The drudge, or The jealous extravagant a piece of gallantry.

THE DRUDGE.

TO His Royal Highness THE DUKE OF SAVOY.

Sir,

I should be an enemy to my own glory, should I not endeavour to acquaint all France with the happy destiny my fooleries have found in Piedmont. I heard from Turin, that they had the honour to arrive at your Royal Highnesse's hands, and the hap∣piness to divert you; and that you were pleas'd to think my Picture worthy to take up a place in your Cabinet: What an infinite Honour, Sir,

must it needs be to one of my capacity to have diverted a Prince, that nothing, that was not uncommon and extraordinary ever yet could, and to find room in a Cabinet, where nothing but precious things are admitted; ought I after so signal a favour vouchsafed by your Royal Highness, still to give my Prose and Verse no better all treatment then that of Fopperies? ought I after all this, to despise the productions of my young Muse. No, Sir, I dare not pursue that my cruelty. And I should believe I injured the sound∣ness of your jundgement, should I preserve my contempt of that, which has merited your e∣steem. Thus am I now enforced to desert all my modesty at once, and grow as proud as so illu∣strious an approbation, as your Royal Highness an possibly make me.

And really, Sir, who dare condemn this pride in me, when they shall consider whence it took its original? and who dare assume the rashness, to be of a different opinion from your Royal Highness? if any Critick durst now condemn any thing of mine, I would appeal to your Royal Highness as a Soveraign Judge in matters of this nature, and this Soveraignty is not less con∣siderable, Sir, than that which your Royal An∣cestors have possess'd, and left you invested in, as their worthy Successor: It is more glorious ••o have a Soveraignty over the Wits, than the Rabble. Heaven indeed has blest you with a considerable advantage in conserving a Crown and your Life together upon you, but it speaks you her particular Favourite in endow∣ing your Highness with all those Royal quali∣ties,

which the management of that Crown with Glory required; and one of these Qualities, Sir, and that not the least considerable, is your in∣comparable Ingenuity.

Those Princes that Reign no other way then by their Authority, have no other advantage, than that of being fear'd of their Subjects, but those that Reign with Mildness, with Magna∣nimity, and the Troop of Vertues they are a∣dorn'd with, have the happiness to see themselves belov'd, respected, and ador'd by their People. And 'tis this, Sir, that gets you the Love, the Re∣spect, and Adoration of your Subjects; when ever they speak of your Royal Highness, 'tis with sentiments of Veneration, and with trans∣ports of Zeal for your Service and Honour, which plainly shew, how agreeable your Em∣pire is to them, and with what sincerity they bless Heav'n for the sweetness of your Reign over them. Your Birth has made you their Prince, but if your Royal Blood had not set the Crown on your Head, had it been in their power, you would have receiv'd it from their free E∣••ection.

We being their near neighbors, have often Commerce with them, and in their conversa∣••ion, whereof their Soveraign makes the most charming and agreeable part of it, we see them very often open their hearts to us, and speak their thoughts with freedom, in which pleasant conversation, Sir, they have so well express'd that zealous respect, which they preserved for your Royal Highness, that they have commu∣nicated it to me. I could not chuse but have as

great a passion as the best of them for a Prince so truly amiable, and one belov'd by all the world with so much justice, and were I not a Subject of the greatest King in the world, I should wish your Royal Highness for my Soveraign.

But, Sir, I should abuse my self, should I make that wish; is it not a happiness I already enjoy? and am not I your Subject▪ and are not you my Soveraign, although neither Piedmont, Savoy, nor any other of your Dominions be my Coun∣trey. You enjoy a Soveraignty, that extends it self farther then the bounds of your Provinces, which procures you Subjects in all the reasona∣ble parts of the world, and makes your Domi∣nions as large as that of the Muses. This Em∣pire, Sir, those nine immortal Ladies have esta∣blished you in all places where they have any interest, to testify their acknowledgement of those many Favours your Royal Highness hath made them receive. The good entertainment you oblige them with, is an infallible signe, that you are not ignorant of their Beauties, and that you have a perfect knowledge of their Merits.

We ought not to wonder when we see them but little esteemed in a great part of the world; none can esteem them but those that know them, and that is an advantage that Heaven doth not commonly bestow; your Royal Highness is ma∣ster of this precious advantage, and I am very certain that you possess it in a very eminent de∣gree; that quick, subtle, and delicate Wit of yours, is skill'd even to admiration, in all the po∣lite, and pretty things in the world, and pierces into all the secrets of our Parnassus.

This is that Divine Quality, Sir, that gives a Lustre to all your Heroick ones, and crowns you King of all the Wits of the age: Your Valour, Justice, and Generosity are great Virtues I must confess; That sweetness and obliging entertain∣ment, with that agreeable Air which accompa∣nies all your Actions, and Charms all those that have the Honour to approach your Royal Per∣son; that Galantry which is so natural to you, which gets you the inclinations of the Ladies, and renders your Court, and all your divertise∣ments so Noble and Magnificent, are glorious advantages, I must avow it. But all these conside∣rable vertues and glorious advantages, would, it is possible, be confined to your own Domini∣ons, and Strangers, and Posterity would never so much as hear of them, were they not attend∣ed by that our Love of the Muses. Had it not been for this Honourable inclination, Augustus never had received so many Elogies as he did, and his Glory, it may be, had never reached our Ears. It is this that makes your Vertues commended and talkt of beyond the limits of your Provinces, and shall do too, far beyond that short course of your life, that you spend so gloriously, and that merited Eternity; it is this that invests you with a Soveraignty over all the Vertuosi in the world, and to which I am ob∣liged for the happiness I enjoy, to stile my self your Subject. It is possible it is an excess of va∣nity in me to reckon my self among the Wits; but when one has once obtain'd the happiness to please your Royal Highness, he may without ar∣rogance assume that glorious Title with all its ap∣pendages,

and in that condition to which your Royal Highness has been pleased to advance me; I should offend your judgement, should I have a bad opinion of any thing that I call mine. I have so highly esteemed my parts, since I was informed your Royal Highness did not despise them, I judged them capable of conferring some∣thing, to your Royal pleasure.

Since my first works have taken the boldness to pass over the Alps without my Commissi∣on, and yet had the happiness to please all your Court, though I durst not hope it; I imagined, that those I should my self send over thither, and which had no other designe but that of your Royal Highnesses Divertisement, would not be so unhappy, as to come off worse then the for∣mer.

It is a great design without question, that I engage upon, and I should say even a rash and inconsiderate one, if a person had not advised me to it, that I am confident is too prudent to counsel me to any such undertakings: it is, Sir, a Gentleman of your Dominions that hath the honour both to be known and belov'd of his Prince, that hath been pleased to give himself the trouble to bring my Muse into your Court, and that hath wrote me word of the good enter∣tainment it received from your Royal Highness. This generous friend of mine could not possibly procure me a more glorious, advantage nor one that I more vehemently desired; but that which hath exceeded all my hopes, and created in me the most pleasant surprize imaginable, is that incomparable goodnes that he was pleased to

have for me in communicating a Letter of your Royal Highness to me, in which you graci∣ously vouchsafed to witness, that you esteemed my works, and that you should be very well satisfied to see me make some more of them for your divertisement. This Letter was a Sove∣raign and indisputable Order for me, but it was no unpleasant one, and I can safely swear, I re∣ceived it with as great a joy as submission.

It is this, Sir, that obliged me to the writing of this piece of Gallantry, the gayety whereof it is not impossible may not displease you. It may be too, it may dissipate for some moments those troublesome thoughts, that your Politick affairs commonly leave behind them, and some of those cares which the conduct of great Estates almost always plague us with.

If I can compass so noble a designe as this, I shall get my self reputation, and shall perswade my self, that your Subjects are something en∣gaged to me into the bargain. It is not to be que∣stioned but they know, that when one diverted Cesar, he obliged the Republick, and I am very certain, that Cesar had not more noble qualities then your Royal Highness; and that the Romans had not a more tender affection, or profound respect for him, then those of Piedmont and Sa∣voy have for their Soveraign.

These are truths, Sir, that your Royal High∣ness may easily be satisfied of, from a forreign Countrey. If they were told you by your Sub∣jects, you might suspect, they said so for their own interest, or to flatter you, and so receive their praises as a common homage, which peo∣ple

seldom refuse their Soveraigns; but when an Elogie proceeds to you from a Province not subject to your Royal Highness, you may assure your self, Sir, that he who gave you these com∣mendations, was confident of the truth of them. It is from strangers that a Prince may learn infal∣libly, what Sentiments the world has of him, and what their judgement is of his Qualities and his Conduct.

And since it is so, Sir, your Royal Highness ought to be entirely satisfied; those strangers which are not interessed in your Highness, praise and bless you; and I, Sir, that have made some voyages into forraign Countreys, can witness the truth of it: Whereever they speak of your Roy∣al Highness, they compare you to those great Princes from whence you drew your being. As all the world is very well satisfied that no dan∣ger can surprize you, and that your courage ei∣ther acknowledges no dangers, or makes them immediately cease to be so, they compare you to the Illustrious Amedees, which all the dread∣ful power of the Turks could never terrifie, and that preserved Rhodes with so much glory a∣gainst all the force of the Ottoman Emperor. They count you too, as good as that Louis, that was so much belov'd of his Subjects, for his sweet∣ness and clemency, as wise as that Charles, sur∣named the Warrier, that was as well the most prudent as accomplished Prince of his Age; as knowing, as that other Charles▪ surnamed the Good, who so dearly loved Scholars, and Learn∣ing; and as quick and active as the great Ema∣nuel

Philibert, that show'd so incomparable an address in all his bodily exercises.

I have often heard your Royal Highness com∣pared too, to all your famous Ancestors, but most commonly they do it with your Illustrious Grandfather, to that great Prince whose name you own, and whose Vertues you are master of. In the time he lived in, he was esteemed a Man that had the most glorious reputation in the world. Ʋrban the VIII, our Henry the Great, and James the VIII. King of Great Brit∣tain, gave him commendations, that posterity should never be unmindful of; and the great Cardinal of Richielieu, which knew as well as any man, all these Vertues that are necessary for a Prince; said of him, of whom I am a speaking, that he never knew a more strong, active, and universal Wit in his life; the most eloquent Mu∣ses of his time have sung of his Merit. That Tasso that he loved with so much tenderness, the Ciabrera, the Marines, and Cassines, thought they should render themselves immortal, by in∣serting such a Princes Commendations in their Works, whose name and memory ought to be immortal. If all those great Men were still alive, I am confident, they would conspire to tell you, that the Charles Emanuel of our age, is a Son worthy that Charles Emanuel, that was so justly praised by all those great Princes, and so bravely sung of by all those illustrious Poets. Why have not I the Wit and Eloquence of the last, which I would wholly employ with all my soul to make an Elogie for your Royal Highness. I'd tell the future ages of those Vertues, whereof ours

is so strongly perswaded; your great Spirit, I mean your Gcnerosity, your Bounty, your Wis∣dom, and all your other Qualities; at least as far as my Wit would permit me, that you have re∣ceived them with the blood of that incompara∣ble Conqueror Amedees, your August Father.

Since these great qualities, which before were onely seen afar off, were in your voyage to Lyons more nearly considered by all our Court; our great Monarch has conceived Sentiments of Love and Esteem for your Royal Highness, and those too are spread through his whose King∣dom. And would not the French be injust, should they not doat upon such a Prince, which always expresses so great a love for France; a Prince, that no sooner saw, that his trouble∣some destiny had broke those ties that engaged him to our Crown, but he sought out for new ones with all the vehemence in the world: how infinitely reasonable was this vehemence, since its Object was a Princess so accomplished? a Princess whose charms deserve so much Love, Respect, and Devotion, that in the greatness of her Soul, is the accurate Portraicture of your Illustrious Mother, and that by her Vertues would revive her memory, if it was possible, that it ever could be extinguished.

What a joy it was to your Subjects, Sir, to see your Royal Highness bound in an Eternal knot to that incomparable Princess? and what a glory it would be for me, if my Story were pleasant enough to divert two Persons of so high a Rank, and so sublime Ingenuity. I dare avow, Sir, that in spight of my accustomed in∣sufficiency,

I conceived very great hopes of it. When one has a designe to please you, 'tis very difficult to think of any thing that is low and contemptible; the Soul raises it self in the un∣dertaking so great an enterprise: and as for my particular, I believe that mine has excelled it self, ever since the very instant that I intended to make my Image of Zelotyde, because I had a design to send it to your Royal Highness, to pre∣sent you with all the Lineaments of her Jealou∣sie, and gave all your Court a sufficient occasion to laugh at her suspicious, and ridiculous appre∣hensions.

Hitherto, Sir, the Comedians have handled the jealous Gentlemen, with all the cruelty imagina∣ble, and have commonly spar'd the jealous La∣dies. But for all that, there are some of the de∣licate Sex as subject to this passion, as the most whining Romantick Lover among Men, and it will be convenient to acquaint them in this Hi∣story, how prejudicious this pretty Frensie is to their repose, how extravagant it renders them, and how they deserve to be hated by all their Gallants, for this rascally method of making Love.

May it please therefore your Royal Highness, to cast an Eye on my pretty jealous Creature's extravagant adventures, which your goodness makes me assume the liberty to make the recital of, and which I shall do with all the Gayety that my Subject requires, and with all the Respect I owe your Royal Highness.

Zelotide.