The Life and Death of John of Barneveld, Advocate of Holland, 1610a | Page 6

might honour him by
writing.
The result of this communication to the King was of course to enrage
that monarch to the utmost, and his first impulse on finding that the
Prince was out of his reach was to march to Brussels at once and take
possession of him and the Princess by main force. More moderate
counsels prevailed for the moment however, and negotiations were
attempted.
Praslin did not contrive to intercept the fugitives, but the States-
General, under the advice of Barneveld, absolutely forbade their
coming to Breda or entering any part of their jurisdiction. The result of
Conde's application to the King of Spain was an ultimate offer of

assistance and asylum, through a special emissary, one Anover; for the
politicians of Madrid were astute enough to see what a card the Prince
might prove in their hands.
Henry instructed his ambassador in Spain to use strong and threatening
language in regard to the harbouring a rebel and a conspirator against
the throne of France; while on the other hand he expressed his
satisfaction with the States for having prohibited the Prince from
entering their territory. He would have preferred, he said, if they had
allowed him entrance and forbidden his departure, but on the whole he
was content. It was thought in Paris that the Netherland government
had acted with much adroitness in thus abstaining both from a violation
of the law of nations and from giving offence to the King.
A valet of Conde was taken with some papers of the Prince about him,
which proved a determination on his part never to return to France
during the lifetime of Henry. They made no statement of the cause of
his flight, except to intimate that it might be left to the judgment of
every one, as it was unfortunately but too well known to all.
Refused entrance into the Dutch territory, the Prince was obliged to
renounce his project in regard to Breda, and brought his wife to
Brussels. He gave Bentivoglio, the Papal nuncio, two letters to forward
to Italy, one to the Pope, the other to his nephew, Cardinal Borghese.
Encouraged by the advices which he had received from Spain, he
justified his flight from France both by the danger to his honour and to
his life, recommending both to the protection of his Holiness and his
Eminence. Bentivoglio sent the letters, but while admitting the
invincible reasons for his departure growing out of the King's pursuit of
the Princess, he refused all credence to the pretended violence against
Conde himself. Conde informed de Praslin that he would not consent to
return to France. Subsequently he imposed as conditions of return that
the King should assign to him certain cities and strongholds in Guienne,
of which province he was governor, far from Paris and very near the
Spanish frontier; a measure dictated by Spain and which inflamed
Henry's wrath almost to madness. The King insisted on his instant
return, placing himself and of course the Princess entirely in his hands
and receiving a full pardon for this effort to save his honour. The Prince
and Princess of Orange came from Breda to Brussels to visit their
brother and his wife. Here they established them in the Palace of

Nassau, once the residence in his brilliant youth of William the Silent;
a magnificent mansion, surrounded by park and garden, built on the
brow of the almost precipitous hill, beneath which is spread out so
picturesquely the antique and beautiful capital of Brabant.
The Archdukes received them with stately courtesy at their own palace.
On their first ceremonious visit to the sovereigns of the land, the formal
Archduke, coldest and chastest of mankind, scarcely lifted his eyes to
gaze on the wondrous beauty of the Princess, yet assured her after he
had led her through a portrait gallery of fair women that formerly these
had been accounted beauties, but that henceforth it was impossible to
speak of any beauty but her own.
The great Spinola fell in love with her at once, sent for the illustrious
Rubens from Antwerp to paint her portrait, and offered Mademoiselle
de Chateau Vert 10,000 crowns in gold if she would do her best to
further his suit with her mistress. The Genoese banker-soldier made
love, war, and finance on a grand scale. He gave a magnificent banquet
and ball in her honour on Twelfth Night, and the festival was the
wonder of the town. Nothing like it had been seen in Brussels for years.
At six in the evening Spinola in splendid costume, accompanied by
Don Luis Velasco, Count Ottavio Visconti, Count Bucquoy, with other
nobles of lesser note, drove to the Nassau Palace to bring the Prince
and Princess and their suite to the Marquis's mansion. Here a guard of