I have just been to see M. de Pomponne, and have spoken to him on the points contained in my instructions, of which I left him a note. He told a step in an affair of this kind, since no ambassador had yet consented to do so; that his Excellence was not ignorant that, at the recent entrée of the Portuguese ambassador, the carriage of that duchess had not been present; that M. Sainctot had indeed induced the preceding nuncio, Cavallerini, to invite that lady to send her carriage at his entrée, which had been done; but, when the nuncio immediately afterwards found that he had fallen into a snare, he had loudly complained of it, and declined going to the drawing-room of the Duchess de Verneuil, as it is usual to attend those of all the princesses of the blood; that although the ambassador would willingly conform to the usage which he should find established in favour of the natural sons of the reigning king, the Duke du Maine, and Count de Toulouse, it would be useless to solicit him to pay the same honours to the Duchess de Verneuil. “Notwithstanding this, M. de Boneuil waited on his Excellency on the following day, Tuesday the 7th, for the purpose of reading to him a note which he had received the previous evening from the Marquis de Torcy, of which the following is a copy: "I have received your note this morning. I have informed the King of the explanation which you demand respecting the carriage of the Duchess de Verneuil. It is his Majesty's intention that she shall be treated like Count de Toulouse, and that she shall rank immediately after him: her carriage, therefore, is to go to the entrées of the ambassadors, and follow immediately after that of Count de Toulouse. I beg you to let me know to-morrow whether the entrée of the Earl of Portland is still fixed for Sunday, and whether his equipage has arrived.' "His Excellency was surprised at this note, and reminded M. de Boneuil that he had told him on the preceding day that me that he would make a report to the King. I made no mention to him of commerce or of the post, to which your Majesty desired me to reply His this proposition would be rejected should it be made. lordship then declared in a very decided tone, that, as he should not invite the Duchess de Verneuil, he hoped that she would not send her carriage to his entrée; but that if she did so without invitation, he should order his servants forcibly to hinder the carriage of this lady from preceding his; but that if it were made to pass before his, and either by force or stratagem got into the line during the procession, his Excellency would be instantly informed by some persons on horseback, whom he should desire to be on the watch, upon which he would at once alight from the king's carriage, and step into his own; and that he would neither make his entrée, nor have a public audience. But, however, as it would be best to avoid such an éclat, should the Court of France persist in the pretension which it set up, his Excellency desired to be informed of it on the following day, Saturday, because in that case he would not make his entrée on Sunday, but would write to the king his master for instruction. "M. de Boneuil withdrew with this answer, as my lord refused to listen to any of the modifications which that gentleman proposed to him. The firmness of his Excellency obliged the Court of France to desist from its pretension; and his Excellency was informed of it on Saturday the 8th, at noon, by a note from M. de Boneuil, of which the following is a copy: "In answer to the demand made by Mr. Robethon on the part of your Excellency, I have the honour to inform you, that as you have not time between this and to-morrow, which the King has fixed as the day for your entrée,—to allow of your Excellency's writing to England to the king your master, and to receive orders conformable with the views of his Majesty, I have the honour to inform your Excellency that it is his Majesty's pleasure that you should make your entrée to-morrow, and that your carriage should follow imme in case he should speak to me about them, which it does not seem that they are inclined to do. I do not know whether I am misinformed, but I diately that of Count de Toulouse. I shall have the honour to communicate to your Excellency more at length the intentions of his Majesty on this subject. Meantime, I beg your Excellency to believe, &c. &c.' "On Saturday, at three o'clock in the afternoon, M. de Boneuil waited in person on his Excellency to communicate to him a letter which he had received that morning from the Marquis de Torcy, of which the following is a copy: — 666 Sir, 66 6 Marly, March 7. 1698. "If the difficulty which Lord Portland makes respecting the carriage of the Duchess de Verneuil could have been foreseen, time would have been allowed for his Excellency to write to England on the subject; and there is good reason to believe that, before his entrée, he would have received orders which would have removed every obstacle. It is certain that the Duke de Verneuil has the same rank as Count de Toulouse, and hence, we cannot understand why the Earl of Portland wishes to make a difference of respect where the King makes none, except in that of precedence. You are aware that the Duchess de Verneuil signs the contracts of marriage of the Royal Family; that she has always been present at the entertainments, and, in short, that she is treated in every point as the princesses of the blood. Ambassadors cannot diminish the number of those whom it is his Majesty's pleasure to treat in this manner; they must conform to what is usual in the countries in which they are. "Reasons might be found to meet the difficulties which the Earl of Portland makes to one carriage, more or less, preceding his at his entrée, if the day were more distant; but, as it is to be on Sunday, and his Majesty does not think fit to delay it, if he does not change his resolution, he is at liberty to conform with what is set down in the ceremonial observed with respect to the last English ambassador. You must, however, if you VOL. I. Р am told that they are persuaded here that England has more need of the commerce of France, and cannot do without it, and that, on this account, they intend to increase the import duties on tin and lead coming from England. I mentioned to M. de Pomponne the surprising difficulty which was raised in respect to the ceremonial, and spoke in the same terms as I had done to the conductor of ambassadors, whose answer I am still awaiting. 8th March. I have this instant received a letter from the conductor of ambassadors: this difficulty therefore is removed. please, see the Duchess de Verneuil, and give her an account of the order which you have from the king, in consequence of the difficulties raised by Lord Portland: you will let her know that, if we had been aware of them more than two days before his entrée, time would have been given him to write to England about it; but that the day for the entrée, and that for his audience of the king, being fixed, it is not possible to defer it; that, however, his Majesty desires that you shall inform the ambassadors who shall come in future of what is due to the rank which the king has given her.' "M. de Boneuil, after having read this letter, strongly insisted that the intention of the King was, that in future the ambassadors should pay the same honour to the Duchess de Verneuil as to the other princesses of the blood; to which my lord answered, that his business at present was only to regulate what was to be done at his entrée on the following day, and that it would be seen in the sequel, whether the king his master, and the other sovereigns, would consent to this innovation.' "His Excellency having obtained what he wished in regard to this incident, thought only of preparing every thing for his entrée the following day."- Manuscript Journal. WILLIAM III. TO THE PENSIONARY HEINSIUS. Kensington, February 25. 1698. It The conversation which you have had with Bonrepos gives much room for reflection. appears strange to me, that the French already manifest so openly a desire to evade the treaty of commerce concluded with the Republic. One would say, that they are preparing shortly to recommence the war. We shall be able to judge with more certainty on the return of the Earl of Portland, who will assuredly be thoroughly informed of every thing. Meanwhile, it is very melancholy that we cannot take measures to secure ourselves against a surprise, especially in case the king of Spain should die suddenly. The most vexatious point for me is, that the strange proceedings of Parliament put it out of my power to do any thing for the common security, so that I do not even know whether it would be advisable for me, at present, to engage in a new treaty of guarantee or association. You propose to me, that I should manage so as to have some money in reserve, and for that purpose you advise a loan of two millions. This would be, without question, a very useful and necessary precaution; but the state of affairs here is at present such, that not only is it impossible for me to make such a loan, but I do not even see how I shall be able to pay some debts this year, however urgent they may be. |