The Deſign of the Funeral Repreſentation.
AS Marſhal Turenne was no leſs Pious than Valiant, ſo it ſeems not unreaſonable to bring in the Chriſtian and Military Vertues, as Mourners to aſſiſt at his Funeral, thoſe kind of decorations being both Chriſtian and Military; they are Chriſtian ſince they are practiceable in the moſt Sacred places, and in our moſt Holy myſteries, whither the faithful are invited to Celebrate the Memories of great Souls; and they are Military, becauſe they are repreſentatives of their moſt Heroick Actions, wherein their Valour and Piety are equally praiſed.
The firſt Object that offers it ſelf to the ſpectators eye, is a Trophie of Arms, Colours, Drums, Trumpets, &c. over the Portal of the2 Quire of our Ladies Church, under which ſtands Vertue arm'd, holding in her hand a Church Banner, which is the Arms of the Houſe of Avergne, whereon are written theſe Verſes of the Tenth Book of Virgils Aeneids.
Which is, That there is a peremptory day ſet to every mortal by the Eternal Wiſdom, beyond which none ſhall paſs, that the time of Mans life is ſhort, and once over, never to be retrieved, and that it is Vertue alone that can make us ſurvive Death, by the memory of our good deeds,
On both ſides of her, ſtand two great Skelletons, holding with one hand the Crown of a Prince, and a Leading-ſtaff; with the other a marble Table, in which is Graven this Inſcription.
3In Engliſh, Mourning France pays her laſt Devoir, in theſe Funeral Rites, to the memory of Henry de la Tour Viſcount Turenne, Colonel General of all the Light horſe, and Martial General of the Field and Armies of his Majeſty.
You Citizens, Souldiers, and all good men that honour his memory, aſſiſt at his Funeral and weep over his Aſhes.
France loſt in him the terror of her Enemies, Mars has loſt a Hero, and all the Orders of the Kingdom, the aſſertor of their Peace.
This Funeral was ordered by his Majeſty to be publickly performed,Nullum funus publicum fuit niſi à Senatu decerneretur. Jac. Guth. de Jure manium•. 2. c. 1. Addit equos & tela, quibus ſpoliaverat hoſtem; Indutoſquejubet truncos hoſtilibus Armis, ipſos ferre duces, inimicaquenomina figi. Æn. 〈◊〉. and all the Orders of the Kingdom to be there aſſiſtant.
It was uſual among the Antients, when a Prince or General of an Army, did not ſurvive his Victories, that he might receive the Honour of a Triumph, to dreſs Trophies about his Tomb, and make them be carried by Officers and Souldiers in the proceſſion of his Funeral; it was ſo practiced in the Funeral of Pallas.
5The ſame thing was done for Marſhal Turenne, who fell in Battel. For beſides the Eſcotcheons of his Arms, which were hung upon all the Pillars and Columns of the Church, there were eighteen Trophies conſecrated to his Heroick Atchievements in theſe laſt Wars.
They might have repreſented all the Fights and Battails wherein he has been perſonally ingaged, ſince he was but thirteen years of Age, when firſt he bore Arms under his Uncle the Prince of Orange, at the ſiege of Boiſleduc, all the occaſions in which he Commanded, all the Cities and Fortified places which he took: But as his laſt Actions were as glorious as any others of his Life, and that many of the Spectators of this Funeral pomp, might have been eye-witneſſes of them, it was thought fit to illuſtrate theſe, concluding, that if eighteen Trophies were but the Atchievements of three or four years, it might eaſily be judged what were the wonders of a Life ſo illuſtrious as his for the ſpace of threeſcore and four years.
6The Inſcriptions of theſe Trophies were,
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
All theſe Trophies were counterfeited in Braſs, and placed betwixt great Eſcotcheons, ſurmounted with Cornets or Horſe Banners, to ſhew that he was Colonel General of the Light Horſe; and ſurrounded with a great Mantle of Ermins, ſuch as the Princes, Dukes, and Peers of France give in their Arms.
The Mauſoleum or Funeral pile,The Italians call theſe Mauſoles, Catafalque, but this word not being uſed but by Painters and Sculptors, was not made uſe of in this deſcription; the Greeks & Latins uſing only the word Mauſoleum. Joſeph. hiſt. Jews. placed in the middle of the Quire, was a round Tower upon a Mount, betwixt four great Palm-trees, charged with Arms and Trophies, and Crowned with three Crowns, a Princes Crown, a Crown of Lawrel, and a Crown of Stars, between every tree were Flower de Luces. Over the Tower the four Vertues upheld an Ʋrn, after the manner of the Antients, ſhaped like a Tomb, upon which Immortality trampling upon Death carries the Image or Picture of Marſhal Turenne towards Heaven.
By this is meant the Tower of David,Adricomius interpreter of the Canticles upon theſe words. ſo famous in Holy Writ, built upon Mount Sion, fronting four ways, the Temple, the10 Kings Palace,Sicut Turris David vidi. Collum tuum. Cant. 4 the Arſenal, or Armoric, and the publick Schools, and had as many Gates towards theſe ſeveral Buildings; a thouſand Shields hung at the Arches or Niches, and Windows thereof; this Tower was equally an ornament and ſafeguard to the City of Hieruſalem.
The Mauſolea of Princes have frequently been erected in form of a Tower. The Tomb of Augustus, and that of Adrian, were made in this ſhape, the Books of the Eccleſiaſtical Ceremonies, call the Cœnotaphe, or place of Repreſentations, Caſtrum Doloris, becauſe they antiently were built like Towers, haply becauſe Towers are the Emblems of Princes,Cum ceciderint Tueres. Iſa. 30. and Great men in ſacred Oracles.
The Name of Turenne, and the Atchievement of his Houſe, which are a Field Azure parſemè of Fleurs de Lys Or, a Tower Argent; ſeem to make this Application of the Tower of David more happy, and particular to this Subject.
Which likewiſe makes the four Gates of11 this Tower, applicable to the four peculiar Vertues of Marſhal Turenne, to his Piety, to his Stedfastneſs in the Kings Service, to his Valour, and to his Wiſdom, and therefore was written upon the four frontiſpieces or faces of the Urn, theſe four words.
- Religioni.
- Fidei.
- Fortitudini.
- Sapientiæ.
They thought fit likewiſe to place theſe Inſcriptions,Adricomius in Theatro terræ ſ•nctæ. Domus Fortium. Turris Fortitudinis. Sapienta ædi•cavit. Prov. 9. after the Antient model of the Tower of David, which to the East faced the Temple, to the South the Houſe of the Mighty, from whence perhaps it was called the Tower of Valour, to the North the Kings Palace, and to the Weſt the Houſe of Wiſdom.
The four Vertues that create a Hero are theſe, Religion makes him an honeſt man, Fidelity a man of Honour,The Author happily meant the 4 Cardinal Vertues, prudence, fortitude, patience, temperance. Prudence a man of underſtanding, and Fortitude a man of courage; He that was maſter of theſe four Vertues, was the vir quadratus of the Antients.
12The four Vertues that bear up the Ʋrn, are Religion,Ex quatuor literis hujus nominis. Neſcio qua ratione Turrim quadratam conficiunt. Joad. Quir. d'Sallazar in c. 18. Prov. Turris fortiſſima nomen domini, ad ipſam currit juſtus & exaltabitur. Fidelity, Valour, and Wiſdom. Religion hath written upon her Breaſt the ineffable Name of God, compoſed of four Hebrew letters, which the Rabbins diſpoſed into the form of a Tower, which made the Wiſe man ſay, that the Name of the Lord was a very ſtrong Tower, where a good man ſhould find his refuge, and whence he ought to take his riſe and glory.
This Vertue with one hand bears up the Urn, and in the other carries one of thoſe kind of filver Towers, which the Primitive Church uſed for Lamps, of which for the moſt part the Sockets in which the Light was ſet, were made like Dolphins.
This Tower and theſe Dolphins, ſhew no leſs the Character of Marſhal Turenne's Family, than his own ſingular Piety, ſince that of the Tower of Avergne, is the ſame with that of the Tower of Pin, branches of the third Race of the Antient Dolphins.
The Emblem of Fidelity, is a Tower with13 Keys, there is nothing ſhows more the fidelity of Governors, then their care in defending the places committed to their truſt.
The Symbole of Fortitude is a Tower furniſhed with all ſorts of Arms, for its defence.
Wiſdom device, is a Watch-Tower to diſcover a great way off, whatever ſails upon the Sea, whoſe uſe is to ſhew Veſſels the Harbour, and how ſafely to get to it, as well as Rocks and Shelves, and how prudently to avoid them.
Upon the Shields that hung upon the Walls were painted the Royal Enſigns Armorial of France, Navarre, Arragon, Castile, England, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Hungary, Sicily, Bohemia, Cyprus and Scotland.
The Imperial Coat Armours of Naſſaw, Bavaria, Saxony and Auſtria.
Alſo the Atchievements of Soveraign Families, as of Savoy, the Antient Dolphins, Mantua, Lorrain and Heſſe, to which the Houſe of Tours of Avergne is Allied, and from which by matches it deſcends.
14The Repreſentations are placed betwixt the four Gates of the Tower,Equeſter ordo ſuſcepit urbique intulit atque in veſtibulo domus collocavit. Suet. in Auguſt. after the manner of former Ages, in which it was uſual to expoſe the Bodies of Princes and Illuſtrious perſons, at the Gates of their Pallaces; Suetonius ſays, that the Roman Knights carried the Body of Augustus, and placed it at the Gate of his Pallace.
There were branches of Lawrel,Extructoſque Thoros obtentu frondis inumbrant. XI Aencid. Palm and Cypreſs, about the Repreſentation; Virgil deſcribing the Funeral of Pallas, puts branches or bows of trees about the Herſe.
The four Trophies that hung upon the four Palm-trees about the Tower, did repreſent Marſhal Turenne's Victories in Germany, Italy, Flanders and Catalonia, which are the four frontiers of France.
The three Crowns that ſeem to grow upon thoſe trees,Dabo tibi Coronam vitæ. Apoc. 2. In reliquo repoſita eſt mihi corona juſtitiæ. 2 Tim. 4. and to Crown the Trophies, are the Crowns of our Birth, Life and Death, of which mention is ſo often made in the ſacred Hiſtory, and they are applicable to Marſhal Turenne, more properly than to many others,15 ſince he was born in greatneſs, which is repreſented by the Crown of a Prince, he lived in the midſt of Combats and Victories, which is ſhewn by the Crown of Lawrel, and died in the bed of Honour, which is ſignified by the Crown of Stars; giving to underſtand that to be a true Hero, it is requiſite to be high born, to perform great and glorious Actions, and to dye with Honour, as Marſhal Turenne did.
The Palms were intermixt with Flower de Luces, environed with rays, to ſhew that Marſhal Turenne made the ſplendor of his Birth, Life and Death, ſerve to augment the Glory of France.
Under theſe Trees ſtood Honour, Reputation, and Glory, bewailing the fall of this great Man, but Reputation and Glory were writing his Name and Character upon great ſhields or bucklers, to render his Memory eternal; under their feet theſe Monſters lay in Chains, viz. Envy, Raſhneſs, Precipitation, Cowardice, Self-Interest, Impiety, &c.
16The Antients reckoned their years by branches of Palm, becauſe that Tree puts forth every month a new branch, ſo that twelve branches of Palm ſignified a Year amongſt the Egyptians and Jews, it was enough to repreſent here, the four ages of Marſhal Turenne, by theſe four Palms; his Infancy, his Youth, his Manhood, and his Old-age, all which he ſpent in exerciſe of Arms, which he began to wear at the age of thirteen, under the Prince of Orange his Uncle by the Mother, at the ſiege of Boiſleduc, where he was made Captain of Foot, and ſince advanced through all the Military degrees,Tu largus Eoa germina, tu meſſes Cilicumque Arabumque ſuperbis merge rogis; ferat ignis opus hæredis, & alto aggere miſſuri nitido pia Nubila Cælo, ſtipentur Cineres. Stat. l. 3 Sylv. in lacrim. Hetruſci. to the ſupream dignity of Marſhal General of the Field and Armies of the King, in which he ended his days.
The Antients did not only Embalm the Bodies of Great men, to preſerve them from corruption, but alſo burnt perfumes over their Tombs, which in proceſs of time became a kind of Sacrifice, the ſmoak of theſe perfumes naturally ſoaring upwards, made them believe their ſmell aſcended up to Heaven, with which17 they fancied their Gods were much pleaſed. Orpheus a famous antient Poet, did not only offer Incenſe to his fictitious Gods, but likewiſe to the Memory, the Judgment, Justice, Death, Victory, and to all the Vertues.
It was believed that the Vertues and great Actions of Marſhal Turenne, did merit perfumes of this nature; and even his Death, which happen'd as fatal to France, as it was glorious to himſelf.
For this very reaſon upon the Prebends Seats all round the Quire, were placed ſeveral antique faces, born up with braſs baſes or brackets, couched upon back marble, out of which did iſſue Deaths heads of ſilver, crown'd with Lawrel, with bats ears of ſilver, being the Emblems of Night and Death, upon each of theſe antiques ſtood a veſſel of Porphiry fuming; betwixt theſe antique faces or fronts were placed Towers of ſilver, whence flamed ſweet odours and perfumes, becauſe the Antients uſed to ſet little Boxes like Towers upon the Tombs of their Hero's, every Tower was18 environed with four Flower des Lys of Gold, in which, as well as on the antiques, were placed flambois and great wax lights.
Under theſe faces were ſet two and thirty Hieroglyphicks upon the Birth, Life, Glorious Atchievements, Vertues, and Death of Turenne, as firſt,
To ſhew the greatneſs of his high deſcent, was painted a Spring riſing out of a high Hill, with this Motto,
It is neceſſary your Spring Head be at leaſt as high as the place to which you would make your water riſe. It was one of the advantages Marſhal Turenne had over many others, to be allied to all the Crown'd heads in Europe.
II.
A Heliotropion or Sun-flower, growing upon a very high ſtalk, which it ſhadowed with his leaves like rays.
19Marſhal Turenne was an honor to his Houſe by his glorious Actions.
III.
An Eaglet in an Eirye, clapping his wings, and looking towards a great Eagle that flies in the air, with this of Virgil,
The great actions of Henry de la Toure, Duke of Bovillon, and Prince of Sedan his father, did raiſe his youthful courage to an inclination and propeſinty to warlike exploits, even from his childhood.
IV.
A young Lyon following an old one, with this of Virgil,
He followed his Uncle at 13 years of age, to the ſiege of Boiſleduc. 20
V.
A ſquib afire in the air.
So Turenne as he grew in years, ſo he advanced in Courage, and love to warlike actions, which he made appear at the ſiege of Saverne, where he received a wound with a Musket bullet, being then Colonel of a Regiment of Foot, which to his dying day bore his Name.
VI.
A Ship in a ſtorm, with this of the third Ode of Horace,
VII.
Never did the fatigue of War ſhake his reſolution, in which he rather took delight; which is expreſſed in the ſeventh Emblem, which was an Elephant charged with a wooden Tower full of armed men, with this of Virgil,21
VIII.
A Porcupine.
To ſhew the great inclination he always had for his Majeſties ſervice;
IX.
A young Eagle ſoaring up to the Sun.
To expreſs his exactneſs in obſerving his Majeſties Orders in all his Marches and enterprizes;
X.
A Sun Dial that has no other motion but that of the Sun, which it exactly nicks with his ſhadow.
For his Valour in taking of Dunkirk, Furnes, Bergen, Dixmund, Ipres, Ninove, Oudenard, Comines, and ſo many other Towns;22
XI.
A Granado in the Air.
XII.
A great Eagle followed by many leſſer, with this half Verſe of Lucans ninth Book of Pharſalia,
He trained up to the exerciſe of Wars the Duke of Bovillon, the Count of Avergne, the Marſhal of Duras, and the Count de l'Orge his Nephews.
For his Piety, and duly praying to God morning and evening;
XIII.
A double Sun-flower hanging with his head towards the Sun,
Though he be faſt to the Earth by his roots, yet he ſtill looks towards Heaven, and turns to the Sun. 23
XIV.
Cannons planted upon a Battery palliſadoed,
The King in theſe laſt Wars looked upon him as one of his chief helps in all his Enterpriſes, and intruſted him with the greateſt deſigns of the Campagne.
For his Wiſdom, Conduct and Experience, in Military Affairs, arguing a man of a ſolid judgment;
XV.
A battering Ram.
For his Valour in forcing the Enemies trenches,
XVI.
A flame from a Mine blowing up a Baſtion.
XVII.
A Watch, with a hand winding it up with a Key, with theſe words of Ennius,
To ſhew Marſhal Turenne's Addreſs, when he24 underſtood the Enemy were in Alſatia, with intention to invade Lorraine, he feigned a retreat, and paſſing with his Army by a place called Lapetit Pierre, he coaſted the Mountains of Vauge, and taking his march through ſtreights, he fell into the Enemies quarters when they leaſt expected him, and forced them to repaſs the Rhine at Straſbourg, where of threeſcore thouſand men they had brought into Alſatia, ſcarce twenty thouſand got back. Thus the great Fabius defeated Hannibal, of whom Ennius,Ʋnus homo nobis cunctando restituit rem.
XVIII.
A Lyon walking majeſtically, ſweeping with his ſtern or tail the track of his footſteps, that it might not appear where he paſſed, with this of Horace,
He knew very well how to hide his deſigns from the Enemy, and alwaies appeared to them to the beſt advantage, though he often was weaker than they in number of men.
XIX.
For his vigor in matter of war, even in his old age,
An old ſtreight tree loaden with fruit.
25For the Juſtneſs of his ſoul in his conduct and great actions,
XX.
A Cheſrook upon a Cheſsbord,
For being diſintereſſed, never looking after ſelf ends,
XXI.
A loadſtone drawing Iron to it, without touching upon pieces of Gold that lye about it.
At his Death he had but five hundred Crowns in money, and very few days before, he had borrowed a conſiderable ſum of money to cloath part of the Army, he could never be perſwaded to touch great ſums, which he might have commanded in thoſe Campaignes he paſſed in Germany.
XXII.
For his converſion to the Catholick Religion,
A ſhip toſſed in a ſtorm, a pharus or light houſe upon the Sea coaſt, which at once ſhews him the ſhelves and the haven.
26XXIII.
For the love the Souldiers bore him, being the effect of the great eſteem they had for his merit,
The maſter Bee leading a ſwarm.
The King of Bees has no ſting like the reſt, but enforces obedience by ſtill going before them and keeping in their company every where.
XXIV.
The morning ſtar going before the Sun.
The King did Marſhal Turenne the honor to be his Scholler, and to learn of him the Art and Myſtery of War.
XXV.
A blood hound following a herd of Dear through Woods, over Mountains, and Rivers,
Upon his Death,
27XXVI.
A Palm-tree thunder-ſtruck, whoſe branches are ſhatter'd and broken.
When Marſhal Turenne was kil'd, he was upon the point of performing one of the greateſt Actions of his Life; being ready to involve the Enemies Army in a total ruine.
XXVII.
A Cannon ſhot overthrowing a Tower, which in the fall cruſhes a great number of the Enemy,
The Enemy were defeated a few days after his Death, by the directions he gave before he died.
XXVIII.
A Poppy without leaves, the head or crown only remaining,
Though Marſhal Turenne be dead, the memory of his Herock Actions can never dye, which will crown him after his death.
28XXIX.
A vaſt Colloſſus overthrown, and broken in pieces; with theſe words of the 7th of Pharſalia.
XXX.
We might make uſe of theſe words of Plinius, ſpeaking of the Colloſſus Rhodius when it was thrown down,
The worth of this great Hero never appeared more advantagiouſly than ſince his death.
XXXI.
Eight Stars and the Sun ſet,
The ſetting of this Planet makes many riſe, meaning the eight Marſhals of France, created by the King immediately after Marſhal Turennes death.
XXXII.
An Iris or Rainbow diſſolving in dew and rain,
The ſplendor, the merit, and the vertues of this great man, is the cauſe of our tears.
This great and pompous repreſentation ends in a great Inſcription, which is as it were a diſmiſſing29 of the aſſiſting ſpectators, after the antient cuſtom of the Romans, where a Herald was appointed to diſmiſs the Mourners with theſe words, Illicet or Irelicet, th•t is, you may withdraw
This was a large night piece, wherein was repreſented a Marble Tomb, carried by Griphons, leaning upon Globes, which are the Emblems of Immortality, upon this Tomb Marſhal Turenne was painted, lying in his Armor, and leaning upon his right arm, with a leading ſtaff in his left hand. On both ſides of the Tomb, ſtood Chriſtian Vertue, and Military vertue weeping, the one over his Helmet, the other over a Crown of Lawrel, two great Squeletons draw a curtain, to ſhew behind the Tomb a Pyramid, a l'antique upon the top of which was an Ʋrn, upon the Pyramid was graven this Inſcription:
In Engliſh thus;
Paſſenger depart, and having ſhed ſome tears over Turennes Tomb, admire the magnificence of Lewis the Great, who commands this laſt honour to be paid to the memory of this Great Captain, in the midſt of Trophies and ſpoils taken from the Enemies; where he had been more willing to have erected triumphal Arches for him, than a Funeral pile. You that love honour lay down your lives for ſo great a Prince, who ſo plentifully rewards thoſe that ſerve him, and cauſes ſuch honour to be given to the memory of thoſe that dye for him.