The great design of Henry IV, from the Memoirs of the Duke of Sully, and The united states of Europe

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THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

FROM THE MEMOIRS OF THE
DUKE OF SULLY

AND

THE UNITED STATES OF EUROPE

BY EDWARD EVERETT HALE

WITH INTRODUCTION

BY

EDWIN D. MEAD

PUBLISHED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF PEACE

GINN AND COMPANY, BOSTON

1909

2.

HlSTOUfT

Copyright, 1909, by
The International School of Peace

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

G1NN AND COMPANY • PRO-
PRIETORS • BOSTON • U.S.A.

TO THE MEMORY OF

EDWARD EVERETT HALE

THIS EDITION OF

"THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

WHICH HE MOST CONSPICUOUSLY

AND EARNESTLY COMMENDED

TO THE ATTENTION

OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

IS DEDICATED

305383

CONTENTS

PAGE

Introduction, by Edwin D. Mead vii

The Great Design of Henry IV i

Passages Illustrating the History of the Great De-
sign 54

The United States of Europe, by Edward Everett
Hale 77

INTRODUCTION

The Great Design " of Henry IV of France was the
first practical plan of a comprehensive character in modern
history for the federation of Europe. Europe in 1600 was
the civilized world ; and this was the great inaugural vision
in a series of visions, which, thus beginning, rapidly grew,
of an organized and peaceful world. Dante in his Monar-
chia had made his fervent plea for a revived and idealized
Roman Empire, as the ground and guarantee of European
unity ; but the three centuries between Dante and Henry
of Navarre had made it plain that the reconstruction of
the Roman Empire would never come, and that the unity
of which the great poet -patriot dreamed could only come
through the federation of independent states.

A forgotten and almost unknown plan for organizing
the European powers for the sake of peace deserves here
at least passing notice ; for it antedated by almost a cen-
tury the design of the great French king, and by much
more than a century the publication of his design. We
get the knowledge of it from Erasmus, who was the great-
est apostle of peace in his time.1 There is an old letter
from Erasmus to a friend, written probably about 1 5 1 7, or
having reference to that period, alluding to an effort at
that time in behalf of the peace of Europe, which is so

1 For more complete notice of this significant historical incident,
see article by the present writer on " An Early Scheme to organize
the World," in the Independent, August 29, 1907.

vii

J

viii THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

comprehensive and definite in its character that it may
almost be considered a " Great Design " previous to the
famous scheme of Henry IV. Erasmus says in this letter :

It was a favorite project about that time to assemble a Congress
of kings at Cambray. It was to consist of Maximilian the Emperor,
Francis the First, King of France, Henry the Eighth of England,
and Charles, the sovereign of the Low Countries, of which I am a
native. They were to enter, in the most solemn manner, into mutual
and indissoluble engagements to preserve peace with each other, and
consequently peace throughout Europe. This momentous business
was very much promoted by a man of. most excellent character,
William of Ciervia ; and by one who seemed to have been born to
advance the happiness of his country and of human nature, John
Sylvagius, chancellor of Burgundy. But certain persons who get
nothing by peace and a great deal by war threw obstacles in the way,
which prevented this truly kingly purpose from being carried into
execution. After this great disappointment I sat down and wrote,
by desire of John Sylvagius, my Querela Pacis.

The Complaint of Peace, although the most important
essay by Erasmus in behalf of international justice and
peace, was not his only nor his first impeachment of the
war system. He discussed the same subject in his pane-
gyric to Philip, Duke of Burgundy, at Brussels, in 1504,
and repeatedly afterwards. It is a thing to be remembered
that it was from the same land in which, at The Hague,
the Parliament of Man was in our own time to hold its
first memorable sessions for the definite inauguration of
the organization of the world, that the first conspicuous
and well-considered plea came for the supplanting of the
war system of nations by the methods of reason.

The world's great plans for order and peace have been
born often of the severe experience of disorder and war
and the burden of the loss and cost of war. Dante's

INTRODUCTION ix

Monarchia was prompted by the anarchy rife everywhere in
Italy in the thirteenth century. The time of Erasmus was
the time when the great centralized monarchies were rising
upon the ruins of the feudal states, and the standing army,
a thing then new in history, was making its appearance as
a regular institution. Grotius's Rights of War and Peace
was published in the midst of the Thirty Years' War. "The
continued danger which lies in the heaping up of war
material transforms the armed peace of our time into a
crushing burden which peoples find it harder and harder
to bear," — to avert "the calamities which threaten the
whole world " from this was the necessity which drove
the Czar of Russia to call the first Peace Conference at
The Hague. The very name of Henry of Navarre sug-
gests the long civil conflict between the Catholics and the
Huguenots in France ; and the chapters of the history of
Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, and England which were
coincident with his stormy career were chapters no less
tragical, and often yet more tragical, than those of the
history of France. If ever there was a time to prompt
rulers and statesmen to great designs for checking the
war system, it was this time.

Henry was born in 1553, the year that Mary Stuart It
became queen of England, three years before Charles V
abdicated in favor of Philip II, and when William the
Silent was just entering public life. He succeeded to the
throne of France in 1589, the year after the destruction
of the Invincible Armada, and five years after the assassi-
nation of William of Orange ; he fought the battle of Ivry:
in 1590, and promulgated the Edict of Nantes in 1598.
His illustrious reign — for greatest of all the kings of
France Henry surely was — and his life were ended by

x THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

the hand of the assassin in 1610, seven years after the
death of Queen Elizabeth. Such is the barest chronology
of the life of the author of the " Great Design "; but it is
sufficient to recall to the reader with knowledge and im-
agination the character of the period in which he worked
and thought.

Henry's great minister was the Duke of Sully. Sully
played a part in the reign of the French king hardly in-
ferior to that played in the reign of Elizabeth — who, if
we may believe Sully, is to be looked on as joint jiuthor
^ with ^Henryjrfjhe M Great Design' ' itself — by Cecil, Lord
Burleigh. Unlike Burleigh, he wrote voluminous memoirs ;
and it is in these Memoirs of Sully that we are given the
account of the M Great Design." The Memoirs cover the
whole reign, and indeed almost the whole life, of the great
king. Henry was on his way to visit Sully when he was
assassinated. Sully lived until 164 1. He began to dictate
his Memoirs to his secretaries shortly after Henry's death,
these Memoirs being based largely upon journals and notes
which he had been preparing for many years. Only the
first two volumes, covering the years 1570 to 1605, were
completed in his lifetime, being printed in 1634. The un-
finished portion was transcribed by his secretaries, and the
third and fourth volumes were published at Paris in 1662,
more than twenty years after Sully's death. It is at the
%/l%»«(end of the last volume that the special chapter devoted to
the M Great Design " appears, although many references
to it are scattered through preceding pages, and the two
long passages reprinted in the present volume after the
" Great Design " itself are of special significance.

The authenticity of the M Great Design " as the work of
Henry himself has been the subject of long and heated

INTRODUCTION xi

controversy, a controversy that still goes on. Many have
charged Sully not only with casting the "Great Design "
in the shape in which we have it, but with its sheer fabri-
cation, for some purpose of his own. To me no adequate
motive for this appears ; and the respective qualities of
the minds of Henry and Sully make the conception of
the scheme the more natural for Henry, while the consid-
erable elaboration of it in some respects by Sully — who,
in the interview with James I, which he reports, professed
to have a leading part in developing it — as he came to
put it into literary form seems not unlikely. The settle-
ment of this vexed question does not concern us here.
Whether Shakespeare or Bacon wrote Hamlet, our chief
interest is in the possession of Hamlet. Whether the king
or his minister conceived the " Great Design," our chief
interest is in the fact that this broad and bold programme
of world organization was worked out in that critical period
of history. The controversy, however, has been so notable
and began so early that I incorporate here, as of probable
interest to many, the note relating to the matter appended
by the Abbe del' Ecluse to the chapter upon the " Great
Design " in his edition of Sully's Memoirs, published in
1747:

The Memoirs of Sully are the only monument which has preserved
to posterity an account of the great design of Henry IV. We find
no traces of it in any of the historians, authors of memoirs, or other
writers, who were contemporary with that prince ; their silence in
this matter proceeded, no doubt, from their not knowing enough of
it to say anything with certainty about it. The world did not begin
to descant upon it till the " Memoirs of Sully," wherein it is so clearly
described, were published ; and among all those who have considered
it ever since about the middle of the seventeenth century, I find
scarcely any who have questioned the possibility of executing it :

Xii THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

doubtless, because they lived near enough to the times in which it
was formed to be convinced, even from the mouths of those who
had been witnesses of the preparations and dispositions which were
made, that all the measures had been taken precisely in the same
manner as related by the Duke of Sully ; and consequently, that it
would have had but few of those obstacles to encounter which have
since been raised against it. The author of a manuscript discourse
in the King's Library, which to me appears to be the most ancient
memoir we have of that time, seems not in the least to have doubted
of success in its execution. And M. de Perefixe, who, in the third
part of his history of Henry the Great, has given a short but very
accurate account of the scheme, says positively that it would have
succeeded ; and further confirms his assertion by proofs, which he
gives (p. 388 and following). The continuator of Thuanus, in what
little he has said of it (anno 1609-10), does not appear to have been
of a different sentiment. The Marshal de Bassompierre also, in his
Journal (torn, i.), seems to be in its favour. To these authorities we
may also join that of the author of the Life of the Duke of Epernon,
and some others, who all seem to be of the same opinion. Indeed,
until the beginning of the present century, all authors appear to
have been unanimous on this point ; and several of our modern his-
torians have joined them herein. Vittorio Siri (Mem. Recond. torn,
i. pp. 29, 514; torn. ii. p. 45, &c.) is the first that I know of by
whom this great enterprise has been treated as absurd and impossi-
ble ; but the ignorance which he shows in the whole affair, even in
those points which are the least contested, his attachment to the
Spanish politics, and his distance from the persons of Henry IV.
and his minister, which is every way apparent in all he says on the
subject, render him, in this respect, very justly exceptionable ; his
sentiments have been adopted by the author of the History of the
Mother and Son (torn. i. p. 44), and for a similar reason of attach-
ment to the queen, mother of Louis XIII. But this writer, such as
he is, producing no better authority for his opinion than the age of
Henry IV., who was then near sixty, appears also to have been so
entirely unacquainted with the affair, that we may, without scruple,
pronounce he was ignorant of the disposition which had been made
for the complete execution of it within the space of three years, and
that he condemns the design without understanding it. I have much

INTRODUCTION xiii

greater reverence for the authority of some modern politicians, who
consider it as a kind of impossibility thus to change the face of all
Europe in the manner proposed by Henry IV., and who imagine
that in our days a much more happy expedient has been discovered
whereby to obtain the equilibrium of Europe, than by reviving the
ancient council of the Amphyctions ; what I mean is the precaution
now observed of having all the principal powers of Europe accede
to, and become the guarantees of, every particular treaty. But all
those calamities which we have suffered in consequence of war do
but too plainly evince its insufficiency. In regard to the main stress
of the question, I agree with them that Europe could not now, but
with great difficulty, be constituted in the manner proposed by
Henry the Great; nevertheless I believe, without pretending to
subject any one to my opinion, that those who treat this prince's
design as a chimera do not pay all the necessary attention to the
circumstances of those times, wherein Europe, from her frequent
dangers of being subjected to the house of Austria, and by the
bloody wars which a difference of religion had excited, and continued
daily to excite, found herself in a manner compelled to have recourse
to extraordinary means to put a period to her miseries. I cannot
finish this remark better than in the words of M. l'Abbe de Saint-
Pierre, in his Discours sur le Grand Homme : N From hence we
may perceive, that if Henry IV., King of France, had executed his
celebrated and well-projected design, whereby to render peace per-
petual and universal among the sovereigns of Europe, he would
have procured the greatest possible benefit, not only to his own sub-
jects, but to all the Christian kingdoms, and even, by a necessary
consequence, to the world in general ; a benefit of which all genera-
tions, present and to come, would have participated down to the lat-
est time ; a benefit by which we should have been exempted from
those terrible and numerous evils which are the effects of foreign
and domestic wars; a benefit which would have been the source
of all those sweets which naturally flow from an uninterrupted and
universal tranquillity ; — if, I say, he had been so happy as to have
executed this great design, it would have rendered him, beyond all
comparison, the greatest man the world ever has produced or prob-
ably ever will produce." After some further reflections upon the
means still more practicable, this judicious author adds : " This prince,

xiv THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

however, has always had the honour of being considered as the
author of the most important invention, and most useful discovery
for the benefit of mankind, that has yet appeared in the world ; the
execution of which may, perhaps, be reserved by Providence for the
greatest and most capable of his successors."

With the great body of controversial literature upon
the subject which has followed are associated the names
of Cornelius, Ritter, Kukelhaus, Philipson, and Pfister.
The critical view is sufficiently stated for the general
reader by Kitchin, in his History of France, as follows :

French historians are much divided respecting the problem of the
Christian Republic ; for while they wish to believe in so splendid a
conception of the international position of France, as the great cen-
tral figure round which all the rest are grouped, their historic sense
and judgment compel them to doubt, if not to deny, the genuineness
of the document on which it rests. ... No other writer of the age
alludes to the scheme. It would have been communicated, more or
less fully, to several of the Cabinets of Europe, yet dead silence pre-
vails ; no minister, for example, of either Elizabeth or James alludes
to it. This, taken with the weakness of the evidence in the (Econo-
mies^ is conclusive against the genuineness of the scheme with its
magnificent chimera of an European Amphictyonic assembly. . . .
It must not be supposed that Henry IV. had any such plan neatly
drawn out, and ready for execution, when he made his preparations
for appearing in Germany ; on the contrary, he was not at all the
man to have worked out any such elaborate design, for he had nei-
ther knowledge nor inclination for it. And besides this, there is in-
ternal proof which shows that it did not come from his hand. How
could he, the tamer of the noblesse, who knew them so well, and
was ever on his guard against them, have dreamt of proposing to
carve out ten principalities on his northern frontier for ten great
Lords of France?

Yet we must not absolutely deny the existence of any " great de-
sign " of the kind. It was an age of political speculations ; men's
attention was called to international questions, or invited to study
the nature of states within their own borders ; the classical examples

INTRODUCTION xv

were much in vogue ; men asked themselves as to Empires, as to
Republics ; the pen kept pace with the sword, and showed its new
power in swaying public opinion. " Learning," as Hallam says of this
time, " was employed in systematic analyses of ancient or modern
forms of government"; these were the days of Bodinus' great work
De Republica ; now came out that singular collection of little books,
the "Elzevir Republics"; the minds of men had passed from the
Utopias of the previous age to more practical speculations as to
what State-systems existed, or might exist. They were conscious
that Europe had entered on an entirely new phase of being, and
were eager to see how she would group herself, what would be the
form of equilibrium to which they hoped she was tending. The
great struggle of the Thirty Years' War in Germany is heralded by
these anxious speculations ; for the true decision of the form of
European politics could never be come to, till Germany had fought
out the still unsettled questions which vexed her from the Alps to
the Baltic. The temper of mind corresponds to that which, in a
somewhat similar age, agitated the French nation under Napoleon
III., and led to maps of reconstructed Europe, and speculations on
the equilibrium of states, and wars made M for an idea." Therefore
there is nothing improbable in the existence of the scheme of a
Christian Republic before 1 6 1 o ; rather, it is very credible ; and if
we may trust Sully (in the earlier part of the (Economies) we may
trace the genesis of some plan of the kind, though doubtless not so
elaborate, in the sagacious speculations of Queen Elizabeth. Sully
states distinctly that he and the Queen discussed the great project in
1 60 1 , and that she first sketched out the plan of it, which in outline
answers to that of the Christian Republic. On her death the matter
seems to have been re-opened to King James, who characteristically
shrank from anything so large and decisive; though the young
prince Henry, perhaps with an eye to a French marriage, professed
his hearty liking for it. But James drew off from the French side,
and in 1604 made a separate peace with Spain.

We shall not be far wrong if we say that during the last years of
the life of Henry IV. he cherished hopes of overthrowing the Austro-
Spanish dominion in Europe, by means of a combination of French
with Dutch and North German interests ; that England failed him,
through her insular views, and the temper of her new monarch ; that

xvi THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

this led him all the more to watch the movements in Germany and
to strive to settle the outstanding Dutch struggle in favour of the
Provinces ; and in the end made him once more buckle on his armour
for what might have been a decisive war. We may even go farther,
and believe that Henry had formed large plans for the aggrandise-
ment of the crown, not in the least plans of the lofty and disinter-
ested kind attributed to him by Sully. Of this we have an account,
which is probably correct, in Richelieu's Memoirs. The Cardinal de-
scribes him as opening out his plans in 1 6 1 o to the Queen : to reduce
to his obedience Milan, Montferrat, Genoa, Naples ; to present most
of Milan and Montferrat to the Duke of Savoy, taking in exchange
Nice and Savoy ; to make Piedmont and the Milanese a kingdom ;
to call the Duke of Savoy (having lost his old territories) King of the
Alps ; and thus to secure the approaches of France into Italy ; on the
other side, having shown himself to the Italian princes as their friend
(one fancies one hears the voice of Napoleon the Third !), to pass
into Flanders and Germany, in order to wear out his enemies by
fanning into flame the smouldering variances between North and
South Germany, perhaps to make the Rhine his frontier, with three
or four strong fortresses on it. We may conclude, finally, that the
Christian Republic is not a formed scheme of Henry's planning, but
a romance, based on facts, and encouraged by the bold projects of
Queen Elizabeth, and the war-loving energy of the Duke of Sully.

This is the extreme critical view, and much that might
be said to counteract it is obvious. It is not necessary
here, however, to say it; for our primary concern is not
with the authorship of the u Great Design." The work
of the Abbe de l'Ecluse is to Dean Kitchin " audacious."
That work was the very bold editing and rearrangement
of Sully's Memoirs, to make the work more consecutive
and readable. Many liberties were certainly taken with
the text, from which confusions have resulted. L' Ecluse's
edition was published in 1 747 ; and Mrs. Charlotte Lenox
made her English translation in 1755. This was revised
in 1 8 10, the text of L'Ecluse being modified through

INTRODUCTION xvii

comparison with the original edition of the Memoirs ; and
the various editions which have followed in England and
America have been reprints of this London work of 1810.
The edition used for the present volume is that published
in Bohn's Library in 1856. The notes are chiefly the notes
of L'Ecluse, although it will be seen that certain notes are
those of the English editor.

The prime object of the '* Great Design," as Sully states,
was to reduce the House of Austria. It was therefore es-
sentially a political scheme, however great its general vir-
tues. The first plan for the federation of Europe which
was at once comprehensive and disinterested was that of
Wjfliajn_Peruir published in 1693, thirty-one years after the
publication of the " Great Design. " It is noteworthy that
at the close of his essay Penn appeals for reinforcement
of his plan to Henry's similar scheme :

I confess I have the passion to wish heartily that the honor of
proposing and effecting so great and good a design might be owing
to England, of all the countries in Europe, as something of the nature
of our expedient was, in design and preparation, to the wisdom, justice
and valor of Henry the Fourth of France, whose superior qualities
raising his character above those of his ancestors or contemporaries
deservedly gave him the style of Henry the Great. For he was upon
obliging the princes and estates of Europe to a politic balance, when
the Spanish faction, for that reason, contrived and accomplished his
murder by the band of Ravilliac. I will not then fear to be censured
for proposing an expedient for the present and future peace of Eu-
rope, when it was not only the design but glory of one of the greatest
princes that ever reigned in it. This great King's example tells us it
is fit to be done.

In 1623, in Sully's lifetime, and forty years before the
account of the " Great Design" was published in the last
volume of his Memoirs, Emeric Cruce published in Paris

xviii THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

his little book entitled Le ^fovecni Cynee, which contained
the first distinct proposal for substituting international
arbitration for war. It was long believed that the only
existing copy of this remarkable work was that in the Bib-
liotheque Nationale in Paris. There was a copy, however,
in the library of Charles Sumner, bequeathed by him to
Harvard University ; and this copy, long overlooked, has,
during the last year, been brought to light, and a trans-
lation of it will be published immediately in the Interna-
tional Library. It is noteworthy as the first flowering of
the peace cause on French soil, the creation of one who
was living in Paris during the reign of Henry the Fourth.
We cannot forget either that it was as an exile in France
that Grotius prepared his Rights of War and Peace, and
that this appeared at almost the same moment that Cruce
published his Nonvean Cynee.
\fc ^-Four years before the appearance of the last volume of
Sully's Memoirs, containing the account of the "Great
Design," was born the Abbe Saint-Pierre, who, not long
after the appearance of William Penn's Plan for the Per-
manent Peace of Europe, published his famous Project for
settling Perpetual Peace in Europe, in three volumes, the
most comprehensive and thorough presentation of the sub-
ject of the better organization of the world which had ever,
up to that time, been made. Saint-Pierre owed the inspira-
tion of his effort directly to the "Great Design," viewing
his plan as an elaboration of that. "It falls out happily for
this project," he wrote, " that I am not the author of it. It
was Henry the Great who was the inventor of it." Leib-
nitz, who in 171 5 made the "Project" of Saint-Pierre
the subject of an important paper in which he developed
his own thoughts upon international organization, wrote

INTRODUCTION xix

personally to the author, and took satisfaction in the fact
that the project was supported by the practical authority of
Henry the Fourth. Later Rousseau revived the project of
Saint-Pierre, devoting a book to it ; and in a subsequent
pamphlet on Perpetual Peace he wrote :

I require only, in order to prove that the project of the Christian
Republic is not chimerical, to name its first author ; for assuredly
Henry IV. was no fool, nor was Sully a visionary. The Abbe' Saint-
Pierre felt himself warranted by these great names in reviving their
system. But what a difference in the times, the circumstances, the
proposal, the manner of doing it, and in the author ! To judge of
this difference let us glance at the general situation of affairs at the
moment chosen by Henry IV. for the execution of his project. . . .
But without anything transpiring of these grand designs, everything
marched on in silence towards their execution. Twice Sully went to
London ; the party was united in alliance with King James I., and
the King of Sweden was pledged on his side; the league was con-
cluded with the Protestants of Germany ; they were even sure of the
Princes of Italy ; and all contributed towards the great object without
being able to say what it was, just like the workmen who labour sep-
arately at the parts of a new machine of which they do not know the
form or the use. ... To so many preparations add, for the conduct
of the enterprise, the same zeal and the same prudence as had gone
to its formation, quite as much on the part of Henry's minister as
on his own ; at the head of the enterprise a captain such as himself,
while his adversary had nothing more to oppose to him, and you will
be able to judge whether anything which might be deemed favour-
able to success was absent from the promise of his. Without having
penetrated his views, Europe, attentive to his immense preparations,
awaited their results with a kind of terror. A slight pretext was to
give rise to this great revolution ; a war, which was to be the last, was
preparing an immortal peace, when an event, whose horrible mystery
must deepen the terror of it, banished for ever the last hope of the
world. The same blow which cut short the days of the good King
plunged Europe anew into the eternal wars which she could no
longer hope to see come to an end. Be that as it may, these are the

XX THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

means which Henry IV. collected together for forming the same
establishment that the Abbe Saint-Pierre intended to form with a
book. Beyond doubt permanent peace is at present but an idle
fancy; but given only a Henry IV. and a Sully, and permanent
peace will become once more a reasonable project.

The work of Saint-Pierre and Rousseau met with a
wide and warm response throughout Europe. One fruit
in Germany was the work of Totze at Gottingen in 1763,
entitled Permanent and Universal Peace ', according to the
Plan of Henry the Fourth.

Here in the United States we remember — and we re-
member it with peculiar tenderness and gratitude at this
hour — that the American who first conspicuously and
enthusiastically urged upon his countrymen attention to
the "Great Design" of Henry IV. was ^Edward Everett
Hale) This was in an article entitled " The United States
of Europe," published in his magazine, Old and New,
in 1 87 1, the time of the Franco-German war. That article
is so interesting, and now so memorable, that it is incorpo-
rated in the present volume.

" Has there ever been a moment," asked Dr. Hale in
this historic paper in 1871, "when all true men could act
together, as in this sea of troubles they might act to estab-
lish the United States of Europe ? And if the great man
of Europe, whoever he may be, speaks that great word,
and lays the plans for that great harmony, may not this
land of ours, which has given the great example, do more
than any land to make real the sublime idea ? Our states-
manship, our policy, our international science, — they have
no object at this moment so noble, nay, they have none so
real, as the advance, by one of the great strides of history,
of a permanent peace among the States of Christendom."

INTRODUCTION xxi

Dr. Hale spoke the same word with power in 1 899, as,
at the call of another European monarch, the representa-
tives of the nations were gathering, in behalf of the world's
organization, at The Hague. He is speaking it to us still
to-day, while this struggle for permanent peace among the
States of Christendom still goes on. Let us hear his voice
as we turn anew the pages of the " Great Design."

Edwin D. Mead
Boston, Massachusetts

THE GREAT DESIGN OF
HENRY IV

FROM THE MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE
OF SULLY

As this part of these Memoirs will be entirely taken up
with an account of the great design of Henry IV., or the
political scheme by which he proposed to govern, not only
France, but all Europe, it may not be improper to begin it
with some more general reflections on this monarchy, and
on the Roman Empire, upon whose ruins we know it has
been formed, as well as all the other powers which at this
day compose the Christian world.

If we consider all those successive changes which Rome
has suffered from the year of the world 3064, which is that
of its foundation,1 its infancy, youth, and virility, its declen-
sion, fall, and final ruin ; those vicissitudes, which it expe-
rienced in common with the great monarchies by which it
was preceded, would almost incline one to believe that em-
pires, like all other sublunary things, are subject to be the
sport, and at last to sink under the pressure, of time. And
if we extend this idea still further, we shall, perhaps, per-
ceive that they are all liable to be disturbed or interrupted in

1 The opinion now most generally received is that of Varro, who
places the time of the foundation of Rome nearly two hundred years
later.

2 ' VTHE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

their courses by certain extraordinary incidents, which, for
anything that we can discover to the contrary, may be termed
epidemical distempers, that very frequently hasten their de-
struction ; and their cure by this discovery becoming easier,
we may at least save some of them from those catastrophies
which are so fatal to them.

But if we endeavour to discover more visible and natural
causes of the ruin of this vast and formidable empire, we
shall perhaps soon perceive they were produced by a devia-
tion from those wise laws and that simplicity of manners,
which were the original of all its grandeur, into luxury, ava-
rice, and ambition ; yet there was, finally, another cause, the
effect of which could hardly have been prevented or fore-
seen by the utmost human wisdom ; I mean the irruptions of
those vast bodies of barbarous people, Goths, Vandals, Huns,
Herulians, Rugians, Lombards, &c, from whom, both sepa-
rately and united, the Roman Empire received such violent
shocks that it was at last overthrown by them. Rome was
three times sacked by these barbarians ; in 4 1 4, under Ho-
norius, by Alaric, chief of the Goths; in 455, by Genseric,
king of the Vandals, under Martian; and in 546, under
Justinian, by Totila and the Goths.1 Now, if it be true
that after this the city retained the shadow of what she
had been, if we must regard her as divested of the empire
of the world, when her weakness and the abuses of her
government made this event to be looked upon, not simply
as inevitable, but as very near, and, in fact, already arrived,
the epocha of her fall may then be marked long before the
reign of Valentinian III., to whom it will be doing a favour

1 These three epochas are not quite just: the first was in 410, instead
of 414; the second in 455 or 456; and the third in 524, under Tegas,
successor of Totila, and the last king of the Goths ; the sacking the city
this last time lasted forty days.

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 3

to call the last emperor of the West;1 for several of those
emperors whom he succeeded were, in reality, no better
than tyrants, by whom the empire was torn and divided,
and the shattered remnants left to be the spoil of the bar-
barians, who, indeed, by their conquests, acquired an equal
right to them.

Rome, nevertheless, still beheld, at intervals, some faint
appearances of a revival ; those of which she was most sen-
sible were under the reign of the great Constantine, whose
victories once more united this vast body under one head ;
but when he transported the seat of his empire from Rome
to Constantinople, he, by that step, without being sensible
of it, contributed more to the destruction of a work which
had cost him so much labour than all the ill conduct of his
predecessors had been able to effect ; and this even he ren-
dered irremediable, by dividing his empire equally between
his three sons. Theodosius, who, by good fortune, or from
an effect of his great valour, found himself in the same
circumstances with Constantine, would not, perhaps, have
committed the same fault had he not been influenced by
the force of Constantine's example; but this, in a manner,
necessarily obliged him to divide his empire in two — Arca-
dius had the East, Honorius the West; and from that time
there never was any hopes or opportunity of reuniting them.

According to the order of nature, by which the destruc-
tion of one thing contributes to the production of others,
so, in proportion as the most distant members of the em-
pire of the West fell off from it, from thence there arose

1 It would be unjust surely to refuse the title of Emperors of the
West to Valentinian III., to Honorius, &c. The expressions here used
by our author should not be understood in their most rigorous sense,
but only as meaning an empire weakening, and approaching to its final
destruction.

4 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

kingdoms; though indeed they did not at first bear that
rank. The most ancient of these (its origin appearing to
have been in the eighth year of the empire of Honorius) is,
undoubtedly, that which was founded in Gaul by the French,
so called from Franconia, from whence they were invited
by the Gauls, who inhabited the countries about the Moselle,
to assist them in their deliverance from the oppression of
the Roman armies. It being a custom among these Franks,
or French, to confer the title of king upon whatever person
they chose to be their leader, if the first or second of these
chiefs did not bear it, it is certain, at least, that the third,
which was Merovius, and more particularly Clovis, who
was the fifth, were invested with it;1 and some of them
supported it with so much glory — among others Pepin
and Charles Martel, to whom it would be doing an injus-
tice to refuse them this dignity — that their worthy suc-
cessor, Charlemagne, revived in Gaul an imperfect image
of the now extinguished empire in the West: this, indeed,
was facilitated by those natural advantages France enjoys
of numerous inhabitants trained to war, and a great plenty
of all things serving the different necessities of life, joined
to a very great convenience for commerce, arising from

1 The whole of what is here said may be allowed to be right; ac-
cording to Petau and Sirmond, the chiefs of the French bore the title
of kings from the reign of Valentinian II., which was long before the
year 445, when Claudian, by the taking of Cambray, &c, first established
himself on this side of the Rhine. They first established themselves on
the other side of the Rhine about the middle of the third century, and
extended themselves nearly from the Texel as far as Frankfort. This
revolt of a part of Gaul against the Romans happened in 434, in the
twelfth year of the reign of Valentinian III.; and the author's opinion
on the establishment of the French in Gaul is confirmed by a learned
academician, who has cleared up this critical point as much as it was
possible (the late Abbe Du Bois). (Hist. Crit.de PEtab. de la Monarchic
Franc, dans les Gaules, torn. i. liv. i. chap. 17; liv. ii. chap. 7, 8.)

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 5

its situation, which renders it the centre of four of the
principal powers of Europe — Germany, Italy, Spain, and
Britain, with the Low Countries.

Let us here just say one word upon the three races which
compose the succession of our kings : in the first of them I
find only Merovius, Clovis I., and Clotharius II.; Charles
Martel, Pepin le Bref, and Charlemagne in the second, who
have raised themselves above the common level of their
race. Take away these six from the thirty-five which we
compute in these two races, and all the rest, from their
vices or their incapacity, appear to have been either wicked
kings, or but the shadow of kings; though among them
we may distinguish some good qualities in Sigibert and
Dagobert, and a very great devotion in Louis le Debon-
naire, which, however, ended in his repenting the loss of
empire and his kingdom, together with his liberty, in a
cloister.

The Carlovingian race having reigned obscurely, and
ended so too, the crown then descended upon a third race,
the first four kings of which, in my opinion, appear to have
been perfect models of wise and good government. The
kingdom which came under their dominion had lost much
of its original splendour, for, from its immense extent in
the time of Charlemagne, it was reduced to very nearly
the same bounds which it has at this day, with this differ-
ence, that though they might have been desirous to restore
its ancient limits, the form of the government, which ren-
dered the kings subject to the great men and people of
the kingdom, who had a right to choose and even to gov-
ern their sovereigns, left them no means by which they
could succeed in such an attempt. The conduct, therefore,
which they pursued was to condemn arbitrary power to an

6 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

absolute silence, and, in its place, to substitute equity itself,
a kind of dominion which never excites envy. Nothing now
was done without the consent of the great men and the
principal cities, and almost always in consequence of the
decision of an assembly of the states. A conduct so mod-
erate and prudent put an end to all factions and stifled all
conspiracies, which are fatal to the state or the sovereign.
Regularity, economy, a distinction of merit, strict observ-
ance of justice, all the virtues which we suppose necessary
qualifications for the good of a family, were what character-
ised this new government, and produced what was never
before beheld, and what, perhaps, we may never see again
— an uninterrupted peace for one hundred and twenty-two
years. What these princes gained by it for themselves in
particular, and which all the authority of the Salique law
could never have procured them, was the advantage of intro-
ducing into this house an hereditary right to the crown.
But they, nevertheless, thought it a necessary precaution
not to declare their eldest sons their successors till they
had modestly asked the consent of the people, preceded it
by a kind of election, and usually by having them crowned
in their own lifetime, and seated with them upon the throne.
Philip II., whom Louis VII., his father, caused to be
crowned and to reign with him in this manner, was the
first who neglected to observe this ceremony between the
sovereign and his people : several victories, obtained over
his neighbours and over his own subjects, which gained
him the surname of Augustus, served to open him a pas-
sage to absolute power; and a notion of the fitness and
legality of this power, by the assistance of favourites, minis-
ters, and others, became afterwards so strongly imprinted
in his successors, that they looked upon it as a mark of

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 7

the most profound good policy to act contrary to those
maxims, the general and particular utility of which had
been so effectually confirmed by experience. And this they
did without any fear, or, perhaps, without any conception
of the fatal consequences which such a proceeding, against
a nation that adored its liberty, might, and even necessarily
would, incur ; of which they might easily have become sen-
sible, from the means to which the people had immediate
recourse, to shake off the yoke of tyranny with which they
saw themselves menaced. The kings could never obtain of
their people any other than that kind of constrained obedi-
ence which always inclines them to embrace with eagerness
all opportunities of mutiny. This was the source of a thou-
sand bloody wars: that by which almost all France was
ravaged by the English; that which we carried on with
Italy, Burgundy, and Spain ; all of them can be attributed
to no other causes than the civil dissensions by which they
were preceded : and here the weakest side, stifling the voice
of honour and the interest of the nation, constantly called
in foreigners to assist them in the support of their tottering
liberties. These were shameful and fatal remedies; but
from that time they were constantly employed, and even
to our days by the house of Lorraine, in a league, for which
religion was nothing more than the pretence. Another evil,
which may at first appear to be of a different kind, but
which, in my opinion, proceeds from the same source, was
a general corruption of manners, a thirst for riches, and a
most shameful degree of luxury; these, sometimes sepa-
rately and sometimes united, were alternate causes and
effects of many of our miseries.

Thus, in a few words, I have exposed the various species
of our bad policy with respect both to the form of the

8 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

government, successively subjected to the will of the people,
the soldiers, the nobles, the states, and the kings; and in
regard to the persons likewise of these last, whether de-
pendent, elective, hereditary, or absolute.

From the picture here laid before us, we may be enabled
to form our judgment upon the third race of our kings; we
may find a thousand things to admire in Philip Augustus,
Saint-Louis, Philip le Bel, Charles le Sage, Charles VII.,
and Louis XII. But it is to be lamented that so many
virtues, or great qualities, have been exercised upon no
better principles ; with what pleasure might we bestow upon
them the titles of great kings, could we but conceal that
their people were miserable; what might we not, in par-
ticular, say of Louis IX.? Of the forty-four years which
he reigned, the first twenty of them exhibit a scene not un-
worthy to be compared with the eleven last of Henry the
Great ; but I am afraid all their glory will appear to have
been destroyed in the twenty-four following, wherein it ap-
pears that the excessive taxes upon the subjects to satisfy
an ill-judged and destructive devotion, immense sums trans-
ported into the most distant countries for the ransom of
prisoners, so many thousand subjects sacrificed, so many
• illustrious houses extinguished, caused a universal mourning
throughout France, and all together a general calamity.

Let us for once, if it be possible, fix our principles ; and
being from long experience convinced that the happiness
of mankind can never arise from war, of which we ought
to have been persuaded long ago, let us upon this principle
take a cursory view of the history of our monarchy. We
will pass by the wars of Clovis and his predecessors, be-
cause they seem to have been in some degree necessary to
confirm the recent foundations of the monarchy : but what

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 9

shall we say of those wars in which the four sons of Clovis,
the four sons of Clotharius II., and their descendants were
engaged, during the uninterrupted course of one hundred
and sixty years ? and of those also by which, for the space
of one hundred and seventy-two other years, commencing
with Louis le Debonnaire, the kingdom was harassed and
torn ? What follows is still worse : the slightest knowledge
of our history is sufficient to convince any one that there
was no real tranquillity in the kingdom from Henry III.
to the peace of Vervins ; and, in short, all this long period
may be called a war of near four hundred years' duration.
After this examination, from whence it incontestably ap-
pears that our kings have seldom thought of anything but
how to carry on their wars, we cannot but be scrupulous in
bestowing on them the title of truly great kings ; though
we shall, nevertheless, render them all the justice which
appears to have been their due : for I confess (as indeed it
would be unjust to attribute to them only a crime which
was properly that of all Europe) that several of these princes
were sometimes in such circumstances as rendered the wars
just, and even necessary; and from hence, when indeed
there was no other means to obtain it, they acquired a true
and lasting glory. For herein, from the manner in which
several of these wars were foreseen, prepared for, and
conducted, we may in their councils discover such master-
strokes of policy, and in their persons such noble instances
of courage, as are deserving of our highest praises. From
whence then can proceed the error of so many exploits,
in appearance so glorious, though the effect of them has
generally been the devastation both of France and all Eu-
rope? I repeat it again, of all Europe, which even yet
seems scarcely sensible that in her present situation — a

10 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

situation in which she has been for several centuries —
every attempt which shall tend to her subjection, or only
to the too considerably augmenting of any one of her prin-
cipal monarchies at the expense of the others, can never
.be any other than a chimerical and impossible enterprise,
there are none of these monarchies whose destruction will
not require a concurrence of causes infinitely superior to all
human force. The whole, therefore, of what seems proper
and necessary to be done, is ,to support them all in a kind
of equilibrium ; and whatever prince thinks, and in conse-
quence acts, otherwise, may indeed cause torrents of blood
to flow through all Europe, but he will never be able to
change her form.

When I observed that the extent of France is not now
so considerable as it was in the time of Charlemagne, my
intention, most certainly, was not that this diminution should
be considered as a misfortune. In an age when we feel
the sad effects of having had ambitious princes from time
to time for our kings, were all to concur in flattering this
fatal ambition it would be the cause of still greater evils ;
and it may be generally observed that the larger the extent
of kingdoms, the more they are subject to great revolutions
and misfortunes. The basis of the tranquillity of our own,
in particular, depends upon preserving it within its present
limits. A climate, laws, manners, and language, different
from our own ; seas, and chains of mountains almost inac-
cessible, are all so many barriers which we may consider as
fixed even by nature. Besides, what is it that France wants ?
Will she not always be the richest and most powerful king-
dom in Europe ? It must be granted. All, therefore, which
the French have to wish or desire is, that Heaven may
grant them pious, good, and wise kings; and that these

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV II

kings may employ their power in preserving the peace of
Europe ; for no other enterprise can, truly, be to them either
profitable or successful.

And this explains to us the nature of the design which
Henry IV. was on the point of putting in execution when
it pleased God to take him to himself, too soon by some
years for the happiness of the world. From hence likewise
we may perceive the motives for his pursuing a conduct
so opposite to anything that had hitherto been undertaken
by crowned heads ; and here we may behold what it was
that acquired him the title of " great." (His designs were
not inspired by a mean and despicable ambition, nor guided
by base and partial interests : to render France happy for
ever was his desire ; and as she cannot perfectly enjoy this
felicity unless all Europe likewise partakes of it, so it was
the happiness of Europe in general which he laboured to
procure, and this in a manner so solid and durable that
nothing should afterwards be able to shake its foundations. /

I must confess I am under some apprehensions lest this
scheme should at first be considered as one of those darling * ■
chimeras, or idle political speculations, in which a mind
susceptible of strange and singular ideas may be so easily
engaged ; those who shall think thus of it, must be of that
sort of people on whom the first impressions upon a preju-
diced imagination have the force of truth ; or those who,
by their distance from the times and their ignorance of
the circumstances, confound the wisest and noblest enter-
prises that have ever been formed, with those chimerical
projects which princes, intoxicated with their power, have
in all ages amused themselves in forming. I confess that
if we attentively examine the designs which have been
planned from motives of vanity, confidence in good fortune,

12 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

ignorance, nay, from sloth, and even timidity itself, we
must be surprised to behold sovereigns plunged blindly
into schemes, specious perhaps in appearance, but which,
at bottom, have not the least degree of possibility. The
mind of man pursues with so much complacency, nay,
even with so much ardour, whatever it fancies great or
beautiful, that it is sorry to be made sensible that these
objects have frequently nothing real or solid in them. But
in this, as well as in other things, there is an opposite ex-
treme to be avoided ; which is, that as we usually fail in
the execution of great designs from not commencing and
continuing them with sufficient vigour and spirit, so like-
wise we are defective in the knowledge of their true worth
and tendency, because we do not thoroughly and properly
consider them in all their dependencies and consequences.
I have myself been more difficult to persuade in this matter
than perhaps any of those who shall read these Memoirs,
and this I consider as an effect of that cold, cautious, and
unenterprising temper, which makes so considerable a part
of my character.

I remember the first time the king spoke to me of a
political system by which all Europe might be regulated
and governed as one great family, I scarcely paid any atten-
tion to what he said, imagining that he meant no more by
it than merely to divert himself, or perhaps to show that
his thoughts on political subjects were greater, and pene-
trated deeper, than most others ; my reply was a mixture
of pleasantry and compliment. Henry said no more at that
time. He often confessed to me afterwards that he had
long concealed from me what he meditated on this subject,
from a principle of shame, which many labour under, lest
they should disclose designs which might appear ridiculous

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 13

or impossible. I was astonished when, some time after,
he renewed our conversation on this head, and continued
from year to year to entertain me with new regulations and
new improvements in his scheme.

I had been very far from thinking seriously about it. If
by accident it came into my thoughts for a moment, the
first view of the design, which supposed a reunion of all
the different states of Europe — immense expenses, at a
time when France could scarcely supply her own neces-
sities — a concatenation of events which to me appeared
infinite, — these were considerations which had always made
me reject the thought as vain ; I even apprehended there
was some illusion in it. I recollected some of those enter-
prises in which we had endeavoured to engage Europe. I
considered those in particular which had been formed by
some of our kings, from much less considerable motives,
and I felt myself disgusted with this, from the bad success
of all the former. The disposition of the princes of Europe
to take umbrage against France, when she would have as-
sisted them to dissipate their fears from the too great power
of Spain, this alone appeared to me an insurmountable
obstacle.

Strongly prejudiced by this opinion, I used my utmost
efforts to undeceive Henry, who, on his side, surprised not
to find me of his opinion in any one point, immediately
undertook and readily succeeded in convincing me, that my
thus indiscriminately condemning all parts of his project,
in which he was certain that everything at least was not
blamable, could proceed from nothing but strong preju-
dices. I could not refuse, at his solicitations, to use my
endeavours to gain a thorough comprehension of it: I
formed a clearer plan of it in my mind : I collected and

14 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

united all its different branches : I studied all its propor-
tions and dimensions, if I may say so ; and I discovered
in them a regularity and mutual dependence, of which,
when I only considered the design in a confused and care-
less manner, I had not been at all sensible. The benefit
which would manifestly arise from it to all Europe, was
what most immediately struck me, as being in effect the
plainest and most evident ; but the means to effect so good
a design were, therefore, what I hesitated at the longest.
The general situation of the affairs of Europe, and of our
own in particular, appeared to me every way contrary to
the execution : I did not consider that, as the execution of
it might be deferred till a proper opportunity, we had all
those resources whereby to prepare ourselves, which time
affords those who know how to make the best use of it.
I was at last convinced, that however disproportionate the
means might appear to the effect, a course of years, during
which everything should as much as possible be made sub-
servient to the great object in view, would surmount many
difficulties. It is indeed somewhat extraordinary, that this
point, which appeared to be, and really was, the most diffi-
cult of any, should at last become the most easy.

Having thus seen all parts of the design in their just
points of view, having thoroughly considered and calcu-
lated, and from thence discovered and prepared for all
events which might happen, I found myself confirmed in
the opinion, that the design of Henry the Great was, upon
the whole, just in its intention, -possible, and even practi-
cable in all its parts, and infinitely glorious in all its effects :
so that, upon all occasions, I was the first to recall the king
to his engagements, and sometimes to convince him by
those very arguments which he himself had taught me.

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 15

The constant attention this prince paid to all affairs trans-
acted around him, from an effect of those singularly unhappy
circumstances, by which, in almost in every instant of his life,
he found himself embarrassed, had been the cause of his
forming this design, even from the time when, being called
to the crown by the death of Henry III., he considered the
humbling of the house of Austria as absolutely necessary
for his security; yet, if he was not beholden to Elizabeth1'
for his thought of the design, it is, however, certain that this
great queen had herself conceived it long before, as a means
to revenge Europe for the attempts of its common enemy.
The troubles in which all the following years were engaged,
the war which succeeded in 1595, and that against Savoy
after the peace of Vervins, forced Henry into difficulties
which obliged him to lay aside all thoughts of other affairs ;
and it was not till after his marriage, and the firm reestab-
lishment of peace, that he renewed his thoughts upon his
first design, to execute which appeared then more impos-
sible, or at least more improbable, than ever.

1 The present Duke of Sully is possessed of the original of an excel-
lent letter of Henry the Great, supposed to have been written by him
to Queen Elizabeth, though this princess is not named, either in the
body of the letter, or in the superscription, which is in these words:
" To her who merits immortal praise." The terms in which Henry herein
speaks of a certain political project, which he calls " The most excellent
and rare enterprise that ever the human mind conceived — a thought
rather divine than human ; " the praises which he bestows upon " this
discourse so well connected and demonstrative of what would be neces-
sary for the government of empires and kingdoms" — on those "con-
ceptions and resolutions " from which nothing less may be hoped than
" most remarkable issues both of honour and glory," — all these passages
can relate to none but Elizabeth, nor mean any other than the great
design in question, concerning which it evidently appears from hence,
that the Queen of England had by letters disclosed her thoughts to
Henry. The letter from which these extracts are taken is dated from
Paris, the nth of July, but without the date of the year. (Lettres d'Henry
le Grand.)

f

16 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

He nevertheless communicated it by letters to Eliza-
beth,1 and this was what inspired them with so strong an
inclination to confer together in 1601, when this princess
came to Dover, and Henry to Calais. What the ceremony
of an interview would not have permitted them to do, I at
last began by the voyage which I had made to this prin-
cess. I found her deeply engaged in the means .by which
this great design might be successfully executed ;(and, not-
withstanding the difficulties which she apprehended in its
two principal points, namely, the agreement of religions
and the equality^ojTthe_rjowers,j she did not appear to me at
all to doubt of its success, which she chiefly expected, for
a reason the justness of which I have since been well con-
vinced of ; and this was, that, as the plan was really only
contrary to the design of some princes, whose ambitious
views were sufficiently known to Europe, this difficulty,
from which the necessity of the design more evidently ap-
peared, would rather promote than retard its success. She
further said, that its execution by any other means than
that of arms, would be very desirable, as this had always
something odious in it : but she confessed that indeed it
would be hardly possible to begin it any other wise. A
very great number of the articles, conditions, and different
dispositions are due to this queen, and sufficiently show,
that in respect of wisdom, penetration, and all the other
perfections of the mind, she was not inferior to any king
the most truly deserving of that title.

It must indeed be considered as a very great misfortune
that Henry could not at this time second the intentions
of the Queen of England, who wished to have the design
put in immediate execution; but when he thus laid the

1 Compare the above with what is said on p. 61.

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV l J

foundation of the edifice, he scarcely hoped to see the time
when the finishing hand would be put to it. The recovery
of his own kingdom from the various maladies by which
it was afflicted was a work of several years, and unhappily
he had himself seen forty-eight when he began it ; he pur-
sued it, nevertheless, with the greatest vigour. The edict
of Nantes had been published with this view, and every
other means was used which might gain the respect and
confidence of the princes of Europe. Henry and I, at the
same time, applied ourselves with indefatigable labour to
regulate the interior affairs of the kingdom. We consid-
ered the death of the King of Spain as the most favourable
event that could happen for our design : but it received so
violent a shock by the death of Elizabeth, as had like to
have made us abandon all our hopes. Henry had no ex-
pectation that the powers of the north, nor King James,
the successor of Elizabeth (when he was acquainted with
his character), would any of them so readily consent to
support him in his design as this princess had done?1' How-
ever, the new allies which he daily gained in Germany, and
even in Italy, consoled him a little for the loss of Elizabeth^ ml*.*-***
The truce between Spain and the Low Countries may also
be numbered among incidents favourable to it.

Yet, if we consider all the obstacles which afterwards
arose in his own kingdom, from the Protestants, the Cath-
olics, the clergy, nay even from his own council, it will
appear as if all things conspired against it. "Will it be be-
lieved that Henry could not find in his whole council one
person, besides myself, to whom he could, without danger,
disclose the whole of his designs ? and that the respect due
to him could scarcely restrain those who appeared most de-
voted to his service from treating as wild and extravagant

1 8 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

chimeras what he had entrusted to them with the greatest
circumspection. But nothing discouraged him : he was an
abler politician and a better judge than all his council, and
all his kingdom; and when he perceived that, notwith-
standing all these obstacles, affairs began, both at home
and abroad, to appear in a favourable situation, he then
considered the success as infallible.

( Nor will this his judgment, when thoroughly considered,
be found so presumptuous as, from a slight examination,
it may appear to some. For what did he hereby require
of Europe? Nothing more than that it should promote
the means by which he proposed to fix it in the position,
towards which, by his efforts, it had for some time tended.
These means he rendered so easy of execution that it would
scarcely require what many of the princes of Europe would
voluntarily sacrifice for advantages much less real, less cer-
tain, and less durable. What they would gain by it, besides
the inestimable benefits arising from peace, would greatly
exceed all the expenses they would be at. What reason
then could any of them have to oppose it? And if they
did not oppose it, how could the house of Austria support
itself against powers in whom the desire and pleasure of
depriving it of that strength which it had used only to op-
press them would have raised against it as many open as
it had secret enemies — that is, the whole of Europe?
Nor would these princes have any reason to be jealous of
the restorer of their liberty ; for he was so far from seek-
ing to reimburse himself for all the expenses which his
generosity would hereby engage him in, that his inten-
tion was to relinquish voluntarily and for ever all power of
augmenting his dominions ; not only by conquest, but by
every other just and lawful means. By this he would have

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 19

discovered the secret of convincing all his neighbours that
his whole design was to save both himself and them those
immense sums which the maintenance of so many thousand
soldiers, so many fortified places, and so many military
expenses require; to free them for ever from the fear of
those bloody catastrophes so common in Europe ; to pro-
cure them an uninterrupted repose; and finally, to unite
them all in an indissoluble bond of security and friendship,
after which they might live together like brethren, and
reciprocally visit like good neighbours, without the trouble
of ceremony, and without the expense of a train cf attend-
ants, which princes use at best only for ostentation, and
frequently to conceal their misery. Does it not indeed
reflect shame and reproach on a people who affect to be
so polished and refined in their manners, that all their pre-
tended wisdom has not yet, I will not say procured them
tranquillity, but only guarded them from those barbarities
which they detest in nations the most savage and unculti-
vated ? And to destroy these pernicious seeds of confusion
and disorder, and to prevent the barbarities of which they
are the cause, could any scheme have been more happily
and perfectly contrived than that of Henry the Great ? \
Here then is all that could be reasonably expected or
required. It is only in the power of man to prepare and
act ; success is the work of a more mighty hand. Sensible
people cannot be blamed for being prejudiced in favour of
the scheme in question, from this circumstance only, that
it was formed by the two potentates whom posterity will
always consider as the most perfect models of the art of
governing. In regard to Henry in particular, I insist that
it belongs only to princes who, like him, have had a constant
succession of obstacles to encounter in all their designs.

20 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

These, I say, are the princes who alone are privileged to
judge what are real obstacles ; and, when we behold them
willing to lay down their lives in support of their opinions,
surely we may abide by their sentiments, without fear of
being deceived. For my own part, I shall always think
with regret, that France, by the blow which it received by
the loss of this great prince, was deprived of a glory far
superior to that which his reign had acquired.1 ".There
remains only to explain the several parts of the design,
and the manner in which they were to be executed. We
will begin with what relates to religion.
/ Two religions principally prevail in Christendom, the
Roman and the Reformed ; but, as this latter has admitted
of several modifications in its worship, which render it, if
not as different from itself as from the Roman, at least as
far from being reunited, it is therefore necessary to divide
it into two, one of which may be called the Reformed, and
the other the Protestant religion. The manner in which
these three religions prevail in Europe is extremely dif-
ferent. Italy and Spain remain in possession of the Roman
religion, pure and without mixture of any other. The Re-
formed religion subsists in France with the Roman, only
under favour of the edicts, and is the weakest. England,
Denmark, Sweden, the Low Countries, and Switzerland,
have also a mixture of the same kind, but with this differ-
ence, that in them the Protestant is the governing religion,
the others are only tolerated. Germany unites all these,

1 From hence we may discover what credit should be given to Siri,
when he says that the sole passion of Henry the Great was to amass
riches ; that his minister forced him into the design against his incli-
nation; and that the Duke of Sully, whom he believes to be the sole
author of it, was himself prepossessed in its favour only from mere
obstinacy, or perhaps from motives of self-interest.

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 21

and even in several of its circles, as well as in Poland,
shows them equal favour. I say nothing of Muscovy or
Russia : these vast countries, which are not less than six
hundred leagues in length, and four hundred in breadth,
being in great part still idolaters, and in part schismatics,
such as Greeks and Armenians, who have introduced so
many superstitious practices in their worship, that there
scarcely remains any conformity with us among them,
besides that they belong to Asia at least as much as to
Europe ; we may indeed almost consider them as a barba-
rous country, and place them in the same class with Turkey,
though for these five hundred years we have ranked them
among the Christian powers.

Each of these three religions being now established in
Europe in such a manner that there is not the least appear-
ance that any of them can be destroyed, and experience
having sufficiently demonstrated the inutility and danger
of such an enterprise, the best therefore that can be done
is to preserve and even strengthen all of them, in such a
manner, nevertheless, that this indulgence may not be-
come an encouragement to the production of new sects or
opinions, which should carefully be suppressed on their
first appearance. God himself, by manifestly supporting
what the Catholics were pleased to call the new religion,
has taught us this conduct, which is not less conformable
to the Holy Scriptures than confirmed by its examples;
and, besides, the insurmountable difficulty of forcing the
pope's authority to be received in those places where it is
now no longer acknowledged, renders what is here proposed
absolutely necessary. Several cardinals equally sagacious
and zealous, and even some popes, as Clement VIII. and
Paul V., were of this opinion.

22 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

fi

All, therefore, that remains now to be done, is to
strengthen the nations, who have made choice of one of
these religions, in the principles they profess, as there is
nothing in all respects so pernicious as a libertX-ilL-Dclief ;
and those nations, whose inhabitants profess several, or
all these religions, should be careful to observe those
rules which they find necessary to remedy the ordinary
inconveniences of a toleration which, in other respects,
they probably experience to be beneficial. Italy, therefore,
professing the Roman religion, and being moreover the
residence of the popes, should preserve this religion in all
its purity, and there would be no hardship in obliging all
its inhabitants either to conform to it or quit the country.
The same regulation, very nearly, might be observed in
regard to Spain. In such states as that of France, where
there is at least a governing religion, whoever should think
the regulation too severe, by which Calvinism would be
always subordinate to the religion of the prince, might be
permitted to depart the country. No new regulation would
be necessary in any of the other nations ; no violence on
this account, but liberty unrestrained, seeing this liberty is
become even a fundamental principle in their governments.

Thus we may perceive that everything on this head might
be reduced to a very few maxims, so much the more certain
and invariable, as they were not contrary to the sentiments
of any one. The Protestants are very far from pretending
to force their religion upon any of their neighbours, by whom
it is not voluntarily embraced. The Catholics, doubtless, are
of the same sentiments, and the pope would receive no in-
jury in being deprived of what he confesses himself not to
have possessed for a long1 time. His sacrificing these chi-
merical rights would be abundantly compensated by the

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 23

regal dignity with which it would be proper to invest him,
and by the honour of being afterwards the common medi-
ator between all the Christian princes, a dignity which he
would then enjoy without jealousy, and for which it must
be confessed this court, by its sagacious conduct, has shown
itself the most proper of any.

Another point of the political scheme, which also con-
cerns religion, relates to the infidel princes of Europe, and
consists in forcing those entirely out of it who refuse to
conform to any of the Christian doctrines of religion.
Should the Grand Duke of Muscovy, or Czar of Russia,
who is believed to be the ancient Khan of Scythia, refuse
to enter into the association after it is proposed to him, he
ought to be treated like the Sultan of Turkey, deprived
of his possessions in Europe, and confined to Asia only,
where he might, as long as he pleased, without any inter-
ruption from us, continue the wars in which he is almost
constantly engaged against the Turks and Persians.

To succeed in the execution of this, which will not
appear difficult, if we suppose that all Christian princes
unanimously concurred in it, it would only be necessary
for each of them to contribute, in proportion to their sev-
eral abilities, towards the support of the forces, and all the
other incidental expenses, which the success of such an
enterprise might require. These respective quotas were to
have been determined by a general council, of which we
shall speak hereafter. The following is what Henry the
Great had himself conceived on this head. The pope, for
this expedition, should furnish eight thousand foot, twelve
hundred horse, ten cannons, and ten galleys ; the emperor
and the circles of Germany, sixty thousand foot, twenty
thousand horse, five large cannons, and ten galleys or other

24 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

vessels; the King of France twenty thousand foot, four
thousand horse, twenty cannons, and ten ships or galleys ;
Spain, Britain, Denmark, Sweden, and Poland, the like
number with France, observing only, that these powers
should together supply what belonged to the sea service
in the manner most suitable to their respective conven-
iences and abilities therein; the King of Bohemia five
thousand foot, fifteen hundred horse, and five cannons;
the King of Hungary twelve thousand foot, five thousand
horse, twenty cannons, and six ships ; the Duke of Savoy,
or King of Lombardy, eight thousand foot, fifteen hundred
horse, eight cannons, and six galleys ; the republic of Venice
ten thousand foot, twelve hundred horse, ten cannons, and
twenty-five galleys ; the republic of the Swiss cantons fifteen
thousand foot, five thousand horse, and twelve cannons;
the republic of Holland twelve thousand foot, twelve hun-
dred horse, twelve cannons, and twelve ships; the Italian
republics ten thousand foot, twelve hundred horse, ten
cannons, and eight galleys ; the whole together amounting
to about two hundred and seventy thousand foot, fifty thou-
sand horse, two hundred cannons, and one hundred and
twenty ships or galleys, equipped and maintained at the
expense of all those powers, each contributing according
to his particular proportion.

This armament of the princes and states of Europe
appears so inconsiderable and so little burdensome, when
compared with the forces which they usually keep on foot
to awe their neighbours, or perhaps their own subjects,
that were it to have subsisted, even perpetually, it would
not have occasioned any inconvenience, and would have
been an excellent military academy : but, besides that the
enterprises for which it was destined would not always have

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 25

continued, the number and expense of it might have been
diminished in proportion to the necessities, which would
always have been the same. Though I am persuaded such
an armament would have been so highly approved of by
all these princes, that, after they had conquered with it
whatever they would not suffer any stranger should share
with them in Europe, they would have sought to join to
it such parts of Asia as were most commodiously situated,
and particularly the whole coast of Africa, which is too
near to our own territories for us not to be frequently
incommoded by it. The only precaution to be observed
in regard to these additional countries would have been to
form them into new kingdoms, declare them united with
the rest of the Christian powers, and bestow them on dif-
ferent princes, carefully observing to exclude those who
before bore rank among the sovereigns of Europe.

That part of the design which may be considered as purely
political, turned almost entirely on a first preliminary, which,
I think, would not have met with more difficulty than the
preceding article. This was to divest the housej)f^ Austria
of the empire, and of all the possessions inj}ermany, Italy,
and the Low Countries : in a word, to reduce it to the sole
kingdom of Spain, bounded by the Ocean, the Mediter-
ranean, and the Pyreneean mountains. But that it might,
nevertheless, be equally powerful with the other sovereign-
ties of Europe, it should have Sardinia, Majorca, Minorca,
and the other islands on its own coasts ; the Canaries, the
Azores, and Cape Verd, with its possessions in Africa;
Mexico, and the American islands which belong to it,
countries which alone might suffice to found great king-
doms; finally, the Philippines, Goa, the Moluccas, and its
other possessions in Asia.

26 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

'/ From hence a method seems to present itself, by which
the house of Austria might be indemnified for what it would
be deprived of in Europe, which is to increase its dominions
in the three other parts of the world, by assisting it to ob-
tain, and by declaring it the sole proprietor, both of what
we do know, and what we may hereafter discover in those
parts. We may suppose that on this occasion it would not
have been necessary to use force to bring this house to
concur in such a design ; and, indeed, even on this suppo-
sition, it was not the prince of this house reigning in Spain
to whom these parts of the world were to be subjected, but
to different princes of the same, or of different branches,
who, in acknowledgment of their possessions, should only
have rendered homage to the crown of Spain, or, at most,
a tribute, as due to the original conquerors. This house,
which is so very desirous of being the most powerful in
the world, might hereby have continued to flatter itself
with so pleasing a pre-eminence, without the other powers
being endangered by its pretended grandeur.

The steps taken by the house of Austria to arrive at uni-
versal monarchy, which evidently appears from the whole
conduct of Charles V. and his son, have rendered this
severity as just as it is necessary; and I will venture to
say that this house would not have had any reasonable
cause to complain of it. It is true it would be deprived of
the empire ; but when impartially considered, it will appear
that all the other princes of Germany, and even of Europe,
have an equal right to it. Were it necessary to prove this,
we need only recollect on what conditions Charles V. him-
self, the most powerful of them all, was acknowledged
emperor ; conditions which, at Smalcalde, he solemnly swore
to observe, in presence of seven princes or electors, and

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 2J

the deputies of twenty-four Protestant towns ; the Land-
grave of Hesse and the Prince of Anhalt being speakers
for all of them. He swore, I say, never to act contrary to
the established laws of the empire, particularly the famous
golden bull obtained under Charles IV., unless it were to
amplify them, and even that only with the express consent
and advice of the sovereign princes of Germany; not to
infringe nor deprive them of any of their privileges ; not to
introduce foreigners into their council ; not to make either
war or peace without their consent ; not to bestow honours
and employments but on natives of Germany ; not to use
any other but the German language in all writings ; not to
levy any taxes by his own authority, nor apply any con-
quests which might be made to his own particular profit.
He, in particular, formally renounced all pretensions to
hereditary right in his house to the imperial dignity; and,
according to the second article of the golden bull, he swore
never in his lifetime to recognise a king of the Romans.
When the Protestants of Germany, after they had in a
manner driven Ferdinand out of it, consented that the
imperial crown should be placed on his head, they were
careful to make him renew his engagements in regard to
all these articles, and to all these new regulations relative
to the free exercise of their religion.

As to the possessions of the house of Austria in Ger-
many, Italy, and the Low Countries, of which it was to be
deprived, not to mention here how much it is indebted
for them to a tyrannical usurpation, it would, after all, be
only depriving it of territories which it keeps at so pro-
digious an expense (I speak in particular of Italy and the
Low Countries), as all its treasures of the Indies have not
been able to defray : and besides, by investing it with the

28 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

exclusive privilege above mentioned, of gaining new estab-
lishments, and appropriating to its own use the mines and
treasures of the three other parts of the world, it would be
abundantly indemnified ; for these new acquisitions would
be at least as considerable, and undoubtedly far more rich,
than those. But what is here proposed must not be under-
stood as if the other nations of Europe were excluded from
all commerce to those countries ; on the contrary, it should
be free and open to every one, and the house of Austria,
instead of considering this stipulation, which is of the
greatest consequence, as an infringement of its privileges,
would rather have reason to regard it as a further advantage.

From a further examination and consideration of these
dispositions, I do not doubt but the house of Austria would
have accepted the proposed conditions without being forced
to it. But, supposing the contrary, what would a resistance
have signified? The promise made to all the princes of
Europe, of enriching themselves by the territories of which
this house was to be divested, would deprive it of all hopes
of assistance from any of them.

Upon the whole, then, it appears that all parties would
have been gainers by it, and this was what assured Henry
the Great of the success of his design : the empire would
again become a dignity to which all princes, but particu-
larly those of Germany, might aspire : and this dignity
would be so much the more desirable, though, according
to its original institution, no revenues would be annexed to
it, as the emperor would be declared the first and chief
magistrate of the whole Christian republic ; and as we may
suppose this honour would afterwards be conferred only on
the most worthy, all his privileges in this respect, instead
of being diminished, would be enlarged, his authority over

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 29

the Belgic and Helvetic republics would be more consider-
able, and upon every new election they would be obliged
to render him a respectful homage. The electors would
still continue to enjoy the right of electing the emperor,
as well as of nominating the King of the Romans, with
this restriction only, — that the election should not be made
twice successively out of the same family. The first to have
been elected in this manner was the Elector of Bavaria, who
was also, in consequence of the partition, to have had those
territories possessed by the house of Austria which joined
to his own on the side of Italy.

The rest of these territories were to have been divided
and equally distributed by the Kings of France, England,
Denmark, and Sweden, among the Venetians, the Grisons,
the Duke of Wurtemberg, and the Marquis of Baden, Ans-
pach, and Dourlach. Bohemia was to have been constituted
an elective kingdom, by annexing it to Moravia, Silesia,
and Lusatia. Hungary was also to have been an elective
kingdom, and the pope, the Emperor, the Kings of France,
England, Denmark, Sweden, and Lombardy, were to have
had the right of nomination to it ; and because this kingdom
may be considered as the barrier of Christendom against
the infidels, it was to have been rendered the most powerful
and able to resist them ; and this was to have been done
by immediately adding to it the Archduchy of Austria,
Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, and by afterwards incorpo-
rating with it whatever might be acquired in Transylvania,
Bosnia, Sclavonia, and Croatia. The same electors were to
have obliged themselves, by oath, to assist it upon all occa-
sions ; and they were to have been particularly careful never
to grant their suffrages from partiality, artifice, or intrigue,
but always to confer the dignity on a prince who, by his

30 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

great qualifications, particularly for war, should be gener-
ally acknowledged as most proper. Poland being, from
its nearness to Turkey, Muscovy, and Tartary, in the same
situation with Hungary, was also to have been an elective
kingdom, by the same eight potentates, and its power
was to have been augmented, by annexing to it whatever
should be conquered from the infidels adjoining to its own
frontiers, and by determining in its favour those disputes
which it had with all its other neighbours. Switzerland,
when augmented by Franche-Comt£, Alsace, the Tyrol,
and other territories, was to have been united into a sover-
eign republic, governed by a council or senate, of which
the emperor, the princes of Germany, and the Venetians
were to have been umpires.

The changes to be made in Italy were, that the pope_
should be declared a secular prince, and bear rank among
the monarchs of Europe, and under this title should pos-
sess Naples, Apulia, Calabria, and all their dependencies,
which should be indissolubly united to St. Peter's patri-
mony ; but in case the holy father had opposed this, which,
indeed, could scarcely have been supposed, the disposition
must then have been changed, and the kingdom of Naples
would have been divided and disposed of as the electoral
kings should have determined. Sicily was to have been
ceded to the republic of Venice, by letters from the same
eight principal potentates, upon condition that it should
render homage for it to every pope who should bear the
title of Immediate Chief of the whole Italian Republic,
otherwise, for this reason, called The Republic of the
Church. The other members of this republic were to have
been Genoa, Florence, Mantua, Modena, Parma, and Lucca,
without any alterations in their government ; Bologna and

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 31

Ferrara were to have been made free cities ; and all these
governments were every twenty years to have rendered
homage to the pope their chief, by the gift of a crucifix
of the value of ten thousand crowns.

Of the three great republics of Europe it appears, upon
the first glance, that this would have been the most brilliant
and the richest. Nevertheless, it would not have been so,
for what belonged to the Duke of Savoy was not comprised
herein. His territories were to have been constituted one
of the great monarchies of Europe, hereditary to males and
females, and to have borne the title of the kingdom of Lom-
bardy, wherein, beside the territory so called, the Milanese
and Montferrat would also have been comprised ; and the
Duke of Mantua, in exchange for these, was to have the
Duchy of Cremona. An authentic testimony of the insti-
tution would have been given by the pope, the emperor,
and the other sovereigns of the Christian republic.

Among all these different dismemberings we may ob-
serve that France received nothing for itself but the glory
of distributing them with equity. Henry had declared this*'
to be his intention long before. He even sometimes said,
with equal moderation and good sense, that were these
dispositions once firmly established, he would have volun-
tarily consented to have the extent of France determined
by a majority of suffrages.1 Nevertheless, as the districts
of Artois, Hainault, Cambray, Cambresis, Tournay, Na-
mur, and Luxembourg might more suitably be annexed to

1 What then does Siri mean when he entertains us with the design
which he falsely affirms Henry the Great had to join Lorraine to France
(torn. i. p. 555), and to get Savoy ceded to him (torn. ii. p. 61)? What
he says of the dispositions in regard to the pope and the Venetians, &c.
(torn. ii. p. 180), is equally false. This writer seems indeed to have been
in the pay of the house of Austria.

4

32 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

France than to any other nation, they were to have been
ceded to Henry, but to have been divided into ten distinct
governments, and bestowed on so many French princes or
lords, all of them bearing rank as sovereigns.

In regard to England it was precisely the same : this
was a determined point between Elizabeth and Henry, the
two princes who were authors of the scheme, probably from
an observation made by this queen, that the Britannic Isles,
in all the different states through which they had passed,
whether under one or several monarchs, elective or heredi-
tary, as well in the male as female line, and in all the
variations of their laws and policy, had never experienced
any great disappointments or misfortunes but when their
sovereigns had meddled in affairs out of their little conti-
nent. It seems, indeed, as if they were concentred in it
even by nature, and their happiness appears to depend
entirely on themselves, without having any concerns with
their neighbours, provided that they seek only to maintain
peace in the three nations subject to them, by governing
each according to its own laws and customs. To render
everything equal between France and England, Brabant
from the Duchy of Limbourg, the jurisdiction of Malines,
and the other dependencies on Flemish Flanders, Gallican
or imperial, were to have been formed into eight sovereign
fiefs, to be given to so many princes or lords of this nation.

These two parts excepted, all the rest of the seventeen
United Provinces, whether belonging to Spain or not, were
to have been erected into a free and independent state,
under the title of the Belgic republic, though there was
one other fief to be formed from them, bearing the title
of a principality, to be granted to the Prince of Orange;
also some other inconsiderable indemnities for three or four

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

33

other persons. The succession of Cleves was to have been
divided among those princes whom the emperor would have
deprived of. it, as the means of gratifying them at the ex-
pense of the house of Austria, as well as some other princes
of the same district, to whom the imperial towns situated
therein would have been granted. Even Sweden and Den-
mark, though they were to be considered as under the
influence of the same law which England and France had
imposed on themselves, would, by this distribution, have
enlarged their territories, and acquired other considerable
advantages. An end would have been put to the perpetual
troubles which agitated these two kingdoms; and this, I
think, would have been rendering them no inconsiderable
service. All these cessions, exchanges, and transpositions
towards the north of Germany were to have been deter-
mined by the Kings of France, England, and Lombardy,
and the republic of Venice.

And now, perhaps, the purport of the design may be
perceived, which was to divide Europe equally among a
certain number of powers, in such a manner that none of
them might have cause either of envy or fear from the
possessions or power of the others. The number of them
was reduced to fifteen, and they *were of three kinds : six
great hereditary monarchies, five elective monarchies, and
four sovereign republics. The six hereditary monarchies
were France, Spain, England or Britain, Denmark, Sweden,
and Lombardy ; the five elective monarchies were the Em-
pire, the Papacy or Pontificate, Poland, Hungary, and
Bohemia ; the four republics were the Venetian, the Italian
— or what, from its dukes, may be called the Ducal — the
Swiss, Helvetic, or Confederate, and the Belgic, or Pro-
vincial republic. \

J

34 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

The laws and ordinances proper to cement a union be-
tween all these princes, and to maintain that harmony
which should be once established among them, the recip-
rocal oaths and engagements in regard both to religion and
policy, the mutual assurances in respect to the freedom of
commerce, and the measures to be taken to make all these
partitions with equity and to the general content and satis-
faction of the parties ; all these matters are to be understood,
nor is it necessary to say anything of the precaution taken
by Henry in regard to them. The most that could have
happened would have been some trifling difficulties, which
would easily have been obviated in the general council,
representing all the states of Europe, the establishment of
which was certainly the happiest invention that could have
been conceived to prevent those innovations which time
often introduces in the wisest and most useful institutions.

The model of this general council of Europe had been
formed on that of the ancient Amphyctions of Greece,
with such alterations only as rendered it suitable to our
customs, climate, and policy. It consisted of a certain
number of commissioners, ministers, or plenipotentiaries
from all the governments of the Christian republic, who
were to be constantly assembled as a senate, to deliberate
on any affairs which might occur, to discuss the different
interests, pacify the quarrels, clear up and determine all
the civil, political, and religious affairs of Europe, whether
within itself or with its neighbours. The form and man-
ner of proceeding in the senate would have been more
particularly determined by the suffrages of the senate itself.
Henry was of opinion that it should be composed of four
commissioners from each of the following potentates : the
Emperor, the Pope, the Kings of France, Spain, England,

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 35

Denmark, v Sweden, Lombardy, Poland, and the republic
of Venice ; and of two only from the other republics and
inferior powers, which altogether would have composed a
senate of about sixty-six persons, who should have been
re-chosen every three years.

In regard to the place of meeting, it remained to be
determined whether it would be better for the council to
be fixed or ambulatory, divided into three, or united in
one. If it were divided into three, each containing twenty-
two magistrates, then each of them must have been fixed
in such a centre as should appear to be most commodious,
as Paris or Bourges for one, and somewhere about Trente
and Cracovia for the two others. If it were judged more
expedient not to divide their assembly, whether fixed or
ambulatory, it must have been nearly in the centre of
Europe, and would consequently have been fixed in some
one of the fourteen cities following : Metz, Luxembourg,
Nancy, Cologne, Mayence, Treves, Frankfort, Wirtzbourg,
Heidelberg, Spire, Worms, Strasbourg, Basle, or Besancon.

Besides this general council it would, perhaps, have been
proper to have constituted some others of an inferior de-
gree, for the particular convenience of different districts.
For example, were six such created, they might have been
placed at Dantzic, Nuremberg, Vienna, Bologna, Con-
stance, and the last wherever it should be judged most
convenient for the kingdoms of France, Spain, England,
and the Belgic republic. But whatever the number or form
of these particular councils might have been, it would have
been absolutely necessary that they should be subordinate,
and -recur, by appeal, to the great general council, whose
decisions, when considered as proceeding from the united
authority of all the sovereigns, pronounced in a manner

36 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

equally free and absolute, must have been regarded as so
many final and irrevocable decrees.

But let us quit these speculative designs, in which prac-
tice and experience would, perhaps, have caused many al-
terations ; and let us come to the means actually employed
by Henry to facilitate the execution of his great design.

To gain one of the most powerful princes of Europe,
with whom to concert all his designs, was what Henry
always considered as of the utmost consequence : and this
was the reason that after the death of Elizabeth, who had
indissolubly united the interests of the two crowns of France
and England, every means was used which might inspire
her successor, King James, with all her sentiments. Had
I but succeeded in the solemn embassy, the particulars of
which I have related already, so far as to have gained
this prince's consent to have his name appear openly with
Henry's, this military confederacy, especially if it had, in
like manner, been strengthened with the names of the
Kings of Denmark and Sweden, would have prevented
the troubles and difficulties of many negotiations ; but
nothing further could be obtained of the King of England
than the same promises which were required of the other
courts, namely, that he would not only not oppose the con-
federacy, but, when Henry had made his designs public,
would declare himself in his favour, and contribute towards
it in the same manner as the other powers interested
therein. A means was, indeed, afterwards found to ob-
tain the execution of this promise, in a manner so much
the more easy as it did not disturb the natural indolence
of this prince ; and this was by getting what he hesitated
to undertake in his own name executed by his son, the
Prince of Wales, who, as soon as he had obtained his

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 37

father's promise that he would at least not obstruct his
proceedings, anticipated Henry's utmost wishes, being
animated with a thirst of glory and desire to rende'r him-
self worthy the esteem and alliance of Henry, for he was
to marry the eldest of the daughters of France. He wrote
me several letters upon this subject, and expressed him-
self in the manner I have mentioned. He also further
said that the King of France might depend upon having six
thousand foot and fifteen hundred horse, which he would
oblige himself to bring into his service whenever they
should be required : and this number was afterwards aug-
mented by two thousand more foot and eight cannons,
maintained in all respects at the expense of England for
three years at least. The King of Sweden did not show
himself less zealous for the common cause ; and the King
of Denmark also appeared to be equally well disposed in
its favour.

In the mean time we were indefatigable in our negotia-
tions in the different courts of Europe, particularly in the
circles of Germany and the United Provinces, where the
king for this purpose had sent Boissise, Fresne-Canaye,
Baugy, Ancel, and Bongars. The council of the States
were very soon unanimous in their determinations ; the
Prince of Orange sent the Sieurs Malderet and Brederode
from them to offer the king fifteen thousand foot and
three thousand horse. They were soon followed by the
Landgrave of Hesse, and the Prince of Anhalt, to whom,
as well as to the Prince of Orange, the confederacy was
obliged for being increased by the Duke of Savoy ; by all
the Reformed religion in Hungary, Bohemia, and Lower
Austria ; by many Protestant princes and towns in Ger-
many ; in fine, by all the Swiss cantons of this religion.

38 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

And when the succession of Cleves, which the emperor
showed himself disposed to usurp, became another incen-
tive to the confederacy, there was then scarcely any part
of Germany that was not for us ; which evidently appeared
from the result of the general assembly at Hall. The
Elector of Saxony, who perhaps remained alone of the
opposite party, might have been embarrassed in an affair
out of which he would probably have found it difficult to
extricate himself ; and this was to have been done by sug-
gesting to him the branch of John Frederic, deprived of
this electorate by Charles V.

There were several of these powers in regard to whom
I am persuaded nothing would have been risked by dis-
closing to them the whole intent and scope of the design.
On the contrary, they would probably have seconded it
with the greater ardour when they found the destruction
of the Austrian grandeur was a determined point. These
powers were, more particularly, the Venetians, the United
Provinces, almost all the Protestants, and especially the
Evangelics of Germany. But as too many precautions
could not be taken to prevent the Catholic powers from
being prejudiced against the new alliance in which they
were to be engaged, a too hasty discovery either of the
true motives, or the whole intent of the design, was, there-
fore, cautiously avoided. It was at first concealed from all
without exception, and afterwards revealed but to few per-
sons of approved discretion, and those only such as were
absolutely necessary to engage others to join the confed-
eracy. The association was for a long time spoken of to
others only as a kind of general treaty of peace, wherein
such methods would be projected as the public benefit and
the general service of Europe might suggest as necessary

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 39

to stop the progress of the excessive powers of the house
of Austria. Our ambassadors and agents had orders only
to demand of these princes a renewal or commencement
of alliance, in order more effectually to succeed in the pro-
jected peace ; to consult with them upon the means whereby
to effect it ; to appear as if they were sent only in con-
junction with them to endeavour the discovery of these
means ; but yet to second them, and according to the dis-
position in which they were, to insinuate, as if by acciden-
tal conjecture, some notion of a new method more proper
to maintain the equilibrium of Europe, and to secure to
each religion a more undisturbed repose than they had
hitherto enjoyed. The proposals made to the Kings of
England and Sweden, and the Dukes of Savoy and Lor-
raine, for alliances by marriage, proved very successful ;
it was absolutely determined that the Dauphin should
espouse the heiress of Lorraine, which duchy still con-
tinued, as before, to depend on the empire.

But no precaution appeared so necessary, nor was more
strongly recommended to our negotiators, than to con-
vince all the princes of Europe of the disinterestedness
with which Henry was resolved to act on this occasion.
This point was indefatigably laboured, and they were con-
vinced of it, when, on the supposition that it would be
necessary to have recourse to arms, we strongly protested
that the forces, the treasures, and even the person of Henry
might be depended on ; and this in a manner so generous
on his side, that, instead of expecting to be rewarded, or
even indemnified for them, he was voluntarily inclined to
give the most positive assurances not to reserve to him-
self a single town, nor the smallest district. This modera-
tion, of which at last no one doubted, made a suitable

40 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

impression, especially when it was perceived to be so
much the more generous, as there was sufficient to excite
and satisfy the desires of all. And in the interim, before
the solemn publication of this absolute renunciation, which
was to have been made in the manifestoes that were pre-
paring, Henry gave a proof of it, that was an absolute
demonstration, to the pope.

No one being ignorant that it was at least intended to
deprive Spain of those of its usurpations which were the
most manifestly unjust, Navarre and Roussillon would in-
fallibly revert to France ; the king, therefore, voluntarily
offered to exchange them for the two kingdoms of Naples
and Sicily ; and at the same time to make a present of
both to the pope and the republic of Venice. This, cer-
tainly, was renouncing the most incontestable right he
could have to any of the territories of which this crown
was to be deprived ; and by submitting this affair as he
did to the determination of the pope and the Venetians,
he the more sensibly obliged them, as both the honour
and profit which might arise therefrom would be in their
favour. The pope, therefore, on the first proposition made
to him, even anticipated Henry's intentions ; he imme-
diately demanded, whether, as affairs were then situated,
the several powers would approve his taking upon him the
office of common mediator, to establish peace in Europe,
and convert the continual wars among its several princes
into a perpetual war against the Infidels, which was a
part of the design he had been very careful to acquaint
him with ; and the pope sufficiently showed that he was
desirous nothing should be done without his participa-
tion, and that he was still less disposed to refuse the
advantage offered to him.

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 41

Paul V., when a favourable opportunity offered, ex-
plained himself more openly on this head. Ubaldini, his
nuncio, told the king, that his holiness for the. confederacy
against the house of Austria, would, on various pretences,
engage to raise ten thousand foot, fifteen hundred horse,
and ten cannons, provided his majesty would promise to
defray the necessary expenses of their subsistence for three
years ; would give all possible security for the cession of
Naples and the other rights of homage according to
promise ; and would sincerely consent to the other con-
dition in regard to the treaty which he should think nec-
essary to impose. These conditions, at least the principal
of them, were, that only Catholics should be elected em-
perors ; that the Roman religion should be maintained in
all its rights, and the' ecclesiastics in all their privileges
and immunities ; and the Protestants should not be per-
mitted to establish themselves in places where they were
not established before the treaty. The king promised
Ubaldini that he would religiously observe all these con-
ditions ; and further, he relinquished to the pope the
honour of being the arbitrator of all those regulations to
be made in the establishment of the new republic.

The removing of these difficulties in regard to the pope
was of no inconsiderable consequence ; for his example
would not fail to be of great force in determining the
other Catholic powers, especially those of Italy. Nothing
was neglected which might promote the favourable dis-
positions in which they appeared to be, by punctually
paying the cardinals and petty princes of Italy their pen-
sions, and even by adding to them several other gratuities.
The establishment of a new monarchy in Italy was the
only pretence these petty courts had for not joining the

42 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

confederacy ; but this vain apprehension would be easily
dissipated. The particular advantages which each would
acquire, might alone have satisfied them in this respect ;
but if not, all opposers might have been threatened with
being declared after a certain time divested of all right to
the proposed advantages, and even of all pretensions to
the empire, or the elective kingdoms ; and that the repub-
lics amongst them should be converted into sovereignties,
and sovereignties into republics. There is but little proba-
bility that any of them would even have hesitated what
to do. The punishment of the first offender would have
compelled the submission of all these petty states, who
were besides sufficiently sensible of their impotence. But
this method was not to be used but on failure of all others ;
and even then, no opportunity would have been neglected
of showing them favour.

And now we are arrived at the point to which every-
thing was advanced at the fatal moment of the death of
Henry the Great ; and the following is a circumstantial
detail of the forces for the war which all the parties con-
cerned had, in conjunction with him, agreed to furnish :
The contingents of the Kings of England, Sweden, and
Denmark were each eight thousand foot, fifteen hundred
horse, and eight cannons, to be raised and maintained in
all respects at their expense at least for three years ; and
this expense, reckoning ten livres a month for each foot
soldier, thirty livres for each trooper, the pay of the offi-
cers included, and the year to be composed of ten
months, would amount for each of these states to three
million three hundred and seventy thousand livres for three
years ; the expense of the artiller/, fifteen hundred livres a
month for each piece being also included. The princes of

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 43

Germany before mentioned were to furnish twenty-five thou-
sand foot, ten thousand horse, and forty cannons ; they had
themselves computed the expense at nine or ten millions for
three years. The United Provinces, twelve thousand foot,
two thousand horse, and ten cannons ; the expense twelve
millions. Hungary, Bohemia, and the other Evangelics of
Germany, the same number, and nearly at the same expense.
The pope, ten thousand foot, fifteen hundred horse, and eight
cannons. The Duke of Savoy, eighteen thousand foot, two
thousand horse and twelve cannons. The Venetians, twelve
thousand foot, two thousand horse, and twelve cannons.
The expense of these last-mentioned armaments the king
himself had engaged to defray. The total of all these for-
eign forces, allowing for deficiencies, which might prob-
ably have happened, would always have been at least one
hundred thousand foot, from twenty to twenty-five thou-
sand horse, and about one hundred and twenty cannons.
The king on his side had actually on foot two good and
well furnished armies ; the first, which he was to have com-
manded in person, consisted of twenty thousand foot, all
native French, eight thousand Switzers, four thousand
lansquenets, or Walloons, five thousand horse, and twenty
cannons. The second, to be commanded by Lesdiguieres,
in the neighbourhood of the Alps, consisted of ten thousand
foot, one thousand horse, and ten cannons ; besides a flying
camp of four thousand foot, six hundred horse, and ten
cannons ; and a reserve of two thousand foot, to garrison
those places where they might be necessary.1 We will here
make a general calculation of all these troops.

1 There are some variations in our Memoirs in regard to the number
of men, both in the royal grand army, which, in different places, is said
to be composed of thirty, thirty-two, and thirty-six thousand foot, of four,
five, six, and eight thousand horse, and from thirty to fifty cannons ; and

44 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

The twenty thousand foot, at twenty-one livres a month
to each man, including the appointments of generals and
officers, would by the month require four hundred and
twenty thousand livres, and by the year five million
and forty thousand livres ; the eight thousand Switzers and
four thousand lansquenets, three millions ; the five thousand
horse, at sixty livres a month to each, by the month, would
require two hundred and forty thousand livres, and by the
year, two million eight hundred and forty thousand livres ;
this computation is made so high as sixty livres a month
to each, because the pay of the officers, and particularly
of the king's white troops, composed of a thousand men
of the first rank in the kingdom, who served as volunteers,
was therein included. The expense of the twenty large
cannons, six culverins, and four demi-culverins, supposing
all necessary furniture for them provided, would amount
to three thousand six hundred livres a month for each
piece ; the thirty together would consequently require one
hundred and eight thousand livres. Extraordinary expenses
and losses in regard to the provisions and ammunition for
this army might be computed at one hundred and fifty
thousand livres.

Next, for expenses, whether ordinary or extraordinary,
in spies, for the sick and wounded, and other unforeseen
contingencies, computing at the highest a like sum of one
million eight hundred thousand livres. To supply the de-
ficiencies which might happen in the armies of the con-
federate princes, to pay the pensions, and to answer other

in that of the confederate princes of Germany, sometimes computed
even at- forty thousand foot, and twelve thousand horse; similar differ-
ences often occur in regard to those of Italy, and the other confederate
princes ; neither are the calculations of the expense always the same,
nor quite just in their estimates.

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 45

particular exigencies which might arise in the kingdom,
three hundred thousand livres a month ; for the year,
three million six hundred thousand livres. The army of
Lesdiguieres would require three millions a year, and as
much for each of the armies of the pope, the Venetians,
and the Duke of Savoy. These last four articles together
make twelve millions a year, which, added to the preced-
ing sums, amount in the whole to about thirty million one
hundred and sixty thousand livres a year.

It remains only to triple this total for the three years
during which it was supposed there might be occasion for
the forces, and the whole amount will appear to be between
ninety and ninety-one millions, which might nearly be
necessary to defray the expenses of the intended war ; I
say nearly, for in this calculation I have not included the
flying camp, nor the two thousand men for garrisons : the
first of these two articles, at the rate of eighteen livres a
month to each foot soldier, and fifty livres to each trooper,
would require a further sum of about one hundred and
thirty thousand livres a month, which, for a year, would
be one million five hundred thousand livres, and four
million five hundred thousand livres for three years ; the
second article, for the three years, would require about
twelve hundred thousand livres.

On a supposition that the expense of France on this
occasion would not have amounted to more than between
ninety and ninety-five millions, which supposition is far
from being hazardous, because we have here computed
everything at the highest it would bear, it is easy to show
that, at the expiration of the three years, Henry would
have remaining in his coffers thirty millions, over and
above what would be expended. The total amount of all

46 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

the receipts from the several funds, formed and to be
formed for these three years, being one hundred and
twenty-one million five hundred and forty thousand, livres,
as appears from the three estimates which I drew up and
presented to his majesty.

v The first of these estimates, which contained only a list
of the sums actually deposited in the Bastille, amounted to
twenty-two million four hundred and sixty thousand livres,
in several coffers, marked Phelipeaux, Puget, and Bouhier ;
the second was another list of the sums actually due from
the farmers, partisans, and receivers-general, which might
be considered as in possession, and produced another total
of eighteen million six hundred and thirteen thousand
livres ; these two totals together made forty-one million
seventy-three thousand livres, which the king would im-
mediately have at his disposal. To acquire the rest of
these hundred and twenty-one millions, I had recourse, in
the third estimate, to no new taxations : the whole remain-
der would arise solely from the offers of augmentation
upon the several royal revenues which the farmers and
partisans had made for a lease of three years, and from
what the officers of justice and the finances had volunta-
rily engaged to furnish, provided they might be permitted
the free enjoyment of certain privileges ; so that in these
one hundred and twenty-one millions I had not compre-
hended the three years' receipts of the other royal reve-
nues. And in case it were afterwards necessary to have
recourse to means somewhat more burdensome, I had
given the king another estimate, whereby, instead of these
one hundred and twenty-one millions, it appeared that one
hundred and seventy-five millions might have been raised.
I also demonstrated that, upon any pressing emergency,

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 47

this kingdom could open itself resources of treasure that
are almost innumerable.

It was very much to be wished that the sums of money
and the numbers of men to be furnished by the other con-
federates would be equally well secured by such estimates ;
but whatever deficiencies might have happened, having
forty-one millions to distribute wherever it might be found
necessary, what obstacles could Henry have to fear from a
power who was known to be destitute of money, and even
of troops ? no one being ignorant that the best and most
numerous forces which Spain had in its service were
drawn from Sicily, Naples, and Lombardy, or else were
Germans, Switzers, and Walloons.

Everything, therefore, concurring to promote success,
and good magazines being placed in proper parts of the
passage, the king was on the point of marching, at the
head of his army, directly to Mezieres, from whence, tak-
ing his route by Clinchamp, Orchimont, Beauraign, Offais,
Longpre, &c, after having caused five forts to be erected
in these quarters, and therein placed his two thousand
men destined for that purpose, with the necessary provi-
sions and ammunition, he would, near Duren and Stavelo,
have joined the two armies which the princes of Germany
and the United Provinces would have caused to march
thither ; and then, beginning by occupying all those pas-
sages through which the enemy might find entrance into
the territories of Juliers and Cleves, these principalities,
which were a pretext for the armament, would conse-
quently have immediately submitted to him, and would
have been sequestrated, till it should appear how the
emperor and the King of Spain would act, in regard to
the designs of the confederate princes.

48 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

This was the moment fixed on to publish and make
known throughout Europe the declarations, in form of
manifestoes, which were to open the eyes of all in regard
to their true interests, and the real motives which had
caused Henry and the confederate princes thus to take up
arms. These manifestoes were composed with the great-
est care ; a spirit of justice, honesty, and good faith, of
disinterestedness and good policy, were everywhere appar-
ent in them ; and, without wholly discovering the several
changes intended to be made in Europe, it was intimated
that their common interest had thus compelled its princes
to arm themselves, and not only to prevent the house of
Austria from getting possession of Cleves, but also to
divest her of the United Provinces, and of whatever else
she unjustly possessed ; that their intentions were to dis-
tribute these territories among such princes and states as
were the weakest ; that the design was such as could not
surely give occasion to a war in Europe ; that, though
armed, the kings of France and the North rather chose
to be mediators in the causes of complaint which Europe,
through them, made against the house of Austria, and
only sought to determine amicably all differences subsist-
ing among the several princes ; and that, whatever was done
on this occasion, should be not only with the unanimous
consent of all these powers, but even of all their people, who
were hereby invited to give in their opinions to the confed-
erate princes: such also would have been the substance of
the circular letters which Henry and the associated princes
would at the same time have sent to all places subject to
them; that so, the people being informed, and joining their
suffrages, a universal cry from all parts of Christendom
would have been raised against the house of Austria.

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 49

As it was determined to avoid with the utmost caution
whatever might give umbrage to any one, and Henry being
desirous to give still more convincing proofs to his confed-
erates that to promote their true interests was his sole
study and design, to the letters already mentioned he
would have added others to be written to different courts,
particularly to the electors of Cologne and Treves, the
Bishops of Munster, Liege, and Paderborn, and the Duke
and Duchess of Lorraine ; and this conduct would have
been pursued, in regard even to our enemies, in the letters
which were to be written to the archduke, and the infanta
his wife, to the emperor himself, and to all the Austrian
princes, requesting them, from the strongest and most
pressing motives, to embrace the only right and reasonable
party ; in all places, nothing would have been neglected to
instruct, convince, and gain confidence ; the execution of
all engagements, and the distribution or sequestration of
whatever territories might require to be so disposed, would
have been strictly, and even scrupulously observed ; force
would never have been employed till arguments, entreaties,
embassies and negotiations should have failed : finally,
even in the use of arms, it would have been not as enemies,
but pacifiers ; the queen would have advanced as far as
Metz, accompanied by the whole court, and attended by
such pomp and equipage as were suitable only to peace.

Henry had projected a new method of discipline in his
camp, which very probably would have produced the good
effects intended by it, especially if his example had been
imitated by the other princes his allies. He intended to
have created four marshals of France, or at least four
camp marshals, whose sole care should have been to main-
tain universal order, discipline, and subordination. The

50 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

first of these would have had the inspection of the cavalry,
the second of the French infantry, the third of the foreign '
forces, and the fourth of whatever concerned the artillery,
ammunition, and provisions ; and the king would have
required an exact and regular account from these four offi-
cers of whatever was transacted by them in their respec-
tive divisions. He applied himself with equal ardor to
cause all military virtues to be revered and honoured in his
army, by granting all employs and places of trust to merit
only, by preferring good officers, by rewarding the soldiers,
by punishing blasphemies and other impious language, by
showing a regard both for his own troops and those of his
confederates, by stifling a spirit of discord, caused by a
difference of religion ; and, finally, by uniting emulation
with that harmony of sentiments which contributes more
than all the rest to obtain victory.

The consequence of this enterprise, with regard to war,
would have depended on the manner in which the em-
peror and the King of Spain should receive the propo-
sitions and reply to the manifestoes of the confederate
princes ; it seems probable that the emperor, submitting
to force, would have consented to everything. I am even
persuaded he would have been the first to demand an
amicable interview with the King of France, that he
might at least extricate himself with honour from the diffi-
culties in which he would have been involved ; and he
would probably have been satisfied with assurances that
the imperial dignity, with all its rights and prerogatives,
should be secured to him for his life. The archdukes had
made great advances ; they engaged to permit the king,
with all his troops, to enter their territories and towns,
provided they committed no hostilities in them, and paid

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 51

punctually, in all places, for whatever they required. If
these appearances were not deceitful, Spain, being aban-
doned by all, must, though unwillingly, have submitted to
the will of its conquerors.

But it may be supposed that all the branches of the
house of Austria would, on this occasion, have united,
and, in defence of their common interests, would have
used all the efforts of which they were capable. In this
case, Henry and the confederate princes, by declaring war
in form against their enemies, and depriving the Span-
iards of all communications, especially with the Low Coun-
tries, and having, as we have said, united all their forces,
given audience to the princes of Germany, promised assist-
ance to the people of Hungary and Bohemia who should
come to implore it of them, and finally secured the terri-
tory of Cleves, — these princes, I say, would then have
caused their three armies to advance towards Basle and
Strasbourg to support the Switzers, who, after having, fpr
form's sake, asked leave of the emperor, would have de-
clared for the union. The United Provinces, though at a
considerable distance from these armies, would yet have
been sufficiently defended by the flying camp, which
Henry would have caused to advance towards them ; by
the arms of England and the North, to whose protection
they would be entrusted ; by the care which at first would
have been taken to get possession of Charlemont, Maes-
tricht, Namur, and other places near the Meuse, and
finally by the naval forces of these provinces, which, in
conjunction with those of England, would have reigned
absolute masters at sea.

These measures being taken, the war could have been
waged only in Italy or Germany ; and supposing it to have

52 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

been in the former, the three armies of Henry, the Prince
of Orange, and the Princes of Germany, quitting Franche-
Comte, after having fortified it in the same manner as the
Low Countries, by a small body of troops, would have
marched with their forces towards the Alps, ' where they
would have been joined by those of Lesdiguieres, the
pope, the Venetians, and the Duke of Savoy, who then
would have declared themselves openly, — the Duke of
Savoy, by requiring a portion for his duchess, equal to
what had been given to the Infanta Isabella, and the other
powers by demanding the execution of the agreement in
regard to Navarre, Naples, and Sicily, and thus, from all
parts of Europe, war would be declared against Spain. If
the enemy should appear inclined to draw the war into
Germany, then the confederates, having left a considerable
number of troops in Italy, would have penetrated even
into the heart of Germany, where, from Hungary and
Bohemia, they would have been strengthened by those
powerful succours which were there preparing.

The other events, in consequence of these dispositions,
can only be conjectured, because they would greatly de-
pend on the degree of alacrity with which the enemy
should oppose the rapidity of our conquests, and on the
readiness with which the confederates, especially those at
the extremity of Germany, should make good their engage-
ments. Nevertheless, I am persuaded, that from the dis-
positions, as here laid down, there are none but must
regard the house of Austria as struck by the blow whose
force was for ever to annihilate its power, and open a pas-
sage to the execution of the other projected designs, to
which this attack could only be considered as the prelim-
inary. I will add, too (and here the voice of all Europe

THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV 53

will vindicate me from the imputation of partiality), that
if the force necessary to render such an enterprise success-
ful does always depend on the person of the chief who
conducts it, this could not have been better conferred than
upon Henry the Great. With a valour alone capable of
surmounting the greatest difficulties, and a presence of
mind which neither neglected nor lost any opportunities
of advantage ; with a prudence which, without precipi-
tating anything, or attempting too many things at a time,
could regularly connect them together, and perfectly knew
what might and what might not be the result of time ;
with a consummate experience ; and, finally, with all those
other great qualifications, whether as a warrior or politi-
cian, which were so remarkable in this prince, — what is
there which might not have been obtained ? This was the
meaning of that modest device which this great king
caused to be inscribed on some of the last medals that
were struck under his reign : Nil sine concilio.

PASSAGES FROM SULLY'S MEMOIRS ILLUS-
TRATING THE HISTORY OF THE
GREAT DESIGN

I

Conference between Sully and Queen Elizabeth,
at Dover, in 16011

The Queen of England hearing the king was at Calais,
thought it a favourable opportunity to satisfy her impatience
of seeing and embracing her best friend. Henry was not
less desirous of this interview, that he might confer with
the queen upon the affairs of Europe in general, as well
as on their own in particular, especially those which had
been hinted to him by the English and Dutch ambassa-
dors when he was at Nantes. Elizabeth first wrote him a
letter equally polite and full of offers of service ; she after-
wards made him the usual compliments, and repeated
those assurances by the Lord Edmond,2 whom she des-
patched to Calais, till she herself could arrive at Dover,
from whence she sent M. de Stafford Lord Sidney,3 with
other letters.

1 From the Twelfth Book of Sully's Memoirs.

2 He means Sir Thomas Edmondes. (See Birch's Negotiations,
p. 200 ; Camden, &c.) — Ed.

3 The person here styled " Stafford Lord Sidney," was Sir Robert
Sydney, the younger brother of the illustrious Sir Philip. He was not a
peer till after the accession of James, who first created him Baron Syd-
ney of Penshurst, next Viscount Lisle, and lastly Earl of Leicester.
Why he is called Stafford in the text it is not easy to say, unless we
could suppose the author has confounded him with Sir Edward Stafford,
ambassador in France in 1 588. — Ed.

54

SULLY'S CONFERENCE WITH ELIZABETH 55

Henry resolving not to be outdone in complaisance,
answered these advances in a manner that showed at once
his respect for Elizabeth, and his esteem and admiration
for her character. This intercourse continued a long time,
to the great mortification of the Spaniards, whose jealousy
was strongly excited by the proximity and close correspond-
ence of the two sovereigns. Of all the letters written by
them on this occasion, I possess only one of those which
Elizabeth wrote to the king : this, because it was the occa-
sion of the voyage I made to this princess, I have kept in
my hands ; it was as follows :

" My very dear and well-beloved Brother, — I had
always considered the condition of sovereigns to be the
most happy, and that they were the least subject to meet
with obstacles in the way of their just and legitimate
desires ; but our residence in two places so near each
other makes me begin to think, that those of high as well
as of middle rank often meet with thorns and difficulties,
since from certain causes and considerations, rather to
satisfy others than ourselves, we are both prevented from
crossing the sea ; for I had promised myself* the happi-
ness of embracing you, as being your very loyal sister and
faithful ally, and you my very dear brother whom I love
and honour above everything in this world, whose incom-
parable virtues (to tell you my real sentiments) I admire,
and particularly your valour in arms, and politeness and
gallantry amongst the fair sex. I have something of con-
sequence to communicate to you, which I can neither write
nor confide to any of your ministers, nor my own at pres-
ent, so that, in expectation of a more convenient opportu-
nity, I shall return to London in a few days. That God may

56 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

continue to you, my very dear and well-beloved brother,
his holy favours and blessing, is the prayer of your most
affectionate sister and loyal ally — Elizabeth."1

When the king received this letter, he read it over two
or three times with great satisfaction, and took particular
notice of the latter part of it ; but being at a loss how to
interpret it, he sent Secretary Feret for me, and as soon
as I went to him, he said to me, " I have just received a
letter from my good sister the Queen of England, whom
you esteem so highly, more full of cajoleries than ever ;
pray see if, from your knowledge of her character, you can
comprehend better than I can what she means by the con-
clusion of this letter." Having read it over several times,

1 This letter, and this whole relation of the Duke of Sully's concern-
ing Henry the Fourth's journey to Calais, and Elizabeth's to Dover,
appear sufficient, without any other reflections, to show the error of all
those various judgments current at that time, and which have been
mentioned by different historians concerning these two potentates. It
was said Elizabeth proposed to Henry, either that he should come to
Dover, or at least confer with her in a vessel half-way between these
two towns, and that this proposal concealed a snare in which Elizabeth
hoped to entrap Henry, by seizing upon his person in the interview,
and keeping him prisoner till he restored Calais, and that Henry ex-
cused himself from complying with her request, only because he sus-
pected the design ; others say, because his fears of the sea were so
great, that he durst not venture into a vessel. No one suspected the
true motive for proposing this interview, which was the occasion of all
those letters that passed between them, and caused the Duke of Sully
to make the secret voyage to Dover, of which he here gives an account.
Siri, on this occasion, builds up the resentment which he supposes
Elizabeth always preserved, both at the peace of Vervins and the sur-
render of Calais, as well as her fear lest Henry should aggrandise him-
self too much, and on the jealousy which the English entertained of
the French. (Mem. Recond. vol. i. pp. 130, 150, &c.) But this writer, so
well acquainted with foreign negotiations, especially those of Italy and
Spain, is not right, neither in the facts nor the opinions which he pro-
duces concerning the interior of our court and councils under the reign
of Henry IV. He knew neither this prince nor the Duke of Sully.

SULLY'S CONFERENCE WITH ELIZABETH 57

but being obliged to confess I could not comprehend it,
''Well, my friend," said his majesty, " I will not conceal
from you that I am very anxious to know what this prin-
cess has in view by these expressions, for, in my opinion,
she has not employed them without very particular reasons :
I have therefore thought of an expedient by which, per-
haps, we may come to a knowledge of her meaning, with-
out doing anything that can give offence to either party ;
this is, for you to set out to-morrow morning for Dover,
as if by your own inclination, and on your arrival there, to
make show of not wishing to stop, but of passing on to
London, for the purpose of seeing the country ; so that,
should you meet with any person of your acquaintance,
the queen may be informed that you are in Dover to watch
what she will do ; and should she send for you, it is prob-
able you may discover some part of her sentiments in the
course of your conversation together."

I accordingly embarked early next morning, in a small
boat, with very few attendants, without mentioning my
journey to any one, and reached Dover about ten o'clock,
where I saw a great number of people, some embarking,
others landing, and many walking upon the beach ; six or
seven of the latter advanced towards me, one of whom was
Lord Sidney, who, having five or six days before seen me
at Calais, immediately recognised me, and ran to embrace
me : with him were Cobham, Raleigh, and Griffin, and
they were soon after joined by the Earls of Devonshire
and Pembroke, who, after mutual civilities and compli-
ments, asked me if I were come to see the queen on
the part of my master. I told them I was not, and even
assured them that the king knew nothing of my voyage ;
I likewise entreated them not to mention it to the queen,

58 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

for not having had any intention of paying my respects to
her, I had no letter to present, my desire being only to
make a short tour incognito to London. These gentlemen
replied, smiling, that I had taken a useless precaution, for
that probably the guardship had already given a signal of
my arrival, and that I might quickly expect to see a mes-
senger from the queen, who would not suffer me to pass
in this manner, she having but three days ago spoke of
me publicly, and in very obliging terms. I affected to be
extremely concerned at this unlucky accident, but to hope,
nevertheless, that I might still pass undiscovered, provided
that these gentlemen would be secret as to the place where
I was to lodge ; from whence, I assured them, I would
immediately depart as soon as I had taken a little refresh-
ment : saying this, I left them abruptly, and had but just
entered my apartment, and spoke a few words to one of
my secretaries, when I heard somebody behind me tell me
that he arrested me as a prisoner to the queen. This was
the captain of her majesty's guards, whom I embraced, and
answered, smiling, that I should esteem such imprisonment
a great honour. He had orders to conduct me directly to
the queen ; I therefore followed him. As soon as Elizabeth
perceived me, she exclaimed, " Well ! Monsieur de Rosny,
and do you thus break our fences and pass on without
coming to see me ? I am greatly surprised at it, for I
thought you bore me more affection than any of my own
servants, and I am persuaded that I have given you no
cause to change those sentiments." I replied, that her
majesty had always so highly honoured me, and testified so
much good-will towards me, that I loved and honoured her
for her excellent virtues, and would always serve her most
humbly, not merely from my own inclination, but also from

SULLY'S CONFERENCE WITH ELIZABETH 59

knowing that in doing so I was rendering an acceptable
service to my king. After many more expressions of this
sort, the queen replied, "Well, Monsieur de Rosny, to
give you a proof that I believe all you have told me of the
good-will of the king my brother, and of your own, I will
speak with you on the subject of the last letter I wrote to
him ; though, perhaps, you have seen it, for Stafford x and
Edmondes tell me that the king conceals few of his se-
crets from you." On telling her I was not ignorant of the
letter, she immediately answered that she was glad of it,
and also that I had crossed the sea, because she had no
difficulty to tell me freely what she hinted at in the con-
clusion of her letter. She then drew me aside, and con-
versed with me a long time on the greater part of the
events which had happened since the peace of Vervins
(too long to be repeated here), and concluded with asking
if her good brother the king's affairs were now in a better
state than in 1598, and if he were in a condition to begin,
in good earnest, the great design which she had proposed
from that time ? To this I replied, that, although since
that period the king had had many weighty affairs to settle,
as well in relation to the war in Savoy as to several plots
in the heart of his kingdom, which were not yet entirely
destroyed, all which had occasioned very heavy expenses,
yet I had nevertheless so managed the revenue, and other
departments of the state, that a numerous artillery had
been provided, as well as abundance of stores and provi-
sions, and even of money ; but that all this, however, was
not sufficient to advise him to bear alone the burthen of an
open war against the whole house of Austria, which was
so powerful, that it would be in vain to attack it partially ;

1 This must be a mistake for Sydney. (See note, p. 54.)

60 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

that it even appeared to me that the assistance of Eng-
land and the States only was by no means sufficient for
the commencement of so great a work, but that it was
absolutely necessary to endeavour to form a coalition of
all the other kings, princes, republics, and people, who
dreaded the tyranny of that house, or would profit by its
humiliation. The queen here told me she was very happy
she had heard my sentiments on this subject, and the
more so as she believed that I had not said so much with-
out knowing something of the intentions of the king her
brother, with which, in this case, hers would perfectly
agree, by only adding certain conditions, which she con-
sidered as absolutely necessary to prevent misunderstand-
ing and distrust among the coalesced powers ; these, in
her opinion, would be, to proportion so well the desires of
each, that none might be entertained either prejudicial or
disagreeable to any of the rest, which would inevitably
happen if the more powerful wished to take the greatest
share of the conquests and the distribution of them ; and
that above all things it was necessary that neither her
brother the King of France, nor the King of Scotland,
who would certainly inherit her crown, nor those of Den-
mark and Sweden, who might become very powerful both
by land and sea, nor herself, consequently, should pretend
to claim any portion of the seventeen provinces of the
Low Countries, nor any place in their neighbourhood ;
" For, to conceal nothing from you," continued the queen,
" if my brother the King of France should think of mak-
ing himself proprietor, or even only feudal-lord of the
United Provinces, I should never consent to it, but enter-
tain a most violent jealousy of him ; nor should I blame
him if, giving him the same occasion, he should have the

SULLY'S CONFERENCE WITH ELIZABETH 6l

same fears of me : and so of all the other states and
dignities of which the ambitious house of Austria may
be deprived."

These were not the only reflections made by the Queen
of England ; she said many other things, which appeared
to me so just and sensible, that I was filled with astonish-
ment and admiration. It is not unusual to behold princes
form great designs ; their sphere of action so forcibly in-
clines them to this, that it is only necessary to warn them
of the extreme, which is, the projecting what their powers
are so little proportioned to perform, that they scarce ever
find themselves able to execute the half of what they pur-
pose ; but to be able to distinguish and form only such as
are reasonable ; wisely to regulate the conduct of them ;
to foresee and guard against all obstacles in such a man-
ner that, when they happen, nothing more will be neces-
sary than to apply the remedies prepared long before ;
this is what few princes are capable of. Ignorance, pros-
perity, luxury, vanity, nay, even fear and indolence, daily
produce schemes, to execute which there is not the least
possibility. Another cause of surprise to me was, that
Elizabeth and Henry, having never conferred together on
their political project, should agree so exactly in all their
ideas as not to differ even in the most minute particulars.1

1 As Hume has quoted the above passage, I will here show what
authority the modern compiler of these Memoirs had for inserting it,
by giving the words as they stand in the original Memoirs of Sully ;
they will, moreover, afford another instance how strangely that work
has been in many instances garbled and misrepresented : Sully {i.e. his
secretaries) says, that, after Elizabeth had asked him if, from his silence,
he did not comprehend, or approve of her schemes, he replied in the
following words : M Madam, my silence does not proceed from disap-
probation of what you have told me, but, on the contrary, from my
admiration of the excellence of your mind, your exalted courage, your
foresight, and your judgment; nor can I deny that I have frequently made

62 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

The queen observing my eyes were attentively fixed on
her without speaking, imagined she had expressed herself so
confusedly in something she had said, that I was unable
to comprehend her meaning. But when I ingenuously con-
fessed to her the true cause of my silence and surprise, she
then, without scruple, entered into the most minute parts
of the design : but as I shall have an ample occasion to
treat of this, in relating the great schemes which were pre-
vented by the untimely death of Henry IV., I shall not
trouble the reader with useless repetitions, but in this place
just show the five principal points to which her majesty
reduced so extensive a scheme, as from the sequel of these
Memoirs this will appear to have been. The first was, to
restore Germany to its ancient liberty, in respect to the
election of its emperors, and the nomination of a king of
the Romans. The second, to render the United Provinces
absolutely independent of Spain ; and to form them into
a republic, by annexing to them, if necessary, some prov-
inces dismembered from Germany. The third, to do the
same in regard to Switzerland, by incorporating with it
some of the adjacent provinces, particularly Alsace and
Franche-Comte. The fourth, to divide all Christendom
into a certain number of powers, as equal as might be.
The fifth, to reduce all the various religions in it under

similar propositions to the king my master, and that I have often found
him disposed to adopt plans conformable to those your majesty has just
mentioned to me." This is all the authority for the passage in the text,
which, to say nothing of its improbability, the compiler ought to have
seen was in some degree contradicted by what goes before, where the
queen, at the beginning of her conversation, asks Sully if the king's
affairs were in a better state than in 1598, and if he were in a condition
to begin, in good earnest, the great design which she had proposed
ever since that period. This certainly implies that Henry knew what
that great design was, and that some communications had been made
respecting it. — Ed.

SULLY'S CONFERENCE WITH JAMES I 63

those three which should appear to be most numerous and
considerable in Europe.

Our conference was very long : I cannot bestow praises
upon the Queen of England that would be equal to the
merit which I discovered in her in this short time, both as
to the qualities of the heart and the understanding. I gave
an exact relation of everything that passed between us to
the king, who very highly approved of all she had said to
me. Their majesties corresponded by letter during the
rest of the time they stayed at Dover and Calais. All pre-
liminaries were agreed on ; measures were taken even on
the grand object of the design, but with such secrecy, that
the whole of this affair remained to the death of the king,
and even much longer, among the number of those on
which only various and uncertain conjectures were formed.1

II

Conference between Sully and James I,
at London, in 16032

I embraced this opportunity to introduce into our con-
versation some general hints of a project, by which, with
the assistance of his Britannic majesty, the tranquillity of
all Europe might be secured. Having said this, I remained
silent, as though I had been apprehensive of fatiguing him
by too long a discourse : but I knew the curiosity of James
would be excited by the little I had said ; accordingly, he

1 Camden and other writers of this period seem not to have known
of the Marquis of Rosny's visit : the former says, when the queen heard
that Henry was at Calais, she sent over to him Sir Thomas Edmondes to
see him, and congratulate him upon his health ; he again, to acknowledge
this courtesy, sent to the queen Marshal Biron, &c. — Ed.

2 From the Fifteenth Book of Sully's Memoirs.

64 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

replied that my discourse had not appeared tedious to him,
but that it would be proper to know what o'clock it was.
He went out, and asked some of his courtiers whom he
found at the end of the gallery, and they telling him that
it was not yet three, "Well, Sir," said the king to me,
returning, " I will break off the party for the chase which
I had made for this day, that I may hear you to the end,
and this employment will, I am persuaded, be of more
service to me than the other."

The reason that induced me to hazard a step of such
consequence as that of communicating to King James the
great designs upon Spain and all Europe, which had been
concerted between Henry and Elizabeth, was, that being
persuaded this prince was already of himself inclined to
the alliance with France, he only wanted to be determined
in this resolution from some great and noble motive ; and
because, on the other side, his ministers constantly brought
him back to their manner of thinking, apparently because
he could not support himself against them, from a persua-
sion that they opposed his sentiments only through igno-
rance of them. However, this did not prevent my taking the
following precaution, which I judged to be very necessary.

I resumed the discourse, and told his majesty that, with-
out doubt, he had sometimes thought, and with good rea-
son, that a man in possession of the places and honours
with which I was known to be invested, never quitted his
post but on very urgent occasions ; that this was my case ;
that though my commission was only to require a union
between France and England, yet, nevertheless, from the
opinion I had conceived of his genius and abilities, which
fame had not been silent in reporting, I had resolved, be-
fore I quitted the kingdom, to discourse with his Britannic

SULLY'S CONFERENCE WITH JAMES I 65

majesty on something infinitely more considerable ; but
that what I had to acquaint him with was of such a
nature that I could not reveal it to him without exposing
myself to ruin, unless he would engage by the most sol-
emn oath to keep it a secret. James, who listened to me
with a profound attention, hesitated, however, at taking
the oath which I required ; and, to render it unnecessary,
he endeavoured himself to discover what I could have so
interesting to communicate to him. But finding that my
answers to the different questions which he successively
asked me gave him not the least intimation of the affair,
he satisfied me at last by the most sacred and solemn of
all oaths : I mean that of the holy sacrament.

Though I had now nothing to fear from his indiscre-
tion, I however carefully weighed all my words ; and, be-
ginning with an article in which I knew the King of
England was most interested — I mean religion, — I told
him, that, however I might appear to him engaged in
worldly honours and affairs, and how indifferent soever he
might perhaps have supposed me to be in matters of reli-
gion, yet it was no less certain that I was attached to mine,
even so much as to prefer it to my family, fortune, coun-
try, and even king ; that I had neglected nothing which
might incline the king my master to establish it in France
upon solid foundations, being under great apprehensions
lest it might one day be overwhelmed by so powerful a
faction as that of a union of the pope, the Emperor, Spain,
the archdukes, the Catholic princes of Germany, and so
many other states and communities interested in its sup-
pression ; that my success hitherto had been tolerable ;
but that, perhaps, I was indebted for it only to junctures
purely political, which had engaged Henry in a party

66 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

opposed to the house of Austria. That because these cir-
cumstances might change, or because I, who was the only
person that would use any endeavours to make Henry con-
tinue firm in this political plan, might lose my place and
his favour, I did not see how the King of France could
resist a party which both his religion and the example of
others would call upon him to embrace. That this consid-
eration had long inspired me with the thoughts of finding
a person for the execution of this design, who, by his rank
and power, would be more proper than myself to accom-
plish it, and fix Henry in his sentiments. That having
found all that I had sought for in the prince to whom I
had the honour of speaking, it had not been difficult to
make my choice. In a word, that it depended only upon
himself to immortalise his memory, and become the arbiter
of the fate of Europe, by a design to which he would always
appear to have put the finishing hand, though he might
not be more concerned in the execution than his most
Christian majesty.

There remained only to explain to James the nature of
this design, of which, at first, I gave nothing further than
a general idea, under that of a project for an association
of all the princes and states in Europe, whose interest it
was to diminish the power of the house of Austria, the
foundation of which should be an offensive and defensive
alliance between France, England, and Holland, cemented
by the closest union of the two royal houses of Bourbon
and Stuart. I represented this association in a light which
showed it might be very easily formed. There was not the
least difficulty in regard to Denmark, Sweden, in a word,
to all the Protestant princes and states ; and it might be
rendered sufficiently advantageous for the Catholic princes

SULLY'S CONFERENCE WITH JAMES I 67

also to induce them to engage in it : for example, the tur-
bulent and ambitious disposition of the Duke of Savoy
might be soothed with hopes of obtaining the title of king ;
and the princes of Germany, with promises to distribute
among them those parts of it which the house of Austria
possessed, as Bohemia, Austria, Hungary, Moravia, Sile-
sia, &c, and to reestablish their ancient privileges : even
the pope himself might be gained, by granting him the
property of those countries of which he only possessed the
feodality. In regard to the King of France, though I en-
deavoured to persuade James that hitherto he had had no
concern in this project, which I pretended was entirely of
my own forming, I, however, said, that when I should
have communicated it to him, I could safely engage he
would have no thoughts either of retaining any conquests
which might be made, or being recompensed for them ;
though, according to all appearances, the greatest part of
the burden would fall upon him, as well by the expenses
necessary for carrying on the enterprise, as by his own
personal services. I imagined it was most proper to give
the affair this turn in regard to Henry, that he might not
be under too absolute an obligation.

The King of England immediately started some objec-
tions upon the difficulty of uniting so many different princes
so differently disposed ; the same nearly which Henry had
made when we had last discoursed upon it at Montglat,
upon his return from Metz : though, from the slight sketch
which I had given him of the design, he, however, appeared
highly to approve it, and expressed a desire of being more
circumstantially informed of it. In conformity with this
desire, the following is the substance of what I said to his
Britannic majesty.

68 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

Europe is divided into two factions, which are not so
justly distinguished by their different religions (because
the Catholics and Protestants are confounded together in
almost all places) as they are by their political interests ;
the first is composed of the Pope, the Emperor, Spain,
Spanish Flanders, part of the princes and towns of Ger-
many and Switzerland, Savoy, the Catholic States of Italy,
namely, Florence, Ferrara, Mantua, Modena, Parma, Genoa,
Lucca, &c. Herein likewise must be comprised the Cath-
olics dispersed in other parts of Europe, at the head of
which may be placed the turbulent order of Jesuits, whose
views, no doubt, are to subject everything to the Spanish
monarchy. The second includes the Kings of France,
England, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, and Sweden ; the
Republic of Venice, the United Provinces, and the other
part of the princes and towns of Germany and Switzerland :
I do not take in Poland, Prussia, Livonia, Muscovy and
Transylvania, though these countries are subject to the
Christian religion, because the wars in which they are al-
most continually engaged with the Turks and Tartars,
render them in some manner foreign in regard to those of
the western part of Europe.

Were the power to be estimated in proportion to the
pomp of titles, the extent of territories, and the number of
inhabitants, it appears, on the slightest glance, not very
favourable to the second of these factions, and the superi-
ority would apparently be determined in favour of the first ;
nevertheless, nothing is more erroneous than such an opin-
ion, which may thus be proved : Spain, which must here
be named the first of her faction (though in rank and dig-
nity she is only the third), because she is in reality the
soul of it — Spain, I say, including her dominions in the

SULLY'S CONFERENCE WITH JAMES I 69

East and West Indies, docs indeed possess an extent of
territory as large as Turkey and Persia together. But if it
be true (and it cannot be doubted) that the New World, in
recompense of its gold and other riches, deprives Spain
both of her ships and inhabitants, this immense extent of
territory, instead of being serviceable, is burthensome.

If we consider the other powers of this party, we shall
everywhere find reason to diminish our ordinary ideas. The
pope seems firmly attached to Spain ; and, surrounded as
he is on all sides by this formidable power, and having no
reason to expect succours from any of the other Catholic
princes, it is, no doubt, his interest to be so. But as he does,
in fact, consider his situation as but little different from real
servitude ; and as he is not ignorant that Spain and the
Jesuits only make a vain appearance of supporting his
authority, it may, doubtless, be concluded, he only wants
an opportunity to free himself from the Spanish yoke, and
that he would readily embrace cC party which should offer
to render him their service, without running any great risk ;
and Spain has in reality this opinion of him.

In regard to the Emperor, he has nothing in common
with Spain except his name, which seems only to increase
the jealousies and quarrels which so frequently arise be-
tween these two branches of the Austrian power : besides,
what is his power ? It consists merely in his title. Hungary,
Bohemia, Austria, and other neighbouring countries, are
little better than empty names. Exposed as he is, on one
side, to the incursions of the formidable armies of the Grand
Seignior ; liable, on the other, to see the territories under
his dominion tear themselves in pieces, by the multiplicity
and diversity of the religions which they contain ; under
continual apprehensions, also, lest the electoral princes

JO THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

should rise and make an attempt to regain their ancient
privileges. Indeed, the Emperor, at the present day, all
things justly considered, might perhaps be classed among
the most inconsiderable of the European Powers : besides,
this Austrian branch appears to me so destitute of good
subjects, that if it hath not soon a prince, either brave or
wise enough to unite the different members of which Ger-
many is composed, it will have everything to fear from the
princes of its circles, whose only aim is to procure the
restoration of their liberty in religion and election. I do
not except even the Elector of Saxony, though he appears
the more sincerely attached to the Emperor, as to him of
whom he holds his principality, because it is evident his
religion must, sooner or later, set him at variance with his
benefactor. But supposing the Emperor to receive all the
returns of gratitude which he can expect from this Elector,
it will amount to nothing, or but very little, so long as he
shall be under apprehensions from the branch of John
Frederick, whom he has deprived of this electorate.

Thus, from a thorough examination of all particulars, it
appears, that almost all the powers on which Spain seems
to depend for aid, are either but little attached to her, or
capable of doing her but little service. No one is ignorant
that the general view of the princes and cities both of Ger-
many and Switzerland is to deliver themselves from the
dominion of the Emperor, and even to aggrandise them-
selves at his expense. Nor has he any greater dependance
on the ecclesiastical princes than on the others. A foreign
emperor is what they most wish, provided he is not a Prot-
estant. Nothing could give the archdukes, though Span-
iards, a greater pleasure than a regulation by which they
should become sovereigns in Flanders, independent of

SULLY'S CONFERENCE WITH JAMES I 7 1

Spain ; weary at length of being only her servants. It
is the fear of France alone that binds the Duke of Savoy
to the Spaniards ; for he naturally hates them, and has
never forgiven the King of Spain for doing so much less
for the daughter which he bestowed upon him than for her
younger sister. As to Italy, it need only be observed, that
it will be obliged to acquiesce in the will of the stronger
party.

It is therefore certain, that the second of the factions
here described has nothing to fear, provided it understands
its own interests well enough to continue in a constant
state of union. Now it is also certain, that in this scheme
these so natural motives to disunion do not occur ; and
that all of them, even that caused by the difference of
religion, which in some sort is the only one, ought to
give place to the hatred against Spain, which is the great
and common motive by which these powers are animated.
Where is the prince, in the least jealous of his glory, who
would refuse to enter into an association strengthened by
four such powerful kings as those of France, England,
Sweden, and Denmark, closely united ? It was a saying
of Elizabeth, that nothing could resist these four powers,
when in strict alliance with each other.

These truths being admitted, it only remains to examine
by what methods the house of Austria may be reduced to
the monarchy of Spain, and to that monarchy only. These
methods consist either in artifice or force, and I have two
for each of them. The first of the secret methods is, to
divest the house of Austria of the Indies, Spain having no
more right to prohibit the rest of the Europeans from an
intercourse with those countries, than she has to destroy
their natural inhabitants ; and all the nations of Europe

72 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

having also a liberty to make establishments in the newly
discovered countries as soon as they have passed the line,
this enterprise would therefore be easily executed, only by
equipping three fleets, each containing eight thousand men,
all provided and victualled for six months : England to
furnish the ships, Flanders the artillery and ammunition,
and France, as the most powerful, the money and soldiers.
There would be no occasion for any other agreement than
that the conquered countries should be equally divided.

During this, the second of these means should be se-
cretly prepared, upon occasion of the succession to Cleves,
and the death of the Emperor, which cannot be far dis-
tant, in such manner, that under favour of the opportu-
nities which these two incidents might furnish, reasons
might be found to divest the house of Austria of the
empire, and her other dependencies in Germany, and
therein to restore the ancient freedom of election.

The first of the two open and declared means is, in
conjunction to take up arms, and drive the Spaniards en-
tirely out of Flanders, in order to erect this State into a
free and independent republic, bearing only the title of a
member of the empire ; and this, when the forces of the
allies are considered, will not be found difficult. The Uni-
ted Provinces, comprehending in them Liege, Juliers, and
Cleves, form a triangle : the first side of which, from Calais
to Embden, is entirely towards the sea ; the second is
bounded by France, viz., by Picardy, as far as the Somme,
and by the country of Messin as far as Mezieres ; the third
extends from Metz, by Triers, Cologne, and Metz, as far
as Dusseldorf. It is only necessary to secure these three
sides in such manner that they may be inaccessible to Spain,
which may be done without difficulty, England taking upon

SULLY'S CONFERENCE WITH JAMES I 73

herself the first, France the second, the Electors and other
interested princes the third. All the towns which should
happen to be upon this line, except, perhaps, Thionville,
which might require to be forced, would, upon a menace
to be put under contribution, immediately submit.

The second of the last two means, is for the league
above mentioned generally and in concert to declare war
against Spain and the whole house of Austria. What is
most essential to observe in regard to this war, is, that
France and England should renounce all pretensions to
any share of the conquest, and relinquish them to those
powers who were not of themselves capable of giving um-
brage to the others. Thus Franche-Comte, Alsace, and the
Tyrol, naturally fall to the Switzers. The Duke of Savoy
ought to have Lombardy, to be erected, with his other do-
minions, into a kingdom ; the kingdom of Naples falls to
the pope, as being most convenient for him ; Sicily to the
Venetians, with what may be convenient for them in I stria
and Friuli. Thus, it appears, the most solid foundation of
this confederacy would arise from all the parties being gain-
ers by it. The rest of Italy, subject to its petty princes,
might perhaps be suffered to continue under its present
form of government, provided that these little states were
altogether considered as composing only one body or re-
public, of which they should be so many members.

This is a pretty just account of the manner in which I
acquainted his Britannic majesty with the design to which
I endeavoured to gain his approbation. I further added
whatever I thought might tend to obviate his doubts, and
confirm him in favour of it. I confessed that I was not my-
self able to elucidate the design ; that I was not surprised
that his majesty had at first perceived great difficulties

74 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

in it; that Henry would, no doubt, find many in it also,
but that they only proceeded from my own weakness, and
the impossibility of showing clearly what, to be perfectly
explained, required much time and long discourses ; that
I was convinced in my own mind the design was not only
possible, but that also the success of it was infallible ; that
if anything was found defective in the scheme as I had
conceived it, it might easily be rectified by the genius and
abilities of four great kings, and some of the best generals
in Europe, to whom the execution of it would be entrusted.

I then returned to the alliance between the two Kings
of France and England, and I told his Britannic majesty
that this alliance being the chief and necessary foundation
of the confederacy which I had proposed to him, it must
therefore necessarily begin it, without paying any regard
to the discourses of prejudiced persons, or being affected
by such frivolous considerations as those of the debts of
France and Flanders to England. I assured him that Eng-
land had nothing to fear from France, for that Henry's great
preparations of arms and ammunition, 'and his amassing such
vast sums, were only designed to enable him hereafter of
himself to accomplish the greatest part of this important
design ; at least, that I could flatter myself with success in
engaging him in it, from motives of glory and the public
service, which operated so powerfully upon the mind of
this prince. I touched James in his most sensible part,
his ambition to immortalise his memory, and his desire
of being brought into comparison with Henry, and of shar-
ing his praises.

My earnestness to succeed gave such force and clear-
ness to my expressions, that this prince, entering into
my full meaning, embraced me with a kind of transport

SULLY'S CONFERENCE WITH JAMES I 75

proceeding from his friendship for me, and his indignation
at the evil councils which they had hitherto endeavoured to
make him follow. " No, Sir," said he, "do not fear that
I shall ever fail in what we have together agreed upon."
He protested with the same ardour, that he would not, on
any consideration, have remained ignorant of what I had
told him ; that he would never forfeit the good opinion
which the King of France and I had conceived of him ;
that he really was what I thought him ; that his reflections
upon what I had said would yet further confirm him in the
sentiments with which I had inspired him ; that he would
even now engage to sign the plan of alliance which I had
presented to him on Sunday, and wherein he had himself
made some inconsiderable alterations ; that I should also
sign it in the name of the King of France, unless I rather
chose to carry it with me unsigned, to show it to his most
Christian majesty, in which case he gave me his royal word,
that, upon my bringing or sending it back at the end of a
month or six weeks, approved and signed by Henry, he
would immediately, and without the least difficulty, join to
it his own signature. He concluded, by obligingly assuring
me, that for the future he would do nothing but in concert
with the King of France. He made me promise the same
secrecy in regard to all persons, except the king my master,
which I had been so free as to require of him ; and this
he extended so far, as to forbid me ever putting upon paper
certain things which upon this occasion he revealed to me,
and which I therefore suppress.

Our conference had begun about one o'clock, and con-
tinued upwards of four hours. The king called in Admiral
Howard, the Earls of Northumberland, Southampton,
Mar, Lord Mountjoy, and Cecil, and declared to them, that,

y6 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

having deliberately considered my reasons, he was resolved
to enter into a close alliance with France against Spain. He
reproached Cecil in very strong terms for having, both in
his words and actions, acted contrary to his commands ;
which declaration the secretary received very awkwardly.
" Cecil," said James to him, " I command you without any
reply or objection, in conformity to this my design, to pre-
pare the necessary writings, according to which, I will then
give the dexter} and all assurances to the ambassadors of
the States." This was the first time he had distinguished
them by this title. Then turning to me, and taking me by
the hand, he said, " Well, Mr. Ambassador, are you now
perfectly satisfied with me ? " I replied by a profound rev-
erence, and by making his majesty the same protestations
of fidelity and attachment as if it had been to my own king ;
and I desired he would let me confirm it to him by kissing
his hand. He embraced me, and demanded my friendship
with an air of goodness and confidence which very much
displeased several of his councillors who were present.
Upon my departure, he gave orders to the Earl of Nor-
thumberland to accompany me to the Thames, and to
Sydney to escort me to London.

1 This expression signifies an oath, or promise of alliance, made by
presenting the right hand.

THE UNITED STATES OF EUROPE
By Edward Everett Hale1

In the midst of war, this phrase begins to assume its
importance as the promise of peace. It embodies the
policy which the Republican leaders of Europe propose.
More than this, although most of the Republics of Europe
are yet to be born, still the phrase " The United States
of Europe " begins to be spoken among princes and in
their cabinets. For three hundred years, at the very least,
every war in Europe, and every treaty, has prepared the
way for such a union. For the last five and fifty years,
the advance has been more rapid and sure.

It is very true, that, as the proposal for such a union has
been discussed in the literature of Europe, as in the essays
of St. Pierre, Rousseau, Emmanuel Kant, Bentham, or de
Maistre, the burden of proof has been always against it.
Men speak of it now, whenever it turns up, as if it were a
part of the dreamer's store of visions, belonging with Ovid's
Golden Age, or with the fabled knights of the Round
Table ; and, as the world goes, to say that we shall have
The United States of Europe only when all princes are
as pure as King Arthur, all ladies as lovely as the peer-
less Oriana, all knights as brave as Amadis, is to put it
off indefinitely to the perfect world. But it happens, very
fortunately, that over a part of another continent, which

1 This paper upon " The Great Design," by Dr. Hale, first appeared
in his magazine, Old and New, March, 1871.

77

78 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

is, for practical purposes, larger than Europe, this system,
which it is so easy to call a dream, is already extended.
It happens that the transitory vision has lasted as a sober
reality in America for eighty years. It happens, that, in
that eighty years, it has twice met the shock of foreign
war, and come out only the stronger for the conflict ; nay,
in the course of that eighty years, The United States of
America has been threatened once by terrible internal con-
vulsion. The question was then brought to the test of
arms, whether, as Mr. Lincoln says, " A system light and
easy enough for the freedom of the people, must of neces-
sity be too weak for its own preservation." And, in that
terrible test, The United States of America stood the rack
and the convulsion. After that terrible test, The United
States of America was stronger than ever ; and it seemed
more certain that it would abide for another century the
greatest Peace Society that the sun ever looked down upon.
The real question, then, for Europe at this hour is,
whether there is any fatality in that continent which pre-
vents such a union among her sixteen States, as has proved
possible, though not easy, among seven and thirty States
in America. History has changed the Saxon Heptarchy
of seven kingdoms into one England. History has united
that England with Wales. History has knit England,
Scotland, and Ireland into The United Empire of Great
Britain. History has knit all the Russias into the Empire
of Russia. History has united Normandy, Brittany, France,
Navarre, Lorraine, and Alsace into the Empire of France.
History has united Arragon, Leon, and Castile into the
Kingdom of Spain. History has woven a dozen States of
yesterday into the Kingdom of Italy of to-day. Even in
the last summer and autumn, history has transformed the

THE UNITED STATES OF EUROPE 79

confederation of Northern Germany into a union close and
sure. The question for Europe is, whether this is all ? Must
the process stop here ? Is there any reason why America
should be the only continent for permanent peace ? Is Eu-
rope to be given over to permanent war ? Or may Europe,
in the future, learn its great lesson from this side of the
water, and The United States of America point the funda-
mental system for The United States of Europe ?

The public writers of Europe, when they look across
the ocean, are wholly deceived even by our great success.
They write and speak as if mutual peace were of course
here, as if we had been always one nation. They forget
that the Spaniard in Florida and the Englishman in Georgia
hated each other and fought each other as cordially as ever
Queen Elizabeth hated King Philip of Spain, till the United
States of America compelled Georgia and Florida to be
as one. Such writers forget that between Louisiana and
Kentucky there was as little natural love as between the
France whose children were in Louisiana, and the Eng-
land whose children were in Kentucky. They do not
choose to remember that the Catholic who planted Mary-
land, and the Puritan who planted Massachusetts, had just
the same causes for mutual hatred as had the Catholic
and Roundhead in Ireland, who fought there in the days
of Cromwell.

The truth is, that, at the period when the Constitution
of the United States was formed, there was not one of the
old thirteen States but had serious questions of contro-
versy with its neighbors. Massachusetts had by charter a
right to a strip of country as wide as Massachusetts, run-
ning to the Pacific Ocean. The State of Connecticut had
rights similar, though not so large. Each of those States

80 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

had a controversy with each other, both of them with New
York, and all of them with Virginia. These are only illus-
trations of open questions, just like the questions which
once and again deluge Europe with blood. What settled
these questions ? Nothing in the nature of things. They
were settled simply and only by the establishment of the
nation — one out of many — which we call "The United
States of America."

And, unless all coming history is to be the record of
blood, a lesson is in that history which is to be learned
and wrought out in practice in the establishment of The
United States of Europe. The experiment has been tried
here under some signal advantages ; but, meanwhile, the
preparations for a like experiment have been going for-
ward there. It is nearly three centuries since the diplo-
macy of Europe began to meditate upon the plan. The
accomplishment of that plan is easier than ever now that
these three centuries have worked towards its fulfilment.

It seems worth while, just now, to examine the history
of that diplomacy ; because it seems possible that this
country, with an example so admirable, of peace secured
in face of every difficulty, may at this moment speak the
word of the great pacification : " Let us have peace." The
most sublime expression that has yet fallen from the lips
of the taciturn president is the great word which United
America has a right to speak to disunited Europe. I do
not know whether, at this moment, there are any states-
men in the world. If there are, is not this very moment
of war, of defeat of the proud, and victory of the prudent,
the very moment to bring forward again the hope which
two centuries and a half ago seemed so near accomplish-
ment ? Has not the time come for a power so strong as

THE UNITED STATES OF EUROPE 8 1

ours to speak in the interests of permanent peace in
Christendom ? Has not the time come for us all to be
ready to say the right word, and to do the right thing,
when the great man of to-day, whoever he may prove to
be, speaks the great word, which the greatest king of
France spoke before this country was born ? Has there
ever been a moment when all true men could act together,
as in this sea of troubles they might act to establish The
United States of Europe ? And if the great man of Europe,
whoever he may be, speaks that great word, and lays the
plans for that great harmony, may not this land of ours,
which has given the great example, do more than any land
to make real the sublime idea ? Our statesmanship, our
policy, our international science, — they have no object at
this moment so noble, nay, they have none so real, as the
advance, by one of the great strides of history, of a per-
manent peace among the States of Christendom.

With this conviction, I ask the reader's attention to the
first appearance in diplomacy of this " Great Design."

Henry of Navarre, the first sovereign of his time as
he was its first soldier, had been born almost in poverty,
and had been trained in misfortune. It would be fair to
say almost that he had been nursed on the battle-field.
Protestants have looked askance on him, because he per-
mitted himself to be received in form into the Roman
Church ; but probably the severest critic will admit that
Henry, in this apostacy, if it were such, acted with the
noblest motive, in the hope, which was well founded, of
securing France from civil war. This is certain, that he
earned the eager love of his Protestant followers, and the
complete respect of his Catholic subjects. Through the

82 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

poverty, persecution, bloodshed, and struggle of youth, he
wrought his way at last to the united throne of France
and Navarre, and founded that dynasty which came to its
end in 1830.

His friend and minister, de Rosny, afterwards Duke of
Sully, has left us in his memoirs better material for the
real life of this great sovereign than we often have for
such history. Once and again in those memoirs is allusion
made to the king's "ten wishes." Some of them were such
as any man may share. Some were peculiar to kings.

The first wish of the king is for divine grace, and the
safety of his soul.

The second is, that his Protestant subjects may live in
peace.

The third, that France may hold her own against all
enemies ; and

The fourth, alas ! that he may be rid of his wife forever.

One of the ten wishes is, that he may win a battle in
person over the King of Spain in person. And so they
vary, now personal and now political, till nine of the ten
are named. These nine, it seems, were well known at
court, — matters, perhaps, of conversation and amuse-
ment there. The king had ten wishes, and the courtiers
knew nine of them. The tenth was more secret ; he only
spoke of it with statesmen and his wisest counsellors. The
tenth wish was always spoken of as " The Great Design ; "
and it would seem that unless one were well trained in
the secrets of diplomacy in those days one knew nothing
more of it.

This tenth wish of the soldier-king, this great design,
which was to crown all his laurels with a new wreath of
glory, was his design for The United States of Europe.

THE UNITED STATES OF EUROPE 83.

It is convenient now to speak of such a project as a
dream ; but, as we have seen, it is a dream which has
proved a living reality here in America. And when in
America even ten States rebelled, which had been per-
mitted to nurse one institution false to every principle of
a Republic, when they tried the strength of the dream,
they found that the Christian commonwealth was what it
was said to be eighteen centuries ago ; they found it was
strong with the strength of a divine builder ; they found
it was reared upon the Rock of Ages. " Whosoever shall
fall on that stone shall be broken ; on whomsoever it shall
fall, it shall grind him to powder." They tried the experi-
ment ; and now they know the meaning of the prophecy.
It is convenient for people who distrust God's power and
Christ's kingdom to look on such a project as a dream ;
but that is not the way it was considered when it was last
brought forward, when the condition of Europe seemed
ripe for it, and it needed only, one would say, two or three
great men to carry it through. Are there possibly two or
three such men at the helm of affairs in America or in
Europe now ?

It was a little before the first planting of Virginia,
nearly twenty years before the landing at Plymouth, that
Henry, acting in concert with Queen Elizabeth in her old
age, conceived this plan of what he called the Christian
commonwealth, to be formed among the powers of Europe.
No man called this a dream then, when such a soldier as
Henry agreed to it, and such statesmen as Sully and Cecil
planned for it. The death of Elizabeth, and the elevation
of a fool to the throne of England, was its first misfor-
tune. But Henry IV. was not born to be crossed by fools ;
and to the moment of rTis murder, in 16 10, he persevered.

84 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

The diplomacy of France and of Northern Europe for
more than ten years seconded his endeavors. His plan in
brief was this, to reduce the number of European States,
much as the Congress of Vienna eventually did two hun-
dred years afterwards, or so that all Europe should be
divided among fifteen powers. Russia did not then count
as part of Europe ; and Prussia was not then born. Of
these powers, six were trie kingdoms of England, France,
Spain, Denmark, Sweden, and Lombardy. Five were to
be elective monarchies, viz., The German Empire, The
Papacy, Poland, Hungary, and Bohemia; and there were
to be four Republics, — Switzerland, Venice, The States
of Holland and Belgium, and The Republic of 'Italy, made
up somewhat as the kingdom of Italy is now. These fif-
teen powers were to maintain but one standing army. The
chief business of this army was to keep the peace among
the States, and to prevent any sovereign from interfering
with any other, from enlarging his borders, or other usur-
pations. This army and the navy were also to be ready to
repel invasions of Mussulmans and other barbarians. For
the arrangement of commerce, and other mutual interests,
a Senate was to be appointed of four members from each
of the larger, and two from each, of the smaller States,
who should serve three years, and be in constant session.
It was supposed, that, for affairs local in their character,
a part of these senators might meet separately from the
others. On occasions of universal importance, they would
meet together. Smaller Congresses, for more trivial cir-
cumstances, were also provided for.

The plan contemplated a grand army of Europe, of
320,000 men, and a navy of 120 vessels, to be provided
in quotas agreed upon by the respective members of the

THE UNITED STATES OF EUROPE 85

association ; and, from the beginning, the members of
the association announced that no secession was to be
possible or to be permitted.

With generosity such as few princes have shown, Henry
proposed that the executive which should carry out the
decisions of the senate should be the elected emperor of
Germany, for the time. This was probably the weakest
part of the plan, the point to be secured, being, of course,
then or now, the most difficult. But, as the Emperor was
chosen in an assembly in which so many of the several
powers had a voice, this seemed the simplest adjustment.

What gave the practical character, in its very outset, to a
scheme so bold, was the absolute disclaimer, both on Henry's
part and Elizabeth's, of any desire to increase their own ter-
ritories or power. Henry satisfied even the jealousy of the
pope in this regard ; and so loyal was he in his diplomacy,
always looking forward with this " Great Design," that, ac-
cording to Sully, at the moment of Henry's murder, he had
secured the practical active co-operation of twelve of the
fifteen powers, who were^tojinite in this confederation. They
had avouched this co-ol wba by raising their contingents
for the army, by which tn?y5)roposed to crush the preten-
sions of the house of AustrMand the king of Spain. The
co-operation of Switzerland also would be secured at any
moment it was wanted : so th^arally Austria and Spain had
at that moment all Europe I lis against them ; and the
leader of all Europe was this cmvalrous Henry, in whom the
pope had confidence, and with whom the Protestants were
all allied, — Protestant at heart, Catholic in ritual, a man
possessed with this great design, still in the very prime of
life, in command of an admirable army, with a treasury full,
a people prosperous, himself the first real, soldier of his time.

86 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

No man said that "the Great Design" was a dream
then!

It is easy to see that the central wish which bound these
powers together was the wish to humble Austria. Under
Charles the Fifth, Austria and Spain, with all the new
wealth of the Indias at their command, had domineered
over all Europe. Philip the Second would have been glad
to do the same thing. The great design of Henry offered,
therefore, to the various powers this immediate prize, that
they would humble the emperor of Austria, and tie his
hands. This was just as the great alliance of the nations
of Europe against the first Napoleon was animated by a
determination to humble him, and the power of France.
But, beyond this immediate purpose, Henry and Elizabeth
and the king of Sweden looked to such a control by the
allied powers that no single sovereign should so claim the
lion's share again. The Great Design looked beyond the
immediate purpose to the permanent peace of Europe.

The very jealousy with which Austria was regarded was
the strong support of Henry's diplomacy. He was enough
of a Catholic to obtain even the pope's secret support in
his negotiations. The scheme, therefore, had the advan-
tage which such a scheme could hardly have had from
that time to this, that it was not a mere sectarian alliance
of Protestant against Papist. It proposed a combination
of Catholic Italy and Catholic France with Protestant Eng-
land and Protestant Sweden and Germany. This was its
element of strength.

Its weakness was, that, before it could even be set in
motion, the separate States of Europe had to be re-organ-
ized within. Thus the Republic of Belgium was to be
created ; the Kingdom of Lombardy was to be created ;

THE UNITED STATES OF EUROPE 87

the Republic of Italy was to be created ; and so on : and
every petty prince, who, in this process, had been turned
out of the crumbling owl-hole which he called a palace,
would be grunting and scolding, and doing his little best
to stop the progress of the Great Design. Nay, every scul-
lion that washed the dishes in the courts of such a poten-
tate, and every beggar-boy that screamed at his horse's
tail, would consider that their perquisites and honors were
stolen from them. The Great Design was encumbered
from the beginning with such difficulty of detail.

But it was not left, alas ! to any fair test of its allies or
of its enemies. Just as Henry was maturing his last prepa-
rations for that great campaign, in which, at the head of
united Europe, he would offer Austria peace and the
Great Design, or war against all the world beside, another
issue came. Henry entered his lumbering carriage of state,
to make Sully a last visit at the arsenal. They turned
from the Louvre into one of the narrow streets of Paris,
when some obstacle stopped the progress. At the moment,
a very tall man, in a cloak, muffled heavily, and with a
broad-brimmed hat over his eyes, stepped upon the wheel
of the coach, dashed his arm into the window, and struck
the king with a knife ; to make certain, he drew back the
knife, and struck again at the heart, — the most loving
and gallant heart in all Christendom : and the king fell
dead. With that blow, the Great Design died. It was to
have made real, perhaps for centuries, the dying prayer
of Ihe Saviour of the world, that " they all may be one ; "
and, at the blow of a crazed fanatic, this hope vanished
for well nigh three centuries.

How like another stroke by another fanatic, which
stopped the beating of the most loving heart in America,

88 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

at the moment when that heart was seeking the pacifica-
tion of our warring States, full of kind wishes and kind
hopes for all !

That scrap from the history of courts is a proper illus-
tration of the duties, the hopes, and the fjrayers of the
citizens of this Republic. It is one of the few illustrations
in history where the kings of the world have distinctly
chosen peace, permanent peace, as the great object of
policy. Such is not the habit of kings. No : but it should
be the habit of peoples ; it should be the habit of repub-
lics. The diplomacy of a Republic, because it is a Re-
public should look to the strengthening and maintaining
peace among the nations of mankind.

We are constantly misled in this matter, because we
go to school, and study the histories of mere families, —
of Bourbons, of Tudors, of Hapsburgs, — and their wars.
We get excited over these wars. Unconsciously, we come
to think that there is no great nation but a nation which
is great in war. We might as rightly wish to have our
nation great in earthquakes, or great in pestilences, or
great in conflagrations. To do our duty in war when it
comes, that is one thing ; to enjoy war, or to seek it, that
is another. The great soldiers have always been great paci-
ficators. The great Napoleon is no exception. But we
are deceived by the books. Because an old feudal nation
followed war, and has war written all over its history, we
take a notion that we, though we are not a feudal nation,
must repeat that history. On the other hand, the whole
being and nature of our nation is different. This Repub-
lic exists simply that so many men and women may have
happy homes. That is what it is for. It is not for the

THE UNITED STATES OF EUROPE 89

extension of any boundary, it is not for the propagation
of any theory, it is not for the glory of any leader, that
our States are founded, or our Union set in order. No :
it is that forty million men and women may live in happy
homes. George Frisbie Hoar said the other day, that the
business of the people of this country is to see that " no
more history is written." He alluded to Montesquieu's
maxim, that that people is happy whose history is not writ-
ten. Well, that is our duty. To keep outside of the sensation
life, — the poor life of the scene-shifter in the melo-drama,
which makes up the common record of the vulgar histories.
It is our duty to cultivate and to illustrate those relations of
peace in which, and in which only, come in the true pros-
perity of nations.

As it happens, this great necessity of keeping the peace
at home has cost us one great civil war. Very fortunately
for us, that great duty of ruling out of our own affairs,
once for all, the one relic of feudalism we found here, has
shown to the world that there is no such military strength,
where strength is needed, as the strength in arms of a
free people. That has been happily proved for a century.
That being known, our policy is, and our duty is, to watch
this blessed moment which, after three centuries, may be
sweeping round even now upon the dial, for securing the
permanent peace of Christendom. It sometimes seems as
if, in statesmanship, we were living on the reputation of
the fathers ; but, whenever we shall have a statesman at the
front worthy of that name, he will actively, and with steady
system, carry forward plans which look to a pacification
of Europe, as sure and as well-founded as the pacification
which the fathers wrought out for America. The plans
of Henry are already half carried through. The jarring

90 THE GREAT DESIGN OF HENRY IV

duchies and electorates and principalities of Europe are
already reduced to a lesser number than he proposed;
and in the present position of the pope, in the union of
Italy, in the very weakness of France, in the asserted
strength of Germany, in the anxiety of Austria, in the
.change of dynasty of Spain, in the new institutions of
Russia, and in the overthrow of landed rights of England,
the moment has come which some great man will certainly
choose for trying to work out the other half of Henry's
problem, — for establishing The United States of Europe.

If we have any statesmen, and if we have any diplomacy,
the men will guide the policy toward the solution of this
problem.

Does any man say that we have a quarrel of our own
with England to be adjusted first ? This is not. so, as we
have said before. There was an England with which we
had a quarrel ; but not with this England, not with the
England of to-day. There was an England once, the Eng-
land of the Tudors and Stuarts, the England of George
the Third, of Bute and North and Grenville, with which
our fathers had a quarrel. That England still survived in
its dotage nine years ago; and some dregs of that quarrel
were ours then. But five years past have wrought a revo-
lution. That old England has been swept away as thor-
oughly as old Virginia is swept away, and ought to be
forgotten as Jefferson Davis is forgotten. The government
of England has been taken from the land-holders of Eng-
land, and given to the people of England. The feudal
aristocracy has been bidden to take its place. The working-
men of England have stepped to the front to take theirs.
They are willing to pay us what they owe us. Let them
pay us. They are willing to give us security for the future.

THE UNITED STATES ;OF EUROPE 91

Let them give it ; and then, while they wage their war in
England with what are left of the old Warwicks and
Stuarts, barons and cavaliers, and all such standard-bear-
ers of the past, let our statesmen see to it that we are the
friends of the free institutions of the new-born England.
We must not trip the feet and hold the hands of our own
allies, — of such men as John Bright and Thomas Hughes
and the working-men of Lancashire, — who never once
failed in their loyalty to truth and freedom.

This Republic is founded for the happiness of home.
When once that truth can be understood, both by noisy
politicians and by quiet statesmen, the great victory of
truth will be nearly won. Not for the record of slaughter,
but for the happiness of unmolested homes ; for this the
true statesman resolves, as the true Christian prays. And
this nation works out its destiny, and its public officers
achieve their own true honor, as its word is spoken in the
great plea for the Christian commonwealth. At the present
moment, the next step in the advance towards it is the up-
building of The United States of Europe.

The United States of Europe and the United States of
America would not quarrel ; and they would hold the power
of the world in their hands. The international policy of
the world would be developed as in the vision

"Where the war-drums throbbed no longer, and

the battle-flags were furled
In the parliament of man, the federation of the

world :
There the common sense of most shall hold a

fretful realm in awe;
And the kindly earth shall slumber, lapped in

universal law.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
BERKELEY

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