The Archduchess is the eldest of the Emperor’s three Sisters. She is jolly, but dances nimbly and gracefully. The Princess has a noble and majestic Aspect. She appears to be extremely grave, and talks little, but with Dignity; and she is Mistress of several Languages. When she came into the Netherlands, as she parted thro’ Louvain, she returned an Answer in Latin, to the Deputies of the University, who harangued her in that Language. She is Mistress of History, Geography, and many other fine Sciences; and without flattering her,
she may be said to be a Mirror of Virtue and Piety. ’Tis impossible for any one living to be more charitable; and she does not know what it is to refuse Access to the Unfortunate. She wishes it were in her Power to serve all that ask Favour at her Hands, and is very much perplexed when she is obliged to give a Denial. That Portion of the Day, which she does not devote to God, she bestows upon Business, to which she gives very great Application: And her most Serene Highness is so easy of Access, that ’tis no manner of Difficulty to obtain an Audience of her.
The same Honours are paid to her here, as are paid to the Emperor at Vienna. She always eats alone, and for most part in Public. Her Ladies wait on her at Table. She lends a gracious Ear to those that speak to her, and returns the kindest Answers. She was never known to express the least Disgust with any of her Domestics.
Her Second in Affairs is the Count Don Julio Visconti, by Birth a Milanese, a Person of Honour, and of a good Family, a Man of Integrity and Sincerity, impossible to be byass’d by any thing but Justice, a good Œconomist, and always disinterested. Tho’ the People of this Country are not the most ready to speak well of their Governors or Superiors, they all agree, that M. de Visconti is a Minister not to be corrupted. He is pretty tall, and has a grave stern Countenance. He has such a Weight of Affairs upon his Hands, that he cannot always give the like Attention to every thing, but refers many Things to his Secretary, Henry Crumpipen by Birth a Westphalian, who was born with all the Talents for Business. He is good-natur’d, civil, courteous, ready to do Kindnesses, has an extraordinary Memory, and is a Man of a singular Application. He is universally beloved
here, and every one allows, that he is as uncorrupt as his Master.
M. de Visconti is lately appointed Viceroy of Naples, and is to be relieved here by the Count Frederik de Harrach; who is not only a Person of a great Family, but has a very amiable Temper, and the Carriage of a Person of Quality. He was at Cambray during the Congress, where, tho’ he had not the Character of Ambassador, he was let into all Affairs, the Emperor’s Plenipotentiaries being ordered to communicate every thing to him. After that, he was sent as a Minister to take care of the Emperor’s Affairs at the Court of Turin, From thence he was recalled, and sent Ambassador from his Imperial Majesty, as King of Bohemia, and first Secular Elector, to the Diet of Ratisbon; which Post he is quitting, in order to come hither, to be Prime Minister to the most Serene Archduchess. I make no doubt but he will be acceptable to the Flemings; for he is affable and engaging, active, laborious, generous and liberal, and loves Expence and Pleasures. As he has a Fortune of his own, and another by his Wife, who is a Princess of Lichtenstein, he is in a Condition to please the People of[82]Brussels, who expect their Ministers, &c. to lay out a great deal of Money with ’em; and therefore daily regret the Loss of Maximilian Emanuel the Elector of Bavaria, because that Prince expended seven or eight Millions with them every Year, which he drew from Bavaria. The Archduchess, say the People of Brussels, spends nothing, and her Court is rather a Convent; yet if they considered that this Princess has but four hundred and sixty, or at most, but five hundred thousand Florins Revenue,
they would, no doubt, be more sparing in their Reflection. With this Sum, which is a Trifle for so great a Princess, her most Serene Highness maintains a very large Houshold, pays everybody well, and keeps out of every body’s Debt; which is what can’t be said of any Governor or Sovereign of the Netherlands, who always went away from these Provinces in Debt. The Inhabitants have been accustomed to make Complaints Time out of Mind, and I believe, if the Question was put to every single Native of Brabant or Flanders, there would be very few that could tell what sort of Government they would have, and what Master would suit them best: For, since the Death of Charles II. King of Spain, they have been under four several Dominions, and have had eight or nine Governors, who have all given them Cause to murmur. The only one that ever had their Applause, was the Marshal Count de Daun, now Governor of Milan, which, perhaps, was as much owing to his succeeding the Marquis de Prie, whose Recal every body desired, as to the advantageous Alterations he made in the Government.
The Court of Brussels is really not the most inviting Court in the World. The Ceremonial at Vienna is observed here almost in every thing. The Archduchess is served like the Empress, and nobody has the Privilege of eating with her; only the Duke of Lorain was indulg’d that Liberty, but ’twas at one of the Hunting Seats, and then the Ladies attended him as they did the Archduchess. When the Elector of Bavaria came hither with the Princes his Brothers, in their Return from France, he said ’Twas very comical, that he who lay every Night with an Archduchess at Munich, could not have the Pleasure of dining with an Archduchess at Brussels.
The Ladies of this Country, who have Titles, of whom there are many whose Husbands are
Grandees of Spain, insisted, at first, on the Privilege of being seated on a Stool in the Presence of her most Serene Highness; but they were disappointed in their Claim; and notwithstanding they urged, that the other Governesses of the Netherlands had granted them this Distinction, they were answered, That those other Governesses were not Sisters of the Emperor; and that if they were such, they did not keep to the Ceremonial of the Court of Vienna, where all Ladies, Princesses as well as others, stand in Presence of the Archduchesses. Others claim’d the Privilege to come to the Palace in a Coach and Six, and some have actually presumed to drive in with such Equipage: But the Guards, who are better instructed in the Ceremonial than such Ladies, sent them back again, and told them, That it was not proper for any but her most Serene Highness, to come with six Horses. The Ladies turned back, not a little mortified; and for some time took it in such Dudgeon, that they would not appear at Court; but when they saw that nobody regarded their Pouting, and were apprehensive of an Order from Vienna, they came to Court again, and now do as they ought.