Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A28903
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The prince of Conde made English.; Prince de Condé. English
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Boursault, M. (Edme), 1638-1701.
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1675
(1675)
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Wing B3860; ESTC R19455
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60,258
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204
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have extorted from me I consent upon no other condition but that for the future your presence does not reproach my weakness and it is by your obedience in this point that I must be convinced of your love These words went very near him yet as soon as the King of Navarre was gone he took his leave also This parting was not however without great trouble it cost the Prince many a sigh and Madam la Mareschalle who had forced her self much to conceal her own sorrow ceased to constrain her self as soon as he was out of sight and paid him in tears for all the sighs he had laid out Things being in this posture betwixt the Prince and Madam la Mareschalle the King of Navarre more in spight to his Brother then any religious consideration turned Catholick and went over to the Church of Rome Before this the Connestable de Montmorency had always been of the Princes party but being informed that the Prince had moved in Counsel for the resumption of some gifts and supposing himself the mark at which he principally aimed because in the Reign of Henry the Second he had received One hundred thousand Crowns of which he had given no account he joyned himself with the Duke of Guise and the Mareschal de S. André under pretence of preserving the Religion of his Ancestors But the truth is it was only fear of being obliged to refund and all that could be said by his Son the Mareschal Mortmorency repuced the Wisest Man in the Kingdom was not of power to divert him This League which the Hugonotes called The Triumvirate being augmented by the accession of the King of Navarre and the reputation that accompanied him as Lieutenant General of the Kingdom the Hugonots forsook Paris where the Catholicks were prevalent The Protestants were no sooner in the Field and the Prince of Condé at the head of them but they began to make their Enemies tremble as their Enemies had made them before The Catholicks would not propose it to the King to return to Paris because the Prince of Condés party increasing daily in their numbers it was not impossible but they might seize upon the Kings person To prevent the mischeifs of such an accident the King of Navarre the Duke of Guise and the Connestable repaired to Fountainbleau with all speed where they found the Queen hesitating and uncertain which party she should take besides that she was weary of the domination of the Guises it is said that the Prince of Condés Religion appeared more commodious to her then her own The History mentions a Letter which the Queen-Mother writ to him some few days before which he sent afterwards to all the Protestant Princes in Germany to provoke their assistance the words of it were these I Watch only for a favorable opportunity to embrace your Party and perhaps your Religion Have you a care on your side and act prudently that after so great an advance I may have no cause to desist On my part I will omit nothing that may deliver me from the oppression I am under I know what measures I am to take to lull and infatuate the Guises and when they believe me the best Friend they have in the World I shall let them see That in Italy there is no such Vertue as Sincerity Consider the great confidence I repose in you and that I do intrust you with my Sons Interest the Kingdoms and my Own It was a strange surprise to the Queen-Mother to find her self pressed by the Confederates to bring the King back again to Paris Before she could put her self under the protection of the Prince she expected till his Army should be strong enough to constrain the rest of the Kingdom to the expulsion of the Guises and because daily Gentlemen were observed to repair to him from all the Provinces in France to tender him their service she thought that time was not far off and therefore expected it with the more patience These considerations obliged her to temporise and her design was as soon as the King of Navarre and his Associates were returned to Paris to take a contrary Road and carry the King to Orleans which was the place of the Prince of Condés Rendezvous and the cheif receptable of his Party The Duke of Guise having had long experience of her cunning told her That the Person of the King was too dear to them to be trusted out of their sight in so ticklish a conjuncture and the King of Navarre who was naturally frank added That for her self she might stay if she pleased but there was a necessity that the King must go along with them and calling for his Coach they carried him with tears in his eyes to Melun that night the next day to the Bois de Vincennes and from thence to Paris where under pretence of magnificence they placed a strong guard about him The Prince was much troubled when he understood the King was in his Enemies hands and thinking at first it had been a trick of the Queens he took all ways that he could invent to revenge himself of her He published a Manifesto remonstrating That the King of Navarre was entred into intelligence with the Guises to keep their Soveraign in durance and to justifie what he said he inserted the Queens Letter to him and offered a sight of the original to any Man that suspected it There was so much probability in what he affirmed That all who were impartial and not of the Guises Party absolutely made no scruple to believe it However those who were Neutral and neither of the one party nor the other got together in troops to demand the inlargement of their King and their numbers increased so fast that they grew formidable to the Confederates insomuch that they were obliged to procure a Declaration from him which they dispersed into all the Provinces of the Kingdom importing That their Majesties were perfectly at liberty and had chosen Paris as a place more proper for their safety that to cajole the Hugonotes who had a design to have seised upon the King the Queen-Mother had thought it convenient to flatter them with frivolous hopes and to wheedle the cheif of their Party with a Letter that had succeeded as she desired This Declaration was followed with an Arrest of the Parliament permitting any Man to murder the Protestants where-ever they met them as persons guilty of Treason both against God and their King Nevertheless no hostility having been committed either on one side or the other the Chancellor de l'Hospital one of the wisest men of his time used all his interest to dissipate a storm that had been gathering and condensing so long But his endeavors were ineffectual the War brake out in so many places together that nothing but a shower of Blood could extinguish it Love which commonly is not to be found but amongst sports and recreations had the courage to behold all these dreadful preparations for a
he had some intimation of their design against his person and that if the Prince were of the same mind it would be to no purpose to think of an accommodation However the Queen would not desist and it may be said to her praise supposing always that she meant as she said that the offers which she made were so reasonable that the Peace would have been infallibly concluded had not the Admiral perverted the Prince by his ill Counsels After two hours conference they parted and nothing concluded the Prince and Madam la Mareschalle who had not seen one another but in the presence of the Queen and were afraid on both sides least their eyes should have been wanting in the explication of their minds separated with extraordinary regret Both parties were now at a considerable distance when the Queen unwilling to be any ways defective in so generous a point sent for the Prince to come back and desired Madam la Mareschalle to alight out of the Coach and privately to conjure him from the interests of the Admiral She obeyed her Majesties commands and the Prince seeing her make towards him advanced to save her the pains and quickly arrived at the place which he desired He cast his eyes about and seeing no body near enough to understand what he said Ah Madam cryed he how cruel a thing is it to love To see and not to have the courage to speak Madam la Mareschalle apprehending she was observed by the Queen told him upon what account she was commanded to meet him and desired to know what he intended to do Let us leave I beseech you Madam replied the Prince these affairs of State and seeing our time of being together is so short be not so unkind as to deprive my love of any part of it For in short Madam said he my heart is too entirely yours to suffer you to be ignorant of its condition I must confess I do but equivocate with the Queen but I have too great honor for you to use any collusion and the peace which I refuse may assure you that my coming hither was more to injoy the happiness of your sight then to entertain propositions of that nature And what will be the effect of this enterview replied the Lady if we must immediately part and perhaps never to see one another again If the sight of me was so dear to you as you would have me believe you would not leave me so easily and the terms which are offered you would seem reasonable enough to prevail with you to embrace an occasion that might give you more frequent access Alass Madam replied the Prince how unhappy shall I be to leave you if your kindness continues The hatred I retain for the Guises is not proof against those favorable sentiments which you have been pleased to express towards me And although it will have great reflection upon my honor to leave the insolencies committed against me unrevenged yet I shall wave them with delight if the sacrifice of my resentments may in any measure convince you of the greatness of my passion I require nothing of your love replied the Lady something fiercely that may be a prejudice to your honor If the esteem I have for you be any ways considerable it is to your own reputation alone that you are indebted And as great a Prince as you are perhaps I should not so easily have granted it had not you been a greater Man and your merits been more venerable than your dignity I cannot but tell you said she it is a great trouble to me that the Peace is not concluded but it would be much more should any thing be patched up to your diminution I should be so far from interpreting the sacrifice of your honor to be an expression of your love that I should understand it a weakness that would make me repent the injustice of my choice and if you will give me leave to advertise you with sincerity my heart at present charmed with the greatness of your exploits would easily disabuse it self if any thing should escape wherewith you might be equitably reproached The Prince overjoyed to hear what he did replied with a transport he could not conceal How infinitely happy am I Madam to find so much generosity in a person I shall adore as long as I live How dear to me must my honor be that is so much considered by your Ladiship and if my exploits were acceptable to you before it was my design to please you what shall I not do now to augment a reputation that renders me so much a debtor to your goodness After which he told her upon what grounds he refused the Peace representing to her that the Guises were in possession of a place that belonged to his birth and he was in equity to dispute it though they had been advanced to it by their merit As to Religion said he I do not intend that shall be any impediment to my fortune nor have I imbraced this of which I make profession now because it was the better but in opposition to the House of Lorrain and that I might be their enemy For let me but revenge my self for the affronts which I have received from them and it imports not of what Religion I am What shall I say to the Queen replied Madam la Mareschalle in a manner that expressed the trouble she conceived to leave him She expects your answer and you know her impatience In the name of that thing which is most dear to you in the whole World replied the Prince do not hasten a separation that will be so irksome to me The affairs which the Queen has committed to your conduct are not of so little consequence to be slubbered over in haste and perhaps I may never again have so happy an opportunity of seeing you But Sir said she with great tenderness if we should be longer together what should we say Ah Madam replied the Prince had I given as much love as I have received what is it we should not say Farewel Sir cried Madam la Mareschelle who perhaps began to suspect her own continence I am married and it is enough to tell you can hear you no farther If you have any value for my esteem you know upon what terms it is to be obtained and how you are to comport to deserve it But as dear as your honor is to you I would not have you purchase it at too great a rate nor be too prodigal of a life for which perhaps I have a greater concern then you imagine Once again adieu and with those words she took her leave of the Prince who conjured her to stay some few moments longer but she told him That it was no argument of his affection to have so little care of her reputation and his love being accompanied with great reverence and respect he suffered her to depart and contented himself to wait upon her with his eyes till she came to