The cavalcade that attended me excited great curiosity as it
passed through the several towns in the course of my journey,
and reflected no small degree of credit on France, as it was
splendidly set out, and made a handsome appearance. I travelled
in a litter raised with pillars. The lining of it was Spanish
velvet, of a crimson colour, embroidered in various devices with
gold and different coloured silk thread. The windows were of
glass, painted in devices. The lining and windows had, in the
whole, forty devices, all different and alluding to the sun and
its effects. Each device had its motto, either in the Spanish
or Italian language. My litter was followed by two others; in
the one was the Princesse de Roche-sur-Yon, and in the other
Madame de Tournon, my lady of the bedchamber. After them followed
ten maids of honour, on horseback, with their governess; and, last
of all, six coaches and chariots, with the rest of the ladies
and all our female attendants.
I took the road of Picardy, the towns in which province had received
the King's orders to pay me all due honours. Being arrived at
Le Catelet, a strong place, about three leagues distant from
the frontier of the Cambrésis, the Bishop of Cambray (an
ecclesiastical State acknowledging the King of Spain only as
a guarantee) sent a gentleman to inquire of me at what hour I
should leave the place, as he intended to meet me on the borders
of his territory.
Accordingly I found him there, attended by a number of his people,
who appeared to be true Flemings, and to have all the rusticity
and unpolished manners of their country. The Bishop was of the
House of Barlemont, one of the principal families in Flanders.
All of this house have shown themselves Spaniards at heart, and
at that time were firmly attached to Don John. The Bishop received
me with great politeness and not a little of the Spanish ceremony.
Although the city of Cambray is not so well built as some of our
towns in France, I thought it, notwithstanding, far more pleasant
than many of these, as the streets and squares are larger and
better disposed. The churches are grand and highly ornamented,
which is, indeed, common to France; but what I admired, above
all, was the citadel, which is the finest and best constructed
in Christendom. The Spaniards experienced it to be strong whilst
my brother had it in his possession. The governor of the citadel
at this time was a worthy gentleman named M. d'Ainsi, who was,
in every respect, a polite and well-accomplished man, having
the carriage and behaviour of one of our most perfect courtiers,
very different from the rude incivility which appears to be the
characteristic of a Fleming.
The Bishop gave us a grand supper, and after supper a ball, to
which he had invited all the ladies of the city. As soon as the ball
was opened he withdrew, in accordance with the Spanish ceremony; but
M. d'Ainsi did the honours for him, and kept me company during the
ball, conducting me afterwards to a collation, which, considering
his command at the citadel, was, I thought, imprudent. _I speak
from experience, having been taught, to my cost, and contrary to
my desire, the caution and vigilance necessary to be observed
in keeping such places._ As my regard for my brother was always
predominant in me, I continually had his instructions in mind,
and now thought I had a fair opportunity to open my commission
and forward his views in Flanders, this town of Cambray, and
especially the citadel, being, as it were, a key to that country.
Accordingly I employed all the talents God had given me to make
M. d'Ainsi a friend to France, and attach him to my brother's
interest. Through God's assistance I succeeded with him, and so
much was M. d'Ainsi pleased with my conversation that he came to
the resolution of soliciting the Bishop, his master, to grant him
leave to accompany me as far as Namur, where Don John of Austria
was in waiting to receive me, observing that he had a great desire
to witness so splendid an interview. This _Spanish_ Fleming,
the Bishop, had the weakness to grant M. d'Ainsi's request, who
continued following in my train for ten or twelve days. During
this time he took every opportunity of discoursing with me, and
showed that, in his heart, he was well disposed to embrace the
service of France, wishing no better master than the Prince my
brother, and declaring that he heartily despised being under the
command of his Bishop, who, though his sovereign, was not his
superior by birth, being born a private gentleman like himself,
and, in every other respect, greatly his inferior.
Leaving Cambray, I set out to sleep at Valenciennes, the chief
city of a part of Flanders called by the same name. Where this
country is divided from Cambrésis (as far as which I was conducted
by the Bishop of Cambray), the Comte de Lalain, M. de Montigny
his brother, and a number of gentlemen, to the amount of two
or three hundred, came to meet me.
Valenciennes is a town inferior to Cambray in point of strength,
but equal to it for the beauty of its squares, and churches,--the
former ornamented with fountains, as the latter are with curious
clocks. The ingenuity of the Germans in the construction of their
clocks was a matter of great surprise to all my attendants, few
amongst whom had ever before seen clocks exhibiting a number
of moving figures, and playing a variety of tunes in the most
agreeable manner.
The Comte de Lalain, the governor of the city, invited the lords
and gentlemen of my train to a banquet, reserving himself to give
an entertainment to the ladies on our arrival at Mons, where
we should find the Countess his wife, his sister-in-law Madame
d'Aurec, and other ladies of distinction. Accordingly the Count,
with his attendants, conducted us thither the next day. He claimed
a relationship with the King my husband, and was, in reality,
a person who carried great weight and authority. He was much
dissatisfied with the Spanish Government, and had conceived a
great dislike for it since the execution of Count Egmont, who
was his near kinsman.
Although he had hitherto abstained from entering into the league
with the Prince of Orange and the Huguenots, being himself a
steady Catholic, yet he had not admitted of an interview with
Don John, neither would he suffer him, nor anyone in the interest
of Spain, to enter upon his territories. Don John was unwilling
to give the Count any umbrage, lest he should force him to unite
the Catholic League of Flanders, called the League of the States,
to that of the Prince of Orange and the Huguenots, well foreseeing
that such a union would prove fatal to the Spanish interest, as
other governors have since experienced. With this disposition of
mind, the Comte de Lalain thought he could not give me sufficient
demonstrations of the joy he felt by my presence; and he could
not have shown more honour to his natural prince, nor displayed
greater marks of zeal and affection.
On our arrival at Mons, I was lodged in his house, and found
there the Countess his wife, and a Court consisting of eighty
or a hundred ladies of the city and country. My reception was
rather that of their sovereign lady than of a foreign princess.
The Flemish ladies are naturally lively, affable, and engaging.
The Comtesse de Lalain is remarkably so, and is, moreover, a woman
of great sense and elevation of mind, in which particular, as well
as in air and countenance, she carries a striking resemblance
to the lady your cousin. We became immediately intimate, and
commenced a firm friendship at our first meeting. When the supper
hour came, we sat down to a banquet, which was succeeded by a
ball; and this rule the Count observed as long as I stayed at
Mons, which was, indeed, longer than I intended. It had been
my intention to stay at Mons one night only, but the Count's
obliging lady prevailed on me to pass a whole week there. I strove
to excuse myself from so long a stay, imagining it might be
inconvenient to them; but whatever I could say availed nothing
with the Count and his lady, and I was under the necessity of
remaining with them eight days. The Countess and I were on so
familiar a footing that she stayed in my bedchamber till a late
hour, and would not have left me then had she not imposed upon
herself a task very rarely performed by persons of her rank,
which, however, placed the goodness of her disposition in the
most amiable light. In fact, she gave suck to her infant son;
and one day at table, sitting next me, whose whole attention was
absorbed in the promotion of my brother's interest,--the table
being the place where, according to the custom of the country,
all are familiar and ceremony is laid aside,--she, dressed out in
the richest manner and blazing with diamonds, gave the breast to
her child without rising from her seat, the infant being brought
to the table as superbly habited as its nurse, the mother. She
performed this maternal duty with so much good humour, and with a
gracefulness peculiar to herself, that this charitable office--which
would have appeared disgusting and been considered as an affront
if done by some others of equal rank--gave pleasure to all who
sat at table, and, accordingly, they signified their approbation
by their applause.
The tables being removed, the dances commenced in the same room
wherein we had supped, which was magnificent and large. The Countess
and I sitting side by side, I expressed the pleasure I received
from her conversation, and that I should place this meeting amongst
the happiest events of my life. "Indeed," said I, "I shall have
cause to regret that it ever did take place, as I shall depart
hence so unwillingly, there being so little probability of our
meeting again soon. Why did Heaven deny our being born in the
same country!"
This was said in order to introduce my brother's business. She
replied: "This country did, indeed, formerly belong to France,
and our lawyers' now plead their causes in the French language.
The greater part of the people here still retain an affection
for the French nation. For my part," added the Countess, "I have
had a strong attachment to your country ever since I have had
the honour of seeing you. This country has been long in the
possession of the House of Austria, but the regard of the people
for that house has been greatly weakened by the death of Count
Egmont, M. de Horne, M. de Montigny, and others of the same party,
some of them our near relations, and all of the best families
of the country. We entertain the utmost dislike for the Spanish
Government, and wish for nothing so much as to throw off the
yoke of their tyranny; but, as the country is divided betwixt
different religions, we are at a loss how to effect it. If we
could unite, we should soon drive out the Spaniards; but this
division amongst ourselves renders us weak. Would to God the
King your brother would come to a resolution of reconquering
this country, to which he has an ancient claim! We should all
receive him with open arms."
This was a frank declaration, made by the Countess without
premeditation, but it had been long agitated in the minds of
the people, who considered that it was from France they were to
hope for redress from the evils with which they were afflicted.
I now found I had as favourable an opening as I could wish for to
declare my errand. I told her that the King of France my brother
was averse to engaging in foreign war, and the more so as the
Huguenots in his kingdom were too strong to admit of his sending
any large force out of it. "My brother Alençon," said I, "has
sufficient means, and might be induced to undertake it. He has
equal valour, prudence, and benevolence with the King my brother
or any of his ancestors. He has been bred to arms, and is esteemed
one of the bravest generals of these times. He has the command
of the King's army against the Huguenots, and has lately taken
a well-fortified town, called Issoire, and some other places
that were in their possession. You could not invite to your
assistance a prince who has it so much in his power to give it;
being not only a neighbour, but having a kingdom like France at
his devotion, whence he may expect to derive the necessary aid
and succour. The Count your husband may be assured that if he
do my brother this good office he will not find him ungrateful,
but may set what price he pleases upon his meritorious service.
My brother is of a noble and generous disposition, and ready to
requite those who do him favours. He is, moreover, an admirer
of men of honour and gallantry, and accordingly is followed by
the bravest and best men France has to boast of. I am in hopes
that a peace will soon be reëstablished with the Huguenots, and
expect to find it so on my return to France. If the Count your
husband think as you do, and will permit me to speak to him on the
subject, I will engage to bring my brother over to the proposal,
and, in that case, your country in general, and your house in
particular, will be well satisfied with him. If, through your
means, my brother should establish himself here, you may depend
on seeing me often, there being no brother or sister who has
a stronger affection for each other."
The Countess appeared to listen to what I said with great pleasure,
and acknowledged that she had not entered upon this discourse
without design. She observed that, having perceived I did her
the honour to have some regard for her, she had resolved within
herself not to let me depart out of the country without explaining
to me the situation of it, and begging me to procure the aid
of France to relieve them from the apprehensions of living in
a state of perpetual war or of submitting to Spanish tyranny.
She thereupon entreated me to allow her to relate our present
conversation to her husband, and permit them both to confer with
me on the subject the next day. To this I readily gave my consent.
Thus we passed the evening in discourse upon the object of my
mission, and I observed that she took a singular pleasure in
talking upon it in all our succeeding conferences when I thought
proper to introduce it. The ball being ended, we went to hear
vespers at the church of the Canonesses, an order of nuns of
which we have none in France. These are young ladies who are
entered in these communities at a tender age, in order to improve
their fortunes till they are of an age to be married. They do not
all sleep under the same roof, but in detached houses within an
enclosure. In each of these houses are three, four, or perhaps six
young girls, under the care of an old woman. These governesses,
together with the abbess, are of the number of such as have never
been married. These girls never wear the habit of the order but
in church; and the service there ended, they dress like others,
pay visits, frequent balls, and go where they please. They were
constant visitors at the Count's entertainments, and danced at
his balls.
The Countess thought the time long until the night, when she
had an opportunity of relating to the Count the conversation she
had with me, and the opening of the business. The next morning
she came to me, and brought her husband with her. He entered
into a detail of the grievances the country laboured under, and
the just reasons he had for ridding it of the tyranny of Spain.
In doing this, he said, he should not consider himself as acting
against his natural sovereign, because he well knew he ought to
look for him in the person of the King of France. He explained to
me the means whereby my brother might establish himself in Flanders,
having possession of Hainault, which extended as far as Brussels.
He said the difficulty lay in securing the Cambrésis. which is
situated betwixt Hainault and Flanders. It would, therefore,
be necessary to engage M. d'Ainsi in the business. To this I
replied that, as he was his neighbour and friend, it might be
better that he should open the matter to him; and I begged he
would do so. I next assured him that he might have the most perfect
reliance on the gratitude and friendship of my brother, and be
certain of receiving as large a share of power and authority as
such a service done by a person of his rank merited. Lastly, we
agreed upon an interview betwixt my brother and M. de Montigny,
the brother of the Count, which was to take place at La Fère,
upon my return, when this business should be arranged. During
the time I stayed at Mons, I said all I could to confirm the
Count in this resolution, in which I found myself seconded by
the Countess.
The day of my departure was now arrived, to the great regret of
the ladies of Mons, as well as myself. The Countess expressed
herself in terms which showed she had conceived the warmest
friendship for me, and made me promise to return by way of that
city. I presented the Countess with a diamond bracelet, and to
the Count I gave a riband and diamond star of considerable value.
But these presents, valuable as they were, became more so, in
their estimation, as I was the donor.
Of the ladies, none accompanied me from this place, except Madame
d'Aurec. She went with me to Namur, where I slept that night,
and where she expected to find her husband and the Duc d'Arscot,
her brother-in-law, who had been there since the peace betwixt
the King of Spain and the States of Flanders. For though they
were both of the party of the States, yet the Duc d'Arscot, being
an old courtier and having attended King Philip in Flanders and
England, could not withdraw himself from Court and the society
of the great. The Comte de Lalain, with all his nobles, conducted
me two leagues beyond his government, and until he saw Don John's
company in the distance advancing to meet me. He then took his
leave of me, being unwilling to meet Don John; but M. d'Ainsi
stayed with me, as his master, the Bishop of Cambray, was in
the Spanish interest.
This gallant company having left me, I was soon after met by Don
John of Austria, preceded by a great number of running footmen,
and escorted by only twenty or thirty horsemen. He was attended
by a number of noblemen, and amongst the rest the Duc d'Arscot,
M. d'Aurec, the Marquis de Varenbon, and the younger Balençon,
governor, for the King of Spain, of the county of Burgundy. These
last two, who are brothers, had ridden post to meet me. Of Don
John's household there was only Louis de Gonzago of any rank. He
called himself a relation of the Duke of Mantua; the others were
mean-looking people, and of no consideration. Don John alighted
from his horse to salute me in my litter, which was opened for
the purpose. I returned the salute after the French fashion to
him, the Duc d'Arscot, and M. d'Aurec. After an exchange of
compliments, he mounted his horse, but continued in discourse
with me until we reached the city, which was not before it grew
dark, as I set off late, the ladies of Mons keeping me as long
as they could, amusing themselves with viewing my litter, and
requiring an explanation of the different mottoes and devices.
However, as the Spaniards excel in preserving good order, Namur
appeared with particular advantage, for the streets were well
lighted, every house being illuminated, so that the blaze exceeded
that of daylight.
Our supper was served to us in our respective apartments, Don
John being unwilling, after the fatigue of so long a journey,
to incommode us with a banquet. The house in which I was lodged
had been newly furnished for the purpose of receiving me. It
consisted of a magnificent large _salon_, with a private apartment,
consisting of lodging rooms and closets, furnished in the most
costly manner, with furniture of every kind, and hung with the
richest tapestry of velvet and satin, divided into compartments
by columns of silver embroidery, with knobs of gold, all wrought
in the most superb manner. Within these compartments were figures
in antique habits, embroidered in gold and silver.
The Cardinal de Lenoncourt. a man of taste and curiosity, being
one day in these apartments with the Duc d'Arscot, who, as I have
before observed, was an ornament to Don John's Court, remarked
to him that this furniture seemed more proper for a great king
than a young unmarried prince like Don John. To which the Duc
d'Arscot replied that it came to him as a present, having been
sent to him by a bashaw belonging to the Grand Seignior, whose
sons he had made prisoners in a signal victory obtained over
the Turks. Don John having sent the bashaw's sons back without
ransom, the father, in return, made him a present of a large
quantity of gold, silver, and silk stuffs, which he caused to be
wrought into tapestry at Milan, where there are curious workmen
in this way; and he had the Queen's bedchamber hung with tapestry
representing the battle in which he had so gloriously defeated
the Turks.
The next morning Don John conducted us to chapel, where we heard
mass celebrated after the Spanish manner, with all kinds of music,
after which we partook of a banquet prepared by Don John. He
and I were seated at a separate table, at a distance of three
yards from which stood the great one, of which the honours were
done by Madame d'Aurec. At this table the ladies and principal
lords took their seats. Don John was served with drink by Louis
de Gonzago, kneeling. The tables being removed, the ball was
opened, and the dancing continued the whole afternoon. The evening
was spent in conversation betwixt Don John and me, who told me
I greatly resembled the Queen his mistress, by whom he meant
the late Queen my sister, and for whom he professed to have
entertained a very high esteem. In short, Don John manifested,
by every mark of attention and politeness, as well to me as to
my attendants, the very great pleasure he had in receiving me.
The boats which were to convey me upon the Meuse to Liège not all
being ready, I was under the necessity of staying another day.
The morning was passed as that of the day before. After dinner,
we embarked on the river in a very beautiful boat, surrounded by
others having on board musicians playing on hautboys, horns,
and violins, and landed at an island where Don John had caused
a collation to be prepared in a large bower formed with branches
of ivy, in which the musicians were placed in small recesses,
playing on their instruments during the time of supper. The tables
being removed, the dances began, and lasted till it was time to
return, which I did in the same boat that conveyed me thither,
and which was that provided for my voyage.
The next morning Don John conducted me to the boat, and there
took a most polite and courteous leave, charging M. and Madame
d'Aurec to see me safe to Huy, the first town belonging to the
Bishop of Liège, where I was to sleep. As soon as Don John had
gone on shore, M. d'Ainsi, who remained in the boat, and who
had the Bishop of Cambray's permission to go to Namur only, took
leave of me with many protestations of fidelity and attachment
to my brother and myself.
But Fortune, envious of my hitherto prosperous journey, gave me
two omens of the sinister events of my return.
The first was the sudden illness which attacked Mademoiselle
de Tournon, the daughter of the lady of my bedchamber, a young
person, accomplished, with every grace and virtue, and for whom
I had the most perfect regard. No sooner had the boat left the
shore than this young lady was seized with an alarming disorder,
which, from the great pain attending it, caused her to scream in
the most doleful manner. The physicians attributed the cause to
spasms of the heart, which, notwithstanding the utmost exertions
of their skill, carried her off a few days after my arrival at
Liège. As the history of this young lady is remarkable, I shall
relate it in my next letter.
The other omen was what happened to us at Huy, immediately upon our
arrival there. This town is built on the declivity of a mountain,
at the foot of which runs the river Meuse. As we were about to
land, there fell a torrent of rain, which, coming down the steep
sides of the mountain, swelled the river instantly to such a
degree that we had only time to leap out of the boat and run
to the top, the flood reaching the very highest street, next
to where I was to lodge. There we were forced to put up with
such accommodation as could be procured in the house, as it was
impossible to remove the smallest article of our baggage from
the boats, or even to stir out of the house we were in, the whole
city being under water. However, the town was as suddenly relieved
from this calamity as it had been afflicted with it, for, on
the next morning, the whole inundation had ceased, the waters
having run off, and the river being confined within its usual
channel.
Leaving Huy, M. and Madame d'Aurec returned to Don John at Namur,
and I proceeded, in the boat, to sleep that night at Liège.