The Regent of Savoy’s Perplexity--She discloses Matthioly’s Conduct
to Louis XIV.--Arrival of Catinat at Pignerol--Arrest of the Baron
d’Asfeld and his Imprisonment at Milan--The Abbé d’Estrades the First
to conceive the Project of Matthioly’s Abduction--Despatches of the
Abbé d’Estrades detailing the Abduction and the Incarceration of
Matthioly--Means adopted in order to recover the official Documents
connected with the Negotiation--Mystery surrounding Matthioly’s
Disappearance--His family Dispersed and remaining silent and powerless.
The regent of Savoy was the first[497] to whom Matthioly gave
information. On December 31, 1678, she not only received his
confidence, but also had communicated to her all the original documents
relating to the negotiation, and took copies of them. She was alike
very pleased at knowing of this intrigue, and very much embarrassed
as to the line of conduct she ought to pursue. Piedmont, indeed,
had most to suffer from the surrender of Casale to Louis XIV. To
oppose the execution of this project by arms, was far from the wish
of this princess and far beyond the forces at her disposal. To place
obstacles in the way of it exposed her to the resentment of the King
of France. After having hesitated for a long time, and not doubting
but that Matthioly would, without delay, make the same revelations
to the Spaniards and Austrians as he had to her, she preferred to
leave to Spain and to the Empire the dangerous task of arresting
Louis XIV.’s encroaching ambition in Italy. But to preserve silence
and prudently await the result of the struggle, either armed or
diplomatic, which seemed likely to ensue, was not in accordance with
the frivolous character and general incapacity of this princess. To
whom, then, was she to confide this weighty and embarrassing secret?
She was too little of an Italian to resolve to make it known at Milan,
Venice, and Florence, and thus provoke a coalition of the various
interests which were menaced. So it was to Louis XIV. himself that she
revealed Matthioly’s confidences.[498] In this manner, she secured to
herself the merit of obliging a powerful sovereign, whose friendship
she retained without having anything to fear from him, thanks to
the vigorous measures which the courts of Vienna and Madrid would
be compelled to take. She deceived herself, however, in a portion
of her calculations; since it was not till two months afterwards
that Matthioly, on seeing the uselessness of his confession to the
regent, and learning that Louvois was continuing his preparations for
entering into Casale, resolved to inform the Austrians, Venetians, and
Spaniards.[499] If he had not done so, the King of France, meeting with
no obstacle, and having received the Duchess of Savoy’s valuable piece
of intelligence, would have immediately taken possession of Casale.
Louis XIV. was greatly moved, and with reason felt very grateful to
the regent for her course of action. He expresses in his despatches
sentiments of gratitude and of esteem towards the Duchess of Savoy,
whilst he stigmatizes what he terms the treason of the knave. But,
deceived as he had been by the one and enlightened by the other, was he
in a position to judge properly the conduct of these two individuals?
And, to place ourselves in another point of view to his, we may ask
who most compromised the true interests of this country, the man whose
information--sold,[500] it is true, but well-timed--suddenly aroused
the other princes to vigilance; or the princess, who, more French than
Italian, hastened to communicate this valuable confidence to Italy’s
most redoubtable and menacing enemy?
The regent’s letter reached Louis XIV. in the middle of the month of
February, 1679. The King’s disappointment and wrath were so much the
more lively since his plans were already in course of execution. All
those who were to play a part in the _dénoûment_ of this business were
not only appointed, but were actually at their posts. The far-sighted
Louvois, who, previous to Napoleon, was, perhaps, the man who possessed
in the highest degree the genius of organization and the spirit of
detail, had drawn up--a quality in which he excelled--the whole plan
of the operation. His orders, clear, precise, and minute, had been
punctually followed. Numerous troops, under the command of the Marquis
de Boufflers, Colonel-General of Dragoons, were assembled at Briançon
ready to cross the frontier.[501] The Baron d’Asfeld,[502] Colonel of
Dragoons, left for Venice, on the mission of exchanging in that city
the ratification of the treaty.[503] Catinat,[504] then Brigadier of
Infantry, arrived from Flanders, where he had already served with
distinction, and proceeded with the greatest secrecy to Pignerol.
Saint-Mars had been enjoined[505] to leave the postern of the citadel
open, to meet himself the mysterious traveller, and to conduct him into
the donjon in such a manner that nobody might be able to suspect his
presence there. This sham prisoner was even obliged to change his name,
and the despatches addressed to him bore that of Richemont instead
of Catinat.[506] Everything had been marvellously well conceived,
everything was prepared, everything foreseen, save what the Government
of Versailles termed the treason of Matthioly.
Nevertheless, the Duchess of Savoy’s communication did not entirely
destroy Louis XIV.’s hopes; so he refrained from informing the Abbé
d’Estrades, who had been transferred from the embassy of Venice to
that of Turin. He wished to look upon these first disclosures as only
a commencement of treason,--an accident to be regretted, it is true,
but one of which the consequences might perhaps be neutralized by
exercising a pressure upon the Duke of Mantua, and by endeavouring
to intimidate Matthioly. But the latter had become as laconic in
his letters as he was inexact in keeping his appointments. The Abbé
d’Estrades, very much preoccupied with the result of a negotiation
of which he had been the life and soul, only suspected a treason the
full reality of which he was not yet acquainted with. He sent courier
after courier to M. de Pinchesne at Venice, to Mantua for Matthioly, to
the principal towns of Italy for Duke Charles IV.; and from all these
different places he received the most unsatisfactory intelligence.
Sometimes Matthioly declared that he was detained at Verona by the
state of his health. At others, Charles IV. was attracted to Venice
by the desire of assisting at a _carrousel_.[507] It was not that the
Duke formally refused to execute the treaty of surrender, but that new
obstacles were continually being raised by the very person who till
then had undertaken the direction of this affair--by Matthioly himself;
and the young prince, thoughtless and frivolous, of a very versatile
disposition, and devoting himself to scarcely anything but pleasure,
was very glad to endorse his favourite’s views. Suddenly the news
arrived at Turin that Baron d’Asfeld had been arrested by the governor
of the Milanese while proceeding to Increa in order to exchange the
ratifications there with Matthioly, and that he was detained a prisoner
by the Spaniards.[508] However significant this arrest may have been,
the Court of Versailles did not yet despair. Catinat received orders to
undertake the mission at first confided to D’Asfeld, and to start for
Increa, whither Matthioly was also invited to proceed.[509] The sham
Richemont, accompanied by Saint-Mars, who adopted the name and dress
of an officer belonging to Pignerol, left the citadel by night, and,
with numerous precautions, repaired to the place of meeting. But there
they awaited Matthioly in vain, and after many adventures, after having
run the risk of being arrested by a detachment from the garrison of
Casale, after having been compelled to appear before the governor of
that place, and having preserved their incognito with difficulty, they
at last returned to Pignerol, very happy at not having been recognized,
but without bringing back the instrument of surrender.[510]
From this moment the doubts of the Abbé d’Estrades were changed
into certainty, and it was then that he first conceived the idea of
Matthioly’s abduction. It is worthy of remark that it so happened
with this prisoner as with Avedick. Louis XIV. approved the conduct
of d’Estrades as he was afterwards to ratify that of Ferriol. But
it is his ambassadors who have executed the project of abduction,
even before receiving the authorisation for doing so. This is clear
from the evidence of the despatches which we are about to quote. It
is, in truth, necessary to allow the principal author of this act of
violence to speak for himself, which we shall do hereafter more than
once; for, on approaching the conclusion of this work, we desire the
reader to be self-convinced, and thus to participate in the pleasure
which the solution of a problem affords. Having spared him long but
necessary researches, we shall in future often confine ourselves to
being his guide; and by now and then putting him on the right track,
by contenting ourselves with indicating the goal, and furnishing the
elements of the pursuit, shall leave him all the gratification and all
the merit of the success of our common enterprise.
On April 8, 1679, D’Estrades writes to M. de Pomponne:--[511]
“... It is easy to discern, from what one learns on many sides, that
it is owing to Mattioli’s indiscretion that this affair has become
public, for it would be impossible for the particulars of it, and even
those of his journey to Paris, and of the stay which he made there,
to be so well known if he had not talked about them.... Still I am
awaiting Mattioli’s arrival here in order to see if one can rely upon
his good faith, and if he is in a position to perform what he has
promised. I shall have him so well watched that I shall know if he
holds any communication with Madame de Savoy or with the Ministers,
and I shall perhaps also find the means of being informed concerning
what he may be treating of with them. I beg you, sir, to let me know
if, in the event of there being no doubt of his perfidy, and of its
being necessary to compel him by fear to put everything in train for
keeping his word, the King will approve his being taken to Pignerol,
which will not be at all difficult for me to accomplish without its
attracting attention; because, after his arrival there, without any
one knowing that I had caused him to be abducted, it would be easy
to say that he had gone of his own accord. Nevertheless, I shall not
think of doing this until I have received your orders, and it would
only be after having lost all hope with regard to him that we should
adopt these measures.”
On April 22,[512] M. de Pomponne replies to him:--
“Sir, I shall commence by replying to the two letters which you
have been at the pains to write me on the 8th of the present month
concerning the affair of Count Mattioli. His behaviour is sufficient
to make us believe that he is a rogue; but, in order to assure you
the better of it, his Majesty orders me to confide to you, under the
seal of secrecy, what has occurred with reference to this matter. On
the occasion of his journey to Turin, he informed the Duchess of Savoy
generally of the papers with which he was charged, and of everything
which had been arranged with him here. He has since given the same
information to the Inquisitors of Venice, and caused M. d’Asfeld to
be arrested during his journey in the Milanese, by the information
which he gave to Count de Melgar. As he thinks that all this knavery
is unknown, he has been in the habit of trifling with M. de Pinchesne,
and you see by the letters which he writes to you that he wishes to
trifle with you in the same manner. As he proposes to visit you at
Turin, his Majesty does not wish you to let him know that you are
acquainted with his conduct. You will continue to let him think that
you are deceived, and you will make use of your apparent confidence,
and of that which you will assure him the King continues to have, in
order to endeavour to obtain the ratification of the treaty. He has
stated at Venice that he has it in his possession. Perhaps he has it
still. It is important to exert all your skill to obtain it from him.
The King does not consider it advisable to cause the scandal of having
him taken to Pignerol as you propose. The only case in which you could
employ menaces and fear, would be if you were certain that he really
possessed the ratification, and you considered these means necessary,
in order to compel him to give it up to you. There is scarcely any
room for doubt that, if he goes to Turin, he will see the Duchess of
Savoy and will keep out of your way. You will not appear to take any
notice of it, and you will not let this princess know that you are
informed of this matter, although it is she herself who has given
information concerning it to his Majesty.”
The same day[513] the Abbé d’Estrades urges upon the Government of
Versailles the necessity of granting the authorisation to kidnap
Matthioly.
“... I believe that what I have already had the honour of stating
to the King proves Mattioli’s perfidy sufficiently clearly; he has
been here for the last four days, and has come to see me with great
precautions, as if he had much interest in concealing himself;
nevertheless, every morning he has had conferences with a person named
Tarin, who is the man that Madame R.[514] sent to Padua to ascertain
what it was he had to communicate to her; he has insinuated a thousand
falsehoods in his conversations with him; he has wished to have it
believed that he saw me every day, although I have only spoken to
him once; and that the Duke of Mantua had sent him here in order to
declare to me that this Prince could not keep his word to his Majesty
on the subject of the Casale treaty. Whilst I have been writing
this despatch, Mattioli has again come to see me, and the manner in
which he has spoken to me has so clearly shown me his bad faith,
that, even if I could possibly have had any doubt concerning it, he
would have left me in no uncertainty; he has proposed to me some
ridiculous schemes which would tend only to involve his Majesty in
fresh embarrassments; he has told me that he leaves to-morrow in order
to have an interview with the governor of Casale, who was pressing
him strongly to visit him, and who hoped that the place would soon be
in the hands of the King; as he has assured me that he would return
during the present week at the latest, and, as I know that a few days
afterwards he is to go back to Venice, I have not time to await his
Majesty’s orders to arrest him. It is, nevertheless, so important
to do this, that there remains to me only to think of the means of
executing the design without scandal, with the view that the rumours
which would ensue should not revive those which have been caused by
the affair which he was negotiating, and of its not being known what
had become of him. I have thought that it was impossible for me to
succeed in this, except by entrusting Madame Royale with the secret,
since I could not make certain of the person of Mattioli in Turin or
in the States of the Duke of Savoy, without resorting to a violence at
which she would show herself offended, and by whatever pretext I might
have wished to attract him towards Pignerol, this Princess, whom he
informs of all that passes between himself and me, would have warned
him, no doubt, to take care of himself; I have seen myself compelled
to act thus, from what she said to me two days ago, that since
Mattioli was here, he might dwell at Pignerol or take a stroll in
France for longer than he imagined, I replied she was so enlightened
that I thought I ought not to neglect the idea which she gave me;
that I would reflect upon it, and that, meanwhile, I begged of her in
the name of the King not to mention anything which could imperil the
effect of the resolution which I might take for his Majesty’s service,
but that I would not execute it without communicating with her. She
promised me this, and, after having thanked me for having been so
willing to act in concert with her, she charged me to behave in such a
way that Mattioli should not be arrested on her territories, so that
she might not have to reproach herself with having delivered up a man
who, although guilty of a treason, had, nevertheless, confided in her.
I was this morning with Madame Royale, and, after having represented
to her that it was of extreme consequence that Mattioli should be put
in a place where he could no longer pay his court to the Spaniards
and Venetians by means of the false confidences which I knew him to
be making to them every day, I have assured her that I would arrange
my plans in such a way that he would be taken to Pignerol without
his having any suspicion of it till he was out of the States of her
Royal Highness, and on the point of entering the place; she has shown
herself satisfied with my assurance, and she has said to me that I
could plainly see that she was contributing as much as possible to
what would be of service to the King, since she had not dissuaded
Mattioli from the visit which he had made here, and of which he had
advised her, although she had never had the smallest doubt of what
would befall him through it.
“Besides the reasons, Sir, which I have already explained to you, I
have since had some news tending to determine me to seize Mattioli;
first, I know that he has been unwilling to give up to the Duke of
Mantua the originals of the papers relating to the treaty, no matter
what pressure this Prince, who has only copies of them, may have put
upon him, and that he retains them in order to show them to those from
whom he wishes to extract money, and who would not believe him upon
slighter proofs. Juliani [Giuliani] has written to me that D. Joseph
Varano, who stands very well with M. de Mantua, and who has always
manifested his desire that his master should place himself under
the King’s protection by means of the treaty of Casale, and to whom
my letter will be delivered, and not to Vialardi, as I had informed
you--having in writing used one name for the other--was to have an
interview with him about this affair, and that he will assuredly not
enter into any engagement whilst Mattioli is at liberty. Lastly, I
have received information from Milan that the Duke of Mantua has
asked the Spaniards for six hundred thousand crowns,[515] declaring
to them that not being able to fortify Casale without it, he would
not answer for the safe custody of this place, and that the Count
de Melgar, who was willing to give them to him, was making useless
efforts to raise them, and that he will not obtain them; so that it
is probable that this Prince, who is only looking out for money, on
losing the hope of getting it from Spain, will listen to the offers
made him on behalf of the King, and that his Majesty will find himself
in possession of an important place, which will always remain in
his hands, through the death of the Duke of Mantua, whose health is
so ruined by his debauches, by the incurable diseases produced by
them, and by the poison which it is publicly stated was given him a
little while since--that according to all appearances he cannot have
long to live. One may add that if this Prince should happen to die
before the execution of the treaty, his Majesty would have the right
of doing himself justice by producing M. de Mantua’s letter, and the
full powers which sufficiently authorise the articles which have been
agreed on, but it is necessary for this purpose to get them out of
Mattioli’s hands, which cannot be done if we do not make ourselves
masters of his person, since he never carries them about with him.
“Such, Sir, are the motives which oblige me not to allow him to
escape, and in order to succeed in the affair, I have written to M.
de Catinat that it is necessary that we should see one another at the
beginning of the present week; I shall inform him at length of the
state in which matters are, and shall tell him to select me a place
near to Pignerol, whither I can proceed with Mattioli on a given
day, when he shall have returned from the visit which he has paid to
Casale, and to send there secretly a few men well armed, because I
know that he always carries two pistols in his pockets with two others
and a poignard in his belt; I shall conduct him to this place in my
carriage under the pretext of having a conference with M. Catinat,
and I have already so well inclined him to it that he has testified
to me his desire for it; as I have spoken to him in such a way as
to remove all kind of suspicion, and as he affects to fear lest the
intercourse which we have with one another here should be discovered,
he has of himself entered into all the precautions that I have wished
to take, and we have agreed, in order to avoid the accidents which
might happen, that we will only meet M. Catinat [at a spot] both out
of sight of Pignerol and of the States of the Duke of Savoy; it is
there also that I hope to place him in good hands, and I have no doubt
but that M. de Saint-Mars will be very willing to receive him on M.
Catinat’s report and my word, at least until it shall have pleased his
Majesty to order otherwise.
* * * * *
“I am, etc.
“L’ABBÉ D’ESTRADES.”
On April 29[516] D’Estrades returns to the charge, and adduces the
strong reasons which he considers ought to determine Matthioly’s
arrest:--
“Juliany (Giuliani) has told me that he has spoken to Don Joseph
Varano, who has promised him to do his utmost to renew the affair of
Casale, but that at present M. de Mantua did not wish to hear anything
spoken of except capturing or killing Mattioli, who, he complains,
has betrayed him. He has learnt from this same Varano that what most
disquieted M. de Mantua was, that Mattioli had made him ratify the
treaty, and that he had kept possession of the ratification with all
the other papers concerning this affair; so that when we are masters
of Mattioli’s person, we will compel him to give up this ratification
together with the rest. And so, Sir, you see of what consequence it
is to arrest him. I no longer hesitate, moreover, about doing it,
especially since I have seen that M. Catinat, with whom I had an
interview two days ago, and with whom I have taken all the necessary
measures, considered, after what I had told him concerning everything,
that the execution of this resolution ought not to be delayed. I hope
that in four or five days’ time it will be a settled affair, and I
shall inform you of the manner in which it has been accomplished. It
seems to me that when one has obliged Mattioli to deliver up among the
other papers the ratification of M. de Mantua, if he has indeed given
it to this man, the King will have the right to demand the execution
of the ratified treaty, in the event of this Prince not wishing to
take the ways of agreeableness and negotiations.”
At length, on April 28, Louis consents to the arrest.[517] But when his
orders arrive at Turin, Matthioly had already been carried off since
May 2.
“I must inform you,” wrote D’Estrades to Pomponne, “in what manner
I have brought Mattioli into a secure place. I have already had the
honour to acquaint you that I had been studious to exhibit towards
him entire confidence, and to cause him to entertain the desire of
having an interview with M. Catinat; Giuliani, who arrived here
three or four days ago, and whose fidelity to speak truly deserves
to be taken into consideration, furnished me with a new means which
was very useful. He told me that Mattioli had informed him that the
expenses of numerous journeys, and the presents which he had been
obliged to give to M. de Mantua’s mistresses in order to render them
favourable, had exhausted his resources, and that he was at present
without money; Giuliani did not hesitate to promise that I would let
him have what he might require, and on this intelligence I told him
[Matthioly] in confidence that we had only to seek expedients to renew
our affair; and that provided the Duke of Mantua still had the same
sentiments, it would not be difficult for us to promptly execute the
treaty, since M. Catinat not only possessed the power to cause the
troops destined for that purpose to arrive and to command them, but
that he also had a very considerable sum to meet all the expenses
that he might consider necessary, that Giuliani had represented to
me the state in which he was, and that I would cause to be given
to him whatever he might desire. I added that there was no need to
have any false delicacy about it; that it was neither my money nor
M. Catinat’s which I was offering him, but his Majesty’s, who did
not believe that he could employ it better than for so important an
affair. As he is one of the greatest rogues who have ever lived, this
proposition made him extremely impatient to see M. Catinat; and he
pressed me with reasons which he at once concocted not to delay the
conference that we were to have with him; we made an appointment for
the following day, Tuesday, the 2nd of the present month; and I gave
him a rendezvous half a mile from Turin in a church, whither I was to
proceed and take him up in my carriage at six o’clock in the morning;
unfortunately there had been three days of very bad weather; it was
still raining heavily on that day, and as the streams of this country
easily become swollen, we found one called the Guisiola, three miles
from the place to which we had to go, the waters of which were so
high that the horses could only cross it by swimming; there was only
a single bridge, which was half destroyed, and I was in despair at
this hindrance. When after having perceived that it was absolutely
necessary to repair the bridge with planks in order to be able to
cross on foot, Mattioli worked at it with so much zeal, that in an
hour we put it into a state to make use of it.
“I profited by this opportunity to leave my carriage and servants at
this spot, with the view that what I was about to do should be more
secret, and we proceeded on foot along very bad roads to the place
where we were expected. M. Catinat had so well arranged everything
that no one but himself appeared; he made us enter a room, and
during the conversation I insensibly made Mattioli state what he had
avowed to me two days previously, that he possessed all the original
papers that concerned our affair, viz.: M. de Mantua’s letter to the
King, his Majesty’s answer to him, the full powers of this Prince,
the treaty which you had put into writing, the Marquis de Louvois’
memorandum, and two signatures of M. de Mantua; one at the bottom
of the treaty so as to serve for the ratification, and the other at
the bottom of a sheet of blank paper, on which to write an order
to the governor of Casale to receive his Majesty’s troops into his
town whenever they might present themselves there; he added that this
Prince had since done all that he could to oblige him to return these
papers, but that he had never been willing to go and find them, that
he had only sent him copies, and had deposited the originals with his
wife in a convent of nuns at Bologna, called Saint-Louis; after having
invited this confidence towards M. Catinat, I considered that my
presence was no longer necessary, and when I had left he was arrested
without disturbance.
“I returned here with the Abbé de Montesquieu, my cousin-german whom
I had taken with me for two reasons, which I trust his Majesty will
approve. The first because I could not leave Turin alone without its
being believed that I was not going to pay a visit as I had stated
two days previously, and because I had already experienced that I had
been watched during two or three drives I had expressly taken outside
the town, with the view that people should not find it extraordinary
when I wished to carry off Mattioli. The second and the strongest was,
that all the precautions I had adopted in order to see M. Catinat
at the Capucins, whose convent is outside this town, on a mountain
where there is no other house but theirs, not having prevented our
interview from being known, and the Marquis de Saint-Maurice from
speaking of it rather indiscreetly, I thought that I ought not to risk
fresh conferences with him, and that it would be still more dangerous
if I went to Pignerol; which the Abbé de Montesquieu can do without
attracting attention. Nevertheless I should not have made use of the
latter, if during a stay of three years that we have made together at
Venice, I had not become acquainted with his discretion, his address,
and especially his fidelity, sufficiently well to be able to answer
for him as for myself; it is this therefore which has obliged me to
make him come here. And I have sent him this morning to Pignerol in
consequence of the information which M. Catinat has given me, that
he had twice interrogated Mattioli,[518] who had proposed to get his
father to come to the place where he had been arrested, so that he
might oblige him to go and seek the papers which we demand and bring
them to Pignerol. But since it is necessary to distrust everything
that he says, and as he will doubtless not be able to sustain the
sight of Giuliani when he is confronted with him, in consequence of
all the knavery he has been guilty of, I have wished that he should
accompany the Abbé de Montesquieu to Pignerol, so as to proceed from
that place by M. Catinat’s orders wherever Mattioli might declare
the papers to be concealed. And thus that he who should be charged
with this commission might not only be a safe man, but also have a
complete acquaintance with the country and know the language, so as to
avoid any kind of accident.
“Two days after Mattioli had been taken to the donjon of Pignerol, I
caused his valet to be conducted thither with all his clothing and
valises by means of one of my servants whom I had already lent to M.
Catinat during the journey which he made to Casale; for this I had
taken the precaution to bear a letter from Mattioli which he had been
made to write and in which he ordered this valet to come to him in
a place where he was obliged to remain three or four days, and from
which he was to depart without again passing through Turin; so that by
this means one obtained all that Mattioli had brought here, without
having recourse to violence. If I had made use of any other means, I
should not have been able to obtain anything from him, since he would
never have been willing of himself to give up to me papers which he
has so much difficulty in resolving to surrender even while he is in
a condition to fear the punishment of his perfidy; and if I had used
towards him the least threat he would infallibly have left Turin the
next day without its being possible to arrest him, except by causing a
scandal which would have been very prejudicial.”
Among the papers seized on Matthioly’s person, there were none of those
which emanated from the Government of Versailles, such as the treaty
signed by Pomponne, the instructions given by Louvois, the letter from
Louis XIV. to the Duke of Mantua, and the latter’s ratification. It was
essential to obtain possession of these, so as to deprive the other
powers of the irrefutable testimony of the King of France’s attempt
and failure. Matthioly at first gave incorrect information respecting
the place where they were to be found. But having been threatened with
torture,[519] and then with death, the unfortunate Count finished by
avowing that the famous papers were at Padua in a place which his
father alone knew of. A letter was dictated to the prisoner, in which,
without even allowing his lot to be suspected, he begged his father
to give all the documents relating to the negotiation to the Sieur
Giuliani, the bearer of the letter.[520] Matthioly’s father, ignorant
that Giuliani was a spy, delivered everything to him, and the astute
messenger confided to M. de Pinchesne, the representative of the
King of France at Venice, the precious originals,[521] which were
immediately forwarded to Versailles under cover of the embassy.[522]
Louis XIV. was avenged. Arrived at the zenith of his power, arbiter of
the destinies of Europe, which was submissive and mute, audacious and
mighty enough to arbitrarily annex vast territories to France in time
of peace, having, as yet, broken through all obstacles and triumphed
over all resistance, this potentate had just been tricked by a petty
minister of a petty Italian court. That one of his projects, which
seemed likely to succeed the best--thanks to the weakness as much
as to the division or ignorance of his adversaries--that one of his
projects, on the execution of which so many important consequences
depended, and which he had long dreamed over and prepared with infinite
precaution and care, suddenly failed through the most unforeseen of
accidents--the disaffection of the principal agent of the matter. What
a natural subject of raillery for Europe was so great an enterprise
as this, resulting in an issue that was almost grotesque--the first
check experienced by the King of France, produced by so insignificant
a cause--such disproportion between the importance of the preparations
and their complete inutility--the fear of so grave a peril replaced
by the certainty of being delivered from it! Louis XIV. endeavoured
to save himself by destroying for ever the official proofs of his
attempt and failure, by causing the chief culprit to disappear, and by
recalling his troops in as secret a manner as he had assembled them at
Briançon. He renounced his enterprise with such promptitude, that in
some degree he seemed never to have commenced it. It was in vain that
D’Estrades, who was so interested in the success of the negotiation,
and caught at everything in order to prolong it, begged the Government
of Versailles to leave him completely at liberty in this respect.[523]
The Minister’s refusal was formal, and tinged both with pride and
bitterness. “It is not his Majesty’s intention,” writes Pomponne to
D’Estrades, August 4, 1679, “to follow the course you propose in this
affair, nor to commit so great an enterprise to the measures you might
be able to take. If he ever forms the design of pursuing it, _you may
be assured that those of which he may make use will not fail him_.
So you need not venture to attempt anything in this matter.”[524]
No doubt the Court of Savoy was fully aware of the intrigue, but
Louis XIV. was master at Turin. No doubt Matthioly’s voice had made
itself heard at Venice and Milan, but it was now stifled for ever; and
with the recollection of his warnings was to be mingled that of his
mysterious disappearance, and a salutary fear caused by the strangeness
of his fate. Moreover, however humiliated Louis XIV. may have been,
he still employed most haughty language towards Madrid. He exacted
and obtained from Spain the immediate release of Baron d’Asfeld, who
was a prisoner at Milan, and also a formal disavowal of the governor
who had ordered his arrest. For Louis XIV. it was then a check, but
a check in part repaired by the prompt abandonment of his projects,
and compensated for by the satisfaction of having rendered powerless
and carried off, as it were, from the world, of having extinguished
the only being who could bear witness to the first humiliation of a
great King. The report was spread abroad that Matthioly had died,
the victim of an accident encountered on a journey. Those who were
most entitled to doubt this appeared to believe in it. Charles IV.,
suspected, if not convicted, by the other princes of having wished to
sell one of the keys of Italy to Louis XIV., sought to forget in fresh
pleasures the shame of the enterprise. Matthioly’s family, silent and
overwhelmed, became dispersed. Did it believe in his death? No one
knows. On its genealogical tree the date of Ercole Matthioly’s end
has been left blank.[525] His wife, the widow of a husband who was to
survive her, shut herself up with her sorrow in the convent of the
Filles de Saint-Louis at Bologna, the same place whither, seventeen
years previously, Matthioly had come to espouse her.[526] His father,
who received no further intelligence after the letter brought by
Giuliani, dragged on his unhappy existence for some time yet at Padua,
ignorant whether he ought to lament the death of a beloved son, or to
flatter himself that he was still alive. Among the members of this
family, thus plunged in the most cruel uncertainty, no one dared
to use any exertions, which, however, would have been useless, in
order to endeavour to clear it up. Feeling themselves menaced by the
mysterious blow which had fallen upon one of them, they were silent
and submissive, assured of their want of power, and certain that their
inquiries would be useless, and possibly not unattended with peril.
FOOTNOTES:
[497] Matthioly first addressed himself to President Truccki,
ex-Minister of Finance to the Regent, then to the latter.
[498] Archives of the Ministry of War, 686; Archives of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, section Mantua, 4; Instructions given to M. de Gomont,
ambassador to the Duke of Mantua.
[499] Letter from M. de Gomont to Louis XIV., May 14, 1680; copy of
Letter from Matthioly to the Empress Eleonora of Austria:--Archives of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Mantua, 5 and 11.
[500] The following is the only document which establishes the fact
that Matthioly received payment from the Spaniards and Venetians. It
will be remarked that the information given by D’Estrades reached him
very indirectly:--
“I must not omit to inform your Majesty that Father Ranzoni (a spy)
_has told_ Juliani (a spy) that _his father had assured_ him that the
Spaniards had given 4,000 pistoles [1,600_l._] to Mattioli[C] as a
reward for having discovered to them the whole of the Casale business,
and for having pointed out M. d’Asfeld to them, and that he had also
received money from the Venetians for the same reason.”--Unpublished
despatch from the Abbé d’Estrades to Louis XIV., March 16,
1680:--Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Savoy, 70.
[C] The variation in the spelling of this name in the different
despatches is followed exactly.--_Trans._
[501] _Mémoire de Chamlay_ on the events of 1678 to 1688:--Archives of
the Ministry of War, 1183.
[502] I am not sure whether I am correct in imagining that this was the
Marshal d’Asfeld, who distinguished himself at the battle of Almanza,
and died at a great old age in 1743.--(G. Agar Ellis.)
[503] Letter from Pomponne to Pinchesne, December 30, 1678:--Archives
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
[504] Nicholas de Catinat, Marshal of France in 1698. “He united,”
says Voltaire, “philosophy to great military talents. The last
day he commanded in Italy, he gave for the watchword, ‘Paris and
Saint-Gratien,’ the name of his country-house. He died there in
the retirement of a real sage (having refused the blue ribbon), in
1712.”--(G. Agar Ellis.)
[505] Letter from Louvois to Saint-Mars, December 29, 1678:--Archives
of the Ministry of War.
[506] _Ibid._, February 15, 1679:--Archives of the Ministry of War.
[507] Letter from M. de Pinchesne to M. de Pomponne, February 18,
1679:--Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Venice.
[508] Letter from M. de Pinchesne to M. de Pomponne, March 11,
1679:--Archives of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Venice.
[509] Letter from M. de Pomponne to Matthioly, March 14, 1669.
[510] Letter from Catinat, under the name of Richemont, to Louvois,
April 15, 1679.
[511] Unpublished despatch:--Archives of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, section Savoy, 68.
[512] Unpublished despatch:--Archives of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, section Savoy, 68.
[513] Unpublished despatch:--Archives of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, section Savoy, 68.
[514] Royale, the Duchess of Savoy.--_Trans._
[515] 75,000_l._--_Trans._
[516] Unpublished despatch:--Archives of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, section Savoy, 68.
[517] Unpublished despatches from Pomponne to D’Estrades, April 28 and
30, 1679.
[518] Matthioly underwent three examinations, in the course of which
he excused himself for having confided the secret of the treaty to
the Court of Turin on the plea that he had been surprised into doing
so by the President Truccki, whom he described as an “insinuating and
adroit man” professing much “affection for the interests of France.” He
admitted having received 2,000 livres from the court, and maintained
that this was for services formerly rendered. He did not deny having
spoken of the treaty to certain Venetians and to a partisan of Spain at
Padua, but said he simply told them that the affair had failed; while
as regarded the representative of Austria at Venice, he saw that he
knew all about the treaty from the Duke of Mantua at Venice. In short,
Matthioly pretended generally that the reason the ratification had been
delayed, was on account of the unwillingness of the Duke, acted upon by
his mother and the Court of Vienna, to complete the affair:--Letters
from Catinat to Louvois, quoted by M. Roux-Fazillac.--_Trans._
[519] “I put him into the greatest possible fear of the torture if he
did not speak the truth:”--Letter from Catinat to Louvois, Archives of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.--_Trans._
[520] Matthioly really wrote this letter, as will be seen by the
annexed extract from a letter sent by Catinat to Louvois, and dated
May 10, 1679: “I have made him write three letters for the purpose of
getting possession of the original papers which are at Padua, which
have been put into the hands of the Sieur Giuliani, by the advice of
the Abbé d’Estrades, who places an entire confidence in him; he will
make use of these three letters as he shall judge most fit, according
to the disposition in which he shall find the father of the Sieur de
Lestang. The first is only a letter of the Sieur de Lestang to his
father, in which he acquaints him, that there are reasons which oblige
him to remain at Turin, or in the neighbourhood, but that he may place
an entire confidence in the Sieur Giuliani, and deliver to him such
and such papers, of which I have made him give the inventory to the
Sieur Giuliani. The second acquaints his father with the real state in
which he is, and that it is important, as well for his life as for his
honour, that his papers should be immediately delivered into the hands
of the Sieur Giuliani. In the third, which is the last to be made use
of, in case the first two have no effect, he desires him to come to
Turin, and tells him that at the house of the Abbé d’Estrades he will
be instructed where he is, and the means to be employed to speak with
him. The Sieur de Lestang has no doubt of being able, in this interview
between him and his father, to persuade the latter to all he may wish.
I have inspired him with so great a fear of the punishments due to his
bad conduct, that I find no repugnance in him to do all that I require
of him:”--Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.--_Trans._
[521] The ratification of the Duke of Mantua was not among them, but
only several signatures in blank given by this Prince to Matthioly,
on one of which the latter asserted that he was to have written the
ratification.
[These sheets signed in blank were never found. The papers recovered
by Giuliani comprised, in addition to the original treaty signed by
Matthioly and M. de Pomponne, the instructions given to the former
when he left the French Court, Louvois’ written authority for Pomponne
to treat with Matthioly, and a letter from Louis XIV. to the Duke of
Mantua. “The ratification of the Duke of Mantua is not to be found,
although the Sieur de Lestang said it was amongst them; whereupon I
interrogated him, having first obtained all the advantage over him
I could, by abusing him and bringing soldiers into his room as if
preparatory to administering the question[D] to him, which made him so
much afraid that he promised to really tell the truth. Being asked
whether the Duke of Mantua had ratified the treaty, he answered that
he had never subscribed to all the articles, but that he had got from
him four blank papers signed, one of which was a blank paper, of two
sheets, at the top of which he had written, ‘Ratification of the
treaty made with his Most Christian Majesty.’ That there were three
other blank papers signed, of one sheet each, of which he intended to
make use to write in the name of his master to the three governors of
the town, citadel, and castle, to order them to receive the King’s
troops. Being asked where these papers signed in blank are at present,
he answered, that they are in the hands of the Governor of Casale, to
whom he sent them at the time that D’Asfeld left Venice. Being asked
why he had sent them, without their being filled up, to the Governor
of Casale, he answered he had sent them to him in a letter of Magnus,
the Secretary of the Duke of Mantua, in which the Governor was ordered
to do, without hesitation, all that should be told him regarding the
execution of the orders contained in that packet,--that they were left
blank, because he wished to make the ratification according to that of
the King, not knowing, as he says, the exact form in which it ought
to have been made out. Being asked why in his first examination he
had said that this ratification was at Padua; he answered that he had
not wished to tell where it was before Giuliani, in order not to make
him acquainted in any way with his intelligence with the governor:
he added that he had never had any other ratification except that
one; and that whatever tortures might be inflicted on him, he could
never tell anything more.”--Letter from Catinat to Louvois, June 3,
1679:--Archives of the Ministry of War.--_Trans._]
[D] The first form of torture applied to prisoners to force them to
confess.
[522] Unpublished despatches from the Abbé d’Estrades to Pomponne,
May 13 and 27, and June 3, 1679:--Archives of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, section Savoy, 68. Letter from Catinat to Louvois, June 3,
1679:--Archives of the Ministry of War.
[523] Unpublished letters from D’Estrades to Pomponne, June 10 and July
1, 1679.
[524] Unpublished despatch, August 4, 1679:--Archives of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, section Savoy. The project for the surrender of
Casale was revived two years later and put into execution, thanks
to the skill of the Abbé Morel, Minister of Louis XIV. to the Duke
of Mantua, and without the intervention of the Abbé d’Estrades. On
September 30, 1681, Louis XIV.’s troops entered Casale. We know what
this policy led to, and how, at the peace of Ryswick, he was compelled
to surrender everything, even Pignerol, his father’s valuable conquest.
However, Louis XIV. was well advised to break off the negotiation
in 1679, since Marshal d’Estrades acquainted him, on March 11, from
Nimeguen, “that this new attempt was of a nature to defer the exchange
of the ratifications of the treaty of general peace:”--Unpublished
letter of the Marshal d’Estrades, Imperial Library, Manuscripts,
_Papiers du Maréchal d’Estrades_, vol. xii. p. 1015
[525] _Arbor priscæ nobilisque masculinæ familiæ de
Matthiolis_:--Archives of the Empire, M. 746.
[526] Matthioly married in January, 1661, Camilla, widow of Bernardi
Paleotti, by whom he had two sons.--_Trans._