The Life and Death of John of Barneveld, Advocate of Holland, 1610a | Page 5

stating the King's belief that he had fled to the territory of the
Archdukes. If he should come to Breda or to any other place within the
jurisdiction of the States, they were requested to make sure of his
person at once, and not to permit him to retire until further instructions
should be received from the King. De Praslin, captain of the
body-guards and lieutenant of Champagne, it was further mentioned,
was to be sent immediately on secret mission concerning this affair to

the States and to the Archdukes.
The King suspected Conde of crime, so the Advocate was to be
informed. He believed him to be implicated in the conspiracy of Poitou;
the six who had been taken prisoners having confessed that they had
thrice conferred with a prince at Paris, and that the motive of the plot
was to free themselves and France from the tyranny of Henry IV. The
King insisted peremptorily, despite of any objections from Aerssens,
that the thing must be done and his instructions carried out to the letter.
So much he expected of the States, and they should care no more for
ulterior consequences, he said, than he had done for the wrath of Spain
when he frankly undertook their cause. Conde was important only
because his relative, and he declared that if the Prince should escape,
having once entered the territory of the Republic, he should lay the
blame on its government.
"If you proceed languidly in the affair," wrote Aerssens to Barneveld,
"our affairs will suffer for ever."
Nobody at court believed in the Poitou conspiracy, or that Conde had
any knowledge of it. The reason of his flight was a mystery to none, but
as it was immediately followed by an intrigue with Spain, it seemed
ingenious to Henry to make, use of a transparent pretext to conceal the
ugliness of the whole affair.
He hoped that the Prince would be arrested at Breda and sent back by
the States. Villeroy said that if it was not done, they would be guilty of
black ingratitude. It would be an awkward undertaking, however, and
the States devoutly prayed that they might not be put to the test. The
crafty Aerssens suggested to Barneveld that if Conde was not within
their territory it would be well to assure the King that, had he been
there, he would have been delivered up at once. "By this means," said
the Ambassador, "you will give no cause of offence to the Prince, and
will at the same time satisfy the King. It is important that he should
think that you depend immediately upon him. If you see that after his
arrest they take severe measures against him, you will have a thousand
ways of parrying the blame which posterity might throw upon you.
History teaches you plenty of them."
He added that neither Sully nor anyone else thought much of the Poitou
conspiracy. Those implicated asserted that they had intended to raise
troops there to assist the King in the Cleve expedition. Some people

said that Henry had invented this plot against his throne and life. The
Ambassador, in a spirit of prophecy, quoted the saying of Domitian:
"Misera conditio imperantium quibus de conspiratione non creditor nisi
occisis."
Meantime the fugitives continued their journey. The Prince was
accompanied by one of his dependants, a rude officer, de Rochefort,
who carried the Princess on a pillion behind him. She had with her a
lady- in-waiting named du Certeau and a lady's maid named Philippote.
She had no clothes but those on her back, not even a change of linen.
Thus the young and delicate lady made the wintry journey through the
forests. They crossed the frontier at Landrecies, then in the Spanish
Netherlands, intending to traverse the Archduke's territory in order to
reach Breda, where Conde meant to leave his wife in charge of his
sister, the Princess of Orange, and then to proceed to Brussels.
He wrote from the little inn at Landrecies to notify the Archduke of his
project. He was subsequently informed that Albert would not prevent
his passing through his territories, but should object to his making a
fixed residence within them. The Prince also wrote subsequently to the
King of Spain and to the King of France.
To Henry he expressed his great regret at being obliged to leave the
kingdom in order to save his honour and his life, but that he had no
intention of being anything else than his very humble and faithful
cousin, subject, and servant. He would do nothing against his service,
he said, unless forced thereto, and he begged the King not to take it
amiss if he refused to receive letters from any one whomsoever at court,
saving only such letters as his Majesty himself