Instrucciones del Emperador a M. de Humbermont

The Camp,

As soon as you have arrived in England, you will present my letters to the King and Queen, my son and daughter, and thank them for having sent Count Horn to visit me, for I was very glad to hear that they were well and their marriage had been successfully celebrated. They may feel sure that I would very much have liked to be present in person, in order to sec and speak with them, and that we might have rejoiced together over this most happy event that has crowned my persistent efforts, for which I never tire of rendering thanks to Our Lord.

I trust in Him, that as He has brought it about, He will cause the newly-married couple to live on in happiness and speedily bring them the issue that would make our joy complete. You will tell them that I have not sent any one to visit them before this because I had heard that they meant to send a special envoy to me, and I wished to see the King's letter. You will inform them of all that has occurred here, taking the greatest pains, as I enjoined upon you verbally, to convey to the Queen a sense of my attachment, giving them also an account of my health, which ought to be better considering the task I am now engaged upon; but I must make a great effort until I see what the upshot of this campaign will be.

You will say to the King, my son, that he has doubtless seen from the letter I sent off yesterday the decision I have arrived at as to his coming hither, and that the longer I reflect on the matter the more I am convinced that for the present he had better reside with the Queen, busy himself with the government of the realm and gain the goodwill not only of the nobles but also of the people, for by so doing a great deal may be achieved in the future.

After Count Horn had arrived here yesterday and reported to me, I called the Council together in his presence, in order that he might be thoroughly well-informed, and went over the possibilities of a campaign this year. The expediency of invading France was discussed, with the object of doing there as much harm as the French have visited upon our dominions, and of seizing some fortress or place that might easily be fortified. Another suggestion was to besiege Marienbourg and cut off its communications, or at any rate prevent the French from advancing further in that direction, which is a particularly dangerous one because Namur is not far off, a place of great importance.

However, the season is far advanced, Marienbourg is very strong and well-provided with men, munitions and supplies, so a siege would be one of those costly and unremunerative operations which are better avoided. All these questions were discussed, but no decision could we arrive at because all must necessarily depend on the movements of the enemy, about which we as yet have no certain information, and the size of his army. In good time we shall fix on a plan, of which the King shall be informed; and for the present we are leaving for Cambrai, in which direction the camp is already moving. If the opportunity seems favourable, we may advance and try to injure the enemy in order to put heart into our troops and perhaps strike a blow, or at any rate take our army out of our dominions which have suffered so sorely, and feed it on the French country as long as we intend to keep it together. Last of all, the Council was informed of the request the King had addressed to us, both when he heard of the loss of Marienbourg and again recently, to come to take part in the war; but it was unanimously agreed that he by no means ought to leave England, but stay there and try to set affairs in that realm in order, leaving his journey hither for a more promising time, since there seems to be no chance at present of achieving any important success, and if he simply came in for the latter part of an inglorious campaign, far from shedding lustre on him, it would be much more likely, for various reasons, to diminish his prestige.

It is most essential that in his first campaign he should make a fine appearance before the world. What he had better do now is to see to sending over the Spanish troops and money, as he tells me he is doing, and I have ordered Captain Juan Navarro to conduct them hither under strict discipline so that they may do no harm. I was already inclined to take this view (i.e. that Philip had better stay in England), as I wrote, but now I hold it most emphatically, so you will once more beg the King to comply with my wishes, for I see no other course more advantageous to him, and if there were any danger of his losing reputation by remaining where he is I would not try to persuade him to do so.

I had decided that Count Horn was to return to England with you in order to give a more detailed account of all the above to the King, as he was present at the meeting of the Council and realises that there is no hope of achieving any marked success this season; but I have since thought it better to defer his departure until I have an answer from the King, and that it will be enough for you to make the report to him and recite the contents of these instructions.

You will tell him that although he writes to me that he has said nothing about coming hither to the Queen, it was well to send the letters I wrote, and he may order you to speak to her on the subject, as there is reason why you should ask her, on my behalf, to excuse him, and why she should thank me for stopping him from coming hither, though he was so anxious to do so.You will also tell the King that as soon as the accounts of the money reach me I will answer his autograph letter and deal with the points contained therein. And when you have carried out your mission, you may return, bringing me the good news of the King and Queen I trust in Our Lord to hear.

Copy or translation. Spanish.