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ing all circumftances, would have brought much grief of mind to another parent, but he was of that rare conftitution, that thofe worldly things never gave him trouble, nor did he more confider the lofs of a child, in an adventure which probably might bring fome convenience to him (for himself was ftill firft, if not fole in all those confiderations) than if it were his neighbour's, being abfolutely divested of all troublesome affections which might obftruct or difturb his fortune, and with this kind of providence he made provision for two of his children.

of her marriage which, confider- fuch a reverence towards the catholic church, that, all his former prejudice being removed, he would now throw himself into the arms of it. He parted not with him in debt for any good words, commended the catholic religion as containing moft excellent inducements to a pious life, which could not but be attended with falvation; he admired and extolled the inftitution of the fociety, and their ftrict and pious obfervation of the rules prefcribed to them, which in his judgment made them preferable to all other religious orders, and that he would always preferve a particular devotion for them. But he said, whether it were by the difference of their educations, or the inequality of their understandings and judgments, he found that many arguments which appeared to them as infallible demonftrations, seemed in truth to him to carry little weight with them, and fo briefly enlarged upon fome particular inftances with a great fharpness of reafon, yet with great modefty, and confeffion of his own weakness; he concluded, that there was fomewhat wanting in their religion which kept him yet from being reconciled to it, and fo he took his leave of Albey. But he now found that he must calculate his defigns to another meridian, and that the temper which had done him no harm in France would do him no good in Flanders, that the reputation of being a Chriftian was a title fufficient for many preferments, but that not being a catholic, in Spain took away the advantage of being a Chriftian. He never had any lively hopes of the king's reftoration, at least that he could ever be reftored but by catholic arms, and he had just now feen the most

Hitherto he had preserved, as he believed, his own reputation, as to being a proteftant, unblemished. He had refifted the temptations of France without being fhaken, and though the jefuits always courted him with wonderful application and obfervance, and he them again with the fame dexterity, frequently gratifying them with fome arguments against the proteftants, and acknowledging fome defects to be in their church, which he could wish fupplied; yet after he had lodged fix months at Albey, in a college of the jefuits, where he studied very hard, and read all books recommended by them to him, when the fuperior came to him at his remove towards Italy, and paffed many compliments with him of the honour the fociety had received in entertaining fo noble a perfon and fo rarely qualified, he told him, he hoped that the obfervations he had made of their profeffion and their course of life, and the reflections which had occurred unto him upon the arguments he had found in fuch and fuch books, had by this time confirmed him in

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probable defign the king had ever had, upon the hope of the affection and power of his own fubjects, mifcarry in the attempt of Sir George Booth, which was thought to be founded upon fo good mediums, that the king had withdrawn privately from Bruffels incognito, and attended only with four or five fervants, whereof that person was one, to the maritime parts of France, in fome affurance that the rebel's army would find fo many diverfions in other parts of the kingdom, that he fhould find a competent body of men to receive him in Kent, with which he might march as he should find it most counsellable. But all thefe high imaginations coming to nothing, by the fudden defeat of Sir George Booth before Chefter, and the furprifal of many other parties in feveral parts of the kingdom be fore they were well formed, and in a word, the imprisoning of all perfons of honour and reputation throughout the whole kingdom, who were in the leaft.degree fufpected to wish well to the king, feemed at the fame time to difcredit and reproach the late too eafy imaginations, and to pull up by the roots all the king's future hopes of reftitution, and in this melancholy difcomposure of mind the king returned again to Bruffels, and the other perfon to his retreat at Ghent, to the admired abbefs and to his beloved daughter.

It was the great benefit and happinefs of his conftirution, that he never continued long irrefolute, or remained in fufpence; if that door was not open which he would chuse to enter at, the next was welcome to him. His hopes under the king were now blafted, and though he promised himself much encourage

ment from the favour of Don Juan, yet, as was faid before, religion was that which could only make a man fhine in the court of Spain, and he had made as much of his as it would yield him throughout his whole courfe of life, and it was like now to do him no farther fervice. As foon as he came to Ghent he pretended to be very fick, fent for phyficians, defcribed his disease to them, and proposed some reasonable remedies to them; his friend the abbefs, who was really a much better cafuift than her confeffor, did not fail to adminifter her fpiritnal remembrances; and Courtney, the provincial of the English jefuits (a man who could never have been too hard for him, if he had not been reduced to great weakness) was at hand to do all his offices, and he did it very effectually, though in great fecret. He fent then to the marquis of Ormond and his other friend at Bruffels, upon whofe friendship he had ever depended, and had found him always faft and unshaken to him, notwithstanding his many imbecilities; he conjured them both (who were indeed the two only friends he had in the world) to repair to him at Ghent, for that his condition of health being at that time fo very doubtful, he had fomewhat to impart to them of the last importance. The enemy had fastened themselves in fome places between Bruffels and Ghent, and the feafon of the year was not fo pleafant as to invite men to unneceffary journies; it was therefore agreed between them, that the presence of one of them would ferve the turn, let the bufinefs be what it would, and fo the marquis made a journey to him, the other remaining ftill with the king. When he came to Ghent

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he found him well recovered of his fickness, of which he made him a large relation; by what degrees it came upon him, and how foon it had deprived him of his ftrength, how his fleeps forfook him, and that the night yielded him no reft; that in his agony he had made many reflections upon his past condition of life, and principally upon fome fcruples in religion, which had been long in his mind; that he had fent for a learned jefuit to confer with him, and in a word, that he had received fo great fatisfaction from him, that he was become catholic, and was reconciled to the church; which he had no fooner fubmitted to, but that he found fo great a tranquillity and ferenity of mind, that he had wonderfully recovered in fo few days his perfect health, and almoft his former ftrength. That having thus provided for the falvation of his foul, all his other thoughts were for the advancement of his majesty's service, or that at least, that this alteration in him might have no reflection upon the other, and that in this confideration he defired a conference with his two best friends; and fince one of them came not, he would defire the fame from the other, which he meant to do from both, that he might receive his advice how the fame might be communicated to the king; and how, and when, and in what manner it (hould be made known; and that it was hitherto fo great a fecret, that it was only known to his confeffor and himfelf; and that it should remain fo as long as his majefty fhould think it requifite; that he had in truth himself endeavoured, as a thing practicable in his own opinion, that it might have remained fo entire a fecret between his confeflor

and himself, that he might not only have deferred making his converfion public, but have performed all his ufual offices and fervices about his majefty as he had used to do, even at his devotions, fo that no man fhould have been able to make the leaft discovery. But that his confeffor, upon great deliberation, and conference with many other very learned men, had declared to him, that what he proposed was so abfolutely unlawful, and inconfiftent with the catholic religion, that it was not in the power of his holiness himself to difpenfe with it. This being his cafe, he had no more to do but to defire that the whole relation might be candidly made to his majefly, and a gracious interpretation obtained from him upon it. The marquis (who was lefs furprized than his other friend, as having lefs opinion of his conftancy in that particular than the other had) answered him only, that he was forry for the change, and that he should give his majefty a full relation of it, and fo returned to Bruffels.

Within few days he came thither; and having been very careful to be firft feen by Don Juan at mass, he attended the king, who received him without any cloudiness, looking upon him of the fame religion as he had before understood him to be. His majesty making himself very merry with his other friend for being fo weak a man as to imagine that he could be conftant to any profeffion, and made himself no leís merry with the perfon himself upon his fcruples of confcience, and the method and circumstances of his converfion, and upon Father Courtney's having gained fo great an af cendant over his understanding; and he was very glad to compound D 4

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for being laughed at, and could bear a better part in it, than in the ferious debate of it. He was exceedingly troubled to find his other friend, whofe true affection to him had been upon all occafions fo manifeft, fo fevere that he could not diffemble it in his countenance with hima; and when the other renewed all profeffions of kindnefs and friendship to him, againft all perfons and all pretences in the world, and defired that this alteration in him, which was the effect of confeience, and for his own falvation, might not deprive him of his friendfhip, or alienate his affections from him, he answered him very roundly, that he could not diffemble the trouble he fustained, nor could bear that reproach which would fall upon himself if he were thought not to be difpleafed with it; that he knew not how he could hereafter bear any part in the king's councils, or how he could be communicated with; that though the profeffions he made to him of the conftancy of his friendship might be at that time according to his intention, yet that he had no reason to believe that they, who had power to prevail over him in this affair of the higheft importance, would ever be contented that he fhould retain a friendship with a perfon fo oppofite to all their pracfices, and all their principles; against which they would always be able to fpeak more pertinently, both in reafon and religion, than they had done in any other part of his converfion; which he took very heavily, and could not forbear undervaluing and envying, against the whole body of them, with more reproach and contempt, than could have been expected from fo young a profelyte. The king had well forefeen that he

could no longer wear the character either of his fecretary or counfellor, and it may be, that confideration had made him condefcend to be fo merry upon the converfion; and he was very well content that his friend fhould plainly declare to him in his prefence the neceffity of his declining being prefent at future councils, and of returning the fignet to the king; with which, how much foever he was furprised or difpleafed, he prefently fubmitted, and delivered the fignet the next day!

This was a change he did not expect his converfion would have produced, but had promifed himfelf more advantage from his character in his new religion than in his old; that there was no more hope now of the proteftant intereft, and therefore that the catholic must be now wholly applied to, and that those transactions could pass through no other hand but his; and that as the confidence of the catholics fhould be able to advance the king's fervice, fo his fo near relation to his royal perfon and councils would give him great credit with the catholics. Such a crop of imaginations and prefumptions was always his firft harveft upon any notable new defign or enterprize, but this new exclufion demolished all thefe hopes, and was a greater difcovery of the king's dislike of what he had done, than in his calculation of state he thought feasonable for his majesty's fervice, and upon that ground was the lefs expected by him; and this he never forgave his old friend, though he continued to make the fame profeffions, and feemed to take it very unkindly that it fhould be thought that religion fhoul be able to make any impreffion on him with reference to the friendships

which he had contracted. After the first congratulation for the becoming a Chriftian, which thofe people do very liberally make for a few days, he found no funfhine from the change of his climate; that no proffer of place or penfion came from Spain; and that the pope, to whom he had made an early communication of his forrow for, and renunciation of his former herefy, had returned him no other exalted expreffions, which he expected, than Tu converfus, converte fratres tuos; that Don Juan's own countenance was fo far from fhedding more graces towards him than it had formerly done, that it was in truth more reserved; for the Marquis of Carracina, and especially Don Alonzo, who were not pleafed with the frequent admiffion he had to Don Juan, and his ferene countenance towards him, had fent their advertifements into Spain little to his advantage, and the prince had received fome reprehenfion from thence for his conferring those graces. But there happened fhortly after another inftance, which manifefted enough what opinion that court had of him. The treaty between the two crowns being appointed to be at Fontarabia between the cardinal and Don Louis de Haro, Don Louis, who always profeffed great affection to the king, fent him a private advice by his refident in that court, Sir Henry Bennett, to find himself there, profeffing that he would do all he could to engage the cardinal, that the two crowns, being once reconciled, might both engage in his majesty's intereft, and at the fame time advifed that his majefty would come with as fmall a train as he could fitly do, and particularly that by no

means he would bring that perfon with him; which was a fufficient evidence of prejudice. Notwithstanding which, the cardinal having expreísly refufed to grant a fafe. conduct to his majefty to pass through France, and as exprefsly diffuaded his going to the treaty, as a thing which would prove to his disadvantage, and difenable his eminence, by the noise of it, to do those good offices for his majefty which he was refolved to do in his abfence, the king thought fit to follow the advice of the other favourite, and to make a journey thither through France incognito. And to that purpofe he made choice of four or five fervants to attend him; and though he liked very well that gentleman's company in thofe jolly journies, yet at this time, the intimation he had from Spain, and the knowledge he had of the cardinal's particular and irreconcileable difpleasure towards him, made him plainly dif cern that it was by no means fit to have him with him. However, the other in the end prevailed fo far with him, for the experience he had of the ways and places through which they were to pass, that he was admitted to attend, together with the Marquis of Ormond, Daniel O'Neale, and three other fervants; and in that manner they went from Bruffels with all the fecrefy imaginable; nor was it known in many days after whither the king was gone. The king was contented to fee as many confiderable places as were within distance of the ways through which they were to país, and the other, who was the fole conductor, led him fo far about, that the treaty was upon the matter concluded before the king came to the borders; and then, upon the

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