was to have come with him, but the fever he has been suffering from
for the last ten or twelve days prevented him, and obliged him
to remain at Padua, where he still is, for the purpose of going
through a course of remedies. Nevertheless, Sir, as time presses,
M. d’Asfeld and I have sent M. Giuliani to him twice this week, to
represent to him the necessity we have of seeing him, to arrange
together the day when the Duke of Mantua is to be at Casale. He
has sent us word for answer, that to-morrow he will certainly be
at Venice, whatever his state of health may be, and that on Monday
or Tuesday, at the latest, we may see one another, to conclude
all things; after which, M. d’Asfeld can set off for Pignerol:
that, besides, he could assure us, that in all the conversations
he had had with the Duke of Mantua, since his return from France,
he had found that Prince in the best possible dispositions for
the success of the affair, within the time that had been fixed
upon with you, and that he had even done himself the honour of
acquainting you with this in a letter which he had written you. I
have also seen, within the last two days, Don Joseph Varano, who
has also given me assurances to the same effect on the part of his
master. So, Sir, there is every reason to hope, that the King will
soon receive the satisfaction that he expects from this business.
When M. d’Asfeld and myself shall see the Count Matthioli, we will
represent to him the diligence that is necessary to be made use
of in this affair; which is the more so, because the march of the
troops towards Pignerol begins to give suspicion to the Spaniards
in the Milanese, although thus far they are persuaded that they are
only sent to that place to work at the fortifications. M. d’Asfeld,
who, as well as myself, is rendered uneasy by the delay of the Count
Matthioli, had made a resolution, on Friday evening, to go and pay
him a visit at Padua, and to take as a pretext his wish to go and
see some of the towns of the Terra Ferma; but we reflected, that two
days, more or less, was not of great consequence; and that, besides
the uselessness of this journey, since it is necessary that the
Count Matthioli should speak to the Duke of Mantua before he can
settle any thing with us, it might also cause some suspicion in his
inn, where there are many strangers, if he was seen to leave Venice
during the time when the diversions there are at their height, to
go and make a tour in towns where there are none. Therefore we
have thought, that it was better to wait the arrival of the Count
Matthioli in this city, in order not to risk any thing by too much
precipitation, in an affair in which secrecy is so necessary, and
respecting which one can never take too many precautions.
* * * * * *
DE PINCHESNE.[240]
[240] From the Archives of the Office for Foreign Affairs, at
Paris.
No. 62.
LOUVOIS TO SAINT-MARS.
St. Germain, Feb. 7th, 1679.
I SEND you a letter for the same person[241] to whom you were to
deliver the two packages, which the individual named Barrere ought
to have brought you by this time. I beg that you will give it to
him, and send me by the return of the same courier, who will deliver
to you this letter, whatever answer he shall make to it. The person
who despatches this courier from Lyons, has orders to tell him, that
he is the bearer of the letters of Madame Fouquet. It will be right
for you to tell him the same thing when you send him back. You will
observe, if you please, to put an envelope over your letter to me,
addressed to the Sieur Du Bois, Clerk of the Foreign Post at Lyons.
If the person to whom you have to deliver this letter is not
arrived, you will send me word of it by the return of the courier,
and will keep the letter till his arrival.
DE LOUVOIS.[242]
[241] This person was Catinat, who was now on his way to
Pignerol, under the assumed name of Richemont.
[242] From the Archives of France.
No. 63.
PINCHESNE TO POMPONNE.
Interviews with Matthioli.--Further Delays in the
Ratification of the Treaty.
Feb. 7th, 1679.
WE had hoped, M. d’Asfeld and I, according to the promises which
had been given us to this effect by the Count Matthioli, through M.
Giuliani, as often as we sent him to Padua, that we might be able to
dispose the Duke of Mantua to go to Casale the 25th of this month,
according to the King’s intentions; but notwithstanding all that we
have been able to allege to the Count in the two conferences we have
had with him, last Thursday and this morning, we have not been able
to succeed, and we have therefore been obliged to defer the day of
the exchange of the ratifications of the treaty till the 10th of
next March; on which day the Duke of Mantua promises to be, most
assuredly, and without any further delay, at Casale.
We have despatched you this extraordinary courier, Sir, to give you
intelligence of this; and we have so strongly recommended diligence
to him, that we hope our letters will still arrive soon enough at
court, to afford the King sufficient time to give whatever orders
his Majesty shall judge necessary, for the delaying of the march of
the troops towards Pignerol.
M. d’Asfeld writes in this intention, to M. de Louvois; but I will
take the liberty to request you, Sir, in case the King has any new
orders to give us on this affair, to order them to be sent directly
to me; because, as it is possible that M. d’Asfeld may be obliged
to depart before they arrive, I could not be made acquainted with
them if they were sent to him, the cypher he has received from M. de
Louvois being different to that which you have sent me. We think,
nevertheless, we can assure you, Sir, that we do not see, from this
delay of time, any reason to doubt the sincerity of the sentiments
of the Duke of Mantua; who has again assured us, through the Count
Matthioli, that he is more than ever in the intention of executing
the treaty he has just made with his Majesty, and of keeping the
promise he has given to him.
The Count Matthioli had written to you; but as his letter was not in
cypher, and did not contain any thing but what I have sent you word
of in this, I have not thought it necessary to send it to you.
DE PINCHESNE.[243]
[243] From the Archives of the Office for Foreign Affairs, at
Paris.
No. 64.
LOUVOIS TO SAINT-MARS.
St. Germain, February 15th, 1679.
* * * * * *
WHEN the affairs for which the Sieur de Richemont is with you shall
be concluded, you may, &c.[244] * * *
DE LOUVOIS.[245]
[244] The sentence is left thus imperfect in M. Delort’s
publication. The whole letter, however, is published in the
work entitled, “Les philosophes et les gens de lettres des
XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles à la Bastille.” The rest of the letter
does not refer to Matthioli’s affair.
[245] From the Archives of France.
No. 65.
POMPONNE TO PINCHESNE.
February 17th, 1679.
I HAVE given an account to the King of what you tell me, in your
last letter of the 28th of January, you have done concerning the
affair which is entrusted to you, and of your expecting the Count
Matthioli soon, from the assurance that the Sieur Giuliani had given
you to that effect. His Majesty was very glad to see that you still
have hopes both of the success of the affair, and of prevailing
upon the Duke of Mantua to leave Venice on the 20th or 25th of this
month.
I have nothing particular to acquaint you with, beyond what you
already know. You will continue, if you please, to inform me exactly
of all that shall pass on this subject; even despatching me an
extraordinary courier if you shall deem it necessary.
POMPONNE.[246]
[246] From the Archives of the Office for Foreign Affairs, at
Paris.
No. 66.
PINCHESNE TO POMPONNE.
Reasons for the Duke of Mantua’s delay in going to Casale.
Venice, February 18th, 1679.
SIR,
* * * * * *
THE necessity, which M. d’Asfeld and myself were under a week ago,
of sending off in all haste the courier whom we despatched to the
Court, prevented me, Sir, from being able to acquaint you in the
letter, which I then did myself the honour to write to you, with the
reasons, which the Count Matthioli has alleged to us, to make us
understand that the Duke of Mantua cannot be at Casale the 25th of
this month, according to the wishes of the King expressed to him by
us. He told us three: the first was, that this Prince, wishing to
send to Casale, as soon as he should be arrived there, his guards
and the greater part of his court, (intending to make some stay
there after the conclusion of the affair,) it became necessary for
him for this purpose to have some money, which could not be got in
so short a time. The second, that it was absolutely necessary first
to persuade Don Vincent Gonzaga,[247] who is at present at Mantua,
to make this journey with his Highness, since, being the presumptive
heir of the Duke of Mantua, it would be very dangerous to leave him
at Mantua, at the time when the affair of Casale would be known;
because the Mantuans regarding him as likely to be their future
sovereign, there would be danger that they might allow themselves
to be persuaded by him to rebel against the Duke of Mantua, which,
without doubt, he would not fail to try to make them do, when he
should see that his Highness was attaching himself to the party of
France, and abandoning that of the House of Austria, to which Don
Vincent is absolutely devoted. And the third, the obligation under
which the Duke of Mantua found himself of holding here a sort of
carousel with several Venetian gentlemen, to whom he had given his
promise to that effect, which he could not now retract, without
occasioning some suspicion here. This last reason, Sir, although the
least considerable of the three, appears to me notwithstanding to be
a truer one than the others; because this Prince is so much attached
to all pleasures, of whatever kind they may be, that when he finds
an occasion of indulging in them, the most important affairs cannot
turn him away from them. This little carousel is certainly to take
place some day next week; after which the Count Matthioli has
assured us that the Duke of Mantua will, without doubt, leave this
place, in order to be at Casale the 10th of next month, as he has
promised us; his people are even to set off to-day to return to
Mantua. To-morrow we are to have another conference with the Count
Matthioli, to regulate in what manner M. d’Asfeld is to open the
business at Casale with the Duke of Mantua, for the purpose of
making the exchange of the ratifications of the treaty. Meanwhile,
Sir, I think it right to inform you, that the march of the troops
to Pignerol, and the munitions and money which are carried there,
cause great fear through the whole of Italy; and that it is said
publicly here, that the King has some great plan, without its being
possible to penetrate what it is, suspicions falling upon Casale,
upon Geneva, upon Savoy, and more particularly upon the Republic
of Genoa, on account of what has lately passed there: I even know
that M. Contarini[248] has written in these terms to Venice. There
are also two couriers, arrived during the last eight or ten days
from Turin, at Milan; the one despatched by _Madame Royale_[249]
to her envoy, and the other by the Duke of Gioninazze[250] to the
government of Milan, to give them intelligence of these movements.
The Count Matthioli has told us, that the Duke of Mantua intended
to make an excuse for his journey to Casale, by saying, that the
fear he is in of the designs of France, obliges him to go to that
place, to give the necessary orders for its security. I have just
now learnt, that a courier is arrived to the Spanish Ambassador from
Milan. I am persuaded he is sent for the same reasons I have before
stated.
* * * * * *
DE PINCHESNE.[251]
[247] See note, page 18.
[248] Contarini was at this time Ambassador from the Republic
of Venice to the Court of Lewis the Fourteenth.
[249] The Duchess of Savoy. For an account of her, see note,
page 32.
[250] The Spanish Envoy at the Court of Turin.
[251] From the Archives of the Office for Foreign Affairs, at
Paris.
No. 67.
POMPONNE TO MATTHIOLI.
February 21st, 1679.
SIR,
I have received the letters, that you have taken the trouble to
write to me, and I think I cannot do better than address my answer
to them to the care of the Abbé d’Estrades, as you intend making
a journey to Turin. I have not failed to give an account to the
King of your sorrow at the long delay of an affair, which was
commenced and is to be concluded through your means. His Majesty
is still willing to promise himself a good success in it, and will
not entertain any doubt of the promise which has been so solemnly
given to him being kept. You know how much you may promise yourself
from his goodness when you shall have accomplished the success of
the project, of which you yourself laid the foundation. Upon this
subject the Abbé d’Estrades will speak to you still more in detail,
and therefore I will not lengthen this letter any more than to
assure you, that I am, &c.
POMPONNE.[252]
[252] From the Archives of the Office for Foreign Affairs, at
Paris.
No. 68.
PINCHESNE TO POMPONNE.
Arrangements for the Exchange of the Ratifications of the
Treaty.
Venice, February 25th, 1679.
SIR,
* * * * * *
I SENT you word in my last letter of the reports, which the march of
the troops to Pignerol caused through the whole of Italy: these have
much increased this week from the news which has been received that
M. de Vauban[253] is gone there by the King’s order; which makes it
be believed more than ever, that his Majesty certainly meditates
some great design on that side, although the strongest suspicion
falls always on Genoa, and, next to that, on Casale. The Spanish
Ambassador, and the Abbé Frederic, the resident of the Emperor, went
together on Wednesday to the Duke of Mantua, to tell him they had
heard from Turin that he wished to give Casale and the Montferrat to
the King, and to represent to him the disadvantages that would arise
to all Italy from this measure, and particularly to the House of
Austria, on account of the Duchy of Milan. That Prince answered them
that he was astonished they could believe in reports of this nature,
which had no solid foundation. This answer was all they could draw
from him on the subject. Nevertheless, Sir, as he is always in the
intention of executing the treaty he has made with the King, which
he has again assured us through the Count Matthioli, M. d’Asfeld and
I have had two more conferences this week with the aforesaid Count,
the last of which was yesterday evening; in which we arranged that
M. d’Asfeld and he should find themselves on the 9th of next month
at Notre-Dame d’Incréa, which is a village ten miles from Casale, in
order to make there the exchange of the ratifications; and that the
Duke of Mantua should arrive without fail at Casale on the evening
of the 15th, to wait there for the troops of his Majesty, and to
put them in possession of the place when they should arrive there
on the 18th, which is the day that M. d’Asfeld has said they would
be there, having, according to the order of M. de Louvois, demanded
nine days between that of the exchange of the ratifications and that
of their arrival at Casale. M. d’Asfeld left this place yesterday
after this conference to go to Pignerol, and the Count Matthioli is
to set off this evening for Incréa: but as the Duke of Mantua wishes
to remain only a single day at Mantua, and intends to travel post
to Casale, he will remain here till the 11th or 12th of next month:
it is even better he should do so, because as long as they shall
see him amusing himself here with a carousel and similar trifles,
there will be less suspicion of him than if they saw him take his
departure. * * *
DE PINCHESNE.[254]
[253] Sebastian Le Prêtre, Marquis of Vauban, the celebrated
Engineer; Marshal of France in 1703; Died in 1707.
[254] From the Archives of the Office for Foreign Affairs, at
Paris.
No. 69.
PINCHESNE TO POMPONNE.
Suspicions of the House of Austria respecting the
Negociations.
Venice, March 4th, 1679.
SIR,
* * * * * *
All the advices that come from France and from Turin declare so
positively that the Duke of Mantua has made a treaty with the King
for the cession of Casale and of the Montferrat, that they are
beginning here to change into certainties those suspicions which I
mentioned to you, Sir, in my two last letters, they had had, ever
since the first news arrived at Milan by the couriers which Madame
Royale and the Duke of Gioninazze despatched there. The Governor
of Milan immediately sent two others to Madrid and Vienna to give
intelligence to the Emperor and the King of Spain. The courier, who
was sent to Vienna, returned here on Wednesday evening, with express
orders to the Marquis Canozza, the Imperial Vicar, in Italy, to
speak strongly to the Duke of Mantua, and to try and deter him from
doing a thing so contrary to the interests of the whole House of
Austria; and to go afterwards to Turin and Milan, to concert there
the means of preventing it, in case the news proved true. This same
Marquis Canozza having been, for the last five or six months, in
the prisons of Venice, accused of having had a gentleman of Verona
assassinated, the Emperor has also written by the same Courier to
the Republic, to beg that he may be enlarged, which was done on
Thursday evening. He has not been able as yet to see the Duke of
Mantua, who defers, as much as he can, giving him audience, in order
to gain time. The fear I have been in, Sir, lest what he has to say
to this Prince, from the Emperor, might be capable of producing some
change in him, has obliged me to charge M. Giuliani to go, as from
me, to Don Joseph Varano, who is at present, since the departure
of Count Matthioli, the only confidant of the Duke of Mantua, to
try to know from him what are the sentiments of his master upon
the subject of this mission. He has answered me, that his master
would assuredly execute the treaty he has made with His Majesty,
notwithstanding the obstacles which the House of Austria puts in
the way of it, and that he would leave this place on Wednesday or
Thursday, in order to arrive at Casale within the time at which he
has promised to be there. All that we have to fear is, that the
Spaniards, who are extremely suspicious, may watch him, and oppose
his passage,[255] and that of the Count Matthioli, of whom they have
an equal distrust. * * *
DE PINCHESNE.[256]
[255] Through the Duchy of Milan.
[256] From the Archives of the Office for Foreign Affairs, at
Paris.
No. 70.
PINCHESNE TO POMPONNE.
Arrest of d’Asfeld.--Departure of the Duke of Mantua from
Venice.
Venice, March 11th, 1679.
SIR,
The Courier, whom we sent you a month ago, not having complied with
the order I had given him to write to me as soon as he should be
arrived at Lyons, in order to acquaint me whether he had passed
through the Milanese without being arrested, I was under great
uneasiness until I received the letter, in which you do me the
favour to inform me that you have received the despatch which I sent
you by him. You may believe, Sir, that when M. d’Asfeld and I were
obliged to defer the day of the exchange of the ratifications till
the 10th of this month, we did not do so, till we saw that it was
impossible to persuade the Duke of Mantua to perform his part within
the period desired by the King.
All the world says here, that he is to go away this evening, or
to-morrow, without his suite; and he has always told us, through
the Count Matthioli, that when he left this place, he would only
pass through Mantua, and travel post from thence to Casale. He has
still more time than is necessary for him to be there before the
18th of this month, which is the day when the troops of the King are
to enter the place, according to what we agreed upon with the Count
Matthioli.
M. Giuliani has received a letter from him[257] this week, in
which he writes him word that M. d’Asfeld has been arrested at
La Canonica, which is a village beyond Bergamo, but that he was
released shortly after.
I do not know, Sir, if this news is really true, it having been
impossible for me to verify it, and the Count Matthioli only writing
word of it because a _Voiturier_, whom he met on the road, told
him that a gentleman whom he had conducted three or four days ago
from Verona to La Canonica, had been arrested at the latter place,
and released afterwards. In any case, I cannot doubt but that you
are already informed of it, since the Count mentions, in the same
letter, that it has been written to the Abbé d’Estrades, who will
not certainly have failed to make you acquainted with it.
* * * * * *
I have just this moment heard, Sir, that the Duke of Mantua set
off yesterday evening at four o’clock at night,[258] and that the
Marquis Canozza is also gone to Verona, which is his country, from
whence it is believed he will be very likely to go to Milan.
DE PINCHESNE.[259]
[257] Matthioli.
[258] According to the Italian mode of reckoning the hours.
[259] From the Archives of the Office for Foreign Affairs, at
Paris.
No. 71.
POMPONNE TO MATTHIOLI.
Letter of Credence to be presented to Matthioli by Catinat.
St. Germain, March 14, 1679.
SIR,
The King has been informed by the Sieur de Pinchesne, of all the
measures which you have taken with him and with M. d’Asfeld, for the
execution of the affair, which has been conducted by your labours,
and of the time which the Duke of Mantua has arranged for being at
Casale. He is, besides, aware that M. d’Asfeld was to leave Venice
some days earlier, according to the agreement that you had made
together; but as he learns by his letters from Piedmont, that it
is very possible he may have been arrested in his passage through
the Milanese, and placed in the Castle of Milan, he has judged it
right to supply his place with the person who will deliver you this
letter; it is the same whom he has honoured principally with his
confidence for the execution and the conduct of all that shall be to
be done with you and the Duke of Mantua, after the arrival of that
Prince at Casale. Therefore you will, if you please, place entire
confidence in him, and particularly in the assurances which he will
give you of the good-will of his Majesty for you, and of his sense
of the service you are rendering to him.
For myself, Sir, I intreat you to believe me with the most perfect
truth, &c.
POMPONNE.[260]
[260] From the Archives of the Office for Foreign Affairs, at
Paris.
No. 72.
ESTRADES TO MATTHIOLI.
Complaints of the Delays in the Conclusion of the
Negociation.
Turin, March 24th, 1679.