any

the fervice of his father, and being of that rank and quality as had feldom received diminution upon the fucceffion of the crown. But his majefty very quickly difcovered fuch an averfion for him, that he did not receive him with any degree of grace, nor admit him into any kind of confultation, there being fome perfons of inferior condition about him who had made it their bufinefs to make the worst impreffion they could of him, principally infufing into Him, that he was the moft obnoxious perfon in England, and the most ingrateful to all degrees of perfons, and therefore his Majefty could not do a more unpopular thing than to receive fuch a perfon into any kind of credit with him. Thefe and the like infufions prevailed fo far, as that an obstinate averfion was too eafily difcovered by those who ftood very near, and he himfelf difcerned it foon enough not to expofe himself till it was difcerned by others at a farther distance; and therefore he speedily withdrew himself from any further attendance, and retired to his command in the army, where he grew every day, and where he pleafed himself with the having difcharged his duty in the overture of his fer-vice, and as much, that that overture was rejected, the acceptance whereof might have made him lefs folicitous to have profecuted his fortune, which providence had laid before him, in a more fpecious way. And in his refentments of this kind he was naturally very fharp and flowing, let the perfons be of what quality foever which were to be mentioned upon thofe occafions; and yet within two or three years, together with the progrefs he made in the war, he recovered fo much cre

dit with the perfon of the king, by his own pure addrefs and dexterity, that he not only made himfelf acceptable to him in conversation, but fo gracious, that he made him knight of the order, which was the greatest honour he could bestow, and the most useful to the perfon on whom he beftowed it. And here he again congratulated his ftars for the neglect and affront he had formerly fuftained, and his own genius for the honour and reparation he had wrought out for himself by his wifdom in fupporting it; and at the time when he had this obligation conferred upon him, the king was at the Louvre with his mother, and the city of Paris, with many of the princes, in rebellion. Whilft the king and his army were about St. Germains, he frankly undertook, by his pretence to pay his duty to the king, that he would introduce officers and men enough to poffefs himself of the Louvre, where the king was in great jealousy and umbrage with the princes and the city; and when the execution of this defign was by fome accident interrupted, he never thought he owed an apology to the king for engaging in fuch an enterprize, in which his perfon and his honour was to be fo much concerned, without fo much as communicating it to himself; but would with all affurance declare, that he ought not to let the king know of it, because it could not be prefumed be would confent to it, and then it would be in his power to prevent it; and therefore it ought to be done without his privity, which would abfolve him from being thought to have a hand in it, and the advantage would be fo great to the king of France's fervice, and his own glory in the luftre of such

an

an action, that he was obliged in honour to undertake it.

His commands now were grown fo confiderable, not only in point of honour, but in point of profit (the greatest part of the trade to Paris being driven under his paffes and licence, he having the command of thofe rivers by which they were to have their entrance) that it was concluded by all men, that he would in a very short time raise a very great eftate to himself, it being evident enough that he never difpenfed with, or remitted the leaft fum of money which he could exact; that he never made expence in eating or drinking; never had any expence in equipage; never exercised any thing of bounty towards friend, fervant or dependant, and as little charity towards any perfon who stood in want of relief, of which he had worthy objects enough in many diftreffed perfons of his own country; yet (which is the most wonderful part of his life) he was not only always without money, but without thofe fupplies of linen and clothes which all men were poffeffed of who ferved in a much inferior condition; all which (for it was notorious to all) men then imputed to his excefs in play and gaming, in which he was exceedingly delighted, and always over-reached, for he played not well; and to fome amours in which he had always the vanity to involve himfelf, and to which he might possibly make fome facrifices for that vanity's fake. It is very true he was in his conftitution, and as much in his nature, very amorous; and whether to exercife that part of his oratory, which he thought graceful and powerful in making love, or for the natural effects of it, he was very feldom without fuch a

deity to facrifice to, which he alm ways performed fo induftrioufly, that he feemed to neglect all other things of the world. He would admire and extol the perfon he adored beyond what any of the poets had ufed to do, and then grieve and lament, and bewail his own want of merit, and unworthiness, even in tears, at his miftrefs's feet, making all the promises and vows imaginable, and would procure letters of his wife's desperate sickness of fome disease that could not be cared, nor fupported above two, or three months, and thereupon make offers and promifes of marriage with the fame importunity as if the time were ready for contract; and when either fuccefs, or want of fuccefs, had put an end to, or allayed the fervour of thefe addreffes, he was as ready and folicitous in any new embarkation, and would act as romantic exploits, as are recited in any of the romances. Whilft he was a votary to a lady of noble extraction and incomparable beauty in Paris, it happened that a young abbot frequented the fame house, and found his prefence lefs agreeable than he had formerly thought it had been, and had thereupon ufed fome expreffions, according to the custom and liberty of that nation and that people, which the lady thought herfelf difobliged by, and complained of it to many perfons of quality who used to be in her prefence. This noble lover being once well informed where the abbot was, and what journey he intended to make, fent an officer that he could truft with

fome horfe and took him prifoner, and fent him to the lady with a letter, that if he made not an entire and humble fatisfaction to her for his miscarriage, he had appointed the

guard

guard to bring him to him, and he hould thereupon do fuch further juftice as was fit. The lady was infinitely furprised and scandalized with the reparation, caused the abbot immediately to be difmiffed, without feeing him, and fignified ker defire to the officer that his fuperior would meddle no more in her intereft, or any thing relating to her reputation; and fo the matter ended, with the general laughter of the court, it being in a time when greater extravagancies could not be examined and punished. This wonderful humour continued with him to his age, and I believe will part with him laft of all his good qualities, for he is not more pleased with any, and owns this paffion, when he meets with an object worthy of his address, with the fame fervour and importunity, with the fame languishing and tears, which he hath found benefit by near forty years, and therefore practises it with the fame affurance.

When the cardinal was compelled to leave the court and the kingdom, he left this perfon in great truft with the queen, who took all occahons, by frequent conferences with him, and frequent teftimonies of his parts and abilities, to exprefs a very good and particular efteem of him, which he (according to the kindness he naturally had for himself) interpreted to proceed from his own great merit and abilities, which had rendered him very gracious to his majefty; and thereupon began to delight himself with the contemplation of the glorious condition he fhould be poffeffed of, if he could now fucceed the cardinal in the office of premier minifter in France. And this tranfported him fo far, that he was not only well contented

with the univerfal jealoufy and cla mour against the cardinal's return, but bare-faced took upon himself to advise the queen not to affect it, as a thing impoffible to be brought to pafs, and that the very defiring it would expofe her own fecurity to great hazard; which fhe no fooner perceived (though with a countenance of grace) than fhe gave the cardinal advertisement of it, that he might incur no further inconvenience by that truft; and the other found himfelf infenfibly deprived of all further opportunities to give any counfel, and was fhortly after fent with his troops into Italy in an enterprize which was not intended for fuccefs, and as soon as he returned from thence, upon pretence of state, and with many compliments from the cardinal, in the affignation of monies to be paid to him (though not half of what was in truth due upon his appointments) he was cafhiered of all his commands, and obliged to depart out of France, and not to return thither; leaving behind him the reputation of a very extraordinary perfon, wonderfully qualified for fpeculation, but fomewhat defective in reducing those fpeculations into practice.

Magnis tamen excidit aufis. Being now to begin the world again, he repaired into Flanders to the king, pretending that he had brought enough with him to fupport him a year, which was four times more wealth than any person about his majefty could pretend to, and was indeed much more than he had any view of; for within lefs than fix weeks he had spent all that he brought from France, and therefore he beftirred himself betime for early ways of fupply. He ftaid very few days with the king at Bruffels,

but

but the army being then in the field, and under the command of Don Juan, he repaired fpeedily to him. His friends, who wished him very well, defpaired that he would find any good reception there; it is very true he had the language of a Spaniard, having been born, and lived many years in Madrid, as hath been faid before, but the gaiety of his humour, and his whole behaviour was moft contrary to the nature of Spain; befides, he had in his whole comportment, both in France and Italy, rendered himself very ungracious to that whole nation. Don Alonzo de Cardinas, who was in principal truft about Don Juan, had lived very many years in England, knew the other gentleman very well, and the univerfal reproach he lay under there, and how unfuccefsful his fine mercurial temper had always been in the forming any folid counfels, and therefore he was like to ufe all his credit to obftruct his pretences. Lastly, he had commanded a party of horse and dragoons a year or two before, in a winter expedition upon Flanders; which was the moft famous for plunder and all kind of rapine, and for the unneceffary conflagration of many villages and towns, that had been in that whole war. So that his name had been rendered most odious in lampoons and fongs throughout that whole province; all which, together with the ftreights and neceffities the Spanish affairs at that time were in, and the infupportable poverty both of the army and the court at that time, would have difcouraged any other man from that application; but all this rather fharpened than abated his edge; and after he had stayed three or four days at Bruffels with the king, and entertained his ma

jefty with variety of pleasant difcourfes concerning France and Italy, especially the great expreffions the cardinal ufed to him at parting, when all mistakes were cleared and a new friendship entered into between them, he made his journey to Don Juan, who was then with his army before Condè, without any other advantage or credit than the ftrength of his own genius; for he carried not with him fo much as any recommendation from the king, nor defired it. His reception at the army was with ftate and reservation enough, as a man towards whom they meant to stand upon their guard. In the mean time he, according to his natural vivacity, made all his addreffes as well to the minifters and officers, as to Don Juan, as was most proper to their feveral tempers and humours, in which he prevailed fo far over Don Alonzo's own parched ftupidity, and commending his great abilities in ftate affairs (in which he was invincibly ignorant) that he thought he had not well enough known him before, and wifhed he might have credit enough with Don Juan and the Marquis Carracina, that he might be believed in the teftimony he gave of him. In a very few days he had made himself fo acceptable to all kind of perfons, that he was generally looked upon as a very fine gentleman, and of extraordinary parts; and Don Juan himself was very well pleafed to fee him frequently, and especially at thofe feafons when he was moft vacant to difcourfe, as at meals and in the evening hours, in all which feafons the other attended very diligently, entertaining him upon all fubjects with very acute and refined fpeculations, That prince had very fine

natural

natural parts, and had been very converfant in many parts of polite learning, and more with books than that nation used to be, and was very much fuperior to any perfon of what quality foever who was about him, fo that he quickly made it manifeft, that he was exceedingly delighted to exercise those talents in the converfation of a perfon fo excellently endowed in all parts of literature. In the time Don Juan had spent in Italy, he had been, according to the genius of that nation, inclined to examine the art of aftrology, and was not without a greater opinion of it than he publicly owned. The other had really waded as deep into the examination and study of it as any man had done; and though he would make many pleafant difcourfes upon it, and upon the general incertitude of it, yet he had in truth a greater efteem and dependence upon it, than he was willing to be thought to have, and had many difcourfes of the obfervations he had made in Italy, of the great confidence that people had in all their affairs and counfels upon thofe predictions, of the fuccefs whereof he would give many inftances; and his late general the Duke of Modena had much improved his curiofity and knowledge in that fcience. This argument did not only take up much of the time Don Juan fpent in public difcourfe, but difpofed him to many private conferences with him ; until in the end Don Juan defired him to examine his horofcope, which he delivered to him, and the other as willingly received, and undertook the charge and from this kind of intercourse, which in the beginning had no other foundation, it was upon the fudden believed that the prince held other conferences

with him upon matters of greater importance, and that he had credit enough with him to prevail in many cafes. So that many perfons of all conditions applied themselves to him, to promote their pretences to the prince, in reception whereof he was not forward; yet took care to cultivate thofe imaginations concerning his intereft in the prince, of which he intended, as he fhortly after did, to make some use.

When he had raised this opinion of his parts and abilities, his next work was to manifeft his intereft, and the power he had to do them fervice. There were many regiments in the French army, which confifted intirely, both officers and foldiers, of Irish, fome whereof, during his majesty's refidence in France, withdrew themselves from the Spanith fervice, declaring that they would always ferve their own king, or in fuch places as he required them. And they were now as ready to leave that crown and to engage for the Spaniard in Flanders, to which they were the more difpofed at this time, by the general rumour (which was known to be well grounded) that the Duke of York would be thortly obliged likewise to retire himfelf out of France, by fome obligation the cardinal was engaged in, upon his treaty with Cromwell; and then it was reafonably enough concluded that his royal highnefs would repair into Flanders to the king his brother, where the Duke of Gloucefter already was, having found it neceffary not to remain longer with his fifter in Holland, where his prefence was not grateful to thofe ftates.

The Spaniards having entered into a fecret treaty with the king, and permitted him to make his abode in

Flanders,