CHAPTER XX.

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 revelationsto 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 ofCasale. 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 thedénoûmentof this business were not only appointed, but were actually at their posts. Thefar-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 acarrousel.[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 withAvedick. 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 knowif 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 causedM. 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 thatthe 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 Spaniardsand 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 ofMantua 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 toPignerol, 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.”

“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 ofMantua 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 toPignerol, 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 hisutmost 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 whichhe 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 thebottom 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 madetogether 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 acomplete 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.”

“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 thebottom 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 madetogether 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 acomplete 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 gaveincorrect 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 confidedto M. de Pinchesne, the representative of the King of France at Venice, the precious originals,[521]which wereimmediately 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 destroyingfor 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 fullyaware 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, seventeenyears 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 toldJuliani (a spy) thathis father had assuredhim that the Spaniards had given 4,000 pistoles [1,600l.] 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 Chamlayon 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]75,000l.—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.

[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 toldJuliani (a spy) thathis father had assuredhim that the Spaniards had given 4,000 pistoles [1,600l.] 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.

“I must not omit to inform your Majesty that Father Ranzoni (a spy)has toldJuliani (a spy) thathis father had assuredhim that the Spaniards had given 4,000 pistoles [1,600l.] 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 Chamlayon 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]75,000l.—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.

[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.

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