Inquisition and by the Ecclesiastick Jurisdiction which gives absolute authority to the Nuncio's and Judges of the Church throughout the whole extent of his Dominions And that is the reason that the differences of France with Rome exceed not a kind of dryness that often happens amongst Friends upon occasion of some grudge and which commonly yields to the pleasure of a reconciliation On the contrary Spain either never breaks with Rome or their ruptures are attended with some great blow and noise as happens betwixt persons interessed It may be said that the Jealousies of these two Kings has some Analogie with that of Jacob and Esau these two children endeavoured who could most to attract all the Blessing of Isaac their Father they made use of all kind of artifice to supplant one another and to make their condition better And the Pope is in no less perplexity than the good old man Isaac was how to content his two children I will not enter upon the full application of the comparison it must not be said that this common Father is so dim-sighted as Isaac was that he cannot distinguish the Merit of these two Sons that he knows not him to whom God has designed the birth-right that he perceives not for which of the two it is that their Mother has greatest sympathie and inclination that is whom the Church has cherished most and to whom she hath alwayes given the preference the Pope needs not to feel the hands of Jacob that he may know him from Esau he knows it sufficiently by many brave actions from which the holy See has drawn most considerable advantages he knows very well for whom he ought to declare himself and to whom he ought to give the greater share of his blessings But the good Father fears to foment Jealousies and to put division betwixt his two sons by an open Declaration This is a figure of what daily happens at Rome the Pope can do nothing in favour or consideration of France but that he is burdened with the complaints of Spain And seeing the Catholick King is stronger in Italy than his most Christian Majesty by reason of the Kingdom of Naples and Duchy of Milan so has he a better share of the blessings of the Earth though with reluctancy of the Holy Father that is to say he carries it by politick interest and the Pope must of necessity be a Spaniard in appearance though he be French in his heart We might likewise add that Esau was more useful to Isaack than Jacob that he brought his Father daily some prey from Hunting that he laboured to satisfie the appetite of the old man whilst Jacob was wholly taken up about the affairs of his Family and looking after his Flocks without withdrawing from the bosom or sight of his Mother So the King of Spain daily obliges the Pope by great sums of Money which Rome draws out of his Dominions whereas the French King hath no other aim but to please the Church to assist her inclinations to extend and increase the number of her subjects and in fine to maintain the Family that depends thereon Having cast an eye upon these reflexions it may be easily judged in what manner the Nephew of a Pope ought to order his Conduct with the Ministers of Crowns He may lay down for maxims that the intelligence of the Spaniards with Rome is founded on Interest and Fear that they never ask any thing which is not to be suspected that they use endeavours to procure the same liberties as France hath that they cannot attain to that without shaking off the yoke of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction which they have so often attempted that most part of their demands are hurtful enterprises and that by consequence nothing is to be granted to them unless it be first well considered if any prejudice may redound from it to the authority of the Apostolick See That on the other hand the correspondence of France with Rome hath no other foundation than love and respect that their liberties immunities and priviledges put them in a condition of not having most times their recourse to Rome but purely out of deference and respect that these liberties free their demands from the suspition of abuse or noveltie and that if the King or his Subjects make application to the Holy See there is commonly more to be got by granting than by refusing their demands because that in granting them they make matters pass for favours which otherwise they pretend to have by justice when they come with any reluctancy That other Princes in imitation of the Spaniards do all they can to enlarge their liberties and especially the Princes of Italy with whom closer measures may be taken because they are in greater dependence on the Holy See It would he no hard matter for me to show in the sequel of this History that these maxims are very essential for the conduct of affairs in the Court of Rome but I have confined my self to the affairs of the present Pontificat Let us see then what measures Cardinal Altieri has taken in his Ministry with Princes He had great advantages for succeeding in it he was become Nephew to a very aged Pope of a mild and commodious humour easie to be governed he had the example of a glorious and wise Pontificat under Clement the IX who made it questioned whether he was more French or Spaniard but who left no doubt but that he was all to all the private interest of his establishment busied him not much seeing the fairest Dignities showred down upon his head and the best bits fell into his mouth as the Pamerlengat and great Vicarship of Rome with many considerable benefices by the death of the Cardinals Ginetti and Antonio Barbarini besides the Archbishoprick of Ravenna wherewith the Pope provided him at the opening of the Conclave There was none at Court able to give him jealousie or to thwart his projects the death of Cardinal Antonio left him quickly master of Rome Cardinal Este who alone could give the Popes Nephews enough to do was retired home to Modena where in a short time he ended his troubles with his days Cardinal Gabrieli was removed as we have said before the alliance of his House strengthened his authority and none were in the Palace but his own Creatures There were no great affairs in agitation at Rome and the Ministry of the three principal Catholick crowned Heads was discharged by Prelats to wit by the Cardinal Lantgrave of Hesse the Bishop of Laon and Father Nitard Christian Princes were in peace the two first years of his Ministry except the King of Poland who was engaged in war with the Turk and if the King of France was then thinking of a War against the Hollanders it was the fairest conjuncture in the world for the Nephew of a Pope to immortalize the memory of the Pontificat by rendring it advantageous to the Church and happy for Catholicks and he had occasion enough
to raise his family by Alliances and in the flourishing state of so eminent grandeur it was no hard matter for him to find out very advantageous means of procuring them There are many noble and rich Families in Rome who court the Alliances of the Families of the Popes Regnant since now they have no other way to maintain their grandeur and though the authority and command which they enjoy by such Alliances be confined to the Popes Life yet they have the comfort after his death of the quality of Princes which remains to them with the other advantages of Estates that they have purchased during the time of his Reign The house of the Prince of Carbognano was equally considerable in Nobility as being the chief branch of the family of Colonna and in richness being much encreased by the good husbandry of the Prince of that Name who then lived There were but two Sons in that house the elder called the Duke of Bassanello and the younger named D. Egidio Duke of Anticoli The first was Married to the Sister of the Constable Colonna the fairest and handsomest Princess in Rome and possibly in all Italy but without hopes of having Children So that the whole Estate that was to fall to the younger made him be looked upon as the richest Match in Rome Cardinal Altieri cast his eyes upon him and caused a Match to be proposed to him with a Grand Neece of the Pope and all the advantages that he might thereby expect The Prince of Carbognano listened to the proposition and was ready to give his consent to it but the elder who perceived that by that Match his younger Brother would be advanced to a higher quality then himself did all he could to cross it he imployed his Brother-in-Law the Constable and his other Relations to divert his Father and Brother from that Design They represented to them that there was no great advantage to be expected from the Alliance of an Aged Pope such as Clement X. that they ought not to relye on a Nephew whose Fortune was in continual danger being onely founded on the favour of an Old Man capable of all sorts of Impressions That there was little honour to be gained with a Man of such a condition and of a far baser humour who converted every thing into Bartering and Traffick That it would be a fine sight to see him to day on the Throne and three dayes after grovelling in the dust either by the fall of the Nephew or the death of the Unckle These Suggestions and Considerations did not at all shake the Prince of Carbognano in his Design his younger Son was already old enough to think of Marrying the Father was so old as in probability he ought not to expect another Pontificat to see Successors of his Name his Family and the great Estate that he had acquired with so much care and frugality He treated with Cardinal Altieri on condition that his Son might have the Prerogatives of the Princes which are called del Soglio or of the Throne he would have engaged Cardinal Altieri to grant him the same honour for his eldest Son that so he might please him but because that drew after it great consequences they gave him good words with hopes of overcoming the difficulties that at first appeared in that Proposition that it behoved him first to gain the Pope by shewing a readiness to embrace the occasion that offered of matching with his Family and that afterward he might promise himself any thing of his goodness The business being brought to these termes the Marriage was quickly concluded and the new Married persons were complemented by all the Court acknowledged and treated as the Popes Nephews But some time after the rejoycing of that Marriage was interrupted by the disquiet of the Duke of Bassanello He saw the Duke of Anticoli his Brother in great grandeur treated as the Popes Nephew with all the Priviledges that are annexed to that quality There was no discourse of the Engagement of putting him in possession of the same honours by virtue of the marriage of his Holinesses Neece with his Brother He complained highly of it daily and had no other satisfaction but ambiguous answers or the testimonies of good intentions which produced a delay as bad as a refusal So that being wearied by so many unprofitable pursuits when he found there was nothing for him to expect and that he was told his pretension could not succeed that it could not be brought into practice because there was no example for it that it would introduce a too insupportable abuse into the Court of calling to the degrees of the Throne not onely the Popes Kindred but also all those that were related to them that so the Chappels and intire Halls would not suffice to receive them he quite fell out with Cardinal Altieri his Brother the Duke of Anticoli and the Duchess his Sister in Law Having continued some time in an indifferency which sufficiently spake his secret indignation he bethought himself of means to revenge himself of the pretended wrong that was done him The Italian Nation in general is very discreet and not easie to give offence but is likewise very stiff and almost inflexible to pardon an injury Being a Politick and wise People they think that the great readiness in forgetting a wrong makes way for receiving another because Impunity makes men bold when on the other hand say they if any one think that if he offend me I will never pardon him he will have more care not to vex me But it must be confessed also that there is great difference in the wayes of revenge which are taken in several Provinces of Italy In Lombardie resentments commonly break out to the highest excess and there are few offences that are not followed by some Murder And the worst of all is that he who hath done the wrong does all he can to dispatch him whom he thinks he has offended that so he may prevent him being fully perswaded that he cannot escape his resentment At Naples Revenge is executed by Duels of all sorts and they often fight on horseback four against four and so decide their controversies These two sorts of revenge cannot be practised at Rome the one because of the rigour of the Justice the great Policy and the numerous and strong Guards in all the quarters of the Town the other because of the Ecclesiastick Laws and that it is a Republick which may be as truly called populus sacerdotum as Florus named it populus vivorum in the beginning of its establishment There are none there but Priests or Clerks or men belonging to Priests against whom by consequent one cannot draw a Sword So that saving some Placards and Pasquinades all revenge at Rome consists in Interest either by ruining or crossing the fortune of an Enemy with Law Suites or otherwayes wherein the People of that Countrey are very ingenious as well as in other places of the World The Duke
knew nothing of it nevertheless she had taken the better course to have followed the propositions of Cardinal Altieri whatever his intentions were than to embrace the party offered by the Constable because the first intended at last to give her a Husband and make her the Mistriss of her own Estate only that he might be revenged of the Constable and his Family and the other by revenging himself on Cardinal Altieri revenged himself likewise on her by proposing a marriage to her which he judged could not take effect and of the success whereof himself was afraid desiring no other advantage of that proposition of D. Lelio Vrsini than to set her at variance with Cardinal Altieri or to tire out his Eminence seeing it was equally hurtful to the Duke of Somino whether she married Sforza or Vrsini and that he could pretend no other satisfaction by her marriage with the latter but to mortifie the Duke of Gravina and by consequence Altieri But the Lady Cesarini was not the only person that was imposed upon by this Intrigue D. Lelio himself was also abused He set to work in good earnest to marry a Wife and the great Piety whereof he made profession was not inconsistent with the sentiments of an honest and virtuous love In this condition D. Lelio made his Courtship to the Lady Cesarini as punctually as it can be made to an Italian Lady shut up in a Nunnery D. Frederick Sforza had not the same advantage because the Mother who was made for D. Lelio found means to keep the one at distance and to admit the other When that affair came at first to the knowledge of Cardinal Altieri he made no great matter of it he perceived very well they intended to play him a trick but he could not be perswaded as the truth indeed was that the Constable had a real designe to bring that Marriage to effect which was equally fatal to his own House as to the Family of Altieri He knew likewise that they had perswaded the young Lady to change her mind but that put him at no variance with her and he well perceived that to be rather an effect of her complaisance and obedience than of her inclination that it would be easie for him still to reclaim her her new Gallant D. Lelio being no such charming Blade as that a young Maid would forsake all other objects for him and especially D. Frederick who was a far more sutable Match He failed not however still to tamper with the Lady he talked before her of the proposition of D. Lelio as ridiculous because of his qualities adding that it was an odious proffer seeing the Authors of it would only impose upon her it being the least in their thoughts to have her married In the mean time he advised her to dismble but still to remain constant seeing she was assured of the Protection and good Intentions of the Holy Father When the Constable found that matters went not in the rode that he had proposed that the faculty of the Lady Cesarini in listening to the Match of D. Lelio had put no misunderstanding betwixt her and Cardinal Altieri who persisted still to entertain her in the humor of Marrying and that they corresponded together as formerly he grew apprehensive and justly too that the proposed Marriage might be consummated when he should least expect which without any other formalities might be done at every instant because the Pope is above all and Cardinal Altieri had Force joyned to the Soveraign Reason In effect he must have given over at last and the the thing had been presently put in execution if he had not started a difficulty which stopt the conclusion of the affair He brought upon the stage the Ambassador of France with whom he lived in very good intelligence as he hath always done with the Lords and Ambassadors of that Nation notwithstanding the reluctancy of the Spaniards with whom he is obliged to observe his measures because of his States and his quality of Constable of the Kingdom of Naples He easily engaged the Ambassador in his designe who then was the Duke d'Estrees already dissatisfied with Cardinal Altieri as we shall see in the Intrigue of the Cardinalship of the Bishop of Laon they resolved to let Altieri know that the Lady Cesarini was under the protection of the King by order even of the last Will of the late Duke her Father that by the Testament of the same Duke his Daughters could not marry without the approbation of his Majesty that the Sforza's were addicted to the Spanish Interests and that by consequence the King would never approve of that Match that the marriage proposed with D. Lelio was liked of by his Majesty because that House was actually in his service friendship and under his protection that therefore he did oppose the Marriage proposed by Altieri and that the match with D. Lelio must be concluded Cardinal Altieri made answer to the Ambassador that he would never fail in the respect due to his most Christain Majesty which he did not think he injured by maintaining the good intentions of the Pope for the Lady Cesarini whose liberty was like to be oppressed by the injustice of the Family of Colonna who designed by shutting her up contrary to her inclinations within four Walls to deprive her of her right to the Estate left by her Father to his children That when his Majesty should understand the good intentions of the Holy Father he would not only praise but thank his Holiness for them as well upon the account of his great natural equity as of the Friendship and good Will that he had for the Lady That as to the difficulty that was started of the adherence of the House of Sforza to the Crown of Spain be sides that Don. Paola Sforza Father to D. Frederick had always observed a Neutrality suspected rather to incline to Franco than any other Nation it would be very easie to remove that impediment by making D. Fredrick declare for France which was already endeavoured and to which it was hoped they might obtain the approbation of his Majesty seeing it would engage a Noble Family to the French Faction which in all appearance might exted to Successors whereas the Family of Vrsini being already addicted to the Crown no new conquest was made That moreover he had no thoughts of doing any thing without acquainting his Majesty and that in short he would leave it to the free option of the Lady Cesarini to make what choice she pleased This Answer appeared most rational but the Constable and his Brother the Duke of Sonino could not rest satisfied because which way soever the matter went it concluded in the marriage of the Lady Cesarini that is to say in the utter ruine of the Duke of Sonino and of his children whereas by the opposition which he made to the marriage of D. Frederick and the proposition of giving her Duke Lelio his designe was to oblige Cardinal
Altieri to let matters alone as they were to wit the young Lady in the Nunnery and the Duke of Sonino and his Lady in the hopes of enjoying the Estate However they gained somewhat by the intervention of the Ambassador they might promise themselves that no more would be done in the affair without acquainting the French Minister and that in the mean time they might have leisure either to perswade the Lady to becaome Nun or in case she would needs marry to make her resolve to accept of D. Lelio which seemed to them the less prejudice because there was but small appearance that he could leave any children after him of so unequal a marriage They made therefore the best use of their time for attaining their ends by prevailing with the French Ambassador to write to France that he might obtain favourable resolutions as to the party he had espoused whilst they on their side attacqued the Lady with all the Engines which authority mingled with Artifice could imploy to gain her but the Answers that came from France were but very general because the S'forza's on their side sollicited at Court and were assisted by their friends for obtaining the approbation of the King and besides the Lady was still constant and immoveable in her resolution of marrying In so much that they could get no more of her but an indifferency at least in words and appearance for either of the two Matches though if her heart had been consulted there would have been found there a formed Declartion in favour of Don. Frederick But she was willing to give her Mother and Uncle that satisfaction to free here self from their importunities as she told Cardinal Altieri expecting till time should bring a remedy to her troubles That indifferency signified but little to the Colonna's but it was too much for Cardinal Altieri he feared that that step might be followed by another and he could not promise himself any thing of a Sex that is as dissembling as weak which way soever that Maid bent her thoughts having through the persecutions of her Relations forsaken D. Frederick he found no satisfaction therein if she should embrace the Nunnery and a Religious life his contrived revenge would prove in vain if she declared her self for D. Lelio the Inheritance of the Vrsini was snatched from his Family In this disquiet of thoughts he represented to the Lady Cesarini that she should have a special care of what she did that she should distrust the perswasions of her Relations as being acted by meer Interest whereas his Holyness and himself had no designes but for her repose and advantage that if the Holy Father should come to know that she failed in a sutable correspondence to his good intentions as it seemed she had by becoming more slack in her good resolution he would abandon her to the discretion of her Relations She could not at that time forbear to complain of the persecutions of her Mother Uncle and of those of their party she besought Cardinal Altieri to assist her and to think on means to rid her from the trouble wherein she was and from so many importunities wherewith she was overwhelmed that moreover she continued still in a firm resolution to depend absolutely on his Holiness and his Eminence who could not want means to overcome all the apparent difficulties that had been started by the Ministry of the French Ambassador that she well perceived it to be an Artifice of the Colonna's and which would take no effect so soon as she should make her reasons known to the King with due submission both on the part of her self and of him who was designed for her Husband Altieri was exceedingly well satisfied with that sincere declaration and that he might comply with what she said as well as to make sure of her Person he gave Orders in his Holinesses name that none should be admitted to speak to her in the Nunnery without express permission from him Thâ—s prohibition gave occasion to her Relations and to those of the party of the Colonna's to clamour and complain openly that it was contrary to the promise which Altieri had given of leaving the Lady at liberty to make what choice she pleased that they used violence towards her and kept her shut up without speaking to any body that they might make her say whatever they pleased and draw from her a forced consent This was not all they engaged the French Ambassador in the quarrel with threats that if the Lady Cesarini were not left in the same liberty as formerly they would be obliged to repel force by force and that they would carry her from the place where she was and put her into the hands of such as might be able to answer for her These complaints were not carried t the Palace but they made noise enough to come to the ears of Cardinal Altieri He had no suspicion of the Nuns of the Convent nor of those that served them abroad the Pope is too absolute over such kind of persons and especially at home and under his Nose but he was afraid lest the Mother of the Lady who was of the contrary party might by the intelligence of the Colonna's and the assistance of the Ambassador play him a trick So that he caused the Lady to be removed from the Convent of St. Catherine of Sienna seated on the Hill of Wagnanopoli in sight of the Palace of Montecavallo to the content of St. Aure beyond the Tyber where Don. Frederick S'forza had an Aunt and put guards upon her with the same prohibition to let none speak with her without his express permission This action made great noise at Rome though it was carried on with much prudence and dexterity and to the satisfactiof the Lady Cesarini The Mother complained that her Daughter was snatched away from her embraces Duke Cesarini that his Neece was stolen the French Ambassador that promise was not kept to him D. Lelio that his Mistriss was carried away the Colonna's that the most illustrious Families of Rome were used as slaves and seeing the whole Intrigue was devised against them their share was likewise greatest in the Catastrophe they spared not to say that they would all perish first rather than suffer such an injury and affront The Sforza's wisely perceived that these menaces were directed to them and that they were unequally matched with the Colonna's they took advice therefore of Cardinal Altieri what they had best do to avoid these contests with honor Altieri advised D. Paolo Sforza the Father of D. Frederick and his Uncle the Cardinal to send D. Frederick abroad for some time under pretext of travelling and seeing the Italians begin their travels commonly by Germany that they should send him to Vienna and give him Orders to remain there until new advice that in the mean time they might have time to negotiate in France for obtaining the Kings positive approbation that they should keep the affair dormant and that
to the Papacy and by consequent that ought not to have such qualities as are requisite for governing the whole Church or if there be some who seem naturally excluded from the Pontificate by a practice brought into custom and which I blame not because I ought to suppose it I am told to be for the good of the Church they have at least the Prerogative of choosing the Pope and consequently ought to be endowed with the zeal and knowledge necessary for discerning of him that best deserves the place I wave this that the most important affaires of Christendom are decided by them in so many Congregations most wisely established that their decrees in controverted points are held to give repose to other Churches tranquility to Consciences and in very many places the measure to Civil Laws Nor do I pretend to inhaunce the esteem due to that dignity by the antiquity of its original the greatness of its progress and the sanctity of illustrious men that have been raised to it there are Books which treat of that at large It is enough which some with what reason I know not tell us that the Cardinals are in place of the Seventy Disciples and that they are represented by the holy Elders that stood before the Throne It is matter then of astonishment that now a dayes that important place is no otherwayes considered but as a Civil and Secular Dignity and that most part are called to it by maximes so remote from the Sanctity of its primary Institution It is not my design however to observe in this place the wayes that are taken to attain to it that would be to engage in too particular a Scrutiny I will onely tell ye by the by that the way of merit is least followed by those who march towards the eminence whereof we speak whether it be that it is the least successful or that it is the longest and most troublesome rode hence it is that even at Rome when any man commendable for Virtue and Learning comes to be promoted to the Purple they commonly say that he is gone to St. Peter by the Longara that is a long street that reaches from the Port Septimiana to the Hospital of the Holy Ghost and the longest way to go to the Vatican In effect if we would well examine those who compose the Sacred Colledge we should find that excepting the Cardinals which are called National and are but few in number it is filled either by Genoeses that have got into it by buying the chief places of the Chamber or by Florentines and Tuscans by the Interest of Families that have been allied to the Families of so many Popes who have been almost successively of the same Countrey or by Romans or Romish who are introduced by base and fauning compliances with the Popes Nephews or in a word by some Milaneses or Neapolitans who have been advanced out of meer Policy that by their Faction they may obtain a Dominion in the States of the King of Spain In prospect of this Cardinal Altieri was no sooner made Nephew to Clement the X. but he made it his whole business to raise himself Creatures There were three Cardinals places vacant in a short time It was believed at first that in this promotion the Pope would call to mind the obligations that he had to the House of Rospigliosi Clement the IX their Unckle preferred him to be Master of his Chamber and afterward made him Cardinal besides he had not been elected Pope but because he was his Creature especially by the Votes of the French Faction insomuch that being obliged to the House of Rospigliosi for what he was Men were perswaded with good ground that he would bestow one of the vacant Hats on the same House which was otherwise very recommendable to the Holy See by the conduct of the late Pope and of his Kindred during the time of so glorious and honourable a Papacy But men were deceived of their expectation for it was not the Pope that made Cardinals Cardinal Aâ—tieri would have Men of his own and one of the Rospigliosi would have been the Popes so that these three Hats were given to three Prelats who were at the disposal of the Regnant to Carpegna Borromei and Massini The first was a Roman Datary and a Kinsman the second a Milanese Secretary of State and a Favorite the third a Roman but by an antient habit and secret engagement a Spaniard and besides a Friend of Altieri Some have said that the Pope absolutely against the will of his Nephew named Boromei but besides that the Holy Father was no fit person for contesting about any thing it is to be presumed that Cardinal Alteri was not against it because his office made him depend on him and that he was of the Spanish Faction by the inclination of his Birth and the Engagement of his Family The Rospigliosi's are then excluded from this Promotion and because that all good men murmured at it that the Pope was therefore taxed of ingratitude that the deceased Pope had done far more generously in respect of the Chigi's having moade D. Sigismond Chigi Cardinal in the first Promotion that the Rospigliosi's were men of sufficient Merit though the Pope had had no obligation to them that granting the Rospigliosi's had nothing in them that deserved consideration but the qualities of the Unckle yet a Hat was due to the Memory of so holy a Man but Cardinal Altieri used cunning to divert the Publick indignation which by these rumours fell upon his Government He pretended that Cardinal Rospigliosi himself opposed the good intentions his Holiness had of promoting one of his Brothers to be Cardinal This pretext had some colour Cardinal Rospigliosi had three Brothers one who married the daughter of Sieur Pallavicini a rich Genoese in consideration of which Marriage Mr. Pallavicini Unckle to the Maid was made Cardinal another called D. Vincent Commander of Santa Euphemia who had been General of the Popes Gallies and a third D. Felix an Abbot He had greater kindness for D. Felix the youngest of the three than for D. Vincent with whom he had never been well reconciled since the Jealousies that set them at variance during the Pontificat of their Unckle Some ill affected persons at Court had fomented these Jealousies betwixt the two brothers that by their Divisions they might govern Pope Clement the IX And because it was more easie for them to dispose of Cardinal Rospigliosi than of Vincent they had alwayes kept him as much as they could from the knowledge of affairs and for that end made use of the occasion of the siege of Candie to send him thither twice with the Popes Galleys whilst in the mean time they swayed the mind of the Cardinal at their pleasures entertaining him still in Umbrages with his Brother Insomuch that after the death of Clement the the IX the aversion that Cardinal Rospigliosi had for D. Vincent continued still This was favourable
Bishop of Laon died in the heat of the affair The Spaniards vigorously withstood his designs and protested they would never suffer him to be made Cardinal unless they had one of their Nation by reason of the equality as they said that the Pope is obliged to observe in regard of Crowns The most Christian King thought it not fit to name him because he would thereby have lost the nomination of another which is due to him at present he pretended that his recommendation joyned to the nomination of the King of Portugal was enough to incline the Holy Father to satisfie him Cardinal Altieri was attacked on all hands if the Bishop of Laon pressed him to shew the effects of his Holiness's promise he had immediately the Ministers of Spain on his top who represented to him that the Queen of Spain had the same pretensions for making Father Nitard Cardinal at her recommendation as the King of France had for the Bishop of Laon. We must know that Father Nitard a Jesuit was he whom the Queen of Spain sent to Rome to satisfie Don John of Austria and his party and because she had with much reluctancy thus dismissed him being her Confessor Confident and Counsellor she was willing to honor that kind of exile by all the real marks of a constant friendship After she had removed the Marquis of Astorgas from his Ambassie at Rome to the Vice-Royalty of Naples she used violence upon the retirement and modestie of that good Father brought him out from among the Jesuits made him a Prelate and gave him the chief charge of the affairs of the Crown of Spain but the good will of that Princess rested not there she would still crown her work by adorning him with Purple and himself laid hold on the conjuncture of the instances that the Bishop of Laon made at the Palace to advance at the same step with him to the Cardinalship Ye see then two Prelats of two Crowns in the same pretensions and Cardinal Altieri in a great puzzle he cannot content the Bishop of Laon without displeasing Father Nitard he cannot satisfie the demands of Portugal and of the King of France without offending the Queen Regent of Spain or one Hat must cost him two and if he make the Bishop of Laon Cardinal he must at the same time do as much for Father Nitard or in fine if he make neither of the two he must incurr all their displeasure alike Nevertheless he makes his advantage of these debates to gain time and in the mean time if the Bishop of Laon press him he tells him that if he will find a way to satisfie Spain he shall immediately have what he desires he follows the same course with Father Nitard but that Father does not much importune him he perceives that the Bishop of Laon does his business for him and it is enough for him only to make protestations that he is in no haste for a Cardinalship but that he hopes they will not do that injustice to Spain to give a Cardinal to France and Spain not to have the same favour from the Holy See The Bishop of Laon was not much concerned provided he were Cardinal though Father Nitard had likewise a Hat but perceiving that in agenting his own affairs he laboured for Nitard whilst that Prelate did not at all sollicite Altieri he believed that Altieri conspired with the Spaniards that he himself had sollicited them to make that instance that he might rid himself of him and that so it was but a colourable pretext of those of the Palace that they might shun the giving of satisfaction to the Crown of Portugal to which they durst not give an open refusal By this artifice matters were delayed and the Bishop of Laon could not forbear to testifie his impatience What Letters were not procured from France What Offices were not imployed with the Pope to beseech him with his kinsmen to gain them with the Spaniards to make sure of them It is enough to tell you that Mr. de Lionne managed the affair he brought things so about that the Duke d'Estrees was sent Ambassador to Rome who being entrusted with the affairs of the Crown in that Court it is to be presumed that there was not any that touched him nearer than that affair wherein the King interested himself for his Brother who had been made to spend there a year of noviciat for the Cardinalship though his merit raised him above many others that met not with the same difficulty Amongst the Instructions that the Duke d'Estrees brought from France none seemed of greater importance at that time than the Proposition he was to make to the Pope for the restitution of the State of Castro and Romciglione to the Duke of Parma It is not my design to discuss that long affair in this place It is enough for my purpose to say that that Estate having been engaged to the Apostolick Chamber and since incamerated that is annexed to the rest of the Ecclesiastical State by Pope Alexander the VII The same Pope by the Treaty of Pisa and by the Articles of reconciliation betwixt his Holiness and the most Christian King obliged himself to restore it to the Duke of Parma upon payment of the sum of 1600000 Crowns and upwards which the House of Parma was indebted to the Apostolique Chamber and for which it was mortgaged and incamerated The death of Alexander the VII prevented the repayment and Clement the IX easily waved the Treating of that affair by the good intelligence that he entertained with France So that his Pontificate having been but short and being expired without any instance made to him concerning the Treaty of Pisa and the repayment of the Money to content the Duke of Parma it behoved to be brought upon the Carpet under Clement the X. But the French Ambassador had a particular interest to urge that affair briskly for besides the satisfaction of the Duke of Parma he had hopes likewise to draw some advantage from it for the Cardinalship of his Brother and for all other things that he might pretend to from the Palace and the reason was this The restitution of Castro will be always an odious thing to the Popes and a prejudice to the Ecclesiastick State because it will be a concession that the Popes may be deceived the Estate of Castro having been incamerated and dismcamerated by one and the same Pope with advice of the same Cardinals which ushers in an infinite number of vexatious consequences to the Court of Rome besides it would place a Sovereign Prince at the Gates of Rome and settle a Sanctuary for all the discontented so that all Popes will as much as possibly they can excuse themselves from restoring it and will disown what Alexander the VII did that they may not leave an offensive memory of their Papacy to the Holy See That being so the Duke d'Estrees might very well promise himself that Pope Clement the X. to avoid