a little to affect the Cognisance of what only belongs to the Church under pretence of the possession of Benefices of which the Bull of Pope Martin given in the Year 1439. attributed the Cognisance to them Judges Royal to cause the said Pragmatical Sanction to be Religiously observ'd and 't is from thence the Grievances the Church labours under at this time in this Kingdom by the interposition of the King's Officers receiv'd a new Force after the beginning they had had under the Reign of Charles VI. And it is also from thence the Parliaments have taken an occasion to assume the Cognisance of the greatest part of what only belongs to the Tribunal of the Church of God It was very easie for them to attribute to themselves to the Exclusion of subaltern or inferiour Judges what had been at first only committed to them and to extend their Power under that pretence beyond its lawful Bounds since they had none but Inferiours to encounter with In the Establishment of the first Order made to remedy the Infractions of the Pragmatical Sanction * That first Regulation never had the Name End or Effect of Appeals Appeals were not allowed of They only chastised such as did obtain Rescripts or Mandates from the Court of Rome against the Common Right upon the bare Complaint that was made and averr'd of the same and that without taking cognisance of the Merits of the Cause After which Time which changes all things being join'd to Tower which like Fire attracts all to it self made them proceed from that Order establish'd for the Preservation of the Common Right and the Franchises of the Gallick Church against the Attempts of Rome to the Appeals the abuse of which utterly annihilates the Jurisdiction of the French Prelates as well as of the Holy See I am sensible that the most subtile Adherents of the Parliaments to authorize their Practice may say That the Prelates assembled at Bourges having petition'd his Majesty to hinder the Holy See by his Officers from infringing the Pragmatital Sanction have tacitly given him a Right to oppose the Contraventions that might be made to the same by themselves which authorizes them to take cognisance of the Sentences which are daily given in their Tribunal But the Proverb may be alledg'd in this place which is most true That a Bargain is nothing but what it is made and that it is as certain as evident That the Gallick Church assembled at Bourges never thought on what these Gentlemen pretend and moreover that they had no reason to do it They had recourse to the King against the Enterprizes of Rome by reason that the Holy See having no Superiour Tribunal on Earth Temporal Princes alone as Protectors of the Church can put a stop to the course of the Exorbitances of the Officers of Rome whereas the Attempts of the Bishops may be repress'd by their Superiours to whom one may and ought to appeal Finally he that gives his Friend Arms to defend him can never be suppos'd to give them for his own Destruction The Parliaments cannot pretend that the Protection which the Prelates assembled at Bourges desir'd of the King gives his Officers a Right to oppress their Jurisdiction Nevertheless as Evils are greater in their Progress and in their Periods than in their Beginning the Design of the Parliaments cover'd with divers Pretences for a time began to appear without a Mask in the last Age * Ordinances of 1539. under King Francis I. who was the first that ever made use of the Name †The Wor◠has its Original from the Practice of Attornies and Advocates who according to the Order of applying themselves before the Parliament by way of Appeal gave the same Name to the recourse Ecclesiasticks had there of Appeal in his Ordinances Many knowing the Illegality of that Practice which the Church complains of at present will think perhaps that since it may be abolish'd with Justice it would be proper to do it But I 'm of Opinion that such an Alteration would do more harm than the Evil they would avoid and that nothing but the Abuse of such an Order is prejudicial Whatever Ground the said Practice may have it is certain that when it was first publickly establish'd it was only with a pretence to put a stop to the Encroachments the Ecclesiastical Judges might attempt upon the King 's Royal Jurisdiction In process of time they have not only made use of it against the Transgressors of the Ordinances of the Kingdom which include many matters besides Jurisdiction but they have also extended it to the Infractions of the Holy Canons and of the Decrees of the Church and of the Holy See and finally by excess of abuse to all sorts of Matters in which the Laicks pretend a Lezion of Polity which they maintain only belongs to the King's Officers One might reasonably desire to have the Effect of this Remedy reduc'd to its first Foundation which had no extent beyond Attempts upon the Royal Jurisdiction which is sufficiently regulated by the First Article of the Ordinance of 1539. But to remove all pretence of Lezion from the Officers of the Prince and to hinder them from pretending with any appearance that it is impossible for them to get the Ordinances observ'd by reason of the Enterprizes of the Church I am of Opinion that they may consent to the said Appeals when the Judges shall pronounce directly against the Ordinances which is the only Case in which Charles IX and Henry III. by the 59th Article of the Ordinance of Blois required them to be admitted Provided they be not extended under that pretence to the Transgression of the Canons and Decrees because many Ordinances particularly the * Regulation of Church Affairs Capitularies of Charlemagne often contain the same substance with those of the Church I am sensible that it will be difficult to make so exact an Indiction of the Ordinances to this end but that sometimes there will be abuses in whatever Regulation may be made But it is certain that there is no difficulty in the Will of the King's Officers who shall be employ'd to put his in execution The Order which he will be pleas'd to give them will serve them as a Rule without any trouble The Pretence which the Parliaments use that when Ecclesiastical Judges judge against the Canons and Decrees of which Kings are the Executors and Protectors they have the Power to correct the Abuse of their Sentences is a Pretence so void of all appearance of Justice that it is altogether insupportable Should the whole Church judge against the Canons and Decrees one might say that the King who is the Protector of the same might and ought to maintain them in an extraordinary manner by his own Authority But fince when a Judge gives a Sentenee against their Tenor the said Sentence may be revers'd and he corrected by his Superiour the Officers of the Prince cannot without invading
on those Occasions your Authority must pass over Forms to maintain Rule and Discipline without which a State cannot subsist and it will enable your Officers to punish Crimes according to Forms since it is more probable that the Cause and Proof of a Fault will be sooner found when the Guilty are seiz'd than when at liberty to use their utmost Endeavours to stifle the Discovery of the same If in the next place your Majesty will be pleas'd to order Rancounters to pass for Duels and to be punish'd as such until those who have been guilty of them surrender themselves Prisoners and are absolv'd of the same by Law you will do whatever is probable to stop the course of that Frensie and your Care to preserve the Lives of your Nobility will make you Master of their Hearts and will engage them to so strict an Allegiance that they will pay with Usury whatever your Majesty can expect from them in all the Imployments they are gratified with CHAP. IV. Of the Third ORDER of the Kingdom TO Treat of the Third Order of the Kingdom with Method and to see clearly what is proper to be done to make it susist in the State in which it ought to be I will divide it into Three Parts The First shall contain the Body of the Officers of Justice The Second of those who have the Management of the Finances And The Third the People which commonly bears the Burthen of the State SECT I. Which relates in general to the Disorders of the Courts of Justice and examines in particular whether the Suppression of the Sale of Offices and of Hereditary Offices would be a proper Remedy for such Evils IT is much easier to discover the Defects of the Courts of Justice than to prescribe Remedies for the same Every body is sensible that those who are appointed to hold the Scale even in all things have inclin'd it so much themselves on one side to their own Advantage that there is no longer any Counterpoise The Disorders of the Courts of Justice are come to that pass that they can go no farther I would enter into the Particulars of the said Disorders and of the Remedies which may be applied to the same if the Knowledge I have both of the Person of him who has the First Office of Justice at present and of his Design to render it as pure as the Corruption of the World will allow it did not oblige me barely to propose certain general Remedies to your Majesty to stop the progress of the principal Disorders In the Opinion of the Generality of the World the Chief consists in suppressing the Sale of Offices in extinguishing the Inheritance of the same and in giving them gratis to Persons of such known Capacity and Integrity that even Envy it self may not be able to contest their Merit But whereas it is a thing which cannot be done at this time and that it will be difficult to practice this Expedient at any other it would be useless at present to propose Means to that End Whenever the said Design is undertaken some will certainly be found which cannot be foreseen at present and those one might prescribe would be no longer in season when the thing might be attempted In the mean time though it is commonly dangerous to be singular in Advising I cannot forbear saying boldly That considering the present State of Affairs and that which may be foreseen for the future it is better in my Opinion to continue the said Sale and Inheritance of Offices than absolutely to alter the Settlement thereof So many Inconveniences are to be fear'd in such an Alteration that as though the Elections for Benefices are more ancient and more Canonical than the Nomination of Kings nevertheless the great Abuses which have been committed in the same and which it would be impossible to prevent render the Nominations more supportable as less subject to ill Consequences So notwithstanding the suppression of the Sale and Inheritance of Offices is consonant to Reason and to all the Constitutions of Right yet the inevitable Abuses which would be committed in the distribution of Offices depending so much on the bare Will of Kings and consequently on the Favour and Craft of those who should have most Power with them would render the present proceeding in the same more tolerable than that which has been us'd heretofore by reason of the great Inconveniences which alway attended it All reasonable Men must needs see the difference between these two Parties and heartily desire the suppression of the Sale and Inheritance of Offices supposing that in this case Places would be distributed by the pure Consideration of Vertue Neither can they be ignorant that in such a Case the Artifices of the Court would prevail before Reason and Favour before Merit Nothing contributed more to make the Duke of Guise so Powerful in the League against his King and Country as the great Number of Officers his Credit had introduc'd in the greatest Employments of the Kingdom And I have been told by the Duke of Sully That the said Consideration was the most powerful Motive which induc'd the late King to the Establishment of * Duty yearly paid by the Judges and other Officers c. the Annual Duty That that great Prince had not so much regard to the Revenue which accru'd to him by it as to the Means to secure himself for the future against such Inconveniences And that notwithstanding Treasure had a great Influence over him Reasons of State were more prevailing on that occasion In the new Establishment of a Commonwealth it were a Crime not to banish the Sale of Offices because in such Cases Reason obliges to establish the most perfect Laws Human Society can permit But Prudence does not allow it in ancient Monarchies the Imperfections of which are turn'd to use and the Disorder of which not without Advantage composes part of the Orders of the State In such Cases Men must submit to Weakness and prefer a moderate Regulation to a more austere Settlement which perhaps would be less proper the Rigour of it being capable to shake the Fabrick which one would strengthen I am sensible that it is a common Saying That he who buys Justice by the Lump may sell it by Retail but yet it is certain that an Officer who lays out the best part of his Estate upon a Place will be kept from doing ill in a great measure for fear of losing all that he is worth and that in such a case the Price of Offices is not an ill Pledge of the Fidelity of the Officers The Complaints which are made against the Sale of Offices have been the same in all the Ages of the Monarchy but though they have ever been look'd upon as reasonable in themselves yet the Disorders upon which they are grounded have been tolerated supposing that we are not capable of the austere Perfection which is the scope of them Those who are not ignorant of
Predecessore durst not have presum'd to aspire to the least All things have been in confusion there from the Kitchen to the Cabinet Whereas in the King your Father's time the Princes the Officers of the Crown and all the Grandees of the Kingdom did commonly eat at your Tables in your time they seem only establish'd for Servants common Chevaux Legers and Gens d'Arms Moreover they have been so ill serv'd that some of them have been so nice as to despise them instead of being fond of them Strangers have often found fault even with your own being serv'd by common nasty Scullions whereas those of other Kings are only serv'd by Gentlemen I am sensible that this Custom has not been introduc'd in your time but it is never the more tolerable for being ancient since it is absolutely derogating from the Dignity and Grandeur of so great a Prince I am also sensible that the said Practice has been suffer'd hitherto under pretence of the Safety of Kings saying That it is impossible for Officers to answer for what they have done unless they carry or see it carried themselves to your Majesty But this Reason seems inconsiderable to me since there is no reason to believe that a Scullion will be more faithful to his Master than a Gentleman who in divers other occasions might betray him if he were so minded Fourscore young Gentlemen whom your Majesty maintains Pages of your Chamber or of your Stables would be much better employ'd in that Service than in barely serving your First Gentlemen or Queries who Command them and without doubt as they would do it with more Dignity they would not perform it with less Fidelity The Neatness which is becoming in all places is consequently more requir'd yet in the Palaces of Kings The Magnificence of Furniture is the more necessary there by reason that Foreigners only judge of the Grandeur of Princes by what appears externally and yet though your Majesty is vastly stor'd with the same both fine and rich which are destroy'd in the Places where they should be preserv'd Your Majesty often uses such in your Chamber that those to whose share they fall when you lay them aside do not think fit to use them after you The Entrance into your Cabinet has been allow'd to all Men not only to the Prejudice of your Dignity but also in Contempt of the Safety of your Person Ambassadors have been crowded more by Footmen by Pages and other inferiour Officers than by the Grandees of your State in their Audiences and nevertheless your Dignity and the ancient Custom of this Kingdom require on such Occasions your being attended by the Princes Dukes and Peers the Officers of the Crown and other Grandees of your State I am sensible that most Kingdoms have different Customs That in Spain the Greatest see their King oftner than in England There are such good Orders there upon that Subject that though all the Doors are open none are seen in the Chambers or Cabinets but such as have a free entrance there by their Dignities and Employments I know moreover that it is a Privilege of those who bear your Crown to be crowded by their Subjects but it should be with this distinction that usually it ought to be by your Nobility and on the occasion of receiving Foreigners by qualify'd Persons of which there is a sufficient Number in your State to make them observe the Grandeur and Singularity of it by that Prerogative In a Word Disorder reigns so universally in all your Majesty's Houshold that there is no particular place free from it Though all great Princes are careful to have an Equipage of great Horses suitable to their Grandeur your Majesty never had one in your great Stable which you could use on occasion though you are at a greater Charge about it than ever any of your Predecessors were I might easily specifie many other Defects no less remarkable than this but I will not enter into the Particulars of so great a Disorder both because it would be a very difficult Task without descending too low for the Dignity of this Work and that it is sufficient to know a Distemper without publishing it to prescribe Remedies for the same I will perform my Duty in proposing to your Majesty the true means to afford as much Lustre to your Houshold as there is Meanness and Disorder in it at present The first thing which is necessary to that end is That your Majesty should be strongly bent to the said Reformation since it is certain that in Affairs of this nature the Will of Kings is like the Will of GOD in relation to the most difficult things in which to will and to do is one and the same thing The second is That you would be pleas'd for the future to employ none but Persons of Quality in the First Places of your Houshold having all the Qualifications which are requir'd to discharge their Trust worthily Let an Officer be never so great he will apply himself to the least Dependencies of his Office if he be capable of it because he will judge them to be of Consequence as indeed they are Unless the Stewards for instance take a particular Care to cause those Places to be cleans'd Morning and Evening where People eat as soon as the Tables are remov'd they will be wanting in one of the most material Points of their Charge I may say the same of all the Principal Officers and particularly of the First Gentlemen of your Chamber who must be careful to keep all your Majesty's Apartment so neat and so clean that it will not be too much to sweep and perfume them three or four times a day by reason of the vast Concourse of People which cannot be avoided there though it be never so well regulated Provided every Man be qualify'd for his Office every thing will be done according to your Majesty's Desire and the Regulation of all the rest depends on this point For whatever Rule be establish'd it will prove useless unless there are Men capable to see it perform'd and if they are they will have Wit enough to cause that to be done which Reason will shew them to be necessary for the Dignity of their Place and for the Service of their Master The third consists in That your Majesty should employ none but Gentlemen in all the Places of your Houshold unless in the Lowest which contributing much towards your Dignity will create the more Affection into your Nobility in that they will have more means to advance themselves near your Person By this means your Majesty may make the four Troops of your Gens d'Arms of the Body the Four best Troops of Gens d'Arms in your Kingdom it being most certain that there are many Gentlemen who would be over-joy'd to have a means to live in that Quality provided those Places be given them gratis which are now sold at who gives most In that case many will be glad to have that
Castel de Mine which the Hollanders of the West-India-Company have taken from them within these 2 or 3 years is of the same nature in that the only Goods exported there are Pedlars Wares Canvass and course Linen Cloths in exchange of which the Negroes give Golden Powder The Merchants of Roans have formerly driven a Trade of Linen and Woolen Cloths in the Kingdom of Fez and of Morrocco by means of which they got a great deal of Gold Were the King's Subjects strong in Shipping they might ingross all the Trade of the North which the Dutch have got by reason that the North standing absolutely in need of Wine Vinegar and Brandy-Wine of Chesnuts of Pruens and of Nuts all Commodities in which the Kingdom abounds and which cannot be consum'd in it it is easie to make a considerable Trade of them and the better in that returns may be made of Wood of Copper of Pitch and Tar things not only useful for our selves but necessary for our Neighbours who can not get them from them without our Goods unless they will lose the fraight of their Ships in going thither I do not enter into the particulars of the Trade which may be driven in the East-Indies and in Persia by reason that the humour of the French being so hasty that they will see the effects of their desires as soon as they have conceiv'd them Long Voyages are not suitable with their temper However as abundance of Silks and Carpets are brought from Persia many Curiosities from China and all manner of Spices from divers places in those parts of the World which are of great use to us that Trade is not to be neglected To make a good Settlement it would be necessary to send two or three Ships into the East Commanded by Persons of Quality Prudence and Wisdom with Patents and necessay Powers to Treat with those Princes and to Make Allyances with the People on all sides as the Portugueze English and Dutch have done This design would succeed the better by reason that those who have taken a footing in those Nations are very much hated by them at present either because they have deceiv'd them or because they have subdued them by Force As to the West there is no great Trade to be expected there Drake Thomas Cavendish Sperberg L'Hermite le Maire and the late Count Maurice who sent twelve Ships thither of 500 Tuns on purpose to Trade there either by way of Friendship or by Force not having been able to make any settlements there there is but little to be hop'd for on that side unless a Military Force be sent thither to take possession of the places Spain possesses there at present The little Isles of St. Christopher and others seated at the Head of the Indies may yield some Tobacco some Skins and other things of small consequence THERE NOW REMAINS TO KNOW WHAT MAY BE DONE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN Trade of the Mediteranean Memorial of the different Trades driven in the Levant Napoli de Romania The French carry some Goods there and Money and bring back Silks Goats Leather Wool Wax and Cheefe part of which is destributed and sold in Italy Satalia The French only carry Money there and bring back Cotton Wax and all manner of Goat Skins Smyrna The French carry more Goods there than Money abundance of Merchandise going off there for Chio the Archipelago and Constantinople The Goods carry'd there are Paper Caps Draps de Paris and of Languedoc Brasil Wood Cutchaneal Spices Satins made at Lyons and sometimes they bring back Persian Silks and Rubarbs which the Persians bring thither Cottons spun into Thred Wax Mastick and course Carpets Scala Nova Sometimes our Ships take in Wheat and Legumes there Constantinople The French carry abundance of Goods there which are the same that are carry'd to Smyrna excepting Gold Silver and Silk Stuff and very seldom Money they bring back Leather and Wool there being nothing else and often not finding Commodities for the Goods that have been sold there they are oblig'd to send the said Money to Smyrna to be imploy'd there or else it is remitted by Bills of Exchange to Aleppo there are always abundance of Goods to be bought there to carry into Christendom Isle of Cyprus In which there are divers Ports Money is carry'd thither some Cloths and Caps and in return we take Cotton spun into Thred Silks made in the said Isles and some Drugs Alexandria and the Port of Aleppo Abundance of Merchandice and Money are carry'd thither from France Those Goods are the same which are carry'd to Smyrna And vast quantities of Silks and Drugs are taken in there all sorts of Cottons Oak Apples Goat Skins which they stile of the Levant Red Yellow and Blue Callicos and sometimes Indian Goods which are brought there from Persia Before the English and Dutch went into the Indies all Persian Silks Drugs and other Goods were brought to Aleppo from whence they were brought to Marseilles and from thence they were afterwards sold throughout France England Holland and Germany And now the said English and Hollanders have taken away the said Trade from us and do not only furnish all France with Persian Goods but also with those they buy on the Grand Seignior's Territories which they carry through Persia to Goa where they lade The Goods that are brought from the Levant are dispos'd of in Sicily Naples Genoa Leghorn Majorca and throughout Spain Flanders and Germany Seyda the Port of Tripoly Barut and St. John d'Acre The French carry some Commodities thither and for the most part Money they bring back from thence Silks spun Cottons Ashes to make Soap Drugs which come from Damascus sometimes they take in Rice and when they have a good Crop of Wheat they suffer our Ships to take lading of it Alexandria the Port of Aegypt and Grand Cairo The French carry several French Commodities thither as Cloth Paper Brasil Cochaneal but more Money than Goods they take in their Natron Drugs of divers sorts and most of the Goods which sell in Italy or in Spain Formerly all sorts of Spices were brought to Alexandria through the Red Sea which were carry'd to Marseilles but now the English and Hollanders go into the Indies we must buy them of them Tunis Wine is transported thither from Marseilles Hony Tartar Cloth Paper and other Goods and seldom any Money and Leather and Wax is taken in there Algiers and the adjacent Ports The same Commodities are often carry'd thither from Marseiles which are carry'd to Tunis and Leather and Wax are also brought from thence I own I have been long deceiv'd in the Trade the Proveneals drive in the Levant I was of opinion with many others that the said Trade was prejudicial to the State thinking according to the common notion of the World that it exhausted the Money of the Kingdom in exchange of Goods no wise useful and only fit to indulge the Luxuriousness of our Nation But having made
all of them knowing that Princes are apt to impute the ill Success of things that have been well advis'd to those that are about them so few expected a good Event of the Alterations it was said I design'd that many concluded my Fall even before your Majesty had rais'd me Notwithstanding all these Difficulties which I represented to your Majesty knowing what Kings can do when they make a good use of their Power I presum'd to promise you without Temerity in my Opinion what is come to pass in your State and that in a short time your Prudence your Power and the Blessing of God would alter the Affairs of this Kingdom I promis'd your Majesty that I would use my utmost Endeavours and all the Authority you were pleas'd to give me to ruine the Huguenot Party to abate the Pride of the Grandees to reduce all your Subjects to their Duty and to raise your Name again in Foreign Nations to the Degree it ought to be Moreover I represented to your Majesty that in order to compass a happy end it was absolutely necessary you should conside in me and that notwithstanding for the time past all those who had serv'd you had thought no way so proper to obtain and to preserve your Confidence as to remove the Queen your Mother from it I would take the contrary way and that nothing should be wanting on my side to keep your Majesties in a strict Union so necessary for your Reputation and for the Welfare of the Kingdom As the Success which has attended the good Intentions which God has been pleas'd to inspire me with for the Settlement of this State will justifie to future Ages the steadiness wherewith I have constantly pursued that Design so your Majesty will be a faithful Witness that I have us'd my best Endeavours lest the Artifice of some Evil-minded Persons should be powerful enough to divide that which being united by Nature ought also to be united by Grace If after having for many years happily resisted their divers Efforts their Malice has finally prevail'd it is a very great Comfort to me that your Majesty has often been pleas'd to express That while I was most intent on the Grandeur of the Queen your Mother she labour'd for my Ruine But I refer this matter to another place to keep to my present Subject and not to break the Order I am to keep in this Work The Huguenots who have never slipt any occasion to increase their Party having in 1624. surpriz'd certain Ships which the Duke of Nevers was preparing against the Turk afterwards rais'd a potent Navy against your Majesty Notwithstanding the Care of the Sea had been so far neglected till then that you had not one Ship your Majesty behav'd your self with so much Address and Courage that with those you could get among your Subjects 20 from Holland and 7 from England you defeated the Army the Rochelois had put out to Sea Which prov'd the more wonderful and happy in that this advantageous Effect proceeded from a Succour which was only granted to serve you in appearance You took the Isle of Ré by the same means which the Rochelois had unjustly made themselves Masters of long before You routed 4 or 5000 Men they had put into it to defend it and forc'd Soubise who commanded them to fly to Oleron which your Friends not only drove him out of but also forc'd him to fly the Kingdom This happy Success reduc'd those Rebellious Souls to make a Peace so glorious for your Majesty that the most difficult were pleas'd with it and all agreed that it was the most advantagious that had been made till then The Kings your Predecessors having for the time past rather received from than given a Peace to their Subjects though they were diverted by no Foreign Wars they were Losers in all the Treaties they made with them and tho' your Majesty had many other Occupations at that time you then granted it to them reserving Fort St. Lewis as a Citadel at Rochel and the Isles of Re and of Oleron as two other Places which serv'd as a good Circumvallation about it At the same time your Majesty secur'd the Duke of Savoy from the Oppression of the Spaniards who had attack'd him openly and notwithstanding they had one of the greatest Armies that had been seen of a long while in Italy which was Commanded by the Duke of Feria a great Man you hinder'd them from taking Verua of which your Arms jointly with the Duke of Savoy's sustain'd the Siege with so much Glory that they were finally forc'd to raise the Siege shamefully The Spaniards soon afterwards making themselves Masters of all the Passes of the Grisons and having fortify'd the best Posts of all their Vallies your Majesty not being able by a bare Negotiation to free your ancient Allies from that Invasion in which those unjust Usurpers had the more success by reason that the Pope favour'd them upon the vain Hopes they gave him of procuring some Advantages for Religion did that by force of Arms which you had not been able to obtain by strength of Reason Your Majesty had by that means for ever freed that Nation from the Tyranny of the House of Austria had not Fargis your Ambassador in Spain at the Sollicitation of Cardinal de Berulle made as he has confess'd it since without your Knowledge and contrary to your Majesty's strict Orders a very disadvantagious Treaty to which you adher'd at last to oblige the Pope who pretended to be concern'd in that Affair The late King your Father of Immortal Memory designing to marry one of your Majesty's Sisters in England the Spaniards thought themselves oblig'd to break that Project by marrying one of their Infanta's there The Treaty thereof being concluded the Prince of Wales was so ill advis'd as to expose himself to the Discretion of a Prince who being Master of his Person might impose whatever Law he thought fit upon him and pass'd through France incognito in order to go into Spain to marry her As soon as the thing was known here such Negotiations were set on foot that notwithstanding the great Honours he receiv'd in that Court where the King gave him the Right Hand all the while he tarry'd there altho' he was no Crown'd Head at that time the Marriage was broken off and soon after it that of France was treated of concluded and accomplish'd with Conditions three times more advantagious for Religion than those which were design'd to be propos'd in the late King's time Soon after that Powerful Cabals were form'd at Court into which the Duke of Orleans your Brother was engag'd by those who had the Care of his Conduct before his Age made him capable of it Being constrain'd to say with great Regret that a Person of the greatest Consideration was insensibly drawn into it with several others who fomented and follow'd her Passions I cannot omit the Merit you acquir'd before GOD and before Men in
all your Enemies to agree with you This glorious Action which restor'd Peace in Italy was no sooner atchiev'd but your Majesty whose Mind and Heart never found any rest but in Labour pass'd directly into Languedoc where after having taken Privas and Alez by force you reduc'd the rest of the Huguenot Party throughout your Kingdom to Obedience and by your Clemency granted a Peace to those who had presum'd to wage a War against you not by granting them Advantages prejudicial to the State as had been done till then but by banishing him out of the Kingdom who was the only Head of that miserable Party and who had all along fomented it That which is most considerable in so glorious an Action is that you ruin'd that Party absolutely at a time when the King of Spain endeavour'd to raise it again and to settle it more than ever He had newly made a Treaty with the Duke of Rohan to form in this State a Body of Rebellious States to God and to your Majesty at once in consideration of a Million of Livres which he was to pay him yearly for which he made the Indies Tributaries to Hell But their Projects prov'd ineffectual And whilst he had the Mortification to hear that the Person he had employ'd to be the Bearer of so glorious an Establishment was executed upon a Scaffold by a Decree of the Parliament of Thoulouse before whom he was Try'd your Majesty had the Satisfaction and Advantage to pardon those who could no longer defend themselves to annihilate their Faction and to use their Persons well when they expected nothing but the Chastisement of the Crimes they had commited I am sensible that Spain thinks to excuse so ill an Action by the Succours you granted the Hollanders but that Excuse is as ill as their Cause Common Sense will convince every body that there is much difference between the continuation of a Succours established upon a Lawful Subject if Natural Defence is so and a new Establishment manifestly contrary to Religion and to the Lawful Authority Kings have received from Heaven over their Subjects The late King your Father never enter'd into a Treaty with the Hollanders until the King of Spain had form'd a League in this Kingdom to usurp the Crown This Truth is too evident to be question'd and there is no Theology in the World but will grant without going against the Principles of Natural Reason that as Necessity obliges those whose Life is attempted to make use of all Helps to preserve it so a Prince has the same Right to avoid the loss of his State That which is free in the beginning sometimes becomes necessary in the sequel Therefore no body can find fault with the Union your Majesty maintains with those People not only in consequence of the Treaties of the late King but moreover because Spain cannot be reputed otherwise than as an Enemy to this State whilst they retain part of its ancient Demeans It is evident that the Cause which has given a Rise to those Treaties not being remov'd the continuation of the Effect is as lawful as necessary The Spaniards are so far from any Pretence of being in the same case that on the contrary their Designs are so much the more unjust that instead of repairing the Injuries they have done this Kingdom they increase them daily Moreover the late King never join'd with the Hollanders until they were entred into a Body of State and was constrain'd to it by an Oppression which he could not wholly avoid He neither occasion'd their Revolt nor the Union of their Provinces And Spain has not only often favour'd the Revolted Huguenots against your Predecessors they also endeavour'd to unite them in a Body of State in yours A holy Zeal has induc'd them to be the Authors of so good an Establishment and that without any Necessity and consequently without Reason unless the Continuation of their ancient Usurpations and the new ones they design rectifie their Actions so much that what is forbidden to all the World besides is lawful in them upon the account of their good Intentions Having treated this matter more at large in another Treatise I will leave it to continue the Sequel of your Actions The ill Faith of the Spaniards having induc'd them to attack the Duke of Mantua again to the Prejudice of the Treaties they had made with your Majesty you march'd the second time into Italy where by the Blessing of God after having gloriously cross'd a River the Passage whereof was defended by the Duke of Savoy with an Army of 14000 Foot and 4000 Horse contrary to the Faith of the Treaty he had made with your Majesty the Year before You took Pignerol in sight of the Emperour 's and King of Spain's Forces and of the Person and all the Power of the Duke of Savoy and that which renders that Action the more Glorious in sight of the Marquess de Spinola one of the greatest Captains of his Time By that means you took Susa and overcame at once the three most considerable Powers of Europe the Plague Famine and the Impatiency of the French of which there are not many Examples in History After which you Conquer'd Savoy driving an Army of 10000 Foot and 2000 Horse before you which had a better Advantage to defend it self in that Mountainous Country than 30000 to attack them Soon after which the Combats of Veillane and of Coriane signaliz'd your Arms in Piemont and the taking of Valence Fortify'd by the Duke of Savoy in order to oppose your Designs made the World sensible that nothing could resist the Just Arms of a King as Fortunate as Powerful Cazal was reliev'd not only against the Opinion of most Men but even against the very Thoughts of the Duke de Montmorency who had been employ'd to that end and against the Opinion of Marillac who was substituted in his Place who both publickly declar'd that it was an impossible Enterprize The Relief of the said Place was the more glorious in that a stronger Army than your Majesty's retrench'd at the Head of the Milaneze which furnished them with all sorts of Conveniencies and shelter'd under the Walls of Cazal which had been consign'd in their Hands was constrain'd to quit it and five other Places at the same time which the Spaniards held thereabouts in the extent of Mont-Ferrat Those who know that in the very height of that Design your Majesty was reduc'd to the utmost Extremity by a Fit of Sickness and that tho' your Person was dangerously Ill your Heart was yet in a worse Condition If they consider that the Queen your Mother at the Instigation of some malicious Persons form'd a potent Party which weakning you considerably strengthen'd your Enemies If they also consider that they daily receiv'd Advice that your Majesty's most faithful Servants whom they both did hate and dread would not much longer be in a Condition to do them any harm they must needs acknowledge that
Incroachments severely In which case the Church being satisfy'd with such an Order will be the more careful to administer Justice when they do receive it from their Prince SECT IV. Which shews the Consequence of the Regalia pretended by the Holy Chappel of Paris over the Bishops of France and opens a way to suppress the same ALtho' the Canons of the Holy Chappel * By Letters Patent of 1453. Charles the 7th granted that favour to the Holy Chappel instead of the Gift Charles the 5th had made to them of the remainder of all the Accounts deliver'd in the Chamber which he desir'd to be employ'd for the Reparation both of the Palace and of the Holy Chappel of Paris maintain that the Regalia was given them by St. Lewis their Founder Yet it is most certain that the first Grant we find of it is of Charles the 7th which allows them for three years only the right of enjoying the Temporal Revenue of the vacant Bishopricks over which the Regalia should be found to have a Right The time of the said Grant being expir'd he continu'd the same for three years longer and for the four following the whole on condition that one half of the Money arising thereby should be imploy'd for the maintenance of the Chanters who were to perform the Service and the other for the Reparation of the Glass Windows and Ornaments and for the maintenance of the Choiristers according as it should be ordain'd by the Chamber of Accounts of Paris Charles the 7th being dead his Son Lewis the 11th continu'd the same Favour to the Holy Chappel during his Life which was look'd upon to be so extraordinary that the Chamber of Accounts would only verifie the Letters Patents thereof for Nine Years After the Reign of Lewis the 11th his Successors Charles the 8th Francis the 1st and Henry the 2d continu'd the same Favour during their Lives Charles the 9th went farther * By the Edict of Febr. 1569. and granted to Perpetuity to the Holy Chappel what his Predecessors had only granted them for a time The Intention those Princes had is praise-worthy since they gave a Right which did belong to them to a good end But the Use those of the Holy Chappel have made of it can never be sufficiently blam'd since that instead of being satisfy'd with what was given them they have endeavour'd under that pretence to make all the Bishopricks of France subject to the Regalia The Parliament of Paris which pretend to be the only Judges of the Regalia have been blinded to that degree by Self-interest as to make no Scruple to declare even all those Bishopricks †The Bishop du Bellay which in our days have been united to the Crown liable to that Servitude and to order the Advocates in proper terms no longer to question but that the extent of the Regalia was as large as that of the Kingdom This Incroachment being too visible to produce any Effect induc'd the Churches which were not liable to that Right no longer to acknowledge that Tribunal for Judges and the Kings to refer all such Causes to their Council The extent of that Right over all the Bishopricks of the Kingdom is a Pretension so ill grounded that in order to discover the Injustice thereof it will be sufficient to read a Deed * The Deed begins with these words Dominus Rex the Original of which is in the Chamber of Accounts which the President Le Maitre caus'd to be printed which gave an Account of the Bishopricks that are subject to the Regalia and of those that are free from it Formerly the common Opinion was that there was no Regalia beyond the River Loire †The Ordinance Dum Episcopus alicujus Episcopatus ubi Rex habet Regaliam Philip the 4th in his Philippines of the Year 1302. uses these words In aliquibus Ecclesis Regni Philip the 6th in his Ordinance of the Year 1334. speaks thus In the Bishopricks in which we have a Regalia Lewis the 12th in his Ordinance of 1499. cited by the first President Le Maitre We have and do forbid all our Officers in the Archbishopricks Bishopricks Abbies and other Benefices in which we have no Right of Regalia or of Guard to establish any there on pain of being punish'd as guilty of Sacrilege Pasquier in the 3d Book of Enquiries chap. 13. The late King Henry the 4th by his Edict of the Year 1606. Art 17. We only design to enjoy the Rights of the Regalia as our Predecessors and our selves have done heretofore without extending the same to the Prejudice of the Churches that are exempted from it And that good Prince believing that the Parliament of Paris would judge to the contrary suspended all the Causes about the Regalia for a year by his Letters Patent of the 6th of Octob. 1609. The King now Reigning having inherited his Piety as well as his Kingdom declares by the Ordinance of 1629. Art 16. That he only designs to enjoy the Regalia as it has been done for the time past And the Clergy having complain'd that those Terms were not express enough H.M. order'd his Commissioners to make this Answer That the Ordinance being refer'd to that of 1606. those Terms were sufficient to satisfie the World that he did not desire to enjoy the Regalia in those places where it has not been enjoy'd for the time past The Ordinance Dominus Rex makes use of these Words Consuevit capate Regaliam Philip the 4th in his Ordinance of 1302. says Regalias ques Nos Praedecessores nostri consuevimus precipere And the Philippine of the Year 1334. Our Predecessors Kings upon the Account of the Regalia and the Nobility of the Crown of France have us'd and have been accustom'd to be in Possession and Seisin And since all the Kings in their Ordinances have only spoken of the Custom and of their Possessions the Kings Lewis le Gross and Lewis the Young exempted the Archbishoprick of Bourdeaux and the Suffragans thereof of the same Raymond Count of Tholouse granted the same Favour to the Bishops of Provence and of Languedoc which was afterwards confirmed to them by Philip le Bell and St. Lewis yielded the Regalia of all Brittany to the Dukes of the Country by the Treaty he made with Peter Mau-clerc which shews that he did not give it to the Holy Chappel when he founded it Several other Bishopricks as Lyons Autun Auxerre and divers others are so undoubtedly free from that Subjection that no body calls it into question The Ordinances made at divers times shew clearly that the Kings of France never did pretend to have a Regalia over all the Bishopricks and that Truth is so evident that Pasquier the King's Advocate in the Chamber of Accounts is forc'd to confess that he who maintains that Doctrine is rather a Court Flatterer than a French Lawyer These are his very Words The Ignorance or rather the want of Spirit and Interest of
Bread for a fortnight for a tthousand Men and Bisket for three Weeks and consequently 225. Waggons will carry bread for 25. days and Bisket for 30 for an Army of 15000 Men. In order not to be mistaken in our reckoning in putting an Army on Foot the Provisions must be settled so that every Regiment of a thousand Men may have 15. Waggons to carry Bread for a Fortnight which is partly as much as is required for a considerable Enterprize Moreover it is necessary to have a hundred or two over and above the common Calculation otherwise one might fall short Special care must also be taken to carry Mills and Ovens for tho Commonly the use of them is not good yet it is necessary to have some to make use of them in certain Places in which it would otherwise be impossible to subsist and in which it may happen that a stay of four days may give the Enemys a great advantage over an Army which wants Provision As the least things ought to be consider'd in great designs the General of an Army must take a particular care of every thing belonging to his Train He must know that a Cart is not so cumbersom as a Waggon which turns with more ease in narrow Passes but on the other hand that they are sooner overthrown and that the overturning of one is capable to stop a Train a long while Therefore it behoves him to consider the Places he is to march through to make use of the one or of the other according as he will think it most proper He must also know that there are two ways of carrying the Bread either in Carriages which are very heavy and cumbersom or in Carts plaited on the sides and cover'd with cere Cloths which are more Convenient After these six Remarks I have only two Councels to give to those who Command our Armys The first is always to be the first in the Field because it is difficult for an Army tho never so considerable to make any progress when they find another ready to oppose them and often very easy for those that come first into the Field to secure a good success The Second is to attack when it may be done without rashness rather than to stand upon the defensive by reason that besides that he who has the boldness to attack gives some Impression of fear to him he attacks the Imparient and Inconstant Temper of the French is as unfit for the defensive part as their fire and first eagerness qualifys them to perform their duty in the first Experience makes me speak thus and I am persuaded that those who are perfect Commanders will say the same SECTION V. Of Naval Power THE Power of Arms do's not only require that the King should be strong a shore but also potent at Sea When Anthony Perez was receiv'd in France by the late King your Father and that in order to soften his misery he had secured him a good Pension That stranger being desirous to express his Gratitude to that great King and to show him that tho he was unfortunate he was not ungrateful gave him three Councels in three Words which are of no small Consideration Roma Consejo Pielago The advice of this old Spaniard consummated in Affairs is not so much to be looked upon for the Authority of him that gave it as for its own weight We have already mention'd the Care Princes ought to take to have a good Council and to be authorised at Rome it now remains to show how it behoves the King to be Potent at Sea The Sea is of all Heritages that in which Soveraigns pretend to have the greatest share and yet it is that on which the Rights of every body are least agreed upon The Empire of that Element was never well secur'd to any It has been subject to divers Revolutions according to the inconstancy of its nature so subject to the Wind that it submits to him who Courts it most and whose Power is so unbounded that he is in a condition to possess it with violence against all those who might dispute it with him In a word the old Titles of that Dominion are Force and not Reason a Prince must be Powerful to pretend to that Heritage To proceed with Order and Method in this point we must consider the Ocean and the Mediterranian seperately and make a distinction between the Ships which are of use in both those Seas and of the Gallies the use of which is only good in that which Nature seems to have reserv'd expresly betwixt the Lands to expose it to less Storms and to give it more shelter A great State must never be in a condition to receive an injury without being able to revenge it And therefore England being situated as it is unless France is powerful in Ships the English may attempt whatever they please to our prejudice without the least fear of a return They might hinder our Fishing disturb our Trade and in blocking up the mouth of our great Rivers exact what Toll they please from our Merchants They might Land without danger in our Islands and even on our Coasts Finally The Situation of the Native Countrey of that haughty Nation not permitting them to fear the greatest Land-Forces the ancient Envy they have against this Kingdom would apparently encourage them to dare every thing should our weakness not allow us to attempt some thing to their prejudice Their Insolence in the late King your Father's time towards the Duke of Scily obliges us to put our selves in a posture never to suffer the like again That Duke being chosen by Henry the Great for an extraordinary Embassy into England Embarking at Callis in a French Ship with the French Flag on the Main Top Mast was no sooner in the Channel but meeting a Yacht which came to receive him the Commander of it Commanded the French Ship to strike The Duke thinking his Quality would secure him from such an affront refus'd it boldly but his refusal being answer'd with three Cannon shot with Bullets which piercing his Ship pierc'd the Heart of the French Force constrain'd him to do what Reason ought to have secur'd him from and whatever Complaints he could make he could get no other reason from the English Captain than that as his Duty oblig'd him to honour his Quality of Ambassador it oblig'd him also to compel others to pay that respect to his Master's Flag which was due to the Soveraign of the Sea If King James's words prov'd more civil yet they produc'd no other effect than to oblige the Duke to seek for satisfaction in his own Prudence feigning himself cur'd when his pain was most smarting and his wound incurable The King your Father was oblig'd to dissemble on that occasion but with this Resolution another time to maintain the Right of his Crown by the Force which time would give him means to acquire at Sea I represent this Great Prince to my mind projecting in
that occurence what your Majesty must now put in Execution Reason obliges to take an Expedient which without ingaging any of the Crowns may contribute towards the preservation of the good understanding which is desirable among the Princes of Christendom Among many that might be propos'd the following are in my opinion the most practicable It might be agreed upon that French Ships meeting English Ships upon the Coast of England should Salute first and strike the Flag and that when English Ships should meet French Ships upon the French Coast they should pay them the same Honors on condition that when the English and French Fleets should meet beyond the Coasts of both Kingdoms they should both steer their Course without any Ceremony only sending out their respective Long-Boats to hail each other coming no neerer than within Cannon shot It might also be agreed upon that without having any respect to the Coasts of France or England the greater number of Men of War should be Saluted by the smaller either in striking the Flag or otherwise Whatever Expedient is found out on that subject provided it be equal on all parts it will be juste if your Majesty is strong at Sea that which is real sonable will be thought so by the English who are so much blinded on that subject that they know no Equity but Force The advantages the Spaniards who are proud of being our Enemies at present derive from the Indies oblige them to be strong on the Ocean The reason of a sound Policy does not allow us to be weak there but it obliges us to be in a condition to oppose the designs they might have against us and to cross their enterprizes If your Majesty be potent at Sea the just apprehension Spain will lay under of your attacking their Forces the only Source of their Subsistance of your making a Descent on their Coasts which have upwards of six hundred Leagues Circumference your surprising some of their places which are all weak and in great number that just apprehension I say will oblige them to be so powerful at Sea and to keep such strong Garisons that the major part of the Revenue of the Indies will be consumed in Charges to preserve the whole and if the remainder suffices to preserve their States at last it will produce this advantage that they will no longer he able to trouble their Neighbours as they have done hitherto * Compat of Gattary Had your Majesty been as weak as your Predecessors you could not have reduc'd to Ashes in the midst of the Waters all the Forces Spain could assemble in 1638. on the Ocean That proud haughty Nation could not have been constrain'd to suffer the checking of their Pride not only within sight of Italy but also before the Eyes of all Christendom which seeing the Isles of St. Marguerits and of St. Honorat snatch'd out of their hands by open force whereas they had only got them by surprize has beheld at once and with the same Eye the shame of that insolent Nation and the Glory and Reputation of yours You could not finaly have fought that famous Combat of the Gallies on the Seas of Genoa which striking your Enemies with Terror increas'd the Love and Esteem of your Allies and imprinted so much Reverence in the indifferent that the weight of respect ingag'd them absolutely on your side Your Majesty having Allies so distant from this Kingdom that it is impossible to have any Communication with them but by Sea if they found France destitute of necessary means to succor them on certain occasions it would be easie for those who are Enemies of the happiness of both sides to sow the same Division in the minds which is between the States whereas your Naval Forces being considerable tho' divided as to place they will remain strictly united in Heart and Affection to this State Nature seems to have offer'd the Empire of the Sea to France by the advantagious Situation of her two Coasts equally provided with excellent Havens on the Ocean and on the Mediterranean Britanny alone contains the finest in the Ocean and Provence which has but 160 Miles extent has many larger and safer than Spain and Italy together The separation of the States which form the Body of the Spanish Monarchy renders the preservation of them so difficult that Spain has no other way to keep them in some Union than by keeping a great number of Ships on the Ocean and of Gallies in the Mediterranean which by their continual going backwards and forwards may in some measure preserve the Union between the Members and the Head transporting to and fro whatever is necessary for their subsistance as Orders for whatever is to be undertaken Officers to Command Souldiers to Execute Money which is not only the Sinew of War but also the Fat of Peace from whence it follows that obstructing the Liberty of such passages those States which cannot subsist of themselves can never be able to avoid confusion weakness and all the desolations wherewith God threatens a divided Kingdom And whereas the Western Coast of this Kingdom separates Spain from all the Territories possess'd by their King in Italy so the Providence of God which will keep an even Balonce seems to have been pleas'd to separate the Territories of Spain by the Situation of France to weaken them by their Division If your Majesty constantly keeps forty good Men of War well Rigg'd and Equip'd ready to put out to Sea on all occasions that number will be sufficient to secure you against all Injuries and to make you fear'd on all the Seas by those who have hitherto despis'd your Forces there As Men of War are necessary to that end in the Ocean Gallies which are light Ships and can make great Courses with their Oars in Calms which are more usual in the Mediterranian than elsewhere are as useful in the Levant With thirty Gallies your Majesty will not only balance the Power of Spain which by the assistance of their Allies can put fifty in a Body but you will overcome them by the reason of Union which reodubles the Power of the Forces it unites As your Gallies may remain in a Body either at Marseilles or Toulon they will always be in a condition to oppose the conjunction of those of Spain which are so much separated by the Situation of this Kingdom that they cannot assemble without passing in sight of the Ports and Roads of Provence and even sometimes without Anchoring there by reason of the Storms which surprize them half way the Chanel which those light Ships are not able to bear without great hazard in a troublesome passage in which they are very frequent The Gulph of Leon is the most dangerous passage in all the Seas of the Levant the inconstancy and contrariety of the Winds which commonly reign there render the passage of it very difficult whatever way it is undertaken All stormy weather is very dangerous there and
an exact enquiry into the Nature of that Trade condemn'd by the publick voice I have alter'd my opinion upon such solid grounds that whoever will know them will certainly think I have done it with Reason It is certain that we stand in absolute need of most of the Commodities of the Levant as Silks Cottons Wax Goat Skins Rubarb and several other Drugs which are necessary to us It is also certain that if we do not fetch them Strangers will bring them to us and get the profit we might get our selves It is likewise certain that we do not carry near so much Money into the Levant as French Commodities our Hemp our Linen Cloath our Timber to build Ships are in greater request there than Money Those who understand the Trade of the Levant know that the Money which is carry'd thither is not of the growth of France but Spain from whence we draw it by the Trafick of those very Commodities we bring from the Levant which is very observable They are moreover sensible that the more the City of Marseilles Trades into the Levant the richer it is in Money That the Silks and spun Cotton which are the principal Commodities which come from the Levant are wrought in France and from thence transported into Foreign Countries with a profit of Cent. per Cent upon the buying of the said Manufacture That the said Trade maintains a vast number of Workman and that it preserves us That it imploys abundance of Seamen useful in time of Peace and necessary in War Finally That the Customs of the said Trade amount to a great deal of Money And therefore it is evident that the said Trade is not only advantageous but absolutely necessary Whatever advantages may accrue by the Trade of the two Seas the French will never apply themselves to it with delight unless the means appear as easie to them as the end is useful One of the best expediments to incourage them for their own good is that your Majesty would be pleas'd yearly to fell them some of your Ships at an easie rate on condition that they shall imploy them for Trade and not sell them out of the Kingdom This Medium applying a Remedy to their impatience which does not permit them to tarry for the building of a Ship to make use of it will be the more agreeable to them in that it will enable them to reap almost as soon as they have sown Beside the profit that will thereby accrue to private persons the State will receive a considerable advantage by such an Order by reason that the Merchants will be very considerable in six years time by the number of their Ships and in a condition to assist the Kingdom in case of need as it is practis'd in England where the King makes use of his Subjects Ships in time of War without which he would not be so powerful at Sea as he is Moreover the number of Ships your Majesty designs to keep will not be lessen'd by it since the Publick Docks you have been pleas'd to re-establish will furnish you yearly as many as you please There is no State in Europe fitter to build Ships than this Kingdom abounding in Hemp Linen Cloth Iron Rigging and in Workmen whom our Neighbours commonly debauch from us because they are not imploy'd at home The Rivers Loire and Garrone have such convenient places for Docks that Nature seems to have design'd them for that use The cheapness of Victuals for the Workmen and the conveniencies of divers Rivers which disburthen themselves into them and bring all manner of necessaries justifie the said Proposition If next to this Expedient your Majesty will think fit to grant Merchandising some Prerogatives to give a Rank to Merchants whereas your Subjects are oblig'd to obtain it by divers Offices which are only good to maintain their idleness and to please their Wives you will restore Trade to that degree that every one and all in general will be advantag'd by it In fine if besides those two Favours you will be pleas'd to take a particular care to clear these two Seas from Pirates which may easily be done France will soon add to its Natural Plenty what Trade affords to the most barren Countries Six Guard Ships of two hundred Tuns and six Pinnaces well Arm'd will be sufficient to secure the Ocean provided the said Ships keep constantly at Sea And in order to secure the Sea of the Levant it will also be sufficient to put out to Sea yearly towards the month of April a Squadron of ten Gallies steering their Course towards the Isles of Corsica and Sardinia cruising all along the Coast of Barbary unto the Streights steering the same Course back again not to come home again until the Weather compels them to it at which time six Ships well Equip'd shall put out to Sea in their room to perform their Caravan in the Winter time SECTION VII Which shows that Gold and Silver are one of the principal and most necessary supporters of the State declares the means to make this Kingdom Powerful in that kind shows the revenue of the same at present and how it may be improv'd for the Future in discharging the People of three parts in four of the Burthen which overwhelms them at this Time IT is an old saying that the Finances are the sinews of a State and it certainly is the point of Archimedes which being firmly settled Inables to move all the World A necessitous Prince can never undertake a Glorious Action and necessity ingendring Contempt He can never be reduced to that condition without being exposed to the Efforts of his Enemys and of those who are Envious of his Grandeur Gold and Silver are the Tyrants of the World and tho' their Empire is unjust in it self it is sometimes so reasonable that we must suffer the Dominion of it and sometimes it is so extravagant that it is impossible not to detest the yoke of it as all-together Insupportable There must be as I have already observ'd it a proportion between what the Prince draws from his Subjects and what they can give him not only without ruining themselves but without a notable Inconvenience As it is reasonable not to exceed the Power of those that give neither can less be exacted than what the necessity of the State Requires None but Pedants and the real enemys of the State can say that a Prince ought not to exact any thing from his Subjects and that his sole Treasure ought to lay in the Hearts of those who are submitted under his Dominion But at the same time none but Flatterers and the true Plagues of the State and of the Court can Insinuate to Princes that they may exact what they please and that in that Case their Will is the Rule of their Power Nothing can be more easy than to find plausible Reasons to raise Money even when there is no necessity for it neither is any thing less difficult than to
Picrady 154000 Livers By the Farm of Brouage 250000 Livers By the Exportation of Goods from Languedoc Spices and Drugs from Marseilles and two per Cent from Arles 380000 Livers By the third additional Tax of Lyons 60000 Livers By the five great Farms two Millions 400000 Livers By the new Impositions of Normandy 240000 Livers By those of the River Loire 225000 Livers By the Farm of Iron 80000 Livers By the Sales of common Woods 550000 Livers By the Demeans 550000 Livers By the second Settlement discharging the People absolutely of the 17 Millions of Livers which the King receives at present by the Tailes the Receipt may amount to 50 Millions as the following account will clearly justifie By an Imposition to be put upon Salt or upon the Fens in all the Provinces of the Kingdom the King may receive all Charges being paid 20 Millions By a Penny per Liver upon all the Merchandise and Commodities of the Kingdom 12 Millions By the Aids one Million 400000 Livers By the Reduction of the price of the Rents constituted on the * Like Guild-Hall Hostel de Ville six Millions By the Reduction of the Treasurers of France 550 thousand Livers By the Income the King receives by the Sale of Offices and the Annual Duty paid him for the same two Millions By the Farm of Bourdeaux 1800000 Livers By the three Livers per Muid of Wine entrance into Paris by a new Imposition 700000 Livers By the ancient 30 Pence and the new addition of ten more for the entrance of every Muid of Wine into Paris 580000 Livers By the Farm of 45 Pence instead of the Tolls and Grants 530000 Livers By the 9 Livers 18 Pence per Tun of Piccardy 174000 Livers By the Farm of Brouage 254000 Livers By the Exportation of Goods from Languedoc Spices and Drugs from Marseilles two per Cent from Mies 380000 Livers By the additional Tax of Lyons 60000 Livers By the five great Farms two Millions 400000 Livers By the new Impositions of Normandy 250000 Livers By those of the River Loire 225000 Livers By the Farm of Iron 80000 Livers By the Sale of common Woods 550000 Livers By the Demeans 550000 Livers Summ Total 50 Millions 483000 Livers I am very certain that this Settlement being well understood will be found just and reasonable by all those who have any Experience and Capacity in the direction of States Among the several super-intendants of the Finances in my time I have known some of the most learn'd in what relates to the Treasury who equal'd the bare Imposition upon Salt or upon the Fens to the King of Spain's Indies and who preserv'd that secret as the true foundation of the ease of the People of the Reformation and of the Wealth of the State And indeed let Men be never so dull they must needs be sensible that it is impossible to express the discharge and satisfaction the People would receive if they were allow'd to use Salt as they do Wheat every one buying no more than he thought fit and could imploy It is certain that the suppression which would be made of the great number of Officers which are established for the Imposition of the Salt and the deliverance of the Disputes and Law-Suits they often commence to discharge their Trust and sometimes out of Malice to constrain the People to take the Salt that is impos'd upon them would be a wonderful ease to them It is moreover certain that one might easily recompence the Provinces which hitherto have injoy'd the Exemption of Salt by such a discharge of Tailles that if for the future they were oblig'd to buy it dearer than they have done heretofore the Diminution of the Taille would be equivalent to the augmentation of the price of the Salt to which they would be liable tho' they should buy it freely It is also certain that tho' it may be said that the Diminutions of the Tailles only relate to the People and that the augmentation of the price of Salt which has hitherto been sold in the Provinces without any Imposition would concern the Clergy the Nobility and those who are free All of them would receive the benefit of the Diminution of the Tailles bp reason that the Revenue of the Tailles being taken off the Revenue of Estates would increase according as the Farmers who rent them were discharg'd of the Impositions which are laid on the Estates they Farm Finally It is certain that notwithstanding the difficulties of such an Establishment might prove great yet they might be overcome If after having consider'd this Establishment of the Salt we examine that of the Penny per Liver it will be found the more just in that it is established in many Countries and that it has already been resolv'd upon twice by the Body of the State under the Great King Francis and in the Assembly of the Notables at Roans under the Great Henry of Eternal Memory Nevertheless whereas Suspicions are so natural in the People and in communities that they commonly place their principal safety in their dissidence which ever induces them to fear that what is most useful for them will prove disadvantagious and that great alterations are for the most part liable to dangerous Revolutions Instead of advising such an establishment I presume to advise the contrary and the more boldly because such Novelties must never be attempted unless they are ablolutely necessary Now France is so far from being under such circumstances that on the contrary I am of opinion that it will be much easier to ease the People and to inrich the State without having recourse to such expedients than in putting them in practice seeing that tho' there is no difficulty in it but what may be overcome yet undoubtedly much greater would be met with in having recourse to such alterations In order to verifie this proposition it will be sufficient to examine the Expences one may make a shift with in time of Peace and to see what improvement may be made with the Money the times will allow to lay up The Safety and Grandeur of the Kingdom will allow no diminition of the expences of War above mentioned which will amount near unto twelve Millions The Charge of the usual Garisons which amounts yearly to three Millions might be suppress'd both because the major part of the Forces which will then be maintain'd by the State will be quarter'd in the said Garisons and by reason that the best part of the said three Millions are only taken out of the King's Purse to inrich the Governour 's who commonly keep but ten Men when they should have a hundred But whereas it is difficult not to have some Privileg'd places of such consequence that it would be impossible to refuse the Governors of the same some particular Garisons to enable them the better to answer for them as being of their own choice In my opinion it will be proper to retrench two thirds of the said Expence to
reduce it to one Million The Expence of the Western and Eastern Sea cannot be less than of two Millions 500000 Livers as it appears by the particular Settlements of the same That of the Artillery will amount to 600000 Livers That of the King 's the Queen's and Monsieur's Housholds to three Millions 500000 Livers The Pensions paid to the switzers which cannot be retrench'd in honour amounts to 400000 Livers The Buildings will cost 300000 Livers AMbassadors 250000 Livers The Fortifications 600000 Livers All the Pensions might absolutely be retrench'd which cost the King four Millions but as it is impossible to pass from one extream to another without a medium and that the Court of France is not us'd to resist importunities tho' never so unjust I am of opinion that it will be sufficient to retrench one half of them Which is the more necessary in that it is advantagious for the Publick that the Idleness of Courtiers may meet with no roward and that they may be all annexed to the Perils of the War and thus Pensions and Salaries will only amount to two Millions for the future The King's Gentlemen in Ordinary 50000 Livers Warrants for the payment of certain summs 400000 Livers Casual Accounts and the King's Progresses two Millions Arrears of Duties 150000 Livers The King 's Privy Purse 300000 Livers All these Expences amount only to 25 Millions which being deducted out of 35 to which the Receipt amounts there will remain ten which for the first year shall be imploy'd towards the diminution of the Tailles The true way to inrich the State is to ease the People and to discharge both of their Burthens In lessening the Charges of the State the Tailles may be diminish'd and no otherwise and therefore it is the chief end which ought to be propos'd in the Regulation of this Kingdom * Of 44 Millions to which all the different sorts of Leveys which are rais'd upon the People by virtue of the brief of the Taille amount thereare 26 Millions imployed towards the payment of the Charges settled upon the Taille which consist in Rents or in Salaries and Taxation of Offices or in Rights which have been engag'd to them Tho' the Farm of the Aids produces yearly 4 Millions there is but 400000 Livers return'd out of it into the Exchequet The Rents Salaries Taxationis and Rights ingag'd upon the said Aids consume all the rest which is upwards of three Millions and a half Notwithstanding all the Gabelles produce near 19 Millions there is only five Millions 500000 and odd Livers of the same return'd into the Exchequer because the remaindor which amounts to near 13 Millions is imploy'd towards the payment of the Rents created upon the said Gabelles or towards the Salaries Taxations and Duties of the Officers of the Magazins of Salt or towards the Salaries of the Parliament of Paris Chamber of Accounts Court of Aids Grand Council or the King's Secretaries Although all the other Farms of the State produce twelve Millions the King receives but ten of them because upwards of two Millions must be deducted out of the same which are settled for the payment of some Rents Salary of Officers Taxations and alienated Duties In order to take true measures in an Affair of that consequence it is necessary to know that tho' all the Levies which are made in this Kingdom amount to near 80 Millions upwards of 45 of the same are imploy'd in Charges which may be so well husbanded that whereas we may say at present that the said Charges prove the King's Ruine I dare affirm that the King will be eas'd and inrich'd by the means thereof Many without doubt will be of opinion that it would be fit to ease the State of all that burthen but as it is impossible to make agreat Body subsist without divers Expences absolutely necessary for its maintenance As the weight of all these Charges together cannot be born by the State so the intire suppression of the same cannot be desir'd with reason Three means may be propos'd for the diminution of the said Charges The first is grounded on the over long injoyment which private persons have had of the King's Money upon the Fund they have disburs'd to acquire the Rents Offices and Rights they enjoy I am sensible that it would be easie to dispossess some of the said persons of the Rents and Duties they receive by making a true supputation of the Summs they have receiv'd in which besides the Interest allow'd by the Laws it would be easie to find the reimbursement of the price at first laid down by them for the same But tho' the Justice of the said expedient were allow'd of Reason would not permit the making use of it since that in so doing it would be impossible for the future to find out Money to supply the necessities of the State Whatever securities were offer'd Therefore it is necessary to observe that a thing may not be unjust and yet contrary to Reason and sound Policy and to take care never to have recourse to any expedient which without violating Reason would nevertheless violate publick Faith If any urges that the publick must be preferr'd to private Interest allowing his proposition I desire him to consider that in the discussion of this point those different kinds of Interests are not in the least concern'd but that those of the publick are counter-pois'd by others of the same nature and that as the future has a far greater Latitude than the present which passes in an instant those Interests which relate to the time to come must be respected before those of the present contrary to the custom of sensual Men who prefer what is at the least distance from them because the sight of their Reason has no greater extent than that of their Senses If we consider publick Faith in this point as I think it absolutely necessary the State will be far more eas'd by it than it would be tho' part of its Charges should be suppress'd without making any new Lives in that it will remain Master of the Purses of its Members on all occasions and yet will considerably increase its revenue The second means to diminish the Charges of the Kingdom consists in the reinbursement of the Money which was actually paid by private persons but the verification of it would prove difficult since that in order to facilitate the Sale of what the necessity of the State has oblig'd to alienate that has often been given at four years purchase which appears to be ingag'd at six This medium tho justin it self is not practicable without giving a pretence to many complaints tho' ill grounded The third means for the Diminution of the Charges of the State consists in reimbursing those that are not necessary at the same price at which they are sold among private persons Reimbursing the Owners of the Offices of the Rents and of the Duties which will be thought necessary to be suppress'd in this
manner they will receive no prejudice and the King will not make use of the common advantage he has with private persons who have the liberty to free themselves of the said Debts when they are able to pay them at the rate they are commonly sold at This medium which is the only one that can be us'd may produce its effect divers ways either in many years time by the bare management of the injoyment of the said Charges or in one only by an immense sum of Money which must be had ready by the supply of an extraordinary Fund The natural Impatience of our Nation not allowing us to hope that we will be able to persevere 15 or 20 years in the same resolution The first way which requires so much time is nowise receivable The great Fund which is necessary to reimburse all at once such immense Charges as those of the State would make this second proposition as ridiculous as impossible and so the third only remains practicable In order to make use of it with so much Justice that no body may have cause to complain it is necessary to consider the charges which it will be necessary to suppress in three different manners according to the divers rates at which they are sold * The Major part of the Rents constituted upon the Taille since 1612 are still in the hands of the Grand-Farmers of their Heirs or of those to whom they have made them over and they have purchas'd them at so low a Rate that they dayly expect the retrenchment of them which would be a far greater greivance to them than the Reimbursement of the same at the common Price The new Rents established upon the Aids are only sold at seven years Purchase and they amount to two Millions The new Rents upon the Gabelles are sold at seven years and a half Purchase and they amount to five millions 260 thousand Livers The first Rents constituted upon the Taille which are commonly sold at five years purchace ought only to be consider'd and reimburs'd at that rate according to which their Injoyment of the same makes the Reimbursement of them in seven years and a half The other Rents constituted upon the Taille since the late King's Death which are paid either in the Elections or in the General Receipts must be reimbursed at the rate of six years purchace which they are sold at the Injoyment of which will only reimburse them in eight years and a half The Offices of Elections with salaries Taxations of Offices and other Rights which they injoy must be reimbursed at the rate of eight years Purchace which is the common Price of such Places Reason requires the taking of the same method for the Reimbursement of the charges constituted upon the Aids upon all the Gabelles upon the five great Farms upon the Foreign Farm of Languedoc and of Provence upon the Customs of Lyons upon the Convoy of Bourdeaux the Custom of Bayone the Farm of Brouage and such Reimbursements can only be made by the bare Injoyment in eleven years time I am sensible that Rents of that kind are daily sold for less than eight years Purchace but I propose the Reimbursement of them at this Rate for the satisfaction of the partys concern'd being sensible that if in an affair of that importance there must be a loss it is better it should fall upon the King than upon them The Rate of all the Reimbursements which can be made being justly establish'd it is necessary to consider that there are some Charges so necessary in this Kingdom or ingaged at so high a Rate that I do not place them among those of which the Reimbusement is to be thought on by the way I am proposing Those are the salarys of the Parliaments and other sovereign Courts of the Presidials and royal Courts of the King's Secretarys of the Treasurers of France and receivers General Not that I think that no suppression ought to be made in those kind of Offices that 's far from my thoughts But to proceed with order towards the diminution of the Charges of the Kingdom Reason requires that one should begin by the Reimbursement of those which are sold at lower rates and which are inconvenient to the Public For that reason I prefer the suppression of the Rents establish'd upon the Tailles and that of many Places of assessors to all others That of those sorts of Rents by reason of the lowness of their Price and that of the assessors because those offices are the true source of the People's Misery both upon the account of their Number which is so Excessive that it amounts to upwards of four Millions in Exemptions as also of their Male-administrations which are so Common that there is hardly any one Assessor who do's not discharge his own Parish that many draw considerably out of those they have nothing to do with and that some of them are such abandon'd wretches that they are not affraid of loading themselves with crimes by adding Impossitions on the People which they convert to their own use That very consideration is the only one which hinders me at present from speaking of the suppressions of many Offices of judicature the Multitude of which is useless their Price being as extraordinary as their salarys are Inconsiderable it would be an ill piece of husbandry to meddle with them upon the account of the present necessity When it will be thought fit to lessen the Number of them the best way in order thereunto will be to make so good a Regulation of the * The Annual Duty the said Officers pay to the King Paullette that the said Offices being reduc'd to a moderate Price the King may be able when they become vacant to Reimburse them to the owners and suppress them at once Neither do I as yet include in the number of the suppressions the Colleges of the King's Secretarys the Offices of the Treasurers of France and the Receivers General not upon the account of the smalness of their Profit which is pretty considerable but upon the account of the summs they have paid for the same which are not small Neither do I put in the old Rents which have been created in the time of your Majesty's Predecessors which are paid in the Office of the City of Paris both by reason that the actual summs disburs'd by the Purchacers are greater than that of all the rest and because it is fit that the interest of Subjects should in some manner be mix'd with those of their Soveraigns as also because they are devolv'd to several Religious Houses Hospitals and Communitys towards the maintenance of which they are necessary and that having been often divided in Familys they seem to be settled there in such a manner that it would be difficult to remove them without disturbing their settlements Nevertheless in order not to omitt any husbandry that may be made with reason to the advantage of the State I must observe two
things in this place The first is that the Office of the Treasurers of France remaining a third part of their Salarys may be retrench'd since they will think themselves very favourably used in the general Reformation of the Kingdom if in securing them against all new Taxes their Salary is redu'd to two thirds of what they have injoy'd hitherto and had by their first Creation The second is that in not suppressing the Rents establish'd upon the Town House in the late King's time which are all Created at the rate of eight per Cont which will be the more reasonable in that as no private Persons do allow above six the owners of the said Rents settled upon the Town-House will by your Majesty's favour get two per Cent more in the injoyment of those of this Nature And as they will find an advantage by this the King will do the same by reason that the Rents charg'd upon the State will be more coveted than those of private Persons supposing they be paid exactly without any deduction as in reason they ought to be In order to pay the said Rents as well as the Salary of divers Officers either absolutely necessary or at least which cannot be suppressed in these Times I am of opinion that it will be fit to suppress thirty Millions out of the fourty five this Kingdom is at present charged with leaving the rest to acquit the remaining charges * The Rents of which the Courant price is seven years purchace will amount justly to six Millions 812 thousand Livers Viz. six Millions which have been settled out of the eight allienated Millions upon the Tailles in the month of February 1634. 415 thousand Livers settled by Le Sr. Gaillard and his Partners in the month of January 1634. And 112 thousand Livers settled by an Edict of the month of March of the said year by the Creditors of Moyssel and Payen Out of the thirty Millions which are to be suppress'd there are near seven the Reimburstment of which being only to be made at the rate of five years Purchace the suppression of the same will be perform'd in seven years and a half 's timeâ— by the bare Injoyment of the same As many will be found out of the remaining twenty four which being to be reimburs'd at the rate of six years Purchace which is the Currant price of them will be suppress'd in eight years and a half 's time by the bare injoyment But whereas as abovesaid long Winded designs are not the safest in this Kingdom and that upon that account it is necessary to reduce all the suppressions which are fit to be made to a number of years not exceeding the compass of our Patience in order to accomplish the Reimbursments which will be undertaken at the same time in which the Rents which are sold at five years purchace will be suppress'd by the very income of the same an extraordinary Fund must be rais'd to the Value of a sixth part of the currant price of the Rents which amounts exactly to seven Millions once paid for the suppression of as much revenue To accomplish the suppression of the thirty Millions propos'd there still remains 16 to be reimburs'd which must be done at the rate of eight years purchace because it is the common price of them And whereas the reimbursement of those sixteen Millions cannot be perform'd under twelve years time by the bare enjoyment of the same and that it is necessary to shorten that time to reduce the said suppression to the term of seven years as well as that of the fourteen preceeding Millions out of eight parts three must be supply'd by extraordinary Funds amounting to 48 Millions Tho' the greatness of the said summ may surprize at first those who are acquainted with the facility of Affairs of that nature in this Kingdom will not question the feasibleness of the same considering that it is only to be paid in seven years time And Peace will be no sooner settled but the practice of * Farming part of the Revenue Parties which is usual at this time to find out Money being abolish'd those who are bred in those sort of Affairs not being able to alter their former way of living all of a sudden will willingly convert all their Industry to destroy what they have rais'd by the same means they did use to establish it at first That is to extinguish and suppress by virtue of the Bargains they will make to that effect the Rents Rights and Offices the creation of which they have promoted by virtue of other Bargains Thus the Kingdom may be eas'd in seven years time of thirty Millions of common Charges which it bears at present The People being actually discharg'd of the 22 Millions of Taille which is one half of what they bear at present The Revenue of the Kingdom will be found to amount to 57 Millions as the following Settlement will justifie RECEIPT Of the Tailles 22 Millions Of the Aids 4 Millions Of all the Gabelles 19 Millions Of all the other Farms 12 Millions Total 57 Millions Out of which deducting 17 Millions which will be yearly put into the Exchequer the said summ must be look'd upon to be so considerable that there is no State in Christendom which lays up half so much all the Charges of it being deducted before If next to these suppressions which will make many persons liable to the Tailles without their having any reason to complain of it all Offices are suppressed which are officiated by Inrollment or by bare Commissions if the number of Notaries be regulated not only such as are Royal but those of common Jurisdictions it will ease the People considerably both in that they will thereby be deliver'd of so many leeches and that as there are upwards of 100000 Officers of this kind to be turn'd out those who will sind themselves deprived of their usual imployments will be constrain'd to follow the Wars to ingage into Trade or to turn Labourers If in the next place all Exemptions are reduc'd to the Nobility and to the Officers in ordinary of the King's Houshold it is most certain that the Cities and Communities which are exempted the Soveraign Courts the Offices of the Treasurers of France the Elections the Salt Magazines the Offices of Waters and of Forests of the Demain and of the Tithes the Intendants and Receivers of Parishes which compose a Body of upwards of 100000 exempted persons will discharge the People of more than one half of their Tailles it being also certain that the Richest which are liable to the greatest Taxes are those who get exemptions by dint of Money I am sensible that it will be urg'd that it is easie to make such Projects like unto those of Plato's Commonwealth which tho' fine in his Ideas is a real Chimera But I dare affirm that this design is not only so reasonable but so easie to execute that if God pleases to grant your Majesty a
First and Page 50 of the Second and Third Editions publish'd at Amsterdam by Henry Desbordes in the Year 1688. Upon These Words THE Removal of the Duke de la Valette tho' Voluntary and not forc'd giving me an occasion to put him in this Classis I cannot omit saying That not long before he did solicit Monsieur your Brother and the Count de Soissons to turn your Forces of which they had the Command at that time against your Person Your Majesty had honour'd him with the Title of Duke and Peer to which I must also add that in order to Ingage him the more in your service you had thought fit to Vnite him to those who were altogether inseparable from it and that in Consideration of my Allyance you had granted him the Survivorship of the Government of Guyenne and were pleased to add 20000 Livers Income to his place of Colonel of the Infantry I may say moreover that the Pardon your Majesty did grant him for a Crime so base and so shameful averr'd by the mouth of two Princes whose Testimony was undeniable on that occasion did not hinder his Weakness and jealousy against the Prince of Conde and the Arch Bishop of Bourdeaux or his design to cross the prosperity of your Affairs from making him lose a great deal of honour in losing the occasion of taking Fontarabie when the Enemys could no longer defend it Observation THE Wisest Ministers have much ado to defend themselves against Pride In this place the Cardinal speaks to the King his Benefactor and Master The Duke de la Valette he speaks of had the honor in his first Marriage to Wedd * Daughter to Henry the 4 by the Dutches de Verneuil Gabrielle de Bourbon the King's Sister who upon that account always call'd him Brother either in Speaking or writing to him The Cardinal nevertheless thinks he do's much for him and that he will Ingage him to be eternaly Faithful tho he had never been so before by giving him Madamoiselle de Pont Chateau his Cousin But the Actions of great Men must not be examin'd with Rigor Neither would we reflect upon this thing were it not to redress some essential Circumstances of the History which we know ab Origine In order thereunto we must go back a Little since it is Impossible to give a true account of the Duke de la Valette's Voluntary Removal of his Innocence or of his Guilt without explaining the then state of his Family either in relation to the King or to the Minister This relation which perhaps will prove some what long and will seem sometimes to deviate from the subject will nevertheless always return to it and if I am not mistaken will have some curious and remarkable passages John Lewis de la Valette whom we commonly call the old Duke d' Espernon who was the first of that Name Father to the Duke de la Valette I am to speak of was naturaly very haughty and Imperious a great and dazling Fortune made in a short space of time had not lessen'd his Courage The unbounded â—avour of Henry the 3. had heap'd Honors Dignitys Governments and great places upon him The said Prince sometimes boasted that he would make him so great that it would not be in his Power to destroy him It is very well known that in giving him the Government of the three Bishopricks Mets Toul and Verdun he offered him the absolute Soveraignty of the same which he had the Wisdom or Cunning to refuse His Marriage with the Heiress of Foix and of Candale had acquir'd him all the Lands of that ancient Family and the most illustrious Alliances Under the two following Reigns among many contradictions he had still kept his Rank and defended his Fortune being considered and fear'd rather than lov'd by all those who did govern by the power he had to plague them within the Kingdom It was perhaps for that Reason Henry the 4th seemed dissatisfied with his behaviour at first but being reconcil'd to him afterwards in the year 1610. in the great War he was meditating when Death prevented him he design'd him the honor of the Command of his Vanguard untill he had joyn'd the Prince of Orange and then sent him back to Mary de Medicis to be her Minister However reflecting on his former Favour and Elevavation he could neither forget what he was nor what he had been nor agree with any Favourite or Minister less with Richelieu than with another because he had a greater esteem for him than for any other and did look upon him as the fittest Man to humble all those who had rais'd themselves The Cardinal on his side tho a far better Politician finding himself at the helm of Affairs could brook no resistance tho' never so Inconsiderable without being wounded to the very heart by it nor suffer any grandeur unless subservient to his own And indeed tho we should allow him to be above all Weakness or private Interest which Humanity is never free from his general Plan and the honor of his Ministry could hardly suit with the Power and Authority of a Man who under Henry the 4th had sustain'd an open War to maintain himself in the Government of Provence who lately in the Duke de Luines time setting out of his Fortress of Metz in cold blood with his usual Equipage of 20 Mules and near two hundred Horse for his Guard Gentlemen and other Persons of his Retinue cross'd the whole Kingdom quietly to res cue the Queen Mother who was confined at Blois to give her a refuge in his Governments and to make himself Mediator between that Princess and the King her Son The old Duke had three Children Henry Duke of Candale Bernard Duke de la Valette the Person in question here and Lewis Arch-bishop of Toulouse as Men often were in those Times in Commendam without being ingag'd in sacred Orders and since Cardinal de la Valette Henry bore the names of Foix and of Candale according to the Fathers obligation who had promis'd in Marrying the Heiress of that Family to leave all her Estate Name and Arms to the Eldest Son of that Marriage This Gentleman having a lively Wit a free and agreeable Humour was likewise out of favour with the Minister by reason that not being used better than another he sometimes let fall some free Ingenious and sharp Expressions which some retain'd with pleasure and never fail'd of being reveal'd but in that he did not sooth the Inclination of his Father with whom he was no better pleas'd than with the Minister himself he could not forgive him notwithstanding his having added to his share abundance of Lands over and above those of Candale to the Value of 50000 Crowns a year besides the place of First Gentleman of the Chamber the Governments of Saintonge Aunis Angoumois and Limosin for having given his younger Brother the Goverment of Mets and of the three Bishopricks in great Esteem at
by the Count de Soissons a Prince of the Blood The Duke de la Valette in an occasion which was look'd upon as a great Peril of the State desir'd leave to serve as a Volunteer in the Army of Picardy which could not be deny'd him But before his departure from Paris he made rather by his Misfortune than fault being as it were forc'd to it a new and very deep wound in the Minister's mind The Baron du Bec Governer of La Capelle was the Duke's Friend whether he had surrender'd it too soon out of Weakness or for want of all manner of Ammunitions as he pretended which I have not dicover'd the Cardinal thought it necassary to make an Example of him either to keep the Governors of the Frontier Towns in Awe by that severity or to clear himself before the King and the Public for the loss of that Place which through Picardy had given the Enemy an entrance into the Kingdom For those who are at the helm of Affairs are never in the wrong and the weaknest is Commonly the most guilty He would have that affair examin'd in a Solemn Coucil the King being present in which all the Officers of the Crown were to assist The Duke excused himself three times from coming to it to avoid the danger he foresaw But Chavigny was sent to him the fourth to acquaint him that he must either break of with the Cardinal or not presist in his refusal Therefore he went to the Council but more faithful to Friendship or to Reason than to his own Interest he spoke for the Accus'd contrary to the intention of the Minister who not being commonly Master of himself in the first heat of his Anger as soon as the Council broke up calling him a side used hard and reflecting Language towards him which a good heart can never bear nor forget His answer was not only firm and bold but full of a heat which made the Cardinal sencible of his own which he endeavour'd to aleviate concluding with obliging words In this condition the Duke de la Valette went for the Army where it is true that the Count de Soissons and the Duke of Orleans caused him to be sounded in secret to ingage him to a revolt and to afford them a retreat in Guienne But it is equaly true that he refused both barely assuring the Princes on one hand of his Respect and moreover of secrecy and on the other that the old Duke without whom he could do nothing would never hearken to any such thing what ever Cause he had to complain of the Cardinal as well as himself It has never been known from the Dukes own Mouth who made him that proposition he kept his word but too scrupulously and never spake of it even when he might have done it without danger What the Cardinal sayes here that this crime is averr'd by the Mouth of two Princes whose Testimony is undeniable on that occasion is easily clear'd One of them who out liv'd that Minister has often own'd that he had been surprised and persuaded that the Duke de la Valette had accused him so that being irritated by his pretended Infidelity as well as by his Refusal he was glad to excuse himself by laying the whole fault at his door The sequel of things naturally represented in my opinion do's not allow the questioning of this Truth The said Negotiation whether rejected or receiv'd certainly was not prosecuted and was not known in a certain time after it But when Corbie was retaken and Picardy peaceable and the Cardinal's authority better settled than ever even those who thought him undone before were earnest to serve him and to inbrace his Interest At that time one of the Duke of Orleans false Servants to whom that secret was confided made haste to reveal it to him The two Princes who had notice given them thereof remov'd forthwith from the Court for fear of being secur'd The Duke de la Valette who was gone for Guienne some days before quietly prosecuted his journey They sent Bourdeilles and Montresor after him to excite him and the old Duke his Father upon the account of their common danger which both they said would endeavour in vain to defend themselves of considering the opinion the Cardinal had of that business and his desire to ruin them They both shut their Ears and the old Duke after Complements full of respect for the Princes gave them wise Councels to regain the King's favour The Duke of Orteans hearken'd to them and made his Peace The Count de Soilsons neglected them to his Misfortune for he never returned to Court and dyed afterwards as it is known in Arms against his Prince and Country The Cardinal having as good intelligence as ever any Minister had was not ignorant of the old Duke's wise behaviour on that Subject which he never boasted of himself There still is a Letter extant which that Minister order'd the Chevalter Seguier his constant friend to write to him in which praising his prudence which he assures him the King is very well pleased with he Endeavours to make him discover more of the matter which the old Duke had the address to excuse himself from And so far from accusing him of any thing at that time nor La Valette his Son new orders were sent to both to drive the Spaniards out of Guienne For they had settled themselves in the Port of Secoa where they had two Forts and five or six thousand Men well Retrench'd Those orders to express the more Confidence gave the old Duke a power to raise such Forces as he should think fit and to make what ever Impositions he thought necessary on the Province to deliver it from the Enemy which he looked upon as a snare that was laid for him being warn'd by Ancient and new Examples and even by that of Marshal de Marillac Moreover he was persuaded that without Oppressing the People whom he lov'd naturally and whom it was his Interest to keep Measures with he would be able to perform what he was ordered And indeed the Duke de la Vallette having put himself at the Head of a small number of Men he raised in haste besieg'd or block'd up as it were those Spaniards retrenched and much stronger than himself but in want of all things Notwithstanding the Sea was open to them He took advantageous Posts he made continual Courses on all sides to hinder them from receiving any Subsistance out of the Country and reduced them without fighting to such extremitys that they abandoned both Retrenchments and Forts and made no use of the Sea but for their retreat The Court which seldom applauds those who are not in favour was very glad of it however without seeming over much satisfied they could have wish'd the Spaniards had been cut to pieces their Camp forc'd and pillag'd their Forts taken by assault and in a word that no Bridge of Gold had been made to the Enemy It was
of State was resolved at that time not to break with Spain But Cardinal de Richelieu caused that resolution to be alter'd and the collection of the Pieces for the Justification of that Cardinal which were given to the Public by M. du Chatelet maintains in several Places that the said Cardinal sent M. du Fargis orders directly contrary to those he had receiv'd in France But M. du Fargis persisted constantly in denying that ever he received them and the thing remains undecided to this day Therefore it is not true that he himself confessed that he had concluded the Treaty of Moncon at the sollicitation of Cardinal de Berulle without the King's knowledge and contrary to his Majesty's Express Orders For among so many Authors who have attack'd and defended the Reputation of Cardinal de Richelieu none ever bethought himself hitherto to write this point of History and there is no reason to believe the said Cardinal upon his bare Word since he was so public an Enemy to the Cardinal de Berulle that his Panegyrists lose no occasion to blame him and to push it as far as ever it can go Finally it is yet less true that the Cardinal de Berulle and the Lord Keeper Marillac advis'd the King to abandon the Duke of Mantua to the injustice and insatiable Avidity of the Spaniards but that which is cerain in relation thereunto as the two Authors who are most devoted to Cardinal de Richelieu who are those that have written his Life and the History of his Ministry do acknowledge is that at the Death of Vincent Duke of Mantua and when the Duke de Nevers succeeded him it was put in agitation in the Council of France not whether the Duke of Nevers should be absolutely seconded but whether they should second him so far as to run the hazard on his account to break the Peace of Vervins which King Henry the Great had concluded with Spain and it was carry'd by the plurality of Voices that the King should not run the hazard of that risque Cardinal de Berulle who was then one of the Principal Councellors of State was of that opinion he persisted in it until Cardinal de Richelieu caused the said Affair to be examin'd anew in the Council and made them resolve to maintain the Duke de Nevers against the Emperor and against the King of Spain There was but six Months space between those two deliberations and they were both taken in the year 1627. If the Cardinal de Berulle during the Interval of the said six Months pretended that it was not fit to exasperate the Spaniards In that he only conform'd to the determination of the Council of State of France But I maintain that after the second deliberation which was to protect the Duke of Mantua towards and against all the Cardinal de Berulle never let fall any word to blame the War which France engaged into upon the account of the Duke de Nevers with the Emperor and the King of Spain and no Man can produce any Printed paper or Manuscript which says any such thing THE END THE Contents Chap. I. A Short Relation of the King 's great Actions until the Peace concluded in the Year pag. 1. Chap. II. Of the Reformation of the Ecclesiastical Order pag. 48. Sect. I. Which represents the ill State of the Church at the beginning of the King's Reign the Present State thereof and what is necessary to be done to put it in that in which it ought to be ib. Sect. II. Of Appeals and the Means to regulate the same pag. 53. Sect. III. Of Privileg'd Cases and the means to Regulate the same pag. 64. Sect. IV. Which shews the Consequence of the Regalia pretended by the Holy Chappel of Paris over the Bishops of France and opens a way to suppress the same pag. 68. Sect. V. Of the Necessity of Protracting the Delays that are us'd in the Course of Ecclesiastical Justice from whence it happens that three Crimes remain unpunish'd pag. 75. Sect. VI. Which represents the Prejudice the Church receives by the Four Exemptions several Churches enjoy to the Prejudice of the Common Right and proposes Means to remedy the same pag. 78. Sect. VII Which represents the Inconveniences that arise from the Bishops not having an Absolute Power to dispose of the Benefices that are under them pag. 90. Sect. VIII Of the Reformation of Monasteries pag. 93. Sect. IX Of the Obedience which is due to the POPE pag. 95. Sect. X. Which sets forth the Advantage of Learning and shews how it ought to be Taught in this Kingdom pag. 97. Sect. XI Means to Regulate the Abuses which are committed by Graduates in the obtaining of Benefices pag. 104. Sect. XII Of the Right of INDULT pag. 106. Chap. III. Of the NOBILITY pag. 109. Sect. I. Divers Means to Advantage the Nobility and to make them Subsist Honourably ib. Sect. II. Which Treats of the Means to prevent Duels pag. 114. Chap. IV. Of the Third ORDER of the Kingdom pag. 119. Sect. I. Which relates in general to the Disorders of the Courts of Justice and examines in particular whether the Suppression of the Sale of Offices and of Hereditary Offices would be a proper Remedy for such Evils ib. Sect. II. Which proposes the general Means which may be us'd to put a stop to the disorders of the Courts of Justice pag. 131. Sect. III. Which represents the necessity of hindring the Officers of Justice from incroaching upon the King's Authority pag. 135. Sect. IV. Of the Officers of the Finances pag. 137. Sect. V. Of the PEOPLE pag. 140. Chap. V. Which considers the State in it self pag. 142. Sect. I. Which represents how necessary it is that the several Parts of the State should remain every one within the extent of their Bounds ib. Sect. II. Which examines Whether it is better to make the Governments Triennial in this Kingdom than to leave them Perpetual according to the Vse which has been practis'd hitherto pag. 143. Sect. III. Which condemns Survivorships pag. 146. Chap. VI. Which represents to the King what Men think he ought to consider in relation to his Person pag. 149. Chap. VII Which represents the present State of the King's Houshold and sets forth what seems to be necessary in order to put it into that in which it ought to be pag. 162. Chap. VIII Of the PRINCE's Council pag. 171. Sect. I. Which shen's that the best Prince stands in need of a good Council ib. Sect. II. Which represents what Capacity is requir'd in a good Counsellor pag. 173. Sect. III. Which represents the Integrity that is requir'd in a good Counsellor pag. 175. Sect. IV. Which represents what Courage and Foree is requir'd in a Counsellor of State pag. 181. Sect. V. Which represents what Application is requir'd in Counsellors of State pag. 184. Sect. VI. Which represents the Number of Counsellors of State that is requisite and that one among them ought to have the Superiour Authority pag. 191. Sect. VII Which represents what the King's Behaviour is to be towards his Counsellors and shews that in order to be well serv'd the bost Expedient he can take is to use them well pag. 195. The second PART Chap. I. THe first Foundation of the Happiness of a State is the Establishment of the Reign of God pag. 2. Chap. II. Reason must be the Rule and Conduct of a State pag. 5. Chap. III. Which shows that Public Interest should be the only End of those who govern States or at least that it ought to be preferr'd to particular Advantages pag. 9. Chap. IV. How much Foresight is necessary for the Government of a State pag. 12. Chap. V. Punishment and Reward are two Points absolutely necessary for the Conduct of States pag. 16. Chap. VI. A Continual Negotiation contributes much towards the good success of Affairs pag. 24. Chap. VII One of the greatest Advantages that can be procur'd to a State is to give every one an Employment suitable to his Genius and Capacity pag. 32. Chap. VIII Of the Evil which Flatterers Detractors and Intriguers commonly occasion in States and how necessary it is to remove them from Kings and to banish them from their Courts pag. 38. Chap. IX Which Treats of the Power of the Prince and is divided in to Eight Sections pag. 45. Sect. I. The Prince must be Powerful to be Respected by his Subjects and by strangers pag. 45. Sect. II. The Prince must be powerful by his Reputation and what a necessary to that End pag. 46. Sect. III. The Prince must be Powerful by the force of his Frontiers pag. 48. Sect. IV. Of the Power a State ought to have by its Land-Forces This Section has several Subdivisions upon the account of the abundance of matter it contains which will be specify'd in the Margin pag. 51. Sect. V. Of Natural Power pag. 80. Sect. VI. Which Treats of Trade as a dependency of the Power of the Sea and specifies those which are most Convenient pag. 92. Sect. VII Which shews that Gold and Silver are one of the Principal and most necessary supporters of the State declares the means to make this Kingdom Powerful in that kind shows the revenue of the same at present and how it may be improv'd for the Future in discharging the People of three parts in four of the Burthen which overwhelms them at this Time pag. 140. Sect. VIII VVhich shews in few words that the utmost point of the Power of Princes must consist in the Possession of their Subjects Hearts pag. 132. Chap. X. Which concludes this Work in showing that whatever is contain'd in it will prove ineffectual unless the Princes and their Ministers are so mindful of the Government of the State as to omit nothing which their Trust obliges them to and not to abuse their Power pag. 133. THE END