carriage very complaisant and in fine such a one as is necessary to beget a good opinion of him I added That by this particular knowledge which I had of Monsieur the Prince I might tell him in the first place That his Excellency would find himself much wearied were he to endure all the Importunities of Monsieur the Prince when he should be near him and that in truth he would little value my Friendship should it not presently produce to him in some sort or other the Advantages he sollicites and that I was sure his Excellency knew this as well as I. It was then he replied to me Would you have a Prince of his Merit return into France without Reputation without any Places Offices or Governments How will you have him live I briskly answer'd him As Five Hundred other Princes of the Blood who without attempting any thing against the King and the State have yet never had any Government or Offices That most of the Princes of the Blood only desiring them to do mischief there is therefore great reason not to give 'em them For their security and the receiving marks of respect from all Frenchmen they need only to live well and serve the King faithfully as they are hereunto obliged more than any other Subjects Here he offered me a Thousand Flatteries and said to me Seeing you are not willing we should give Mounsteur the Prince Places in Soveraignty can I not at least obtain from the King to give him some State as the Two Calabrias or the Kingdom of Sardaignia I told him I scarce believ'd him in earnest and that he dexterously made me these Offers to shew the Prince's Followers the desire the King his Master had to do great things for him knowing well 't would cost him nothing in the end there being no likelihood that the King would consent that the Prince should having this Establishment return into France To which I yet added That if Monsieur the Prince taken with the Present of a Kingdom would receive it from the King of Spain I would consent to it He replied to me That in this case Monsieur the Duke D'Anguienne might return into France to keep there the place of his Father and enjoy whatever the King should consent to restore to Monsieur the Prince But I replied to him That herein the Father and Son were the same and that such a kind of division would be on a thousand accounts prejudicial to the Crown of France and I concluded that his Excellency must resolve to give some considerable Sum of Money to Monsieur the Prince with which he might buy a considerable Estate in Land which would remain to him and his Heirs for ever and would be more advantagious than Places which he must lose when he dyed But he likes not this saying That if they gave him Money 't would be a Gratification and not a Recompence for the Services he had done and what he had lost in France In the heat of the Discourse he was so transported as to say That his Master would have no Allies after the Promises he had made to Monsieur the Prince should he abandon him and suffer him to be stript of whatever might render him and had heretofore rendred him considerable to France I answerd him Three things The First That Subjects who revolt against their King and put themselves under the protection of another should never be term'd Allies because this term is only applicable to Soveraign Princes who are at liberty to Ally themselves and to do whatever they thought good The Second That we have great Interest to use all our endeavours to treat these Allies in such a manner as might not be easie for the Crown of Spain to have any of them for the future The Third That the King 's earnest desire for Peace made him lay aside all those regards to Portugal which Spain affected to have for the Prince The conclusion of my Discourse was That we should once for all end this Astair that whatever respected the Interests of Monsieur the Prince had been wholly concluded at Paris and had it not been so I had never taken such a long Journey That what remained behind was to agree about the Gratification which the King of Spain should give the Prince to which the King would be obliged to consent provided it was not prejudicial to his Majesty and contrary to what had been stipulated by the Article of the Treaty concerning this matter Don Lewis ended the Conference in saying to me That he would think again on the Quality and Form of this Gratification which he still call'd a Recompence and that he hoped we might agree upon it the first time we should see one another which was referred to Saturday I shall not enter on a particular relation of what past on divers other Points because those which we agreed on were not of great consequence and there was nothing concluded on others Neither will I tell you that he omits no occasion to speak of the King in the most obliging terms imaginable and expresses himself always on the Match as if already concluded and in the last place he told me that the Infanta's Person would be well liked of in France and that the Beauty of her Mind was no whit inferiour to that of her Body We resolv'd a-fresh that to abridge the time Mr. de Lionne and the Secretary Coloma should set to the drawing up the necessary Form to those things of which we were agreed and even go over again certain points on which they should agree together as being not of the greatest consequence But being inform'd by a Letter which Monsieur de Lionne wrote me this Morning that not only he advances nothing with Don Pedro Coloma but that he could do nothing with Don Lewis whom he had seen Yesterday I thereupon sent him word I could no longer bear with these delays and that he would tell Don Lewis I wish'd we had our Conference in which I should perceive by his Conduct what success we might expect from this Affair And having instructed Monsieur de Lionne in the things I thought needful for him to insinuate to Don Pedro Coloma that by this Channel they might come to Don Lewis he has very well executed it to the telling him I was afraid Monsieur the Prince would prove fatal to Christendom and be the cause of not making that Peace at Madrid which was determined and agreed on at Paris I believe it 's fit their Majesties should know my opinion in this matter which is That Don Lewis of his own humour and by the hopes of obtaining something to the advantage of Monsieur the Prince will drive out the time as long as he can according to the sollicitation of Lainet and other Adherents of this Prince In the Second place I believe that Lainet by his manner of acting has gotten some ascendant over the Spirit of Don Lewis seeing he has not the power to determine
I replied to him That the Prince of Conty and the Mareschal of Turenne had implor'd the King's Clemency and were returned to their Duty with the greatest Submission without pretending any thing and without any other condition than that of being re-establish'd in the honour of his Favour that as to Hoquincourt and Foucaut the King had done what the exigency of his Service requires and that I well saw that Spain could have wish'd any thing else to the end the first delivering them Peronne Monsieur the Prince might have the liberty of ranging as far as the Gates of Paris and that the other * Besides the Mareschal's Staff he had Fifty Thousand Louis Dor's given him in ready Money holding firm in Brouage and the Isle of Oleron it should be impossible for us to end the Civil War to recover all the places of the Kingdom which she had made us to lose and to reduce Guienne and other Provinces as had been done That as to the rest it was true the French were more prone than the Spaniards to fail in their Duty but that the Kings far from encouraging them by too much Mildness to hold always this ill Conduct had always used them with the greatest Rigour when the welfare of their Service had not oblig'd them to do otherwise that herein they varied not in France from the manner was used in Spain seeing when they could not remedy Rebellions and Insurrections which happened they had Patience as is apparent in relation to the Portuguise and Catalonians who have been always sought to and offer'd not only a Pardon but moreover new Priviledges and great Recompences to those of the Country who had most Credit In fine I hereunto added the Example of the Hollanders who having maintained their Rebellion to the end had at length been acknowledged by the King of Spain for Free and Independent States and their Embassadours treated as those of Soveraigns And I concluded That if more Rebellions and Revoltings were seen in France than in Spain this mishap was somewhat lessned by the facility wherewith the French return'd to their Duty which could not be said of the Subjects of the King of Spain who having once thrown off the Yoke never return'd to their obedience again but by force as appear'd sufficiently by the Example of the Hollanders who are peaceable Possessors of several Provinces which were the Patrimony of the King of Spain not an Age past That all the Revolts which had hapned in France had not yet caus'd the King to lose a Thumb's breadth of Land who on the contrary by the apparent Blessing of God had extended on all hands the limits of his Kingdom maugre the Union of so many Princes and Parliaments who had conspir'd the Ruine of the State So that the proneness of the French in failing in their Duty was corrected by the facility of their Return whereas if the Subjects of Spain do more rarely forget themselves yet when they do it they as seldom return I well perceiv'd this Discourse rack'd Don Lewis and I told him I was troubled he had oblig'd me to it but the Honour of France and that of the King required it In fine shewing some emotion he spake to me again in more earnest terms of the satisfaction of Monsieur the Prince telling me his Master's Honour was therein engaged so that he could not excuse himself from doing something considerable for him without exposing himself to a perpetual blemish and therefore he pray'd me once for all to tell him clearly what he might expect in this point seeing this being adjusted all the rest would be easily accorded in one single Conference It was here that I judg'd it conducing to the good success of this Negotiation for the Service and Dignity of the King and to know the bottom of Don Lewis's Heart to transport my self by Address in raising a little my Voice I told him then Sir you speak with a great deal of liberty and freedom on the subject of Monsieur the Prince which you regard as the principal decision of this whole Affair For my part I must declare to you that having suffer'd more patiently than I ought Four Conferences to be taken up in contesting a thing already adjusted in the Treaty of Peace Signed at Paris and ratified without therein changing a word That the King will do nothing beyond what I have declared to you and that even when his Majesty would permit me to make a longer stay on this Frontier and we should have an Hundred more Conserences you will obtain nothing more of me because his Majesty will never consent that the King of Spain should give the Prince a Recompence which may serve as a Monument to Posterity of his Rebellion and of pernicious Example to Persons of his Rank to engage themselves in the service of Spain against the King and their Country to gain like Recompences He would have interrupted me here but entreating him to let me to go on I continued to say to him That Monsieur the Prince must resolve as I have several times affirm'd to become wholly a Frenchman or wholly a Spaniard That the King would never suffer he should receive from his Catholick-Majesty other gratification than that I already mentioned That it not being reasonable Christendom should longer remain plung'd in the Abyss of Miseries wherein a long War had thrown it for the Interests more or less of a particular Person to whom for the sake of the Peace the King had parted with a thousand times more Favours than he ought and the success of the Affairs of this Kingdom permitted Besides Justice required the King should use towards the Prince the same manner as the King of Spain would use in relation to Portugal otherwise I well saw with a sensible displeasure that the consideration of Monsieur the Prince which had already hindred Three Years before the conclusion of the Peace at Madrid to the prejudice of all Christendom of which they must give an account to God who had been the cause might moreover occasion the rupture of a Peace Concluded Signed and Ratified and that if the Emissaries of Monsieur the Prince and some other Persons were able to perswade Don Lewis that holding out on this point I would yield my self in the end it being impossible for me to resolve to return without the work of the Peace receiving its perfection lest I incur the hatred of the People I therefore declared to him that tho' it were true I should be greatly grieved in not succeeding in an Affair so much desired of all the World yet I should return with this consolation That no body could with the least shew of Reason impute to me the fault of the rupture of the Peace for the conclusion of which I had so happily laboured at Paris That I believed the King might expect from the Divine Goodness in the continuation of the War the same Advantages and it may be greater than those had
by the Ordinary it was impossible I should receive them sooner Should you not have commanded me so strictly as you have done to speak to you with the greatest liberty when the Matter concerns your service yet I must have done it in this occasion lest I should have endanger'd the loss of your favour I have read what the Confident wrote me touching your Chagrin and the manner how you have dealt with her but knowing as I do that the love which she has for you is beyond all bounds and that your good nature as well as your duty make you restless as soon as you know you have displeased her and that you immediately return to the testifying to her the greatest tenderness on this account I am not greatly disquieted but I must tell you that I am not a little afflicted to hear from all hands how the world talks of you in a time when you were pleas'd to declare to me that you were resolv'd to apply your self with all possible earnestness to business and to leave nothing undone whereby you might become the greatest Prince on Earth The Letters of Paris Flanders and other parts say that you cannot be known to be the same Person since my departure and not because of me but on occasion of some one that belongs to me that you are in engagements which will hinder you from giving Peace to Christendom and to make your State and Subjects happy by your marriage and that if to avoid so great a prejudice you pass on to make it the Person whom you espouse will be very miserable without being culpable It 's said and it is confirm'd by Letters from the Court writ to persons of my Attendance which you may one day know as well as other Advices when I shall have the happiness to be near your Person It 's said then that you are always shut up to write to the Person you love and that you spend therein more time than you did in conversing with her whilst she was at Court 'T is farther added that I agree with you herein and connive at this to satisfie my Ambition and hinder the Peace It 's said that you are at odds with the Queen and those who write in softest terms say that you shun seeing her as much as you can I find moreover that the complaisance I have had for you when you were urgent with me to send sometimes News of you to this Person and receive hers ends in a continual commerce of long Letters which is to say to write to her every day and to receive an answer so that the Currier is always charged with as many Letters as there are days which cannot be without scandal nor even without blemishing the reputation of the Person and mine And that which is worse is that I am inform'd by the answers which the same Person has sent me when I would have advised her for her good and by the advises which I have continually from Rochelle that you omit nothing to engage her more and more by assuring her that your intentions are to do for her such things which you know ought not to be and which for several reasons are impossible Would to God that without wounding your reputation you could discover your thoughts to others and hear their answers which from the highest to the lowest in your Kingdom would so condemn them as to cover you with great shame and then I should not find my self in that sad condition wherein I have lain being not able to sleep a wink and knowing not what I do my mind being so opprest with sorrow that I cannot give you so good an account of your affairs as I have done heretofore God has establisht Kings after what respects Religion for the maintenance of which they ought to do all things for to watch for the good ease and preservation of their Subjects and not to sacrifice them to their particular Passions and when such unhappy Princes have appeared they have been commonly abandoned by the Divine Providence and Histories are full of the Revolutions and Miseries which they have drawn down on their Persons and States And therefore I boldly admonish you not to hesitate any longer and tho' you be the Master in a certain sense to do what you please yet you must give an account to God of your actions for saving your soul and to the World for the saving your credit and reputation For whatever you do they will judge of it as you give â—â—em occasion And though you have the goodness to write to me that you are 〈…〉 to do whatever is requisite for your good and reputation yet you must permit me to tell you that writing in other terms to Rochelle I know not what your intentions are and in this doubtfulness I must represent to you that the matter here concerns not only your honour and glory 〈◊〉 raising States often one has means to raise up both one and the other when by misfortune it has happed that they have received an till storke But in this case should your Subjects be so unhappy by your not taking the resolution you ought nothing in the World can hinder them from falling into greater miseries than ever and all Christendom with them And I can assure you of my own knowledge that the Prince of Conde and many others are on the Watch waiting for the event of this hoping if things fall out according to their minds to make good advantage of the plausible pretence which you may give them in which case this dangerous Prince will not fail to have the Parliament the Grandees and the Nobility of the Kingdom and all the People favourable to him Besides that it would not be forgotten loudly to be proclaimed that I have been the adviser and upholder of the Conduct you have hitherto held I am farther oblig'd to tell you wiâ—â— the same freedom that if you do not speedily surmount the passion which blinds you although your Marriage be perfected with the Infanta it is impossible but that in Spain they will have knowledge of the aversion you have thereto and the ill treatment the Infanta must expect if at the point of conclusion you continue to shew that all your thoughts and affections are elswhere Besides I hold it for certain that they will take at Madrid the resolutions which we would take here in like case And therefore I entreat you to consider what blessings you may expect from God and Men if for this we must begin again the bloodiest War was ever known and with the more prejudice that we have carried away the advantages of late that God has favoured your cause and the holy intentions which you and the Queen have ever had I the more willingly declare this to you in that Pimentel in his journey has intimated to me twice or thrice that all the World says you are too amorous to marry so soon and that the same thing was writ to him from
had dealt with his Majesty who had heapt on him so many favours yet his Majesty and all those who had the honour to be of his Council would be accused of imprudence should they confide again in the promises of this Prince And for conclusion I told Don Lewis that seeing he shewed such passion for the Prince's interests I resolved on my side to contribute thereto in humbly entreating his Majesty to approve of a proposition which I would offer to Don Lewis by means of which the said Prince would obtain far greater advantages than those he pretends to He heard this with great joy shewing great impatience to know what I would mention to him in this matter I told him then I would beseech the King to re-establish Monsieur the Prince and his Son in all the Offices and Governments which they had before the said Prince engaged himself in the service of the King of Spain and that in exchange of the places which were raised they should have others given them provided his Catholick Majesty would leave Portugal as it was which would end the War on all sides I never faw him so moved as he appeared in this occasion wherein all the heat of his body appeared in his face He told me there was a great deal of difference between the Duke of Braganza and Monsieur the Prince to which I replied that he said true for one was in possession of two Kingdoms and that the other had nothing In fine he far rejected this proposition alledging to me several other things which as you may believe were not heard without reply After which I told him that I would not let Lainet have any knowledge of this overture which though it was rejected by his Excellency as impracticable yet would give occasion to this man to importune him in the name of the Prince of Conde his Master I knew I might boldly make this proposition without apprehending to be taken at my word seeing that moreover this would be a means to demonstrate to Don Lewis what a ready disposition the King shewed for Peace and of what consequence the point of Potugal was which his Majesty had yielded at my humble supplication and to re-establish Monsieur the Prince in so many places Offices and Governments provided the King of Portugal might remain a peaceable Possessor of what is at present in his Obedience And Don Lewis speaking to me continually of the great advantages which the King would draw from this Peace reckoning up all the Places and Provinces which would remain in his Majesty's hands I always helpt my self out by telling him that this was not to be put in the ballance with the release which we made on the Article of Portugal although by other reasons which I would not let the Spaniards know the thing is not in effect such as I endeavoured to make it appear Here is all I judg'd fit to write to you to make known to their Majesties to whom it 's fit to declare likewise that God designs not only to have a peace between these two great Potentates but moreover to take away the aversion which has always had such firm root between these two Nations For whereas Don Lewis and I were equally afraid there should happen some quarrel between the Persons of our Train during the course of the Conferences they live together as if they had for many years contracted a firm Friendship between one another which does not appear strange between Persons of rank but to see on both sides from the most considerable even to the Grooms and Lacqueys that there should be an emulation who should be most civil and treat one another most friendly this is a thing so extraordinary that it is no marvel if we be greatly surprised with it Every day of the Conference I take care to provide Collations and this produces a good effect for during the Conference all the great Ones of Spain and the most considerable Persons of Don Lewis's Train come and drink in my Appartment and those which belong to me go into that of Don Lewis's where they are likewise very well entertained To morrow Monsieur the Mareschal of Gramont makes a great Feast at Andaye to the principal Lords who accompany Don Lews So that you see that the great Affairs in hand hinder not these Gentlemen from making good chear LETTER XIII To Monsieur de Lionne On occasion of the following Conference From St. John de Luz August the 21th 1659. I Come from receiving your Letter of Yesterday night six of the Clock I am very glad you have adjusted the Conference for to morrow and I will be there without fail at the usual hour I am the more pleased that I see you have no great hopes of adjusting any thing essential with Don Pedro Coloma seeing you could no more do it with Senior Don Lewis I wish he executes the resolution which he told you he had taken to use on his side all kind of diligence to the end this work may be the sooner perfected and if he keep his word I promise you that the most essential points shall be soon adjusted at least-wise it shall be no fault of mine if they be not But you will see and I wish I were a false Prophet that we shall confer four or five hours and depart as we are wont which is to say without coming to any positive conclusion I should be very glad if you would come here to night if it be possible to the end we might confer about the answers I have received from the King on the particular you know for we must concert the manner to execute well the orders I have receiv'd from their Majesties LETTER XIV To Monsieur le Tellier Of the Bishoprick of Apt. Conference with Don Lewis His earnestness for the satisfaction of the Prince of Conde Reasons of the Conduct of Don Lewis His Proposals on this Subject Cardinal's Answers Complaint of the slowness of Don Pedro Coloma Cardinal's judgment on the Conduct of Don Lewis To Monsieur le Tellier From St. John de Luz August the 21th 1659. I Wrote to you Yesterday by a Currier whom the Chevalier de Caderousse sent me and I defer the writing to their Majesties what past in the last Conference till the return of the King's Footman Before I enter on any other matter let me entreat you to keep secret what I wrote to you touching the Bishoprick of Apt for the King will be perhaps obliged to have more consideration for the first President of the Parliament of Aix who requests it for his Brother than for what I am to represent thereupon to his Majesty However if he thinks fit the determination of this Affair may be deferred till my return to Bourdeaux tho' I very much apprehend this will not be so soon as I wish for and judge fitting You will know the reasons of this fear and what I do likewise to hasten the conclusion of this Affair
himself on this Subject and tho' he be never so well perswaded by my Reasons when he leaves the Conferences yet communicating them to Lainet he furnishes him with Supplies and makes him believe I shall be obliged to yield to them Yet with all this as I am oblig'd to try all means to put forward Don Lewis and press him to a speedy determination and that I know the present constitution of Affairs obliges the Crown of Spain to seek its Advantages in the Peace Yet I believe I may on good grounds say that all this will end well but it would be an Imprudence to be positive in things so liable to Accidents LETTER XV. To Monsieur le Tellier Fourth Conference Of the King's Marriage Of Renunciations Don Lewis speaks again for the Prince of Conde Sharp Answer of the Cardinal who seems indifferent whether the Match be made or not Cunning Proposition of the Cardinal to sound the intention of the Spaniards in relation to Monsieur the Prince To Monsieur le Tellier From St. John de Luz Aug. 23 1659. YEsterdays Conference was a little sharp I got from it with an entire satisfaction in as much as the Stroaks which I gave some of which being bold enough have shewn me the bottom of Don Lewis his Heart and confirm'd me in the Judgment which I have made That the end of this Negotiation will be good and produce nothing but what shall be advantageous to the Service and Honour of the King The First Point which came into discourse was that of the Marriage there was no great difficulty to agree in what was said on this Point Monsieur de Lionne and the Secretary Coloma being ordered to draw up the Articles and Letters which the two Kings were to write to the Pope for a Dispensation and all other particulars which should be necessary for the more speedy finishing of this Affair I made him a long Discourse on the Renunciations telling him that as the King was going to be most obliged to promote and sustain the Interest of the Serenissima Infanta so I could not forbear proposing her to be considered by the King her Father in this occasion and tho' my Allegations could produce no effect yet I fail'd not to strengthen them with Reasons apparent enough the principal of which was the ready disposition of the King to the Peace yielding several Points on the belief he should espouse the Serenissima Infanta without her being required in Spain to make any Renunciation no one being able to imagine that the only consideration of this Marriage could oblige the King to yield on essential Points in the Treaty of Peace as he had done seeing that without exceeding the bounds of Modesty I may say that if the Infanta be the greatest Match in Europe the King is likewise the same And as to the Emperour his Dignity is transitory and it 's certain he would esteem himself the happiest Prince in the World could he strip himself of his Quality and Countries to invest himself with the Kingdom of France or Spain He answer'd me That what I said was true but were I inform'd of the Offers which the Emperour had made to obtain the Infanta and the great Advantages the King his Master might reap from this Alliance whereas having preserred that of the King he has thereby given his Nephew the most sensible displeasure imaginable there being nothing able to appease him I should be of the same opinion with him That the King prefers the making a cordial Friendship with the King of France before all other considerations whatever and to add to the Affection of Uncle the Tenderness of a Father Their Majesties know and you likewise that in this point he has told us the real Truth and that when he spake of the Offers the Emperour made the King of Spain he means the Emperour would have broke with France and carried himself in all things as the Catholick King would have had him had he granted him the Infanta as she had been promis'd to him For the Renunciations he told me he well saw that I had spoken to him about them that I might say the King rendred this Office to the Serenissima Infanta before he was her Spouse but that he did not doubt but I was well assured Don Lewis could not make in Spain the proposal of such a thing and that he would tell me as a secret that in the King of Spain's Council there was not the least thought of the Alliance without the Renunciation excepting what he and another had all the Council being averse to the Marriage it self believing that notwithstanding these Renunciations if his Master should come to lose his two Children as was greatly to be apprehended being so young the Eldest being not above Twenty Months France would lay claim to the Succession I am well perswaded of all this from very convincing Reasons and moreover I very well remember what the Queen has several times told me when the King her Brother had but one Son but I have been more pleased to hear the same thing from the mouth of the chief Minister of Spain and that all the Council of Spain have spoken conformably thereto After this he return'd to the charge on the Interests of Monsieur the Prince repeating to me all the Reasons he had mentioned to me in his favour in the preceding Conferences adding thereto what ever Lainet and the Adherents of the Prince had lately suggested to him and he reproach'd me more vehemently than ever in that his earnest entreaties could not prevail with me to intercede with the King in favour of a Prince who desired nothing more passionately than to merit by his most humble Services and Submissions the good will of the King and Queen and my Friendship in particular by giving me real marks of his and that if he could but receive some reasonable satisfaction whereby he might return into France without disgrace all things would pass as Heart could wish and in fine we should have another Golden Age. He enlarged himself much on all the Examples there were of the Clemency of the Kings of France in regard to those who had wandred from their Duty as Monsieur the Prince had done and he insisted chiefly on what the King had done in reference to Monsieur the Prince of Conty and the Mareschals of Turenne Hoquincourt and Foucaut and that in fine it was common enough in France to commit the like Crimes and not only to obtain Pardon for them but also draw Advantages from 'em And it was no hard matter for me to observe that he had studied well the Lesson which Lainet had given him on this subject seeing he repeated it word for word I confess this last Clause of his discourse greatly moved me it seeming to me that the Spaniards endeavour as much as in them lies to establish this Maxim That Rebellion is not a Crime in France but rather a means to raise ones Fortune But
to go and cast my self at his Feet to supplicate him and that however I protested to him he could not do me a greater pleasure than not to take me at my word and to end this affair as is mention'd in the Treaty of Paris in converting into Silver the Prince's Gratification as I have already above denoted I forgot to tell you that I had made him before this Proposition That if he would give to the King of Portugal the Kingdom of Sardaignia which he had offered to Monsieur the Prince I would signifie as much to his Majesty and use my utmost endeavours to make him relish this Proposition with which the King of Portugal might be satisfied and I pleasantly enlarged my self hereupon to put him from insisting any more in hopes of succeeding in the behalf of Monsieur the Prince I told him Sir here 's the best Expedient in the World to satisfie this King and to give an opportunity to the King my Master to shew to the World that he obtains for his Ally a handsom Retreat as likewise to end the War on all hands seeing the King of Portugal embracing this Expedient the Catholick King without drawing his Sword may put himself in possession of several Kingdoms the least of which is more considerable than that of Sardaignia But this Proposition served only the more to perplex him without his being able to offer any solid reason to oppose it Neither indeed can there be any for it would be far more advantagious to his Catholick Majesty to recover Portugal without striking a stroke in yielding Sardaignia to this King than to give as a pure gift this Province to Monsieur the Prince And forasmuch as the principal end of the Relation I here make you is to inform the King and if I may express my self so to instruct his Majesty in whatever there is most important for his Service and most conducing to the interests of his Crown so I will not omit as far as my little leisure will give me leave to make known to the King all the accidents which happen in several occasions in our Conferences And therefore I will tell you that Don Lewis having taken again this last time occasion to exagerate the extraordinary advantages received from this Peace by the means of which his Majesty assured his Conquests and extended their limits on all sides I told him that the King would willingly renounce all this if his Catholick Majesty would only deliver him Navarre in exchange which all the World knows belongs to him by so good a Title that there 's not a Frenchman who from the first use of his Reason is not perswaded the King has no less right to this Kingdom than to the City of Paris He ask'd me if I knew what Navarre was seeing 't was no greater than Rousillon Accept then the Proposal I made you said I to him assureing you that if you take me at my word the King will make it good but I suppose you will do nothing herein but had rather keep this little Country wherein there is not above Two or Three Places for you well know that the King my Master had once Pampelune his Catholick Majesty would be forced to dislodge from Madrid He told me in another Rencounter that the effects of War are uncertain that the Affairs of the Allies of France proceeded not so well in Germany as we could wish that they were near seeing in England such changes as would give Spain as many advantages as France had during the time of Cromwell that there was nothing to be expected from the Commotions in Naples and supposing the Peace was not made there might a great many things happen in Portugal which would give the King his Master an opportunity to draw this Thorn out of his Foot and to employ elsewhere the Forces he had hitherto been constrain'd to use on that side I answer'd him in two Words Do you know why It is because all is asleep and that you do not see several things break forth on all sides which will give you just reason to apprehend the progress of France for the future more than you have done hitherto it is because the King expecting whether the Peace will be made has ordered me to supersede all Negotiations which may make him enter into new engagements with Swedeland England and Portugal although we be continually sollicited from all sides with such offers as would affect any other Prince who can be less sensible than him of the Miseries which so long a War has brought on Christendom And I concluded That perhaps we had shut our Ears to more plausible Propositions and which might better succeed in the Kingdom of Naples than all those which had been made to us heretofore and that I prayed to God with all my Heart that the execution of the Peace might oblige me to lye still otherwise I could easily shew France to be in a more likely condition than ever to make her self seared We pass'd afterwards to entertaining our selves very friendly on the conveniencies which the two Crowns would find from the Peace and I told him that I could not comprehend how those who had heretofore held our Places and our selves too had not always laboured with all our powers to unite our Masters seeing this Union rais'd equally the power of both without giving them the least jealousie that I could assure him the greatest part of the Princes of Europe would not have a Peace and that those whose Interest it was to see it concluded seared nothing more than to behold a strict friendship made between the two Kings because both one and the other grounded their advantage in the continuation of the War or at least in the fomentation of Jealousies and Mistrusts between the two Crowns that the Conduct and Intentions of these Princes seemed to me to learn us what we should do and that it was strange we being able to give Laws to all of 'em we should put our selves into a condition to receive it from them and that in stead of obliging them to make their court to our Masters by jealousies one of another they should court 'em themselves to the great prejudice of their dignity But after all said I to him again what reason can the two Kings have to make War so obstinately against one another and with so great damage to their States and Subjects seeing it is certain that neither the Revolutions which can happen thence nor the progress which the Arms of the one can make over the other in diverse times will ever be capable of ruining so well one that the two Powers become entirely one single Body He testified he liked very well my discourse and having repeated it he told me there was no replying to what I said but I will tell you in your Ear to the end only their Majesties may know it that it troubles me to see him so indifferent for the executing of any great Enterprise
that the King of Spain can obtain no advantage of 'em but by the Treachery of some of the Portuguises themselves which they have publish'd to be the cause of the raising the Siege of Bajador and not the fear of the Army which came to attack their Lines And it must be acknowledg'd that herein he has good reason and speaks as one that has a perfect knowledge of their humour which may cast 'em into some wretched disaster for I do not perceive they seem to be concern'd to defend themselves or to make an accommodation So that for want of foresight the King and Queen of Portugal run a great risk of falling into great perplexities and losing their Crown and Persons without bringing any Remedy We afterwards discoursed of England and agreed on what could be wisht on both sides which is to say if the War continued between his Catholick Majesty and England we should observe a perfect neutrality without giving any assistance either during the present Reign or under another which might continue the War with Spain and that on their side if England should come to have a War with us they should do the same in relation to us I thought of getting clear out of this Conference without a word of Monsieur the Prince but I found my self much mistaken for Don Lewis having made me the usual declaration that this point shou'd in no sort retard the execution of the Peace and I having answered him it would delay it seeing he spoke to me continually about it to the great prejudice of Christendom whose quiet ought not to be deferred one moment for the more or less satisfaction of a particular Person who deserved punishment for having been guilty of the most horrid Rebellion was ever seen he began by repeating to me the things he so often had mention'd to me to wit the great advantages which the King drew from this Peace He insisted mightily on the renunciation of Alsatia which the King his Master made without any recompence tho' it be certain that this Province and Brisac cannot be lawfully acquired by France but by the King of Spain's renunciation to whom this should return in case of failure of the Line of the Arch Duke of Inspruck wherein it is certain he has reason and that he looks with astonishment on all the great advantages which France gains there being no instance of any Peace she has made in which she has so greatly profited whether in reputation or number of Places and extent of Country which on all sides enlarges her Frontiers In fine the conclusion of his discourse was That though on account of all these Reasons the King his Master might expect some relaxations in favour of Monsieur the Prince yet he had order to declare to me that his Catholick Majesty would think himself obliged to the King regarding it as an effect of his generosity and that himself in particular would be so too and do all things to shew me his acknowledgments if I would use my endeavours for this I told him That as I could not always repeat the same things every time he held me the same discourses I would only add That these kind of generosities are commonly exercised between private Persons but that great Kings what Friendship soever they might have never steer'd by these motives in things which regarded their reputation and the good of their Kingdoms and that as I would never pretend to the liberty of asking of the King of Spain any thing which should be against his interest and honour so I could not but find it strange that his Excellency far from dealing thus should insist still on the same arguments though I had without vanity be it spoken entirely overthrown ' em He afterwards desired me not to take it ill if he proposed to me an Expedient he had thought on which was that his Catholick Majesty to oblige the King to give a place of surety to Monsieur the Prince as Havre de Grace might be should give Olivenza to the Duke of Braganza besides his re-establishment in his Lands and Honours and the Office of Constable of Castile I told him I belived he jeer'd me and that we should make no great progress if we spent our time in such kind of projects that Monsieur the Prince would be more considerable with Havre de Grace than he was heretofore with all the Places and Governments he had and that the King of Portugal would receive for a recompence of two Kingdoms he was now possest of his Estate and a place which was in the heart of Spain forty Leagues off of Lisbon and Portugal which is to say that instead of surety this which was offered him was a Trap for him and that did I not believe he offered me these Proposals to move laughter I should have great reason to be scandaliz'd at his thinking me a man fit to put such discourses on He fell to laughing in effect and replied to me he saw well I was informed what kind of place Olivenza was and that I had reason to say that if his Master recovered Portugal this place and that of Elvas should be raised as having been fortified by the Duke of Braganza only to make head against the Countries under his Catholick Majesty's Obedience However he omitted not for all this to use other discourses touching Monsieur the Prince and perceiving I grew a little hot in my answers Well then said he we will conclude the Peace we will do it sincerely Monsieur the Prince shall cast himself at his most Christian Majesty's feet and present him his Son whom he shall leave with his Majesty and he will go to Venice or Holland where he may live on the Money my Master will give him in payment of what he owes him and this will not be over well I answered him that Monsieur the Prince accepting the favours the King offered him by the Peace neither he nor his Family would want the Spanish Money for subsistance and that as to the rest he need not be at the pains to cast himself at the King's feet nor bring his Son thither unless he determined before hand to submit to what he was obliged by the Treaty of Paris seeing without the King could not receive him nor let him enjoy the Priviledges granted him by this Treaty So that the Tryal he made to see whether the Prince might not do thus served only to disabuse him and put him out of hopes of it After this I thought 't was fit to conclude although the Conference lasted not so long as half the time of the others and I made the bad weather and rotten ways a pretence for this But as I arose he prayed me to give him the liberty of sending Monsieur Pimentel to me by whom he hoped to propose to me some Expedient as well in relation to Monsieur the Prince as what remained to be adjusted which would be to my satisfaction I told him I should be very glad
of it desiring nothing more than to embrace all those which might put an end to this Negotiation without prejudicing the Honour or Service of the King But I must confess to you I was strangely surprised when I found by the discourse Pimentel held me that instead of offering me Proposals on the Overture I had made to use my endeavours with the King to obtain some new favour for Monsieur the Prince if he laid at his Majesties feet the Places should be given him by his Catholick Majesty he repeated to me the same things Don Lewis had mentioned to me to excite the King's Generosity and to oblige me to contribute what in me lay thereto and let slip before me that Don Lewis had promised to make him the happiest man in Spain if he could prevail with me on this point I replied to all this that I had reason to be angry with Don Lewis in thinking me capable to give at the stances of a Person whom he sent me what I had refused at his and as to the rest I took Monsieur Pimentel to be too honest a man to design the raising his own Fortune on the ruine of my Reputation After this I pretended to be in a passion at Don Lewis's Proceedings and to apprehend he had concealed Ends in these delays he brought in setling matters which might have been adjusted in one only Conference adding I did not doubt but if I imparted this manner of proceeding to the King his Majesty would command my return it being apparent this delay greatly prejudiced his Affairs For besides his losing several advantages which he might reasonably expect in this Campaign he is likewise obliged on the belief the Peace will be soon proclaimed to hold his Allies in Suspence who press him on all hands to make particular Treaties with them In fine to avoid the prolixity wherein I should fall were I to give a particular account of what past with Pimentel I shall content my self with assuring their Majesties that I sent him away as well satisfied with my reasons as I could be my self and in a disposition of apprehending greatly the Resolutions I might take thereupon and being not yet satisfied with whatever I had said to him I wrote to Monsieur de Lionne who was at Andaye to the end that communicating my Note to the Sieur Pimentel he might the more easily remember to represent the same things to Don Lewis and in a manner as earnest as I had explained my self in of which charge I do not doubt but he will well acquit himself hoping that in the first Conference Don Lewis will yield to the putting an end to this affair The business ended not here for continuing to speak to me still on Monsieur the Prince he told me he could safely call God to witness that he had no other motive in this pursuit than to see all Parties so well satisfied that there might never happen the least alteration in the Peace which was about concluding and that as my particular friend he would entrust me with a scruple which came into his head which was that he greatly apprehended lest the Infanta who on one hand had a great deal of wit and on the other a great deal of tenderness for the King her Father having heard talk of nothing else for several years but the great services Monsieur the Prince had rendred him that he had been the cause by the diversions made in France of the taking of Barcelona and the reduction of all Catalonia and other Advantages which Spain had obtained whether in taking Places from us and especially Cambray the preservation of which they believe they wholly owe to him that he apprehended I say That coming into France with all these things in her mind she should prevail in all occasions relating to the Prince's Service in procuring him the King's favour and all the marks of it he could desire which perhaps might not produce a good effect whether in relation to the Publick or what might particularly concern me I replied to him with a smiling Countenance that I found my self greatly obliged to him for his good intentions and the Friendship he shewed me in opening to me his heart on so nice an affair but I entreated him not to be much troubled at whatever might happen hereupon because that though I no ways doubted of the inclinations of the Serenissima Infanta towards Monsieur the Prince whom she loved as a faithful Servant of her Father and the Spanish Monarchy not knowing at present other interests than those of the King her Father yet I assured my self that being the King's Wife she would prefer the Interests and Service of the King her Husband and his Children before any other consideration and look with an ill Eye on Monsieur the Prince as believing him capable of falling again into the same faults to the prejudice of a Kingdom of which she would be the Queen and though I had well observ'd that his Excellency had contented himself with speaking of the inclination of the Infanta for Monsieur the Prince without mentioning any thing of the aversion she had for me who have done a great deal more against the House of Spain than Monsieur the Prince had done for it I ever doubted of the Hatred of the Infanta to me without any great trouble considering from the same reason that becoming Queen of France she would honour with her good will a Person who has served the King and Kingdom with all the Fidelity and Industry possible and who would continue to do it to his last breath So that marrying the King Monsieur the Prince and I should change places in her affections where she would give me that he possesses at present and to him mine I am now to tell you to the end their Majesties may know it that I have learnt from Pimentel that the Horses which Don Lewis would give to the King which according to the relation of those who have seen them are the stateliest in the World will not be presented in his name but in the name of the Catholick King who has ordered him to put them into my hands to take care they be sent to his Majesty So that we must think of returning a Present to the King of Spain which I will remit to Don Lewis by the King's order to the end he may carry it to the King his Master I have already wrote to Paris what I judge fit and in due time will send the Memorial of things of which I think the Present should consist and though 't is usual to give things wherein there is more Art than Riches yet I will endeavour so to order it that here may be both We must also make a considerable Present to Don Lewis as well for that he will sign the Articles of Marriage as that it will be he that will Espouse the Infanta in Virtue of the King's Power and sign the Treaty likewise of Peace A Present