Don _Alphonso_ was immediately shewn to the People, and proclaim'd King, and the Queen took the Regency upon her. This Princess would willingly have signaliz'd herself by some glorious Action, but the Commanders of the _Portuguese_ Army were fitter for Soldiers than Generals, and there was not an Officer amongst them, who was Engineer enough to know how to fortify a Place, or besiege a Town. Nor was there a Man in the Privy-Council, who could be look'd upon as a Statesman; most of them could indeed make fine Speeches and elaborate Discourses upon the Necessities of the State, and the Misfortunes in which it would probably fall, but never a one of them knew how to prevent or remedy them. * * * * * [Sidenote: 1657.] To these Evils we must attribute the ill Success of her Arms before _Olivenza_ and _Badajos_, where the _Spaniards_ obliged them to raise the Siege. Besides this, they had fallen out with the _Dutch_ about the Trade to the _Indies_; and the _French_, after the _Pyrenean_ Treaty, seem'd to have forgotten them. The Queen finding herself without any regular Troops, without able Officers or good Counsellors, and without foreign Alliances, was obliged by her Courage, Capacity, and Application, to supply the want of all these; she herself discharg'd the Duty of a Secretary of State, and took care to keep a good Correspondence with all the Courts of _Europe_, which might be serviceable to her: In short, had she never encounter'd all these Difficulties, she could not have reveal'd all those _hidden Vertues, which shun the Day, and lie conceal'd in the smooth Seasons, and the Calms of Life_. By such Care and Diligence for a long time she sav'd _Portugal_ from that Ruin which threaten'd it; but _Spain_ now pouring all its Forces in upon her, she found herself unable to resist them, unless she could procure better Officers. To this end she cast her Eyes upon _Frederick_ Count of _Schomberg_, whose Name and Valour were already sufficiently known. She would willingly have given him the chief Command of the Army, but was afraid at this juncture of disobliging her Generalissimo; wherefore she order'd the Count _de Soure_, her Ambassador in _France_, to treat with the Count _de Schomberg_ about his coming into _Portugal_, where he should have only the Title of Lieutenant-General; but in case of the Death or Resignation of the present Commander, he should be made Generalissimo of all her Forces. The Count set out for _Lisbon_ with four-score Officers, and above four hundred Horsemen, all Veterans, who perfectly understood the Discipline of an Army, and would upon occasion make good Leaders.