assuring him of this, he sent him orders to acquiesce in the Pignerol scheme, entirely out of deference to the Duke of Savoy. This was accordingly done, the king and his obedient servant hoping “that this compliance would ensure the fidelity of the Duke, and eventually win his concurrence to the prosecution of operations against the French coasts.” The Duke, it now appears, hoped to obtain Pignerol from the French by diplomacy. He accordingly did nothing in the campaign but waste the season; and thus the year 1695 passed away. During the winter Lord Galway was in the cantons of Zurich and Berne raising recruits: 3000 Swiss were thus obtained.[1]
The year 1696 found the confederates with increasing suspicions. A papal nuncio had publicly appeared at the ducal court to advise peace, out of pity for the miseries of his Highness’s people and the misfortunes of Italy. The Duke’s formal answer was what Lord Galway called “such as we could wish, being to the effect that peace could not be made without the unanimous consent of all the allies.”
His Highness was nevertheless prepared to treat with France for his own covetous and ambitious ends. But he was perplexed how to contrive an opportunity for negotiation, “convinced that all his movements were watched by Lord Galway, and fearful of confiding even in his own ministers.” So says Coxe; and the biographer of King William writes, that “the Duke was narrowly watched by the vigilant Lord Galway,” and devised a plan “to avoid the prying sagacity of that minister.”
Lord Galway was not expected, and did not desire, to be present at Roman Catholic ceremonies. The Duke, therefore, told him that he would be absent for fifteen days on a religious pilgrimage at Loretto. Both Prince Lugene and Lord Galway sent spies to watch him; and it is said that the latter gained over some of the subordinate clerks and secretaries. But eluding all observation, the Duke carried on the negotiation. As a pilgrim, he must have monks for his companions. And some French agents (including, it is believed, the Comté de Tesse) were attired in monastic costume for the occasion. The bribes which the Duke then accepted from France were, for such a man, dazzling beyond conception, namely, the cession of Pignerol, the marriage of the Princess Maria Adelaide of Savoy to the Duke of Burgundy, and the honours due only to ambassadors from crowned heads for his ambassadors at the French court. Having thus sacrificed to and worshipped Mammon, he quietly returned home on March 15th, as if a religious ceremonial had been engrossing his mind.
Lord Galway wrote about this time to the Duke of Shrewsbury. The following is an extract from his letter, dated Turin (February 29), March 10, 1696:—
“His Royal Highness sent me on the first of this month to Vercelli to reform one of the battalions in the service of the king. He departed the next day for Milan, and two days after set out for Loretto. He traversed Parma, Modena, and Bologna. He told me on passing through Vercelli that his journey would occupy fifteen days; so that I do not expect him here until the 15th of this month. However, the enemy have taken the necessary measures to pass the mountains and enter the plains; their gendarmerie and cavalry, who were in winter quarters in Franche Comté, are ordered to be in readiness to march on the commencement of this month. I hope his Highness, on his return to Milan, will send hither a detachment of the Imperial and Spanish troops, which will suffice, with his own, to prevent at this season the enterprises of the enemy.
“By this time the Toulon fleet must be at sea, according to the last advices from Marseilles. Letters from Lyons announce that the French have collected at Calais a large armament of fishing vessels and small craft to transport the troops for the invasion of England, and that King James has posted from Paris to Calais. It is long since I informed you that in Italy they affirmed that the main design of France this year was to invade England. I hope we shall be prepared to receive them.”
The Duke of Savoy’s bargain with France was still a secret, when a hitch occurred (on May 30th) which, though it irritated him, enabled him to secure the concealment of the whole plot by an apparent manifestation of habitual good faith towards the allies. The French diplomatists had prevailed on the Duke’s agent to sign the treaty, with a new clause delaying the cession of Pignerol until the proclamation of a general peace. The grasping Victor Amedeo promptly repudiated the transaction. The French king in his turn waxed wroth, and ordered letters to be addressed to him, containing “threats of most exemplary vengeance,” unless he accepted the French offers. The duke, with the air of one who let his allies read all his correspondence, showed these letters to Lord Galway and the other generals. He declared himself keen for fighting. And the confederates admired his ingenuousness, and sympathized with him as showing a bold front against both the honeyed baits and the savage menaces of France.
- ↑ Luttrell, under dates 9th Nov., 30th Nov., and 28th Dec. 1695.
