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 givenhim 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 him257thisweek, 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 aVoiturier, 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.
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I have just this moment heard, Sir, that the Duke of Mantua set off yesterday evening at four o’clock at night,258and that the Marquis Canozza is also gone to Verona, which is his country, fromwhence it is believed he will be very likely to go to Milan.
De Pinchesne.259
257Matthioli.
258According to the Italian mode of reckoning the hours.
259From the Archives of the Office for Foreign Affairs, at Paris.