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Published by G.F. Hopkins, New-York, 1804.

A. Ander

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TO HIS MAJESTY FOR SCOTLAND, AND MEMBER OF THE

ROYAL ACADEMY OF HISTORY AT MADRID.

VOL. III.

THE FIRST AMERICAN, FROM THE TENTH LONDON EDITION.

New-York:

Printed by Hopkins & Seymour,

AND SOLD BY G. F. HOPKINS, AT WASHINGTON'S HEAD,
NO. 118, PEARL-STREET.

..............

1804.

1580 ·151 .77

V.3

THE

HISTORY.

OF THE

REIGN

OF

THE EMPEROR CHARLES V.

BOOK VII.

THE

VII.

1541.

HE calamities which the Emperor suffered in his unfor- B O O K tunate enterprise against Algiers were great; and the account of these, which augmented in proportion as it spread at a greater distance from the scene of his disasters, encou- Renewal raged Francis to begin hostilities, on which he had been for of hostilities by some time resolved. But he did not think it prudent to Francis, produce, as the motives of this resolution, either his ancient motives pretensions to the dutchy of Milan, or the Emperor's disin- for it. genuity in violating his repeated promises with regard to the restitution of that country. The former might have been a good reason against concluding the truce of Nice, but was none for breaking it; the latter could not be urged without exposing his own credulity as much as the Emperor's want of integrity. A violent and unwarrantable action of one of the Imperial generals furnished him with a reason to justify his taking arms, which was of greater weight than either of these, and such as would have roused him, if he had been as desirous of peace as he was eager for war. Francis, by signing the treaty of truce at Nice, without consulting Solyman, gave (as he foresaw) great offence to that haughty Monarch, who considered an alliance with him as an honour of which a Christian prince had cause to be proud. The friendly interview of the French King with the Emperor in Provence, followed by such extraordinary appearances

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VII.

1541.

BOOK of union and confidence which distinguished the reception of Charles when he passed through the dominions of Francis to the Low-Countries, induced the Sultan to suspect that the two rivals had at last forgotten their ancient enmity, in order that they might form such a general confederacy against the Ottoman power, as had been long wished for in Christendom, and often attempted in vain. Charles, with his usual art, endeavoured to confirm and strengthen these suspicions, by instructing his emissaries at Constantinople, as well as in those courts with which Solyman held any intelligence, to represent the concord between him and Francis to be so entire, that their sentiments, views, and pursuits, would be the same for the future. It was not without difficulty that Francis effaced these impressions; but the address of Rincon, the French ambassador at the Porte, together with the manifest advantage of carrying on hostilities against the house of Austria in concert with France, prevailed at length on the Sultan not only to banish his suspicions, but to enter into a closer conjunction with Francis than ever. Rincon returned into France, in order to communicate to his master a scheme of the Sultan's, for gaining the concurrence of the Venetians in their operations against the common enemy. Solyman having lately concluded a peace with that republic, to which the mediation of Francis and the good offices of Rincon had greatly contributed, thought it not impossible to allure the senate by such advantages, as, together with the example of the French Monarch, might overbalance any scruples arising either from decency or caution, that could operate on the other side. Francis, warmly approving of this measure, dispatched Rincon back to Constantinople, and, directing him to go by. Venice along with Fregoso, a Genoese exile, whom he appointed his ambassador to that republic, empowered them to negociate the matter with the senate, to whom Solyman had sent an envoy for the same purpose. The marquis del Guasto, governor of the Milanese, an officer of great abilities, but capable of attempting and executing the most atrocious actions, got

a Mem. de Ribier, tom. i. p. 502.
b Hist. de Venet. de Paruta, iv. 125.

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