T HE LI F E
HEIRY THE FOURTH,
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE.
• '^
BY G. P. k? JAMES, ESQ.,
AUTHOR OF " THE HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE," " CHIVALRY AND THE CRUSADES, ETC.. ETC., ETC.
N TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
82 CLIFF STREET.
1847.
THE
LIFE OF HENRY IV.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE.
BOOK VII.
FROM the history of France in those times, three persons stand forward in bold relief; Henry Duke of Guise, Henry King of Navarre, Henry of Valois : one by the force of talents and ambition ; one by genius and circumstances ; one by position alone. A multitude of minor characters crowd the scene, amongst whom the principal personages are, Catherine de Medicis, the Popes, the King of Spain, and the Cardinal de Bourbon.
The Duke of Guise now entered once more into the arena of civil strife with infinite advantages ; supported by a nu- merous, brave, skilful, and ambitious family, by high courage, great military and political talents, vast possessions, a hand- some person, immense corporeal powers, an active, deter- mined, and unhesitating mind, manners eminently popular, a high reputation, consistency of conduct, the religious zeal of the powerful faction of the League, perfect unity of purpose between himself and his brothers, the interests of the King of Spain, and the sympathy of every bigot throughout the Roman Catholic states of Europe.
Henry III. on the contrary, inconsistent in his whole de- meanor, contemned for his vices and his weakness, detested for his oppression and his insincerity, trusted by no party,
4 T H E L I F E 0 F H E N R Y IV.
loved by few, without the qualities that attach, that lead, or that command, had nothing in his favor but the royal au- thority which had become enfeebled in his hands ; courage without activity, skill without energy, art without perseve- rance, a large body of favorites whose safety was bound up with his own, all of them brave, many of them skilful, some of them resolute, the habitual veneration of a people, who were then proverbially loyal, and the cold support of the good and the wise, who abhorred the man, and despised the monarch, but reverenced the crown and loved their country.
For months and years, the faction of the League, and its leaders of the house of Guise, had labored assiduously, to lower the sovereign in the opinion of the people, by every artful means that could be devised. All his actions were made the subject of comment, libel, and pasquinade; his secret vices were exposed, his follies magnified, his weak- ness held up to derision. The regular clergy were enlisted against him, the dark and mighty order of the Jesuits was taught to employ the most subtle of its arts to poison the minds of the people against their King. The public ear was accustomed to hear the necessity of dethroning him openly canvassed ; and even his very table was not free from sar- casms at his person and his court.*
Henry III. on his part, seemed to labor to give point to the accusations of his adversaries. His indolence, his vices, his vacillation, his luxury, his extravagance, might have been tolerated or forgotten, had not his activity in intrigue and treachery, his fits of superstitious repentance, and hypocriti- cal devotion, his stern rigidity against those he hated, his sumptuary laws severely executed against all who had not his sanction for excess, his persecution of those whose pecu- lations had been subservient to his own, and his exactions
* One day the King having quitted Chenonceaux in haste, because the plague had appeared at that place, Ruscelay told him at table that he need not fear that malady, for his court was a worse pest, on which the other could have no power. L'Etoile.
O if i1 R A .N t! .ti AND .NAVARRE. 6
from his people to enrich his minions, formed a frightful con- trast between the measure that he dealt to his subjects and his favorites, and raised the indignation of all classes, against conduct which was equally devoid of decency and equity, equally vicious and unjust. Scorn, however, is the most dangerous feeling that a monarch can generate in the hearts of his people. He may be hated and yet tolerated ; his ac- tions may be condemned, and yet his talents may command ; lie may oppress, and yet rule ; but the sovereign must either be respected in his person, or by virtue of his authority, who would retain his crown or his life. If he be once despised he is lost, unless there be laws in the land which secure veneration for his office if not for himself, and in submitting to which, the throne itself is fortified by the attachment of the nation to institutions above the effects of personal de- pravity or weakness. Such was not the case in France at that time ; the law did not make the monarchy, and conse- quently did not secure it. The monarch made the law, and consequently founded his throne merely upon the traditional obedience of his people. He might retain his power by force, he might retain it by love, he might retain it by habit ; but his authority, by being placed above the control of law, was virtually placed beyond its protection, and his personal qual- ities always more or less affected the measure of his subjects' submission ; for, when in the common form he pronounced, " the King wills it," it required a powerful voice to make the words heard throughout the whole of France.
No sooner were the eyes of the Duke of Anjou closed, than the question of the succession to the throne became agitated in all quarters, in public and in private. As we have seen, the King himself had been roused from his indo- lent lethargy, by that important consideration, even before his brother was actually dead, and showed more activity and energy than he had displayed for years. It would appear, too, that before the course which the proceedings of the League would take, was developed, he divined several of the
6 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
steps which the members of that association would be in- duced to pursue; and it is more than probable that the Queen-mother, while secretly urging him to violate the exist- ing treaty of peace with the Protestants, and to co-operate with the house of Guise, discovered to her son many designs which were intended to be hidden from his eyes.
That Catherine, with the view of ultimately raising the son of her daughter the Duchess of Lorraine, to the throne of France, took a very early part in the machinations of the family of Guise, is proved by many facts ; and in a letter still extant, from Henry of Navarre, to the Protestant Coun- sellors of the Chamber of Justice, at Lisle, dated 13th July, 1584, he states that he had, at that time, received certain intelligence of the Queen-mother having treated with Mes- sieurs de Guise, having resolved upon the revocation of the edict of pacification, and having obtained the King's consent to such a course.*
It does not appear, however, that Henry III. ever seriously entertained an intention of promoting the views of his mother and the Duke of Lorraine ; but, whatever were his feelings upon that head, it is clear he treated the pretensions of the other competitor for the throne that was to become vacant by his death, with utter contempt. As early as the begin- ning of September, 1584, he sounded the intentions of the old Cardinal de Bourbon, under cover of a jest. He spoke openly to that weak Prince of the probable extinction of the line of Valois, and asked if, in that case, he did not judge
* Recueildes Lettres Missives de Henry IV. par M. Berger de Xivrey. I cannot refrain from calling attention to this collection, one of a great series, undertaken by the command of the French Government, and executed in a manner equally honorable to those intrnsted with the task, and those who appointed them : nor can I help expressing deep regret, not altogether unmingled with shame, that in our own country, where such immense collections of historical sources have been rotting for centuries, in confusion and oblivion, no national efforts should have been made to render them really available to the historian or the statesman.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 7
that the kingdom must fall to him, the Cardinal, rather than to his nephew, the King of Navarre. After much pressing, the old man admitted that he thought it must, and that he should certainly contest it ; upon which, the King, putting his hand upon his shoulder, told him, that the lower classes might give him the crown, but that those above them would wrest it from him ; and he retired laughing.
An attempt to trace all the intrigues that now took place, through their various ramifications, would be a task equally tedious and vain. It appears, as I have shown, that the Queen-mother was privy to the movements of the League, and hoped so to direct them, as ultimately to secure the crown to the son of her daughter, the Duchess of Lorraine ;* that the name of the Cardinal de Bourbon was only put for- ward to conceal the deeper views of the parties, and that the Duke of Guise, operating for his own interests, yielded in appearance to every suggestion, which increased the strength of a faction that he alone could direct, and concealing from all men his own purposes, offered himself as a creature in the hands of others, in full confidence of being able to use all the power he gained, for his personal objects. With these designs, he negotiated with the King of Spain, and obtained from him promises of assistance and support, and in the same course, it seems, that he entered into even more criminal intrigues, amongst which, one had for its objects to seize upon the person of Henry III., in the chapel of the Capuchins, to imprison him, and employ his name to sanc- tion whatever edicts the League might think fit to promul- gate.f
In the meantime, the meetings of the Leaguers were nu- merous, and their efforts to obtain fresh signatures in all parts of the realm, incessant. Day after day numbers were added to the list, and more and more daring steps were taken towards the assumption of supreme power. Frequent assemblies were held in the college of Fortet, which obtained * Mem. de Nevers, torn. i. p. 163. t Ibid.
3 THE LIFE OF HENEY IV.
the name of the Cradle of the League ; and some members of the law, many of the clergy, and still more of the bur- gesses, crowded to these meetings, where the most treasona- ble propositions were entertained, and the most criminal acts devised.
From such assemblies, and from the little court which the Duke of Guise held around him, innumerable libels, tracts, treatises, and even pictures, issued forth to the world, im- puting to the King the oppression of the Roman Catholic party in the realm ; displaying in a false and odious light his negotiations with the King of Navarre, with the Queen of England, and with the Calvinists of the Low Countries ; and representing every act of justice which had been per- formed upon the assassins and incendiaries who attacked the persons and disturbed the peace of Protestant sovereigns, as the most horrible persecution of the Papists wherever the Reformed religion was predominant. By these means the fears were raised, and the passions excited of the Roman Catholic population, and multitudes of sincere and well mean- ing men were gained to the party of the League, who would have strongly resisted the selfish and ambitious views of its leaders, and its tendency to shake the best institutions of the country, had not the most consummate art been em- ployed to conceal all that might shock or offend, and to put forth to every one, those objects alone, which were best calculated to move his feelings and secure his co-operation.
As Henry III. had taken steps to meet the machinations of his enemies by negotiating with the King of Navarre be- fore the death of his brother, the Duke of Guise saw the necessity on his side of providing for the future extension of his party ; and as soon as the Duke of Anjou was declared beyond hope of recovery, he called a meeting in the town of Nancy, at which agents of the King of Spain attended, as well as a number of French nobles and the Duke of Lorraine. With the particulars of this assembly's proceedings we are not fully acquainted ; but it was determined that steps
KING OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 9
should be taken for the general diffusion of the League throughout Roman Catholic Europe, and that preparation should be secretly made for that recourse to arms, which, it was evident to all, must sooner or later be had.* The Duke of Guise himself conducted his proceedings with the most consummate art ; and I cannot give a better picture of his conduct during the end of the year 1584, than by translating the words of a Roman Catholic writer, of high repute, when speaking of the character of that extraordinary man as it ap- peared at this time : — " The Duke of Guise," says Le La- boureur, " was on his part so covered in his thoughts, that his very brothers knew nothing of them. He had a secret for each of those who believed themselves to be his confi- dants ; and the promises which he made to the Pope, to the King of Spain, to the Duke of Lorraine, and to the Cardinal of Bourbon were all different, so that there was no one who knew what he meditated but himself. And even the Queen- mother was taken in, thinking that he acted in good faith for the Duke of Lorraine, who lent his house for the assem- blies, and received the honors as the future King, at the same time that they were promised to the Cardinal of Bour- bon, whom he took a pleasure in seeing deceived. The Duke of Guise had always a secret ready for the ear of any gen- tleman interested, who came to pay his compliments, another for the zealous citizen who hastened to see him, and who re- turned to his family with his heart swelling with the honor he had received, and which he did not fail to exaggerate a hundred-fold, as well as for the crowd of nobles and distin- guished men who thronged the Hotel de Guise."
The daring proceedings of the League, however, and the movements of many of its inferior sections, could not be long concealed, notwithstanding all the arts of its great leader ; and Henry III., in the end of 1584, awoke to a sense of his full danger. In order to avert it, he had recourse to means,
* As all writers agree upon the points above stated, it may be un- necessary to burden the margin with authorities.
1*
10 THE LIFE OP HENRY IV.
which, at a former period, might have been successful. An assembly of the King's chief counsellors was held at St. Ger- main, early in November ; and amongst other noblemen sum- moned was the Duke of Nevers, who, from the active part he had taken in the League, was at one time called the soul and council of the union.
Having informed the persons present, with his usual elo- quence, of all the movements derogatory to his honor, and dangerous to his authority, which were taking place in every province of France, the King turned to Nevers ; and, after boldly touching upon his connection with the agitators, he professed the utmost reliance in the Duke's faith and honor, and asked his advice as to the best means of putting a stop to so lamentable a state of things. Nevers was moved to tears by this mark of confidence, and was never after a zeal- ous partisan of the League. By his advice, and that of the rest of the council, Henry III. published, on the llth of the month, a declaration against all leagues and associations en- tered into without his express consent, forbidding the enrol- ment of men and the administration of unlawful oaths, on pain of prosecution for high treason.* The Leaguers, how- ever, had proceeded too far, and the King's authority had sunk too low, for any of those who were engaged in the con- spiracy to be frightened by proclamations ; and not long after, the Duke of Guise, in a visit to the Sarbonne, told the worthy doctors, who had hitherto aided his proceedings, that if they were not strong enough with the pen, they must con- trive to be so with the sword.f
In the end of December another great meeting of the leaders of the League took place in the house of the Duke of Guise, at Joinville, where envoys from the King of Spain, and several other Roman Catholic Princes, were present. The general course of proceeding was now definitely arranged,
* The declaration is to be found at full in the Memoires de Nevers, om. i. p. 635. f Journal de L'Etoile, ed. 1744.
KING OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 11
and a treaty was drawn up for the signature of the parties assembled, by which they bound themselves to exclude a Protestant monarch from the throne, to suppress every re- ligion but the Roman Catholic in the kingdom, to expel all who would not conform to its doctrines, and to unite together in a bond offensive and defensive for its maintenance in France and the Low Countries. The envoys of the King of Spain especially engaged their master to the various Catholic Princes taking part in the proceedings, and promised a body of men, and a large monthly subsidy, for carrying out the measures determined upon.* It was also arranged, that the decrees of the Council of Trent should be received in France, and that all alliance with infidels should be renounced. The treaty was signed on the 31st of December, 1584 ; but it was agreed to keep it secret till sufficient preparations had been made for putting it into execution. There can be little doubt that all the most important articles were dictated by the King of Spain, who had a means of control over the proud Duke of Guise, which that nobleman, however high his courage, did not dare to resist, as I shall ere long have occasion to show. But it would appear that the Duke was anxious to delay as long as possible the explosion of the plot, foreseeing that if the schemes of his confederates were too speedily developed, his own personal objects would certainly be endangered, though those of the King of Spain, which he clearly perceived, might be secured.
Philip's chief desire, indeed, was once more to plunge France into a sea of civil contentions, in order to divert her energies from any further interference in the affairs of the Low Countries ; and events soon occurred, which increased his anxiety for such a result, and induced him to force forward the unwilling Duke of Guise to active aggression upon the royal authority.
William, Prince of Orange, the great stay and support of the insurgents in the Low Countries, had been assassinated * The sum was a hundred and fifty thousand francs per month. .
12 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
at Delft, on the tenth of July, 1584 ; and, after long deliber- ation, the States sent ambassadors to the court of France, beseeching Henry to take upon himself the protection of the United Provinces, and deliver them from the yoke of Spain. The deputies arrived at Senlis in the beginning of February, 1585, from which place they were conducted with great honor to Paris, where they continued their negotiations for some time. The French monarch hesitated long whether he should accept the glorious but perilous task they sought to put upon him ; and there is great reason to suppose that the ambassadors of the Queen of England, who about the same time arrived to invest him with the Order of the Garter, in- terceded zealously in favor of the oppressed people of the Low Countries.* Tidings of these negotiations were not long in reaching the ears of the King of Spain ; and, fearful lest Henry should ultimately accede to the wishes of the States, and that the fiery courage of the French, diverted from their internal dissensions, should be turned to the nobler object of giving freedom to the neighboring people, Philip commanded his ambassador, Don Bernard Mendoza, to sum- mon the Duke of Guise to perform his engagements, and put himself in arms at the head of the League. f
Tired of delay and evasion, and perhaps divining that the Duke was anxious to wait, till the death of the King and the circumstances of the heir presumptive, placed the crown of France nearer to the grasp of his own ambition, Philip di- rected his minister to threaten, if Guise did not immediately comply, to expose the whole of his intrigues, both in the past and the present, and to place in the hands of Henry III., not only the treaty he had lately signed, but the proofs of still more criminal intrigues, which had been found amongst the papers of Don John of Austria, after the murder of his secretary, Escovedo.J
* The Q,ueen of England, according to the account of L'Etoile, offered to pay one-third of the expenses of the war. f Le Laboureur. Mem. de Nevers. i See Le Laboureur. It is certain that Henry III. was already
KING OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 13
The Duke, alarmed at this menace, no longer hesitated, but immediately began his preparations for war, and all was silent haste and activity in Picardy and Champagne. It became necessary, however, that some person should be put forward to claim the succession to the throne, whose title might be so specious as not to rouse the Parliaments of the kingdom to interfere, and array the influential body of the law against the party of the League. The Duke of Guise himself, utterly without claim, did not dare to demand as a right, that sceptre which he hoped ultimately to snatch in the character of a successful soldier. The salic law was directly opposed to the Duke of Lorraine, and to the daughter of the King of Spain. Neither would it have coincided with the views of Guise, to recognize the title of any aspirant, whose power, talents, youth or influence, would render his hold upon au- thority, firm and permanent. None of these objections, how- ever, existed in the case of the old Cardinal de Bourbon. A doubt might be entertained, whether, in collateral branches of the royal house, what is termed representation existed, and whether a son succeeded to the dormant rights of his
aware that treasonable correspondence had been carried on by the Duke of Guise, with Philip II., and that he derived his information from the active and energetic King of Navarre. In one of the letters of the latter, published for the first time, I believe, by M. Berger de Xivrey, we find the King of Navarre using these remarkable words to the French monarch, who, it would appear, had conceived suspicions of his designs, from the fact of his having sent Monsieur de Segur on a mission to some of the Protestant Princes of Europe. " I have always thought, my Lord, that being born in my kingdom and sovereignty, and having a right and title by succession to my said kingdom, which is one of the most ancient, though I have lost it, or at least three parts thereof, for the service of your crown, I was, nevertheless, in no degree fallen from the right and power of keeping up friendship and alliance, as the other Kings and Princes of Christendom, for the benefit of my affairs, and for the union of the confessions of the religion which I profess. Many of your subjects who have no such quality are not reproved for so doing, or at least do not cease from treating with foreigners on whatever matter seems good to them."
14 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
father deceased ; or whether, on the contrary, the nearest male surviving of the original stock, did not take of right to the exclusion of the children of a nearer male defunct. This was the legal question between Henry of Navarre, and his uncle, regarding the succession to the throne of France. Although the title of the uncle was certainly but weak in law, as the Duke of Guise well knew, he might hope that the heretical faith of the nephew would induce the Parliament to make a precedent which in itself would tend to shake the fixed rule of succession, and be a step towards the transfer of the crown from the descendants of Capet to himself. Unless some such expec- tation was entertained by Guise, the recognition of the rights of the house of Bourbon at all, can only be considered as a meas- ure of absolute necessity, forced upon him by the injunctions of Philip to commence the war, at a time when all the Duke's preparations for the execution of his ambitious purposes were incomplete ; as this recognition was certainly a barrier to the advancement of any other claims. It has indeed been hinted by contemporary authors, that the Cardinal,* in truth, only pressed the recognition of his own title, in order to secure beyond doubt the succession of his house.
It must be remembered, however, in considering the mo- tives of the Duke of Guise, that the concealment of his ulti- mate views, until his schemes were mature, was absolutely requisite to the success of his enterprise ; that if he had re- fused to admit the title of the Bourbons altogether, his de- signs would at once have become manifest to all, and that not only would the adherents of that family, without excep- tion, have ranged themselves against him, but all those who had joined the League from conscientious convictions, would have abandoned it on discovering that religion was but the pretext, and usurpation the object.
On all these considerations, he determined that he would put forward, as a veil for his deeper purposes, the name of the Cardinal de Bourbon, whose age and state of health * Victor Cayet.
KING OF PRANCE AND NAVARRE. 15
promised a speedy release from worldly cares, and whose mental powers were as weak as could be desired. By the advice of Guise, the Cardinal retired to Gaillon, in the diocese of Rouen, and waited there for the opening of the formal proceedings of the League. The first step commanded by the great leader of the revolt, was a solemn deputation of the nobility of Picardy, to invite the old prelate to put himself at their head. By rapid journeys he was brought to Peronne, in the month of March, 1585, and on the last day of that month he published a declaration, or manifesto, prepared in his name by the confederates.* It would appear, that the original document did not absolutely name any of the Princes who had taken part in the meetings of Nancy and Joinville ; but in order to give it more weight, a list was subsequently added, specifying the foreign sovereigns, the states, the ec- clesiastics and the nobles, who had bound themselves, or were assumed to have bound themselves, to aid by various means in the projects of the League. Amongst these ap- peared the Pope, though the supreme Pontiff had shown no great cordiality towards the undertaking, the King of Spain, the Emperor, the Grand Master of Malta, the States of Ven- ice, Genoa and Lucca, and likewise the Grand Duke of Flor- ence, who, there is every reason to believe, was opposed to the undertaking. The Dukes of Lorraine and Guise were pointed out as Lieutenants- General of the League ; and their names were folio wed by those of all the Princes of their house, and those of the Dukes of Nevers, Savoy, Ferara, Nemours, Cleves, Parma, and the Bishops of Mayence and Cologne.f Many of these names were undoubtedly put forward without authority ; but it was a part of the policy of the Leaguers to deceive the King and the public, in regard to their real
* The proof that this document was not the production of the Cardinal himself, is found in the fact, that a copy was sent from Champagne to Provence, about a fortnight before it was published at Peronne.
f The manifesto and list are to be found in the Mem. de Nevers, torn. i. Page 641.
16 THE LIFE OP HENRY IV.
strength ; and in the attempt to do so they were completely successful.
The manifesto itself is too long for insertion here ; but the principal matters worthy of remark therein, are the fierce dec- lamations against the Protestants ; the attack upon the King of Navarre, who is designated a relapsed heretic, and is dis- tinctly pointed out as excluded thereby from the succession to the throne ; the charges indirectly made against him and the Protestants, of intending, with the aid of foreign troops, to overthrow entirely the Roman Catholic religion ; the ve- hement denunciation of the minions of the King ; the lamen- tations over the oppressions and exactions under which the people groaned, and the condemnation of the extortions which had been practised upon the church. All the evils specified, the Leaguers proposed to correct, and oppose with arms in their hands, but in the gentlest and kindest manner possible, without violating their allegiance to the King, or in any shape burdening the people.*
* The proceedings of the League had for many months been made known by rumors, and it is also clear that some manifestoes had been printed, by order of the Duke of Guise, without signatures, but at what period they were published I do not discover. Early in the year 1585, the agents of the League were busy in every part of France, and it is not improbable that they circulated false reports, regarding the co-opera- tion of Henry III. in the designs of the faction. We find, that Henry of Navarre, in a letter to Segur, dated by Monsieur de Xivrey 25th March, speaks of an edict having been published, revoking that of Pacification. Now we find no such edict, and even the declaration of Peronne, the publication of which might have given rise to the report, was not signed till the 31st of March. I am, however, inclined to be- lieve that the learned and careful editor of the " Lettres Missives," has, in this instance, been deceived as to the date, by various circumstances referred to in that letter, which appears in manuscript to have been without date. Henry certainly refers to a meeting between himself and Montmorenci ; and M. de Xivrey imagines that their first conference which took place at Castres, must be the meeting spoken of. Henry and Montmorenci, however, met again between the 5th and llth of August, at St. Paul Cap de Joux, after the edict of revocation had issued, and as in the letter he speaks of the revocation of the edict, and also of his
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 17
While such proceedings were taking place at a short dis- tance from the capital, an event occurred well calculated to awaken Henry III. to his danger, and to rouse him to active resistance. On the 29th of March, a large boat was seized upon the Marne, as it was making its way to Chalons, though from what circumstances of suspicion it was detained, we do not know. On board was discovered M. de la Rochette, one of the attendants of the Cardinal de Guise ; and on examin- ing the wine barrels with which the boat was laden, they were found to contain nothing but arms. La Rochette was arrested and carried in haste to Paris ; and the greatest con- sternation spread amongst the members of the League, lest their full designs should be exposed by the confession of their emissary. The Duke of Guise and his brother the Cardinal, who were both at Rheims, wrote in haste to the Duke of Nevers, beseeching him to look to the affair, evi- dently in the hope of inducing him to interfere for the pur- pose of preventing La Rochette from being compelled to speak ; and the Cardinal uses the significant words, " I be- seech you most humbly to think of this, for he is not ignorant of anything, as you know ;" — clearly showing that, amongst the principal leaders, much more criminal actions were al- ready proposed than the mere taking of arms against their sovereign ; for that purpose was already announced to the Parliament of Aix, and was the very next day proclaimed at Peronne.* What these designs were, is displayed by a con- temporary letter from the Jesuit, Claude Mathieu, in which he states that the Pope was opposed to the idea of putting the King to death, but that he approved of the plan of seiz- ing upon his person, and obtaining possession of all the prin- cipal towns of France in his name.
meeting with Montmorenci, I cannot but imagine that the date of the letter should be St. Paul, August.
* See lettres from the Duke of Guise and from the Cardinal, in the collection of Nevers. L'Etoile, it would appear, places the arrest of La Rochette wrongly on the 12th March ; or otherwise the Duke of Guise must have been kept in ignorance of the fact for a fortnight.
18 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
Whether the Duke of Nevers did or did not exert his influence over the court, which was still great, for the deliv- erance of La Rochette, we do not know ; but it is certain that the emissary of the League was not only set free, but that the arms, which he had been conveying to Chalons, were permitted to reach their destination. Such acts on the part of the King, — acts which it was scarcely possible to attribute to any depth of indolence or folly — naturally awakened the fears of the Huguenots. Two agents, who were maintained by the King of Navarre at the French court, named Clervant and Chassincourt, by his orders re- monstrated warmly with the monarch, hinting that he was suspected of intelligence with the leaders of the League.* Henry, in reply, called down the curse of God upon his head if he had any intercourse with them whatever ; and in a let- ter which he, shortly after, wrote to the King of Navarre, he declared that he saw clearly, the proceedings of the League " tended to nothing but an enterprise against his person and his state." He besought his cousin, however, to remain quiet, and to forbear from taking arms, in order that people might judge easily who were the real disturbers of the pub- lic peace.f
* The Leaguers themselves spread this report ; and the King of Navarre, in one of his letters to Chassincourt, written in March of April, 1585, says, after speaking of the inactivity of the King in oppos- ing the proceedings of the faction, and the passive assistance afforded to them by the royal officers, " Those of the League who see this, encour- age themselves therewith, and find arguments therein to raise the spirits of their adherents, making them believe, that it (i. e. the King's con- duct) is a farce which is played, of which all the results will fall upon the Protestants."
t Cayet Chronologic Novenaire. Pierre Mathieu. It is evident, that several letters were written on this subject by Henry III. to the King of Navarre ; for the latter alludes, in his correspondence, to vari- ous injunctions and requests of the French monarch. One of these letters has been preserved by Don Vaissette, in his History of Langue- doc, in which Henry III. writes as follows: — " My Brother, I give you notice, that notwithstanding all the resistance I could make, I have
KING OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 19
This advice might have been judicious had he followed it up by energetic measures, on his own part, against his re- bellious subjects ; but, on the contrary, he contented himself with manifestoes, in answer to their accusations, and messa- ges exhorting them to tranquillity, in opposition to actual rebellion, taking at the same time precautions for his own safety, which he now found was menaced.
The League, after the arrest of La Rochette, found that it was impossible to delay any longer without danger ; and the first blow struck was the seizure of Chalons sur Marne, which the Duke of Guise determined to make the centre of his op- erations. Thither the old Cardinal de Bourbon was after- wards carried from Peronne in triumph, and received all the external honors of royalty.
Henry III. was now roused to some activity; and the Duke of Montpensier, who had lately succeeded his father, was sent to Orleans with Marshal D'Aumont and a consid- erable force, to take that city out of the hands of the Count D'Entragues, who was known to be attached to the house of Guise. D'Entragues, however, ordered the guns of the place to fire upon the royal troops ; and mortified and disap- pointed, Montpensier retired from before the walls. This was only one out of many instances in which the want of care and precaution, on the part of Henry, proved destructive to his best interests. The whole of Picardy was overrun by the Duke of Aumale at the head of a feeble body of horse ;
not been able to prevent the evil designs of the Duke of Guise. He is in arms; keep on your guard, and wait for nothing. I hear you have been at Castres to confer with my cousin, the Duke of Montmorenci, of which I am glad ; in order that you may look to your affairs, I will send a gentleman to you at Montauban, who will inform you of my will.
" Your good Brother,
" HENRY."
It is stated that the King of Navarre received this letter on the 23rd of March ; but I do not find that Guise was actually in arms at that time.
20 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
no defence was made ; town after town declared for the League, and opened its gates to the officers of the faction. Lyons was also taken ; and Marseilles was surprised by one of the officers of the town, named Daries, and a captain Bon- iface. Thoul and Verdun were likewise seized by the agents of the League ; and a number of other places in Anjou and Poitou fell into their hands without offering any resistance, An enterprise against the strong town of Metz, indeed, was frustrated ; and the inhabitants of Marseilles, rising against the faction, hung Daries and his companion, and called in the officers of the King.
It was now sufficiently apparent that religion had but a small share in the motives of the Leaguers. As the histo- rian, Mathieu, justly observes : " The League waged war against the Huguenots, in attacking the best towns the Cath- olics possessed in the kingdom. The Reformation is in Guienne, they hasten to drive it out of Picardy. The Hugue- nots are at Rochelle, and the army of the League marches towards Paris ; they are at Montpellier, and the leaders un- dertake to surprise Marseilles." That Henry III. saw their real object, is clear from his letters to Henry of Navarre ; and he had two courses equally honorable, but not equally politic, before him ; while a third, full of weakness, danger, and disgrace, was also pressed upon his attention. With the forces at his command, with a number of gallant gentle- men devoted to him, with the calmer, but not less powerful support of the lovers of public order, he might have placed himself at the head of his troops, and, adhering to the terms of his proclamation of November, have encountered the power of the insurgents in the field, without permitting the Huguenots, who were still perfectly tranquil, to take any part in the contest. By such conduct he would have secured the confidence of the sincere Catholics, restored respect to the royal authority, and removed one half of the dangers of his position.
It is now ascertained that during the four first months of
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 21
the revolt, the utmost force the Leaguers could bring into the field, did not amount to more than one thousand horse, and four thousand infantry ; while the party was as deficient in money as in men. There can be no doubt, that had the King thought fit to act energetically at first, he might have crushed the insurrection in the bud, with the forces he could call around him without delay. But if the exaggerated reports of the power and numbers of the League, which were industriously circulated, and were pressed daily upon his attention by Catherine de Medicis, who was undoubtedly cognizant of the intrigues of the faction,* alarmed him for the result of a contest unsupported, he might have called to his assistance the King of Navarre and his friends, amongst whom were ranged a number of sincere Catholics ; and the necessity of the case would have justified him in the eyes of all but his most bigoted subjects. The third course, and the one which he chose, was to negotiate with armed insur- gents ; who, whatever might be the faults or crimes of the King, had no reasonable pretext for their rebellion. The members of the League were suffering under no oppression ; neither injustice nor tyranny had been exercised towards them ; and all that they could reproach the monarch with, was his tolerance of their religious opponents.
Nevertheless, after long hesitation, after manifestoes in his own justification, after accusing them of rebellion, falsehood, treachery, and ingratitude, Henry thought fit to send his mother to treat with the chiefs of the faction. Manifold con- ferences took place, and it would appear from a letter of the Cardinal de Bourbon, that the Leaguers purposely made their demands as extravagant as possible, in the expectation of their being ultimately rejected ;f while their activity in the field was undiminished, and Bourges, Dijon, Mezieres, and several other places, were added to those which they had already obtained.); Troops were marching also from various foreign countries for their support. German forces
* L'Etoile. Perefixe. f Mem. de Nevers. £ Davila. •
22 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
were hired to aid in their enterprise ; and Pfifer engaged to bring a powerful body of Swiss Catholics to their assist- ance.*
The forces of the League, every day increasing, now began to menace Paris itself; and the apprehensions of the King became extreme. Miron, his physician, known to be inti- mately connected with the house of Guise, was sent to nego- tiate, and close upon his steps trod Louis Davila, gentleman of honor to the Queen-mother. Lansac also took part in the conferences, and by his skill, seems to have excited some de- gree of jealousy between the old Cardinal de Bourbon and the house of Guise, which contributed not a little to attain the object of the Queen-mother. There is every reason to believe that the assertion made by many contemporary wri- ters regarding the views of this Princess, was not without foundation, and that these negotiations were in fact but a trial of skill between herself and the Duke of Guise ; the de- sign of Catherine being to maintain the party of the League, so far as to exclude Henry of Navarre from the throne, yet to employ it merely as an instrument for the aggrandize- ment of her grandchildren by the Duchess of Lorraine, with- out suffering it to gain such an ascendency as might transfer the crown, on the death of Henry III., either to the Cardi- nal de Bourbon or the Duke of Guise. Such purposes, as I have said, were very generally attributed to her at the time ; and, if she indeed entertained them, her policy was so far successful that, after manifold discussions, she concluded a treaty, which bound both her son and the opposite faction to oppress the Huguenots, and exclude the King of Navarre from the succession, so long as he persisted in adhering to the tenets of the Reformation, and which also checked the progress of the League against Henry himself, without for- mally admitting the claims of the Cardinal. She doubtless hoped so to complicate the intrigues of the court and the faction, as to leave no course open for the zealous Catholics * See letters of the Duke of Guise.
KINO OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 23
of France but to create, or recognize, a title in the Duke of Lorraine or his son ; but while she spun the spider-web of intrigue thus finely, the merciless hand of fate was prepar- ing to sweep it all away.
The principal articles of the treaty, so disgraceful to the King of France, were arranged in the end of June, and on the 7th of July the document was signed at Nemours by Catherine, the Cardinals de Bourbon and Guise, and the Dukes of Guise and Mayenne. The principal clauses consist of stipulations for the publication of a decree, by which the ministers of the Reformed Church were ordered to quit the realm within one month, and all others who should adhere to the doctrines of Protestantism within six months, while heretics were declared incapable of holding any office in the state. Other articles provided for the resumption of the towns granted as security to the Huguenots ; for the recog- nition of all the late acts of the League, as approved by the King, and done for his good service ; for the suppression of the mixed courts in the Parliaments ; for the surrender of nine important towns to the party of the League for five years ; for the maintenance by the State of a body guard for the principal leaders of the faction ; and for the payment of the foreign troops which they had raised. On the part of the confederates the only important promise made was one which they never intended to keep, namely, that they would abandon all leagues and associations, within and without the realm.
It may be necessary, before I proceed to speak of the events which rapidly followed the signature of the disgrace- ful treaty of Nemours, to trace the steps which had been taken by Henry of Navarre for the purpose of resisting the incessant efforts made by the Catholic party to encroach upon the treaty of Nerac, and thus reduce the Protestants by slow degrees to a state of weakness which would render them an easy prey on the breaking out of a fresh war.
Although the government of Guienne was nominally left
24 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
in the hands of the King of Navarre, Marshall Matignon was sent into that province in 1581 as Lieutenant- General ; and, according to the orders he received from the court, he con- tinued to exercise therein all the powers of Governor, ex- cept in such parts as were secured by the presence of Henry of Bourbon or his principal officers. He was a man of a milder and less enterprising character than Biron, whom he succeeded ; and notwithstanding the painful nature of the relations which were now established between himself and his future sovereign, he maintained a certain degree of friendly intercourse with him, and seems to have entertained a sincere regard and admiration for that prince.
Nevertheless, under his eyes, and at least with his con- nivance, the war of encroachment which had commenced against the Protestants, was carried on with silent but unin- termitting steps. The amnesty which had been granted by the King of France for all crimes committed during the late wars, proved only serviceable to the Papists ; and multitudes of persons of the Reformed religion were arrested, tried, and executed, in direct violation of the stipulations of the treaty. To such a shameless excess was this course carried, that in one of his letters, the King of Navarre complains that more Protestants had perished, by the cord, during a short inter- val of peace, than during the preceding period of hostilities, by the sword.
It was in vain Henry remonstrated, it was in vain that he appealed to the King's edict ; the parliaments paid no atten- tion to the amnesty, where Calvinists were concerned, and Matignon made no vigorous effort to give it effect.
As another means of weakening the Protestant party, and keeping it in such a state that resistance would be each day rendered less practicable, the garrisons of the towns of se- curity were left for months unpaid ; the pension granted to the King of Navarre fell into arrear ; the taxes which had been assigned to him for the maintenance of his station in Guienne were diverted to other purposes ; and his hereditary
KINO OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 25
dominions were subjected to a regulation, from which they had been previously free, by which certain articles of first neces- sity entering that territory from France, were burdened with a severe export duty. At the same time no scruple was made on the part of the Roman Catholics to seize upon any places belonging to the Navarrese monarch or his partisans, and es- pecially upon the towns given as security for the execution of the treaties of Bergerac and Nerac. We have seen that Villeneuve and Agen had been taken by the forces of Biron, and Perigueux had also fallen into the power of the Papists. Tartas, a town belonging to the King of Navarre himself, was held against him by the enemy, and the same was the case with the important city of Mont de Marsan, though directly dependent upon Beam.
It would appear from several of the letters of Henry of Bourbon, that many other places, to which he had an indis- putable right, were also retained ; but it is not to be doubted, that various bands of Protestants, or of those who had sided with them in the late war, took advantage of the disturbed state of the country, to hold any strong places which they could seize, and that troops of partisans on both sides still carried on a war of pillage and robbery. Nevertheless we find that on all occasions the King of Navarre was ready t<3 use, first authority, and then force, to oblige those who af- fected to be attached to his party, to evacuate the fortresses they illegally held, and that he was always ready to punish severely those who infringed the provisions of the treaty. On the part of the Roman Catholics his remonstrances were unattended to, and the encouragement of impunity was afforded to the most manifest infractions of the act of pacifi- cation. In the case of Perigueux, indeed, after long nego- tiations, a small and almost indefensible town, or rather vil- lage, named Pemyrol,* in the neighborhood of Agen, was offered in exchange for that most important city, with a sum. of money to the King himself. He at first refused both ; * Or Puymirol, for I find it written both ways.
VOL. II. 2
26 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
but finding that nothing else could be obtained, accepted Pemyrol, and spent the small portion of money that was paid, in maintaining the garrisons in the places of security, and providing against other expenses imposed upon the Protestant party.
In regard to Mont de Marsan, the people of which were actually his subjects, Matignon made him daily promises of restoring him to his rights therein, but still found some ex- cuse for delaying the execution of his engagement; and while Henry was proceeding, with a mixture of remonstrance and force, to compel some of his Protestant partisans, who had fortified themselves in the neighborhood of Bazas, to de- molish the works they had thrown up, to execute the terms of the treaty with the utmost fidelity, and to dismantle several places which had been strengthened during the war, the Catholics made themselves masters of St. Sardos and Auvil- lars. At length, the patience of Henry was exhausted ; and he resolved to do himself justice in regard to Mont de Mar- san with his own arm. It must be recollected that this was no ordinary case, that the town was a very important one, that it was a part of the inheritance of the King of Navarre, that its surrender, without any delay, had been promised by the treaties of Bergerac and Nerac, and that the commands of the King of France had been laid upon Matignon to restore Henry of Bourbon to his rights in the place. . Determined to force his way into the city, Henry set out from Nerac on the 20th or 21st of November, 1583, accom- panied by the Prince de Conde and their several guards. A body of six hundred arquebusiers had been collected in the Landes to give assistance in case of need ; and a few noble- men had been summoned to meet the King on his march, with their adherents ; but the enterprise was conducted with so much skill and secrecy, that it did not become necessary to use the forces held in reserve. Henry and his companions passed the river during the night of the 21st — 22nd of No- vember, in small boats prepared for the purpose, armed with
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 2*7
ladders to scale the walls. The escarpment, however, was very steep, and covered so thickly with bushes, that it was found necessary to send for bill-hooks to cut them away.* The approach of the assailants was, nevertheless, not discov- ered ; and it was not till a ladder had been placed very near one of the sentinels, and the troops of Navarre were actually on the walls, that a pistol shot gave intimation to the garri- son of an enemy being at hand. An attempt at resistance was then made ; but it was overcome with so little difficulty, that only one person was killed in the affray ; and, at eight o'clock on the following morning, the shops in the town were open, all the people at their work, and not a trace of hostile feeling remaining on any part. Henry, with his usual lenity, inflicted no punishment upon his rebellious subjects ; but it soon appeared from the proceedings of Matignon, that the delay which had taken place in reinstating the King of Na- varre in his own town, had been instigated by those who had pledged themselves to restore it. Loud accusations were made against Henry, for the resumption of his rights, even though guaranteed to him by treaty ; Matignon imme- diately took possession of Bazas and Condom ; and the Prot- estant inhabitants of the former were subjected to every sort of injustice and severity. At the same time, means were taken to misrepresent the actions of the King of Navarre, at the court of France ; and even his punishment of some refrac- tory Protestants, for deeds of violence committed against the other party, was made a charge against him.
Towards the end of 1583, and the beginning of 1584, it became evident to Henry of Navarre, that the various en- croachments of the Catholics, the opposition of Matignon and other royal officers to the execution of the treaty of Nerac, the retention of his own pension, and of the pay of the gar- risons and guards allowed him, even when the money was in the hands of the collectors, were not acts of individual mal- ice, but parts of an organized system for reducing himself * Vie de Du Plessis Mornay.
28 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
and the Protestant church of France, to a state, in which re- sistance to further aggression would be impossible ; and, in his letters to his most intimate friends and counsellors, we find continually, such expressions as, " Our very innocence and obedience ruin us ;" " How am I recompensed for my obedience to the commands of the King."
The movements of the League, also, long before the mani- festo of Peronne, showed him clearly that a time would come, when Henry III. must either yield to the influence of his ambitious vassals of the house of Lorraine, or call upon all his more faithful and obedient subjects to support the throne ; and Henry of Navarre saw that it would be necessary to make preparation for an appeal to arms in either case. As soon as he became convinced that such must be his course, in justice to himself, to his fellow Protestants, to the state, and to Henry III., he displayed all his wonderful energy and activity, in order to be ready for whatever part might be forced upon him, without showing the slightest disobedience to the commands of the King, without giving any countenance to turbulence and disorder. Relations of the most intimate character had arisen between him and the Duke of Montmo- renci,* governor of Languedoc, from their joint efforts to re- store tranquillity in the provinces committed to their care ; and with him Henry now took every means to cement an alliance which was equally necessary to the safety of each. Although the Protestants of Dauphine were divided amongst them- selves, and personal enmities and jealousies raged in their ranks to a frightful extent, the great influence of Lesdeguieres, his vast military talents, and the dignified elevation and res- olution of his character, promised, in case of renewed hostil- ities, to give him complete command of that province ; and Henry lost no opportunity of marking his sense of that great commander's merits, and supporting his authority. Thus the materials for a formidable resistance to the iniquitous projects
* Formerly known as Damville, but who had by this time succeeded his brother.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 29
of the League were prepared in the south of France, over a space extending from sea to sea, and from the Alps to the Pyrenees.
With the Swiss Cantons, with the Protestant Princes of Germany, and with the Queen of England, Henry, by means of ambassadors and secret agents, kept up a constant com- munication. He laid before them his doubts and difficulties ; and, while he took particular care to show his allies that he was anxiously desirous to preserve peace, and perfectly con- tented with the degree of toleration awarded to the French Protestants, by the treaty of Nerac, he prepared them to support him, if the malice of his enemies and the virulence of the opponents of their faith, should compel him unwillingly to draw the sword. His views even took a wider range ; and, intimately convinced that the persecuting spirit of the schismatic church of Rome, which had already been so dis- astrously active against all who ventured to throw off its yoke, required some more powerful barrier than the divided efforts of small bodies of Protestants, scattered through va- rious countries, he conceived a scheme for uniting all the Reformed Princes and States in one general League, for the defence of their religion against the assaults of their enemies. To propose this confederacy, and induce other sovereigns to combine with him for that great purpose, was the chief ob- ject of the first embassy of M. de Segur to the courts of England and Germany. Numerous letters, all tending to the same object, are to be found in Henry's correspondence dur- ing the year 1583, and, although his negotiations were not crowned with full success, yet they secured for him the sym- pathy and respect of those with whom they were carried on.
Money, however, was still the ingredient wanting in all his schemes of preparation, and this he was never able to obtain to such an amount, as to render the commencement of a war aught but highly dangerous to himself and the Protestant party in France. Measures the most unjust,*
* The pension, which was left unpaid, had been granted to the
80 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
were taken in France, as I have already shown, to keep him in a state of comparative poverty, and the long wars which had preceded this important epoch, had exhausted the means of the Huguenot nobility, and left most of them in great penury, if not in debt. At one time, indeed, an opportunity of obtaining pecuniary resources seemed to open before Henry, and he skilfully endeavored to take advantage of it, without a breach of that good faith which he so carefully preserved.
In the month of May, 1583, a Spanish gentleman named Undiano, was employed to commence a negotiation, through his brother-in-law the Viscount of d'Eschaus, one of the vas- sals of the Navarrese monarch, with a vie\v to engage that Prince in a treaty with Philip II. The object of the King of Spain was to induce Henry of Bourbon to take arms against Henry III. of France ; and to tempt him to such a course, he offered to pay at once three hundred thousand crowns, and to supply one hundred thousand each month, for the expenses of the war. But, in his eagerness to stir up fresh hostilities between the opposite parties in France, Philip had miscalculated the probity of the man he sought to seduce. Henry rejected his proposals firmly; but in order to prepare for the events he saw approaching, he au- thorized De Mornay and St. Genies, to borrow, in his name, five hundred thousand crowns from the King of Spain, offer- ing to pledge his whole property for that sum. Philip was not inclined to lend the amount required, without those political stipulations, to which Henry would not listen, and the negotiation was consequently broken off.
Somewhat later in the year, the Spanish monarch again sought to treat upon the same subject, but in vain; and Henry remained anxiously watching the progress of events, endeavoring, to the best of his ability, to suppress the spirit
Sovereigns of Navarre by the French monarchs, as compensation for the loss of territory they had sustained by their adhesion to the cause of France in her wars with Spain.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 31
of civil strife which still reigned in Guienne and Languedoc, and warning the King of France from time to time, both of the infractions of the edict, which were committed daily by the more vehement Papists and encouraged by the royal officers, and of the secret machinations of those who used religion as a pretence, but whose real designs threatened the person of the monarch, and the fundamental principles of the monarchy. Week after week, and day after day, we find his remonstrances addressed to Henry III. upon the seizure of towns and fortresses ; the persecution of the Prot- estants wherever the Roman Catholics had the ascendency, the pillage of the country by bodies of armed men, the mur- der of unoffending citizens, and the execution of soldiers and gentlemen for acts which had been consigned to oblivion by the edicts of amnesty. But, at the same time, it is clear from the whole correspondence of that period, that the weak monarch of France was surrounded by persons who sought to poison his ear against the heir to his throne, and to mis- represent all the actions of his brother-in-law ; and, in one letter to Bellievre, Henry of Navarre complains in terms of bitter indignation of the attention paid to their reports by the French sovereign, and appeals to that statesman's own observations while in Guienne, for a complete refutation of the calumnies circulated against him.
At length, towards the close of 1584, and in the begin- ning of 1585, the danger became imminent, not only to Henry of Navarre, but to the King of France, from the open and daring machinations of the League ; and the Bourbon Prince seems to have forgotten the causes of complaint which ex- isted against Henry III. in his anxiety to open that monarch's eyes to the real designs of the house of Guise, and save him from the snare laid for him. He exhorted him to employ the services of his nearest kinsman against those who were equally the enemies of both, and offered to hasten to his as- sistance the moment he was called : but Henry, as usual, hesitated ; and, in the meanwhile, measures were taken
32 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
against the King of Navarre, as against an enemy, even in his own government of Guienne. Troops were raised ; can- non were cast ; soldiers were called out ; and as, day by day, the proceedings of the League assumed a more open and daring character, the situation of the Navarrese Prince be- came more embarrassing. Resolved to remain tranquil to the last, and not to unsheath the sword till compelled to do so, he still endeavored to soothe his fellow Protestants, and to prevent a desultory and partial resumption of hostilities ; but he felt himself justified in adopting fresh means to guard against surprise ; and the known weakness of the King of France, as well as the demonstrations of his officers, seemed to call upon him imperatively to strengthen his own position, even while he waited patiently for the result of Henry's hes- itation. His correspondence with the Queen of England and the German Princes became more active ; he gave orders for repairing the fortifications of all the cities he held ; a large quantity of gunpowder was manufactured ; no soldiers were allowed to quit the principality of Beam without express per- mission ; the King's own guard, and that of Conde, as well as the company of Turenne, were called out, in order to form the nucleus of a future army ; the inhabitants of all Protes- tant towns were warned to keep upon their guard ; and in a meeting which took place at Castres between Henry and Montmorenci, in the middle of March, they bound them- selves to support each other against the authors of the League.
Still the position of the King of Navarre was very difficult and embarrassing ; frequent letters passed between himself and the French Monarch ; and while the Bourbon Prince reiterated his warnings, and besought his brother-in-law to employ his arm against their mutual enemy, or at least to suffer him to take means for crushing the League in his own government, Henry III., while approving of his conference with Montmorenci, and bidding him be prepared, commanded him to refrain from all energetic measures, withheld both
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 33
authority to act, and money to pay his troops, and assured him that he himself would oppose the League to his satis- faction.
At the same time, the zealous Roman Catholics of Guienne and Languedoc were not inactive; innumerable attempts were made upon different fortresses ; regiments were raised for the service of the faction under the very eyes of Mati- gnon ; and it is not improbable that he too remained passive, in consequence of distinct orders from the court to that effect. Catherine de Medicis was also known to be negotiating with the rebels ; and a rumor spread generally throughout the south of France, that it was the intention of herself and her son to revoke the edict of pacification, and unite with the house of Guise in waging war against the Protestants.*
Of the truth of this report, Henry of Navarre, whatever were his suspicions, was not yet personally cognizant, the whole particulars of the negotiation having been concealed from him; and we find, that on the 17th of May, he ad- dressed a powerful and eloquent remonstrance to his brother- in-law, in one part of which he recapitulates the various dar- ing acts of the Leaguers in Guienne, and states the culpable negligence of the royal officers in repressing them, while he points out that he had, notwithstanding, labored successfully to keep the menaced and injured party in perfect tranquil- lity, in consequence of the King's directions ; " preferring," he adds, " obedience to your commands, to that which was, perhaps, absolutely necessary to your service." He then mentions the reports that had reached him, and adds that he had assured his friends they were not to be believed ; " for it is not probable that your Majesty would be inclined to satisfy foreigners at the expense of Princes so nearly al-
* Lettres Missives du Roi de Navarre, from which, together with some letters preserved by Dom Vaissette, and the Life and Memoirs of Du Plessis Mornay, the Hist. Gen. d'Aubigne, and the Memoires de la Ligue, the principal statements regarding this period of Henry's life are derived.
2*
34 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
lied to you, nor purchase peace from those who trouble your kingdom, by the detriment of those who desire nothing but to pass their lives in obedience to your edicts."
Nevertheless, Henry of Navarre could not be without sus- picions and apprehensions ; and a suggestion which, at this time, reached him from the court, whether directly or indi- rectly we do not know, was certainly not calculated to di- minish his alarm. The course which was offered for his consideration was as follows : — The Protestants were required to amalgamate their troops with the royal forces, and to place them under the command of Roman Catholic officers ; and it was held out as an inducement, that the King would thus be able to combat the power of the League, while no jeal- ousy of the Huguenot party would be excited in France, as the names under which the companies were enrolled would all be those of Papists.
Notwithstanding nearly thirty years' experience of the fraud and violence which the court of France thought itself justified in employing against the Protestant subjects of the realm, there were many of the friends of Henry who were willing to adopt the plan proposed ; and at a meeting of the principal Huguenot noblemen held at Guitres, near Coutras, towards the end of May, twenty gentlemen of great influ- ence were found to favor the suggestion, while at their head appeared the brave and skilful, but turbulent and intriguing Viscount de Turenne. The business of the assembly was opened by Henry himself, in a speech too characteristic to be omitted. " If I could have believed, my friends," he said, " that the present state of affairs only menaced myself, and that ruin of my fortune, the diminution of my influence, and the loss of all that is dearest to me, except my honor, might have obtained for you peace and security, you should have heard no tidings of me ; and with the counsel and assistance of my own adherents, I would, at the expense of my life, have made head against the enemy. But the question being the ruin or preservation of all the Reformed churches, and
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 35
thereby of the glory of God, I have thought it a duty to de- liberate with you upon that which affects you all. The mat- ter which first presents itself for our inquiry is, whether we ought to stand with our arms crossed during the contest of our enemies, and send all our soldiery into the army of the King, without name or authority — which is an opinion on the lips and in the hearts of many — or whether we ought sep- arately to succor the King in arms, and take the opportuni- ties which may present themselves to strengthen ourselves. This is the question on which I beg every one here assem- bled to give his judgment without passion."
The first twenty voices were all, as I have said, more or less in favor of the plan suggested by the court ; but at length an inferior officer,* speaking in his turn, exposed the danger and folly of such a course in plain but convincing language, and Henry, giving way to his natural impetuosity, exclaimed aloud, " I am with him." These words, joined with the solid reasoning of the last speaker, which was sup- ported by Du Plessis Mornay and the Prince de Conde, de- cided the assembly, and the plan was rejected.
The Assembly of Guitres was followed immediately! by a manifesto on the part of the King of Navarre, the particu- lars of which must be dwelt upon at large, premising, for the better understanding of the young monarch's reply to the accusations of his enemies, that the League had published another appeal to the people of France and the Catholics of Europe, subsequent to that which had issued from Peronne on the 31st March, and had insinuated that Henry of Bour- bon was eagerly looking for the death of Henry III., in or- der to grasp the crown of France.
In his famous declaration, which breathes in every line the
* Aubigne and the Marshal de la Force, both claim the honor of the speech which turned the feelings of the assembly of Guitres. I have dated the meeting at Guitres, from the invaluable itinerary published by M. Berger de Xivrey.
10th June.
86 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
high and chivalrous spirit with which he was animated, Henry began by refuting the charges brought against him on the score of religion, pointing out that he had been edu- cated from infancy in the tenets of the Reformed Church, and that he could not be expected to quit them, unless a free and legitimate council should show him that he was in error, and that until such a council was held he should repel the name of heretic, adding that though, hitherto, efforts had been made to destroy him, none had been made to instruct him. He then refuted the accusation of having relapsed into heresy from the Roman Catholic faith, pointing out that his attendance upon the mass, after the massacre of St. Bar- tholomew's day, was compulsory, and against his will, and that the moment he had recovered his liberty he had boldly avowed the religion he had always adhered to at heart. He proceeded to declare, that in all the civil wars he had never had anything in view ,but the service of God and of the King ; as a proof of which he showed that, no sooner had liberty of conscience been secured, than he laid down his arms, dismissed his troops, and sent back the foreign allies who had come to his support. He next proclaimed that he was anything but an enemy to the Roman Catholics ; dared his accusers to prove that he had persecuted them, and appealed to his conduct towards those of Beam, who were left in the peaceable exercise of their religion, while his principal offi- cers and friends were members of that church, and his life and fortune were continually trusted in their hands. The concordat of Magdebourg, which the League declaimed against, he treated as a mere chimera, and showed that in many particulars their assertions regarding it were evident falsehoods. He then went on to notice the charge, that he retained the towns granted as a security, after they had been demanded by the King ; pointing out that the dangers which they were intended to guard against were more menacing than ever, but offering to resign them before the time fixed, if the Leaguers would lay down their arms and restore the places
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 37
they had seized. He then touched upon that part of the League's manifestoes which declared him incapable of suc- ceeding to the crown, acknowledging that this was the point of the greatest importance, but yet the point on which he had thought the least, having contented himself with the hope, that God would give the King of France a long life and numerous posterity for the good of his kingdom, and to the discomfiture of all those who thought fit to represent the Monarch and his Queen as barren, in the flower of their age, and to build, as it were, their evil designs upon Henry's tomb. He repelled the charge of desiring the death of the King, and in plain terms declared that all who had called him a perturber of the public peace, or an enemy of the Catho- lics, had grossly and maliciously lied. The document con- cluded by an entreaty to the King, to spare the effusion of Christian blood, and to permit him to descend from his sta- tion so far as to decide the quarrel that agitated France, in combat with the Duke of Guise, man to man, two to two, or ten to ten, in order that the people might be no longer op- pressed by these contentions. He, moreover, we find, offered, if the Duke of Guise doubted the security of any part of France, for the combat proposed, to quit the realm with him, and void their dispute in any country where it might be honorably decided.*
To this defiance, Guise replied that he had no enmity to the King of Navarre, and that his cause, being that of relig- ion and the state, could not be submitted to the chances of a duel. Henry, however, caused a copy of his declaration to be presented not only to the King, but to all the parlia- ments of France, and all the principal sovereigns of Europe. Nor was the effect less than he expected, for the sympathy of many, even of the Roman Catholics, was enlisted in his favor, and the Protestants who had long been divided in their councils, and had shown themselves unwilling to sub-
* Davila, Pierre Mathieu, Cayet, Aubigne, Mem. de Messire P. de Mornay.
38 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
mit to any one chief, turned their eyes thenceforth to him as their leader, and yielded to his guidance with more unanimity than they had displayed since the death of Coligni.
Nevertheless, neither Henry's declaration, nor the knowl- edge of his truth and loyalty, made any impression upon the weak King of France. No measures were taken for stopping the progress of the League ; nor was the King of Navarre authorized to resist its efforts, even in Guienne.
Encouraged by the rumors of a negotiation between the court and the house of Guise, and by daily information of the direction which that negotiation was taking, the faction grew more and more insolent and enterprising in the south of France ; and at the same time the position of Henry of Bourbon became more embarrassing than ever, from the fact of his wife putting herself at the head of his enemies, in the province under his government, fortifying herself in the town of Agen, and gathering together soldiers under the Viscount de Duras, thus offering a common centre for all the opera- tions of the League in the Agenois. Issuing from that town, bands of armed men carried on a desultory system of warfare on the neighboring Protestants, made themselves masters of several small towns and castles, and undertook various enter- prises of greater importance, in which they were frustrated by the activity of the King of Navarre and his adherents. There is much reason to believe, also/from many of that mon- arch's letters, that Marguerite or her adherents, not content with open resistance to his authority, aimed secretly at his life.
Still Henry was commanded to remain tranquil ; still the King of France assured him by letters under his own hand,* that in any treaty with the League, his interests should be attended to ; and all that he was permitted to do, was, to make preparation for the worst. In that course he displayed all the energy which might have been expected ; and gather- ing the Protestant chiefs around him, keeping up a constant * Lettres Missives, torn. U. p. 93.
KINO OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 39
communication with England and Germany, maintaining a frank and cordial communication with Montmorenci, fortifying his towns, increasing the number of his troops, laying in stores of ammunition and arms, and warning every leader and every community to be ready at a moment's notice, he guarded against surprise ; while he maintained tranquillity in his own party, and resisted all the solicitations of those who urged him to strike the first blow.
"No man ever showed greater moderation, or a more sin- cere desire of peace ; and it is, indeed, marvellous how one so impetuous in his character, restrained himself and his followers under circumstances the most irritating. It is evi- dent from all his letters, that during the months of April, May, and June, the struggle with himself was as severe as any that he ever endured with his enemies in the open field ; and in one epistle to Segur, on the 28th of June, he alludes to this internal contest, exclaiming, " Our patience lasts as long as it may : God grant that it may continue."
On the 15th of that month he received news of the capture of the town of Bourg by the Leaguers, although on the 8th, he had given full intimation to Marshal Matignon of their de- signs upon that place, and had earnestly besought him to frustrate the attempt.
Another party of the Leaguers, under Monsieur de Lansac, had taken possession of the point at the confluence of the Dordogne and the Garonne, and known as the Bee d'Ambez, where they had built a fort commanding the course of the Gironde ; but in this instance Matignon, perceiving that the trade of Bordeaux and other towns in his own hands, was menaced, displayed a degree of activity, which principally served to show how easily he might have prevented the cap- ture of Bourg, had he thought fit to make the attempt. The fort at the Bee d'Ambez was taken by storm, after a vigorous resistance ; and amongst the prisoners was found the infa- mous Gavaret, or Gabaret, who had so frequently attempted to assassinate the King of Navarre. Henry immediately de-'
40 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
manded that he should be brought to trial and punished for his crimes ; but Matignon, well aware of what was taking place at the court, did not think fit to adopt such a course at once ; and succeeding events screened the assassin from the arm of justice. The King of Navarre had advanced in per- son to Tonneins, to support Matignon in case of need, and had ordered a reinforcement to be sent from Montsegur ; but no sooner did he hear of the Marshal's success than he retired to Nerac, in order to give no occasion for suspicion or offence. He had scarcely arrived at the latter place, how- ever, when a rumor reached him of the conclusion of a treaty between Henry III. and the rebels of the League ; and seeing that no time was to be lost, the King of Navarre hastened all his preparations, in order to resume hostilities the moment the intelligence was confirmed.
Such was the haste required to avoid being taken by sur- prise, and the rapidity with which event succeeded event, that, in writing to Segur, on the eighth of July, he says, " Excuse me if I do not write with my own hand ; for I have so much business that I have not leisure to blow my nose ;" and Segur, in a memoir addressed to the Queen of England, declared, " that the affairs of Christendom were in such a state, that whereas, formerly, events ran by years and months, they were now to be counted by hours and minutes."
Elizabeth herself was deeply interested in the welfare of the King of Navarre ; and the negotiation which had been opened by his ambassador in London, was carried on by an envoy from the English queen, who arrived in Guienne on the second or third of June. The precise particulars of this trans- action I do not discover ; but it is evident that promises of support, in money, men, and ships, were made by Elizabeth ; and though there is some reason to believe that she did not perform all that she had led Henry to expect, yet she ren- dered him most important assistance, not only by furnishing him with the means of carrying out the war, but by sending
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 41
the famous Lord Willoughby to advocate his cause with the German Princes.*
Still the King of Navarre refrained from every act of hos- tility ; for Henry III., to the very last, reiterated his assur- ances that he would look -upon that Prince's interests as his own, and neither agree to, nor grant, anything contrary to the edict of peace, which he declared to be irrevocable. Even after vague information of the signature of the treaty of Nemours reached Henry of Navarre, he seems to have doubted that Henry and his parliament would confirm it, and to have hesitated to take arms. No official communi- cation of the fact had been made to him up to the beginning of August ; but some time before that period positive intel- ligence must have arrived at Bergerac, of the forced registra- tion of the edict confirming this treaty, by the Parliament of Paris, notwithstanding the strong opposition of that body : and the Protestants of France now found that the King, terri- fied by the menaces of the League, and misled by the coun- sels of his mother, had sanctioned all the proceedings of his enemies ; had revoked the edict under which the Huguenots enjoyed a certain degree of toleration and security ; had given numerous strong towns into the hands of the house of Guise ; had placed the forces of the state at their dis- posal ; had violated his word as a gentleman, his oath as a Christian, and his duty as a king ; and had granted to fear, all that had been required by his rebellious nobles with the very view of making their demands so extravagant, as to preclude the possibility of accommodation.
Such concessions on the part of the King might well sur- prise the whole of Europe ; and it may not be amiss to show how the conduct of the League in exacting such conditions from the sovereign, was regarded by one of its wisest and most conscientious members. " You will pardon me," says the Duke of Nevers, in a letter to the Cardinal de Bourbon, " if I say that you have gone beyond that upon which we were * Letters of the reign of Elizabeth.
42 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
agreed, and that the Duke of Guise has not adhered to the measures that were arranged with us. You ought not to go to work with the King as if he were a declared enemy ; yet you push things with him to the last extremity ; you impose upon him insulting conditions, and not remembering that we are all his subjects, you speak as if you were a sov- ereign."
Again he goes on, " The edict that he has carried to the Parliament has frightened me, when I read an act by which he sanctions the assumption of arms, the seizure of the pub- lic money, the taking of prisoners, and other acts of hos- tility. He wills afterwards that the past should be forgot- ten, and imposes oblivion upon all men. Believe me, that in this, he does not speak as he thinks ; and that this oblivion, commanded to others, is a notice to himself to remember it all his life, and to make you repent it on the first occasion."
After exhorting the Cardinal, in eloquent terms, to return to his duty, to restrain the Duke of Guise, and to labor with all his energies to efface from Henry's mind the memory of the past, he ends with the following warning ; — " Sovereigns are born too jealous of their authority to suffer its partition ; and all those who have sought to frighten their masters have perished before they did them any harm."*
The opinion of the Sovereign Pontiff was not less strongly pronounced. " The Pope has just said to me," says Nevers, in another letter, " that there never was formed a conspiracy more pernicious to religion and the state than that of the League. He praises God, that it appears smothered by the goodness of the King, and by the approbation which he seems to have granted to all that has passed ; but, he says, if this pardon and reconciliation be not sincere, we shall see, in a short time, the unhappy consequences which they will have. ' The King of France will soon be obliged,' he added, with tears in his eyes, ' to treat the Catholics as his greatest enemies ; he will be compelled to draw forces from Germany, * Mem. de Nevers, torn. i. p. 670.
KING OF PRANCE AND NAVARRE. 43
England, and other Protestant countries, in order to become the strongest in his own state ; he will have to enter into a disgraceful accommodation with the King of Navarre and the Prince de Conde, and to inundate all France with Lu- therans and Calvinists. See,' continued the Pope, 'what good results will have proceeded from your association, and your fine raising of the buckler.' "*
If such was the effect produced upon the minds of Roman Catholic Princes, it may be well supposed that the surprise of Henry of Navarre and his friends was not less. Whatever he might have feared from the knavery, wickedness, and indo- lence of the King, the terms of the edict, which he received towards the end of July, 1585, went far beyond his expecta- tions ; and he himself related to the historian Mathieu, that, while reading the document, the mustache, which leaned upon his hand, became white in the space of a few minutes, so terrible was the effect upon his mind. Henry, however, was pre-eminently a man of action ; and he now hesitated no longer to take arms in his own defence. In a few days messengers were hurrying over the whole country; some carrying letters of reproach and remonstrance to the King, and to the Parliament; others summoning his friends and adherents to take counsel for meeting the impending danger ; others notifying the state of the Huguenots of France to the Protestant Princes of Europe.f
At the assembly of Guitres, no less than sixty Protestant deputies were present ; but, in order to decide upon the means of carrying on the war, a smaller meeting of the no- bles opposed to the League, including several distinguished Catholics, as well as Huguenots, and an envoy from the Elector Palatine, was held at St. Paul,]; at which also ap- peared the Prince de Conde and Marshal Montmorenci. There, a new protestation against the proceedings of the League was signed, by which the nobles assembled, re- minded the people of France, that the King had solemnly * Idem. p. 672. f Davila.
44 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
declared that all who took arms, without his express com« mand and commission, should be considered guilty of high treason, arguing thence, that as the League had done so, not only contrary to his permission, but actually against his per- son, they had fallen under this censure, and therefore, that those who opposed them in the field, were but rendering good service to the King. Much division of opinion, how- ever, unfortunately existed amongst the Protestant Princes and nobles assembled at St. Paul ; and a rash and extraordi- nary proposition was made, it would appear, by the Viscount de Turenne, having for its object to unite the Protestants of France into a sort of republic, under the protection of the Elector Palatine and the guidance of five or six lieutenants appointed by that Prince.*
This scheme, as may be imagined, was most obnoxious to the King of Navarre, and he consequently opposed it strenu- ously ; but, had it not been for the assistance and support of Montmorenci, it is supposed his resistance to an arrange- ment which reduced him to the rank of a mere agent for a foreign sovereign, would not have been successful. The plan, however, was rejected ; and all eyes turned, once more, to the Bearnois Prince, as the great hope of the Protestant party. Nor had the Huguenots any reason to regret their confidence in him ; for, from the moment war was deter- mined upon, a new spirit seemed to animate Henry of Navarre.
Shackled and embarrassed by the promises and exhorta- tions of Henry III. he had appeared, to many of his followers, to be acting a hesitating and irresolute part, so long as the King of France affected to regard the Leaguers as his per- sonal enemies ; and all his letters show that he felt painfully the difficulties of his situation. But the moment that war became inevitable, even the painful necessity seemed a com- parative relief. His spirit rose, the vast resources of his genius displayed themselves ; and, as the first stroke of the * Sully.
KINO OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 45
war in returning from the meeting at St. Paul, accompanied by his ordinary guard, he defeated three companies of the League, suffering only eight persons to escape.
The activity which Henry of Navarre displayed, the justice of his cause, the evident ambition of the house of Guise, and the consolidation of the party opposed to the League, by a community of danger, as well as a community of interest, together with a thousand of those minor intrigues, which, in all moments of turbulence and civil contention, induce men to attach themselves to others with whom they have many points of difference, soon remedied all the evils which had been brought about by the unwillingness that the King of Navarre had shown to take arms, even while the League was organizing its forces and marching with a steady pace towards the attainment of its objects.
Montmorenci co-operated zealously in his views, as soon as his decision was made ; the new Duke of Montpensier was won over to the same course ; the Count de Soissons and the Prince de Conti joined the confederates ; and a long list of illustrious names is added by the historian of Henry IV. which it is unnecessary to give in this place. Five Princes of the blood were arrayed against the weakness of Henry III. and the vigor of the house of Lorraine ; and the Protestant sovereigns of England and of several German states, were ready to counterbalance the weight of Spain and Rome. At the same time, a considerable number of the French nobles, who were forced to take part in the proceed- ings of the League, did so against their will. The minions of the King were all inimical to the family of Lorraine ; the Duke of Nevers had openly detached himself from their fac- tion. Marshal Matignon leaned strongly towards the race of Bourbon ; and Cardinal de Bourbon was at once doubted and despised by the League, equally a tool and a burden. The young Tremouille, Due de Thouars, shortly after the commencement of the war, embraced the Protestant faith, and brought with him a great accession of strength in Poitou.
46 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
Lesdeguieres, whose valor had raised him to the highest rank amongst the commanders of the day, was master of Dau- phine, and held the Duke of Savoy in check ; Languedoc was secured by the adhesion of Montmorenci ; and a thou- sand isolated points, throughout all France, contained men of energy and decision, ready to seize the first favorable opportunity of opposing in arms the progress of a faction whose designs were every day becoming more apparent^ and whose pretexts were gradually discovered to be weak and unsubstantiated.
The sudden development of such great resources surprised and alarmed the leaders of the League ; and they pressed the King of France eagerly to hasten his operations against the Huguenots, even before the time allowed them for con- version was expired. The unwillingness shown by Henry III. to recommence the persecution, soon caused suspicions and libels to be busily spread against him ; and the memorable words which he had addressed to the Cardinal de Bourbon in going to the Parliament to register the edict of Ne- mours, exasperated the more furious members of the fac- tion almost to madness. "My uncle," he said, "against my conscience, but very willingly, I published the edicts of pacifi- cation, because they tended to solace my subjects. I now go to publish the revocation of those edicts according to my conscience, but very much against my will, because upon this publication hangs the ruin of my state and my people."* But it is evident, that in binding the League to tranquillity, while he gave the Protestants six months to quit the realm, to conform, or to arm and prepare for resistance, Henry had in view the raising up of a great party to oppose the house of Guise; and but little doubt can be entertained of his having secretly notified to Henry of Navarre, that whatever he did for his own security would meet with approbation. Even the governors of particular towns were instructed to give them up to the Huguenots, though the weakness and * L'Etoile.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 4*7
perfidy of the King, on some occasions, rendered their obe- dience fatal to themselves.*
The rapid preparations of the King of Navarre, however, and two or three successful enterprises made by the Protes- tants, showed the Leaguers that this was no time for delay ; and they stirred up the people of Paris to demand loudly the renewal of the war, for the recovery of the towns granted as security to the Protestants. Many, even of the Catholics, had already remarked with bitter indignation, that the League, one of whose chief pretexts was to relieve the people from the excessive burdens under which they groaned, had totally forgotten that object in the treaty of Nemours. Not a word was now said of deliverance from exaction ; and as the meas- ures which they sought to force upon Henry, were calculated to increase all the expenses of the state, the King deter- mined to turn their own acts against themselves, and to show his subjects that their factions compelled him to load them with taxation, while he made the Leaguers themselves smart for the proceedings to which they drove him to have re- course. He assembled in the Louvre a number of those who had taken a principal share in opposing his pacific schemes,f and in a tone of bitter irony informed them, that being quite ready to fulfil their wishes, he had determined to carry on the much desired war with vigor, and therefore that he was about to bring three armies into the field ; one to protect his person; one to oppose the entrance of the German auxiliaries of the King of Navarre on the frontier ; one to attack that Prince in Guienne. He then pointed out that those who had counselled hostilities should surjport them, especially as it was against his own will that they were undertaken. He notified to the first president that he should expect not to hear a word of remonstrance from the
* This was the case with Du Halot, who introduced a party of Huguenots into Angers, and was afterwards broken on the wheel, pro- testing to the last that he had the King's orders for what he had done, f Davila.
48 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
Parliament regarding the retention of their salaries, for the prosecution of an enterprise which they had so strenuously advocated. To the Prevot des Marchands, he stated, that the annuities on the Hotel de Ville would be applied to the same purpose. The Cardinal de Guise was informed, that though the clergy would be spared for the first month, they must furnish the rest of the expenses of a war which they had declared to be holy and religious ; and Henry added, that he would wait for no authority from the Pope, but, jus- tified by their own words, would confiscate the revenues of the clergy, for the righteous purpose which they had so often urged upon him. Every one sought to remonstrate ; but the King stopped them sternly, telling them that they should have believed him in time, and preserved peace, rather than decided upon war in a shop or in a choir.*
This vigorous conduct might have produced some effect, if corresponding energy had been shown in other matters, and if Henry's incredible profusion to his favorites, had not refuted the pka of necessity in regard to his exactions. The Leaguers, however, felt that they might be in some degree affected in popular opinion by his proceedings, and that the burden of the war might soon render the people eager for its termination, unless some new move was made in the game they were playing ; and therefore, while they ceased not to pour forth libels upon the head of the King, they labored at the Court of Rome to obtain a bull of excommunication against the Protestant Princes of the House of Bourbon. As we have seen, Sixtus had openly expressed his disappro- bation of the League and its objects; but, regarding the King of Navarre as a relapsed heretic, the very fear of see- ing the faction force Henry III. into an union with his cousin, made him anxious to interpose every barrier against such a result, so that he was easily induced to take the step re- quired. On the 9th of September, the bull was fulminated against the King of Navarre and the Prince de Conde ; and * Davila.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 49
the Pope thereby declared them both to be relapsed here- tics, the instigators and protectors of heresy, and as such under the censure of the laws and the canons, deprived of lands and dignities, and incapable of succeeding to any sov- ereignty, especially in France. Moreover, their vassals and subjects were absolved of all oaths towards them, and were expressly forbidden to render them any obedience.
The bull appeared in Paris towards the end of the month ; but the result was not such as the Pope and the League ex- pected. The power affected by the Pontiff, stimulated the Gallican church to resistance ; and the Parliament solemnly protested against the bull, and condemned the tone as well as the matter ; one of the counsellors declaring that the only way to treat it was to commit it to the flames in the presence of the assembled Church.* A number of treatises were also published against it, both by Protestants and Roman Catho- lics ; amongst which the most celebrated were the Brutum fulmen of Hotman, a distinguished jurisconsult, and the Moy- ens d'abus et de nullite of Pierre de Belloy, Advocate-gene- ral of Toulouse.
Henry of Navarre himself did not remain quiescent under the injury ; he complained loudly to the King of the insolence of the Pope, pointing out the danger of suffering such a bull to be published in the kingdom ; and not content with its suppression in France, which was immediately ordered by Henry III., he drew up the following protest : — " Henry, by the grace of God, King of Navarre, Sovereign of Beam, first Peer and Prince of France, opposes the declaration and ex- communication of Sixtus V. calling himself Pope of Rome ; maintains that it is false, and appeals against it as abusive to the court of the Peers of France, of whom he has the honor of being the first ; and, as touching the crime of heresy, of which he is accused by the said declaration, he says and sustains that Sixtus V. calling himself Pope, has, saving his Holiness, falsely and maliciously lied, and that he himself is heretic, which he
* L'Etoile. Duchat VOL. n. 3
50 THE LIFE OF HE J|«Y IV.
will prove in any full and free council, lawfully assembled ; to which, if he do not consent and submit, as he is bound by tlie canons, he, the King of Navarre, holds and declares him to be Antichrist and heretic, and in that quality declares Bgainst him a perpetual and irreconcilable war. He protests also nullity and recourse against him and his successors, for the reparation of the injury offered to him and the whole family of France, as the present act and the necessity of the case require : and, as in times past, the Princes and Kings, his predecessors, have well known how to chastise the temerity of such gallants as the pretended Pope Sixtus, when they have forgotten their duly, and passed the bounds of their vocation, counfounding temporal with spiritual things, the said King of Navarre, who is in nothing their inferior, hopes that God will give him grace to avenge the injury done to his King, to his house, to his blood, and to all the Parliaments of France, imploring for this purpose, the aid and support of all truly Christian Princes, Kings, towns, and communities affected by this act. Also he prays all the al- lies and confederates of this crown of France, to join him in opposing the tyranny and usurpation of the Pope and the leagued conspirators in France, enemies of God, the State, and the King, and of the general peace of all Christendom." Under this bold document was written, "In as much pro- tests Henry de Bourbon, Prince de Conde ;" and adherents of the two Princes were found resolute enough to fix their protest to the gates of the Vatican itself. The Pope, though at first irritated, was not too bigoted, we are assured, to ad- mire the vigorous determination of the King of Navarre, and to lament publicly, his separation from the Church of Rome ; declaring, that to him and Elizabeth of England alone, of all the monarchs of Europe, would he have communicated the important projects which he meditated, had they not been heretics.*
* Perefixe. Anquetil passes altogether over the opposition of the Parliament to the Papal Bull, and says that Henry did not attempt to
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 51
Before the publication of the bull, a curious attempt had been made to convert the King of Navarre, by a commission consisting of theologians and lawyers. They were preceded by the Abbe d'Elbene, one of the counsellors and confidants of the Queen-mother, sent by that wily woman to assure Henry of Navarre of her good will and affection, at the very moment that she was conspiring with his enemies to effect his ruin. Henry, however, understood her character well ; and he replied with perfect courtesy, but sarcastic bitterness. " I feel sure," he said, in a letter which he charged her envoy to carry back, " that, as you have taken great pains to treat and make peace with the strangers who had risen in arms against the King to the prejudice of the public peace and repose, and of the state and royal family of France, so you will not be less careful of the children of the house. For although, Madam, I am not worthy that you should take this trouble for me, I believe that I am more worthy than those for whom you have taken it."
The Abbe* d'Elbene returned with this somewhat severe reply, and he was almost immediately succeeded by M. de Lenoncourt, Bishop of Auxerre, accompanied by Bruslart, Marquis of Sillery, who had been educated as a lawyer, Mon- sieur de Poigni, and two Doctors of the Sorbonne. Their object was to induce the King of Navarre to abandon the Protestant faith, or at least to abstain from the exercise of the Reformed religion during six months, and also to give up the towns of security. Henry replied with his usual straightforward candor, that he could not with honor or a safe conscience abandon a religion from fear, which he had adopted from conviction, but that he was willing to receive instruction, and to submit to a free council ; that he saw no use of suspending the outward exercise of that religion for a time ; and that it was too much to expect that the Protes- tants would give up the places they held, at the very mo- stop the publication of it in France ; though both facts are as clearly established as any others in the range of history.
52 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
ment when their enemies were actively arming for their de- struction.*
With this answer the theologians and lawyers were obliged to return ; but on their journey from Paris to Nerac, they had been closely followed by a royal army, commanded by the Duke of Mayenne, which caused the witty Duchess d'Usez to remark, that the Bourbon Prince must certainly be already condemned, and near his hour of death, as they first sent him the priest, and then the executioners. The Parisian world seemed indeed at this time to think his situa- tion hopeless ; but Henry speedily taught his enemies, that the energetic resistance of brave men in a just cause, is al- ways to be feared, however small may be the means appa- rently at their command.
A few weeks after the assembly of Protestant deputies had been held in the neighborhood of Coutras, the war, called that of the three Henries, was begun ; but those few weeks were employed by the incessant activity of the King of Navarre, to the greatest advantage. His proceedings are thus described by Davila : " As in body and mind, he was indefatigable, he enlisted armed men from every quarter, he fortified the places he held, he supplied them with provisions, he furnished them as far as he could with ammunition and artillery, obtained supplies of money, strove to gain the no- bility, disciplined his soldiers, and never reposing, had an eye constantly upon every means that he judged necessary for supporting the attack of so great a power." The forces col- lected were numerous ; and money flowed in both from the zeal of his own followers, and the sympathy of foreign na- tions ; but as soon as he had gathered his troops together, Henry divided his army; and, while Conde, Rohan, La Rochefoucault, Clermont d'Amboise, St. Gelais Lansac, with a number of inferior noblemen, hastened towards Poitou, to insure that important province, and oppose the advance of the Roman Catholics upon Rochelle, Henry of Navarre re-
* De Thou.
KING OF PRANCE AND NAVARRE. 53
mained to make head against the enemy in Guienne, and to maintain the advantageous position of the Protestants and their Catholic allies in the south of France. For this pur- pose he retained with him in Guienne but a small body of veteran troops, lightly armed, accustomed to incessant fa- tigue, and totally without baggage ; while at any time, by draughts from the neighboring garrisons, he could increase his numbers, and yet scour the country with a rapidity, which, when the time of action arrived, surprised and con- founded the Duke of Mayenne, whose slow and cautious pro- ceedings contrasted strangely with the daring activity of his opponent.
The first important actions of the war took place in Poitou, almost immediately after the publication of the edict of July. The Duke de Mercosur, one of the most vehement and eager of the Leaguers, no sooner learned that armies were collecting, to recommence hostilities against the Protestants, than, hur- rying from Brittany, of which province he had lately obtained the government, at the head of a small force, supposed to have numbered between two thousand three hundred* and four thousand five hundred men,f he entered Poitou from the side of Nantes, having sent forward several small parties to support the Roman Catholics, who had already taken arms in the neighborhood of Niort.
The head-quarters of the Prince de Conde were at this time at St. Jean d'Angeli, and his levies were by no means complete. Various skirmishes, however, had already oc- curred, the success of which had given the Huguenots con- fidence in their own strength ; and Conde did not hesitate to take the field, and advance to meet the enemy. Mercoeur was at this time in the neighborhood of Fontenoy, and seized with surprise and some degree of apprehension at the approach of a considerable force, when he had expected
* Davila says 1500 foot, and 800 horse.
f Aubigne 4000 foot, and 5 to 600 horse. Discours du premier pas- sage, &c. 2000 horse and foot.
54 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
to find no enemy to oppose him, he retired upon that city. But the governor, either ignorant of the engagements be- tween the King and the League, or privately instructed by Henry III. to favor the Protestants, refused to give him ad- mission, and the army of the Duke, hotly pursued by Conde, was forced to seek shelter in the suburbs. A skirmish took place under the walls, without any remarkable advantage on either part ; but, during the succeeding night, Mercoeur re- treated secretly, losing a great portion of his baggage before he regained the town of Nantes.*
The espousals of Conde, with the beautiful Charlotte Catherine de La Trimouille, which were celebrated imme- diately after this event, secured the full co-operation of her brother with the Protestants, and obtained for them posses- sion of the strong town of Taillebourg, famous in the wars between France and England, which formed part of the dowry of the bride. Without pausing, however, to taste the first sweets of that union, which ultimately proved so disastrous, Conde pursued his advantage over the enemy, hunted down numerous parties of Leaguers, who were gathering themselves together in various parts of Poitou, forced the Count de Brissac to cross the Loire in haste, took Soubize and Fouras, and marching rapidly upon Brouage laid siege to that important place, with the aid of money, vessels, and men, from Rochelle, after having made himself master of several towns which might have harassed the ope- ration of the Protestant army, had they been left in the hands of the Catholics.
After some fierce skirmishes beyond the walls, the garri- son of Brouage was driven into the place, and the city was invested, as well as the weakness of Conde's force would permit. Provisions and ammunition were known to be scarce in the town, the garrison was feeble, and some of the best Catholic officers who held command in the neighborhood had been wounded, killed, or taken in preliminary operations. * Aubignc. Davila. Discours.
KING> OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 55
Everything promised success to the Protestant arms, though the resistance of the besieged was likely to be resolute. But while the affairs of the Huguenot army before Brouage were in this prosperous state, a sudden rumor reached the Prince's ears, towards the end of September, that du Halot, captain of the castle of Angers, had called into the place Rochemort, a partisan of the King of Navarre, and was be- sieged by the inhabitants of the town and a party of Leaguers and royalists. At first he paid little attention to the tale ; but three days after, dispatches arrived from Clermont d'Amboise giving him further intelligence.* He now learned that Rochemort was actually in possession of the citadel, but that du Halot having attempted, while the inhabitants were in a state of consternation at the sudden surprise of the castle, to gain the town itself, had been arrested by the citizens. JSTo doubt can be entertained that the conduct of this unfortunate officer was authorized by Henry III., but the King did not venture to acknowledge the commission, and du Halot was broken on the wheel for his imprudent obedience.f
Conde found, however, that the small party who were closely beseiged in the castle still held out ; that Clermont d'Amboise was levying men in haste to relieve them ; and that while Brissac, with a small body of Leaguers, was attempting to compel them to surrender, Bouchage, one of the King's officers, was also in the town with a superior force, the conduct of which might be decided by his appearance before the place. Under these circumstances, with the rash and somewhat headstrong valor which characterizes all his proceedings, he determined to leave his infantry before Brou- age, and with his cavalry, and a large body of horse arque- busiers, to cross the Loire and advance upon Angers. The danger of such a course was immense ; the risk of defeat great ; and the probability of losing Brouage, which was
* Discours du premier passage du Due de Mercoeur, a contemporary account by a Protestant. f L'Etoile.
56 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
now almost within his grasp, still greater. The armies of the League under Mayenne, La Chatre, and Biron, were ad- vancing slowly. Bellegarde and Matignon, each at the head of considerable forces, were at no great distance from the besieged city ; the Duke of Joyeuse, with a large body of troops, was marching through Normandy ; and the Prince, before he could secure Angers and return to Brouage, had to pass and repass the Loire at a most difficult point, in the face of several strong parties of the enemy. But nothing- could dissuade him from the attempt ;* and after having made hasty arrangements for the prosecution of the siege of Brouage during his absence, he began his march on the 8th October, with between seven and eight hundred men at arms, and from a thousand to twelve hundred horse arquebusiers. The passage of the Loire was effected a few days after, be- tween Saumur and Angers, with great difficulty and much discouragement on the part of the soldiers, intelligence hav- ing been received that the Duke of Joyeuse, with a superior force, was advancing rapidly upon the latter city. Beaufort, however, opened its gates to the Prince, who was there joined by Clermont d'Amboise with above a thousand men ; but on the march from that place to Angers, tidings reached him of the citadel having surrendered to Bouchage.
Persisting to his ruin, Conde would not believe that such was the fact ; and an attack was made upon the town, by an army without artillery, and greatly inferior in number to the regular troops within. These rash efforts were prose- cuted during two whole days, after which the Prince re- treated to Beaufort, knowing well that forces were hurrying from all sides to attack him. Yet at Beaufort he spent the whole day of the 24th October in perfect inactivity, although the dangerous passage of the Loire was before him, and even one hour might cut off the only chance of safety. M. de Lavel, indeed, had been sent forward with a small corps to secure the river, and had succeeded in crossing, and taking * Discours, &c.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 57
up a position at St. Maur ; but, on the morning of the fol- lowing day, the Duke of Joyeuse, who had hastened to Sau- mur, caused several gun-boats to descend the stream and guard the passage, so that the army of the Prince was now divided, without a hope of being able to reunite. At the same time the Roman Catholic troops from Angers followed in haste ; the Duke of Mayenne had passed the Loire at Orleans, and was marching down its course ; Biron and others with a large force were at Bonneval in Beausse, and La Chatre was sweeping the other bank of the Loire with his army.
Nevertheless the Prince still showed a firm face, and made surprising efforts to make his way through the toils in which he was entangled, endeavoring to reach the higher Loire, and pass in the direction of Beaugency. But the soldiery could not be encouraged to the attempt, and desertion began upon such a scale that even the nobles gave up all hope, and separated themselves from their leader. The Due de Rohan left him at St. Ernoul, and effecting a passage for himself and his followers, reached Rochelle in safety. For a short time after quitting St. Ernoul, the Prince maintained his confidence ; but having received certain information that he was surrounded on every side, he at length gave orders for the general dispersion of his forces, and made his escape with the Duke of Trimouille and a few attendants. He suc- ceeded in reaching the sea coast of Brittany, where hiring a vessel, he made his way to England, whence he returned soon after to Rochelle, as I shall have occasion to show in another place. The rest of his troops in small parties fled over the country, and one by one, with much less loss than might have been expected, recrossed the Loire, and gained a place of safety.
The news of these disasters, even before they were com- plete, and the advance of Marshal Matignon towards Brou- age, struck the Protestant army which had been left under the walls of that place, with so much terror, that the siege
3*
58 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
was raised in confusion ; and the royalist officer, St. Luc, with an inferior force, pursued the Huguenots towards Sou- bize, slaughtering a considerable number, and making many prisoners. The plague, which ravaged that part of the country, added to the consternation caused by other misfor- tunes ; and the Huguenot army of Poitou melted rapidly away ; so that before the end of the year not a regiment was seen in the field to oppose the progress of the League, on the banks of the Loire and the Charente.*
We have seen that the Duke of Joyeuse, who had married the sister of the Queen-consort, took an active part against the Prince de Conde ; and I must now pause for a moment to remark that the army under his command had originally been raised by the King, to check the progress of the League, before the signature of the treaty of Nemours, f Henry had given the Protestants every assurance that this force would act in their defence ; and the events which took place in all parts of France during the end of 1585, clearly show : first, that the King had issued general directions to his officers to oppose the proceedings of the League, which caused great confusion and embarrassment after he allied him- self to that faction ; and, secondly, that he never sincerely cooperated with the Leaguers, recalling his former commands with no great zeal or activity, and wherever he could, taking possession of towns and strong places, to the exclusion of the confederates.^ Du Halot certainly fell a sacrifice to this double policy, and no sooner had the citadel of Angers sur- rendered, than it was seized by the King's troops ; while Brissac, the governor, who was a violent partisan of the house of Guise, was refused admittance, and shortly after deprived of his government.^
* Aubigne. t Sully.
£ Henry IV., in one of his letters to the German princes, says, in speaking of the King of France, " I know that his wishes and his sighs combat for me against the Leaguers, though I see his arm employed with them against me." § Discours, &c.
KING OF PRANCE AND NAVARRE. 59
In Guienne but little was done on either side during the autumn of the year 1585. Marshal Matignon, with secret orders from the court to spare the Huguenot party as much as possible, acted feebly, and undertook no enterprise of im- portance, while the King of Navarre was sufficiently strong to frustrate the efforts of the partisans of the League. To- wards the end of the year, however, the remonstrances of the confederates, and the thinly covered threats which they uttered, induced the indolent monarch of France to publish a new edict against the Protestants, and to take more vigorous measures for their destruction. The time allowed them to renounce their religion or quit the realm, was abridged to fifteen days, and orders were sent to Matignon to act more energetically in Guienne.
In answer to the edict, Henry of Navarre immediately put forth a declaration, commanding the provinces in which he had established himself to pay no attention to it ; and he added a general order to his officers to seize and sell all the property of those who held with the opposite party.* This bold step, however, produced but little effect upon the finances of the Prince ; and in the meanwhile the host of Mayenne, comprising some of the best troops in France, ad- vanced slowly towards Guienne.
Shortly after the commencement of the.,war, four armies had threatened the Protestants in the south and west of France, commanded by Matignon, Biron, Joyeuse, and May- enne ; but that of Joyeuse had been nearly destroyed by the ravages of the plague before the end of 1585, and the Duke himself, leaving a small body of forces under the command of Lavardin, to form the nucleus of another more important corps, returned to Paris in search of money and reinforce- ments.
* It is stated by Anquetil, that Henry caused all the property of the Catholics to be seized and sold ; but this was not the case, for he was supported by many persons of that religion, who were exempted from confiscation.
60 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
The end of that year, and the beginning of 1586, were marked on the part of the King of Navarre, by numerous proclamations and addresses to the people of France, said to have been drawn up by Du Plessis Mornay ; in which the pretences, objects, and conduct of the Leaguers were dis- played with a firm hand, and in their true colors ; but the house of Guise, though they occasionally replied, trusted more to the force of arms than to discussion for success, and vehemently urged the French monarch forward, in the course which he so unwillingly pursued.
It was not, indeed, without apprehension that they trusted themselves in such near communication with the King ; and the Duke of Guise himself is said to have admitted that, conscious of his own unpardonable offences, and aware of the treacherous character of his sovereign, he trembled when he first found himself unsupported in the presence of Henry III., and surrounded by his guards. The King, however, contented himself with taking mild, but artful means, to frus- trate the designs of the Leaguers, appointing the rapid and energetic Duke to command the army which was to wait, in tedious expectation, on the frontier, for the approach of the German Protestants, while to his brother of Mayenne, slow, cold, and calculating, though brave and determined, was as- signed the command of the forces destined to act against the quick amd impetuous, but skilful King of Navarre.
Mayenne did not quit Poitiers till the month of November,
1585, nor did he reach St. Jean d'Angeli till December. Thence, taking a few small and unimportant towns by the way, he approached the Garonne, and decided upon attempt- ing to shut in Henry of Navarre between that river and the Pyrenees, while Matignon on the one side, and he on the other, besieged the different fortresses of the province, and reduced the King to narrower and narrower limits. But the royalist commander, and the general for the League, by no means acted in concert ; and the first effort of Matignon, in
1586, was signally unsuccessful. In order to deliver the in-
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 61
habitants of Bordeaux from the excursions of the garrison of Castres, a small town on the Garonne,* he advanced against the place in the month of February, with a force of between four and five thousand men. Henry, however, aware of the importance of the place, marched to its relief with an army not exceeding two thousand men ; and at his approach Matignon instantly raised the siege and decamped. The King of Navarre, to mark that he had actually relieved the town, entered at the head of a small party, dined within the walls on the 20th February, and then immediately re- tired, as if in contempt of the enemy.f
No th withstanding this success, the advance of Mayenne reduced Henry to a strait of some difficulty, and spread con- sternation amongst his friends, several of whom advised him to retire into Languedoc, while others urged him to pass into England and endeavor to obtain succor from that country. It was admitted by all that he must quit Guienne ; but the monarch seems to have been much less alarmed at the ap- proach and probable junction of two superior forces of the enemy, than his followers ; and, in a letter to Monsieur de St. Genies, he calms that officer's apprehensions regarding his proceedings, by explaining to him his plans.
It is always fortunate for science when the views of emi- nent men, expressed beforehand, in regard to any course of action they are about to adopt, can be recovered after the result has taken place ; for persons of limited mind and ir- resolute character are too often apt to attribute the great advantages obtained by superior intellect and conduct to mere accident ; whereas, in almost every case of long continued success we find, on examination, that it was gained by just combinations, and foreseen, as far as anything can be foreseen under the overruling will of God.
* It must be remarked, that Castres on the Agout is not the town * here referred to, as it has strangely enough, but not unfrequently, been confounded with that place.
fAubignc. Pierre Mathieu. Sully. Cayet.
62 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
The letters of Henry IV., like the dispatches of the Duke of Wellington, show all the results calculated before the events took place ; and it is especially satisfactory in the present instance to be able to prove this fact, as the conduct of the King of Navarre, in remaining with a small force in Guienne, satisfying himself with harassing and impeding the enemy, and then leaving his opponents to attack his for- tresses without any further effort for their deliverance, has been attributed too frequently to anything but calculation. In his letter to M. de St. Genies, however, before Mayenne had set his foot in Guienne, and three months before he him- self quitted that province, the King says, " Do not fear that I will risk anything. Such is by no means my intention. My design is only to check their (the enemies') fury for a time, in order to give our fortresses a better opportunity of ruining them."
After seeing with his own eyes that all was prepared for this purpose, Henry at length determined to get into the rear of Mayenne, in order to keep up his communication with Poitou ; while Turenne remained with a small force in Gas- cony to make head against the League, and Lesdeguieres and Damville, secured Dauphine and Languedoc. He showed none of the haste of apprehension, however ; observing, " The Duke of Mayenne is not so terrible a person as to stop one from walking about Guienne for some time to come." Accordingly, having to provide for the defence of the coun- try, he visited Pau, and several other places,* and then re- turned to Montauban, where he learnt that, the armies of Mayenne and Matignon having effected their junction on the Garonne, those two generals entertained the intention of sweeping the course of that river of all the Huguenot forces collected in the different towns on its -banks.
His situation now became critical; the passage of the Garonne was narrowly watched ; and so certain did Mayenne
* Aubigne states that he was led to Pau by new amours ; but Sully, who was with him, declares that his journey thither was indispensable.
KINO OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 63
feel of being able to capture the great Huguenot commander, that he wrote to Paris, announcing to the King that Henry of Navarre could not escape from the net he had laid for him. That Prince, however, determined to make an attempt to cross the river, at all risks ; and I shall give the account of the plan he followed, in order to effect that purpose, in the words of Sully, who was with him.* " He set out from Nerac," says that statesman, " followed by two hundred horse, with whom he marched towards Castel-jaloux ; but instead of going on to that place, he separated his force half way between it and Nerac, retained only those who were best mounted, to the number of twenty, with an equal number
* Henry, in all his letters, speaks of the proceedings of Mayenne and Matignon with the greatest contempt, even while he was most energeti- cally and carefully exerting himself to frustrate them. To Segur he writes, " Our enemies, whatever expense they go to, whatever men they risk, have not done us much harm as yet, and will do us less here- after, I am sure." To Casimir he says, " Thank God, our enemies have gained nothing against us ; we, on the contrary, much against them in various encounters, where it has been very evident that God and their consciences fought for us and against them." To Queen Elizabeth he writes, " You have heard, Madam, the great noise of their arms. Up to the present moment they have not dared to attack any strong place ; and I can say with truth, in all the places where they have fought they have been beaten." Even when surrounded by the enemy, he speaks in the same tone of confidence and gayety ; and when writing to Mon- sieur de Batz, to join him for the purpose of forcing his way through the posts of Mayenne, the terms he uses are as follows : — " Monsieur de Batz, they have surrounded me like a beast of the chase, and think that they will take me by the net. For my part I intend to pass through them or over them. I have chosen my good men, and one of them is my Mower (i. e. de Batz himself, whom he called by this name on account of his deeds of arms at Eausse). Great Devil, I will keep from my cousin, the secret of thy petticoat at Auch ; but do not let my Mower fail me in such a good enterprise, and do not go to amuse yourself in the straw, when I expect you in the field." And on the day following he writes to the same brave soldier, " My Mower, put wings to your best beast. I have told Montespan to break the wind of his. Why ? Thou shalt know at Nerac. Hurry, run, come, fly ; such is the order of your master, and the prayer of your friend."
64 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
of his guards, and assigned all the rest a rendezvous at St. Foy (on the Dordogne). Then turning short, he took a road in the midst of the woods and heaths, which he knew by having been often there in hunting, and arrived at Caumont, where he slept three hours. We passed the river after sun- set, and marched all night through enemies' quarters, even up to the very trenches of Marmande. After which, making another turn by Sauvetat, we reached St. Foy two hours be- fore day, where all the rest of his people, who had been separated into little parties, arrived likewise without the least loss, even of baggage."*
At St. Foy, or in its neighborhood, the King of Navarre remained six weeks, either engaged in watching the opera- tions of the enemy, and providing the towns in which he had garrisons with means of defence in case of attack, or amusing himself with hunting,f notwitstanding the proximity of Mayenne. While the Duke and Matignon proceeded to attack and capture Montignac Le Compte, and St. Bazeille, making such slow progress that it would have cost ten years of similar operations, according to the calculations of per- sons on the spot, to deprive the Huguenots of the places they possessed in Guienne alone ; the King of Navarre strengthened the garrisons and fortifications of Montsegur, Castillon, St. Foy, and Monflanquin, in the rear of the Ro- man Catholic army ;J and then, fully persuaded that disease, weariness, and dissension would, without his presence, effect the dispersion of Mayenne's forces,§ he turned his steps to- wards Poitou, where many important events had occurred since the raising of the siege of Brouage.
* Sully, liv 2. f Pierre Mathieu. £ Sully.
§ Discours de la Guerre, &c. Lettres Missives. The fall of St. Bazeille, after a very weak and inefficient defence, greatly enraged the King of Navarre, who ordered the governor, M. des Pueilles, to be im- mediately arrested, on his presenting himself before him at Bergerac and endeavoring to justify his conduct. Henry calculated, however) that the army of Mayenne had lost, by sickness or the sword, between five and six thousand men from December, 1585, to May, 1586.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 65
Early in January, 1586, the Prince de Conde, with a small body of followers, suddenly appeared at Rochelle, in ves- sels lent to him by the Queen of England, and in a very short time found himself once more at the head of a considerable force. A number of Protestant noblemen, from different parts of the country, hastened to his standard, the scattered fragments of his army were gathered together, and the war on that side recommenced by the capture of Tors, Dampierre, and Royan. A brief interval of inactivity succeeded in March, during which the marriage of the Prince was con- summated with Charlotte de la Trimouille, who had now formally embraced the Protestant religion. Soubize was re- captured shortly after ; and Mornac, Aunay, Mondevis, San- say, and Chizay, were taken by the Huguenots. But a victory more prejudicial than a defeat, from the number of distinguished men who fell in the contest, was achieved in the neighborhood of Sainctes. Two brothers of the house of Laval were mortally wounded ; Laval himself, the eldest son of the famous D'Andelot, died eight days after ; and another brother, having expired some short time before, four gallant gentlemen of one family were lost to the Protestant cause in the space of one month.
The town of Brouage, however, remained the most galling thorn in the side of Rochelle ; its harbor was considered the second in France, and its ships scoured the sea at the mouth of the Gironde, and swept away the commerce of the neigh- boring city. To remedy the inconveniences which the Prot- estants suffered from the retention of this place by the Roman Catholics, Conde, though hopeless of reducing it by siege, decided upon making an attempt to block up the harbor by sinking a number of loaded vessels across its mouth ; and preparations were accordingly made at Rochelle for that purpose.
St. Luc, the governor of Brouage, was not long in discov- ering the designs of the enemy, and all the vessels at his command were soon at sea to frustrate them. Numerous
66 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
skirmishes took place amongst the islands with which that part of the French coast is thickly studded ; and several weeks elapsed in this naval warfare, so that intelligence of the proposed operation reached the King of Navarre at St. Foy or Bergerac. At the same time he received information, that the army of Marshal Biron, which had been detained for a considerable time upon the Loire by causes not very apparent, was now marching rapidly towards the Charente, to counterbalance the predominance which the Huguenots had recovered in that quarter. These tidings at once deter- mined the conduct of Henry of Navarre, in whom the thirst for military glory had now become paramount. Other ob- jects too, of a more justifiable kind than the mere acquisition of renown, were to be gained by his presence at Rochelle ; for though the courage and skill of Conde could not be doubted, his prudence and his wisdom were not to be trusted ; and the want of discipline which he permitted in his troops, as well as the small consideration which he showed for the peasantry, excited a degree of irritation in the minds of the people highly detrimental to the Protestant cause.
The King of Navarre accordingly set out from Bergerac* in the middle of May, and passing by Rochefoucault and Lusignan, arrived at Rochelle on the 1st of June. He im- mediately proceeded to join the fleet engaged in blocking up the port of Brouage, and, according to the account of Au- bigne, exposed himself rashly to the fire of the enemy .f St. Luc had erected a fort to protect the harbor, and from it was poured an incessant shower of shot upon the Huguenot forces ; but, nevertheless, his galleys were worsted in the skirmishes at sea, and his efforts on shore proved impotent to prevent the enemy from sinking so many vessels at the entrance of the port, as to render it nearly useless for the purposes of commerce, and totally unfit for ships of war. He afterwards made skilful attempts to remedy the evil by
* Sully. Discours de la Guerre, &c. | Aubigne, torn. iii. liv. 1, chap. iv.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 67
floating up the barks which had been sunk ; but before he could effect that object, except in one or two instances, the sand had accumulated round the wrecks to such a height that a bar was formed which no exertion could remove.
While the operations were going forward against Brouage, Marshal Biron, the most famous artillery officer in France, was marching towards Marans, a small town strongly defended by water and marshes, at a short distance from Kochelle. He made himself master of several insignificant places on his way ; but as soon as his intention of laying siege to Marans was ascertained,* the King of Navarre hastened with several bodies of veteran troops to provide for the defence of that important fortress. The activity and energy he displayed, restored confidence to the inhabitants ; the citadel was strengthened, and amply supplied with am- munition and provisions. A strong garrison was thrown into the place, new outworks were erected, and cannon were brought from Rochelle ; so that when, on the 10th of July, the forces of Biron appeared before Marans, it was in a fit state to offer the most vigorous resistance. In the very first operations, that general himself lost two fingers by a musket shot ; and although he made great efforts during several days to open a breach by means of forts erected in the neighbor- ing marshes, not the slightest effect was produced upon the walls of Marans ; and we find that only one man of the whole garrison was killed before the siege was raised, after having been carried on from the 10th of July to the 5th of August.f
The determination of the King of Navarre to defend Ma- rans to the last, had been strongly opposed by all the oldest and most experienced officers in Rochelle, though its position near the mouth of the Sevre, its proximity to Rochelle on
* Henry was aware of Biron's intention before he reached Rochelle.
t Discours de la Guerre ; a most useful collection of statements and papers on the Protestant side, gathered together by an eye-witness of many of the events discussed.
68 THELIFEOFHENKYIV.
the opposite side to Brouage, and the command which it at that time assured to the party possessing it of the Pertuis Breton, rendered it of infinite importance to the Protestants. Every one had judged that it was indefensible, except Henry, whose wisdom in taking the resolution, and skill in carrying it into execution, were remarkably shown by the result.
The raising of the siege of Marans, however, was not alto- gether brought about by the resistance of the garrison, though there can be no doubt that it might have held out for months ; but events, which I have now to relate, afforded Biron a fair excuse for withdrawing from an undertaking in which he must have foreseen great difficulties, and retir- ing for a time from hostilities which he was known to disap- prove.
The mind of the weak King of France had vacillated ever since the signature of the treaty of Nemours, between his hatred of the League, and his apprehension of its power. Bound by that treaty to afford it support, he did so with reluctance and insincerity. His officers, beyond doubt by his direction, thwarted the objects of the house of Guise, and gave but little assistance to the generals of the confederacy ; and, while the demands of the faction for exertion against the Huguenots every day increased, his inclination to break off all connection with the League, and call the King of Navarre to his aid, became more and more strong. He en- tertained no apprehension of the progress of the Protestants, only acting in opposition to that party so far as to keep up the appearance of fulfilling his engagements with the League ; and he saw with pleasure the slow progress of Mayenne in Guienne, and his army wasting itself away in the siege of un- important places, till its commander, falling into ill health, was obliged for a time to resign his post to Matignon, who well understood the King's wishes.* At the same time, Lesdi- guieres in Dauphine supported vigorously the Huguenot
* Aufcigne.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 69
cause, and made himself master of various towns and castles, with a force and reputation daily increasing.
The absence of all brilliant success upon the part of the League, and the state of inactivity to which he had reduced the Duke of Guise, Henry clearly perceived must in time sink the faction low in the opinion of the people ; and it cannot be doubted, that he also entertained the design of rendering the war altogether odious to the nation, by the enormous load of taxation which was necessary to keep so many armies on foot. With a malicious pleasure, too, he contrived to make the burden rest most heavily upon the shoulders of the ecclesiastics, who had been the chief instru- ments in the hands of the house of Guise for stirring up the people against the Protestants ; but in so doing he only in- creased their animosity towards himself, without detaching them from the party to which they were bound by prejudice and bigotry.* They made vigorous efforts to resist the will of the monarch, but in vain ; for the Pope, by no means sat- isfied with the stout adherence of the French clergy to the rights of the Gallican Church, was well disposed to see them mortified, and yielded with but little unwillingness to the King's repeated applications for permission to sell ecclesias- tical property in order to carry on the war.
Had Henry III. been as successful in other respects, he might possibly have been content to see the forces of the League exhausted, and its popularity diminished by long protracted, burdensome, and unprofitable hostilities against the Protestants. But various causes arose in the course of 1586 to make him long for peace on any terms. The courts of law resisted his attempts to load them with new imposi- tions, and gained their point ; and during a visit of the Duke of Guise to Paris, in the spring of 1586, Henry beheld the popularity of that Prince augment as his own decreased, while manifold indications proved to him that the very foun- dations of his power were giving way, and that his author-
* Davila. L'Etoile,
70 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
ity, if not his crown itself, would be wrested from him, un- less he could obtain the sincere support of one of the power- ful parties in his dominions. The famine, too, which over- spread the land, the utter destitution of the lower classes, who ran through the fields eating the unripe heads of corn for want of other nourishment, the indignation of the people, which the Guises adroitly turned from themselves against the monarch, all showed that a general insurrection was to be apprehended, in which the throne itself would, in all prob- ability, be first assailed. At the same time, a vigorous and reasonable remonstrance on the folly of the course he was pursuing, was addressed to him by the Queen of England ; some passages of which must be here given to display the view taken by the clear-sighted Elizabeth of the conduct of the French monarch.
" I am astonished," says that extraordinary woman, after speaking of the treaty of Nemours, " to see you betrayed in your very council, even by those who are nearest to you in the world, and yet that you are so blind as not to perceive it in the least." And again : " Alas ! is the mantle of religion, with which they cover themselves, so double that one cannot see, that it is only to reign, under your name, but at their own will, that they assume it ? And I pray God that they may end there. I do not believe it; for one rarely sees Princes live who are so subjugated." And she goes on, after oners of assistance against the League, to say : " Ah ! God forbid that a king should not sooner risk his own life in a battle, than submit to disgrace every day increasing. It were better to lose twenty thousand men than reign by the good pleasure of rebels." She adds, farther on : " Jesus ! was there ever seen a Prince so taken in the snares of trai- tors, without having the courage or the counsel to answer them ?" And she continues : " For the love of God, sleep no more this too long sleep ! Learn from me, your very faithful friend, that I will not fail to assist you, if you do not aban- don yourself. I hear something of a pause for some days ;
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 71
employ this time to fortify yourself, not to ruin yourself ; and take care not to grant their conditions, which will work your dishonor, and the loss of your state."
Such was the language of Elizabeth in addressing the King of France, and the effect produced thereby upon his mind, together with the dangerous position into which he had brought himself by his own indolence and weakness and the insolent menaces of the house of Guise, must have been very great. Every day the faction displayed a spirit more and more daring ; and scarcely an hour passed without inti- mation of some fresh design against his person or his life, reaching the ears of the French monarch.
These causes brought about the most anxious desire in the mind of Henry, not only to conclude a peace with the King of Navarre, but to engage him in support of the royal au- thority against the incessant attacks of the League. The danger of irritating the bigoted Papists was the only diffi- culty in the way, the sole means of obviating which seemed to be, in the eyes of the King, to induce Henry of Navarre to abjure the Protestant religion.
As early as the month of April, 1586, it is clear that the French monarch entertained the design of negotiating with the Protestants by the instrumentality of his artful and poli- tic mother ; and a letter was written to the Duke of Nevers, beseeching him to come to Paris, in order to co-operate with Catherine de Medicis, in which epistle Henry gives way to all his rancor against the League, and seems to regard the Protestants more as friends than enemies.*
At the same time that he carried on these open overtures for peace, there can be no doubt that Henry had frequent private communications with his brother-in-law. We have an authentic statement of all that occurred upon one of these occasions, which is too important and too characteristic to be omitted here ; and I shall consequently give it as nearly
* Mem. de Nevers, torn. i. page 766.
72 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
as possible in the words of Sully himself.* " There were moments when Henry III.," says that statesman, " ashamed of the disgraceful character which the League made him play, greatly desired to find some means of avenging himself upon them ; but he wished to do so without risking anything, and therefore rejected always the idea, which sometimes pre- sented itself, of calling the King of Navarre to his aid, and uniting himself with him. Deputies from the four Catholic cantons of Switzerland having arrived in Paris, to treat re- garding the succor which had been demanded some time before from that republic, the King, who was at that moment enraged against the League, proposed, for the gratification of his anger, to employ these Swiss, which, with the troops that he had at his own disposal, and those of the King of Navarre, would have formed a corps capable of bringing the League to reason. He wrote to the King of Navarre to give him information of his new designs, and to ask him to send a trustworthy person, with whom he might confer upon all this affair, and particularly upon the employment of the Swiss. A blank passport was joined to the letter, which the King filled up with my name, and caused me to set out without delay. I arrived at St. Maur, where the court then was, and proceeded to the house of Villeroi, with whom I dined and passed the rest of the day. On the day following he presented me to the King ; and I shall never forget the absurd attitude and paraphernalia in which I found this prince in his cabinet. He had a sword by his side, a hood upon his shoulders, a little bonnet upon his head, a basket full of small dogs hung round his neck by a large ribbon ; and he held himself so still, that in speaking to us, he nei- their moved head, nor feet, nor hands. He began by pour- ing forth all his bile against the League, from whom, his
* Sully, liv. 2. It is a curious fact, that Henry IV. received his pen- sion as King of Navarre during the war of the three Henries, and seems to have obtained payment with less difficulty than during the preceding peace.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 73
rage made me suppose, he had received some new affront ; and he treated his union with the King of Navarre as a point of which he felt all the importance. But a remnant of fear caused him always to add, that he looked upon it as impos- sible, so long as the King of Navarre should persist in re- fusing to change his religion. I, thereupon, took up the word, and replied to the King, that it was useless to propose that expedient to the King of Navarre, because, in following it, he would act against his conscience ; that even, if he was capable of so doing, it would not have the effect his majesty hoped for, because the motive which agitated the League, was neither desire for the public good nor the interests of religion ; that the only thing which could happen in conse- quence of that precipitate action would be, that the King of Navarre would lose all the aid which he could hope for from the Protestants, without, thereby, detaching a single man from the League ; but that, on the contrary, such an act of weakness would but increase the pride of their common ene- mies. The King replied, and I persisted in contending, that the King of Navarre, if he followed the course proposed, would bring him nothing but his own person ; whereas, by opening his arms to him in the state in which he was, with- out exacting the sacrifice of his religion, the King would strengthen his party by a very powerful body in the state. I used the same language to the Queen-mother ; and I per- ceived that both agreed as to the strength of my reasons, and that fear of the change which their union with a Prince of the Protestant religion might produce, was all that re- strained them. I did not despair of bringing them to strike this great blow ; and from the manner, both gracious and frank, which their majesties displayed towards me, I had reason to flatter myself that I should succeed.
" I left them in this good train, and went to Paris to con- fer with the Swiss deputies. I had not so much trouble to bring them to my object ; it only cost me a little expense in good cheer, and above all in wine ; in consequence of which
VOL. II. 4
74 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
they promised us, without restriction, a body of twenty thou- sand Swiss, of which number, four thousand alone were to remain in Dauphine, and the other sixteen thousand to be employed for the service and at the will of the two Kings. The King assured me still, by MM. Lenoncourt, Poigny, and Brulart, that he had not changed his mind, and that he ar- dently desired the union. The King of Navarre did not wish it less strongly. In the dispatches which I received from him almost every day, he exhorted me to put every- thing in operation to bring it about, and even to sacrifice a portion of his interest for that object. On my return to St. Maur, and after having given the King an account of my journey, I brought forward the question of the use to which the sixteen thousand Swiss were to be put, and the route that they should take. The King required that he should be permitted to bring them into the neighborhood of Paris, and even to employ them, in case of need, against the League. I felt all the inconvenience which might arise from this arrangement, and only gave up the point, after having received the express commands of the King of Navarre, who did not think fit for so small a matter to miss the agreement. It will be soon seen, that this point was not so frivolous as was imagined, and what occurred in consequence of this weak compliance."*
Sully then left an agent in Paris to watch the progress of the affair, and to take the first opportunity of proceeding to Germany in order to hasten the march of the troops, which
* With Sully was joined in this mission, M. de la Marsilliere, and they arrived at the court at the end of May. It may be necessary to state, that wherever I have quoted Sully in the text, I have used an edition in which that minister is made to speak in his own person. It is well known, of course, to the reader, that in the (Economies royales, Sully caused his secretaries to address the Memoirs, which they com- piled from his dictation or information, directly to himself; so as, in fact, to make them tell him his own history : a form too inconvenient to be adopted, when it is necessary to extract a long passage, such as the one above.
KINO OF. FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 75
the Protestant Princes of that country had promised to the King of Navarre. Before entering vigorously into the inter- ests of the Huguenots, the German sovereigns thought fit to send an embassy, at the head of which were several distin- guished members of their own body, to remonstrate with Henry III. upon the revocation of his pacific edicts, and the persecution of the Calvinists of France.
The King, in order, it is supposed, to avoid meeting the ambassadors, set out for Lyons, before their arrival in Paris, giving directions that they should be splendidly treated during his absence, and promising to return in the month of October, to receive the messages from " his brothers in Ger- many." He assigned, as a pretext for this extraordinary want of courtesy, the necessity of organizing two armies between the Loire and Rhone, one to be commanded by his favorite the Duke of Epernon, the other by Joyeuse : and he, moreover, alleged that the baths of Bourbon were absolutely necessary to the recovery of his health. But the German Princes were not satisfied with the excuse, and the Counts of Montbeliard and Issemberg, retired in disgust, to hurry the levies, which had already been commenced for the sup- port of the French Protestants at the instigation of Theodore Beza, and other agents of the King of Navarre. The rest of the ambassadors remained in Paris till the monarch's return ; but the truths which they then spoke more plainly than is customary in the ordinary course of diplomacy, offended the monarch, who was often more vigorous in speech than in action ; and his reply served but to exasperate still more the German envoys, who instantly set out for their own country to communicate the irritation which they felt to those who had sent them.
In the meantime the Queen-mother, having been joined by Nevers, who had separated himself from the League, and by Montpensier, who had co-operated for some time with the Protestants, advanced towards the scene of War, and sent messengers from Chenonceaux, where she paused on
76 THE LIFE OP HENRY IV.
the way, to require a conference with the King of Navarre, and to propose a truce for that purpose.
After numerous communications on both parts, Henry agreed to meet Catherine at Champigni, on condition that the army of Marshal Biron- immediately retired behind the Loire, raising the siege of Marans, and passing by Tonnay Charente, without attacking that fortress. This demand was speedily granted, and Marans was in consequence delivered. But while the preliminary arrangements were under discus- sion, the fleet of Bordeaux suddenly appeared before Rochelle ; and it was discovered that this movement, on the part of the Catholics, was made with the consent, if not with the appro- bation, of the Queen-mothe^.* Great doubts and apprehen- sions had been previously entertained by the friends of the Navarrese Prince, regarding the meeting with Catherine; and those fears seemed now so strongly confirmed, that even Henry wavered in his purpose, and announced to the Queen- mother that he could not quit Rochelle while a strong arma- ment lay before the port. Jealousies and suspicions, how- ever, existed on both parts. The Queen forwarded passports for the agents whom the King of Navarre sent to consult his friends in regard to the publication of a suspension of arms ; but at the same time, she, herself, proclaimed a truce with- out waiting for his consent. In this act, he saw one of Catherine's cunning contrivances to stop the levy of German auxiliaries, and complained accordingly. Then an attack made by a body of Protestants upon a corps of royalists, alarmed the Queen ; and the conference was again delayed. But at length it was agreed that Henry should advance to Jarnac ; and establishing his quarters there, should visit the Queen at the chateau of St. Brie, a few miles distant from that town.
The impediments which had occurred, caused the meeting to be deferred till the 13th of December, when Henry, who had arrived at Jarnac with a strong escort three days before, * Lettre d'un Gentilhomme Fran^ais, &c.
KING OF PRANCE AND NAVARRE. 77
rode over to the castle, and held the first of several inter- views with the Queen. So many anecdotes are told of these celebrated conferences in Poitou, that I must only venture to give those which are best authenticated, and which tend to display the character of the future monarch of France, without dwelling upon all the turns and passages of a nego- tiation which produced no important result.
Catherine had, as usual, taken care to bring with her from the capital, the most beautiful and docile ladies of her court, knowing well the foibles of her son-in-law, as well as those of his somewhat too ardent and facile followers. On their first meeting, after a few brief observations, she asked him, in a sharp tone, what it was he sought ? Henry gazed round the ring of loveliness, by which the Queen was surrounded, and replied, with his usual frank gayety, " Nothing that you have here, Madam."*
Some days after, when many angry words and bitter re- proaches had passed on both parts, the Queen endeavored to alarm the young King's spirit of independence, and boldly declared that he could do nothing with the refractory Ro- chellois.
" I can do all that I wish, Madam," he replied, " because I wish nothing but what I ought."
" You cannot even impose a tax," rejoined the Duke of Nevers, who was present.
" True," answered the King, " we do not understand any- thing of taxation, for we have no Italians amongst us."f
These replies, indeed, were mere repartees ; and they are only cited here to show the mixture of good-humored jest and sarcastic rebuke, which Henry failed not to employ when severity was required; but another speech of his to the Queen-mother, on this occasion, evinces that, even at this
* Perefixe. Pierre Mathieu.
f Lettre d'un Gentilhomme Frar^ais. Aubigne. It must be remem- bered that Nevers was descended from an Italian house, and that the principal financiers of that day in France were foreigners.
78 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
period, lie entertained that longing desire for the happiness of the people of France, that fixed purpose of consoling, re- storing, and protecting them, which rendered him the most beloved, as well as the most respected, of all the monarchs that ever occupied the throne of that country. In answer to one of Catherine's observations, regarding the condition to which the civil war had reduced the land, he exclaimed, " It would indeed be glorious for the state to be re-established by a man proscribed, and his country saved by an exile."
He steadily resisted all Catherine's efforts, however, to in- duce him to change his religion and abandon his friends ; and, indeed, he seems at this time to have been equally well armed against her arguments, and against the seductions of her women. Very often, during the conferences, the Queen- mother, abandoning the serious subjects under consideration, apparently gave way to jest and gayety ; and on one occasion, affecting to be somewhat sportive, she tried to tickle the ribs of Henry of Navarre, with her fingers. The monarch, at once understanding her object, opened his pourpoint ; and, exposing his bare breast, to show that he had no coat of mail below, he said, " I, Madam, have nothing concealed."
During the various interviews at St. Brie, the Protestants were full of suspicions of the Queen-mother and her designs, and some of Henry's officers, counting fully upon the readi- ness of the Catholics to take any advantage, devised a cunning scheme for leading them on to a breach of the truce, which would have afforded the young King a valid excuse for seiz- ing upon the person of Catherine, and making her court prisoners. It would seem that the Papist garrison of Fon- tenoy were anxiously looking for the opportunity of recover- ing the small town of Vouvans, which had been taken by the Huguenots two months before ; and the governor of the latter place suggested that they might be led on to make the attempt even during the suspension of arms. This would have justified the Protestants, it was contended, in at once arresting the whole party at St. Brie ; but Henry, notwith-
KING 'OF PRANCE AND NAVARRE. 79
standing the urgent solicitation of most of those by whom he was surrounded, refused to give the slightest countenance to such a proceeding, and the project was consequently aban- doned.*
The generous conduct of Henry did not meet with a suit- able return, for barely was the truce at an end, when a party of the royal forces made an attack upon two regiments of Huguenot arquebusiers, at Maillezais, and nearly cut them to pieces.f Before that time, however, Catherine having ex- hausted all her arts, having even offered, we are assured, to obtain a divorce between Henry and his wife, and to bestow upon him the hand of her granddaughter, the beautiful Christine, daughter of Claudine Duchess of Lorraine, if he would renounce the Protestant faith, and having with as little success made several other proposals, in all of which the adoption of the Catholic religion was an ingredient, broke off the conferences in order to return to Paris, com- plaining bitterly of the obstinacy of her son-in-law, and declaring that she desired nothing but tranquillity.
" Madam," replied Henry, " I am not to blame in this war. It is not I who prevent you from sleeping in your bed ; it is you who prevent me from sleeping in mine. The trouble that you take, nourishes and pleases you ; tranquillity you look upon as the greatest enemy in life."J
Catherine, indeed, did not content herself with using her own influence upon the King of Navarre. The Duke of ISTevers, for whom he always entertained the highest esteem, was employed to confer with him in private and endeavor to bring him over to the views of the court ; and in a letter from that nobleman to Henry III. we have not only a curious account of .their conference, but also a very interesting de-
* Aubigne.
t The account given by Brantome, and copied by Anquetil, of this affair, is as incorrect as it is absurd ; for the defeat of these regiments did not take place till the conferences between Catherine and Henry were at an end. Perefixe.
80 THELIFEOFHENRYIV.
scription of Henry's demeanor at this time. '• Such as you have seen him, Sire," says the Duke, " such is this Prince at the present moment. Neither years nor troubles change him in the least. He is still agreeable, still joyous, still, as he vowed to me a thousand times, devoted to peace, and your Majesty's service. He told me in the fulness of his heart, that he only wished he had forces enough to deliver you in a single day, from all the authors of the League, without even obliging you to give your consent. He would show you, how very dear your tranquillity is to him, how nearly your honor touches him, and how much he wishes to see you as powerful and as well obeyed as you deserve."
But the arguments of Nevers proved ineffectual to induce Henry of Navarre to change his religion, although the Duke frankly told that monarch, that he himself would never serve a Protestant Sovereign. Henry replied kindly and openly, but still demanded liberty of conscience for himself and his friends, security in the exercise of their own faith, and the execution of the edicts, which had been granted and revoked, adding, that there was nothing which he himself desired so much as to die sword in hand against the Spaniards, and the League, the only irreconcilable enemies of France.*
Another sort of death, however, had well nigh overtaken Henry, while the conferences were going on. Having ar- ranged a hunting party at which the two courts were to be present, his eye was caught by two very beautiful horses, belonging to Bellievre, one of the King's ministers, and after some jesting conversation regarding their speed, he proposed to run the horse on which he was mounted against them. The ground chosen was bounded on one side by a field of young wheat, and on the other by a hedge, behind which some swine were feeding ; and the word being given, the race began. Before a quarter of the course was finished, the King was considerably in advance of the other riders ;
* Mem. de Nevers, torn. i. p. 767.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 81
but, at that moment, the swine taking fright at the noise, ran across the road and under the feet of his horse, which fell and rolled over upon the King. He was taken up senseless, with the blood gushing from his mouth and nose, and carried to the chateau of St. Brie, where the Queen-mother testified the greatest grief at the accident. " But every one," says the narrator, " kept upon his guard for fear of being sur- prised." The King soon regained his consciousness, and asked what had happened, replying, when the surgeons asked where he feft the greatest pain, that he felt none at all. In a few days he had so completely recovered, that not the least inconvenience remained, although the physicians had at first affirmed that he would be obliged to keep his room for the rest of the year.*
Immediately after the termination of the conferences at St. Brie, the small towns of Youvans and La Fay, were sur- prised by the Catholics ; but Catherine still kept up the ap- pearance of pacific intentions, and though Henry had retired to Rochelle, sent to require another interview. The council of the King strongly opposed it, pointing out that the Queen- mother was only seeking to amuse him, while she endeavored to seduce his friends, to gain advantages in Poitou, and by the rumors of a peace industriously spread in Germany and Switzerland, to arrest the progress of his Protestant allies. It was soon discovered also, that Henry III. with his usual weak vacillation, had taken an oath, in a chapter of the Order of the Holy Ghost, held on the 1st January, 1587, to suffer no religion in France but the Roman Catholic ; and every one represented to the King of Navarre, that farther discus- sion could only produce evil.
Henry was, nevertheless, anxious to leave no effort unmade to obtain peace ; and he accordingly advanced to Marans, offering to resume the conferences in that place. Mutual suspicions, however, prevented the meeting from taking
* Mem. de Nevers, torn. ii. p. 588. 4*
82 THE LIFE OP HENRY IV.
place ;* and Turenne, at the request of the Queen-mother, was sent to Fontenoy to hear her last resolution. It was found that she had nothing in reality to add to that which she had before proposed ; and when she repeated to Turenne that the King was resolved there should for the future be but one religion in France, that bold leader replied : " We desire it much, Madam, provided it be ours ; otherwise we will fight well for it:" and with these words he retired, breaking off the discussion.*
Thus ended the negotiations commenced at St. Brie ; and the conduct of Catherine, from the beginning to the close, left a strong impression upon the minds of the Protestants, that her sole object was to entangle the King of Navarre in long debates, which would delay the progress of his arms, excite doubts and suspicions amongst his followers, and di- minish the zeal of his allies.
* It has been asserted by some English authors that Henry himself went to Fontenoy, (Browing's Hist, of the Huguenots,) but such was not the case ; see Lettre d'un Gentilhomme Fra^ais, written by an eye-witness at the time.
f Cayet, torn. i. p. 31.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE.
BOOK VIII.
IT is not improbable that Catherine de Medicis might have endeavored to occupy the attention of the King of Navarre for some weeks longer in fruitless conferences, and that Henry himself might have yielded not unwillingly to her schemes, had not other events occurred, in various parts of France, to call for her immediate presence in the capital. We find from one of the letters of the Bourbon Prince, that he had purposely suffered the negotiations to be protracted, long after he knew that they were illusive, in order to give time for the advance of a large body of German forces, which Monsieur de Segur had been busily raising for his service on the banks of the Rhine. Though Catherine, per- haps, divined his intention, she trusted to the activity of the Duke of Guise to impede the progress of the reiters ; but early in the year 1587, many motives led her to refuse all concessions to the Protestants, and to hurry back to Paris. The successes of the Duke of Epernon against the Hugue- nots of Dauphine, and the threatening aspect of the League, gave her courage and inducement to break off her treaty with those who were considered heretics ; and a plot to seize upon the capital and imprison the King, which was dis- covered and frustrated on the 21st of February, showed her the necessity of her presence in the court of her son.
It may be necessary here, before I proceed to trace the course of the war, which was vigorously resumed in Poitou immediately after the termination of the negotiations of St. Brie, to notice briefly the proceedings of the leaders of the League, and the events which had taken place in Paris. The Duke of Mayenne, after having taken Castillon and, to
84 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV..
use the words of 1'Etoile, " given his army the fine present of rags, and the plague," which was all that was found in the city, perceived that, without supplies of men and money, thwarted by Matignon, abandoned by his Swiss, and with desertion and disease thinning his French forces every day, he could not hope to make any further progress in Guienne.* The anticipations of Henry of Navarre, regarding the wast- ing away of the Duke's army in tedious attacks upon well- garrisoned fortresses, were by this time fully realized ; and Mayenne found, with bitter mortification, that the system of defence, which was at first regarded with contempt, had proved successful against all his efforts to subdue the Prot- estants of Guienne. He therefore gave up the attempt, and boldly hurrying to Paris, presented himself to Henry, not with the humility of a defeated general, but with the air of a deceived and ill-treated ally. At the same time the pulpit and the confessional were employed with redoubled force to calumniate the King ; and the danger of the latter instru- ment to morals, religion, and government, was never more fully exemplified than on the present occasion. It became a maxim of the priests, which they took care to instil into the minds of the laity, that the penitent who revealed what was said to him by his confessor, was as criminal as the confes- sor who revealed the secrets of his penitent ; and it may be easily conceived what was the use made of such immense means of private influence by daring and unscrupulous men. We have noticed already the meeting of the Leaguers of Paris, at the College of Fortet, the proceedings at which were at first irregular, and confined principally to wild dec- lamations against the King and the Huguenots ; but by the counsels and advice of the Duke of Guise, a regular system of organization was speedily instituted. A council of six- teen was appointed, one being chosen to represent and to
* L'Etoile. Discours de M. de La Chastre. Though La Chastre was a violent partisan of the League, yet his account of the difficulties of Mayenne' s army is borne out by every other authority.
KING OF PRANCE AND NAVARRE. 85
manage each of the sixteen quarters of the city, and numer- ous inferior agents were selected, to act in each quarter both as spies and officers, communicating all that they learnt dur- ing the day to the sixteen, and receiving from them inti- mation of the course to be pursued by the people. The League of Paris thus became distinct from, though subsid- iary to the League of Peronne, and from the number of its leaders, obtained the name of " The Sixteen." Its meetings were held in various places, sometimes at the convent of St. Dominic, sometimes at the Jacobins, sometimes at the Jes- uits, and sometimes in private houses ; and as it was more regularly organized than the general League, so was it also more vehement and determined, urging even the family of Lorraine forward to acts which they meditated, but feared to perform without great caution and long delay.
Amongst other projects conceived in their assemblies, the most prominent and the most frequent was that of arresting the King. Arms were obtained and distributed throughout the whole town ; the Leaguers were formed into bands and instructed as to the part each was to act ; and every move- ment of the monarch was narrowly watched, especially in coming and going between Vincennes and the Louvre. Henry, however, was not long without intimation of their designs ; for Nicholas Poulain, lieutenant of the Isle of France, who had been engaged deeply in their plots, opened a communication with the court about this time, and thence- forward observed all their proceedings carefully, under the direction of the Chancellor de Chiverny.* In consequence of the intelligence he thus received, Hemy took extraordi- nary precautions for his own defence, and never rode any distance from his palace without being accompanied by a large train of armed gentlemen, besides his famous guard of forty-five, each of whom had been selected for his vigor and determination.
The arrival of the Duke of Mayenne in Paris, towards the * Proces verbal de Nicolas Poulain. Davila.
86 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
end of the year 1586, gave new vigor to the movements of the Sixteen ; and numerous consultations took place between him and the leaders of the League, in which their vast and treasonable plans were fully developed to the coldest, most prudent, and least ambitious of the brothers of the house of Guise. Mayenne pondered long upon the state of affairs thus displayed, equally unwilling to enter fully into such schemes, or to break entirely with the parties proposing them, and thus to cause a division in the faction which was his brother's great support. In the meanwhile, the negoti- ations between Mayenne and the Sixteen were all communi- cated to the King; and although his favorite Villequier, and several others of his council, endeavored to persuade him that the information he received was false, he used every precaution to guard against surprise, brought a considerable number of troops into the immediate neighborhood of Paris, doubled the guards about the Louvre, and took measures for securing the Bastille and the Arsenal. These steps showed the faction and the Duke, that their proceedings had been discovered ; and Mayenne, feigning illness, retired into his government of Burgundy.*
Having traced the events which took place at the court thus far, I must go back to the summer of the year 1586, to notice, shortly, the operations of the armies of Epernon and Joyeuse, the assembling of which, in the central prov- inces of France, I have already mentioned. Epernon, de- pending wholly upon the favor of the King, and his own per- sonal merit, arrayed himself with the most bitter hostility against the house of Guise. He was friendly to the King of Navarre ; but without consideration for either party, he fonned a determination, which, had it been vigorously pursued on all occasions by Henry III. himself, would have soon restored tranquillity to France. He resolved to repress, with equal severity and energy, both Protestants and Catholics, who refused to submit to the royal authority ; and immedi- * Davila. L'Etoile, torn. ii.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 87
ately marched his army, consisting of ten thousand infantry and twelve hundred cavalry, all veteran soldiers, into Pro- vence and Dauphine. The famous Lesdiguieres, at the head of the Huguenots in those provinces, had lately given a severe defeat to Monsieur De Vins, commanding the forces of the League. The latter, finding that the efforts of the Duke of Guise to gain over Epernon, by offering him his daughter in marriage, had been treated with contempt, resolved to pre- vent the royalist general from taking possession of Provence, the government of which province had been conferred upon him at the death of the Grand Prior. But Epernon attacked him with skill and vigor, took place after place, till he re- duced the power of the League in that quarter to nothing, and then turned his arms against Lesdiguieres. Although it is evident from all accounts, that he pursued the Protes- tant forces with less success than he obtained against the Leaguers ; he, nevertheless, gained many advantages, and reduced them to a situation of great difficulty. But towards the end of the year, finding that innumerable machinations were going on to ruin him at the court, he returned to Paris, leaving his brother La Valette in command of the army.*
Joyeuse, on the contrary, allied to the house of Lorraine by his marriage with the sister of the Queen, and jealous of the Duke of Epernon, forgot all the ties of gratitude which bound him to the King, and daily leaned more and more towards the party of the League. Leading his army into Languedoc, he directed his efforts entirely against the Prot- estants, forced Chatillon to raise the siege of Compierre ; and taking five or six considerable places by the way, he at length arrived at Toulouse, which was under the government of his father. He there passed some time in unfruitful mili- tary display, while his credit daily decreased at the court, and that of Epernon augmented.
In the meanwhile, the Duke of Guise, whom the King had * Girard. Vie du Due d'Epernon. Davila.
88 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
left without occupation, upon the pretence of holding him in readiness to oppose the entrance of the Germans into France, determined to act upon his own account, and turned his arms against the towns held by the Duke of Bouillon, on the fron- tiers of Champagne. Rocroi was soon forced to capitulate, not without suspicion of treachery on the part of the gov- ernor ; and then, without paying the slightest attention to the remonstrances of Bouillon, or to the commands of the King, Guise proceeded to ravage the territories of Sedan and Jamets. His success was not such as might have been expected from his reputation and undoubted military skill. Douzy was taken, but not without a loss of four hundred men ; and, though the troops of the chief of the League approached to the very walls of Sedan, his forces were not sufficient to lay regular siege to that important place. In a skirmish near Daigny, the party of the Duke of Guise was defeated by Bouillon in person ; and the Lorrainese prince himself escaped with difficulty, leaving his mantle in the hands of one of the enemy who had seized him.*
His army, having by this time exhausted the provisions of the neighboring country, was glad to obtain a truce of fourteen days ; and Guise retired into Champagne to recruit. But shortly after, a battle took place under the walls of Ja- mets, in which the troops of the League were once more de- feated ; and the Duke of Bouillon, believing his officers to be perfectly competent to resist all the efforts of the enemy, proceeded into Germany for the purpose of leading the Prot- estant levies from the borders of the Rhine, to join the armies of the Prince de Conde and the King of Navarre.
Where the junction was to take place had not been deci- ded ; but important events had occurred in Poitou, after the conferences of St. Brie had come to an unsuccessful termina- tion. No sooner was Catherine de Medicis on the way to Paris, than the King of Navarre recommenced the war, by pushing forward against the various fortresses which were * Peyran, Histoire de Sedan.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 89
held by the Papists in the neighborhood of Rochelle. The first place attacked was Talmont, which was at that time a considerable town, lying between Brittany and Aunis. The distance from Rochelle by sea was short, and the Duke of La Trimouille was dispatched against it with twelve hundred foot, two hundred horse, and three pieces of artillery. The town, destitute of regular defences, was seized at once ; but the castle, which was well fortified, held out, in the hope of immediate aid : and the Protestant force being found insuffi- cient to reduce it, Sully was sent back to the King of Na- varre, who now embarked in person, with two thousand men, to carry on the siege more vigorously. The weather proved unfavorable ; a violent tempest overtook the King in his pas- sage ; and during two days, which were occupied by a voyage usually performed in a few hours, the whole party, crowded into three small vessels, were several times in imminent dan- ger of perishing. On their arrival, however, the garrison sur- rendered without farther resistance ; and Henry led his forces to the attack of Chizay. The defence here was more obsti- nate, although one piece of artillery was all that the place possessed ; and Fayolle, the governor, held out till all his provisions were exhausted, and famine stared him in the face.* Sansay was stormed, and St. Maixent capitulated almost as soon as the Huguenot forces appeared. The more important town of Fontenoy was attacked, as soon as La Rochefoucault and the Prince de Conde had joined the King of Navarre ; and the great suburb, called les Loges, was taken by assault during the night. The sap was then employed against the walls of the place, and was carried on with such activity, that before the garrison were aware of their danger, the voices of the soldiers on the walls were heard by Henry, himself, in the mine. He immediately called to them to surrender, giv- ing his name ; and so great was the consternation produced
* Such is the account of Sully, who was at the attack of Chizay. Aubigne, who does not mention that he was present, gives a different statement, and represents the defence as feeble.
90 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
by this unexpected sound, that the governor at once entered into a parley, when the terms were arranged in a few minutes. No formal capitulation was drawn up between the Catholic troops and the King of Navarre ; " the security of his word being so well known," says the historian, " that the garrison did not require any writing." All his promises were punc- tually kept ; and the Papist force marched out with the , honors of war.* The city was preserved from pillage, and the King of Navarre, advancing rapidly, made himself master of several other towns ; so that, through a wide circle round Rochelle, no place of any importance, except Brouage, re- mained in the hands of the Roman Catholics.
Henry's intention, at this time, was undoubtedly to hurry forward, with all the forces he could collect, to meet the army of foreign auxiliaries, which was now in movement upon the eastern frontier of the kingdom,! though the measures of precaution taken by the League rendered the enterprise extremely perilous. But early in June, 1587, intelligence reached the head-quarters of the Navarrese monarch, that the King of France had commanded Joyeuse, at the head of a powerful army, to take the field against him in Poitou ; and the nearer approach of that nobleman, followed by a large body of courtiers, and a force consisting of six thousand arquebu- siers and two thousand horse, induced Henry to determine upon quitting the open field, and leaving the places he had taken, to break the strength of the new wave that was thus poured upon his head. His plan, it would seem, was to strengthen the town of St. Maixent, to throw into it a con- siderable part of his army, and to retire himself with the rest upon Sainctonge ; and no sooner was he informed of the rapid marches with which Joyeuse was advancing from Tours, than he hastened to the town he had resolved to fortify. Con- ducting all the operations in person, he so completely ex- hausted himself, that on the way back to Rochelle he was
* Sully. Discours de la Guerre. t Lettres Missives, torn. 2.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 91
obliged to cast himself into a cart, drawn by bullocks ; and there, giving way to fatigue, slept as soundly as in a bed of state.
All his precautions, however, were not sufficient to save St. Maixent, though, always in activity, he is said, by one contemporary* writer, to have surprised and cut to pieces several of the enemies' detachments ; but his officers, less prudent, and less energetic than their leader, suffered them- selves, on more than one occasion, to be attacked unprepared. Doubtful as to where the first blow might be struck, and unwilling to consume the stores of the fortified towns, Henry of Navarre had placed two regiments in La Motte St. Eloy, at a short distance from St. Maixent, with orders to throw themselves into the latter place in case Joyeuse advanced against it. The officers in command, however, neglected to take the most necessary precautions ; and by a night march the Duke reached La Motte, and was actually in the open streets of the place, before the Huguenots were aware of his proximity. A gallant defence was made by the two regiments in some houses which they seized upon ; and they contrived to set the whole army of Joyeuse at defiance for two days, at the end of which time, being destitute of pro- visions and ammunition, they were forced to yield. Whether any terms were agreed to or not, is not clearly known ; some authors saying that they were assured of safety, others, that they surrendered at discretion ; but, whatever were the con- ditions, they were slaughtered to a man in cold blood.f St. Maixent was then besieged, and capitulated after a resistance of only fifteen days, much to the surprise and indignation of the King of Navarre. The Protestant clergyman of the place was hanged ; but no other butchery took place ; and Joyeuse, after having threatened Marans, turned upon Ton- nay Charente, which immediately surrendered. His next
* Chappuis.
f Aubigne. Discours de la Guerre. L'Etoile. The latter states that the Duke violated the terms of capitulation.
92 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
enterprise was the surprise of a company of foot within sight of Rochelle, where the same acts of sanguinary fury were perpetrated as at La Motte ; and then, after retaking Tonnay, which had been recovered by the Prince de Conde, the Duke commenced his retreat, followed by the forces which the King of Navarre had called rapidly together from all quar- ters, and losing several detachments by the way.
Joyeuse paused, however, to attack Maillezais, which was unable to offer any effectual resistance, and thence retired to Niort, with an army daily weakened by desertion, fatigue, and pestilence. Henry of Navarre was by this time treading close upon his steps; the Protestant forces daily cut off parties of stragglers ; and tidings from Paris showed Joyeuse that the King, aware of his communications with the League, had withdrawn from him that favor by which he had risen to power and distinction. At Niort he was visited by Sully, to arrange the terms of a combat, proposed between a party of the Duke's light troops, and a small body of Scottish gentlemen in the service of the King of Navarre. Joyeuse would not suffer this pass of arms to take place ; but Sully found him sombre and desponding ; and divining from all that occurred during their interview, that the Catholic gen- eral was about to leave his army, and to hurry to Paris, he carried the intelligence to the King of Navarre, who seized the opportunity of falling upon the disorganized force, left under the guidance of his former friend, Lavardin, and, at- tacking it in detail, cut to pieces several corps of cavalry. He then pursued Lavardin and the main body into Touraine, where he kept that officer shut up during five days in La Haye ; but having brought neither cannon nor infantry with him, in his rapid pursuit of the enemy, he was at length obliged to retire.*
In the meanwhile, Joyeuse, having reached Paris, was re- ceived with the utmost enthusiasm by the people, and by the young nobility of the court, who had been captivated by
* Discours de la Guerre. Aubigne. Sully.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 93
his chivalrous spirit and profuse generosity ; but from the King he met nothing but insult.* Henry plainly told him that he was looked upon as a coward, and that he would not easily remove the stain from his name. Yet Joyeuse found no difficulty in recruiting his forces ; multitudes of the brilliant nobles of the court, enlisted under his banners; several of the adherents of the League joined him ; and the Duke of Mercceur promised to meet him on the Loire, with a large reinforcement.
Henry of Navarre had not neglected any means, during the absence of Joyeuse, to increase his strength ; and intel- ligence that the German auxiliaries, having received a large sum of money from the Queen of England, were marching towards the frontiers of France, although as yet he had no certain information of their route,f induced him to call all his friends around him, even at the risk of leaving some im- portant points but feebly defended. He also held communi- cations with his cousin, the Count de Soissons, who had long secretly favored his party, and obtained a promise from that Prince that he would join him with all speed on the Loire. Early in September, having collected a considerable force, Henry advanced to Monsoreau, in order to favor the passage of the Count de Soissons, who was hurrying forward with a small corps between the army of Joyeuse, and the troops which the Duke of Mercceur was leading to the aid of the Catholic general. To support his young and inexperienced cousin, the King of Navarre directed the Viscount de Tu- renne to cross the river and advance to meet the Count on the other bank ; but in performing this operation the forces of Turenne encountered those of Mercoeur; and a combat immediately commenced, in which the Huguenots were com-
* Davila.
f A gentleman sent from Germany with verbal intelligence, was killed at the King's side, under the walls of Chizay, before he could pronounce more than the first two or three words of his message. Sully, liv. 2.
94 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
pletely victorious, the rich baggage of the Duke falling into their hands.*
The same day, the Count de Soissons himself appeared, and on the following morning passed the Loire, bringing to Henry the welcome intelligence that the Germans were ad- vancing rapidly. But the pleasure produced by such tidings was mingled with no slight anxiety, when the King of Na- varre found that great difference of opinion existed amongst the leaders of the auxiliaries, as to the point at which they should enter France, and the course they should pursue. New measures now became necessary, and Henry resolved to march as speedily as possible to meet his fellow Protestants from Germany :f but his army was not yet prepared for so long and dangerous an expedition ; and farther tidings ob- tained from the prisoners taken at Monsoreau, showed him that Joyeuse was nearer than he had imagined, and was ad- vancing with the express commands of the King of France to risk a battle.
The secret motives which induced Henry III. to issue such commands, have been doubtful to all historians ; but, in con- sidering his conduct, we must recollect that he was now threatened by numerous dangers. The League was, un- doubtedly, the enemy he most feared ; but at the same time, the march of so large a body of foreign troops, as was now approaching the heart of his dominions, was necessarily regarded by him as both perilous to himself, and destructive to his country. Their junction with the King of Navarre, would have rendered that Prince master of the destinies of France ; and Henry III., whether he threw himself into the hands of the Protestants, or gave himself up to the League, would have been powerless in his own kingdom. His plans
* Aubigne. Discours de la Guerre.
•j- See a very interesting letter from Henry to the Queen of England on this subject, in which he expresses the strongest determination to force his way across the country to meet the Germans. Lettres Mis- sives, torn. ii. page 305.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 95
then seem to have been to oppose Joyeuse and his army, which he now looked upon as a part of the League, to Henry of Navarre, so as to impede the movements of that Prince ; to leave the Duke of Guise with an inferior force to break the first shock of the Germans ; and then in person, at the head of his own forces and with the counsels of Epernon and Nevers, to meet the foreigners on the banks of the Loire, with a view of preventing them from passing that river. Whether Henry of Navarre or Joyeuse obtained the victory, the French monarch gained an object ; if the Duke were successful, the Protestants of France would be cut off from the Germans ; and if Henry, on the contrary, won the day, his forces must be weakened, and his movements retarded by a battle, while, at the same time, one of the armies of the League would be destroyed. That such were the views taken by Henry III. and his counsellors is clear, from a letter of the Duke of JSTevers, which I shall have to cite hereafter, but which has been unaccountably overlooked by most, if not all historians.
The intelligence which Henry of Navarre received, regard- ing the movements of the enemy, caused him immediately to retire to Rochelle, in order to make further efforts to call the scattered Protestants to his standard, and to put his army into a better state of preparation ; but, notwithstanding every exertion, it remained still greatly inferior to that of the Duke of Joyeuse,* which was increased by the arrival of various reinforcements at Ruffec.f
Finding that the Catholic forces were rapidly approaching St. Maixent, Henry took his departure from Rochelle, on the 14th of October, and passing through Taillebourg, with all the artillery he had been able to collect, joined the main body of his army at Pons,J intending to open a way for himself
* Sully. -j- Aubigne.
^ Discours de la Guerre. It will be found that in regard to the dates of these movements, I have differed from all other writers ; but I have
96 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
by Guienne, Languedoc, and the Lyonnais, towards the source of the Loire, in the hope of effecting his junction with the German auxiliaries. It would appear that he ex- pected to be able to outmarch the Duke of Joyeuse, and he did indeed somewhat gain upon him. Had Joyeuse, as there was every reason to believe he would, waited for the junction of the strong corps of Marshal Matignon, the object of Henry would have been effected, and he would have been enabled to place the Isle as well as the Drogne, between himself and the enemy. But Joyeuse perceiving his intention, hastened forward by forced marches, and came up with him in the neighborhood of Montlieu and Montguyon. The 'object of both generals was now to seize upon the town and castle of Coutras, situated near the junction of the Isle and Drogne ; and on the morning of the 19th of October, the royal army was at La Rochechalais, about four leagues and a half from Coutras, while Henry was marching up from the side of Montguyon. Lavardin was thrown forward by Joyeuse, with a small body of men to take possession of Coutras ; but the Duke of La Trimouille coming up with a superior force, and fording the Drogne, obliged Lavardin to retreat, and leave the little town in the hands of the Protestants.*
Thinking that he should be able to pass the Isle before Joyeuse arrived from La Rochechalais, Henry caused some of his officers the same night to cross with the artillery and a body of arquebusiers. Before morning, however, some prisoners were brought in; and from them the monarch learned that the Duke had ordered his drums to beat at ten o'clock at night, and was actually marching upon Coutras. It now became evident that the whole of the Protestant army could not pass the river ; and orders were sent in haste to recall the artillery and the regiments which had already
been induced to do so by the accounts of Henry's household expenses, which mark with precision the places where he dined and slept during all the events referred to in the text.
* Aubigne. Discours de la Guerre. Sully.
KIN a OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 9?
crossed, while Henry, after having pointed out where the three cannon, which were all that he possessed, were to be placed, drew up his forces in order of battle. With the rapid glance of genius, which Sully assures us that Henry possessed above any general of his age, the position of his artillery was chosen in a manner that decided the fate of the battle ; and the disposition of his forces was not less skilful, although the unfortunate attempt to pass the river, prevented several regiments from arriving on the ground till the combat had actually commenced.
The Protestant army was drawn up on a small plain, hav- ing to its left the Drogne, with the town of Coutras behind it ; and on the right a copse of low wood, advancing some- what into the plain, and strengthened by a ditch. On this side were placed the principal force of arquebusiers, the reg- iments that were absent taking place in their rear as they came up. These were supported by La Trimouille, with two hundred light horse, and another company of arquebusiers. Towards the centre was Turenne, with his Gascon cavalry ; and farther on the left appeared the Prince de Conde. On his left, again, was stationed the King of Navarre ; while a little in advance of both, but still to the left, was the Count de Soissons, with two hundred men-at-arms.* The whole position took the form of a crescent, of which the left of Turenne, and the right of Conde were the centre. Each body of cavalry was accompanied by a small party of arque- busiers, five deep ; the first line lying down, the second on the knee, the third stooping, and only the fourth and fifth
* It is generally stated by historians, following De Thou, that the Count de Soissons commanded the left wing of Henry's forces, and Conde the right ; but in the absence of any dispatch from Henry him- self upon the subject. I have thought it best to follow the statement of those whom we have every reason to believe were present at the battle. The Discours de la Guerre, which, as I have before observed, is a con- temporary record, and was probably written by an eye-witness, perfectly coincides with Aubigne in regard to the dispositions of the Protestant army.
VOL. II. 5
98 T H. E Li I1 £ OF HENRY IV.
upright. These were ordered not to fire till the enemy's forces were within twenty yards.
Before the arrangements were completed, the army of Joyeuse appeared, and began to take up its position in haste, debouching from several narrow roads. Henry has been ac- cused of want of skill for not attacking the enemy in this difficult operation ; but it must be recollected, that a consid- erable body of his troops was still on the other side of the river ; and that his artillery, on which so much depended, had not yet* taken up its position.
The first body of the army of Joyeuse that became visible, was a battalion, consisting of two regiments of heavy cavalry, forming a thousand men, the flower of the army, supported by eighteen hundred arquebusiers. On their right were four hundred chosen lances. Next came five hundred more; and, soon after, towards the river, was seen the cornet of Joyeuse himself, with ten companies magnificently capar- isoned ; amongst which appeared a hundred and twenty vol- unteers, each followed by a troop raised at his own expense, making in the whole twelve hundred lances, the first rank of which consisted entirely of nobility. The vacant space was soon filled up with arquebusiers, horse and foot. The Duke's artillery was at first placed in a low ground, where it could have no effect at all, and, though afterwards removed, proved of very little service during the day. The Papist force pre- sented nothing but shining arms, gold, and waving scarfs ; while that of the Protestants offered a front of rusty iron, stained buff coats, and tattered banners ; but the youth and freshness of the one, was well compensated by the veteran hardihood of the other, gained in a thousand fields, and strengthened by the habit of strife and endurance.
A different spirit, too, animated each force, and each com- mander. Joyeuse, vain, presumptuous, and inexperienced, looked upon his victory as certain ; and he is said, with the cold-blooded ferocity of his religion and party, to have given orders that no quarter should be granted, even to the King
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 99
of Navarre himself. On the night before the battle, he ex- claimed, " We hold the enemy between two rivers ; he can- not now escape us." The same presumption reigned through- out his troops ; and it was scarcely possible to keep up any- thing like discipline amongst them, the officers, almost as much without experience as the men, having but little au- thority over them, so that much time was lost in taking up their position.
The King of Navarre, on the contrary, though full of con- fidence, knew well that nothing must be neglected to insure success ; and every measure was taken to give his inferior force the advantage of position and preparation. The Prot- estants felt, too, that the battle was for life or death ; that their fortunes, their homes, their families, their religion, were all staked on the issue of the approaching strife. Rivalries and jealousies had existed among them, but they were all forgotten in the hour of danger and of battle ; the troops were obedient to officers on whose judgment they had full reliance, and all looked to the great general who commanded them, with the memory of the successes he had obtained, the enterprises he had executed, and the great achievements he had performed with the smallest and most insignificant means.
The conduct and demeanor of Henry himself was well calculated to raise the hopes and expectations of his army. Calm cheerfulness appeared upon his countenance, and all his words and movements were full of confidence, but not presumption. As he sat gazing upon the brilliant battalions of the enemy, while they deployed before him, some one called his attention to the splendor of their arms : but Henry replied with a gay smile, " We shall have the better aim when the fight begins." And as soon as he found that the commencement of the battle was approaching, he ad- dressed the gentlemen who surrounded him, in a tone which well expressed the feelings of a generous and beneficent prince, mingled with those of a gallant and determined
100 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
soldier. He spoke in touching language of the evils of war ; he lamented almost with tears the state to which France had been reduced by civil contentions; he called on all who heard him, to witness what efforts he had made to avoid the recourse to arms, which had been forced upon him; and, solemnly declaring that he only drew the sword in defence of his rights and religion, he exclaimed, " Let them perish who are the authors of this war ; and may the blood shed this day rest upon them alone." Then turning to the Prince de Conde, and the Count de Soissons, he added in a gayer tone : " To you I shall say nothing, but that you are of the house of Bourbon ; and, please God, I will show you this day that I am your elder."*
Another act, however, which he performed immediately before the battle, tended still more to secure the love and confidence of his troops. The famous Du Plessis Mornay, advanced to the King's side, and boldly reminded him that he had deeply injured a respectable citizen of Rochelle, by seducing his daughter, and that God could not be expected to favor the arms of one who had left such an offence unre- paired. The King at once dismounted from his horse, and in the face of the whole army, avowed his sincere grief for what he had done ; called upon all to witness that he pub- licly asked pardon of the family he had injured ; and prom- ised to repair, as far as possible, the fault he had commit- ted. The troops were then called to prayers by the ministers Chandieu and d' Amours ; and each man fell upon his knees in the ranks, asking the God of victories for protection and success.
At the sight of the kneeling host of his enemies, Joyeuse exclaimed, " The King of Navarre is frightened ; look — he
* There are various accounts given of the King's address to his sol- diers, by Le Grain, Pierre Mathieu, and others, but as I find the above expressions generally attributed to him, by the best authorities, I am in- clined to believe that they must, at all events, render the substance of his address.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 101
kneels !" But Lavardin, who was standing behind him, re- plied, "Do not fancy such a thing, Sir ; these men only do so when they are resolved to conquer or die."*
The Roman Catholic infantry now advanced to gain pos- session of the ditch which defended the wood ; but just at that moment, the artillery of the Huguenots opened its fire upon the adverse line, from the high ground on which Henry had placed it ; and nothing could exceed the execution which the three cannon did amongst the ranks of Joyeuse. Every shot, we are assured by Sully, swept down twelve, fifteen, and sometimes twenty-five men;f while the guns of the Duke could not be sufficiently elevated to carry the balls amongst the Protestants, and spent their force in a sandy hill. An effort was then made to remove the artillery of the Leaguers, but with little effect; and the battle becoming fierce between the arquebusiers of the two parties, for pos- session of the little wood, Lavardin charged at the head of a body of five hundred horse, under his own cornet, and that of a Captain Mercure.J They were met by the light horse of La Trimouille and Arambure ; but so severe was the shock, that the Protestant cavalry, in that part of the field, gave way, and was driven in confusion back upon Cou- tras. The squadron of Turenne was also broken by the charge of Monsieur de Montigni. Mercure forced his way into the town itself ; and the Catholics, seeing the centre of the enemy in disarray, imagined the battle won, and began to shout, "Victory."
Turenne and La Trimouille, however, rallied behind the corps of Lavardin, and with what men they could collect, joined the division of the Prince de Conde. At the same moment, a body of four hundred and fifty Protestant arque- busiers, which had been detached on the left, to hold in
* The words are given variously by different authors, but the sub- stance of the Duke's observations is the same in all.
f Sully. Le Grain. Discours de la Guerre. .J: Or Mercoeue.
102 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
check a part of the Catholic force, hearing the Leaguers' cries of triumph, suddenly abandoned the defensive, drove back the enemy, and on one of their commanders exclaiming, " Let us die in the midst of that battalion ;" they rushed upon the regiments in front, and, discharging their pieces almost within arm's length of their adversaries, took to the sword, and routed all who opposed them. The battle was now going on upon both wings, the centre of the Huguenots broken, but the advantage turning to the side of their in- fantry ; while the three strong squadrons of cavalry under the Bourbon Princes remained unmoved, ready to meet the advancing forces of Joyeuse, and the artillery thundered from the heights.
The Duke's cavalry was formed in line ; and Aubigne seems to suppose, that, from the position which Joyeuse occupied, he could not see the exact disposition of the troops of Na- varre ; but the horse of the Protestant army was formed in squadrons, and from the high ground on which the King himself was placed, the whole field was discernible. The news was quickly carried to the Roman Catholic commander, that Lavardin had routed Turenne and Trimouille ; and, ad- vancing before his own guard, covered with armor of silver and enamel, he ordered the whole line to charge, " as if to victory rather than battle." His immensely superior cavalry then came forward at full speed, with the banderols of their lances shading the ground ; but as they reached the top of a little elevation which ran across the field, some confusion took place when they found that three bodies of cavalry were before them instead of one. Their line, too, was in disorder, from the length of the way they had galloped and the eager- ness of some to get before the rest ; so that much disarray was apparent in their ranks before they came near the forces of the Protestants.
Henry, on his part, as soon as he saw them in motion, prepared to meet them ; and exclaiming aloud — " My com- panions, we fight for the glory of God — for honor and our
KING OF PRANCE AND NAVARRE. 103
lives ! To safety and to victory, the road is before us ! On, in the name of God, for whom we draw the sword !"-— he took his helmet, covered with white plumes, and put his lance in the rest.* Some of his friends now sought to place themselves before him, in order to break the shock of the enemy, but he would not permit them so to do ; saying, " To your places — to your places ; do not hide me ; I would be seen !"f and led on his squadron to meet Joyeuse. At first they advanced at a walk, then at a quick trot, and then the arquebusiers, whom Henry had placed beside each body of men-at-arms, having fired at twenty yards' distance, so as to shake the first rank of the enemy, the Bourbon Princes, and their veteran soldiers, clad in gray iron, swept the glittering host of Joyeuse before them, like the wind driving the dust. The only troops of the Huguenot cavalry that wavered, was that of the Count de Soissons; but it was speedily rallied by Fabas, and all were soon engaged. The horses of the Protestants, neither tired by a long march, nor pant- ing with the exertion of a charge of nearly half a mile, met those of the Catholics, fresh and vigorous; but still the nobles of the royalist army, showed all the courage for which French gentlemen have ever been renowned. Though broken and routed, they fought in small parties to the last. The Prince de Conde was thrown to the ground, and his horse killed by St. Luc, the governor of Brouage, who seeing his own host defeated, took the moment of this success to sur- render to the Prince. The charger of Turenne was also slain ; and the white plumes, and plain iron armor of Henry of Navarre, were seen wherever the fight was most fierce. In the crisis of the battle, he was engaged hand to hand with two of the enemy at once ; but one of his opponents having been killed by a Protestant officer who came up, Henry seized the other, named Chateau-renard, exclaiming, with the gay tone which did not even then abandon him, " Yield, Philistine, yield !"
* Aubigne. f Perefixe.
104 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
The Protestant arquebusiers were now making great prog- ress on either wing, and the rout of the cavalry soon decided the fate of the Catholic infantry. The Huguenot foot took up the cry of " La Motte !" in memory of the cruel butchery of Joyeuse at that town ; and little quarter was given to the regiment of Picardy, which was opposed to those corps who had suffered most severely in the cold-blooded slaughter that there took place. Joyeuse himself was killed, as well as his brother ; but whether after surrender, as some have said,* or in a gallant effort to win renown even in death,f as others have asserted, cannot be clearly ascertained.
The rout of the Catholic forces, however, was complete, when a small body of two hundred lances, in compact order, was seen advancing behind the fugitives; and one of the Protestant officers remarked to Henry of Navarre, that it must be the head of Matignon's army. " Well, my friends," cried the King, with an unconcerned air, " this will be what was never before seen : two battles in the same day."
But this small corps soon took flight with the rest, and the pursuit was carried on for three hours, during which, a great number of the infantry were slain. It was re- marked, on the contrary, that almost all the cavalry who fell, sold their lives dearly on the field of battle.^ All the principal officers of the army of Joyeuse were killed, with the exception of Lavardin and Mercure, who made their escape towards the close of the day ; and there was scarcely a noble family in France that had not to reckon one of its
* Aubigne. There is a curious mistake in the notes upon the edition of Sully, published 1822, where it is said, that Joyeuse was killed in cold blood by La Motte St. Heray. The words of Aubigne are, that Bordeaux and Centier, his two assailants, " knowing him well by La Motte St. Heray," meaning by the massacre he had committed in that place, "gave him a pistol shot," &c.
t Brantome. I am inclined to believe that the latter authority is the best upon this point.
£ Aubigne says, that not more than ten gentlemen were killed, or made prisoners, beyond the actual limits of the field of battle.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 105
members amongst the dead. The prisoners were equally- numerous, and equally distinguished. Of the slain, four hundred were gentlemen of rank ; and three thousand foot fell in the fight or the pursuit. The number of prisoners is not given, but it was very large ; so that not more than one- fourth part of the brilliant army of Joyeuse escaped from the field of Coutras.
The successful issue of this battle is entirely attributable to the dispositions of the King of Navarre. The position chosen for the whole army, which gave so much advantage to his arquebusiers, the situation in which he placed his artillery, and the formation of his cavalry in squadrons rather than in line, as was then customary, as well as the union of a small body of arquebusiers with each troop of horse, com- pensated fully for the inferiority of his numbers ; and the gallantry and determination of himself and his soldiers, as well as some want of discipline amongst the ranks of Joyeuse, effected the rest.
A skilful movement, too, ordered in the beginning of the day by the king of Navarre, remedied the chief defect in the position of the Huguenots. Just as the battle began, a large vacancy was perceived at the left of their line, which was menaced by a strong body of Catholics, under M. du Cluseau. It was judged dangerous, however, to march any consider- able infantry force from the right in face of the enemy, while the distance from the rear was too great to render such an operation practicable in time. In these circumstances, Henry, after having thrown out two hundred skirmishers in that direction, brought, under cover of their fire, five sepa- rate parties from different regiments, to the weak point of his line, on which the skirmishers also fell back, forming with the draughts from the regiments a body of nearly five hundred men. This manoeuvre is said to have greatly con- tributed to the victory of the Huguenots.
I must not omit to mention in this place an anecdote of an old Protestant officer, who, seeing the Prince de Conde
5*
106 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
about to charge the light horse of Lavardin, just as the cavalry of Joyeuse was advancing, caught him by the bridle, exclaiming, " That is no game for you ;" and pointing to the heavy men-at-arms of the Duke, he added, " but here it comes."
The King of Navarre himself, during the space of an hour, which was all the time that the battle actually occupied, was continually engaged hand to hand with the soldiers of the enemy, killing several with his own arm, without re- ceiving the slightest wound, though his armor was covered with blows; and, at one period, while grasping a Roman Catholic officer with one hand, he shot with a pistol another assailant, who came to the rescue of his prisoner.
Nevertheless, he did not follow the enemy far in person ; but, after having carried on the pursuit for a quarter of a league, he returned to the field of battle, and joined in a solemn act of thanksgiving, which was performed by the Protestant ministers on the scene of this great victory. He then retired to the chateau of Coutras, to which he caused the bodies of Joyeuse and his brother to be carried, and there gave orders for burying the dead, and taking care of the wounded.
In the hour of victory he showed the same moderation which has distinguished all great men before and since, and which is, in fact, the strongest — perhaps the only proof of real greatness. He expressed no feeling of triumph as standard after standard, taken from the enemy, was brought, into the hall where he sat at supper ; and neither harshness nor exultation gave an additional bitterness to the cup of captivity, as one noble prisoner after another was presented to him by their captors. Amongst the rest, his former tutor, Sautrai, who had abandoned him in the hour of adversity, and had showed himself one of his bitterest enemies for some years, was now brought before him ; but Henry, as if to mark particularly his readiness to forgive all personal in-
KING OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 107
juries, ordered him to be set free without ransom, contrary to the urgent remonstrances of several of his friends.
It was at this time, that in the midst of fifty-six standards of the enemies' infantry, and twenty -two banners of the horse^ and at the end of the first pitched battle that had ever been gained by the French Protestants, some one asked him what terms of peace he would now demand, after so glorious a vic- tory.
" The same as before," replied the King ; and the next day he sent off one of his officers to solicit peace at the hands of Henry III.
It has been generally asserted that the greatest advantages might have been derived from the victory of Coutras, and that the Protestant party might have obtained that power in France which would have secured to Henry of Navarre the unopposed succession to the crown. No other benefit, how- ever, resulted, than the removal of a false notion which had been previously entertained, both by Protestants and Cath- olics, that though the Huguenots were invincible in skirmishes and desultory warfare, they were incapable of winning a regular battle. Henry remained inactive ; his victorious troops were dispersed ; the Prince de Conde proceeded to lead the forces of Poitou and Sainctonge towards the banks of the Charente and the Loire ; Turenne marched with his Gascons to besiege the small town of Sarlat ; and at the feet of the Countess de Grammont were laid the banners of Cou- tras, by the conqueror, who should have been leading his hardy soldiers to fresh achievements.* I am not inclined to
* Certain it is that Henry of Navarre did visit the Countess of Gram- mont before he quitted Guienne ; but he did not fly to her with that haste which the statements of Sully and Aubigne would lead their read- ers to suppose. This is proved beyond all doubt, by the manuscript ac- counts of his household expenses, which show that he remained two days at Coutras after the battle ; that he subsequently spent three days at St. Foy, three days at Clairac, and five at Nerac, and did not reach Pau till the 6th of November, seventeen days after his victory. It is to be remarked also, that several of the towns he visited, were out of his
108 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
deny that Henry, to all appearance, neglected opportunity ; but various causes have been assigned for the error thus committed, and it is necessary to state them. It is true, great differences of opinion existed in the monarch's council, and great dissensions amongst the noblemen who gave him their voluntary support. Conde and Turenne were in open enmity ; the former seeking to erect several of the western provinces of France into a separate principality, the latter entertaining views as treasonable and at the bottom as am- bitious. It is true, that Henry of Navarre did not wish to render the breach between himself and the King of France irreparable ; it is true, that Matignon and his army were ready to follow him on his march ; and that Henry III. him- self, at the head of a very large force, was before him on the Loire ; it is true, that very great difficulties might have pre- sented themselves, if he had attempted to induce the troops who had followed him to Coutras, to pursue their course across the whole of France, in order to meet the German army, which had now entered the kingdom, and was making its way slowly forward ; and it is also certain, that the line of conduct adopted, was determined upon in the council, over the decisions of which Henry had no other control than that afforded by his moral influence. Nevertheless, there can be little doubt, that influence, after this victory, would have been sufficient, if vigorously exerted, to prevent the Protestant force from separating ; and that it was his duty to the great cause which he supported, not to suffer the im- mense advantage he had obtained to pass away without some fruit, if there was a possibility of avoiding such a result.
way towards Pau, and that no hostile force is known to have prevented his pursuing a more direct course, so that there is every reason to sup- pose, some motives of great weight — though unknown to us — led him to visit Nerac and the Agenois. It is very easy to find fault with great men, especially when we do not know all the circumstances in which they acted ; and it unfortunately happens, that human malignity too frequently induces us to attribute to weakness that which was perhaps inevitable.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 109
The only causes for not marching to join the German army, which we can suppose to have had any real weight with his mind, were first, the great chance that existed of a collision with the King himself; secondly, the uncertainty of the course which his foreign allies would take ; and thirdly, his inability to pay the sums which the auxiliaries expected to receive immediately. He had always professed not to draw the sword against Henry III., but only against the leaders of the League ; and he knew that the monarch was now at the head of his own forces, somewhere between him and the Germans. Of the exact position of the latter, he had no in- timation;* he neither knew their difficulties nor their line of march ; and under these circumstances it was scarcely possible for him to advance to meet them, without being en- countered by the King. At the same time, he felt keenly the want of those pecuniary resources, without which it was impossible for him to supply the German troops with the money that was required even for their support. But the Protestants of France failed to furnish him with funds, at the very moment they were most needed. Two letters from the monarch to the town of Nismes, and to M. de Scorbiac, show the extreme distress of Henry's mind, at the obstacles which the remissness of various towns in paying their quota, threw in the way of his junction with the auxiliaries, and afford strong grounds for believing that the emptiness of his treas- ury, contributed more than anything else to deprive him of the fruits of his victory.
A great error is, nevertheless, generally allowed to have been committed, in not making some effort to derive perma- nent advantage from the battle of Coutras ; especially if Conde, as we are informed by De Thou, professed his wil- lingness to march to join the Germans, and urged Henry to do so. Sully indeed declares that such was not the case; but the assertion of De Thou is confirmed by the fact that the Prince remained in Sainctonge, waiting some time for * Discours de la Guerre.
110 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
the coming of the King of Navarre, in order to make a for- ward movement to support their allies.*
One fact however is certain, that such an advance would have been altogether fruitless ; for before the Huguenot forces could have arrived on the banks of the Loire, the Swiss, who formed no inconsiderable part of the army of auxiliaries, were already treating with Henry III., the whole force was in a state of confusion, and the first intelligence of the battle of Coutras, reached the Duke of Nevers in the midst of the Swiss camp.f The King of Navarre, on the day of his victory, was, by the shortest route he could have followed, at the distance of more than a hundred and twenty leagues from the head- quarters of the Germans ; while an army, at least four times as strong as his own, in point of numbers, lay between him and them ; so that the course he must have pursued to reach his allies would have been still longer. He had every reason to believe, that instead of fol- lowing the directions he had sent, they were endeavoring to force their way across the Loire, into Beauce, so that, had he proceeded, according to his original plan, by Guienne and Languedoc, there was every probability, even if the Ger- mans succeeded at all in passing the river without a battle, that the want of combination would frustrate his purpose, their march countervail his, and the relative position of the two allied forces remain the same, with the army of the King between them. But, before eight days were over, after the battle of Coutras, the Germans were attacked by Guise, at Vimory,J and a severe skirmish took place, in which the Protestants suffered considerably.
* Discours de la Guerre. f Mem. de Nevers, torn. i. p. 773.
•£ On the 27th October. Pierre Mathieu. We have no means of as- certaining precisely how soon the news of the defeat of the Germans reached Henry of Navarre. The first letter in which we find it men- tioned by that monarch is without date ; but M. de Xivrey places it about the middle of November. It is more than probable, however, that the intelligence of their first disaster at Vimory, must have arrived while Henry was at Nerac, where he remained till the afternoon of the 3d November, or at Pau, in which town he slept on the 6th.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. Ill
From that period forward, nothing but dissension, loss, and disorder occurred amongst the body of auxiliaries, although their numbers would at any time have justified them in risking a general engagement with the troops of Henry III. and Guise combined. After the junction of all the reinforcements which arrived during their march through France, the force they had at command amounted to thirty- five thousand men and nineteen pieces of artillery ; but they were led by commanders of little experience, harassed by want and sickness, continually attacked by Epernon and Guise, or led into negotiations which spread hesitation and doubt amongst them,* till at length, surprised in Auneauf by the Duke of Guise, a more serious disaster befell them than that which occurred at Vimory. The loss indeed was not severe,^ but the consternation was great, and was never tranquillized.
The conduct of Henry III., in the whole of these trans- actions, is well worthy of some consideration. In this mo- ment of the utmost difficulty and danger, he showed a degree of decision and judgment, which, had it been lasting, would have soon quelled the factions which convulsed his kingdom ; but it passed away with the occasion to which it owed its existence, and did not revive, till new perils, equally mena- cing, called forth once more his latent energies.
In the early part of the year 1587, he received daily inti- mations of the Protestant levies in Germany, and he himself knew that a large body of Swiss had, in consequence of his negotiations with Sully, been raised under an indefinite un- derstanding, that they were called into the field for his own service, as well as that of the King of Navarre. The union of the Swiss and the Germans, however, alarmed him. Their junction with nearly six thousand French Huguenots,
* Vie du Due d'Epernon. Discours de la Guerre. Mem. de Nevers. f 24th November.
£ The loss, according to Pasquier, Livre XI., Lettre 15, amounted to fifteen hundred men.
112 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
•under different leaders, excited still more that jealousy which was one of his chief weaknesses ; and the double policy in which he had been brought up, at once prompted him to op- pose the arms of deceit and treachery, to the various factions which threatened to overwhelm him in their struggle. His mind was incapable of placing confidence in the King of Navarre ; towards the house of Guise, he entertained feel- ings of both dread and hatred ; but the Duke of Lorraine, when he found the Protestant auxiliaries advancing towards his territories, besought aid in a tone more peremptory than that of a petitioner, and Guise, without waiting for command or permission, hurried with the troops of the League to the assistance of his relation. Taking advantage of the King's professions, however, in order to advance his own purposes, the Duke sent messengers to Henry, requiring him to dis- patch to his support, all the forces which that monarch had lately called into the field.
But Henry better counselled, determined to put himself at the head of the large army he had collected ; and leaving Guise to defend Lorraine and Champagne, he prepared with wonderful vigor to oppose the passage of the Loire, as will- ing to see the Leaguers kept in doubt regarding his inten- tions, and to place them in a situation in which they ran the risk of a defeat, as to prevent the junction of the allied army with the King of Navarre. By the advice of the Duke of Nevers, he brought to his aid all the troops which could be mustered, and rejecting the insidious suggestions of the par- tisans of the League in his council, he took measures for calling out in case of need the ban and arriere-ban of France, and set out from Paris once more, to lead his forces in per- son. The sight of the King at the head of his troops, was far more unpalatable to the faction than to the King of Navarre ; and it is evident that Guise and his brethren were greatly embarrassed as well as surprised by this decision.
In these circumstances not only the Duke but his party also, greatly lost in reputation. While Henry found himself
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 113
surrounded by one of the finest armies which had been brought into the field since the commencement of the civil wars, while he boldly planted himself on the banks of the Loire, destroyed the fords upon that river, seized upon La Charite in face of the Germans, and prepared to give them battle if they should effect a passage, Guise, with all his in- fluence, had not been able to collect sufficient troops to pre- vent them from entering Lorraine, and thence advancing into France. He made no effort, indeed, to check them, and is severely blamed by many historians for suffering them to pass the Vosges unopposed.* Certain it is, that at the time of their first appearance in Lorraine, they were comparatively weak in numbers, not having been yet joined by the Swiss, or any of the many reinforcements which reached them on their march, that in the gorges of the mountains a small army might have attempted to bar the way with success, and that nothing like vigor was displayed by the Princes of Lorraine, either in opposing the advance of the Germans, preventing their junction with their allies, or cutting off any of the bodies of Protestant troops which were hurrying across the country from every quarter to swell the army of auxiliaries. In regard to the latter point, there can be no doubt that Guise committed a great error ; and though the brilliant enterprises of Vimory and Auneau displayed high courage and activity in the partisan leader, and were found sufficient to keep up his credit with the League, yet through the whole campaign he showed but little skill as a general, and little energy as the chief of a great party.
The dissipation of the confederate forces must be chiefly attributed to the firm and decided conduct of the King, and to the military skill with which he guarded the passages of the Loire. To these were added, the means of negotiation and deceit. The Swiss were persuaded that Henry had
* If the account of Aubigne is correct, the army of the Duke of Guise must have been equal to that of the Germans when they entered Lor- raine, and before they had been joined by the Swiss.
114 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
never authorized their enrolment for his service, and were bribed to desist from an enterprise which they saw was hopeless. The Germans were also treated with, and deluded by promises ; but it is only just to say, that Henry III. kept his own engagements with them punctually ; and that the passports which he offered them to secure, as far as possible, their safe return to their own country, were delivered before their departure.
His rebellious subjects of the League, however, paid no attention to the King's wishes and commands. The retreat- ing bodies of Germans were pursued by Guise and his com- panions with the utmost fury, followed even into the neigh- boring countries, and slaughtered wherever they could be found. The three French leaders by whom they were ac- companied, and who had quitted them in the midst of their negotiations with the King, effected their escape from the enemy, though not without great difficulty. The Duke of Bouillon arrived at Geneva, where fatigue and grief termi- nated his life, within a few days after he had left the terri- tory of France. The Prince de Conti, with a few servants, fled through by-ways, concealing his rank and name :* but Chatillon, who had rejected all passports, and refused to surrender his banner to any one but the King of Navarre, from whom he had received it, opened a way for himself with the sword into Languedoc, and then placed himself in safety in the Vivarez, giving, on more than one occasion, a shameful defeat to those who opposed him with vastly supe- rior forces.
Thus was dissipated and nearly destoyed, one of the largest foreign armies that had ever taken the field to support the Protestant cause in France ; and if Henry III., who, before
* Anquetil, with his usual inaccuracy, represents the Prince de Conti as taking part in the battle of Coutras, and is consequently obliged to make more mistakes to bring him to the head of the reiters. He might have seen, in any contemporary historian, that when the Count de Soissons joined Henry on the Loire, he left Conti to effect a junction with the Germans as best, he miffht.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 115
the Germans began their retreat, had collected under his own command a force of nearly thirty thousand men, which he might easily have swelled to between forty and fifty thou- sand by calling to his aid the troops of the Duke of Mont- 'pensier, had determined to act vigorously against the League, he might have crushed that faction with very little difficulty, without even accepting any assistance from the Protestants under the King of Navarre.
Returning to Paris, however, where he was at first received with joyous acclamations,* he once more relapsed into indo- lence and frivolity, and left the Duke of Guise to attribute to himself all the glory of the campaign, of which the very smallest part was really his due. While the preachers of Paris were lauding the conduct of the popular leader to the skies, and the priests in the confessional were exhorting the people to do that which the doctors of the Sorbonne de- clared to be justifiable, and to snatch the royal authority from the hands of the King, Guise himself, after pursuing the Germans to the county of Montbeliard and committing the most frightful barbarities in that state, hastened secretly to Rome, to hold a conference with the Pope and with Cardinal Peleve.f Of the particulars of their interview we are not aware ; but Guise only remained three days in the ancient capital of the world, and then returned with all speed to Nancy, in order to direct the operations of his party against the King. An assembly of the family of Lorraine, and all the principal leaders of their faction, was held at that city in the month of January ; and it was there determined to present a memorial to Henry III., requiring him to put him- self openly at the head of the League, to dismiss all persons from his service who should be pointed out as obnoxious by the princes of that party, to cause the publication of the de- crees of the council of Trent, to establish the inquisition, to command the church to re-purchase its alienated property, to give up to the Leaguers such cities as they should de-
* Pasquier. t Mem. de la Ligue. L'Etoile.
116 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
mand, fortified and garrisoned according to their pleasure, and to keep up an army on the frontiers of Lorraine to pre- vent the return of the Germans. It was also determined to take possession of the duchy of Bouillon, and to besiege Jamets and Sedan.
The memorial of the League was presented to the King, who gave a vague, but conciliatory answer to demands which he should have treated at once as treasonable ; and, while Guise hurried to Soissons to confer with the Cardinal de Bourbon, the " Sixteen" carried on their intrigues in Paris, and prepared for a decisive effort to seize upon the person of the King. They kept up a continual communication with the Duke and his brothers, pressing Guise to come to Paris and put himself at their head. Although, not yielding im- mediately to their, solicitations, the Duke encouraged them to proceed, gave them directions for conducting their enter- prise upon a more regular and skilful plan than they had themselves devised, and sent them five of his captains to lead the five battalions, into which he advised them to divide their forces. Nicholas Poulain, however, who still continued to act as the spy of the court, revealed to Henry, that it was the intention of the " Sixteen" to arrest him and the Duke of Epernon, during one of the processions, at which he was accustomed to be present, during Lent. He offered even to conduct the King's officers to the spot where the conspirators were discussing their plans, so that they might be appre- hended with their treason on their lips. But Henry was dis- suaded from pursuing so vigorous a course ; and he contented himself with keeping away from the procession, bringing the Swiss troops into the neighborhood of Paris, and by means of the Duke of Epernon, fortifying the royalist party in Nor- mandy and the Orleanois. At the same time, he collected arms, and strengthened the guard at the Louvre ; and, shortly after, brought a body of Swiss into Paris for his defence.
Although the "Sixteen" now clearly perceived that their
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVAKKE. 1 1 7
treason was discovered, they proceeded more and more boldly every hour ; sent messenger after messenger to Guise, and with the aid of his sister, Madame de Montpensier, laid a new plot for seizing upon the monarch's person, as he re- turned from Vincennes. This, however, was likewise revealed to the King by Poulain, and once more the scheme was frus- trated. In the meanwhile, Guise had advanced from Sois- sons to Gonesse ; but hearing the precautions of the King, he retired, and applied for permission to come to Paris and justify himself. Madame de Montpensier, who, though she had received repeated orders to quit the capital, still contin- ued to frequent the court of the Queen-mother, zealously supported the Duke's demand, and kept up a constant com- munication with the " Sixteen." Villequieur, who, there is every reason to suppose, had been gained by the party of the Duke of Guise, added to the hesitation which reigned in the King's council, by maintaining that the danger was imaginary ; and the Queen-mother encouraging the same idea, Henry fell back into indolence, from which he was only roused by the news that Guise was actually about to set out for Paris. He then dispatched Bellievre in haste to forbid his approach ; but Guise sent back the messenger to his Sovereign, requiring assurances in regard to his own honor and the safety of his Catholic friends in Paris, and, in the meanwhile, continued his advance upon the capital. The King immediately wrote to the Duke, granting him all that he required, and promising to give him further intimation of his pleasure, but still forbade his approach. The letter was either lost, or Guise concealed that he had received it ; and after a short delay, during which he seems to have enter- tained some apprehensions of the result, the Duke hurried suddenly to Paris, where he arrived on the 9th of May, ac- companied by only eight attendants. He had taken care, however, beforehand to introduce a number of armed men, in small parties, into the capital ; and if he experienced any fears for his personal safety, they were dissipated by the re-
118 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
ception he met with from the populace. Thousands upon thousands followed him through the streets ; the windows were filled with ladies, who showered flowers upon his head ; the people held out their rosaries to touch him as he passed, as if some holy influence emanated from his person ; and voices were heard to cry, " Welcome, welcome, great Duke ; now you are come, we are safe."
Without stopping at his own house, Guise proceeded at once to the Convent of the Penitents, where the Queen- mother was then residing, and was immediately introduced to her presence. She was pale and trembling, and greeted him in ambiguous terms, saying, that although she was glad to see him, she would rather have done so at another time. The Duke replied, with a courteous air, but in a determined tone, that being a good servant of the King, and having heard the calumnies circulated against himself, as well as the designs which were entertained against some of the wisest and best of the people, he had come to remedy this evil, and to justify himself. Catherine then dispatched Davila, the father of the historian, to inform the King of the Duke's ar- rival, and to say that she would bring him speedily to the Louvre. Henry was dreadfully agitated at this intelligence, and demanded of Alphonso Ornano, a resolute Corsican officer, who was with him, what he would do in his place.
" Do you look upon him as a friend or an enemy ?" asked Ornano. The King only replied by a gesture of anger and indignation ; and Ornano continued, " Well, then, if you but give me the order, I will bring his head to you this day, without your taking any further trouble in the matter." But Henry was persuaded by Yillequier and others, to pursue a less violent course ; and while they were still in discussion, intelligence was brought that the Queen-mother and the Duke were approaching. Immediate orders were given for the guards to line the way ; and Henry prepared to receive his ambitious subject with some show of dignity.
Catherine was carried in her chair, with the Duke walking
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 119
by her side, and the acclamations of the people, as well as the affability with which Guise noticed every one, as he passed bareheaded amongst them, must have taught the politic Queen the full extent of his dangerous popularity, and the means which he took to secure it. On arriving at the Louvre, however, Catherine and the Duke had to pass between a double line of guards ; and Guise saluted them as he went by. But Crillon, who was at their head, made no movement in return for this act of courtesy ; and it was remarked, that the Duke turned somewhat pale. Beyond the French guards, at the bottom of the great staircase, were the Swiss, the archers of the guard in the hall above, and the gentlemen of the chamber lining the other rooms through which Guise passed, till at length he reached the apartment of the Queen-consort which Henry had appointed for his re- ception. The moment he approached, the King addressed him with a heavy frown, saying, " I warned you not to come ;" to which Guise replied, in a calm and respectful tone, that he was there to cast himself into the arms of his Majesty, to demand justice, and to reply to the calumnies of his enemies. He then went on to say, that he should not have disobeyed, if the King's commands had been more explicitly conveyed to him. Some discussion then com- menced between the Duke and Bellievre ; but the King interrupted them, and dismissed Guise, saying, " It is by your conduct that you will justify yourself, and by the re- sults I shall judge of your intentions."
After this abrupt termination of their interview, the Duke retired to his own hotel, where all the nobility of his party soon assembled round him, and the courts and the neighbor- ing streets, were crowded with a dense multitude of Pari- sians ready to shed their blood in his defence. The next morning, Henry published a proclamation, commanding all persons not regularly domiciled in Paris, to quit the city without loss of time ; and the royal officers were directed to see that it was obeyed ; but the order was not rigorously
120 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
executed ; and those who were driven out of one quarter of the town, took refuge in another, or found shelter at the Hotel de Guise itself.
On the 12th of the month, early in the morning, the Pari- sians remarked the entrance of several regiments of Swiss and French soldiers, with Marshal Biron at their head ; and immediately after, a number of important posts were occu- pied by the royal forces, while Crillon, with a party of the guard, approached the Place Maubert, to secure which was of consequence, as it commanded the quarter of the univer- sity. But the order was given too late ; a party of Pari- sians, principally composed of boatmen and students, de- fended the ground as the guards advanced ; and at the very moment that Crillon was directing his men to charge, he re- ceived an express prohibition from the King to shed blood on any account.
Finding that the important post which he had been com- manded to occupy was lost, that officer attempted to retreat towards the Louvre ; but by this time the inhabitants were in arms ; and even those who wished well to the royal cause, disgusted with the weak indifference which the King had shown, abandoned him at a moment when he had recourse to measures, which threatened to deluge the streets of the capital with gore, but which might easily have been rendered unnecessary by timely firmness, and a due assertion of the royal authority. It is curious to remark, how, in all ages, similar weakness on the part of rulers is followed by the same result, notwithstanding the difference of times and cir- cumstances ; but sad to perceive, that history, which is the experience of States, has no effect upon statesmen, as if fools and knaves returned in cycles to commit the same errors and crimes, and produce the same disasters at their appointed seasons.
The Duke of Guise was soon informed of what was taking place in the town ; and without showing himself in the affair at once, he directed his officers to go forth and counsel the
KINO OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 121
people in their resistance to the troops. The first suggestion of barricading the streets is said to have been made by Bris- sac. Chains were stretched across from corner to corner with the greatest rapidity ; barrels were procured, and filled with stones and earth ; the organized bands of the Parisians took post behind them, armed with pikes and arquebuses ; barricade after barricade was pushed forwards almost to the gates of the Louvre ; and the posts of the royalists, for- bidden to make use of their weapons to impede the progress of the enemy, were, in an incredibly short space of time, sur- rounded by forts garrisoned by the furious population of the capital.
Guise still affected to have no share in these occurrences. Towards midday he walked out for a few minutes ; but he was unarmed, and soon returned to his hotel ; and though persons were coming and going continually between him and the leaders of the revolt, their conferences were always held in secret, so that no one knew the orders that he gave but the bearer, and the persons to whom they were addressed.
The officers in command of the King's troops, in the mean- time, sent messengers to the Louvre, as long as any were suffered to pass, requiring permission to oppose the proceed- ings of the people ; but consternation and uncertainty reigned at the court. The traitor Villequier, and the Queen-mother, urged Henry to go forth and show himself, but to this the King would not consent ; and at length Catherine herself undertook the task of negotiating with Guise and endeavor- ing to persuade him to quit the capital. Her carriage, how- ever, was stopped at the barricades, and she was obliged to alight, and proceed in her chair, a sufficient space being left open for her train to pass. Her attempt proved vain. Guise steadily refused to quit Paris, but falsely declared that he had no part in the insurrection; and she returned to the Louvre without success. An order was then sent to recall the troops from their dangerous posts ; but it arrived too late ; it was impossible for the soldiers to return ; and a gun
VOL. II. 6
122 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
having shortly after been fired near the new market, in which the Swiss were quartered, an attack was made upon the un- fortunate foreigners from the windows and roofs of the sur- rounding houses, during which a number were killed, and the rest threw down their arms. At that moment Brissac ar- rived in haste, and causing the carnage to cease, ordered the Swiss to take refuge in the slaughter-house of the market.
On one of the bridges the French Guards were likewise attacked ; but on receiving intelligence that bloodshed had begun, Guise himself, with no arms but the sword which he usually wore, and with a cane in his hand, went out on horse- back, and proceeded from quarter to quarter, exhorting the people to abstain from violence. Everywhere he was greeted with the loudest acclamations, and everywhere his commands were promptly obeyed. The royalist troops laid down their arms at his desire ; and after having, in some degree, calmed the storm he had raised, he caused the French and Swiss Guards to pass before him on their way to the Louvre. At the head of the former, he placed one of his adherents, named St. Paul, with a wand in his hand, while Brissac, with a sim- ilar emblem of peaceful authority, conducted the Swiss ; and thus the two corps were led back unmolested to the palace, through the innumerable barricades which crossed the streets. A distinction, however, was made between the French sol- diers and the foreigners, in order to fix a politic mark of dis- grace upon those who opposed their factious countrymen. The former were ordered to lower their arms, and march bareheaded, while the Swiss were allowed to proceed in their usual military array.
The succeeding night passed in much agitation on all parts : news arrived at the Louvre that strict watch was kept at all the barricades ; and it was found that Guise visited the prin- cipal posts more than once during the period of darkness. lAll communication between the palace and the town was cut off ; and although arms had been laid up in plenty to resist a sudden attack, no provisions had been accumulated to en-
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 123
able the Louvre to stand a siege. At the same time, intel- ligence was received that a design was entertained of invest- ing the King the next day in the palace, and that forces had been prepared for the enterprise. Under these circumstances, several members of the council strongly advised Henry to quit the capital ; but the suggestions of Villequier, and the entreaties of the Queen-mother, induced him to pause while she made a last attempt to negotiate with the Duke of Guise.
Early on the following day Catherine set out; but her efforts on this occasion were as unsuccessful as before. Guise appeared sterner and more decided than he had shown him- self at their former interview. He was even discourteous, and suffered his conference with the mother of his sovereign to be interrupted continually by private audiences, demanded by, and granted to the rebellious citizens of the capital. She saw that he would be King, if not in name, in reality. But Catherine had a consolation under the endurance of these in- sults, of which Guise was not aware. She knew that while he was indulging in dreams of authority, and laying down the terms on which he would grant tolerance to his King, the golden opportunity was slipping away from him. He had committed one error in the course of successful treason, and it had been seized.
While she detained him in negotiation, Henry, in conse- quence of warnings she had sent him, was making his escape. As soon as she had perceived the actual state of the public mind as she passed along, and had received the various inti- mations of coming events which reached her directly and indi- rectly on her way to the conference, she sent back Pinart, the Secretary of State, to inform the King that his only chance of safety was in quitting Paris without loss of time. » Henry followed her advice at once. The regiments of Swiss and French guards were immediately marched out of Paris, while the King's attendants spread the report that this sacrifice was made to satisfy the people. The monarch then went out in an ordinary walking dress, proceeded to the garden of the
124 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
Tuileries, or the Queen's garden, as it was then called, at the back of which lay the royal stables. His air was easy and unconcerned, his pace slow, and he spoke to several persons as he walked along ; but the moment he reached the stables the doors were closed. He drew on a pair of riding boots, and mounting a strong horse, passed the Porte Neuve, and rode at full speed towards Chartres, accompanied by sixteen gentlemen and twelve servants.
He was received with acclamations, by the people of that city. His faithful guards arrived a few hours after ; and, delivered from imminent peril by the neglect of the Duke of Guise in not securing the gate at the back of the palace, he once more breathed at liberty. As he quitted Paris, how- ever, the guard at the Porte de Nesle, had the insolence to fire upon him ; and Henry is said to have sworn that he would never re-enter his rebellious capital but by the breach.
When the tidings of the King's escape were carried to the Duke of Guise, he became extremely agitated ; and turning angrily to the Queen-mother, he exclaimed, " Madam, you amuse me to my ruin !" But Catherine assured him that she knew nothing of her son's intentions, and took her de- parture as soon as possible. Guise immediately wrote let- ters to various persons in order to justify his conduct, and to show that the King had misconstrued his actions, which he pretended had been conducted with all loyalty ; but pre- vious letters are still in existence, which prove that his de- sign was certainly to seize the monarch, and probably to depose him. In one of these epistles he says, " I hold the Louvre so closely invested, that I will give a good account of those who are therein ;" and he presses his friends to send
him armed assistance without loss of time.
•
To remedy the mistake which had been committed, as far as possible, the Duke made every effort to secure Paris against attack, and acted in the capital as if he had been actually sovereign, while he continued to protest his loyalty and affection towards the King. He made many attempts,
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 125
at the same time, to induce Henry to return ; the most blas- phemous processions were sent to the King,* in order to suit his peculiar notions of religion ; a deputation from the Par- liament of Paris visited him ; and it is evident that Guise felt all the magnitude of the error into which he had fallen, in suffering the monarch, once in his hands, to escape him.
Henry steadily refused to return ; but in every other re- spect, he acted with his usual feebleness. He strove to con- ciliate, instead of preparing to punish ; he began to nego- tiate, without taking measures for defence; he dismissed Epernon and La Valette ; and abandoned his friends and faithful servants to please the house of Guise and his open enemies. Intrigue followed intrigue, and negotiation nego- tiation, till the simple question became, what was the price which the Duke and the League would take for a new inter- val of apparent amity. That price was not ascertained with- out difficulty ; but at length the bargain was concluded ; and by a decree of the nineteenth of July, 1588, called the Decree of Re-union, Henry granted to the League everything it could demand, except his crown ; that the King should place himself at the head of the faction ; that he should never lay down his arms against the Protestants ; that he would induce all his subjects to promise the same on oath ; that he would bind them by a vow to exclude all persons even sus- pected of heresy from the succession ; that the decrees of the council of Trent should be received in France ; that the towns held by the League should continue in their hands six years ; that four others should be added ; that Guise should be appointed Generalissimo by letters patent ; that all the rebellious acts of the League should be forgiven, and their late nominations to offices confirmed ; and that the States- general should assemble in October following, solemnly to ratify all these stipulations. By several secret articles to
* In one of these a Capuchin (it is doubtful, whether Henry de Joy- euse, brother of the deceased Duke, or another) represented our Saviour going to Calvary, with circumstances which I shall beg leave to omit.
126 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
the treaty, of which this edict was the expression, other con- cessions were made ; and the King, having returned from Rouen, where it was signed, to Chartres, received the Duke of Guise with open arms, and testified the same admiration and respect towards him, which had been displayed by Charles IX. towards the Admiral de Coligni, a few hours before his assassination.*
* I have not thought fit, in giving this account of what is called the day of the barricades, and the events which followed, to affix to each minute particular the authority on which I have relied, as by so doing I should have had to multiply notes to little purpose ; and in many in- stances I might have had to enter into long discussions of why I prefer- red one author's statement to another, as each person saw the transac- tions of the period with very different eyes, and gave different particulars as they struck him most forcibly. It may be sufficient to say. that all the facts mentioned by me will be found in De Thou, the Life of the Duke of Guise, the Memoires de la Ligue, Cayet, Davila, L'Etoile, the notes of the Satyre Menippee, and the Proces verbal de Nicolas Poulain. The letters of the Duke of Guise, which I have mentioned, are to be found in that very valuable little collection called Discours de la Guerre, and one in Aubigne.
KING OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 127
BOOK IX.
WHATEVER were the motives of the King of Navarre, and it is probable, as I have shown, that he was moved by very many and very cogent reasons, to refrain from pushing his advantage after Coutras, he remained if not in a state of ab- solute inactivity, at all events without any display of those energies which every one knew him to possess. From Coutras he turned his steps to Beam, accompanied by his cousin, the Count de Soissons, with the intention of bestowing the hand of his sister upon that Prince. But he soon had cause to regret that he had listened to the solicitations of the Count, and discovered the true character of that vain and perfidious Prince. Intimations from all quarters poured in upon him, of the wild designs entertained by Soissons, and he found that the plan which his cousin had laid out for himself, was to found upon his marriage with Catherine of Navarre and upon the papal bull of deprivation against her brother, a title to the whole territories of Beam and Albret, not without some hope, however extravagant, of succeeding also to the throne of France itself. As soon as Henry became convinced that such were the views of the Count, his decision was taken. He first delayed the marriage of his sister, and then broke off the engagement ; and the Count shortly after left him to join the King of France, filled with chimerical expectations of advancement and success. Before he went, however, he did not scruple to seduce several of Henry's officers from his service ; but the King of Navarre took care to send some of his tried friends with him, to watch his proceedings, and to frustrate his iniquitous schemes.*
* Sully.
128 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
While in Beam, Henry with the small force at his com- mand took measures for securing that principality, in which several towns were still held by the Roman Catholics, while many of the castles and strongholds that filled the mountain passes, were occupied by bands of robbers, who had greatly increased in numbers and audacity during the civil war. He obtained possession of Tarbes, retook the town of Aire, and swept the country of the troops of marauders which infested it. His council then brought before his notice the fact, that if the Duke of Mayenne, instead of wasting his time on the banks of the Dordogne, had pushed on at once into Beam, he could have made himself master of the town of Pau, and of the whole country at the foot of the Pyrenees, there being no place of any strength to oppose his progress. Henry accordingly gave orders for fortifying several of the passes, both on the side of France and Spain, and provided various cities both in Beam and Albret with strong garrisons, arms and ammunition.*
Such operations were interrupted by one of the most dis- tressing events of the time, which not only deeply affected Henry at the moment, but entangled him in dark and painful proceedings against one of his near connections. On the 3rd of March 1588, the Prince de Conde was taken ill in the town of St. Jean d'Angeli, and after suffering violent torture for two days, expired on the 5th of the same month, with great suspicion of poison. The body was immediately opened by five physicians and surgeons, several of whom had attended him during his illness ; and a report was drawn up, of the symptoms by which he had been afflicted before death, and the appearances presented by the body on dissec- tion. From this paper it appears that Conde was seized with violent pain and continual vomiting an hour and a half after his supper, together with intense thirst, followed by great difficulty of breathing. No remedies which the physicians could apply produced the slightest effect ; and at three * Cayet.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 129
o'clock on the 5th of March he died in great agony, foaming at the mouth. The autopsy was performed the following day, early in the morning, and indubitable traces of poison were found in the stomach and intestines.* Immediate in- vestigations were made for the purpose of discovering the assassins ; messengers were sent to the King of Navarre ; and rumors spread rapidly, attaching the guilt to the Princess de Conde, whose fidelity to her husband was not without sus- picion, to a page named Belcastel, and to several other domestics of the deceased Prince. The page effected his escape, it is said with monej7- furnished to him by the Prin- cess ; and a report was circulated that she had been induced to commit the act in order to conceal from Conde her preg- nancy by Belcastel, at a time when the Prince was absent, f But this report was evidently false, as Conde had been at St. Jean d'Angeli for several months before his death. One of the servants, however, was tried, condemned, and torn to pieces by four horses.
The trial of the Princess, she having been found pregnant, was ordered to be delayed till after the birth of the child ; but in the meantime, she was kept a close prisoner by order of the King of Navarre. The cause was afterwards pro- ceeded in by judges assembled at St. Jean, when she like- wise was condemned. She appealed, however, to the Court of Peers, in right of her rank ; and in consequence of various irregularities having been shown in the proceedings against her, she was ultimately acquitted by the higher tribunal, after long delay, notwithstanding the opposition of her hus- band's brothers. It may be as well here to remark, that a gross and absurd falsehood regarding this Princess and the son which she bore in the month of September following, was widely circulated and has obtained credit with persons
* Discours de la Guerre, in which we have a copy of the report of the surgeons. The particulars of the transaction and the papers concerning it are found with difficulty, having afterwards been suppressed by royal command. t L'Etoile.
6*
130 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
who should have been better informed. It was asserted that the young Prince was born thirteen months after Conde's death ; but there is no foundation for such a statement, only six months having elapsed between the assassination of the Prince, and the delivery of his wife ; and not the slightest cause exists, except the rumored incontinence of that Prin- cess, for supposing that her son was not the child of her husband.
Henry of Navarre was greatly affected by the death of his cousin, and gave way to bitter lamentations when the news was communicated to him, declaring that he had lost his right hand. Hurrying to St. Jean, he immediately dispatched messengers to the court of Henry III. to require that the page, Belcastel, should be arrested and sent back to Poitou, if he could be found in Paris ; and although it is reported that he was personally attached to the Princess, he caused the proceedings against her to be carried on with considerable rigor, and evidently felt convinced that she was guilty of the crime with which she was charged. He would not suffer her to be set at liberty till the year 1595, and the decree of Parliament pronouncing her innocent was not obtained till 1596.*
* Several of Henry's letters upon this subject are very curious and interesting. From them we find that two horses had been placed in the stables of an inn in the suburbs of St. Jean d'Angeli, by a favorite do- mestic of the Princess de Conde, named Brillant, fourteen days before the death of the Prince, and that on them the page and his accomplice made their escape. Brillant declared on examination that he had placed the horses there, and had given a thousand crowns to the page, by order of the Princess. The accomplice of the page was afterwards entrapped, and upon him were found diamonds and pearls supposed to have be- longed to the Princess. In consequence of the destruction of ^11 the records of the trial, the principal facts on which reliance can be placed, are derived from the letters of Henry IV. which leave little doubt of the lady's guilt. It would seem also that at the same time, a number of villains were engaged to assassinate the King of Navarre. He himself states that twenty-four persons had undertaken to perpetrate that crime. Only one, however, was taken ; and he confessed the fact. Henry also
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 131
The Protestant party in Poitou, being left by the death of Conde without any leader of sufficient rank to command the obedience of all, Henry set out as soon as possible for Rochelle, where his presence was very much needed. Scarcely were the eyes of the Prince closed, when Lavardin, who was making head with the Leaguers in that district, seized upon the isle of Marans, which had been so often taken and retaken during the civil wars, and laid close siege to the town, which was compelled to surrender shortly after by the want of provisions, notwithstanding some gallant ef- forts made by the Rochellois to give it succor. The citadel, however, held out ; and in the meantime the King of Na- varre arrived at Rochelle ; but having preceded his troops by several days, he was not able to bring such a force into the field as would have enabled him to relieve the place ; and after resisting for some time longer the castle also sur- rendered.*
This important town did not remain long in the hands of the enemy, for having gathered a considerable body of men together, and restored confidence and order in the neighbor- ing districts, Henry suddenly appeared before Marans ; and notwithstanding all the preparations which had been made by the Papists for its defence, he carried the town with scarcely any resistance, and forced the castle to surrender at discretion. Although the governor, who had been left by the Catholics in Marans, was accused of having committed various brutal and barbarous acts during the civil wars,
asserts that the Roman Catholic priests rejoiced with indecent exultation at the death of Condc, and exhorted their flocks to attempt a. similar act in his own case. " The Romish preachers," he says, on the 17th March, ''• preach aloud in the neighboring towns, that there is only one more to be had ; they canonize this fine act, and admonish all good Catholics to follow the example of such a Christian enterprise." — Lettres Missives, torn. 2, p. 349.
* Henry arrived on the isle de Marans before the 21st March, and made various gallant but unsuccessful attempts to succor the citadel. Lettres Missives.
132 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
Henry would not suffer any punishment to be inflicted upon him. He kept him indeed, for some time, in Rochelle as a prisoner on parole, and only allowed him at length to be lib- erated, on his taking an oath never to join the League again. Henry then proceeded to put all the fortresses, which the Protestants held in Poitou, into a state of preparation to re- sist the fresh enterprises of the League with which he was now menaced ; and then finding that the Duke de Mercceur, governor of Brittany, was about to attack his town of Mon- taigu, he collected a small force, and set out from Rochelle in the beginning of August, for the purpose of succoring that place. Before he arrived, Mercosur had appeared in the environs of Montaigu, and a severe skirmish had taken place under the walls, between his troops and the garrison. The following day, however, the Duke hearing that Henry had left Rochelle to attack him, took fright at his very name, and determined, without waiting to inquire the strength of his enemy, to retire from the siege before it was regularly com- menced. He himself fled with such expedition, that he reached Nantes three days before the King of Navarre ar- rived at Montaigu, but he left behind him the regiment of Gersay, to cover his retreat.
Gathering troops by the way, Henry pursued with the utmost speed, and overtook the regiment of Gersay within a short distance of Nantes, charged the enemy and completely defeated them, taking four hundred and fifty prisoners, with all the baggage of Mercceur's army. He then amused him- self with shooting partridges for a,day, under the very walls of Nantes, to show his contempt of his adversary : but having learned that the Duke of Epernon, who had on various occa- sions proved himself personally friendly towards him, had been treacherously attacked by the Leaguers, in the chateau of Angouleme, (to which place he had retired after having been driven from the court,) Henry set out without loss of time to deliver him. Epernon, however, assisted only by his servants and a few friends, made a most gallant and deter-
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 133
mined defence ; and, after having supported for more than two days the constant attacks of the people, and for forty hours endured hunger thirst, and want of sleep, succor hav- ing arrived from various quarters, he succeeded in conclud- ing a convention with the citizens, by which they agreed to return to their duty towards him as governor. He even reserved to himself the right of punishing the ringleaders,* but with greater magnanimity than could have been ex- pected at his hands, he freely pardoned all after their sub- mission, and gave up the body of the Mayor, who had been mortally wounded, in attempting to assassinate him, to be buried by his friends.
The officers of the League, who had entered the town and stirred up the inhabitants against the Duke, were suffered to retire unmolested ; and Henry of Navarre, learning that Epernon was safe, halted on his march at the town of St. George's, where he was joined by La Trimouille with several regiments of horse and foot. He then attacked and took Beauvais sur Mer,f and several other places; but having learned that the Duke of Nevers, at the head of a large army of royalists, was advancing into Poitou, he abandoned the offensive, and hurried from fortress to fortress, preparing everywhere against attack. Early in November he returned to Rochelle, to meet the general assembly of deputies from the Protestant Church of France, which he had called to
* Vie du Due d'Epernon.
f Henry gives several of the details of this siege in letters to Madame de Guiche, and to M. de Vivans. It was then considered strong and of great importance. The walls were more than ten feet thick, flanked with large towers of great solidity, and defended by a ditch, sixty paces broad, filled with water from the sea. The siege lasted three weeks, during a continual storm of rain and wind ; but on the 20th October, Henry, " after having prayed," caused the garrison to be summoned at the extraordinary hour of ten at night, upon which the governor con- sented to parley, and the terms of capitulation were arranged by the next morning.
I
134 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
hold its sittings, while the States-general of the kingdom were in session at Blois.
The Duke of Nevers, in the meantime, made progress in Poitou, having under his orders one of two large armies which had been raised according to the terms of the treaty of re-union, agreed upon between the .Duke of Guise and Henry III. in July. By that treaty it was stipulated, that the command of one of the royal hosts should be confer- red upon the Duke of Mayenne, and that it should march immediately into Dauphine. The King himself was permit- ted by the League to nominate the general, who was to lead the other into Poitou ; and Henry at once fixed upon the Duke of Nevers. The choice was highly displeasing to the League, and not without reason ; for not only had Nevers separated himself from the faction, but, we find, that in his correspondence with Henry he always spoke of the house of Guise and its partisans, as the chief enemies of the monarchy, deplored the state to which they had reduced the royal au- thority, and even congratulated his sovereign upon the vic- tory of Henry of Navarre at Coutras, as upon a triumph obtained by the King of France himself. It is not to be wondered at then, that Nevers advanced into Poitou, deter- mined to treat the Protestants with the utmost lenity, or that the faction of the League took care that his forces should be deprived of all that was necessary to carry on the war with rapidity and success. The reputation of the gen- eral, indeed, induced many of the French nobles to serve as volunteers under his command ; and it had been arranged that in point of numbers, his army and that of Mayenne, were to be equal ; but we find, from a letter written by one of his officers, that many of the infantry regiments at the end of a month, were without doublets, and without shoes, and the whole force without pay, without money, and with- out any provisions, but the scanty portion which they could exact from the peasantry on their line of march.
Nevertheless the conduct of the army under the Duke,
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 185
and the regulations which he enforced, were more like those observed in regular warfare, than had been seen in any of the campaigns of religion. The officers worked together in harmony, and obedience to their leader ; strict discipline was kept up in the ranks ; the goods found in captured places were sold, and the produce divided equally, one-half being applied to the general support of the army, the other made over to the captors. A well-conducted hospital for the sick and wounded was established ; and, as far as possible, a general system was adopted for the commissariat.
The progress of Nevers however was slow. He took thirty-six fortified places and castles it is true, but most of these were perfectly insignificant. Mauleon was the first town attacked ; and as it was incapable of defence, a capitu- lation was immediately signed. A party of the Catholic force broke in while the terms were under discussion ; and before Nevers could interpose, a number of the garrison were slaughtered. Montaigu was afterwards besieged ; and fifteen days were spent in skirmishes and approaches, while the greater part of the artillery of Nevers was on the way. During that time Colombieres the governor, began to show signs of hesitation, and after a few cannon shot had been fired, surrendered the town by capitulation, much to his own disgrace, and to the regret of a large portion of the garrison. Henry of Navarre, when he heard of this act, was on the eve of commencing his march from Rochelle, to relieve the place, though, from the first, it had been part of his plan, to suffer the army of Nevers to melt away with fatigue and the inclemency of a rainy season, before he ventured with his small force to meet it in the field.*
* It is proved by one of the letters of Henry to the Countess de Guiche (or Grammont) that his intention was to march to the relief of Montaigu. He says, " I am calling in all my troops, and hope if the said place (Montaigu) can but hold out fifteen days, to strike a good stroke there." He was however at this time sadly straitened for money, and was obliged to borrow from many of his private friends, the sums necessary to sup-
136 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
The surrender of Montaigu was immediately followed by the siege of Garnache, a small town badly fortified, at the dis- tance of seven leagues from the former place. The deter- mination of the governor, one of the family of Du Plessis, compensated for the weakness of the defences, and rendered this the only regular siege which Nevers undertook, during the course of his campaign in Poitou. No sooner did his movements prove to the garrison, that the next attack was to be directed against themselves, than Du Plessis sent to inform the King of Navarre of the state of the fortress, and of the little chance there existed of his being able to main- tain it long, against so large a force as that which the Duke could still bring around it. He expressed his willingness to defend it to the last, however, if the monarch would send him aid ; and Henry lost not a moment in dispatching Vignoles, St. George, Aubigne, and Robiniere, with rein- forcements, arms, and ammunition, as well as Monsieur de Ruffigni and his company of arquebusiers. All parties labored hard to strengthen the fortifications ; and provisions were obtained, through not in abundance, from the neigh- boring villages. The sharp frosts, which came on during the course of the siege, deprived the garrison of the defence afforded by a deep ditch and a neighboring morass, and en- abled Nevers to bring his cannon from Montaigu without difficulty. On the 16th of December the enemy appeared before the town ; and, after a gallant struggle, the suburb of St. Leonard was carried, the Protestants meeting with a
port his army. One letter upon this subject, written on the 25th October, 1588, to M. de Launey d'Entraigues, who had been wounded by his side at Coutras, is so characteristic that I cannot refrain from extracting a part. " Without doubt you have not failed," the King says, " to sell your woods of Mezilac and Cuze, as you told Mornay, and they must have produced some thousand pistoles. Should it be so, do not omit to bring me all that you can, for in my life I never was in such need. I know not when, nor how, if ever, I can repay you : but I promise you plenty of honor and glory ; and money is not diet for gentlemen such as you and me."
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 137
severe loss in the death of the Baron de Ruffigni. On the last day of December, the artillery opened upon the place ; and the besieged attempted to throw up intrenchments within the walls ; but the earth was frozen so hard, that an hour's labor scarcely sufficed to move a cubic fool of earth. After having commenced the cannonade, ISTevers, as an indi- cation of his resolution not to quit the siege without success, sent a herald to summon the garrison, announcing himself as the King's Lieutenant. But Du Plessis replied, that they recognized no Lieutenant for the King, whose faithful subjects they were, but the King of Navarre ; and that with- out his express orders they would not surrender the town to any one. Two more attempts were made to parley with the governor; but he refused to receive the herald; and the siege began in form.
The same day, however, a Walloon soldier ran from the camp towards the walls, crying, " Navarre, Navarre ! The Duke of Guise is dead ! Niort is taken !" He was instantly admitted into the town, and assured the garrison that his report was true ; but they could not help doubting the reality of such tidings, from the firm aspect of Nevers, who carried on the siege without giving the Protestants a moment's re- pose. At length, having sustained and repulsed with great gallantry an assault upon two practicable breaches, Du Plessis was induced to meet the Baron de Palvau,* who had sent to inform him that he had important intelligence to communicate. In consequence of the information he then received, the governor agreed to the terms offered, which were that, if not succored by the King of Navarre or one of his lieutenants, the garrison should march out at the end of eight days, with their arms and baggage, and should be escorted in safety, whithersoever they thought fit to go.
Ere I proceed to notice the events which had taken place in other parts of France, and which were communicated to Du Plessis by Palvau, it may be necessary to relate the pro- * Or Paluau.
138 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
ceedings of the King of Navarre, who had not been forgetful of his faithful friends at Garnache, and had resolved even to risk an unequal battle to give them relief, if the same object could not be effected by other means. Before having re- course however to so hazardous an expedient, he attempted to divert the enemy, from the attack of that place, by an enterprise upon a city of much greater importance. He had long had his eye upon the rich town of Niort, which had formerly been held for years, as one of the strongholds of the Protestants, but had since gone completely over to the faction of the League, and had shown itself foremost in the persecution of the Huguenots. His plan it would seem was, to send a party to surprise the town by night, and then to march to besiege the citadel himself ; but the bold con- fidence of the inhabitants was so great, and the skill with which the surprise was managed so remarkable, that the assailants were on the walls, the gates blown open with petards, and the commanders marching through the streets, before any one but a sentinel was aware of their presence. The citadel also was quite unprepared for defence, and sur- rendered at the first summons, the only condition exacted being, that Malicorne the governor should be permitted to give it up to the King of Navarre in person.
That Prince hurried thither without loss of time from St. Jean d'Angeli, where he had awaited the event. No act of cruelty whatsoever took place ; Henry suffered his old and inveterate enemy Malicorne, to bear off all his property from the chateau ; and even the dead body of the lieutenant, one of the most violent Leaguers of the country, which had been carried to a gibbet to be hung as a mark of disgrace, for many barbarous deeds which he had committed, was saved from what was then considered as a stain upon a whole family, and delivered to his relations. The League, however, did not fail to publish an account of the monstrous cruel- ties perpetrated by the heretics at Niort ; and though it is
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proved that not one word of the accusation was true, there were persons found to give it credit.
Knowing well that this sudden and unexpected success would not induce Severs to abandon the siege of Garnache, Henry hastened from Niorfc, in order to give battle to that general, or to force his way into the town ;* but the rapidity with which he marched, and the fatigue which he endured in a most rigorous season, affected even his frame of iron ; and as he approached the small town of St. Pere, a sudden and violent coldness seized him. Not willing to yield to the first sensation of illness, he dismounted and proceeded on foot, hoping to warm himself by that means ; but shiverings followed, succeeded by so severe an attack of fever, that he was compelled to suffer himself to be carried to the neigh- boring chateau of La Mothe Frelon, where the symptoms of pleurisy soon displayed themselves ; and for some days his life was despaired of. He did not however neglect the be- sieged garrison of Garnache, but writing to Du Plessis in- formed him of his state, and at the same he sent La Trimou- ille, at the head of his army, to attempt the relief of the place.
That nobleman found Never s so strongly intrenched, that he dared not risk an engagement with a superior army ; and Du Plessis, who, having learned that the news of the Duke of Guise's death was true, and that Henry III. entertained thoughts of calling the King of Navarre to his aid, had signed terms of capitulation, as we have seen, surrendered the place according to his word, and marched out with arms
* Henry had long been collecting all the troops he could gather to- gether, for the purpose of fighting Nevers, and his letters at this time breathe nothing but anticipations of success. On the 17th December, 1588, he says, " If Monsieur de Nevers amuses himself with attacking anything, I am resolved to give him battle;" and in a letter to Du Far- get, " The enemies are near us ; Monsieur de Nevers is resolved to be beaten." In another to Madame de Guiche, he writes, " I am going to St. Jean to collect my troops, to visit M. de Ncvers, and perhaps to do him a signal displeasure, not in his person, but in his command.
140 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
and baggage. The Duke of Nevers admiring the courage and devotion of the Protestant troops, treated them not only with courtesy, but with kindness. He met them at the gates in person, with a small train, lent them waggons to convey their goods and their wounded, caused the arquebus- iers to re-light their matches, as a mark of honor to brave men ; and, to those who were too severely injured to quit the town at the time, he paid every generous attention, and assured them tendance and protection.*
In the meanwhile, the news of Henry's dangerous illness reached Rochelle at night, on the 13th of January, 1589 ; and now were displayed in a remarkable manner, the love and confidence he had inspired amongst all classes of a tur- bulent, though warm-hearted population. The tidings spread like lightning through the town ; and, though the hour was so unusual, the bells of all the churches were rang, to call the inhabitants to pray for their defender. Men, women, children, masters and servants, poured forth in multitudes ; the churches were filled, so that many could not gain admis- sion, and, in the words of one who was present, returned home very sad, to add their private petitions to those which were offered up in public, with tears and mourning. Ex- traordinary prayers were continued each day ; and the whole place presented the aspect of grief and terror ; till, at length, news of the diminution of Henry's disease brought relief, and rejoicings succeeded to sorrow. A rumor of his death was soon spread in many places, and reached the court of the King, where it caused much consternation ; but shortly after came intelligence of his recovery ; and the party of the League saw their malevolent expectations disappointed.
It is necessary now to turn once more to the court of Henry III., and to give a brief account of the important
* The details of the war in Poitou, during the campaign of the Duke of Nevers, are to be found in his letters, in the Discours de la Guerre, and Aubigne, with some particulars in Sully, though not so ample as might be wished.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 141
events which followed the publication of the Edict of Re- union, and the apparent reconciliation of the King and the Duke of Guise. All the promises which Henry had made on that occasion were fulfilled without difficulty or delay. Guise received the appointment of Generalissimo, in connec- tion with that of Grand-Master, which he already held ; two large armies, as we have shown, were raised, and the com- mand bestowed upon Mayenne and Nevers ; the Cardinal de Bourbon was declared by letters patent, first Prince of the blood, and heir-presumptive of the crown ; and the States- General were called to meet at Blois, in the month of October. The favors and emoluments of the court seemed entirely at the disposal of the Duke and his friends ; his word was law with the King ; and nothing showed the rank- ling memory of former injuries, or the apprehension of future aggressions, but a few accidental words regarding the barri- cades, and the pertinacity with which Henry refused to visit the capital.
The King and the Duke, however, looked forward to the States of Blois with expectation of great events ; and the measures that both took, as the day of meeting approached, show that each meditated some design against the other. The Duke of Guise sent letters into every province, in- structing his partisans to make use of all the intrigues which they knew so well how to employ, for the purpose of in- suring the selection of deputies, who would be the mere creatures of his will. In many of these letters, indeed, he speaks of the King as perfectly won over to his fac- tion, and almost entirely at his mercy ; and his confidence seems to have been so great, as to have excited the anger of many of his own friends. The tragedy of St. Bartholo- mew's day was not so remote as to be removed from the minds of many of the party of the League ; and the share that Henry himself had taken therein was fresh in the minds of some, who had been fellow- actors with him in that horri- ble transaction. His behavior, also, was too like that of
142 THE LIFE OF HENKY IV.
Charles IX. during the few months which preceded the mas- sacre, not to strike every one. Those he formerly loved were treated with neglect, or disgraced ; favors of every kind, offices, and honors, were showered upon those who had taken part against him, who had set his commands at nought, and treated his person with contempt. He held long and secret conferences with the various leaders of the League ; and he honored the Duke of Guise, in public and in private, as if he looked upon the acts which he had done, as the greatest services which could be rendered to the crown. But Guise probably felt greater confidence in his own position, from a knowledge of the designs which were concealed from his friends. He was well aware that trea- sonable ambition must be constantly progressive, ever to be safe ; that security is only to be found for those who arm themselves against authority, when they have made that authority their own ; and that in the struggle for power, impunity is obtained only when the supreme power is reached. He might say to himself, Coligni stopped and hesitated ; I go on : and in the consciousness that he was aiming at more, he might think the elevation which he had attained deprived of its perils.
One of those who gave him the most direct and plain warning of his danger, was the famous Leaguer, Hubert de Vins, whom we have seen struggling with the Huguenots in Dauphine, and who, on receiving letters from the Duke, full of the confidence which he felt, exclaimed, in his coarse style, " Curses on the Lorraine, has he so little judgment as to believe, that a king with whom he has dissembled so long, in order to take from him his crown, will not dissemble with him in order to take from him his life ?" The sister of the same officer, when she found that Guise was about to accom- pany the King to Blois, observed, " Since they are so near each other, you will soon hear that one or the other has killed his companion." These convictions were fully ex- pressed to the Duke by de Vins ; but Guise replied, " that
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 143
though he put no confidence in anything the King said, knowing well he was false and revengeful ; yet he trusted for safety, not to his virtue, but to his good sense ; because he believed that Henry had wit enough to perceive if he attempted anything against him, it would cost him his throne and his life."*
The court set out for Blois in the beginning of September, and the designs of the two parties now began to develop themselves. Guise, on the one hand, had deep cunning, great decision of character, an immense body of partisans amongst the deputies, and the devoted love of a great por- tion of the people, for his support in the enterprises which he meditated. Henry, on the other, had nothing to rely upon but profound dissimulation, the remnants of the royal authority, and a small troop of brave, zealous, and deter- mined friends.
The object of the King seems to have been, so to entan- gle the factious leaders of the League, by various acts and professions, as, either to bar their further efforts against the crown, and force them to take measures which would tend to the dissolution of the bonds that held the faction together, or to afford him a just and full motive for executing a design which he had evidently long entertained in secret, of inflict- ing upon them a signal punishment.
On the other hand, there is every reason to believe, that the course which Guise intended to pursue, was, by daily courting favor with the people and the states ; by putting himself forward as the zealous and bigoted defender of the
* Pasquier, who gathered with great care and discrimination, the rumors of the day, informs his son, (in the 8th letter of the 13th book,) that the Cardinal de Bourbon, in speaking to Catherine de Medicis, after the death of the Duke of Guise, had made it a matter of reproach to that Princess that she had plighted her word for the safety of the Duke and himself, notwithsianding which, Guise had been assassinated, and he imprisoned. The Cardinal added, that without her word, neither would have visited Blois, which would seem to prove, that the Duke had not reposed only on the good sense of the King.
144 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
Roman Catholic religion, as the most furious enemy of the Huguenots, and as the advocate for the suppression of all onerous taxes and obnoxious offices ; by representing the King as incapable ; and by showing him unworthy of confi- dence, to cause himself to be declared, not by the Monarch, but by the States, Lieutenant- General of the kingdom ; by which the authority of Henry would be reduced to nothing, his own power secured upon a permanent basis, and a way opened for him, first to the station of Mayor of the Palace, and then to the throne itself, by the exclusion of all the Bourbon Princes from the succession, except the old Cardi- nal, whose age and infirmities promised soon to remove him. At all events such were the designs generally attributed to him at the time ; and his own friends and family gave the strong- est countenance to the report, by the constant calumnies which they poured forth upon the head of the King, by the means they took to familiarize the public mind with the idea of confining him in a monastery, and by their frequent allu- sions to the example of Childeric, and to the great benefits which had ensued to France from the bold assumption of the crown by the race of Charles Martel.
From the first opening of the States, the two parties ap- peared in half-concealed collision, and ostentatious, but in- sincere co-operation. The speech of the King was full of eloquence and vigor, and was delivered with the utmost grace and dignity ; but in it, he did not fail to refer to the rebellion and ambition of the leaders of the League, declar- ing that he would long before have extirpated heresies from his dominions, if he had not been impeded by the intrigues of many of his nobles. He immediately ordered this oration to be printed ; but the faction of Lorraine had the impu- dence to stop the press, while they went to remonstrate with the monarch, upon the expressions he had used ; and Henry consented that some passages should be suppressed.* It was also remarked, that before the opening of the States, he * Pasquier, liv. xiii, let. 1.
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had dismissed several of his principal ministers, and no longer suffered the Queen-mother, though she accompanied him to Blois, to exercise that influence over him which she had hitherto possessed. Amongst the officers disgraced were the Chancellor, Yilleroi, Bellievre, Brullard, and Pinart, all of whom had the reputation either of favoring the League, or revealing all that passed in the King's cabinet to Cathe- rine de Medicis. In place of the Chancellor he sent to Paris for Francis Montholon, a celebrated jurisconsult, but so re- tiring and moderate a man, that when introduced into the King's cabinet to receive the seals, he was obliged to ask which was the monarch, never having seen him.* The other officers were filled up by gentlemen of no great name, but against whom no objection could be offered ; and Henry, re- solved to avoid past errors, kept his secrets to his own breast, and concealed his bitter determination to the last. After a solemn procession which took place soon upon his arrival at Blois, he received the sacrament with the Duke of Guise, whether with a view to deceive, or to bind that nobleman, it is impossible to say. But, step by step, the pretensions of Guise became more clear, and his intrigues to influence the depu- ties less decently concealed. He still more openly advocated the diminution of the taxes, the reception of the Council of Trent, and the exclusion of the King of Navarre, with every ather person suspected of heresy, from the succession to the crown ; by which proceeding he at once conciliated the peo- ple, bound to his cause the bigoted Papists, and opened the way for himself to power. He found some difficulty, how- ever, in accomplishing the latter object; for none of the orders assembled in the States would carry the exclusion farther than the King of Navarre himself ; and a protest, drawn up by that Prince, gave Henry III. an opportunity of delaying for some time the publication of the edict against his brother-in-law, while he made efforts to obtain from Rome, the absolution of the Count de Soissons and the Prince de
f Pasquier. VOL. II, V
146 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
Conti, by which the designs of Guise were in a great degree frustrated.
In the meanwhile the Duke of Savoy seized upon the ter- ritories of the crown of France beyond the Alps ; and Henry dexterously availed himself of this aggression on the part of one of the Princes of the League, to cast odium upon the Duke of Guise, and to turn the indignation of the States against the foreign enemies of France. But Guise, with as much skill, cast back the imputation of exciting the Duke of Savoy to the daring course he had pursued, upon his enemies, and proposed to the States, that his brother, the Duke of Mayenne, should immediately march from Dauphine against that Prince.
It were needless to follow all the intrigues which agitated the court, during the long sittings of the States. Suffice it to say, that almost everything which was proposed in the assembly, was in the first instance discussed in the apartments of the Duke of Guise, while tumults took place and blood was shed between the attendants and pages, who were divi- ded, like their masters, into the two classes of Royalists and Guisards. Daily, however, Guise gained a greater and greater ascendency in the States, and it was even suggested that their acts should be published without the examination and sanction of the King. This daring attempt upon the royal authority was frustrated ; but the very idea was natu- rally looked upon by the monarch as an insult, and he had no difficulty in tracing the proposal to its right source. With whatever designs the King had opened the assembly of Blois, the object of the Duke of Guise now became so clear, that he could no longer doubt the struggle between them was for existence. He saw also, that if any effort was to be made for the purpose of saving himself, it must be speedy, in order to prevent the Duke from so completely guarding against surprise, as to leave no opportunity of arresting or putting him to death. Guise boldly demanded a body of guards as Lieutenant General, and urged as a reason that
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the same privilege had been formerly accorded to the King's brother while he held that office. He had filled the town and the neighboring villages with his armed adherents,* and the danger to the King's person became imminent. It was also necessary to act as quickly as decidedly, in order not to be outrun by the operations of the faction, which were evidently tending to some bold stroke. Intimations that a plot against him was about to be carried into execution, poured in upon Henry daily ; and if he had entertained any doubt that such was really the case, during the first sittings of the States, that doubt was removed by the warnings he received from near relations of Guise himself. The Duke of Mayenne sent the monarch notice by a gentleman from Ly- ons,! that he must look to his own safety, for that Guise meditated designs against him ; and the Duchess of Aumale was dispatched by her husband from Paris, to inform the King that he was in extreme peril. The Duke of Epernon gained intelligence of the intrigues that were taking place, and of their object, and gave full information thereof to the King.
The acts of the house of Guise, were not only treasonable, but in direct violation of the oaths they had taken at the opening of the States, and it was reasonable, to conclude that no bonds would bind that family from new aggressions, and just, to punish them for offences clearly committed. J Two courses were open before the monarch : to arrest and try for
* Nevers de la prise d'armes.
f This gentleman is said to have been Alphonso Ornano. The King in his declaration against Mayenne, Feb. 1588, asserts these facts. Nevers repeats them in his manifesto addressed to the Pope ; and they were never contradicted by the parties.
£ The King and the Duke, early in December, had sworn on the sa- crament perfect friendship and oblivion of the past ; but Nevers cites papers, found amongst those of the Duke of Guise after his death, which proved, that notwithstanding his oath to abandon all leagues within or without the realm, he had entered into engagements with the King of Spain, with the Prince bf Parma, with the Duke of Savoy, and with the Governor of Cambray, and had received large sums from foreign powers,
148 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
high treason the principal conspirators, or to put them to death without trial, for which he had but too many pre- cedents. The question of what line of conduct should be pursued, we are assured by those who had many opportuni- ties of learning the truth, was agitated in a secret council held by the King. D'Aumont and others proposed to seize the Duke and his accomplices, and try them according to the common forms of law ; but it was shown, that in that case, no tribunal in the land would be found bold enough to con- demn them ; that Guise must be taken to Paris, and brought before the court of Peers ; and that no prison in the capital would hold him for an hour; that every part of France would rise to deliver him ; and that the attempt would but set him on the throne, towards which he was advancing with gigantic strides. It was then resolved to slay him on the simple authority of the King ; but to carry out this plan was difficult, for he was usually surrounded by so many armed adherents, that any open attack must end in a battle rather than an execution. Neither was it easy to find a man of such resolution, skill, valor, and devotion to the royal cause, as to render him fit for the task of effecting secretly the great, but perilous object which Henry had in view.
The first whom the monarch fixed upon was Crillon, the bravest of the brave ; but on the design being communicated to him by Henry in person, he replied that he was a soldier and a gentleman devoted to his King, and that if his Majesty commanded it, he would immediately challenge the Duke to single combat, and do his best to kill him ; but that he was not an executioner, and that post did not become his rank or his character. The King then warned him to keep the secret ; to which Crillon answered that he was a faithful subject and servant, and never revealed the counsels of his Sovereign.
The next person applied to was Monpezat de Laugnac,*
* I find this name written in various manners by the authors of the day, as Longnac, Loignac. and Lognac.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 149
commander of the famous guard of Forty-five, attached to the King and the Duke of Epernon, bold, unscrupulous and skilful. No difficulties were made by him ; and he at once undertook to perform the task, as soon as an opportunity should be afforded him. At first it was proposed to put the Duke to death at a grand entertainment given by the Arch- bishop of Lyons ; but many considerations prevented this plan from being followed, and the execution of the scheme was delayed for several days, during which Henry himself arranged the whole details, and carried on with wonderful dissimulation the delusion which he practised upon the Duke. Not long before, on the occasion of some sharp disputes which had taken place between them, several of the nobles had interfered, and a reconciliation had to all appearance been effected, in confirmation of which the monarch and his powerful subject had received the sacrament together, and vowed oblivion of the past and perfect union for the future.* But there can be little doubt, that at the very time when the King received the emblems of divine mercy, and took the pledge of forgiveness and peace, he meditated the destruc- tion of his enemy ; while his fellow communicant revolved the means of dethroning his King. Such frauds, however, were perfectly consistent with the religious notions which they both entertained. Henry followed up this act by several concessions to the Duke, and crowned it with another piece of hypocrisy. He pretended to be anxious to prepare him- self for the solemn rejoicings of Christmas, by visiting the chapel of Notre Dame de Clery, between Blois and Orleans, and appointed the morning of the 23d December, for holding a council, to conclude all business of a pressing kind before the festival. The Duke of Guise and the Cardinal his brother were summoned with other counsellors ; and every prepara- tion was made for carrying into execution the bloody deed that was about to be performed.
In the meantime, the secret had not been so well kept as * L'Etoile,
150 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
to prevent suspicions and rumors, proceeding no one knew whence, from floating about the court in regard to the ap- proaching catastrophe. Note after note, warning him to beware, was placed in the hands of the Duke ; and under his napkin at dinner he found a scrap of paper, bearing the words, " Take care what you do. They are about to destroy you !" The Duke immediately wrote below the caution, " They dare not ;" and threw the paper under the table.
Schomberg, one of his most sincere friends, likewise spoke to him on the subject of his dangerous position ; but Guise treated his opinion with careless indifference, saying, that he had been born and brought up in the midst of the clang of arms, so that he regarded death without apprehension, adding, " I do not know that man on earth, who, hand to hand with me, would not have his full share of fear. Be- sides, I am always so well attended, that it would not be easy to find me off my guard."
Nevertheless, reports of a design upon his life reached his partisans also, and a conference between the leaders of the faction was held in the Duke's apartment, to consider what was best to be done. The persons present are said to have been the Duke, the Cardinal de Guise, the Archbishop of Lyons, the President de Neuilly, the Prevot des Marchands, Chapelle Marteau, and Monsieur de Mandreville. The opinions expressed by the various speakers are reported differently by contemporary writers ; but it is clear that some advised Guise to fly, while others declared that it would be both dangerous and disgraceful so to do, and that the Duke himself cut the conference short, by saying, " Affairs are now in such a state, that if I saw death coming in at that window, I would not seek to avoid it by going out at the door."
One more effort is said to have been made, the Marchioness of Noirmoutier, famous for her intrigues as Madame de Sau- ves, having come to Blois on the 22nd December, to pass the night with the Duke, for the express purpose of persuading
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him not to trust himself in the King's power. Guise, how- ever, would listen to no remonstrance ; and the fatal morning of the 23rd dawned, without any of the repeated warnings he had received having produced the slightest effect.
Everything was prepared before daylight for the execution of the King's will. In order to blind the victim in regard to the number of soldiers who were congregated round the door of the council chamber, Henry III. had directed Lar- chant, the captain of the guard, whom he had admitted to his confidence, to make some excuse to the Duke ; and that officer, on the 22nd, had given Guise notice that he would, on the following day, present him a petition at the head of his corps, praying the payment of their arrears. Thus the military array in the halls of the castle did not strike the Duke as extraordinary. The keys of the castle, which were usually brought to him every night, in his quality of Grand- Master, had not been delivered, and though we hear of no apology having been offered for the omission, Guise himself does not seem to have remarked that it took place. When he had entered the council-hall, however, it is generally stated that a sensation of faintness seized him, and that, complaining of cold, he asked for some sweetmeats, when St. Prie, one of the King's valets-de-chambre, brought him a box of dried plums. News of his danger meanwhile reached the ear of his secretary, Pericart, who immediately sought a handkerchief, and folding up a note in it, sent it by a page to the Duke, as if he had forgotten to take one with him ; but the boy arrived too late, the guards were drawn tip across the top of the staircase leading to the council- chamber, and no one was permitted to enter.
A few minutes after, Revol, the Secretary of State, ap- peared, and requested the Duke to accompany him, to speak with the King in his cabinet. Guise without hesitation rose and followed. There falls the curtain upon all certain history, and every different writer has given a different account of the events that succeeded. As the King openly avowed and
152 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
justified the deed, we must reject the statement of the Me- moirs of the League, which represent the death of the Duke as more the result of an accidental rencontre with Laugnac, than of a preconcerted plan. Davila, however, probably heard the particulars from his father, who, we have every reason to believe, was with the Queen-mother, even if he did not witness some of the events ; and I shall therefore follow his narrative, which does not differ in any important particu- lar from that of Miron, the King's physician.
At an early hour ,of the morning, and while it was yet dark, the monarch called the persons he had selected for the execution of his scheme around him, and arranged them himself. He retained in his own cabinet three of the most determined, Revol, Alphonso Ornano, and de la Bastide. Monsieur de Termes was in a small room opposite, and Laugnac, with eight of the Forty-five, in the ante-room; which, from other accounts, we find had a short passage be- tween it and the council-chamber. On entering the ante- room Guise found Laugnac and the eight guards ; but the former continuing to keep his seat, and the soldiers not mo- ving to raise the tapestry* which covered the door of the cabinet, Guise put out his hand to draw it back himself. At the same moment he received a blow from a poniard in the throat,f anc^ the guards springing upon him, inflicted several severe wounds. The unhappy Prince endeavored to draw his sword, and threw himself furiously upon Laugnac; but that officer, who had remained seated on a coffer in the win- dow, pushed him backward as he came staggering towards him, and Guise fell dead before the door of the wardrobe.
Some authors assert that he never spoke a word during the whole of this terrible scene ; but others, that he cried aloud, " Ah, traitor !" when he received the first blow ;
* Miron calls it a " portiere de velours."
f Miron declares that the first blow was struck by M. de Montsery; De Thou and others by St. Malines.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 153
and others, that he exclaimed, " Oh my God, I am killed ; have pity upon me ; my sins have caused this !"*
The noise and confusion in the antechamber of the King's apartments, reached the council-hall, and the Cardinal de Guise with the Archbishop of Lyons, rose and ran towards the door, as if to aid the Duke; but Marshals d'Aumont and de Retz interposed, and drawing their swords, made them resume their seats, crying, "Let no man stir, on pain of death !" A few minutes after, some of the King's officers entered and arrested the Cardinal and the Archbishop, who were conducted by a back staircase to a small chamber, and there detained for several hours without knowing their fate.f All the leaders of the faction who had apartments in the castle were likewise apprehended ; among whom were the Cardinal de Bourbon, the Duke of Nemours, the Duchess his mother, widow of Francis Duke of Guise, the Duke d'Elbeuf, and the Prince de Joinville, the son of him who had just fallen by his own ambition. In the apartments of the Duke of Guise were arrested M. de Hautefort, Pericart the Duke's secretary, with Bernadin his valet de chambre ; and the whole of his papers were seized, displaying a mass of treasonable correspondence and treaties with foreign pow- ers, against his sovereign and the state, which would have well justified the application of the extreme penalty of the law, had it been inflicted after trial, and which afforded suf- ficient excuse in the eyes of many wise and good men, even for the act which had been committed. The Cardinal de Guise, equally guilty with his brother, and but little less dangerous, was put to death in prison on the following day by a party of the guard, dying with the utmost firmness, and only requiring time to repeat a short prayer, at the end
* Journal de Henri III.
f In the original MS. of De Thou's History, it is stated that De Retz was not acquainted with the King's design, and only drew his sword " from a ridiculous vanity."
154 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
of which he covered his head with his mantle, and bade the guards execute their commission.*
After the assassination of the Duke, Henry, who had waited in a neighboring chamber, came forth, and is said to have spurned the corpse with his foot, as Guise himself had spurned the body of the great Coligni, exclaiming in the very words which the dead man had used on that occasion, " Ven- omous beast, thou shalt cast forth no more venom ;" and then gazing at him attentively, he added, " Good God, how tall he is ! He seems taller dead than when he was living." The bodies of the two brothers were subsequently ordered to be consumed in quicklime, and their bones buried secretly, "in order to prevent the Leaguers making relics of them."
Measures were instantly taken to arrest several other mem- bers of the faction in the town of Blois, and to communicate the intelligence of the death of Guise to the friends of the King, in various parts of France, before it reached the mon- arch's enemies ; for which purpose the gates of the city were kept closed till mid-day. Nevertheless the Leaguers found means to give intimation of the fact to their confederates without ; and a scene of indescribable confusion took place in their flight from the neighborhood of Blois.
The King himself carried the news of what he had done to Catherine de Medicis, who was lying ill in the chamber immediately beneath that in which the deed was committed. On first entering, he asked how she felt. The Queen replied that she was better than she had been ; to which Henry re- joined, " So am I, for this morning I have rendered myself King of France, having put to death the King of Paris."
"Take care," exclaimed his mother, "that you are not soon King of Nothing ! Two things are now absolutely necessary for you, diligence and resolution."
* De Thou states that the Cardinal, in his conversation with liis fel- low prisoner, the Archbishop of Lyons, let fall several menaces against -the King, which proved the cause of his death. That great writer had his account of this part of the tragedy of Blois from the Archbishop himself.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 155
From the secrecy which had been observed towards her, however, she judged that her influence over Henry was at an end ; and, though she rallied for a single day, gradually sank, till on the 5th of January, 1589, she expired in her seventieth year, after a long, troublous, criminal, and disas- trous life.
Henry III. now cast off his inactivity ; but his want of firmness and resolution still remained. Instead of retaining in prison, and bringing to trial the traitors whom he had caused to be apprehended, he set several of them free after a short imprisonment, and left them to join the ranks of the rebels, who were immediately in arms against him. This weakness was his ruin; for had he proceeded to try and punish the most culpable, as they deserved, the example must have struck far more terror into the hearts of the fac- tion than the death of the two brothers of Guise, which the League looked upon and represented merely as a private as- sassination, rather than an act of justice.
In other respects Henry displayed more vigor. The Duke of Nevers was commanded to bring his army to the support of the King,* with all possible dispatch ; and Epernon was directed to raise all the forces that he could, and be ready to join his Sovereign when called for.f But Henry's first and most important act was to send Alphonso Ornano to Lyons, with orders to arrest the Duke of Mayenne, and su- persede him in his command. Ornano, however, was impru- dently detained for some time, while a manifesto was pre- pared by Henry himself, which states at large the causes that induced him to put the Duke and Cardinal of Guise to death. The first draft not having been satisfactory, it would seem, a second and more detailed statement was drawn up, in which the monarch asserts, not only that he had received intelligence from persons connected with the house of Guise, that the two brothers were conspiring against his authority, but that he had obtained positive proof of their having med- * Mem. de Nevers. f Vie du Due d'Epernwi.
156 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
itated his death, and that he only anticipated them by three days : the very meeting-places of their friends having been appointed at the three gates of the city, for the execution of their design.* Ornano did not set out till the 24th, and in consequence of this fatal delay, news of the death of his two brothers reached Mayenne a few hours before the officer sent to arrest him arrived in Lyons. Mounting on horseback as speedily as possible, the Duke rode out by one gate of the city, while Ornano entered by the other, and hurrying with- out loss of time into Burgundy, and thence, after securing that province to Paris, he put himself at once at the head of the League, f
The press now groaned under manifestoes from both par- ties. On the one hand, the act of the King was declared a base and tyrannical murder, and it was insinuated that Henry had merely put the Princes of Lorraine to death in order to favor the Huguenots ; while on the other, the monarch, both in declarations to his people and in letters to neighboring Princes,;]; set forth the treason of the house of Guise, and the real causes of his conduct towards the Duke and the Cardinal. He tried to mollify the Pope also in regard to the violence he had committed upon the person of one of the Princes of the church, and he sent the Legate Morosini to endeavor to persuade Mayenne to lay down his arms. At the same time his proclamations breathed nothing but pun- ishment to those who should persist in rebellious leagues and conspiracies, and peace and immunity to all who would desist from such practices and return to obedience.
All these measures, however, were vain ; the Pope was
* Journal de Henry III. preuves.
f The news of the death of the Duke of Guise had reached Henry IV. before the 1st January, 1589, and with it intelligence of the King's having sent to arrest Mayenne at Lyons. He was, however, ignorant of the death of the Cardinal, which clearly fixes the departure of Ornano on the morning of the 24th.
t See instructions given by Henry, to M. de Maisse allant trouver le Due de Ferrare. Tours, 23 Mars, 1589.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 15*7
highly exasperated at the death of the Cardinal, and an- nounced his condemnation of the act in more and more vehe- ment terms each day, as fresh solicitations came upon him from the League. Morosini had no success with the Duke of Mayenne, and ultimately quitted France to avoid the pain- ful task of mediating between two parties whose deeds he equally disapproved. The Sorbonne published a decree,* by which the Doctors pronounced all the King's subjects freed from their allegiance and justified their taking arms against him ; and the clergy declared from the pulpit that he was no longer King, and threatened to refuse communion, abso- lution, and burial in holy ground, to every one who yielded obedience to " the perfidious apostate and tyrant Henry of Valois."t
Neither were efforts in arms wanting. Paris set the ex- ample of rebellion ; Lyons, Toulouse, Rouen, and many other towns followed ; and in the space of a few weeks, one half of the principal cities of France had declared for the League.
The first that openly resisted the royal troops was Orleans, which, from its various advantages, had been called the cita- del of France. The news of the death of the Duke of Guise was carried to that city in the evening of the 23rd December, by Bassompierre and Breton, adherents of his faction, who fled thithe'r from Blois, and the citizens with one consent rose to secure the town against the King. Long and trouble- some negotiations had been going on for some weeks in re- gard to the possession of Orleans, as it had been placed in the list of those cities which were to be given up to the League by the treaty of Rouen. Henry declared that the name was inserted by a mistake of the secretary, and that it was well known to both parties, that Dourlans had been intended. Guise never retreated from any point he had gained ; but at the time of his death, the troops of Entragues, the governor for the King, held the citadel, and by it the
* 7th January, 1589. f Traite de la prise d'armes par M. le Due de Nevers.
158 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
town, against the claims of the League. The inhabitants now threw up intrenchments against the castle, which was unprepared to offer a vigorous resistance ; the place was closely invested, and Entragues, having been sent from Blois by the King, was prevented from entering. A party of Pa- risians, however, coming to the assistance of the Orleannois, were totally defeated, and Marshal d'Aumont was subse- quently dispatched with all the troops Henry could spare, to attack the city. But the Chevalier d'Aumale, one of the most furious and corrupt of the Leaguers, had previously forced his way in ; and Mayenne himself, marching to sup- port the citizens, d'Aumont was compelled to retreat in haste, after which the citadel surrendered, and was razed to the ground. Chartres also rebelled, notwithstanding the popu- larity of the King in that town ; but it will be remarked, that the lightest persuasions, or the slightest offences were sufficient at any moment to induce cities and nobles to throw off their loyalty with a levity equally disgusting and in- structive.*
The great evil of suffering for a length of time, any sedi- tious or treasonable resistance of legitimate rule, is not so much that we thereby encourage men to persist in a particu- lar course of aggression which may require strife and blood- shed to cut it short, as that we engender a general contempt in the people towards lawful authority, and teach them to suppose that obedience to the government depends upon the will and pleasure of individuals and parties, rather than upon duty and respect for the law. The tolerance of that which is clearly illegal and wrong, has never produced any but one result.
Le Mans followed the example of Chartres ; and, finding the insurrection spreading from town to town around him,
* In speaking of Orleans and Chartres, I have followed the account of the Chancellor Cheverny, who, as the governor of the district, was more likely to be acquainted with the real course of events than any other author. Mem. de Cheverny, torn. i. p. 175.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 159
with extraordinary rapidity, Henry, whose force in Blois was very small, retreated first to Amboise and then to Tours, where he was joined by the army of the Duke of Nevers. That army, however, had been greatly weakened by deser- tion ; for though the personal character of the general, and the respect with which he was regarded by his officers, were sufficient to retain all the nobles of the League who accom- panied him, till Garmache had surrendered, the moment the siege of that place was concluded, he found himself aban- doned by a number of leaders, who did all in their power to seduce the soldiery from the service of the King.*
In the meanwhile, before the arrival of Mayenne in Paris, that city had displayed all the horrors of anarchy. The houses of the royalists, and the Louvre itself, were pillaged, persons suspected of disaffection to the League were pointed out by the preachers from the pulpit. The first president was insulted in the church by one of the priests ; and after- wards, on showing a disposition to resist the lawless pro- ceedings of the faction, he was conveyed to the Bastille, with all the most honest and upright members of the parlia- ment ; while Barnabe Brisson, a less resolute and conscien- tious man, was elected in his stead. The Duke of Aumale took upon himself the government of Paris at the request of the Sixteen, and appointed a council of forty to superin- tend the affairs of the League, into which body many of the lowest and most incompetent people of the capital were introduced.f
Letters were sent to Mayenne, beseeching him to hasten to Paris with all speed ; and his sister, the Duchess of Mont- pensier, set out to join him at Dijon, to which place he first retreated from Lyons.
* Mem. de Nevers.
f De Thou asserts that this council was appointed by the Duke of Mayenne, but Victor Cayet assures us that it was called into existence by Aumale, and there is reason to believe that in this statement he is correct, as Mayenne, immediately after his arrival, is found to have changed the constitution of this body.
160 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
It would seem that Mayenne did not require much persua- sion to induce him to put himself at the head of the faction. He was no longer obscured by the more brilliant qualities of his brothers, and though calmer, slower, and more de- liberate in his proceedings, he was not less ambitious or less resolute. Gathering strength as he advanced, after having secured a great number of towns in Burgundy, Champagne, and the Orleanois, the Duke marched from Chartres to Paris with a body of nearly five thousand men, and imme- diately took upon himself the command of the League. His entrance into the capital was in the form of a triumph ; his picture was exposed to the people with a crown upon his head ; and the chair prepared for him, bore every resem- blance to a royal throne. There can indeed be but little doubt, that had his energy been equal to his ambition, he might have caused himself to be declared King, not only by the Council of the League, but also by the Parliament, which had been dismembered of all those persons who were strongly and resolutely attached to the institutions of the country. But Mayenne hesitated to take so daring a step, probably knowing that, if he yielded to the temptation, he would thereby deprive himself of the support of all foreign princes. The moment for executing such a scheme soon passed away ; the enthusiasm of the people subsided in a great degree ; and the Sixteen resumed their original pro- jects, which tended more to the establishment of a Republic, than to the elevation of a new race to the throne. Mayenne contented himself with the title of Lieutenant- General of the state and crown of France, which was first conferred upon him by the council of the Union, and then confirmed by the imaginary parliament, under the direction of the League. He took the oaths required on the 13th of March, and on the same day two new public seals were ordered to be pre- pared, each bearing the words, Seal of the Kingdom of France. But a term was fixed for the duration of the anomalous authority conferred upon the Lieutenant-General,
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 161
which was only grant'ed till the meeting of the States- Gen- eral, convoked for the 25th of the month of July.* This limitation was a severe mortification to Mayenne ; and he immediately endeavored to emancipate himself from the restraint of the council, and upon the pretence of giving authority to its decrees, introduced into that body a number of more respectable persons than those of whom it was already constituted. Several members of the captive par- liament too were released by his order ; and at the same time he prepared to force the way by military success to a position of still greater power and authority.!
In the meanwhile Henry III. had shown various symptoms of his usual vacillation. As soon as he found that Ornano had failed in arresting Mayenne at Lyons, and that the latter had assumed a menacing aspect at Dijon, he sent him a letter full of flattering professions of regard, which the leader of the League treated with the cold contempt they merited. After the Duke had actually taken arms against the crown, however, Henry employed a firmer tone, and declared the seat of the parliament transferred from Paris to Tours. He likewise published a declaration, pronouncing Mayenne, as well as the Duke and the Chevalier d'Aumale, and all who should aid and abet them, guilty of high treason, which was followed by another directed against the towns that adhered to their party. Nearly at the same time, he sent letters to the governors of different cities and provinces in whom he thought he could confide, commanding them to call out the ban and arriere ban for his service against the insurgents. But these orders were but inefficiently carried into effect ; and shortly after Mayenne, taking the field at the head of eighteen thousand men, amongst whom were some of the best troops of France, advanced by rapid marches towards Vendome and Tours.
In the midst of the difficulties that surrounded Henry III.
* De Thou says that the States were summoned for the 15th of July. •f Cayet. Vie du Due de Mayenne. L'Etoile.
162 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
one or two more favorable events occurred, which promised to give a better turn to his affairs, if he could but rally suffi- cient forces to make a great effort. In the first place the town of Chalons, which had been so long the head-quarters of the League, no sooner heard of the death of Guise than the inhabitants rose and expelled the governor whom he had placed therein, declaring their determination to maintain inviolate their fidelity to the King. The town of Angers too was saved to the royal party by Pichery, who having the command of the citadel, refused to receive the Count de Brissac, and gave admission to Marshal d'Aumont; and Rennes, the capital of Brittany, after having been won for the party of the League by the Duke de Mercoeur, revolted against the officer to whom he had assigned the government of the place, as soon as the inhabitants had time for con- sideration ; and, calling in some royalist forces, that impor- tant city remained ever afterwards faithful to its sovereign.
During these transactions the eyes of all parties in France were turned from time to time to the King of Navarre, to see what course he would follow in the midst of the dissen- sions which had arisen amongst the Papists. The news of the death of the Duke of Guise reached him at St. Jean d'Angeli,* while preparing for the attack upon Niort ; but instead of displaying any joy at an event which delivered him from one of his greatest enemies, he showed deep grief at the lamentable circumstances under which he perished, and declared, that France had great cause to regret the loss of such a valiant nobleman, notwithstanding his ill-directed ambition.f The King of Navarre added, however, that he
* The assassination or execution of the Duke of Guise took place on the 23rd December, and the last morning that Henry spent at St. Jean d'Angeli before he visited Niort, was that of the 29th. He did not hear of the death of the Cardinal till after the 1st January.
•f Such is the statement of those about him at the time when the in- telligence reached his ears, and in the only letter in which Henry enters into any details regarding the assassination of the Duke of Guise, he certainly expresses no joy, though he displays no regret. His feelings,
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 163
doubted not Henry III. must have had just and important motives for the act he had committed ; and shortly after, he published a declaration addressed to the three estates of France, which produced an extraordinary impression upon the minds of the people, and proved highly favorable to the cause of the King. This declaration is too important to be passed over without particular notice, and the first paragraph after the exordium, is so characteristic of the man who wrote it, that I may be permitted to give it in his own words.
" Had it pleased God," he says, addressing the three or- ders of the people, " to touch the heart of the King my lord, and yours, and that I had been called to the assembly of the deputies at Blois, as certainly it appears to me I ought to have been, and that I had been permitted freely to propose what I might think would prove of benefit to the state, I should have shown that I had not only the desire at my heart, and the words in my mouth, but also the results in my hand, and that I had neither covert designs, conditions to make for my own advantage, nor fine speeches, to which I would not bind myself, but on the contrary, good resolu- tions and affection towards the King and the kingdom, as great as it is possible to have, even to my own detriment ; and that when every one is so disposed, there will be no ne- cessity of treating or capitulating with me, my conscience assuring me that regard for its dictates and for my honor have proved the only difficulty with me. That not having
however, were very different towards the Queen-Mother, whom he had long regarded as the great promoter of all the discord that afflicted the realm. Thus, in a note to Segur, dated the 25th December, 1588, he says, " I have just seen some letters which a courier was carrying, and in which he who wrote them stated, that he had left the Queen-mother dying. I will speak as a Christian : God do his will with her." And again, on the first of January, 1589, he writes to Madame de Guiche, " I am waiting for the happiness of hearing that they have sent to strangle the Queen of Navarre. That, with the death of her mother, jnight well make me sing the Canticle of Simeon." — Lettres Missives, torn. ii. page 418.
164 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
been done, however — which, perhaps, France will one day reckon amongst its errors, there being no such good physi- cian as one who loves his patient — I am resolved, then, at this late hour, to explain to you that which I believe to be my own duty, and that which I look upon as necessary for the service of God, of the King my sovereign, and of his kingdom ; in order that all the subjects of this crown may know it, and that all, for my exculpation, may be informed of my intentions, and by my intentions of my innocence."
The King then goes on to speak at large of his own con- dition, and of his own acts, with the frank boldness of the soldier but the humility of the Christian ; pointing out, that in ten years he had seen ten royal armies led against him and his cause, but that all of them had been dispersed, not by his own valor, for he had in reality fought only one, but by the hand of God ; and he asks, what good end has been served by the loss of a million of human beings, and the expense of mines of gold, but the ruin of France ? He proceeds to express himself as desirous of peace as ever, and to declare, that he and his fellow Protestants are ever ready to submit to the decrees of a free council, though they cannot be driven lo sacrifice their conscientious convictions by the dagger at their throats. He asks what would be thought of him by any but hypocrites, if, for the sake of gaining a crown, he were suddenly, and uninstructed in the doctrines of another church, to yield his religion to brute force ; and he exclaims, " No ! this shall never be done by the King of Navarre, were thirty thrones to be gained thereby. — Instruct me ! I am not obstinate. — Take the means of conviction ! You would gain infinitely more ; for if you show me another verity than that in which I now be- lieve, I will yield to it. I will do more ; for I think that I should leave no one in my party who would not yield to it also."
He next shows the fallacy of the arguments used to per- suade the people, that if possessed of the crown of France
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVAREE. 165
he would oppress the Catholics in the exercise of their re- ligion ; and then comments on the lamentable fact, that in the discussions at Blois no one had ventured to pronounce the holy name of peace, declaring that peace is the only remedy for the innumerable ills under which France still groaned. After having, in a powerful burst of eloquence, exhorted all classes to seek tranquillity, and abandon the un- just enormities to which they had given themselves up for so many years, he speaks with tenderness and esteem of the house of Guise, and with deep regret at the fatal end of their rebellion, but with still more regret at the perversion of their high qualities to such lawless objects as they had followed. At the same time, he contrasts his own successes with the disasters of his enemies ; but declares his convic- tion, that if once he were to quit the path of rectitude and honor, God would withdraw his blessing and overwhelm him likewise ; and he beseeches all those who have adhered to the party of the League, to have recourse to the mercy of the King, which is graciously offered to them. He then proceeds to point out, that the King has no choice but to make peace with all his subjects ; or, if that be impossible, from the incorrigible sedition of one party, to unite himself with those who are most willing to show obedience ; and he paints, in striking colors, the abyss towards which the cur- rent of civil war is hurrying on the state. He urges the King not to turn his arms against the League alone, but against all or any who should refuse a reasonable peace ; and he professes himself more ready and willing than ever, to lay down his arms, or to employ them for the service of the state, calling God to witness, that, whatever happens, as a good servant of the King, a French subject, and first Prince of the blood, though all the world should vow the ruin of France, he for one, at the risk of ten thousand lives, would endeavor to avert it. He appeals to all, of every class, who have the same object at heart, to join him ; declares his de- termination to re-establish, throughout all those districts in
166 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
which he has influence, the rule of the law, and to enforce obedience to the sovereign, saving his own faith and honor ; and protests, that, as he would never suffer his own con- science to be constrained by force, so will he never allow any violence to be used against the Roman Catholics in the free exercise of their religion.
This paper was signed on the 4th March, 1589 ; but between the period of the assassination of the Duke of Guise and the publication of his Declaration, Henry of Bourbon had carried on the war against the League with great vigor and success. St. Maixent and Maillezais had been taken before the 1st of January ; Chatellerault, Loudon, Lisle, Bouchard, Mirebeau, and Vivonne followed ; and shortly after, the town of Ar- genton, in Berri, sent to demand aid from the King of Na- varre, in expelling from the citadel the governor who had been placed therein by the virulent and licentious Duchess of Montpensier. Immediate reinforcements were expected by that officer from the rebel garrison of Orleans ; but Henry, with his usual energetic activity, set out at once with a small body of troops, on the 14th or 15th of March, and before the 18th of the same month* had forced the castle of Ar- genton to surrender. This was the last movement of the King of Navarre, before the formal commencement of nego- tiations for the union of his forces with those of Henry III., although overtures had already been made, which paved the way for that most important event.
* We find from the itinerary of the King's movements, furnished by M. Berger de Xivrey, that Henry was at Chatellerault on the morning of the 14th March, in Berri on the 16th, and had returned to Chatelle- rault on the 18th, which data give us, as nearly as can be wished, the period of Henry's expedition to Argenton, which is not mentioned by other authorities.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 167
BOOK X.
THE evil consequences of folly are often more permanent than those of crime ; and the act of vigor which Henry III. had performed in putting to death the Duke and Cardinal of Guise was ineffectual to remedy the mischief which his weakness and indolence had produced. The influence of the Duke of Guise survived him, and he found a fitting successor in Mayennne ; but a greater evil still remained, which his death did nothing to remove, and which, though he had un- doubtedly fomented it for the attainment of his own objects, was principally to be attributed to the feebleness of charac- ter displayed by Henry III. I speak of the utter want of respect for the royal authority which had been superadded under that monarch, to the factious turbulence which had arisen in the reigns of his two brothers. This was the chief of many causes that rendered the period immediately suc- ceeding the death of the Duke of Guise, the most embar- rassing the vicious King of France had hitherto encountered. The monarch was despised ; a part of the contempt with which he was regarded, fell upon the crown itself ; an act, probably done in self-defence, and which wanted nothing of justice but the forms, was looked upon as murder ; the Sov- ereign's commands were treated with scorn in every quarter of France ; large forces were openly levied against him ; town after town declared for his enemies; and although everyday fresh parties of the nobility went to join his stand- ard, the troops that they brought to support him in the ap- proaching struggle with Mayenne were comparatively few. Epernon, indeed, lost no time in collecting all the loyal sol- diers that could be found in Augoumois ; and having opened
168 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
a negotiation with the King of Navarre, which was afterwards conducted to a conclusion by the Duchess of Angouleme and others, he advanced to Henry's assistance with a body of four thousand five hundred foot, and eight hundred horse.
The movements of Mayenne, however, threatened equally Blois, Vendome, and Tours ; and the King dispatched orders to his favorite, to cast himself into the former city and defend it to the last, while he himself gathered what forces he could in the capital of Touraine. Although the service was one of great danger, Blois being destitute of all regular fortifi- cations, Epernon hesitated not a moment ; and without paus- ing even to visit the King, he hurried on with three thousand foot and a small body of cavalry, sending the rest of his troops to the assistance of his master, under Monsieur de Moncassin. He arrived at Blois while Mayenne was still on the march towards it, and commenced the construction of such defences as the shortness of the time would permit, throwing a part of his force into the small and indefensible town of St. Ouen,* with orders to impede the advance of the enemy at any risk, for the purpose of giving the King time to prepare against attack in Tours. This plan was eminently success- ful ; for Mayenne was detained before St. Ouen during four days, which, as I shall speedily have to show, was of the ut- most importance to Henry III. at that moment. The Gen- eral of the League, however, avoided Blois ; and advancing rapidly upon Vendome, into which town he was admitted by his partisans in the place, made the greater part of the King's council prisoners, and then marched at once upon Tours.
A number of Henry's adherents had been dispatched into various parts of France to levy troops for the monarch's ser- vice, and few if any had returned. But by this time all the preliminaries had been arranged, for the union of the forces of Henry III. with those of the King of Navarre. The
* Written as frequently St. Ouin. I do not find this place in any modern map that I possess.
KING OF FRANOE AND NAVARRE. 169
Duchess of Angouleme had been the principal negotiator ; and Du Plessis Mornay and Sully had both some share in bringing about that desirable result. Each of the two last took the credit to themselves : but history attributes the result to her who put in on claim.* Henry of Bourbon , after strug- gling with doubts in regard to his brother-in-law's sincerity, agreed to march to the aid of his sovereign, on the sole condi- tion of receiving for his security one of the various towns or castles which commanded a passage over the Lower Loire. The Pont de Ce was first offered, but the governor, who was in communication with the League, refused to give it up ; and as no time was to be lost, the far more important city of Saumur was granted to the King of Navarre ; compensa- tion having been first made to the commander of the place. No sooner was the arrangement concluded, and Saumur placed in the hands of the Bourbon Prince, than, setting out with a small body of troops, and leaving the rest of his army to follow, he advanced rapidly to confer with Henry III. who was then at the ancient palace of the Kings of France, better known by the description of the great novelist than by the records of the historian, and called Plessis les Tours.
The French monarch met his brother-in-law, whom he had not seen for years, at a short distance from his place of residence ; but the King of Navarre had not risked his per- son in the power of one who had caused the death of so many by whom he had been trusted, without warnings to beware, and perhaps some misgivings. His cautious friends pointed out, that Henry III. desired nothing so much as to reconcile himself with the Pope ; and that no offering would be so acceptable, as the blood of a heretic Prince.f Sully
* Sully, liv. 3. Du Plessis, liv. 1. For the part taken by the Duchess we rest upon almost every independent writer, Cayet, Gerard, Vie du Due d'Epernon, Aubigne, Davila. The Duchess of Angouleme was a natural daughter of Henry II., and a woman of great talent ; and there is every reason to believe that the claims of Sully and Du Plessis rest upon a slighter foundation than her own. t Perefixe.
VOL, IT. 8
1*70 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
reports, that at two leagues from Plessis Henry halted, and once more consulted his companions ; but after a few mo- ments' reflection he exclaimed, " Let us go ! let us go ! the resolution is taken ; there is no use of further thought ;"* and 1'Etoile declares that the King of Navarre, before cross- ing the river, answered those who would have dissuaded him, much in the same terms which he employed in writing to Du Plessis Mornay, " God has said that I shall pass, and that I shall see," he replied ; " and it is not in the power of man to prevent me ; for God guides me and goes with me. I am assured of that ; and thus he will cause me to see my King with satisfaction, and to find favor with him."f
At length the small body of Huguenots perceived the King of France advancing along one of the long avenues of Plessis les Tours, accompanied by an immense multitude of the inhabitants of the neighboring city on horseback and on foot ; but if Henry of Navarre had felt anything like appre- hension it had passed away. Frank and open joy was upon his countenance, as he rode on to greet the monarch ; and every one remarked the difference between the meeting of the two Kings and that of Henry III. and the Duke of Guise after the barricades.^ The satisfaction and enthusiasm of the multitude were beyond description : Mayenne was already almost at the gates ; they expected to see Tours forced each hour, but the very sight of Henry of Navarre brought back confidence to every heart ; order could not be maintained by all the efforts of the King's officers ; the two sovereigns stretched out their arms to each other, but for many minutes the deliverer and the delivered could not meet for the press, while acclamations of " Long live the Kings ! Long live the King of Navarre ! Long live the King !" rent the air. At length, when they could approach, they cast themselves into each other's arms, and both shed tears, in
* Sully, liv. 3. f L'Etoile.
£ Pasquier, lettre xiii. liv, 13. He was present.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 171
which we may well suppose that many strange emotions were mingled.*
Henry of Navarre only passed one night in Tours, and then returned to the head-quarters of his army, which were at Maille. Mayenne, hearing of his absence, and trusting to some intelligence which he had in Tours, made, between the seventh and eighth of May, an extraordinary march of eleven leagues. On the very morning of his arrival he was sup- posed to be at such a distance, that Henry III. had ridden out, with but few attendants, beyond the suburb of St. Sy- phorien; and it is generally supposed that he had been treacherously induced to do so by some of his courtiers, who intended to deliver him into the hands of Mayenne ; but a miller of the neighborhood, who had seen the advancing troops of the enemy, warned the King of his danger, and he had time to retreat into the town. Messengers were imme- diately dispatched to call the King of Navarre to the relief of Tours ; but before he arrived, Mayenne had appeared upon the heights, and made a furious attack upon the sub- urbs, which were defended by nothing but a weak barricade. f Crillon and Gersay, with a body of the guards and arquebus- iers, hastened to meet him at the end of the hollow way, but were soon driven back by the superior numbers of the en- emy,;]; and Crillon, caught in the gate of the suburb, was for some time exposed alone to the whole fury of the enemy. A party of Protestant gentlemen, however, who had re- mained in Tours to aid the King, at the head of whom were La Trimouille and Chatillon, crossed the bridge, under the fire of seven thousand arquebusiers, who now covered the heights which crown the rocks in the neighborhood of that city. As soon as the white scarfs of Navarre were seen mingling with the troops of the court, the Leaguers shouted aloud to them to retire, saying, " Brave Huguenots ! men of
* L'Etoile. I give this scene exactly as I find it described, without any ornament whatever.
t Sully. | Aubigne.
172 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
honor, it is not you that we seek ; it is that traitor who has betrayed you so often, and will betray yon again ;" and some one perceiving Chatillon, the son of the murdered Co- ligni, exclaimed, " Retire, Chatillon ; we do not wish to injure you, but the murderers of your father."
Chatillon replied in a loud tone, " You are all traitors to your country ! I cast away all desire of private vengeance where the service of my King and the state is concerned."*
The struggle for the suburb now became terrible ; but in the midst, the King of Navarre, with a considerable rein- forcement, reached Tours, and at once hastened to the scene of combat. He found Henry III. displaying no longer weak- ness, indolence, and irresolution. That monarch seemed in a manner to have resumed all the vigor and resolution of his early days, exposing himself like the meanest soldier. Seven pieces of artillery were subsequently brought to the heights, commanding the bridge and the gate ; but regiment after regiment of the Huguenots passed over at a slow pace, refreshing the troops who were defending the suburb, till at length the Leaguers finding that their fire would never suc- ceed in dislodging them, had recourse to the masses of rock that were scattered about amongst the vineyards, which being rolled down the steep upon the tops of the houses, soon compelled the royalists to retreat into the isle, where the defence was renewed by the King of Navarre. After remaining at the barricades for several hours, that Prince was joined by Henry III., who, pushing over one of the gabions with his foot, remained exposed for some time to the whole fire. The King of Navarre endeavored to dissuade him from such rashness ; but Henry replied, " You have been here all day, and are still safe ; such may be my case."f He continued in the same position till evening, when the fire becoming slack, and the enemy showing symptoms of an inclination to retreat, he returned into the town with his brother-in-law, assuming the white scarf of Navarre as a * L'Etoile. Aubigne. f Mem.'de Nevers.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 1*73
mark of his admiration of the gallantry which the Huguenot army had displayed. The bridge was left under the guard of Chatillon ; but the suburb remained in the hands of the Chevalier D'Aumale, who had much distinguished himself, on the part of the League. During the evening, he and the soldiers under his command, committed every excess that it is possible to imagine, breaking into the monasteries, and plundering the churches, so as to afford a sufficient proof that the pretence of religion, with which they covered their rebellion, was mere hypocrisy of the most impudent kind.*
At four in the morning of the ninth, Mayenne, abandon- ing all hope of forcing his way to Tours, commenced his re- treat, setting fire to the suburb, and destroying two arches of the bridge to embarrass the operations of the enemy.f Means were immediately taken to extinguish the fire, and a small force was sent to pursue the Duke, and gain intelli- gence of his proceedings. The tidings brought back were to the effect that he had advanced so far on the way to Chateau du Loir, it would be hopeless to follow him ; and we find, from another source, that he again made a march of eleven leagues that day, an instance of activity which is rare in his history. In the suburbs, and the gardens above, he left a number of wounded, and the unburied bodies of the dead ; but Henry III., with more charity than might have been ex- pected from him, caused those who were still living to be carried into the hospitals and treated with the utmost kind- ness, while the dead were interred with decency and respect.
It may be unnecessary to follow the course of the negoti- tions carried on with Rome, by the League on the one hand, and by the King on the other. Suffice it to say, that, if the march of Mayenne upon Tours effected no other object, it produced a result favorable to his cause, by forcing Henry to call the King of Navarre to his aid, and consequently to exasperate the Pope still more. Henry of Navarre, it must be recollected, was in the eyes of the Holy See an excom- * Davila. L'Etoile. t Cayet.
174 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
municated heretic ; and, consequently, although the treaty between him and the King of France extended to nothing but a truce, and not a regular treaty of peace, yet the co-ope- ration of the Most Christian King with a personage under anathema, was regarded as a daring insult to the authority of the Catholic church. The legate, in consequence, retired from France, and a monitory was published on the 24th of May, and ordered to be affixed to the public places of sev- eral towns, warning Henry of Valois to set at liberty the Cardinal de Bourbon, and the Archbishop of Lyons, within two days, under pain of excommunication. By the same instrument he was ordered to appear within sixty days at Rome, to show cause why he should not be excommunicated for putting to death the Cardinal de Guise, and why his subjects should not be set free from the oath of allegiance, which they had taken. The age was not one, however, in which such idle thunder could have any great effect upon the consciences of men, and we do not find that many of the King's party were at all troubled by the threatenings of the Vatican.
At the same time, various events had occurred in other parts of France which were favorable to the royal cause. The Duke of Montpensier had been sent into Normandy shortly after the death of the Duke of Guise, in order to pro- vide against the dangers arising from the revolt of several of the most important towns in that province. On his ar- rival at Alengon, he was joined by a number of the noblemen of Normandy, and marching in haste upon Falaise, he laid siege to that city ; but ere he had been before it for many days, he was obliged to abandon the attempt, on receiving intelligence that the Count de Brissac, having put himself at the head of a body of peasantry, which had been long in revolt, on account of the heavy taxation of the times, was marching against him with the aid of about three hundred gentlemen, and their neighbors. The whole force under Brissac amounted to between five and six thousand men;
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 1*75
But they were surprised by the troops of Montpensier in three villages, in the neighborhood of Argenton, where they were completely routed and cut to pieces, with a loss of near three thousand men killed, and from a thousand to twelve hundred prisoners. More than thirty gentlemen of distinc- tion were amongst the prisoners, and Brissac himself escaped with difficulty.* At the same time a truce was concluded in Dauphene between Ornano and Lesdiguieres, which se- cured for a time the peace of that part of the country.
Having now chosen his part, after the vacillation of a life- time, Henry resolved to make a vigorous effort to crush the League at once. Embassies were sent early in the year to require aid of various sovereigns. Elizabeth of England was requested to give men and money for the support of the royal cause in France ; the German Princes were desired to furnish, as usual, a body of mercenary troops ; and the Grand Duke of Tuscany was applied to for a loan. Of these three Princes, the latter was the only one who forthwith complied with the request of the King of France. Elizabeth was at the time embarrassed by a war with Spain, and the German Princes showed themselves slow in risking their troops once more, in a land which had been already fatal to so many ar- mies ; but the Grand Duke of Tuscany immediately con- tributed a considerable sum of money for the support of the King's army ; and one generous individual at his own ex- pense, and by his own influence, raised in Switzerland a body of ten thousand men for the service of his sovereign. Nich- olas de Harlay, Baron de Sancy, a gentleman brought up to the profession of the law, and at that time maitre des re- quetes, being present at a council, which was held to consider the state of the King's affairs, shortly after the death of the Princes of Lorraine, pronounced a long and powerful oration, recommending an immediate levy of a large body of foreign troops, as the only means of saving the monarchy ; and pointing out Switzerland, amongst the cantons of which he * Cayet.
176
THE LIFE OF HEtfRY IV.
himself had resided for some years, as the only country where there existed a great probability of success. Every one agreed to his views, but every one spoke of the bankruptcy of the treasury, and asked who would be the generous or the happy Frenchman who would raise an army with nothing but the letters of the King. Sancy, whose character was one of the most extraordinary of that age, full of generous emotions, but also full of weak facilities, almost always guided by rectitude and honor, when he acted on the first impulse, but often deviating from the right path, by ill-regu- lated enthusiasm, and the desire to please those, whom either situation or genius induced him to respect, replied with some contempt for the persons around him, " It ought not to be my task; but, nevertheless, it shall be mine." He accordingly accepted the commission, and hurried into Switz- erland, where, after difficulties innumerable, and the opposi- tion of the Roman Catholic cantons, he succeeded in raising a splendid force, entirely at his own expense, pledging his estates for the payment of the troops, and leading them to the aid of the King, with the skill and vigor of an expe- rienced commander.*
Before the news of this successful effort in his favor, how- ever, reached Henry III., he met with a severe mortification, in consequence, it would seem, of one of those violations of his word which his necessities more than once induced him to commit. On entering Tours, he had solemnly pledged himself that he would inflict no punishment upon the parti- sans of the League in that town ; but the pressing want of money, arising from the stoppage of all the ordinary sources of revenue, led him to lay a tax upon the Leaguers of Tours. The news of this infraction of his promise soon reached Poi- tiers, with which city he had made the same engagement, and the parties therein being nearly balanced, an advantage was given to his opponents, which they did not fail to make use of for the purpose of bringing over the citizens to the * Le Laboureur.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 177
union. The loyalists besought the King to hasten to their aid after the retreat of Mayenne ; but, although he acceded to their wish, and called Marshal Biron with his troops from Guienne to join him in that city, the Leaguers, before his ar- rival, had gained the ascendency ; the gates were closed against him ; and his forces saluted with a volley of cannon balls as they entered the suburbs.* The King, not venturing to attack a place which would have required a long siege for its reduction, returned to Tours, where he received urgent messages from the King of Navarre, who had advanced to Beaugency, pressing him to march on at once, and strike a decisive blow at the enemy.
In the meantime, a gallant effort had been made in the north ; and the Duke of Aumale, at the head of an army raised by the Parisians, had been defeated under the walls of Senlis, by the young Duke of Longueville and the devoted La Noue ; but to counterbalance his success, Mayenne had taken Alencon and given the party of the League a prepon- derance in Normandy. The Parisians, however, were thrown into a dreadful state of alarm by the defeat of their governor, whose fugitive troops had been pushed to the very gates by the victors ; and a volley of cannon shot falling into one of the markets increased the consternation of the populace. Longueville pursued his way towards Burgundy to meet the Swiss troops now advancing under Sancy; Epernon made himself master of Montereau ou faut Yonne ; and Chatillon in a rencontre with the governor of Chartres, defeated his troops with great slaughter, in spite of an obstinate and well con- ducted resistance. Shortly after the King's return from Poitiers, Henry of Navarre appeared in Tours, having ridden, it is said, twenty-five leagues to decide the movements of his brother-in-law, and induce him to advance at once to Paris,f whither the march of the Duke of Mayenne was now tending. It would seem that the timidity of Henry's friends, more than his own want of resolution, had detained him in
* Aubigne. Cayet. L'Etoile, notes. f Aubigne, Cayet.
8*
178 THE LIFE OP HENRY IV.
Tours ; but the presence of the King of Navarre removed all hesitation, a general rendezvous was given to the royal forces at Beaugency, and having left the Cardinals of Vendome and Lenoncourt with some of the members of the council to keep Tours in obedience, Henry began his march towards the capital. After having reached Beaugency, the royal army proceeded to attack the town of Gergau, which was garrisoned by the League. The first detachment that ap- peared under its walls was commanded by the Duke of Eper- non, who immediately took possession of one of the suburbs. The King of Navarre arrived soon after, and having been received by the Duke, the latter, totally unarmed, led him into the midst of the great square of the suburb, which was commanded by the enemies' works, saying, that he wished to show him his housekeeping. A tremendous fire was di- rectly opened upon the party of the two commanders, by which a cousin of the Duke's, and an attendant were killed on the spot ; but Henry and Epernon walked on at a slow pace, within forty paces of the curtain from whence a fire was kept up during the whole way, killing several more of their followers, till they reached a gate that hid them from the enemy. There, Epernon received a message from two officers, who had remained in the square, asking him to re- turn, and he was about to go back as rashly as he had ad- vanced, when the King of Navarre seized him by the collar,* giving him to understand that he had committed folly enough for one day. When Henry III. was made aware of what had taken place, he asked Epernon angrily if he had wished to cause the death of Navarre. A rumor that such was his object, even spread through the army ; but Aubigne excul- pates him of all sinister designs, and justly attributes his conduct to that vain imprudence which made him believe, that to expose himself unnecessarily was the road to renown. The town was soon forced to capitulate, but Henry, though he granted favorable terms to the inhabitants and garrison gen- * Gerard. Cayet.
KINQ OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 179
erally, with wise rigor, excepted those who had violated their faith, and, after taking service with him and receiving pay, had gone over to the enemy. These were given up to the executioner, and amongst the rest, as a warning to his commander, was hanged a gentleman whom La Chatre had sent into the place from Orleans. Gien and La Charite sub- mitted to the King, and having now secured the means of crossing the Loire at various points, the monarch marched on and took Pluviers by storm, after which Etampes was be- sieged and taken. The Baron de St. Germain, who had been one of the King's pages, was seized in attempting to make his escape, and notwithstanding the intercession of his friends, was executed for treason. From Etampes, the King of Navarre, at the head of twelve hundred men, made a hasty excursion to the gates of Paris, attacked and defeated a party of the Pari- sians in the suburb of St. Jacques, and having spread conster- nation amongst the inhabitants of the capital, returned with- out loss to rejoin the King of France. Pontoise was next attacked, and after a gallant defence, received an honorable capitulation ; but the Huguenot army lost before its walls one of the most distinguished officers of the time, M. de Charbonnieres, who was mortally wounded while the King of Navarre was leaning on his shoulder. A number of smaller places in the ' neighborhood made submission on the fall of Pontoise ; and Henry, now approaching the capital, with the intention of besieging it, sent messengers to call all the nobil- ity of Picardy and Normandy, who still remained true to the royal cause, to join him at Poissy, while Longueville with his forces having united with Sancy and the Swiss, ap- proached rapidly from the side of Chatillon sur Seine.
The difficulties that Sancy had encountered were many ; but the services he rendered, even on his march, were great, and his" skill and determination, in leading the force he had raised through so great an extent of country, called forth the highest praises from every one but those who were en- vious of his well-merited renown. The principal danger
180 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
Sancy had to encounter, lay in the neighborhood of the town of Geneva, which was almost surrounded by territories held by the Duke of Savoy, at that time in actual war with the King of France. But having obtained the levy which he demanded from Berne, Basle, Soleure, the Valais and the Orisons, he skilfully negotiated with the inhabitants of Ge- neva; and while he wrote to Lesdiguieres and Ornano to attack the Duke from the side of Dauphine, he induced the Genevese to take arms against Savoy, and seize upon differ- ent small towns and fortresses in the immediate neighbor- hood of that city. The way having been thus in some de- gree cleared, and the troops required raised by the cantons, Sancy advanced at their head, took the town of Thouon, captured and burned the fort of Ripaille, and then, after some negotiations with the cantons, marched towards Lan- gres, dexterously spreading a report that he intended to turn upon Chambery. From Langres he pursued his course to Chalons uninterrupted,* but not without mortification, for he was met on the march by M. de la Guiche, bearing a commission to command the army. Sancy, however, treated his authority with contempt, telling him to keep his paper, and he would keep his men.f Having been joined by the Duke of Longueville, he passed the Marne, and reached Conflans, two leagues distant from Pontoise, where his ar- rival spread joy and confidence through the army of the King. Henry immediately received him in his cabinet, but Sancy was surprised to find that the monarch shed tears while he embraced, and thanked him for his services ; nor was he without apprehension that some unforeseen disaster, which he had not heard of, had lately befallen the King. But Henry reassured him, saying, " I only weep from regret that I have nothing but tears and promises to give you in recom- pense for your devotion. Nevertheless, if God gives me the means, I will raise you so high that the greatest in the realm shall have cause to envy you."
* Cayet. Villeroy. t Le Laboureur.
KING- OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 181
On the 20th of July, the King reviewed the Swiss army ; and finding his force to amount to thirty thousand men, with a well-equipped park of artillery, the siege of Paris was de- termined upon, after some debate in the council, in which for a time the King of Navarre, and M. de Givri, stood alone as the advocates of that bold measure. The bridge of St. Cloud was immediately attacked, and taken ; while Henry of Navarre, pushing forward along the course of the river, occupied Meudon, and all the villages on the bank as far as Vaugirard, where Chatillon took the command of the out- post. Henry III. fixed his abode at St. Cloud, in a house named the Hotel de Gondy ; and on the following morning the King of Navarre advanced towards the gates of Paris, and threw out skirmishers to engage the posts of the enemy, whose principal forces were quartered in the suburbs, under the command of La Chatre and Mayenne.
Although there cannot be the slightest doubt that the in- habitants of Paris, and even the leaders of the League, were under great apprehensions regarding the result of the siege, a bold countenance was assumed by the troops, and various gentlemen issued forth to break a lance with the officers of the King. But in the meantime the most detestable means were employed to deliver the capital from the dangerous sit- uation in which it was placed. It was determined to have recourse to the dagger of the assassin ; and a young man of the name of Jacques Clement, a Jacobite monk, was pitched upon as a fit instrument for the purpose. He is represented as a person of a gloomy and ferocious mind, licentious in his manners, and of a weak and superstitious character. He had been several times punished in his convent for various excesses ; and on applying for absolution to his priest, he had been told in general terms, that it could only be obtained by devoting himself entirely to the service of God. The means which were employed to work upon his mind have been variously stated ; but it would appear certain that the chief agent for corrupting the unhappy man, and exciting
182 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
his imagination to the necessary point, was father Bourgo- ing, Prior of the Jacobin convent in the Rue St. Jacques. It is possible that the Duke of Mayenne himself had no share in this infamous transaction, and he afterwards affirmed upon oath that he was innocent of the deed ;* but yet some of the events which occurred in Paris, and which could scarcely have taken place without his knowledge and con- sent, show that the council of the League in general must have been cognizant of, and participators in, the design. Pithou, too, in his address to the Duke of Mayenne, pub- lished under the name of M. D'Aubray, boldly charges him with having seen and encouraged Jacques Clement before he set out from the capital ;f and the Parliament of Paris sub- sequently proceeded against the Duke of Aumale, who had fled, and condemned him to be executed in emgy.J The Duchess of Montpensier is likewise supposed to have used every persuasion, and even to have descended to the most degrading prostitution of her person,§ to induce this weak and superstitious bigot to undertake the destruction of the King.
After the arrival of Henry in the neighborhood of Paris, the imminent danger in which the city was placed, and the terror that was generally entertained by the party of the League, produced redoubled efforts to confirm the monk in the determination he had taken, and to hurry him forward to its execution. The whole transaction is so obscure, that it is not without hesitation I venture to give these details ; but it is certain that, a few days before the murder of the King, Henry was warned of the danger which menaced him, by a young lady of high family in the capital ;|| that on the 27th of July he sent an officer into Paris, to tell the Duchess of Montpensier he would burn her alive if he took the city ; and that on the day when Jacques Clement issued forth, to
* Pierre Mathieu. *f Satyre Menipee, torn. i. p. 145.
+ Godefroy. La Veritable Fatalite de St. Cloud.
§ Auvigny. II Pasquier, liv. xiv. 5 Aout, 1589.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 183
commit the asssasination, a great number of the principal citizens, who were known to be attached to the royal party, were arrested and thrown into prison.* Clement also was, beyond all doubt, informed that this measure was intended for his protection, and that if he should be taken, the heads of these prisoners would be made answerable for his safety. A passport was obtained for him from the Count de Brienne, one of the loyalist prisoners of the League, who was de- ceived into a belief that the monk had important communi- cations to make to the King from the first President de Harley, who was a captive in the Bastille. A letter, either forged or procured from that magistrate by similar arts, was placed in the hands of the assassin ; and some authors de- clare that, before he set out, he had an interview at the Chartreux with the Duke of Mayenne himself, f
Confirmed in his purpose by the exhortations of the priests, who promised him the rank of cardinal if he sur- vived, and canonization if he fell, Clement issued forth from Paris, and took his way to St. Cloud. He was first stopped at Vaugirard, where his passport being examined, and his pretended errand made known, he was sent forward, under the guard of two soldiers, towards the quarters of the King. On the way he was met by La Guesle, procureur-general, and was then given into his hands by the guards. That officer, after having inquired his business, cross-examined him strictly, and looked at the letter from De Harley, which, if it was not really written by his hand, was so well forged as to deceive La Guesle. The replies of the monk were quite satisfactory, and the Procureur led him to St. Cloud, with the intention of bringing him immediately to the pres- ence of the King. Henry, however, was at the time out on horseback, and did not return till so late that La Guesle detained the Jacobin at his own lodgings for the night,
* L'Etoile. The number is variously given, some authors saying 300, others 100. See also La Veritable Fatalite de St. Cloud. f Auvigny. Vie du Due de Mayenne.
184 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
promising to obtain an audience for him on the following day. Accordingly, early on the first of August, Clement was taken to the Hotel de Gondy, and the Procureur-gen- eral, after having cause him to be questioned by Portail, one of the surgeons of Henry, regarding some of his relations in the Bastille, proceeded to the cabinet of the King, whom he informed that there was a monk without bringing intelli- gence from Paris, which he refused to communicate to any but the monarch himself. Henry ordered him to be ad- mitted immediately, and Jacques Clement was introduced into the cabinet, which at that moment contained only the King, M. de Bellegarde, and La Guesle. It would seem, from the account of La Guesle himself, that the monk, as soon as he entered, approached nearer to the monarch than that officer judged safe ; but Clement having given Henry to understand that the secrets he had to communicate were for his ear alone, Bellegarde and the Procureur-general were ordered to withdraw. Clement then took a paper from the sleeve of his gown, and presented it to the King, who began to read it attentively. Instantly seizing the opportunity, the assassin drew forth a knife and plunged it into the entrails of his victim, who uttered a great cry, and drawing forth the weapon, aimed a blow with it at the head of his murderer, which wounded him above the eye. La Guesle, Bellegrade, and Du Halde, rushed in at the King's voice ; and, seeing him wounded, the former, without pausing to consider, passed his sword through the body of the murderer. Some authors say that he fell dead with the first blow ; others, that Bellegarde and Du Halde, with some of the guard, dis- patched him ; but at all events, it is clear that he was killed immediately, without having uttered a word. This rash haste gave rise to insinuations against La Guesle himself, put forth by the party of the Union, and especially by the Jacobins, when, after having recovered from the frenzy of the League, they became somewhat ashamed of an act which they lauded at the time. But we have the authority of
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 185
Henry IV. himself for stating, that Jacques Clement had been instructed, if taken alive, to accuse the Count de Sois- sons of having instigated him to commit the crime.*
The King was immediately undressed, and put to bed ; and for several hours the surgeons saw no cause to appre- hend that the wound was mortal. They even assured him that he would be able soon to mount his horse ; and he dic- tated letters to several foreign Princes, and to those noble- men in the various provinces of France who were the chief supporters of his cause, stating, that an attack had been made upon his person, but that no evil result was to be ap- prehended.f
The news spread quickly through the army. Amongst the first who arrived at the monarch's bedside was the King of Navarre, having galloped from Meudon at full speed ; and he was moved to tears as he knelt by the couch of the dying King, with whom he had been so lately reconciled. Henry III. embraced him tenderly, and assured him that he did not apprehend any danger ; but added, that if the wound should prove mortal, he left him the crown as his legitimate successor. He then said : — " If iny will were to have effect, it would be as nourishing upon your head as it was on that of Charlemagne. I have commanded all the officers of the crown to recognize you as King after my death." Having uttered these words, he directed all the Princes and officers of state to be called in, and in well chosen words, interrupted by occasional groans and sighs, recommended to them union amongst themselves for the preservation of the monarchy ; then, speaking of the claims of the King of Navarre to the throne, as indubitable, he ordered them to swear obedi- ence and fidelity to that Prince after his own death.J No one, we are assured, ventured to disobey ; and satisfied with what he had done, Henry desired to be left alone with his chaplains, and the officers of his chamber. If the deep and
* Pierre Mathieu. t Memoires de la Ligue, torn. iii. Cayet.
•jf. Cayet. Aubigne.
186 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
bitter regret of all who surrounded him ; if tears sincere, and full of anguish, on the cheeks of those whom he had be- friended ; if the poignant sorrow of even his successor, whom he had often wronged and deceived, could soothe the pangs of a dying man, Henry had that consolation. All his errors, all his vices, all his crimes, even all his weaknesses, were at that moment forgotten, and nothing was remembered by his courtiers but the kind and generous master, the warm- hearted and liberal friend.
The active and energetic mind of Henry IV., however, did not permit him to forget, in .the sorrow that he felt, the important duties of his situation. Judging that the attempt upon the King's life would be immediately followed by some enterprise in arms upon the part of the enemy, he caused a large body of troops to march towards the city. But no one stirred beyond the walls of the capital, and the whole of the people seemed to wait in awful suspense for the result of the great crime in which so many were accomplices.
Towards evening, the pain which Henry III. experienced, led the surgeons to perceive that his wound was more seri- ous than they had at first supposed, and various symptoms developed themselves towards night, which clearly showed that his life was drawing to a close. Henry of Navarre had returned late to the Chateau of Meudon, and had just sat down to supper when M. d'Orthoman arrived in haste to tell him, that if he wished to see the King once more in life, he must set out instantly. While the horses were being prepared, Henry held a hurried consultation with eight of his friends ; and, ordering his attendants to arm themselves well, but to conceal their cuirasses under their ordinary clothes, he set out with a party of thirty-three gentlemen, and arrived at St. Cloud a little before daybreak.* The agitation of his mind, as he rode along towards the spot where Henry III. lay in the agonies of death, the many con- siderations that pressed for attention, the dangers which pre- * Sully. Aubigne.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 187
sented themselves to his eyes, the difficulties that lay in his path, but the great destiny to which that path was sure to lead, if, with a firm and constant heart, a bold and energetic mind, a clear and powerful judgment, and the blessing of God over all, he trod it to the end, must have rendered that journey one of the most awful hours of his life. " It was not," says Sully, who accompanied him, " the result of a petty negotiation, nor the success of a battle, nor a little kingdom like that of Navarre which was now in question. It was the finest monarchy in Europe. But how many obstacles were to be surmounted to arrive thereat ! and by what labors was it to be purchased ! All that the King of Navarre had hitherto undergone could be counted for nothing in compar- ison. How was to be overthrown a party so powerful, and in such repute, that it had caused a monarch already seated on the throne to tremble, and almost to descend therefrom ? This difficulty, already so great, appeared almost insurmount- able, when one reflected that the death of the King would at once detach from the person of the King of Navarre the greatest and the principal part of his forces. He could not reckon upon the Princes of the blood, nor upon the great nobles ; and such was his situation, that having need of the succor of every one, he could rely upon no one. I trembled when the thought crossed my mind, that perhaps this sud- den and unexpected news was about to produce a revolution, which would leave the King of Navarre with a handful of faithful servants, at the mercy of his ancient enemies, and in a country where he was without any resource."
On the arrival of Henry and his followers at St. Cloud, the first tidings they received were, that the King was bet- ter, and the whole party were ordered to give up their swords before entering the royal quarters ; but on reaching the Hotel de Gondy, they found the monarch had just ex- pired.
188 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
BOOK XL
THE situation of Henry IV., on his accession to the throne, was probably the most perilous in which a new monarch was ever placed. The whole kingdom was convulsed, from end to end, by factions, the virulence of which against each other, had been nourished during many years of civil war, and not one element of discord and confusion seemed wanting to ren- der the state of turbulence and anarchy which existed, of long duration. Not only the fierce and relentless spirit of religious fanaticism, not only the grasping cupidity of selfish and unprincipled nobles, not only the ambition of powerful and distinguished leaders, entered as ingredients into the strange mass of contending passions which the country pre- sented, but the long indulgence of lawless courses, the habits of strife and bloodshed, the want of universally recognized tribunals, the annihilation of external commerce, and the utter destitution of financial resources on all parts, seemed to place insurmountable obstacles in the way of any speedy restoration of order and prosperity.
The capital was in a state of rebellion against its legitimate sovereign ; the large towns were in many instances held for- cibly by the party opposed to the great majority of the inhabitants ; the small towns and villages were generally disaffected to the royal cause, or wavering between opposite factions : and the rural districts were divided in their affec- tions, sometimes presenting three or four different shades of opinion within the space of as many leagues. One province was nearly entirely Protestant, another almost altogether Catholic, another equally divided between the two religions. The parliament of Paris thundered against the parliament
KING OF FRANCE .AND NAVARRE. 189
of Tours ; the partisans of the late king looked with scarcely less jealousy upon their new sovereign than upon their ene- mies of the League ; and many of those who were indiffer- ent upon the subject of religion, made it their first inquiry how they could sell their services to the best advantage.
The preceding reigns had extinguished all respect for the law ; the vices of the court had banished all notions of moral- ity ; and years of license had left barely the sense of com- mon decency amongst the higher classes of the kingdom. Complete disorganization, in short, existed throughout the whole fabric of society ; and no common principle of action could be found as a permanent bond in uniting the members of any great party together. The League itself contained most discordant materials ; but it was far more harmonious in its character than the great body of the Royalists ; for community of religion at least afforded an apparent motive for combination where more substantial ties were wanting, while difference of faith in the camp of the King was at all times a pretext for dissensions, which at any moment might produce disorders if not actual hostility.
Such was the state of affairs which Henry knew to exist at the moment when he received the announcement, that he had so suddenly become King of France. The generous de- votion, indeed, of a few loyal and high-minded men, tended greatly to encourage him in the commencement of his career ; but apprehension and perplexity must have been the first emotions by which he was affected on entering the Hotel de Gondi and learning that Henry III. was dead. He found still greater alarm, however, reigning amongst the courtiers of the late King. Everything was confusion and disarray, and his presence did not tend to produce harmony and order.
The moment that his arrival was known, the Scotch guard came and threw themselves at his feet, exclaiming, " Oh ! Sire, you are now our king and our master ;" and the active and energetic character of the monarch at once displayed.
190 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
itself in a remarkable manner. Without losing the time of action in thought, he applied himself to take advantage of the consternation of others, and secure the fidelity of the troops, and of the court, as far as possible, in order that the death of Henry III. might not altogether dissolve the bonds which held together the Royalist party, and overthrow the monarchy itself. He sent directly to the quarters of the Swiss and the French guard, to Marshal d'Aumont, to Biron, and to all in whom he could trust. He wrote during the same night to England, to Flanders, to Switzerland, Ger- many, and Venice, announcing his accession to the throne, stating his indisputable title, and requesting immediate aid to make it good against his enemies.*
But on entering the chamber of the deceased King, a strange and fearful scene presented itself. The room was filled with the Catholic nobility of France ; the minions were at the foot of the bed, with tapers in their hands, singing the service of the dead; and all the rest, "amidst howlings of despair, were drawing down their hats, or casting them on
* Sully. The number of letters which he either dictated or directed to be written during the course of that night and the succeeding day is veiy remarkable, many of them followed by a postscript in the hand of the King himself. Monsieur Berger de Xivrey, to whose careful and judicious labors I am indebted so largely, no less than to his kindness and liberal feeling in communicating the result of his own scrupulous researches to a foreigner, has preserved five of the epistles sent by Henry to different important bodies and to individuals, all differing in tone and words, though all announcing the same facts. These are followed by several others, notifying to foreign powers the assassination of Henry III. and his own accession ; and amongst these are two to the Swiss Cantons, to whom Sully assures us the King wrote during the night of his predecessor's death. Nevertheless, as the letters of the 8th of Au- gust, presented to us by M. de Xivrey may be considered in the light of credentials in favor of the French ambassador, it is not at all improba- ble that Sully's assertion may be perfectly correct, and that these epis- tles were preceded by others. It is to be remarked that all the corres- pondence of the King at this period, abounds in promises to preserve the Roman Catholic religion in the realm ; and that he makes no allu- sion whatever to any want of cordial loyalty on the part of his nobility.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 191
the ground, clenching their fists, plotting together, giving each other the hand, making vows and promises, of which nothing was heard but the ending words — 'rather die a thousand deaths.' " One voice, however, gave the interpre- tation of all : a gentleman exclaiming aloud, at ten paces from the King, that he would rather give himself up to any ene- mies than suffer a Huguenot monarch.
While Henry retired from this confused and mutinous] crowd to take measures for his own safety, the others held a hurried consultation, and the result was soon made known, by the Duke of Longueville, at the head of a large party of the nobility, seeking the King and desiring to confer with him. As the Duke was not inclined to speak himself, Mar- shal d'O was chosen to express the sentiments of the zealous Catholics ; and, in a long oration, he pointed out to Henry the dangers of his situation, and exhorted him at once to embrace the Romish faith, as the only means of retaining the nobility of France in his service.
Henry, we are told, turned pale, either with anger or agi- tation, but he immediately replied in words which must be recorded here : — " Amongst the many wonders, gentlemen," he said, " with which God has pleased to visit us within the last twenty-four hours, that which is caused by your proceed- ing I should never have expected. Your tears — are they already dried ? The memory of your loss, and of the en- treaties of your King, not three hours ago, have they vanished, together with the respect which you owe to the words of the dying ? If you quit the path of vengeance for the act of parricide which has just been committed, how will you hold that which it is necessary to follow for the preservation of your lives and stations ? Which amongst you would wish to perfect the joy of the Parisians, and destroy an army of thirty thousand men by bringing into it confusion ? It is impossible that all here can have agreed in all the points of what I have just heard — to take me by the throat at the first step of my accession ; at so dangerous a moment to think to
192 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
drag me to that, to which men have been unable to force so many humble persons because they know how to die ! And from whom can you expect such a change of faith, except from a man who has none at all ? Would it be more agree- able to you to have a king who is without a God ? Would you trust in the faith of an Atheist ? and in the day of bat- tle, would you follow with confidence the will and guidance of the perjured apostate ? Yes, as you say, the King of Navarre has suffered great disasters without being shaken. Can he cast off spirit and heart on the steps of the throne ? However, that you may neither call my firmness obstinacy, nor my prudence cowardice, I reply to you, that I appeal from the judgment of this company to yourselves, when you have had time to think, and when there are more peers of France and officers of the crown amongst you than I see here present. Those who cannot wait for riper deliberation, which the afflic- tions of France and our fears now banish, and who yield to the vain and brief success of the enemies of the state, have my full leave to seek their wages under insolent masters. I shall yet have amongst the Catholics all who love France and their honor."*
As he was concluding this characteristic address, the brave Givri, who had carried terror into the hearts of the Pari- sians, by a cannonade after the defeat of Aumale at Senlis, entered the room, and throwing himself at the King's feet, embraced his knees, exclaiming, " I have just seen the flower
* Another speech, very much to the same purpose, is assigned to Henry by the Memoirs of the League, and other good authorities, but the date of that address is the 8th of August. I should have concluded, prehaps, that the two speeches were in fact but one, and that the mem- ory of Aubigne had failed him when he asserted that the above words were spoken by Henry to his nobles on the day after his predecessor's death; but I find in the Lettres Missives, an epistle to Monsieur de Poyanne, dated the 2nd August, pointedly referring to an address of this kind already pronounced by the King. It may be remarked also, that Aubigne, and de Sancy agree very closely in their account of these transactions, especially in regard to the views, if not to the conduct of Marshal Biron.
KING- OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 193
of your brave nobility, Sire, who reserve, till they have taken vengeance, their tears for their dead King, and wait with im- patience the commands of their living monarch. You are the King of the brave, Sir, and none but cowards will aban- don you."
Givri's entrance, and the news by which it was immedi- ately followed, that the Swiss were marching in military array to tender their oaths of fidelity to the new King, inter- rupted the painful conference in which Henry was engaged. This important movement on the part of the auxiliaries was brought about by the negotiations of M. de Sancy, who, on the death of Henry III., had hastened to insure the services of the troops he had led from Switzerland, to the aid of the royal cause.* But, nevertheless, the difficulties of the King's position increased every hour, for although Marshal d'Au- mont, Givri, Houmieres, and others devoted themselves to his cause without any conditions whatever, and the support of the Protestants was not to be doubted ; yet the Catholic party in the camp soon divided itself into three sections, one of which acknowledged him forthwith as their King and their leader, while another agreed to serve him on the condition that he should cause himself to be instructed in the Roman Catholic religion, but, in the meantime, showed him very lukewarm attachment, and the third abandoned him at once, and went over to the League. Epernon, vain, haughty, and unbending, chose his course alone, and partly, it is supposed, on account of a dispute regarding precedence between himself and the marshals, partly from disappointed ambition, retired from the court and the army, promising Henry never to take arms against him, but refusing absolutely to serve a Huguenot king. Marshal Biron, also, if we are to believe M. de Sancy, adopted a still less generous line of conduct, and demanded, as the price of his adhesion, the cession of the county of Perigord.f This, we have every ground to believe, was
* Mem. De Nevers. Tom. 2, p. 590.
f Perefixe declares that the King did not absolutely promise this VOL, II. 9
194 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
promised to him in general terms ; but he afterwards yielded to the reasons of the King for not dismembering the kingdom of France. His services, however, were undeniably very important, though he himself estimated them above their value, and though his share in retaining the troops attached to the monarch was not so great, perhaps, as that of M. de Sancy. The nobles of the Romish communion who remained, drew up a series of resolutions, upon the King's acquiescence in which, they agreed to assist, and to recognize him as their sovereign. The first of these implied that he would cause himself to be instructed, within six months, in the Catholic religion, taking for granted that instruction would produce conversion ; the second, that he would maintain that religion in the kingdom without change, and would emancipate the Catholics from all restraint in the exercise of their religious liberty throughout the territories which he possessed as King of Navarre ; the third, that in those towns and prov- inces, which in future should submit to his authority, all officers should be chosen from his Catholic subjects ; and in conclusion, that he would permit his nobles to send an am- bassador to the Pope to assign their reasons for the course they pursued.*
To these terms Henry reluctantly assented, having rejected another condition which the Catholic party sought to force upon him, and by which the exercise of every religion but their own would have been forbidden. He saw, nevertheless, that the support he received from the princes of the blood royal, from the Duke of Longueville, and from several others, would be feeble and inefficient, so long as they con- ducted their operations under his immediate command ; and he consequently resolved to detach them, at the head of va- rious bodies of troops, into the different provinces, where
boon, but the words of Sancy are distinct. In his Discours D'Etat, he says, after speaking of the demand made by Biron, " I went to tell the King of it, who ordered me to assure it to him." * Davila, Perefixe, Mem. de la Ligue.
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their own authority and influence, being menaced by the League, afforded them a strong motive for acting vigorously on behalf of the party they had chosen.
Within one day after the death of Henry III., it had be- come apparent to his successor that the siege of Paris must be abandoned, in consequence, not only of the diminution of the royalist forces, and the dissensions which existed in the Court, but also of the enthusiasm and vigor immediately generated amongst the Leaguers of Paris by the success of the criminal enterprise which had effected their deliverance from the great peril that menaced them. The news that the King had been stabbed soon reached the capital, but hopes of his recovery were rumored at the same time ; and know- ing that Henry of Navarre was at the head of his forces, the Leaguers did not venture to give way to the satisfaction they felt, lest their temporary joy should be speedily changed into disappointment. An event, however, occurred, which revealed to the Parisians the fact of the King's death sooner than it might otherwise have reached them. A combat at outrance had been fixed for the morning of the 2nd August, between John de Lisle Marivaux, on the part of the Royal- ists, and Claude de Marroles, on the side of the League, and at the hour appointed, which was early in the day, the two combatants met, behind the garden of the Chartreux, when, with all the forms of ancient chivalry, the duel took place. Marivaux was foolish enough not to fasten the vizor of his helmet, and the point of Marroles' lance striking him in the head, hurled him to the ground, and remained broken off in the wound. He died shortly after, exclaiming, "I do not regret my fate, now that my king is no more." These words gave the opposite party the first intimation of the decease of Henry III. ; and the most indecent rejoicings at once spread through the capital. The mourning in which many persons had dressed themselves, after the death of the Duke of Guise, was instantly cast off, and green scarfs were assumed as a mark of satisfaction. The Duchess of Ne-
196 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
mours and the Duchess of Montpensier drove through the streets calling to the people, " Good news, good news ; the tyrant is dead." Tables were laid at the corners of the streets, the houses were decorated as if for some great fes- tival, and almost immediately afterwards, the old Cardinal de Bourbon was proclaimed King of France under Jthe title of Charles X.* Immense efforts were made to swell the forces of Mayenne ; and as soon as it was discovered that Henry was in retreat from before Paris, the Duke hastened his preparations for the purpose of following him, with the vain boast that he would soon bring him a prisoner to Paris. In the meanwhile, however, the King showed no precipi- tate haste, but having taken his measures upon the best con- sideration, pursued his course rather as a conqueror than as a fugitive. He informed those who urged him to an imme- diate attack of the city, that, as many of his nobility had already left him, and others were very doubtful in their faith, it would be necessary to take some steps for disencumbering the army of all who hesitated in their allegiance, before any important enterprise was undertaken. For that purpose he proposed to lead his forces across two rivers, which would give those who were suspected, an opportunity of withdraw- ing from his ranks ; after which he could more fully depend upon those who remained. f He accordingly crossed the river Seine at Poissy, and thence proceeded to Pontoise, while Sully and D'Aumont made themselves masters of Meulan, a town of much importance to the King, in his position at the time. He then carried the body of Henry III. to Compiegne,J
* Journal de Henri IV. Chron. Noven.
f Discours D'Etat de Sancy.
£ The line of Henry's inarch was rather curious, and we are not aware of the circumstances which induced him to deviate so completely as he did from a direct course. By the kindness of Monsieur de Xivrey. I am en- abled to give an account of his halting places on several different days after his march from St. Cloud. Thus it would appear that on the 8th of August. 1589, he was at Poissy, on the 10th at Pontoise, on the llth he was at Marines, on the 16th he was at Clermont en Beauvoisis,
1
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taking by the way the towns of Gisors and Clermont,* and finding that the Duke of Montpensier was rallying, with greater success than he had expected, the Royalists of Normandy, he resolved to march in that direction, rather than fall back at once upon Touraine. Previous to quitting the neighbor- hood of Paris, however, he attempted to open a negotiation with Mayenne, by means of Villeroy, who had gone over to the party of the League; but no advantage attended the effort, and he found that on his own sword alone he must depend for the subjugation of his enemies. He now put in execution the plan which he had previously formed of sep- arating his army into three divisions ; and the Duke of Lon- gueville was sent at the head of a considerable force into Picardy, while another body marched into Champagne under the command of Marshal D'Aumont.f Measures were con- certed for insuring the mutual co-operation of these corps with each other, and with the King's division ; and as he still intended to proceed to Tours,^ after having gained any ad- vantages that he could in Normandy, the two generals were ordered to keep in readiness to effect a concentration of all the royal forces at that city with the utmost speed, when it should be found necessary. The army Henry retained under
though it must be remarked that a letter exists to the citizens of Metz, dated from St.Cloud on the 15th, but little doubt is entertained that the word St. Cloud appears there by an error of transcription. On the 17th the monarch was at Neuilly Saint Front, in the department of the Aisne, where he remained during the 18th, and then marched, appar- ently suddenly, to Fresne or Ecquevilly (in another letter, the name of this place is written Fresnoy, and a third letter, of the same day, is still dated from Clermont en Beauvoisis.) From that date to the 22rd we have no farther letters, but on the latter day we find the King at Pont St. Pierre, in Normandy, where he remained a part, if not the whole of the 24th, and thence marched to Dieppe, which he had reached by the 26th, as is shown by a letter in Rymer's Foedera.
* Davila. Sully.
f Lettres Missives, torn. iii. page 26. Letter to Captain Ponsort.
J This step was strongly advised by Elizabeth, Queen of England. See Letter to Monsieur de Buzenval.
198 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
his own command consisted of 1200 veteran horse, 3000 French foot, and two regiments of Swiss, with which force no great undertaking could be accomplished.* But in his progress down the Seine he received a considerable accession of strength. Montpensier had gathered together a large body of troops in the neighborhood of Andelis, and a gentle- man, known by the name of the Captain Rollet, or Roulet, a man of great courage and military skill, put the King in pos- session of the Pont de 1'Arche, which, with its bridge over the river, was considered as the key of "the Lower Seine. The monarch then took up a position at Darnetal, menacing the city of Rouen ; but on the following morning he set out at the head of a body of 400 horse for Dieppe, in order to com- municate with La Chaste, the governor of that port, of whose fidelity to the royal cause he had already received some vague assurance. Not only did La Chaste now testify the greatest attachment to his person, but the inhabitants of the town also received him with heartfelt joy ; and Vireme, governor of Caen, intimated his firm adherence to his duty, as a subject and a soldier.f Henry spent three days in examining the port, the fortifications, and the environs of Dieppe ; in con- certing his plans with La Chaste, and in dispatching letters by the hands of Philip du FresneJ to the Queen of England, to whose court that gentleman had been sent not long before by Henry III.,§ upon a similar errand. He was now charged by Henri Quatre to urge the immediate embarkation for Dieppe, of any part of the stores and reinforcements prom- ised by Elizabeth, which might be ready ; and there can be no doubt that the French monarch at this time formed his plan of retreating from Rouen to the position he afterwards assumed, and holding the armies of the League at bay till
* Cayet. Mem. de la Ligue, torn. iv. •f Mem. de la Ligue. Lettres Missives.
^ It appears from the Lettres Missives, that other envoys were sent to the Court of England about the same time. § Davila.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 199
the English succor arrived. As his object was, however, to draw Mayenne away from Paris, in order to divert him from any attempt upon the towns which were held by the Royal- ists in the vicinity of the capital, till he was himself in a state to change the defensive into an offensive campaign, Henry returned to Darnetal, after detaching a small body of cavalry,* reinforced by some infantry from Dieppe, in order to reduce the town of Neufchatel. That place was surrendered, after a sharp skirmish with a party of Leaguers in the neighbor- hood, and the satisfaction of the people of Dieppe was very great, on finding themselves so speedily delivered from the enterprises of the adverse garrison, by which they had been much incommoded. As soon as this was accomplished, the King commenced an attack upon the suburbs of Rouen, af- fecting a fixed determination of besieging that city, although his forces, which did not number 7000 men, rendered the attempt quite hopeless, and the most experienced command- ers in his army tried to dissuade him. It is generally ad- mitted, that this demonstration was merely a stratagem to draw the troops of the League from Etampes, Pontoise, and Meulan ;f and the fears of the citizens of Rouen greatly aided the King's design ; for, although the Duke of Aumale and M. de Brissac threw themselves into the place with all the forces they could muster, the inhabitants, when they saw their mills burnt and their supplies interrupted, did not fail to send messenger after messenger to Mayenne, beseeching him to hasten to their deliverance in person.
When Henry heard that the Parisian army, nearly three
* Duchesne, Recit. veritable, &c.
f I cannot find the slightest trace in any of Henry's letters of a serious design to besiege Rouen at this period. He continually refers to his intended journey to the Loire, and to his purpose of proceeding thence to the attack of Paris. In a letter to M. de Vivans, dated the 23rd of September, he says : " That he had been detained in Normandy, first, by the opportunity of recovering several small places held by the enemy, and then by force," alluding to the position in which he was placed at Arques by the advance of the Duke of Mayenne.
200 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
times as strong as his own, was marching towards him, he seemed to pay more attention to the remonstrances of his officers ; and at length as the advanced guard of Mayenne approached Vernon, he began his retreat, leaving Darnetal on the 2nd September, and retiring slowly, and in good order upon Dieppe. He took the town of Eu by the way ; but at that place intelligence of the real numbers of Mayenne's force reached him, and he found that the League had been strengthened on the march by the junction of a considerable body of German cavalry, by a reinforcement sent by the Prince of Parma from the Low Countries, and by the arrival of the Marquis de Pont with 3,000 French horse and foot. Everything showed him, too, that his enemy, not content with delivering Rouen, was advancing to attack him, re- solved to risk a general battle ; and he accordingly hastened his movements, to gain the advantage of position, as some compensation for the scantiness of his numbers. At the same time he sent off messengers to Longueville and D'Au- mont, commanding them to join him without loss of time ; and turning upon Dieppe, he marched at once to the spot on which he had previously determined to fight should circum- stances render it necessary.
The town of Dieppe is situated at the extremity of two ranges of hills, with the small river Bethune flowing between them. The valley on either side of the river is still marshy, and was in those days a complete morass, caused by the re- gorging of the waters of the Bethune, from the action of the sea in high tides. The approach to the town was then by two roads only, one raised upon a tortuous causeway across the morass, which terminated at the gates of the town itself; the other descending from the height on the left, straight to the suburb beyond the port, which is called the Pollet. Several small rivers, the Arques, the Eaulne, and the various branches of the Bethune, interrupted the course of the cause- way, which was carried over numerous bridges, and rendered the valley dangerous and difficult for an advancing army.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 201
The town, though not strongly fortified, was not without de- fences, and the citadel on the western side commanded the place on one hand, and the open country on the other. The heights to the west of the Bethune approach very near the city (which is not the case with the eastern range), and they extend, increasing in elevation for several miles, till they are crowned by the castle of Arques, with the small village of that name at the foot of the declivity. Above is a wide ex- tent of table land, and here Henry chose his position, facing the valley, and extending from the castle of Arques on his right towards the town of Dieppe on his left. La Chaste was left in command of Dieppe, and his garrison augmented by several companies of infantry. The castle of Arques re- ceived some pieces of artillery, and Henry, with his whole army, labored night and day, after his arrival, to strengthen his position by intrenchments, with lines of communication between them, and redoubts and ravelins, at sixty paces dis- tance.* He afterwards caused the village of Arques to be defended by similar intrenchments, and placed one of the Swiss regiments therein, with two pieces of artillery, taking possession at the same time of an hospital, which he left in the hands of some of the French guard, to support a small party thrown forward to the very bank of the river, nearly opposite to the village of Martinglise, on the other side of the Bethune, which he did not doubt the enemy would occupy. His infantry were principally stationed at Arques, and in the intrenched camp above ; while his cavalry were posted on his left towards Dieppe, sheltered from the ememy's fire by some valleys, and the thick wood which at that time covered the slope of the hill towards the east.
By the movements of Mayenne, on his approach, the King judged that the suburb of the Pollet might be one of the first
* The personal labors of the King were at this time immense. He arrived at Dieppe on the 8th of September, and on the 9th, in a letter to Madame de Grammont, he says, " It is a marvel how I live with the labor I undergo. God have pity upon me and show me mercy."
9*
202 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
points attacked ; and as upon it greatly depended the safety of his position, he hastened to strengthen it to the utmost of his power, intrenching a mill which commanded the road, and throwing up some works to defend the different ap- proaches. The inhabitants of the Pollet, as well as those of Arques, were zealous in his cause, and men women and chil- dren, labored incessantly, till the defences were completed. He then stationed Chatillon and Guitry in the suburb, with a body of French infantry.
On the 13th of September the army of Mayenne began to appear, crowning the opposite heights, in numbers variously stated, from thirty to five and thirty thousand men.* The forces of the King, according to several statements of good authority, did not amount to more than one fifth of the ene- my ; but he had with him some of the best and most resolute troops in France, and some of the most sagacious and gallant commanders, — men who had been formed in the civil wars, and acquired experience in many a long campaign and hard fought field. Amongst the noblemen present were Marshal Biron, Charles de Montmorency, Chatillon, Montpensier, Des Rieux, Guitry, du Hallot, La Force, and the Grand Prior, natural son of Charles IX., who greatly distinguished himself in the events that followed.
Several days passed in light skirmishes, the cavalry of the King attacking the quarters of the enemy, and showing none of that apprehension which the Leaguers expected to find in the little corps which they kept shut in between them- selves and the sea; but on the 16th the Duke's intention of attacking the Pollet became manifest, and the infantry of the League began to descend towards that suburb, supported
* It is probable that the army of Mayenne did not amount to more than 30,000, in which statement both Sully and Davila agree. Henry himself says, in one letter, " Us sont forts, au double de moi," when they were pursuing him from Rouen ; but they were reinforced by the way, and in another letter, dated 26th of September, he reckons them " dix contre un."
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 203
by a large body of heavy cavalry ; while the light horse upon his left took post in the village of Martinglise, to give occupation to the Royal forces at Arques. The Pollet, how- ever, as it commanded the harbor in which Henry soon ex- pected the promised reinforcements from England, was an object of the greatest importance to both parties, and leaving Marshal Biron in Arques, Henry hastened to the suburb with a body of horse and foot, and maintained it during the whole day, against a sharp attack on the part of Mayenne. The General of the League made not the slightest progress in that quarter, and retired defeated towards night. At the same time a skirmish had taken place between Martinglise and Arques, in which likewise the Leaguers were repulsed with considerable loss. The three following days passed in sharp conflicts without bringing on a general battle, while preparations were made on the part of Mayenne for one vig- orous assault upon the King's intrenchments at Arques.
I must pause here for one moment, to relate an anecdote respecting Henry's demeanor at this time, which cannot be passed over in the history of his life. A party of his light horse having been sent out to gain intelligence, encountered a small body of the enemy, and captured the Count de Belin, whom they brought prisoner to the King's head-quarters. Henry advanced on foot to meet him, and embraced him with his usual courteous good- humor ; but seeing that the Count gazed round him on every side with astonishment and sur- prise, looking for an army, and beholding nothing but a few small parties of soldiers scattered here and there, the King exclaimed, with a gay and confident air, " You do not per- ceive all that I have with me, M. de Belin, for you do not reckon God and the right on my side."
" Accustomed as I was," says Sully, " to see this Prince, I could not help wondering at his serene and tranquil coun- tenance, on which, in circumstances so desperate, that no time was given for reflection, appeared at once an air of coolness and of ardor, which seemed to the soldiers to be
204 THE LIFE OP HENRY IV.
something more than human, and inspired them in their turn with all the intrepidity of their chief."
Perceiving on the 20th, that the design of Mayenne was to take Dieppe, or to force him to an immediate battle, Henry determined to strengthen his post still further, by throwing up another intrenchment in the valley, at a considerable dis- tance in front of his real position, without any intention of defending it obstinately,* but merely to break the strength of the first attack. He labored hard then to complete it, carry- ing the work from the corner of a little wood on the slope of the hill, near which was a chapel, down into the meadows beyond the hospital. In this he placed a body of lanzknects, who had below them a hollow way, garnished with two thick hedges, while above the hospital were ranged three compa- nies of light horse, commanded by the Grand Prior. These were supported again by three companies of men-at-arms, and at a little distance from them was stationed a body of horse, under the Princes of Conde and Conti, and at the head of the trench appeared Marshal Biron, with a consider- erable number of the Royalist nobility. The intrenchment was not completed till night ; and Henry himself, apprehen- sive of surprise, refused to retire to rest at all. Early in the morning he caused his breakfast to be brought to him in the trench, and called some of his principal officers to partake of it with him. He had scarcely commenced, however, when the intelligence was brought, that the enemy were advancing in order of battle, and immediately the King mounted his horse and prepared to receive them. It was a misty morn- ing, so that the troops of Mayenne could scarcely be per- ceived as they approached with a firm face towards the heights of Arques. The first attack was made on the side of the hospital, where the. German lanzknecls, which formed the advanced guard of the League, supported by two French regiments, were encountered by their countrymen in the first
* This work is called in the account of the battle given in the Me- moires de la Ligue, " une tranchee perdue."
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 205
intrenchment, which had just been constructed.* The lanz- knects of the League, fatigued with their march, and alarmed at the sight of the defences thrown up against them, deter- mined, it would appear, to have recourse to a treacherous stratagem, and putting their hats on the points of their pikes, gave the Royalist commanders to understand that they were coming to join the party of the King. Presenting an appear- ance of great disarray, and crowded together in consequence of passing the wood, their assurances were believed, espe- cially as a report had reached the Royal army that Mayenne's foreign troops were in a state of mutiny for want of pay. The Germans in the trenches, accordingly, instead of resisting their countrymen of the opposite army, aided them to pass, and Marshal Biron himself came down towards them, at first with the intention of charging them, but afterwards, when he learned what had taken place, to receive them as friends. They were thus permitted to advance close to the person of the King, and some of their leaders are even said to have kissed his hand in sign of submission.
In the meanwhile several charges of cavalry had taken place, in the course of which, after gallant efforts to main- tain the field, the Grand Prior, and the body he commanded, had been forced back upon the chapel near the wood, though not without severe loss upon the part of the enemy. Du- ring the combat, the Grand Prior killed the Count de Sagonne with his own hand, and Henry himself hastened to rally his retreating cavalry, but was soon so far entangled
* In the various accounts of the battle of Arques, as in those of most other battles, there are great discrepancies ; and I have been forced to select those parts from the different narratives which seem most prob- able, or are harmonious with those of other well-informed persons, without depending entirely upon any one statement for the whole facts. I may mention here, however, that the Memoirs of the League say, the battle was commenced by charges of cavalry on the part of Mayenne. It is not at all improbable, that according to the system of warfare in that day, the advance of the infantry was covered and supported by these charges of cavalry.
206 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
amongst the fugitives, that for some time he was in great danger, till the infantry advanced to the support of the horse, with Chatillon at their head. At this time, the Germans who had pretended to come over, choosing the moment when the Royalist horse were in disorder, resumed the attack upon the trenches, charged the Swiss, and began firing upon the body of nobility which surrounded the King. Several of their balls are said to have struck his armor ; and the trench was gained, notwithstanding all the efforts of Galati, the commandant of the Royalist Swiss, and of Marshal Biron, whose horse was killed under him. Chatillon, however, pushed forward, charging two regiments of the League with such fury that they were driven back in confusion. The Royalist Swiss rallied behind his corps, and Henry, having disentangled himself from the crowd, came to their aid with his nobility. A fierce attack was now made upon the lanz- knects in the trench, and after a resistance of a quarter of an hour, they gave way and fled in disorder. A number of charges succeeded in the fog, Henry himself acting the part both of general and soldier ; and, at length, the Duke of Montpensier coming up to his assistance, the Duke of Aumale, who led a large body of the cavalry of the League, was defeated, and driven back for a considerable distance at the point of the lance. Towards eleven o'clock the mist began to clear away, exposing the whole force of Mayenne, still pouring on into the narrow and difficult field which was already crowded with combatants ; but this accident, which at first the Royalists looked upon as a disaster that must in- sure their speedy destruction, proved, on the contrary, their salvation. The cannon of the castle of Arques, which had been hitherto useless because of the obscurity that hung over the battle, now opened upon the advancing columns of Mayenne with terrible effect, tearing through the ranks of cavalry and infantry, and spreading consternation and dis- may wherever the shots fell. The service of the Royal artil- lery was admirable ; the cannon of the League could not be
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 207
brought into action, and after having wavered for a short time, the army of Mayenne retired in disorder behind the shoulder of the hill, which soon concealed from the wearied Royalists the multitude that seemed destined to drive them into the sea.
The battle of Arques would only deserve the name of skirmish, if the killed were alone taken into account ; for the loss of the League only amounted to 400 men, and that of Henry IV, to a much smaller number. The vast im- portance of the result, and the strength of the army by which the attack was made, rendered the King's success well deserving of the name of a great victory.
Henry retired after the battle to Arques, whence he wrote to announce the event which had just occurred to his friends, using to one, who had ever been renowned for his daring courage, the characteristic words, " Hang yourself, brave Crillon, we have fought at Arques, and you were not there." Various anecdotes are told of his conduct during the day, some of which are worthy of repetition here. Before the battle began, as he passed along the regiment of Swiss under Galati, he addressed the old officer, saying, " Father, keep me a pike here ; for I intend to fight at the head of your battalion ;" and when endeavoring to rally his cavalry, he stopped the horsemen, man by man, exclaiming, " Cannot I find fifty gentlemen in all France, resolute enough to die with their King ?" Riding forward, too, to bring back a regiment to the charge, he called aloud to their Colonel, " Comrade, I have come to die or win honor along with you."
The danger, however, was not over when the day of Arques was at an end ;* the troops of Mayenne were re-
* In speaking of the day of Arques, I allude to that day on which the grand attack upon Henry's position was made ; for during eighteen or nineteen days frequent conflicts took place between the two armies, three of which are marked by Henry himself, in a letter to M. de Lestelle, as very important ; " combats en gros." That day — which is distin-
208 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
pulsed but not routed ; and he immediately recommenced his attack upon the Pollet, and attempted the town of Dieppe itself. Wherever the struggle was, there was the person of the King, and three days passed in continual skir- mishes, only one of which is worthy of notice, on account of an ingenious artifice practised on that occasion, in conse- quence of which a party of the Leaguers met with a severe reverse. Instead of keeping his troops within the walls of the town, or in their intrenchments on the heights, Henry sent out a small body of cavalry, under the Baron de Biron, to brave the whole army of Mayenne in the plain. Two squad- rons of horse advanced to charge it; but as soon as the soldiers of the League had arrived within a few hundred yards, the Royalist force opened, presenting two large cul- verins, which instantly commenced a murderous fire upon the assailants, and compelled them to retreat in disorder.
While these affairs of arms were taking place before Dieppe, other events were occurring at a distance, highly favorable to Henry's ultimate designs. The corps of the Duke of Longueville, of the Count de Soissons, and of Marshal d'Aumont, had effected their junction, and were marching rapidly to the support of the King ; and, on the other hand, a fleet, containing a large quantity of military stores and a considerable sum of money, had set sail from the shores of England. This timely supply reached the port of Dieppe on the 23rd of September ;* on the 30th of that month, 1500 Scottish infantry disembarked;! and on the 1st
guished from the others on which engagements occurred between parts of the two armies, by the attempt to force the King's lines at Arques — strange to say, receives a wrong date in many of the most credible authors of the time, several of whom were present on the occasion. The Memoirs of the League place the attack on the 23rd of September ; but a letter from Henry, dated on that very day, clearly shows that this de- cisive movement was over, and there can be no doubt that the true date is the 21st September, 1589.
* Memoires d'Angouleme, collection de Petitot.
f In a letter from Henry to M. de St. Aulaire, dated the 1st October,
KING OF PRANCE AND NAVARRE. 209
or 2nd of October, an English force, consisting of 4000 men, under the command of Lord Willoughby, entered the harbor.*
The position of Mayenne now became critical ; but he lin- gered, unwilling to retreat disgraced, before an army so in- ferior in numbers to his own, till Longueville and d'Aumont were within a few marches of his camp,f and he had seen the sails of the English ships in the harbor of Dieppe. He then retired in haste ; but Henry, at the head of a body of light troops, followed him as far as Gamaches ; after which the King returned to make preparations with his allies for the further operations of the campaign. He was destined, however, to receive a bitter mortification in the hour of vic- tory. While hearing the services of his religion performed in his own quarters, several of his Catholic officers expressed aloud their rage at the celebration of Protestant rites ; in the camp the outcry spread to the soldiery ; a tumult took place, in which some of the Huguenots were wounded, and the King, with tears of indignation in his eyes, was forced to quit his quarters and finish his devotions in the open field.J Henry nevertheless subdued his anger ; and while Mayenne sent a
the King states that the Scotch reinforcements arrived on the preceding day.
* In the letter just cited Henry expresses his expectation of the arrival of his English allies on the day following ; and, on the 3rd October, we find, from a letter of thanks to Queen Elizabeth, that they had reached the shores of France.
f Some authors have asserted, that Longueville, Soissons, and d'Au- mont had actually joined the King before the retreat of Mayenne : but such is clearly shown not to have been the case, by a letter from Henry to Mons. de Flers, dated 15th October, (Lettres Missives, torn, iii.) Mayenne had retreated before the 7th of that month, for the King men- tions the fact in a letter of that date, probably written while he was pur-- suing the enemy towards Gamaches.
£ So firmly did Henry persist in the exercise of the Protestant faith at this time, that, in a letter to Monsieur du Plessis Mornay, dated the 7th of November, 1589, he says, " Je n'ay point interims 1'exercise de la religion partout ou jay este, tellement que telle sepmaine sept presches se sont faicts a Dieppe par le Sr. d'Amours."
210 THE LIFE OP HENRY IV.
number of ensigns, which he had taken in one or two small towns which he had reduced in his march, together with four, captured in the trenches at Arques by the treacherous lanzknects, as proofs of his victory, to the Leaguers in the capital, Henry prepared, at the head of his united forces, to carry the more certain tidings of his own success to the gates of Paris.*
* In giving the above account of the defence of Dieppe and Arques, I have' found many difficulties, from the very opposite statements made by Aubigne, the Memoirs of the League, Cayet, Davila, and others, who do not agree even in regard to the day on which the battle of Arques took place. One of the best, if not the very best authority, we have, for the events which occurred between the commencement of August and the end of September, 1589, is the two letters of M. de Fresne Forget, Secretary of State to Henry IV. We find in them an ample narrative of all the movements of the King ; and, although the style is not that of a military man, yet the account is much more clear and precise than that of Aubigne. By the first of these letters} we learn that it certainly never was Henry's intention to besiege Rouen ; that his demonstrations against that city were made merely as a feint to draw Mayenne from Etampes, and other places in the neigborhood of Paris ; and that the whole campaign was conducted upon a regular plan, the success of which fully answered the monarch's expectations. We also find by that letter (of the 7th of September), that although Henry had not supposed Mayenne could bring so large a force into the field, to pursue him across the Seine, he was yet under no apprehen- sions in regard to the result ; and the intimation which the writer gives, that the King was determined, notwithstanding the inferiority of his numbers, to fight the enemy, even before the junction of the reinforce- ments he expected, and that he doubted not, soon to be once more under the walls of Paris, shows how accurately that great commander had calculated his means, and those of the adverse party — how firmly he adhered to his plan, and how clearly he had foreseen the issue. Neither can there remain any doubt upon the minds of those who read this letter, that he had early fixed upon the position at Arques, as the spot where he would make his stand, and that he left nothing to chance, which prudence and skill could accomplish.
The second letter, only bearing date September, distinctly states, that Henry had determined his post beforehand ; and it then goes on to give a succinct account of the battle of Arques ; but one thing is to be re- marked in the copy of these letters, which is found in the Memoirs of
KINO OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 211
Nevers, namely, that the second epistle ought to stop at the words " so that the prisons of Dieppe are quite full of them :" i. e. prisoners. The rest is evidently, and beyond all question, added by another hand — prob- ably that of Gomberville, and is clearly borrowed from the Memoirs of the League. The former part has all the marks of having been written by a person at the time, taking a deep interest in acts wherein he had a share, the latter part is full of reflections that never could have suggest- ed themselves till long after the events had occurred ; and it also speaks of what French historians had said at a much later period. Neverthe- less, whether the latter part of the letter be the composition of De Fresne Forget or not, it does not in the least justify the assertion which has been founded upon it, that Henry IV. contemplated embarking from Dieppe for England when he found himself assailed by the superior force of the Duke, and that he was only dissuaded from doing so by Biron. On the contrary, though it uses the expression, " he listened to the proposition to go into England ;" it goes on at once, " but he rejected it proudly, and declared that he would never be another King of Portugal." The whole context of the two letters, indeed, proves that Henry — as soon as he found, from the desertion of many of his nobility, that a retreat from Paris was inevitable — laid out the whole plan of his campaign, resolving to draw Mayenne from his resources, to lead him to neglect the towns in the neighborhood of Paris, to retreat upon a sea-port in order to re- ceive the assistance of England, and to choose a position in which he could maintain himself till the arrival of that assistance enabled him to resume the offensive, and march either across the country to the Loire or back to Paris. The place which he chose was Arques ; and it is to be remarked, that in no point did the military talents of Henry display themselves more strikingly, than in the selection of his fields of battle.
212 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
BOOK XII.
SEVERAL events of importance had taken place in distant parts of France during the retreat of Henry IV. from Paris, upon Dieppe and Arques. The friends of the throne had remained inactive for many months, either awed by the dar- ing exploits of the house of Guise, or affected by that timid- ity which too commonly paralyzes the efforts of the lovers of peace and order in the face of agitation and tumult ; but they now rallied in various provinces, and displayed once more the energies which had only slumbered. The Count de Soissons, who had been captured and held a prisoner in Nantes by the Duke de Mercceur, contrived to make his es- cape ; and some time before the retreat of Mayenne from the valley of Arques, he had hastened to Tours, collected a large number of noblemen, and commenced his march to join the King.
Henry, however, confident in his own strength, and proba- bly doubting the stability of his cousin's affections, com- manded him not to pass the Seine, but to unite his corps with that of M. de Schomberg, who was then leading a body of 2700 German auxiliaries to the assistance of the new mon- arch of France :* an order which the Count did not think fit to disobey. The junction of the two commanders was easily effected, and marching to Compiegne, where they were met by Marshal D'Aumont, they advanced towards Dieppe with an army, which the forces of the Duke of Longueville swelled to the number of 2000 horse and 10,000 foot.f
* De Fresne.
•f Lettres Missives, torn. iii. page 43 ; letter dated 23rd September to Monsieur de Vivans.
KINO* OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 213
During the short time D'Aumont had spent in Cham- pagne, and Longueville in Picardy, they had endeavored to wear out the rebellious inhabitants of those provinces by a system of warfare of a terrible and desolating kind, sweeping the whole country of its produce, and obliging the popu- lation of all fortified towns to keep within their walls, with famine menacing them in the city, and the sword of civil strife pursuing them in the field.
Neither had the partisans of the League been inactive in the more remote provinces, while Mayenne followed the King towards Dieppe. Every effort was made by the adherents of the house of Guise, not only to maintain themselves by force of arms, but also to rouse the passions of the subjects against their King, and to employ their prejudices and their weaknesses as instruments to work the overthrow of the royal authority. The Count de Randan made himself master of the town of Issoire, and kept the greater part of Auvergne in subjection to the League. The inhabitants of Tou- louse, and many other cities in the south of France, dis- played, in deeds of brutal ferocity, their bigoted adherence to the faction. The agents which the League kept in pay all over the country, labored incessantly to stir up the people to revolt ; and the provincial parliaments in those districts which had espoused the cause of the Union, published the most furious and treasonable proclamations against their monarch, denouncing him as a tyrant and usurper, and men- acing his supporters with the utmost penalties of the law. Such was the course pursued at once by the Parliament of Toulouse ; and that of Rouen, some time after, even exceeded it in violence and impotent malice.
At the same time, the most false and absurd statements were put forth regarding the proceedings both of the League and of Henry, representing the troops of the faction every- where victorious, the Duke of Longueville and Marshal D'Aumont repulsed by the Duke of Nemours, the town of Arques, and even Dieppe itself, taken, the English fleet de-
214 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
feated and driven from the coast of France, an army of Ger- man Protestants dispersed on the frontiers of Lorraine, and the King totally ruined.* Nor were the most gross and criminal means neglected to decry the monarch, and alien- ate from him the affections of his people. Letters, forged by the partisans of the League, bearing the signatures of Henry and the Secretary of State, were published in all the towns of France, displaying designs for the total subversion of the Roman Catholic religion, and for the establishment of a system of tyranny and oppression, the most opposite to the character and feelings of the King, One of these libels was a supposed letter from Henry to the canton of Berne, in which the monarch was made to rejoice openly at the death of Henry III., to inform the Swiss that the declaration by which he had engaged to maintain the Catholic faith in France, was a mere stratagem for the purpose of meeting the necessity of the time, and to hold out the speedy estab- lishment of the Protestant religion in France. Hints were also given, in the same document, of an intention, on the part of Henry, to give up France to be plundered by his foreign allies ; and nothing was omitted which could excite the indignation of his subjects against him, except a prudent imitation of his style and language, and an endeavor to pre- serve some harmony between the views attributed to him and his well known disposition. Another document, of the same character, was forged by the Jesuits of Troyes with greater skill, but still bearing sufficient indications of the manufactory in which it was produced. People were even placed at the corners of the streets, to spread similar false- hoods, and to cry up the actions of the League ; and we are assured, by various authorities, that standards and ensigns were manufactured by the cunning artisans of the faction, and brought into Paris as trophies of victories, which had
* That these reports speedily reached Henry's ears, and that he treated them with the contempt they merited, is shown by the King's letter to Monsieur de Poyanne, dated 7th October, 1589.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 215
never been obtained. In his own proclamations, the Duke of Mayenne acted with more dignity and prudence ; but at the same time, though occasionally using the name of the Cardinal de Bourbon as the king whom he acknowledged, he employed the terms and assumed the authority of a sove- reign,* and even ventured to issue a summons, calling out the ban and arriere ban for the service of the League.
Every demagogue is necessarily, in a degree, an instru- ment of the passions he excites, and there can be no doubt that Mayenne was both obliged to suffer, and to perform many acts which in his heart he condemned.
Thus, the honors shown to the memory and to the family of the assassin of Henry III. were equally impolitic and criminal. His portraits were painted with a glory round the head, his mother was sought out, and brought to Paris, where she was treated with every mark of reverence, and a sum of money was assigned to her by the Council of the Union for the immense services which her son had rendered to France. f
It would be endless to trace all the intrigues, or to record all the libels, or to comment on all the follies and crimes of the rebel faction ; but it has seemed necessary, by these few •words, to point out the course pursued, although it was the same that is universally followed by all persons who seek, for their private interests and passion, to overthrow existing in- stitutions. Falsehood and delusion in regard to the motives of the assailing party, and calumny and libel against those who defend, are uniformly amongst the means employed, and generally precede, while they always accompany, a re- course to brute force, for the physical rebellion against law and order, cannot be long sustained without a moral rebel- lion against reason and truth.
Within a few days after the battle of Arques, the rela- tive condition of the armies of the League and the King,
* Mem. de Nevers, torn, ii., p. 605. t Pithou. Satyre Menipee. Cayet.
216 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
was entirely changed. United with D'Aumont, Longueville, and his English allies, Henry found himself at the head of a force of twenty thousand foot, three thousand horse, and fourteen large pieces of artillery ; while the soldiers of May- enne disbanded themselves every day, as he marched on into Picardy to meet a considerable reinforcement, which had been promised him by the Prince of Parma. Victory, too, had restored confidence to the monarch's friends, whereas defeat had disheartened his enemies ; and a vast relief from most pressing difficulties, had been afforded to the French monarch, by the arrival of the English fleet in the port of Dieppe, before Mayenne commenced his retreat. The Roy- alist soldiery were already murmuring at the non-payment of their arrears, and until he received the seasonable supply of money, which Elizabeth at that time furnished, Henry was totally destitute of the means of discharging even a part of the sums already due. With wise promptitude he instantly distributed the funds, now placed at his disposal, amongst the troops ; and his alacrity in so doing, won the affection, and raised the expectation of his impoverished fol- lowers. An announcement immediately followed, that his next movement was to be at once upon Paris, and it was hailed with acclamations and rejoicings by all ; for the vigor, skill and decision he had shown, throughout the whole of the campaign, the plan of which now began to be understood and appreciated, afforded to his forces the most confident hopes of success in the proposed attempt upon the capital.* Marching on, up the right bank of the river, as if to show the whole kingdom that it was Mayenne who avoided a gen- eral engagement,! the King appeared within a league of
* Charles Duchesne, physician to Henry IV., or a writer assuming his name, informs us, that while still in Normandy, Henry received a letter from the old Cardinal de Bourbon, whom the League had recog- nized as King, renouncing all title to the undesired distinction which was thrust upon him, and admitting fully Henry's right to the throne.
t In all Henry's letters, at this time, he alludes to the efforts he made
KIN a OF FRANCE A is D XAVARBE. 21 7
Paris, on the 31st October, and took up his quarters in the villages of Gentilli, Montrouge, Vaugirard, and other small places in the neighborhood of the capital. On the follow- ing day he determined to attack the suburbs, and having himself reconnoitred the intrenchments which had been constructed for their defence, he divided his infantry into three parties ; the first of which, under the command of Marshal Biron, was ordered to march at break of day upon St. Marceau and St. Victor ; while at the same hour, the second, under D'Aumont and Damville, approached St. Jacques and St. Michel ; and the third, under La Noue, Chatillon, and Sully, assailed the Faubourg St. Germain, the richest and most important quarter without the walls. The troops were excited with the hope of immense booty, and many of their leaders had a store of bitter injuries to avenge, so that the hour of attack was looked for with eager impatience on the part of the Royalist army.
Terror and confusion, on the contrary, reigned in Paris. The inhabitants were too well aware that, unaided, they were incapable of defending themselves against their justly irritated monarch ; all the principal commanders of the League were absent, and their precise situation unknown ; and the evident alarm of the Duchesses of Nemours and Montpensier, increased the apprehension of the citizens. Those who were favorable to the royal cause indulged in better hopes ; but the seditious preachers, and the remnant of the Parliament, endeavored to stir up the populace to offer a vigorous resistance. The King was libelled and at- tacked from the pulpit, while his troops were actually under the walls,* and the monks and friars prepared to put on the cuirass and wield the sword against the object of their big- oted hatred. Nothing, however, could give confidence to the people, till, towards night, one of Mayenne's principal
to bring Mayenne to an engagement. See Lettres Missives, under the dates 16th October, 2nd November, 4th November, 1589.
* L'Etoile. VOL. II. 10
218 THE LiJb'E OV HENKY IV.
officers, named de Rosne, who had taken Etampes a short time before, made his way into the town with a small party of horse. His arrival restored some courage to the council of the League, and measures were instantly adopted for de- fending the suburbs.
On the following morning, 1st November, 1589, the attack was commenced by the three divisions of the royal army, each corps of infantry being supported by a small body of gentlemen and a few pieces of artillery ; while the cavalry, in three squadrons, commanded by Henry himself, the Count de Soissons, and the Duke of Longueville, was held as a re- serve. The Parisians now found how little they were able to resist the veteran forces of the King ; their intrenchments were speedily carried at every point, their barricades broken, and the Royalists rushed in, driving all before them. The most severe struggle of the day took place in the Faubourg St. Germain, where the Abbey having been fortified, held out for some time ; but the undisciplined multitude were soon driven back; a large body was surrounded in one of the squares, and a terrible slaughter ensued : the gates could not be shut, before some of the royal soldiers had forced their way in, and several even reached the Pont Neuf.* They were not followed by their companions, however, and were recalled to the suburb, where the pillage had immediately begun. The artillery did not arrive till a long time after the infantry of Henry's army had been in possession of the sub- urbs ; but the cause of the delay is not mentioned by the historians of the times, and Sully seems to imply, that there was a certain degree of unwillingness on the part of the King to press forward into the city itself, which he ascribes to a knowledge that Mayenne, with recruited forces, was at the gates, and that the storming of Paris must either be followed by a most sanguinary struggle in the streets of the town, or by a siege, in which the Royalist troops would have had to contend with the large army of the League, supported by
* Sully.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 219
the whole power of Spain, without the walls, and with a re- bellious population within. Two other considerations might undoubtedly affect the great monarch ; and his after conduct leads us to believe that they were not without some weight. Much difficulty might have occurred, had he taken the city by storm, in restraining his soldiers from committing acts, in the excitement of an assault, which would have stained his cause with the charge of cruelty towards his subjects ; and an absolute impossibility existed of maintaining his forces in the capital without bringing upon it all the disasters of fam- ine. He, himself, had made no provision against a siege; and the inhabitants, taught to believe that he was defeated and fugitive before Mayenne, had never imagined that he would so soon appear before their gates ; so that no stores had been laid up which he might have rendered available for his own defence. Nevertheless, there can be no doubt what- ever, that Henry, both before and after the assault of the suburbs, proposed to force his way into the capital itself, and an order, under the King's own hand, to Monsieur de Haram- bure, is still extant,* directing that officer to attack the gates, while the gallant La Noue made a desperate effort to swim the Seine on horseback, and surprise the quarter called la Cite. Both attempts failed : La Noue was nearly drowned in his bold enterprise ; Monsieur de Harambure was repulsed from the Porte St. Germain ; and Henry, for that day, con- tented himself with the capture of the suburbs. Though the resistance had been obstinate, we find no record of any fur- ther excesses than the pillage of the wealthy houses, though a vague charge of avenging his father's murder upon those who were found with arms in their hands is made by some authors against Chatillon.f It is evident, from all accounts, that the peaceable inhabitants were spared ; but from seven to nine hundred of the Parisians fell, and a great number were taken, as well as from ten to thirteen pieces of artillery. J
* Lettres Missives, tome iii. page 83. f Le Grain.
t Aubigne, Memoires de la Ligue.
220 THE LIFE OF HENKY IV.
Towards eight o'clock Henri Quatre entered the Faubourg St. Jacques, and rode through the streets, the people shout- ing with every mark of joy, " Long live the King !" as he passed along. It is not, indeed, improbable, that even a ma- jority of the citizens were favorable to his cause, for in all popular struggles, the voices of the moderate and peaceful, however numerous, are generally overpowered by the outcry of the violent and the turbulent ; and the innumerable false- hoods put forth by the League, afford just cause to believe that their statements of their strength were as fallacious as the accounts of their success.
The rest of the day was passed in securing the suburbs from any efforts directed against them from the side of the town, in reducing the Abbey of St. Germain, which surren- dered before night, and in adopting measures to prevent out- rages. Especial care was taken to guard against the slightest injury to the religious buildings ; and so exact was the dis- cipline maintained, that the mass for All Saints' day was celebrated in all the churches ; and the Roman Catholic soldiery of the attacking force proceeded to fulfil peacefully the duties of their religion in the temples of the suburbs, which they had stormed in the morning.*
After the surrender of the Abbey of St. Germain, Henry ascended one of the highest towers to reconnoitre the city, and remained some time watching the agitated multitudes of the capital, as they hurried hither and thither in tumult and consternation. He acknowledged afterwards, we are told, that finding himself, for a time, left nearly alone with one of the monks, the knife of Jacques Clement presented itself to his imagination ; but no attempt was made to injure him. Amongst the prisoners, however, was Edmond, or Edme, Bourgoing, Prior of the Jacobin convent, to which the assas- sin of Henry III. had been attached. He was taken with the cuirass on his shoulders, and arms in his hands ; and at
* Davila. Perefixe.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 221
the same time several of the council of the League were cap- tured under similar circumstances.
While the King had marched unopposed from Dieppe to Paris, Mayenne had crossed the Somme, and advanced into Picardy, where the town of La Fere had been surprised by the Marquis de Megnelai on the part of the League. With a view of obtaining immediate assistance, the Duke had pre- viously opened negotiations with Spain, by deputies sent to meet the envoys of the Spanish monarch at Arras, but the Duke of Parma had shown no willingness to afford the amount of aid required, unless certain frontier towns were given up to him, alleging the necessity of securing his re- treat ; but doubtless desiring, under such pretext, to extend the Spanish territory on the side of Picardy. It would seem that Mayenne conceded the point, but difficulties were made by the towns themselves ; and it became necessary both to persuade the governors to submit, and to confer in person with the envoys of the Viceroy, who agreed to send a rein- forcement under Monsieur de la Motte, to reinvigorate the party of the League, but would not make any great effort in its favor, without obtaining some present and future advan- tages for the crown of Spain.
The important city of Amiens, devoted to the interests of the faction, received Mayenne with joy, and even offered him royal honors. This perilous distinction he wisely declined to accept ; but, in order to gratify the magistrates of the place, he showed the most unfeeling coldness to the Duchess of Longueville and her mother-in-law, who were detained as prisoners by the people of the city, refusing to intercede even for a mitigation of the extraordinary rigor with which the furious bigots of that town treated two ladies nearly allied to himself.* The Duke was soon recalled from Picardy, however, by the letters of M. de Rosne,f who judged at once, from the course which Henry pursued, after quitting
* Mem. de Nevers, torn. ii. p. 191. t Cayet.
222
THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
Dieppe, that an attack upon the capital was meditated by the Royalists.
Mayenne was naturally of a slow and inactive disposition, and disease, produced, it is said, by some excesses which he had committed during his stay in Paris, at the commence- ment of the year, had increased his ordinary tardiness. In- stead of hurrying on forthwith, he sent forward the Duke of Nemours to the assistance of the Parisians, and, had the prudent precautions of Henry been duly attended to, it is more than probable, that the capital would have been obliged to capitulate to the King, before a sufficient force arrived to restore confidence to the Council of the League. Henry had ordered the bridge of St. Maxence on the Oise to be de- stroyed ; but Montmorenci Thore, who was charged with the important task, had been taken ill at Senlis ; and the Duke of Nemours having obtained possession of the passage, reached Paris on the night of the 1st of November, with a considerable body of horse, and the intelligence that May- enne himself was on his march. The tidings of the capture of the suburbs by the King, which were soon after brought to the leader of the League, roused him from his inactivity, and hastening forward with but little order, he entered Paris early on Thursday, the 2nd of the month, delivering the Pa- risians from the terrible apprehensions which they had justly entertained.
Henry now perceived that any farther efforts against the city itself would be vain, especially as, in his rapid march, a part of his artillery had been left behind, and had not yet come up.* He, nevertheless, remained tranquilly in the sub- urbs during the whole of the 2nd, and on the the 3rd with- drew unmolested, taking with him four hundred prisoners. f
* L'Etoile.
•f The account of the King's first attempt upon Paris, given above, is founded, as the reader has seen, upon the statements of several contem- poraries : but there is a letter extant, from Henry to Du Plessis, which affords so clear an insight into both his actions and his motives, that I
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 223
He halted on the plain of Montrouge, and remained for three hours in battle array, inviting the attack of the army of the League, and reproving, for the instruction of the Parisians, the boastings in which the leaders of the faction had indul- ged. No movement was made to meet him in the field, and he commenced his march for Montl'hery, between eleven and twelve, without any one venturing to pursue him. At Mont- l'hery he stopped one day, for the express purpose of giving Mayenne time to refresh his forces, and meet him in battle ; but that general continued within the walls of the capital ; and, proceeding to Etampes, the King laid siege to that place, on Sunday, the 5th of November.* The town was
think it advisable to translate it almost entire. " Having, yesterday morning," he writes, " caused the suburbs of St. Germain, St. Jacques, and St. Marcel, to be attacked, they were carried in a moment ; and from sixteen companies who were on guard, fourteen standards were taken, and from seven to eight hundred men remained dead on the spot, and many prisoners. Fourteen or fifteen cannons, great and small, have also been taken, which were upon the ramparts ; and at the same time all my infantry effected a lodgment at the gates of the said town, without any loss on the side of my army, at least so little that it cannot be told. Last night some soldiers, who had retired into the Abbey of St. Germain, surrendered at discretion ; and since it has pleased God to favor me so much in this enterprise, I have proposed to follow my object, to attack and cannonade my said city, which I hope to reduce to obedience, if the army of my enemies, or a part of their forces, do not enter the said town within three days ; of which I have wished to give you intelligence, in order that, knowing truly how all has passed, you may make it known to all my servants ; and that if my enemies set about any other false reports contrary to my interests, as they are ac- customed to do, nobody may give credit to their malicious artifices : so thereupon I pray God. Monsieur de Plessis, &c."
In a postscript to the above epistle, the King adds, " While signing this letter, I have had intelligence that the Duke of Mayenne has just arrived in the city with his army, so that, there being no longer a chance of being able to force a town and an army both together, I have resolved, still, to remain here to-morrow, in order to see what attempt the said Duke of Mayenne will make, and to retire, the day after, under his eyes, to see if he will undertake what he has not yet dared to do up to this moment." * Cayet. PEtoile.
THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
taken the same night, and on the following day the castle capitulated, seeing that it was vain to hope for succor from Mayenne. In Etampes, Henry remained four days,* during his stay, out of consideration for the inhabitants, who, within four months, had seen the town taken and retaken three times, he ordered the citadel to be razed, that so weak a place might no longer be an object of contention.f
On the 8th of the month, a gentleman from Paris pre- sented himself, bearing a letter from the fair and unhappy Louisa of Lorraine, widow of Henry III., in which that Princess, in simple but most touching terms, urged Henry to take vengeance upon the murderers of her husband, and especially to do justice upon Edme Bourgoing, whom she pointed out as the principal instigator of the deed which had brought her to widowhood. The letter was read before the King's council, and moved the hearers to tears.
Henry replied, that he would never lay down his arms till he had avenged her fully ; and, at the same time, trans- mitted her letter to the Royal Parliament at Tours, with orders to proceed against Bourgoing according to the course of justice. That unhappy man was duly tried in the month of February following, and having been condemned, was torn by four horses. He showed the greatest firmness at the hour of death, and steadfastly denied the crime with which he was charged during his trial ; but we find it stated,
* Several remarkable letters from the King of France to various per- sons are extant, dated from Etampes, November, 1589; and in one of them we find severe complaints in regard to the conduct of the Hugue- nots, many of whom Henry states had left him, notwithstanding his earnest remonstrance, at the most critical period of his affairs. It is ap- parent, too, from a letter to Du Plessis Mornay, dated 7th November, that the jealousy of the Protestant party caused their sovereign nearly as much trouble and inconvenience as the bigotry and intolerance of the Roman Catholics. In a letter addressed to the Countess de Grammont, from Vendome, the King alludes to the same subject saying, " II n'est pas croyable les menees qui se font partout; je dis dedans nous-memes; le diable est dechaine."
t Mem. de la Ligue. Cayet.
KINO OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 225
<*& good authority, that at the moment when he was about to suffer, the cloth having been removed from his face for an instant, and a last exhortation to confess addressed to him, he not only acknowledged having instigated one regicide, but intimated that he had meditated a similar act against . Henry IV.
While still at Etampes, some of the proceedings of the League in Paris came to the knowledge of Henry, and filled him with indignation. There can be no doubt that many of the inhabitants were desirous of seeing peace restored to France by the subjection of the capital ; and that exertions were made to rouse the well-disposed to an effort in his favor. All who were suspected of such intrigues were ar- rested immediately after the arrival of Mayenne, and four citizens of note were condemned to death. Henry, however, held in his hands several of the council of Forty, amongst whom was one of the most popular leaders of the faction, named Charpentier ; and the monarch instantly sent a trum- pet to notify to the League, that if his partisans were put to death, he would execute the principal prisoners whom he had taken in the suburbs. Mayenne, nevertheless, was not to be deterred ; and the news of the death of two Royalists in Paris, by the hands of the executioner, reached the King some time after at Vendome. Not without great regret, and at the urgent recommendation of Marshal Biron, Henry or- dered two of the Parisians to be hanged, though their ran- som had been agreed upon with the persons who had cap- tured them, and their horses were saddled to carry them to Paris. Such deeds, when performed in a just cause, may be looked upon as acts of necessary severity ; but when com- mitted in an unjust one are certainly crimes. Had Henry put to death every prisoner he took from the League, the law of the land would have justified him ; but every act of slaughter perpetrated by Mayenne was undoubtedly a mur- der. Although only two of the Leaguers were executed at Vendome, in retaliation for the death of four Royalists in
10*
226 THE LIFE OF HENRY iV.
Paris, the example had a great moral effect, and taught the rebels more caution if not more humanity.
From Etampes, Henry proceeded, without loss of time, towards the banks of the Loire. On his march, as on his former retreat from Paris, he separated his army into sev- eral divisions ; dispatching the Duke of Longueville into Picardy ; and M. de Givri into Brie ; while Marshal d'Au- mont was sent into Champagne, to meet a body of German auxiliaries, who were advancing from the Rhine. Passing through La Beausse he captured Joinville ; and then ar- riving at Chateaudun, he sent a trumpet to summon the town of Vendome, which formed a part of his patrimonial ter- ritories : willing to give the people an opportunity of atoning for their past rebellion by immediate submission. For this purpose, he halted three days at Chateaudun, and was there joined by the Swiss officers who had been sent to confer with the Cantons, in order to obtain a legal confirmation of the promises made by the troops of their nation, at the death of Henry III. The reply which he now received was even more favorable than the King had expected : the Cantons declared their intention of maintaining as strict an alliance with that monarch, as had existed between them and his predecessor, and they gave full authority to the Swiss forces in his service to continue with him, and aid him in opposition to the League.*
In the meantime negotiations had taken place with the governor of Vendome, and M. de Richelieu had twice been sent, at the request of that officer, to hear the proposals he had to make. Richelieu had returned without any sat- isfactory result, no offer being made to surrender the city ; and no answer to the summons having been given, but vague and unseasonable hints of submission to the royal authority, if the King would withdraw his army. The governor, James Maille Bennehard, might well feel that he had incurred the high displeasure of his sovereign. While merely King of * Davila. Cayet.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 227
Navarre, Henry had placed him in Vendome, which,, as I have before said, was part of his hereditary territory ;* and shortly before the attack of Mayenne upon Tours, the Count de Soissons had been sent, upon some rumors of an intrigue between Bennehard and the party of the < League, to exhort him to maintain his fidelity, or to remove him if his treach- ery should be apparent. Bennehard, however, had made such vehement protestations of his attachment to the Royal cause, that he was not only suffered to remain in the town, but the King's council was established within its walls, and had continued there under the guarantee of his faith. Dur- ing the whole of this time, there can be no doubt, he had been negotiating with the leaders of the League ; Mayenne had marched thither direct on his way to Tours, and had made the whole of the Great Council prisoners, with the connivance of this traitor. From that day forth Bennehard had shown himself one of the most virulent enemies of the King ; he had pillaged the Vendomois, had put to death a number of the Royal adherents, in cold blood ; and, to use the expression of Aubigne, " had rendered himself marvel- lously hated." Following his example, the people of Ven- dome had displayed, during the late war, all the rebellious spirit of the faction ; and the moderation of Henry, in giving them the opportunity of submission, is marked with admi- ration by most of the contemporary writers.
Discovering, at length, that kindness produced no effect, the monarch advanced to the attack of the place ; and hav- ing reconnoitred it in person, ordered Biron, instead of directing his approaches against the walls of the town, to open a fire upon the citadel itself. A small breach having been soon effected, a party was sent up to the walls to see if it was practicable. Perceiving that it was so, and that all was confusion in the place, the first body of soldiers rushed in at once ; Biron the younger, and Chatillon, followed at the head of their troops, and in three hours from the com- * L'Etoile,
228 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
mencement of the cannonade the place was taken by storm. To prevent pillage was impossible ; but Henry had given strict orders that no blood should be shed, except in cases of armed resistance, and these orders were punctually obeyed. The English regiments, who were amongst the first to enter the town, afforded a remarkable example of discipline, even in the excesses of an assault, never breaking their ranks, but securing a still greater share of booty than the rest, by marching through the streets in complete order. Bennehard, who had retreated with a number of soldiers into a house in the town, was forced to surrender at discretion, and showed in the hour of danger the cowardice which usually accompa- nies cruelty. Being brought before the King, he entreated, with the most abject protestations and promises for the fu- ture, that his miserable life might be spared; but Henry was inexorable, and commanded his head to be struck off without delay. A cordelier also, named Jesse, who had been one of the principal instruments of the League in the town, and had aided in opening the gates to the Duke of Mayenne, was hanged by the King's orders ; but no other lives were taken, and it was remarked, that on the part of the Royalists not a single man fell in the capture of Ven- dome.*
A number of neighboring towns surrendered immediately after the fall of that place, and Henry, proceeding on his march, arrived at Tours, on the 22nd of November, after having swept the whole country between Paris and the banks of the Loire, in the short space of eighteen days.f
* In a letter hitherto unpublished, for a copy of which I am indebted to the kindness of Monsieur Berger de Xivrey, Henry gives a succinct account of the storming of Vendome, which, though comparatively brief, confirms entirely the statements I have made above in every particular which it notices. The cordelier Jesse, it must be remarked, was more- over accused of having incited another monk to attempt the assassina- tion of Henry III.
f The Lettres Missives show that Henry was at Vendome on the morning of the 21st, and at Tours on the 22nd. In a letter from the
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 229
The extraordinary rapidity of the monarch's movements gave him the greatest advantage over the tardy Duke of Mayenne ; but the habits of the King, from infancy to man- hood, were such as enabled him to display the incessant ac- tivity for which he was remarkable, without depriving him of due time for deliberation and council. Besides that quick decision which always accompanies true genius and clear perception, the vigorous health with which he was endowed, and the indefatigable exertions of which he was habitually capable, enabled him to crowd more actions into one day than Mayenne could accomplish in a month. Although too fond of pleasure, he did not often suffer its pursuit to inter- fere with the important business of the state. He was seldom more than a quarter of an hour at table, rarely gave more than three hours at one time to sleep, and was accustomed to say that he could win a battle, while Mayenne was putting on his boots. Nor was he the only one who thus estimated his powers ; for Sixtus V., in conversing with some of his friends on the state of France, is known to have said, that the Bearnois, as he called Henry, would assuredly gain the day, because he spent no longer time in bed than Mayenne spent at table, and that the one used more boots than the other used shoes. The habits of a prince are almost always imitated by his attendants, and the activity and energy dis- played by the King were communicated to his officers and his soldiers. The armies which he brought into the field, though often less numerous than those of his opponents, supplied their want of strength by speed, vigilance and de- cision, and the promptness with which they executed the orders of their commander, continually took the adversary by surprise, and rendered numbers, and even courage, of no avail. The officers and soldiers of Mayenne, on the contrary, especially when acting immediately under his command, followed their leader's habits of procrastination, so that his
former place, dated 21st November, he says that he will march on the following day.
230 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
principal secretary was known to leave a packet of impor- tance unopened during four days.
Besides the characters of the two commanders, and the effects produced thereby upon their partisans, various other circumstances, independent of the events of the war, tended to strengthen the Royalist party, and to weaken, day by day, that of the League. The only cause of disunion in the former was the religion of the King. The vague schemes of ambition which had been entertained by several of Henry's adherents, so long as he was merely King of Na- varre, gradually disappeared from the view of those who had formed them, after he had actually ascended the throne ; and although jealous of his attachment to the Protestant faith, all the principal nobility of France, with the exception of those closely connected with the house of Guise, strove but for one great object, from the moment that they recog- nized him as King.
No such unity of purpose reigned amongst the support- ers of the League. Under the pretext of zeal for religion, was concealed in the breast of every one, criminal designs for his own aggrandizement. The crown of France was the great object of several of the princes, who had subscribed the act of union ; and the policy of Catherine de Medicis, had contrived to roll this apple of discord successively at the feet of so many, that after her death, the hopes which she had encouraged simply for the purpose of maintaining her own authority by the divisions of others, tended greatly to strengthen the throne of him, whom she had wished to exclude forever from the succession. The son of the Duke of Lorraine, the daughter of the King of Spain, and the Lieutenant- General of the League, — the two first openly, and the last covertly, — were aspirants to the great dignity which belonged to Henry IV.
The claims of the Marquis du Pont, the heir of the duke- dom of Lorraine, were soon disposed of; for during the march of Mayenne upon Dieppe, he had brought a force to
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 23]
the assistance of the League, with the expectation of seeing himself placed at the head of its armies ; but as he found no one to support his pretensions to such authority, he soon retired from France in disgust, and thenceforth took but lit- tle part in the struggles that succeeded. The King of Spain, however, continued his intrigues and negotiations, although the Salic law which had remained inviolate for so many years, presented an almost insurmountable barrier to the election of his daughter. Besides the difficulties opposed to his designs by the fundamental institutions of the country, several other obstacles existed, which, combined, rendered his hopes altogether chimerical. The nobles of the League were but little disposed to raise a foreigner to the throne ; and as little to concede to a King of Spain the title of Pro- tector, which he openly sought, with all the privileges and authority that he expected ; and the Duke of Mayenne him- self, though he did not venture avowedly to oppose the schemes of Philip, lest he should lose the supplies of money, and the support in arms, which were absolutely necessary to the maintenance of the faction, secretly thwarted the in- trigues of that monarch, which were directly adverse to his own ambitious objects. The fragment of the Parliament which remained in Paris, though apparently subservient to the League, contained a large party attached to the ancient laws of succession. Like all great bodies of jurists, their conscience, their honor, and their very intellect, were bound, in forms and precedents, which were opposed at all points to the pretensions of the different aspirants. So doubtful were many members of the legality of their course, that even Barnabe Brisson himself, when he accepted the office of First President, thought fit to enter a formal, though se- cret, protest before a notary, against all his own acts under the League, as performed in consequence of compulsion.* The populace of Paris, however, were in a considerable de- gree favorable to the designs of Philip ; and the various * L'Etoile, torn. ii. p. 167.
232 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
agents whom he maintained in the capital, ceased not to urge upon the Council of the Union, the necessity of se- curing his aid and support, by such concessions as would justify him in continuing or augmenting the vast amount of assistance, which he had annually afforded to the League. The complicated state into which the affairs of the faction had fallen, was farther perplexed by the claims and aggres- sions of the Duke of Savoy, who carried on a feeble warfare in Provence and Dauphine, endeavored to seduce the Par- liament of Grenoble, and succeeded in obtaining several pow- erful partisans in the districts of. France adjacent to his dominions ; while Cardinal Cajetan brought new confusion into the party in January, 1590, not only by his attachment to the interests of Spain, but by his open attempts upon the liberties of the Gallican Church.* At the same time, the scene of dissension and intrigue was rendered but the more disgraceful, by the hardly concealed desire of Mercceur and Nemours, to dismember France for their own aggrandize- ment, and by the exertions of the Duke of Lorraine, to ob- tain the territories of Metz, Thoul, Verdun, and Sedan. Thus, day by day, the relations of one party became more clear, definite, and simple, and those of the other more ob- scure, vague and complicated. Amongst the Royalists one single idea, one fact, one object, produced unity of purpose and of effort, but slightly diverted and impeded by the pas- sions and weaknesses of individuals. In the League, con- tending principles, opposing interests, and separate views, generated distrust, disunion, and diversity of design, calling all the minor passions into unnatural prominence, and giving to small events a fictitious importance. Henry was still King of France, though more than one-half of the land was in rebellion against him ; Mayenne but the leader of a fac-
* The designs with which he was sent are not concealed in his in- structions from the Pope, in which his mission was stated to have for its object, " Conservare o ridurre il regno di Francia al antica vera reli- gione catolica." Cayet.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 233
tion, though the people of the capital, and a large propor- tion of the provincial population, pretended to obey his com- mands.
Knowing, at least, a part of what was taking place in Paris, and the embarrassment in which Mayenne now found himself, the King, always willing to open the way for recon- ciliation, carried on some negotiations with the Duke, to whom he offered far greater advantages than his conduct had merited ; but Mayenne, unwilling to lose his chance of a crown, which had once been within his reach, rejected the proposals of the monarch, and sent back M. de Belin, who, having been liberated by Henry on parole, had borne his message to the leader of the League. The Cardinal de Bourbon was still maintained as king by the remnant of the parliament ; the powers of Mayenne as Lieutenant- General, were confirmed, and their period extended ;* and the States General were called to assemble at Melun, in the month of February, 1590.
In the meanwhile, Henry, after his arrival at Tours, had received, in form, the visit of the Cardinals of Vendome and Lenoncourt, with the principal members of the Council of State, as it had been constituted under the late King. These officers were followed by representatives, of the Parliament of Paris : a number of its most influential members, with du Harlay, the first President, having, by different means, effected their escape from the capital. Several of the high officers of the Crown, also, presented themselves at his court for the first time ; and all came to recognize him as their legitimate sovereign, and congratulate him on his accession. The same day he gave audience to the first regular embassy from a foreign state which he had yet received, and heard from the Venetian ambassador, who had been previously maintained at the court of Henry III., the good wishes and congratula- tions of the Senate, with their excuses for not sending an extraordinary mission, to express their friendship towards * L'Etoile. Journal de Henri IV.
234 THE LIFE OP HENRY IV.
the new monarch of France. The Pope afterwards showed himself highly indignant at this open disregard of his bull of excommunication, but the Venetian Senate answered boldly, and the Pontiff was too wise to agitate the question further. Nor was Henry's conduct towards the Papal see less decided, though there can be little doubt that he saw there would be, sooner or later, a necessity for his entering into the bosom of the Roman Church. As soon as he heard that Cajetan was approaching his territories as Legate, he issued a proc- lamation, commanding all his subjects to treat the Cardinal with honor and respect, to forward him on his road, and afford him protection and assistance, if he was duly addressed to the court of the King ; but prohibiting all men from show- ing him any reverence, obedience, or attention, if he were addressed to the rebellious members of the League. Caje- tan, however, made his way direct to Paris ; and there he no doubt suffered his own partiality for Spain to interfere with the moderation which the Pope had enjoined. The reply of Sextus V. to the Duke of Luxembourg, who had been sent by the Royalist Catholics of France, to justify at the Pontifical court their adhesion to their Protestant King, had been gentle, though ambiguous ; and Davila, who had every opportunity of knowing what took place at Rome and at Venice, assures us, that " His Holiness, in the last con- versation which he held with the Legate, recommended to him several times, in pressing terms, not to show himself openly as an enemy of the King of Navarre, so long as there was any hope of his reconciliation with the church." But the successor of St. Peter, on this occasion, found himself frustrated in his sagacious views, by the weakness and prej- udices of his ministers ; and this is not the only time in which the designs of wise and good Pontiffs, have been thwarted by servants, who have fancied themselves more catholic than the Pope.
The stay of Henry IV. at Tours was very short, and the rapidity of his movements astonished the rebellious Parisians,
KIN& OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 235
and made them tremble in their beds. Before he had been four days on the banks of the Loire, Montrichard, Montoire, Lavardin, and Chateau du Loire, had surrendered to his forces ;* and on the 25th of November he again commenced his march, and advanced rapidly upon Le Mans, which had been for some time under the command of M. de Boisdau- phin, one of the most active officers of the League. The governor's reply to the King's summons was bold and reso- lute ; and as his garrison consisted of between fourteen and fifteen hundred men, besides the armed bands of the place,f a long and steadfast resistance was to be expected. Part of the suburbs was burnt by Boisdauphin's order, and the rest strongly intrenched ; but the whole of the outworks were carried during the first evening of the attack and the day following, except one, which lay on the other side of the Sarthe, and was not taken till the next morning. It would seem that the operations of a regular siege were not employed or required against Le Mans ; for the hastily constructed bat- teries of the Royalists, having opened their first fire upon the walls on the 2nd of December, the garrison, seized with fear, demanded a capitulation ; and before two o'clock on that day the place surrendered. The King, however, would not enter the town, lest his soldiery should commit excesses, but remained for some days in the suburbs, and caused the gates to be strictly guarded, to prevent his troops from pillaging. A general amnesty was granted to the inhabitants, and a grateful population came forth to cast themselves at Henry's feet, with many promises of fidelity and attachment.^
* The troops sent against these small towns, which, while in the hands of the League, greatly straitened the supply of Tours, were under the command of la Tremouille, Montigny, and Souvre. In Lettres Missives, torn. iii. page 88, note 2.
f Aubigne.
£ It would appear, notwithstanding the general opinion to the con- trary, that Henry did enter Le Mans in person on the 7th December, for on that day, and on the 8th, he dates his letters from the town, all those that preceded having been dated from his camp before the walls.
236 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
Beaumont, Laval, Chateau Gontier, and several other places, scarcely waited to be summoned, and Henry then advanced towards Alencon, having sent forward Biron to commence the siege before his arrival. But little resistance was offered by .the garrison, and thus ended the year 1589, during the last six months of which, Henry had achieved more remarkable enterprises, than had been accomplished by all the Roman Catholic commanders since the commencement of the reign of his predecessor. He had repelled all the attacks of his enemies at Arques ; he had taken the suburbs of Paris by assault ; he had captured fourteen or fifteen strong places, and a number of inferior towns, and had swept the provinces of Touraine, Anjou, and Maine, together with the Vendomois, of the forces of the League, leaving no place of importance behind him, except Ferte Bernard ; in which Brissac had fixed his head-quarters, after having surprised a small body of Protestant reiters detached from the main army of the King. The whole system of military operations was changed, and instead of the former slow and tedious marches and countermarches, in the course of which the capture of villages and fortified houses was noted as a proof of great success, France was astonished by the sight of a monarch leading his forces a hundred and fifty leagues in the midst of winter, with a heavy train of artillery, while city after city fell before him, as if his very name were vic- tory.
From Alencon Henry marched without delay to Falaise, a town of considerable importance, possessing a citadel, which was supposed in those days to be nearly impregnable. As soon as the movements of the Royal army showed that Falaise was to be attacked, Brissac, with a considerable power, threw himself into the place, and the League pub- lished aloud, that the successes of the King would be here brought to an end. The severity of the season, however, on which the faction reckoned as one of the greatest impedi- ments to Henry's progress, only facilitated his advance upon
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 237
Falaise, and after having reconnoitred it in person, he deter- mined to follow the same plan which he had pursued at Ven- dome, and attack the town on the side of the citadel. One of the suburbs was soon taken ; a battery opened upon the castle, two culverins were placed on a small hill which com- manded the only communication between the citadel and the city ; and in two days, a tower of the former, which defended the angle of the wall between the two, was entirely ruined, leaving a practicable breach by which Chatillon and the younger Biron led the infantry to storm. The town and all the outworks of the castle were carried in a moment, and Brissac was compelled to retreat into the keep ; where, strait- ened for room, and wanting provisions, he was forced the next morning to surrender at discretion. The King treated him with kindness, but detained him as a prisoner ;* and so surprised were the inhabitants of Paris at the tidings of this event, that the Leaguers persisted for some time in believing the intelligence to be false.f Argentan, Lisieux, Bayeux, Pont-au-de-Mer, and Pont 1'Eveque, were taken by Henry or his officers before the 25th January, 1590, and the monarch hurried on to the last towns of Lower Normandy, in which the League had yet any force.
The siege of Honfleur, which was next undertaken, proved the most difficult that Henry had yet encountered, its position on the water enabling the vessels of the League not only to supply it with provisions, but to sweep the trenches of the Royal army with their guns.J The news that arrived from other parts of France, caused the King to press the attack with the utmost fury, though they at the same time encour- aged the Governor to resist. So fierce was the cannonade, however, that on the seventh day of the siege, a flag of truce
* Davila. Aubigne. Cayet. j- Journal de Henri IV.
t Aubigne. It is to be remarked, that Henry had been aware, ever since the 8th of January, that Mayenne was making preparations to attack him, and that he had laid siege to Pontoise, as the King mentions the fact in a letter of that date addressed to Madame de Grammont,
238 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
was sent out to demand a parley, and Henry, who was eager to lead his troops in another direction, agreed to a capitula- tion, in favor of which the garrison were allowed to remain within the walls unmolested four days, upon the condition, that if not succored by Mayenne or Nemours within that time, they should surrender Honfleur to the Royal forces. There can be little doubt that such terms would not have been granted by Henry in ordinary circumstances ; but many changes had lately taken place in the relative position of the two great parties which divided France, and the King found it absolutely necessary to alter his own plans to meet the al- tered state of affairs. So late as the 7th December, 1589, Henry had proposed, after the siege of Alenc. on, to turn upon Lower Normandy, and even to carry his arms into Brittany, having received intelligence that a design was entertained by the Spaniards to seize upon St. Malo, with a view to further hostilities against England.* A month elapsed without his intention being shaken ; and in a letter to the Duchess of Montmorency, written on the 7th January, 1590, he still re- fers to his proposed expedition into Brittany. But during the siege of Honfleur, intelligence reached him of the defeat and dispersion of a large body of lanzknects. which M. de Sancy had raised for his service, by the troops of the Duke of Lorraine. Sancy, he was informed, had only been able to keep together twelve hundred men out of five thousand ; but this small number having been joined by a party of reiters, was advancing into France, and it became of great impor- tance to favor their march by operations in the neighborhood of the capital. At the same time, the state of Upper Nor- mandy seemed to invite the King's approach. Verneuil had surrendered to the Count of Soissons ; Evreux had been taken by Biron, and a number of inferior places had volun- tarily submitted to the Royal forces on the left bank of the Seine. Moreover, both the daring proceedings of the League in Paris, where the faction was fortified and consolidated by * Lettres Missives, torn. iii. p. 98.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 239
the presence of the Legate, and the rumored march of a large body of Spanish troops from the Low Countries, to the sup- port of Mayenne, rendered it necessary that Henry should strike a fresh blow of sufficient vigor and importance to dis- solve the combinations forming against him.
Such were the circumstances in which the King consented to grant easy terms to the garrison of Honfleur ; and un- doubtedly it was from a due consideration of all these facts, that he determined to march at once up the Seine, and not for the mere purpose of raising the seige of Meulan, in con- sequence of a pressing letter from Sully, as stated by many writers. In fact, Henry's resolution was formed before he was aware of Mayenne's attack upon Meulan, which is abun- dantly proved by two letters dated on the 29th of January, 1590, the very day of his march from Honfleur. In the first of these, addressed to de Fresne, his envoy at the court of Elizabeth, the King gives an account of the events which had taken place in Upper Normandy, and mentions his approach- ing departure from before Honfleur, without referring to the siege of Meulan, but merely expressing a hope, that his journey would effect something towards the advancement of his cause. In the second, to the Countess of Grammont, he tells his mistress distinctly, that the Duke of Mayenne is with the Legate and the Spanish ambassador in Paris.
Thus his determination must have been formed before he became aware of the danger of Meulan. Nevertheless, a subsequent letter to Monsieur du Plessis, dated from Bernay, would seem to show that his movements had been accelerated, and his course fixed, by intelligence, received on his march, of the operations of Mayenne against Meulan, to which the Duke had laid siege after having taken Vincennes and Poissy.
Commanding one of the principal passages of the Seine, the possession of Meulan was undoubtedly of vital impor- tance to the Royalist party, especially as Mantes was already in the hands of the League ; nor had it been neglected by
240 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
Sully, who had been left behind upon the banks of the river, during Henry's rapid march to Tours, with orders to provide for the defence of the towns in the neighborhood of his own estates. But, though strongly fortified, advantageously situ- ated, and supplied with ample stores of provisions and am- munition, the batteries of the League had been so well placed, and the fire was so tremendous, that at the date of Sully's letter,* there seemed little chance of its being able to hold out many days.
Whether the tidings of the danger of Meulan reached the King before or after he commenced his march from Honfleur, it is certain that he hurried forward without a moment's de- lay ; but it is equally certain, that he had a greater object in view than the mere deliverance of the garrison, or the pres- ervation of the city. The position of Mayenne himself was perilous, at the moment when Henry received intelligence of his operations. A part of his forces were on the right bank of the river, pressing the town from that side ; a large body and a portion of his artillery were on the left bank; and while the Royalists, holding the fortress on the island, im- peded the free communication between the two divisions of the rebel army, the rear of the forces on the left bank was menaced by Marshal Biron, at Evreux, and by the Count de Soissons, at Verneuil.f It was hardly possible for Mayenne to escape from such a position without risking a battle, or suffering a severe loss, and Henry felt but little doubt that he should be able to destroy the detachment on the left bank, even if he could not force his opponent to a general engage- ment. The latter, however, was his great object, and all his letters at this time show the sanguine hopes of effecting it
* I must here remark that there are many difficulties regarding the date of Sully's letter, and it is my own belief that, though Henry cer- tainly received intelligence of the danger of Meulan before the 31st of January, Sully's urgent appeal did not reach him till the 16th of Fev- ruary, if so soon.
f See letter from Henry to Mons. de Beauvoir. dated 12th of Fel- ruary, 1590.
OF FHAJSOK AND NAVARRE. 241
which he entertained. No means were neglected which might secure a favorable result in the anticipated contest : messenger after messenger was dispatched to the known ad- herents of the Royal cause, urging them to join their mon- arch's standard without delay. All the detachments within the large circle over which they had been spread, since the King had marched from Tours, were called in. Montpensier, who had been left to receive the surrender of Honfleur, was ordered to advance with all speed ; the Duke of Longueville was written to ; Humieres and du Plessis were required to hasten to Verneuil ; and the President de la Court was di- rected to aid du Hallot in driving the tardy or unwilling to the rendezvous, by threats of depriving them of their rank as nobles.* The King's determination was loudly an- nounced, not to lose sight of the enemy's forces, till he had brought them to battle ; and the parliament of Gaen sec- onded Henry's efforts to swell the numbers of his army, by severe denunciations against those who should neglect to obey his summons.
These important preparations for a great and decisive struggle were not suffered to delay the King's advance to the relief of Meulan. He left Honfleur, accompanied by no other force than his heavy cavalry and horse arquebusiers, on the 29th or 30th of January,f and reached Bernay on the 31st of the month. Thence marching towards the scene of Mayenne's operations, he accomplished his junction with the Count of Soissons and Marshal Biron, and fixed his head- quarters for two or three days at Ivry. The time occupied by the march from Honfleur, however, and by the detour towards Verneuil and Evreux, had enabled Mayenne to ob- tain intelligence of the King's movements, and to withdraw all his troops and artillery from the left bank of the Seine,
* See Lettres Missives, from the 3lst of January to the 12th of February.
f Some expressions in Henry's letters render it doubtful which was the real day of his departure.
VOL. II. 11
242 THE LlfE OF HENKY IV.
thus frustrating Henry's design of cutting off the detachment on that side by a coup-de-main. Nothing, however, could have been effected sooner, even if the French monarch had proceeded to Meulan at once, without seeking the aid of Biron and Soissons ; for so few were the troops which ac- companied him from Honfleur, that even after having been joined by his two officers, his army only numbered between six and seven hundred regular cavalry, and from a thousand to twelve hundred horse arquebusiers. With this small force he contented himself with throwing supplies into the be- sieged place, and then turned towards Breteuil, to await the arrival of the Duke of Montpensier and the other forces which he had ordered to join him.
Mayenne, in the meantime, having obtained information of the real numbers of the Royal army, left a small body of troops to continue the siege of Meulan, and passing the river in force, advanced as far as Ivry in pursuit of the King. Finding that the monarch had already marched to Breteuil, he did not think fit to follow him farther ; and Henry him- self remained convinced, that his adversary had not any in- tention of giving him battle on this occasion, notwithstand- ing the great disparity which existed between their respec- tive forces. During the absence of Mayenne, the garrison of Meulan made a successful sortie, and captured or destroyed a great quantity of ammunition and military stores, which perhaps might influence the Lieutenant General of the League in his determination to return to the siege of that place.
Ere Henry had been three days at Breteuil, the number of his troops was greatly increased by the arrival of con- siderable reinforcements of cavalry ; and the Duke of Mont- pensier, having approached within a day's march with the main body of the army, was ordered to follow rapidly to- wards Meulan, while the King hurried forward at the head of his cavalry, taking the town of Nonancourt by storm on the way. The night after the capture of Nonancourt, Henry
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 243
once more slept at Ivry ; and it has been remarked that he thus, in the space of a few days, twice crossed the plain, which a month after he chose as his position, in a battle that tended more than any other event in his career, to fix the crown of France upon his head. On the following day he again appeared before Meulan, still hoping to find a part of Mayenne's army on the left bank of the Seine. Disappointed in this expectation, Henry entered the town in person, and with Sully and a few attendants, ascended the tower of the church of St. Nicaise to examine the situation of the enemy. The guns of Mayenne were at the moment pointed directly against the church, and as the King mounted the stairs, a cannon-ball passed .between his legs.* He remained some time in the steeple ; but when he was about to return, it was found that the stairs had been carried away by the enemy's shot, so that the King and his attendants were obliged to let themselves down by a rope and a cross stick.f
Notwithstanding the furious cannonade which the enemy kept up upon the town of Meulan, the garrison, re-assured by the presence of the King and his army on the left bank of the river, boldly asserted that they could maintain their defence against the forces of the League for at least six weeks ; and, in the hope of drawing Mayenne into a general engagement, Henry, soon after his arrival, marched on again, with the intention of attacking some of the strong places held by the League upon the Seine. No sooner had he de- camped, however, than Mayenne, by a coup-de-main, made himself master of a fort upon the bridge of Meulan, which commanded the town, and the garrison saw themselves in a few hours reduced to such a state, that resistance was almost hopeless.J; Messengers were dispatched to carry this dis-
* Pierre Mathieu.
t Sully. A note in the Journal de Henri IV. wrongly states, that this event occurred when Henry was advancing upon Paris from Ar- ques ; but the army of the League was not then in sight.
£ The fort here mentioned was probably merely a large tower upon the bridge.
244 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
astrous intelligence to the King, and reached his quarters at Houdan about midnight. Without a moment's delay he sent off reinforcements to support the troops in the place and to enable them to defend it till he could return in person ; and, early on the morning after, he followed with his whole army, greatly mortified, it would appear, at being thus compelled to abandon the plans he had been about to execute.* He instantly took energetic measures to remedy the disaster which had occurred, and to force Mayenne to raise the siege. For the latter purpose the Baron de Biron, at the head of a body of chosen troops, was detached to surprise the town of Poissy, which enterprise was effected with skill and cour- age ; and in the meanwhile, after a furious attack and de- fence, the fort upon the bridge of Meulan was recovered by the Royalist forces, the men, under a tremendous fire, sliding along the railings of the bridge which had been left, when one of the arches between the fort and the town was de- stroyed. The garrison of Meulan having been thus placed in as favorable circumstances as before, Henry resumed his march up the Seine, with the determination of menacing the capital ; but ere he had advanced many leagues, he received intelligence from the Marquis d'Alegre, that he had con- trived to seize upon the citadel of Rouen.
No opportunity of obtaining possession of that important
* I am inclined to believe that it was upon this occasion that Sully urgently pressed Henry to return to Meulan, which called forth the well known impetuous note from the King. If the date affixed to that note (i. e. 18th February) is at all correct, it could have nothing whatever to do with the march from Honfleur, as Henry was in the neighborhood of Meulan before the 4th of that month. In my account of all the mon- arch's movements on the left bank of the Seine, I have followed his own statements in a letter to Monsieur de Beauvois. By an error of the press, or the copyist, this letter is misdated in all publications. The date affixed is : Gaillon, 12th Feb. Now Henry did not arrive at Gail- Ion till the 22nd ; and in the letter itself he speaks of the capture of Poissy, which took place on the 1 7th, and of the raising of the siege of Meulan, which occurred on the 21st. The date should be the 22nd of February. The original letter has apparently been lost.
KING OP PRANCE AND NAVARRE. 245
city was to be neglected, and the King instantly marched to take advantage of the first success of Alegre, though he pro- nounced the enterprise of that officer ill-timed and unprom- ising. The same tidings reached Mayenne nearly as soon as the King ; and finding that Henry was hastening towards Rouen, he abandoned the siege of Meulan, after having made one more unsuccessful effort to take the place by as- sault. Before the Royal army reached Gaillon, however, Alegre was forced to notify, that the troops he had thrown into the citadel of Rouen had capitulated to the Leaguers of the city ; and the monarch, having no means of crossing the Seine, in order to bring Mayenne to battle, turned towards Dreux and laid siege to that town.
The leaders of the League had hitherto been in great want both of money and cavalry, and a letter of the President Jeanin, dated February, 1590, shows the extreme distress to which they had been reduced, and the promises, as yet un- fulfilled, which were daily reiterated and broken by the King of Spain. A change, however, now took place in their favor. The Duke of Parma, indeed, was unwilling to diminish his own forces, to assist the Roman Catholics of France, without some greater advantages than Mayenne was inclined to grant ; but the orders of Philip to afford aid to the League became so decided, that a large body of men-at-arms and horse arque- busiers, under Count Egmont, began their march for France, while Mayenne was besieging Meulan. From that place the Duke hastened to join his allies, and scarcely had Henry commenced the siege of Dreux,* ere he learned that the army of the League, now greatly superior to his own, was advancing to its relief. The King's resolution was immedi- ately taken, and the siege of Dreux was raised, as to fight in that position was impossible. There is good reason to be- lieve, indeed, that Henry had already fixed upon the field of Ivry, as a spot on which to strike another decided blow for
* I only find letters from Henry bearing the date of Dreux on the 6th and 7th of March.
246 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
the peaceful possession of his crown ; but he had now to consider the great inequality of the two armies, the superior numbers of that of Mayenne, the high discipline of the Span- ish troops, and the more efficient state of their equipments. To have avoided a battle, however, would have been, in the words of one of the historians of those days, " to oppose his own nature, which was prompt, and inclined to courageous resolutions." His army too had been reinforced under the walls of Dreux, by the junction of Marshal D'Aumont's di- vision. The difficulties also of retreating before a superior enemy, presented themselves to his mind ; and, when he re- membered the exhausted condition of his finances, the hope- lessness of obtaining any supplies for the payment of his Swiss troops, and the probability that they would disband themselves, and return to their own country, if he made a retrograde movement, he was induced to resolve upon risking a general engagement, while he had yet the means of doing so with any chance of success.
In order, then, to approach the position in which he had determined to fight, he commenced his march upon Nonan- court, on the morning of Monday the 12th of March.* The artillery was first put in motion, all the baggage followed, and then the army, in order of battle ; the greatest regularity and strictest discipline being enforced by the King's com- mand. The weather, however, had by this time changed ; the frost had passed away, the rain poured down in torrents ', the roads, which in that part of the country are still very bad, were scarcely passable, and night fell long before the troops reached the place of repose. As the darkness came on, a violent thunder-storm succeeded, and a curious me- teoric phenomenon presented itself in the sky, to the eyes of the weary and exhausted Royalists. The clouds, illuminated by the electric fire, took the form of two large armies, ming- ling and charging eacji other, as if red with the sanguinary
* See the King's circular letter upon the battle of Ivry, and the " Dis- cours veritable," published by Jamet Mettayer at Tours.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 247
fight ; and after presenting this extraordinary spectacle for some time the black vapors rolled again over the scene, and hid the result of the aerial combat from the eyes of the won- dering spectators. This phenomenon must have taken place high in the air, and extended over a wide space, for it was seen by the Royal forces on their march to Nonancourt,* and by the Duke of Sully at Pacy, at a distance of more than twenty miles.
After undergoing all the fatigues of a long march in such inclement weather, the troops of the King arrived at Nonan- court, which they had taken a few days before, and there found comfortable quarters for the night, large fires being lighted to dry the wet garments of the soldiery. As the Duke of Mayenne was known to be approaching rapidly, a general order was given for each man to be prepared to fight upon the morrow, and during the night, the King himself drew a plan of the ground, and the order of battle, which he laid before his council on the following morning, demanding their free opinion regarding it.f Not the slightest change was even suggested. The plan was then put into the hands of the younger Biron, who acted as Marechal de Camp, in order to make the arrangements generally known, and the march was begun for the village of St. Andre, lying at the distance of about four leagues from Nonancourt. Beyond that village extended the great plain of Ivry, containing sev- eral villages and a small wood, called La Haye des pres,"\, and here the King drew up his forces in order of battle, a little in advance of St. Andre.
His army formed nearly a straight line between the village I have mentioned, and that of Fourcanville, the centre being very slightly farther back than the two wings. Having found at Coutras the great advantage of arranging his cav- alry in squadrons rather than in line, he followed the same plan on the present occasion, dividing his horse into seven
* Davila. f Mem. de la Ligue. Discours veritable.
^ The Discours veritable calls this wood La Haye des pics.
248 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
corps, one of which was held in reserve under Marshal Biron, The extreme left was commanded by D'Aumont, having Montpensier on his right, with the Grand Prior and M. de Givri in command of the light horse on the same side, but thrown forward, and supported by four cannons and two cul- verins,* on a slight elevation. The fourth squadron was that of the Baron de Biron, consisting of about two hundred and fifty horse, with a strong body of chosen infantry, the whole nearly on a line with the light horse. The King's own corps next took its position, composed of between five and six hundred men-at-arms, in the first rank of which were almost all the great nobility of France. In the rear of this corps, between the King and the reserve under Marshal Biron, were three regiments of French infantry, and the regiment of the guard further to the left.f The squadron of the King was also supported on either hand by two regiments of Swiss. On the extreme right was a small body of German cavalry, under the command of the Count de Schomberg, backed by a party of French infantry, resting upon the first houses of the village of St. Andre. Each squadron of cavalry was accompanied, as at Coutras, by a small body of arquebu- siers, a precaution which was peculiarly necessary on this occasion, as the gentlemen of the Royalist army had alto- gether given up the use of the lance during the rapid move- ments which they had lately been forced to make.
While taking up his position, Henry, who had dispatched messengers, when he decamped from Dreux, to call in all his detachments, received a sudden reinforcement by the arrival of a party under the Prince de Conti, and Du Plessis Mor- nay ; and shortly after, he was joined by the garrisons of
* The ordinary accounts state three cannons and two culverins ; but I have followed the " Discours veritable," which was printed by authority.
"f Aubigne. Cayet and the Memoirs of the League declare that the French guard was on the right, but this is the only point on which their account materially differs from Aubigne's, who is supported in his state- ment by the " Discours veritable."
KING OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 249
Dieppe, Evreux, and Pont de 1'Arche, consisting of about four hundred men.* By this time the parties of light horse, which had been sent out to reconnoitre, returned with the intelligence that Mayenne was rapidly advancing in order of battle. No sooner did the Duke hear that the King had de- parted from before Dreux, than, imagining the royalists were about to retreat in order to avoid an engagement, he put his forces in motion in the hope of overtaking them. Some con- fusion was the consequence of this precipitation ; and when he found the army of the King waiting him in battle array, his troops were in no condition to undertake the combat with- out every disadvantage but that of numbers.f He deter- mined, therefore, not to commence the attack till the follow- ing day, and the evening of the 13th passed in skirmishes for a village, which lay in front of the King's position. It was first occupied by the troops of the League, but they were soon driven out by some of the French guard, and the hamlet remained in the hands of the Royalists when night fell. Towards evening Mayenne retired to a short distance from the field, near the banks of the Eure, while Henry, after seeing his adversary turn back, withdrew his troops into the villages of Fourcanville and St. Andre, where the greater part found comfortable quarters and abundant pro- visions.J The forces of Mayenne were less conveniently
* Several other noblemen joined him in the course of the morning.
f So fully persuaded was he that the Royal army was at a consider- able distance, that he had sent forward his quarter-masters with some light troops to take possession of the villages round the plain of Ivry, intending to pass the night there. See Lettres Missives, torn. iii. p. 163, and the Disco ars veritable.
£ The dispatches of Henry himself give us but little information con- cerning the battle of Ivry, though they serve occasionally to rectify an error even in the account published by authority, called the " Discours veritable." The Gazette writer, from time to time, was moved by that pernicious spirit of seeking to make the most of his materials, which has gained a bad name for bulletins. Thus, on the present occasion, in order to give greater lustre to the victory of the following day, he represents Henry's army as suffering greatly from the inclemency of the
11*
250 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
lodged, being principally kept under canvas, and conse- quently obtained but little repose after the long and rapid march which they had made during the preceding day.
Having given all the necessary orders for securing his position early on the following morning, Henry threw him- self down on a mattress, and took two hours' repose. The greater part of the night, however, he passed in prayer, recommending the Catholics of his army to follow the cus- toms of their own church, and address themselves to God for success on the following day. It would seem, that sev- eral of the Catholics themselves joined the monarch in his devotions, and one of them, in a gay and confident tone, re- quested the King to put at their head, before the battle, the clergyman who had led their prayers previous to the victory of Coutras. Hope and expectation, indeed, reigned in the army of the King, and the memory of many great successes went with him to the field.
By daybreak on the following morning, the monarch was once more on horseback, and before ten o'clock the whole army had resumed its position ; but soon perceiving that the wind, which had risen, would blow the smoke of the guns into the eyes of his troops and hide the movements of the enemy, Henry, by a very slight change to the left, and in ad- vance, remedied that inconvenience, without any great alter- ation in his arrangements.
The army of the League was marshalled with less order and precision than that of the King ; and great confusion exists in the accounts of different historians, regarding the exact array of Mayenne's forces. The wings of the League were considerably more advanced than the centre, so as to present the form of a crescent, and in the midst of the main body, composed almost entirely of foreign troops, appeared
night, and states that the greater part were under canvas. The King more simply and straightforwardly declares, " Enfin la nuit nous con- traignit chacun de se loger ; ce que je feis aux villages les plus pro- ches."
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 251
the small squadron or cornet, as it was then called, of the Duke of Mayenne, comprising about two hundred and fifty chosen men. On either hand of the commander-in-chief was a large party of the Spanish lances ; the two numbering to- gether, between twelve and thirteen hundred horse, under the command of Count Egmont. This body in the centre, was joined before the battle, by the corps of the Duke of Nemours, whose position had previously been upon the right, and the numbers were thus swelled to about eighteen hun- dred cavalry, who acted together during the day. On either side of this force, appeared the two Swiss regiments of Pfifer and Berlinger, who had remained in the service of the League, notwithstanding the alliance between the King and the Swiss Cantons, and these were again supported by regiments of French infantry. The wings were composed of foreign and French light cavalry mingled with infantry, and the extreme points of the crescent were formed of German cavalry called reiters, amounting in all to twelve hundred men, led by the Duke of Brunswick and Bassom- pierre.*
The numbers of the army of the League it is very difficult to discover, and, indeed, we can very seldom depend upon the statements, even of contemporaries, regarding the forces engaged in any battle. In one place Davila reckons the army of Mayenne at four thousand five hundred horse, and twenty thousand foot ; but he evidently greatly exaggerates the strength of the infantry, while Aubigne states the num- bers at five thousand cavalry, and eight thousand foot, and Cayet says that Mayenne was accompanied by more than four thousand horse, and twelve thousand foot. Henry him- self, in his dispatch to Monsieur de la Verune, governor of Caen, does not venture even to guess at the numbers of his
* Such is the account given by the " Discours veritable," which coin- cides in many points with that of Davila; but as I have before remarked, the statements, even of eye witnesses, are confused and contradictory in the extreme.
252 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
adversary, but merely says, that the prisoners state their army to have consisted of four thousand horse, and twelve thousand foot, thus confirming the account of Victor Cayet. The Royalist force did not amount to more than two thou- sand horse, and about eight thousand foot. Just as the battle was about to commence, however, Sully arrived from Pacy, bringing with him his own company, and two compa- nies of English horse arquebusiers, under Colonel James. Several other reinforcements joined during the morning ; and it cannot be doubted that the flocking in of zealous friends, while Henry occupied the plain of Ivry, tended greatly to encourage his forces, and to make them forget the superiority of the enemy. As at Coutras, the army of the League appeared covered with glittering trappings, lace and em- broidery, while that of the King displayed nothing but cold gray steel.
As soon as his troops had taken up their position, Henry rode along the line, mounted on a powerful bay charger, clothed in complete armor, but with his head bare, speaking words of hope and confidence to the soldiers, and exhorting them to show the same valor here, that they had already displayed in many a perilous enterprise. His countenance was bold and fearless ; but it was remarked, that, moved by his own words, his eyes more than once filled with tears. He represented to his troops, that the road to safety, as well as to glory, lay before them ; that the crown of France de- pended upon their swords ; that there were no new armies to fall back upon in case of defeat ; no other nobles in France to take the field for him, if they who surrounded him should fail. He then put himself at the head of the line, where he could be seen by all, and heard by many ; and with his hands clasped, and his eyes raised to heaven, he exclaimed : " I pray thee, 0 God, who alone knowest the intentions of man's heart, to do thy will upon me as thou shalt judge necessary for the weal of Christendom, and to preserve me so long as thou knowest I am needful for the happiness and
KING OF PRANCE AND NAVARRE. 253
repose of this land, and no longer."* Then turning to his own squadron, he took his casque, surmounted by a large plume of white feathers, and said : " Companions, God is with us. There stand his enemies and ours. Here is your king. Upon them ! and if you lose your cornets, rally to my white plume. You will find it in the road to victory and honor."! During some part of the morning, one of his offi- cers remarked to him that he had provided no place of re- treat, but Henry replied : " There is no other retreat than the field of battle."
Before commencing the engagement, the King performed one of those generous and honorable acts, so well calculated to win all hearts, and carry the love of his people along with him. It would seem that Schombejjg, who commanded the Germans in his service, had previously demanded the pay of his troops, which was long in arrear, and that Henry had re- plied sharply : " No brave man ever asked for money on the eve of a battle." At this moment of peril, the King's heart smote him for what he had said ; and approaching the old officer, he spoke thus : " Monsieur de Schomberg, I have in- jured you. This day may be the last of my life, and I would not take away the honor of any gentleman. I know your valor and your merit, and I beseech you to pardon and em- brace me."
" Sire," answered Schomberg, " you wounded me the other day, it is true, but to-day you kill me ; for the honor you do me will force me to die for your service. "J
It is probable that immediately after this incident, a move-
* Cayet. I have chosen the more simple words of Cayet, in preference to the better periods of Davila, and others, because they appear more in accordance with the character of the King. The Discours veritable does not report Henry's words, though it mentions that he addressed his troops. It was, perhaps, more consistent with the name of that manifesto, to omit, than to insert, the exact expressions used on such an occasion.
t Aubigne.
254
THE LIFE OP HEURY IV.
ment in advance,* mentioned by the King in all his dispatches, was made on the part of the Royal army ; for, till between ten and eleven o'clock, the forces of the League were at such a distance, that it was possible for Mayenne to avoid a battle. The King still apparently imagined that such might be his adversary's intention, for he says, in his circular letter re- specting the great victory of Ivry, that the enemy's troops having appeared still farther off than they had been on the preceding evening, he resolved to approach so close that they must of necessity fight ; and having, in consequence, gone to seek them even to the spot where they had planted them- selves, " from which they never advanced but so far as was necessary to come to the charge," the battle took place. Judging from this adherence to his position, and from the stillness of his skirmishers, that Mayenne was determined not to commence the engagement, Henry took advantage of an error which the Duke had committed in the choice of his ground, and which exposed his cavalry scattered over the face of a slope. He accordingly ordered his artillery to open a fire upon the adverse squadrons, which was executed by M. de la Guiche with great precision and effect, nine dis- charges taking place before the Leaguers could fire a gun. Nearly at the same time, news was brought that Monsieur de Humieres, Mouy, and about three hundred horse, were
* This movement in advance forms one of those curious points of history, in regard to which the facts stated by the person best informed of all that took place, are denied or unnoticed by contemporaries and eye witnesses. Almost all the historians of the time state that the battle was fought on the exact field which Henry had at first selected. The Discours veritable, indeed, says that the Royal forces advanced a hun- dred and fifty paces from its original position ; but Henry's letters leave no doubt that the distance must have been much greater. In the first place, he says, speaking of the position of the Leaguers on the 1 3th March, that they were " sy loing de moy, que je leur eusse donne beau- coup d'advantage de les aller chercher sy avant:" and, in speaking of their appearance in the field on the 14th, he states that they were still, further from him than on the preceding day.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 255
hurrying up to join the King,* and were barely a mile dis- tant ; but Henry would not delay the engagement. The bat- tle was now begun by the light horse advancing on the part of the League, followed by a heavy body of lanzknechts ; but they were met in full career by Marshal d'Aumont,f at the head of about three hundred men-at-arms, and driven back in confusion to the edge of the wood, called la Haye des pres, where d'Aumont, according to the commands he had previously received from Henry, halted his small force, and returned in good order. While this was taking place on the left of the King's army, a body of reiters from the ene- my's right advanced against the light horse of Givri and the Grand Prior, but were repulsed; and having made their charge and fired their postols, retired, as was the common practice of the German troopers, to form behind the men-at- arms. The Royalist light horse, however, had been thrown into some disorder by this attack, and were immediately after assailed by a squadron of heavy cavalry, consisting of Wal- loons and Flemings, who, with their long lances, bade fair to overthrow Givri and the Grand Prior, when the Baron de Biron, by a well-timed charge in flank, broke through their ranks, receiving two wounds in his advance. Montpensier now moved forward to encounter the same corps in front, and after having his horse killed under him, succeeded in re- storing the advantage to the Royalists in that part of the field. Before this was accomplished, Mayenne, with the great bulk of his cavalry, advanced against the King himself. He was accompanied by Count Egmont, the Duke of Ne- mours, and the Chevalier d'AumaleJ and had on his left a body of five hundred carabiniers, on horseback, all picked men, well armed and mounted,§ who, galloping forward till
* Davila makes them arrive before, but Cayet and Aubigne are agreed on this point, and they are confirmed by various letters from the King, which state that they came early in the battle.
f Aubigne says this was the Marshal ; the Discours veritable and Cayet, his son. ^ Cayet.
$ These troops were armed with breast and back-plates, and morions.
256 THE LIFE OP HENRY IV.
they were within twenty yards of Henry's division, poured a tremendous fire upon it, and then gave place to the men-at- arms. At that moment, however, the King spurred on his horse two lengths before any of his troops, and, followed by his whole squadron, "plunged," to use the words of Au- bigne, " into the forest of lances," which lay before him. Even that bitter satirist cannot avoid giving way to some en- thusiasm in describing the charge of his royal master. " By the first strokes," he says, " appeared what quality can effect against quantity." For more than a quarter of an hour the struggle was fierce, and the small squadron of the King was lost to the sight of the rest of the army in the dense cloud of Mayenne's cavalry. At length the Leaguers were seen to waver ; some fled, others followed, and in an instant after, all was rout and confusion amongst the immense body of horse, which a few minutes before had moved up so gallantly to the assault. But as the enemy fled from before him, Henry was exposed to a new danger, and found that the battle was not yet won. As he issued forth from the midst of the flying masses of Mayenne's horse, with but twelve or fifteen companions at his side, and exactly between the two regiments of adverse Swiss, three troops of Walloons, who as yet had not taken any share in the battle, appeared ready to charge his little band. D'Aumont, however, with the Grand Prior, Tremouille, and the gallant Givri, advanced to his de- liverance, and this fresh body of cavalry is routed in a mo- ment. In the heat of the melee Henry's standard-bearer was killed, and one of his pages, who bore in his casque a white plume similar to that of the King, fell beside him. A report had spread instantly that the King was slain, and a momentary panic had seized the persons round the spot where he was supposed to have fallen.* But when he re-
* Sully gives a different account of the combat between the King's squadron and that of Mayenne from any other writer of the day, declar- ing that, at one time, the Royalists gave way both on the right and left ; but he was himself wounded very early in the battle, and it is probable
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 257
appeared from amidst the dense crowd of enemies, covered with blood and dust, a loud shout of " Vive le Roi !" burst from the ranks of the Royalists, and added speed to the flight of the enemy. Marshal Biron, who had remained immove- able, watching the progress of the fight, and ready to act wherever a great necessity presented itself, now joined the monarch, saying, " This day, sire, you have performed the part of Marshal Biron, and Marshal Biron that of the King."
" Let us praise God, Marshal," answered Henry, " for the victory is his." The Swiss infantry of the League still re- mained untouched, however, for the fight had been almost entirely between the horse of the two armies ; but Biron, after a consultation with Henry, advanced at the head of the reserve, supported by several regiments of French and Swiss foot, and the Catholic Swiss were permitted to lay down their arms with promise of quarter.
The King with all the cavalry he could rally, galloped after the enemy, and pursued them to the very gates of Mantes ; but the delay which had taken place, in consequence of the parley with the Swiss, favored the escape of the fugitives, who fled in two directions : Nemours, Bassompierre, Tavan- nes, and others, taking the road towards Chartres, with a confused mass of horse ; and Mayenne, with the rest, hurry- ing to Ivry, at which place there was a bridge over the Eure. Henry attached himself to the latter body, anxious to cap- ture the Duke ; and, spurring on with all his furious energy, he soon overtook the rear of the enemy, who were found either scattered, in complete disarray, over the ground near the little town, or crowding the road towards the bridge. Mayenne had already passed ; and in order to secure his own safety, he gave the cruel order to break down the bridge, before a great body of his cavalry, principally reiters, could cross the stream, which is there deep and strong. Some of the unhappy men, who were thus left behind, to the mercy
that the panic caused by the report of the King's death, is what he al- ludes to.
258 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
of an irritated enemy, cast themselves into the river, and were drowned, while the Germans hamstrung their horses in the streets of Ivry, and forming a rampart of the carcasses, attempted to defend themselves with their pistols.
Finding that he could not ford the river at Ivry, Henry hastened to the small town of Anet, where he effected his passage, and ceased not the pursuit during the day. A great number of prisoners were taken, but many of the fu- gitives were killed in the flight, and many others were after- wards slaughtered in the woods by the peasantry. It has been reported that Henry, at the close of the battle, ex- claimed : " Save the French, but put to death the foreign- ers," and this order has been praised as worthy of that great King. In such commendation, I can by no means join ; nor can I consider so inhuman a command, as at all consistent with the character of Henry. I am not, indeed, inclined to believe that it was ever given ; for we find, on the contrary, that it was by the King's own command that the Swiss were spared ; nor is it likely, that, supported by so many foreign- ers, as were to be found in his own army, he should commit an act equally cruel, unjust, and impolitic. No such order is mentioned by Aubigne, by Cayet, or by the author of the earliest account of the battle, printed originally in 1590, and reprinted in the memoirs of the League in 1595. It is also proved, that during the pursuit, the King labored earnestly to save the lives of the enemy's soldiers, in several instances, rescuing them from the hands of those who were about to kill them. Doubtless the report originated in the fact, that all the lanzknechts of the League were put to the sword without mercy ; but there is no proof whatever that Henry gave any directions to refuse quarter even to them ; and the treachery they had committed at the battle of Arques, was still so fresh in the minds of many of the Royalist officers, and in their own minds also, that there is little probability of any offer to surrender having been made or refused. The French infantry in arms against the King, in general shared
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 259
the fate of the lanzknechts, which is another reason for be- lieving that the foreigners were not singled out for slaughter ; and the manner in which Henry himself speaks of the de- struction of this large body of foot, is powerful to prove, 'that, personally, he had nothing to do with the severity that was shown to them. After speaking of the surrender of the Swiss, he says : " The lanzknechts and French infantry had no time to take such a resolution, for they were all cut to pieces : more than twelve hundred of the one, and as many of the other : the rest prisoners, or scattered among the woods at the mercy of the peasantry." A number, indeed, of the French infantry threw themselves into the Swiss reg- iments, and received the same terms from the King, but the greater part was certainly destroyed, and the rest yielded at discretion.
The victory was one of the most complete that had been gained during the civil wars. Unlike the battles of Jarnac and Montcontour, the field of Ivry displayed no powerful body of the enemy, retreating in good order from the plain ; but all was rout and confusion. The white standard, sprin- kled with black fleur-de-lis, of the Duke of Mayenne, was taken, and also the red standard of the Spanish General, to- gether with twenty cornets of cavalry, sixty ensigns of the French, Flemish, and Germans, twenty-four ensigns of the Swiss, and all the artillery and baggage. Above a thousand horse fell upon the field, amongst whom were many persons of great distinction ; and four hundred gentlemen were made prisoners.* The number drowned or killed in the pursuit was never accurately ascertained, but more than two thou- sand foot were put to the sword, and a great many more were taken in flight, besides those who had thrown them-
* The account given by the King himself states, that from nine hun- dred to a thousand of the horse fell on the field, and that from four to five hundred had been made prisoners, besides all those who had been drowned in the Eure.
260 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
selves into the battalions of the Swiss, and surrendered with them.
Count Egmont, fighting gallantly, was killed very early in the battle, " worthy of honor for his bravery," says the his- torian, " had he not employed it against those who were in arms to avenge his father's death." Of those who fled, the chiefs being the best mounted, in general escaped from the pursuers ; but a great number of the most serviceable no- blemen, attached to the League, either fell, or were made prisoners on the field ; so that the cause of the faction was not only shaken by the disgrace of a great defeat, but by the loss of at least one half of its bravest and most expe- rienced supporters.
On the part of the Royalists, we are assured only twenty gentlemen were slain, amongst whom were the gallant Schomberg, the Marquis de Nesle,* Clairmont d'Entragues, de Crenay, and M. de Longoulnay, who was killed at the age of seventy -two. Many more were severely wounded, and amongst the latter was the Baron de Rosny, afterwards Duke of Sully, who was early shot in the calf of the leg, and subsequently received several other wounds, the last of which had nearly cost him his life. I do not find any accu- rate account of the farther loss of the Royal forces, but, from all statements, it was very considerable.
The Duke of Mayenne, in passing through Mantes, at the gates of which place he was for some time refused admis- sion, spread the false intelligence, that, although he himself was defeated, the greater part of the Royal army had fallen, and that Henry had been slain in the battle ; nor was it till the following morning, when the Vidame de Chartres presented himself, and summoned the town to surrender in the name of the King, that the inhabitants were made aware of the deceit which had been practised on them.
One remarkable coincidence, regarding the battle of Ivry, is worthy of notice here. On the same day the Royal forces * M. de Nesle, it would appear, did not die on the field.
KING OJ}' FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 261
triumphed in three different provinces of France. A battle less important, but hardly less sanguinary, was fought under the walls of Issoire, in which the Count de Randan, com- manding the troops of the League, was defeated and killed by Curton, and two other Royalist officers, with a loss, on the part of the faction, of more than two thousand men ;* and in Maine another victory was gained under the follow- ing circumstances. A double traitor, first to the League, and afterwards to the King, M. de Lanzac, no sooner heard that Mayenne was marching to attack the sovereign, to whom he had lately sworn fealty, than putting himself at the head of a large body of the faction, he assailed the town of le Mans, hoping to take it by a coup-de-main. He was re- pulsed from the walls, however, and, being hotly pursued in his retreat by the Governor of Alencon, was totally defeated before the town. Intelligence of these advantages did not reach the King of France for some days ; but it was sufficient joy for the hour, to feel, that the long wished-for op- portunity of trying his strength with the League in a fair field had been granted, and that his success had exceeded
* At the same hour of the same day Henry IV. announced to M. de Curton his victory over Mayenne at Ivry, and Monsieur de Curton in- formed the King of the defeat of the Count de Randan. The two let- ters have been preserved, and are curious, both from the similarity of many expressions, and as significant of the characters of the writers. Henry himself thus writes : —
" Curton, I have just beaten my enemies on the plain of Ivry. I write it to you without delay, being persuaded that no one will receive the news with greater pleasure than you. This 14th of March, nine o'clock in the evening.
" HENRY."
The letter of Curton is as follows : —
" Sire, I have just beaten your enemies on the plain of Issoire. The Count de Randan, who commanded them, is just dead of his wounds. My son has also been wounded, but I hope he will not die. Rastignac, Lavedan, and Chazeron have done wonders. I will send your Majesty a longer detail to-morrow. This 14th of March, 1590 : nine o'clock in the evening."
262 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
his utmost hopes : that all the powers of his adversary had been put forth ; that, supported by superior numbers, for- eign aid, the virulence of faction, and the furious zeal of su- perstition, Mayenne had met him on the plains of Ivry, and suffered a complete and irretrievable disaster. The throne, which he had inherited from his ancestors, had hitherto tot- tered beneath him, but this day it had been fixed, no more to be shaken ; the crown, that was his of right, had been thrown by circumstances into the arena of civil strife, and on that bloody field he had won it with his own right arm. Henry, we may believe, with true devotion, (for he uses the same expressions to his people, to his officers, and to his pri- vate friends,) ascribes the glory to God ; and all that seemed wanting on his part to reap the fruits of the great victory, which had been granted to him, was promptitude, vigor, and decision.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVAEEE. 263
BOOK XIII.
AFTEE having pursued the Duke of Mayenne to the gates of Mantes, Henry IY. passed the night of the 14th of March, 1590, at Rosny, where he was shortly afterwards joined by Marshal d'Aumont. The King was at supper when that officer made his appearance ; but, rising from table, he ad- vanced to meet his gallant supporter, and, taking him in his arms, made him sit down to the meal with him, saying, in his usual frank and cheerful tone : " It is quite reasonable that you should take part in the feast, since you have served so well at the marriage."
The towns of Mantes and Vernon surrendered immedi- ately,* so that Henry had now the entire command of the Seine from Rouen to Paris, and all his letters written on that night, of which several have been preserved, show the most energetic resolution of following up his victory without a moment's delay. The army of the League was not only de- feated, but dispersed ; the Duke of Nemours, with a number of those who had saved themselves from Ivry, was at Char- tres ; Mayenne, and a very small force, had fled from Mantes to St. Denis ; no foreign assistance could be hoped for by the faction for many weeks to come; consternation and confusion reigned in Paris ; not a fortified town shielded it from the victorious army, and two marches would have brought the King to the gates of the metropolis. Had Henry advanced at once with the troops at his command, the capital must inevitably have submitted ; had he even given
* The narrative published by authority at Tours states that Mantes did not surrender till the 21st, but Henry's letters of the 18th mention both Mantes and Vernon.
264 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
two days' repose to his army, and then marched on, he would have arrived while the rebellious citizens of Paris were still in the first wild panic, which followed the intelligence of Mayenne's defeat ; for the news was not generally known to the Parisians till five days after the event had taken place. But a delay occurred at Rosny, which has not been satisfac- torily accounted for ; and until it is shown, that it was im- possible for the King to execute the vigorous plan of action against the League, which his letters of the 14th March to La Noue and the Duke of Longueville announce, the halt in the neighborhood of Mantes must be looked upon as one of the greatest errors he ever committed.
During fourteen days Henry remained within one march of the field of Ivry ; and, as far as we can trace his occupa- tions at the time, he was engaged in gathering together his troops, endeavoring to obtain reinforcements, knighting some gentlemen who had distinguished themselves in the late bat- tle, examining the accounts of Monsieur D'O, the superin- tendent of finance, and attempting to wring some supplies of money from that treacherous and fraudulent officer. The hours which these affairs left free, were devoted to the chase, or to amusements less pardonable. The penury of his treas- ury, in consequence of the malversation of his superintend- ent, has been generally assigned as the cause of the mon- arch's long delay ; but had he displayed on this occasion, the energy which generally characterized all his movements, and marched on at all risks to Paris, there can be little doubt that the Swiss and German regiments would have followed, even without payment of their arrears. The Duke of Longue- ville, with a considerable body of French troops, and some new foreign levies, amounting to six thousand men, was ready to join him ; La Noue had received orders to advance ; the importance of the enterprise would have brought numbers to his standard who had not time to be present at Ivry ; his appearance before the gates of the capital would have given courage and decision to his numerous partisans within the
KING OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 265
walls ; and there is every reason to believe, that Paris would have surrendered upon reasonable terms. He lost the op- portunity, however, and he also neglected other matters of considerable importance. The Queen of England, who had often afforded him such seasonable assistance, was forgotten in the midst of pleasurable or pressing occupations, and re- ceived no formal notification of the victory at Ivry for weeks after it had been obtained.
Very few letters written by the King's own hand during the period of his sojourn near Mantes are now extant, and authentic contemporary records of his proceedings at this time are rare. One act, however, must not be omitted, which, equally generous and wise, redounded to his honor and served his best interests. On the field of Ivry, two regi- ments of Catholic Swiss surrendered to the King's forces, after having been abandoned by the cavalry of Mayenne's army ; and during some days they remained in uncertainty regarding their fate. On the 22nd of March, however, Henry sent them back to their native country, accompanied by M. de Viger, as an envoy to the Swiss Cantons ; and, to leave nothing undone that could enhance the favor, Henry caused them to be supplied with provisions on the march, furnished them with money, and restored to them the ensigns which had been taken from them on the field. At the same time, in a letter full of dignified kindness, he required the Cantons to reprimand them, for their violation of the treaties subsist- ing between Switzerland and the crown of France.
However small might be the amount of money which the monarch granted to the necessities of the Swiss officers, it must have been afforded with difficulty, for it was not with- out great exertion that he obtained any supplies at all from the superintendent of finance. That officer was at length obliged to disgorge some of the large sums he had received ; and, putting his troops in motion on the 28th of March, Henry commenced his operations against Paris, by securing the command of the river above that city. For this purpose
VOL. n. 12
266 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
he marched towards Corbel], taking Dreux by the way, and undertook the siege of Sens, of which town he hoped to ob- tain possession by the influence of his friends within the place. In this expectation he was disappointed ; but Cor- beil, Lagny, Melun, Provins, Bray, and Montereau were speedily taken.
In the meantime, however, measures had been adopted by his adversaries to frustrate his design upon the capital ; and their success removed to a distant period the great object of the pacification of France. While the King was still at Mantes, the legate Cajetan, the Spanish Ambassador Men- doza, the Archbishop of Lyons, and all the principal leaders of the League in the metropolis, gathered round the Duke of Mayenne, at St. Denis, and eager consultations were held for the deliverance of the city from the impending danger. Messengers were dispatched in haste to the Duke of Parma, beseeching him to afford at once the utmost assistance in his power to the party of the League, in order to prevent its en- tire dissolution. Stores of all kinds were brought into Paris ; the Duke of Nemours hastened thither from Chartres, with the Chevalier d'Aumale, and all the troops that could be quickly collected ; and envoys were sent to the Pope, the King of Spain, the Duke of Savoy, and every prince attached to the League, requiring immediate aid at their hands ; while Mayenne himself, after having employed all those means which he thought necessary, and found practicable, for the defence of the capital, proceeded to the frontiers of the Low Countries, for the purpose of carrying on the negotiations with the Duke of Parma without further delay. The Italian Prince, in the midst of innumerable difficulties, evinced no great alacrity to succor the discomfited leader of the League ; and Mayenne was forced to visit Brussels in person before he obtained even a promise of effectual assistance.
To this time is generally attributed the first proposal of a conference between Cardinal Cajetan and envoys from Henry. " The Legate, having discovered that the King Avas
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 267
approaching Paris," says the chronicler of those times, " and that the town was not in a state to defend itself, determined to speak of peace ; and for that end, proceeded to Noisi with the Cardinal de Gondy, Villeroy, and the Italian prelates of his suite." Upon this statement of the Journal de FEtoile, almost every author who has written upon the history of Henry IV. has charged Cardinal Cajetan with the dishonest but not uncommon act of opening negotiations with that monarch for the sole purpose of amusing him, till Mayenne could receive reinforcements and the capital could be pre- pared for defence. Doubtless the proposals subsequently made by the Legate were captious and tending to no useful result ; but the statement of 1'Etoile is false, in fact ; and it is but an act of simple justice to Cajetan, to show that in demanding a conference, he could not have in view the de- signs attributed to him. The letter, in which the prelate first requested a meeting with Marshal Biron, was received by that officer on the day of the battle of Ivry ;* and, as it must have been written some time before, it is clear that Ca- jetan entertained a desire for the interview which he solicited, not only long ere Paris was threatened by the army of the King, but at a period when Mayenne was marching on, at the head of a vastly superior army, to give Henry battle, with every hope of success. The words of the monarch himself, in a letter to the Duke of Luxembourg, written be- fore the Royal army had made any demonstration of attack- ing the capital, leave not the slightest doubt of the fact.
Although the victory at Ivry had greatly changed the sit- uation of the King, he consented that Biron should meet the Cardinal at Noisi, and the conference accordingly took place.
* Lettres Missives, torn. iii. page 184, letter dated from Mantes, 25th March, 1590. Many of the details given of this conference, and also of the statements regarding all that immediately succeeded the battle of Ivry, even in de Thou, are entirely imaginary. Thus, some writers represent La Noue as present at Ivry, and offering the King very whole- some counsel the night after the battle. La Noue was many miles from the field, and did not join Henry for a considerable time.
268 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
The proposal then made was simply, to assemble the States General, and this was coupled with a demand for a cessa- tion of hostilities, the object of which was very evident. The negotiation, under such circumstances, terminated abruptly, and, though there was an attempt to renew it after Henry had taken Bray, no progress was made.
Having obtained complete command of the Yonne, the Marne, and the Seine above and below Paris, Henry, without further pause, advanced upon the capital, and seized the bridges of Charenton and St. Maur.* A bridge of boats was then thrown over the river at Conflans, and a battery erected upon Montmartre, with another at Montfaucon, the guns of which fired some shots into the town on the eighth of May.
On the same day the Cardinal de Bourbon, named by the League Charles X., died at Fontenoy le Comte, somewhat to the embarrassment of the faction, who were by no means pre- pared to elect another monarch. No sign of any intention to surrender the capital, however, manifested itself, amongst the council of the League ; the preachers were vehement in their exhortations to the people, beseeching them to die, sooner than to make peace with a heretic ;f and the furious decrees of the Parliament of Rouen were published in Paris, declaring all persons who adhered to the King guilty of high treason. Every effort was made to supply the town with provisions, and to furnish it with soldiery; troops forced their way in from time to time, and arms were put in the hands of a great part of the population, so that, at the time when Henry sat down before the place, with twelve thousand foot and three thousand horse, it was calculated that the capital contained at least fifty thousand fighting men.J The people, however, were by no means well contented ; Henry
* 25th April is the date given by PEtoile, but this is evidently erro- neous. The King did not arrive at Chartres till the 9th May.
f L'Etoile. Journal de Henri IV.
$ Cayet. D'Aubigne makes the King's infantry amount to 14,000, and the cavalry to 2,500.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 269
had numerous partisans in the city, and the symptoms of revolt were so strong as to induce the council to take severe measures to suppress the free expression of popular opin- ion. With many classes, indeed, the fury of bigotry was as powerful as ever ; and a body of thirteen hundred monks and priests was formed, at the head of which was seen in arms the Bishop of Senlis, with the curate of St. Cosme for his ser- geant. Barefooted Capuchins appeared bearing a cuirass over their frocks, and Dominicans with the arquebuse or pike in their hands ; while rectors and curates walked about with hats, plumes, and swords, and prelates assumed the helmet and couched the lance. But the hands of these holy and Christian brethren of the Church of Rome were not very skilful in the use of the implements of war, and the secre- tary, or almoner, of the Cardinal Legate, was killed in his master's carriage, by a salvo which the clerical militia fired to do him honor.
Nevertheless, though the materials of the garrison of Paris were of such a heterogeneous kind, the city offered a a gallant resistance. In the first attack made upon the Faubourg St. Antoine, the Royal troops were repulsed,*
* L'Etoile says that the first attack was repulsed, and La Noue wounded. Henry, on the 14th of May, writes that he has taken a suburb of Paris, and that La Noue is wounded ; but it is shown that Faubourgs St. Martin and St. Antoine were attacked on different days. The statements, and more especially the dates given by the letters of Henry IV. differ frequently from those afforded by the Journal de 1'Etoile^ and wherever the two sources furnish accounts incompatible with each other regarding operations without the walls, I have preferred the au- thority of the monarch himself. The journal is certainly very valuable, but still I have many doubts of its authenticity as a whole. There are parts that bear internal evidence of having been written by a contem- porary and an eye-witness, and I believe they have, with justice, been attributed to L'Etoile ; but I cannot free my mind from a suspicion that great gaps in the manuscript have been filled up by a later hand from very insufficient data. The whole account of the siege of Paris, how- ever, I am inclined to think authentic, although it differs greatly from the statements of the King ; and, perhaps, even more because of that dif-
270 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
and La Noue was slightly wounded. It was evident, how- ever, that the King's soldiers daily gained ground ; nearer and more near his forces encircled the capital ; and the strange, and, perhaps, unparalleled spectacle was displayed, of an army of fifteen thousand men blockading two cities, Paris, and St. Denis, which contained together, more than six times its number of armed men, and gradually reduc- ing them to the very extreme of famine. The garrison of the former did not lose courage, notwithstanding the dearth of all things within the walls ; and numerous sallies, in which the divisions of Nemours and Aumale were some- times successful against the bodies of Royalists opposed to them, kept up the spirits of the people. A decree of the Parliament, published on the fifteenth of June, forbade any one, of whatsoever quality or degree, even to speak of surrender to Henry of Bourbon ; and the edict was en- forced by drowning several persons in the Seine, who ven- tured to express an opinion in favor of submission, while others were hung, on the charge of having held some com- munication with their sovereign.
Day by day, however, Henry drew his troops more com- pletely round Paris ; one source of supply after another was cut off; wheat became dear, and was at length entirely ex- hausted, and bread was made of oats and barley for the rich, while the poor were forced to content themselves with bran. It was in vain that the leaders displayed their gal-
ference. L'Etoile was within the walls of Paris, and the citizens were kept in ignorance of many things that were passing even at their very gates, which naturally caused errors as to what was occurring without ; but the pictures of the state of the city, of the temper and actions of the people, are certainly those of an eye-witness, and had this portion been written at an after period, many of the natural mistakes of a con- temporary would have been corrected by the subsequent development of the facts. L'Etoile does not mention the capture of the suburbs at all, though he implies that they were taken, and all other writers state the the fact plainly, as well as Henry himself in his letter to Madame de Grammont, dated 14th of May.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 271
lantry, by issuing forth against detached bodies of royalists, and by preventing Henry from capturing one small post or another ; it was in vain that the Spanish Ambassador, and the Cardinal Legate distributed large sums in charity. Fam- ine reduces gold to dross ; and when the Archbishop of Lyons threw some handfuls of money amongst the starving populace, before the courts of justice, the people would not even take the trouble to pick up the pieces, bidding him throw them bread, for they could not eat silver.* At length, by the end of June, the scarcity had become so intense, that it was found necessary to visit the houses of the eccle- siastics and the monasteries, in order to oblige the body which had so long urged on the war, to bear their proper share of its inconveniences. Immense stores of grain and biscuits were found ; and the priests and friars were com- pelled most unwillingly to contribute to the support of the poor.f All the dogs and cats of the city were then brought in, slaughtered, and boiled, but the relief afforded was small, and every day persons were found dead or dying on the pavement, from the effects of privation; while the orna- ments of the churches were, in some instances, taken to be converted into money. The jewels of the crown were sold, and processions, imploring God's aid in rebellion, perambu- lated the streets ; while promises of lamps and ornaments, in case of deliverance, were made to our Lady of Loretto.
Nor was St. Denis less straitened than Paris ; the same necessity reigned within its walls, till at length, when each person in that town had been reduced to four ounces of bran per diem, the place capitulated, and the garrison received favorable terms from the monarch.J
* The above particulars are taken from the Journal de Henri Q,uatre.
f The Jesuits resisted, and complained more angrily than any of the other fraternities.
£ St. Denis capitulated on the 5th of July, and was surrendered on the Monday following at mid-day ; the King having himself remained up all Sunday night, to insure that the place received no succor.
272 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
The obstinacy of the Leaguers in Paris, however, was not to be conquered, though the famine had reached the most awful pitch, and- we are told that the shrieks of the women and children for bread, were horrible to hear.* The kind heart of the generous Prince was touched, by the thoughts of the sufferings which he himself inflicted ; and although it was evident, that if he maintained the rigor of the block- ade, Paris must fall, before the united army of the League and the Duke of Parma could come to its assistance ; though his own force was daily increasing by the arrival of Chatillon, Nevers, and others, yet he wavered in his resolution more than once.
During the night of the 23rd of July, a number of the miserable inhabitants let themselves down from the walls, and some even made their way to the feet of the King him- self,f beseeching him to give them food, or to suffer them and their families to quit the dreadful desolation, to which Paris was now reduced. Henry could not resist the appeal, and the same night he gave passports for three thousand. More than four thousand attempted to take advantage of this act of clemency, but their numbers being remarked, a part were driven back by the soldiery.
There now became, daily mutinies amongst the citizens ; and more and more strict were the means taken to repress them ; every one who ventured to murmur, was pointed out as a partisan of the monarch, and day after day executions took place.J But as resistance began to show itself more strongly, the commanders determined to amuse the peo-
* Cayet.
f Journal de L'Etoile. This fact is confirmed by Henry's letters to Madame de Grammont.
£ There can be no doubt that Henry had not only numerous parti- zans, but emissaries in Paris, and that many of the tumults which arose, originated in their suggestions. But on the other hand, many of the distinguished leaders in Henry's army were found ready for love or friendship, and sometimes even, it is said, on less pardonable motives, to suffer provisions to enter the gates.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 2*73
pie with the hope of peace, and the Legate was commis- sioned to confer with the Marquis of Pisany on the subject. Their interview terminated without result, and the King, learning that provisions, though in small quantities, found their way into Paris, and prevented the wealthy leaders from feeling all the bitterness of that privation, which their perti- nacious rebellion inflicted upon their poor followers, resolved upon making a general attack upon the suburbs, which, be- sides the alarm it would occasion, had for its object to ren- der the blockade more effectual. Midnight, on the 24th of July,* was fixed upon for the enterprise ; and while the Royal army, separated into ten divisions, marched from all quarters to the assault, Henry, with a small body of friends, watched the events, from a gallery on the heights of Mont- martre. The sight was magnificent, though terrible ; and I will describe it as nearly as possible, in the words of one who was present. " The attack commenced at midnight by a frightful noise of artillery, to which the town replying on its side, no one would have judged aught, but that the immense city was a'bout to perish by fire, or by an infinity of mines sprung in its heart. Never was there a spectacle more capable of filling the mind with dismay. Thick whirl- winds of smoke, across which broke, at intervals, sparks and long lines of flame, covered the whole of that species of world, which by the alternations of the shadow and the light, seemed now plunged into black darkness, or swallowed up in a sea of fire. The roar of the cannon, the clash of arms, and the cries of the combatants, added to this object every- thing that is frightful, which was redoubled by the natural horrors of the night. This scene lasted two whole hours, and ended with the entire reduction of the suburbs, not ex- cepting even that of St. Antoine, though from its great ex- tent, they were obliged to begin the attack at a distance. They then blockaded the gates of the town, so that nothing
* Some writers fix the attack upon the suburbs on the 27th, but the date I assign is given by the account published at the time.
12*
274 THE LIFE OP HENRY IV.
could thenceforth go in or come out without the permission of those who guarded them."
I will not pause to enter into details of all the woes and the crimes, which took place day by day in Paris. Not Ro- chelle itself has suffered more in any of the memorable sieges which it has undergone, than did then the capital of France. All natural food was consumed ; the most loathsome objects were resorted to, and exhausted ; human flesh succeeded ; the dead were disinterred and eaten ; the bones of the ceme- tery were ground for bread ; mothers devoured their children.
Again and again the compassion of Henry gave alleviation to the distress of the people ; multitudes were allowed to depart, first women and children, then ecclesiastics and old men, then the poorer, then the wealthier class ; and every day his generous kindness pushed back the prize of success which was within his grasp.
There were persons who pressed him to risk an assault ; and there can be little doubt that such a measure would have proved successful ; for the exhausted people could have of- fered but a faint resistance, as was shown by the feeble de- fence of the suburbs, which were taken in two hours, though at no point, the assailants amounted to fifteen hundred men. But Henry would not permit the attempt ; and when urged to any of the extreme means which were suggested, he re- plied : — " I am their father and their King ; I cannot hear the recital of their calamities without being touched to the bottom of my soul, and seeking to alleviate them ; I cannot prevent those who are possessed with the fury of the League from perishing, but to those who seek my clemency I must open my arms."
On the second of August, before which time thirty thou- sand persons are said to have been destroyed by famine, the leaders of the League, finding that the people could no longer be restrained, met in the Hall of St. Louis, and agreed, after much deliberation, to send the Cardinal de Gondy, and the Archbishop of Lyons to treat with the King for a suspension
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 2*75
of arms, and for permission to visit the camp of Mayenne, who having now been joined by a considerable body of troops, had advanced to Meux. Henry granted them an interview on the 8th, at the Abbey St. Antoine,* and a long account is given of the conversation which took place on that occasion, of the accuracy of which I find no proof.f But a summary of the King's decision is preserved, signed by his own hand, and from it we find, that Henry reprimanded the Envoys for bring- ing him powers addressed to the King of Navarre ; that he then went on to declare his affection for his people of Paris, and his willingness to show them the utmost forbearance, upon the condition of their submission to himself direct, and not by the intervention of a third party, who could not, he said, love them as well as he did. In regard to their demand of permission to visit Mayenne, the King declared that, as he knew that visit would merely tend to fill the Parisians with vain hopes, he must insist that the people should treat with him without the Duke ; in which case, he would grant them terms of capitulation, it being understood as a basis, that if within eight days, from that date, the Duke of Mayenne did not compel him to raise the siege by battle, the town was absolutely to be surrendered into his hands. At the same time he promised that, on these terms being agreeed upon, the deputies should receive passports, in order to urge May- enne to succor Paris by force of arms.J
* L'Etoile places this interview on the 5th August ; but Henry's letter to the Parliament of Caen distinctly marks the day as the 8th, while, strange to say, the account published by the King's printer at Tours, fixes the meeting on the 6th.
f Two long statements, regarding this interview, materially differing from each other, have been published ; the one in L' Etoile, the other in the account of the siege of Paris, printed by Jamet Mettayer at Tours.
:j: All the accounts I have met with mention the fact of the King having distinctly demanded that Paris should treat for herself, and surrender, unless succored or comprised in a general treaty of peace within eight days. Yet we find that the Parisian Envoys were allowed to visit Mayenne without any formal recognition of the above-mentioned terms.
2*76 THE LIFE OP HENRY IV.
The Cardinal and the Archbishop subsequently proceeded to Meaux ; but by this time, Mayenne had learned that the Duke of Parma was already on the frontier. He therefore sent them back to encourage the Parisians, and amuse the King, if possible, by further negotiations.
It is clear that Henry deceived himself in several respects. In the first place, he thought that the inhabitants of the capital would be touched by the clemency he showed them ; but he knew not the spirit of faction, which teaches men to regard everything that is done against them as a cruel injustice, everything that is done in their favor as their indubitable right ; and the citizens hated him for their suf- ferings, without thanking him for his clemency. In the next place, he imagined that their resolution would never hold out for the length of time which it actually endured ; and that the efforts of his friends within the walls, the famine that afflicted all, and the presence of his army at their gates, would drive the leaders to surrender, many weeks before the period at which they began to treat. In the third place, he did not believe that any events in France would induce the Duke of Parma to leave the Low Countries destitute of troops, at a time when it was torn by a fierce civil war ; and he supposed that if that Prince did take so rash a step, there would be no difficulty in forcing him to a battle, which Henry now earnestly desired. He was even heard to say, that for a general engagement with the enemy, he would give one of his fingers, and for a general peace, two.
The first message which the envoys of the League brought back to the King from Mayenne, was to the effect that the Duke desired nothing but peace. At the same time, how- ever, Mayenne took means to assure the Parisians, that there was nothing he dreamed of less than a treaty of pacification. The next tidings which reached the monarch were, that the Duke of Parma was marching to join Mayenne at Meaux, and that the Italian Prince must be made a party to any farther negotiations.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 277
Henry now found how far he had deceived himself,* and the course which was to be pursued under the existing cir- cumstances, was vehemently debated in his council. The proposal of the King, was, to leave a part of the army in the suburbs, to advance with the rest to Claye, in the great plain beyond Bondy, and there to await the attack of the Dukes, in a position which was defended by the woods and rivers, and which would still enable him to maintain the blockade of Paris. La Noue, du Plessis Mornay, and Guitry supported the views of the monarch. Turenne, who had just arrived from Guyenne with three hundred cavalry, and three thousand arquebusiers, offered to secure the rear of the army against any efforts of the Parisians ; and there can be hardly a doubt, that had this course been followed, Paris would not have held out ten days. But Marshal Biron ad- vised a still bolder course, and proposed to raise the siege altogether, to advance to Chelles, and there to dare the Duke of Parma to a battle with all the advantages of posi- tion. The Marshal supported his opinion with heat and vehemence, and Henry, in an evil hour, gave way, and fol- lowed his imprudent suggestion. What judgment the skil- ful Duke of Nevers formed of this plan we do not know • but we learn, that he blamed severely the negligence, by which, the Duke of Parma had been permitted to march on unopposed into the heart of France, alleging, that he ought to have been met upon the frontier, and that those who thought he would be driven to fight, were little acquainted with his genius.
Before I proceed to notice the movements which followed, it may be necessary to mention several events which had occurred during the siege of Paris, and which I have omitted
* It would appear that Henry made a reconnoissance of Mayenne's position at the head of a large body of cavalry before the junction of the Duke of Parma ; but found him too strongly posted to be attacked. Why he did not attack the Italian Prince on the march, however, is not apparent, as he was now at the head of twenty-five thousand-
278 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
hitherto, in order to bring them succinctly before the reader's eyes in this place. The numerous towns in which Henry had found it necessary to leave garrisons, (some of consider- able strength), as he advanced upon the capital, had reduced his army to about fifteen thousand men, when the siege of Paris and St. Denis commenced ; but many reinforcements poured in, as the probability of a battle became generally rumored throughout the country, and various successful en- terprises against scattered bodies of the enemy, set free the detached parties of Royalists in different provinces. The Prince de Conti, accompanied by several noblemen of Nor- mandy and Maine, attacked, and took, after a vigorous resist- ance, the town of La Ferte Bernard : Serolles, and Desteaux, with a part of the garrison of Metz, defeated a large body of the troops of Lorraine, who had just captured a small fort in the neighborhood : Chateaudun, which had been taken by the Leaguers of Orleans, was speedily forced to surren- der at discretion, by D'Aumont, and the Prince de Conti. Various minor parties of Mayenne's troops — the fragments of the rout of Ivry — were defeated in Picardy by the gal- lant Humieres ; and an attempt made to surprise Senlis by the rebel leader Rosne, was frustrated with great loss on the part of the assailants.
Nor had Henry himself remained all the time of the siege beneath the walls of Paris. Rumors reached his camp of Mayenne's small army, gathering strength on the frontiers of Belgium, and a report was spread, that as soon as Ba- lagny had joined him from Cambray, the Duke would ad- vance to the assistance of the Parisians. To ascertain the truth of these statements, and, if possible, to strike another blow at the power of the League, Henry himself marched from Gonnesse at the head of fifteen hundred French and German horse, and hurried on by forced marches towards Laon. The enemy, however, immediately retired into that town, and the King returned to his camp, with the satisfac- tion of knowing that Mayenne was in no condition to compel
KING OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 279
him to raise the siege of Paris. The news of the Duke's retreat, he took care to communicate to the citizens of the capital, by letters dated the 15th June, in which he also re- voked the passports he had granted to the Archbishop of Lyons and several other envoys, who were about to proceed to the camp of the Duke, on the pretence of urging him to enter into negotiations for a general pacification. Inter- cepted letters had shown the monarch, that the real purpose of the deputation was the direct reverse of the pretended object ; and he severely reproved the Parisians for the deceit they had attempted to practise. Nevertheless, as I have shown above, he not only suffered the inhabitants of the capital, at a later period, to send a new mission to Mayenne, but, so great was his anxiety to win them by lenity, rather than subjugate them by force, that he violated in their favor the ordinary rules of war, permitting, during the last months of the siege, women, children, scholars, and even the clergy, to quit the town, and shutting his eyes to the entrance of provisions to feed the starving people, while they were arm- ing the hand of the assassin to attempt his life.* The ne- cessity of raising the siege of Paris might be bitter ; but he had prepared an alleviation for his disappointment by the benevolence which enabled the city to hold out.
On the 29th of August, according to the scheme agreed upon, Henry withdrew his troops from the suburbs of Paris by night, executing that difficult operation with great prudence and ability. He then marched on to C belles, and took up a position on the high grounds near the chateau of Brou, hav- ing before him a small plain bounded by a rivulet, on the other side of which was a marsh. On the same day the army of the Duke of Parma began to appear on the side of Meux, and the Italian Prince mounted a little hill to reconnoitre his adversary's strength. He was much surprised at the num-
* " It n'est pas croyable les gens que 1'on met apres de moy pour me tuer. Mais Dieu me gardera — les ennemys me feront plus tost mal que peur." Lettres Missives, torn. iii. page 194. 14th May, 1590.
280 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
bers of Henry's army, which now amounted to more than twenty-five thousand men. But the Duke's plan was in- stantly formed. To fight such a power in such a position was out of the question, and accordingly he at once in- trenched himself in the marsh ; declaring that in that post the King could never force him even to fire a pistol ; but that he would thence take a town before his eyes, and com- pletely relieve Paris, which was still kept in dire necessity by the possession which the Royalists had obtained of the course of the rivers. In vain Henry endeavored to draw his great antagonist into a battle ; Parma displayed all the cool generalship of a Turenne, replying to those who urged him to fight, that the commands of the King of Spain were merely, to relieve Paris. He is reported to have answered a defiance from Henry himself, by saying, in somewhat haughty terms, that he would follow the course he himself judged expedient, to arrive at the ends for which he came. He then chose a misty morning, when the wind set from the Royalist camp towards Lagny, threw a bridge of boats across the river, and by a furious attack, carried the place by storm, before Henry had time to afford it any sufficient support. The road to Paris was now open, supplies poured into the town, and the opportunity of reducing the capital, was found to have passed away for the time.*
The army of Henry was still superior to the united power
* The account given of these events by the King in his letter to the Duke of Montmorency, is precisely the same as that of the ordinary his- torians of the time, though he is evidently bitterly mortified at his hopes of a battle being frustrated, by the superior generalship of the Duke of Parma. Henry had, on many occasions, shown great skill and judg- ment, as well as valor and energy ; but now, opposed to a commander of consummate military genius, he received a lesson, which he required and profited by. He endeavors, as far as possible, to make light of his disappointment, and to justify his measures, and states as his reason for withdrawing his troops from the suburbs of Paris, that he had received intelligence that the enemy had formed a plan for taking up a position at Chelles, and " gliding to Paris by the wood of Vincennes."
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 281
of Mayenne and Parma, but the ingredients of which it was composed, were of so discordant a nature that they could not be held together for any long period without some great and evident object, which might serve as a bond of union amongst them. As long as the hope of reducing Paris had existed, the tie had remained entire ; but the moment the siege was raised, all the incongruous elements came into operation against each other, and Henry had speedily very good reasons to know that if he did not retreat and divide his forces, they would disband and leave him.* Marshal Biron, and one or two other Roman Catholic officers, who had devoted themselves to him at first, without any conside- ration of religion, now generously maintained their attach- ment ; but the whole of the party who had demanded condi- tions, formed a faction against the monarch in his own camp, magnified every difficulty and danger, alarmed and discour- aged the soldiers, and spread every report unfavorable to the King. At the same time, as D'O, one of their leaders, was superintendent of finance, they had every opportunity of em- barrassing the monarch, by keeping him in constant want of supplies. Nor did the superintendent fail, it would seem, to do all that was possible to irritate the applicants for money, returning haughty and insolent answers, and living in luxury himself, while the rest of the army were sorely in need. Even the table of the King was neglected ; and after having
* The King does not attempt to conceal this fact in his correspond- ence, but states it plainly to the Duke of Montmorency, in a letter dated the 8th October, 1590, in which he bitterly complains, also, of the con- duct of the Duke of Epernon, who had promised to join him with a large force, but had neglected to do so. " As to my Cousin the Duke of Epernon," he says, " I wish that the reason he sent you (for not join- ing Montmorency) had been valid, and that he had come to meet, me as diligently as he wrote you he would do, my affairs would have been in a much better condition than they are ; for three or four thousand more men would have enabled me to regain Paris, and also to fight — • and I think, to win — a battle, whereas for want of them I have missed one and the other."
282 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
been for two days absolutely deficient of food, Henry one morning at the hour of dinner, with good-humored malice, proceeded direct to the quarters of D'O, and sat down to the well-spread board at which he found the superintendent and a large party of his faction assembled. Out of respect for the King's rank, D'O and his companions were obliged to rise ; and we do not find that Henry paid him the same com- pliment that he offered to D'Aumont at Rosny.*
Under such circumstances, to force the Duke of Parma to battle was impossible ; and Henry, taking the only course that was open to him, retreated to Creil on the Oise, after making an ineffectual effort to enter Paris by escalade.f Here the greater part of the army was detached in small bodies, some to reinforce the garrisons around Paris, some to recruit in the provinces from which they came. The Prince of Conti retired into Touraine, Montpensier into Nor- mandy, Longueville into Picardy, and Nevers into Cham- pagne, with a party of the Swiss ; while Marshal D'Aumont was sent into Burgundy, and Biron remained with the King in his flying camp upon the Oise.
The plan of Henry was, to suffer the Duke of Parma to wear himself out, very sure that the necessities of the Low Countries, would prevent the Italian Prince from receiving any reinforcements, and in all probability would soon require his return to Brussels. In either case, the King did not doubt that he would have an opportunity of harassing him in his retreat, and of recovering in some manner the glory lost by being compelled to decamp from before Paris. Nor was he disappointed in this expectation ; for although the
* All the authors of the time, but more especially Sully and Aubigne, represent the state of the King's army in the same terms.
f The escalade was actually attempted, though the narrative pub- lished by the King's order and addressed to the Governors of Provence denies the fact. A large body of infantry, taking advantage of a thick fog, approached close to the walls of Paris, and one ladder, at least, was reared ; but a party of Jesuits, who had lingered on the walls, dis- covered the enterprise, and it was consequently frustrated.
KING OP PRANCE AND NAVARRE. 283
Dukes had been able to deliver the capital without fighting a battle, or losing a man, they were detained more than three weeks, and, it is said, sacrificed eight hundred men before the walls of Corbeil, a place which was hardly defensible, being commanded by two heights in the neighborhood. Le Grange the governor, however, aided by the courage and skill of Rigaud, maintained it till the whole wall was in ruins, and then defended the breach till it was forced by the Span- ish army, who committed the most horrible excesses, slaugh- tering even infants in the cradle, and obliging the old men and women to leap from the bridge into the river, amidst the laughter of the soldiery.*
In the course of this siege, the jealousy which existed be- tween the Duke of Parma and Mayenne manifested itself in various ways,f and the leader of the League, not only openly rejoiced at the slow progress of the Spanish arms, but did his best to prevent the general of the King of Spain, from holding any communication with the Council of Sixteen in Paris. Parma, although he wisely abstained from making any attempt to lead his army to the capital, visited that great city incognito, and held several conferences with the chiefs of the faction, soon after the siege of Corbeil had com- menced. It would seem that he received but little encour- agement to prolong his stay in France, and it is probable that his keen mind at once perceived, that the ambitious de- signs of the court he served, were built upon no substantial foundation. For his own honor he would not retire till he had triumphed over the resistance of Corbeil ; but the great diminution of his forces, both by war and disease, afforded a reasonable excuse for declining to undertake the siege of Melun ; and not long after Corbeil had fallen, he began his march for the Low Countries, leaving a garrison in the place and providing for its defence. He halted for some time in the neighborhood of Chateau Thierry, upon the pretext of waiting for the aid promised by Mayenne, to enable him to
* Aubigne. L'Etoile. t Mem. de Villeroy. De Thou.
284 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
effect his retreat in security ; but there can be little doubt that both during the siege which had just concluded, and during his halt at Chateau Thierry, the Viceroy of the Low Countries labored to form a Spanish faction, in the bosom of the League, in order at a future period, to obtain some sub- stantial return, for the blood and money which Spain had expended, in promoting internal dissensions in France. He was destined to meet with a great mortification, however, be- fore he returned to Brabant ; for while Henry, whose infantry under Biron, had already captured Clermont in Beauvoisis, prepared to attack him in his march, Givri and some other commanders assailed and took Corbeil, putting the whole garrison to the sword, in revenge for the cruelties they had exercised.
The moment that the Duke of Parma was known to be in retreat, Henry, who had in vain endeavored to succor Cor- beil, followed the retiring force, attacked it at every halt, cut off its detachments, and, notwithstanding all the skill of the Duke, and the good discipline of his troops, brought the army to the brink of ruin. Night and day the King was in the saddle, and wherever a charge was to be made, there he was present in person ; now in the rear, now in front of the enemy's force ; he was sometimes seen attacking it in flank, sometimes opposing its passage at any favorable spot. Thus, in crossing the river Aine, the Duke found his adversary in advance of him, and a severe skirmish took place, in which Henry with a very small body, supported for a considerable time the whole efforts of the Spaniards. At one moment, the Baron de Biron was completely surrounded, unhorsed, and forced to defend himself on foot against the enemy's lances ; but, by a gallant charge, the King delivered him from his perilous situation, and, satisfied with what he had achieved, and the capture of a great part of the enemy's baggage, suf- fered the Duke to pass the frontier, and returned himself to resume, with undiminished ardor, the war against his rebel- lious subjects.
KING; OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 285
In the course of the siege of Paris, and during the events which had succeeded it, it is not to be denied that Henry committed several considerable errors. Amongst these may be reckoned that which was pointed out by Nevers ; for the force which the King had at his command before the capital, together with the possession of so many towns upon the Marne, the Seine, and the Oise, would have enabled him, with little risk, to leave a sufficient body under the walls to keep up the blockade, while he himself marched to meet the Duke of Parma on the frontier, and to offer him battle with not unequal numbers. The lamentable habit of allowing affairs of gallantry to interfere with his more serious oc- cupations, may have contributed to divert the King's atten- tion, from the wisest and most honorable course he could have pursued. We find, indeed, that at this time he was not only a suitor of the Marquise de Guercheville,* but was also engaged in seducing the beautiful Marie de Beauvilliers, daughter of the Count of St. Aignan, Abbess of Montmartre, whom he afterwards carried off to Senlis.
A fault indeed in the movements which succeeded the siege, namely, that of choosing the post of Chelles, instead of Claye, is universally attributed to the advice of Marshal Biron, and was undoubtedly committed in opposition to the King's opinion. It might also be an error on the part of the monarch, to permit the multitude, which devoured the pro- visions of the capital, to pass his lines, and thus to relieve the city ; and by most authors it seems' to be admitted, that
* This lady deserves more particular notice than I am disposed to bestow upon the various objects of Henry's transitory passions. An- toinette de Pons, Marquise de Guercheville, in right of her mother, was at this time widow of Henri, Count of La Roche Guyon. There can be little doubt that with his passion for this lady was connected the King's long and fatal delay in Normandy, after the battle of Ivry. But Madame de Guercheville firmly resisted the monarch's solicitations, and, while she rejected his love, preserved his friendship. She was the first lady appointed to the household of the Queen Marie de Medicis : Henry saying, that he placed her in that position, as she was really a lady of honor.
286 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
a bold attempt to storm the town after he had obtained pos- session of the suburbs would have insured its fall. One writer, I know not on what authority, hints that the King regretted the clemency he had shown, when he found that success was wrested from his grasp ; but though, doubtless, that clemency did actually save the capital, yet few who have learned to admire the character of Henry IV. will be found to wish he had not committed so noble an error.
Nearly the whole of November was employed by Henry in the pursuit of the Duke of Parma ; but when once he had seen the Spanish army beyond the frontiers, he returned towards the banks of the Seine, and passed several days at St. Denis. He thence turned his steps towards Senlis, and remained at that town or in its neighborhood till the 30th of January, 1591, occupied with some great object, which he appears never to have carried into execution. His orders for the assembling of troops in the vicinity of Lagny are nu- merous and frequent. A multitude of letters, of which some were written in cipher, seem to have passed between him, the Duke of Nevers, and La Noue ; but I find no indi- cation of the nature of the monarch's design, or of the mo- tives for abandoning an undertaking, which he speaks of in all his correspondence at this time, as one which he had much at heart. It is true that on the 10th of November preced- ing, while following the Duke of Parma, he had seen, for the first time, at the Chateau of Coeuvres, the beautiful Gabrielle d'Estrees ;'and his letters of the 2nd and 3rd of January, 1591,* prove that the pursuit of this new object of
* These letters are addressed to M. de Neufville, who seems to have undertaken an unenviable and not very creditable task in the service of his royal master upon this occasion. It may be as well to remark in this place, first, that the ordinary accounts of all the King's movements for some time after the retreat of the Duke of Parma, and even many of the statements of Sully himself, are proved to be totally erroneous, by the dates of the monarch's own letters ; and secondly, that the dates of many of the letters in the Memoirs of Nevers, and other collections, are not less erroneous than those statements.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 287
desire, occupied more of his thoughts and time than was consistent with his duties as a king and a general.
While the monarch remained in the neighborhood of Sen- lis, various parties of his troops, scattered over the country, carried on the war in desultory enterprises ; and the great- est advantages gained were decidedly on the side of the King. Henry at the same time applied himself zealously to rouse the adjacent countries to a sense of the ambitious de- signs of Philip ; and more extensive schemes of. policy seem now to have presented themselves to his mind. Some short time before, the King had sent for Cheverny, who had, for a considerable period, held the important office of Chancellor under Henry III., but had been disgraced just before the death of the Duke of Guise. To him the monarch now re- stored the seals, with one of those gracious speeches, which so much won upon all who approached him, and by the light of Cheverny's experience, the King now walked in all affairs of state. A better organization was given to the household ; the business of the government was put in a more regular and dignified train ; ana Henry, who had hith- erto lived rather as a leader of horse than a monarch, began to display some of the splendor of royalty.
Money, however, and men were still wanting, for any great effort ; and, as neither could be obtained without much diffi- culty, ambassadors were sent to England, Holland, and Ger- many, setting forth in strong terms the King's view of the invasion of the French territories by the Duke of Parma. These ambassadors were followed by Turenne, with extra- ordinary powers; and in all the countries visited by that nobleman, he found a decided hostility towards Spain, which afforded the fairest opening for the negotiations he was directed to carry on. I shall have occasion hereafter, to notice the result of his exertions ; but, in the first place, it may be necessary to follow the military operations which succeeded.
The only remarkable enterprise on the part of the League,
288 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
which occurred in the month of January, 1591, was an at- tempt to surprise St. Denis by the Chevalier d'Aumale. The ditch of the town was passed in the night ; ladders were raised, and a small party, entering undiscovered, opened the gates to the rest. De Vic, the governor, however, roused by the noise, sprang upon horseback, and gathering together a few soldiers, induced the Chevalier, by a stratagem, to be- lieve that the troops of the garrison were at once attacking him, in front and flank. A panic spread amongst the assail- ants, who fled in confusion, leaving a number of killed and wounded in the streets ; and one of those who fell was the turbulent and libidinous Chevalier himself. The circum- stances of his death have been so differently stated by con- temporaries, that I will not venture to give any minute ac- count of that event.*
Not long after, Henry, having received supplies of money from England, determined to make a new attempt upon the capital, and, having disguised some soldiers in the garb of countrymen, sent them, on the 19th January, 1591, with a number of sacks of flour towards the Porte St. Honore, while he approached the end of the suburb with a small force, and the rest of his army awaited the result at Mont- martre. The orders given to the pretended peasants were, to seize upon the gate as soon as they had entered; but M. de Belin, who was now Governor of Paris, had received intimation of a design against that quarter of the city, and had caused the gate to be secured by a mound of earth. The first party of assailants having been informed of this fact as they approached the walls, retired to communicate the news to their companions, and a retreat was effected without loss. The whole scheme had been discovered to the Governor by some persons who had seen the soldiers of
* The Chevalier Cheverny says, that, having entered the place, he fancied it was completely in his power, and was surprised and killed by De Vic, while amusing himself with a woman of the town at the inn of the Royal Sword.
KING OF PRANCE AND NAVARRE. 289
the King, and the attempt afforded a pretext for Mendoza, the Spanish Ambassador, to urge, and for the Council of Sixteen to accept, a garrison of four thousand Spanish troops for Paris, and five hundred for the defence of Meaux. The former entered the capital on the llth February, and the Spanish politicians imagined that this was the first step to obtaining possession of the metropolis and of France.
The enterprise against Paris having failed, Cheverny be- sought the King to turn his efforts towards Chartres, which was the chief place of his own government; and Henry, agreeing to the proposal, sent orders to Biron immediately to invest that city, while he led his army from Senlis to aid in the siege. The King sat down before Chartres on the 9th February ; but the defence was long and obstinate, the garrison consisting of three thousand regular troops, besides the citizens. It would seem that the first assault was made on the strongest side of the city, near the gate des Espars. Henry here lost a number of his best men, and even thought of abandoning the siege ; but Cheverny strongly dissuaded him, and the point of attack being changed, Chatillon, who was an excellent mathematician and engineer, undertook to throw a bridge of a new construction over the moat, which he executed with great skill. The wall being breached, the ditch rendered of no service, and the Royalists ready to storm, the garrison capitulated upon reasonable terms.
Before this time, Monsieur d'Estrees, the father of the beautiful Gabrielle, had endeavored to cover the shame of his daughter by her nominal marriage with Monsieur de Liancourt ; but the King had caused her to be brought openly to his camp before Chartres,* and we learn from Sully, that the violence of his unfortunate passion for his mistress led him to forget his duties as a monarch. Sully, however, who was not at the court at the time, has indubi- tably made a mistake in regard to the cause of Henry's ab- sence from that which he terms " the siege of Corbie," for
* Hist, des Amours de Henri IV. par Me. la Princesse de Conti.
VOL. ii. 13
290 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
it is clearly shown by the King's own letters, that after en- tering Chartres and placing garrisons in several neighboring towns, he hastened with part of his army to the relief of Chateau Thierry, which was besieged by the Duke of May- enne, and that the capture of Corbie was effected, not by siege, but by surprise, four months before the fall of Char- tres.*
The siege of Noyon was long and difficult ; and from its situation on the frontier of the Low Countries, no exertion was spared on the part of the League to oblige Henry to abandon the attempt. One or two small parties threw themselves into the town before it was invested, and after the siege commenced, three bodies of troops under Tremble- court, Tavannes, and the Duke d'Aumale, approached for the purpose of introducing fresh forces into the place, but were on each occasion met by the Royalists, and routed with severe loss. As the garrison of Noyon offered a vigorous resistance, time was given for Mayenne to make a great effort for its deliverance, which he first attempted to effect by a demonstration upon Mantes, hoping that the danger of that important town might call the King from before Noyon, and if not, that its capture might compensate for the loss of the latter. His enterprise upon Mantes, however, was frus- trated ; and having called to his aid M. de Rosne, who had been joined in Champagne by the Prince of Ascoli, with some troops from the Low Countries, he marched to La Fere, at the head of seven thousand men. The union of all the partisans of the League in Picardy soon raised the amount of his forces to twelve thousand horse and foot, while the army of Henry before Noyon did not number more than nine thousand. But the King called in all the detachments which were within summons, and prepared, if the Duke ad- vanced beyond Ham, to meet and give him battle. May- enne, with his usual inactivity, suffered several days to pass
* Aubigne. Mem. de Nevers, torn. ii. p. 210. Lettres Missives, torn. iii. page 311.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARKE. 291
without any movement of importance ; and in the middle of August the Governor of Noyon sent out to parley, when the King agreed to allow the garrison two days to enable the Duke to raise the siege by a battle if he thought fit. May- enne made no effort, however, for that purpose, and the town was accordingly surrendered, with all its stores and ammunition.*
During these operations, foreign auxiliaries were marching from all quarters to support one or other of the contending parties in France, and negotiations were going on through- out Europe for larger reinforcements. Sancy levied troops for the King in Switzerland, and earned on the war against the Duke of Savoy, in the neighboring provinces. De Maisse, the Royal ambassador at Venice, obtained some aid from the Venetians. Elizabeth of England raised four thou- sand five hundred men for the service of the French monarch, and sent Essex to join him in Picardy ; and the German Princes, at the solicitation of Turenne, brought into the field six thousand horse and ten thousand foot, who assembled on the Rhine, near Hocheim, on the llth August.
ISTor were the agents of the faction less active in exertions to obtain assistance. In February, the Council of the League wrote to the new Pope, Gregory XIV., beseeching his sup-
* I find not the least reason to suppose that the sole motive of Henry for attacking Noyon was, as has been asserted by the libellists of his own time, and by the commentators upon 1'Etoile, to confer the govern- ment upon the father of the fair Gabrielle. When there are quite suffi- cient reasons for the conduct of a great man, it is unjust to seek for inducements in his weaknesses. Noyon was, in those times, a very important fortress, one of the principal places of refuge for the forces of the League in Picardy ; and the possession of that town, La Fere, and several other small forts in the neighborhood, not only proved of great inconvenience to the Royalists of the province, but facilitated the fre- quent introduction of foreign troops into France from the Low Coun- tries. We find, also, from the King's correspondence, that, as far back as the spring of the preceding year, the inhabitants of St. Quentin had repeatedly applied to their monarch, to deliver them from the scourge of the garrisons of the League in their neighborhood.
292 THE LIFE OP HENRY IV.
port in men and money. The Spanish ministers at Rome seconded their petition, and after manifold intrigues, such as are usual at the Pontifical Court, it was determined to em- ploy the sums laid up in the castle of St. Angelo, for the purpose of putting an army on foot, and the whole of Lom- bardy was kept in a state of agitation by the levy of men for the Pope and the Bang of Spain. The army thus raised for the service of the League was placed under the command of the nephew of the Pope, newly created Duke of Monte- marciano, and, passing the Alps in three bodies, marched into Franche Comte, where it arrived early in August, Lesdiguieres not having a sufficient force to oppose its ad- vance. At the same time, the Comte de Brissac was sent by Mayenne to the Duke of Parma to solicit fresh aid ; but the reply of that Prince was cold ; and all that Brissac could obtain for the time, was, a sum of two hundred thousand florins for the relief of the pressing necessities of the League. As it was found that nothing would induce Parma again to enter France, unless some strong town were delivered to him as a place of retreat, it was determined, by the League, to surrender to Spain the fortress of La Fere, at the junction of the Oise and the Serre. The Marquis de Megnelai, who commanded therein for the faction, was unwilling to put a body of foreigners in possession of one of the strong places of the kingdom ; but his resistance was removed by assassi- nation ; and La Fere was given up to Spain.
Although I have only judged it necessary to trace the operations of the King and the leader of the League, it must be remembered, that at the same time, the contest between the Royalists and the rebels was kept up by a partisan war- fare in almost every province of France. These hostilities proved on the whole favorable to the cause of Henry in many respects, even when his friends were defeated ; for the suc- cess of the various generals of the League, only tended to increase the divisions which existed in the faction, to ex- pose the ambitious designs of its leaders, to deprive it of the
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 293
pretext of religion, and to weary the people of the kingdom, of disorder and insurrection. The Duke of Mercceur, after having received a considerable reinforcement from Spain, followed the example of Mayenne, and gave up one of the French ports to the Spaniards. He then undertook several successful operations in Brittany, but it became so evident that he was striving alone for his own aggrandizement, that a complete separation of interests took place, between him- self and Mayenne. The young Duke of Guise, too, made his escape from prison, and appeared as a new competitor for the crown ; and the Cardinal de Bourbon, son of Louis I. Prince of Conde, endeavored to form another party, for the purpose of elevating himself to the throne. Henry re- marked all these intrigues with no small satisfaction, and we are assured by the president Renault, that he was by no means displeased to hear of the escape of the young Duke of Guise, feeling sure, that it would bring new confusion into a party already full of discordant elements.
Amongst Henry's adherents, indeed, there was only one cause of disunion, namely, difference of religion ; but about this time the publication of various letters and treatises, even by his own supporters, in which the question of their alle- giance to a heretic monarch, was treated very lightly, and as one of great doubt, proved that at any moment of press- ing difficulty, his adherence to the Protestant faith might become most perilous to the state. That it produced innu- merable evils to the Royal cause I have already shown ; and throughout the course of the war it deprived him of all real power, over men who had many conscientious doubts as to the propriety of serving him at all. In the course of this year, too, Henry lost, by death, two invaluable champions of the Protestant faith. Chatillon, the son of the famous Admiral de Coligni, died on his own estates shortly after the capture of Chartres, having previously gained a reputa- tion, scarcely surpassed by that of his. father ; and the cele- brated La Noue, who had seldom gone into battle, without
294 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
receiving some severe wound, was at length killed in an at- tack upon Lamballe, crowning a life of unstained honor, and high military renown, by a death of glory in the service of his King.
Various important successes, however, in different parts of France, compensated, in some degree, for these two dis- asters. In the early part of the year, a number of places in Poitou were taken by the Prince de Conti, and the army of the Count de La Guerche was entirely routed and cut to pieces. Grenoble was taken by Lesdiguieres, and the same officer joined with La Valette, attacked, and completely de- feated the army of Savoy under Martinengue, which victory was followed in the month of September by the total over- throw of another Savoyard army, in which two thousand five hundred of the enemy were killed, and a great number made prisoners. The Duke of Epernon, too, began to act on the part of the King, and the first fruit of his exertions was the defeat of the Governor of Montreuil, who, with his son, was taken prisoner ; but in an attack upon Pierrefons, the Duke was severely wounded, and his forces in consequence obliged to raise the siege.
I may further notice, before I proceed to detail the military events which followed, that in order to satisfy his Catholic supporters, Henry continued to protest, by public declara- tions, that he was most anxious for instruction on points of religion, that he was ready to submit at once to the decision of a free council, and that he would never suffer any change to be introduced in France to the detriment of the Roman Catholic religion, or to the injury of its professors. At the same time, however, he took care that the Parliament of Tours should declare the bulls launched against him by Gregory XIV. to be null, abusive, seditious, damnable, full of impiety and imposture, contrary to the decrees of councils, and to the rights, franchises, and liberties of the Gallican church, and that an order should be issued for burning them by the hands of the public hangman.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 295
After the fall of Noyon, Henry dispatched Biron, with his army, to assist Humieres in the renewed siege of Pierrefons, and, after a short period of repose, proceeded thither him- self. Under the walls of that city he was joined shortly after by the Earl of Essex, and a train, the splendor of which seems to have astonished the harassed and impoverished no- bility of France. The Earl, in his approach, was preceded by six pages dressed in orange velvet embroidered with gold, as well as twelve mace bearers and six trumpeters, in cloth- ing equally rich, while he himself appeared covered with jewels, so that his own dress, and the harness of his horse, were computed to be worth sixty thousand crowns of gold. On his arrival, Henry left Biron to continue the siege, and returned with the Earl to Noyon, where he entertained him splendidly for several days. Intelligence there reached him, that the German army, which had been collected on the banks of the Rhine, was on the march, and he determined to go in person to meet it on its advance. Pierrefons not hav- ing yet fallen, Henry took the somewhat rash resolution of leaving Biron and his forces to carry on the siege of that place, while he himself, with a very small escort, crossed a country filled with the enemy's troops, in order to meet the auxiliaries in the neighborhood of Sedan. Before he set out he was joined by the Duke of Montpensier, with another small force, which raised the body that accompanied him to nearly one thousand men. He now visited the Duke of Ne- vers in the vicinity of Haumont, and after having spent a day with him, proceeded to Sedan, which place had been more than once attacked, and its territories ravaged by the troops of Lorraine, since the death of the young Duke of Bouillon at Geneva. The inheritance of that Prince had fallen to his sister, and the hand of the heiress had been an object of con- tention between many aspirants. Henry, however, had de- termined to bestow her, and the principality which formed her dower, upon the Viscount de Turenne, with the threefold purpose of rewarding his services, satisfying his ambition, and
296 THE LIFE OF HENEY IV.
placing a general in Sedan, willing and capable of holding in check the house of Lorraine. This marriage was agreed upon during the King's visit to Mademoiselle de Bouillon, and, at the same time, Henry raised the Viscount to the rank of Marshal, so that henceforth he is known in history as the Marshal de Bouillon. On the 29th of September, the King proceeded to the plains of Vandy, where he found the Ger- man army under Prince Christian of Anhalt, drawn up in battle array to the number of sixteen thousand men. They received him with loud acclamations, and with a rolling fire, in keeping up which, without the slightest irregularity, they showed the greatest skill. After having inspected them, and dined with their commander, the King led his united force towards Verdun, in which place were the Dukes of Lorraine, Mayenne, and Montemarciano, with the Lorrainaise and Italian troops, which were marching to the assistance of the League. Advancing at the head of a corps of light cav- alry, Henry presented himself within sight of the walls of Verdun, chasing in a party of Italian horse ; but the princes of the League were not to be brought to a battle, and after another visit to Sedan, the King pursued his way to Vervins, which was now taken for the third time in that year. The King's foreign army was then separated into four divisions, and after having quelled a mutiny amongst the German in- fantry, the different commanders led their troops by various roads to join Marshal Biron in Normandy, to which province that officer had directed his march, after having failed in the attack upon Pierrefons, in order to unite his forces with the English under Essex, and attack the city of Rouen. The siege of Rouen had been determined upon by Henry and Biron some time before ; and, notwithstanding every precau- tion to prevent a report of the King's intention getting abroad, a rumor to that effect had early reached the ears of Mayenne, and induced him to take measures for the security of the place. The command of the garrison was intrusted to Vil- lars, formerly Governor of Havre de Grace, and every effort
KING- OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 297
was made by that officer to prepare for a vigorous resist- ance.
Biron arrived in Normandy some time before the King, but refrained from approaching the city destined to be ulti- mately attacked, and employed himself in capturing Gour- nay and Caudebec, while Henry met the German forces, in Champagne. On the llth of November, however, the King having approached sufficiently near to support the operations against the place, Biron invested the city with the united troops of England and France.
The first days of the siege passed in cutting off, as far as possible, the streams of water which turned the mills, and in lodging the troops as near the city as was judged expe- dient ; but the garrison were prepared for the former pro- ceeding, and by a vigorous sally, taught the Royalists that they had approached too rashly. A curious defiance was then sent to Villars by the Earl of Essex, who wrote him word, after some more friendly correspondence, that if he would meet him on horseback, or on foot, in armor, or in his doublet, he would maintain against him man to man, twenty to twenty, or sixty to sixty, that the cause of the King was better than that of the League, Essex a braver man than Villars, and his mistress more beautiful than that of his opponent. To this chivalrous bravado, Villars replied, that his duty prevented him for the time from accepting the challenge, but that as soon as Mayenne arrived, he would not fail. In the meantime he gave him the lie upon all the three points in which Essex pretended to be superior, but added a jesting assurance, that in regard to the last of the three, he did not much trouble himself.
On the twenty-fourth of November, Henry himself arrived at Darnetal with the rest of his forces, and, according to the account of Aubigne, the united army of Royalists now amounted to thirty-five thousand men. The long and mi- nute details of a siege, conducted on principles so different from those which a better knowledge of such operations has
13*
298 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
induced military men of the present day to adopt, would be anything but interesting or instructive to the reader, and I shall therefore content myself with noticing only those events which materially affected the progress of the Royal arms, and some of those in which the King was personally en- gaged. Immediately after the arrival of the French mon- arch, he sent a herald to summon the garrison to surrender and recognize him as King of France. But the city was de- fended by an officer who had long sought to raise himself from an inferior station into such a position as would render his services of importance to either party, and having em- barked in the cause of the League, he felt himself bound by interest, as well as honor, to show that the opinion enter- tained of his resolution and military skill was not ill-founded. In the next place, a number of the inhabitants, especially the Mayor, had so deeply committed themselves by the violence of their proceedings against the King, that they entertained but little hope of mercy, notwithstanding the known clem- ency of Henri Quatre. The reply, therefore, made to the herald, was bold, and even insolent, and an oath was subse- quently taken by the principal citizens to maintain their at- tachment to the League.
The siege then proceeded, the works being pushed for- ward rapidly ; and Henry, it is to be remarked, not only per- formed the part of general, but took his turn in defending the trenches, still adhering to his gallant, but perhaps un- wise, habit of acting more as a soldier than a commander. He was thus exposed to continual danger, led many of the storming parties which were directed against the various outworks, and was constantly one of the foremost in repel- ling the sallies of the enemy. On one occasion, while he was examining the progress of the works on the heights, with Aubigne and an English gentleman named Roger Wil- liams, a sudden call to arms and a fire of musketry was heard from the plain below, towards Darnetal ; and the King, turning in that direction, perceived that Villars had issued
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 299
forth at the. head of three hundred horse and a hundred and eighty arquebusiers, and was marching along the small river which there wanders through the plain. The only force in arms to oppose this sally of the enemy was a body of eighty English soldiers, with Biron, his son, and sixteen of the French guard. Henry, carried away by his ardor, imme- diately spurred forward, descended the hill, which was even difficult for men on foot, and being cut off from the scene of action by the river, pushed his horse over the top of a wear, which seemed to afford hardly any footing. The good charger, however, carried the King across ; but neither Au- bigne nor Williams — though the historian admits that the latter was as brave a man as any upon earth — ventured to follow ; and Henry, putting himself at the head of the little party of Royalists, showed as much coolness as he had be- fore shown daring, restrained the rash courage of the Eng- lish, who were approaching to charge the superior force of the League, and finally drove back the enemy to their walls.
Day after day Villars entertained the assailants with sal- lies and skirmishes ; and during five weeks but little progress was made in the siege. Early in the year 1592, a new rein- forcement arrived to support the assailants, and a nation which had not yet acted any separate part in the great drama of European policy, appeared upon the scene as the ally of the French King. A Dutch fleet presented itself at the mouth of the Seine, disembarked a considerable body of well-disciplined and veteran troops, and several of the ships sailing up the river, exchanged shots with the forts of Rouen.
The delay which had taken place on the part of the League, ere any vigorous effort was made for the deliverance of Rouen, is not to be attributed to the general habit of procras- tination which has been observed in Mayenne. Insurmount- able obstacles had been found to impede all his operations, and the intrigues of his own party, the constant struggle which he was forced to maintain against the ambitious designs
300 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
of Philip of Spain, the exhausted state of his own finances, and the delays of the Duke of Parma, had deprived him of all power of succoring the besieged city. The party of the Sixteen in Paris were now in a state of unconcealed hostility to the Duke and his pseudo Parliament. The King of Spain fomented these divisions through his ministers in Paris ; and the young Duke of Guise was fixed upon by the Parisian leaders as the future husband of the Infanta Isabella, and the founder of a new dynasty in France. These views were satisfactory to, and doubtless inspired by, Philip ; but at the same time that monarch knew well, that if he either drove Mayenne to despair, by refusing him his due share of author- ity, or suffered him to fall before the sword of Henry, his submission to his sovereign would probably be the conse- quence, and on his submission would follow the total destruc- tion of the faction. Intrigues and negotiations of a subtle and disgraceful character followed, in which Philip labored to keep Mayenne dependent on himself without depressing him too far, and Mayenne to obtain great assistance from Spain, and guarantees of future support and aggrandizement, without conceding the objects which the Spanish monarch desired. Some of the dispatches of Mayenne and the Gov- ernor of the Low Countries, were intercepted and delivered to the King ; and Henry had every reason to believe, that although armies were promised, and supplies of money sent to the Lieutenant- General of the League, it would be long ere his arrangements with his exacting ally could be com- pleted. Mayenne, however, was obliged to yield the point of the advancement of the Infanta to the throne of France, and the cession of a number of towns to Spain ; but by the aid of the President Jeannin, he contrived to surround these engagements with so many conditions, that they became, as he well knew they would, perfectly nugatory.
On joining, at Verdun, the Italian forces sent to his aid by the Pope, the Duke had found the troops enfeebled by sick- ness, and the leaders in open hostility with each other. The
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 301
death of Gregory XIV. soon after followed, and Mayenne's expectations from Rome were diminished to a shadow. Paris, straitened for provisions by the line of Royalist for- tresses which surrounded it, pillaged by the faction of the Sixteen, and moved by the secret partisans of the King, was in a state of the most complete disorder, incapable of sup- plying men or money, and daily tending towards submission to the King. The dread entertained by a large part of its population for the virulent and daring men who oppressed it, afforded the principal means of retaining it in union with the League ; and yet those very men had become the personal enemies of the Duke, and the pensioners of Spain ; and an act, equally brutal and iniquitous, which they committed on the sixteenth of November, at length compelled Mayenne to put an end to their rule, and thus deliver the Parisians from the apprehensions which had so long proved a barrier to the progress of more loyal feelings. An officer named Brigard had been accused by the Sixteen of holding communications with the King, had been tried by the Parliament, and declared innocent. The courts of law and the faction had long been opposed, and the acquittal of Brigard roused the Sixteen to a pitch of fury which nothing could satisfy but blood. By the most shameless artifices, the signatures of a number of the councillors were obtained to a blank paper, which was filled up with a decree of condemnation against three of the most respectable magistrates, who continued to hold their sittings in Paris. The President Barnabe Brisson, and two of his brethren, named Archer and Tardif, were seized on the morning of the sixteenth, carried prisoners to the lesser Chat- elet, and hanged in that prison without form of trial. Their bodies were then exposed on gibbets in the Place de Greve ; but the people, instead of being gratified with this spectacle, expressed their undisguised abhorrence of the deed, and the corpses were secretly removed. No sooner did Mayenne hear of this daring act, and the measures against himself with which the Sixteen proposed to follow up their crime,
302 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
than setting out for Laon at the head of a strong body of soldiers, he entered Paris, and after having in vain endeavored to induce the Parliament to take cognizance of the offence, he hanged, by his own authority, four of the murderers, and gave up the houses of five others, who escaped, to be pil- laged. He then proceeded to abolish the Council of Sixteen, to forbid, under pain of death, all secret assemblies, and, in fact, to pass the strongest condemnation upon the very means by which he had arrived at power. After having created four new magistrates, he set out once more to gather forces from all sources open to him, in order to compel Henry to raise the siege of Rouen ; but he left Paris freed from the tyranny which alone had kept it so long subject to the League.
The necessity of giving succor to the besieged city had already become so pressing, that the Duke of Parma had at length put his troops in motion for that purpose, and his junction with the Duke of Mayenne and the Papal General soon after took place, on the frontiers of Picardy. Some long discussions ensued regarding the pretensions of the King of Spain, which delayed the march of the united army ; but at length it began to advance by slow and careful marches, halt- ing each day several hours before nightfall. The Duke of Parma himself marked out the camp at every resting place, and, displaying his usual calm prudence, led his forces to the banks of the Somme, with as many precautions as if the enemy had been hovering around him.
In the meantime no progress had been made in the siege ; a plot within the walls for delivering the city to Henry had been discovered and frustrated by Villars ; rumors were afloat in the camp, that Biron, disappointed by the refusal of the King to give him the yet unconquered town, was employing all those means which were likely unnecessarily to protract the siege ; and the coldness of the Roman Catholic nobility had degenerated into actual disaffection towards the Protestant monarch. So evidently, indeed, had they shown their un- willingness to secure his throne till he should have adopted
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 303
their own faith, that, in a conversation with Sully, Henry de- clared that he saw himself menaced with the desertion of all his Papist supporters, " which will bring with it," he said, " the ruin of the state, and of the family of Bourbon ; for if they once come to a rupture with me, they will never choose for their King a Prince of that house."
It being at length announced that Parma was advancing somewhat more rapidly, Henry determined to leave Biron, with all the infantry and artillery, to carry on the siege, while he himself led his cavalry, to the number of between seven and eight thousand, of which at least one half con- sisted of French gentlemen, to harass the Dukes in their ap- proach. The united forces, opposed to him, amounted to twenty-five thousand foot, and six thousand horse ; and though some jealousy existed between the Generals, yet it was not of a kind to affect their operations. In three days after leaving Rouen, Henry with his advance guard found himself in the neighborhood of the enemy ; and by a vigor- ous attack upon the quarters of the Duke of Guise, who was at Bures, somewhat thrown forward, he gave Parma notice of his presence. Though he had left behind him his main body of cavalry, under the Duke of Nevers, the King did not fail to obtain a signal success. Guise, and the advance guard of the League, were put to flight, and, had ISTevers marched on as rapidly as the King commanded, to the post of Bully, the whole of that division of the enemy would have been cut to pieces. Nevers, however, by his habitual slow- ness, suffered the opportunity to escape ; and Parma, for the future, was more upon his guard against so enterprising an adversary as the King of France. For several days Henry hovered round the advancing forces of the League, till at length, in the neighborhood of Aumale, he learned that Parma was marching in battle array direct towards him, to oblige him to retire and attack him in his retreat. The King, who knew that a difficult country for the manoeuvres of horse was behind him, determined to occupy the enemy with a
304 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
small force, while the main body of his cavalry moved upon Blangy and Neufchatel ; and with four hundred chosen men- at-arms, and five hundred horse arquebusiers, he advanced towards the enemy's army. I shall give the account of what followed nearly in the words of Sully, who was present. The King ascended the heights of Aumale with his nine hundred men, and marched two leagues without perceiving anything, until the weather, which had been very gloomy, becoming clear, he saw Givri returning for the second time, who gave him full information regarding all that he wished to know of the enemy's army. It was now so near, that one heard the drums and trumpets, but Henry was resolved to see it himself, and he consequently made an exact recogni- zance, when he found that Parma was marching towards him with the greater body of his forces in close array. Judging that he had still too many soldiers with him, he ordered eight hundred to pass the high road, and enter the small town of Aumale, commanding three hundred horse to keep upon the edge of the hill, to aid him in case of need, and the five hundred arquebusiers to garnish the hedges and walls at' the entrance of the town. On his own part he not only waited the enemy with his hundred men, but even went to meet them. " We looked at each other," says Sully, " astonished to the last degree at a plan in which we saw nothing but rashness, that seemed destined to consign the King to certain death. No one daring to speak, and not being able to hold my tongue, I was in the end deputed in the name of all to represent to the King the danger to which he exposed him- self, and to endeavor to make him change his resolution, which I executed, softening the terms as much as possible." Henry replied by charging his followers with fear, but Sully repeated his protestations of devotion, and only besought the King to retire, giving them what orders he thought fit. Henry replied that he did not doubt their fidelity in the least, but added coldly, " Believe me, I am not so rash as you may
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVAERE. 305
imagine. I am as careful of my skin as another, and I will retire at the proper moment, so that no evil shall occur."
The Duke of Parma, seeing before him such a small body of horse, imagined that its appearance was but a stratagem to draw him into a general battle, and that the whole of the Royal army was concealed behind the town in the valley. He therefore would not suffer the corps of the King to be attacked for some time, till at length, being assured by his parties that there was no force in front, he ordered his cav- alry to advance, and in a moment Henry was assailed so furiously, and from so many quarters, that his troop was driven back in confusion into the valley, where the arquebu- siers ought to have been posted. Either by mistake, or seeking a more advantageous position, they had disobeyed the King's commands, retiring much farther than he expected ; and consequently, when Henry, who had previously given his companions orders not to advance at the word, exclaimed in a loud voice, " Charge," no men showed themselves but his own little troop. The enemy, fearing an ambuscade, halted for a moment ; but instead of a fire of musketry, they were only assailed by fifty or sixty pistol shots, which had little effect. The Spanish horse, finding none to oppose them but the handful in front, charged again immediately. Henry's squadron was broken ; and the King himself, with his friends, forced to fight hand to hand against a multitude. A number were killed at the very first onset, but Henry now showed, as usual, as much military skill in the moment of peril, as he had shown rash intrepidity before. Rallying his men with the utmost coolness, he put himself in the rear, while they defiled over the bridge of Aumale; and fighting hand to hand with the foremost of the enemy, he kept them at bay till all who were left alive of his troop had passed the bridge, and then crossed himself the last. At that very moment he received the ball of a carbine in his back, just below the cuirass, but he still continued to maintain the combat till he reached the place where the rest of his horse were posted.
306 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
They instantly advanced to support him, and the appearance of this fresh body, as well as the news that the King was present in person, confirmed Parma in the belief that the Royal army could not be far distant. Nothing would shake this conviction, and recalling his cavalry, he suffered Henry to retreat to Neufchatel. On arriving at that town, the King was obliged immediately to retire to bed ; but the surgeon soon found that the wound which had spread consternation amongst the monarch's friends, was by no means dangerous. Henry, however, was disabled for some time from directing the military affairs of his army, though we find from Sully, that even before the injury he had received was healed, -he was again at the head of his forces, harassing the Duke of Parma on his march. He was sensible, nevertheless, of the fault he had committed, and always spoke of it as the error of Aumale.
To the surprise of the King, and all who accompanied him, the Duke of Parma, after having taken Neufchatel, in which Givri had been left to secure the retreat of the King, and advanced a few leagues towards Rouen, made a retro- grade movement towards the banks of the Somme, after throwing a reinforcement into the besieged city.
To account for this apparently strange proceeding, we must turn once more to the operations of Marshal Biron, which, it must be acknowledged, were conducted with neither skill nor vigor. He had continued pertinaciously to attack the fort of Mount St. Catherine, against the opinion of some of the best officers in the army ; and though he attempted the sap and mine, means were always found ready to frus- trate his efforts. Not long after Henry and the cavalry had marched to meet the army of the League, Villars, perceiv- ing the negligence which reigned in the besieging force, de- termined upon making a vigorous sally ; and having, during the night, introduced near three thousand men into Fort St. Catherine, he led them forth towards seven o'clock in the morning on the side of Darnetal. Troops were prepared
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 307
to cover the retreat of the party, and no precautions having been taken in the royal camp, the Leaguers found little diffi- culty in driving the soldiers in the trenches before them, killing many, spreading consternation through the army, and in the end taking five cannon, and spiking two others, in what were called the quarters of the King. During two hours the besieged force met with no check, and finally retired, after an obstinate engagement with the troops which Biron led against them, with the loss of only forty men, after having slaughtered five hundred of the enemy, taken a number of prisoners, and carried off a quantity of pro- visions and ammunition. Biron himself was wounded, and Villars, returning in triumph to Rouen, sent dispatches to Mayenne, informing him of his success, and assuring the Generals of the League, that he could maintain himself for many months in the place, if they would afford him some reinforcements. The Duke of Parma, on receiving this in- telligence, called a council of war, a proceeding frequently detrimental, and rarely useful, to a general of skill and ex- perience. His own proposal was to march forward at once, and attack the Royalists before they recovered from their alarm and surprise ; but Mayenne and the French officers in the camp — probably unwilling that the Duke should have any such hold upon a town of so much importance as the capital of Normandy — urged the danger of attacking in its intrenchments a powerful force, having always a secure retreat in the Pont de L'Arche. They represented also to the Duke of Parma, that if the city could hold out but a short time longer, Henry's army would be inevitably dimin- ished nearly to one half, by the return to their homes of the immense number of volunteers which it contained. The governor of the Low Countries yielded to these represen- tations, and retired, as I have said, to the banks of the Somme ; while Henry, after having paid some attention to the wound he had received, returned to the siege of Rouen, and carried it on with vigor. Two forts were now
308 THE LIFE OP HENEY IV.
built upon the river, which cut off all the supplies of the town ;* a portion of the wall was in breach ; and the situa- tion of Villars became extremely dangerous. But that which Mayenne had foreseen had taken place ; a great part of the Royal cavalry had withdrawn, and the Dutch troops had also been recalled to the assistance of the Protestant party in their own land. In the beginning of March, however, the Governor of Rouen found that he could not much longer hold out the place against the army of the King, and intelli- gence of the fact having been sent to Parma and Mayenne, those generals immediately hastened to repass the Somme, and march towards the besieged town. No delay was now made by the Spanish General, and in six days his immediate approach was announced to the King. Henry now perceived that, with his diminished forces, it would be vain to carry on the operations any farther ; and mortified with the re- sult of his efforts, somewhat disgusted with the conduct of Biron, and anxious for the future, he prepared to raise the siege, and carry on the war against the League in the open field.
The characters of Henry and the Duke of Parma now seemed changed; the one displayed a degree of caution, prudence, and generalship which he had never before evinced ; the other pursued a rash and unthinking course, strongly opposed to all the principles upon which he had acted through life. Retiring upon the Pont de L'Arche, Henry summoned all his nobility to rejoin him, and the expectation of a battle soon brought the warlike gentlemen of France around him. The Duke of Parma skilfully avoided an engagement ; but after having entered Rouen in triumph, he was induced to advance against Caudebec in the Pays de Caux, thus placing himself in a most dangerous and difficult position, nearly sur- rounded by the Seine, the Bresle, and the sea ; the only road for retreat that was open, was by the small town of Yvetot, a short distance from Caudebec ; and instantly per- * L'Etoile.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 309
ceiving the great mistake his adversary had committed, Henry called in all his detachments, advanced by forced marches to the Pays de Caux, and took post in the neigh- borhood of Yvetot, while the Dutch fleet guarded the mouth of the Seine, and to all appearance rendered the passage of that river impossible. Caudebec was taken by the Duke of Parma ; but not till he himself had received a wound in the arm, which was never completely healed ; and on the 28th of April, he was taught the great error into which he had fallen, by the approach of the King's army, and the meas- ures which Henry immediately took for fortifying himself in such a position that it was impossible to force a battle upon him. Every passage which seemed to afford the slight- est possibility of escape for his adversary, was occupied and strengthened by the King, notwithstanding the utmost efforts to frustrate his design ; daily skirmishes took place, of a fierce and sanguinary kind, for the different posts upon which the French monarch seized ; but at length the King saw all his operations successful, and the army of the League shut in between the river, the sea, and a force consisting of seven- teen thousand foot, and more than seven thousand horse, with a country already nearly exhausted of provisions. The situation of the Duke of Parma seemed hopeless, and Henry, doubtless, expected soon to see the army of the League lay down its arms, and his crown secured without striking an- other blow. But the genius, resolution, and skill of the Italian Prince, saved himself and his allies from the perilous position in which they were placed. To cross the river was the only means of retreat ; and although Mayenne, and the most experienced officers in the army, pronounced it imprac- ticable, Parma resolved to attempt this operation. Villars received orders to prepare in Rouen a number of strongly constructed rafts, and to collect all the boats which could be found in the vicinity. At the same time batteries were erected along the banks to keep off the Dutch fleet ; and on the morning of the sixteenth of May, the Duke of Parma
310 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
drew off his troops from the neighborhood of Yvetot to Caudebec, under cover of a skirmish of cavalry. Henry was puzzled by this movement, and advanced his camp towards the latter town, taking care to fortify himself at every change of position, in order to force the enemy to surrender without a battle. The ground in the neighborhood of Caudebec, however, was of such a nature as to conceal the operations of the enemy, and while Parma occupied the King with con- tinual skirmishes, the boats and rafts were brought down with the ebbing tide from Rouen, and two strong forts were raised on either side of the river. During the night of the 20th of May, which was misty and obscure, the artillery and baggage, with a large part of the Spanish army, were trans- ported to the other side. On the morning of the 21st, Hen- ry's practised eye perceived a change in the appearance of the enemy's camp, and he immediately sent the Baron de Biron, at the head of a small body of horse, to reconnoitre. In a few minutes Biron returned at a full gallop, bringing intelligence that the Duke was passing the river. Without the loss of a moment, the King hurried down towards the banks, at the head of his cavalry, but he found only a small body of between two and three thousand men, on the right bank of the Seine, so strongly defended by the fort which had been erected, that it was impossible to attack them with- out great loss. Before his artillery could be conveyed to the ground, so as . to command the passage of the river, or the Dutch fleet could be brought up from Quillebceuf, the rear guard of the Spanish army had been ferried over, and the boats which had been sent down from Rouen set on fire, and turned adrift.
To have pursued the retreating forces of the League, would now, perhaps, have been in vain, with harassed troops, and mutinous leaders, who treated the King's proposal to that effect with contempt ; and Henry suffered the enemy to withdraw unmolested. Mayenne halted at Rouen with the French troops, and the Duke of Parma, marching up the
KINO OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 311
Seine, passed that river at the bridge of Charenton, and pro- ceeded quietly towards the Low Countries.
Henry was afterwards known to declare that he looked upon the retreat of the Duke of Parma as more glorious to that general than if he had won two battles, adding, that the object of a great commander was not so much to fight and to conquer, as to execute that which he had undertaken without risking an engagement. The Duke, on his part, justly refused the same praise to the daring conduct of the King at Aumale, replying to those who pointed out that he himself had lost the opportunity of taking or slaying the King, that he thought he had to do with a general, and not a captain of horse ; and when asked if the manner in which Henry had conducted his retreat, was not worthy of admira- tion, he answered, that it certainly was very fine, but that, for his part, he never placed himself in a situation to be forced to retire. It is hardly necessary to say that this speech must have been uttered before he besieged Caudebec.
312 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
BOOK XIV.
" No labyrinth," says Sully, " was ever equal to that com- plication of interests which divided the different parts com- posing the army of the King," after the retreat of the Duke of Parma. The common object of the Roman Catholics was to drive Henry to abjure the Protestant religion by threaten- ing to abandon him, and join their fellow Papists in electing a new king ; but each individual amongst them had some particular end in view to which his efforts were directed. The Huguenots, seeing Henry waver in his resolution, took offence at everything, and fancied they were about to be sac- rificed. The Swiss and the Germans, whenever a new move- ment was proposed, demanded their arrears of pay. The English required permission to retire as soon as a march into the heart of France was mentioned. Another party, with the young Cardinal of Bourbon at its head, complicated the whole confused proceedings by their bigotry, and by opening, from time to time, negotiations apart with Mayenne, the result of which could not be foreseen by any one.
The only resource of the King was that to which he had before applied, when he had found that the union of so many discordant parts in one force was likely to generate dissen- sions which might prove ruinous to his cause ; and he conse- quently detached a large portion of his army to watch the proceedings of the Duke of Parma, while one part retired , into quarters at Caen, and others received permission to re- turn to their homes. Henry himself disappears for a few days from the scene of action, and there is no doubt that his time, so valuable to himself and country, was bestowed upon the beautiful Gabrielle on the way to Champagne, whither
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Biron was inarching upon the steps of the Duke of Parma. Mayenne, in the meantime, occupied himself at Rouen,* in restoring that city to a defensible state, in carrying on some negotiations with Royalist deputies at Darnetal, and in making preparations for a siege, by which he hoped to open the nav- igation of the Seine. The negotiations were conducted prin- cipally by Villeroy and du Plessis Mornay, but were ren- dered fruitless at the time, it would appear, by the indiscre- tion of du Mornay, who suffered the secret to transpire, and armed all interested parties to resist the conclusion of a peace.f The siege which Mayenne meditated, proved only disgraceful to the arms of the League. Quillebceuf, against which it was directed, defended itself gallantly for nearly three weeks, and then saw the enemy retire from before its walls. Pont au de Mer was obtained by treachery ; and on the other hand, Epernay, in Champagne, was taken by the Duke of Parma.
The latter place was of too much importance to be left in the hands of the enemy without an effort to recover it, and Biron, immediately advancing, laid siege to the town on the 26th of July, while Henry remained at Compiegne in the arms of his mistress. On the second day of the siege, while reconnoitring the place, a cannon ball from the walls car- ried off the Marshal's head, and the King, deploring the loss of the great General, although his councils had as often proved detrimental as beneficial, hastened in person to supply his place ; and after having defeated a body of troops, which had attempted to throw itself into Epernay, and cut off a portion of the garrison in a sally, he forced the town to sur- render on the ninth of August.
In the meanwhile, Henry had been obliged to renew his promise of seeking instruction hi the Roman Catholic doc-
* By some authors he is said to have accompanied the Duke of Parma some way on his march, and then returned to Rouen, but others affirm that he halted there.
f Mems. de Villeroy. VOL. II. 14
314 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
trines within six months ; and in order to give some assur- ance to the Catholics of his party, he agreed to send the Cardinal de Gondi, Archbishop of Paris, and the Marquis of Pisani, to Rome, to treat with the Pope regarding his recon- ciliation with the Church. Mayenne, on his part, agreed to send at the same time, the Bishop of Lisieux and M. des Portes, but whether to oppose the monarch's ambassadors, to aid them in their efforts, or merely to counteract the in- trigues of the Court of Spain, may be doubted. Certain it is, however, that the Spanish party conceived that his inten- tions were becoming more favorable to the King, for the most furious opposition was offered to the proposed embassy, and every art was employed to make Mayenne forget the jealousy which he entertained of the Duke of Parma, and heartily em- brace the cause of Philip. Negotiations, the course of which would be tedious to the reader, still took place between the more moderate Leaguers and the King, and day by day, in the city of Paris, the Royalist party gained ground. All the wisest men in France learned to regret, as all the good men had long regretted, the state of anarchy which reigned in every part of the kingdom, but more especially in Paris. No sooner had the Duke of Mayenne struck so severe a blow at the faction of the Sixteen, as the murder of Brisson and his companions had forced him to inflict, than the moderate party of the League began to show themselves openly, and were soon absorbed into the body of the Royalists, with whom they now made common cause. To all who would not be hurried into the excesses of the Sixteen, the name of Politics had been given by their adversaries, and they had been ac- cused of favoring the King whenever they showed the slight- est disposition to oppose cool reason to the fury of faction. Many, from religious prejudices, had been sincerely attached to the League ; but from being charged with loyalty as a crime, it was an easy step to embrace it as a virtue, when it became no longer dangerous to do so ; and early in the year 1592, meetings of the Politics were held, in which consulta-
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 315
tions took place regarding the necessity of overthrowing the opposite faction, preventing the introduction of Spanish troops into French cities, diminishing the influence of the Ambassador of Spain and his creature the Cardinal Legate of Placentia, and maintaining the authority of law and of the Parliament, in the city. These meetings were first held at the house of M. d'Aubray, formerly Prevot des Marchands, and afterwards in the A.bbey of St. Genevieve, the Abbot of which monastery was attached to the Royal cause. Here, day after day, assembled in secret, the most wealthy and respectable citizens of Paris ; but the month of September had commenced before they ventured to acknowledge amongst themselves the rights of the King, or to suggest the propri- ety of treating with him. A more open avowal of loyal sen- timents then took place ; a regular plan of operations was formed, the organization of the party effected, houses were appointed in different parts of the capital for secret confer- ences, and it was determined to elect new officers for the different municipal posts which had previously been en- grossed by the Sixteen.
These arrangements, however, could not be kept so secret, that a part of the operations of the Politics did not trans- pire ; and under the plea of maintaining harmony, confer- ences with their leaders were proposed by the chiefs of the faction which still retained the name of the Sixteen, and were not refused. They were held in the presence of the Governor, but the Politics skilfully maintained the appear- ance of attachment to the League and to the Duke of May- enne, and their adversaries only exposed their own untract- able violence, without obtaining any concession.
The want of supplies which existed in Paris, in conse- quence of the principal towns in the neighborhood being still in the hands of the Royalists, greatly favored the views of the Politics, disgusted the citizens with the League, and made them anxious for a cessation of hostilities. An assem- bly was held on the 26th October, to consider the state of
316 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
the capital, and a proposal was openly made to treat with the King, for the purpose of obtaining free traffic with the neighboring country ; it being reported that Henry intended for the future to refuse all passports for provisions entering Paris. Under the system of passes which had been hitherto in existence, the price of all the necessaries of life had been kept enormously high in Paris, by the duties levied in the towns surrounding the metropolis. The governors and citi- zens of those places had become rich, the Parisians poor; and those who issued forth to purchase what they needed, had been taught to draw a most unfavorable comparison be- tween the situation of the Royalists and the Leaguers. Had negotiations for such a treaty as was proposed been once commenced, there was no possibility of foreseeing what re- sults they might not produce ; and Mayenne took alarm at the suggestion. He was now aware of all the designs of Spain ; he saw clearly that he was forever excluded from any chance of obtaining the crown, which had seemed once within his reach ; he perceived that he could draw no as- surances from Philip for his personal security and aggran- dizement ; he felt that if that monarch succeeded in raising the Infanta to the throne of France, he must always be looked upon with jealousy and suspicion; and he was conse- quently not at all indisposed to negotiate with Henry on his own account. But it seemed necessary to do so cautiously, with arms in his hands, in order to wring as much from the monarch as possible ; and his plan was still to use the forces of Spain and the League for the purpose of driving Henry to comply with his demands. He had, therefore, the task before him of restraining the Politics, of opposing the Roy- alists, of keeping down the Sixteen, of covertly thwarting the Spaniards, of conciliating the Church, and of treating with Henry. For the first of these purposes he hastened to Paris, and in a general assembly at the Hotel de Yille, in- sisted that the proposal to negotiate with the King for a free traffic should be withdrawn, adding a significant hint, that if
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVAERE. 317
persisted in, he should regard the authors of it as ill affected to the League, and enemies of the Roman Catholic religion.
At the instigation of the Sixteen, the faculty of Theology presented a memorial to the Duke, requiring, amongst other things, that it should be forbidden even to speak of peace with the King of Navarre, that the States General should be immediately convoked in Paris for the election of a King, and that all men should be obliged to swear to maintain the Union before the Legate. Some of the demands now made, Mayenne evaded, some he treated with contempt; but he solemnly promised to call the States General within a month, and from that moment labored assiduously to insure the re- turn of such deputies as were devoted to his interests ; but in this he was opposed by the fury of the faction and the gold of Spain ; and the fate of France was for a time held in suspense by the meeting of the body now summoned.
Though, as we have seen, the cause of Henry had gained ground greatly in the capital since the beginning of the year 1592, it had much declined in his own Court and camp. After the surrender of Epernay a total want of means to keep a large body of forces on foot, had compelled him to discharge almost all the foreign troops in his service, with but a small part of the pay which had been promised them. The Duke of Epernon had resigned the office of Ad- miral, receiving in exchange the government of Provence ; and the vacant post had been bestowed upon the Baron de Biron. With a flying camp under the immediate command of the latter, Henry advanced towards Paris, after the siege of Epernay, and in order farther to straiten that city, built a fort upon an island in the Marne near Gournay, by which, together with Corbeil above the capital, and the towns he possessed on the Seine below, he obtained once more a com- plete command of the rivers. Finding, however, that May- enne, whose military strength had declined to a very low point, was once more urging the Duke of Parma to return with the promised army to carry on the war in France,
318 THE LIFE OP HENRY IV.
and that the Italian Prince, after long negotiation, concerning the election of the Infanta, was preparing to accede to the demands of his ally, Henry hastened towards the end of the year to the neighborhood of Corbie, and summoned all his supporters to meet him, with the intention of opposing the advance of the Spanish forces on the frontier.
But the Duke of Parma was no more destined to lead ar- mies to the field. On the llth of October, he had returned to Brussels from Spa, whither he had gone for the benefit of his health ; and he instantly applied himself with his usual diligence to the levy of soldiers for another expedition into France. The energies of his mind for some weeks sustained his corporeal frame against the ravages of a mortal disease ; and he not only went through the usual business of the gov- ernment, but rode out on horseback daily, so that his friends and attendants judged his illness less serious than it really was. Philip refused him the permission to retire to Italy, which he demanded, and urged him to hasten into France for the purpose of supporting at the head of an army the intrigues of his agents with the League. In order to show prompt obedience to these commands, the Duke proceeded to Arras to meet the States and carry on his preparations ; but on the third of December, in dismounting from his horse, a change came over his appearance, and he expressed to one of his officers his conviction that death was approaching. He transacted business, however, during the evening, and signed some dispatches only a few minutes before his death. His immediate successor in the government was Count Peter Ernest, of Mansveldt, who had ruled in the Low Countries during Parma's absence in France ; and that nobleman's son was put at the head of the forces destined to assist the League. But the Duke's death delayed for some time the march of the army ; and it did not enter the French ter- ritory till the commencement of 1593. Henry, delivered from his anxiety by the death of the Duke, retired from Corbie, and after dispersing the greatest part of his army,
KINQ OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 319
returned to Senlis, and thence to St. Denis. He then re- moved to Chartres in order to visit Touraine, and meet his sister, at Saumur, as soon as the events which were taking place in Paris would permit him to be far absent from the capital.
In the meantime, the Cardinal de Gondi had met with so cold a reception at Rome, as to induce a belief that Clement VIII., who had now succeeded to the tiara, was in no degree inclined to encourage the conversion of the King of France. The Legate during November, December, and January poured forth bulls and excommunications against Henry and his sup- porters, and on the 9th November, he put forth a declara- tion, importing that the Pope was ready to confirm the elec- tion of whatever Catholic Prince the States about to assem- ble should think fit to elect as King. But on the 18th of the same month, the Parliament of Chalons published an edict against the Legate and his proceedings, as well as against the proposed meeting of the States General, declar- ing that assembly to have been illegally called, and forbid- ding all persons to take any part therein. At the same time, the intrigues of all the fractions of the League continued, and the agents of the different aspirants to the throne busied themselves in all parts of France to influence the election of deputies. Mayenne, however, holding the chief power, se- cured the majority of the returns, and after several delays, to suit his convenience, the spurious States General met in the great hall of the Louvre, on the 26th of January, 1593.
Though there can be no doubt that the assembly of the States was illegal : though more than even the ordinary de- gree of corruption had been practised in the elections ; though four-fifths of the nobility of France, nearly half of the clergy, and a large body of the tiers etat were unrepresented, though several of the bishops present, and many of the deputies, were notorious for their profligacy, and openly guilty of adultery, incest, and every kind of vice ; and though the whole constitution of the body was so full of ridicule, that
320 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
it was treated with laughter and derision even by the popu- lace ; yet the meeting of persons, calling themselves the States General, and the object which was proposed, placed Henry in the most difficult position in which he had yet found him- self. I will not repeat what has been already said of the parties, by which the King had been hitherto supported ; but that monarch evidently saw, that if a King were once elected by the assembly now sitting in Paris, with the con- sent and approbation of the Pope, two consequences would inevitably follow ; first, that all the Princes of Europe who adhered to the doctrines of Rome, would recognize the crea- ture of the League as legitimate sovereign of France ; and secondly, that the great body of the Catholics would abandon the Prince, whom they looked upon as a heretic. His em- barrassment was increased by the interception of a large mass of correspondence between the leaders of the League, the court of Spain, and the Politics, which fell into the hands of Sully, and showed not only a design to overthrow his throne, but to take his life ; and it became necessary imme- diately to choose some course of action, that might obviate the adoption of an extreme measure, which all the parties to it would look upon as irrevocable. The only circumstance favorable to the views of the King, was the variety of inter- ests which were brought into action against each other in the States of the League ; and, in order to delay a decision which might be fatal to the peace of France, to encourage the honest but mistaken persons nominally arrayed against him, to spread farther dissensions amongst the ambitious as- pirants to authority, and to open a way for his own secret partisans to frustrate the designs of his enemies, Henry de- termined to propose a conference between deputies from the Catholics of his own party, and deputies from the mock States of Paris. This resolution was executed on the 28th of the month ; and a trumpet was sent to the gates of the capital, bearing the offer, in the name of the Catholic Princes and officers of the Crown, to the Duke of Mayenne and the
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 321
deputies from the provinces. The paper was not signed by the King, and almost at the same time, Henry published a solemn protest against the assembly of the States.
The very name of a conference acted as a firebrand amongst the various parties in Paris. The Spanish faction and the Legate sought to send back the proposal without a reply, and even to punish the messenger ; but Mayenne referred the question to the States, and after a month's fiery dispute, the offer was accepted. Much time however was lost in fix- ing the place of meeting, during which nothing was done to advance the views of the Spaniards by the States.
While these deliberations were taking place, Henry set out from Chartres to Saumur,* in order to meet his sister, having left Orleans blockaded by a body of the Royal troops. He was accompanied by Biron and a small army, which, joined with the troops upon the Loire, relieved the inhabi- tants of Tours from the presence of some neighbors attached to the League ; but when Henry had escorted the Princess to the capital of Touraine, he received intelligence which in- duced him to hasten back to the neighborhood of Paris. 'No sooner had the King set out for Saumur, than Mayenne left the capital to meet the Spanish troops under Count Charles of Mansveldt, and having joined the small force which ac- companied him to that of his ally, he at once laid siege to Noyon, which, after a resistance of three weeks, was obliged to capitulate on the 30th of March, before Henry could ar- rive at St. Denis.f At that town, tidings of the fall of the
* This journey has been justly but severely censured by all contem- poraries, for though it was important to give relief and support to the towns on the Loire, yet the events taking place in Paris and the neigh- borhood, were far more worthy of immediate and constant attention.
| Cayet says he had arrived at St. Denis, and was levying troops to raise the siege, when the news of the surrender of Noyon reached him ; but a reply of the Catholic Royalists to the message of the Leaguers renders it probable that Henry was still in Touraine, or on his journey back, on the 29th of March.
14*
322 THE LIFE OF HENKY IV.
besieged city reached the King ; but the loss of the attack- ing force had been enormous.
After innumerable difficulties, the village of Surene was chosen for the place of conference between the Leaguers and the Catholic royalists ; and on the part of the pretended States General, eleven persons were deputed, having at their head the Archbishop of Lyons, while for the King appeared only eight, headed by the Archbishop of Bourges. The con- ference was principally carried on between the two Arch- bishops, and much subtlety was displayed on the part of the League ; but the clear and masterly exposition made by the Archbishop of Bourges, of the evils which afflicted France from its internal dissensions, of the duty of subjects to their King, and of the probable effects of the conversion of Henry, overpowered the sophistry of his adversary, which was so gross, that even his own party did not feel disposed to give him their full support. The conference at Surene continued till the 17th of May, 1593, when the King, having declared his intention to seek immediate instruction on those points of faith, in regard to which he was doubtful, the Archbishop of Bourges offered a truce of two or three months, to give time for the King's conversion. The offer was not at once accepted, although it was highly necessary to the safety of Paris, and to the very existence of the League, that such a suspension of hostilities should take place ; for the army of Count Charles of Mansveldt, after the capture of Noyon,1 which had lost three thousand men, fell directly into a state of complete disorganization, and the Italian troops disbanded themselves, and found their way back to their own land.
From St. Denis, Henry retired to Mantes, with a mind agitated by many conflicting emotions. He had lately gained an insight into the designs of the third party, as it was called, which showed him that without making a sacrifice of the religion in which he had been educated, he might be a vic- torious General, but never King of France, and that slaughter and desolation must continue to reign through one of the
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVAERE. 823
finest countries in the world. He had long feared that such •would be the result ; and Cayet* assures us, from his per- sonal knowledge, that the monarch had lost no opportunity of satisfying himself in regard to the points of essential dif- ference between the Protestant and Roman Catholic faith. He had asked explanations of many learned and pious men, and had especially consulted a number of Catholic priests, with a very natural desire of finding arguments in favor of those doctrines, the adoption of which would remove so many of the difficulties that surrounded him. He now consulted the Protestants themselves ; the advice of Sully was asked ; the state of the King's affairs was considered between the monarch and his friend ; the dangers on either side were weighed ; and Sully himself adduced the strongest arguments in favor of the King's conversion. He showed him that it was the only means of saving the State ; that though he might offend the Protestants, there was no chance of their being driven to insurrection ; and he held out to him the prospect, if by his change of religion he obtained secure pos- session of the throne, of quieting for ever the religious feuds which had desolated the country, of insuring to all his sub- jects the religious liberty for which he had so long fought, and of restoring peace and prosperity to France.
The only difficulty that remained was the great one of conscience ; but that difficulty was, perhaps, not so great as it has been represented. Henry had never been a zealous Protestant ; that he was a sincere and religious man, is not to be doubted ; but he was not one to enter deeply into the nicety of controversial questions ; he had been frequently reproached by the Huguenot ministers for his indifference on such points, and had through life expressed his willingness to be convinced of the Roman Catholic doctrines by argu- ment, or to submit to the decision of a free council. We are assured by one who knew him well from boyhood to death, that long before the present period he had been converted
* Cayet's authority is somewhat suspicious upon matters of religion. •
324 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
on the point of transubstantiation,* and consequently the greatest impediment was already removed ; but still he was resolved to be satisfied on all the other doctrinal differences which presented any great obstacle to his mind ; " for," says the Protestant Duke of Sully, writing long after the King's death, " as uprightness and sincerity formed the depth of his heart, as they did of his words, I am persuaded that nothing would have been capable of making him embrace a religion which he internally despised, or of which he even doubted ;" an important testimony from a witness above suspicion.
On the 1 8th of May, Henry wrote letters to several of the prelates and priests of France, requiring a conference with them on the subject of religion, and appointing the 15th of July for that purpose : but he would not protract from day to day, as the Leaguers of Paris desired, the suspension of arms which had been agreed upon during the conferences of Surene, and after having yielded more than once in the hope of some favorable result, he took the field, and again attacked the town of Dreux, which was captured after a resistance of fifteen days. The Gray Tower, an immense mass of masonry, and the citadel, still held out ; but the former was mined and destroyed by Sully, and the castle was forced to surrender. Some severity was shown to a part of the inhabitants, and more, perhaps, might have been excused, as the garrison, we are assured, fired upon the King, his sister, and a large party of ladies, during a truce, wounding several of the attendants.
The loss of Dreux greatly afflicted the Parisians ; and Mayenne was severely blamed for suffering the King to ob- tain a success which he had no power to prevent ; but many other events had taken place, during the conferences at Sur- ene, of more importance than the capture of a small town. The suspension of arms, which had been granted for the se- curity of the deputies, had filled the Parisians with joy, taught them the benefits of peace, and made them look for- ward to a restoration of tranquillity with expectations which * Cayet.
KING OF FRANCE AND KTAVARRE. 325
it might be dangerous to disappoint. The plans of Spain had developed themselves ; the Duke of Feria had accom- panied Mayenne from the frontiers of the Low Countries to Paris, as plenipotentiary from Philip ; and the Cardinal of Placentia had labored, both zealously and indiscreetly, to forward the views of the Spanish ministers. Mayenne, how- ever, still commanded a majority in the States, though he had become an object of hatred and scorn to the populace, and was daily losing his influence with the nobles of the League. Having rendered himself dependent upon Spain, he could not venture to oppose openly the designs of the Spanish monarch ; but he did not fail to throw every imped- iment in his way ; and it was not till the 20th of May that the envoys of the Catholic King found a fitting opportunity to propose openly the elevation of the Infanta to the throne of France. It had long been evident to Mayenne and all the most clear-sighted of his party, that this proposal was about to be made ; but it shocked inexpressibly many of the most ardent Leaguers, who had imagined the Spanish monarch sincere in his professions of disinterested zeal. Their indig- nation, however, afforded the best security that in its present bold and unmitigated form, the demand of the Duke of Feria would be rejected by the States, and to them Mayenne agreed to refer it. The consideration of the question was delayed for eight days, and then, on the part of Spain, John Baptist Taxis, supported by Mendoza, in a long and florid harangue, demanded the crown for the Infanta ; but Taxis, perceiving that the assembly was totally opposed to such a breach of the Salic law, offered to confer the hand of the Infanta upon the Arch-Duke Ernest, in order to remove the objection en- tertained by the French to the domination of a woman. No reply was made at the time ; and the Ambassador saw that the new proposal was not less unpalatable than the former. Negotiations for a truce succeeded, — ardently desired by the multitude, and necessary to the Duke of Mayenne, but op- posed strongly by the clergy, the Legate, and the Spanish
326 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
faction. These contests delayed the further consideration of the proposals of Philip till the 22nd of June, when the Duke of Feria went down to the Louvre with a new modification of the terms, offering to give the whole support of Spain to the League, if they agreed to accept the Infanta on condi- tion of her marriage with a Frenchman, to be chosen by his Sovereign, from any princely family including the house of Lorraine. This artful stroke produced all the effect intended ; and if, says Villeroy, they had been as cunning as they be- lieved themselves to be, the game was won ; for the States offered to proceed at once to the election of the Infanta, con- jointly with the Prince to be named : the declaration and publication to be suspended till the marriage was accom- plished, and Ambassadors to be sent to Spain with the Prince chosen by the King, to declare the election as soon as the nuptials had taken place. The Spaniards, however, af- fected to consider such precautions as insulting to their sov- ereign, and the golden opportunity passed away. Innumer- able intrigues followed ; the Duke of Mayenne endeavored to force his second son upon the Spanish Ambassadors as the Prince to be selected for the husband of the Infanta. The Duke of Nemours put in his claim ; the Duke of Lorraine sought to advance his son ; and a large party supported the young Duke of Guise. But in the midst of this scene of contention, a blow was struck by a body which had hitherto abstained from interfering, which came like a thunderbolt upon the Spanish party, and dissipated all their vain imagi- nations. The Parliament, by a decree of the 28th of June, protested solemnly against all proceedings which might transfer the crown of France to a foreigner, or infringe the fundamental laws of the kingdom ; and declared all which had been done, or might be done, in such a course, null and invalid.
The Duke of Mayenne was immediately suspected of sug- gesting this act ; but we learn from Villeroy that it took place without his knowledge and consent, and was merely
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 327
the result of the attachment of the great body of the law to the acknowledged institutions of the country. It is probable that Mayenne, with the assistance of Spain, would have over- leaped this barrier, had the nomination of Philip fallen upon his son; but on the 14th of July, that monarch's ministers announced, in an assemby of the leaders of the League, that he had selected the 1/uke of Guise as the husband of his daughter ; and Mayenne, with bitter indignation in his heart, but smooth words upon his lips, applied himself from that moment to frustrate the views of the Spanish court. His situation became not only difficult but even perilous ; he saw himself deserted in a moment by all the nobility but three ;* the rest hastened to pay their court to Guise ; and the only person, beyond the family of Mayenne, who seemed to feel little satisfaction in the choice, was the young Duke himself. Various preliminaries, however, were to be ar- ranged, and of these Mayenne took advantage for his own purposes. The great majority of the deputies to the States were still at his command, and, on the 15th of July, the as- sembly declared that they would not proceed to the election of the Infanta, till the Duke of Mayenne was assured of pay- ment for the immense expenses he had been obliged to incur, and of recompense for the services he had rendered.f The Spaniards and their adherents murmured and remonstrated, but Mayenne, sure of his power in the States, treated all their proposals coldly; and although they demanded that no treaty for a truce should be entered into with the King of Navarre, until they had time to consult their own court, and, moreover, instigated the Legate to threaten that he would retire from Paris, if a suspension of hostilities was granted, the Duke calmly replied that he must act in that matter as the necessities of the case might require.
It was plain to all men, that Henry was now about to join the Roman Catholic communion, and had Mayenne chosen this moment to seek a reconciliation with the King, he might * De Thou. f Journal de Henri IV.
328 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
have obtained for himself and his friends every advantage which he could reasonably desire, and would have preserved at least the appearance of having acted throughout from a sincere, though mistaken, zeal for religion. He still clung, however, to the hope of retaining power as the leader of a party, even when all chance of accomplishing his more am- bitious schemes had passed away; and he thus lost the opportunity of preserving both his reputation and influence. Indeed, agitated by various passions embarrassed by a thou- sand difficulties, disappointed in his expectations, frustrated by the very instruments which he had employed for the pur- poses of his ambition, he seems to have become bewildered in the labyrinth which he himself had aided to raise, and, met by perils on every side, to have been driven first to one course, and then to another, by the obstacles on either hand, neglecting the only path of safety which was open before him. After having thwarted the views of the Spanish party on the most essential point, he cast himself into their hands in the vain hope, that when the objects for which they had struggled were lost to them forever, they would give him their support ; after having set at nought the authority of the Legate, he joined with that prelate in the endeavor to prevent or render nugatory, the reconciliation of the King with the Church ; and after all hope of maintaining the League was at an end, he thought fit to enter into a solemn engagement, confirmed by oath, with the Spaniards and Car- dinal Legate, never to abandon the union or recognize the King, whether he renounced the Protestant faith or not.
In the meantime, Henry, while at Mantes, had been en- gaged in listening to frequent conferences regarding religion. He gave his attention to Papists and to Protestants alike, and from the latter he obtained an admission, that " God is not less honored in the Roman Church than in that of the Refor- mation," and that salvation might be obtained in one as well as in the other. This assurance appears to have had a great effect upon the King's mind, and he argued, that if such was
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 329
the belief of the Protestants, while the Roman Catholics de- clared that no man could be saved out of their own communion, security was only to be found with the latter. " Prudence requires," he said, addressing a Protestant minister, " that I should be of the religion of the Catholics, and not of yours, because in being of theirs, I am saved, both according to them and according to you, and being of yours, I am only saved according to you, but not according to them." It has been supposed, indeed, and with great probability, that de Mornay and others, who took part in these conferences, did not exert themselves with any degree of zeal to retain the King in the Protestant faith, and seeing that his conversion was the only means of restoring peace to France, suffered their opponents to gain advantages in arguments which might have been prevented. At the same time, the Archbishop of Bourges, a man of considerable talents and piety, with a number of other Roman Catholic prelates, brought the whole force of their eloquence to the work of conversion ; and although zealous Protestants have not been able to conceive that Henry was sincerely convinced, it is scarcely possible, when the question is considered calmly, to suppose that he was not. The whole arts, arguments, and eloquence of Rome were employed to bring conviction to his mind ; the opin- ions of the Fathers of the Church, whose works he had never read, were cited upon points which he had little opportunity of investigating ; the example of multitudes whom he knew to be men of wisdom, learning and piety, was held up before him ; and on the other hand, nothing was opposed to these inducments, but the cold and feeble reasoning of persons probably unwilling to be successful. At length, having re- moved from Mantes to St. Denis, Henry summoned to assist him a number of the clergy of Paris, amongst whom were several of the most ardent preachers of the League ; and to this application they acceded, notwithstanding the furious opposition of the Spaniards and the Legate, the latter of whom threatened them with the severest censures of the
330 THE LIFE OF HENKY IV.
Church, and with the loss of all their benefices. The curate of St. Eustacia, however, boldly replied, that neither his con- science nor the canons of the Church, permitted him to re- fuse his assistance to a heretic willing to be converted, and if the Legate did his duty, he would take part in the good work himself. His companions and himself, accordingly, set out for St. Denis, and, aided by the Archbishop of Bourges, and three other bishops, labored during Friday and Satur- day, the 23rd and 24th of July, to instruct the King in all doctrines of the Roman Catholic faith. The Cardinal de Bourbon made one great effort to prevent the King from receiving absolution from the hands of any one but the Pope ; and the Legate published a prohibition, by which the pre- lates and ecclesiastics of France, were forbidden to receive Henry into the bosom of the Church. But the wise and good men by whom he was now surrounded, were not to be deterred by such menaces from restoring peace to France, and gaining a great convert to their own faith ; and the King, having declared himself perfectly satisfied, prepared to make his abjuration on Sunday the 25th of July. At eight o'clock in the morning of that day, Henry, dressed in white satin, with a black mantle and hat, proceeded to the great church of St. Denis, supported by the Princes of royal blood, the officers of the Crown, and a large number of the nobility. He was preceded by the Swiss, the Scotch, and the French guard : the houses were decorated, the streets were strewed with flowers, and, notwithstanding a strict prohibition pub- lished the day before in Paris, forbidding the people to be present at the ceremony, an immense multitude lined the way on either side, greeting him with repeated cries of " Long live the King." At the entrance of the church, seated in a chair of white damask, embroidered with the arms of France and Navarre, appeared the Archbishop of Bourges, supported by the Cardinal de Bourbon and a number of bishops, with the monks of St. Denis, bearing the cross, the evangelists, and the holy water. On arriving at the great doorway of
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 331
the church, he was asked by the Archbishop who he was, to which Henry replied, " I am the King." The Archbishop then demanded, " What do you seek ?"
" I seek," answered Henry, " to be received into the bosom of the Apostolical and Roman Catholic Church."
" Do you really desire it ?" inquired the Archbishop.
Henry answered that he did; and kneeling before the prelate, he pronounced the following words : — " I protest and swear, before the face of the Almighty, to live and die in the Roman Catholic religion, to protect and defend it against all men, at the peril of my blood and my life, re- nouncing all heresies contrary thereunto."* The Archbishop then gave him his consecrated ring to kiss, and afterwards absolution and benediction. The monarch was next con- ducted into the choir, and repeated his profession of faith, and his oath, on his knees before the altar, having kissed which, he was led to the confessional behind, where he made confession to the Archbishop while Te Deum was sung ; and then, having been conducted to a desk covered with crimson velvet, embroidered with gold fleurs-de-lis, high mass was celebrated before him, and thus terminated the ceremony of his abjuration. The same evening he heard vespers at St. Denis, and then proceeded to Montmartre, to render thanks in the church of that place.
It would be tedious and vain to recapitulate all that has been said regarding the conversion of the King ; some have asserted that Henry treated the subject with levity, saying that Paris was well worth a mass ; others have declared that Gabrielle d'Estrees had a great share in the conversion of Henry ; and Aubigne, with his usual malevolence, has done all that he could, to throw an air of ridicule and insincerity
* This is not the form of abjuration given by Sully, but as it is to be found both in L'Etoile and Cayet, there can be no doubt that it was that which the King pronounced before the Archbishop. The more extended form which Sully mentions was probably given in writing, signed by the King's own hand.
332 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
over the whole proceeding. But almost all those who knew Henry well, have declared that his conversion was sincere, and appeal to the whole course of his after life as a proof of the assertion. It is probable that the monarch, always in- different to forms and ceremonies, thought the change in a religious point of view, of much less importance than it ap- peared to the eyes of the more zealous of either religion ; but the respect which he paid throughout his whole life, to the rites of the Roman Catholic Church, even in points where his vices and weaknesses were concerned, gives strong proof of his sincerity. We know that he even separated himself for a time from her he loved best, when about to perform some extraordinary act of devotion ; and indeed, he seems not only to have embraced the doctrines, but also some of the superstitions, of the Roman Church. A careful examination of all his acts throughout the rest of his life, can hardly fail to impress the mind with a belief that his conversion was sincere ; and the character of the monarch was so strongly opposed to fraud and deceit of any kind, that there is every reason to conclude, in the remarkable words of Sully, that " a prince who had never cheated men, was very far removed from the design of cheating God."
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 333
BOOK XV.
THE exhausted state of both parties required some time for repose. To Mayenne, a suspension of arms was neces- sary, in order to frame new plans of resistance, and to carry on intrigues both with the Court of Spain in order to obtain support, and with the various fractions of the League, to restore union amongst its discordant parts. At the same time, the humane policy of the King led him to permit his rebellious subjects to taste the blessings of peace, as the best means of disgusting them with the war, in which they had so wildly and unreasonably engaged.
The conversion of Henry was thus almost immediately fol- lowed by a truce of three months, granted on the 31st of July ; and the result which the Archbishop of Bourges had foretold in the conferences at Surene, as one of the certain conse- quences of the abjuration of the King, very soon appeared. A number of Protestant noblemen and gentlemen followed his example, and ere many years had passed, most of the distinguished Huguenots had conformed to the religion of the state. There were a few eminent exceptions, indeed, which we may have to notice hereafter ; but it would seem unnecessary to particularize all the instances in which the Protestant nobility reconciled themselves with the Church of Rome.
In the meanwhile, Mayenne, the Legate, and the Span- iards, struggled in vain against the difficulties into which they were thrown by the King's conversion. They bound themselves to mutual assistance by oaths so rash and impru- dent, that Mayenne found it necessary to conceal them, even from his councillors Jeannin and Villeroy ; they instigated
334 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
the preachers to declaim from the pulpits against Henry and those who had assisted at his abjuration ; they induced the States, by a pitiful stratagem, to publish the edicts of the Council of Trent in an illegal and informal manner ;* and they persuaded the deputies to take a new oath of union, by which they hoped to maintain a party in the state. But the oaths of all were soon broken ; the fiery oratory of Boucher, and other zealots, had no effect upon the cold ears of the people ; and the great body of the clergy of France pro- tested against the publication of the edicts of the Council of Trent, as contrary to the privileges of the Gallican church. The King, however, without loss of time, dispatched mes- sengers to the Pope, making spiritual submission to the Holy See, and promising to live and die in the Catholic faith. He afterwards sent a more formal ambassador in the person of the Duke of Nevers ; but the Cardinal Legate had taken instant measures to frustrate the views of the King, by dis- patching Montorio, one of his attendants, to prejudice the mind of the Pontiff, and persuade him tHat the conversion of Henry was but feigned.
Clement VIII., a weak and bigoted priest, was easily led to any act of unseemly violence, and he twice sent to forbid Nevers to approach the Vatican as the envoy of Henry of Navarre. He also warned him to enter Rome, even as Lu- dovic of Gohzaga, with as few attendants as possible, and showed every inclination to reject the application of Henry for absolution from the anathema launched against him, on any conditions whatsoever. Nevers, however, acquainted with the artifices of the Roman priesthood, and probably looking upon this exuberant display of reluctance as affected
* This was effected after the Duke of Mayenne had formally pro- rogued the States till September. The Legate did not enter, we are assured, till after the Duke had pronounced the prorogation ; but then/ the " ordonnance" for the reception of the decrees of the council was read before him, and he thanked the deputies as for an act of the States.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 335
for latent purposes, passed over all these difficulties, made his way to the Papal Court, and for some weeks carried on negotiations with the Pontiff; but Clement showed a degree of brutal bigotry which incensed even the devout Nevers ; and after having been treated with indignity, and having heard the Pontiff declare, that if an angel from Heaven told him Henry was truly converted, he would not believe it,* he quitted Rome, leaving his mission unaccomplished. The letters of the Duke from the Court of Rome, and the termi- nation of his negotiation in an abrupt and almost hostile man- ner, might have given great pain to the King, who was eager to reap from his conversion the fruit of peace and order in his kingdom, if he had not been aware of facts which, it would seem, were concealed from Nevers himself at the time. The open negotiation of the Duke was in reality nothing but a pageant, as almost all the public transactions of the Court of Rome have always been ; and the absolution of the King was treated for by secret agents, employed both before and after the embassy of Nevers. The principal partisan of Henry in the imperial city, in point of talent, activity, and energy, was the well-known Arnold d'Ossat, a man of low birth, without any known relations, with no public functions, an advocate without practice, a priest in extreme poverty, and only distinguished by the friendship of some eminent men, and a high literary reputation. Nevertheless, taking up the interest of the King with zeal and affection, he day by day made secret progress in his cause, directed Clielle, a royal agent who preceded Nevers, co-operated with Gondi and Duperron some time after, and obtained private as- surances, which he transmitted to the King, at a very early period of the negotiation, that however repulsive the de- meanor of the Pope might be to the Duke of Nevers, the desired absolution would ultimately be granted. Henry, indeed, was far from easy on the subject ; for notwithstand- ing the secret information derived from d'Ossat, he might * Mem. de Nevers, torn. ii. p. 463.
336 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
well doubt, as others have since doubted, whether Clement was acting sincerely with any one, and whether he was not protracting his open resistance while he privately encouraged hope, in order to see what turn the affairs of France might take, and shape his policy by the success or failure of the faction which had been nurtured by the gold of Rome. Certain it is, that though he reproached the Spanish mon- arch with the niggardly spirit he had displayed in supporting the Papal party in France, he treated the envoys of the League with favor, and induced them to expect that he would firmly refuse to absolve the King, confirming his as- surances by the intemperate violence which he displayed towards Severs.
Thus far the leaders of the League were successful, and their preachers also obtained the results which they sought, in instigating an attempt upon Henry's life. That monarch, after having established severe tolls upon all commodities which passed the towns he held in the neighborhood of Paris, retired to Melun, where he received an intimation, sent by Seraphin Bianchi, an Italian monk then residing at Lyons, that a person named Barriere had set out to assassinate him. M. de Brancaleon, by whom the intelligence was brought, received orders to watch for the murderer, who was seen for a moment on the 26th August, before the house in which the King resided, -but disappeared immediately, and was not arrested till the following day. Having then been put to the torture, he confessed his crime, and implicated several persons, amongst whom were two Jesuits, the curate of St. Andrew's at Paris, and one or two other monks and priests, all of whom, he said, had encouraged him in his design. As he varied his confessions, however, in the different examina- tions which took place, Henry did not think fit to pursue in any way the persons he accused ; but the assassin himself was given up to justice, and was put to death with all the barbarous inflictions which, in those days, were sanctioned by the law.
KINU OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 337
As the truce approached its close, the Leaguers eagerly solicited its prolongation for two months ; and after some difficulty Henry granted their request ; but he forced Villars to raise the siege of Fescamp, which he had continued, not- withstanding the suspension of arms, upon the pretence that his contest with Bois Roge, the governor, was a private quarrel. Bois Roge made his full submission to the King about the same period, but Whether before or after the rais- ing of the siege I do not discover.* The Court of the French monarch now became a market to which his rebellious sub- jects and towns brought their obedience for sale at various prices. Some demanded much, others were more moderate in their requirements ; some with a greater degree of gen- erosity came over without previous stipulation ; but all sooner or later looked for some recompense, and in most cases ob- tained it. Monsieur de Vitry, one of the first who joined the party of the King after his conversion, gave notice at once to Mayenne, and other leaders of the League, that as he had opposed Henry because he was a heretic, he would now serve him because he was a Catholic. He begged them to take their measures accordingly ; and in the month of December, 1593, he gave up the keys of Meaux, of which town he was governor, to the magistrates of the place, assumed the white scarf, and set out to join the King at the head of his com- pany of horse, leaving his wife to follow. Before she could do so, however, the inhabitants had adopted the same resolu- tion as their governor ; Madame de Vitry was entreated to send a messenger to call him back ; and Vitry returning, ob- tained a promise from the citizens of fidelity to the King. For this service he received twenty thousand crowns, and the government of Meaux, under Henry. La Chatre soon after brought the submission of the towns of Orleans and Bourges, upon the same conditions that had been obtained by Vitry, with the additional promise of the Marshal's baton. Ville- roy, the steady supporter and confidant of Mayenne, dis-
* Some authors say it was before, others after. VOL, II. ] 5
338 THE LIFE OF HENKY IV.
gusted with the insincerity which that nobleman had dis- played towards him, made his peace with the King in the commencement of 1594, and day after day some new adhe- rent of the League came over to the party of Henry. Lyons, it is supposed at the instigation of its Archbishop and May- enne, had risen in September, 1593, against the Duke of Nemours, who was endeavoring to create for himself an independent sovereignty on the banks of the Rhone. The citizens seized his person, and imprisoned him in the castle of Pierre-encise ; and in February, 1594, the principal in- habitants entered into correspondence with Alphonso Ornano, and rising against the Leaguers, declared their submission to the King.* Aix, and a number of other places, followed, and the example thus set had no slight effect in the capital itself.
In the meantime, Henry made various expeditions to dif- ferent parts of his dominions ; he visited Dieppe, returned to Mantes, passed a short time at Fontainebleau, and made a public entry into Meaux ; but during all these journeys, he from time to time held earnest conferences with the Ro- man Catholic clergy on the subject of religion, although he listened mildly to the complaints and remonstrances of his Protestant subjects, and assured them, that at a proper time he would do the best for them that he could. At the request of du Perron, he suffered a dispute between that ecclesiastic and some of the learned Protestants to take place at Mantes. Nothing resulted from this meeting, as might be supposed ; and Henry, as soon as the truce was at an end, laid siege to La Ferte, which he soon forced to surren- der, while Sully, then Baron de Rosni, negotiated secretly with Villars for the submission of Rouen, and Villeroy la-
* Anquetil passes over all the facts regarding the imprisonment of the Duke of Nemours, attributing it entirely to Mayenne, without speaking of the revolt of the citizens of Lyons. See Hist, de France, vol. vii. p. 355.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 339
bored, but without success, to convince Mayenne of the ne- cessity of making peace with the King.
The affairs of the leader of the League were reduced by this time to so deplorable a state, that no reasonable hope could be entertained of his recovering even a temporary ascendency. In every quarter of France, the Royalist party was daily increasing ; in Paris itself it was known to be powerful, though the members concealed their views under the name of Politics ; the court of Rome gave no active as- sistance to the rebels, and Henry himself, by accident and by stratagem, obtained the clearest proofs that the Spanish monarch, incapable of forgiveness, remembered with bitter animosity, that Mayenne had interposed to prevent the ele- vation of the Infanta to the throne of France. A secret envoy from the League to the court of Spain was acciden- tally arrested by a body of Royalists, and the letters found upon him showed that he was intrusted with negotiations of importance. It was also discovered, upon his examination, that he was personally unknown to the Spanish ministers, and M. de la Varenne, one of Henry's attached dependents, undertook the somewhat dangerous task of personating the ambassador of the League in Spain. The stratagem proved perfectly successful ; the letters which had been found upon the person of the real envoy were sufficient to obtain full confidence for Varenne with the Spanish ministers ; Philip himself conferred with him in private ; and the whole de- signs of that monarch's cabinet were displayed in regard to France. La Varenne escaped from Spain just in time to avoid being arrested, and Henry thus learned that, although Mayenne might be used as a tool to stir up fresh dissensions in the land, the power he had derived from Spain to menace the monarchy itself had passed from his hands forever.
It was sufficiently painful to the heart of a wise and hu- mane sovereign, to see the period of restoring his country to peace and prosperity retarded by the machinations of an am- bitious and insatiable enemy. Nothing, however, remained
340 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
for Henry, but, step by step, to deprive the leader of his rebellious subjects of the followers who supported him from mercenary or fanatical motives, and of the vain hopes which deluded him with visions of future greatness and success. Arms were of course a means to be employed for this end ; but the King failed not to make use of all those milder methods which might advance his object without the effu- sion of blood. Aware of the effect of forms and ceremonies upon the imagination of the people, Henry resolved to carry through his coronation notwithstanding the war ; but as Rheims was still in the hands of his enemies, he received the crown in the town of Chartres on the 27th of February, 1594, and was anointed with the holy oil preserved at the Abbey of St. Martin, of Tours.
In the meantime, the Royalists were exerting themselves with great vigor in the capital itself; and several of the most distinguished officers of the faction were secretly gained to the interests of the King. The Count de Belin, Governor of the city, who had been made prisoner at Arques, and had never forgotten the courtesy with which Henry had treated him, appeared so openly as his partisan, that tha Spanish ministers and the Sixteen resolved to effect his removal from office ; and Mayenne yielded to their request, though not without strong remonstrances on the part of the Parliament, which openly, by its decrees, attacked the Spanish faction, and declared itself determined to oppose their designs. Belin, however, was dismissed with some complimentary as- surances on the part of Mayenne, which did not restrain him from immediately joining the King. Several of the Politics, also, were ordered to quit the city, and a fresh body of Span- ish troops was introduced. The person chosen to succeed M. de Belin was the Count de Brissac, who had likewise been a prisoner in Henry's hands. He was now embroiled in a bitter quarrel with the Duke of Aumale and several other members of the League. Nevertheless, the Spaniards
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 341
and the Sixteen testified the greatest joy at his appointment, and looked upon his perseverance in rebellion as certain.
The situation of Paris, however, was becoming every day more difficult, and disunion was hourly spreading in the fac- tion ; the surrender of Pontoise to the King by M. d'Alin- court, who joined his father Villeroy in making submission, completed the blockade ; the Royalist forces swept the coun- try to the very gates of the city ; and no one dared to ven- ture forth except with a passport or a strong escort.- The Duke of Guise quitted the capital, discontented with all that had taken place. Orleans had fallen into Henry's hands, Rouen was known to be negotiating ; mutual distrust existed between Mayenne, the Spaniards, and the Sixteen, and the Duke, seeing that the capital was no longer a place in which he could command respect, or even insure safety, determined to quit Paris, after long and agitated hesitation, which evinced too plainly the state of embarrassment to which he was reduced. Before he went, he endeavored to reanimate the party of the Sixteen, which he had formerly crushed ; but the very attempt roused the indignation of that fraction of the Parliament which continued in Paris, and many of the members who had previously remained firm in their at- tachment to the League, thenceforward co-operated with the Attorney- General Mole, who had long been secretly labor- ing in the cause of the King. At length, on the 6th of March, the Duke executed his purpose and left the capital, upon the pretence of meeting some Spanish forces under Count Charles of Mans veldt. But the fact of his taking the Duchess and his children with him, afforded the Parisians a key to his real motives.
It is probable that Mayenne did not abandon his partisans in the metropolis without entertaining a suspicion, that Paris would be speedily placed in the hands of the Royalists by the Governor, whom he himself had chosen; for we find that, previous to his departure, the Duchess of Nemours*
* Anne of Este, Duchess of Nemours, was twice married, first to
342 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
had discovered that some sort of communication had been established between Brissac and Henry by the means of An- thony de Rochepot. She immediately made the fact known to her son ; but the Duke turned a deaf ear to the charge, and neglected her exhortation to treat with his sovereign, while he yet had command of the capital. He displayed no want of confidence in the Governor, and, shortly before he set out, furnished him with several blank letters of exile, to enable him to deal in a summary manner, with any person whom he might judge it expedient to expel from Paris.*
The conduct of Brissac was soon determined after the de- parture of Mayenne; an interview was arranged between him and his brother-in-law, St. Luc, at the Abbey of St. An- toine, the pretext assigned being a law-suit then pending be- tween them ; and during their conference a plan was sketched out for giving Henry entrance into his capital. The two gentlemen, and the lawyers who accompanied them, parted apparently in anger, and Brissac, returning into the town, summoned to take council with him a number of the mem- bers of the Parliament and officers of the city, on whose loyalty he could rely. From this secret assembly every sort of false rumor regarding the events which were taking place without the walls was spread, in order to embarrass and oc- cupy the Leaguers ; and the whole details of the plan for delivering the city to the King, and the terms upon which he was to receive peaceable admission, having been arranged, they were communicated to Henry, who resolved to make the attempt on the morning of the 22nd of March.
Brissac had by that time made every preparation for giv- ing admittance to the Royal forces. He had taken posses- sion of the Porte Neuve, and on the pretence of building a
Francis, Duke of Guise, assassinated by Poltrot, by whom she had several sons, amongst others, the Duke of Mayenne ; and secondly, to James of Savoy, Duke of Nemours.
* Anquetill confounds the negotiation commenced by Rochepot and discovered by the Duchess of Nemours, with that afterwards carried on between Brissac and St. Luc,
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 343
wall instead, had removed the earth with which it was blocked up. He placed several other gates in the hands of citizens on whom he could rely, and dispersed bands of armed men through the different quarters of the town, to favor the ope- rations of the King's troops. It had been determined that the entrance was to be effected on several points at once ; that the garrisons of Melun and Corbeil were to drop down the river, and be received by one of Brissac's officers at the head of a great body of citizens and boatmen ; and that the moment the troops had entered the town, they were to make a movement for the purpose of separating a body of Wal- loons, who were quartered at the Temple, from the Spaniards, who were posted in the neighborhood of St. Eustacia and the Porte St. Denis.
On the evening of the day preceding the attempt, reports were purposely spread that the King had signed a treaty with the Duke of Mayenne, and that a large quantity of treasure, on its road to the court, had already arrived at Pa- laiseau. On the diffusion of this last intelligence Brissac sent out a zealous partisan of Spain, named James Ferrarois, at the head of two companies of determined Leaguers, to seek for the imaginary booty, and thus delivered himself from the presence of a considerable body of men who might have proved troublesome within the walls.*
Notwithstanding every precaution, the Cardinal Legate, and the Duke of Feria, received a vague intimation that something was intended against them, and sending for Bris- sac on the evening of the 21st, they besought him to take measures to prevent surprise. Brissac treated their fears lightly, but agreed at once to visit the walls. By order of the Ambassador, who still entertained supicions of the Gov-
* The troops sent out were two French companies, not Spaniards, as Anquetil asserts, and the object was to surprise a quantity of treasure supposed to be on its way to the court, not to escort a convoy sent to Paris by Mayenne, as that writer declares. This is proved by Etoile and other eye-witnesses of what was passing in the capital.
344 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
ernor, he was accompanied on his round by a small party of Spanish soldiers, who, we are assured, received orders to poniard the French officer, if, in their course, they distin- guished any sound, which announced the approach of an enemy to the gates of the city ; and, although this charge may have arisen merely in one of the false reports which are always so busy in a city agitated by contending factions, there can be no doubt, that the most violent and atrocious schemes for the total destruction of the Royalist party in Paris, were agitated in the secret councils held by the Six- teen and their accomplices. All, however, was still. No sound announced the approach of an enemy; the guards were at their post, and the Spaniards retired satisfied to rest. The faction of the Sixteen also visited the walls ; but so well had Brissac taken his measures, that they were also deceived, and retired to rest between two and three in the morning.
A little before four, on the morning of the 22d, Brissac and the Prevot des Marchands issued forth in silence ; and, having placed a guard over the house of the Duke of Feria, with orders to fire upon any person who came forth, they proceeded to the Porte Neuve, opened it, and let down the drawbridge. The King's troops had not yet appeared, some accidental delay having occurred, and the Governor had to wait several minutes before Vitry and other noblemen, with the first party of Royalists, arrived at the gate.
Shortly after four o'clock the inhabitants of Paris were awakened by a noise from the neighborhood of the school of St. Germain ; and a number of persons running out, found a body of the King's forces, who had just cut to pieces a small corps of lanzknechts, by whom their passage had been op- posed. The troops, in the meantime, marched on in perfect order, entering no house, committing no violence upon the citizens, but taking possession of the bridges, the squares, and the ramparts, and pointing the cannon down the princi- pal streets. The citizens, who had gone forth, returned to
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 345
their houses, waiting for farther movements, and spreading the news that the King was in the city.
Henry, however, did not make his entrance for nearly an hour, when he appeared unarmed at the Porte Neuve ;* he was there met by Brissac, who immediately presented him with a magnificent scarf, upon which the King, taking off his own, threw it over the Governor's shoulder, addressing him by the title of Marshal of France. The Prevot des Mar chands delivered the keys, which the King received graciously, and Henry proceeded along the streets amidst shouts of " Peace ! peace ! long live the King !" One of the first acts of the monarch was to hear mass in the church of Notre Dame ; and his procession thence to the Louvre, with the trumpets sounding, the bells ringing, and the faces of thou- sands pressing to see him, so that he could hardly move through the streets, while they rent the air with acclama- tions, presented a scene such as Paris had not witnessed for many years.
Having ascertained, with his own eyes, that welcome and gratulation were all he had to expect from the citizens, Henry entered the palace of the Kings of France. He found it in possession of his household, the officers of the Crown waiting his appearance in their order, and the morning meal prepared, as if no change had taken place, although it was now six years since the halls of the Louvre had been trod by the steps of a monarch. The Spaniards at first, with a force amounting to between four and five thousand men, showed some intention of maintaining the post they occupied, but the King having dispatched a messenger to the Duke of Feria, with an order to send him immediately the Colonel of the Walloons, who had been arrested some days before on a charge of favoring the King, the Duke obeyed promptly. Henry in return commanded one of his officers to tell him
* Anquetil, with his usual inaccuracy, would lead one to believe that Henry was armed, but such was not the case ; and the error is not so unimportant as it seems at first sight.
15*
346 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
that he would be permitted to quit Paris, and retire to Flan- ders with all the foreign troops of the garrison, provided no attempt at resistance was made. The Duke willingly em- braced the course suggested, and retired from the French capital, accompanied by a number of the more furious Lea- guers, who took refuge in the ranks of the Spanish soldiery. If the retreat of this small body of citizens was produced by fear, it was unnecessary ; for two days before, while at Sen- lis, the King had caused a great number of notes to be pre- pared, and signed them with his own hand, by the tenor of which he pledged himself, upon the faith and word of a monarch, not to pursue in any way such of the citizens as had been in rebellion against him, and forbade his officers, civil and military, in any manner to injure or molest them. These notes were placed in the hands of Brissac and other noblemen, and distributed amongst those who had rendered themselves obnoxious, on their submitting to the power of the King. Towards two o'clock, the Spaniards marched out by the Porte St. Denis, and the King, having placed himself at a window near the gate, saluted them by pulling off his hat. Their arms were lowered, their matches extinguished, their banners furled, and as they passed the King, their leaders bent the knee and thanked him for his clemency and magnanimity.* Henry replied with courtesy and kindness, and ended by saying : " Adieu, gentlemen ! adieu ! commend me to jour master, and go in peace, but do not come back again."
In the space of a few hours, the most perfect tranquillity was restored in Paris, which was only interrupted by dancing, festivity, and rejoicing. The Bastille held out, indeed, hope- lessly, and was not surrendered till the Saturday following.
* Le Grain. Decade de Henri Quatre. It is to be remarked that Le Grain was present at this scene, and I have, therefore, adopted his account, although other historians only mark, that Henry spoke kindly to the Spanish leaders, and give the last words that he addressed to them.
KING OF PRANCE AND NAVARRE. 847
St. Luc was sent to assure the Cardinal Peleve, the Legate, and the Duchesses of Nemours and Montpensier, that they might remain with the most perfect security. Peleve, how- ever, died the same day ;* but the Duchess of Montpensier, who had been well known to Henry in former days, accom- modating herself to the times, went to visit him at the Lou- vre, and was seen playing at cards with the King, in the presence of the whole court, on the very night of his arrival. Another anecdote of the King's entrance into Paris must not be omitted. As the baggage of La Noue, one of his chief supporters, was being brought into the city, it was seized by the officers of the town for a debt, which his father, the celebrated General, had contracted in the service of the Crown. La Noue hastened instantly to the King to complain ; but Henry replied : " We must pay our debts, La Noue. I pay mine." But, at the same time, the King drew him aside from the Court ; and not having money sufficient to satisfy the debt, he gave him jewels to pledge for the de- liverance of his baggage.
The generous forbearance of the King was extended to his enemies of all classes, even after the complete submission of Paris placed them in his power, and vengeance might have been exercised without risk or loss. I find the names of one hundred and twenty-two persons, who were ordered to retire from the capital for a time ; but all were treated with the utmost gentleness ; and to every Leaguer was offered the choice of submitting and taking an oath of alle- giance, or of receiving a passport to join the Duke of May- enne. The monarch seemed resolved to conquer the hearts of his people by kindness, and succeeded so far that, for some time after his arrival, it was with difficulty he made his way through the streets, the people crowding round him wherever he went. The captain of the guard more than once endeavored to clear a passage, but Henry forbade him
* De Thou. The death of this personage is stated by Cayet to have taken place upon 24th March, and by 1'Etoile on the 28th.
848 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
to drive the people back, saying, that they were " starving to see a King." The acts of the pretended States General were condemned by the Parliament, and declared null and void ; the. Duke of Mayenne was deprived, by an edict from the same body, of his title of Lieutenant General, and sum- moned, with all his abettors, to make immediate submission to the King ; but by Henry's express command, every me- morial of the public acts of the League in Paris, which might give occasion to after proceedings, was destroyed, so that no trace remained of those transactions which could have perpetuated party rancor, and endangered the tran- quillity of the capital.
The acquisition of Paris hastened the submission of various other towns ; Rouen, notwithstanding the high eulogium which Sully passes upon Villars, was sold by that officer very dear. Montreuil, Abbeville, Troyes, Sens, Riom, Agen, Marmande, Villeneuve, and Poictiers, were rapidly added to the list of surrendered places. Balagny, who had sent his wife in secret to treat with Henry at Dieppe, recognized the King, retaining for himself the feudal dominion of the Cam- bresis, which he had held for many years. Beauvais, Per- onne, and Amiens, detached themselves from the party of the League. The Duke of Guise himself submitted, bring- ing with him the keys of Rheims, Vitry, and Mezieres ; and the Duke of Lorraine entered into a treaty of peace, which was concluded by Bassompierre on the 4th of No- vember, 1594.
One effort was made by the Spaniards to revive the cour- age of the League ; and Count Charles of Mansveldt, enter- ing Picardy, in which only three towns held out against the King, laid siege to La Capelle in the end of April, and forced it to surrender on the ninth of May, before the King's army, which was collected with great difficulty,. could arrive to its deliverance. Biron, at the head of the Royal troops, indeed, appeared a few days after, but Mansveldt was too strongly intrenched to be attacked, and the French general, by
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 349
Henry's order, turned upon Laon, which place was imme- diately besieged.
The course of Mayenne, after having abandoned the cap- ital, had not been unattended with difficulties and dangers of various kinds. His first resting place was at Soissons, but he afterwards proceeded into Brabant, where he endeav- ored, both by entreaty and argument, to wring some efficient support from the Spanish Government. We are assured, though without any absolute proof of the fact, that the Council of the Archduke deliberated for some time, as to whether they should not cause his arrest, on the charge of having betrayed the interests of the King of Spain in the matter of the election of the Infanta. If such was really the case, no such design was executed; as we find Mayenne sharing the command of the allied army with Count Charles of "Mansveldt in the campaign of Picardy.
The city of Laon had been strongly fortified and garri- soned ; and as it was supposed to be impregnable by any force which Henry could bring against it, the Duke had placed within the walls his second son, and a great part of his movable property.* The actual defence of the place was intrusted to Dubourg 1'Espinasse, lately Governor of the Bastille, and everything was prepared for determined resist- ance, when Biron, finding it in vain to attack the Spanish General in his camp near La Capelle, sat down beneath the walls. The King in person, shortly after joined his army, and carried on the siege with great vigor, notwithstanding all the efforts of Mayenne and Mansveldt to impede his pro- gress. Two attempts were made to throw supplies into the town, but both were defeated after a severe struggle, and the
* The author, whose errors I have had so frequently occasion to no- tice, declares that the defence of Laon was intrusted to Mayenne's son. But Sully, who was at the commencement of the siege, names Du Bourg as the commander in the place, though he, as well as all other historians, mentions the fact of the young Count of Sommariva being within the walls.
350 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
allied Generals then resolved upon the somewhat hazardous enterprise of attacking Henry in his quarters at a moment when he was thrown off his guard. The particulars of this proceeding are so curious, and the anecdotes connected with it afford us such an interesting glimpse of Henry himself, that I shall give the account of Sully, who was with the King at the time, as nearly as possible in his own words, though the extract may be somewhat longer than I could desire. " The great convoy having been defeated, the King continued the siege of Laon without obstacle, till fresh intelligence arrived, to the effect that Mansveldt and Mayenne, far from being discouraged by their bad success, talked of nothing but of forcing the lines of the besiegers as soon as they had re- ceived some reinforcements which they expected. Marshal Biron treated this information as ridiculous; but his Majesty, who neglected nothing, was not satisfied, till after Givri,* whom he sent to reconnoitre with three hundred horse, and with express orders not to return without full knowledge of the situation and forces of the enemy, had reported at the end of three days, that there was not yet a single company on the hither side of the Oise, and that the Spaniards rather thought of taking their way back to Flanders, than advancing upon Laon. The King, trusting to the accuracy of this re- port, made a party that very evening to dine on the follow- ing day at St. Lambert : a house belonging to the domain of Navarre, and situated in the midst of the forest, to which he had often gone to eat fruit, and fresh milk, and cheese, during the stay he had made at the Chateau de Marie, in the days of his youth, and in revisiting which he still took great pleasure."
" We accompanied him to St. Lambert," Sully continues, " to the number of thirty ; and as he had passed a part of the preceding night in examining, according to his custom,
* It must be remarked that Sully was always extremely jealous of Givri, and endeavors on all occasions to place that gallant officer's con- duct in the worst light.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 351
the trenches, the batteries, and the mines, he fell asleep as soon as he had dined. His good constitution of body, joined to the habit of enduring fatigue, had accustomed him to sleep in any place, and whenever he would to wake up in the same manner. It was then extremely hot, and we went eight or ten together to seek for coolness in the thickest part of the forest of Folambray, at a little distance from the high road from La Fere to Laon. We had not proceeded more than twelve or fifteen hundred paces, when a noise, which was heard from the side of La Fere, caused us to give ear attentivety. It seemed the confused mixture of human voices, smacking of whips, neighing of horses, and a dull buzz, like the sound of trumpets and drums heard in the dis- tance. We advanced as far as the high road to hear better, and we then saw distinctly, at about eight hundred paces before us, what appeared to us a column of foreign infantry, marching in good order, and without noise. That which we had heard was caused by the servants and camp followers, which came after, and by the drivers of a considerable force of artillery. Carrying our view as far as it would reach, we saw defile after these waggons so great a number of troops, that we no longer doubted that it was the whole army of the enemy.
" We returned hastily upon our steps, and, finding the King, who, just awakened, was shaking a plum tree, the fruit of which we had found delicious : ' Pardie, Sire,' we said, * we have just seen people passing who are getting ready other plums for you, and somewhat more difficult to digest.' The explanation was given in few words ; time pressed ; and the King had the less difficulty in believing, as he told us he also had heard something for the last quarter of an hour ; but that rather than suppose Givri had so badly exe- cuted his commission, he had judged that the noise was from his own camp.
" His Majesty gave orders to twelve of us who were at hand, to go instantly towards the different quarters of the •
852 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
cavalry, of which he always carried a list in his pocket, to spread the alarm amongst them, and to press them all to hurry to head-quarters, while a part of us proceeded to the infantry, to form it into battalions, and place it between head- quarters and the trenches. He mounted his horse as he spoke these commands, and although he proceeded at full gallop, he gave orders to all whom he met, with the same precision and scope as if he had been long prepared for a battle.
" Thanks to such celerity, and to that admirable presence of mind, which caused nothing to escape the attention of the Prince, in circumstances where any one in his place, instead of forming a regular plan, would hardly have been capable of adopting a rational resolution, the enemy surprised no one, which, perhaps, saved the army from the greatest misfor- tunes ; for it must be owned, that if the adverse cavalry, which appeared at the same moment at the entrance of the camp, had once spread a panic amongst the soldiers, which would undoubtedly have happened from the effect of a sur- prise, the King, and a part of the officers being absent, it would have been easy, in that first moment of confusion, to carry one, or many of our quarters, and, perhaps, fear would have given them possession of all the rest.
" This single example would be sufficient to prove how useful it is for the General of an army, not only to possess that quality of mind which enables him to seize upon all points of a question, though they may be infinite, but to know by their names, their capacity, and their good and bad qualities, both the officers and the different corps of his army."
Notwithstanding the hurry and confusion which must have been apparent in the King's camp, the Spanish Generals did not venture to make the attack they had meditated ; and after having remained within sight for two days, and skir- mished unsuccessfully, in the hope of throwing reinforcements into Laon, they retreated during the night to Le Fere. Not
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 353
long after, the city demanded terms of capitulation, and it was agreed that, if not succored in ten days by a battle, or the introduction of at least eight hundred men, it should be surrendered. An effort was made to throw supplies into the place, but the reinforcements, sent by Mayenne and Mans- veldt, were discovered in ambuscade, in a neighboring wood by the King's hounds, and literally hunted by the dogs. They separated, flying in all directions to conceal themselves ; and, on the failure of this attempt, Laon, which was torn by intestine divisions, surrendered some days before the period fixed by the articles of capitulation. The allied generals were forced to abandon their camp near Le Fere, and retired into the Low Countries, pursued by the King's cavalry. An infectious disease shortly after broke out amongst the Span- ish and Walloon troops, and the whole army became com- pletely disorganized.
From Laon, Henry proceeded along the Flemish frontier to Amiens, one of the most turbulent towns in France ; but the citizens, not long before, had driven out the principal partisans of the League ; and as much rejoicing took place on the monarch's arrival, as if the inhabitants had been the most loyal people in the realm.
The Duke of Mayenne, in the meantime, retired to Brus- sels ; but finding it impossible to draw any farther aid from the Archduke, for defence of the League in the northern provinces of France, he soon after turned his steps, first to Lorraine ; and thence to Burgundy, which still remained at- tached to the faction of which he was the head. The Mayor of the important town of Dijon, however, had already entered into negotiations with Henry for the surrender of that place ; but intelligence of his proceedings was communicated to Mayenne whilst still in Lorraine ; and that Prince, with the angry virulence of disappointment, sent orders for his instant arrest and trial. The Mayor was immediately seized, con- demned, and decapitated ; an act of lawless and needless cruelty which could produce no beneficial result.
354 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
Two days after this event, the Duke arrived in Dijon him- self; but in the interim, affairs had been taking place at the Court of Henry, which daily reduced the power and influ- ence of his rebellious subject. Not only individuals, but whole districts, followed to swear allegiance, and the name of the League was now only employed to obtain advantages, but not to justify resistance. The King was not less placa- ble than ever, and in a conversation with the Duchess of Ne- mours, the mother of Mayenne, he replied in a tone of gentle compassion, when he observed that she shed tears while ex- pressing a regret that her children had not taken advantage of his clemency ; " Madame, it is yet time if they wish it."
The Duke, however, though from time to time he con- tinued to treat with Henry, through his agent the President Jeannin, required such enormous concessions as the price of his submission, that the King would not listen to his pro- posals. At the same time Mayenne pursued his negotiations with Spain, still entertaining expectations which can only be attributed to temporary hallucination. It is probable that he had received some promise of support from Philip before he left Brussels ; and his object now seems to have been to render himself independent in Burgundy, an attempt in which the Spanish monarch was not unwilling to encourage him, for the purpose of maintaining those divisions in France which might divert the forces of that kingdom from any in- terference with his own ambitious designs.
For some time after the fall of Laon, Henry IV. pursued his military operations in the north, and besieged the town of Noyon, which surrendered in the beginning of October, 1594. He then returned to St. Germain for a few days, but was soon in arms once more; and visiting Cambray, he directed his troops in a demonstration upon the frontiers of the Low Countries, anxious to afford^ diversion to his Prot- estant allies in the United Provinces. To the States of Hai- nault and Spanish Artois, he sent letters, expressing his un- willingness to carry hostilities into a part of the country
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 355
which had already suffered so much, but warning them, that if the King of Spain persisted in supporting his rebellious subjects, and ravaging the territories of France, he should be obliged formally to declare war against that sovereign before the end of January, 1595. Having taken these meas- ures, he returned to Paris, where his presence was greatly required.
Immediately after the submission of that city, innumerable intrigues had arisen ; and both friends and enemies seemed to forget that they had no longer to deal with a monarch dependent upon the chances of a battle for the stability of his throne, and the recognition of his rights. The Protes- tants murmured angrily at the favor shown to the Papists ; the Roman Catholics doubted the sincerity of the King's con- version ; the Duke of Bouillon, on whom he had bestowed the hand of the heiress of Sedan, fomented the discontent of both ;* and a trial had commenced in the Parliament between the University and the Jesuits, which was likely to produce very dangerous consequences to the state. To crown all, Henry, while carrying on the siege of Laon, received intima- tion that the Count d'Auvergne, and the family of Entra- gues, were actively conspiring against him ; he therefore in- stantly dispatched Rosni, afterwards Duke of Sully, to ex- amine more closely the state of affairs in the capital ; but the report of his friend, on his return to the camp, was anything but calculated to diminish his apprehensions. The Protes- tant nobleman had found that nightly meetings were held between the Count d'Auvergne, d'Entragues, and the prin- cipal members of the Spanish faction, and the League ; and that the Jesuits had formed a powerful party in their favor, and acquired the countenance of nearly one-half of the Par- liament, so that their banishment from France, which was demanded by their opponents, and justified by their conduct, might be attended with very serious consequences, and even bring into greater doubt than ever with the Roman Catholics * Sully.
856 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
the sincerity of the King's conversion. To avoid such a re- sult, Henry sent orders to his council, to the effect, that the proceedings against the Jesuits should be suspended, and that if the trial could not legally be stopped, as the crown was not actually the prosecutor, the royal authority should be used to prevent any violent measures from being resorted to against the defendants.
The intrigues of the Count d'Auvergne, however, still pro- ceeded, as did also those of the Duke of Bouillon, and in the end, both suffered themselves to be carried on to acts, from the just punishment of which they were only saved by the moderation and clemency of the monarch against whom they conspired. With these, and many other embarrassments springing up in his path, Henry set out for the capital, and arrived at the Louvre between six and seven o'clock on the evening of the 27th of December ; but his welcome to Paris was a new attempt to deprive him of life. As he was stand- ing in one of the rooms of the Palace,* a few minutes after his arrival, and still in his riding dress, Monsieur de Montigni and Monsieur de Ragni, with a number of their attendants, were introduced to congratulate him on his return ; and while they were kneeling, a young man from behind them aimed a blow at the King's throat with a knife.
Henry at that moment was stooping to raise de Montigni, with his accustomed courtesy ; and that act saved his life, for the point of the assassin's weapon, instead of reaching his bosom, caught upon his lip and teeth. Henry feeling him- self hurt, and at first imagining that it was by the hand of a woman, named Mathurine, who, notwithstanding her sex,
* To show the uncertainty of the evidence on which history is founded, it may be as well to state, that many authors have declared that this at- tempt at assassination was not made at the Louvre, but at the Hotel d'Estree, not in a chamber, but in the court-yard. But Henry himself must have known where the act took place, and he says, in a letter to Lyons, written the same night, that it was in a room to which the assassin had followed some noblemen, as I have stated above.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 357
had long frequented the Louvre in the quality of a court fool, exclaimed, " Devil take the fool ! she. has wounded me."
Mathurine, however, with great presence of mind, imme- diately ran and closed the doors ; and at the same time de Montigni seized the real assassin, saying, " Either you or I have wounded the King."* As soon as Henry, who was bleeding copiously from the mouth, saw the youth in the hands of the attendants, he commanded them to let him go, generously exclaiming, " I pardon him !"
This order was disobeyed ; and on being searched, the as- sassin threw down the bloody knife with which he had made the attempt. It was soon discovered that the regicide was named Jean Chatel, and that he was the son of a wealthy draper of Paris, and a pupil of the Jesuits. He boldly con- fessed the act, without being put to the torture, avowed that he had long meditated it, and would attempt it again if he had the opportunity ; and at the same time, though he ex- culpated his father of all share in his crime, his words cast so much suspicion upon the Jesuits, that their College was immediately surrounded, and several of the order arrested. The people were with difficulty prevented from breaking into the house and taking summary vengeance ; and the nobles were far from discouraging the violence of the populace. But Henry sent his guard to protect the College, and con- tented himself with suffering the proceedings against them, which had been already commenced by the Parliament, but stopped by his command, to be renewed. The unhappy young man himself, by his confession, clearly showed that he had been worked upon by the preachers of Paris till he fully believed he was justified in killing a monarch, to whom the Pope still denied absolution. Upon this confession he was condemned by the Parliament to be torn by four horses, which sentence was executed on the night of the 29th of
* Memoires de Cheverny. De Thou declares that these words were uttered by the Count of Soissons ; but in this assertion he evidently falls into an error.
358 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
December. Guignard, the Regent of the Jesuits' College, having acknowledged that he had openly sustained nine propositions, one more treasonable than another, was sen- tenced to be hanged, and his body burned, and a decree was pronounced and executed, banishing the Jesuits from France, and forbidding all French subjects, under the penalties affixed to high treason, from sending their children to be educated by that dangerous body. Chatel, the father, who was proved to have heard his son express his intention of killing the King, without doing more than offer some faint dissuasions, was banished for nine years ; and his house having been razed to the ground, a pyramid was erected on the spot, bearing the sentence against the assassin and his instigators the Jesuits.* The whole of these proceedings greatly affected the King. When first it was discovered that the assassin was a pupil of the disciples of Loyola, he exclaimed, remembering his in- tervention in their favor, " Was it absolutely needful that the Jesuits should be condemned by my mouth ?" and for several days he remained gloomy and sad. But as usual, business and pleasure were his resources against such bitter mortifications ; and the year 1595 was one of the most ac- tive and important of his life.
* Cayet. Journal de Henri IV. It may not be amiss to give some examples of the doctrines taught by the Jesuits of the College of Cler- mont, and publicly acknowledged by Guignard. The seventh, eighth, and ninth propositions, which he admitted having sustained, were as follows : — " 7. That the crown of France could and ought to be trans- ferred to another family than that of Bourbon. 8. That the Bearnois, being converted to the Catholic faith, would be gently treated if they gave him the monastic crown in some very severe convent, there to do penance for all the evils he has done to France, and thank God foi giving him the grace to acknowledge Him before death. 9. That if they cannot depose him without waging war, let them wage it ; if they cannot do that, let them put him to death."
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 359
BOOK XVI.
EARLY in the Spring of 1595, Henry, according to the threat he had held out, pronounced war against Spain, the most important act of sovereignty he yet performed . Hith- erto his course had been but that of a rightful claimant, struggling for the crown which was denied him. It was now that of a monarch declaring war against a hostile state. The act was strongly opposed by Sully at the time, and censured by him afterwards, as a rash and dangerous experiment, at a moment when the finances of the state were exhausted, and the people wearied of war. But many powerful motives combined to render it necessary in the eyes of the King and his council, which may require to be noticed here. Hostili- ties had been long actually carried on between France and Spain; and the only result of the policy hitherto pursued had been to render the former kingdom the scene of strife, and to deprive the King of the opportunity of carrying the war into the enemy's country. The efforts of the Spanish Government, it is true, had lost somewhat of their energy, but its enmity was in no degree mitigated ; and Henry had every reason to suppose that the apparent want of activity proceeded from diminished means, rather than from a change of system. His subjects too, were much more likely to give him assistance, and to join in his exertions for the suppres- sion of those internal divisions which had so long convulsed the state, when they found him boldly declaring war against the power by whom dissensions had been fomented in the land. By so doing he materially altered the position of those persons who had leagued with Spain to oppose his claim to the throne; for the united Parliament of Paris was now
360 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
ready to sanction an act, which removed all doubt as to the treasonable conduct of all, who should thenceforward treat with that country, from which they had hitherto derived their support. At the same time, the declaration of war was of vast importance to the monarch's Protestant allies in the United Provinces, was looked upon as a benefit by many of the minor princes of Germany, was eagerly urged by several of Henry's wisest and most experienced officers, and sanctioned by the opinion of the great majority of his council.
Every reasonable precaution was taken to secure the northern frontier against any attack from the Low Coun- tries ; and three experienced generals were left in command of the Royal forces in that quarter. The King at the same time endeavored to reduce those parts of his dominions which still resisted his authority, and Biron was dispatched to Burgundy with a small but veteran army. From Nevers, Bouillon, Villars, and Longueville, who were sent into the north with numerous and well appointed troops, to defend the French territory against the attempts of the Span- iards, Henry exacted a solemn promise, that they would act together in perfect harmony, and he reasonably trusted that they would be able to gain, rather than lose advantages, in any contest with the enemy.*
The King himself spent the spring of the year in Paris, occupied with endeavors to extinguish the spirit of the League, and from one common centre, to direct the opera- tions of his armies in Brittany, in Burgundy, and in Picardy. His task, however, was a laborious and ungrateful one, and the numerous attacks upon his person, together with the daily intelligence which he received that fresh designs of assassi- nation were entertained by his subjects, threw him from time to time into fits of deep melancholy, strongly opposed to his
* A letter from M. de la Font to Sully gives a full account of the misunderstanding of the French commanders, and the evil results which ensued.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 361
naturally gay and cheerful character. We have no reason to suppose that personal apprehension had any share in pro- ducing this dejection ; and on one occasion, when Madame de Balagny remarked that he looked sad, he exclaimed, " Ven- tre Saint Gris, how can I be otherwise, to behold a people so ungrateful towards their King, that, although I have done, and do still, all that I can for them, and though for their wel- fare I would sacrifice a thousand lives, if God had given me so many — as I have evinced enough on occasions — they daily attempt my life." He nevertheless constantly showed him- self in the streets of Paris ; and when the town council pro- posed to expel all the Leaguers from Paris, the King refused, saying, " They are all my subjects, and I wish to treat and love them equally." His habitual gayety, also, was only in- terrupted occasionally, and he was as full of jest and mer- riment as ever, often passing off with a quick repartee, that which might have proved dangerous if treated seriously. Thus, when the Parliament sent the President Seguier to re- monstrate against a fiscal edict, which they had refused to sanction, the King commanded it to be registered, saying that, if they hesitated, he would come down himself, and bring half a dozen more decrees in his sleeve. " I only ask," he added the moment after, in a gay tone, " to be treated as they treat the monks, victus et vestitutus. Now, Mister President, I often have not enough to eat, and as for my habiliments, look here how I am accoutred ;" and he pointed to his worn doublet.
To pleasure, however, as usual, he gave up perhaps too much of his time, though his extraordinary activity placed more hours at his command each day, than many others devoted to business in a month. The beautiful Gabrielle was his constant companion, and was seen somewhat too openly hunting with him in the neighborhood of Paris, dressed in green, and riding hand in hand with her royal lover. Nor were balls and masquerades wanting during the carni- val; and in all these amusements the King was day and
VOL. n. 1ft
362 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
night amongst his people, notwithstanding the danger to which the bigotry of his enemies exposed him.
The first movements of his armies were all successful ; Bouillon cut to pieces a large body of the enemy upon the frontier; a part of the garrison of Soissons was defeated during a foraging party ; and Biron taking advantage of a rising of the citizens of Beaune against the governor for Mayenne, made himself master of the town, and captured the citadel, deemed almost impregnable, after a siege of six weeks. Nuits and Autun afterwards shook off the yoke of the League ; and the town of Vienne, which had been strengthened by the Duke of Nemours after he had made his escape from Lyons, was gained by Montmorency, who had been lately elevated to the post of Constable.* But the sky was beginning to darken ; the Spanish forces were gathering on several points of the frontier ; and while Fu- entes menaced the northern frontier of France, the Constable of Castile entered Franche Compte, with three thousand horse and fifteen thousand foot, and threatened to march into Burgundy to support Mayenne. This news reached Henry in the middle of May, and on the 30th of that month he arrived at Troyes, where he had appointed all the forces which could be spared from other provinces to meet him. While collecting his troops in that city, the agreeable intel- ligence was brought that the inhabitants of Dijon, having arisen against Tavannes, the governor placed over them by Mayenne, had called Biron to their aid, and driven Tavannes with his soldiers into the citadel, where he was closely be- sieged. Judging that Mayenne and the Constable of Cas- tile would march at once to the relief of their allies in Dijon, Henry, without a moment's delay, put himself at the head of his troops and advanced to support Biron. On the march, he learned that the forces of Spain, with a small body of French malcontents, were passing the Saone at Gray ; and after reconnoitring the city of Dijon with Biron, he deter-
* In 1593.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 363
mined to proceed at the head of fifteen hundred horse, merely intending to impede the enemy's advance till the town could be strengthened against the castle, so as to keep the garrison in check. He further proposed, as soon as the defences of the city were completed, to leave a thousand men in Dijon, and pressing forward into the plain, to offer the Constable battle with all the rest of his army.
This plan was immediately followed, and on the morning of the 5th of June* he began his march with a thousand men-at-arms, and five hundred horse arquebusiers. At eight o'clock he halted for two hours at a village half way between Dijon and Gray, to obtain intelligence of the enemy's move- ments, and then sending the Baron D'Aussonville forward to reconnoitre, advanced at the head of three hundred men to- wards St. Seine, leaving the rest of his little army to follow and join him at Fontaine Fransoise at three o'clock. At the distance of a league from the latter place, Henry received information from three soldiers, sent to him by the Marquis of Mirebeau, that a body of cavalry had been seen, and that there appeared the glimmer of arms in the defiles behind, upon which the King sent forward Biron with one company, while he followed with his own troop. Biron now passed through the small town of Fontaine FranQoise, and, on a hill half way between that place and St. Seine, which concealed the ground behind, encountered a body of sixty horse, whom he charged and dislodged. The whole Spanish army was then discovered, descending into St. Seine. A skirmish en- sued with a troop of three hundred horse, and Biron was forced slowly back upon the party of the King, the enemy's cavalry becoming more numerous every moment. The Span- ish horse then paused for a few minutes on the hill, while Henry prepared his small body to meet them, anxious for the arrival of the rest of his forces, who had not yet come up. The enemy's advanced guard, which had now been joined by Mayenne in person, marched in three bodies against * Journal de Henri IV.
364 THE -LIFE OF HJfiNBY IV.
the King, who was on their right, while two charged Biron on the left. Some authors declare that Biron was routed,* while others assert that he repulsed the enemy ; but it is certain that Henry in person, at the head of from sixty to a hundred men, and only half armed, attacked the first corps of Spaniards that approached, and totally defeated them. Then, charging the second, he drove them back in confusion ; and while the greater part of his little force pursued the fu- gitives, wheeled with a troop, computed by Cayet at twenty, upon the third, whom he routed in a similar manner.f The whole of these three bodies, consisting of between seven and eight hundred horse, were thus driven back in complete disarray, upon the corps of Mayenne, who had remained upon the hill, carried him away with them, and only halted at the corner of a wood, where they found themselves sup- ported by a large body of infantry. Here Henry recalled his men, and retired slowly and in good order, without pass- ing the field where the skirmish had commenced. The hour of rendezvous having now arrived, the troops he had left behind at the village, began to appear ; and the enemy re- treated to St. Seine, leaving him master of the ground.
Thus ended the combat of Fontaine Franpoise, in which Henry afterwards declared, he had fought for his life, whereas in all other battles he had fought for victory. A curious letter to his sister upon the occasion is preserved, in which he says, after giving God the glory of his preserva- tion, that there were two thousand cavalry present upon the part of the enemy ; and that Mayenne and the Constable of Castile were in the field, who saw him and knew him well, which he afterwards discovered from the prisoners. He adds : " Those who were not there with me must regret it much, for I had need of all my good friends, and you were very near being my heiress." In other letters, he states that
* Perefixe. The different accounts of this combat vary very much from each other.
f Cayet.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 365
only two hundred horse in all, were engaged upon his own side, and certainly a more marvellous victory has been sel- dom obtained.
Numerous anecdotes of personal courage and coolness are told regarding the combat of Fontaine Francoise ; and the presence of mind and powers of command which Henry dis- played in halting his men in the midst of a furious and suc- cessful charge, as soon as he perceived a wood upon his left lined with arquebusiers, and withdrawing them in perfect order from a very dangerous position, are justly praised by all contemporaries. So hopeless seemed the affair at one time, that the King's friends besought him to fly on a swift Turkish horse which was held ready ; but Henry answered, "I have no need of advice, but only of assistance. There is more peril in the flight than in the chase." So, indeed, it proved, for in this combat the French lost only six men, while the Spaniards left a hundred and twenty dead upon the field.
After this severe check, the Constable of Castile did not venture to advance upon Dijon, and the citadel of that place, as well as the fort of Talan, by which it was supported, sur- rendered. Henry then turned his arms against the Spaniards in Franche Compte, and was soon master of all the open country ; but the entreaties of the Swiss, and the news he received from Picardy, soon induced him to retire to Lyons, whence he hastened with all his usual energy into the north of France.
Before he quitted Burgundy, however, he performed one of those acts of generous kindness which shed so much lustre on his character. Mayenne had separated from the Consta- ble of Castile in disgust and anger. Chalons was the only place left in which he could find anything like security, and even there he did not dare to remain long, lest he should see himself invested by the army of the conqueror. He pro- posed, then, to retire to the small town of Sommariva, and thence, after having endeavored to obtain some security for
366 THE LIFE OP HENKY IV.
his safety from Philip II., to hasten into Spain, and cast him- self upon the bounty of that cold and cruel King. But Henry delivered him from such a perilous situation. Having heard of his difficulties and intentions, the monarch charged Mon- sieur de Roncheroles to open a communication with one of Mayenne's chief officers, named Lignerac, and to bring that gentleman to his presence. To him, Henry explained his views, and bade him tell Mayenne that it was not his desire to pursue him with rigor ; that if he would give up his con- nection with the Spaniards, and retire quietly to Chalons, he should neither be attacked on the march, nor in the place ; and that as soon as more pressing affairs admitted, he would treat with him regarding his submission. The Duke gladly availed himself of this clemency, and besought Henry to add to it by allowing him a truce of three months, which was granted, notwithstanding the opposition of the council.
At Lyons the King received intelligence that the Pope had at length agreed to grant him absolution, upon condi- tions which were not punctually executed ; for the decrees of the Council of Trent were not published by the King, and the Protestants were not permanently excluded from office as D'Ossat and Du Perron had promised. The Pope was, apparently, as well contented to bring the affair to a conclu- sion as the King, and amused himself with whipping D'Ossat and Du Perron in full assembly, as Henry's representatives, after which childish farce he honored and rewarded them ; but all excuse was now taken away from the monarch's re- bellious subjects, and the absolution was worth a victory.
Some compensation was, indeed, necessary for the disas- ters which had occurred in Picardy. The citadel of Ham, dearly bought by the death of Humieres, had been taken in June, leaving only two towns in that province in the hands of the League, but misunderstanding and dispute had spread amongst the King's officers, and the most lamentable defeat which Henry's arms had ever sustained had been the result. Longueville, having been accidentally or intentionally killed
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 367
by a ball, left in a musket during a salute fired on his en- trance into Dourlens, his brother, the Count de St. Pol, had succeeded to his command ; but Nevers and Bouillon were on bad terms, and a fierce rivalry existed between the latter and Yillars. On the other hand, Rosne, of whom I have often had to speak, as an ardent Leaguer, had thrown him- self into the hands of the Spaniards, and urged Fuentes, one of their best generals, to lay siege to Dourlens, which was immediately done, Le Catelet and La Chapelle having been previously taken by the Spanish forces with very little resistance. The French generals, however, united their powers, and marched to the relief of the place. Fuentes advanced to meet them, and Yillars, as soon as the two ar- mies came in presence, made a gallant charge, which was at first completely successful; but Bouillon, though close at hand, did not give him the least support. Villars, assailed in front, flank and rear, was taken and killed in cold blood, and Fuentes, pursuing his advantage, routed the whole of the superior army before him with tremendous slaughter.* The fall of Dourlens and Cambray followed, Balagny, in the latter place, showing a degree of weakness which tarnished his reputation for ever.f
Tidings of the first of these disastrous events reached Henry in Burgundy, and hastening back with incredible speed, he arrived at Amiens on the 15th of October, in the hope of relieving Cambray ; but that city had already fallen, and the Spaniards were marching from conquest to conquest.
The King immediately invested La Fere ; but as his forces were scattered, he could only proceed by blockade ; and the city made a long resistance. The war was still going on in Brittany, with various success, and no soldiers could be with-
* Letter of M. Lafont. Sully. The loss of the royalists, especially in noblemen, exceeded the whole amount of loss in the battles of Arques, Ivry, and Coutras.
f We find, from the Memoirs of the League, that a mutiny existed in the garrison ; but the general opinion ot historians attributes the loss of Cambray to the weakness of the commander.
368 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
drawn from that province without the greatest danger. Nevers was dying, the Duke of Bouillon was not to be de- pended upon, Villars had been killed before Dourlens, and the troops which these generals had raised, were, in most instances, dispersed, with the exception of such as were absolutely ne- cessary for the defence of the principality of Sedan. In the same year, also, D'Aumont was killed before the small town of Comper, so that few of the old officers who had gained experience in the wars of the League, were left to command the armies of the King.
In Paris the plague broke out in the middle of the year, and spread desolation through the city ; several corps of the army also became affected ; and it was dangerous to keep any large bodies of men together. Under these circumstan- ces, had the Spaniards, instead of dispersing their troops in winter quarters, pursued the war to the close of the year 1595, with the same energy which they displayed at the com- mencement, the difficulties of the King would have been serious, for the resources of the kingdom seemed to be totally exhausted. Both during a period of anarchy, in which every one pillaged the revenues of the crown at will, and during the slow restoration of tranquillity which succeeded the con- version of the King, when his enemies were to be purchased wholesale, the finances had fallen into a state of the utmost confusion, which those to whom they were intrusted labored to increase and perpetuate, in order to continue the system of plunder, by which so many had enriched themselves. During the King's stay at Amiens, he made an attempt to establish a better system of administration, the result of which we shall see hereafter, but it was long before anything effectual could be accomplished.
In the meantime, negotiations went on for the reconcilia- tion of the Duke of Mayenne with his sovereign. His de- mands were greater, perhaps, than were justified by his position ; but Gabrielle d'Estrees, who was now with the monarch, exerted all her influence to render him favorable to
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 369
the Duke, and Henry consented, at length, to a treaty, by which it was declared, in regard to the death of Henry III., that, all things weighed, and the evidence examined, it ap- peared to the King, that the Princes and the Princesses of the League had taken no part in that crime. The Parlia- ments of the realm were consequently forbidden to proceed against them. Three places were given to the Duke in Bur- gundy and Champagne, as security for six years, the King burdened himself with the debts which Mayenne had con- tracted during the war, and a term of six weeks was granted to the other Leaguers, who were still in arms, to give in their adhesion to the treaty of peace.
This having been settled, and Mayenne feeling deeply the clemency of the monarch, who had thus, in fact, loaded him with favors when he had nothing to expect but disgrace and punishment, set out to make his submission, in person, to the King, who was then at Monceaux with the fair Gabrielle. When he arrived, Henry was in the beautiful park of that place, attended only by Sully, and on his approach, the mon- arch advanced to meet him. Mayenne knelt before the King, and embraced his knees, assuring him of his fidelity for the future, and thanking him for having delivered him " from the arrogance of the Spaniards, and the cunning of the Italians." The King then hastened to raise him, and embraced him three times, with the utmost cordiality, after which, taking him by the hand, and changing the subject, he led him through the park, pointing out the changes and im- provements he intended to make. The King walked with his usual rapid pace ; Mayenne, who had become excessively fat, and was troubled both with gout and sciatica, followed with difficulty, panting, limping, and growing red in the face. With good humored malice, Henry continued this exercise for some time, whispering to Sully, " If I walk this great body much longer, I shall avenge myself without much trouble ;" and then turning to Mayenne, he added, " Tell
16*
370 THE LIFE OP HENRY IV.
the truth, cousin, do I not go somewhat fast for you ?" The Duke replied that he was ready to expire.
" There is my hand," replied the King, embracing him again, " take it ; for on my life this is all the vengeance that I shall ever seek."*
Such conduct was not without its effect, and a number of other noblemen took advantage of the King's generosity, to make their peace upon favorable terms. The Duke of Ne- mours had died of the same disease which had carried off Charles IX., but his brother who had succeeded, now sub- mitted to Henry, as did likewise the Duke of Joyeuse, who received the baton of Marshal of France. By their subjec- tion, the whole country, with the exception of Marseilles in the south, and Brittany in the west, returned to obedience ; but during the course of the same year, an insurrection of the inhabitants of Marseilles, against those who had usurped the government of the city, placed it at the command of Henry ; and Mercoeur obtained an extension of the truce, which, though it left him in possession of a considerable part of Brittany, enabled the King, in the commencement of 1596, to act somewhat more vigorously against the Span- iards.
In the month of March, Henry began to assemble his forces at St. Quentin, in order to carry on the siege of La Fere in person ; but the Cardinal Archduke, who had now assumed the government of the Netherlands, contrived to throw supplies into the place, and La Fere still held out for some time. Surrounded on every side by marshes and
* This interview is fixed by 1'Etoile on the 31st January, 1596. It must be remarked, that Sully, who, in his Memoirs, frequently con- founds the order of events, and places them without dates, mentions the submission of Mayenne, and his visit to the King long after the fall of La Fere. He had evidently forgotten, at the time he dictated his great work, the exact period at which many events took place, and he implies distinctly that the interview between Mayenne and the King was sub- sequent to the attack upon Arras. Auvigny, in his life of Mayenne, is more accurate.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 3*71
rivers, it was scarcely possible for the King to avail himself of the same means which might be employed against other places. At the same time the Archduke loudly declared, that sooner than suffer it to be compelled to surrender by famine, he would risk a battle under its walls, and with this apparent intention he collected an army of fifteen thousand foot, and four thousand horse, at Valenciennes. Henry al- lowed himself to be deceived ; and gathering around him all the forces of Picardy, he prepared to advance against the enemy. But the Archduke, to the surprise of the King, suddenly turned upon Calais, made himself master, in a few days, of the forts in the neighborhood, and invested the city in the middle of April.* Henry, at the head of his cavalry, instantly marched from La Fere to Boulogne, and made sev- eral desperate efforts to throw himself into Calais, in which town he knew that the greatest disorder existed amongst the garrison, and much disaffection amongst the people. He embarked twice for that purpose, but he was driven back by contrary winds, and the town was taken before his eyes. Without raising the siege of La Fere, the monarch was un- able to keep the field against the Spaniards ; and Guisnes and Ardres were likewise captured. As some compensation,
* Several curious particulars regarding the siege of Calais, by the Spaniards, are given by the Duke of Sully, but there is only one of his statements to which I think it necessary here to call the reader's atten- tion, as, if it be true, Henry committed one of the most serious military errors that a King and a General could fall into. The Duke says that Henry, on his return from Burgundy, after the victory gained by Fuentes, passed by Moret, where he, Sully, had an interview with the monarch. He goes on to mention, that Henry, on that occasion, showed much regret at having declared war against Spain, and was deeply affected by the loss of so many important towns, but above all, by that of Calais, which was looked upon as already captured, though such was not yet the case. Now Calais was not invested by the Archduke till April, 1596, and Henry returned from Burgundy in the middle of October, 1595, so that he had full time to insure Calais against attack, if he had considered it even probable that the Archduke would turn his arms against that city.
372 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
La Fere was, at length, forced to surrender on the 16th of May, 1596 ; the Spanish garrison demanding no hostages of the King for the execution of the capitulation, saying, that they knew him to be a prince of generosity and good faith, and were contented to trust to his word.
The fall of Calais greatly alarmed the English, who had been somewhat slow and negligent in sending aid to the King of France, since his conversion to the Roman Catholic faith. Coldness and estrangement had been manifest on the part of Elizabeth, from the moment that Henry renounced the Protestant religion. An offensive and defensive treaty, which had been proposed between England, Holland, and France, had remained unconcluded. But the English Queen at length perceived the disastrous results of such policy, and at the same time sought to turn the dangers of her ally to her own advantage. Wishing to regain possession of a town, which had been so long in the hands of England, she is reported to have insinuated, some time before the city surrendered, that she would agree to defend Calais against the Spaniards, if Henry would give it up to her. The French monarch replied, that he would rather be plundered by his enemies than his friends, and Elizabeth, offended by his re- fusal, suffered her ally to lose the city without giving him any assistance.
To carry on the negotiations for a stricter alliance with the Court of London, as well as to remove from France for a time a man whose designs were known to be dangerous, the Duke of Bouillon was now sent into England. The long pending treaty was ultimately concluded, and an English fleet put to sea, but without giving any substantial aid to the King of France.
Though Henry undoubtedly felt bitterly the loss of Calais, yet he neither allowed his courage to be depressed, nor the slightest sign of dejection on his part to weigh down the energies of his friends or raise the hopes of his enemies. When after many efforts to succor the place, he at length
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 373
heard of its surrender, he turned to the noblemen of his court, saying with a calm air, " Well, my friends, there is no remedy. Calais is taken, and even in some degree disas- trously ; but we must, nevertheless, neither suffer ourselves to be confounded nor lose courage, since it is in the midst of afflictions that valiant men become more resolute, and strengthen themselves with new hopes. It is common in war to gain at one time and lose at another ; our enemies have had their turn ; and with the aid of God, who has never deserted me when I have prayed to him with all my heart, we shall have ours. In any case, one thing consoles me greatly, which is, that there has been no want on my part ; and I do not think that I have omitted anything within my power to succor my friends and servants. I am willing to believe, too, that all who have been employed for that purpose have worthily and loyally acquitted themselves. Thus, we must not give way to complaint and murmuring, nor cast blame or reproach upon any. On the contrary, let us do honor to the memory of the dead ; let us not refuse the praise due to the generous defence made by the living ; and let us apply our- selves to seek out the means of taking, with usury, our revenge upon the enemy, so that, with the favor of Heaven, this place may remain in the hands of the Spaniards only 'as many days as our ancestors left it years in possession of the English."
If these were not Henry's exact words, one thing is very clear, that neither the style, nor the character of thought was that of Sully, by whom the speech is reported ; and all that we know of Henry justifies us in believing, that the lan- guage attributed to him by his minister, is substantially that which he employed on this occasion.
But the fall of Calais implied far more than the loss of a mere seaport. The submission of the people, the tranquillity of the kingdom, the stability of the throne itself, depended much upon the monarch's reputation. The most ordinary of all popular vices is to look upon the successful man with
374 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
reverence, and to regard the unsuccessful with contempt. Such a reverse as the loss of Calais instantly affected the vulgar of all ranks. Some busied themselves in seeking causes for the disaster, and attributed it to the negligence of the King, whose connection with the fair Gabrielle always afforded a pretext for charging him with giving up his time to his mistress at the expense of the State. Some, looking upon his fortune as declining, and his power shaken, strove to raise up new factions in the country, or to take advantage of their sovereign's difficulties to extort concessions to their own personal ambition.
" The people," says L'Etoile, " which is in itself an obsti- nate, inconstant, and volatile animal, now began to speak ill of the king, just in proportion as praises had been bestowed on him before ;" and the following statement of Sully 's will show to what a pitch the criminal designs of Irgreat body of the French nobles had attained. It must be remarked in the first place, however, that at all times during the civil wars, from a very early period, schemes had been entertained by factious leaders on both sides, of dismembering the kingdom, in order to form independent sovereignties for themselves, or of subjecting it to general partition. The termination of the weak line of Valois, and the vigorous character of Henry IV., had intimidated the ambitious framers of such designs :
o '
but no sooner did a reverse befall him than the same plans revived in a new shape ; and the Duke of Montpensier was chosen by a large body of nobles to suggest to the King, as a measure tending to the general security of the realm, the subdivision of France into great feofs, the existing gov- ernors of provinces, and one or two other distinguished no- blemen, to hold the same by liege homage and military service. Montpensier represented to the King that, by this arrangement, a large body of feudal troops, each vassal's contingent being fixed beforehand, would be always at the disposal of the crown, in case of any great reverse, like that which had just occurred ; and he endeavored to show from
KING OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 375
history that the system had proved beneficial to former monarchs.
It is hardly possible to suppose that Henry could listen to a proposal for the revival, at the end of the sixteenth century, of the feudal system of the twelfth, without some degree of merriment, as well as much pain. Pain, however, must have been greatly predominant; for a more striking evidence could not be given of the disorganization of the very princi- ples of society in France, than that such an idea should be entertained for a moment amongst any body of reasonable and educated men.
The King listened calmly and temperately to the long dis- course of the Duke, and when he had concluded, replied, without the slightest appearance of anger, " My cousin and friend, I do believe that some evil spirit has bewitched yours, or that you are not in your right senses : for the language which you have just used is entirely unbecoming in a worthy man, and one of a good disposition like yourself, and so com- pletely out of character with the station of a Prince of my blood, who is even now nearer to the crown than I was for- merly, that I think, while listening to you, I am in a dream. Moreover, I hardly believe that views, so full of insult to me and so pernicious to the State, can have had birth in a character so amiable as I have always observed in you. Can you imagine that people who are wicked enough thus to take advantage of your guileless and easy nature, would, after having stripped me of the principal and most magnificent rights of royalty, sub- sequently respect in you the rights of a Prince of the blood ? I will not conceal from you that, if I believed you to have in your heart desires so degrading to you and to me, as those which I have heard come forth from your mouth, I would make you know, that a truly royal heart is not to be offended so cruelly without punishment and without long penitence. However, my cousin, and my friend, return to yourself, and withdraw altogether from the precipice of such wandering fancies. Take great care, nevertheless, not to show those
376 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
who have employed you in so bad a work, that you have spoken to me thereof in any shape ; but feigning that the above reasons have presented themselves to your mind, tell them that they have not only prevented you from mentioning the subject to me, but also have given you so great a horror of the proposition, that you are resolved to hold him as a mortal enemy who shall ever speak of it again."
Montpensier, touched and ashamed, besought his sover- eign's pardon, and following his directions to the letter, dis- solved one of the most dangerous conspiracies which had been formed since the accession of Henry IV. Little doubt existed, it would appear, amongst the King's most attached friends, that Bouillon was the prime mover in this ambitious attempt of the French nobles, as well as in many schemes having a similar tendency ; and his departure from the court was hailed by those who sincerely wished well to the mon- arch and the State, as a deliverance from one whose sole ob- ject was his own aggrandizement, who served without affec- tion, and was negligent by design.
After the taking of Ardres, the Archduke retreated into Flanders ; and a contagious disease having spread through the French army, Henry, without money to pay his troops, or provisions to support them, was obliged to disperse his forces, and abandon the campaign before its natural termina- tion.
Pestilence and famine had by this time extended them- selves to most of the provinces of France ; and the capital itself suffered severely from both. The price of wheat in Paris had risen to nearly five times its ordinary height ; and the influx of poor from the surrounding districts was so great, that between six and seven thousand were known to enter the gates in one day. Sleeping in the public squares, burial grounds, and market places, during the night, and begging from house to house during the day, they became infected in multitudes by the plague, and communicated it to others in turn. Although no one was, in those days, suf-
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVAREE. 377
ficiently stolid or theoretical to doubt the infectious nature of the disease, in opposition to the evidence of daily experience, the measures adopted by the authorities of the city were, in many instances, calculated rather to spread the malady to places still healthy, than to circumscribe its range and di- minish its intensity. The multitude of mendicants who had nocked into the capital were driven out again into the coun- try, after a sojourn of some weeks within the walls ; and wherever they turned their steps the plague accompanied them. Although means were employed to prevent the clothes of the dead from being hawked about for sale, as was then customary, yet no general order was given for destroy- ing, at once, garments which were known to be infected.
All those meteorological accidents too, which favor the diffusion of infection, by predisposing the human frame to receive it, occurred during the spring and summer of 1596. " We had summer in April," says the chronicler, " autumn in May, and winter in June."
As usual, the disease showed itself in its severest form at the commencement ; and the poorest quarters of the town were first attacked ; but ere its virulence was in the slightest degree abated, it seized upon the wealthy and the great, and showed that in this instance, as in others, "Pallida mors equo pulsat pede, pauperum tabernas, regumque turres." The pestilence first appeared in the month of February, and in April and May, raged with such fury, that in the former month, more than six hundred persons died in the Hotel Dieu. No remedy was found which seemed to have the slightest influence on the disease ; and at first, every person attacked fell a victim, the period varying from a few hours to four or five days. In August, however, the intensity of the infection, and the severity of the malady, both dimin- ished, but the pestilence did not entirely cease for many months ; and it was remarked, that immediately after a severe thunder storm, which visited Paris in the commencement of
378 THE LIFE OP HENRY IV.
September, the number of fresh cases was as great, and the deaths as frequent, as in the very height of the plague.
While the epidemic was still raging in its most violent form, Henry disbanded his army, to which the contagion had already spread, and prepared to return to Paris, where his life was every hour in more danger from the knife of the as- sassin, than from the pestilence. In the month of March, a pretender to the crown had appeared, who was charged with entertaining designs against the life of the King. It is prob- able, that had he confined himself to putting forth an absurd claim, his offence would have been treated with lenity, and seclusion in a monastery, or an hospital, might have been the due reward of his folly.
The name by which he had always been known was Charles la Ramee ; and at the time when an evident aberra- tion of intellect led him to aspire to the crown, he was be- tween twenty-three and twenty-four years of age. His ap- pearance was noble and majestic ; and as far as his history has been traced, it is as follows, although, it must be remarked, that some of the principal facts rest upon his own statements, which contemporary writers have assumed to be accurate, without apparently any very minute investigation. His re- puted father, whose name he had received, and by whom he had been educated, was a gentleman of Brittany, residing on his own estates, at the distance of about three leagues from Nantes. No doubt had been entertained by the young man himself, or by any of the neighboring families, that he was the son of Monsieur de la Ramee, till on his death-bed that gentleman declared, in the presence of his children, that such was not the case, and that his pretended son Charles was the child of Charles IX., having been sent into Brittany by Cath- erine de Medicis, to be educated in secret. The dying man added, that the Queen-mother had exacted a promise from him, that the secret of the child's birth should not be di- vulged til] after her own death, and that of all her sons : which engagement he had more than faithfully kept, as
KING OF PRANCE AND NAVARRE. 379
Henry III. had been assassinated six years before the tale was told. M. de la Ramee bequeathed nothing to his adopted child, but arms and a horse, with which he set forth to seek his fortune. It would appear he first visited Paris, where the pretensions he now began to put forward attracted the attention of a lady of high birth, connected with the League, (probably Madame de Montpensier,) who sent for, and conversed with him in private. But she soon discovered that his understanding could not be depended upon, and she cast him off at once without ceremony. He then turned his steps to Rheims, where he began to spread the account of his supposed birth in private, and gained some partisans, principally amongst the women of the place, who supplied him with money and clothes. Slight as was this success, it raised his hopes and his presumption, and he proceeded to give further evidence of his royal descent, by touching per- sons afflicted by the king's evil. In curing, by this simple process, persons affected by one of the most formidable of all the maladies to which man is subject, he was probably as successful as any sovereign before him. At all events he found persons to bear witness to his miraculous powers. Not satisfied with royalty, he aimed at or imagined inspiration. He dreamed dreams, he received revelations, he obtained the visitations of an angel. His discourse became proud and menacing ; and he pretended to have inherited from his father, Charles IX., an inextinguishable hatred of his Cal- vinistic countrymen. L'Etoile, who had the best means of ascertaining his proceedings at this time, declares that he even went so far as to demand unction, as king, at the Cathedral of Rheims. Henry was informed of his preten- sions while directing the operations against La Fere ; but the monarch merely laughed at his insignificant rival, saying that he had come somewhat too late, and that such claims should have been put in before the battle of Arques. The authori- ties of Rheims, however, took a more serious view of the case ; caused the pretender to be arrested, and brought him
380 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
to trial. He maintained in prison, and before his judges, the same haughty tone which he had hitherto assumed, asserted his right to the throne of France, and was condemned, appar- ently as much upon his own testimony as that of the wit- nesses against him. Besides the charge of sedition, he was accused of seeking the life of the King ; and the judges of Rheims pronounced sentence of death upon him. But Ra- mee appealed to the superior tribunals of Paris, and the cause and the prisoner were removed to the capital.
His fate, however, was only delayed ; for after a patient hearing of his case by the Parliament of Paris, the sentence of the inferior court was confirmed, and he was accordingly hung in the Place de Greve, on the 8th of March, 1596. In the pretensions of this unfortunate young man there was probably more of madness than of crime ; and not the slight- est proof has ever been brought forward that he was even the natural son of Charles IX., yet, such is the force of im- agination, that multitudes of those who visited him in prison, came away convinced, upon no other grounds than his per- sonal appearance, that his claim to royal descent, at least, was well founded. Even tfre sage and moderate 1'Etoile ad- mits that such was the case with himself; and, in speaking of his death, ventures to use the same language which he would have employed to designate an acknowledged child of his sovereign. " His discourse," he says, " seemed a hal- lucination of the mind which sent him to death, though in any other time it would have been chastised by confinement in some monkery, which appeared a sufficient punishment for this poor maniac, had it not been that the royalties of the League were then quite fresh. Such was the cause of a son of France being seen that day in the Greve."
As the barbarous custom of requiring the reigning mon- arch to sign the death-warrant of a prisoner did not exist in France, Henry was spared the pain of taking any part in the proceedings against this unhappy young man; but he did not exercise the great privilege of showing mercy, and it 13
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVAKRE. 381
probable that, absent from the capital, he was not even con- sulted in regard to the execution of the sentence. The laws of France at that time were exceedingly sanguinary, even more so than those of England. The true objects of punish- ment seemed entirely lost sight of ; and no one thought of correcting an offender or of deterring the people from offences. The laws were as criminal as the acts they punished ; and to wring forth the confession of suspected crimes by agony, the infliction of which even established guilt could not jus- tify, or to aggravate the pangs of death for offences proved by evidence, or admitted under torture, seemed the great aim of those who were appointed to administer justice. Henry himself was undoubtedly disposed in all cases to len- ity, and was at all times merciful in instances of wrong done or attempted against himself ; but it was judged necessary to put down the practice of private assassination by severity, especially where the person of the monarch was daily an ob- ject of attack. The minds of kings, too, as those of indi- viduals, wear the habits of the age and country in which they live, and salutary modifications, not total changes, are all that can be fairly expected of any sovereign.
In the space of twelve months we find that three men were executed for having devised the death of the King. The first and most distinguished of these persons was an advo- cate of Angers ; but in regard to his trial, and the evidence produced against him, we have no statements, which enter into any minute details. The second was an Italian, who had been arrested in France, and by whom, it would seem, more than one attempt had been made to take the life of Henry. In his confession we are assured, that he incrimi- nated the Cardinal Archduke, governor of the Low Coun- tries, as the instigator of the design ; and it seems certain, that, whatever was the nature of his services, he received monthly wages from that prince. Henry saw him and ex- amined him himself, having a suspicion that this was not the first plot against his life, in which the prisoner had been
382 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
engaged. It proved that the King's memory was accurate ; for the man acknowledged that some time before he had held the stirrup of the monarch's horse, while he mounted to march against the troops of the Constable of Castile in Franche Compte. Upon that occasion the assassin, fearful of committing the act with his own hand, in the presence of so many of Henry's attendants and followers, attempted to per- suade the French sovereign to lead a part of his forces to the attack of a small fortress, which he represented as nearly without a garrison and easily to be captured. The council of the King had strongly opposed such a step ; but Henry himself yielded to the man's persuasions, and sent a small body of cavalry to reconnoitre in the first instance. The de- tachment was drawn into an ambuscade, in which a hundred and twenty men were killed ; and, had the King been pres- ent in person, there can be little doubt that he would either have fallen on the field, or become a prisoner in the hands of the enemy. No mercy was now shown to the traitor ; and he was executed at Meaux on the 9th of September, 1596. Nevertheless, such due severity had little effect in deterring the malcontents of the party of the League ; and a case followed soon after in January, 1597, where lenity would probably have been more appropriate. An unhappy man, by trade a joiner and upholsterer, was arrested for having uttered seditious words on the Christmas eve preceding, while under the influence of too much wine ; and, it having been proved, that he had been chafering with a cutler for a knife of a peculiar form, he was condemned on very insuffi- cient evidence, and hanged in the Place de Greve.
The whole course of history shows, that the mind of man is susceptible of contagion, as well as the body ; and moral epidemics are more frequent than is generally supposed. Every crime, it would appear, is more or less infectious, but that of assassination peculiarly so ; and it becomes a ques- tion of considerable importance, whether the notoriety, given to such acts by public execution, does, or does not, like the
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 383
exposure of a pestilent corpse, spread the contagion to mul- titudes of others. Were punishment an invariable conse- quence of even an attempted crime, apprehension, perhaps, might act as a specific medicine against the moral disease ; but so many instances of immunity occur under the very best and best administered laws, that the hopes of malefactors are greater than their fears ; and scattered examples of retri- bution have little effect in deterring from the commission of crime. During the reign of Henry there can be no doubt that a multitude of schemes were contrived, and attempts made to take his life, which met with no punishment ; and, though a vast number of assassins fell under the arm of the law, yet we have no reason to believe, that the terrors of their fate withheld even a single individual, so disposed, from following their example.
In the same month of January, another pretender to the blood royal appeared in the person of a poor master of arts in the university ; but, happily for himself, he added to his pretensions of being a natural son of the Queen-mother by Charles of Bourbon, that he was suckled at the breast of the Virgin Mary, which probably saved him from the fate of the unhappy Ramee. It is not unlikely, also, that the thirst of blood about this time began to abate in the courts of the Parliament ; for it is unfortunately too clearly proved by his- tory, that the seat of justice itself is not free from those pe- riodical influences which affect society in general, and that there is a fashion in severity and lenity as well as in matters of mere taste. It is certain, at all events, that in the course of 1596 public executions were much more frequent in Paris than in the succeeding year, and that the hangman went hand in hand with pestilence and famine in decimating the population of the city.
Though surrounded by cases of plague, and exposed to a most unwholesome atmosphere in the neighborhood of La Fere, Henry maintained his health during the short cam- paign of 1596 ; but a strange accident had nearly deprived
384 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
France of her King in the month of January in that year. His sister and the rest of the court had accompanied him into Picardy; and the Princess of Navarre having been seized with illness, which confined her to her bed, Henry went to see her, carrying in his arms his infant son by the fair Ga- brielle d'Estrees. While he was standing beside her, either alone, or with very few persons present, the flooring of the room, from some cause, which has never been explained, gave way. The King instantly cast himself and the child upon his sister's bed, in the hope, probably, of breaking their fall ; but strange to say, that portion of the floor remained firm, while all the rest was precipitated into the rooms below ; and neither Henry, his sister, nor his child sustained the slightest injury.
Immediately after the capitulation of La Fere, he hastened back to Paris to meet the Cardinal Legate, Alexander de Medicis, a man selected with greater judgment than the Popes had hitherto displayed in the choice of their ministers to France. Mild, peaceful, and prudent, he gave the greatest satisfaction to the King, and to the whole Court, though the distinction with which Henry treated him, alarmed the jeal- ousy of the Protestants, who never failed to take the most unfavorable moments for urging their claims upon the King. One of the undertakings which the Pope had intrusted to the management of the Cardinal, was that of bringing about a treaty of peace between France and Spain, and the Legate applied himself to that purpose with the utmost zeal and ability. Nor was the King of Spain unwilling to listen to overtures on the subject, for he was sensible of the daily diminution of his corporeal powers, and saw the probability of his vast dominions being soon left in the hands of a young and inexperienced Prince.
Negotiations were consequently commenced, the result of which I shall have occasion to notice hereafter ; but while they were proceeding, the utter derangement of the finances of France, and the total want of money in which Henry was
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 385
kept, compelled him to have recourse to extraordinary means for remedying an evil which had already endured too long. During the reign of Henry III. the royal treasury had been exhausted, not only by the civil contentions of the country, but by the extravagance and weakness of the King. His dissolute companions were raised to the highest offices in the State, without the slightest consideration of the qualities re- quisite ; and amongst others, Francis d'O, Lord of Fresnes and Maillebois, was named Superintendent of Finance, the most important post in the realm. Notwithstanding his no- torious infidelity in the discharge of his functions, his equally notorious vices, and his thinly concealed enmity towards Henry IV. himself, the difficulties which surrounded that monarch on his accession to the throne had forced him to retain the Superintendent in his post ; and during the whole of that minister's administration, his object seems to have been, to wring as much from the people, and to yield as little to the State, as possible. Everything in his hands became venal, all the subordinate offices were filled by those who bid the highest for them, either in money or in complaisance ; the accounts of the treasury were purposely brought into a state of inextricable disorder ; and while the subject was op- pressed, and the State pillaged, a system was established, both of collecting and dispensing the revenue, the only ob- ject of which was to favor malversation and conceal fraud. Worn out with debauchery, however, d'O expired in Paris on the 24th October, 1594, leaving behind him nothing but debts, and a name covered with opprobium ; and the office of Superintendent was eagerly sought by several competitors. Of these, the only very prominent person was Monsieur de Sancy, who had served both Henry III., and his successor, with great zeal and fidelity. The levy of a large body of men in Switzerland, at his own expense, had delivered the former of those monarchs from much peril and difficulty, and the declaration in favor of Henry IV., which he obtained from the Swiss troops at the moment of the King's accession, VOL. ir. 17
386
THE LIFE OF HENRY IV»
had tended greatly to fix the crown upon his Sovereign s head. He was a man of considerable abilities, and of devoted attachment, but vacillating in opinion, and not always very clear in judgment. He was more a man of talent than a man of sense ; and though he succeeded on some occasions by decision and skill, he was more competent to form great- projects, and execute hazardous enterprises, than to combat serious difficulties, or overcome long and numerous obstacles. Sully hardly does him justice, and Aubigne libelled him grossly ; but few can doubt, who have minutely examined his own statements, that Henry would not have acted wisely to trust the sole superintendence of his finances to Monsieur de Sancy. It unfortunately happened, indeed, that other causes, besides the consideration of his incompetence, com- bined therewith to exclude him from the office to which he aspired, and these were of course put forward by the vanity of De Sancy, and the malice of a Court, as the sole motives which induced the sovereign to withhold the vacant place from one who had served him so faithfully. In his habit of jesting he was accustomed to spare no one, we find ; and the fair Gabrielle was frequently the object of his bitter remarks, and, if Sully is to be credited, of his indecent calumny. Sancy admits himself* that on one occasion he made a reply to her in the King's presence, unbecoming a man and a gentle- man ; and he states that she never forgave the offence, as he had little right to expect she would. After some hesitation, however, and it is generally supposed by the advice of his mistress, the monarch determined to suppress the office of Superintendent, at least for the time, and to intrust the man- agement of the finances to a council of gentlemen, under the presidency of the Duke of Nevers ; of which body Sancy formed a part. But the cumbrous machine thus constructed produced no beneficial results ; the various persons of whom it was composed brought into the council their bad as well as their good qualities ; and after many magnificent prom- * Mem. de Villeroy, torn. v. p. 95.
KING OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 387
ises, without fruit, it became evident to all that some other plan must be adopted. A new council was formed, shortly before the battle of Fontaine FranQoise, with more extensive functions, and Sully was named one of the members, not- withstanding the vehement opposition of his future col- leagues ; but the same spirit reigned in this as in the former body. Confusion, irregularity, and peculation, still pervaded the whole system, and Sully was ultimately forced to retire to his country house, rather than take part in proceedings so detrimental to the service of the King. His absence only encouraged the members of the Council of Finance to lose all sense of common decency. Under the borrowed names of various contractors, they purchased the supplies needed by the army and the King's household, at the lowest possible price, and carried them into account against the crown at double or treble the actual cost. They compounded with the foreign troops for their arrears of pay, and charged the King with the full amount ; and while their houses displayed the most extravagant luxury and splendor, their sovereign was often actually without food, or decent clothing. " I have seen him," says a contemporary, speaking of Henry, " with a plain pourpoint of white stuff, all soiled by his cuirass, and torn at the sleeve, and with well worn breeches, unsown on the side of the sword belt."*
The monarch's private letters to his long-tried friend Sully, were full of bitter complaints against his financiers ; and at length he determined to restore him to the Council, from which he had now retired for some time, and to support him with his whole authority. The execution of this prudent resolution, though strongly pressed by Gabrielle d'Estrees, was for a time postponed by the intrigues of the Council, who found means to persuade the King, that the subject of finance was one which required longer experience than Sully possessed ; but a case of fraud, so gross that it could not easily escape the eye of Henry, having been discovered by * Le Grain.
388 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
him, he cast himself once more into the arms of that great minister, and soon had cause to regret, that he had not sup- ported him from the first with the firmness due to his zeal and intelligence.
The revenues of the crown of France at that period pro- ceeded from a vast variety of sources, and the method of collecting them was one which opened the door wide to all those practices which I have already noticed. The kingdom was divided into a number of portions, called generalties, the receipts from which were farmed out to certain contractors, under whom were a whole host of receivers and controllers, appointed by the Crown, and over whom were the treasur- ers, the intendents, and the Council of Finance. It is prob- able that from this system, which was so complicated in all its branches, as to render a detailed account of the whole organization impossible in this place, a check might be ex- pected upon the exactions of the Royal officers, and upon the frauds of the contractors ; but the result was the direct reverse. The members of the Council and their intendants received large gratuities from the farmers of the revenue, to let each particular district at a sum infinitely below its value ; the great contractors apportioned their vast undertakings amongst sub-contractors, and both classes, in order to con- ceal their own iniquitous bargains, were obliged to connive at the frauds of the receivers, and controllers, while the col- lectors were suffered to repay themselves for their connivance by the most burdensome exactions from the people. Vari- ous circumstances combined together, to favor the conceal- ment of the frauds thus perpetrated; and in the natural course of events, the evil went on, increasing in magnitude each succeeding year. Without taking into account the ef- fects of a long civil war, which both exhausted the revenues of the country, and diverted many sums from the treasury never to be recovered, the fact of the monarch being fre- quently obliged to apply to the farmers of the revenue, to make advances upon their present or future contracts, and
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 389
the habit of charging each particular source of revenue, with innumerable pensions and salaries to the officers of the crown in the district, and even to Princes of the blood, which were paid without the money passing through the Royal treasury, so complicated the accounts of the financiers, that it was hardly possible to ascertain the real value to a contractor, of any district he might obtain, and quite impossible, when every member of the Council, and all the subordinate offi- cers, brought up in one school of peculation, were in league to deceive. It was less difficult, however, to arrive at some approximation to the truth ; and when Henry suddenly found, at a time when his treasury was totally empty, and the dec- laration of war against Spain had involved him in expenses which required immediate supplies, that the receipts of the great and wealthy province of Normandy had been let for a sum of thirty thousand crowns, or ninety thousand livres, he became convinced that the evil, as Sully had often asserted, was more deeply rooted than he had imagined. He conse- quently examined further, and ascertained, that five of the principal districts of the kingdom were let at less than a a fourth of their value. Having made this discovery, he at once recalled Sully to the Council of Finance, and by his recommendation, adopted a plan, by which some of the frauds in the collection, at least, were certain to be detected. The minister proposed, in the first instance, to visit several of the principal generalties of the kingdom, and personally to inquire into the state of the revenue, before the assem- bling of the Notables, who were by this time appointed to meet at Rouen. The King, however, modified the details of the scheme, and suggested to his Council, as from himself, the necessity of personal inspection. They eagerly approved of the proposal, thinking that to themselves alone, or to their agents, its execution would be intrusted, and that fresh opportunities of deceit and plunder would be afforded. But Henry made his own selection, appointed four masters of requests for six generalties, and gave up to the keen eyes
390 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
of Sully alone, four other districts, of the greatest extent and importance. He furnished him likewise with full power to suspend, or dismiss, the Royal officers of finance in the prov- inces, who might resist the inquiry; and that nobleman set out at once upon his important investigation. Every means were employed to frustrate his efforts in the prov- inces ; every calumny was circulated at the Court to ruin him with the King. The Council of Finance, the treasurers of France, the receivers-general, the intendants, the collectors, the controllers, the registrars, the contractors, the sub-con- tractors, the very clerks, were in arms against him ; but he steadily pursued his object, and in cases of resistance, first threatened, and then suspended, or discharged, the refractory officers, till the whole accounts of the districts were laid open before his eyes. A scene of iniquity and peculation was then discovered, which fully justified all his suspicions ; and in the course of a few weeks he collected debts due to the crown, which amounted, even after all the salaries and pensions charged upon those provinces had been paid, to more than four hundred thousand crowns ; although, when Henry had demanded a short time before the pitiful sum of eight hundred crowns, to enable him to surprise Arras, the Council of Finance had replied, that they could not furnish it, and hardly could find means to pay his household ex- penses. With this large supply in specie, Sully returned to the Court, and soon dissipated the calumnious accusations of his enemies.* It is not improbable that the discoveries
* I have given the above account of these transactions as they are stated by Sully, because I find that almost every historical source con- firms him on one point or another ; but I must remark, that in the printed copies, (and perhaps] in the manuscripts, for I have not had the opportunity of comparing them,) there are either errors of the press, or of the copyist, in regard to different sums stated, and I believe in some places the word " ecus" has been substituted for " livres." Thus, in one passage, he says that he sent to the Swiss ten thousand crowns, which were due, and that Sancy, not knowing he had sent them, demanded ninety thousand crowns; but he afterwards expresses his indignation,
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 391
he had made, and the vast augmentations of revenue which might be anticipated from better management, would have induced the King to refrain from calling together the Nota- bles, for such assemblies had never been productive of any solid good, and were very often followed by evil consequen- ces ; but the time of meeting had been already fixed, and Sully only rejoined the King a few days before the members appeared in Rouen.
The assembly of the Notables was opened in great state in .the month of October, 1596, and Henry, on the occasion, made one of those speeches, most eloquent without oratory, which are only to be found on the lips of men of great gen- ius. The members labored zealously to meet the wishes of the King, and it was determined that the payment of the officers of the Crown should be deferred for one year, and that during two years, a tax of five per cent, should be levied upon all goods except corn, on their entrance into walled cities. A council also, called the Council of Reason, was established, upon a plan which could not be followed out ; and ultimately the whole management of the finances fell upon Sully, who soon reduced them to a better state, not- withstanding the opposition of the financiers.
Previous to the separation of the Royal army in 1596, Henry had left Biron to watch the banks of the Somme, and had strongly reinforced the garrisons of various frontier towns. Amiens, however, alleging its ancient privileges, had refused to receive the body of troops which he had destined for its protection, declaring that it could defend itself as it had hitherto done. Henry yielded, but the result was un- fortunate ; for the disorder and negligence which reigned in the towTi were so great, partly from the incapacity of the Governor and the turbulence of the inhabitants, and partly from the dismay which had been caused in the place, by a
that that minister should have required triple the sum owing to the Swiss. Now ninety thousand livres would have been exactly triple what was due.
392 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
furious visit of tlie plague, that the Governor of Dourlens found it an easy prey in March, 1597. The method which he took to effect an entrance was ingenious ; a cart filled with walnuts was sent into the town, and in passing the gates, one of the sacks became untied, and the fruit was scattered upon the ground. The soldiers of the guard immediately applied themselves to pick up the nuts ; the traces of the cart were forthwith cut, so as to embarrass the gate ; the Spanish soldiers, who were in the neighborhood, rushed in, and the town was taken with scarcely any resistance. The King was horrified at this intelligence, and gave way to the most bitter lamentations. He had been spending some time in Paris in gayety and merriment, with better hopes and pros- pects before him than he had ever yet enjoyed, but breaking away from such scenes at once, he exclaimed : " I have played the King of France long enough, it is time to play the King of Navarre again ;" and mounting on horseback as speedily as possible,* he set out at the head of all the forces he could collect. Consternation and rejoicing spread through differ- ent classes in Paris ; the loyal imagined that they already saw the enemy at their gates ; the disaffected triumphed in the success of the Spaniards. The news, however, soon ar- rived, that Henry had invested the captured city, which en- terprise he undertook contrary to the advice of his council, who foresaw innumerable obstacles.f The only great diffi- culty which presented itself to the mind of Henry, in the commencement of so important a siege, was the want of money. The sums collected in the autumn had been entirely exhausted in the payment of arrears, and the necessary ex- penses of the Government, and at this period of his history, the King was far poorer than most of the private gentlemen in his dominions. He himself expresses to Sully, in a letter
* L'Etoile says, the same day ; but Sully shows that this was not the case. For some curious anecdotes of the Court at the time of the fall of Amiens, see note at the end of Book XIV.
t Perefixe.
KINO OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 393
written either in 1596 or 1597, the state of his household, in terms which better explain his situation than those which any one else could employ. " I am very near the enemy," he writes, " and I have scarcely a horse upon which I could fight, or a suit of armor to put on. My shirts are all torn, my pourpoints in holes at the elbows ; my pot is often empty, and these two last days I have dined with one or another, my purveyors telling me that they had no longer the means of supplying my table." Sully, however, found means to supply the funds, by measures savoring somewhat too strongly of despotism, and though the Parliament at first refused to register the edicts necessary for obtaining the money, Henry himself revisited Paris on the 12th of April, and going down to the courts, forced them to receive and publish his decrees.* During April the troops flocked from all parts of France to the royal army ; in May the trenches were pushed forward rapidly ; and in the course of June, forty-five pieces of artil- lery opened upon the walls. But the principal event of the siege was the effort made by the Cardinal Archduke to re- lieve the garrison. In the commencement of September he put his troops in motion, and arrived within sight of the town on the 15th of the month; but before that time, the gallant Portocarero, to whom the capture of Amiens was owing, and who had hitherto conducted the defence with the utmost intrepidity, was killed by a ball in the side. The Archduke, nevertheless, continued his advance, and drove back a division of the Royal army in so much confusion, that the main body of the King's forces was thrown into disar- ray ; but Henry speedily rallied his men, and opened a fire upon the enemy's troops, under which they dared not pursue their advantage. The next morning the King proceeded in person to reconnoitre their position, but found them already in retreat. Henry followed, and was inclined to force a bat- tle, but was dissuaded from the attempt ; and on the 25th,
* I must once again xrarn the reader against the misstatements of Anquetil.
394 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
Amiens capitulated. During the course of the siege, two enterprises had been attempted upon Dourlens and Arras, neither of which proved successful. Henry, however, ap- proached with his army in person to the gates of the latter town, after the fall of Amiens, and fired some cannon against the walls, in order to draw the Archduke into a battle ; but that Prince remained inactive, and the King withdrew, ob- serving that the Spaniards were strangely discourteous not to take one step to meet him.
The season was now too far advanced to undertake any considerable operation, and after having provided for the safety of the frontier, the King returned to Paris, occupied with the thought of reducing to obedience the only province which still appeared in arms against him. Brissac was or- dered to prepare the way in the commencement of the year ; and on the 18th of February, 1598, Henry set out for Brit- tany, determined to inflict a severe chastisement upon Mer- cosur. The news of his march spread consternation amongst the Leaguers of that province, and a number of noblemen, who had obtained possession of many important towns, hast- ened to make their submission to Brissac. Nor was Mer- cosur himself without similar apprehensions, which caused him, as soon as Henry had arrived at Angers, to send his wife to that city for the purpose of negotiating with the King. The monarch at first showed little disposition to hear of any terms but those of absolute submission. Mercosur, however, found means to assail him on a weak point ; and the marriage of his daughter with the King's natural son by Gabrielle d'Estree, called at that time Cesar Monsieur, was the purchase of the monarch's pardon and favor. The two infants were immediately affianced at Angers ; and Henry bestowed on the boy the Duchy of Vendome, whence he afterwards derived the title, by which he is known in his- tory.
From Angers the King proceeded on a tour through Brit- tany, regulating the affairs of that province with great care
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 395
and attention, and relieving the suffering people from bands of robbers in all classes of society, some of whom had car- ried on their system of plunder under the shape of tyranni- cal imposts, some upon the highway, at the point of the sword. Many towns which had been fortified were disman- tled, and the garrisons discharged by the King ; while Sully, who accompanied him, regulated the finance, and contrived to raise, without oppressing the lower orders, a sum of nearly four millions of crowns.
Nor were these the only affairs which occupied the mon- arch during his stay in Brittany. Before he left Paris, Ver- vins had been appointed as the place for holding a congress of ministers to treat of peace between France and Spain, un- der the mediation of the Cardinal Legate ; and after a severe contest for precedence, the conferences had begun. But Elizabeth of England had seen with apprehension the ap- proaching termination of the war ; and as soon as she found that Henry was on his march for Brittany, she wrote to in- form him that an English ambassador would visit him at Nantes, to treat with him on matters of importance. Scarcely had the King arrived in that city, when Robert Cecil and Justin of Nassau, appeared as the plenipotentiaries of Eng- land and the States of Holland ; and offers were made, on the part of those two countries, well calculated to dazzle and seduce the King of France. The object, however, was clearly seen ; and, though Elizabeth promised a force of six thousand foot and five hundred horse, maintained at the ex- pense of the Queen, and Holland four thousand foot and a park of artillery, if Henry would undertake to recover Ar- dres and Calais, the French King avoided the snare. He explained frankly and straightforwardly to the ambassadors, the situation in which he was placed, the objects which he had in view, the means by which he intended to obtain them, and he showed a minute knowledge of the policy of all the neighboring States ; which, if we may believe Sully, sur- prised those who heard him, and moved them to admiration.
396 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
He told them that the first blessing France required was re- pose, a proposition not easy to gainsay ; and he dismissed them to their several countries with courtesy and thanks.
In the meantime the Protestants, irritated by his conver- sion and impatient of delay, had urged him violently and intemperately to grant them that complete religious equality with the Catholics, which would immediately have rekindled the civil war; and the arrival of envoys from Protestant States had given them a prospect of success. But the de- parture of Cecil and Nassau diminished their hopes, and rendered their demands more moderate. Henry himself, when the head of the Calvinistic party, had always declared that he would be satisfied with the edict of 1757, if it were strictly observed ; but the Huguenot leaders now naturally expected something more from a monarch whom they had aided so powerfully to place upon the throne. Henry ac- cordingly added their eligibility to offices in the courts of law, and in the department of finance. All their rights as citizens were preserved to them ; and if some shackles were placed upon their religious freedom, the burden was not very onerous. In every Parliament a court, composed of Protes- tants and Catholics, in equal numbers, was established ; cer- tain towns were left in the hands of the Huguenots, without being included in the edict, as places of security, and the Calvinistic clergy was paid from the royal treasury. Their convocations, or synods, were permitted under proper regu- lations, and they were allowed to exercise openly their re- ligion, except in certain towns and districts, from which the King was bound by treaties to exclude it. They were, how- ever, required to pay a decent reverence to the religion of their fellow subjects, and to yield obedience to the laws of the land, which both parties had too frequently infringed. Such was the famous edict of Nantes, which was signed on the 13th of April, 1598 ; but it was not verified by the Par- liament till after the departure of the Cardinal Legate,
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVAREE. 397
whose Christian moderation and pacific character deserved a token of respect.
The Parliament of Paris made many difficulties ; and pa- pistical preachers from the pulpit breathed furious invectives and idle menaces ; but Henry called the courts before him, and in a speech full of dignity, kindness, and decision, in- sisted that the edict should be verified, without further op- position. I will quote but a few sentences of that long speech, but they will be sufficient to show the feelings which pervaded it, and the tone in which they were expressed. " There must be no more distinction," the monarch said, " between Catholics and Huguenots. All must be good Frenchmen, and let the Catholics convert the Huguenots by the example of a good life. I am a Shepherd King, who will not shed the blood of his sheep, but seek to bring them together with kindness." He then noticed the means which had been used to intimidate him, and added, " I will root out all these factions, and punish those who foment them. I have overleaped the town walls, and I will easily over- leap the barricades also." The edict was accordingly veri- fied ; and it was reserved for the grandson of this sovereign, a monarch as double as Henry was sincere, as ostentatious as he was simple, as bigoted as he was liberal, to deprive France of the benefits which the King now conferred.
Difficulties arose, likewise, on the part of the Protestants ; many were discontented with the terms offered, and many were anxious to take any pretext for resisting a measure, which, by restoring internal tranquillity to France, swept away the opportunities that troublous times afford for the advancement of personal ambition. But ParaberQ and Langlois were sent to meet the Protestants in Poitou, and their arguments succeeded in gaining the adhesion of the Protestant consistory, which was held on the 3rd of August. The flame of civil war was now totally extinguished, and nothing remained but a few lingering sparks, which were easily crushed out at an after time.
398 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
While Henry was making his successful progress through Brittany, the ambassadors of France and Spain continued their negotiations at Vervins, under the mediation of the Legate, and the ministers of Philip showed themselves much more eager to obtain peace than those of Henry. The first proposal included the restitution of all the towns taken by Spain, with the exception of Cambray, which had been so ungenerously acquired to France by the Duke of AlenQon, and in which Balagny had exercised sovereignty. Some diffi- culties arose in regard to the Duke of Savoy : but it was agreed that the differences between the French King and the Duke should be referred to the decision of the Pope, and a treaty was signed between France and Spain on the basis of that of Cambray. While this act of pacification was under discussion, the Duke of Savoy recovered the valley of Mauri- enne, and defeated the French troops under Crequi with con- siderable slaughter. But immediately afterwards Lesdiguires took from the Duke a fort which he had built in the neigh- borhood of Grenoble ; and the whole of Provence was re- stored to the power of the King. Thus ended the wars in which Henry had been engaged from his earliest years ; the religious dissensions of France were terminated ; and peace and repose were given to a country which, with the greatest natural advantages, had been reduced to the most lamen- table state of poverty and desolation, by nearly forty years of fierce and virulent civil contention, brought about by an at- tempt to violate the conscience, and control the faith of man.
The following extract from the journal of 1'Etoile gives so curious a picture of the state of society in Paris, at the time of the capture of Amiens, that I have thought it expedient to insert it here, as it was too long to be placed at the foot of the page to which it refers : —
" On Wednesday, 5th, the baptism of the son of Monsieur, the Con- stable, was solemnized at the Enfans Rouges at Paris. He was held by the King and baptized by the Legate. Madame la Marquise was present, magnificently attired, dressed entirely in green ; the King
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 399
amused himself in ridiculing her head-dress, telling her there were not sufficient brilliants in her hair, for she had but twelve, and it was said fifteen were necessary. A splendid entertainment was given at the Hotel de Montmorenci, for which occasion all the cooks in Paris were employed for more than a week. There were two sturgeons at a hun- dred crowns each. All the fishes were very cleverly disguised as meats, they were for the most part sea-monsters, which had been brought expressly, from all parts. There was the worth of three hun- dred and fifty crowns of fruit, and of pears de bon chretien, as many as could be found, at a crown each.
" Ballets, masquerades, music of all kinds, pantomimes, and all that could serve to allure to voluptuousness (unto which one gave way but too much without that), followed these fine festivities ; for
" After feeding The dance is needing."
In the depths of which amusements it seemed that we wished to bury all our griefs, warnings of the wrath of God, which immediately after fell upon us. On the Wednesday, the 12th of this month, the eve of Mid-Lent, whilst they were amusing themselves with laughing and dancing, the sad news arrived of the surprise of the city of Amiens, by the Spaniards, who had made scourges of our ballets to whip us, at which news, Paris, the court, the dance, and all the fete, were very much troubled ; and even the King, whose firmness and magnanimity were not easily shaken, was as if stunned by this blow ; but looking, nevertheless, to Heaven, which he did, generally, more in adversity than in prosperity, he said aloud these words : — " This blow is from Heaven ! These poor people, by having refused a small garrison that I wished to give them are ruined." Then thinking a little, he said, " I have played the King of France long enough, it is time to play the King of Navarre." Turning towards his mistress, who was weeping, he said, " My mistress, we must quit our arms and mount our horses, in order to carry on another sort of war ;" which he did the same day, marching the first, at the head of his troops, to show that fear lodged not in his soul, and could not find place in his heart. He behaved with great resolution in this adversity ; which served very much to reassure the people, and to incite the nobility to fight well, and be firm under the conduct of so brave and generous a king. This difficulty might have been easily avoided, if he, amongst others, had believed the counsel of the Duke of Mayenne, who, a long time before, had advised him to go to Amiens, and leave the fair of St. Germains and the ballets of Paris, as he had had information, from good authority, that there was an en- terprise on foot against one of the principal cities of Picardy. But God, who wished to humiliate and awaken him, and also to chastise the peo- .
400 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
pie, who were well deserving this punishment, suffered not these good counsels to have any effect.
" Madame la Marquise, much frightened, (more from conscience than anything else,) was quicker than the King, and set out an hour before him in her litter, saying she did not feel herself safe in Paris during the King's absence.
" After the departure of his Majesty they assembled the chambers of the Parliament, and the same was done at the Hotel de Ville. Many fine propositions were made at both places, but no resolution was arrived at. The priests in their sermons do not speak of Amiens, but fall upon the Huguenots, who, for all that, do not cease to meet at the house of the Princess, where the public service is performed, with addi- tional prayers for the good journey and prosperity of the King. The Leaguers rejoice, but with little noise, as it is talked of driving them out."
I find appended to the above account, by 1'Etoile, a note, which shows how rapidly and unceremoniously human life was sacrificed by the criminal law of France at that time. The commentator on the journal of the reign of Henry IV. says : —
" After the report of the surprise of the city of Amiens, those who re- mained in Paris of the faction of the Sixteen, and above all, among the people, began to hold meetings. Several were found at a cabaret in the rue de la Huchette, who, having placed themselves in a private room, after having spoken of affairs of state, according as they thought of them, and said many things in praise of Spain, naming the citizens still in Paris, whom they believed took part in the union, they all drank to the health of King Philip, saying one to the other, ' Long live the King of Spain.' But this amusement finished in sadness, for the Prevot, Rapin, came out of an adjoining room, where he had hid himself with his archers, and seized them all. Five were hanged the next day in the Place de Greve, two others three days after at the gate of Paris, and the rest were banished."
KING OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 401
BOOK XVII.
THE most interesting portion of the life of Henry IV. is past, and that which remains to be related, though it may show high qualities of heart and mind, must display many traits of weakness ; and, while it offers the pleasing picture of the restoration of a great country to prosperity, by the labors of a wise and benevolent monarch, must afford the sad contrast of bitter ingratitude on the part of many of his sub- jects, and of the struggles of selfish ambition, and unreason- able prejudices, against the noblest designs, and the most prudent measures.
The treaty of peace, concluded at Vervins, was not pub- lished in Paris for a month after its signature, and Biron was sent to Brussels to witness the ratification by the Archduke. The malice of the enemies of the King did not cease with their efforts in arms, and the stay of Biron in Brabant was an opportunity which they did not neglect, to inspire the heart of a haughty, violent, and ambitious man, with treason- able projects against his sovereign. Before he set out on his mission, Henry had raised him to the Dukedom, as a re- ward for his services ; but the honors bestowed upon the Marshal were far below the price which he put upon the ex- ertions he had made in the royal cause ; and his petulant vanity, which had more than once led him into painful dis- cussions with his placable sovereign, soon after conducted him to treason, discovery, and death.
Not long after the publication of the peace, Philip II. ter- minated a reign of tyranny, by a loathsome and unusual death. By a partition which he made of his territories, at his decease, he bestowed the dominion of the Low Countries
402 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
upon his daughter, the Infanta Isabella, and gave her hand to the Archduke Albert. His illness, however, prevented him from swearing to observe the treaty of Vervins, accord- ing to the form required, and that duty was left to his suc- cessor.
The first efforts of Henry were directed to restore security and prosperity to his people ; and in order to check the license which had so long existed, he strictly forbade all his subjects, except his guards, to carry fire-arms. He greatly reduced the number of his troops ; and even the ancient forces of the crown, which had been augmented during the civil wars, were likewise diminished. The governors of prov- inces, and the lieutenants of the King, were deprived of the guard which had hitherto been allowed them ; and Henry mitigated the weight of taxation, acquitting the people of all arrears still due. At the same time, as he well knew that a number of persons, under the pretence of nobility, had ex- empted themselves from the tax called the taille, thus de- frauding the revenue, and causing the burden to press un- justly upon others, he caused a strict examination to be made into all suspected cases, and such persons as had fraudu- lently escaped the impost, were forced, for the future, to submit.
In the month of October, 1598, he was seized with a se- vere illness, which threatened his life, and the love and con- fidence, which he had already obtained amongst his people, were proved by the consternation, which the report of his danger produced throughout the whole country. While looking forward to death, he assured his attendants that he entertained no fear of the great passage to another world ; but he expressed deep regret at being called away from the scene of his exertions, before he had restored his country to a complete state of prosperity. The fever was subdued, however, the other inconveniences from which he suffered, removed, and he soon after returned from Monceaux to St. Germain, where he labored indefatigably, with Sully, for
KING OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 403
the restoration of the finances to a flourishing condition, for the alleviation of the burdens upon his people, and for the payment of the debts of the state. At the same time, know- ing the inefficiency of sumptuary edicts, to restrain the lux- ury of the wealthy and the ostentatious, he endeavored, by example, to effect that which could not be done by laws. The most rigid economy was established in his own house- hold, and at his own table ; his dress was the most simple that it is possible to conceive ; and he usually appeared hab- ited in a plain, straight-cut pourpoint of silk or taffeta, with- out lace or slashings, and a gray or brown cloak.
All the activity and energy which he had displayed in his military career, were now applied to the business of the state ; and he held daily conferences with his council, in which we are assured by Sully, he showed a degree of keen- ness, vigorous sense, information, and experience, which astonished the old politicians and financiers, by whom he was surrounded. Sully himself aided the King with all his own great abilities, and incessant industry. Infinite difficul- ties, however, which it would be tiresome and useless to de- tail, were thrown in the way of the King, and his minister, by those who had so long prospered by the plunder of the state, and the oppression of the people. But the pertina- city of the great Monarch and the great statesman overcame all resistance ; and a considerable effect was produced by a regulation proposed by Henry himself, to the effect, that in matters of finance, an order once given could never be changed, which put an end to a great part of the innumer- able intrigues that had been going on for years.
Shortly after the publication of the peace of Vervins, an affair was brought to a conclusion which had long given Henry considerable uneasiness. As we have seen, he had, at one time, encouraged the pretensions of the Count de Sois- sons to the hand of his sister, the Princess Catherine, but had broken off the proposed alliance, on discovering the double and treacherous character of that weak and unstable
404 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
prince. The Count, however, had contrived to obtain the love of the monarch's sister, and secretly visiting Beam, while Henry was engaged in the civil wars, he had not only obtained from the Princess a distinct promise of marriage, but had even, it would seem, proposed to unite himself to her at the altar, without the knowledge or consent of her brother.
In order to prevent such a result, Henry had brought her from Beam; and meeting her at Saumur, had ever after kept her under his own eye. Anxious to marry her to the Duke of Montpensier, he had employed Sully to obtain from Catherine and the Count the written promises which they had exchanged, and Sully had basely effected that object by an unjust and reprehensible stratagem. Nevertheless, Cath- erine, who inherited the determined character of her mother, resisted all the King's entreaties, remained long attached to Soissons, rejected the Duke of Montpensier, filled the palace of the Louvre itself with Profestant ministers, much to the annoyance and detriment of her brother, and would not hear of any other alliance than that upon which she had set her heart, till after the peace of Vervins, when she at length gave her hand to the Duke of Bar, eldest son of the Duke of Lor- raine. She was at this time in the fortieth year of her age ; and she resolutely refused, even on the occasion of her mar- riage, to renounce the religion in which she had been edu- cated.
The passion of Henry for the fair Gabrielle continued during the course of her life, leading him into acts of extrav- agance totally inconsistent with his schemes of economy; and, although there can be no doubt that the first feelings of her heart had been given to another, there is every reason to believe that she had become sincerely attached to her royal lover. As may be supposed, the conduct of Henry towards Gabrielle was the occasion of much scandal amongst his people, and many libels were circulated, attributing to the King acts of folly of which he was not guilty, as well as
KINO OF FRANCE AND NAVAREE. 405
aggravating those which were but too apparent. Nor, indeed, is it at all wonderful that his people should be indignant, and his ministers mortified and distressed at the weakness which he displayed in regard to women, who, without exception, in a more or less degree, took advantage of his passions to extort for themselves or their friends, advantages which should have been reserved for merit and service. The relations of Gabrielle D'Estrees were all elevated to posts of emolument and honor ; and she herself was raised to the rank of Mar- chioness of Monceaux, and Duchess of Beaufort. Her eldest son was created, as I have shown, Duke of Vendome, and, at the baptism of each child, a considerable sum was exacted for the ceremony, besides all that was daily bestowed upon the royal concubine herself. Taking advantage of her situa- tion, the Duchess of Beaufort, whose nominal marriage with M. de Liancourt had been dissolved, labored anxiously to induce the King to obtain a divorce from his abandoned wife Marguerite, and unite himself with her by more legitimate ties. But in the course of the year 1599, all her rash aspi- rations and wild schemes were brought to an end by death. There can be no doubt that Henry had given her some hopes that he would accede to her wishes, and he had even obtained the appointment of commissioners from Rome, for the pur- pose of investigating the circumstances of his marriage with Marguerite. While the Pope hesitated and delayed, the approach of Easter induced Henry to separate himself for a time from his mistress, in order to go through the appointed ceremonies of the season, and to perform his devotions with less scandal. He sent her, therefore, from Fontainebleau to Paris, accompanying her part of the way himself. She parted from him on the 5th of April, with tears and presentiments that she should never see him again, and, proceeding on her journey, took up her residence at the house of Zamet, the celebrated financier, being then pregnant with a fourth child. On the 8th of the month, after dinner, she proceeded to hear the religious service in music, called Tenebres, at the
406 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
convent of the lesser St. Antony. She was there suddenly taken ill, and carried back to the house of Zamet, where frightful agonies and convulsions succeeded. In the intervals of pain, she exclaimed continually, " Take me away from this house ;" and at her own desire, was ultimately removed to the dwelling of her aunt, Madame de Sourdis, at St. Ger- main 1'Auxerrois, where she expired two days afterwards, in the midst of terrible sufferings, which had left the corpse disfigured in a frightful manner. Decomposition began to show itself almost immediately ; and the appearance of the body, as well as the fact of the rapid appearance of putre- faction, accredited the report, that she had met her death by poison.
It may be worth while to examine briefly the foundations for this rumor ; and they are such as to establish, beyond all doubt, a strong case of suspicion. The love of Henry IV. for his fair mistress had in no degree decreased, but rather " seemed to grow by what it fed on." Her beauty, of a chaste and attractive, rather than a luxurious and excit- ing character, — the qualities of her mind, combining gentle- ness with strong good sense, of which we have many proofs — the warm attachment which she appeared to entertain for the King himself, her participation in his amusements, her concurrence in his views, and the prudence and discretion displayed in all her suggestions, had alike engaged his heart and his understanding ; and there was no moment in his whole career, at which her power over the mind of the mon- arch, or her hold upon his affections was more strong, than at the time when death took her from his arms.
A large and splendid apartment had been prepared for the King's mistress in the house of the famous Italian financier Zamet, as a place of retreat and tranquillity, during her tem- porary separations from her royal lover ; and it becomes in some degree necessary to inquire what was the character and history of the persons by whom she was surrounded, and especially of the man under whose roof she was, at the time
KING OJF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 407
she was so suddenly overtaken by an unexpected death. Sebastian Zamet was himself an Italian of very low extraction, born in the small town of Lucca. His father is said to have been a shoemaker in that place ; but we have no means of tra- cing his history, with any certainty, beyond the period at which he appeared at the Court of France, as valet of the wardrobe to Henry III. How he had enriched himself, and risen, in the course of a few years, from poverty, and a low station, to enormous wealth, and high consideration, cannot be clearly ascertained ; but it is certain, that at the commencement of his career, France afforded no very honorable means of arriv- ing at such a height of fortune. Commerce was nearly an- nihilated ; manufactures could hardly be said to exist. Sci- ence, or warlike prowess, Zamet did not pretend to possess ; and yet, with inconceivable rapidity, we find him enabled to lend large sums to princes and to parties, without any great discrimination of their claims or their objects. Gay, cheerful, witty, serviceable, fond of good cheer and good wine, with a fine taste in the arts, a very unscrupulous spirit, and no troublesome pretensions, Zamet had become the companion of Kings, from being their valet-de-chambre. He was a man in short, whose conscience was not likely to be very intrac- table, and whose skill was likely to supply with ease, the means of accomplishing any enterprise, which his own inter- ests, or the designs of his patrons might require.
Henry IV., after his accession to the throne, had become exceedingly familiar with Zamet, dining with him often, and using his house as a place where the restraints of the mon- arch could be thrown off, and he could indulge in the natu- ral, frank, and unceremonious gayety of his character without observation ; but, beyond all doubt, he had no idea of the real character of the man.
Such was the host of the fair Gabrielle, on her return from Fontainebleau, in 1599 ; and at his table she dined. Another guest at that table, accompanying her as an honored attendant, to whom her comfort and protection had been par-
408 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
ticularly recommended by Henry, was Monsieur de La Va- renne, the minister of the pleasures of her royal lover. Although his occupation was one marked out as the most base in all ages, La Varenne was a man of courage, and ap- parently, on all points but one, of good feeling and of honor. The letter, in which he announced the illness of the Duchess of Beaufort, displayed grief and anxiety, without the slight- est appearance of affectation ; and his own interests were so totally opposed to any attempt upon her life, that we can- not suppose, for one moment, that he participated in a scheme to deprive his monarch of his mistress, if such a plan were ever really entertained.*
La Varenne had nothing to gain, and everything to lose, by the death of the fair Gabrielle ; but such was not the case with a multitude of the most influential persons at the court of France. Private enmity, political intrigue, the jealousy of women, and the malevolence of men, had all been excited against Gabrielle D'Estrees, by the height of favor to which she had risen, her power over the mind of the King, and by the great probability which existed that he would raise her to the throne of France, as soon as his marriage with Mar- guerite de Valois should be annulled. De Thou clearly points out, that almost the whole court of France were in- imical to the King's mistress, and admits, that under the mourning habits, which they assumed for her death, they concealed no slight portion of satisfaction.
Marguerite de Valois herself, though upon some occasions playing the sycophant in the most humiliating manner to her husband's concubine, loaded her with opprobrious terms in
* Nevertheless, it is evident that La Varenne was not without sus- picions that the death of Oabrielle was brought about by unfair means ; for in his well-known letter to Sully, in which he describes the death of the Duchess, he adds to an account of the sumptuous Tepast given to her by Zeunet, " which you will remark with your prudence ; for mine is not excellent enough to presume things of which nothing has appeared to me."
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 409
private, and declared she would never consent to the disso- lution of their marriage, till she was assured that her place on the throne would not be supplied by the Duchess of Beaufort.
Sully, who had once been her friend, and who by his own confession, owed a great share of Henry's confidence to her influence, had become her enemy, from the moment that she aspired to the position of the King's legitimate wife ; and there is a tone of jealous malevolence in the style of that great minister, when he details the transactions between him- self and the Duchess of Beaufort in the years 1598 and 1599, from which it is impossible not to draw an inference that he feared her increasing power over Henry, upon per- sonal, as well as public grounds. Such fears indeed, however apparent, would not be sufficient to justify even a suspicion of Sully, in regard to the great crime with which rumor charged the courtiers of Henry IV., had the character of that minister been as perfectly upright and sincere as he himself endeavors to make it appear ; nor would a vague suspicion be worthy of much consideration, were there not irrefragable proofs that Monsieur de Rosni himself made use of expressions which, however guarded, showed a previous knowledge of some serious conspiracy against the power or the person of the unhappy lady, whose life was shortly after terminated by a sudden and unusual death. His reputation for sincerity and straightforward dealing, however, is unsus- tainable, after his own account of the base, false, and insid- ious means which he employed to withdraw from the hands of the Count de Soissons and the Princess Catherine, the written promises of marriage which they had exchanged. His cognizance of a plot of some kind against the Duchess of Beaufort, is proved by his own statement of a conversa- tion between himself and his wife, dictated to his secretaries in the plenitude of his vain old age. He particularly warned Madame de Rosni to conceal from the Princess of Orange her feelings in regard to the queen-like pretensions with
VOL. II. 18
410 THE Hlf'E <JV I1ENKV IV.
which he charges Gabrielle D'Estrees ; but at the same time he consoled her for this restraint, by assuring her that " she would see a fine game, and well played, if the rope did break."* A curious similarity is remarkable between the expression used by Sully and the exclamation of the Presi- dent de Harlay, on hearing of the death of Gabrielle. " La- queus contritus est !" cried the old magistrate several times ; and although we must not interpret literally either the words of de Harlay or Sully, as regards the method of the Duchess of Beaufort's death, yet it is evident that such an event was anticipated, when she was in strong health, by many per- sons at the court of France. Sully declares that the disease of which she died was apoplexy ; but not one symptom of apoplexy was apparent. Tremendous convulsions, giddiness, great external pain, and, according to Aubigne, a violent sensation of burning in the throat, with a sense of suffoca- tion, presented themselves at different times ; but for many hours the fair Gabrielle was able to speak at intervals, did not lose the command of her intellect, and even, we are told by some, made an effort to write to the King. One of Henry's physicians, La Riviere, we are assured, would not even attempt to treat her case when he perceived the state she was in ; but after having taken three steps in the room, turned back again, saying, " Hie est manus Domini." Me- zerai does not scruple to declare that Gabrielle d'Estrees died by the hand of man ; and a modern writer of much merit and researchf has accumulated a mass .of evidence, which leaves a grave case of suspicion against the courtiers and councillors of Henry IV. Certain it is, that the Duchess of Beaufort did not die of apoplexy, nor of any of the ordi- nary accidents attending pregnancy. Certain it is, that few persons of the court were astonished or grieved at her death ; certain that her decease was announced to the King himself before it had actually taken place ; and equally certain that
* (Economies royales, chap. XC. p. 422. | M. E. de Freville. Notice Historique,&c.
KIN» OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 411
Sully, and most probably many other persons, had a pre- vious knowledge of some designs to put an end to her influ- ence over Henry, and to frustrate the monarch's intention of raising her to the throne. We may hope that natural causes, with which we are unacquainted, rendered the execution of those designs unnecessary, and even that they never went to a criminal extent ; we may be unwilling to give credence to the reports of poisoning at a period when the charge had be- come vulgar, even if the act was not common ; but the unu- sual circumstances attending the death of the fair Gabrielle, with the many motives which existed for removing her from a scene, where her prolonged existence threatened to thwart both the just and the unjust plans of many of the most pow- erful and ambitious men in France, must ever leave the mind of those who search the records of that age minutely, op- pressed with a painful suspicion that never can be removed.
Henry was deeply afflicted at the intelligence of his loss, and for several days gave himself up to all the bitterness of his sorrow ; but he did not suffer his grief to interfere long with the business of the state, and in constant occupation and a new attachment he soon found consolation.
No sooner was Gabrielle dead, than the Queen Marguerite, who had never ceased to bestow upon her the most oppro- brious names, forgetting that if the Duchess of Beaufort was a concubine, she herself was an adulteress of the most gross and disgusting kind, joined in the King's application to Rome for a speedy dissolution of their marriage ; and the ministers of Henry pressed for it eagerly, in the hope of seeing another more happy union afford legitimate heirs to the throne of France. The fears which had been entertained of the King's marriage with Gabrielle having passed away, the Pope consented without difficulty to the wishes of both parties, and deputed ecclesiastical commissioners to judge the case in France. But before the affair was terminated, the King had once more fallen into the toils of love, and had become deeply enamored of the famous Henriette D'En-
412 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
tragues,* a far more dangerous, cunning, and interested woman than Gabrielle. Tutored by her father, she succeeded in inducing Henry to give a written promise of marriage, which the Duchess of Beaufort had never been able to ob- tain. It would not become this book to enter into the whole history of these intrigues ; but one circumstance regarding the King's connection with this new mistress must be related to the honor both of Sully and the monarch. After having drawn up the promise, the King placed it in the hands of his minister, asking his advice. Sully, after some consideration, tore it in pieces, on which the King exclaimed with an oath, " I believe you are mad."
" True, Sire, I am," replied Sully, " but would to God I were the only madman in France." Henry's anger required time to cool, but instead of disgracing his minister, he shortly after bestowed upon him the high post of grand master of the artillery, although he did not fail to have another prom- ise drawn up in the same terms as that which had been de- stroyed. This rash and foolish act produced great inconven- ience at an after period, although the condition upon which the promise was made, namely, that Henriette bore him a son with- in the year, was not strictly accomplished. In the meantime, his ministers hurried on negotiations! for the marriage of the King with Mary de Medicis, a daughter of the Ducal house of Tuscany. The King's union with Marguerite de Yalois
* Catherine Henriette de Balzac D'Entragues, daughter of Francois de Balzac, Lord of Entragues, Marcoussy and Malesherbes, and of Marie Touchet, previously mistress of Charles IX., by whom she had one son, Count of Auvergne. The reputation of Henriette, according to Sully, was not quite immaculate before her connection with Henry ; and certainly the mercenary cunning which she displayed in the whole of her dealings with the King showed more of the spirit of the prostitute than the weakness of the inexperienced girl.
f We find that in the first application of Henry's ministers to the Pope, for the dissolution of his marriage with Marguerite, before the death of Gabrielle, the probable marriage of the monarch with Mary was held out as an inducement.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 413
was dissolved on the llth November, 1599, and on the 6th of January, in the following year, Monsieur de Sillery re- ceived orders to apply formally for the hand of the Floren- tine Princess. The treaty with the Grand Duke was signed in April, and with such haste was the whole carried on, that the news of his irrevocable engagement fell upon Henry like a thunderbolt. Various circumstances delayed the espousals of the Queen elect, however, and many efforts were employed to withdraw from the hands of Henriette d'Entragues, now Marquise de Verneuil, the promise which had been given her by the King. Negotiations, too, with the Duke of Savoy, in regard to the restoration of the marquisate de Saluces, which that prince had wrested from the crown of France, occupied the end of 1599, and the commencement of 1600, and Charles Emanuel visited the French monarch in the month of December, of the former year, striving vainly to retain possession of his conquest. He bribed the mistress, and some of the ministers of the King with enormous pres- ents ; he endeavored to seduce the monarch's nobles from their allegiance, and there can be little doubt, that with the Due de Biron he succeeded, even at this period, so far as to establish a clear understanding between them, which af- terwards proved fatal to the fidelity of the French Marshal.* The King, however, was proof against all his arts ; and de- claring that he would not treat in person with his cousin of Savoy, but leave the decision of their differences to depu- ties, he endeavored to occupy that Prince with various amusements, of which the Duke, on his part, took advan- tage, to carry on his intrigues with Bouillon, Biron, and the Count d'Auvergne, of whom we have spoken under the name of Grand Prior, who was also, it must be remarked, brother, by the mother's side, to the Marquise de Verneuil.
* Biron affected the most scrupulous reserve towards the Duke of Savoy, and refused so ostentatiously the presents offered him by the Duke as to create a strong suspicion that his probity was less real than apparent.
414 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
The Duke, notwithstanding all his efforts, did not succeed in seducing such a number of the French nobles into the con- spiracy which he labored to form, as in the slightest degree to embarrass the proceedings of the King ; and he at length quitted Paris, after having entered into an engagement either to restore the marquisate, or give in exchange the territory called la Bresse. Three months were allowed him to decide between the two ; and he quitted Paris in the hope that events might take place, which would remove the necessity of carrying the treaty into effect. The period fixed passed away, however, and the treasonable purposes of Biron evap- orated for the time in petulant sallies, which offended Henry without depriving the Marshal of his master's confidence. The King now demanded of Savoy, in a peremptory tone, the execution of the convention ; but the Duke contrived to pro- crastinate for nearly two months longer, negotiating with Spain, and making preparations for war.
Wearied out with his subterfuges, Henry advanced to Ly- ons, where he arrived on the 9th of July ; but here fresh ne- gotiations were commenced by the wily Duke, who, notwith- standing his known character, contrived more than once to lull the suspicions of the King, and induce him to believe that he was now sincere in his desire for peace. At one time he proposed, through the three ambassadors, whom he sent to meet the King at Lyons, to give up the marquisate of Saluces, provided the King would grant the investiture thereof to one of his sons. This was refused by the French monarch ; and an unconditional surrender demanded. The unconditional surrender was agreed to by the ambassadors, and a treaty drawn up ; but Roncas, one of the Duke's deputies, demanded permission to lay the terms before his master, and left the court of France for that purpose. The Duke then required, that hostages should be exchanged, well knowing that much time must be expended in their selection while the treaty still remained unsigned ; and the decision of the questions between France and Savoy was indefinitely removed. The
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 415
self-evident object of gaining time for preparation is men- tioned by all authorities as having actuated the Savoyard ; but another motive is assigned by some, which is quite con- sistent with the superstitious credulity of the age. It had been predicted by an astrologer, that in the month of Au- gust there would be no king in France ; and with less im- prudence than was frequently displayed by believers in the pretended science of astrology, the Duke strove for a delay, which, while it enabled him to extend his resources and con- cert measures with his allies, would give the prophecy a chance of fulfilment ; and, strange to say, it did receive ful- filment, but not in the manner which the Duke expected, or desired.
Having, in a conference with the deputies of his artful cousin, detected their insincerity and dissipated their preten- ces, Henry wrote in haste to Sully to hurry all the prepara- tions, which he had previously countermanded ; and, publish- ing a declaration of war on the eleventh of August, he advanced at once into the territories of Savoy, thus verify- ing the prediction, that in that month there would be no king in France. The Duke of Guise was dispatched to se- cure Provence. Lesdiguieres occupied Dauphine ; and Biron was fixed upon by the King, perhaps in the hopes of con- firming his wavering fidelity, to lead an army from the side of Burgundy. With numerous and well-disciplined forces, with a powerful artillery and large stores of ammunition, prepared long beforehand by the careful Sully, no doubt could be entertained of Henry's success, unless the troops of Spain were immediately put in motion to defend the Duke of Savoy. Various circumstances, however, some apparent and some concealed, were likely to render the war tedious, unless the whole energies of the King and the whole resour- ces of the country, were directed to overwhelm resistance at once. Towns strongly fortified and well garrisoned lay in every direction before the French monarch. Time had been allowed to accumulate stores, to repair old and raise up new
416 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
defences. Mountain-passes and forts, considered in that day impregnable, afforded a secure retreat to the forces of Savoy, if defeated in the Low Country ; and immature treason in the court and camp of France was ready to favor the opera- tions of the enemy, and to seize on the first opportunity afforded by reverse for raising once more the standard of civil war in the kingdom so lately tranquillized.
The measures of the King, however, had been well con- certed ; and two powerful armies were ready to fall upon Savoy the moment a declaration of war was published. Bi- ron was indeed already in the field ; and Lesdiguires, at the head of the forces of Dauphine, was close upon the fron- tiers of the Duke of Savoy's dominions. The very position assigned to Biron showed caution on the part of the King, •without manifesting any injurious suspicion. To refuse him a command at such a moment would have been the surest means of driving him at once into open rebellion ; and the conduct of the campaign on the side of Burgundy seemed naturally to fall into his hands. But the destined scene of his operations was at a distance from the centre of events ; and the advance of the King and Lesdiguieres was certain, if unchecked, to cut him off from all free communication with the Duke of Savoy.
The first town destined to be attacked was Bourg en Bresse, a large and well-fortified city ; and it had been determined that an attempt was to be made on the night of the thirteenth of August, to take the place by surprise. The account given by Sully is confirmed in many points by other writers and by public documents; but, in transcribing it here, it may be necessary to warn the reader against a certain amount of prejudice entertained by the historian against the Due de Biron, which even the death of the latter was not able to ex- tinguish.
" Biron was at that very time," says Sully, " deeply en- gaged to the Duke of Savoy. It is even believed, that the treaty between them was actually sketched out. He gave
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE.
417
notice to Bouvens, the governor of Bourg, to be upon his guard, and indicated to him the night and the hour when they expected to surprise him. All this has been proved since ; but, strange to say, this treachery did not prevent the capture of Bourg on the very night previously fixed. Bou- vens communicated the intelligence he received to the garri- son and the inhabitants. He exhorted them to defend them- selves well, lighted great fires, and doubled, or even trebled the corps de garde ; in a word, took every sort of precau- tion, even to acting the part of sentinel himself upon the night pointed out. Every one in the town waited with im- patience for the approach of midnight, which was the hour named in Biron's letter, as that on which the attack would be made. Biron, however, who was himself at the head of his troops, either to give more time to the governor to cause the enterprise to fail, or by mere accident, made so long a circuit, that, instead of midnight, it was dawn of day, when he at length appeared before Bourg. He then endeavored to persuade the officers that the attempt should be put off to another time, the hour being unfavorable for such a design. Several of his companions, Sully declares, were of the same opinion ; but the majority were opposed to it : and their numbers carried the question as to the attack, Biron not ven- turing to compromise his renown in arms by conduct which might bear the imputation of timidity. Monsieur de Cas- tenet declared, that he was ready to apply the petard with his own hands in open day, even if the bastions were lined with troops ; and the Marshal made no further opposition, trust- ing, it is supposed, that the garrison would be found pre- pared, and that an enterprise, for which he was no longer responsible, would fail.
" The contrary, however, was the case. The citizens and the soldiery, after having watched through the whole night without attack, imagined that they had been deceived, or that the enterprise of the French had already miscarried ; and at dawn they retired to their beds, leaving a few sleepy
18*
418 THE LIFE OP HENRY IV.
sentinels on the walls. De Castenet, accompanied by three men carrying petards, and followed by twelve others well- armed, advanced unchallenged to the counterscarp, where a sentinel for the first time exclaimed, " Who goes there ?" The French officer answered, that they were friends, who had come to inform the governor, that a large body of armed men had been seen within a short distance of the town ; but had since retreated ; and adding that he had several things of importance to say to Monsieur de Bouvens from the Duke of Savoy, he bade the sentinel go and tell that officer to order the gates to be opened. The man imprudently obeyed ; De Castenet advanced at once to the gates, applied his petards ; and in a moment a breach was effected, by which the whole French army rushed into the town. De Bouvens had only time to retreat with the garrison into the citadel, which, however, held out for some time, occupying the forces of the Due de Biron, and preventing his co-operation with the King."
Henry's progress in the south, however, was much more rapid. On the seventeenth of August the town of Mont- meillant was taken by assault. The garrison, however, re- treated into the citadel before the French force under Lesdi- guieres, and. threatened to hold out to the last. As the place was fully provisioned, the garrison numerous and apparently resolute, and the citadel itself generally held to be impreg- nable by arms, the siege promised to be tedious ; and it was proposed to confine the operations against it merely to a blockade. Lesdiguieres, however, vehemently urged more active measures, and declared, that he was willing to pay the whole expenses of the enterprise, if he did not compel the castle to surrender by force. His views were justified by the result ; for, after a short siege, the governor, Monsieur de Brandis, entered into a capitulation, by which it was agreed, that the place should be surrendered, if not relieved within one month. The honor of the enterprise and of the victory is attributed by some historians to Lesdiguieres, and is
KINO OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 419
claimed by Sully, who gives a long account of the siege ; but there cannot be the least doubt, that Lesdiguieres was one of those who urged the King most warmly to undertake the siege. An anecdote is related by Sully in reference to the attack upon Montmeillant, which shows that Henry had lost none of the fiery spirit that distinguished him in youth. Sully, it would seem, had exacted from him a promise not to be present at the siege ; but the King could not refrain from giving way to his eager desire to witness, at least, some of the operations against one of the most celebrated for- tresses of Savoy ; and he forced his friend to free him most unwillingly from the engagement he had made. Sully, how- ever, requested earnestly, that Henry would not expose him- self to the fire of the place, and to present himself with such a suite, as would not attract the attention of the besieged. He also entreated him to avoid, by a detour of half a league, an open field covered with large stones, towards which the guns of one of the principal batteries were turned to inter- rupt the communication between the French camp and an important work which had been erected on the rock. Henry, however, giving way to his old impetuosity, insisted upon crossing the field, which lay within musket shot of the bat- tery. A tremendous, but not very well-directed fire, was instantly opened on his party, ploughing up the ground all round them, and covering them with a shower of earth and stones. " Let us get away," cried Henry, making the sign of the cross ; " it is not pleasant here ;" and setting his spurs to his horse, he galloped away from a scene of such unne- cessary danger.
The siege of the citadel of Montmeillant occupied some weeks ; and, while it was proceeding, as well as before it had actually commenced, Henry and Lesdiguires had marched from victory to victory, hardly one of the many fortified towns of Savoy holding out more than a few days. The town of Chambery was one of the first that surrendered to the King in person ; and the citadel began to parley on the fol-
420 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
lowing day ; the troops of the Duke of Savoy were permitted to march out with drums beating and colors flying ; and on the same night Madame de Rosni gave a ball in the town, which was attended by all the principal inhabitants. The small town of Conflans, however, held out for a short time, but yielded after a severe cannonade. A number of other places of little importance surrendered without resistance ; and advancing up the valleys of the Arc and the Isere, the French armies made themselves masters of the whole country nearly to the foot of Mont Cenis. The only place besides the castle of Montmeillant, which offered a vigorous resist- ance, was the citadel of Charbonniere. Built upon a rock, and surrounded by almost inaccessible precipices, it put to the trial both Sully's skill and determination ; but the great part of one of the bastions being ruined, and the powder- magazine having exploded, the garrison surrendered at dis- cretion and were treated with lenity. With no very great sense of decency, and carried away by the passion, which had led him into a thousand follies in the course of his life, the French monarch, even while his ministers were concluding the treaty of marriage between himself and Mary de Medicis, dispatched the flags which had been found in the castle of Charbonniere to Henriette d'Entragues at Lyons ; and the lady, as if to make publicly known the devotion of her royal lover, caused these trophies to be exposed in the church of St. John, where they must have met the eyes of the Queen on her first arrival in France.
Shortly after the fall of Charbonniere, an event took place, which did great honor to the character of the King. Whilst staying for a few days at Grenoble, he found one morning upon his table a note written by some unknown person, who informed him, by this means, that two gentlemen of the Lyonnois, named Chazeul and Dubourg, were conspiring against his person. On inquiring who had placed it there, he could obtain no intelligence ; but found, that a number of similar papers had been scattered through the whole of
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 421
the royal apartments. Attributing the act to malice, he in- stantly sent for Monsieur de Chazeul, who happened to be in the court at the time, and placed the note in his hands, assuring him, that he did not give the slightest credence to the charge. He ordered a letter also to be written to Du- bourg, who was in Lyons raising a regiment for his service, with the same expressions of confidence, which he had used towards Chazeul ; but rumors of the accusation preceded the King's epistle ; and Dubourg, setting out at once, arrived at Grenoble, while the King was at dinner. As soon as he presented himself, Henry demanded why he had come ; and the officer answered bluntly : " There runs a story at Lyons, Sire, that I seek to kill your Majesty. I therefore set off post-haste to bring you my head." The King immediately assured him, that he had not believed a word of the charge ; and that he never had, or would give ear to the insinuations of jealous and discontented men. "Return to Lyons, Du- bourg," he added; "complete your regiment, and lead it hither with all speed ; that will be the greatest punishment which you can inflict upon your unknown enemy."
Although nothing but success had attended the arms of the French monarch, the Duke of Savoy had not been inac- tive. He had twice attempted to raise the siege of Mont- meillant, at the head of a large army ; but the position of the besieging force, the advanced period of the year, and the snow, which had already fallen in the mountains, prevented him from giving any assistance to the garrison. The place surrendered, as I have described ; and the troops marched out with the honors of war on the sixteenth of November ; but, before that event took place, Henry had been joined by Cardinal Aldobrandini, charged by the Holy See to mediate between the contending parties ; and two envoys from the Duke of Savoy soon after arrived in his camp. Leaving them to treat with his council, the King again put his troops in motion, and forced the fort of St. Catherine to capitulate ; after which, hearing that the ceremony of his marriage by
422 THE ;LIFE OF HENRY iv.
proxy had taken place at Florence on the 5th of October, and that the Queen was on her way_to France, he left the conduct of his army to his Generals, and hastened to meet his bride in Lyons. The Queen had arrived in that city, however, eight days before the King made his appearance, but on the 9th of December the marriage was consummated.
Five days after the Legate joined the King in Lyons, and after many discussions, a treaty of peace was concluded, by which the Duke of Savoy agreed to cede to the King of France the whole territory which he possessed on the French bank of the Rhone, from the point of its exit out of Lake Leman, with the exception of some bridges, and the villages attached to them. The whole of Bresse, and several other lordships, were thus secured to France, and the Duke re- tained the marquisate of Saluces, which was much more de- sirable to him than the territory he resigned, and had hith- erto proved of little advantage to the Kings of France.
As soon as the treaty was signed, Henry set out for Paris, whither he was speedily followed by the Queen and the court ; but Biron had received a new mortification in the su- perior success and favor of Lesdiguieres, which irritated his haughty and impetuous heart, and engendered a hatred of the King which plunged him deeper and deeper every day into intrigues against his sovereign.
Henry could not be unaware of the machinations of his enemies, nor altogether without suspicion of Biron himself ; but habit had quickly rendered him indifferent to acts which at first affected him acutely. Scarcely a day passed without some enterprise against his life being discovered. In the year 1600, no less than four attempts were made to assassi- nate him, one by a woman named Mignon, who endeavored to gain admission for her husband into the royal kitchen, for the purpose of administering poison to the monarch ; but having spoken to the Count de Soissons upon the subject, in the hope that his ambition might lead him to aid in the de- sign, that Prince concealed one of the King's officers in his
KINO OF PRANCE AND NAVARRE. 423
chamber, while the woman detailed her whole scheme, and she was accordingly convicted and executed.
Other assassins are said to have hovered about his camp on the frontiers of Savoy ; but though they were recognized by information forwarded from Piedmont, the King would not permit them to be arrested, saying : " Such wickedness is never suffered to go long unrequited; God will punish them without my meddling with the matter." In another instance, a capuchin of Milan sent intimation to the Court of France, that a man had set out from Italy for the express purpose of destroying the King. The assassin was detected in the midst of the court, but we find from Sully, that Henry showed less consternation on this occasion than when he was suddenly informed that his marriage with Mary de Medicis was concluded.
Various circumstances, regarding the conduct of Biron, reached the monarch's ears during the campaign against the Duke of Savoy, and that Prince himself had the imprudence to utter words which directed the attention of the whole court to the persons suspected of being dissatisfied with the Government ; but whatever were the suspicions of the King, he concealed them in the hope of bringing the Marshal back to a sense of duty, and an occasion soon occurred of removing him honorably for a time from the scene of his intrigues.
An affray had taken place in Spain between some gentle- men attached to the French Ambassador, Rochepot, and a party of Spaniards, in which one, at least, of the latter was killed. The Spanish authorities, without respect for Roche- pot's position, broke into his house, and arrested the homi- cides. Henry resented the indignity offered to the embassy, and having, some time before, discovered a scheme, devised by Fuentes, for seizing Marseilles, imagined that this act was but an indication of approaching war. Anxious for the safety of his frontier towns, he hastened at once to Calais, where he was visited both by envoys from the Archduke, then be- sieging Ostend, and from the Queen of England, very well
424 THJB LIFE t)F HENRY IV.
disposed to see the French monarch once more embroiled with her enemies. The Pope, however, reconciled the Kings of Spain and France ; and Henry embraced the pretext af- forded by the embassy of Elizabeth for sending Biron to re- turn the compliment which the English Queen had paid him.
The danger of war having passed away, Henry returned to Fontainebleau, in order to be present at the birth of his first legitimate child, and on the 27th of September, 1601, was born a son, in whose infant hand the monarch placed the hilt of his drawn sword, saying : " Mayest thou, my son, employ it for the glory of God, and the defence of the crown, and of the people." The prayer of the King was not heard, and the child became, in after years, the weak and favorite- governed Louis XIII.
The birth of an heir to the crown only stimulated Henry the more strongly to labor for the restoration of prosperity in his kingdom ; various burdensome offices were suppressed, and the favorite plan of Sully was carried into execution, in order to force the financiers and farmers of the revenue to disgorge a part of their ill-gotten wealth. A number of judges were selected from the superior courts, and formed into a chamber for inquiring into the malversations which had taken place during the times past. A number of finan- ciers were compelled to account to the crown for the im- mense sums they had received and applied to their own pur- poses ; but the all-powerful aid of gold was brought to blind the judges, and corrupt the favorites of the King, and many escaped unpunished who deserved chastisement as much as those who suffered.
Two edicts of very doubtful policy were added, though both were but the revival of ancient laws. By the one, the exportation of gold and silver was strictly prohibited ; the other forbade the display of the precious metals in the deco- ration of houses or garments, and to the latter the King sub- jected himself as well as his people. The rate of legal in- terest was reduced to six per cent., and an attempt upon false
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 425
principles was made to encourage the production and manu- facture of silk in France, which failed for the time, but was afterwards renewed with better success. Every branch of industry, however, received encouragement from the mon- arch, and although the limited experience of those times, in many instances, was inadequate to direct the efforts of the King in the surest paths to commercial prosperity, yet his indefatigable exertions were not lost ; arts succeeded to arms, agriculture once more brightened the face of the land, and supplied the necessities of the people, and trade and manu- facture opened the way to wealth, with peace and order in their train.
The example of the King himself also had a great effect upon all classes of his subjects ; his industry inspired them with the same spirit ; his activity gave an impulse to the habits of the nation ; his own frugality, except where his mistresses were concerned, and that which he enforced in his court, rendered prodigality shameful. The disgusting and horrible crimes which had disgraced the court of his prede- cessors, totally disappeared ; and, as if to prove more strongly the influence of the royal example, those vices only remained in which he himself indulged. The offences, too, which had been engendered by anarchy, were suppressed with a severe hand, and in the short space of between three and four years, the highways became comparatively safe, the fields were no longer swept by bands of robbers, and popular commotions became rare.
Nevertheless, some of the measures which had been de- vised by Sully, and adopted by the King, were neither wise nor just. The taxes which the necessity of the state had induced the King to place upon merchandise entering walled cities in 1596, were severe upon all classes, and showed that utter ignorance of the just principles of taxation, in which alone originate all imposts affecting the transit of goods from one part of the same country to another. Commerce was shackled thereby; infinite opportunities of fraud were af-
426 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
forded ; the cost of collection was immense ; and time, the most invaluable of commodities to all men, and especially to merchants, was wasted with the most wanton carelessness. After many remonstrances, and some tumults, Henry was obliged to relieve the people from this odious tax ; but he did not do so till he had suppressed resistance, and vindicated the authority of the law.
An attempt was made in the course of this reign, to open mines in search of gold, silver, and copper, but the science of geology was little known ; no means were taken except by the examination of ancient traditions, to ascertain that the metals sought for were likely to be found in the places where the works were commenced ; and after a time the operations were suspended : having produced no advantageous result, but the employment of some out of the many idle persons whom peace had deprived of their habitual occupations.
The construction of a great canal for the junction of the Loire and the Seine, was a work more worthy of the monarch, and though the operations were interrupted not long after their commencement, the canal of Briare was traced out by Henry, and easily finished under Louis XIII. It is proved also that the design for opening a communication by water between the two seas, the execution of which reflected so much honor on the reign of Louis XIV., was entertained by Henry, but the finances of the state had not sufficiently recovered before the monarch's death to justify so great and expensive an un- dertaking. Companies trading to Canada were likewise es- tablished with the sanction of the King, and great efforts were made to render the French a commercial people. It is true that most of these enterprises were suggested by indi- viduals ; but Henry had at least the glory of encouraging energetically every attempt to improve and enrich his peo- ple. In their happiness and prosperity he sought to found his title to fame, and the enlarged and generous views which he displayed during peace, have added more to his reputa-
KING OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 427
tion than all the military glory which he acquired in the field.
As the internal tranquillity of Henry's dominions was re- established, great political changes in the relations of differ- ent states presented themselves to his mind, and he con- ceived schemes of such magnitude as to receive, if not de- serve, the name of chimeras. They would have required re- sources of many kinds, which he did not possess, to carry them into execution, as well as a degree of union amongst all the smaller and some of the greater powers of Europe, such as has never been seen but once in ancient or in modern times. Nevertheless, as in the experiments of the alche- mists, where valuable medicines were frequently discovered in the search for imaginary powers, so in the pursuit of objects probably unattainable, many wise and beneficial plans were framed, which only required the prolongation of the King's life to have been perfected and executed. It is difficult to arrive at any precise notion of Henry's ultimate views : and the want of full information has induced many writers to disbelieve the fact of his having entertained any of the definite and extensive schemes attributed to him by contem- poraries ; but the concurring testimony of those who knew him best, leads me to believe, that a favorite project of a comprehensive and extraordinary character, occupied many of his thoughts from the moment that he felt himself firmly seated on the throne of France. Sully seems to think that the scheme was perfectly practicable ; but whether the ob- ject was limited, as some have asserted, to reducing the power of the house of Austria ; or whether it extended to the partition of Europe into fifteen great monarchies, and to the establishment of a " Christian Republic," (by means of a general council, representing those powers, and sitting per- manently,) as others affirm* — whether the one design was a
* Voltaire denies the existence of any such project, pointing out that no trace of any negotiations upon the subject is to be found in the ar- chives of any European state ; but it may be remarked that it was in
428 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
fixed and clearly defined resolution, and the other merely a brilliant but evanescent fancy, it would be very difficult in these days to ascertain. Certain it is, that Henry demanded from his minister, Sully, various written schemes and state- ments, as steps to the execution of some very great and diffi- cult design, which would require the whole resources of France to be economized for many years : and, from the plans thus formed, issued a number of most beneficial pro- jects, few of which, unhappily for posterity, were carried into effect. In the joint labors of the King and his minister, new objects, new regulations presented themselves every hour ; memorial brought forth memorial ; one scheme branched out into half a dozen others; institutions were conceived; laws were drawn up ; and a completely new organization of society, founded on notions of transcendent excellence, such as the world has never seen, appeared as visions to the eyes of the monarch and his friend.
To afford some idea of the vastness and also of the vision- ary character of these designs, I will give, in a somewhat abbreviated form, part of the account furnished by Sully himself, of the contents of a cabinet to be prepared for the King in one of the halls of the Louvre, which were to com- prise, arranged in drawers and cases, all the memoirs and reports about to be collected. " The labor required was immense. To obtain a notion of it without repetitions, let one imagine everything connected immediately or re- motely with the finances, with war, with the artillery, with the navy, commerce, and police, with the coinage, with the mines, and in a word with every part of government, interior and exterior, ecclesiastic, civil, political and domestic. Every one of all these parts had a separate place in this state cabi- net, so that all the documents concerning it would be found
no degree probable that Henry would communicate plans to any foreign power, the first step to the execution of which was the depression, by force of armSj of two great monarchies, allied to, if not connected with, most of the other powers.
KING OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 429
ready to the hand at a glance, in whatever quantity they might be. On the side appropriated to the finances, were seen the collection of different regulations, records of finan- cial operations, changes made or to be made, the sums to receive or to be paid, and an almost innumerable mass of statements, memorials, totals, and summaries, more or less abridged.
In regard to military matters, besides the accounts, details, and memorials, marking the actual state of things, there would have been found the edicts and state papers, works upon tactics, plans, maps, and charts of France and other parts of the world. Large copies of these maps, mixed with various pieces of painting, were to be placed in the great gallery. The idea also was entertained of appropriating one of the large halls below, with the floor above, to the pur- poses of a museum of models and specimens of all the most curious machines destined to be used in war, the arts, and different trades, and in all sorts of exercises, noble, liberal, or mechanical, in order that those who sought perfection might come and without trouble instruct themselves in this silent school. The lower story would have served for the heavier things, and the higher for the lighter. An exact in- ventory of both was to have been amongst the documents of the cabinet of which I am speaking.
Lists of all the benefices of the kingdom, with their denom- ination and just appreciation, reports of the whole ecclesias- tical body, secular and regular, from the highest prelate to the lowest clerk, with the distinction of native and foreigner, and of both religions, would not have been amongst the least curious documents of those referring to the ecclesiastical government.
This labor was the model of another affecting the police, by which the King would have been able to see, to an indi- vidual, the number of the nobility of the whole realm, divided into classes, and specified by the difference of titles, estates, &c. ; an idea the more agreeable to the King, as he had been
430 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
meditating for a long time the plan of a new order of knight- hood, together with that of an academy, a college, and a royal hospital, destined for the nobility alone, without this useful and honorable institution being chargeable to the public or burdensome to the finances. It was proposed at the same time to form a camp or permanent corps of six thousand in- fantry, a thousand horse, and six pieces of artillery, com- pletely equipped. Twelve ships and twelve galleys kept in good order, corresponded in the naval department to this new military establishment.
As the project of improvement and reform in every direc- tion held one of the principal places in the train of that which, according to the design of Henry, was to change the face of all Europe, and which was illustrated and developed in the clearest manner and most extended form, there were details upon every kind of subject. In regard to war, for instance, the means were indicated for maintaining such exact disci- pline— not only during actual warfare, but even in time of peace — that it would have rendered the artisan, the clergy- man, and the laborer, sacred in the eyes of the soldier. These four sorts of professions, upon which indeed the whole state turns, would have found every degree of security against oppression on the part of the nobility, in other regulations of police and internal government, the papers upon which sub- ject pointed out so accurately the distinctions between dif- ferent stations and the extent of the rights of each, that none of them could thenceforward have abused its superiority, or withdrawn itself from due subordination.
The object of the memorials referring to the clergy, was to induce them to use the property which, justly speaking, does not belong to themselves, in the manner pointed out by the canons to prevent the union of two benefices of more than the annual value of six hundred livres ; to prevent any from exceeding a revenue of ten thousand livres, and moreover to bring them to perform their functions worthily, and to look
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 431
upon giving a good example as one of the first duties of their calling."
Sully then goes on to speak of several other minor projects, and enters into various details regarding the finances, the taxes, and their means of collection, which show that what- ever progress he had made in the art of government, hardly a glimpse of the science of political economy had visited him- self or any one else in France. We are becoming aware, and doubtless shall ere long be fully convinced, that the most burdensome species of taxation is that which shackles indus- try and throws impediments in the way of commerce ; in fact, that the very worst source of revenue is that which comes under the name of excise ; and yet we find him resting his whole scheme of finance upon those onerous imposts and embarrassing transit duties, which at one time rendered it more difficult to send goods from Orleans to Paris, than we find it now to dispatch commodities from London to Con- stantinople. These formed the principal funds from which the treasury was actually supplied ; but there were one or two minor sources of revenue, amongst which were the ever odious duty upon salt, several very dangerous monopolies, the sale of public offices, and an annual tax upon those who en- joyed them, in whose families they had been made heredi- tary, probably at the instigation of Sully himself. It would be endless either to recapitulate or to examine the multitude of corrupt and perilous measures which were proposed by this great minister in order to swell the finances of the state in case of need, and against which the good sense of the King led him to remonstrate warmly, though many of them were afterwards defended, and some adopted, by the famous Car- dinal de Richelieu. Sully 's plans for the collection, distribu- tion, computation, and settlement of the revenue were, al- most in all instances, very great improvements upon the pre- ceding arrangements, but not one fundamental change was proposed which could relieve the commerce or stimulate the industry of France.
432 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.'
Vain and even detrimental regulations for the repression of luxury were also proposed, amongst which it is amusing to see, that Sully set his face vehemently against the use of carriages, although he went in one almost every day to the Louvre, and even obtained admission for it into the court of the palace on the plea of the night air being dangerous to his health. The minister goes on to tell us, that another project was entertained, by which the law officers of the Crown were ordered to prosecute and punish in an exem- plary manner all persons who led a scandalous, prodigal, or dissolute life, either to the prejudice of the public, of other individuals, or of themselves, under pain of answering in their own persons for all disorders occurring by their negli- gence or connivance. To carry out this censorship of morals, an institution was proposed which brings the mind back to very remote ages. Three persons were to be chosen trien- nially, in a public assembly of each district in which a par- liament existed, who, under the name of Censors or Reform- ers, were bound to denounce fathers of families, children, and all other persons accused of carrying " dissolute habits beyond the bounds of honor," or their expenses beyond their means ; and moreover to compel the judges themselves to execute the law upon such offenders, by proceeding against them as accessories in case of refusal. Two admonitions were to precede prosecution ; but at the third an action was to be commenced, which, on sufficient proof, ended in a sentence whereby the property of all bad managers was placed in the hands of trustees, who had only power to grant them two- thirds of their revenues, till such time as all debts were paid, and they had given proof of a sincere intention of " thinking and acting in a more reasonable manner."
This was certainly one of the most extraordinary visions of benevolent police, that ever entered into the head of man since the days of Lycurgus ; and was little to be ex- pected in France, and in the seventeenth century ; but to this was to be added, a regulation or law not quite so impracti-
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVAEEE. 433
cable ; to the effect that no person, whatever might be his station, fortune, or quality, should borrow a sum, considerable in regard to his means, nor any other person lend it, under pain of losing it, without there being stated in the acknowl- edgment, the purposes for which it was to be employed, to what debts the borrower was already subject, to whom they were due, what property they were charged upon, and what income he still possessed, not only to secure the sum bor- rowed, but also to provide for his family. It was also pro- posed to prohibit all parents from giving to one of their chil- dren, on establishing him in life, an unfair proportion in relation to their actual means and to the number of their children, born, or likely to be born, " according to reasonable proba- bility." The only case in which an unequal partition was admissible, was where the paternal authority had been de- spised or insulted ; and there, not only clear proof was to be adduced against the offending child, but the deprivation could only extend to acquisitions, conquests, and chattels.
Besides these regulations, it was proposed by the King and Sully to undertake a task, which has been found more on- erous and less practicable than any of the labors of Hercules, by those who have grappled with it, in all ages ; namely, " to correct the innumerable abuses of the bar, to abridge law suits, and destroy the contemptible art of chicanery." The method devised was by no means unfeasible, and might even have been extended to other cases which it was not ap- parently destined to affect. In all causes between relations, the plaintiff was bound in the first instance to offer, and even to demand, that all differences between himself and the de- fendant, should be referred to the arbitration of four persons chosen by the parties ; to name his own two arbitrators without delay, and to give in, in writing, signed with his own hand, all his pretensions and demands, without the power of adding anything thenceforth. The defendant was also bound to name his arbitrators within a month, and signify in writing his means of defence, to which he was prohibited from adding
VOL. II. 19
434 . THE LIFE OF HEtfRY IV.
anything at an after period. Within another month, the ar- bitrators were to be put in possession of all the documents and proofs on both sides ; and the same period was allowed to the four referees to pronounce their decision. If any points occurred upon which the voices of the arbitrators were equally divided, they had the power of choosing a fifth, who judged definitively those points alone : all others on which a conclusion had been arrived at by the majority, being con- sidered as already decided and beyond the competence of the fifth arbitrator. A very limited appeal was permitted ; but the judges were forbidden to open the case anew, by calling for further evidence, or receiving any additional proofs ten- dered. Their sole function was to decide upon the conduct of the arbitrators, on due consideration of the case as it had been laid before them, and to confirm or reverse their judg- ment. A month or six weeks was the time allowed the judges, according to this project, for the annunciation of their sentence, and, if it were not pronounced within that time, the unfortunate judges themselves were condemned to the payment of all costs and damages.
In giving an account of some of the projects which filled the mind of Henry, and they are few out of many, I have followed the course of Sully's statement, though it leads the mind far from the point at which it started ; but it must not be forgotten that all the schemes for the improvement of the revenue, and for restoring peace, prosperity, and good order, in the kingdom, were connected more or less closely with a great design to which the minister frequently alludes, for changing the entire face of European policy.
It often happens that men of very extended views, while placing before their eyes objects too vast or too remote for attainment, arrive at great practical advantages in the pur- suit of their visionary good. This was in some degree the case with Henry, and undoubtedly would have been so to a greater extent had he not suffered his mind to be diverted to less praiseworthy endeavors. The peculiarities of his char-
KINCt OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 435
acter, and the peculiarities of his situation, were great ob- stacles to the execution of many of his best designs. The man was always struggling against the monarch. His libid- inous propensities, and his passion for gambling, led him not only into profusion and expense, but into indiscretion and injustice, which were not favorable either to social or finan- cial reforms ; and the state of the country was such, that in undertaking any great political operation, he had no firm foundation on which to rest : he had to form the very basis of his enterprise before he could execute it, and to remove a thousand obstacles, foreign and domestic, which had arisen from a long period of civil contention.
The waves of the sea remain agitated long after the storm has ceased, and the designs of Henry IV. for the good of his people were constantly interrupted by the turbulent spirit which had been engendered during the civil wars. The most famous conspiracy which disturbed the state, after the peace of Vervins, was that of Marshal Biron, whose in- ordinate vanity remained unsatisfied with all that his sove- reign could do to reward his services, and whose first steps in treason we have already seen.
After the conclusion of the treaty of Savoy, the govern- ment of Bresse was added to that of Burgundy, and though Lesdiguieres was undoubtedly superior to Biron as a soldier, and had personally rendered much greater services to the state, yet the King, taking into consideration all that he owed to the father as well as the son, scattered favors upon the Duke with a much more lavish hand than upon his great- rival. Nor was Biron more moved by warnings than he was affected by benefits. Henry himself, during the war against Savoy, having discovered that Beauvais la Nocle, Lord of Lafin, the intimate friend of the Marshal, and one who was known to be full of dissimulation, insincerity, and intrigue, was passing to and from the head-quarters of Biron and the court of Savoy, sent for his general, and remon- strated with him on his conduct, especially pointing out the
436 THE LIFE OF HENKY IV.
danger of his intimacy with a person utterly unworthy of confidence. But Biron turned a deaf ear to the kind admo- nition of the King, and continued to trust in his deceitful confidant, and to carry on negotiations with the enemy. It is even said that he laid a plan for bringing Henry within musket range of the walls of Fort St. Catherine, while skil- ful marksmen were stationed near to pick him out, but that, suddenly moved by remorse, he prevented the execution of his own scheme.
During his visit to England, not only warning, but exam- ple, was set before Biron ; and if we may believe the French accounts of his conference with Elizabeth, that sagacious woman addressed to him many observations on the dangers as well as the criminality of rebellion, which could be hardly accidental. She pointed out to him the fall of Essex, showed him the portrait of that unfortunate nobleman, and assured him that if she had been sovereign of France, Devereux's fate would have overtaken, long before, many of those who disturbed the peace of that kingdom. In order, it would appear, to mortify his vanity and diminish his high opinion of himself, Elizabeth is said to have declared in his presence, that if her brother of France had two Lesdiguieres, she would have asked him for one of them.
But her admonitions proved as vain as those of Henry. Biron still continued his intrigues with the Spaniards, and with the Duke of Savoy, by the mediation of Lafin, who, shortly after the Duke's return from England, left him in Burgundy, and proceeded to Milan to confer with Fuentes, governor of that place for the King of Spain. The enmity of the whole Spanish nation towards France, and especially towards Henry IV., seemed concentrated in the person of Fuentes. He is strongly suspected by the French writers, of having instigated several of the attempts on that mon- arch's life ; and he never lost any opportunity of making an inroad upon some part of his dominions ; but he was, at the same time, a shrewd politician, possessing much knowledge
KING OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 437
of the world and insight into human character, and it would appear, that he soon understood the man with whom he had to deal, and placed no confidence in the honor and integrity of Lafin. After some consultation with the Duke of Savoy, it seems that Fuentes determined to employ very efficacious means of getting rid of Biron's deceitful negotiator. But Lafin was alive to every movement of those who surrounded him ; and, finding that the Duke of Savoy had arrested his secretary, named Renaze,* he took flight from Italy, and passing through Switzerland, arrived in France.
Lafin's resolution was now taken, to discover the whole design of the conspirators to the King; and, in order to obtain security for himself, he employed his nephew, the Vidame de Chartres, to negotiate with Henry, while he applied himself to obtain such convincing proofs of Biron's treason as to leave no doubt of the truth of his statements. He was already possessed of many letters from Biron on the subject of their mutual designs ; but these epistles were written in such terms as to bear two interpretations, and something more decided was required to establish the Duke's guilt beyond all question. For this purpose Lafin again joined the Marshal in Burgundy ; and knowing that the plan of the conspiracy, drawn up in Biron's own hand, was in the house, he represented to his victim that it was highly imprudent to keep such a document and that it would be better to have it copied by another, so that he might dis- avow it in case of need. The Duke fell into the snare, gave Lafin the fatal document to transcribe in his presence, and laid down to rest upon his bed while it was done. Lafin copied the paper, and then crushing in his hand another sheet which he had brought with him on purpose, he threw
* It does not appear certain that, even at this time, Lafin had not given intimation to Henry of Biron's designs. Perefixe declares that he had ; but the author of the Life of Marshal Biron, with greater proba- bility, states that Lafin was induced to reveal the plot to the King by a discovery of the designs entertained against himself.
438 THE LIFE OP HENRY IV.
it in the fire, pretending it was the original, which he had dexterously slipped into his pocket.
Some suspicions with which Fuentes is supposed to have inspired the Duke, now induced Biron to treat his confidant with neglect, and to repose his secrets in the breast of the Baron de Lux. He continued his intrigues with Savoy and Spain, however, even while employed by Henry on a mission to the Swiss; but was watched eagerly in all his proceed- ings by his betrayer ; till the Vidame de Chartres, having spoken in favor of the latter to the King, Lafin was sum- moned to the court, which was then at Fontainebleau. The treacherous confidant of the Duke, by informing him of the King's orders, contrived to draw another letter from him, in which Biron gave him directions to burn all the papers he possessed, acknowledging that he had his life in his hands. Lafin then hastened to Fontainebleau, and in the course of several private interviews, which he had with Henry, he laid before him the whole scheme of conspiracy in Biron's own writing. Henry was now horrified to find that a regular plan had been formed for dismembering his empire, and exciting his people to revolt. Burgundy and La Bresse were to form a sovereignty for Biron, who was likewise to obtain the third daughter of the Duke of Savoy in marriage, with a dower of fifty thousand crowns. Provence and Dau- phine were to be the portion of the Duke of Savoy ; a num- ber of other noblemen were to receive divisions of France ; and a powerful Spanish army was to enter the territories of the King, while the people in all parts of the kingdom were to take arms against his authority. It has been also insinu- ated that the life of Henry and the Dauphin were to be at- tempted, but of this I find no proof. It is certain, however, that the small sovereignties proposed to be erected were to be held as fiefs of the crown of Spain.
Acting with extraordinary caution, Henry concealed the knowledge of these designs during a long journey he made into Poitou to quiet the malcontents in that province. But
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 439
on his return to Fontainebleau, he sent messengers to Biron, commanding him to present himself at the court. His letter on that occasion was kind, but so, we are assured, were his intentions, and no man was ever of a more forgiving dis- position. Biron endeavored to excuse himself from obeying his commands, and Henry, somewhat irritated, dispatched M. Descures, one of Biron's intimate friends, to tell him that if he did not make his appearance, the King would come to seek him in person. The President Jeannin was sent off almost as soon as Descures, to assure him of the King's good intentions towards him. The Duke now determined to obey, and notwithstanding several intimations that he was in dan- ger, set out for Fontainebleau, where he arrived on the 13th of June. The King received him in the gardens, and em- braced him, saying, " You have done well to come, otherwise I should have set out to seek you."
Henry then led him through the gardens, telling him the reports which had been circulated of him, beseeching him to make a fair confession of all that had taken place, and prom- ised him in that case a full pardon. But Biron, instead of being moved to repentance by the King's extraordinary kindness, became violent and insolent, saying, that he was innocent, and that he had not come there to justify himself, but to demand the name of his calumniators. In the course of the evening Henry again attempted to draw the truth from him, and having failed, directed the Count de Soissons to endeavor by every means to move him to repentance and confession. But Biron made as haughty an answer as before, and on the following morning he was seen in conversation with the King, striking his breast and using violent gesticu- lations, not of the most respectful kind. Still Henry hesi- tated to order his arrest, fully resolved, if he forced him to try and condemn him, that he should suffer the penalty of his crimes. On the following day the King made one more effort, promising him pardon and total oblivion of the past>
440 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
if he confessed his fault ; but finding him unmoved, he or- dered him to be arrested, which was executed forthwith.
The Duke now showed as much consternation as he had before shown obstinacy, demanded to speak with the King, but was refused, and being disarmed, was led into one of the chambers of the castle under arrest. The Count d'Auvergne, who had taken part in the plot, was also arrested, as well as several others ; and the two leaders were immediately con- ducted to the Bastille, while an order was sent to the Parlia- ment to prepare for their trial. A commission was issued for the purpose to the first president, Harlay, with Potier, Fleury, and Thurin,* and the proceedings were carried on with great rapidity.
Biron's defence was feeble and ill-conducted ; he did not attempt to refute the testimony of Lafin ; he acknowl- edged the plan of the conspiracy presented to him to be his own handwriting ; and when Renaze, whom he believed im- prisoned in Piedmont, was confronted with him, he remained in speechless consternation. After several examinations in the Bastille, he was brought before the Parliament ; and, on the last day of July, 1602, he was sentenced to lose his head, in the Place de Greve, for the crime of high treason, and all his estates were to be confiscated to the crown. Great efforts were made to save him by the application of his friends, and he even implored Sully to intercede for him ; but that noble- man would not venture to do so, and Henry steadily refused to interfere with the course of justice. As the hour of death approached, the Duke, who had so often faced the enemy in the field, showed a degree of weakness too painful to contem- plate. He complained, he cried, he called down vengeance on the heads of his accusers ; he interrupted continually the Chancellor, when he attempted to read to him the sentence of death ; he besought him to intercede for him with the King ; he taxed Henry with ingratitude ; he declared that
* Bassompierre declares that Bellievre was one of the Commission- ers, and does not name Potier.
KING OF PRANCE AND NAVARRE. 441
his father had placed the crown on the King's head ; and for nearly an hour he prevented the sentence from being read, and even while it was proceeding, he exclaimed loudly, and, perhaps truly, that the accusation of his having meditated the King's death was false.
The place of execution was changed by the King's order to the court of the Bastille, and at five o'clock in the even- ing, after having made his will and performed his devotions, he was led to the scaffold, where he showed the same pusil- lanimity, threatening the executioner when he approached to cut his hair, and giving way to such violence, that it was with difficulty he was brought to submit to death with anything like decency. One of his guards, however, having been called, Biron permitted him to bandage his eyes, and turn up his hair : and his head was struck off at a single blow. The body was buried in the church of St. Paul, with little cere- mony, but in the presence of an immense concourse of spec- tators, who wept at his fate even while they detested his crime.
That the punishment of Biron was well merited, there cannot be the slightest doubt ; nor did ever a suspicion of injustice rest upon the minds of his countrymen. Neverthe- less universal abhorrence followed one who, not less criminal than himself, had proved himself more base, and whose guilt in suggesting the treason, was rendered doubly detestable by his treachery in betraying it. We may as well follow to a close the career of Lafin, before we pursue the history of the persons concerned in the conspiracy. Although the un- happy Duke de Biron could not and did not attempt to deny the facts urged against him by his denunciator, yet when confronted with him, the prisoner charged the witness with every kind of crime, imaginary and real, and it would ap- pear that sufficient was established against him to have ren- dered his testimony of very little value, had it not been fully confirmed by other circumstances. Lafin not only obtained from Henry a general pardon for all offences, but permis-
19*
442 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
sion to travel with a sort of guard of fifteen or twenty armed men, asserting, it would appear with truth, that the friends and relations of Biron had threatened him, and that some of them had bound themselves to put him to death whenever an occasion presented itself. No attempt was made for some years to execute this menace ; but vengeance only slept : and on the 20th April, 1606, Lafin, trusting that resentment was forgotten, went to Paris almost unattended, to solicit the King's favor for his son, who had been committed to the Conciergerie on account of some offence. As he was pass- ing on horseback by the end of the brige of Notre Dame however, in the middle of the day, he was met by a party of twelve men mounted and armed, with pistols in their hands, who instantly attacked him, knocked him from his horse, and fired a volley of pistol shots at him as he lay. Then seeing that their object was effected, they turned their horses' heads, and with a naked sword in one hand and pistol and bridle in the other, traversed the whole town without let or hindrance ; nor was any pursuit or inquiry instituted for four and twenty hours after the event. Henry, at the time, was absent from Paris,* or probably more activity might have been displayed by his officers ; nevertheless it is but just to admit, that the police of the capital was in a state of frightful inefficiency, so that in the short space of three days, in a city so small as Paris then was, no less than seven crimes of the deepest dye were committed by persons mov- ing in the higher classes of society ; of which number three passed without punishment.
The principal accomplices of the Duke were permitted to escape, after a slight punishment, with the exception of the Baron de Fontenelles, who was proved even to have exceed- ed Biron in criminality, and was consequently broken on the wheel.
The Duke of Bouillon, who was implicated in the conspir- acy, and who had been previously accused of spreading dis~ * He was at that time on his march from Sedan.
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVAERE. 443
affection in the realm, and betraying his trust as a general in the field, acted with more caution and prudence than the unhappy Biron. He retired first into his Viscounty of Tu- renne, avoiding the presence of the King, while the mon- arch's anger was yet inflamed, and then made his escape, on a fresh summons to Court, taking refuge amongst the States on the Rhine.
To pursue his history to the close of Henry's reign, before I leave the subject, it may be necessary to state briefly, that he very soon made his peace with the King, and was allowed to return to his fortress of Sedan, where he did not remain long ere he entered into fresh intrigues against the govern- ment. At his instigation the Protestants of the south of France recommenced their murmurs at Henry's devo- tion to the Roman Catholics. The populace were excited by secret emissaries, who promised them deliverance from taxation ; other means were employed to rouse the passions of the nobility ; and there can be no doubt that Bouillon now resumed his favorite project, which he had first formed as Vicomte de Turenne, of uniting the provinces on the south of the Loire into a great federal republic. That he treated secretly with Spain is also certain ; and his connection with the parties who had entered into the conspiracy of Biron, was never broken off. Amongst those conspirators, one of the principal was the Count d'Auvergne, who had received letters of abolition for the part he had taken in that affair, and had been restored by the interest of his half sister, Henriette d'Entragues, to the favor of the King. With Hen- riette, the Count, and Monsieur d'Entragues himself, Bouil- lon carried on his intrigues ; and although it is very difficult to discover to what point they reached, it is quite certain that they were highly criminal. At the same time, the inso- lence of the King's mistress towards his wife, her continual recurrence to the promise of marriage which she held in her hands, her known infidelity to him she affected to love, and the caprices she displayed to obtain her objects, produced
444 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
the most terrible dissensions at the court ; and Mary de Medicis, by disposition irritable and petulant, alienated from herself the affection of Henry, which she might have concili- ated by a gentler demeanor. In the month of June, 1604, the Count d'Auvergne, taking advantage of a dispute with the Count de Soissons, absented himself from the court, and is supposed to have passed some time in negotiating with the Spaniards. Undoubtedly the promise of marriage given by Henry to his half sister was shown to the Spanish Am- bassador, and her father proposed to retire with her into Spain, in order to obtain the assistance of Philip III. in placing her children on the throne, instead of the legitimate descendants of the King ; and it is said, that Balthazar Cu- niga promised, on the part of his master, to furnish a large sum of money for the support of her claims, and to cause the Spanish army in Catalonia to advance into the south of France the moment the people of those provinces took arms at the call of the Duke of Bouillon. This project was dis- covered ; and d'Entragues and his daughter were arrested in Paris. The Count was apprehended in Auvergne, after having received new letters of abolition, bearing on their face the condition that he should appear immediately at the court, which he failed to do. D'Entragues, Auvergne, and one of their accomplices named Morgan, an Englishman, were handed over for trial to the Parliament ; and the two first were speedily condemned to death. Henriette herself was tried, after Henry had in vain endeavored to make her hum- ble herself to him and to the Queen, and received sentence of imprisonment in the convent of Beaumont, near Tours. Henry, however, interfered, love joining its influence to the nat- ural gentleness of his heart. The punishment of d'Entragues and Auvergne was commuted to perpetual imprisonment, which was afterwards changed in favor of the former, into exile from the capital. Henriette was permitted to retire from the court, and afterwards was declared innocent. But the Count d'Auvergne, doubtless the most guilty of the
KING OF PRANCE AND NAVARRE. 445
party, was long detained in prison. His county, on which Marguerite de Yalois had some just claims, was afterwards adjudged by the Parliament to that Princess, who transferred it to the Dauphin, on condition that it should never be sep- arated from the crown of France.*
In the course of these proceedings, the intrigues of Bouil- lon were fully developed, and it was clearly proved that he had distributed money, exacted illegal oaths, and laid schemes for the capture of several important towns. Henry thought fit to provide, in the first place, for the security of the south- ern provinces, and at once sent one of his officers, James de Mesmes, to Limoges, to try the conspirators. He himself followed, in the month of September ; and the execution of a few of the most guilty was sufficient to crush the danger- ous plot which had been formed against him.
Although the schemes of Bouillon had been made clear, no evidence sufficient to convict him of high treason had been discovered ; and Henry, though justly offended, en- deavored by every means in his power, to humble his auda- cious subject, without actually taking arms against him. Negotiations were commenced and continued till March, 1606, when, wearied with the intrigues and duplicity of the Duke, the King, having caused extensive preparations to be made, commenced his march for Sedan, at the head of a powerful army well provided with artillery. The fortress, however, was strong, fully supplied, and garrisoned; the King dreaded the renewal of civil war ; and many of his council advised him strongly to avoid such an extremity. But Henry resolutely declared that nothing but death should prevent him from making himself master of Sedan ; and his resolution having been made known to the Duke by some of his friends, Bouillon at length yielded so far as to agree to re- ceive the monarch in the town, to ask pardon for his offences, and to give up the citadel to the troops of the King for four
* DeThou
446 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
years. With this act of submission Henry contented him- self. He received the Duke with kindness when he came to visit him at Donchery, and Bouillon was too wise to pro- voke him farther.
The conspiracy of the Duke of Biron, notwithstanding the severe example which his punishment afforded, was followed by many other treasonable proceedings which I have not yet mentioned, but of which it is necessary to give some account. Scarcely a year passed without its plot ; and one of the first which was discovered was that of Claude de Lorraine, Prince de Joinville, (afterwards Due de Chevreuse,) who, having first enjoyed the favor of the Marquise de Verneuil, was discov- ered by his own indiscretion, and saved by the complaisance of the King for his mistress. He then with boyish facility plunged into intrigues with Spain ; but Henry treated him as a child, at least in treason, and, confiding him to the guard of his brother, the Duke of Guise, exacted that he should be sent to travel in foreign lands.
The next act of treason that appears upon the list is that of Oste, the god-son and one of the secretaries of Villeroy. The discovery of his crime was brought about in a curious manner ; and it may be necessary to enter more into detail regarding this transaction than its general importance would seem to justify, on account of the suspicion which it cast upon a celebrated statesman of those days, and which has never been entirely removed. Towards the end of 1603 Henry received a private communication from his ambassa- dor in Spain, Emeric Gobier de Barrault, cautioning him 4o beware of the clerks employed in the different offices con- nected with the foreign affairs of the kingdom, and especi- ally in that of the Secretary of State, Villeroy, inasmuch as the most secret dispatches addressed to the embassy were known at the court of Madrid, sometimes before they reached the hands of the ambassador himself. Other envoys made the same complaint, and it was evident that treachery existed
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 447
'somewhere ; but it was long ere the offender could be dis- covered.
At length a French refugee of the name of LegrS, or Leyre, de Rafis, who had been one of the most obnoxious partisans of the League, and had in consequence been ex- cluded from the amnesty on Henry's entrance into Paris, ad- dressed himself to Barrault, and informed him, that he had discovered the means by which the secrets of the French court were made known to Spain, and would communicate them to him upon the following conditions : that he would obtain his pardon from the King and a small pension, if the intelligence he gave proved true, and that, in writing to France upon the subject of his proposal, the letter should be sent direct to the King himself.
Barrault agreed to the terms as far as he was himself con- cerned, but did not exactly keep his word. He knew that Rafis had been employed since his arrival in Spain to main- tain the communication between that court and the remnant of the old League, and might thus have obtained important intelligence ; and he therefore wrote at once for the pardon and the pension ; but he treated the promise to address him- self to the King direct, with foolish negligence, and conse- quently sent his letter to Villeroy.
The conduct of Villeroy, on receiving it, proves beyond doubt that he had no share in, or cognizance of the treachery which was carried on in his own office. He instantly ob- tained the pardon and the pension for Rafis, and without de- lay sent off the documents concerning them to Spain. But on receiving them Rafis perceived at once Barrault's indis- cretion ; for the pardon was not countersigned by Lomenie, through whose hands it would have passed, if the commu- nication had been made privately to the King ; and perfectly certain that the criminal would take means to have him put out of the way, he hurried to the French ambassador, and told him a tale which at once showed the folly he had com- mitted. Nicholas Oste or Hote, the god-son of Villeroy, had,
448 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
in extreme youth, accompanied Barrault's predecessor, the Count of Rochepot, to Madrid, as his secretary, and had soon established a connection with the Spanish Secretaries of State, which ended in his receiving a Spanish pension, and in return communicating to them the contents of his master's dispatches from France. On Rochepot's recall, the young man received an appointment in the office of Villeroy, and there carried on with greater scope and facility, the treacherous conduct he had commenced in Madrid. Rafis soon finding that his minor communications from the old Leaguers were no longer valued, naturally concluded that he had a rival of greater opportunities than himself, and in the spirit of jealousy and revenge, applied all his genius for in- trigue to discover who that rival was. He first arrived at the fact that the correspondence of the Count de Rochepot had been copied by his secretary for the Spanish ministers, and next that this very secretary had since been placed high in the office of Villeroy. Other discoveries followed, till the case became clear ; and Rafis then made his first proposal to the French Ambassador.
When all this was communicated to Barrault, he perceived the indiscretion he had fallen into, and the dangerous posi- tion in which he had placed Rafis. The life or liberty of the latter was in peril every moment ; and all that remained was to send him out of Spain without an instant's delay. Put- ting him under the charge of Descartes, his secretary, the Ambassador ordered them both to mount on horseback and gallop without loss of time to the frontier ; nor were they a moment too soon ; for Oste, having opened the letters from Spain with Villeroy, and read the application of Barrault for the pardon of Rafis, with the grounds upon which it was founded, concluded that a part at least of his intrigues was discovered, and wrote to his correspondents in Spain to re- move his dangerous countryman. The morning after Rafis had set out, his lodging was surrounded and searched by order of the police, and he was pursued in all diligence to
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 449
the frontier ; but he had lost no time by the way, and ar- rived with his companion in safety upon the soil of France.
It so happened that, on the road to Fontainebleau, they overtook Villeroy, and communicated to him their errand, urging him to cause the immediate arrest of Oste, whom he had left behind in Paris. But the minister neglected their advice, replying that his treacherous secretary was to follow him in a day or two to Fontainebleau, and it would bedtime enough to secure him then. He neglected, however, to do so, till Oste, after reaching the palace, had received intelli- gence that two couriers had lately arrived from Spain, one being the secretary of the Ambassador at that Court. In- stantly concluding that he was discovered, the unfortunate young man fled with a Spaniard who had accompanied him from Paris, Villeroy having again afforded time for his eva- sion, by a very culpable neglect of the King's orders for his instant apprehension. He was hotly pursued, however, to the banks of the river Marne, in which river his dead body was found, while the Spaniard, his companion, was taken at the water side. The story told by the prisoner was, that Oste had attempted to swim the stream, and had been drowned ; but the surgeons who examined the body, declared that it offered no traces of that kind of death.*
Such was the treason of this youth, and his fate, as far as it is known. Strong suspicion of betraying the secrets of the state fell upon Villeroy ; and he gave himself up to de- spair ; for this was not the first occasion on which doubts had been cast upon his fidelity. That he had any part in the treachery of Oste,f is not to be believed ; for it is certain that he instantly communicated Barrault's information to the King ; but that affection for a young man whose family had been attached to him for years, induced him to connive £t the criminal's escape, is more than probable. He received consolation, however, where he had least right to expect it :
* Compare Sully and 1'Etoile.
f I find this name written Oste, Hoste, 1'Ote and 1'Hote.
450 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
Henry, to show his unabated confidence, visited him in per- son, and the Secretary has published a defence of his own character ; but history is not yet convinced that he was at all times faithful to his employers. Two plots were then exposed, one devised by a gentleman named Merargues, and another by two Italians, for the purpose of delivering Mar- seilles, Narbonne, and Leucate, to the Spaniards. The crim- inals were executed, and the Secretary of the Spanish Am- bassador was imprisoned, but shortly afterwards liberated, though not without an intimation from Henry that diploma- tists who carried on intrigues against a monarch to whose court they are accredited, deprive themselves of all claim to a character, which is held sacred by all civilized nations.
On the very day of the execution of Merargues, another attempt was made upon the King's life, as he he was cross- ing the Pont Neuf on horseback ; but the assassin who en- deavored to stab him was proved to be a lunatic, and was treated accordingly.
An attempt to investigate the claims of persons holding annuities on the Hotel de Ville, many of which had been ini- quitously acquired, produced a degree of agitation amongst the people of the capital which had nearly run into revolt. Miron, the Prevot des Marchands, an honest and loyal sub- ject, headed the resistance, and carried away by his zeal, harangued the citizens in terms almost seditious. Not con- tented with showing that, as these annuities had frequently changed hands since they had been first obtained, so that an act of great injustice would be committed if they were now declared forfeit, he attacked all those who had suggested the investigation, and Sully himself was not spared by his elo- quence. Many of the courtiers sought to persuade the King to punish him ; but Henry treated the question with his usual good sense, acknowledged the justice of the remonstrances addressed to him by the people, and abandoned the proceed- ings which had created so much irritation.
To the outcry raised against his minister, Sully, he paid
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE.
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not the slightest attention. Satisfied of his honesty, of his ability, and his attachment, he passed over a bluntness which was not without its mixture of vanity, and rewarded his ser- vices as much as they merited, though, as Perefixe has justly observed, he never degraded the minister to the station of favorite, or forgot the duty of the King in the affection of the friend.
At a period still further back, in 1603, the dissensions be- tween the people of Metz and their Governor induced Henry to hurry to the spot in person. M. de Sobole, who had been placed as Lieutenant- Governor in that important town by the Duke of Eperaon, had contrived to obtain the royal confir- mation of his appointment, by which he rendered himself in- dependent of a haughty master. But a grasping spirit then took possession of him, which soon drove the citizens into revolt. Henry, in the first instance, dispatched the Duke, as the Governor, to restore peace ; but Sobole refused to evac- uate the citadel or admit Epernon, and the latter, taking part with the people, urged them on to acts of violence. The presence of Henry, however, soon brought Sobole to obedi- ence ; and, finding that the citizens, the Duke, and the Lieu- tenant-Governor, had each views upon Metz incompatible with good order and tranquillity, he placed in the castle and city two gentlemen on whom he could rely, and, after a visit to his sister, the Duchess of Bar, at Nancy, returned to Paris. Not long after, he received the news of Catherine's death, and domestic annoyances thronged quick upon him.
The sharp and irritable temper of the Queen was kept in continual agitation by the scandalous excesses of her hus- band ; and his amours with Jacqueline de Beuil, whom he created Countess de Moret, with Charlotte des Essarts, by whom he had two daughters, and less public intrigues with many of the ladies of the Court, not only excited Mary to a high degree of fury, but were amongst the causes of the con- spiracy of the family of Entragues.
The quarrels between the King and Queen were fomented
452 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
by one of her Italian attendants, named Leonora Galigai, af- terwards married to Concini, who acquired a name in history as the Marechal d'Ancre ; and this bad woman had the bold- ness to surround the King with spies, to carry the tidings of all his proceedings to her mistress, and to act the part of a domestic fiend, imbittering the whole course of Henry's ex- istence. The King's resource was amusement ; and hunting, building, the gaming-table, and pageants, went hand in hand with a close attention to business. Nowhere did he appear to so little advantage as in his own Court, where all his weak- nesses were displayed in the strongest light, while the higher qualities of his heart and mind, like all great objects, were best seen from a distance.
Foreign nations had now learned to love, respect, and ad- mire the French sovereign, and he exercised a powerful in- fluence over all the adjacent states. The once Protestant monarch of France raised Alexander de Medicis, who had gained his esteem by moderation and prudence, to the papal throne. The Genevese having entered into hostilities with the Duke of Savoy, on account of an attempt to take their city by escalade, were calmed by the voice of their great neighbor, and consented at once to a peace. By his media- tion, the Pope and the city of Venice were reconciled, after a fierce contention and a negotiation of years. Much greater difficulties, however, were encountered in bringing about even a truce between the Court of Spain and the Archduke Albert on the one part, and the United Provinces on the other, though Henry labored zealousy to effect that object, while he supported the States in their just struggle against Spain.
The death of Elizabeth of England, in 1608, had thrown serious obstacles in the way of the French monarch. To a firm and powerful Princess, steady and determined in her purposes, clear-sighted and rapid in her judgment, succeeded one of the weakest, vainest, and most vicious Princes in Eu-
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 453
rope.* Sully was sent to negotiate with the feeble monarch, and accomplished his object after many difficulties and de- lays ; but weakness can never be trusted, and a few months saw James formally ally himself to Spain, and virtually aban- don the cause of freedom in the Low Countries.
It would appear that the Spanish diplomatists carried on the negotiations at the Court of England with the greatest skill and art. The principal object was to detach James from his alliance with Henry, and to induce him to withhold all assistance from the United Provinces ; and they found in the British monarch's love of peace a useful auxiliary, which overpowered all considerations of reason, justice, and good faith. At the same time, captious negotiations were carried on with the States of Holland, and an affected respect for the views and interests of the King of France was maintained even in the conferences with the English ministers. James endeavored to persuade Henry that the proposed treaty be- tween Great Britain and the Court of Madrid, was in no de- gree adverse to that which already existed between France and England. He found no little difficulty, however, in con- vincing the French monarch and his ministers that the two acts were not completely at variance ; but nevertheless he proceeded to sign the convention with Spain, and the Con- stable of Castille, on his return towards Madrid, passed through Paris, and obtained an audience of Henry, in order, it would appear, to lay a foundation for future negotiations, having for their object to deprive the United Provinces of the support of France also.
It would be tedious to pursue the course of all the in- trigues of the Spanish Government for the purpose of leav- ing those rich possessions in the north, which had revolted against the tyranny of Philip, without any ally amongst the
* In the negotiations which t»ok place between France and England, Henry had cause to feel the truth of the satirical verses :
" Rex fuit Elizabeth, et nunc Regina Jacobus Error naturas sic in utroque fuit."
454 THE LIFE OF HENKY IV.
great powers of Europe. They were cunning, extensive, and persevering ; but in order completely to isolate the United Provinces from the sympathies of other states, it became necessary to make it appear that the Dutch had arrived at the end of that long and arduous struggle, which had excited so much interest both in France and England. With this view, overtures were made to the States General for a recog- nition of their sovereignty and independence, upon very mod- erate conditions, and no means, which the most astute policy could devise, were neglected to lull the suspicions of other states, and gradually and easily to separate both France and England from all connection with a people who were now represented as secure against farther danger. The ambassa- dor of Spain, at the Court of James, applied himself with success to seduce both the King and the Court. During the months of May and June, 1608, he distributed amongst those accessible to such influences, the sum of a hundred and fifty thousand crowns. Gloves, perfumes, and jewels won the favor of the ladies of the Court ; the people's jealousy was adroitly excited against the commercial enterprise of the Dutch, and the ears of the King were tickled with the pro- ject of a marriage between the Infanta and the Prince of Wales, while his prejudices were won by representing the revolt of the United Provinces as a horrible infraction of the divine right of Kings. The great obstacle which remained at the Court of England, and which could never be overcome, was the abhorrence of Henry Prince of Wales for the Span- ish character and religion, and his determined opposition to the weak and timid views of his father. So long as he lived, the ultra Protestant party in England found a rallying point, round which were concentrated all the sympathies of the English with the Dutch, and all their abhorrence for a Roman Catholic alliance.
But if anxious to cultivate the friendship of England, Spain was infinitely more desirous, as she well might be, of obtaining the amity of France. The weakness of the British
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 455
monarch, his pacific disposition, his ruinous extravagance, and his monarchical prejudices, rendered it little probable that he should have either power or inclination to give avail- able assistance to the neighboring Republic, or prove dan- gerous in any way to the court of Spain. Not so however with Henry IV. He had already afforded the strongest sup- port to the United Provinces, sending annually for several years two millions of livres to assist them in their struggle for independence, and his power and his views were extend- ing in every direction, so that the house of Austria saw itself in danger on the Pyrenees, in Flanders, and in Italy, at the same time. The lesser Princes of Germany; aided and di- rected by Henry, were forming themselves into a league to resist the overgrown and burdensome power of the Emperor ; the versatile Duke of Savoy had become the warmest ally of France, the enemy of Spain, and the proposer of an en- terprise for driving the Austrians out of Upper Italy ; the finances of France were every day improving, the treasury was full, and great military preparations, the object of which was not seen, were slowly but steadily advancing to a point which would render France the arbiter of the destinies of Europe.
Henry was an enemy undoubtedly to be feared, and the state of Spain at this time was by no means such as to ren- der it expedient for her monarch to seek at once hostile rather than pacific means, of dealing with a sovereign who had already triumphed over all her arts, and fixed himself firmly upon a throne, from which she had attempted to ex- clude him. The successful resistance of the United Prov- inces, a recent victory which they had obtained at sea, and the great preparations, with small results, made by Spain, had tarnished the lustre of her arms ; but notwithstanding the immense wealth which flowed into her treasury, the state was too deeply in debt, and the finances in too disorderly a condition to admit of any great effort to recover her military reputation, unless vigorously supported by other powers.
456 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
But the German branch of the House of Austria, was itself enfeebled by the fraternal war, and surrounded by difficul- ties ; while in Bohemia, Transylvania, and on the Rhine, clouds were gathering, which, ere many years passed, broke in the storm of the thirty years' war. The Pope was no longer the servile tool of Spain, though undoubtedly look- ing with a favorable eye upon a throne which had been the constant and best support of the papacy. Borghese it is true was less likely to link himself with France than Medici who preceded him ; but he had received a lesson in his dispute with the Venetian Senate, which was certain to deter him from showing any hostility to the French monarch ; and, thrown upon her own means, Spain found herself totally incompe- tent to contend with a country, the resources of which are almost inexhaustible, and whose only great weakness was some internal divisions which were rapidly disappearing, un- der the firm and .equitable rule of Henry IV.
Philip III. might well view the relative state of the two countries with alarm, and pursue perhaps with sincerity, the overtures which he had at first made for the purpose of de- ceit, to a more perfect reconciliation between the crowns of France and Spain. Two events which occurred towards the year 1608, hastened his efforts to accomplish that object. A defensive treaty with the states of the United Provinces, was signed by Henry in January of that year ; and about the same time, it became known at Madrid, that a still stricter alliance was likely to take place between France and Savoy, by the marriage of Henry's eldest daughter to the son and heir of the Duke. Already the means of corruption and intrigue had been employed, not altogether in vain. Gold, there is reason to believe, from one of Villeroy's letters, was scattered about the streets of Paris as profusely as in the court of London ; and the Italians who surrounded and governed the wilful and indignant Queen, were undoubtedly the faithful servants of the most Catholic King. The divis- ions between the husband and wife were widened by Concini
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 457
and Galigai, in order to maintain their own influence ; and the secrets which Henry sometimes was weak enough to intrust to the Queen's keeping, were rapidly transmitted by her favorites to the Court of Spain. The Protestants, there are many causes for supposing, were stimulated to murmur, to menace, and to embarrass the King's Government, by the suggestions of then* old and most pertinacious enemies ; and the Catholics were taught to encourage his extravagance, and facilitate his pursuit of pleasure, in order to diminish his means, and to lull him into inactivity.
The defensive treaty with Holland, and the proposed al- liance with Savoy, however, required more decided and open measures. It was determined then at the Court of Madrid, early in the year 1608, to send an Ambassador Extraordi- nary to France, to treat of an intimate alliance between the two crowns, to be cemented by the marriage of the children of Henry and Philip.
Spain has, in almost all ages, had an Infanta in reserve as a bait for France; and a great deal of the diplomacy of the world has turned upon royal marriages ; but even at a period so remote as that of which I write, there were statesmen wise enough to perceive inconveniences, and even dangers, in alliances of ambition. Thus Sully, who attrib- utes to Spain the first proposal of the marriage between the Dauphin and a Spanish Princess,* in 1603, observed, in an answer which he made to the King upon that oc- casion : " It is not a mark of such good policy as is gene- rally supposed, to marry the males of the house of France into houses nearly equal, such as that of Spain. Not only is there no alliance, however close it may be, which does not yield to the hatred which ambition inspires against a rival ;
* M. de Freville, in his excellent pamphlet upon the Embassy of Don Pedro, seems to believe that the first proposal emanated from France. I may be permitted to doubt the fact, as it would appear that such an alliance was totally opposed to Henry's admitted views for the depression of the house of Austria. VOL. ii. 20
458 THE LIJTE OF HENRY IV.
but the advantages which one might expect from such unions are rendered null, by the very fact that they might become too considerable."
The embassy being determined, the next care of the Duke of Lerma was to choose a person who would both give dig- nity to the post of ambassador by his station, his wealth and his manners, and cariy through the delicate negotiations in- trusted to him, with skill and discretion. The Court of Spain was not so happy on this occasion as it frequently was in its selection of an ambassador for England. Instead of a subtle, pliant, and dexterous diplomatist, like Gondomir, always ready to suit himself to circumstances, to caress the classical platitudes of James, to answer with an epigram when he could not reply with a reason, to foster the exagger- ated enthusiasm of Charles, and outdo the extravagances of Buckingham ; a proud and ostentatious, though firm and clever grandee, was chosen for a task which would have re- quired a most finished negotiator to bring it to a successful issue. Too courtly to be frank on some points, too haughty to be courteous on all, too punctilious to be easy of access, and too loose in his notions to be always dignified in his ac- tions, Don Pedro de Toledo Ossorio, Marquis of Villa Franca and Duke of Ferandina, though a brave soldier, an estima- ble man, and by no means without talent as a negotiator, was little suited to treat with the clear-sighted and straight- forward King of France, or to please a light and volatile court. . It would seem, however, that Henry heard with some emo- tion, that so important a personage was about to visit him on a special mission ; and he hastened to recall the President Jeannin from the Hague, that he might take part in the con- ferences about to ensue. We find from a letter of Villeroy, addressed to Jeannin, who was obliged by storms to put back to a port in Holland, that the Court of Henry was made aware of the principal objects of Don Pedro's embassy be- fore his arrival, and that though the ostensible purpose of his journey was to negotiate a marriage treaty, the great and
KINO OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE. 459
real end thereof was to detach Henry completely from his alliance with the United Provinces. The triple marriage of the children of France and Spain was to be the inducement offered to Henry; his consent to the subjugation of the Dutch, the object to be attained by Spain. " The Spaniards hope to engage our master," writes Villeroy to Jeannin, " if not to join with theirs, at least substantially to abandon the States. They declare that if the States are not succored, Spain will be able to get the better of them in three years, having succeeded during the negotiations, in discovering the weak points of the United Provinces. To this end has been turned the proposal of sovereignty with which they cun- ningly enchanted Barneveld and his adherents."* It would appear that Villeroy himself, and the Chancellor Sillery, were induced to support the views of Spain with the King, while Sully and Jeannin opposed them. But the character of Henry was not at all propitious to views which implied a manifest and disgraceful breach of faith on his own part, and the dereliction of his engagements towards a people who had aided him in time of need, and ever engaged his warm- est sympathies.
It was determined at the Court of France to give the Am- bassador Extraordinary from Spain a brilliant reception, both on account of his political character and his relationship to Mary de Medici. Nothing met his eyes after his entrance into France, in the middle of June, but splendor and rejoic- ing. Three hundred mounted gentlemen met him at the dis- tance of two leagues from Bayonne ; every town through which he passed was in holiday garb for his approach ; at the commencement of the forest of Fontainebleau he was re- ceived by Marshal Brissac, and the royal carriages were in waiting to convey him to the palace, the alleys were lined with guards, and the courts and windows alive with spec- tators.
* I am indebted for this letter to the interesting pamphlet of M. de Freville.
460 THE LIFE OP HENRY IV.
If Don Pedro was deceived by these appearances of re- spect, which at all times are very insignificant, he was not fitted for the task he had undertaken. Persifflage mingles more or less with everything in France, and satire was al- ready busy amongst the crowd that witnessed his arrival ; but neither the magnificence of his reception by the Court, nor the ridicule which was attempted to be thrown upon his embassy by some of the people, could give the slightest in- dication of the probable results of his negotiation. The de- cision was in the breast of the King, and the views he enter- tained must be considered by the few lights that we have to guide us. The proposals of Don Pedro seem to have been, to unite the heir of the Spanish monarchy with the eldest daughter of Henry, the Dauphin with one of the Infantas, and the second son of Philip with the second daughter of the French monarch, assuring to the latter couple the inves- titure of the Low Countries after the death of the Archduke and the Infanta his wife without children ; by which means the sovereignty of those countries would be separated from the crown of Spain. His principal demand was, that France should, in the meantime, withdraw her protection from the United Provinces, and for this demand he could urge the pretext that it was necessary to reduce them, by some means, to agree to that article of the proposed treaty, which should convey the sovereignty of the Low Countries to the Spanish Prince and his French bride. The scheme was rather coarse, the intended deceit somewhat too manifest; but still it opened the way for negotiation ; and in those days it was not considered indecent to be detected in fraudulent diplo- macy.
That Henry felt himself flattered by an embassy so impor- tant, and that he was eager, if consistent with his honor, to ally the house of Bourbon to that of Austria, by the pro- posed marriages, is evident from the denials given by his ministers to the Court of England, that such marriages were in agitation, and by the anger which they attributed to him
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on hearing the objects of Don Pedro's mission.* Such de- ceits have never been considered disgraceful by French diplo- matists ; and it has often been found useful to read their assurances in the reverse sense.
Two days after the arrival of the ambassador, he was ad- mitted to a private audience of the King. Nobody witnessed what passed between them ; and therefore it is necessary to reject all the detailed accounts of this interview which we have received from contemporary historians. Neither do we find anything but the general results in the letters and dis- patches of the time, as far as I have had an opportunity of investigating their contents. Pierre Mathieu and Le Grain perhaps, from conversations with the King, might have ob- tained some insight into the more minute facts ; and I pro- pose to give, somewhat farther on, several anecdotes which they furnish, though I by no means feel sure of their ac- curacy.
The object of Henry undoubtedly was, to fix the Spanish ambassador down by a treaty to the proposals made by Spain regarding the marriages, upon such terms as would leave his good faith inviolate towards the United Provinces : the object of Don Pedro, to detach the King of France from the Dutch alliance, thus gaining a substantial advantage, and not to give anything but general promises in return. Seek- ing these two great ends, the first conferences passed proba- bly in a good deal of fencing on both parts ; but it is evident that they must have terminated amicably at least, as Spain did not fail to publish that the alliance between herself and France was already arranged. Henry, however, was far from yielding to the views of the Spanish ambassador, and writes about this time to Monsieur de Breves, " Neither Don Pedro, nor any one else ought to hope that, in order to conclude these marriages, I am capable of doing anything unworthy of myself, which would be the case if I were to relinquish the alliance with Holland, after having contracted it to pro- * De Freville.
462 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
mote and favor peace. It would be a signal act of baseness, and would render the marriages themselves both infamous and unfortunate."
It is probable, however, that before the second interview between the French King and the Spanish Ambassador came to a close, Henry had completely fathomed the designs, and discovered the insincerity of Spain ; and that, knowing her real weakness better than she did herself, he was fully con- vinced that her means were inadequate to force the United Provinces to the course she desired. At the same time, it would appear that he was not a little offended by the rumor industriously spread by the Spaniards, that an alliance was completed, which was only just distinctly proposed, and in- ferring therefrom that one object of Spain was to create sus- picion of his conduct in foreign cabinets, and especially in the States of the Low Countries, he came to a rapid decision on the propositions of Spain, and addressed himself to re- move the doubts which she had but too successfully labored to raise up.
The decision so speedily announced by the King, was sim- ply not to listen to anything more till the treaty between Spain and the United Provinces was either concluded, or the negotiations concerning it were entirely broken off; but at the same time he promised the Spanish envoy to use his mediation with the States, to obtain their consent to the free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion in Holland, and to induce them to accede to the terms proposed by Spain, in re- gard to their commerce with the East Indies. In the end, he made one more concession, namely, to rest satisfied on his own part with a convention of truce between Spain and the United Provinces, instead of a treaty of peace, provided a clause was inserted in the convention, formally acknowledg- ing the sovereignty of the Provinces.
So far all was liberal, just, and generous ; but the letters of Villeroy and Jeannin clearly show two important facts : first, that the secret proposal of Spain tended not only to
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secure the neutrality of Henry in the struggle between that country and the United Provinces, but to engage him in ac- tual hostility against those with whom he had so lately con- cluded a defensive treaty ; for we find that after Henry's decision was announced, Don Pedro attempted to shake it, by proposing that all places taken by the combined forces of France and Spain, should be placed in the hands of a third party : secondly, that Henry, in consenting to a truce, did not forget his own particular interest, and grasped somewhat too eagerly at the prospect of establishing his second daugh- ter in Flanders. The President Jeannin thus explains the views of his master, and produces a suspicion of duplicity which the mind is unwilling to receive : " It is for the best to make a truce, with a declaration of sovereignty ; for, if the Spaniards should not conclude the alliance and separa- tion which they have proposed, the United Provinces will still remain separate from Spain, his Majesty giving a hand ; and we will not, nevertheless, cease from seeking that which is desired, as efficaciously as if this declaration of liberty had not been inserted."
Are we to suppose then, that Henry IV. had only in view to aid the separation of the United Provinces from Spain for the purpose of transferring them to a branch of his own fam- ily ? Well might the States be suspicious of a negotiation where such proposals were listened to, and such views enter- tained, by the ally on whose friendship they had the best grounds for reliance.
Very shortly after the King's decision was announced to Don Pedro, Henry seems to have ceased all personal com- munication with him on political subjects ; and the envoy complains in his letters to the Court of Madrid, that the French King related their conversations to every one who chose to listen. It is probable that this ostentation of pub- licity was by no means accidental, and had for its cause the unfair use which Spain had made of the first private interviews between the King and the ambassador.
464 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
Doubtless it was by no means agreeable to Don Pedro to have the conversations between himself and Henry made public to the whole Court of France, if they were of the very sharp and pungent qualities described by contemporaries. Although the sallies of both the King and himself, as they appear in historians, far pass the limits of courtesy and even decency, I am inclined to believe that such repartees were actually made, by finding that some of them are reported in Don Pedro's correspondence. It is stated, that in showing the Spanish ambassador the Bastille, Henry informed him that it contained wherewithal to keep up an army without holding back two-thirds of its pay, as was done in Flanders.
On another occasion, when Henry was walking over the Pal- ace of Fontainebleau with his good cousin, as he was pleased to call the Spanish ambassador, he asked his opinion of the building, in which various alterations and improvements were in progress. " I find no one so badly lodged as God, Sire," replied Don Pedro : upon whom Henry is said to have re- torted sharply, " We, the French, lodge God in our hearts, not between four walls, as you Spaniards ; and I doubt, more- over, whether, if he were in your hearts, he would not still be lodged in stones."
Shortly after the arrival of the Spanish nobleman, L'Etoile tells us, the King inquired if he were satisfied with his treat- ment, adding in a courteous tone, " I fear that you are not received as well as you deserve to be."
"I am so well received, Sire," replied Don Pedro, "that I am grieved to see difficulties, which may cause me to come back with an army, which would not make me so well re- ceived."
" Come, when it shall please your master," answered the King ; " you shall not on that account be personally less wel- come ; and for the rest, your master himself and all his forces will find some impediments on the frontier, which per- haps I shall not afford him leisure to see."
This was a curious sort of diplomacy, if there be any truth
KING OP PRANCE AND NAVAREE. 465
in these anecdotes : but it is certain that the boast of Henry, regarding the contents of the Bastille, is mentioned in one of Don Pedro's letters, and might well be received as an inten- tional insult, unworthy of a great monach, unless provoked by some outrageous assumption on the part of the haughty Spaniard. And yet the general tone of Don Pedro was ap- parently very different, as is proved by his well-known reply to those who were sent to compliment him on his arrival, by the Queen of France. Her message was addressed to her cousin, in which relationship Don Pedro really stood towards her ; but the Ambassador immediately, we are told, bent the knee, replying : " The Queen has only great Kings and power- ful Princes for her relations. It would be my greatest pride to be acknowledged by her Majesty as the most humble of her servants."
It is not very evident why the stay of Don Pedro was pro- longed for many months in the dominions of the King of France, after he had received the definite answer of that monarch ; but it is clear that it became a matter of doubt and suspicion to Henry himself, and that the reception of the Spanish plenipotentiary grew more and more cold. The ministers of the King, especially Jeannin, attributed to him very sinister views ; and there is a remarkable passage in the President's letters, cited by M. de Freville, which shows the opinion of one of the most clear-sighted men in France, as to the objects of his mission. " The embassy of Don Pedro," says Jeannin, in a letter to Villeroy, dated 7th October, 1608, " will confirm what has been said long ago, that people never send a solemn ambassador of very high quality, except to conclude and finish altogether a secret treaty, which was previously very far advanced indeed, or to deceive. Therefore, as there has been nothing of the kind between us and Spain, let us be upon our guard against the latter object."
The designs which kept him in France, and the course which he pursued to accomplish them, are not to be discovered ;
20*
466 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
but it is clear that his residence in Paris must, in the end, have become so unpleasant to him, that it is hardly possible to conceive how anything could induce him to remain, but the positive orders of his own court for some very important purpose. The negotiations for the marriage of a French Prin- cess to the heir apparent of the Duke of Savoy, which had slumbered during the first month or two of Don Pedro's mis- sion, were renewed with every sign of sincerity on both parts ; and the convention for a truce between Spain, the Archduke Albert, and the United Provinces, made great progress to- wards a speedy conclusion. The Austrian Prince and the Infanta Clara Eugenia his wife, seem to have acted with much greater moderation, sincerity, and justice, than was dis- played by the Court of Spain ; and in one letter of Henry the Fourth, the monarch implies that he had interfered more directly in the affairs of the Low Countries than he had pre- viously done, at the express invitation of the Archduke. The position of Don Pedro became insignificant, if not con- temptible, at the Court of France ; the grandeur of his first appearance, and the warmth of his reception were forgotten ; he had sunk down into a second-rate personage, where he had shone as a great star, and all the advantages of the transaction had been reaped by the King of France. To render the close of this embassy as pitiful as the commence- ment had been magnificent, a serviceable agent of the Span- ish minister was arrested, and committed to the Chatelet. This same man, who has been previously mentioned, was probably merely one of those purveyors of small intelligence who always hang about the doors of embassies. He was an Englishman of the name of Morgan, asserted by Entragues to have been formerly charged with the affairs of the unfor- tunate Queen of Scots at the Court of France ; but, if such was ever really his position, he had sunk lower and lower in fortune and respectability, till we find him receiving small gratifications of twenty and thirty florins from the Spanish ambassador, and indebted to his charity for a shirt. What-
KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE.
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ever were his relations with Don Pedro, the rumor spread through Paris, that he had made important revelations to the King, after his arrest ; and the intelligence would seem to have disquieted greatly the Spanish diplomatist. About the same time, the news from Savoy induced the Court of Spain to order him to take leave of the French monarch ; and on the 12th of February, 1609, he quitted Paris with a degree of precipitation not altogether consistent with dignity.
The last hope of recovering the Low Countries had now passed away from the ministers of Philip III., and the nego- tiations for a truce, which had been so long protracted by intrigue of every kind, were brought to a successful termina- tion on the 9th of April, 1609, by the adoption of the terms and conditions proposed by France. A truce was agreed upon for twelve years; and the acknowledgment was made by Spain of the sovereignty and independence of the States of the United Provinces.
No power was now to be found in Europe at all in a con- dition to compete with France. Spain, exhausted and en- feebled, required long repose ; the Empire was torn by the internal dissensions of the house of Austria ; and the ener- gies of England were oppressed by the incubus monarch, who was justly designated by a French minister* as " the wisest of the idiots of Europe." All promised peace and tranquillity to France and her king ; but a dangerous enemy was to be found, in Henry's own heart — that libertine spirit which he had acquired at the licentious court of Catherine de Medicis, which was restrained by no ties, acknowledged no policy, and was even more rash and impetuous when his hair was white with years and adversity, than in the ardent days of youth.
Towards the close of his reign there appeared at his court, Henrietta Charlotte de Montmorency, daughter of the Con- stable. Her beauty and grace were remarkable, and she soon became the object of general admiration. Henry did not
* Sully.
468 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
long remain insensible to her attractions ; Bassompierre, who sought her hand, was forced to resign his pretensions ; and to cover the intrigue he meditated, Henry determined to marry the object of his new passion to his young cousin the Prince de Conde. That Prince, however, had marked the growing attachment of the King, and at first refused the dangerous alliance ; but on Henry's solemn assurance that he had nothing to fear, he consented, and his union with Henrietta took place. The King's proceedings soon left him no doubt of the monarch's intentions. Gifts, visits, enter- tainments, were daily tried upon his young wife, and even the romantic gallantries of youth, so unbecoming to age, were not scorned by Henry to obtain his ends. He is said to have disguised himself frequently, to catch a glance of the fair Princess, and to have wandered at night nearly alone round the house in which she rested. After various indications of displeasure, Conde, though the breath of scandal did not yet reach his bride, resolved to remove her from the court ; and Henry, irritated by passion and disappointment, assumed the tone of a tyrant, and sent Sully to insist upon the Prince bringing his wife to court, and throwing aside his needless jealousy. Menaces, not to be mistaken, were added ; and Conde, having to choose between dishonor, the Bastille, or flight, determined upon the latter. He was now at Verteuil, upon the frontier of Picardy; and setting out during the night of the 29th August, 1609, with the Princess, one maid, and two gentlemen on horseback, he was soon beyond the borders of France, and safe in the Low Countries. He had nearly been captured, however, by M. de Praslin, whom Henry on the first outburst of passion sent to follow the fu- gitives, and arrest them even beyond the frontier ; for the Archduke, fearful of embroiling himself with France, refused to give the Prince an asylum in Brussels, and Conde, leaving his wife under the protection of the Archduchess, was forced to seek a place of refuge in Germany.
As if to afford to the world an example of what the habit-
KING OP PRANCE AND NAVARRE. 469
ual indulgence of sensual appetite can effect, even upon the strongest mind and the noblest disposition, Henry now gave way to his passion with a degree of fury which approached madness. He forgot all the dictates of justice, every con- sideration of policy, honor, honesty, and good sense. He employed the most pitiful series of intrigues, the most dis- graceful menaces, the most criminal enterprises, to persuade the Princess de Coride to return, to drive the Archduke to deliver her up, or to enable his ambassador, d'Estrees, to carry her off by force. The Princess herself perhaps was not unwilling, for the court of France was in her eyes a much more agreeable residence than that of Brussels ; and her husband's moody jealousy does not seem to have won her affections. But decency required her to remain passive, and the Archduke fulfilled his promise to the Prince, and frus- trated the schemes of her royal lover.
Disappointed and enraged, Henry resolved upon war, and immediate preparations were made for carrying it on with vigor. The great projects which the King had conceived for diminishing the power of the house of Austria, had in- duced him to take measures, which placed at his command a greater body of forces than any other monarch in Europe could bring into the field ; he had secured himself by alli- ances with almost all the States of Christendom ; Sully had restored the finances of the realm ; and the contention which was going on for the territories of Cleves and Juliers afforded a pretext, though a feeble one, for hostilities, which would doubtless have been long suspended, had not passion taken the place of policy. The Duke of Juliers and Cleves had died without male issue, leaving the representatives of the female line to claim his inheritance, and the Emperor to seize upon it as a lapsed fief. Several of the claimants had applied to Henry for support ; and he now eagerly assigned their application as a motive for leading an army into the Low Countries, first haughtily demanding a passage for his troops towards the disputed territory. The historians of the
470 THE LIFE OF HENRY IV.
monarch have attempted to show that his insane passion for the Princess de Conde had no share, or a very small one, in bringing about such a sudden change in Henry's views ; and the state of preparation for war in which he found himself, has been held up as a clear proof, that his real motives were more in accordance with his greatness of mind. But if we recollect that he had steadily abstained from hostilities on many occasions of great provocation ; that he had labored to effect peace between Holland and the house of Austria, without drawing the sword in favor of his allies ; that his whole course since the peace of Vervins had been pacific ; and that the cause of quarrel now put forward, was a suc- cession in which he had no share, the support of allies in whom he had little interest, the disposition of a territory but a few miles broad, we shall see in his present determination the same outrageous passion which induced him to forget justice and honor, and show himself as a tyrant and a de- ceiver, for the sake of a mere girl. It is sad that the most odious scene of Henry's eventful life should be the last.*
Everything was prepared for war with incredible dispatch ; but before the King began his march, he resolved to settle the affairs of his kingdom, and leave the Queen to conduct the government during his absence. One of the first acts to be performed was the coronation of Mary, for which she her- self pressed so eagerly, that he did not think fit to refuse ; and the 13th of May was appointed for the ceremony. But Henry now displayed a change of demeanor which surprised and alarmed his friends. He became gloomy, morose, irri- table. Strange presentiments of approaching death haunted his mind, and he repeatedly declared that the coronation would be the occasion of his death.f
Such feelings, perhaps, were natural, for he was conscious
that for the first time he was unsheathing the sword in an
unjust cause ; the people were not deceived as to his motives,
and their murmurs reached the palace ; the preachers once
* See Appendix, No. I. -f- Sully.
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more assailed the monarch from the pulpit, and represented his enterprise in the most odious colors ; and Henry felt severely, that for a criminal passion he was casting away that love which he had labored through life to gain.* Certain it is. that his mind was filled with gloomy anticipations, which neither business nor pleasure could banish, for the moment he was unoccupied, dark and bitter meditations fell upon him, from which he found it impossible to rouse himself. Intimations of coming danger, too, were frequent ; a courier from France carried news of his death to Germany eight days before it happened. On the altar, at Montargis, was found a paper, announcing that in a few days he would per- ish by the hand of an assassin. Public prayers were offered up in some parts of the Spanish territory for the success of a great enterprise to be carried on in France ; and many warnings were given to Henry himself. The monarch, how- ever, would pay no attention to them, notwithstanding the presentiment with which he himself was filled ; and, it is said, that when, on the day of his death, his son, the Duke of Vendome,f came to tell him that La Brosse, the astrolo- ger, had predicted that great danger menaced him that day, Henry merely laughed, saying, " La Brosse is an old fox, who wishes to have your money, and you a young fool to believe him. Our days are counted before God." Perhaps more attention might often have been paid to astrologers by great men, if they had recollected that such intimations may sometimes come from other sources than the stars, and that many of those persons looked upon it as a part of their trade,
* Marshal Ornano, one of Henry's first and best supporters, a few days before being cut for the stone, which he felt he should never sur- vive, represented warmly to the King, we are told, the discontent of the people at the severe taxation to which they were subjected.
f This fact is mentioned by L'Etoile, vol. 4, page 128 ; Journal de Henri Quatre ; by Pierre Mathieu, and by almost every historian of the day : but, at the same time, it is right to say that, when, some years afterwards, the Duke of Vendome was asked the truth of the story, he did not recollect the fact.
472 THE LIFE OP HENRY IV.
to obtain intelligence of meditated designs, in support of their pretended science.
The coronation of the Queen passed off without any acci- dent ; and her ceremonious entrance into Paris was appointed for the ICth of the month. The troops of the crown were already assembled on the frontier, fifty pieces of artillery had been sent on to wait the coming of the King, and he was to set out immediatly after the approaching pageant, in order to put himself at the head of his troops ; but to the surprise of all, Spain and the Low Countries remained in a state of the most perfect tranquillity ; no preparations for resistance were seen, no movement was made to turn away the coming storm. This is the only circumstance which could throw the slightest suspicion on the Archduke, of taking any part in the crime about to be perpetrated. On the 14th of May the King showed himself restless and uneasy, but nevertheless he went, as usual, to hear mass at the church of the Feuil- lans, and returned in safety to the palace. The Queen, frightened by the predictions of the astrologers, besought him not to go out any more that day. Henry laughed at her fears, but still showed himself gloomy and disquieted, walked in an agitated manner into the gardens of the Tuileries, talked more than once of death ; and when Bassompierre represented to him the immense prosperity to which he had attained, and asked him what he could desire more ; he replied, with a deep sigh, "My friend, all this must be quitted."
He twice cast himself upon his bed, to seek sleep, but in vain ; and about four o'clock demanded his coach, to proceed to the arsenal, in order to confer with Sully, who was unwell. As soon as the carriage was ready, he descended to the court, and entered the vehicle, accompanied by the Dukes of Eper- non and Montbazon, with Roquelaure, Lavardin, and La Force, giving some orders to Vitry, captain of the guard, before he set out. He was followed by a small troop of gentlemen, on horseback, and the carriage was surrounded by a number of running footmen.
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473
The large coaches of that day could be entirely closed by a sort of door, or blind, which let down from the top ; but the day being hot, and Henry wishing to see the prepara- tions which were going on for the Queen's public entry, the carriage was left open on both sides, and he himself remained exposed to the gaze of the people. Passing down the Rue St. Honore, the royal party turned into the Rue de la Feron- nerie, in itself narrow, and still farther straitened by a num- ber of small shops, built against the wall of the cemetery of the Innocents, which Henry some time before had ordered to be pulled down. At the moment the carriage entered the street, a cart, loaded with barrels of wine, was on the right side, and another, filled with hay, upon the left, so that the coachman was obliged to stop, while the footmen ran round by the cemetery to remove the obstruction.
At that moment a man, who had followed the carriage from the Louvre, put one foot upon the front wheel, the other upon a stone at the side, and reaching into the carriage, struck the King a violent blow with a knife. Henry imme- diately exclaimed, "I am wounded;" but notwithstanding the number of persons who were with him, the assassin was suffered to repeat the blow, which now pierced the King to the heart. A third blow was caught in the sleeve of one of the attendants ; and instead of throwing down the knife, and flying, the man who had done the deed stood with the bloody weapon in his hand, and calmly allowed himself to be seized by those who ran up at the outcry which took place. The guards would have instantly put him to death ; but Epernon, fortunately for his own reputation, interfered, and ordered him to be secured.
In the meantime Henry uttered not a word, and the re- port forthwith spread that the King was killed. His officers, however, wisely assured the people that he was only wounded, and called loudly for some wine, while the blinds of the car- riage were let down, and the vehicle turned towards the Louvre, The body was immediately removed from the
474 THE LIFE OP HENRY IV.
coach, and laid upon a bed. Surgeons and physicians hur- ried to the room, and we are informed by Bassompierre, who was present, that Henry breathed one sigh after he was brought in. Life, however, was probably extinguished at once by the second blow ; for he never uttered a word after he had received it, but fell upon the shoulder of the Duke of Epernon, with the blood flowing from his mouth as well as from the wound.
Thus died Henry IV. of France, in the fifty-seventh year of his age, one of the greatest, and certainly one of the most beloved Kings of France, on whom contemporaries bestowed the title of the Great, but who was known to his people, and is ever mentioned in history, by the name of Henri Quatre, a term connected in the mind of every Frenchman with the ideas of goodness, benevolence, sincerity, and courage. After having to fight for his throne against the fierce opposition of fanaticism; after having to contend with the arms and the intrigues of the Roman Catholic world ; after having to struggle with the hatred of a great part of his people, ex- cited by the wild declamations of preachers and demagogues, and with the coldness and indifference of almost all the rest, he had succeeded, not only in obtaining the crown to which he was entitled, not only in vanquishing his enemies in the field, in subduing his rebellious subjects, in repulsing his foreign foes, and overcoming the prejudices of his people, but in gaining their devoted love, the esteem of all his allies, and the reverence even of those opposed to him.
The murderer was conducted first to the Hotel de Raix, and then placed in the conciergerie, where many persons were permitted to see him, much to the surprise of the more prudent of the Parisians. Four days after the assassination, he was brought before the assembled courts of Parliament, and his examination commenced. It was found that his name was FranQois Ravaillac, that he was a native of Angou- mois, of low birth, who had first passed through his noviciate in a monastery, but had never taken the final vows ; he had
KING OP FRANCE AND NAVARRE.
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then gained his living as he could, but filled with wild and superstitious notions, he had listened to all the virulent at- tacks upon the King, which were daily uttered by the old adherents of the League, and he had long determined to kill him on the very first occasion. To effect his purpose he had stolen a knife from the inn at which he lodged, and armed with this weapon, had followed the monarch for two days, before he found the opportunity of perpetrating the crime he meditated. He had no accomplices, he said; he had never revealed his purpose to any one, and he had been im- pelled by nothing but the design of delivering France from the rule of one whom he looked upon as a heretic, and who, he believed, was about to lead his armies into Germany to overthrow the Catholic religion in that country. Such was his own statement, and nothing could induce him to vary from it in the slightest degree. He was put to the most frightful tortures, he was condemned to the most horrible death, yet he made no farther confession, accused no one, and to the last, seemed to consider the act which he had com- mitted as justifiable and patriotic.
It is needless to report in this place all the accounts that spread through Paris, with regard to the assassination of the King, and the persons who had instigated that act. The Huguenots were sometimes charged, sometimes the Catho- lics ; the crime was attributed to the Jesuits, to the Arch- duke, to the King of Spain, to Fuentes, to the Duke of Eper- non ; and in reference to the latter, an infamous libel was published, accusing him of having more than once endeav- ored to procure the death of the King. Even Henriette d'Entragues herself was not spared;* but nothing was
* For the titles of some of the papers which were circulated in Paris concerning the death of the King, see Appendix No. II. The conduct of the Duke of Epernon, especially towards the Parliament, was cer- tainly extraordinary. It is also extraordinary that the assassin was permitted to strike three blows at the King, considering the number of persons in the carriage ; and the manner in which the investigation of
476 THE LIFE OP HENRY IV.
proved against any of these persons, and the fact of a rumor having spread through the Low Countries that Henry was to be assassinated long before the act took place, and that of the Prevot of Pluviers having declared, on the very day and hour of Henry's death, that the King was dead, both of which are proved beyond all reasonable doubt, are the only grounds for supposing that the crime which deprived France of her great monarch, had been communicated to any one by the assassin.
the facts was conducted or rather suppressed, is more extraordinary still. On the latter subject, 1'Etoile remarks : " It would seem, to hear the matter spoken of, that we are afraid of showing ourselves too exact and severe in inquiring into a crime the most wicked and barbarous, and the most important to this state of any that has been perpetrated in Europe for a thousand years." Regarding the very suspicious circum- stances attending the death of the King, and the conduct of some of the highest personages in the realm, after his death, the reader may consult " Lettres de N. Pasquier," " Lettres de Guy Patin," " Memoires de Bassompierre," &c.
APPENDIX NO. I.
HAVING expressed a very strong opinion regarding the motives which actuated Henry IV. when he took arms upon so slight a subject as the succession of Juliers and Cleves, I think it but right to add the state- ment of the King's motives by Sully, the best defence which has ever been attempted, but yet not satisfactory to my mind. I will not do so exactly in that minister's own words ; for his marvellous vanity has in- duced him to add so many trifles entirely personal, that space cannot be afforded for his narration in full. No fact shall, however, be suppressed, having a real bearing upon the justification of Henry.
John William Duke of Cleves, says Sully, died in March 1609, leav- ing no male heirs. His territories consisted of several small principal- ities first united in the person of John, Count of La Marck, Duke of Cleves, who married in 1496, Mary, daughter of William Duke of Jul- iers and Berg. The Duchy of Gueldres was, at the same tune, sepa- rated from the Duchy of Cleves, partly by sale, partly by force of law, partly by recourse to arms, and passed to the house of Austria. Each of the principalities had frequently decended to females, and the states of the several territories had always declared them to be feminine feofs. This pretension, however, had been frequently contested, especially by the Emperors of the house of Austria ; and at the death of John Will- iam, the Emperor declared the Duchy of Cleves, and all the principali- ties united to it, re-annexed to the Crown from the default of male heirs. Four heirs claming in the female line, presented themselves in Germany, and one, to whose claims very little attention was paid, the Duke of Nevers, resided at the court of Henry himself. With the four German claimants, Henry was on terms of friendship and alliance ; but as soon as the eyes of Duke William were closed, the Emperor gave the inves- titure of his territory to the Archduke Leopold, who immediately notified the fact to Henry the IVth, and received a reply couched, according to Sully, only in general terms.* The French monarch did not fail to ex-
* It is worthy of remark, that John William died at the end of March, and that Henry took no active measures whatever in behalf of the German Princes till after the flight of the Prince de Conde and his wife, which took place in August of the same year.
478 APPENDIX.
press his astonishment that the opponents of the house of Austria made no preparations for the sustentation of their rights against the Arch- duke, and to instigate them to contest the succession. In consequence of the intimations given, the Princes in question sent an ambassador to negotiate for the support of the French King, and had every reason to be satisfied with the monarch's reply. The territories in dispute, says Sully, were far from an object of indifference to France; they were strong and rich ; they were situated on the French frontier ; those who disputed for them were near neighbors of France, and neighbors to be feared ; at least the Emperor was so. The war about to be kindled for their possession might become a European war, and consequently France be compelled to take part therein. The interest of the Low Countries would force her to do so, for such a war would have so great an influence upon their liberty or subjection, that to secure the contested territory for the friends of France would be almost to snatch Flanders from her enemies, and to suffer them to be invaded by Austria, would be to leave the United Provinces to her as a prey.
To these objects Sully declares was joined the great design of Henry IV. for establishing a balance amongst the Powers of Europe. What better means, asked the minister, of inducing different Potentates to enter into that design 1 We might thus be led to gain all Germany to re-establish the freedom and dignity of the Germanic body, to give a death-blow to the imperial authority, and to spread consternation through the house of Austria ; and this result, which France might well purchase with all her treasures, would be obtained without suspicion and without jealousy. Sully then proceeds to show that the German Princes would be eager to aid France in her views ; that strengthened and directed by her, they would gain that vigor and union which they totally wanted, isolated as they were, and nothing was needed but a beginning, such as the armed support of the heirs of Cleves, to enable Henry to carry out his schemes for remodelling the policy of all Europe. He then shows that an enterprising Prince would find no great difficulty in joining the Duchy of Cleves to France, and making compensation to the claimants either in money or other lands ; and he goes on to declare, that the King had already engaged his word to undertake the defence of those Princes, had neglected nothing to attach them to himself, had always offered them assistance, and even caused his troops to advance to the frontier. He declares that the enterprise would be easy, that neither Spain nor Aus- tria had the means of offering effectual opposition, and that the expul- sion of the Austrians from Cleves would be merely an introduction to a more important and brilliant undertaking.
Although this statement of Henry's views is not given directly by Sully with reference to the charge of the King having entered upon a fierce and destructive war from motives of personal passion, yet Sully'g
APPENDIX.
479
account has been used to defend the monarch from the imputation of having been moved by love for the Princess de Conde to abandon the pacific course which he had pursued since the peace of Vervins. It seems to me, however, that unless it could be shown (which Sully no where does show), that Henry had determined upon war before the flight of the Prince de Conde, the menaces which he used to the Arch- duke, and the statements made by many of the best informed contem- poraries, may be assumed as proofs that, although contemplating hos- tilities at a future period, the French sovereign would not have taken arms at that time, had he not been provoked by the protection offered to the Princess de Conde. Every act had tended towards peace up to the period of the Princess's flight : he had neglected several honorable pre- texts for war ; he had only six months before bound the hands of the United Provinces, his surest allies, by a treaty signed after the death of the Duke of Cleves was known in Paris ; and no sufficient motives are apparent for an entire change of policy. Bassompierre shows, by his description of the scene which took place at the palace, on the news of Conde 's evasion being carried fchither, the state of the King's mind, and proves that he determined to threaten war if the Archduke did not ex- pel the fugitives from his territories : the Archduke steadily refused to do so, and a very contemptible pretext for hostilities was immediately seized upon.
APPENDIX NO. II.
LETTERS, PAPERS, ETC. REFERRING TO THE DEATH OF HENRY IV.
I. Extrait d'un Manuscrit trouve apres la mort de Monsieur le Due d'Aumalle en son cabinet ; icelui etant signe de sa main pour approbation d'icelui et cachette de ses armes.
II. Factum de Pierre du Jardin Sieur et Capitaine de Lagarde.
III. Manifeste de Pierre du Jardin Sieur et Capitaine de Lagarde,
prisonnier en la Conciergerie du Palais a Paris.
IV. Interrogation et declaration de Mademoiselle de Coman.
V. Rencontre de Monsieur le Due d'Espernon et de Franxjois Ravail-
lac, execute a mort dans la Ville de Paris en 1'annee 1610. VI. Arrest du 12 Aoust mil six cens seize. VII. La Chemise sanglante d'Henry le Grand en 1'annee 1615.
NOT 4
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY
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