The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume II / Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from Prussia Thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, England, &c. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several Courts.

by Freiherr von Karl Ludwig Pöllnitz

This Cardinal made a Compliment of much the same Nature to the Cardinal de Noailles, who telling him one Day as he came from an Audience of the Duke of Orleans, That the said Prince would not give Ear to his Representations, but bade him go and —— himself, you understand the rest; the Cardinal Dubois made Answer, And really, Brother, the best Thing your Eminency can do, is to obey.

These Stories put me in mind of another that was current all over Paris, a little after the Cardinal Dubois was advanced to the Purple. The Lacqueys of these two Cardinals happening to be at a certain Place together, they had a Dispute about their Master’s Pre-eminency. Our Master, said the one, is the oldest Cardinal, Duke and Peer, and a Commander of the Kings Orders. The others said, Ours is a Prince of the Empire, Duke of Cambray, and Prime Minister. Ours, replied the former, consecrates Bishops; therefore, to be sure, he has the Preference above the Cardinal Dubois—— A very pretty Argument this! said one of Dubois’s Lacqueys, Why, if there’s any thing in Consecration, my Master is the greater Lord, in that respect too: For yours may consecrate Bishops, but mine consecrates G-d every Day of his Life. And, indeed; if the Fellow meant his Master’s Swearing by all that’s Sacred,

he was not in the wrong; for the Cardinal had a very bad Habit of Swearing, like any Grenadier.

The Cardinal left no great Estate behind him; and whether it was owing to his Disinterestedness, or to his want of Time to amass Wealth, his Fortune being but of a short Duration, his Heirs had not much Reason to rejoice at his Death. The Duke of Orleans soon forgot him, and nothing preserved his Memory so long in France itself, but certain Satires and Epitaphs made upon him by the Wits; which might have been transmitted, perhaps, to Posterity, if there had not been too much Gall in them. The Cardinal Dubois lies interr’d in the Church of St. Honore, where his Brother was a Canon. This Clergyman set up a Marble Tomb for him, where the Cardinal is represented on his Knees, inclin’d towards the Altar of the Choir, but his Head seems to turn from it; upon which the Critics remark, that he durst not, since his Death, look towards what he had profan’d in his Life.

The Cardinal Dubois obtained in Favour of Cambray, that the Congress should be held there for accommodating the Differences between the Emperor and Spain. The French made great Boast of this Matter, and vaunted how much it was to the Honour of the Duke of Orleans, that all the Powers of Europe should send Ambassadors to him, to submit their Fortunes to his Arbitration. The same Things were said with regard to the Congress of Soissons. They are come, said the Court-Flatterers, into our own Country, to desire Peace of us. They were not so modest as the Allies were heretofore; for when Lewis XIV. sent his Ambassadors to Aix la Chapelle, Nimeguen, Ryswic, Gertruydenberg, Utrecht, Rastadt, &c. we did not say, That the King came to beg a Peace of us; whereas the French always said, That they gave Peace to

Europe. Be this as it will, they have no very great Reason to boast of the two last Congresses that were held in their Country; which tho’ both were opened with a World of Splendor, yet both came to nothing. The Treaty of Vienna, concluded the 19th of April 1725. O. S. put a Period to the Cambray Congress; the Operations of which, during four Years Continuance, amounted to nothing more than forming fine Rules for the Ceremonial, and the maintaining of a good Order among the Domestics. The Baron de Ripperda, afterwards created a Duke and Grandee of Spain, and also Prime Minister to their Catholic Majesties, being a Person of great Vivacity, was so tir’d with the Dilatoriness of the Congress of Cambray, that he went to Vienna, with the Name of the Baron de Puffenberg, and established so strict a Friendship betwixt his Master and the Emperor, that the like was never, perhaps, known before between those two Courts, even when the House of Austria possessed the Throne of Spain. This very much eclipsed the Glory of the Congress of Cambray, and the Congress of Soissons received as great a Check afterwards by the Treaty of Seville.

From Cambray, I went to Valenciennes, the last Place in French Flanders, and one of the most considerable Towns in that Province. The Governor of it is the Prince de Tingry, who is the Son of the famous Duke de Luxembourg, the Marshal of France; whose Honour our Writers have endeavoured to sully, by accusing him of having held a Correspondence with the Devil, and of gaining so many Victories over us by that Means. The Prince de Tingry distinguished himself very much during the last War, by the Name of the Chevalier de Luxembourg. He contributed a great deal to the Support of Lisle when it was besieged, by throwing a Convoy of Powder into it

in the Night-time. He is look’d upon by all the Officers, as one of the chief Generals in France. Considering his Birth, Merit, Services, and those of his Father too, he ought to have had the Marshal’s Staff a long time ago; and ’twas thought he would have been included in the last Promotion, but he happened to be left out[81]. He is now one of the oldest Lieutenant-Generals. I cannot help mentioning his Politeness and Civility, having infinite Reason to acknowledge his Favours to myself.

Mons, the Capital City of Hainault, is not so large a City as Valenciennes, but I believe has more Gentry in it; and that, if it had a French Garison, would have more Parties of Pleasure. The Duke d’Aremberg is Governor both of this City, and of Hainault, of which he is Hereditary Grand Bailiff; but he resides at Brussels, and never comes into this Province, except to hold an Assembly of the States. This Nobleman is a Sovereign Prince of the Empire, Lieutenant-General and Colonel of a Regiment of Foot, Governor of Hainault, and of the City of Mons, Knight of the Golden Fleece, and lately a Captain of the Halbardiers of the Emperor’s Guard. He was but in his Cradle when he received the Collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece from King Charles II. after his Father had been killed in Hungary. He is the only Nobleman in all the Netherlands, that has recognized the House of Austria alone, for his Sovereign. His Mother, who is the Daughter of the late Marquis de Grana, Governor of the Netherlands, prevented him from engaging with any other Side, and always rejected the Advantages

that were offered to her on the Part of Philip V. After the Netherlands were reduced to the Obedience of their lawful Sovereign, by the Battle of Ramillies, the Duchess d’Aremberg and her Son were the first to acknowledge King Charles III. The Son had a Flemish Regiment in that Prince’s Service, and was very young when he made his first Campaign under my Lord Marlborough. ’Twas under him and Prince Eugene of Savoy, that he made all his future Campaigns, wherein he always signalized his Valour, but particularly at the Battle of Belgrade. ’Tis certain, that if the Duke had stay’d longer at Vienna, he would have had some important Employment long ere now. He has all the Qualities necessary for a good General, and an able Minister, and has every Endowment that renders a Man amiable. The Emperor values him, and Prince Eugene of Savoy lov’d and esteem’d him: But the Duke seems to have no Inclination to improve these Advantages, and prefers the tranquil Pleasures of Brussels, to the Tumult of the Court of Vienna.