Ebrahim passing through Bohemia, was willing to pay his Court to Arch-Duke Ferdinand; but the Arch-Duke would have it incognito. When we were a few Days Journey from Francfort, I thought proper to ride a Day or two’s Journey before, to acquaint the Emperor with some Things relating to my Embassy; which I did, and came to Francfort that Day seven Years on which I set out from Vienna to Constantinople. I was received by my Master with all imaginable Kindness, (not that I deserv’d it) but ’twas all owing to his innate Goodness and Custom so to do. You may imagine with yourself how joyful a Thing it was to me, after so many Years Absence, to return safe to the Presence of my Royal Master, who was pleased kindly to accept of the Fruits of my Embassy, and told me, that I had done all Things well, and that I should find the Effects of his Favour. He came to Francfort the Day before the Inauguration, late in the Evening, when the Gates were shut; and all the following Day they were not to be opened, by ancient Custom: But his Imperial Majesty gave express Command that they should be opened for the Turks. They had a Place assigned them, from whence they might behold Cæsar Elect pass by with great Pomp and Splendor; it appear’d to them a glorious and magnificent Sight to see, amongst others of Cæsar’s honourable Train, three Princes, who could raise great Armies in their own Territories; to wit, the Dukes of Saxony, Bavaria and Brandenburg: They saw also, many other Monuments of the Dignity and Greatness of the Emperor. A few Days after, Ebrahim was introduced into his Presence, and delivered the noble Presents the Sultan had sent him. The Emperor confirm’d the Peace, rewarded him amply, and sent him back with large Presents to Solyman.
I am very willing to leave the Court, as not being pleased with that kind of Life; but some private Affairs as yet detain me. I know the Tediousness of Court-Attendance; much Mischief lies under an Appearance of Splendor; much Disguise, but little of Sincerity is there; all Courts are subject to Envy; faithful Friendship is hard to be found, and a change of Mind may occasion a Man’s sudden Ruin: For Princes themselves are but Men. I have seen a Man come to Court with a thousand Attendants, whom his Prince’s Displeasure has sent away with scarce one in his Company. A Court does not know what is truly good, till too late; it is altogether led by Shews, Shadows, Fallacies, and popular Mistakes. Those are fortunate Men who can lead such a Life in safety; but oh! may I live to the Muses and to my self, and grow old in a Country-Cottage, with a few trusty Friends! If any Life be desirable in this earthly Pilgrimage, ’tis this. Look upon the Court, and you will find there a Noble Buffoon preferred before a good Man: So that if you would represent a good Man amongst Courtiers, you may paint an Ass amongst Apes. I speak of common Courts in general; for I know that our Court, as well as some others, are adorn’d with many excellent and noble Personages: However, Solitude and Quiet affording Vacation to Study, is preferr’d by me before the Crowd and Noise of Courts. But, I am afraid, my best of Princes will not vouchsafe me the Retreat I beg for. ’Tis true, he gave me leave to depart, but upon this Condition, that I should return when call’d upon. If he commands me to Court again (for who can withstand the Desire of so gracious a Prince?) this only Comfort will be left me, that I shall every Day behold the Face of the most sacred of all Emperors; or (to phrase it otherwise) shall contemplate the living Image of true Vertue: For assure yourself, that the Sun never shone upon a better Prince than this, nor one who governs more justly. Though his true, that the Majesty of Empire is a glorious Thing, yet to desire Empire, and to carry ones self worthy of it, is more Glorious. I speak not of his Birth, nor of the Nobleness of his Ancestors, he needs not such far-fetch’d Helps; his own Vertue is sufficient. Many Emperors have been (though unworthy) raised to the Throne; but his own Vertue exalted him.
Again, some have managed the Beginning of their Reign innocently and justly, but soon after they have degenerated into Licentiousness and Corruption, Forgetting they are Men, they would be esteem’d as Gods, and ador’d as such, endeavouring to be placed among the Gods; whereas they were unworthy to be reckon’d among Men. All men’s Necks cannot bear the Burthen of a high Estate, to which if they are advanced, they forget themselves: ’Tis a hard Thing to be able to compass all that a Man desires; and yet ’tis as hard to desire nothing but that which is good.
As for our Prince, his Eyes are not dazzled by Greatness; no Man retains Vertue more steadily he, nor takes greater heed that his pure Mind be not defiled by the Taint of his Fortune. He was always of this Opinion, That, as Majestic Robes attract the Eyes of Spectators, the Sanctity of Manners should much more incline their Minds. Therefore, he chiefly studies Piety, worships and adores his God, and lives always as in his Sight and Presence; he squares all his Actions throughout the whole Course of his Life by a Divine Rule and Prescript: Whatever happens either Prosperous or Adverse, he looks upon God as the Author, and receives it gratefully, as proceeding from his Hand. Thus he lives an Heavenly Life even upon Earth; he is not ignorant whole image he bears; and therefore, all his Words and Deeds are directed for the Public Good, for which he thinks he was born, and therefore prefers it before Advantages; He is so intent herein, that some blame him for being overmuch addicted to the Common-wealth, and neglecting his own Children and Family. He is extremely Courteous to all his Subjects, as if they were under his particular Care, and Himself were the Father of so vast a Family. What poor Man hath ever desired his help in vain? Who is there that hath not experienced his Liberality? He thinks that Day lost wherein he hath not done Good to somebody. He is beneficient to all, and in a singular Manner kind to his Domesticks; not a Man of them can say, that ever he was neglected by them. He knows their way of Life, the Deserts, yea, and the very Names even of the meanest of them. Tho’ he is so great a Prince, yet he thinks it not below himself, at convenient Opportunities to warn the negligent, and put them in mind of their Duty; and, if they mend their Manners, to reward them accordingly: So that they depart from him, rather as from a Father than a Master. He administers Justice with great Equity; for he thinks it unreasonable to prescribe Law’s to others, and break them himself; or to punish them in others, which he allows in himself. He never speaks rudely of any Man, and always honourably of the Absent. Probity is safe under his Guardianship; but Malice, Force, Fraud, evil and corrupt Ministers are exterminated, Offences and Wickednesses duly punish’d. The old Romans had Censors of Manners imposed upon them, to keep the People to their Duty; but here there is no need of any Censor, the Life of the Prince is a sufficient Censor, he is a shining Example to all, in what they should avoid, and what they should pursue. Good and learned Men which may profit the Commonwealth, he highly esteems; with these he is conversant, and, laying aside his Majesty, treats them as Friends and Equals; yea, he emulates their Virtues without Respect, whether they are Paternal and Hereditary, or acquired by their own Industry. With these, he spends the little Time he can spare from public Business: These are the Persons highly esteem’d by him, as judging it a public Benefit to restore due Honour to Vertue. He himself being curious by Nature, and desirous to know something worthy of a Man, has always some Questions to propose to the Learned; and sometimes he brings in some smart and genteel Repartees of his own, to the Admiration of his Hearers. Thus he hath laid in so considerable a Stock of Learning, that you cannot question him in any Thing, but he can give you some Account of it. He understands many Languages; first, the Spanish, which is his Mother-Tongue; next the French, German, Latin, and Italian: He can express his Meaning pretty well in the Latin, yet not so exactly, but that sometimes he breaks Priscian’s Head; a Fault blameworthy in a Gramarian, but excusable in an Emperor.
What I have said of him, all Men living know to be true; but, perhaps, some may think it a Defect, that he is not enough given to Arms, and Atchievements worthy of the Laurel: For, say they, the Turks carry all in Hungary, and we do not help nor relieve them, as we ought; we should have join’d Armies in the Field, that it might be known whom Providence would have to bear Rule. I confess this Objection savours of Bravery, more than of Prudence, and therefore, let me trace the Matter a little higher. I am of his Opinion, That the Genius of Emperors are to be judged of rather by their Councils, than by their Fortunes or Events; and that, by those Councils, the Times, our own Strength, the Nature and Power of our Enemies are to be regulated. If a common Enemy, well known to us, and famous for no Victory, should invade our Borders, ’twere Cowardice not to oppose him, if we have Forces enough. But if the Enemy be such as seem to be sent as a Scourge from God (such was Atila of old, Tamerlane in the Days of our Forefathers, and the Ottoman Princes in our Age) whom nothing can withstand, who lays all waste before him; to oppose such an Enemy with small and new-levied Forces, would not only be rash, but even Madness itself. Solyman comes terrible, by his own and his Ancestor’s Successes: He invades Hungary with 200,000 Horse, he draws near to Austria, and threatens the rest of Germany; his Troops are fetched from the very Confines of Persia; his Army is furnished from many Nations; each of the Three known Parts of the World conspire therein for our Destruction: He, like Lightning, strikes down all before him with his battering Army, and fills all Places with the Terror of his Name; he roars and Hovers round our Borders, striving to break in sometimes here, sometimes there. Many Nations of old, when they have been threatned with such Potent Enemies, have left their Native Country, and sought out other Habitations. To be unmoved in small Dangers, is but a mean kind of Praise; but not to be terrify’d by the coming of so great an Enemy, who has laid waste so many bordering Kingdoms, seems to me an Herculean kind of Constancy. Amidst these Dangers, Ferdinand heroically keeps his Station, and being of an unconquered Spirit, will not quit that, or his State. He could wish his Forces were sufficient to put all to the Hazard of a Battel, and that nothing of Madness were imputable to him upon that Account; but Prudence restrains his generous Efforts: He sees with what great Hazard his faithful Subjects, and the Ruin of all Christendom, an unsuccessful Battel would prove, and is very unwilling that the Public should pay for his Rashness. He considers how great the Odds would be, between 25 or 30,000 Foot, with a small Number of Horse, and 200,000 Horse, supported by a Veteran Body of Foot. What Hopes there may be of Success in that Case, the Example of former Times, and the Blood-shed at Nicopolis, and at Varna, and the Fields of Mohac, as yet white with the Bones of Christians slain there, sufficiently inform us. ’Tis the Part of a foolish Commander, without duly weighing his own and the Enemy’s Strength, to rush into Battel, where his Loss can find no wiser an Excuse than, I had not thought. ’Tis all in all, what the Enemy is with whom we are to cope; this is an infallible Rule, laid down by all the gravest Authors that ever wrote of Military Affairs: such was Cæsar; he counted it a Happiness to Lucullus and to Pompey, that they had to do with a slothful Enemy, over whom they got Victories without Dust or Sweat; and when he had obtained such an easy Victory over Pharnaces, he jestingly said, I came, I saw, I overcame: But were to make War with the People of those Countries (then effeminated by Luxury, but now harden’d by Want, Frugality, Hunger, Cold, Heat, continual Fatigue, and Severity of Discipline, to do and suffer any thing) he would tell us another Story. Hence it is, that Livy reasons upon good Grounds, that Alexander the Macedonian would not have had the same Success against the Roman Enemy, as against the Persian, or the Womanish Indian: There is a good deal of Difference between a Warlike, and a Luxurious People, unaccustomed to Arms. ’Tis true, the Multitude of Persians made it an Admiration, That there was more Toil in Killing, than in Overcoming them. In my Judgment, Hannibal’s three Victories at Trebia, at Thrasymene, and at Cannæ, did far exceed all the Exploits of Alexander: For why? the one overcame valiant Warriors, the other had to do with the slothful People of Asia.
Fabius Maximus had as much Courage, as Titus Sempronius, Caius Flaminius, or Varro; and more Judgment: That great Commander knew that he had to do with an Enemy educated in the Camp, well vers’d in Arms, skilful in Military Discipline, who by a singular Fate, or Felicity, had obtained many Victories; therefore he was not rashly to venture all, but to use Delay to weary him out; that was the only Hope left against so great an Enemy, to evade his Assaults, and to drill on the Combat till an Opportunity was afforded for a Remedy. In the mean time, he was to be watch’d, restrain’d, and, as it were, nibbled at; wherein he was so happy, that Fabius was as much Renown’d as Scipio himself, who ended the War against Hannibal; for who knows whether Scipio would have ever overcome him, if Fabius had not first stopped the Course of his Victories? To overcome by Prudence is as highly to be priz’d, as to overcome by Force. The former has nothing common with Beasts, but Force has.
The Emperor Ferdinand had the same Design with Fabius Maximus, if his and Solyman’s Forces had been equal. His first Work would have been, to put all to the hazard of a Battel; but the Inequality considered, his next Design was, to stop an over-flowing Flood in Walls and Banks; and herein he employ’d his utmost Endeavours. ’Tis about Forty Years since Solyman, in the Beginning of his Reign, took Belgrade, slew Lewis King of Hungary, and thereby promised himself the Possession of that and other Countries; in hopes whereof he besieged Vienna, and, renewing the War, he reduced Gonitzium again, threaten’d Vienna at a Distance. But what did he get by this great Armament: He was forced to stick in that Part of Hungary which he had already taken. He that was wont to conquer great Kingdoms by one Expedition, now subdued only some weak Castles and small Towns, which cost him dear: ’Tis true, he saw Vienna once, but never after. ’Tis said, that Solyman wished his Life to be prolonged, to see three Things finished, viz. The Structure of his Temple, a sumptuous and magnificent Work! the repairing of the old Aquæducts to bring Water enough into Constantinople, and the Conquest of Vienna. The two first he hath accomplished; but at the third he sticks, and I hope ever will; so that he always calls Vienna his Ignominy and Disgrace. But to return.
The Emperor Ferdinand may, doubtless, be register’d among the most famous Generals; for, though he had far less Aid than the Danger required, he yet was Master of himself, and principally by his Courage, he hath endured the Efforts of a powerful Enemy, for so many Years together: So that a greater Praise is due to him for preserving a great Part of Hungary for better Times, than to many Warriors, who with multitude of Military Preparations, and favourable Opportunities, have got many Victories over Kings and their Armies. The less Assistance he has had in a necessary Time, by so much the more the Valour of his Mind hath eminently appeared. Whosoever doth not put all upon one Event in the height of Success, not considering the Power of the Enemy, and the Seasonableness of assaulting him, must needs conclude, That ’tis next to a PRODIGY, that the open and extensive Kingdom of Hungary, distracted with long Discords, could be defended so long, and that all of it is not already brought under the Yoke of so powerful an Enemy. ’Tis God’s great Mercy, and our Prince’s infinite Care that hath prevented it; whilst he is combating with one Difficulty, another arises in view greater than the former. The Enemy is in sight, Friends afar off, the Auxiliary Forces of his Brother Charles too at a great Distance; Germany, though next to the Fire, yet weary in sending Aid; the Hereditary Countries exhausted by Contribution, and the Ears of many Christian Princes deaf when Assistance is desired of them, rather doing any thing, than that which is incumbent upon them; so that he is forced to withstand the Enemy only by his own Arms, with the Assistance of some Hungarians, Austrians, and Bohemians, and sometimes by hiring some Italian or Spanish Soldiers at a vast Expence. He defends the Confines of Hungary, with Garrisons fifteen Days Journey long; and has always Soldiers in Pay, even in Time of Truce. A Truce is sometimes necessary, and when the coming of a Tyrant is fear’d, and the Time affords no Opportunity of Resistance, ’tis seasonable to send Embassies to pacify him, that so great a Calamity may be averted from miserable Hungary.