Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
religion_n	church_n	great_a	rome_n	5,301	5	6.4962	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29924	A journey into Spain	Brunel, Antoine de, 1622-1696.; Aerssen, François van, 1630-1658.	1670 (1670)	Wing B5230; ESTC R25951	133,285	256

chusing rather to enjoy the fruits of their good fortune than to make an advantageous use of it and to lose the honor and profit of their greatest actions then not to repose and take breath at the end of the course Such politicks belong only to those that have better arms then heads and that value not the Prise so much as the Race nor Crowns and Triumphs as Battails and Victories I mean that preferre the way before the end and great actions above the felicities they lead to To the two high advantages I have mentioned of the Spanish Politicks derived from the great circumspection that attends them a third may be added which is that whensoever they have any design in hand they can so secretly give it maturity that nothing is discovered of it till at once it surprises and ashonishes They work under ground and with much care that nothing of their design takes vent least which may be discovered by their meen countenance they counterfeit sleep when most awake at Sentry and ready to discharge and though at other times very jealous of reputation are not then displeased to have their power decried nor to be accused of weakness that such erroneous judgment may cause their enemies so much to neglect standing on their Gard they may take them unprovided and overthrow those that think them to be in a condition neither to attacque nor defend themselves Shadowed by such secresie and secured by such artifice they have sometimes very sodainly advanced and passing by the conquest of all Sicilia it is known that in our daies they have successfully done this and when least apprehended appeared before Tarragon and Lerida with more forces then they were thought to be Masters of In a word they have ever been secret to admiration and so excellently practised in that politick dissimulation so usefull in governing and that can so well aid it self with disguise that they have often by it obtained such effects as by force they could never have arrived at And when these little Maxims fail of success in warr they have recourse to Treaties and Conferences where they so dexterously make use of them that in one maner or other they gain all advantages can be expected from them On account of which I must needs take notice that they obtain the better in Negotiations by means alone of that flegmatick and extraordinary patience that tires and quenches the heat of other people leading them about through so many labyrinths that at last weary of conferring so long and concluding nothing they comply with part of what is desired and perhaps in conclusion yield to the rest so to purchase that repose Spain seems so unwilling to grant them because sensible of their weakness and that they pursue with impatience whatsoever they have once hoped for Thus by a judicious obstinacy they oftentimes overcome the greatest opposition against what they design and by compliance possess themselves of what they cannot obtain by contestation But to stay no longer on consideration of Policies that have within themselves turnings and windings very particular I will only add that it is conceived something might be amended in their Catholicon I mean in that excess of zeal real or pretended they make appear in matters of Religion It is very evident that this fire sometimes warms Spain to its prejudice and may sooner consume her than convince those she would by it win to her interests And no less known that the Popes are not kinder to her on this account but suspect her passion for the Church of an humane infirmity that stretches toward heaven only to grow higher upon earth and that she gains no friends intirely but a share only of their inclinations by those wayes that make her real enemies that have a perfect hatred and aversion for her In a word her constant designe and to which she seems engaged as by oath not to suffer Protestants in her Dominions and to persecute them in their own is a state secret that hath been so well examined by Catholicks that its true price and value is sufficiently understood by them and no less by those against whom it is directed which causes them to apprehend that on such specious principles she engages to their ruine to satisfie her ambition and that high aim of which she is accused by uniting in one body so many different Dominions to become head of Christendom In the mean time the present composure of Europe and form of the establishment of Christianity considered she ought to cast off this thought and recollect that the two parties into which it is divided are almost equal and if they should come to a shock with the Body of their Forces victory would a long time hover incertain which side to take and perhaps not hers though seconded by all the Roman Legions She ought to understand her Catholicon to be but a thin visard to her Ragione di stato that it hath often discovered the secret which hath been known every where and to examine how small the advantages are of following Maxims that exasperate one party and gain not the other My meaning is she should confine her self within the limits of temporal interest without mixing Religion with it which descended not from heaven to destroy Society and that it will nothing avail her to make so many signes of the cross against Protestants Let her therefore permit them to live and living with them make them understand she hath absolved her self from that vow at least if there were any such which obliged her on all occasions to endeavour their destruction and that of their Church From such a change of conduct she would derive two great advantages for she would be more considerable at Rome by seeming less attached to the interests of that Court and more redoubted by France by diverting part of the inclination of those of the Reformed Religion which it believes it self alone possesses with exclusion of all other Catholick Princes never giving testimonies of open hatred nor persecuting with fire and fagot that which ought to be the object only of prayer and perswasion Having drawn some lines of the nature and qualities of the Spanish policies it remains that I give such a draught of those of the French as may discover part of their extent and Forces that by comparing them we may judge which is likely to get the better of its rival The later are so variable and of a form so transient that hours and moments which ever fly have no swifter revolution and the former are as contrary and appropriated to fixation it is very difficult to paint the one because of the rapidity of its course and no less so to determine which of the two is more potent by reason of the continual conflict they have so long strugled in without yielding on either side One would think they had divided between them all the skill of the Fencing-school and that the one comes on with better

the same honors paid him this was not the first time that more had been promised at Madrid than performed at Bruxels she who is entirely devoted to the Spaniards and governs her self by their Councels only did nothing on this occasion that was not agreed on with them and most certain that the Prince of Conde made appear such a contempt of their vanity and indifference for her that they were ashamed as well of their own as his proceeding this obliged the Spaniards to endeavour their reconciliation and to find a neutral place where they might accidentally meet which happened in the Pall mall where a game was agreed on in which both of them were on the same side but this had no effect and they parted with the same indifference as at first What I have observed of the humour and comportment of this Princess is but the sum of what I have heard from those that discourse of the designe of this Court in its many caresses to her of which publick curiosity hath gained so little light we may conclude that nothing is so certain as the uncertainty of it Some will have that no Northern puissance having been so fatal to the House of Austria as that of the Kingdom she abandoned the chief Minister aimed at acquiring her affection and making use of her animosity against her Country for discovering its greatest secrets To this fancy they add that it being improbable that the King that succeeds her should continue long in peace with the Emperor her Councils and Creatures that continue in Swede may be useful as most proper against all correspondence he may have in Germany for thwarting the Election of the King of the Romans and forming a party capable of recalling him with another manner of power then what he had before Prague when he retired with so great regret and discovered that if he had not so strong a hand nor so long an Arm as the great Gustavus his Uncle he had no less thirst after victory Others as ridiculous imagine that a principle of generosity and bounty obliges the King to maintain an Ambassador with this Queen to comfort her in her Eclipse of Dignity by continuing such an acknowledgement of Power and Honour and that to mitigate her resentments he will in time make her Vice-Queen of Naples or some other Realm where though she command not over so largely extended a Dominion nor with a power so ablolute as when she sate on the Throne she will have the satisfaction to enjoy a pleasanter Climate There are that when they must needs acknowledge they cannot comprehend to what purpose the chief Minister is so solicitous in cultivating this Queens good graces have recourse to Zeal for Religion and that he proposeth to himself no other end nor other glory then to cause an abjuration of her Faith to follow the renunciation of her Crown and to send her to Rome as his triumph for so great a work Whatever it be that moves the Spaniards to a Negotiation that to most wits seems very useless this is most certain that if they have complacency for this Princess she hath no less for them For besides what I have already said I have had advice that at her arrival at Antwerp she extolled the beauty of that City with such excess she made no difficulty of preferring it before the kingdom she had quitted nor of saying She had rather be Marchioness of Antwerp then Queen of Sweden It is most certain that in Stockholm it self in her familiar discourse she made it manifest she had no great value either for her Countrey or Subjects whither this were a designe and foresight that as she should not long command the latter so she would soon quit the former or an effectual aversion for her people caused by frequentation of strangers and contempt of her Countrey by reason of the relations they made her of the benignity of the Air they breathed in the parts where they were born Besides all this it is well known that after she had testified a desire to become Mediatress of a peace between France and Spain about which she had discourse with Mr Chanut when he was to see her assuring him that the Spaniards wished it and would put their concernments into her hands if France would do the like she was angry when she knew her interposal was not accepted and writ to him in terms very different from the former and more advantagious to Spain amongst her respects for all that comes to her in the name of that King might be reckoned her manner of living with Antonio Piementelli were it believed she had the same value for his Character as for his person she hath an extraordinary propensity to all he propounds even to a forcing her own inclinations to a compliance with his She is known to be Learned and to love Books and Schollars yet busies her self in trifles to suit his Genius in such a manner that if any Learned men visit her whilst he is present she avoids such discourses as may discover his weakness be tedious to him strike him dumb and constrain that gay humour is reported to be so natural to him Having reported all that the Spanish Criticisms informed me in those matters of State whether Catholic or Paradoxical which because of freshest date are their most usual entertainments and having mentioned their opinions of those that manage them or that are or have bin their principal or accessary objects it is time to say something of such Ministers of forreign Princes as I had the honour to be acquainted with in this Court the first of these was the Earl of Fieschi Agent for the Prince of Conde he was very kind to us and being as well one of the greatest wits as Gallants of the French Court it is pity he hath engaged himself in a party and employment that hath so much altered his constitution and changed his humor so that he is hardly to to be known by those that have been most particularly acquainted with him he is fallen into a sickness that by intervals makes him pale disorders his pulse and disables him for company or discourse He keeps a good Table the Countrey he is in considered when we eat with him it afflicted us to see him in the middle of a meal rise from his seat and cast himself on a bed At access of the fit he sodainly changes colour and one would think him fainting this is supposed to be the effect alone of melancholly and displeasure caused by the troubles in which he is engaged which have separated him from his relations estate and tranquility of the life he had wont to lead He took the Prince of Conde's party out of inclination and generosity only for it is said he had not the least cause of discontent either from the Court or chief Minister and his interest would rather have led him to have followed the Duke of Orleans and Madamoiselle then any other his