The True History of the State Prisoner, commonly called the Iron Mask

De Pinchesne.252

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,253 and that of the Count Matthioli, of whom they have an equal distrust. ∗ ∗ ∗

De Pinchesne.254

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 him255 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,256 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.257

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.258

No. 72

ESTRADES TO MATTHIOLI

Complaints of the Delays in the Conclusion of the Negociation.

Turin, March 24th, 1679.

I have thought it my duty, Sir, to give you advice of my arrival at this court, in order that you may be able to let me know whatever you shall judge necessary; and that whatsoever remains to be done, for the termination of what has been already resolved, may be the more easy of execution, from the proximity of the places at which we respectively are. You cannot doubt its being with this view, that the wish has been expressed for my coming here; and I have been the more glad to come, because I hoped that I should not be long without seeing the effect of the engagements which you have entered into with the king. If I was not aware of your probity and of your zeal for the interests of His Majesty, and for the advantage of the Prince to whom you are attached, I should have been dreadfully uneasy at the delay of our affair, which ought without fail, and at the latest, to have been concluded at the commencement of this month. But though we are already at the 24th, and that all you can desire on our part is entirely ready, I cannot persuade myself that the intentions of his Highness and your own are other than they always were. You have been so well aware, how much this affair would be useful to him at present, and glorious for the future, and you have made him so well comprehend this, that I cannot have any suspicions on this head; neither can I, when I represent to myself the very considerable interest you have in completing an affair of this importance, of which the conclusion will be considered so great a merit on your part in the eyes of the most generous and the greatest King in the world, who has testified to you himself the good-will he bears you for it; who has praised the address with which you have conducted the negociation; who has begun by giving you several marks of his esteem and liberality; and who has promised you besides such great advantages as would be sufficient to establish all your family, and to make you happy for the rest of your days. As his word has always been inviolable, you no doubt rely upon it implicitly: you must be aware, also, how dangerous it would be to deceive him, and that, after all the steps he has taken, and the measures he has agreed upon, you would expose his Highness, and yourself, to very great misfortunes, if his Majesty had reason to think that bad faith had been made use of towards him, after a treaty concluded in all the proper forms with himself, and founded upon a full power; the inexecution of which would only serve to ruin a Prince, who abandons himself to your councils, and who would be infallibly stripped by the Spaniards, who would be willing once for all to deliver themselves from the alarms which they have received from the reports spread about on all sides respecting this affair. I have already told you, Sir, that I believe you as well-intentioned as ever, and that it is not for the purpose of exciting you to return to these good sentiments, or to strengthen them, that I speak to you in this manner; but only lest a longer delay should diminish the good opinion entertained of you, and lest umbrage should be taken that an affair in which secrecy was so important, has been made public, although the King, and those who have the honour to serve him, have kept the secret so well that it cannot have been got at through them. I hope, nevertheless, that we shall soon be satisfied; and that I shall have the pleasure to see you worthily recompensed for your zeal: I assure you, Sir, that your interest, more than my own, though I have much in this affair, makes me desirous of it.

The Abbé d’Estrades.259

No. 73

LOUVOIS TO SAINT-MARS

St. Germain, March 26th, 1679.

I have received your letter of the 21st of this month. You will have seen by my former ones, that the King approves of the officers of the citadel of Pignerol visiting your prisoners, and passing the mornings and afternoons with them when they desire it, in the presence of one of your own officers.260 I can only now repeat the same thing to you, and tell you, that with regard to the governor, the officers, and the inhabitants of the town, you may act in the same manner by them, when you shall judge fit: not, however, until after the affair, for which the Sieur de Richemont is at Pignerol, shall have succeeded or failed.

I address to you a packet for the Abbé d’Estrades, which you will send him, if you please, by one of your officers, with a direction in your hand-writing; and when he shall have despatched to you his answer, you will send it to me by the return of the same courier, whom, in the meanwhile, you will keep concealed in the prison.

De Louvois.261

No. 74

POMPONNE TO PINCHESNE

St. Germain, March 26th, 1679.

The King is extremely anxious for the success of the affair of the Duke of Mantua. We have heard nothing from M. d’Asfeld, and, therefore, can have no doubt of his being prisoner in the Milanese. The news which you received of his being arrested at La Canonica, was doubtless as true as that of his being released again was the reverse. We shall now see if the firmness of the Duke of Mantua, which has thus far resisted the efforts of the Count Carrossa, and of the Republic of Venice, will continue to the end: we cannot be long without having this point cleared up, if, as you mention in your letter of the 11th, he had set off the night before to go to Casale. Your next letters will, of course, bring us fresh intelligence upon the subject.

Pomponne.262

No. 75

POMPONNE TO PINCHESNE

Suspicions of the Fidelity of Matthioli.

St. Germain, April 5th, 1679.

I have received your letter of the 18th of March, which shows the bad state in which, according to the Count Matthioli’s own accounts, the affair of Mantua is: he is very possibly, as you say, the sole author of all the accidents and impediments in it, which he writes word, in his letter to Giuliani, have happened. Your next letters will give us still clearer intelligence on this subject; but we have many reasons for apprehending that this negociation, which appeared so much advanced, may fail at last, when we were in the immediate expectation of seeing it happily concluded. ∗ ∗ ∗

Pomponne.263

No. 76

CHANOIS TO LOUVOIS

Reports of Catinat being at Pignerol. – Different Rumours respecting the Negociation.

Pignerol, April 5th, 1679.

As I have discovered, Sir, since the last post, that the Marquis d’Herleville (governor of Pignerol) is aware that M. de Richemont is incognito in the citadel of this town, and that, in fact, he knows his real name; I do myself the honour of acquainting you with the circumstance. M. de Saint-André even sends word, that he has been told at Turin that M. de Catinat is to take him with him to Casale. I do not know how they can have discovered so much, unless it is, that the absence of M. de Catinat has given occasion to some of the Guards264to write from Paris, that he is in these parts. These reports also mention the days on which he has gone out of the citadel, and the spot where the Abbé d’Estrades came to speak to him the last time from Turin. I have answered nothing when I have heard these things said, except that I knew of no one in the citadel, and nothing upon the subject.

The Marquis of Saint-Maurice told several people that the French Ambassador wished to be very cunning; but that he knew very well that there had been a treaty made between the King and the Duke of Mantua, on the subject of Casale; and that he also knew that during the last ten days it had been absolutely broken off. The retrograde movements of the troops cantoned in the Briançonnois and the valley of Chaumont, on the side of Dauphiny and Provence, seem to confirm the report of the Marquis of Saint-Maurice; but the arrival of the battalion of the regiment of Piedmont in this town two days ago, makes the people of the country, who love to reason upon every thing, suspend their judgments; their reasonings will be of no importance, if the Duke’s sentiments are always well-disposed, for between this place and Casale there is no fortress, nor any obstacle which can delay the march of the King’s troops.

I am always with profound respect, &c.De Chanois.265

No. 77

CATINAT TO LOUVOIS

Pignerol, April 8th, 1679.

Sir,

The roads being good, and the days as long as they are at present, a body of cavalry can go in less than thirty hours from Pignerol to Casale. There is no fortified place through which we should be obliged to pass, and I am not aware of any difficulty that we could find on the passage, provided we took the country by surprise in our march. I have thought it right to state this to you, Sir, because the possibility of using this degree of diligence may materially assist the measures you may wish to take. The Duke of Mantua has never been at Casale, which seems to me an obstacle to the finding good excuses for his going there, at a time when his conduct is so much watched and suspected. But we could do very well without him, if he is always well-intentioned, and if he is the master of a good part of his garrison. The Governor is of Mantua, and therefore his actual subject; which is perhaps a favourable circumstance.

I am, &c.Catinat.266

No. 78

CATINAT TO LOUVOIS

Rumours of Catinat’s being at Pignerol. – Civilities of Saint-Mars to him.

April 15th, 1679.

Sir,

M. d’Herleville must have received some letters from Paris by the last post, which have given him the suspicion that I might be here; at least, he has put some leading questions on the subject to M. de Chanois: he is not a man without curiosity, and he thought by these means to gain certain intelligence. As I have been now a long while absent, and there has been no doubt at Paris of some design in agitation in these parts, on account of the troops which have been sent here, it is probable that some reasoner of the regiment of Guards, or some other person, may have given him this idea.

I did myself the honour to send you word, Sir, of all that passed in my journey to Incréa. I have received letters from the Abbé d’Estrades, in which he informs me that the troops have retired a little, in order to get into quarters where they can subsist more conveniently; and also of the accounts he has received respecting the delay in the execution of the affair you are acquainted with. I am treated here with so much attention and civility, that a long residence, while waiting for intelligence, ought not to give me any impatience, nor can I complain of any, except that which is caused by my anxiety and zeal to see the conclusion of an affair which His Majesty is anxious about, and for the conduct of which you, Sir, have thought proper to honour me with your confidence. I should have some uneasiness at being for so long a time a burden and an inconvenience to M. de Saint-Mars; but he executes with so much pleasure the orders which he receives from you, that all the care he takes of me does not distress me. I receive it all as a very evident mark of the kindness with which you, Sir, write to him on my subject, for which I am infinitely obliged to you; as well as for the honour you do me in permitting me to remain, with all the respect that is due to you,

Your very humble and very obedient Servant,

De Richemont.267

No. 79

POMPONNE TO PINCHESNE

Continued Suspicions of Matthioli.

St. Germain, April 18th, 1679.

The account you gave me in your letter of the 25th of last month of the conversation you had had with the Count Matthioli, could not be more exact. It is still very difficult to discover what is the real case with this affair, and whether the good faith that was to be desired in it has been kept to. Try to discover this adroitly, but without showing any suspicions; and be careful to inform me of every thing that shall come to your knowledge upon the subject.

This is all I have to reply to your letter. The rest does not require any particular answer.

Pomponne.268

No. 80

LOUVOIS TO SAINT-MARS

St. Germain, April 18th, 1679.

I have received your letter of the 8th of this month. The period of time during which M. de Richemont will have to remain in the place where he is at present being uncertain, I advise you to let him walk with your prisoners, even if it should only be in the dungeon. You may even permit him to pay them visits, and to converse with them, which will assist in enabling him to pass the time of his stay, which, whether it will be long or short, I cannot at present tell you.

∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗De Louvois.269

No. 81

POMPONNE TO PINCHESNE

Confirmation of the Suspicions respecting Matthioli’s want of Fidelity.

St. Germain, April 19th, 1679.

The account you have given in your letter of the first of this month, of your interview with the Count Matthioli, of the assurances he gave you of his good intentions, and of the journey he was preparing to make to the Abbé d’Estrades, does not prevent his being suspected with great reason of want of fidelity. Do not, however, let him discover, in case you see him again, the knowledge we have upon this subject, but tell him always that we cannot doubt but that the Duke of Mantua will execute the promises he has so solemnly given through him. In truth, this Prince ought not to be allowed to believe, that it is permitted to him to fail in a treaty he has made with His Majesty; and if the occasion presents itself, make it appear to him that you can have no doubt of the promises which have been made to the King being kept, and of the engagements which have been once entered into with him being executed. Take care to inform us exactly, as you have already done, of all that shall take place in this affair, and of the manner in which it shall continue to be regarded at Venice.

I am, &c.Pomponne.270

No. 82

LOUVOIS TO SAINT-MARS

Order to receive Matthioli as a Prisoner.

Saint Germain, April 27th, 1679.

The King has sent orders to the Abbé d’Estrades, to try and arrest a man, with whose conduct His Majesty has reason to be dissatisfied; of which he has commanded me to acquaint you, in order that you may not object to receiving him, when he shall be sent to you, and that you may guard him in a manner, that not only he may not have communication with any one, but that also he may have cause to repent of his bad conduct; and that it may not be discovered that you have a new prisoner.

De Louvois.271

No. 83

POMPONNE TO PINCHESNE

Further confirmation of the Treachery of Matthioli.

St. Germain, May 3d, 1679.

The letter you wrote me on the 15th of last month, has confirmed to the King the treachery of the Count Matthioli, which already was but too much suspected. There never was so signal a piece of perfidy. We must hope that the sentiments of his master will not be of the same kind, and that he will not wish to break the promises he has given to his Majesty. Meanwhile we hear that this Count has arrived at Turin, where he thinks, without doubt, to impose again upon the Abbé d’Estrades. It is important always not to show that you are acquainted with his conduct.

Pomponne.272

No. 84

CATINAT TO LOUVOIS

Arrest of Matthioli.

Pignerol, May 3d, 1679.

I arrested Matthioli yesterday, three miles from hence, upon the King’s territories, during an interview which the Abbé d’Estrades had ingeniously contrived between him, Matthioli, and myself, to facilitate the scheme. For the purpose of arresting him, I only made use of the Chevalier de Saint-Martin and de Villebois, two officers of M. de Saint-Mars, and of four men of his company: it was effected without any violence, and no one knows the name of the rascal, not even the officers who assisted in his arrest: he is in the chamber which the individual named Dubreuil occupied, where he will be treated civilly, according to the request of the Abbé d’Estrades, until the wishes of the King, with regard to him, are known. I do not write any thing to you, Sir, respecting the certain conviction we have acquired of the villanies of this man, the Abbé d’Estrades having already given his Majesty all the information possible upon this subject. In the interview we had together before his arrest, we talked of various things, and among others of the place in which he had placed the essential and original papers respecting the affair in question, which consist in a letter of the Duke of Mantua to the King, the full powers he himself had for negociating, the treaty of his Majesty, executed by M. de Pomponne, the ratification of the aforesaid treaty signed by the Duke of Mantua, and a letter of the Duke of Mantua to the Governor of Casale, ordering him to receive the troops of the King in conformity with the treaty. All these papers are in a box at Bologna, in the hands of his wife, who is retired into the convent of the Nuns of Saint Lewis. The Abbé d’Estrades is of opinion that no time should be lost in obtaining these papers. As I only brought this man here yesterday very late, and that the post goes early this morning, I have not as yet had any conversation with him, for the purpose of obtaining his papers; but two hours hence I will go to his room, and I do not doubt the menaces I shall make to him, which his criminal conduct will render more terrific to him, will oblige him to do all that I wish. I have chosen M. de Blainvilliers, a choice approved of also by M. de Saint-Mars, to go to Bologna, considering him as very capable to conduct himself well in such a business. I will try to give him a route by which he will avoid passing over the territories of the King of Spain. I will give an account to you, Sir, the next post, of all that I shall have done on this subject with Matthioli, to whom I have given here the name of Lestang, no one here knowing who he really is.

I am, &c.Richemont.273

No. 85

CATINAT TO LOUVOIS

Intelligence respecting Matthioli’s Papers.

Pignerol, May 6th, 1679.

Sir,

Since I did myself the honour of writing to you, I have taken down shortly in writing all the information I have been able to draw from the Sieur de Lestang. By making him perceive, and roughly too, the misery to which his bad conduct exposed him, I induced him to seek for the means of avoiding it, by doing readily and frankly all that was desired of him. I have not said any thing to him which could make him discover the means by which we have been so certainly informed of his treachery; but I have spoken to him in such a manner on that subject, that he cannot doubt that we know it, and are convinced of it. He is a rascal; but I believe him to be honest in his desire of delivering up the papers, either from the fear which his present condition causes him, or with the view of rendering a service to the King, which may be agreeable to him, and may make him forget what is past. The original papers are at Padua, concealed in a hole in the wall of a room, which is in his father’s lodging, and which he says is known to him alone. These papers are the treaty made by M. de Pomponne, signed by him and by Matthioli, signed below by the Duke of Mantua, a blank being left for the insertion of the ratification, when the exchange should be made for that of the King; a blank paper signed by the Duke of Mantua, intended for a letter to the Governor of Casale, to order him to receive the troops of the King; the full power given to M. de Pomponne to treat with him respecting Casale; and a list of the troops destined to the execution of this affair. If we once have possession of these papers, the affair is concluded as far as regards negociation; but this is a fact that we need only make known when we think proper. As I am aware of what importance it is to have possession of these original papers, I have acquainted the Abbé d’Estrades with the expedients I thought might be made use of for this purpose, in order that I may be assisted by his advice. I do not detail them at present to you, Sir, because I expect to-day the Sieur Giuliani, whom the Abbé d’Estrades is to send to me, together with the Abbé de Montesquiou, his relation, for the purpose of the former’s being confronted with the Sieur de Lestang. As this interview will probably suggest to me more certain means of getting possession of these papers, I will not, as yet, acquaint you, Sir, with those that I had proposed to myself. There are, besides, other papers at Bologna, which are only letters and papers we have, as it seems to me, little need of; knowing, as we do, by the list of those which are at Padua, that it is these alone which particularly regard the affair in question. I will do myself the honour to send you word, Sir, by the next post, what shall have been the issue of the interview between the Sieur de Lestang and Giuliani.