Juftiniani's fa- ginal Latin. 66 The Speech this Minifter made to Maximilian has been the Subject of so much Dispute, that it induces us to give the Reader a Tranflation from the ori "It was with just Reasons that the Antients maintained, that the greatest and most glorious of all "Victories was that which a Man obtained over "himfelf: The Laurels fuch a Victory give never "fade, and the Luftre they caft on the Brows that "wear them far exceeds that of triumphant Crowns "and Diadems. Scipio Africanus is more extolled "for overcoming himself, than for fubduing Carthage, "and conquering Africa: It was by this tranfcendant Conqueft that Alexander, a little Macedonian King, "raifed his Glory above all the Kings that had been, "before him. The Vows which Darius made for "Alexander his Enemy, and which reflect more Honour on that Conqueror than all his brightest Victories, were purely owing to his Moderation. The "unfortunate King of Perfia, ftruck with the Clemency which Alexander fhewed to his Queen and Family, whom Victory had given the abfolute Difpofal of, ftretched out his Hands to Heaven, "and earnestly implored, That, fince it was not the "Will of the Gods the Crown of Perfia fhould re"main on his Head, it might be put on that of fo gentle an Enemy, and fo generous a Conqueror. The great Cæfar, the first of your Predeceffors, "whofe Virtues as well as Fortunes you inherit, was, "for his Generofity and forgetting of Injuries, juft The SECRET HISTORY of the CARDINAL. diffembling the fecret Grudge ' in her Breaft. Now the Cardinal began to grow into won'derful Inventions, not heard of before in England, and the Love, between this glorious 66 ly. Lady and the King, grew to 'fuch Perfection, that divers Things were imagined, whereof I forbear here to speak, • until I come to a proper • Place. ly honoured with a Place among the Gods. The "Romans, whofe Succeffor you alone now are, and "whofe Majefty refides in your Perfon, had no o"ther bounds to their Empire than those of the then "known World, yet the Kindnefs and Moderation, "the Juftice and Impartiality of that People, gained "them more Subjects than the Valour of their Troops, " and the Bravery and Conduct of their Generals. "The Fate of Venice is in your Hands, if you "will reflect on the Frailty of human Greatness, "if you will use with Indulgence the Power that "Fortune has given you, if you will prefer that real "and folid Glory, which you may laftingly obtain "by giving us Peace, to the Uncertainty of glittering Victories, what room can their be left for doubt"ing, that the Name of Maximilian will be for ever "had in the highest Veneration, and be inrolled a66 mong thofe illuftrious Perfons who can never be "named without the most ardent Refpect. It were "needlefs to have Recourfe to former Times for "Evidence to prove the Inconftancy of Fortune, or "the Uncertainty of Events, or to demonftrate to "how many Changes, to what hidden and unforeseen "Dangers and Accidents every Thing, that may be "called a human Settlement, is liable. The misera"ble and difconfolate Condition of the Republick of "Venice does more than fufficiently prove it. Not many Days have paffed fince that rich, powerful, "and illuftrious State, reverenced by its Neighbours, "and extolled by diftant Nations, was the Admira"tion and the Astonishment of the whole World: "To Day, this very Republick, by the Lofs of one "Battle, by receiving one flight Blow, is funk into "fuch a State of Mifery and Contempt, and fo altered " and deformed are its Looks, that neither Friends "nor Foes can eafily know it. Its Glory is tarnish"ed, its Dominions are torn in Pieces; it is at a "Lofs for every Thing, and now feems to have forgot, 66 forgot, that, for a long time, it was a warlike "and victorious State. But the French are widely " out in their Accounts, if they reckon our Ruin is "owing to their Arms. It is well known how our "Ancestors, during a long Course of feveral Wars, efpecially that they maintained for many Years against that powerful Enemy of Christendom, fuf"tained Loffes greater than the Defeat of their Army at Vaila,* without being daunted, and bore up against greater Misfortunes than that, without finking under them. We fhould have recovered our"felves again after this Fall, as our Ancestors have "done in the like Cafe; like them we fhould have "bent down thofe that made us trip, had we not "been crushed to Pieces by the immenfe Greatness "of your Imperial Majefty. Our Ruin is compleated by the Valour of that Nation which you lead on against us; no hopes of Victory are now left us ; "nor can we flatter ourselves fo far as to fancy, that 66 we fhall ever dare to dispute the Combat again. "We must lay down our Arms as too heavy for our Hands, and look for our Safety no where, but in "the Humanity and Goodness of one of the lively Images of the God of Mercy. In the Name of "the Doge, of the great Council, and of the Peo"of Venice, I do humbly beg, fupplicate, and crave your Majefty to caft an Eye of Pity on us, and to ftretch out a charitable Hand to our afflicted and "inconfolable State. Prefcribe what Conditions of "Peace you pleafe, we will readily fubfcribe them; nay more, we will hold and repute them just and "honourable, and as fuch we will obferve them. "Were we worthy to pronounce our own Sentence, we would readily abandon all the Encroachments " and Ufurpations our Ancestors ever made, either "in the Empire, or in your hereditary Countries; "and, to the end thefe Offers may be the more fuit"able able to our prefent Circumftances, we are willing "to add all that the Republick has poffeffed on the "Terra Firma, and whatever Right and Title we had "to those Dominions fhall be refigned to your Ma “ 66 66 jefty, as to our rightful Lord and Sovereign. We "will pay every Year, to your Majefty and your Suc"ceffors, a Tribute of 50,000 Crowns of Gold. Finally, it is our full Purpofe and Refolution to give entire Obedience to your Commands, Laws, "Decrees, and Ordinances. All the Return we "defire is only to defend and protect us from the "Infolence of those who were lately our Allies, but "now our most mortal Enemies; they having no"thing lefs in their View, than burying us and our Name in perpetual Oblivion. Would you "fhelter and protect us from their merciless Hands, σε we should ever look upon you as our Father and "the Preferver of our City, and always own ourselves "your People; our Annals fhall be filled with your "Praises, and our Children fhall be taught early to ❝fing them. "It would be no fmall Addition to your Re"nown, to have it faid, that you were the first "Prince that ever obliged the Venetians humbly to "implore your Favour and Protection; and that the "first time they ever Struck and lowered their Haughtiness was to you. We reverence you; "we esteem you our Guardian Angel. Had the Almighty freed our Ancestors from that fatal Itch "of meddling in the Affairs of Princes, our Repub"lick, inftead of that Ignomy it now labours under, might this Day have eclipfed the Glory of all "others; but thofe Treafures of Glory, we had "been heaping up during a Series of fo many Vic"tories, are all vanished in a Moment, and we are "become the Contempt and Scorn of other Na * tions. VOL. II. 66 "But, to conclude, I once more beg Leave to fay, that it is in your Power, great Sir, by ex cufing and pardoning your poor Venetians, to a"dorn your facred Head with more verdant and "lafting Laurels, than ever Conqueror did by his brightest Victories; the Glory now in your Power "to cloath yourself with will pafs down to the latest Pofterity without any Diminution, being above the "Reach of, and independant on, any Accident. Suc"ceeding Ages will celebrate you as the moft gra"cious of all Princes, and, as fuch, will raise your Memory above that of any Mortal: As for us, we will eternally found your Praise, and, must e"ver gratefully own, that it is to the Greatness of "Maximilian's Soul that we owe our Breath, and "are ftill of the Number of the Living." This Speech not only demonftrates, that the Venetians defpaired of faving their Republick from Ruin, but also affords fair and confiderable Pretenfions for the Empire in general, and the House of Auftria in particular, to the ftricteft Friendship from that Republick; and, if we should fay Fealty too, we believe it would be no Error. Hence it is, that the Venetian Hiftorians would perfuade the World, that this Speech was foifted upon them, and cry loudly against Guicciardin, as the Author and Forger of it. But, that Author affures us, he writes nothing but Truth, and pofitively declares this Piece to be authentick, and delivered by him without any other Alteration, than that of turning into Italian, what Juftiniani delivered in Latin; tho' Gion Baptifta Leoni has took great Pains to invalidate the Veracity of Guicciardin's Relation. The Venetians alfo fent the Cardinals Grimini and Cornaro to attend his Holinefs, who, being admitted to an Audience, requested, in the most respectful Terms, in the Name of their Country, a Remiffion of their Cenfures, on the Republick's |