COUNT DE, by name Don Gaspar de Guzman, favourite and minister to Don Philip IV. of Spain, about 1620 ; a man of great parts and boundless ambition. Philip no sooner became king, than he became the subject of this his favourite. The king had abilities, it is true, but they lay dormant ; and whilst he spent his time in lifeless inactivity, the whole government was under the direction of Olivarez. The count's management, indeed, was sufficiently dexterous in accomplishing his own designs; for by the best framed excuses, and on the most plausible pretenses, he removed all such as he thought stood in his way ; nor did he stop there, but sometimes persecuted his rivals even to death, of which Don Rodrigo Calderona was a melancholy instance, an instance which at that time excited universal compassion. This minister, in short, had a genius of no common kind ; added to which, he had a disposition which spurred all controul.

He had persecuted the late ministry for their pusillanimity in the management of affairs ; he therefore thought it necessary, and it was certainly prudent, to pursue new measures. His self-sufficiency, though unbounded, was concealed under the veil of assumed modesty, and he was careful to make it appear that he was wholly taken up with the things of his own province. His politics were of a refined perhaps, but not of a very useful tendency ; for his imprudence, or his wrong notions on the subject, made him renew a war with Holland, contrary to the universal opinion of the council and the people. By the same imprudence, or by something worse, he provoked England, and obliged her to endeavour to humble the pride and lessen the authority of the house of Austria. Thus far he had been of little service Olivarez service to his country, having only provoked the resentment of the most powerful states, particularly England, France, Holland, &c. to conspire for its ruin. It is remarkable that Olivarez, notwithstanding this, never lost his credit; and indeed things so turned about in the end, that though Spain for a whole year was put to the severest trials, it acquired a degree of fame which sufficiently, in the general opinion, overbalanced some little los. Olivarez too was particularly fortunate in making the peace; in which transaction he gained a very considerable advantage over Richelieu, fo that things appeared to be still in a very favourable train. Fortune, however, was not always quite fo indulgent to the schemes of this minister : he again drew Spain into a war with Mantua, contrary to the sentiments of the wise men; from which is jutly dated its declension, if not its ruin.

On the whole, Olivarez seems to have been always averse to peace; and with such a restless disposition, it is undoubtedly wonderful that he held his place fo long and with fo few complaints as he did.

It was certainly owing to his ambition and obstinacy, that an almost general war was excited about the year 1627, and which, as we have said, proved fo fatal to Spain. So averse, indeed, does he appear to have been to peace, that he used every means in his power to prevent the restoration of it in Italy; and for this very purpose he sent Feria into Milan, whom he knew to be a man of such a temper and abilities as suited his purposes; for he was naturally averse to quiet. He endeavoured to break the alliances of the duke of Mantua by various stratagems; but they did not succeed: the schemes of Olivarez and the intrigues of Feria being totally defeated. Our minister had soon after this another cause of mortification, on Richelieu's being created a duke and peer of France, and unanimously admitted among the Venetian nobility; which could not fail to be a severe stroke on Olivarez, who considered him as his implacable enemy.

The people at length began to see and be displeased with his conduct; and with reason, had they known it all, for it was in many instances cruel and detestable. Indeed the differences which at that time had so long subsisted between France and Spain were the effect of the private animosity between him and Richelieu. Things, however, fo turned about, and Spain was fo unusually successful, that the faults of the minister were overlooked for the time; but this unexpected good fortune had no other effect than that of making, him far more insolent than ever. He was, in every instance, one of the most headstrong and obdurate men in the world: he had set his heart on the reduction of Cafal in Italy, and he was determined on it at whatever hazard; this foolish enterprise was, however, unaccountably defeated, and the Spanish army experienced a total defeat.

The revolt of the Catalans, whom he wished to deprive of their privileges, was the next consequence of his folly: he had privately employed the marquis de los Velez to extinguish this rebellion; but the cruelty of the measures used for this purpose only inflamed it the more. The revolution of Portugal, another disastrous event, was also the result of his obstinacy and rigour.

This series of ill fortune, which ought to have opened the eyes of the Catholic king and his ministers, seemed to infatuate both. The great secret by which Olivarez had governed his master was being the companion, or at least the confidant, of his pleasures. While he affected to deceive the world with a specious appearance of religion and piety, he was not only immersed in vice himself, but encouraged and promoted it in his prince, to the scandal of his subjects, and the prejudice of his affairs. At this time, of all others the most improper, Olivarez produced a bastard of his, hitherto called Julian; he had taken so little care of this son, that, not able to subsist in Spain, he had passed over to the Indies, where, in very mean stations, he had scarcely got bread. On him he now bestowed the name of Don Henrico de Guzman; and bringing him with great pomp and splendour to court, either flattered or forced the constable of Castile to give him his daughter; in consideration of which alliance he was to devolve upon him his duchy of St Lucar. In the beginning of his administration, by some accident or other, he presented to the king a memorial, in relation to an affair upon which his majesty had already received one from Don Baltasar de Zuniga: upon comparing them, they contradicted each other flatly. The king ordered a person of great quality to inquire thoroughly into this business; in consequence of which Don Baltasar's memorial appeared to be the truth, and that of Olivarez the reverse of it. The king was very angry; but the count regained his favour, by procuring for him the fair actress Calderona. By this woman he had a son, of whom no great notice was taken; but now, to obscure the folly of the count duke, this youth, scarce in the 14th year of his age, was produced, with the title of Don Juan of Austria, and declared generalissimo of the army against Portugal; while the heir apparent to the crown, Don Baltasar, was left under the tuition, or rather in the custody of the countess of Olivarez; at which conduct the queen was chagrined, the people enraged, and the world in general affronted.

His schemes now began to be entirely broken and defeated everywhere and in every kind; he fell under the displeasure of the queen, the emperor, the grandees, and the people all at once, and experienced the disgrace he had long merited. His ill fortune, which came upon him with the force of a torrent, did not, however, wholly overpower him; he was indeed obliged to conceal himself, in order to avoid the rage of the populace: but he had still confidence enough to offer an apology for his conduct, which possessed no inconsiderable share of wit and humour, well tempered with spirit and masterly reasoning. It was not, however, of any consequence to him; for he was banished to Toro, where, worn out by infirmities, or overcome by despair, he ended his days about the year 1645.