Letters of the Cardinal Duke du Richelieu great minister of state to Lewis XIII of France / faithfully translated from the original by T.B.

LETTER CCLI. To Cardinal Barbarini.

My LORD,

THE Joy that I have for the good Understanding be∣twixt his Holiness and his Majesty, will not suffer me to be silent; and I think I should be wanting to myself, if I should fail to testifie it to your Eminence: That Moment that this Letter shall come to your Hands, it will give you a par∣ticular Proof of my Affection, and Desire of the Welfare of your Family, whose Interest you hazard so much by the De∣lay of the Promotion, that I could not but inform you of it. I do not consider this Affair by the Misery which may happen by the Death of his Holiness, (to whom I earnestly desire length of Days) because the greatness of the Loss you would have by the Death of so good an Uncle, stifles in my Thought the Consideration of all its Consequences. You must be blind not to see, that this shaking of your House would be a Fore∣runner of its Ruine; but you lose so much from this very Moment, by not making the Promotion, and fail to take Ad∣vantages so important for you, and the Church, that it is impossible to conceive the Reasons which have retarded it hi∣therto. Those who envy the Grandeur of your Family, and desire its Depression, have this Satisfaction, to live in hope to see that which they desire, to your Disadvantage; and instead of fearing your Eminence, if this Promotion were made, you

give them opportunity to despise you, by the Belief that you will not lay hold upon an occasion, which may put you in a Condition, not only not to fear them, but to have no need of them; my Endeavours after the Interests of France, which are dearer to me than my own Life, would not permit me to give you this Counsel, after the execution of which, you may have less Consideration for the Crowns; because you would not have so much need of them, if the Interests of the Church, and all Christendom, which the King prefers before his own, did not concur with yours. The Ambition of the Spaniards is too well known to the whole World, not to dis∣cern, that they have no other Design, than not only to make Popes which may be favourable to them, but who may so ab∣solutely depend on them, as to consider the Desires of Spain as the Rule of the Actions of the Holy Chair; and you are too quick-sighted as not to see, that if you do not fill those many Vacancies in the Consistory, you will not be strong enough to hinder them from obtaining their Ends; by con∣sequence of which, the Church will be involved in a Servitude both shameful and intolerable, if the Contempt that you have of yourself, hinders you from a due Consideration of an Affair of so great Moment to your Family: The Publick Interests do not suffer you to do so, the Peace of Christendom, the Glory of God, and the Liberty of his Church, oblige you, upon pain of answering before the Tribunal of Heaven, to contribute your utmost to their Advantage, seeing there are no Reasons able to counterpoise those powerful Conside∣rations. I cannot imagine that you surmize, that the Sub∣jects nominated by the Crowns are not agreeable, both be∣cause I know, and dare answer, that those who apply them∣selves to France, will passionately embrace the Interests of your Family; and that though they should not do it, this Consideration is too weak to divert them from so important a matter. In a word, my Lord, the matter in dispute, is, so to secure the Establishment of your House, that it may not be shaken, or fall into Contempt or Ruiune.

The matter in dispute, is, Either to leave Christendom in Confusion, or to put yourself in a Capacity effectually to pro∣mote its Peace, instead of being contented with insignificant Wishes for so good Ends: The matter in dispute, is, Either to abandon the Church of God, or to recover, and confirm at the same time, its Renown and Grandeur. Whereas now, those who envy your Happiness, from their Height look down upon you: This Promotion will be no sooner made, but they

will be compell'd to lift up their Eyes, to see you in a Condi∣tion very different from your former; whereas many judge by Appearances, which often deceive, that there is Blind∣ness or Weakness in your Conduct: Blindness, if you do not see the Condition you are in, and Weakness and an aban∣doning of yourself, if you will not make use of those Reme∣dies which you have in your Power: Some will commend your Prudence, others will admire your Power, and you will be esteemed by all Men for your Ability in securing your For∣tune, and the Interests of the Church, which are much dearer to you than your own. If any one blame me, be∣cause I think I see a-far off, which they think your Eminence doth not judge to be so nigh; give me leave to say, That the Publick and your Interests are always so present, and so much affect me, that Paris is not so far from Rome, but I can see clearly what Matters of Importance happen in both places. I know very well, that his Holiness's Chair is the Seat of Wisdom, principally in the Life of so great a Pope. But as it is with Men in that which most concerns them, as with those who cannot see, because they are dazled with the Light which is too nigh them, I am sure your Eminence will par∣don me, if I presume in this thing to be so clear-sighted, as to conjure you to prefer my Sentiments, before those which you esteem to have had hitherto. I conjure you, by the Care which you ought to have, that the succeeding Actions of his Holiness answer the Lustre of those that are past; so that it is with the Judgments of the World, as with those of God, who judges Men by their last Actions: Men would not esteem the Life of so great a Pope, being destitute of Wisdom; because this Virtue would seem not to have been the Motive of his last Thoughts. Finally, I conjure you, by the Desire you have to prolong the Pope's Days, whose Life probably will be the more assured, the greater cause of Contentment it shall have; which I wish him so heartily, that I beg of God an ample Effusion of his Blessings upon his whole House, and upon your Person, to whom I am, &c.