector Palatine was since the loss of the battle of Prague no longer to be expected and the Emperor Ferdinand the 2d having by the happy success of his Generals Count Tilly and Wallestein made himself absolute Master of all Germany even to the Baltick Sea where he established an Admiralty at Wismar reduced all the Princes and Imperial Towns under his Obedience Prince Maurice could no longer expect Succors from Germany whatever Friends he might heretofore have had there But those who adhered to the Interests of Prince Maurice and the House of Orange acquitted him of a Design so prejudicial to the good of the United Provinces by maintaining that it was a perfect Artifice of his Enemies to make him become odious to the People of the Low Countries for said they what probability was there that Prince Maurice ever had it in his thoughts to become Soveraign of his Country since after the extirpation of Barnevelt and his party he never made one step towards it which he might have done having then no farther obstacles Prince Maurice did not long survive a great Conspiracy which the Sieur de Stautemburg youngest Son of Mr. Barnevelt had laid against his Life which being happily discovered some hours before its execution obliged him to punish a great number of the Conspirators throughout the pincipal Towns of Holland The Prince was never married but had several Natural Children the most considerable of them all was Mousieur de Beververt a man very well made and very brave he was Governor of Bolduc after whose death the Prince of Tarentum had that Government and was succeeded by Collonel Fitz Patrick a Scotchman Prince Maurice died in the Spring of the Year 1625 when the Marquess Spinola besieged the Town of Breda And as some pretended it was for grief that he did not succeed in the Soveraignty so others said that it was because he could not relieve that place which was his own propriety and had been surprized by him 34 years before FREDERICK HENRY Prince of Orange Henry Frederick of Nassau Prince of Orange and his Posterity THis Prince was born the 28th of February 1584. He was of a good mein and of a strong make and his parts were as eminent as his person was agreeable He was a very great Captain and equall'd the Glory of his Brother Maurice who taught him the Art of War and lead him into the most dangerous Adventures and amongst others at the battle of Newport where though he was very young he contributed much by his Valor to the gaining that great Victory in a conjuncture where the Army of the States General had before them a powerful body of men commanded by Albert the Arch-duke in person and the Sea behind them so that it was absolutely necessary either to make themselves Conquerors or to perish When Prince Maurice died in the year 1625 he advised his Brother Henry Frederick his chief Heir to marry Madam de Solmes who was come into Holland with the Queen of Bohemia whose Beauty and good Carriage were accompanied with a great deal of Modesty and Prudence she died a little while ago being very antient and her Name was Amelia Daughter to Iohn Albert Count de Solmes This Prince had one Son and four Daughters the eldest of these Ladies married Frederick William the Elector of Brandenburg by whom she had several Children This Prince has the greatest Territories in all Germany they reaching from the Low Countries to Poland and Curland The 2d Daughter Henrietta Emilia married the Count de Nassau The 3d Henrietta Catherina married Iohn George Prince of Anhalt and the 4th married the Duke of Simeren the youngest Son of the House Palatine who died a little while ago The Son was called William was born in 1626 and died the 6th of November 1650 after the business of Amsterdam He was a Prince naturally ambitious and of great Courage so that his Enemies reported of him that though he was so young yet he aimed at the execution of that design which had been laid to Prince Maurice's charge by Barnevelt and his Adherents His sudden death changed the whole face of affairs in the Low Countries He had great prospects from his alliance of England having married Princess Mary Daughter of Charles the first King of Great Britain by whom he left Prince William Henry of Nassau now King of England c. who was born the 14th of November 1650 some days after the death of his Father This young Prince William was very remarkable in his Infancy for his reservedness and moderation his Prudence increased as he grew up and such people as were nice observers of merit and took great notice of him have affirmed that never Prince gave greater hopes than he even in the most tender years He suffered with an admirable temper
conquest the reputation not only of a very brave but likewise of a very fortunate Captain a quality so desirable to a General that Scilla the Dictator preferred the surname of Happy to that of Great In the year 1630 he seized upon the Town of Olind in Brazil by the conduct of his Vice-Admirals and the same year Count Iohn de Nassau his Cousin who for some discontent had gone out of the Dutch service to that of Spain was defeated near the Rhine and taken by Collonel Illestein who was not half so strong he was carried Prisoner to Wesel from whence he was ransomed for 18000 Rix Dollers The year following the same Count Iohn de Nassau who had gathered together a very strong Fleet in hopes to surprize Willemstat he was totally defeated by the Hollanders above 4000 of his men taken Prisoners and the rest either slain or wounded and the Count had much ado to save himself with the Prince of Brabanzoon In the same year 1631 the States General to gratify the Prince of Orange and to testify their acknowledgment for the services which he had continually done his Country gave the reversion of all his Offices to his Son Prince William and the writings for it were presented to the young Prince in a Box of Gold In the year 1632 Prince Henry after having taken Ruremond Venlo and Strale he set about the conquest of Maestricht a place somewhat distant from Holland scituated upon the River Meuse in the confines of Brabant where he provided his Ammunition and Victuals for the Siege with so much Prudence that he had enough to make himself Master of the place he had surrounded it with a great circumvallation which the Spanish Army could not force no more than another German Army under Henry Godfry Count of Papenheim a famous Captain both which were constrained to retire with disgrace after several efforts that were unsuccessful and many considerable losses In the year 1633 the Prince besieged and took Rhineberg and the year following the Spaniards having besieged the Fort of Phillipin which incommoded the Town of Ghent the Prince of Orange made them raise the Siege A little before Count Henry de Bergue complaining that he was ill used by the Spaniards had quitted their service and retired into Holland upon which he published a Manifesto and two years after in the year 1634 he was condemned as contumacious to have his Head cut off by the sentence of the Court of Mechlin In this place I must tell you how in the year 1628 after the taking of Rochel the Cardinal Richelieu who was absolute Governour in France was mighty desirous to gain the reputation of having destroyed all the retreats of Heresie having an unmeasurable desire of making himself be canoniz'd and to arrive at it the more easily he made his Confessors say that he had never committed so much as a Venial Sin as I have often heard from Mr. Lescot de S. Quintin his Confessor whom he made Bishop of Chartes as crafty a man as ever came out of Picardy who under the pretence of freedom and apparent simplicity conceal'd a great deal of subtilty and artifice The Cardinal to gain a reputation among the Zealots for the Catholic Religion had treated underhand with Iohn Osmael Lord of Walkembourg Governour of Orange who seemed discontented with his Master to deliver up the place to him This man bred up by the Family of Orange and intrusted by Prince Henry with the charge of his Soveraignty was gained by the promise of four hundred thousand Livres in ready Money and an Estate of twenty thousand Livres a Year in Provence whither he designed to retire and renounce Calvinism having no other Religion besides his interest But this affair being long in hand and Walkembourg resolving not to render the place till the Money was paid down the Prince was so happy as to get some intimation of this Treason He dispatched the Sieur Knuth a Zealander a man of Resolution in whom he had an entire confidence with an express order to dispatch this Traytor but that he might not cause the least suspicion he sent him to Orange alone as pretending other business This Knuth with whom I was acquainted and who was a very bold and dexterous person having made sure of the principal Inhabitants of the Town and of several Gentlemen in the Principality of Orange watched his opportunity to surprize the Governour who being one day come down from the Castle into the Town with very little company contrary to his usual custom he attack'd and killed him in the house of one Pyse a Scrivener whether he was retired Afterwards Knuth went directly to the Castle where the Lieutenant after having levelled the Cannon against the Town and being doubtful for some time what he should do at last received him upon sight of the Prince's order and took a new Oath of Fidelity to Prince Henry Frederick of Nassau together with all the Garrison the Prince afterwards sent the Baron de Dona his Brother-in-law to command in the place This Walkembourg had married the Daughter of the Sieur de Bic Treasurer to the States a Lady of great probity and merit who had used all possible endeavours to alter his pernicious designs She had the trouble as well as his Daughters to see him expire for he was forced to render himself to Knuth after having been wounded through a Chamber-door where he had for a long time defended himself I have heard my Father relate this story with great indignation he being a professed Enemy to all Ingratitude and Unfaithfulness and to shew me and my Brothers the horrors of those crimes he related to us upon this occasion the Treason of Bernardine de Corte who delivered up the Castle of Millan to King Lewis the 12th for a Hundred thousand Crowns that had been intrusted to him by Duke Lodowick Sforza his Master by whom he had been bred in the quality of a Page and was at present preferred before all his other Subjects to the command of that place where he had put all that he thought most precious whilst he was going to seek for succour in Germany He recounted likewise to us such another Treason of Donat Rafagnine who sold Valencia to the same King for fifty thousand Crowns and remarked to us from Guicciardine that these Traytors were so look'd on and detested in the French Army and that shame made them die with discontent This Mr. Knuth rendred an important piece of service to his Master who rewarded him with a Present and a Pension of two thousand Livers a year for his Life No body can imagine but that the Prince of Orange must bear some ill will to Cardinal Richelieu for having endeavoured to take away this Soveraignty which was as dear to him as his Eyes but he concealed his resentment as expecting some favourable opportunity of shewing it which it was not long before it was offered him for some time after the