extended the limits of our own Kingdom Two days after he came to Perpignan Here it was that the Duke first perceiv'd how fruitless all his caution to conceal his person had been he finding at his arrival there the Garrison already drawn out to receive him and the Governour so soon as he was alighted coming to his Lodging to kiss hands and to offer him admittance into the Cittadel though the Duke making no other advantage of his Complement than in such a case he ought to do after having return'd his thanks in the most civil terms so obliging an invitation requir'd would still remain in the Town He parted thence the next morning before day it being necessary to avoid the excessive heats of the Countrey and the season to end his Journey by six of the clock in the morning and to repose himself the rest of the day And here he was likewise constrain'd either for fear of wanting forage for Horse or with less difficulty to pass the Mountains and Rocks to leave his Horses and to mount upon Mules The Gates were set open for him at the appointed hour and two Troops of the Garrison Horse were found ready to convoy him two Leagues from the City he was moreover saluted by all the Artillery at his departure A complement so loud as the adjacent Countrey being thereby given to understand that so unusual an honour was not paid to a person of ordinary condition he found at Stelrie at Girone at la Roque and the other places through which he pass'd that the Spanish pride hindred not their gravity from paying all due honour and respect to Vertue He came at last to Barcelona where the Duke de Alcala Vice-Roy of Catalognia so soon as he heard of his arrival came in person to visit him excusing himself in that he had not had timely notice of his coming that he might have come out to meet him and to receive him without the City as he said he had order from the King his Master to do Being return'd home it was not long before he sent the Duke his Coach of Ceremony drawn by six great and very beautiful Gennets for him to go abroad and take the Aire A sight at which the Duke who had ever been and who continued to his death a great lover of the Horses of Spain was almost impatient that so noble Creatures should be subdu'd to so mean a use nevertheless so great is the contagion of example especially where the glory of emulation seems to be concern'd that he was afterwards himself the first who show'd such another set of Horses in France he being a few years after very often observ'd in the Cours at Paris in a very rich Coach drawn by six dapple-Gray Spanish Horses to which I could add that it was in the company of Ladies too and that at the age of threescore and ten he was content to be seen playing the young man upon the greatest Theatre of Europe He staid two whole days at Barcelona during which time he view'd at leisure the greatness and beauty of the City The Viceroy invited him to his Palace where he had assembled the best company of men to wait upon him and the finest women in the Town to entertain him which was a very extraordinary favour This civility was moreover attended with a Ball a Comedy and a noble Banquet and from hence the Viceroy carried him to the Cours which extends it self in very great length upon the Sea-shore and where we could not but wonder at the delicacy of that people the Ghing of all the Gallies in the Harbour being drawn out every night to water this Cours which is above two thousand paces long We at first thought it an extraordinary thing done only in favour of the Duke but we were soon dispossess'd of that error when we understood that the Inhabitants to defend themselves from the dust and to qualifie the excessive ardours of the Sun had impos'd this new task as an addition to the other intolerable labours of their miserable slaves From Barcelona the Dâ—ke went at last to Monserrat where he continued three days entire at his Devotion not without admiring the excellent Oeconomy observ'd in this Abby where there are ordinarily above two thousand five hundred persons provided for every day for which all the provisions so much as wood and water must be fetch'd a great way off upon Mules the Rock being so dry and unfruitful as neither to afford the one nor the other of these much less the other necessaâ—ies of life The Duke presented the Abby with many very rich and noble Ornaments adding to his Presents an Almes of five hundred Crowns of Gold for three thousand Masses and so return'd into France The Religious Governours of this Abby never take any mony for their Hospitality which they in Charity bestow upon all Pilgrims indifferently of what condition soever for three days together but they also never refuse how much soever any one is dispos'd to give for Masses During the Duke's abode in this place those of his followers who were nimblest of Foot had the curiosity to climb the top of the Mountain to see the Hermitages which being thirteen in number are situated upon the most inaccessible precipices of the Rock and inhabited by so many devout persons who subsist upon almost no other nourishment than Herbs and Fruit. Though we met with great difficulty and danger in this attempt and had very much ado to satisfie our desires we saw nevertheless that one of the most unwieldy and unready footed Animals that is to say a Mule went twice a week the same way alone and without being guided to carry these good people their allowance and could with great security set his four feet in very narrow paths where we had much ado to dispose of our two so great a priviledge has Custom but what we thought the most strange of all was to see Birds of all sorts and of those kinds which with us are the most wild and untractable so familiar with these Holy men as to peck meat out of their mouths and suffer themselves to be handled living in as great security with them as amongst us those of more docile natures which we have reclaim'd and made tame with the greatest diligence and art At his return from this Voyage the Duke found the Treaty absolutely broken off and the King ready to sit down before Unel an Enterprize wherein his Majesty was pleas'd to make use of the Duke's person and particular Servants as he did afterwards at the Siege of Somnieres at both which Leaguers the Duke lost many Gentlemen of great Valour and Desert Of which number Pâ—igeolet a Captain in the Regiment of Guards and who had but lately quitted a Lieutenancy in the Regiment of Piedmont for this preferment was one as also Courbon l' Enchere Brouls and some other Officers of name who depended upon him These two places having given but a
as true in his predictions as unhappy in prevailing with these good counsels his long experience suggested to him had advis'd that a sufficient Guard of Horse should be planted near to the Fort to beat back any that should dare to sally out of the Town to drive our men from their post He knew very well that the enemy had few or no Horse and that therefore they durst not without infinite danger hazard their Foot to come to us the space between being large enough to give our Cavalry room to come to charge and to cut them in pieces before they could come to the Fort that we kept and Calonge has since confess'd to me that had his counsel been follow'd he should never have dar'd to sally out it being not to be done without manifest ruine and that consequently within ten dayes he must have been necessitated to a surrender but this second advice was rejected as well as the first through the opposition of some who car'd not to overthrow the King's Affairs provided they could thereby discredit the Duke's conduct or traverse his designs All these over-sights of ours being taken notice of by Calonges he would no longer defer to re-possess himself of what had been taken from him especially considering that he could not otherwise preserve the place to render therefore his action more illustrious by the light and to put a greater infamy upon our confusion he sallied out at high noon at the head of five hundred Foot seven and twenty Cuirassiers fourteen Carabins and two Trumpets with which small party he fell so vigorously upon the Fort that it was abandoned to him with little or no resistance The noise of this sally at so unexpected an hour and the place where the action was performâ—d by its height expos'd to the view of the whole Army soon call'd all the King's Forces to the relief of their Friends insomuch that many Lords of very great quality and a great number of Gentlemen who hapned to be at that time in the King's Lodgings mounted upon little pad Nags most of them without Boots or other Arms than their Swords to signalize their Valour in the sight of their Prince who was himself spectator of the Action Of these the Duke of Fronsac a young Prince of great expectation was one the Duke of Montmorency another the Marquis de Beuuron Hocqueâ—ot Lieutenant of the Gendarmes to the Prince Cambalet Fabregues with many other Gentlemen of note of all which not one escap'd excepting the Duke of Montmorency and he with two thrusts of a Pike in his Breast so that this unfortunate succour serving only to augment our loss and to condemn those who had contradicted the Duke's opinion he receiv'd to his great grief a publick reparation which he could have been heartily glad to have fail'd of rather than it should have been purchas'd at the price of so much noble Blood and so notable a disadvantage to the Royal Armes Le Plessis Baussonniere Mareschal de Battaâ—le of the King's Armes bravely fighting escap'd in this first occasion though he was therein desperately engag'd but he was not so fortunate in another that â—ollow'd soon after at the storming a Half-moon where after having given his orders for the assault and put himself as his custom was in the head of the Assailants encouraging as well by his example as his voice those he led on to fight he lost an eye by a Musquet-shot which soon after occasion'd the loss of his life After so much blood spilt the difficulties of the Siege daily encreasing the Duke de Rohan was glad to make use of a juncture wherein his party had some little advantage to procure a more favourable Peace which was accordingly sign'd before Montpellier the 22 of October 1622. and Calonges surrendred up the place into his Majesties hands who if he had by his Courage won himself a great reputation in the Siege he obtain'd no less by his ingenuity in the handsome manner of his submission to the King The day after the Peace was concluded the King made his entry into the City when after his Majesty had taken order for the defense of the Town he took the way to Paris by Provâ—â—câ— Avignon Dauphiné and Lionnois so that the Duke of Espâ—â—â—on who never parted from him in all this Journey attended his Majesty into his old Government of Provence There had formerly been as you may have observ'd various dispositions towards the Duke in that Countrey as well friends as enemies but time which is the sovereign cure of all untoward passions had reconcil'd them all by this time to one sense All Animosities were now converted into a general esteem of his Vertue insomuch that I have not observ'd him to have a greater reputation in any Province of the Kingdom nor to be any where receiv'd with greater respect and applause All mischiefs whether publick or particular occasion'd by the former War were buried in oblivion and the people after having seen the King enquir'd aloud for the Duke of Espernon which his Majesty taking notice of fail'd not so often as he met a crowd upon the way to shew them the Duke they were so inquisitive after and when asking them some pleasant questions about their past disorders even their former miseries were at this time turn'd into delight The King at his departure out of Provence pass'd by Avignon where his Majesty was visited by the Duke of Savoy This Prince seeing almost none of the old Court save the Duke of Espernon for whom he had ever had a very great esteem though he had been notably disappointed by him in all his designs upon France as has been said before was particularly and infinitely civil to him He came very frequently to his Lodgings ever carrying himself with great familiarity and very obliging fashion living in the King of France his Court with as much liberty and freedom as he had been all the while in his own His aspect which was gracious open and full of Majesty giving evidences though under a very moderate stature of the great and generous soul he was really master of From Auignon his Majesty pass'd through Dauphiné where arriving about the end of the year he there found the Queens who by his order were thither come to attend him And here it was that the Duke of Espernon receiv'd a new honour in the person of the Marquis de la Valette his Son and which he preferr'd with good reason before all the rest he had hitherto receiv'd from his Majesties bounty The King had a little before as you have heard honour'd him with the Government of Guienne had by his Grace and bounty establish'd and confirm'd him in all the Offices and Dignities he had been invested withal as the rewards of his Service but now for the Crown of all his Favours the King would yet honour him with his Alliance and make him Father-in-law to Gabrielle a legitimated Daughter of
no effect but to his own prejudice insomuch that without receiving any Answer to his real Remonstrances he was often press'd by very severe dispatches to be assisting in the execution of several Edicts Amongst all those that were set forth at this time the lightest and most inconsiderable was that of the Excise upon the Victuallers it brought in very little profit to the King and was no burthen to the gross of the people none but the Victuallers themselves were concern'd in it this sort of men nevertheless having not much to save did so much the less care to hazard the losing of all Some therefore of the most Seditious amongst them having upon the fourteenth of May put themselves in the Head of an unruly Rabble gather'd together at the first of all a Body of betwixt four and five hundred men Some persons of note endeavour'd to oppose this first Disorder but these being too few to extinguish the flame serv'd only to make it mount to a greater and more formidable height Desaigües a particular Servant of the Duke's and of one of the best Families in the City bore the first brunt of the peoples fury he had attempted by threats to have brought them to a sence of their Duty but these Bruits incapable of Reason were so exasperated at the very name of Punishment that they ran immediately to Arms when having forc'd ◠Hostel de Ville whither Desaigües had retir'd himself they there in the first place Massacred him neither was he the only man that tasted of their violence an Archer belonging to the Prevost de l' Hostel that the Partners had substituted for the gathering in of this Impost with five or six other persons concern'd in the same Employment had the same measure The Jurats at the first rumour of this Tumult had caus'd the Captains of the City to take Arms for the defence of l' Hostel de Ville which the people threatned to assault who accordingly did indeed put themselves into some posture of defence but being presently besieg'd and hem'd in on all sides by the multitude soon capitulated and retir'd This first success having by the easiness thereof increas'd the insolence of these rascally people they in a moment over-ran the whole City so that in less than two hours time they had got together betwixt four and five thousand people So soon as the Parliament saw the Sedition increase to such a formidable height they endeavour'd to stop the progress of it by issuing out an Act for the suppression of the Edict but the Mutineers believing as it was true that nothing but the sole terror which had possess'd all the Orders of the City had procur'd this Arrest in their favour raising their Impudence higher upon the presumption of this Fear would not so much as suffer it to be Publish'd and the Multitude was seen to hurry up and down the Streets after that audacious and threatning manner as very much affrighted all the well dispos'd Inhabitants of the City At the beginning of this uproar the Duke was at Cadillac in a course of Physick for the confirmation of his health which he had not yet perfectly recover'd where he was very much surpriz'd to see in the close of the evening a Courrier come in that the first President d' Agnesseau had caus'd to steal privately out of the City to bring him the first news of this Insurrection of which he writ him a Letter in these terms My Lord I write you this Ticket in haste from the Palace where I now am with some other Members of the Parliament and a Jurat and from whence I am advis'd by my Friends not to stir to give you notice of the Sedition is rais'd in the City about the establishment the Sieur de la Forest Archer to the Grand Prevost was about to make of an Excise upon the Victuallers To stop the torrent of which Disorder though the Parliament have granted out an Arrest of Suspension it is notwithstanding so violent that way will do no good So that we are here in very great danger which makes me send you this express Messenger humbly to beseech you with all possible speed to interpose his Majesties Authority and your own to appease this tumult A favour that I in my own particular have some reason to hope for from you being as I am My Lord c. Bordeaux May 14. 1635. at three of the Clock in the afternoon The Duke had no sooner receiv'd this Dispatch but that he order'd Letters to be sent forthwith to some Gentlemen thereabouts whilst himself took order for the raising some men amongst his own Tenants to accompany him the next day to the City In the mean time he dispatch'd away la Roche the Captain of his Guards the same night to the first President to assure him of the speedy relief he was preparing for him and to inform himself more particularly of the state of the City Whilst he was busie about this preparation he had news brought that the Rebels drunk with Wine and tir'd with the work of the day were in the evening retir'd every man to his own house with a resolution to be quiet provided no notice might be taken of what was pass'd Had things remain'd in this condition their offence though very great might have had some colour of excuse but these people at their awaking puff'd up with the success of their last days temerity broke out again the next morning into new and greater Fury than before In which heat they drew up a List of above four hundred of the best Families of the City under the Title of Gabellers In which List many of the principal Members of the Parliament were compriz'd and the rest were all Citizens of the best quality all which the night following they intended to Massacre and to rifle their Houses The Duke had present notice of this design The Officers of Parliament astonish'd at the extreme danger they saw themselves expos'd unto had dispatch'd to him in all haste Lacheze and Boucaut two young Counsellors whom they knew to be acceptable to him to beseech him to make haste to the City These Gentlemen gave him an account of the condition the Town and the infinite peril all good men were in declaring withal that their Lives and Fortunes depended upon his Presence and Protection These two Deputies found the Duke just ready to set out as they came he therefore took them into his Coach and his House being but five Leagues distant from the City arriv'd there the same day which was the 16 th in very good time The Authority and Power that the esteem of an extraordinary Vertue exercises over the minds of men is hardly any where more remarkable than upon this occasion there being not one even of the most Seditious who did not manifest shame and repentance for his past offences They were no more the same men who had determin'd to cut
obtain'd the Kings permission but his Majesty very well perceiving that his Favourite was only a pretense the League made use of to cover their own ambition that it was the Royal Authority they aim'd at and that their design was only to remove so good a Servant with less difficulty to make themselves Maisters of Affairs the more obstinately they insisted upon that Article the more resolute his Majesty was to protect him The Duke very well inform'd that Villeroy was one of those who contributed most to his Persecution and seeing how publickly he profess'd to desire his ruine resented it with an Animosity proportionable to the Injury receiv'd which was the more violent by how much the offense came from a person he had never done any ill Office to and whom he had ever made it his business to oblige They were in this posture of unkindness on the one side and the other when happned the taking of the Cittadel of Lions before which time it was thought Villeroy had secretly treated of a Marriage betwixt Alincourt his Son and Mandelot's only Daughter not having dar'd publickly to do it by reason of the intelligence Mandelot held with those of the League but having upon this occasion taken up Mandelot's Interests against le Passage that is to say against the Duke himself le Passage being his creature he offer'd to undertake for Mandelot's fidelity to the King provided his Majesty would please to consent to the Marriage propos'd and settle upon Alincourt the Government of Lions in reversion in favour of the match which the King being reduc'd to the necessity of taking all men for friends who were not actually otherwise was sorc'd to allow of and to ratifie what he could not well impeach by that means trying to draw Mandelot over to him but the Duke exasperated to the last degree could no longer smother his passion nor dissemble his animosity against Villeroy but spoke freely and aloud to his disadvantage and of the Correspondence he held with the League which was the first effect of their open and declared Hatred The end of the first Book THE HISTORY Of the LIFE of the Duke of Espernon The Second Book AFter the Surrender or rather the Revolt of the many places already mentioned the Duke of Guise conceiving it necessary to press nearer the King the sooner and with less difficulty to obtain his ends order'd the General Rendezvous of his Army to be at Chalons Which place he made choice of for two Reasons first because by the nearness of it to Paris being but three little days Journey from thence his presence would be apt to fortifie the Citizens in their Devotion to him and secondly the number of his Confederates being so great and some of them of so great Authority in the City he could by their means continually infuse into the people such dispositions as might best serve his purpose hoping by this means either to incline the King to satisfie all his demands or at least to be able to raise such mutiny and confusion in the City as might give him opportunity at one time or another to effect that by fine Force he could not obtain by the more moderate ways of Addresses and Treaty Then it was that his Majesty perceiv'd the manifest peril his Person and his Affairs were in and then would he take up Arms for his own defense which he had no sooner resolv'd but that at the same time he saw it was too late and impossible to be done The Reiters which he had rais'd in Germany could not come to him the Duke of Lorain having deny'd them a passage through his Countrey and all the Forces within the Kingdom were either engag'd with the League or with the King of Navarre so that the King was left utterly naked of all defense save of those few Servants he had about his own person Nay even those who in the beginning of these troubles would with all their hearts have assisted him to punish to Duke whilst meerly in the condition of a Rebel durst not now he was grown to that formidable height and become the head of a strong Party attempt to succour a weak and disfurnish'd Prince against an armed and prevailing Subject The thoughts of War then being altogether fruitless and impossible in the posture the King then was he must of necessity have recourse to the Treaties of Peace to which resolution he was further necessitated by the King of Navarre's breaking into Arms at the same time which I should not however have mention'd for a second Motive his Majesty had to satisfie the League had this Prince pretended no further than simply to defend his own Fortune with those Forces he had already had in France for then his designs might have been favourable to the King and either have kept the Army of the League wholly imploy'd or at least have diverted their designs but he fearing at once to be opprest by the Union of two Catholick Armies had recourse to strangers for aid The King knew he had treated with the Queen of England and with the States of Holland who both of them assisted him with Men and Money and that all the Protestant Princes of Germany made extraordinary Provision to send him a powerful succour so that he now evidently saw he must in good earnest close with the League and joyn with one of the Factions to preserve himself from being a Prey to both The Queen Mother had for many years been employ'd Mediatrix in all the accomodations of Peace that had been concluded in France and it was commonly believed she was not then altogether without such an Interest in the Duke of Guise as might have establish'd this to the Kings satisfaction I never heard the Duke of Espernon say she was partial to that Faction and though he receiv'd several ill Offices from her in his declining Favour he notwithstanding ever retain'd a constant Respect for so great a Princess who was his Masters Mother and ever defended her Honour against all the calumnies of the time 'T is true he thought she was not altogether displeas'd that there should ever be a party on foot in France such as might oblige the King her Son to make use of her Counsels and Mediation her great and ambitious spirit ill digesting the calms of peace and worse enduring to be depriv'd of an employment in which she had ever been as successful as necessary Her therefore the King passionately entreated to labour an Accommodation with the Duke of Guise an Office she as chearfully undertook and two dayes after began her Journey towards Espernay where she had appointed the Duke to meet and whither he accordingly came together with the Cardinal of Bourbon In the first overtures she found a spirit puft up with success and wholly averse to Peace but when he had more deliberately consider'd that it was not yet time to weaken the King's Authority which he thought was absolutely at his
Guienne and Languedoc the Friends he had in those two Provinces being enough to make his way through the one and the other should he be put upon a resolution of retiring thither The first propositions being accompanied with great and almost invincible difficulties the Duke wholly adher'd to the last advice and so far follow'd it as to retire to Angoulesme without joyning himself nevertheless though infinitely solicited so to do with the King of Navarre A thing impossible for him to resolve upon had he been so enclin'd for two Reasons First by reason of that Princes Religion and secondly because being a declared Enemy to the King his Master the Duke would rather have perish'd a thousand times than appear to favour much less to engage with such as he knew acted positively against his Majesties Service One of the Duke 's old Servants De Guez by name a man of fourscore and eight years old but notwithstanding so entire in his Judgment as discover'd nothing of the infirmities of Age gave me not long since a full Relation of all these Circumstances He was at this time about the Duke's Person and as one of his principal and most trusty Servants present at this Deliberation when the Duke asking his particular Opinion of all had been propounded to him De Guez told him that he believ'd the resolution he had already taken to be without all dispute the best provided it were put iâ—to speedy execution but that it was to be fear'd that whilst he stood deliberating with his Friends what was best to be done his Enemies who were very powerful and already resolv'd what to do might effect something to the prejudice of his Fortune and that the least moments were to be husbanded in a business of so great consequence as this An advice that being soon consider'd of by the Duke he immediately commanded that every one should make himself ready to depart within two days neither did he longer defer it but accordingly put himself upon his way to Angoulesme and that very seasonably as by the following discourse will suddenly appear But before the Duke left Loches he was presented with a discourse by way of Apology in the behalf of himself and his Brother against the Calumnies contain'd in the forementioned Manifest of the League a piece so eloquently couch'd and set forth with so many powerful and so pertinent Arguments that it is certain the Leaguers could afterwards have wish'd they had never assaulted the Duke by the way of writing that so they might not have drawn upon themselves so tart a Reply I forbear to transcribe it in this place because it would swell this Volume with things that are elsewhere and in better language than I should perhaps express it to be found But Mounsieur de Thou one of the most celebrated Historians of these latter times thought it a Discourse worth inserting at length in his History and having translated it out of the Original into his own elegant Latine has commended it to all the Nations of Europe where his works are read with an universal applause And although the Duke never thought of justifying his actions that way and that he had so little a share in this answer as neither then nor ever since to know his name who undertook his Quarrel and Interest with so friendly a Zeal a thing somewhat hard to believe that a man who would oblige the Duke at so kind a rate should deprive himself of the thanks justly due to so great an obligation he nevertheless took it upon him and publish'd it in his own name that all the world might be satisfied both with his and his Brothers Innocency and certainly it wrought upon all disinterested spirits impressions very disadvantageous to the covert practices of the League Having caus'd this Declaration to be publish'd he departed towards Angoulesme where he safely arriv'd in Iuly and where the several Orders of the City contented with great emulation which should give the greatest testimony of joy for his Arrival Being thither come the Duke would needs take up his Lodging in the Castle which although it was only a rude pile of stone and naked of all defense though by him afterwards fortified and made more conâ—iderable and though there was in the same City a Cittadel much stronger and more commodious commanded by the Sieur de Bordes a particular creature of the Dukes yet to shew the Inhabitants how entire a Confidence he repos'd in them he would rather choose to lie in the other and that with so much civility to the Town as that he permitted not one of the Souldiers he brought along with him so much as to come within the Walls of the City Two days after his Arrival the Sieurs Nesmond Chief Justice and Normond Consul of the City receiv'd dispatches from the King Sign'd by Mounâ—ieur Villeroy wherein his Majesty positively commanded them not to admit any whomsoexer with any Forces into their City without his express Order whatever they might pretend or what Commissions soever they should produce to the contrary And indeed his Majesty had been so importun'd to exclude the Duke from this important place being withal made to believe that he had only left Loches in order to a closing with the King of Navarre that being unwilling to have that Faction strengthened by so powerful and so active a Confederate he had consented to this dispatch but the Duke's diligence having prevented this command so frustrated the execution of it that whereas it had before had these orders come in time been a very easie matter to have kept him out it was now impossible to obey the Kings desire he being got in or to thrust him out again who had already made himself Master of the place The Consul notwithstanding communicated the Orders he had receiv'd to some of his Relations and most intimate Friends where the greater part of those he consulted about this business being enclin'd to the League and it is hardly to be imagin'd how strangely that contagion had diffus'd it self throughout the whole Kingdom no Family almost being without one or more of their Party no City without some notorious Ring-leader of their Faction nor no Province wherein their Interest was not grown to a formidable height it was soon resolv'd upon that since the Kings pleasure could not now be fulfill'd in the precise Form his Letters prescrib'd to propose to his Majesty other ways by which as they conceiv'd they might work as considerable if not a more advantageous effect for his service than they could have done by that it was now too late for them to perform The Consul therefore dispatch'd away to Court one Souchâ—t his Brother-in-Law a notable Leaguer and a bold Factious Fellow to acquaint the King with his Design which was to seize upon the Duke's person and to detain him Prisoner in the City till his Majesties further Order who accordingly arriving at Court and
punctually observ'd to them without the least injury or violence though the Consul died of his Wounds before the end of the Action yet as soon as he had them in his power he order'd them to write to those of the City what danger their lives were in should they any more offer to assault the Castle A Policy that oblig'd their Relations so to importune the Sub-Consul to conclude the Treaty that he again return'd to the Castle to intreat the Duke that Ambleville and D' Elbene might come into the City to Treat with them which Ambleville absolutely refus'd to do it being as he conceiv'd inconsistent with his Honour to abandon the Duke in a time of so great danger So that the Abbot sufficient Hostages being first deliver'd in for his security was fain to go out alone and was immediately conducted to the Town-Hall The Abbot had by his dexterity brought things to so good a forwardness that the Accommodation was upon the point to be concluded to the Duke's Honour and satisfaction when le Meré who would by no means lose so fair an opportunity of sacrificing the Duke to his Master the Duke of Guise's hatred broke off the Treaty by promising the people a speedy and infallible succour from the Vicount D' Aubeterre who as he said having receiv'd express Orders from the King was with all possible diligence coming in to their assistance The Abbot then must return to the Castle which he did not without some danger so high was the insolence of the people rais'd by this little beam of hope though false and impos'd upon them Every one now ran again to his Arms which they employ'd with greater violence than before the Drums the Tocquesain and the clamours of the Seditious rabble indifferently compelling as well the Nobility and Gentry as the Commons as well those who were averse to the League as the Leaguers themselves to joyn in the common mischief The hop'd by a Petard which they intended to apply to a part of the Castle-Wall they knew to be very weak to make a sufficient breach to enter at which accordingly playing and having wrought some effect the Gentry and the people presented themselves with great courage to the Assault buâ—â—hey found greater in the Defendants who though very few in comparison of the Assailants after a long dispute forc'd them to retire with the loss of a great many very resolute men The next day about three of the clock in the morning the Inhabitants heard the Trumpets of the Duke's Cavalry who were led by the Sieur de Tagent to his Relief the report of whose arrival having put life into the Commanders and Souldiers of the Cittadel they began to shoot against the City which till then they had never done And if the arrival of this succour encouraged the one party it no less coold the fury and obstinacy of the other who now began submissively to sue for a conclusion of the Treaty which they had so insolently broken off the day before and sent again to entreat that the Abbot D' Elbene might once more come out to that purpose a request the Duke made then some difficulty to grant though in truth he had the greatest reason to desire it The Abbot nevertheless went out the second time into the City but as vainly as before for the Baron de Touverae with many other Gentlemen of the League being arriv'd and amongst others La-Caze Quarter-Master to the Vicount D' Aubeterre's Company of Cuirassiers put new vigour into the Inhabitants La-Caze assuring them that the next morning the Vicount would infallibly come to their succour with three hundred Horse and five hundred Foot by which the Citizens being re-assur'd they now breath'd nothing but War the common people being ever as forward to entertain rash and giddy resolutions as they are usually backwards and cowardly in the execution of them The Abbot was therefore again to recover the Castle and that with greater danger than before being first carried to the Gates of the Cittadel and there constrain'd with a Dagger at his Throat to forbid the Souldiers from shooting any more against the City which nevertheless they did not forbear to do The Duke press'd upon now more than ever by those of the City having found means from the high Tower of the Castle to give a sign to the Commanders of the Cittadel who might easily see it to shoot continually so to divert the fury of the Enemy that so violently assaulted him a Command so well understood and so readily obey'd that the confusion was now far greater in all parts of the City than hitherto it had ever been Neither had it ceased so soon had not the Sieur de Nesmond chief Justice of the place a man of great authority amongst them and no less considerable for his quality than his Employment with such of the principal Magistrates as had not consented to this tumult resolv'd to joyn all their interests together to put an end to the business To that purpose therefore they assembled at the Bishops Palace This Prelate Charles de Bony by name an Italian by birth having long govern'd that Diocess with great reputation of Vertue and Piety could not without infinite sorrow behold these confusions though authoriz'd by the League and palliated with the pretext of Religion so that in this Assembly he the Magistrates and some well dispos'd Citizens having consider'd the peril the City was in as also their own particular danger who were likely to be involv'd in the common ruine uniting themselves against the seditious with some Gentlemen of Quality of the Country who being come in at the noise of this disorder had stood neuters during the whole Action sent two of the most eminent amongst them to the Duke to entreat him that he would please to consent that the Capitulation which had been agreed upon the day before with the Abbot D' Elbene might be Sign'd and Raâ—ified by Tagent who was with his Cavalry in the Suburbs a request was readily granted by the Duke who was now no longer in a condition had he been so dispos'd to refuse it It had now been above forty hours since the Duke or any of those who were with him in the Castle had either drank or eaten their powder was all spent the men for the most part wounded and those who were not so worn out with watching fasting and continual labour that it was their courage only that did support them a support that would soon have fail'd them with their lives had the Besiegers known their necessities which were such as flesh and blood could no longer endure But God who reserv'd the Duke for better occasions was pleas'd to deprive them of that knowledge and so to order things that the impatience of two short hours deliver'd him from that eminent and apparent danger The Abbot D' Elbene therefore went out the third and last time into the City and together with the Inhabitants
have return'd to their obedience or departed from the Faction whose interest they had so precipitously and rebelliously embrac'd The Deputies found it no hard matter to obtain from the King what they desir'd as to the acceptation of their City which his Majesty was very glad should return into his obedience but for what concern'd the Duke of Espernon against whom their deputation was chiefly directed they could nothing prevail at this time not that they fail'd on their parts with their utmost endeavour and eloquence to render his Actions and fidelity suspected to set the Kings heart more and more against him But whether it were that his Majesty would not give credit to so partial and so passionate accusers or which is more likely that in the present posture of his Affairs not yet well settled he thought it not convenient to disoblige the Duke to such a degree he would by no means gratifie them in that part of their deputation that pointed at the Duke's removal from his Government He saw him powerful in the Country supported with great Relations and possess'd of many strong holds in which condition it had been dangerous to provoke him to the height wherefore he thought it best to choose a mean betwixt these extremes and to give the Deputies some satisfaction without touching the Duke's Authority in Provence excepting in the City of Aix only which at the Deputies request his Majesty would not absolutely leave at his discretion His Majeâ—ties Conversion had as yet produc'd no great advantage to nor no great alteration in his Affairs saving that he had thereby assur'd many good Catholicks to his Service who before were a little distracted in their Duty and suspended betwixt Loyalty and Religion But the League still remain'd in the same vigour and the Spaniards hopes were yet as great as ever to carry the Election of their Infanta to the Crown in the approaching Assembly of the counterfeit Estates of the League at Paris All propositions of Accommodation with the Duke of Mayenne had prov'd ineffectual who was the more inflexible to Peace by how much his Kindred and Confederates the Count de Carces excepted continued firm in their union which also of it self was not very likely soon to disâ—olve where there were so many pretenders to the Crown to which five or six of the Family at once aspir'd In this conjuncture of Affairs the King willing to make much of those few Servants hâ— had and principally of the Duke that he might win time to order him at a better advantage when the State should be settled in a better condition wholly referr'd all differences depending betwixt the Duke and the Provencials to the Constable de Montmorenâ—y's Arbitration A man of all others the most â—it to accommodate those Differences who being a near Ally and a passionate Friend to the Duke and his Interests could no ways stand â—uspected to him and who his Majesty knew would be well lik'd of by the Provencials a people the Constable by bordering upon them had had many opportunities several ways to oblige Neither did his Majesty altogether â—o trust to the Referree he had in publick honoured with that Office but that he at the same time sent private instructions to Mounsieur l' Esdâ—guieres and to Colonel Alphonso d' Ornano to have an eye to the Duke's Actions and in case they saw him obstinate to the taking the City of Aix or that the Constable should in his Arbitration be partial to him that then they should openly undertake the protection of that people and by all means assure to his Majesty the posâ—esâ—ion of that City Yet were not these orders how secretly soever deliver'd so closely carried but that the Duke had immediate knowledge thereof at which unexpected unkindness being infinitely surpriz'd and wounded to the quick to see his Services and good Intentions rewarded by so apparent a mistrust he took up Resolutions which though I shall by no means pretend to justifie yet that the condition and misfortune of the time may something serve to excuse There was scarce a great man of that Age that was not of opinion a man might lawfully defend his own Fortune even against his Prince an error with which the Duke also having been pre-possess'd and therein by a number of ill examples confirm'd he was resolv'd not to refer the Controversie about Aix nor the interest he had in Provence to arbitration but to maintain himself in that Interest and Authority with all the Force and Power he had which made l' Esdiguieres who was soon enform'd how little the Duke was dispos'd to submit to the King's order after having conferr'd with Seignior Alphonso and concluded about the course they were to take to retire into Dauphiné there to prepare himself to pass over with all expedition and with all the Force he could make into Provence Whilst these little contests in Provence had been thus carried on which had taken up some time the King's Affairs about his own Person were advanc'd into a much better condition The Deputies of Provence had been dispatch'd to Court in Ianuary at which time the League being at their height his Majesty thought it not convenient to give the Duke any publick discontent but from that time three months were now elaps'd for this hapned at the end of April in which time the King had found a way to possess himself of the City of Paris The possession of this great and populous City had drawn many others along with it into his Majesties Obedience and divers persons of great quality had follow'd the examples of those Cities the Spaniard now was possess'd of few or no Towns in the Kingdom and the League was so strangely declin'd as to be only now almost supported by the single Family of Lorain which was it self also upon the point to disunite so that the King being no longer necessitated to dissemble began now to require of the Duke a more absolute obedience than hitherto he had done when having rais'd him many enemies in the Country and appointed l' Esdiguieres and Ornano with great Forces to make head against him he did not now so much fear his revolt as formerly nor consequently so much care to disoblige him The Duke who by the commotions of the people by his Majesties positive command and by the preparations that were made against him very well saw what he was to expect would notwithstanding how great soever his danger seem'd to be rather choose to perish in Provence in the defense of his Honour and Command than to go to Court there to expose himself to the malicious Offices of his Enemies He very well saw the best he was there to expect was to be stript of his Government to which he conceiv'd he had a better Title than to any other member of his Fortune He had in the time of his Favour purg'd that Province of the Factions of the League and the Reform'd Religion
his Service to be altogether necessary at this time took this opportunity to importune the Queen either to cause the Duke of Espernon to satisfie him in this point or to give him leave to retire Whereupon the Queen spoke of it to the Duke whom she found very averse to any such motion he humbly entreating her Majesty to dispose absolutely of all his own concerns but not to command him to neglect his Nieces interests though in the end the Queen who could promise to her self no good issue of that Journey without a good intelligence betwixt these two great persons so far prevail'd upon the Duke that he was content to satisfie the Duke of Guise by which means their friendship upon the point for ever to be dissolv'd upon this little occasion grew greater and more firm than ever As it had been no hard matter to foresee how advantageous the long Sickness of Madam and their Majesties stay at Poictiers would be to the designs of those of the Religion and others who were engag'd in the Princes Quarrel So had the Duke of Espernon omitted nothing that might any way serve to divert the dangerous effects of that untoward accident And herein he had been especially solicitous to put his Governments of Xaintonge and Angoumois into a posture fit for his Majesties Service upon that the security of that Voyage chiefly depending To this purpose therefore he had sent thither the Duke of Candale his eldest Son already establish'd in the succession of those Governments to keep them in Obedience Nevertheless what he did for so good an end succeeded otherwise than he expected news being brought him that this Son had entertain'd resolutions much contrary to his own and having suffer'd himself to be misled by certain ungovern'd passions was fall'n off from his duty to embrace new Counsels and to follow new Designs Whether it were the sense of this miscarriage in his Son which also occasion'd a new and a wider breach betwixt them or the apprehension of being by this means made incapable of performing his word with the King and Queen that put his mind into that disorder whereinto he soon after fell so it was that he fell sick of so violent a grief as every one expected would carry him to his grave Things nevertheless succeeded in his Government according to what he had undertaken their Majesties after the recovery of Madam having left Poictiers proceeded in great security to Angoulesme neither there nor in any other place throughout the whole Journey meeting with any impediment at all But the Duke wounded to the soul with the violent sorrowâ— of his Sons untoward carriage was now no longer able to bear it out but having convey'd their Majesties to the utmost bounds of his Government that is to say out of all danger they there entring upon Guienne where the way was clear to Bordeaux fell suddenly into so great a weakness that he was carried back for dead to Angoulesme He lay above forty hours a very extraordinary thing without speech pulse or any kind of motion insomuch that not a person about him but concluded him absolutely dead but at last his Spirits which had been so long overcome with grief and his strength weakned by a very long abstinenâ—e being stirr'd up by a glass of Water his ordinary and best Remedy and which he ever made use of in all distempers he began a little to come to himself with so great an astonishment nevertheless that he continued a great while without any kind of knowledge his sighs which were the issue of his grief being the only evidence almost he gave that he was yet alive Yet could he not in this great and total neglect of himself forget the care of his Masters Affairs he being no sooner return'd to a new life but that he dispatch'd away the Marquis de la Valette who had continued about him during his Sickness to attend the King and Queen that the Friends he had engag'd in this Voyage having himself as it were present with them in the person of so dear a part of himself might continue more diligent in their duty The Duke had the honour during this Sickness to be visited by several persons sent purposely by the King and Queen to see him by whom he receiv'd very obliging Letters under their Majesties own hands and when something recover'd others of the same stile and kindness Mounsieur de Villeroy also after their old animosities being become his very great friend writ very often to him wherein he still gave him an accompt of all Affairs conjuring him to make all the haste he could to Court where he said his Presence and Service was never more necessary than at this time Two of which Letters I have seen bearing date the twentieth and four and twentieth of October 1615. Not that the Duke was nevertheless upon so good terms at Court as he had formerly been neither did those Letters imply any such thing it being hardly to be expected he could be in any eminent degree of favour with the Queen Mother upon whom at that time all things depended being out with the Mareschal d' Encre whose Wife had so strange an ascendent over her Majesties inclinations but that his Service could in this juncture by no means be spar'd neither did he how evidently soever he saw his favour decline fail out of that consideration in any part of his Duty being resolute rather to perish than that their Majesties should suffer the least inconvenience So soon therefore as he was able to Travel he went to Bordeaux where he arriv'd the twelfth day of November and a few days after attended the King to Castres a little Village upon the great Road from Bayonne to that City where the King would tâ—e first time see the Queen his Spouse and where the Duke who was very perfect in the Spanish Tongue had the honour to entertain her at the Boot of her Coach whilst his Majesty in a crowd of some young Lords and Gentlemen on Horseback pass'd by incognito to view her The young Queen arriving at Bordeaux the 25th of November found the Court in a very great Alarm at the news of the Princes being advanc'd on this side the River Loire whose Forces being by this time united and moreover reâ—inforc'd with some Forein Troops were likely to make their Majesties return to Paris very difficult and dangerous An occasion wherein the Duke of Espernon's Services were again of very great moment who during his abode at Angoulesme after his recovery had made many Levies which were all ready at Ville-Bois a recruit that consisting of 5000. Foot and 400. Light Horse and joyn'd to the Forces their Majesties already had absolutely secur'd their return through the Countries of Xaintonge and Poictou possess'd by those of the Religion and without any difficulty made good their way to Poictiers and so to Tours notwithstanding whatever the Princes could do to oppose them In
defeating all the rules of Art pass'd for miraculous One of the Souldiers of the Duke's Guards call'd Faure receiv'd a Cannon-shot in his Belly which pass'd quite through leaving an orifice bigger than a Hat Crown so that the Chirurgeons could not imagine though it were possible the Bowels should remain unoffended that nature could have supply'd so wide a breach which notwithstanding she did and to that perfection that the party found himself as well as before Another of the same condition call'd Rameé and of the same place they being both Natives of St. Iean de Angely receiv'd a Musquet-shot which entring at his mouth came out of the nape of his neck who was also perfectly cur'd which two extravagant wounds being reported to the King his Majesty took them both into his own particular dependence saying those were men that could not die though they afterwards both ended their dayes in his Service This place being reduc'd to the King's obedience there remain'd nothing more in Xaintonge worthy his Majesties Arms so that he was at liberty to advance with all his Forces into Guienne The Prince of Condé had been sent thither before with the Vant-guard of the Army where at his Majesties arrival he found Monravet taken by the Duke d' Elboeuf and Themeins after a long and obstinate resistance surrendred to the same Duke Saint Foy also Clerac le Mont de Marsan with several other considerable places were reduc'd to his obedience by the Marquis de la Force de Lusignan and de Castelnau de Chalosse who had taken them in so that his Majesty finding little to do in Guienne pass'd speedily thence into Languedoc Negrepolisse a little paltry â—own upon his way was so impudent as to stand a Siege but it was soon taken by assault and St. Antonin having after a Siege surrendred to mercy their temerity having put the King upon making some examples the neighbouring places thought it convenient to fly to his Majesties Clemency to evade the trial of his victorious Arms. Whilst the King was taken up with these little exploits the Duke of Espernon had taken opportunity to look into his own Domestick Affairs the better to fit himself to follow and serve his Majesty in his main expedition which he had so dispatch'd as to come before the King to Tholouze who arriving there a few days after the Army mov'd towards the higher Languedoc by the way of Caâ—cassonne Beziers Narbonne and other good Cities and the seven and twentieth of August the whole Court arriv'd at la Verune a little Town in Languedoc where the Duke receiv'd the honour of a Patent for Governour and his Majesties Lieutenant General in Guienne and for the particular Governments of Chasteau Trompette as also of the City and Cittadel of Bergerac with the City and Castle of Nerac in lieu of his Governments of Angoumois Xaintonge Aulins and Limousin From the time of their being together at Tholouze the Prince of Condé having converted the animosities he had conceiv'd against the Duke during the Regency of the Queen Mother into a particular esteem he was the first man that thought of this Command in the Duke's favour and though he had himself been Governour of that Province yet thinking it no prejudice to his Birth and Dignity to be succeeded by a man of his Merit he first propos'd him to the King His Majesty understood as well as any the importance of this Command and having a little before experimented in the person of the Duke of Mayenne what a Governour of Guienne could do when debauch'd from his Duty had been at great debate with himself upon whom to confer the honour of this great Employment At the first mention notwithstanding of the Duke of Espernon he very favourably gave his consent and the constant testimonies he had always receiv'd of the Duke's fidelity seeming to be security for him for the time to come he gave the Prince order to speak to him about it and to let him know he had thoughts of conferring upon him the honour of that command But all we who were of the Duke's Family can witness there was not the same facility in the Duke to receive this favour there had been in his Majesty to confer it Not that he wanted ambition â—or that his spirit did not prompt him with great confidence in himself to aspire to the highest employments but this ambition also was not blind and if on the one side he consider'd how great an honour it would be to succeed the late King Henry the great of happy memory who had maintain'd himself in this Government till he came to the Crown with other first Princes of the Blood and to have his Authority rais'd to that height in his own native Countrey he wisely weigh'd on the other side that amongst so many advantages he should meet with much trouble and many difficulties to balance the lustre of that Dignity with many occurrences that he foresaw would be very cross and untoward His present condition 't was true was not so shining but it was also more calm and his Authority was so establish'd in his own Governments that there was none who was not acquainted with his Justice and who from the Infancy of his Administration had not paid so inviolate a respect to his person that the reverence those Countreys had for him seem'd to be a natural quality in the people committed to his charge The Gentry and Populacy were equally obedient to him and he liv'd amongst them as free from trouble as envy whereas in Guienne where his Government would be shut up betwixt two Parliaments he conceiv'd that in the administration of his charge it would be almost impossible to avoid many disputes with the members of the one or the other Body Whilst he had only had to do with them in the quality of a friend he had found them exceedingly obliging and all the Gentry of the Province had ever paid him a very great respect but he very much doubted whether in such a degree of Authority he could preserve the friendship and affection of so many persons of quality as would be subjected to him These reasons made him long deliberate upon this Affair and he was often tempted to refuse it but he was so importun'd by his friends and particularly by the Duke of Guise who came to wait upon the King in Languedoc that he at last resolv'd to embrace his Majesties gracious offer though I heard him say then and he has often confirm'd it since that he would never have been perswaded to do it had he not been before divested of the Cittadel of Xaintes assuring us that could he have kept that in the condition he had once put it he would not have exchang'd those Governments he was already seiz'd of for any the best in France Having therefore long deliberated before he could resolve he at last went to receive from the King 's own hand his Patent for Governour of
with greater fury weigh'd Anchor and put out to Sea but they had no sooner committed their Carricks to the mercy of the winds but that they found themselves engag'd in the greatest stress of weather that perhaps has at any time been seen and after a Tempest of two and twenty days without any intermission they came at last to suffer Shipwrack one at Cap-Breton near to Bayonne and the other two days after upon the Coast of Medoc in which exigent of Fortune the Gallions were so faithful to them as to bear them company in ruine so that three attending either Carrick the loss was equal in both places The Duke receiv'd the first news of this accident from the Common Bruit and that not till three days after it had hapned and indeed the rains that had fall'n during this tempestuous weather had so overflow'd the ways that although this Coast be no more than ten or twelve Leagues distant from Bordeaux only it had been impossible sooner to have pass'd but it is likewise true that the Inhabitants of the Countrey a barbarous and inhumane people as generally Sea-borderers are and inur'd to the spoil of Wracks were not over hasty to acquaint the Duke's Officers with this that they might not be disturbed whilst busie ravening after Booty At last and whilst preparing for the approaching solemnity he heard of this misfortune and that a great number of Spaniards who deliver'd themselves for men of Quality preserv'd out of a greater number that perish'd were upon their way coming to implore his assistance and accordingly the next day this miserable company consisting of two hundred or thereabouts were seen to enter the City in the lamentable plight may be imagin'd of men that had been expos'd to the fury of a Wrack The Duke took care to lodge them in the City furnish'd them with Victuals took order for Cloaths for them and reliev'd them with money when being by some of them inform'd of the great Riches that was in the Carrick he mounted to Horse to hinder the Pillage and Disorder which had already continued five or six days together without intermission it was nevertheless impossible for him to get to the shoare the ways were so impassible so that he was constrain'd to return back to begin his Triumph The Solemnity was begun with a Skirmish of sixscore Cuirassieres divided into two Troops and arm'd Cap-a-pie the next day they ran the Ring in the same Equipage they fought after which they ran disarm'd with Vizors and afterwards ran at Tilt for five or six days together doing all the Exercises that are to be perform'd on Horseback The Horse Exercises being gone through they must now come to a representation of Foot Service that the angry trade of War might be set forth in all its Forms In a spacious place therefore at one of the Extremities of the City the Duke caus'd two regular Forts to be built and fortified according to all the Maxims of Art These Forts were mann'd with arm'd Souldiers to defend them they were batter'd with Cannon assaulted and in the end taken so much to the delight of the beholders as made it appear there can be no so dreadful Original from whence pleasant Copies are not to be taken The Combat of the Forts was follow'd by a noble Masque and a Ball and those by a Combat at Barriers which concluded the Solemnity the last Act of which was set out with infinite Expense and very great Art There were in it seven Entries and all those usher'd in with great Machines contriv'd by the principles of the several parties who were all persons of eminent Quality I shall not however undertake a description of all the remarkable passages therein there having been then a collection taken of them that made up a Volume of it self and I having no need to swell this with unnecessary relations It was no little addition to the Duke 's particular joy and to the general satisfaction of the whole Assembly to find it honour'd with the presence of the Duke de Candale the Duke's eldest Son It had now been ten years complete that their common misfortune had caus'd a separation betwixt them wherein though the Father had high causes of Discontent yet had the gallant behaviour of the Son been such and had so far prevail'd upon his natural affection that at this time without all doubt he had an equal share with his Brothers in the Duke's Favour Neither indeed could the Heroick Son have better spent these years of his disgrace who seeing he could not honourably live in his own Countrey whilst out-law'd in his Fathers Favour went to exercise his profession of Arms in Holland at that time the most conspicuous Theatre of War in all Europe He had not there long continued before by his brave deportment he so far won the opinion of Count Maurice Prince of Orange acknowledg'd by all the world to be one of the greatest Captains of his time that he doubtless possess'd the highest place in his confidence and esteem A short Truce being concluded in that Countrey he went from thence to Venice where he commanded some of the Venetian Militia in the Valtoline and in process of time having gain'd the favourable opinion of that Serene Republick he was at last honour'd with one of their principal Commands and made General of all their Land-Forces an Employment wherein he serv'd upon so many brave occasions as would deserve a particular History when at last more ardently desir'd than well us'd by France his native Countrey he came to end his days in his own Princes Service and in the Command of one of his chiefest Armies The Duke his Father when sometimes speaking of him would say that he could hardly wish his Son had never done amiss since he had done so glorious a Penance for his faults and by so many Heroick Actions expiated the afflictions he had brought upon him The arrival of this long absent Son was not yet the utmost bound of the Duke's satisfaction he receiv'd another at the same time that touch'd his heart with a more sensible joy than any thing that has been mention'd before and doubtless it would have been greater now than it was then had God been pleas'd to have prolong'd his life till these days that he might have seen the fruits of the just expectation he had conceiv'd at the Birth of as hopeful an Heir as he could possibly have wish'd I have already told you that the news of his Daughter-in-law the Dutchess de la Valette's being great with child was one of the occasions that caus'd this Publick rejoycing and that Assembly was scarce broke up when he receiv'd by a Courier dispatch'd away for that purpose certain news of her being brought to bed of a Son a Blessing he had more zealously begg'd of Almighty God than any other thing in this world and that he had the most reason to desire that he might see his succession
own perswasion who had born Arms amongst them with great Reputation and Valour and who having upon very good considerations reconcil'd himself to this Duty was the more fit to perswade them to do a thing wherein he had himself been a leading example So soon as these and the rest of their Party had declar'd the King seeing the War kindled in almost all the Provinces of his Kingdom sent away the Prince of Condé into Languedoc in the quality of Lieutenant General of his Armies not only in Languedoc and Guienne but likewise in some other adjoyning Provinces to whom he also deliver'd two Commissions of Lieutenant Generals under him for the Dukes of Montmorency and Espernon The latter of these had no sooner intelligence of the Prince's arrival at Tholouze but that he immediately posted thither to pay him the respect due to a Prince of the Blood and from his own mouth to receive his Majesties Commands He was there receiv'd by the Prince with all the tenderness and manifestation of entire confidence he could possibly expect or desire but how kindly soever he took this entertainment he could not nevertheless force his complacency so far as to accept of the Commission the Prince had to give him of Lieutenant General under his Command He at first defended himself from it by several very civil and respective excuses telling him amongst other things That being his most humble Servant and he was effectually so no condition whatever could more subject him to his Commands than the respect he had for his Quality and Person had already done and that for any thing else the power he had as Governour of Guienne giving him of it self sufficient Authority to cause him to be obey'd in whatever he should please to command within that Province he did not stand in need of any further Commission for that end But at last the Prince unwilling to understand his excuses and still pressing him to receive it the Duke with his usual liberty franckly told him That from his youth till that time he had ever been honour'd with such Commands immediately under the King 's his Masters without having ever accepted that quality under any other than themselves and that he did therefore beseech him he would please to permit him in this last Act of his Life to retain a priviledge he had for so many years and under so many glorious Masters enjoy'd After so candid a Declaration the Prince would no more importune him neither did he discover the least offense or unkindness at the Duke's refusal which he had the more reason to be satisfied withal as he very well knew he had formerly rejected the same Employment under the Count de Soissons The Duke had no sooner taken leave of the Prince but that he return'd back in all diligence towards Bordeaux to take order for the raising of such Forces as he was to set on foot He had at present no more than the same Regiments of Foot and the same Troops of Horse that had serv'd before in the like occasion and those the Marquis de Monferrat whom he had lately made Lieutenant of his own Company of Gens d'-Armes had order to draw into the field but these small Forces were scarce ready when the Duke receiv'd intelligence that a little Town call'd Caussade near to Montauban had had the confidence to declare for the Hugonot Party Upon this news the just apprehension he had lest the other Cities of his Government that were inclin'd this way should follow this ill example and lest in the end instead of Montauban alone he should find thirty good Cities oppos'd against him made him hasten that way to chastize these first Rebels but he was hardly there arriv'd when he understood both by several Letters from the Prince and by other pressing intelligence from the Court it self that the Duke of Rohan had gather'd together a considerable body of an Army in Sevennes where he was still rallying so many other Forces of his Party that of them he doubted not to make up such an Army as would be able by some notable attempt to divert the King from the Enterprize of Rochelle It was therefore necessary for him to strive with all his endeavour to obstruct his passage wherein consisted the main concern of the whole Affair and accordingly he went about it though not without great reluctancy that he should approach so near to Caussade and not stay to besiege it but on the other side he durst not do it lest whilst he should be taken up with an Enterprize of so little importance the Duke of Rohan might take that opportunity to execute his design I heard many of his Servants murmur that he was not more eager of this Siege and he himself knew very well that the Prince had writ something unhandsomely of him to the Court about it but he was nothing moved at all that noise and having good reason for what he did nothing had power to alter his determination Whilst he was thus vigilant about Montauban to obstruct the Duke of Rohan's passage the Prince of Condé who had made a very considerable progress in Languedoc by the taking of Pamieres Realmont and several other places resolv'd to pursue his Victories into Guienne There was a little corner in the lower Roüergue and bordering upon the Sevennes that had never yet felt the power of the Royal Arms it was therefore agreed upon betwixt the Prince and the Duke of Espernon that the Army should advance that way their design herein being either to disunite this little Countrey from the Duke of Rohan's Interests or at least by this Enterprize to divert him from the design he had of moving towards Rochelle it being very unlikely he should think of that whilst the Cities of his party should be so dangerously engag'd in the most advantageous Post he had upon any occasion to retire himself unto The Prince of Condé who was very punctual in all his designs at the appointed day which was in the latter end of May presented himself in sight of Vâbres an Episcopal Sea and almost the only Catholick City of all that Countrey to whom the Duke also the next day joyn'd himself with his Forces Their design was suddenly to clap down before Saint Afrique a Town very considerable in those parts and exceedingly well fortified but the success of this Enterprize did by no means answer their expectation they being after a very brisk assault vigorously sustain'd by those within constrain'd to raise the Siege after which the Prince's Forces being very much decreas'd in the preceding Service and infinitely dejected with this repulse as the Duke 's also were it was necessary to dispose them into several Garrisons to refresh them It seem'd as if this baffle at Saint Afrique had hapned for no other end but to justifie the Duke about the business of Caussade wherein the miscarriage of the one caus'd his wisdom to be highly magnified for not
this was not the last he start out of his Bed at the first noise of it to put himself again in the head of his Comrades which second agitation having put him into a continued Fever he dy'd a few days after The Duke having scour'd this great quarter of the City and forc'd above three thousand persons to lay down their Arms who had taken them up in this Commotion carrying off with him his dead and wounded return'd back to the Hostel de Ville to give his men a little breath who were almost tired out and spent with the heat and continuation of the Fight But it was only to take a very short repose for he was scarce alighted from his Horse when he was advertis'd that near to the Port de Saint Iulien which is one of the principal Gates of the City eight or nine hundred men were intrench'd within five great Barricades that shut up all the Avenues by which there was any way to come to them These Mutineers had a design to make themselves Masters of this Gate which had been no hard matter for them to do by that means to have let in the Country people thereabouts to their assistance which they from without the Walls mainly cry'd out for that they might share in the Plunder of the City which they had already swallow'd in their imagination and look'd upon it as a certain and infallible Prey The Duke was a little surpriz'd to find he was to enter into new engagements before he was well clear of the former he knew very well that the small number of men he had left would be too few to undertake this second Enterprize yet would he not leave an action imperfect which unless it was carried on to an absolute and total Victory he must of necessity lose the fruits of what he had already perform'd with so much Bravery and success He resolv'd therefore to draw fifty men out of the Garrison of Chasteau-Trompette all that could possibly be spar'd from thence and some small Field-pieces to force those Entrenchments with less danger than he had done the other Barricado's before He had no sooner made his preparation and was ready to go against these people when either a pannick terror or the consideration of their Duty or the Respect to their Governours person whom they saw so freely to expose himself for the publick Safety touch'd the hearts of some honest Burgers of that part of the City who had it should seem so much credit with the Seditious as to make them capable of Reason and sensible of their Duty so far as to prevail with them without staying to be compell'd unto it to send the Duke a Protestation that they would return to their Obedience which they accordingly did at the same time falling to work to open their Barricado's So that the Duke presently advancing to see what condition they were in caus'd them to be totally beaten down in his own presence Whilst on this side of the Town the Duke went on at this prosperous rate there was new work cutting out for him in the other part of the City had he been less successful here For although that Quarter call'd du Chapeau Rouge was inhabited with a great many persons of very good quality who were heartily concern'd at these disorders there were also very many who had been so prepossess'd with false opinions that they were much more enclin'd to joyn with the Seditious than any ways to help to suppress them These were doubtless the greater party and these had been put into Arms under the Captains of the City if occasion had been to have gone to the Duke's succour but by good fortune he stood in no need of so dangerous a Relief it being almost certain that they would have turn'd to the other side and had never so little misfortune befall'n him their Captains would have had very much ado to have with-held them but his success prevented their evil purpose So that seeing him return Victorious with so few Forces their Fury was turn'd into admiration and they for that time satisfied themselves with muttering some discontent at their Companions defeat without farther manifesting their malevolent designs by any considerable effects Though this Action that had had so violent a beginning and so miraculous a conclusion had made the Duke's generosity and good conduct admir'd by all it had nevertheless withal made the people sensible of his weakness by the few that came into his defence in a time of so great and manifest danger The Seditious therefore taking from thence a â—â—uer measure of their own Forces and comparing their numbers with his doubted not should they come to a second Tryal to do their work with greater facility So that prepossess'd with the hope of their cursed advantages they highly and publickly threatned what they would do and doubtless had not the sole respect to the Duke's person with-held them they had again betaken themselves to Arms and he would have been in very great danger to have perish'd by the hands of the people and to have suffer'd the most unfortunate death could possibly have arriv'd to any person of his condition Press'd therefore by the hourly intelligence he receiv'd of the evil disposition that still continued in the minds of the people he resolv'd to dispatch away Magnas in all speed to Court to let the King understand the estate of the City and Province and to beseech his Majesty to provide for the present â—vils and against those that were reasonably to be fear'd for the time to come In this Dispatch he above all things was importunate that the Duke de la Valette his Son might be sent away to him that he might be assisted by a second self in occasions where the whole burthen of Affairs were to depend upon his Fidelity and care In the mean time he writ to some Gentlemen of the Country to come speedily in to him and moreover gave order for the raising some Forces in such of his own Territories as lay nearest to the City He had from thence often drawn out to the number of above two thousand good men by which he had been exceedingly well serv'd upon several important occasions but at this time which will appear very strange and at which I observ'd him to be more aftonish'd than at any thing that had hapned during the whole disorder he could not get so much as one man so great was either their terror or their correspondence with the Mutineers There came in indeed some Gentlemen but with much ado and with very great danger occasion'd by the new disorder which we shall now see for Magnas was no sooner departed from him but that most of the most considerable Cities of the Province by the example of their Metropolis revolted insomuch that there was scarce any save Montauban only that contain'd it self within the limits of its Duty the rest breaking out into open Arms
about them the place was deliver'd up without the least resistance and the Enemy at the same instant there fortified themselves It is not to be believ'd what a terror the entry of the Spaniards and the taking of Socoa it being but three Leagues distant from their City strook into the Inhabitants of Bayonne and as all the Passions of the Populacy are extreme they in a moment converted the absolute assurance wherewith they had hitherto flatter'd themselves into a most infamous and immoderate Fear insomuch that had not the Duke been present in the City it had doubtless been in very great danger to be lost wherein nevertheless if the Kingdom of France stood highly indebted to him for working by by his presence so good an effect they stood little less oblig'd to the Spanish Gravity and Circumspection whose deliberate way of proceeding made them run into an error usually committed by such as perswade themselves their Enemies are provided against all sorts of Accidents For his cautious Enemy forbearing out of this belief to present themselves before Bayonne unfurnish'd of all things necessary for its defence gave the Duke time by that means to make the Inhabitants reassume their former courage and that to such a degree as from the despair of being able to defend themselves being grown to a confidence of doing it with honour and advantage they were soon in a condition to repel any thing the Enemy could attempt against them The Duke seeing them in this good disposition caus'd a Review to be made of all such as were able to bear Arms which upon examination were found to be nine hundred only and which notwithstanding he so encourag'd what by the consideration of their Duty and their own Interest an Argument as prevalent at least as any whatever in the minds of men that they all unanimously swore to him to live and dye in the defence of their City Such as were not capable of bearing Arms were employ'd at the Fortifications which were yet imperfect a labour wherein the more delicate Sex would no more be spar'd than the men by which means the work was follow'd on all hands with so unwearied a Diligence that what remain'd to be done was perfected in fewer days than months would have been requir'd before the Enemies approach This being thus provided for they proceeded in the next place to examine what Grain was in the City of which search Vertamont Intendant de la Iustice had the charge committed to his care and in this they found the greatest defect which was such that in three days the place must infallibly have been lost had the Enemy presently clap'd down before it for there was very little Corn to be found and no Flower at all all the Mills were without the City and the nearest of them a League distant This defect was therefore of all things to be supply'd which alone renders all sorts of Provision how great soever the Store altogether useless that therefore in a few days was accordingly done and being the City which is divided from the rest of the Kingdom by the Doux a great and deep River was not to be reliev'd but on that side The Duke was especially solicitous to secure the wodden Bridge that affords the City communication with the Suburb du St. Esprit and from thence with the rest of France by the County of Lannes To that end therefore he caus'd two good Forts to be trac'd out in his own presence upon two Eminences that commanded that Bridge and made the Work to be so diligently follow'd that they were in a few days put into a condition of defence They also by his order hastened the Leavies for some Recruits that were raising in Guienne that they might be put into those two Forts by which means they were sufficiently man'd He moreover put three months Provision into the City gave order for the perfecting of the Fortifications wholly reassur'd the Inhabitants and put the place into so good a condition that nothing for the future but by a regular Siege was to be effected against it After having thus provided for the safety of this City he prepar'd himself to go take order for the defence of the other Cities that were upon this Frontier which were also in no little danger yet was it not before he had further supply'd the necessities of the Inhabitants of Bayonne who complaining to him that their Corporation was reduc'd to so great poverty that it would be impossible for them to provide against a thousand little Accidents that might happen to them mov'd at their entreaties he left with them all the money he had left of the Expence of his House arising to four and twenty thousand Livers which was owing to him at his Death and was the only money he ever lent upon Security and at Interest in the whole time of his Life The Spaniards knew nothing of the ill condition of this place till after it was fortifi'd and supply'd in such manner as you have heard and then theâ— saw the error they had committed but it was then too late They declar'd however to the Duke's Glory and in their own Vindication That they did not repent them of their wary manner of proceeding but that if it were to do again they should do the same and that they could never think a place ill Fortified that had a Duke of Espernon to defend it The Duke what testimonies soever they so highly and publickly gave of the esteem they had of his Vertue was not notwithstanding so to be charm'd with the Harmony of their Praises but that being inform'd the Enemy despairing for the future of being able to effect any thing upon Bayonne by force was determin'd to pass the River Doux to fall upon Dacqs by that means to cut off all Relief that could be put into Bayonne to the end that of it self and without the expence of a Siege it might fall into their hands he departed thence with the Duke de la Valette his Son his faithful Companion in all the cares and troubles of this Expedition to take order for the defence of this little place which they also in six days that they made their abode there what by their Vivacity and good Conduct and partly at their own expence put into so good a posture of safety that it was out of all danger of Surprize Having thus provided for the security of the most Important Places they dispatch'd away a Gentleman to the King to give his Majesty an Account of what they had done for his Service and to receive his Commands what they were to do for the time to come From Dacqs they went to Mont de Marsan where they yet made some stay as well in reference to the securing that place as also to be better satisfied concerning an intimation had been given them that the Spanish Army was resolv'd to pass the River in order to some notable Attempt
being sufficiently taken up with troubles nearer home to lay the burthen of the care of that Province so that he treated with them in terms of greater confidence than ever writing to the Duke of Espernon after this manner My Lord You will find by the King's Dispaches that his Majesty is unmindful of nothing he conceives necessary for the driving his Enemies out of your Government and does assure himself you will upon this occasion give him a testimony of your Valour and Experience equally advantageous to the Reputation of his Majesties Arms and your own particular Glory This Action will crown all the rest of your Life which makes me confident you will undertake it with the ardour both the King himself has reason to expect from your zeal to his Service and amongst other his Majesties most passionate Servants one who honours you at the rate I do who am c. The like Complement was also sent to the Duke de la Valette which is a little too long to be inserted here and wherein his Majesty sent a List or form of a gallant Army wherein were to be three Cnmpanies of Gens-d ' Armes twelve Troops of Light Horse seven Regiments of Foot consisting of twenty Companies each and three of ten with Equipage for the Artillery and other things necessary for the execution of a great Design Had any part of these large promises been perform'd the two Governours would have needed little perswasion to undertake the Enemy in what posture soever they had been but the whole Winter almost being laps'd in vain expectation the Duke de la Valette conceiving that if he did not do something of himself the Enemy might be so establish'd upon the Frontier that it would be afterwards a matter of extraordinary difficulty to dislodge him advanc'd with the sole Regiments of Guienne and of Mun compos'd of the Duke his Father's Servants and his own and rais'd at their own charge He found upon the place their Company of Gens-d ' Armes and two Troops of Light-Horse with which small Forces he undertook to oppose the progress of an Enemy three times as strong as himself in number of men he forc'd them from some posts of Advantage they had fortified in the Country and so straitned their Quarters and constrain'd them to lie so close in their Trenches that he thenceforwards made them begin to feel necessities which in succession of time gave him a Victory beyond all humane hope or expectation Whilst he was taken up with this Employment which of it self was but too great for the small means he had wherewith to effect so great a Design the Discontents that had so long lain hatching in the minds of the people produc'd at this time the Mischief had so long been fear'd and soreseen and on a sudden clos'd one of the most formidable Revolts that ever perhaps appear'd in the Kingdom This disorder began first in Perigort from whence it suddenly crept into Quercy and thence in a moment diffus'd it self into Agenois and Bourdelois nay even the Provinces of Angoumois Xaintonge and Poictou also which but a little before had been quieted by the Wisdom of Villemontée Intendant de la Iustice in that Country being not yet well settled in their Obedience stirr'd up by the ill example of their Neighbours ran into new and more dangerous Commotions than before so that these joyning in the common mischief with the rest before mentioned the Contagion spread it self almost as far as the River Loire That which render'd the Sedition of Guienne the more considerable was that those who ran into Arms were not unhandy Peasants but old Souldiers of the most Warlike Provinces of the Kingdom who having long follow'd the Profession of Arms and not being able so soon to reduce themselves to their former condition would in the disorders of popular Insurrection seek out that licence the sweets whereof they had sometime tasted when their Riots had been in some measure justified by their Arms. Most Commotions of this nature have been observ'd to proceed by certain degrees and the forming of the design has usually been discover'd before the clap of Thunder has been heard they commonly advance step by step and proceed from one gradation to another to their determinate end but this at its very birth appear'd in that excessive and formidable height that like great Conflagrations which have long been smothering before they have broken out it cast out flames in a moment which were hardly possibly to be extinguish'd The first Intelligence the Duke of Espernon receiv'd of this accident was that there were already above thirty thousand men in Arms and it was true amongst whom many Gentlemen of good Quality were so indiscreet as to engage who though none of them was able to govern so unruly and so confus'd a rabble they nevertheless made choice of a Gentleman a Borderer of Perguex call'd la Mothe-la-Forest to be their General enforcing him to accept of that unhappy Command This poor Gentleman finding himself the first day oppress'd with so great a burthen after having in vain tty'd all ways to disingage himself was fain in the end to undertake to Head them wherein the most prudent thing he did was to reduce this great multitude to regular number by choosing out of the best Souldiers and such as were best Arm'd ten thousand good men and dismissing the rest home to their own houses with order to be ready to March upon the first Summons This crew of Rakehells made indeed in a few days a very considerable progress but it was without any manner of opposition the people generally having so great a kindness for the Rebellion that there was scarce a City in the Province which they might not conclude to be their own They were receiv'd into Bergerac and had possess'd themselves of the Stone-Bridge which is upon the River Dordogne they were moreover so confident as to fall upon Saint Foy and had not the Duke fortified the honest Inhabitants against the licence of the baser sort of people by sending first Coderé a Souldier of his Guards a brave and understanding fellow and after him one of his Gentlemen call'd Friget with an hundred â—nd fifty Foot rais'd amongst his own Vassals the place had infallibly been lost It was a Town of no little importance at this time for beside the advantage of its situation all the Arms the Mareschal de St. Luc the King's Lieutenant of the Province and particular Governour of this place had formerly taken away from Broüage when he left that Government were in the Cittadel as also some pieces of Cannon which would have supply'd the Rebels with such a conveniency as would have encourag'd and enabled them to attempt the best Cities of the Province The Duke of Espernon having in this extremity no more than three very weak Regiments which had been lately reform'd and that by little and little were drawing together in the Province to go
other men usually give for their Follies in such cases will nevertheless serve perhaps to satisfie such as are kindest to me and who will not render themselves over-hard to be satisfied in a thing wherein I presume they would themselves be content to see me justified It was not therefore out of any ambition I had to be again in Print I having suffer'd too much that way already nor to be reputed a good Translator the best whereof sit in the lowest Form of Writers and no one can be proud of the meanest Company neither shall I pretend to be put upon it by my Friends for that would tacitly imply something of opinion they must have of my ability that way and I must be so just to 〈◊〉 my worthy Acquaintance as to decâ—â—re them men of better judgments than to be so deceiv'd besides the greater part of them being better Frenchmen than I pretend to be such as have read the Original could never wish to see it blemish'd by so unskilful a hand neither was I prompted to it by any design of advantage that consideration being ever very much below my thoughts nor to oblige the world that being as much above my expectation but having an incurable humour of scribling upon me I believ'd I could not choose a braver Subject for my Friends diversion and my own Entertainment than this wherein I thought at least I discover'd as much Variety of Revolution and accident as is any where in no larger a Volume to be found besides something of utility here being a general account of the most important Transactions of Europe for above threescore years together and in one continued series of Discourse which are otherwise only to be pick'd up out of several Authors and most of them â—mitted in all but that which gave me the greatest invitation besides the Character of Honour that continues throughout the whole thred of his Life was the great example of uncorrupted Loyalty the Duke of Espernon ever retain'd in all his Exigencies and Disgraces a Vertue which though none of the Nobility of this Kingdom for whom this is chiefly design'd need to be informed in 't is nevertheless a glorious Record and ought to be in History that succeeding times may see after what manner a good Subject â—ow powerful soever ought to behave himself how or how unkindly soever his Prince shall please to dispose of his Person and Fortune This consideration it was that after a first and second reading of this brave life though every year of it contains variety enough to furnish out a History which I must confess to have been the greatest temptation that decoy'd me into this undertaking especially when I reflected upon the times we our selves have too lately seen when Loyalty was not very much in fashion or not to be owned withouâ— manifest ruine And although I know very well we have Examples enow of Vertue Bravery Wisdom Fidelity and Honour in persons of our own Nation as well Kings as Subjects Princes of the Blood Generals Ecclesiasticks and Statesmen both of Former and the present Age and the meanest of those Lives sufficient to create as beautiful a Story yet of those the Dead are many of them already recorded beyond my imitation and to Write in Praise of the Living besides the danger of standing suspected either of Flattery or Design were to offend the modesty natural to all generous minds In the next place I am to acquaint my Reader that the Author of this History Monsieur Girard was Secretary to the Duke of Espernon and a very extraordinary person in himself as you will find in the Texture Disposition and Elegancy of the whole in despight of my ill handling by which advantages he must doubtless be able to give the best and truest account of any wâ—â—ever both of his Masters private Affairs and the general Transactions of that time he being especially in the Duke's later Years continually employ'd by him and the Duke himself being so eternally upon the Scene of Action that we shall seldom find him retir'd and alone in the whole course of his Life And although his dependence upon this great person may render his testimony suspected to some he is however so generally allow'd by the most Intelligent and such as are best read in the Affairs of that Kingdom for a faithful Historian that the truth of the Story ought to Balance any other defect of the work Lastly in the behalf of my Bookseller Mr. Brome to whose Kindness I owe more than I can pay him by this Impression I am to say that although I dare not answer how far this History may suffer by my Oversights or Mistakes or by the Faults escap'd the Press which I know not by what accident are very many and some of them very considerable yet I dare pronounce it one of the best things I have seen in that Language I do not mean for the Excellency or Harmony of the Stile which in the Original it self though the words there be very Significant Elegant and admirably well chosen is notwithstanding none of the smoothest I have read but for the importance of the Subject wherein you will find much of the Policy of that time not only of France it self but moreover of the Courts of England Rome Spain Savoy Germany Sweeden and the States of the United Provinces together with a Narrative of all the most celebrated Battles Skirmishes Rencounters Combats Sieges Assaults and Stratagems for above threescore years together with the Descriptions of the Strengths Situations and distances of Cities Towns Castles Cittadels Forts Rivers Countries Seigneuries Iurisdictions and Provinces and all this collected and deliver'd by a Iudicious and Impartial Hand an exâ—raordinary effect of a French Pen that Nation especially in Records that immediately concern their own Honour having been commonly observ'd to be very civil to themselves So that methinks the Dignity of the Subject and the Ingenuity of the Author consider'd a work how unhappily soever perform'd by me undertaken nevertheless meerly for the common benefit and delight ought not to be discountenanc'd nor very ill receiv'd Yet do I not though in the foregoing Paragraph I have discover'd something of the Charlatan in the behalf of my Bookseller hereby intend to beg any favour for my self or by these large promises to bribe my Reader into milder Censures neither do I think it fit to provoke him by a defiance for that were to be an ill Man as well as an ill Writer I therefore franckly and without condition expose my self to every mans Iudgment of which such as appear civil to me are my Friends and I shall owe them the same respect when it shall be my turn to Iudg as it is now to be censur'd Those who will not be so I shall threaten no further than to put them in mind that if ever they attempt any thing of the same nature they will then lie under the same disadvantage I now do and consequently may
made no difficulty to tell him that he was in the Wardrobe But whilst they were thus talking six more of the Inhabitants who were also of the Plot were come in under pretense of paying their Service to the Duke and to wait his coming out to present themselves And all of them both the Consul and the rest Arm'd under their Cloaks with Curasses or Coats of Mail short Swords and Pistols The three first having pass'd through the Hall and the next Chamber without giving any suspicion came into the Wardrobe where they expected to find the Duke who by good Fortune was just gone into his Closet having taken in with him the Abbot d' Elbene and the Sieur de l' Isle Marivault two persons in whom of all others he repos'd the greatest Confidence and where they were reading a Scandalous Libel publish'd to the King's dishonour that had been sent the Duke that morning The Conspirators without taking notice who were in the Wardrobe vigorously assaulted the first they met and at their first entrance letting fly their Pistols betook themselves to their Swords crying out as loud as they could Kill Kill At this noise the other six who dazled with the Cupboard of Plate in the Hall had staid behind to pilfer ran presently to their Fellows and all together joyn'd in the Assault The first that oppos'd their Fury in the Wardrobe was Signior Raphael Girolami a Florentine Gentlemen and Sorlin the Duke's Chirurgion the two Secretaries who were also in the Chamber being for want of Arms able to make no resistance But Sorlin drawing his Sword gave the Consul a slight hurt in the Head and Girolami on his side having first mortally wounded three of the Assailants was at last by a Pistol shot laid dead upon the place so that he being dispatch'd and Sorlin desperately wounded the Consul and the rest of the Conspirators had free access to the very door of the Closet where they call'd out aloud to the Duke to yield or otherwise he was dead The Duke had already at the first uproar not knowing by whom he was assaulted nor what security he might promise to himself from the assistance of his Domesticks and Friends Barricado'd up the Door of his Closet expecting a further light into this disorder D' Elbene and Marivault who were both with him having perswaded him so to do and with-held him from going out until he first understood the cause of this Tumult which was yet utterly unknown There were two Doors to this Closet one at the further end of a little Gallery which was open but there was no way to the second but through this Gallery which being dark and so narrow as only to admit one a breast made the access to the inner Door very difficult and dangerous so that by this means the Duke and those that were with him had a conveniency of making some kind of resistance till they might be better inform'd of the business And I have heard the Duke say when talking sometimes of this Mutiny that in the heat of the Action he remov'd with one hand and with great facility unwieldy Truncks and Chests to Barricado up the Door which after he had a little compos'd himself and thought it necessary to go out they could not scarce all three with all their strength united remove again to their places At the same time that the Assault began the Tocquesain rung throughout all the Churches in the City at which Signal the people ran on all sides to Arms lodging themselves in the Houses nearest adjoyning to the Castle mov'd so to do by the outcry of the Conspirators dispers'd into the several quarters of the Town that the Hugonots had possest themselves of the Castle In the mean time the Conspirators immediately appointed for this execution and who were order'd to follow those already got in with the Consul attempting to possess themselves of the Gate of the Castle that they might let in the people who came running in Arms from all parts were oppos'd by some of the Duke's Gentlemen who were walking without in the base Court to attend his going abroad of which the chief were Ambleville Beaurepaire Sobole the elder Lartigue and some others Neither was their Design prevented without fighting for Beaurepaire being kill'd with the blow of an Halbert and some of the Guards being knock'd down by him other of the Duke's Gentlemen who were walking at a further distance from the Gate perceiving what they were about made all the haste they could and came time enough to get in before the Gate was quite shut amongst whom were the Count de Brienne the Duke's Brother-in-law Miran Gohas la Coste and Des Emars All these Gentlemen being joyn'd together and having with much ado shut the outward Gate and left a sufficient Guard to defend it ran up the Stairs to see what was become of the Duke where meeting no body to enquire of they believ'd him to be certainly dead and all those that were with him But after having a little recollected themselves from the astonishment so strange a solitude had begot in them and having gathered together such other Gentlemen and Souldiers of the Duke's Guard as they could find in the Castle they resolv'd to set upon the Consul and his Associates and to that purpose made directly towards the Duke's Chamber the only part of the House from whence any noise was to be heard The Conspirators seeing themselves alone the Gate of the Castle shut the Duke's Friends and Servants got together and united and which most of all perplex'd them that the people could not force their entrance so soon as was requisite for their safety would yet try by the same Door by which they had entred to recover the principal Tower of the Castle and to make that good till they might be reliev'd from without But the passage was so stoutly maintain'd by the Gentlemen and those of the Guard who were joyn'd to them that the Consul being mortally wounded and some other of his Complices more slightly hurt the ardour of their first resolution began apparently to cool their Enemies being possest of the only pass by which they were to expect a prompt and necessary succour At this new uproar in the Wardrobe the Duke having amidst so great a confusion of voices distinguish'd some of them to be his own people sallied out of his Closset with the Abbot D' Elbene and Marivalt so that these sallying out with Sword and Pistol by the Door of the Closset whilst the other Door towards the Hall was made good by the Duke's Friends the Consul and his Complices found themselves beset on all sides and seeing no hopes of safety by the way they had in vain and with many wounds attempted to pass they resolv'd to get out by a third Door of the same Wardrobe which yet remain'd free and that let by a back way to the forementioned Tower and accordingly carrying off the wounded Consul
with them recover'd a little pair of stone Stairs the only refuge was left them and where they intended to defend themselves to the â—ast man neither wanted they means so to do for being all arm'd which neither the Duke nor any of his Followers were and resolute Fellows as they had sufficiently made it appear and having only a narrow pair of Stairs to make good they were not to be assaulted but with infinite hazard in a place of so great advantage which made the Duke resolve upon putting fire to the Stairs to the end he might there as it were besieg'd keep them in Whilst these things were doing within the Castle a Maid came running and told the Duke that the Consuls Brother with a great number of armed Men were upon entring by a hole they had made in the Wall on that side next the Curtain which made him immediately repair thither as where his presence was most necessary leaving only three of his Guard to make good the Stair-foot where the Consul and his Confederates were that they might attempt nothing in his absence At his coming into the Court he found the Consul's Brother and another with him already enter'd the place who both of them strove with incredible valour to make way for the rest But the Duke having soon kill'd the first with his own hand the other being no better handled by his Followers and having left a sufficient Guard upon the place he ran presently to another Alarm no less dangerous than this he had already taken so good order in For the Conspirators without having as we have said before been able to force the great Gate by reason of the vigorous resistance they had met there were run to another little Postern that no body dream'd of with fire to burn it down by which means and by a petard they had also got to blow it open they doubted not to force their entrance that way but the Duke arriving opportunely upon the place with some fifteen he had rallied together after a dangerous and obstinate Conflict beat back the Assailants and so fortified it for the future that it was impossible for them afterwards to force that pass Whilst the Duke was thus busie without those who were with the Consul upon the Stairs seeing the passage now guarded by only the three Souldiers who had been left to that purpose attempted to make their way and to escape which they hop'd they might do whilst the Duke and his Servants were elsewhere employ'd intending afterwards to force some of the Avenues it being impossible they should be all well guarded the Duke having so few about him and to let in the rest of their Confederates to their succour But the Duke with marvellous diligence presenting himself in all places where there was any suspicion of danger coming opportunely in when they were already disputing it with his Guards and having by the death of one of the Inhabitants whom he dispatch'd with his own hand beaten back the rest defeated them of all further hopes of escaping out of his Power In which encounter he ran an exceeding great hazard for the Stairs upon which they fought having been already loosened in the Joynts by the heat of the fire and moreover shaken by the agitation of the Combaâ—ants could no longer support it self from falling down with a sudden ruine the step whereon the Duke stood only remaining firm who without so miraculous a fortune had certainly perish'd in the fall Miran a Gentleman of good understanding and great courage told me some years ago this Story in which as he had himself a particular share so has he often assur'd me that without the Duke 's personal courage great vigilancy and noble resolution he did believe they had never escap'd that eminent peril that in his life he never saw a man so constant in all kinds of danger and that as they who had faithfully serv'd him in this occasion had doubtless deserv'd very well at his hands so stood they no less oblig'd to him for their own preservation than he to them for his having done more towards it in his own single person than almost all the rest all their endeavours put together The Inhabitants who had this while possest themselves of a House call'd the Queens Castle separated only from that wherein the Duke was assaulted by a little Court and of equal height with it by powring continual shot in at the Windows which were very large and high did not a little incommodate the Duke another inconvenience to be provided against as it speedily was and as that had already done for the other defects of the place so well that it was almost impossible by strength of hand to force him The toil and bustle of this Action having been sudden and violent and the Fight almost unintermitted from the beginning the Duke and those with him found themselves so weary and their strength so abated that to refresh themselves and to recover a little breath the Duke call'd for something to drink but upon examination there were but four Bottles of Wine no Water at all and very little and that course Bread to be found in all the Castle neither was there any more to be hop'd for the Inhabitants being as they were Masters of all the Kitchins and other Offices as also of a Well in the back Court which could not possibly be recover'd from them an irreparable and unexpected inconvenience to the Duke and his Followers who saw themselves at once assaulted with Enemies within and without and more violently with hunger and thirst two Enemies they could the worst defend themselves against a condition in which they continued for two dayes and one night and wherein the Duke's constancy is no less to be admir'd than in so gallantly defending himself against the violence of his armed Adversaries the necessities of Nature being much harder to be contended withal than the most obstinate attempts of the most resolute Enemy Hitherto the Duke saw no signs of succour Tagent his Cousin and Lieutenant in that Government was at Xaintes with the Troops and the Cittadel wherein he had a trusty Servant had made no shew of standing for him having not so much as made one Cannon or Musquet shot against the City For the Consul who was no less circumspect than valiant having when he first plotted the Design of this Enterprize forgot nothing that might any way contribute to the success had cunningly drawn Bordes Governour of the Cittadel into the Town under colour of some important Business he was to communicate to him and had there seiz'd of his Person so that at the same time the Duke was first assaulted in the Castle they who had Bordes in custody brought him before the Cittadel and with a Dagger at his Throat commanded him to yield it up but he scorn'd to do a thing so unworthy of himself in so great an exigency and his Lieutenant remain'd also firm in his duty
repair'd to Tagent who to the Duke 's great astonishment had all this while stood an idle Spectator without once endeavouring to enter the Town to his succour 'T is true he sign'd the Capitulation which was all the share he had in this business But the Articles were no sooner Sign'd than they immediately fell to breaking down the Barricadoes the people retir'd every one to their own Houses and the Dutchess of Espernon was conducted to the Castle by the aforesaid Abbot Where being come after she had given the Duke her Husband some tender and affectionate testimonies of joy for his deliverance the first thing she did in return of the barbarous usage she had receiv'd was to mediate their Pardons by whom she had been so ill us'd with the Duke who though he had meditated a severe Revenge upon them who had committed so great an outrage against him was notwithstanding content to surrender his Animosities to the generous intercession of this Vertuous Lady He moreover set those he had taken Prisoners with the Consul at Liberty consented that Meré with the other Gentlemen of his Party should retire to their own Houses giving them a Convoy of Light Horse for their defense and by a notable effect of Generosity and good Nature having restor'd the dead Bodies of the Consul and his Brother to their Relations and Friends he permitted them to be buried with publick Obsequies Lastly he so franckly pardon'd all the rest of the Citizens that not any one of them who would afterwards live in Peace could ever perceive in him the least memory of any former unkindness but on the contrary receiv'd from him all the good Offices and gentle Usage they could expect from a man they had never offended by which exceeding Clemency and by the protection both the City and Country receiv'd from him for the space of fifty years which he afterwards held that Government he so won the hearts of that people that there was not one of them who would not chearfully have ventur'd Life and Fortune for his Service and who have not to this hour his memory in great Veneration as the Father Protector and Restorer of their Country The King of Navarre who was ever so intent upon his own Affairs as to let no occasion slip that he conceiv'd might any way serve to advance them foreseeing that after the Assembly which was to be holden at Blois he should certainly have all the Forces both of the King and the League bent joyntly against him had not fail'd to send to the Duke upon his retirement from Court a time very proper to have taken his Resentments in the heat had he been a Male-content with offers of as high and honourable conditions as he himself could possibly have propos'd if he would joyn with him To which the Duke equally firm in his Religion and Loyalty made answer that he did beseech his Majesty to reflect upon the infinite obligations he had to the King his Master and then he did assure himself that his own generosity would for ever condemn him of ingratitude should he abandon his Service for any persecution his Enemies could practice against him After which and many humble and respective thanks for his gracious offer he gave him plainly and freely to understand that he would rather perish than to live oblig'd to any other for his protection than to him who was the sole Author of his Fortune But this Prince not checking at this first refusal would yet try if in the business of Angoulesme by his own Actions and Presence he could not work more effectually upon the Duke than by the mediation of Agents he had hitherto done and to that purpose being advertis'd of this enterprize though at a time when he was upon the point to fall upon the City and Castle of Clisson in the lower Poictou very considerable places and which in all apparence he was likely to carry he nevertheless gave over the Design to come to the Duke's Relief A deliberation that some have believ'd was not so much intended to rescue the Duke from the danger he was in as to make use of that occasion in the Confusion the City then was to seize upon it to his own use and to reduce so considerable a place into the hands of his own Party But whatever his Design was he met intelligence by the way that the Duke had already disingag'd himself from his Enemies and was settled in a posture of safety by which though he found he should come too late to do the Duke any Service unwilling nevertheless to lose the thanks of his good intention he sent to congratulate with him for his happy Deliverance which he said was so much the more glorious to him as it was wrought out of himself and effected by his own Valour and Constancy advising him withal to consider how many of the like attempts he was to expect from his Enemies malice withal once more offering to joyn his Interests with his and to run the same Fortune with him in all hazards But the Duke answering still with the same civility and respect he had done before without suffering himself to be tempted from the duty he ow'd to the King his Master continued constant in his Resolution never to take part with any who were his open and declared Enemies In this place methinks the Duke of Espernon is chiefly to be consider'd to make thence a right judgment of the greatness and constancy of his mind He had scarce been seven years a Favourite when he saw the prodigious Engine of the League ready to fall upon him a body so formidable and so great as having already constrain'd the King himself to bow before it made all those of the Reformed Religion to tremble at its motion no Authority was able to stop it no Power to resist it yet could it never startle this young Dukes constancy But on the contrary though he saw himself forsaken by the King and expos'd to the malice of his Enemies though he saw the people in his own Governments rais'd in mutiny against him and all things as it were conspiring together to his Ruine yet could he not even in these extremities ever submit to the King of Navarre's Protection though offer'd and so handsomely offered to him but though alone in his own Quarrel at least without other assistance than of his Friends and Servants he had yet the courage to defend his own Interests and the Service of his Prince even against his Prince himself who was now become General of his own Enemies Yet had he ever so excellent a Government over himself as to do nothing contrary to his Conscience or his Duty So that not being to be mov'd either by the Menaces of the League or by the Hopes he might reasonably conceive from the assistance of those of the Reform'd Religion he subdu'd those two Passions that exercise the most absolute Empire over the minds of men
Aumont had both of them already excus'd themselves from that Employment and that he only remain'd from whose Valour and Fidelity he could promise to himself so signal and so honourable a Service in so difficult an undertaking and in so dangerous a time that the defense of that City was of pressing and immediate concern but that withal he should be infinitely glad to see him and that he therefore left it to his own free choice and judgment either to come immediately to him or to defer giving him that satisfaction till the occasion which at present call'd him another way should be past and blown over The Duke had then in his Army four thousand and five hundred Foot five hundred Light Horse and three hundred Harquebusiers on Horse-back besides other Levies he had order'd should be made in the Country which accordingly soon after came to him of which he detain'd three thousand Foot with a proportion of Horse for the defense of Blois and the rest he sent away to the King under the command of Moncassin and 〈◊〉 Curé◠from which Forces his Majesty receiv'd no little assistance in the occasion that soon after hapned before Tours The Duke in the mean time according to the King's Order took his way towards Blois and interpreting the Liberty his Majesty had so freely given him either presently to repair to Court or to defer it 〈◊〉 a fitter season as he ought to do he conceiv'd 〈…〉 by his duty â— rather to deprive himself of that present Honour and Satisfaction than any ways to neglect that Service was expected from him Advancing therefore with all diligence and his way lying through Amboise where the Arch-Bishop of Lyons had been detain'd Prisoner ever since the death of the Guises he although the Bishop was his capital Enemy and a man from whom of all others he had receiv'd the most sensible injuries would nevertheless go give him a visit in the Castle The sad estate and present condition of this Prelate had so far reconcil'd the Duke unto him that in return of all former injuries after he had some time entertain'd him with some consolatory Expressions as towards his present Fortune he afterwards made him a promise as soon as ever he should see the King to labour with all his Industry and Interest for his Enlargement as after he did it being one of the first Requests he made and obtain'd after his return to Couâ—t From thence having recover'd Blois he presently fell to fortifying the place and in few days put it into so good a posture of Defense that it would be no easie matter to force it He also put into St. 〈◊〉 a little Town upon the Road betwixt that and Paris the Count de Brienne his Brother-in-law and the Sieur d' Ambleville with eight hundred Men the most part Horse which he did not so much out of design to keep that place which he knew was not to be defended as for some few days to stop the progress of the Duke of Mayenne and by that means to give the King some leisure to fortifie himself A design that succeeded accordingly for the Duke of Mayenne not being able to carry this place by assault and obstinate in the taking of it having staid to lay a formal Siege although he took it in the end and in it the Count de Brienne Ambleville and some other Gentlemen upon composition yet having lost four days time in the Action he gave so much respite to the King who had very great need of it to prepare himself This block in the Duke of Mayenâ—e's way was perhaps none of the least things that concurr'd to the preservation of the Royal Affairs but whether it were or no the Duke was however infinitely condemn'd for having so wilfully set himself upon an Enterprize of so little moment in a time when nothing could be so advantageous as diligence to the execution of his Designs The Duke of Mayenne measuring by this first Essay the opposition he was likely to meet withal from the Duke of Espernon at Blois alter'd his design of attempting that place and resolv'd without further delay to turn the torrent of his Arms upon the King himself and against the City of Tours where his Majesty then resided The King of Navarre had joyn'd himself with his Majesty but the day before and had with his men taken up his Quarter in one of the Suburbs of the City whom his Majesty being gone to visit in his Quarters and walking with him abroad the earnestness of their discourse had unawares drawn them so far out of the Suburbs that the Avant Coureurs of the Duke of Mayenne's Army mist very little of surprizing them both and consequently of making an end of the War almost as soon as begun but the two Kings notwithstanding being happily retir'd within their strength the Skirmish grew hot on both sides and then it was that the Duke of Espernon's Troops signalized themselves For Moncassin long and bravely defending himself in the very face and against the first fury of the Enemy was there wounded in the presence of the King who was himself Spectator of the Fight and who during all which with a constancy far from any shew of that effeminacy his Enemies had so often laid to his charge himself gave the whole direction and continued in the danger till the end of the Action The Duke of Mayenne being frustrated in his Design upon Blois and baffled before Tours principally through the Duke's opposition and that of his Forces seeing nothing was now to be effected resolv'd to retire without attempting any thing further at that time upon which retreat hapned the total dissolution of his Army whereas on the contrary the Duke of Espernon's Forces grew still greater in strength and reputation who having lately receiv'd a recruit of fifteen hundred foot and three hundred Dragoons the Royal Army receiv'd a greater increase from those Regiments he had brought over to the service than from any other whatsoever The King of Navarre had not yet had leisure to draw his Forces together they being dispers'd into several parts as was most convenient for the preservation of such places as were in the possession of the Hugonot Party by which it may easily be imagin'd the King could have no very considerable Army yet was it necessary to make use of the disorder the Leaguers were then in which oblig'd the King upon great probabilities and almost assurance of signal advantages to be reap'd by it to resolve upon leaving â—ours and to make directly for Paris In this March the King of Navarre commanded the Vant-Guard of the Army and his Majesty himself the main Battel reserving the command of the Rear for the Duke of Espernon and that in the very face of the Mareschals de Biron and d' Aumont and of all the other Nobility who were then about his Person It was at this time that the Duke came up
the Duke The King of Navarre says he being gone to visit the Duke of Espernon's Trenches the Duke shewing him-what he had done leads him through the middle of the space betwixt the Trenches and the Town in his Doublet only and that so unconcern'd and so open to the Enemies view that Houeilles the Duke's Cousin and Camp-Master as also another of his people fell dead at their feet when having gain'd a Guard commanded by Belangreuille they came out on the back side of that and pass'd within forty paces of the Courtine which play'd upon them all the while and laid two men more dead upon the place The King of Navarre and the Duke having at last gain'd the blind of a Garden Door Frontenack and another which other must be D' Aubigné himself who was Gentleman of the Horse to the King of Navarre earnestly solicited the Duke to retire which he was about to do by a way perhaps likely to engage them in more danger than before when the King of Navarre staid him by the Collar of his Doublet This is that he says but he adds after a thing wherein he is not so good a testimony as of the first and which is not so true viz. that the King being enform'd of this Action spoke highly against the Duke and in terms that nothing tasted of Favour and that so soon as he saw him he severely reprehended him and reproach'd him that he would have destroy'd his Brother 'T is true that his Majesty chid the Duke for his rashness telling him That he ought to reserve his Valour for better occasions and not so lightly to expose the Person of the King of Navarre his Brother and his own which were rather words of tenderness than distaste and it is likewise very true that the King of Navarre's Servants murmur'd highly at it endeavouring to possess the King that the Duke had not engag'd him in this danger without Design nay himself manifested something at his coming out of the Trenches for it was told the Duke that he should say to some of his people I think this man would be content to lose an Arm to have my Brains beaten out which was never the Duke's intention he being only spurr'd on by the inconsiderate heat of Youth and Bravery without any other Design From Gergeau the Army advanc'd towyrds Piviers which immediately open'd its Gates as also the City of Chartres surrendred at the first summon but Estampes stood out a Siege which being foon after taken by Assault some of the King of Navarre's Souldiers ran on in their prevailing Fury even to the Church of that Town there committing all sorts of insolence which the Duke being advertis'd of by the Guards he had plac'd at the Dooâ—s of this Church wisely foreseeing that the King of Navarre's people who for the greater part were men of the Reform'd Religion would not abstain from violation even of Holy things he ran thither himself to prevent further disorder where being come and seeing the Chalices and other Sacred Ornaments of the Altars in the hands of the rude Souldier not being able to endure that things dedicated to so Sacred Use should be profan'd after that manner he furiously drew his Sword and ran the first Offender in his way quite through the Body which by chance hapning to be one of the Dragoons of the King of Navarre's own Guard and in his own Livery the Complaint was immediately carried to him and by him as soon to the King of which the Duke having also notice he presently repair'd to his Majesties Quarter to make his defense There being come and his Majesty having demanded of him the reason for what he had done he gave him a particular accompt of the whole business Whereupon the King of Navarre told him with some bitterness That he had no Authority over his Souldiers and less over his Domesticks to which the Duke made answer with a respective but a manly boldness That the trust wherewith the King was pleas'd to honour him and the command he had given him in the Army invested him with sufficient Authority to chastise Impious and Sacrilegious Persons and that moreover every good man ought to assume that Authority in Offenses of so high a Nature Their Dispute was like to grow into hotter terms when the King impos'd silence both upon the one and the other not condemning the Duke's action nevertheless but desiring the King of Navarre to take care for the future that there might be no more offenses committed of that kind Thus by little and little secret discontents against the Duke crept into the King of Navarre's bosom which many envious of the Duke's greatness endeavour'd to augment neither was the Duke blind on that side nor was it without some affliction that he saw himself so ill requited for the sincere and uninteressed affection he had ever manifested for this Princes Service in his greatest adversity but having found by sufficient experience that the best Offices are not always the best recorded he contented himself with the conscience of his own integrity and ever paying the respect due to the Birth and Vertues of this excellent Prince in all other concerns of his command he exercis'd his Duty to the utmost height of Authority he had ever done The Army advancing daily towards Paris the Duke had order to make an attempt upon Montereau faut-Yonne which he carried by Petard neither was it a service of light importance for in the sequel of Affairs that which the Duke won in a few hours cost the King's Enemies many months and many good men to recover it From thence the Army being come to Pontoise the Duke had there the storming of a Suburb which was very well fortified committed to him and which notwithstanding he carried though with as much hazard as ever he tempted in any action of his life He was himself the first that leap'd upon the Rampire and though in this assault he had above a hundred men laid dead at his feet amongst which were many Persons of Quality and Command he nevertheless resolutely persisted in the Enterprize and forc'd the Enemy at the Swords point even to the Gates of the City whither he compell'd theâ— to retire and where having block'd them up he press'd on the Siege with that vigour and conduct that the place soon after surrendred upon composition Thus did the King find all things give place to his Arms as if Destiny had smooth'd and levell'd for him all the paths that lead to Death and Ruine and in this prosperity of his Affairs his Majesty resolv'd upon the Siege of Paris Already were the Swisse and new rais'd Reiters come up and joyn'd with the Body of the Army the Officers were dispos'd into their several Quarters and the King had taken up his own at St Clou and given the Guard of them to the Duke in order to a formal Siege His Majesties Lodging in this narrow Quarter
he hop'd his Majesty would himself one day commend his Zeal to Religion which ought to be the first thing in every good man's prospect and which was also his sole object in that resolution wherein he would live and die That he was retiring into his Governments where his Actions should justifie the integrity of his heart and that he would there serve the King to his utmost power by making Warre upon those whom he knew to be enemies to his Service This was the Duke's Declaration to his private Friends to which his Conduct afterwards was so conformable as sufficiently demonstrated to all the world that he was possess'd with a better spirit than that of Ambition 'T is true his determination was in it self positive and bold and he had reason in all apparence to apprehend a dangerous issue and has himself ever acknowledg'd that according to the Maxims of humane Prudence he herein committed a dangerous error but that having nothing but the sole interest of Religion for his aim he had reap'd greater advantages by it than he durst have propos'd to himself from any other resolution and that he did believe it was from this fountain he since deriv'd all the successes of his Life of which the most signal was that his Majesty himself after some time having pierc'd deeper into the candour of his intention receiv'd him into as high a degree of Favour as any of his other Servants but it was not until he had first receiv'd many infallible and continual proofs of his Loyalty and Affection Having after this manner deserted the Army he soon arriv'd at Angoulesme where the first thing he did after his arrival was to send the Pope an accompt of his proceeding and that he had been constrain'd to quit the Army being bound so to do out of his respect to the Catholick Religion It was also requisite he should by a Declaration purge himself from the Calumnies cast upon him by the League who had deliver'd him to the people for a grand Confederate with the Hereticks But other particular correspondencies he had none for of all Foreign Princes the Popes were only they with whom he ever held any intelligence and whatever has been said to the contrary he ever preserv'd his fidelity unspoâ—ted from the practices of other Princes who daily tempted him with no contemptible offers to an intelligence with them a vertue not to be pass'd over in this part of his Life without a worthy mention it being in a time when few of the great ones of either party had so temperate a respect for their duty the misfortunes of the time and the various Factions that divided the Kingdom seeming as it were to give every one liberty to fortifie the interests of his own party by all the Friends and Confederates he could make The Duke having engag'd himself before his retirement from the Army to serve the King by all the ways he could would now sit no longer idle but gave immediate order for the recruit of his Troops and the experience of what had formerly past having given him sufficiently to understand what confidence was to be â—epos'd in the people he was now resolv'd no longer to depend upon their giddy and volâ—ble humour nor no more be subject to such commotions as his Enemies might attempt to raise amongst that credulous and mutinous rabble He therefore caus'd a considerable Fortification to be speedily rais'd at the Castle of Angoulesme the King having given him leave so to do as also to raise what mony was necessary to the perfecting that work upon the Province He likewise rais'd another at Xaintes so that in a short time he secur'd himself from all Surprizes like that of St. Laurence but he had scarce time to settle this good order in his Governments when he was call'd away to look after other and those very considerable Affairs that immediately concern'd the safety of the Kingdom All the Provinces of the Kingdom being divided betwixt the King and the League it was to be expected that the great Cities would likewise â—andy within their own Walls and stand up for the one party or the other as mens passions or judgments enclin'd them to the cause Of this number was the City of Limoges where the Bishop who was of the Family of Marthoine assisted by the Sieurs de Pompadou de la Guâ—rche de Rastignac de la Chappelle Biron and many other Gentlemen of Quality favour'd also by many of the Inhabitants labour'd all he could to make the Town and City declare for the Duke of Mayenne and his Faction wherein nevertheless he at first met some difficulty but proceeding from perswasions to open force he by the assistance of those Gentlemen made himself Master of the City and was upon the point to have made himself also Master of the Town when the Count de la Voute eldest Son to the Duke of Ventadour put himself into it and made all possible resistance to preserve it out of their hands Yet had he not his Party being so much the weaker been able long to have held out had not the Duke of Espernon advertis'd of this disorder come in to his timely succour But at the report of the Duke's arrival the Leaguers immediately dispers'd themselves abandoning the City they already possess'd as he afterwards turn'd all suspected persons out of the Town and settled it so well by the prudent order he establish'd there that it never after started from its duty but on the contrary continued so firm and maintained it self so well that it was almost the only City of the Kingdom which tasted not of those miseries with which the Civil War by taking re-taking plunder and other mischiefs infested all other Cities of France a happiness that place principally owes to the timely succour it receiv'd from the Duke of Espernon's vigilance and care The example of the Capital City contain'd almost all the lesser Cities of the Province in his Majesties Obedience neither was there any except that of St. Germain which refus'd to keep within the limits of its Duty but that declaring for the League constrain'd the Duke to turn his Forces that way to reduce it Puiferrat a Gentleman of the Country commanded there who after some vollies of Cannon shot surrendred upon conditions that he and his Souldiers should have free Quarter and march away with Bag and Baggage a capitulation notwithstanding very ill observ'd to the Duke 's great displeasure who having appointed the elder Sobole's Troop of Light Horse for their Convoy without considering their Officer had been kill'd at the Siege the Cavaliers incens'd at the loss of their Captain reveng'd his Death upon these miserable people and cut them almost all to pieces A cruelty some Authors have laid to the Duke's charge though very unjustly for had his generous heart been capable of committing so dishonourable a crime what advantage could he have propos'd to himself from so â—oul a
and practices that might discompose the calm of Peace his Kingdom was now settled in but so it was that for one or both these reasons he engag'd the greatest part of his Nobility whom he knew to be monied men in vast designs of this kind amongst whom his Majesty conceiving the Duke of Espernon to be one the most at his ease he was so importunate with him as to cause a plot for Cadillac to be design'd in his own Presence order'd the charge of the whole to be cast up and made one of his own Architects to undertake for an hundred thousand Crowns to begin and perfect the work upon which assurance the Duke as has been said in the year 1598 began the foundation conceiving that such a summe as that he might without inconvenience spare to gratifie his Masters humour though time afterwards gave him to understand how hard a thing it is to contain a man's self within a determinate charge after he has once set his hand to so tempting a work as Building this Pile before it was finish'd having cost him above two millions of Livres 'T is very true and which seldom happens to undertakers of such vast designs that with this infinite expense he brought the greatest and most stately pile of Building the Royal Houses excepted in France very near to perfection the whole body of the Building being perfected before his death and nothing save some few Ornaments left to finish neither had he left those to his Successors had not the disgrace of being withdrawn from his Government which still afflicted him diverted his thoughts from the sole care of that design The Duke as has been said being come into Guienne to take a view of his Building arriv'd at the City of Bourdeaux in the beginning of August where he found the Mareschal d' Ornano but newly there establish'd Lieutenant for the King by the decease of the Mareschal de Matignon who died of an Apoplexy and where their old Animosities though great were nevertheless on both sides so well dissembled as not to hinder a mutual Civility betwixt them no more than these civilities could hinder past jealousies from breaking out upon the first occasion into a new and open rupture This Mareschal though an Alien born had yet by his Valour and Fidelity acquir'd so great a reputation in France as in the Reign of Henry the III. to be a great confident to that Prince to whom the Duke of Espernon having been a principal Favourite it is nothing strange that a man of inferiour credit should envy another in a higher degree of Favour neither if the Mareschal were prepossess'd with this antiquated jealousie was the Duke on his part insensible of the recent traverses he had in Provence receiv'd from him the greatest part of the disgraces he had met with in that Country having been laid in his way by the opposition of l' Esdiguieres and him all which put together it may easily be imagin'd were likely to beget no very good blood between them To this the Mareschal a man of an imperious and haughty temper and who only under a forc'd smoothness conceal'd a natural arrogance could with no patience endure a Superiour an humour that made him with great anxiety look upon the Honours which at the Duke's arrival at Burdeaux he receiv'd from the Parliament with the other Orders of the City and which were also continued to him by the Nobility at Cadillac who from all parts came in to do him Honour But if his impatience were great before it was rais'd up to the height when he knew the Duke who well enform'd of his dissatisfaction to make it yet more had invited all the Nobility and Gentry of the Country to Bordeaux to a publick running at the Ring a solemnity that being there to be kept where he was in Supreme Command the Duke knew would much more nettle and afflict him It is very true that the Duke might have forborn this Bravado to a man whom he knew to be so tender of his Honour as the Mareschal d' Ornano was and perhaps it was not well done to offer that to another he himself would never have endur'd from any man living in a place where he had commanded in Chief but having once engag'd in the business his great spirit whatever might succeed would by no means give him leave to desist especially when he knew the Mareschal was resolv'd by open force to oppose him This was that which made what was before only a private discontent to break out into open quarrel which grew so high that the Mareschal address'd himself to the Parliament where in the presence of them all he complain'd what a commotion the Duke went about to stir up amongst the people to the prejudice as he pretended of his Majesties Affairs acquainting them at the same time with his resolution to make his Garrison stand to their Arms to play his Cannon and in fine to do what in him lay with all the power and authority he had to break that appointment and to drive the Duke from the City This declaration from a man of his furious spirit as it very much troubled the whole Assembly so it gave the first President D' Affis one of the greatest men that Society ever had since its first institution and a particular friend of the Duke's having by him in his times of favour been rais'd to that dignity occasion to make use of his Eloquence in the best Arguments he could contrive to disswade the Mareschal from that determination but all in vain he had already given out his orders and summon'd the Gentry to come in to his assistance though not a man save only one call'd Ruat would appear a thing which though perfectly true appears almost incredible that a Governour of so great Authority and Repute should be able to procure no more than one single man to serve him against the Duke of Espernon in his own Government Neither were the people better dispos'd than the Nobility and Gentry to take Arms against the Duke all men on the contrary of any note both within and without the City so manifestly appearing for him that the Governour was forc'd to arm his Garrison of Corses and to call his Company of Gens-d ' Armes out of their Country Quarters into the Town which were yet apparently too weak to execute the Mareschal's design And this was in effect the main cause that hindred things from proceeding into a greater disorder the Duke satisfied with the advantage every one plainly saw he had over his Enemy being the more easily enclin'd to the Parliaments solicitations who had sent their second President Nesmond to him to entreat he would not persist in his first resolution at whose instance and being loath to disturb the Peace of his Country as also to expose the great number of Gentlemen of Quality who were about him against a Garrison in his own particular quarrel and having a greater
That to procure their consents there was no way so plausible and consonant to Law as therein to interest all the Parliaments of France by prevailing with that of Paris whose whose Act would be a kind of Warranty to the rest That should they have staid the coming of the Count de Soissons he would by his presence infallibly have sway'd all things according to his inclination That the Prince of Condé coming after would have been impatient at his younger Brother's getting the start of him in an Affair where the priority of Vote in the Election was in him by which means the variety of their interests not permitting them to concur in an Act wherein each of them would be ambitious to precede a fraction betwixt them must of necessity ensue That for that reason he had us'd all diligence in pressing the Parliament to a speedy resolution in favour of the Queen In the carrying on of which Affair it is in my opinion something hard to determine whether the Stars of France or the Duke's Prudence did most prevail It is not to be denied but that both the one and the other contributed very much to the happy performance of this great work But it is likewise most certain that the business had never been so fortunately effected if the Duke had less prudently foreseen what was likely to ensue or had proceeded with less diligence and vigour to the establishment of this Election to the general benefit of the Kingdom wherein if he perform'd a signal Service to the State he did no less for the Prince who would have met with no little impediments to his rising greatness had he at his return found the Count de Soissons settled as it were a Co-partner in the Government by being possess'd of some of the most important Employments of the Kingdom Thus was this business carried on France being from the highest step of her Glory precipitated into the greatest extream of her Misfortune and the King's Triumphs being in a moment overcast with the Funeral Black of his Obsequies but the re-establishment of the State overthrown by so great and so tragick a Revolution and the publick happiness in an instant secur'd without one drop of Blood was it not an afternoons work of the Duke of Espernon and can so great a success without injustice be attributed to any thing but to his prudent Conduct In the Narrative whereof I have not added one syllable more than the truth and doubtless there are many yet alive that can justifie all I have said I know very well that the Historians of that time have not mention'd all the particularities I have as material to my purpose insisted upon and that those who have been most exact have recorded but very few in their Relations which is in part the reason why I have more willingly enlarg'd my self in this discourse that I might impartially render what is so justly due to Truth and Virtue The sad accident of the King's Death was so suddenly spread all over Europe that it seem'd as if his person rais'd to the highest pitch of Honour to which man can arrive had fall'n in the sight of all the world The Prince of Condé who as has been said resided then at Milan receiv'd the first news of it from the Condé de Fuentes which was immediately after confirm'd by a Courrier dispatch'd purposely to him from the Queen Regent to invite him back into France The Count de Soissons who was but two little days journey from Paris was much sooner inform'd and at the same instant in all diligence repair'd thither to see what this accident might produce where he arriv'd the sixteenth of May two days only after the King's Death but late enough notwithstanding to find all things dispatch'd to his hand So that matters being already concluded the Queens Authority establish'd the Parliament People Souldiery and whole City settled in their Duty and nothing lest for him to do but to approve what was already done and which he could no ways hope to overthrow had he dislik'd it he was fain whether sincerely or otherwise to concur in the Election and thereupon went to present himself to the Queen where he assur'd her Majesty of his Faith and absolute Obedience The Count at his arrival at Court observing the Duke of Espernon to be seated in that degree of Favour and Reputation to which by his signal and recent Services to the Queen he might justly pretend he forthwith resolv'd to contract a strict connexion with him as accordingly by making him a tender of his Friendship and assistance against all whomsoever he endeavour'd to do neither did he do it but upon very good consideration for foreseeing that the Prince of Condé returning to Court as he soon after did would infallibly take upon him the preeminence and degree due to his Quality and Birth he would by that means labour so to establish himself before his arrival that it should not be in the Princes Power to shake him To which end he could pitch upon none so proper to support his Interest as the Duke of Espernon who was at that time the most considerable person in the Kingdom The Queen had appointed him Lodgings in the Louvre not conceiving her self secure as she was pleas'd to say but under his Vigilancy and Valour all dispatches were communicated to him his Orders and Advice were in all things follow'd and observ'd so that would he have stretch'd his Authority to the utmost or had he been ambitious of favour he might doubtless with great facility have made himself sole Master of Affairs but so far was he from desiring to appear necessary though effectually so to the excluding those who had right to the Council that on the contrary he entreated the Queen to call and admit into it all such as either by the priviledge of their Birth or by the repute of their capacities might reasonably pretend to that Honour coveting no greater advantage than to have a concurrence with worthy men for the publick Safety and seeing he could not without drawing great envy upon himself possess alone that preeminence in the Administration to which the King had design'd him he was content with the rest to share that part which could not equitably be denied to his approv'd Fidelity and Wisdom Though the Count de Soissons had the foremention'd reasons to seek the Duke of Espernon's friendship he had yet therein a further and a more important design and that was by the Duke's assistance to procure a Match betwixt Madamoiselle â—de Montpenâ—ier the Duke's Niece and his own Son Lewis of Bourbon since Count de Soissons neither was the Duke so ill read in this Princes intention that he did not very well perceive at what part he took his aim which made him though he receiv'd the offer of his friendship with the respect due to a Prince of the Blood nevertheless accept it with such a gravity and reservation as
the Royal Arms and that upon the preservation of Metz depended in part the life of the whole Action but of how great moment soever this place might be to the design in hand the summes nevertheless were very moderate that were there left for its defense arising to no more in all than an hundred thousand Crowns carried thither by Wagon from Saverne of which summe Vincentio receiv'd an hundred thousand Livers for the use of the Duke of Boüillon who was to take Arms in favour of the Queen a part of the remainder only being left at Metz for the raising of men necessary for the defense of the Town and to buy Ammunition The Duke having found by this mony coming in some though very little effect of those promises had been made him by the Queen did from thence conclude her Servants had provided so carefully for the rest that nothing would be wanting of all those things whereof they had given him before so ample assurance In which belief he set himself wholly upon his preparation to be gone of which also having given notice to the Queen her Majesty whose condition was much worse than his to quicken his haste sent him another Letter in the same Canting style Sir I shall make use of Magurin's one of our Factors Pen meaning Chanâ—eloube to let you know that I was never more overjoy'd in my life than when I receiv'd the Letter you did me the honour to send wherein you give me assurance of your constant love which is so great a comfort to me that what affliction soever God shall be pleas'd to lay upon me I shall notwithstanding rejoyce in this that my Husband loves me and that I shall shortly have the happiness to see him Neither do I doubt of his affection who has so good a soul that I know he can never forget her who in this world most honours and loves him and that so soon as he has settled all our Affairs where he now is he will come to take order about those we have in these parts which praised be God are already in a very hopeful way But I am in great pain to know the place where you are pleas'd I shall expect you for if you think it better that I go to our own house than to stay longer here send me word and I shall do what possibly I can to overcome the incommodities of the season to obey you but if it should fall out that I cannot stir from hence write me word how I may meet you upon the way and provided I be not put to rise too early I shall do wonders I expect therefore your Commands which I shall faithfully observe beseeching you to give me your instruction concerning all our other Affairs that I may do nothing may turn to our prejudice it being impossible I should ever fail in obeying whatever Commands you will lay upon Your humble and very obedient Wife and Servant And in a Postscript This shall be the last Letter I shall write wherefore I conjure you to remember to give me notice of your setting out that accordingly I may prepare my self G. G. And for the Superscription as upon that before A Monsieur Monsieur Fabert being at this present at Saverne This Letter which betwixt persons so well read in one anothers designs might with great ease be explain'd was by the Duke presently put into deliberation first that a day might be resolv'd upon for his departure and next that something might be concluded about the order was to be observ'd in going to receive the Queen To this Consultation the Dukes two Sons Rucellay and le Plessis were only admitted where as it usually falls out the nearer they approach'd to the execution of their design the harder it seem'd to be effected From the time the Duke had first engag'd his word to the Queen he had been very instant at Court to obtain liberty to go into his Governments of Xaintonge and Angoumois very well foreseeing that without such a formal leave he should meet difficulties enough in the very Journey it self had he had no design to favour the Queens escape but the more importunate he had been to procure that Licence the more obstinate he had found them to be in the denial They look'd upon him as it were mew'd up in Metz and were resolv'd to keep him in a manner a prisoner to his own Government in that remote part of the Kingdom So that the Duke in despair of procuring that priviledge and seeing that under the colour of some very inconsiderable excuses the King had a mind to make his presence at Metz appear altogether necessary to his Service he sent his Majesty a very full Remonstrance of the urgency of his Affairs in those parts with a repeated supplication that he would please to permit him to go Not that he expected a better success in this than in his former applications he had lost that hope but by this new Address to lull the Duke de Luines asleep who ought in reason to believe that this reiterated importunity pre-suppos'd an expectation in the Duke to prevail in his request and that consequently he would not depart from Metz till that were first obtain'd This Letter was writ by the Sieur de Balzac and is in my opinion one of the best pieces has flow'd from his admirable Pen which notwithstanding I have not inserted here forasmuch as the Reader may find it printed amongst the rest of his excellent Works By this Letter it was that whilst he was making preparation for his departure the Duke endeavour'd to conceal his Design wherein his policy was of infinite use and this that follows of no less He had a mind to send away before his Stable of manag'd Horses consisting of thirty what Gennets and Barbs the finest and best in France and equipage he had ever been very curious to maintain as he continued to the last hour of his life These horses that had been very unfit to travel such Journeys as he must of necessity take had they staid to go along with him and that could not in the mean time be convey'd out of Metz without much notice taken to hinder that observation and to delâ—de such as were too clear-sighted and too prying into all his actions the Duke caus'd for fifteen days together bridled sadled and in all their equipage as they had been to go a long Journey to be led out at several Gates of the City wherein though it was given out by the Grooms as done only to air them left they should become useless by standing continually still yet for a few of the first days they were seen to go out in that manner no body believ'd other than that they were the Dukes forerunners who intended himself soon after to follow An opinion that made the people crowd in multitudes to gaze upon the sight every one certainly concluding at first what was effectually the Duke's real design
the whole design By a supposititious hand one that took upon him to be a Servant to the Duke de Luines he caus'd five hundred crowns to be paid down to Lorme by virtue of which he retriv'd the Packet out of his hands disposing so of Lorme himself that he was never seen or heard of after by which means this great design in the greatest danger imaginable to be discover'd and lost was again restor'd to its former condition The Duke who as yet was totally ignorant of Lorme's treachery and who knew nothing of it of above a month after put himself in the mean time upon his Journey the order whereof at his setting out and which he also continu'd during the whole Voyage I shall here present you Wherein we shall observe so admirable a conduct that we cannot forbear notwithstanding the Duke's modesty who ever gave Fortune too great a share in all his performances to attribute the whole success of this enterprize immediately to his own prudence No body knew of his resolution till the night before his departure when all the Gates of the City being shut which at Metz as at all other Frontier Towns was commonly betimes he commanded every one to make ready for their departure the next morning He had some time before this caus'd eight thousand Pistols his whole stock at that time to be sowed up in Girdles of Leather which were all found in his Truncks at his death in the same condition they were at his departure from Metz such as a man might without much trouble wear about him which he distributed to fifteen Gentlemen of his Family whom he knew to be the most faithful and that were the best mounted to take care of with orders to follow him wherever he went should any cross accident befal him in the way His Jewels also which were lock'd up in a little iron Chest and carried in a Male was committed to a Valet de Chambre of approv'd fidelity who had likewise order not to stir from his person He had fifty Gentlemen only in his company every one arm'd with a Case of Pistols and a Carabine forty Guards with each one a Musket and a case of Pistols fifteen Sumpter Mules the ordinary Officers of his Houshold with several common Servants With this Troop amounting in all not to above an hundred good Horse and that would have been too little had he gone upon the accompt of a private quarrel only the Duke of Espernon adventur'd upon a Journey contrary to the King 's express Order from one extremity of the Kingdom to another and thence to return back again into the very heart of the same Kingdom there to assist the Queen Mother resolv'd contrary to the King's will to make her escape from a place to which she had been by his Majesty in the nature of a Prison confin'd and without certainly knowing by whom he was to be assisted in his design undertook to change the face of a mighty State so quiet and so united within it self as that it seem'd impossible either at home or abroad to be threatned with the least danger or trouble Wherein if the attempt was bold we shall find the execution no less worthy to be admir'd He must alone make an end of what he had alone begun his good Fortune it seems to his Glory ordering it so that not one great man of the Kingdom either envying or astonish'd at so daring a design would be drawn to embark in an action the honour and success whereof could derive to none but the Duke of Espernon So that they were content to let him bustle it out alone whilst themselves sate idle spectators of this haughty and noble Enterprize though it was certainly reported and believ'd that many of them had engag'd themselves to the Queen to serve her upon this occassion The Duke having thus order'd his little Train and not being able to separate himself from the Marquis de la Valette his most beloved Son without taking his leave he call'd him aside where embracing him with the tenderness of an affectionate Father he told him That the greatest testimony he could possibly give him of his Affection and Esteem was as he now did to commit to his Vigilancy and Valour the Custody of Metz it being the principal member of his Fortune and to the conservation of which he ought to be the more awake as it concern'd himself much more than it did him who having but a short time to live could expect but a few years possession That he might assure himself he should with the soonest be beleaguer'd with all the Forces the King could make and that no better was to be expected from the Inhabitants how well affected soever they might pretend to be to oppose both which much prudence and constancy would be requir'd That upon the success of the Action wherein they were now engag'd depended not only their Fortunes but their Reputations also which if it succeeded well they should be loaded with Honour but if otherwise be look'd upon as Criminals and Traytors That therefore they were to put on a Resolution rather to dye than to fall into that disgrace but that it was much better to live and to overcome as his heart assur'd him they should honourably and fortunately do By which few words the Marquis being confirm'd in the generous resolution he before had taken humbly besought the Duke his Father to be confident he would never do any thing unworthy his own Birth or his expectation when his tears having stop'd all further expression he by that tenderness gave a much better testimony of his courage than otherwise and at a greater liberty of speech his own modesty would perhaps have permitted him to do The Duke was no sooner parted from his Son but that he presently went to Horse to begin his Journey it being Monday the two and twentieth of Ianuary as had been before appointed The Gates of the City had not been opened since the evening before and then only that by which the Duke was to sally which was also shut again so soon as he who would himself be the last man was gone out Neither of three days after his departure was any one opened at all the Duke having moreover lest any Tickets might be thrown over the Walls or any persons let down who might carry intelligence of his motion to Court left order with Paul Lieutenant to a Company of Carabines belonging to the Garrison of Metz night and day to scour the Road to Paris and to intercept and stop all that should travel that way a precaution of so good use that the last news the Court receiv'd of the Duke of Espernon's departure came from Metz so well had all the Avenues been guarded on that side The Duke being now out of the City pursu'd his way with great diligence taking as long Journeys as the heaviness of his Sumpter-Mules would permit which though they ty'd him to
restor'd again to the whole sway of Affairs her due Authority and Greatness besides the honour he would infallibly acquire to himself in so glorious an occasion The Count thus prepar'd and instructed accordingly made provision of all things necessary for the design and le Plessis himself remaining conceal'd in the Queens Cabinet either to be as it were a Hostage for his Master's fidelity or to be present with his directions in the execution of the design sent Cadillac only back to the Archbishop of Tholouze to acquaint him with the Queens readiness the night following to make her escape The Archbishop who was to part from Confolans immediately after le Plessis had order to advance no further than Loches that place being design'd for the Queens first reception only to clear the Road in order thereunto but le Plessis by Cadillac intreated him to advance as far as Montrichart which was half way betwixt Blois and Loches assuring him that the Queen would infallibly come thither the night following which hapned to be the 22. of Feb. an exact month to a day after the Duke's departure from Metz. Cadillac therefore posted with extraordinary diligence back again to Loches to meet the Archbishop there where being come he found not only the Son but the Father also entring together the Suburbs of the City The reason of which was that though it had been at first resolv'd the Son should go before with twenty or thirty Gentlemen only to make the less noise and give the less suspicion yet could not the Duke his Father when it came to'â— consent to let him go so slenderly attended where he apprehended the peril to be so manifest and great He knew not in the anxiety and doubt wherewith he was involv'd what to think of the Queens silence of whom he had hitherto heard no news at all to which the rumour that was already spread abroad of his real design having more encreas'd his apprehension nature would not permit him to expose his Son to so great an adventure chusing much rather to run the whole hazard together with him than that he alone should tempt the danger whilst himself lay idle and secure Cadillac having discover'd them at distance spur'd up to them transported with joy of the good news he brought where he gave them a full relation of what had pass'd betwixt the Queen and himself and of what he had in Commission from his Master together with her Majesties readiness to depart and the secresie that had hither to been preserv'd in the Queens Houshold but he could give them no accompt why they had heard nothing from her Majesty at Confolans she having deny'd to le Plessis that Lormâ— had ever been with her as it was too true or that she had ever heard â— syllable from the Duke since his departure from Metz which she said had put her into no little fear And here I cannot but wonder at the infirmities of men and the â—isproportion we may sometimes observe in the bravest and most heroick minds The Duke of Espernon had for six months together been continually projecting this design had foreseen all the accidents could happen was come from Metz for no other end anâ— had wish'd for nothing more than to see things at the pass they now were notwithstanding all which he was strangely astonish'd at this news and the immediate sight of the object representing to his imagination at once what â— he had only consider'd by particulars before he seem'd to stagger in his resolution whether he should proceed any fuâ—ther or no in an Enterprize the last Act whereof could only crown all the rest and secure him for what was already done He made Cadillac repeat above an hundred times in less than half an hour what the Queen and what his Master had said with what he had himself observ'd when suddenly and of himself grown generously resolute in his first design he commanded Cadillac to return immediately to le Plessis and to assure him that the night following the Archbishop his Son with fifty Light-Horse should infallibly be ready at Montrichart and that the next day after himself would follow with the rest of his party to receive the Queen and to secure her retreat should any thing upon the way be attempted against her The end of the Seventh Book THE HISTORY Of the LIFE of the Duke of Espernon The Eighth Book IF the Duke had on his part been alarm'd with these jealousies and mistrusts the Queens Servants on the other side were in no less diffidence and fear These were upon this occasion reduc'd to a very contemptible number wherein I cannot but admire that in so plentiful a fortune as this Princess was Mistriss of notwithstanding her disgrace there was so little fidelity to be found amongst her people that she durst entrust the secret of this Affair to but four of her domesticks only Of these the Count de Brenne was the chief the others were Mazure and du Lion Exempts of her Guards and Katherine one of the women of her Chamber an Italian and exceeding faithful These being all strangers to le Plessis and the Duke of Espernon being not as yet declar'd undertaker of the Enterprize disputed very stiffly against her Majesties resolution as being very unwilling to consent she should commit her safety to persons altogether unknown The debate whereof was very hot in the Queens Closet whilst in the mean time her Cabinets were packing up with her choicest Jewels where though they could not very well approve of the thing yet had they not however neglected to fix the Ladders and Cadillac who had set out of Loches by eight of the clock that evening was got betwixt twelve and one upon the Bridge of Blois to give the last blow to the design He was here staid by the Count de Brenne's Gentleman of his Horse and one of the Queens Footmen who had been to convey the Coach out of Town and who had orders to suffer one Currier only to pass which though this were the man intended in that direction yet would they not permit him to pass upon his own word but would themselves go along with him to the Castle though he had taken so exact observation before of the way from without the City to the Ladders that he serv'd for a guide to those who pretended to conduct him In the heat therefore of this diligence he was not long e're he recover'd the first Ladder by which having mounted the Terrass he went to the second which from the Terrass lead up to the Queens Closet Window by which she was to come out Being got up to the Window which he found shut he there heard the noise the Queens Servants made in their Debate who were not yet to be perswaded out of the apprehensions they had conceiv'd of her Majesties person and safety Which first fears had been infinitely augmented by the recovery of the Packet entrusted to Lorme
great Ministers of the Kingdom and that therefore she conceived she could not erre in following the advice of so mighty a Prince and in committing her self to the conduct of so faithful a Servant From Loches the 25th of Feb. 1619. The King had no sooner receiv'd this Letter but that the Favourites began to study an answer which though it were in shew respective enough to the Queen was yet full of threats towards the Duke Wherein after his Majesty had express'd to the Queen his astonishment at the violence the Duke of Espernon had committed upon her person he went on with great heat to declare That of all others he could never have suspected an offense of that nature believing there had not been that man in the world who in a profound and inviolate peace had had the impudence which were the express terms of the Letter not only to execute but even to meditate a resolution to attempt upon the liberty of the Mother of his King From whence his Majesty proceeding to menaces of the most severe and exemplary punishment he in the end justified those about his person from the ill usage whereof she complain'd as having been done by his own order and that with as much favour and respect as any Son of a much inferiour Birth could pay to a Mother declaring withal that he was resolv'd to take Arms thereby to put her in full possession of that liberty her enemies had taken from her and to cause the honour and respect to be paid her which was due to her person The rest was committed to the Count de Bethune who was sent away with this dispatch and who was to reside with the Queen to treat with her about an Accommodation a Treaty his Majesty immediately set on foot not thinking it fit till that way had first been try'd to commence a War wherein the Queen his Mother would be head of the adverse party A respect that did not long continue Whilst Bethune with this Commission took the way to Angoulesme the Queen Mother who departed from Loches the same day that she sent her Letter to Court was there arriv'd It was upon the first of March 1619. that she enter'd the City where she was no sooner come but that she dispatch'd away to all parts to dispose those who had promis'd to engage in her quarrel to declare now in her favour Most of the Grandees of the Kingdom were at this time retir'd from Court and almost all dissatisfied with the present Government yet whether it were as I have said that seeing the Duke of Espernon had already so engross'd the entire honour of the Action they could not in reason expect to share with him who had alone executed the most glorious and dangerous part of the design or that they had been taken off by the Favourites promises who in this juncture had not neglected to prevent the effect of their discontents however it was they were glad to do their own work at the Duke's expense and as they had had no hand in the action would not in the least appear in the Queens behalf The Duke of Espernon therefore with such Friends and Servants as he had must alone stand the brunt of the Royal Arms and undergo the utmost effect of his Majesties indignation The Queen 't is true granted out several Commissions and disburst some money not considerable for Leavies all which though it signified little to the work yet had she betwixt five and six thousand foot and betwixt eight and nine hundred Horse that were rais'd in the Duke's Governments by his own interest He had from the beginning of the Queens Regency made provision of Arms for ten thousand Foot and six hundred Horse which were now taken out and of so great use that could the Friends he had in Guienne have assisted him according to their affections he had upon his own accompt rais'd a very considerable Army But the Duke of Mayenne who was Governour of that Province having in this occasion been prepossess'd by the Favourite by whom the command of the Army that was to go against the Queen was conferr'd upon him it was not likely he should suffer those Troops to go out of his Government which were to be employ'd against him yet did not the Duke fail however of a very considerable succour from thence so great an affection and esteem they had for him in that Countrey the Marquis de Montferrant and Foncaude Brothers the Count de Calonges and some other Gentlemen of quality all considerations laid apart exposing themselves freely to the persecutions of the Court and the displeasure of a powerful Governour to pay that duty they ow'd and had sworn to the Duke of Espernon though having opportunity to draw away their men by Files only and that with great difficulty and danger they could not serve him so effectually as they desir'd Is the Queen found her self thus weak in the place where she was in person her party was in no better a condition in other parts of the Kingdom The Duke of Boüillon himself of whom the Marquis de la Valette thought himself secure refuâ—ing so much as to declare for the Queen who having long expected what the first success of Arms and the issue of the Queens Declarations would be and seeing neither the one nor the other which novelty often renders vigorous and considerable had produc'd any signal effect he was content to sit neuter and to attend the event by whose example some other persons of condition who had engag'd to take Arms in Champagne â—icardie and the neighbouring Provinces and that had been made to believe the Duke of Boüillon would head them refus'd likewise to stir all the most zealous and affectionate to the Queens Service could do being to come in in their own persons which signified no great matter Of which number were the Marquis de Môny Breauté Bourbonne Bethancourt and some others The Marquis de Themines came in also of another side though the Mareschal his Father was on the contrary party but it was only to command the Queens Guards of which he was Captain so that in effect the whole weight of the business lay still upon the Duke of Espernon The Favourites were in a far better condition who after they had on all sides prepossess'd the minds of the great ones and perverted the inclinations they might have had in favour of the Queen Mother had powerfully arm'd themselves rather indeed against the Duke than her The Duke of Mayenne was in the head of ten thousand Foot and twelve hundred Horse for the most part old Souldiers ready to enter into Angoumois The Count de Schomberg the Kings Lieutenant under the Duke in Limousin had receiv'd order to make Leavies to impede those the Duke was making in that Countrey which having done he soon employ'd them in an Enterprize of greater noise than moment though very disadvantageous to the Queens Interest
if as it was evident enough they yet retain'd a will to do it Yet would not the Duke of Espernon make any other advantage of this success than thereby the better to manifest to the King his submission and the confidence he repos'd in his Royal Goodness resigning himself up wholly into his hands but the Duke of Mayenne would not do so who on the contrary fearing lest the Duke de Luines whom he had highly provok'd having him at his mercy should take some notable revenge of the injuries he had done him could not so soon resolve to lay down his Arms. He could much rather have been content to have possess'd the Duke with the same apprehensions and to have engag'd him with him in some violent extreme thereby to procure their own conditions to which purpose he also sent to sound his inclination and to represent to him their common danger if they did not provide for the security of their lives and fortunes before they parted with their Swords out of their hands but the Duke sent him word again That his resolution was already taken and that as he had taken up arms for no particular interest of his own so he had laid them down so soon as he knew the Queen was satisfied That he hop'd his Majesties Clemency would easily extend it self to all his Subjects who should not obstinately persist in their disobedience That therefore he could give Monsieur de Mayenne no other advice than that he had taken himself which though it should not succeed well with him he had rather be ill us'd whilst he could justifie himself innocent than after having committed a fault that would render him criminal beyond all excuse By which answer the Duke of Mayenne seeing he had set up his rest in this determination and finding himself too weak alone to wrestle with the King's Name and Power he was in the end fain to submit and to return to his Duty wherein nevertheless his Majesty who knew after what manner both the one and the other proceeded as highly commended the Duke of Espernon as he blam'd the Duke of Mayenne One would have said that this great disorder in the Queen Mothers Affairs wherein so many persons and those of so eminent condition were engag'd only hapned to set a greater value and lustre upon the Duke of Espernon's conduct In the first War alone and unassisted by any he so manag'd the few Forces he had as without giving ground to his adversaries he ever kept himself in a posture to resist them and so as in the end to obtain reasonable Conditions not only for the Queen but also for himself and his friends without ever submitting to his enemies discretion whereas in this there was no reservation for any insomuch that of all the great men who were engag'd in this last business there was not one who lay not open and expos'd to the utmost severity of the King's justice had he been pleas'd to have proceeded against them 'T is true notwithstanding that his Majesty in his Clemency pardon'd every one but it was meerly an effect of his own goodness without any obligation upon him either by writing or the least promise at all The King assur'd of the Duke of Espernon's obedience and finding by his late signal advantages how much his own presence had contributed to the success of his own Affairs taking his measures from thence what he might promise to himself by the same method in other occurrences he resolv'd for the future to appear in his own Person upon all occasions of importance the better thereby to establish his Royal Authority in all parts of his Kingdom The Affairs of Bearne therefore being of such a nature as that his presence seem'd to be very necessary there he determin'd to move that way and even to go over into it if occasion should be In order whereunto being advanc'd from Pâ—ictou as far as Xaintonge he was pleas'd to permit that the Duke of Espernon should come to him to make his Apology for what had pass'd upon the borders of his own Government His Majesty therefore was no sooner come to Chizay but that the Duke de Beâ—legarde who was very well at Court and exceedingly solicitous of the Duke his Kinsmans Interest came to see the Duke at Aunay to assure him he might be very kindly receiv'd by the King The Duke had never so much as desir'd any such security so confident he had been in the King's bounty and his own deportment nevertheless confirm'd in the hope of so gracious a reception from so good a hand they departed together from the Duke's Lodgings to go directly to the King 's Where the Duke was no sooner seen to enter but all the Court flock'd to the novelty so that I have heard the Duke say that seeing the crowd there was to observe his reception and to hear what he would say for his excuse he strain'd his voice much louder than he us'd to do to satisfie the curiosity of the standers by telling the King in few words That he never thought it a disservice to his Majesty to serve the Queen his Mother but that since he had been so unhappy as to have incurr'd his Majesties displeasure he most humbly begg'd his Pardon protesting that the Grace he should be pleas'd to grant him upon this occasion should be the last of this nature he would ever ask of him so long as he had life there being no pretense nor consideration whatsoever that should ever have the power to separate him from any interest wherein he should see his Majesties name and person engag'd A promise that he from that time forward inviolably observ'd as we shall hereafter see The Duke was kneel'd down when he first began to speak but the King raising him at the first word and embracing him at the end of this short speech his Majesty reply'd That he was confident he would be as good as his word receiving him with great demonstrations of favour and esteem When after having entertain'd him some time his Majesty dismist him that he might go visit the Duke de Luines betwixt whom at their meeting there pass'd great civilities on both sides with many assurances of reciprocal affection And that very day the Duke executed his command of Colonel in the King's Lodgings receiving orders from the King 's own mouth to carry them to the Regiment of Guards The next day his Majesty commanded him to go prepare his entry into St. Iean d' Angely a City in his Government but held by those of the Religion and into which he had never till now been receiv'd so that he saw himself at the same time not only restor'd to his old Commands but also by a particular favour from his Majesty authoriz'd in places where as yet he had never been The Duke was surpriz'd at so extraordinary and so unexpected favours but much more when he understood it was in part through
ready to return upon the first orders he should receive That except what concern'd the interest of his Majesties Service he was Monsieur de la Force's Friend and Servant That he had not sought that employment against him and that he should be exceeding glad to hear his Majesty was satisfied with his submissions But that till then he should not delay a minute the execution of the Orders he had receiv'd no consideration either of his own his friends or any other person under the Sun being of force to divert him in the least from his Duty This first Embassy having therefore taken no effect it was soon seconded by another of which one Charles the principal Minister of Bearne was the Bearer This person in the quality of a Deputy from the Countrey was sent to represent to him the sterility of the Countrey the poverty of the Inhabitants and difficulty of the ways and the resolution of the people to make a smart resistance should they who were at present in as good a disposition as could be desir'd be urg'd to the last extremes but the Duke having flatly told him that the end of his expedition was to cause the King to be obey'd and to chastise all those that should rebel against him He was sent back very much astonish'd at so brisk a reply The Marquis de la Force that perhaps expected no better a success from his deputations having been well enough acquainted with the Duke of Espernon to know he was not a man easie to be impos'd upon would therefore make what preparation he could to oppose him but he found so general a fear and astonishment among the people that he evidently saw it was to hazard his own ruine should he expect the Duke's coming into his Government The Bearnois had no sooner heard the Duke's name but that they gave themselves for lost their haughty and declar'd insolence with which they had a few days before overthrown the King's Order and trodden his Authority under foot and their high Vaunts that they would defend their Religion and their Countreys liberty to the last man were converted into a Panick terror so that on a sudden whole Cities were left desolate men of the best quality among them with their Wives and Families seeking their safety in their flight out of a just apprehension of all the punishments an offended Prince might reasonably inflict upon a mutinous and disobedient people In this general consternation of the Bearnois the Duke drew near to Ortez the first City in Rebellion he met upon his way the Castle whereof was of it self very strong and had of late been moreover fortified and furnish'd with all necessaries of War which also shut up the pass of the whole Countrey and was of so advantageous a situation as was very easie to be defended but those within what countenance soever they had before put on of a resolute defense no sooner heard the Duke had sent for Cannon from Navarrens to force them but they presently surrendred without staying till they could be brought up This success was of no little importance to the Duke who had he met with much opposition in this first enterprize having but ten Foot Companies wherewith to form a Siege no Officers to serve his Artillery little Ammunition no Victual Money or any other means to subsist four days in a place had been in great danger of being stop'd from making any further progress into the Countrey All which difficulties though he had beforehand very well consider'd and foreseen he would notwithstanding try the experiment knowing very well that in matters of War all was not always to be expected from an enemy he either could or should do And from this success he took his measures of what he might promise to himself in reducing the other Garrisons nothing doubting from that time forwards but he should bring all his other enterprizes to an honourable and successful issue As the business of Ortez had given the Duke very good hopes of his expedition so it totally overthrew those of the Marquis de la Force who no sooner had intelligence of the surrender of this place but that he made haste to be gone that he might not be hemm'd in with the Duke's Forces whilst the Duke on the other side to make his advantage of the astonishment the Marquis his flight must of necessity leave the whole Country in advanc'd with all diligence from Ortez to Olleron where some fortifications had lately been made which were also at his appearing deserted without the least shew of opposition An unfortunate fellow a Souldier and a Provençal had been the main director in this work where he suffred himself to be surpriz'd so that the Duke who was oblig'd to make some example was not sorry this wretch should expiate for all the rest as accordingly he did being condemn'd by a Council of War and hang'd at his own Barricado where the poor fellow at his death lamented the ill fortune he had to be born a Provençal declaring he was sacrific'd to the Duke's antiquated hatred to those of his Countrey and that his Bitth was his greatest Crime though it was nevertheless altogether untrue After this there being neither judgment to be pass'd nor execution to be done the Duke went to Nay to Salies to Sauveterre and lastly to Pau where the fear of his severity that had before frighted every one from his habitation being converted into an absolute confidence in his Clemency and Goodness every one return'd to his own home The Cities which at his coming had been almost totally deserted were on a sudden re inhabited insomuch that from that time forward all the Duke had to do was only to receive the tenders and protestations of their obedience and to set down some Rules for their Civil Regiment which was order'd with so much Justice and Wisdom or so fortunately at least the equality of all things was so entirely preserv'd and he took such care to reconcile the Interests of Religion wherein the incompatibility had been so great before and had with so much heat fomented their divisions that both parties were satisfied with the equal shares he divided betwixt them in the publick administration since which time there has been no revolt nor commotion in that Province it having ever since continued in peace and obedience under the Justice of the Duke's Discipline which is there inviolately observ'd to this day And all this was perform'd in less than three weeks time his Journey thither his stay there and his return thence being in all not two months expedition neither did it cost the King twelve thousand Livers I having seen the Accompt of the Army which did not in all arise to that little summe 'T is true withal that the Duke reckon'd nothing upon his own account contenting himself with causing some Officers to be paid that at his instance had serv'd upon this occasion So that by the influence
had nothing left to do but to open their Trench We were in those times very raw in Sieges and the way of opening a Trench was so new that very few knew which way to go about that kind of Service wherein the Duke highly manifested his courage and experience and to such a degree that all the rest who had hitherto had the ordering of the Siege seem'd only Spectators of his conduct all the other works either totally ceasing or being but negligently carried on and his only going forward as indeed it was on that part that the Town was taken Having therefore set a time for the opening the Trench which was St. Iohn's Eve the Duke went that morning very early to the Trenches and having the night before prepar'd all things ready for his design and amongst other things given order to the Oâ—ficers of the Artillery to play their Cannon by break of day to beat down the defenses of the City he was by the noise of this Battery call'd up from his Quarters The Enemy on the other side having intelligence of what was intended against them had prepar'd to make a resolute resistance so that though the Cannon which from two Batteries rais'd upon the very edge of the Graffe had in two hours time by near upon five hundred shot made great ruines in the Walls yet had they not prevail'd so far but there were still two Flanckers remaining which cut the Duke off a great many very worthy men as well of his own Domestick Servants as others his very particular Friends The Marquis de la Valette who shar'd with his Father in the glory of this action was at the opening this Trench wounded by a Musquet-shot which broke his ankle bone all in pieces Carbonnié Captain of the Guard to the late Duke de Biron a man of great Valour and a particular Servant of the Duke 's by a Musquet-shot in the head was there slain Brignemont the Gentleman of the Duke's Horse and Brother to the Count de Maillé receiv'd another in his thigh of which he died a few hours after as also many others were either slain out-right or dangerously wounded which hapned by an inconvenience for which there was no remedy which was that the Graffe of the City being exceeding deep the Trench could not be carried on so low but that they were necessitated to leap from a great height into it by which means most of those who had thrown themselves into that danger receiv'd this disadvantage before the Ditch could be fill'd up with Bavins but how great soever the danger was the Duke never stirr'd from the mouth of the Trench but stood open and expos'd and in his Doublet only till he had seen the Quarter made which by l' Encheres and le Roc two Aides de Camp was at last brought to perfection the last of which was slain in the attempt the other came more happily off though it was only soon after in a very handsome action to meet the same misfortune The day after the Duke having renewed his Batteries and by them made the two Flanckers useless which rendred that Post very unsafe the besieg'd fell into so great a fear that seeing our men already lodg'd at the foot of their Walls and that the Miners were about to sappe they sued to be admitted to Capitulation attributing by common consent the whole honour of the Siege to the Duke of Espernon as indeed by his conduct it was evidently two months advanc'd For the rest as the Duke had most contributed to the reducing this place or because it was a member of his Government or that his Authority was more absolute with the Souldier than any of the rest or out of deference to his Command as Colonel or out of the respect his age and merit had acquir'd him above all others upon some or all these considerations it was so order'd that he himself was the first man that enter'd into the Town And happy it was for that poor City he did so for some French and Swisse Foot having got over the ruines of the Breach whilst those within were intent about letting such as were appointed to enter into the Gates were already upon the spoil and principally busie about plundering the Ministers house which the Duke having notice of he ran himself immediately to the place where he caus'd all that had been taken away to be restor'd drave away the rest from the other houses and set all things in order a care in him whereof I was a witness and without which the King had had the dishonour to have seen his faith violated before his own eyes but the Duke by this action made it plain that if he knew how to conquer he knew as well how to provide for the safety of those he had overcome All the Commotions of those of the Religion having taken birth from the Rochellers obstinacy to continue the Assembly they had called together in their City in defiance of the King 's express Command and that they still continued to uphold to the prejudice of his Royal Authority his Majesties Council conceiv'd it more than a little concern'd his reputation to make this mutinous people feel the smart their contumacy and disobedience had so highly deserv'd The ill example of this City had so corrupted the other parts of the Kingdom and had begot so many disturbances to the publick peace as had necessitated his Majesty in his own person to run up and down to so many several places to suppress them that in the beginning he could never be at leisure to sit down before Rochelle the living source of all those mischiefs as he did some years after and that with a success posterity will hereafter look upon as a prodigy of Fortune and Conduct But for an undertaking of that difficulty and importance it was necessary his Majesty should make choice of some Subject of great Valour and approv'd Fidelity and such a one as could no way be suspected to have intelligence either with the Rochellers themselves or any others of their party qualities that appear'd so eminent in the person of the Duke of Espernon as that they seem'd to be in him united to no other end than to point him out for this Employment To which may be added that as being Governour of the Country of Aulnis where Rochelle stood as also of the bordering Provinces of Xaintonge and Angoumois he could for a need upon the single accompt of his own Interest and Authority draw so great Forces from those places to his assistance that his Majesty should not in the least be necessitated to slacken the vigour and progress of his other Victories for any accident that could happen on that side Upon these considerations his Majesty resolv'd to confer upon him the Command of the Army before Rochelle the dispatches whereof were Sign'd at Cognac the 4th of â—uly and at the end of the same month the Duke presented
himself before Rochelle so diligent he was in the execution of his Charge He had only four thousand Foot and six hundred Horse wherewithal to block up this great City whereof the Regiment of Estissac which soon after fell to the Count de Bury of the old but one of the least of the old Regiments was one the others were all new rais'd men and commanded by le Chevalier de la Valette Chasteliers Barlot Castelbayart and Saint Geme The Horse were indeed exceeding sprightly and good and those compos'd of the Company of the Queens Gens d' Armes commanded by the Baron de Chantal of that of the Camp Master to the Light-Horse commanded by Viantais of the Company of the Duke 's Gens-d ' Armes and some other very good Troops He had for Mareschaux de Camp d' Auriac Cousin to the Duke de l' Esdiguieres a Gentleman of great valour and experience Biron Brother to the late Mareschal of France Sauveâ—oeuf and le Massé Lieutenant to the Company of Gens-d ' Armes The Duke finding he should stand in great need of an Intendant de Iustice to ease him in part of the trouble and care of his command he cast his eye upon Monsieur de Autry Nephew to President Seguier his very intimate friend for that purpose whom he recommended to the King paâ—sionately beseeching his Majesty to invest him with that Employment a person that we have since seen rais'd to the supreme Dignity of Chancellor of France an Office that he does at this day discharge with so unblemish'd a repute as is nothing inferiour to the greatest men of those who have preceded him in that charge though at this time he had been but lately admitted into the Council in the quality of Master of Requests He had not long continued with the Duke before he gave as favourable a Character of his worth and merit as could possibly belong to a man of his condition judging him thence forward worthy and capable of all the great preferments a man of his Robe and Profession could reasonably expect or pretend unto So soon as the Troops appointed for this Service could be drawn together the Duke appointed the Rendezvous to be about Surgeres a house belonging to the Baron de Montendre which he took up for his own Quarter and without giving the Enemy further respite brought them two days after before the City to try if the Rochellers who had had time enough to prepare themselves would be so brave as to receive him in the Field though they contented themselves with bestowing upon him some Volleys of their great shot only which did no body any hurt at all without once offering to stir out of their Walls At his return from this little piece of bravery the Duke came to take up his Quarters in two great Burroughs a quarter of a League distant from one another whereof that he made choice of for his own Post was called la Iarrie and the other Croix-Chapeau where he dispos'd the rest of his Army as eldest Camp-Master under the command of d' Auriac The distance of the Quarters from the City was a League or thereabouts far enough to discover the Enemy a great way should he attempt to disturb him and not so far neither as to leave him too much liberty of the Field Having thus settled his Quarters he began to plant Garrisons upon all the Avenues of the City as well to keep the Enemy in as also to cut off from them all Commerce with the adjacent Countrey In such places as he found either Castles or Churches he lodg'd them there making shift elsewhere with Mills and private houses Which Garrisons in some places consisted of an hundred in others of fifty men but scarce any above an hundred To these he gave particular instructions to take especial notice of all things within the observation of their own Quarter to stop all such as would either offer to go into or come out of the City and to hinder the Enemy from gathering in their Harvests of Corn and Wine The Foot being thus order'd he caus'd the third part of the Cavalry to mount every day to Horse to scour the Field even to the very Gates of Rochelle So that should any thing by chance pass by the Foot it was almost impossible to escape the Horse by which means those few Forces being carefully provided for and so advantageously quarter'd did in a few months so incommodate the Rochellers that they found themselves absolutely depriv'd of all manner of Relief by Land insomuch that had any Shipping at the same time been employ'd to block up the Channel they could not without all doubt long have wrestled with those necessities they must have apparently fallen into but this was a Victory too glorious to be reserv'd for any other than the King himself Of all these little Garrisons which though they had drawn no lines of Communication made shift nevertheless to make up the Circumvallation of the City there was never any one forc'd by the Enemy 't is very true that they had attempted upon some of them both by day and by night but the Duke having ever been seasonably alarm'd alwayes came in time enough to relieve his own men and to make the Enemy with loss to retire Losses that were at last so frequent and considerable as that it is most certain they lost in several engagements betwixt twelve and fifteen hundred men Whereof some of those Skirmishes had been so brisk as that therein sometimes two sometimes three hundred men were left dead upon the place besides a great number of Citizens and Officers of note taken Prisoners whose Ransomes were very considerable The Duke every week duly twice sometimes thrice mounted on horseback in his own person to visit his Quarters which could not be done without coming very near the Town and this commendation is due to the Rochellers that they never saw the Duke's Horse approach their City without sallying out to Skirmish but it is also as true that they never return'd with the least advantage They were sometimes so bold as to attempt upon the Duke 's own Quarters but they were no more fortunate in assaulting than when they were themselves assaulted I shall not undertake a Narrative of all the several actions that pass'd in the beginning of this Siege though very remarkable in themselues forasmuch as they did not determine the business There was one great engagement at la Moulinette another at la Font another at Tadon and so many others that the Duke and the Marquis de la Valette his Son who alwayes made one upon all occasions ran very often very great hazard of their lives The first whereof had the brims of his Hat bor'd through with a Musquet-shot in one Encounter and the truncheon he carried in his hand broke all to pieces with another Musquet-shot in another the Marquis had one of his Stirropâ—leathers carried away and his Horse kill'd under
from him the vanity of a Title only they added much more to his effectual power That the Army being augmented by one half as it was to be there was no honourable exploit he might not be able to perform by such an addition of Forces since with so few as he had hitherto commanded he had to so glorious a pitch advanc'd his Majesties designs That his Majesty intended all things should be order'd by his wisdom and that this Prince's youth might be govern'd by his experience to the end that under â—o excellent a Discipline he might betimes be train'd up to the profession of Armes The Count also either of his own accord or by the King's order sent him the same complement at the same time but the Duke persisting never to have dependence upon other than Kings from whom he said and from no other all things by men of his condition were to be expected he humbly besought his Majesty to excuse him from this employment entreating Monsieur d' Herbaut to tell the King from him That he did not think himself Souldier enough to instruct this young Prince so well as he ought to be but that he likewise thought himself too old to begin to learn of any whomsoever After the Duke had sent the King this answer by Monsieur d' Herbaut and that he knew it had been well receiv'd he went himself the same day to his Majesty where he told him That he could never enough commend the good resolution his Majesty had taken in the Count's favour That he did with all his heart resign into his Majesties hands those Forces he had done him the honour to entrust him withal without diminution of number and some encrease of Reputation That of all the other Services he had heretofore perform'd for his Majesty and the Kings his Predecessors in the long course of his life he had ever expected his reward from their bounty without importuning them with his demands but that he should not do so here being resolv'd to take upon him the boldness to make one request which as it would neither incommodate his Majesties Affairs nor impair his treasure he hop'd would not be deny'd and that was only that his Majesty would give him leave to serve about his own person in the simple condition of a Volunteer That his Governments of Xaintonge and Angoumois being secure whilst an Army should lie before Rochelle his presence would be altogether unnecessary there and that therefore he humbly begg'd he might partake of those dangers to which his Majesty was about to expose his own person and that though he was now grown old he found he had nevertheless strength and vigour enough remaining to dye in some glorious day with a Pike in his hand at his Majesties stirrop Which being said his Majesty embracing him in his arms return'd this answer That he did very freely grant him that recompense and that if he had many Servants on whom to bestow the like and who knew so well how to make use of it he should think himself a much greater Prince than he was That notwithstanding he did not receive him in the quality of a Volunteer as he desir'd but that he might assure himself he would ever afford him such a place in his Armies as that therewith he himself should be very well content And accordingly his Majesty having a desing upon Royan he dismiss'd the Duke with part of his Forces to begin the Siege In this sort the Duke quitted his employment at the Siege of Rochelle after having lain before it eight months compleat during which time the Army had receiv'd five Musters and yet complain'd of being ill us'd though I believe now adays they would be very well content to be so paid The Duke being approach'd near Royan mounted on Horseback to view the place This Royan was a little City built upon a very high Rock by the Sea-side inaccessible on that side towards the Water the height whereof breaking off the impetuosity of the Winds at the foot of the precipice afforded a very secure Harbour to so many Vessels as it could contain This Harbour was defended by an antient Castle rais'd upon the eminence of the Rock and in the midst of it a little way was levell'd that lead to the Harbour by one of the Gates of the City On that side towards the Land the situation was more even but there also so well fortified that in the opinion of all who view'd it either before or after the Siege it was one of the most tenable places for its circuit in France To which it had moreover this advantage that it was almost without danger to be defended forasmuch as after their out-works should be taken which could not be till after a long Siege the convenience of the Sea and the vicinity of Rochelle rendred their retreat at any time so easie and so secure that it was to be defended to the last extreme The Baron de Saint Surin a Hugonot and a Gentleman of great quality and valour though very young had in the beginning of these commotions surpriz'd this place from la Chesnaye one of the King 's Domesticks of the same Religion but infinitely zealous for his Majesties Service neither was he ignorant of the advantages of the place he knew what reputation he might gain amongst those of his own party and what recompense from the King himself after a long and obstinate resistance but la Mote Saint Surin his Brother the Count de Marennes his Brother-in-law and Navailles his Cousin having been taken prisoners at the Isle of Rheé and the King threatning to deal with them after another manner than with ordinary prisoners of War gave Saint Surin to understand that upon his determination depended the safety of his Allies The Duke of Espernon who had instructions from the King to manage this Affair with Saint Surin had to the King's menaces added so many advantageous propositions for the Governour in his own particular as had altogether brought the business to that pass that Saint Surin who had a great respect for the Duke of whom he was also very much esteem'd and entirely belov'd touch'd with a tenderness towards his friends and moreover very ill satisfied with the ill usage men of his condition receiv'd from those of their own party who were eternally expos'd to the capricious humour of the most abject rabble of Rochelle had made him an absolute promise to surrender the place The day was set the hour concluded and all things prepar'd for the execution the King's Forces were advanc'd towards the Town to receive it and the Duke's Guards appointed to guard the Gates of the City when Saint Surin more confident of his Garrison than he ought to have been made no difficulty to go out of the place to settle some Articles with the Duke he had not thought on before ' â— is true he had left his Lieutenant whom he had made firm to his own resolution in
very little stop to the progress of the Royal Arms and his Majesty still pursuing the Chase of Victory he resolv'd to lay Siege to Montpellier a design of so high a nature as requir'd the condition of the place should be exactly and maturely consider'd before they ought to come to a determinate resolution It had in one year been fortified to a miracle even in the opinion of those who were best read in Fortiâ—ication which if it had not been the defects of the place would notwithstanding have been sufficiently recompens'd in the Valour of the Governour that had been very considerable in an open Village It was the Sieur de Calonges of whom I speak a Gentleman equally to be esteem'd for his wit and bravery qualities that made him look'd upon so long as he liv'd for an extraordinary person in his own Province whither he at last retir'd himself as full of honour as empty of ambition to end his days after having perform'd many signal Services for his Prince by dying to expiate the glorious fault he committed against his Majesty in his gallant behaviour at this Siege The Duke of Espernon having long been acquainted with this Gentlemans vertues who had formerly out of his own affection ty'd himself to his Service and even in his disgraces paid him a respect at Court above all other great men of the Kingdom gave such a Character of him to the King as prov'd too true in the revolution of this Siege The Constable de l' Esdiguieres by the prerogative of his place having the principal command of the Army would with good Title go to view the place and the Duke who disputed nothing with him but who also receiv'd no more orders from him now he was Constable than when he was only Mareschal General de Camp was also commanded by the King to do the same The Constable went out first accompanied with a strong party of Horse as the Duke also was with some Gentlemen but he forgot not to take his Guards along who prov'd very serviceable to him and also to the Constable in this occasion The Duke of Espernon had not advanc'd far in order to his discovery before he was fir'd upon by some Musqueteers of the City planted in the hedges in which Volley the Count de Maillé who was talking with him receiv'd a Musquet-shot in the face which put him in great danger of his life some others were also hurt and the mischief would have been greater had not the Duke commanded la Roche the Lieutenant of his Guard with his Companies to alight and beat the Enemy from their Post which he having without much difficulty perform'd and the Duke conceiving that Monsieur de l' Esdiguieres would meet with the same entertainment he dispatch'd away la Roche to do the same Service for him if occasion should require Neither could he have arriv'd in a better time for the Constable having taken no Foot with him as the Duke had very well observ'd the Horse that attended him at the rattle of the Musquâ—t-shot began to face about the craggy and difficult passes not permitting them to come up to charge the Enemy who in great security fir'd very thick upon them insomuch that the Constable abandon'd by his men would perhaps have been himself oblig'd shamefully to retire had not the Duke's Guards come opportunely in to clear his way But meeting after this little brush with no further opposition he soon after joyn'd himself with the Duke near Pont Iuvenel where they both alighted and where after the Duke had a little rallied him about his disorder they continued a great while in consultation to consider a Plot of the place presented before them and went afterwards together to the King's Quarter to make their report Immediately upon their return the King call'd a Council of War to resolve upon the manner of carrying on the Siege where the Duke did not only propose but did moreover with many powerful Arguments maintain that they were especially to possess themselves of the Hill Saint Denis an eminence near the City from whence the inside of all their Fortifications were so easily discover'd that it was impossible that post being well secur'd and furnish'd with good Artillery for the Enemy either to go from the Town to the defense of their out-works or to remain secure within But this prudent advice that being follow'd had inâ—allibly made the King within fifteen days master of the place and sav'd the lives of as many persons of Quality and Valour as ever his Majesty lost in any one Enterprize of this kind waâ— contradicted by Chabans the same that has been mention'd beâ—orâ— in the Queen Mothers Affair This man had during the time of the Duke de Luines his favour obtain'd some employment at Court where being a man of sense and very well read in the busineâ—s of the â—ime he had rais'd himself very considerable friends to support him So that those who were enemies to the Duke which were ever a very sufficient number prompted Chabans to dispute his opinion in the Council not considering the King's Service and Interest when they came in competition with the injury and affront they intended against the Duke which Chabans so effectually perform'd as to cause a determination quite contrary to what the Duke had advis'd to be resolv'd upon A thing I observ'd the Duke at his return from the Council very much nettled at and heard him give Chabans some very bitter language about it but the oversight was already committed and the more unhappily by how much it was never to be repair'd of so great importance it is to husband the opportunities of War where a moment's neglect draws after it an irreparable loss Immediately upon the breaking up of the Council they fell to work on all hands to advance the Siege The Trenches were opened when those within soon perceiving of how great importance the foremention'd eminence was to their common conservation they there cast up a little Work and left some Souldiers to Guard it Which Guard was no sooner planted there but that our Commanders eyes being opened they saw the error they had committed in not possessing themselves of that Post whilst it might have been done without any opposition They therefore now resolv'd to foâ—ce it and succeeded in the attempt for assaulting it by night and the besieg'd not daring to sally out of the Town in the dark to relieve their men they suffer'd it to be taken the Guards giving our Souldiers leave to make themselves masters of their Works almost without any resistance But as it often falls out the facility of this little Victory having made our people as negligent to its conservation as if it never ought more to be disputed with them they took no care at all to perfect the Works that to their hands had already been begun Neither was this the sole over-sight was committed in this Affair for the Duke of Espernon
difficulty having been started in the Parliament about the manner of his reception they had determin'd to moderate the excessive honours had formerly been paid to the Sons of France or the first Princes of the Blood who had been Governours of the Province in going to receive them in their Scarlet Robes a punctilio that though it was true it had been wav'd in deference to the Duke of Mayenne it had nevertheless been done meerly out of respect to the high favour wherein he was when advanc'd to the Government of Guienne but that at this time they were resolv'd to be more reserv'd I never in my life saw the Duke more surpriz'd than at this news who jealous of his Honour and Dignity to the highest degree would rather never have enter'd Bordeaux than to suffer the least diminution of what had been granted to the Duke of Mayenne He therefore return'd an answer to this Letter dated the 27. of Ianuary 1623. wherein after having briefly answer'd what concern'd the general Affairs he insisted with great vehemency upon the denial of those honours had been paid to his Predecessor telling him amongst other things That if they had never appear'd in their Scarlet Robes but in honour of the Sons of France or the Princes of the Blood he so well understood the respect due to them as they were in a capacity of succeeding to the Crown as not to desire a new example in his favour but that he had not the same consideration for others The whole Letter being writ with his own hand he commanded me to take a Copy of it from whence I have taken the very words I present you here The Duke not yet satisfied with delivering his sense of this Affair in writing would moreover dispatch away Constantin the Comptroller of his House to Bordeaux to communicate his resolution to several Members of that Parliament who were his particular friends wherein he succeeded according to his own desire and his reception was concluded in the same form his Predecessors had been receiv'd some of the Company totally disowning all the first President had writ concerning this business by which the Duke having just reason to believe him the Author of this scruple he conceiv'd he had a mind to oblige the Society at the price of his Friends Honour so that being offended to the last degree that he should so much as bring a thing into dispute thas was his apparent due he from thenceforward entertain'd very sinister impressions of his friendship neither was it long before he made him sensible of it Whilst these things were in agitation the Duke was still advancing towards Cadillac where he intended at leisure from the Parliaments proceedings to take his measures what he was to do about his entry into Bordeaux He was here visited by all the Nobility of the Province by several of the Parliament men in particular and by an infinite conflux of Gentry who came to attend him at his entry which was concluded to be upon the last of February 1623. Whilst he here waited in expectation of the appointed day he dispos'd of the Governments of those places committed to his charge whereof that of Chasteau-Trompette was given to Plessis Nerac to the Count de Maillé but Bergerac which was a command of the greatest profit and the most important place was put into the hands of the Chevalier de la Valette the Duke 's natural Son who by his bravery had infinitely gain'd upon his love and opinion The King had besides these places moreover assign'd him two Regiments in constant pay viz. That of the said Chevalier de la Valette and that of Castelbayart together with his Company of Gens-d ' Armes so that his Authority supported by these Forces was much more considerable than any of his Predecessors had ever been The Duke having thus settled the Governments of these places would now no longer defer his entry but came to Frans a house belonging to a private Gentleman about half a League only distant from the City and upon the Banks of the River Garonne where the Iurates of Bordeaux came to receive him in a Boat they had prepar'd for that purpose He was by them convey'd by water to a place call'd Port du Caillau where he was met without the Gate by all the Companies of the Town excepting the Parliament who in their Scarlet Robes receiv'd him at the entry of the City I shall not here undertake to describe every circumstance of this Ceremony nor the Magnificence respect or applause observable in the solemnity of this reception it being sufficient to say that therein nothing was omitted or diminished of what had formerly been paid to his illustrious Predecessors and that the old affection both the City and Province had for his Person and Name produc'd a greater and more general joy at his arrival than had amongst that great people been observ'd of many years before There was only the Mareschal de Themines the King's Lieutenant in the Province who neither paid him honour nor civility either by Letter or Visit a man who although he had ever till this time had the Duke's person and friendship in very high esteem yet having been constituted the King's Lieutenant in that Province sometime before the Duke was promoted to the Government he could not without infinite impatience see himself absolutely depriv'd of all the functions of his Command He knew very well the Duke would be so active on his part that very little would be left for him to do whereas he pretended this Lieutenancy had been conferr'd upon him with a promise that if a Governour should happen to be set over him it should be no other than a Prince of the Blood who should never continue upon the place and that consequently by his absence would leave him the absolute command of the Province and in truth the Mareschals de Matignon and d' Ornano had formerly enjoy'd it after that manner so that the seeing himself by this usage defeated of that expectation was as he himself declar'd the subject of his discontent The Duke was very much surpriz'd at this proceeding he had as there was just cause ever had the Mareschal in very high esteem and could have been glad he would by gentle means have been reconcil'd to his duty that he might not have been oblig'd to make use of those remedies the authority of his Command put into his hands which that he might not do he consented that some who were friends to them both should treat with him about a better understanding betwixt them he being unwilling what provocation soever he had to have recourse to violence wherein perhaps he was more temperate than ever in his life before but in the end seeing his patience serv'd only to make the Mareschal more obstinate in his unkindness laying aside all those considerations that had hitherto withheld him he would no longer defer to make him sensible of the
difference betwixt a Governour and a Lieutenant of Guienne He therefore began imperiously to cancel and overthrow all his Orders A Consul of Agen who had been created so at his recommendation was displac'd by the Duke's command for no other reason but because he had been preferr'd at his request such of the Gentry or the People as were known to be affectionate to the Mareschal were certain to obtain little favour with the Governour if any order was presented him sign'd by the Mareschal he would presently issue out another to supersede the first whatever carried the name of Themines was invalid and whatever he own'd as his act must signifie nothing at all And moreover to let him see he had the same Authority over him in his own particular Countrey he had in other places the Duke prepar'd himself to go to Cahors whither the Mareschal was retir'd and accordingly went The Mareschal's House stood near this City he was moreover invested with the Seneschalsy of the Countrey his chiefest Relations Friends and Acquiantance inhabited there notwithstanding all which at the Duke's arrival the Mareschal quitted him the place and retir'd to his own house where seeing himself as it were shut up without Reputation without Authority and almost without Friends he began though something with the latest to see the error he had committed He then plainly saw himself so overmatch'd that he could not contend but to his ruine nor longer stand out to other purpose than thereby to make the advantages of his Superior more manifestly appear and then it was that he rendred himself more facile to his friends perswasions who had before been fruitlesly importunate with him to reconcile himself to his Duty to acknowledge the Duke's Authority and to seek his friendship He therefore sent to the Duke to make an Apology for what had pass'd and to let him know that if he had hitherto fail'd of paying the respect due to his Quality and Command it had not proceeded from any dislike he had of his person which he had in as high reverence and esteem as any man living and that he should have look'd upon it as a very great honour to obey him had not the sweetness of some years Authority wherein he had commanded in Chief and the assurances had been given him he should do so still blinded his Judgment from seeing his duty That he did therefore beseech him he might be permitted to come tender his excuses for what had pass'd and to assure him of his obedience for the time to come The Duke was very well pleas'd to find to this Lord a man full of years and honour in so good a disposition neither had he begun to justle him till after having expected the return of his good humour with the extremest patience so that he sent him word he should be infinitely glad to see him and that he might be confident for the future of as civil usage as he had hitherto found rough and perverse dealing in the exercise of his Command A day for their interview being agreed upon by their friends the Duke would by no means suffer it to be in the Capital City of his Government being unwilling to expose the Age and Person of the Mareschal to so publick a satisfaction but appointed it to be at Saint-Foy whither he himself accordingly came accompanied with many persons of Quality of the Province thither the Mareschal also came to wait upon him when coming into the Duke's Lodgings he receiv'd him without stirring out of his Chamber for which he made his being surpriz'd at Play his excuse It had been concluded that the Mareschal at their meeting should say as he did My Lord I am yoâ—r very humble Servant and am come to give you an assurance that I am so and that I shall be proud of any opportunity â—herein I may by a better testimony manifest it to you and therein satisfie the King's Command and my own Duty To which the Duke return'd for answer in as few words which had also been set down in writing Sir you oblige me with your Friendship you and I are both of us in a capacity of advancing his Majesties Service in this Province I shall gladly concur with you in any thing that may be conducing to it and embrace any occasion wherein I may let you see that I have ever had an esteem for your Valour and Merit and that I am your Servant This first visit continued but very little longer when the Mareschal taking his leave the Duke brought him only to the top of the â—tairs without going any further by which he would let him see that he both understood his place and knew how to keep it The Mareschal having after this first complement continued two days at Saint-Foy in perfect intelligence with the Duke at last frankly told him That he had us'd him according to his desert that he had made â—im know his duty and that he took it for a greater honour to be subservient to him than to any other person of France And in truth he afterwards continued both whilst he staid in the Government and when he was made Governour of Brittany which hapned a few years after to render him so much honour and respect and to give him so many testimonies of friendship that I do not think the Duke had a truer friend in the Kingdom Yet did not all this pass in the order it is here set down there having been some years of interval betwixt their coldness and their reconciliation But I chose rather to record these passages all together than to disperse them into several pages of my History conceiving such a division would more have intangled the thred of my discourse than would have been recompens'd by the order in a more exact observation of the succession of time This Quarrel with the Mareschal de Themines was not yet compos'd when the Duke who had never enough to do resolv'd to come to an open rupture with the first President de Gourgues without dissembling any longer his resentment of the ill Offices he had receiv'd at his hands I have already given an accompt of the Injury which was the Presidents proposing a diminution of Honours at the Duke's reception a thing that bearing with it a shew of contempt pass'd in the Duke's opinion for an irreparable offense Neither could he forbear at his first visit to give him some hints of his displeasure nor from manifesting a little reservedness towards him and as heated spirits never want occasion of new offense his passion making the lightest pretenses to pass for reason and just causes there soon after fell out new accidents which animated the Duke against the first President to the last degree This man subtle and dextrous as the best very well foreseeing that without the concurrence of his Brethren he should never be able to withstand the power of the Duke he had so highly provok'd began betimes to think
having attempted the other whereas before both the Court and the whole Kingdom talk'd a little odly of his proceeding so ready is ill natur'd mankind to censure the bravest Spirits upon the least shadow of occasion though after having perform'd in the sight of all the world innumerable actions that ought the least of them to defend the Author's name from Calumny upon any accident of Fortune The King lay at this time before Rochelle and le Plessis who had serv'd in the Isle of Ré at the defeat of the English with marvellous reputation continued to serve with his Regiment at this Siege where being upon the great Scene of Affairs and hearing what was said of the Duke his Master he fail'd not to let him know what censure the world pass'd upon him concerning the business of Caussade and how he had been represented to the King insomuch that the Duke finding it necessary to give his Majesty an accompt of what had pass'd upon this occasion he dispatch'd away Monsieur Fabert who was then in his entertainment to Court to that effect This Monsieur Fabert was a Gentleman of whose education the Duke had had so particular a care that he had ever been either under his own eye or with the Duke de la Valette his Son and having observ'd in him in a very green youth great courage and understanding and an extraordinary assiduity and application to matters of his profession and thence conceiving the hopes of those rare fruits we now see had ever honour'd him which was not ordinary with him to young people with great demonstrations of particular favour and esteem Fabert being arriv'd at Court presently acquainted the King with the occasion of his coming presenting with all his Letters of Credence to the Cardinal wherein he acquitted himself so well that his Majesty remain'd highly satisfied with the Duke's Conduct and as touching the Cardinal le Plessis who had an old establish'd familiarity with him writ to the Duke in a Letter dated from Perigny the 24 th of September 1628. in these terms Before the arrival of Monsieur Fabert there were various discourses of your proceeding at Caussade wherein though some were prompted by their malice yet even the most moderate and who spoke neither out of Envy nor Disaffection could not absolutely acquit your Reputation but since his coming all men unanimously applaud your Wisdom insomuch that Cardinal Richelieu himself who before in obscure language would sometimes give me private touches of reproach to which I could return no other answer than to entreat he would suspend his Judgment till you writ to Court has confess'd to me since that had you engag'd in that Siege Monsieur de Rohan had doubtless pass'd by as he had promis'd the Rochellers and that you had been so long in possession of well doing that it was henceforward impossible for you to do amiss After the raising of the Siege of Saint Afrique they were now to think of a second devastation of Montauban and to make the innocent Countrey suffer for the Crimes of that rebellious City to effect which the Duke had only two Regiments remaining of three that he had rais'd the third which was that of Saint Croix d' Ornano having by the Prince been taken into the Body of his own Army yet did he not for all this refuse to undertake this difficult Enterprize which nevertheless I do verily believe he could never have been able to execute without the assistance of a great number of gallant Gentlemen Volunteers to whose Valour as has been already said he stood oblig'd for most of the Services he perform'd for the King in that Province The business was therefore perform'd with very good success not that the Enemy did not make a stout Opposition and did not daily engage the Duke's small Forces but it was ever to their own loss Whilst matters went thus prosperously on the continual toil wherewith the Duke had been exercis'd during this whole Campagne had so overcome his spirits that the fell dangerously sick at Castelsarrazin where how importunate soever his Physician was with him to retire from the ill air of that Countrey corrupted no doubt by the excessive heats and the length of the War which had there continued for almost five years together without intermission he was notwithstanding obstinate to continue in his Camp and would by no perswasions be drawn to forsake his Army Neither though his indisposition confin'd him to his bed could it hinder his indefatigable mind from still working upon his business he would have his people to bring him an hourly accompt of all that pass'd and his Genius inspiring his followers with the same good Fortune had ever attended him in all his designs he even in the most violent height of his distemper gave himself Orders the execution whereof made him ever victorious But after having long strugled with his Disease he must at last give way to its violence and his strength by the agitation of his mind visibly impairing made his Physician begin to apprehend a more dangerous issue of his distemper than was at first suspected They were therefore constrain'd whether he would or no to force him from his Camp and to carry him aboard a Boat in which he was convey'd upon the River Garonne and the next day brought to his own House Cadillac where he was scarcely arriv'd but that the change of air produc'd a manifest alteration in his health which in a few days was succeeded by a perfect recovery The waste having been made about Montauban it was still necessary to leave some Forces thereabouts to hinder the excursions of those of the City which Forces though very few were notwithstanding so conveniently dispos'd that the Enemy could never make any advantage of their own numbers The Marquis de Monferrant who together with the Lieutenancy of the Duke 's Gens d'-Armes had at his recommendation moreover obtain'd the Office of Mareschal de Camp was left to command them an employment wherein he so well discharg'd himself as besides the honour he deserv'd for having with so few men bridled the Licence of so populous a City he further acquir'd that of having kept those men in so admirable a Discipline that there was never the least complaint made of any disorder or the least insolence committed by any of his party Whilst in Languedoc and Guienne the King's Forces were taken up with these petty Enterprizes his Majesty in his own person continued to streighten Rochelle both by Sea and Land carrying on the Siege with so much vigour and conduct that after having made the besieg'd suffer extremities far beyond what we read of with horror in the most sensless obstinacies of other desperate Cities he at last reduc'd them to a necessity of submitting to his Royal Mercy In which Surrender though the wilful blindness wherewith the Rochellers had been so long possess'd had kept them from looking into their own miserable
the narrow bounds of a particular Life wherein the Duke of Espernon having also had no share I should not have waded so far as I have done into these secret Affairs of Court had they not at last proceeded to involve him further therein than he had himself intended to engage Before the King's departure from Paris the Duke especially solicitous of his Service within the Precincts of his own Government intreated his Majesty to appoint him an Intendant de la Iustice he having at his coming out of Guienne left there neither Lieutenant nor Intendant in his absence to look after his Majesties Affairs in that Province a request that the King being very willing to grant as it principally concern'd himself he gave the Duke liberty to choose whom he should think fit out of his Council The Employment being one of the greatest honour was covered by several persons of very great desert but the Duke preferring above all those who made suit for it one of the Council that perhaps least dream'd of any such thing entreated Monsieur de Verthamont Master of Requests to accept it This person of approved honesty and equal capacity had in several Employments of very great importance given very good proofs both of the one and the other but these qualities how eminent soever were yet accompanied with another that serv'd no less to recommend him to the Duke's Election and that was the great friendship betwixt him and Monsieur d' Autry at that time President Seguier and since Gard des Sceaux and Chancellor of France with whose good conduct in the same Commission the Duke had been so highly satisfied that he desir'd nothing more than one that would imitate his Vertue to succeed him and he hop'd to find in this Gentleman what he had already prov'd in his Predecessor neither was he deceiv'd in his Judgment he found his expectation answer'd to the full And for ten years together that Verthamont serv'd the King in the Duke's Government he gave the Duke so many testimonies of his integrity and vertue and in return receiv'd from the Duke so high and so just applause that I dare be bold to affirm there was never observ'd the least dissent or contrariety betwixt them The end of the Ninth Book THE HISTORY Of the LIFE of the Duke of Espernon The Tenth Book AT the same time that Verthamont departed for Guienne the Duke of Espernon was preparing to go to Metz there to expose his person for the defense of so important a place A Journey to which he was continually press'd by the constant intelligence he receiv'd from thence that the Emperours Forces every day increas'd that he was fortifying Moyenvic a very considerable place near that City and that the Duke of Lorain notwithstanding all his fair pretenses was certainly confederated with the House of Austria to the prejudice of the Kingdom of France The Duke de la Valette his Son had by his Majesties Command been sent away befoe upon the first jealousie the Court had conceiv'd of the Emperours and the Duke of Lorains designs but the Duke prudently considering that a Frontier of so great importance could not be too carefully provided for went with some of his friends to put himself into it having moreover engag'd several other persons of condition who had staid behind at Paris after the King's departure if occasion were to come and joyn themselves with him for the defense of the place So that had it ever come to a Siege the respect that several worthy men bore to the Duke's person would without all doubt have invited a great many persons of great quality and approv'd valour to serve in so honourable an occasion But there hapned to be no need of any such thing and perhaps the presence of the Duke and the prudent care he together with the Duke his Son took for the preservation of that City made the Emperour alter his design by putting him out of all hopes to effect it The Duke arriv'd at Metz the first of May where he was receiv'd with manifestations of an universal joy in the people becoming their gratitude and his own desert In his way thither he had call'd to see the Mareschal de Marillac who as he was at this time at least in outward appearance in greatest repute with the Cardinal so had he the principal charge of the Affairs of that Countrey committed to his care wherein doubtlesâ— this unfortunate Gentleman labour'd to his own ruine and to the Sentence of Death that not long after pass'd upon him for the Duke found him busie fortifying the Cittadel of Verdun preparing provisions and other necessaries for the Army of Champagne and performing several other Services which after pass'd for Crimes that were judg'd worthy of no less than Death The Duke was by him receiv'd with all sorts of honour and noble entertainment to which the Mareschal soon after added a visit at Metz where they consulted long together of what was best to be done for the King's Service upon that Frontier continuing ever after in a more strict correspondence than before The Duke was no sooner arriv'd at Metz but that he forthwith fell to work about the repair of the old Fortifications of the City and to the designing of new he sent moreover to solicit the Duke of Orleans left Regent during the King's absence for a supply of some Ammunitions of War but he had first sent a dispatch to the King to acquaint him with his motion towards the Frontier with which his Majesty in his answer of the 23. of May declar'd himself to be highly satisfied sending him word That his being in those parts would secure his fears for what concern'd the safety of the whole Frontier of Lorain exhorting him to continue his vigilancy and care for the conservation of so importanct a place assuring him withal of his good will and affection and of the esteem he had of his person justly grounded upon his merit and old Services for the Crown Which were in part the express words of that Dispatch In the mean time the rumor daily increasing that Wallestâ—in was advancing with his Army to waste the Countrey about Metz and afterwards to block it up by Forts and the Duke conceiving that the King would be so taken up in Savoy that he could not come to relieve him should he chance to be reduc'd to any great straight he saw it was necessary for him to make use of his own Credit Money and Friends therewithal to serve his Majesty upon this occasion He writ therefore to the Cardinal de la Valette his Son who was then with the King to tell his Majesty the Queen Mother and the Cardinal That foreseeing how hard a thing it would be for his Majesty in the heat of his Enterprizes to provide for the necessities of the place and Frontier where he had the honour to serve him he franckly offer'd if his Majesty would give
by keeping those Regiments quiet that after the Peace was concluded had been sent thither to be refresh'd there had been an end of that pleasant part of France but his good Discipline in restraining the licence of the unruly Souldiers that were quarter'd in the Countrey the good order he took for bringing in the relief of Corn and the care he had that he Magistrates and Officers of Health perform'd their duty in endeavouring to stop the progress of the Contagion in the City were to so good effect that without all doubt both Bordeaux and the whole Province stand eternally oblig'd to his vigilancy and care After having taken the best order he could for the preservation of the Capital City he departed thence with a resolution to continue some time at his house Cadillac but he could not make so long a stay there as he intended This little place being in a manner necessitated by its situation so near to Bordeaux and lying upon the same River to have continual intercourse and Commerce with the principal City had thence caught the Infection which for ten or twelve days that the Duke made his abode there made miserable havock among them yet was it only upon the Inhabitants of the Town as if it had had a respect to his Family insomuch that although he never refused to admit any of the people into his house that he went himself frequently to visit the sick in their Cabins and that so numerous a Train as his could not long continue in so little a place without having some communication with infected persons yet was there which was a kind of Miracle a continual health throughout his whole Family At last at the importunity of his Domesticks who were much more solicitous of him than he was of himself he resolv'd to leave the lower and infected to go seek out a better air in the higher and more healthful Gascony He went therefore first to Nerac where he met intelligence of a Rebellion newly broken out at Saint-Afrique This City elevated to a strange degree of presumption by having a Siege rais'd from before it of which we have already spoken in the year 1628. receiv'd order at this time to quarter seven Foot Companies belonging to the Regiment of Phalsbourg the same that has since long serv'd by the name of the Regiment of Chamblay upon the receipt of which Order the Inhabitants had betaken themselves to open Arms shut up their Gates and deny'd entrance to those Companies Neither was this all they proceeded from words to some untoward effects some Souldiers were kill'd from the Walls of the City neither did these seditious people fail of their endeavours to engage Millant and some other neighbouring Cities of their Religion in the same Revolt but the Duke having upon the first notice of this disorder presently transferr'd himself to Montauban with a resolution to proceed further if occasion should require by his presence prevented further mischief which otherwise might have grown up to something of greater importance The Inhabitants of Saint-Afrique seeing themselves left alone abandon'd by all their old Confederates and Friends and moreover besieg'd by old Souldiers that had lodg'd themselves under their Walls resolv'd in the end to open their Gates to the Garrison as they accordingly did giving the Duke thereby an opportunity he would by no means let slip of tying them for ever fast to their duty Making a right use therefore of the astonishment and consternation they were then in he commanded the Inhabitants to be disarm'd and the Walls of their City to be demolish'd according to the Articles of the last Peace granted to those of the Reform'd Religion Verthamont Intendant de la Iustice took upon him the charge of seeing it perform'd who together with his Office of Intendant was moreover qualified with a Commission for the dismantling of several Cities of that Province which had engag'd with the Duke of Rohan in the late Commotion So that the Walls of Millant one of the strongest Holds of that Party were soon seen levell'd with the ground as also those of Saint-Afrique of Pont de Camarés of Saint-Rome Tarn and several other places Wherein so good order was taken that there was no more fear this little Countrey one of the hardest to be reclaim'd in the whole Kingdom and that had been likewise one of that last that had return'd to its obedience should for the future commit any more offenses or be guilty of any new Commotion The Inhabitants of Montauban cannot in this part of my story without great injustice be deny'd the due praise of behaving themselves exceedingly well upon this occasion who no sooner heard the Duke design'd to come into their Countrey but that they dispatch'd away some of the chiefest amongst them to beseech him that he would honour their City with his presence An invitation wherein some scruple might reasonably have been made and would the Duke have been govern'd by the advice of many of his Servants he had not perhaps so easily given up himself to the discretion of a people that it had not been in his power sometimes to useso kindly as he desir'd To this consideration the present juncture of Affairs rendred their complement much more suspected Saint-Afrique a Town of the Hugonot Party was already revolted and had solicited all the other Cities of the same Religion to concur with them in the maintenance as they call'd it of that little Liberty they had left remaining but the Duke by his generosity overcoming all these jealousies sufficient of them-themselves to have made a loss daring man lose the opportunity of performing that Service for the King he then did him accepted their invitation and went confidently to Montauban where if those of the Town had really any evil intention which did nevertheless no ways appear having by his presence dissolv'd that ill humour he thereby rendred the mutinous designs of Saint-Afrique so inconsiderable that they fell at last upon the heads of them who had been the contrivers of the mischief The Duke at first had intended to have continu'd for some time at Montauban believing that the Commotion of Roüergue would not so soon have been appeas'd but having by his prudent care compos'd things sooner than he expected he in a few days found himself at liberty to go as far as the Frontier to the Baths at Banieres This Countrey abounding with Gentry equally to any other of the Kingdom had been the Nursery from whence Monsieur de la Valette his Father the Admiral his Brother and himself had continually drawn out most of the brave men with which they had so gloriously serv'd their Kings and maintain'd their own Fortunes as it was also out of them that he had constantly chosen most of his Officers for Foot Commands The acknowledgment therefore of his former favours being by no better way to be express'd than by the great conflux of those he had oblig'd they
the name of the Russet Cassocks which was the Duke's Livery demanding of the Magistrate protection and assistance to oppose them and protesting to Retire with his Clergy if they would not provide for his Safety Whilst the Archbishop was thus busie to vindicate himself by Forms of Law the Duke conceiving it very unbecoming the Authority he had in the Province to proceed by the same ways would try to do his business by other means He therefore commanded the Lieutenant of his Guards the next day after the Archbishop had exhibited this injurious Bill against his Guards to go with all his Souldiers to present himself before him and to ask of him If amongst all those he knew any one man who was likely to commit an unhandsome action The Lieutenant did as he was commanded and waited near to the Archbishop Palace his return from the City when seeing him come in his Coach he presented himself to speak to him It was about Dinner time when the Archbishop seeing so many Souldiers attending the Lieutenant and not imagining they could come after that manner for any civil end he commanded his Coach-man to drive on The Lieutenant was still earnest with him and with his Hat nevertheless in his hand beseeches the Archbishop he would be pleas'd to hear him assuring him withal he had nothing to say that could any way offend him but all was in vain the Coachman was still call'd to to drive on when the Lieutenant fearing to lose the opportunity of executing what he had in charge and having on the other side not much studied the Canon wherein so many persons by this Contest have since been made perfect call'd in the end to one of his Companions to lay hold of the Reins and to stop the Horses which being accordingly done the Archbishop came immediately out of his Coach crying out there was violence offer'd to his person and so retir'd himself into his house The Duke inform'd by the Lieutenant of his Guards how all things had pass'd perceiv'd by the manner of it that the Archbishop had been put into a terrible fright which was the only thing he had intended and so turn'd the whole business into Mirth and Laughter But the Archbishop did not so but having on the contrary the afternoon of that very same day being the 29 th of October summon'd in all the Orders and Societies of Ecclesiasticks in the City he there expos'd before them the open Violence he pretended had been offer'd to him rendring the action as foul as he could possibly make it and omitting nothing he thought would conduce to the interessing the whole Body of the Clergy in his Quarrel Wherein he succeeded so well that at the very instant most of the Assistants fir'd by his Eloquence concluded upon an Excommunication some notwithstanding there were more moderate than the rest who a little allaying the fury of this first Sentence perswaded them in the end to resolve upon a Deputation to the Duke to complain to him of the ill usage their Prelate had receiv'd since his arrival and therein chiefly of the inâ—olence committed by the Lieutenant of his Guards and to demand his Justice This Complaint was preferr'd to the Duke the 30 th of October at which he was a little surpriz'd and now better considering what this Affair by the interest all the Ecclesiasticks would take in it might produce would it was conceiv'd have been glad that things might have continued in the same posture they then were without running on into greater extremes neither would he upon the suddain return any precise Ansâ—er He therefore told the Canon who had been deputed to him in the behalf of the whole Clergy That the Speech he had made to him consisted of several Heads of great importance That he was old and his memory so ill that it would be hard for him to remember all he had said That he therefore desir'd he might have it in writing and that then he would consider of it and return his Answer in writing also The Duke thought that during this respit he desir'd the Archbishop would suspend the Publication of his Censures and that in the mean time what had pass'd might by the mediation of Friends in some amicable Treaty be hush'd and taken up but he did not in his Adversary meet with a spirit so flexible to an Accommodation who on the contrary was so obstinately deaf to all overtures of Agreement that upon All-Saints day he thundred out his Excommunication against the Lieutenant of the Guards and all those who accompanied him at the Prosnes of all the Parish Churches of the City Neither did he therein spare the person of the Duke himself of whom in his Act he spoke in these terms And although the Authors of this attempt be compriz'd in the same censures nevertheless considering â—ow many persons are oblig'd to frequent them for the Service of the King and the good of the Province we would not neither will we make the same Declaration and Denuntiation against them but reposing our trust in the mercy of Almighty God who strikes the most obdurate hearts and thence draws tears of saving Repentance we have appointed and ordained and do hereby appoint and ordain Prayers of forty hours upon Sunday the 6 th of November in the Church of St. Michael of this City to implore the assistance of the Divine Goodness for the Conversion of Sinners c. Given at Bordeaux this Monday the last of October 1633. Here you have the first Action that pass'd betwixt these two great persons which could not possibly have been push'd on by either side with greater heat or violence there being not a day nay hardly a minute lost betwixt them but all things hurried on with that vehemency and precipitation that whoever had observ'd the impetuosity wherewith these two Enemies ran against one another might very well have foreseen that the shock at their meeting must of necessity bear one of them to the ground This business made a mighty noise at Court whither the Archbishop had writ in great diligence and where the Cardinal interested himself in his cause as it had been his own Affair but although he was from that time forward resolv'd to push things to the last extreme and from this Quarrel to derive an occasion wherein to revenge himself of the Duke for all his former discontents he had nevertheless the Duke and the Cardinal de la Valette the Duke of Espernon's Sons in so high consideration that he surrendred all his Animosity to the respect he had to them He would therefore take a moderate course to compose this Disorder by an Accommodation the agitation whereof was committed to Villemontée one of the Council of State and Intendant de la Iustice in Poictou Xaintonge and Angoumois a man of great esteem with the Cardinal and the whole Council This Gentleman therefore departed with this Commission to transfer himself in all haste to
noise a thing of little or no moment and that notwithstanding had like to have turn'd very much to his own prejudice After therefore the Duke had rejected the proposal of one of his own Souldiers who offer'd to stab Briet and to do it after such a manner that he could never be suspected for the Murther he commanded four of his Footâ— men to kill his Coach-Horses in the open Street This Command was executed one day that Briet was returning out of the City to his own House when his Coach-man being assaulted by these four Foot-men they first pull'd him out of his Coach-box and afterwards thrust their Swords into the Flancks of the Horses whereupon the poor Beasts enrag'd with the smart of their Wounds ran away full speed hurrying the Coach and their Master in it three or four hundred paces along the Streets till at last at one and the same instant upon the pavement they fell down and dy'd Briet who had at first been terribly frighted with the sight of the Swords was not much less afraid of his Horses precipitous Career which was also all the harm he receiv'd the Coach stop'd and overturn'd at the death of the Horses giving him time to come out half dead with Fear and to retire to his own House The Relation of this business was immediately carried to the Duke which shadow of Revenge was to him matter of entertainment and laughter for an hour after But the Parliament took it after a quite contrary manner who offended to the height at the Injury done to one of their Robe the next day assembled their several Chambers to enquire into the Fact There was none of them who were not very well satisfied with the Justice of the Duke's resentment and who would not have approv'd of his Revenge had it proceeded a great deal further but there was also hardly any one of them who did not interest himself in the offence offer'd after so publick a manner to the Dignity and Honour of the Assembly Without doubt the business would have gone very ill with the Duke had matters continued upon these terms and those of the Parliament after having declar'd themselves Parties remaining still Judges would neither have spar'd the Duke's Footmen nor any other could have been prov'd concern'd in the Action they had already prepossess'd the Cardinal by representing to him that neither the King's Autâ—ority nor that of his Eminency had been sufficient to protect an Officer in the Execution of his Duty in the most honourable Body of the Province but besides that the Cardinal ever very ill satisfied with the Duke who on his part also did not much study to please him was of himself sufficiently dispos'd to do him a mischief had not the occurrences of the time involv'd the Court in the greatest disorder wherein perhaps it had ever been The Enemy after having long threatned the Kingdom was in the end with a powerful Army entred into Picardy and at their first coming had carried la Capelle and le Catelet assaulted Corbie which they also took and alarm'd Paris it self to such a degree as is sufficiently known to all They were likewise enter'd into Burgundy and were preparing for the like attempt upon Languedoc and Guienne was not to be spar'd neither was it a little while after So that the great Minister wholly taken up with concerns of so high importance had no leisure to look after the Duke's Affairs neither did he think it convenient to nettle him in a time when his services were so necessary to the Kingdom and the Chancellor who still retain'd his old affection to the Duke's Interests seeing himself absolute Master of this business concealing it from the Parliaments knowledge referr'd it to the ordinary Justice where being animated with very little passion it soon fell of it self At this time of all others the Greatness of the Duke of Espernon seems especially to appear by the important Employments and Commands wherewith his whole Family were invested The Duke de Candale his eldest Son was Generalissimo to the Armies of the Republick of Venice an Ally to this Crown The Duke de la Valette his second Son was in the Army of Picardy wherein though he had not in truth the Principal Command the Count de Soissons being General there yet had he the honour to be chosen out by the King to infuse life and vigour into that Army the Souldiers whereof by some ill successes had befall'n them being exceedingly dejected which were the express terms wherewith his Majesty allur'd him to that Service The Cardinal de la Valette was also employ'd against Galas in Burgundy into which Province the Enemy being entred with a formidable Army had already made some Conquests before his arrival there Mirebeau had been taken Saint Iean de Laonne was besieg'd and the best Cities of the Country were highly threatned the fear there was exceeding great and the danger had been no less if the Cardinal de la Valette by opposing himself to their designs had not stop'd the progress of their Arms. He fought them with advantage in five or six several Engagements and without ever being able to tempt them to a Battel with all the provocation he could use forc'd them in the end to retire with the ruine and dissolution of their whole Army that unprofitably mouldred away to nothing As for the Father his business lay in Guienne a Province that as it made up a principal part of the Kingdom of how great utility must the Service necessarily be that preserv'd it from disorder in so critical a time A thing nevertheless fortunately effected by his Wisdom so moderating the discontents of the people as to keep them in so dangerous a Juncture of Affairs from lashing into those extremes whereinto by their former behaviour it might reasonably be apprehended should they find an opportunity of this nature they would precipitously run This was indeed one of the most important but not the only Service he did the King upon this occasion The Spanish Council having as has been said determin'd to invade the Kingdom in several places at once principally hasted to enter into Guienne to come to which Province they were to pass through the Country of Labourt which is that of Biscaye and by the way highly threatned the City of Bayonne They knew very well the Duke of Espernon had no Forces to send into that Country neither had he had them durst he indeed have done it without the consent of the Inhabitants lest being a cholerick and impatient people as they naturally are any thing he should do of that kind out of care to preserve them should put them upon desperate resolutions and make them wilfully lose themselves They had before they came so despis'd the Enemies Forces that they would not endure any one should think of contributing to their preservation a security that did nor a little afflict the Duke who had been of old
towards the Frontier the Service to which they were design'd writ to St. Torse Aide de Camp who commanded them to draw them out against the Mutineers but that Gentleman more discreet and circumspect than the Duke could have wish'd upon so urgent an occasion chose rather betimes to abandon his Quarters to the Rebels than to do them the honour to dispute them by any the least opposition The Duke after this seeing no means left to suppress this dangerous Faction which every day increas'd to a more formidable height and startled with the news he receiv'd from all parts that some of the best Cities were ready to revolt and only expected the approach of the Rebels to receive them writ in all haste to the Duke de la Valette to come speedily to the Relief of the Province with some of those Forces he had with him upon the Frontier since those in the Lower Gascony were not able to make head against the mischief already grown too great to be withstood The Duke at this Summons without deliberating upon the Duke his Father's Command immediately put himself upon his March but yet so that the Forein Enemy still continued shut up within their Trenches by the Marquis de Poganne Mareschal de Camp with whom during his absence he left the Command of the Army whilst himself came to do the King the Kingdom and particularly the Province one of the most important Services could possibly be desir'd in so dangerous a time Being come to Cadillac where his Father expected him sick for he was at last constrain'd to faint under the Burthen 〈◊〉 Affairs and the affliction wherewith these untoward occurrences had overcome his Spirits and having from him receiv'd such Instructions as he was at that time in a condition to give he early the next morning took Horse to go in all haste to Marmanda The Duke his Father had already there caus'd some Troops to be gather'd together under the Command of the Marquis de Monferrant Mareschal de Camp and Lieutenant of his own Company of Gens-d ' Armes where the Duke was no sooner arriv'd but he understood that at la Sauvetat a little Town about four Leagues off there was a considerable Body of the Rebels who had there fortified themselves and made shew of a resolute Defence an information that made him immediately March his Forces that way to go to assault them All the strength he had with him were no more than two thousand five hundred Foot but the Enemy were very many more which notwithstanding he made no difficulty himself to go view the place At the first sight he apprehended the danger of assaulting them without Cannon fortified as they were on every side either with Walls or strong Barricado's and many of the Officers about him were of opinion he should stay for some Field-Pieces he had order'd to follow after but having consider'd that to dally with these kind of people only were to give them greater encouragement and to augment their Insolence he gave order upon the instant to go on to the Assault I have heard several who were present at and had a share in this Action say that the Assault was as vigorously given and as obstinately sustaind as any they had ever seen though they had been in many very memorable occasions and that they should eternally lament that what was there on both sides perform'd had not been done against the Enemies of the Crown since doubtless whatever they had undertaken must have succeeded to their immortal Glory The Duke's men fir'd no further off than at the Muzzle of the Musket and the other party did the same so that on either side a great many men with some Officers of the Duke's Regiments were slain and the slaughter had questionless been much greater had the besieg'd been furnish'd with Pikes to their Fire Arms but being destitute of that sort of Defence they were constrain'd after they had discharg'd their Muskets to abandon their Barricado's and to retire Madaillan who commanded the Rebels gave the first example of a cowardly and shameful flight whom they pursu'd as far as Quercy to which place he fled for refuge but having escap'd the hands of the pursuers he sav'd himself out of the Kingdom from whence he return'd not but to execute one of the most detestaâ—â—e Villanies against the Duke of Espernon that could ever have entred into the imagination of an accursed Villain The fatal and unhappy circumstances whereof we shall soon present before you wherein this wicked and abominable wretch will appear to be both the instrument and the cause of the Duke's approaching Death and Ruine The forcing of this place was presently follow'd by the Surrender of Bergerac the Mutineers had there made a countenance of defending themselves but the example of their Complices being taken by Assault render'd them more facile to the perswasions of their General who was otherwise averse to War than as he was compell'd to it by the unbridled Fury of some of the more violent Spirits who as they prompted their fellows to greater mischief would also urge him on to the greatest extremes These two places being thus reduc'd to their Obedience secur'd all the other Cities of the Province so that although some few of the people continued still on foot they were rather thought fit to be undertaken by the ordinary Officers of Justice than worth the pains or notice of men of Arms. The report of this Defeat soon spread it self into Angoumois Xaintonge and Poictou whither the Duke de Valette also sent some few Forces of those which were now supernumerary after this success and where the people through fear of punishment remain'd in a posture of Obedience by that means delivering the Court of one of the greatest and most troublesome apprehensions wherewith the minds of the great Ministers could possibly be possess'd This Victory was by the Marquis de Duras judg'd of importance enough to deserve the pains of a Journey to Court to carry news of it to the King who as he had by his own Valour contributed very much to the good success the Duke of Espernon who had him in very great esteem was also very willing that he should give his Majesty an account of the Action Being therefore there arriv'd he omitted nothing that might any ways recommend the merit of the Service but he did not find the Court dispos'd to receive things that came from the Duke 's at so favourable a rate as in themselves they did justly deserve they looking upon all that had been perform'd as good as nothing and imposing upon them the assault of the Forts the Spaniard had erected upon the Frontier upon pain of his Majesties Indignation which was the first recompence of their Service Already the Duke de la Valette had taken the way to his ordinary Post and was arriv'd at his Quarters which he had â—ortified opposite to the Spanish Trenches when the Duke his
by Bonfires thundering of Cannon and by infinite numbers of Lights set up in all the Windows of the City to manifest no less his own than the public contentment and for a final testimony of the high satisfaction he had receiv'd by this good news he rewarded the Courrier with a Chain of Gold to the value of 500. Crowns which he gave him at the time he dismiss'd him back with his answer to the King But the inundation of this Joy than which nothing could be greater was as it commonly falls out only a foreâ—runner of the worst tidings could almost arrive which was the disaster of Fontarabie a private and uncertain murmur of the defeat of our Army arising even in the height of these publick Solemnities and Acclamations and as ill News does for the most part prove too true so this which for the space of two or three hours was a rumour only pass'd on a sudden for certain and met â—o little contradiction that the truth of it was no longer to be doubted The Duke of Espernon though infinitely surpriz'd at this evil success yet not believing the Duke de la Valette could be any ways accomptable for the miscarriage he was at present no further afflicted at it than for what concern'd the prejudice he saw must thence of necessity derive to the prosperity of his Majesties Affairs and the reputation of his Arms but understanding soon after that their commond Enemies endeavour'd to lay the blame of this baffle upon the Duke his Son he then began prudently to apprehend that in the evil dispositions of the Court against them at that time such as were emulous of their Vertue or that had particular animosities to the person either of the one or the other would with great eagerness embrace this occasion though infinitely remote to work their desired ruine As if therefore he had at a distance discover'd the Cloud that was gather'd to break upon him he withdrew himself insensibly from Bordeaux under colour of going to visit his Territories in Medoc where he receiv'd the first Command by the ordinary way of the Post to return to Plassac and from thence not to stir till his Majesties further pleasure and presently after had another brought him by Millers one of the Gentlemen in ordinary to the King This Gentlemen had been expressly dispatch'd to the Duke de la Valette to summon him from the King to come render his Majesty an account of his actions whom he also found very ready to obey the Order and to begin his Journey so soon as he should receive permission so to do by the return of a Gentleman he had dispatch'd away to his Majesty for that purpose upon the intimation he had receiv'd of the ill Offices had been done him at Court. As for the Duke of Espernon having prevented this second Order by his early retiring Milleres found him already at Plassac from whence he also never after departed till three or four years after that he went to end his days at Loches Though it be no part of my design to anticipate the minds of men by extraordinary accidents or to forge and obtrude upon their belief Predictions and Prodigies to render the person of whom I speak more venerable and esteem'd I ought not I conceive nevertheless to omit such memorable accidents as sometimes hapned during the progress of this long and illustrious Life I shall therefore tell you that when the Duke parted from Bordeaux to go this Journey into Medoc of which I was now speaking he commanded me to stay behind in the City there to expect his return According to which Order I remain'd in the Town when hapning one afternoon to be in a House opposite to the Duke's Place of Puipaulin about three or four of the Clock on a sudden though the day was exceeding clear and bright there arose so violent a Storm that after two or three Claps of Thunder a Bolt falling upon the highest Tower of his Lodgings first carried away part of the covering and from thence piercing through the roof of the main Body of the House set fire on some Furniture of considerable value that were bestow'd in the Garret from whence descending lower into the Duke 's own Chamber it made a great Breach in the Chimney and thence piercing further still into the Chamber underneath the same wherein his Sons were us'd to lie it left its mark there also in the Transom of a Window which it brake in two pieces and proceeded thence to lose it self in the Foundations of the Fabrick Who is it that would not have been strook at this ill Omen I must confess that at that time I was rather willing to ranek this accident amongst things of chance than thence to derive conjectures of any misadventure to come considering the Portent if such it were threatned him in whose Honour and good Fortune I was my self so nearly concern'd So that all I made of it was to run to the Lodging with a Kinsman of mine who had been spectator with me of this Tempest to look if the flash of Lightning we had seen to dart upon the Tower had not fir'd the House which prov'd to be no unseasonable precaution we finding the Furniture already flaming so as to threaten the whole Pile with a total ruine but we made shift to get it suddenly quench'd which was also the only fruit of our Care and all that could be done upon that occasion The Duke was no sooner arriv'd at his House Plassac but that he understood by Haumont whom he had a few days before dispatch'd to Court to what a degree the King had been incens'd against the Duke de la Valette his Son the Cardinal having declar'd so highly against him as to protest in publick That he would in this case execute the Office of the King's Attorney General in his prosecution which were his express words and that his Majesty had not forgot the business of Corbie nor as yet granted him an Indemnity concerning that Affair To be short he appear'd so immeasurably animated against him that no one doubted of the Duke de la Valett's manifest ruine should he in this juncture of Affairs adventure to go to Court He had notwithstanding put himself upon his way in order to that Journey when being arriv'd near Bâ—rdeaux he there receiv'd information of the evil dispositions of the Court towards him and above all that the business of Corbie was still upon Record for as touching that of Fontarabie he was not much concern'd which made him send an express Dispatch to the Duke his Father to entreat him that by some one of his Servants in whom they might equally confide he would send him his opinion concerning his Journey to the King This Servant accordingly arriv'd at Bordeaux the same day that the Duke de la Valette himself came thither where he told him from the Duke his Father That in an Affair of the
with the Relation of a little Accident by which it will appear that even in the height of his Disgraces Fortune could not so altogether forget the Duke but that she must impart some of her petty Favours to him which though not sufficient to compensate his Adversity she at least by those trifling Obligations made it seem she could not find in her heart totally to abandon a person who had formerly been so dear unto her A young Fellow the Duke had bred and brought up from his Infancy to the age of man and by whom he had long been attended in his Chamber so far at last forgot his Duty as to design to rob his Master He was not long before he executed that design and with such dexterity that he purloin'd two thousand Pistols out of a Trunck in his Chamber the Duke discovering nothing of his loss till above six months after This Companion having thus perform'd his Feat was with his Masters leave retir'd into his own Country upon the Frontiers of Spain where he had either imbezzel'd or laid out a good part of the money The Duke no sooner discover'd the Theft but that he as soon guest who had been the Thief and nam'd him to those who were then waiting in his Chamber but he was at first in some suspence whether or no he should bustle in a business that it would be no easie matter for him to prove In the end importun'd by some of his Servants not to tolerate an Action of so ill example he sent away a Prevost to take him wherein he was also so successful as to have him forc'd away from his own Country the most favourable to Actions of this nature in France and brought before him where he was no sooner come but that he confess'd his fault and restor'd the money he had taken to a Teston This Story puts me in mind of two others which I conceive ought not to be omitted Being one day in the great Church of Metz at Vespers upon a solemn Festival he whose Office it was to Cense the Priests came also to offer it to the Duke who pulling off his Gloves with greater respect to receive the Honour was done him a Diamond of very great value he wore upon his Finger drop'd out of the Socket and fell to ground without his taking any notice of it at all But the Censor was soon aware of the accident and that he might with the more cleanly conveyance gather up the Diamond having made a Reverence so low as with his knees to touch the ground he with great dexterity snapt up the Stone without being observ'd by any and retir'd The Duke having again put on his Gloves staid out the remainder of the Office which being done he return'd home to his own Lodging Supper time being come and the Duke being to wash before he sate down to Table going to pull off his Ring as he always us'd to do when he wash'd his hands he perceiv'd the Stone to be lost Whereupon without further astonishment or deliberation he gave order to have the man that Cens'd at Vespers brought before him He had observ'd though without any kind of suspicion the extraordinary low Reverence the Fellow had made him and his quick and ready apprehension made him now jealous that so unusal a Complement had not been paid him without some design The man being therefore brought before him he without more Ceremony or Examination positively demanded of him his Diamond which the other at first deny'd but being commanded the second time to produce it and that presently or he should be presently hang'd the poor man as if that word had been of as great validity as an hundred Witnesses and so many Judges without making any other reply humbly besought the Duke to let some of his people go home with him for his Diamond which he also immediately restor'd In this his own Wisdom was his Friend and another lâ—ss circumspect would also haue been less favour'd by Fortune But I shall here present you with a third accident of the same nature which was a pure effect of Chance and of which the example may go hand in hand with those marvellous Successes which are related for wonderful even of such as have been the most eminently favour'd by Fortune The Duke many years before all this going one time to Paris had taken Loches in his way as he ordinarily us'd to do when being come to la Haye in Tourain at the time of year when days are at the longest he would after supper go take a walk in the Meadows without the City The Grass was not yet cut but ready for the Scythe when playing with some of his Followers for he was at this time in that wanton Age a Pearl in the fashion of a Pear of two which he always wore in his Ears fell down into the Grass without being at present perceiv'd by him Those two Pearls were noted for the fairest of that time each of them being valued at ten thousand Crowns The men of the French Court in those days us'd to trick themselves with such things as these which now even amongst the Ladies are scarcely any more in use The Duke going at night to put off his Pendants before he went to Bed perceiv'd one of them to be lost the night was already shut up and in the clearest light of day it had been almost impossible to have found so little a thing in so great a clutter of thick and deep Grass as in that place cover'd the face of the ground He had nevertheless so great a confidence in his good luck as to command one of his Valett's de Chambre to go seek his Pearl and to bring it to him as if he had been in fee with Fortune and that she had been oblig'd to second all his desires But it so fell out that she immediately put that into the hands of the Valette de Chambre which he despair'd ever to find and he brought the Pearl presently back to his Master a thing that rendred all the Company no less astonish'd at the confidence the Duke had in his good Fortune than at his good Fortune it self After these digressions it is now high time for us to pursue our former Discourse The Count de Maillé then being return'd from Court in the beginning of Winter found the Duke fall'n sick of a very troublesome Disease This season for some years pass'd had been so inauspicious to him that he would ordinarily call it his Enemy as it prov'd in the end and that to such a degree as to deprive him of his Life At this time nevertheless it contented it self a second time to afflict him with another defluxion of Rhume which having run through all the parts of his Body with extraordinary torment left him at last in so great a weakness that he lay near six months before he could recover to any indifferent posture of health In
treachery And now was the Duke resolv'd to have clear'd all that Province when the disorders of his own Government call'd him back to look after his own immediate concerns We have already given a Narrative of the Enterprize of Angoulesme upon St. Laurence day and further an accompt of the Clemency the Duke shew'd to those who had treated him after so barbarous a manner of which there yet remain'd some who as they were most zealous for the League and as they had been most guilty of that sedition mistrusting by the Conscience of their own Crimes that the Duke could never heartily pardon and forget them chose rather leaving the security and peace of their own Houses to commit their safeties to the guard of their own Arms than to rely upon a promise they knew they could not expect in reason should be observ'd The Chavalier d' Aubeterre one of the principal sticklers for the League in that Province having put himself in the Head of these Mutineers and having gather'd together some other discontented people of the Country had of these compos'd a Body of Light Horse and some Companies of Foot with which in this time of the Duke's absence he committed a thousand Insolencies nay to that confidence were they grown of their own strength having committed such Riots whilst there was none to oppose them that they at last shut up themselves in the Castle of Villebois which they intended should serve them upon all occasions for a secure retreat a place indeed of very advantageous situation very proper for close Fight and that had all the Avenues unto it of so difficult access that Cannon without infinite labour was not to be brought up to force it In this place then they thought to remain in great security and being but three Leagues distant from Angoulesme did by their continual sallies very much incommodate that City The Duke call'd now home by their insolencies sent them presently a Summons to Surrender to which they return'd so haughty and so impudent an answer that he saw he must be forc'd to Besiege them as he soon after did and having though with infinite trouble planted two pieces of Cannon upon the Hill where the Castle stood he caus'd them immediately to begin to play The besieg'd endur'd above two hundred shot without shewing any countenance of fear but at last seeing a breach made which put them out of all hopes long to defend themselves their insolence was turn'd into apprehension and astonishment and their scornful language into terms of intreaty and humble supplication submissively bâ—gging as the utmost grace they could expect that they might be permitted to depart with the assurance of their lives to which the Duke would by no means consent nor receive them on other terms than upon discretion to which after many difficulties which they had good reason to make they were in the end constrain'd to submit Their Commander in Chief Lieutenant to the Chevalier d' Aubeterre call'd Maumont knowing very well that both by the Law of Arms and by the terms of the Capitulation he was to expect nothing but death tryâ—d to escape with the soonest by causing himself to be let down by Ropes into the Grasse of the Castle but being pursu'd and overtaken he died more honourably than he expected being dispatch'd by a Pistol-shot in his head As for his Complices the Duke separated those who had been concern'd in the Conspiracy of Angoulesme from the rest whom seeing to be men so obstinate in their malice as neither reason could reduce nor mercy reclaim he caus'd eighteen to be hang'd up before the Gates of the Castle and pardon'd all the rest It is but a very little while ago that an old man of fourscore and two years old told me this story wherein he himself had been no little concern'd as being one of those set apart for the Rope for having before made one in the business of Angoulesme but his good fortune reserving him for one of the last that was to die and the Marquise de Mezieres who was at that time Mistriss of the Castle of Villebois being then in the Country and by some of the poor man's Friends apply'd to that she would intercede for him she had so much time as to entreat and obtain his pardon and this was I think the only man of those former Offenders who escap'd that Execution neither indeed could such a mercy have been better plac'd than on a man who knew so well how to husband his life when it was once more his own as to preserve it almost an age after This Castle with the demean and territory belonging to it one of the fairest of that Country was soon after purchas'd by the Duke and since advanc'd into a Dutchy and Peerdom under the Title of the Dutchy de la Valette And I have often heard the Duke lament the ruines he was forc'd to make of this Castle being before a delicate Pile of Stone and very capacious but never after wholly repair'd there still remaining some monuments of the Rebellion as also of the punishment those desperate men suffer'd who were the Commoters of it This execution that would have appear'd more like an example of Cruelty than Justice had the Crimes of the Offenders been less or not repeated strook such a terror into the rest of that Party that they were not now so hasty to appear for a side they had seen so roughly handled so that the Duke did now not only enjoy the repose of his Government but gave sanctuary to many of the King's Party of the neighbouring Provinces who were overmatch'd or oppress'd by the League I have already told you the occasion that call'd him into Limousin and I shall now tell you of another of the same nature and of no less importance though it made not so great a noise in the world that call'd him into the Government of Guyenne The Mareschal de Matignon the King's Lieutenant in that Province had his hands so full in and about Bordeaux that the impossibility of his being present in all places where his presence was requir'd gave opportunity to Lussan the Governour of Blaye a man enclin'd to the League to lend some Gentlemen of that Party some Forces in order to the taking of Bourg two little Leagues distant only from Blaye This Town though of a very little circuit is notwithstanding of very advantageous situation for besides that it stands upon an eminence of very difficult access it absolutely commands the River of Dordongne as it also at least awes that of Garonne being not above a quarter of a League from the Bec d' Ambez where these two Rivers meet to make the Gironde It must therefore needs be of great advantage to the League to possess this place by which means Bordeaux would be absolutely depriv'd of the succour of two so considerable Rivers by which the City was continually and abundantly supply'd The Leaguers therefore
spurr'd on by these considerations had laid Siege to Bourg and were by the favour of some of the Inhabitants of their Party receiv'd into the Town without any opposition but la Ioviziere a man of approved Valour who commanded in the Castle defended himself so well notwithstanding the ill condition of the place and the vigour of the Assailants who press'd hard upon him that he gave the Duke time to come to his Relief at whose first appearance the Enemy retir'd when the Duke having publickly commended the Governours Valour and the fidelity of some honest Inhabitants who had stuck stoutly to him in this occasion withdrew the Captain into his own Service for the testimony he had given of his Valour leaving Campagno after Colonel of the Regiment of Guards and since Governour of Boulogne with a good Garrison in his room as judging this place of that importance that it ought to have a person of no less Authority to defend it against any attempt from the Garrison of Blaye so near and so dangerous a Neighbour Yet did not the Duke keep it long in his possession for the King not long after commanding him to deliver it up to him he immediately obey'd though he had in a mannâ—r himself made a conquest of it Some say that the Mareschal de Matignon jealous of so considerable a neighbour as the Duke had earnestly importun'd the King to retrive this place out of his hands The Duke having by these successes settled all his Neighbours in peace whilst the rest of the Kingdom was in trouble it was but reasonable that he himself should share in that felicity wherein his Valour and Vigilancy had so fortunately establish'd others and of this he receiv'd the first and most happy fruits by the Blessing God was pleas'd to give his Marriage-Bed for having been already three years Married to Marguerite de Foix Countess of Candale without Issue the great and various agitations wherewith he had been continually exercis'd all that time scarce allowing him the leisure to live in company with his Wife at last this vertuous Lady in March 1591. was at Xaintes brought to Bed of Henry de Foix and de la Valette his eldest Son whom we have since seen Duke of Candale and whose Valour has manifested it self in most parts of Europe where he acquir'd the Reputation of one of the greatest Captains of his time To these Military Vertues he had yet the addition of so many other excellent qualities that it was hard to say which was to be most admir'd his Valour in War his Sweetness in Conversation or his Prudence and Dexterity in the Management and Conduct of the most weighty Affairs The year following 1592. the Duke was enrich'd with another Son Bernard de Foix and de la Valette who was boâ—â— at Angoulâ—sme and who is now the sole Heir of that illustrious Family a Prince whose Vertues would furnish me with sufficient matter for his praise did not his modesty impose my silence The third and last was Lewis Cardinal de la Valette born at Angoulesme the year following one whom the Court esteem'd and acknowledg'd for the greatest and most accomplish'd Courtier that had there been bred for many years He render d himself conspicuous in his profession whilst he continued in it by embellishing and adorning an excellent natural ingenuity with the choicest Flowers of Divine and Humane Learning and doubtless had he apply'd himself wholly to his Book might have gone equal to the most famous Church-men of this latter age but the heat of his Courage having tempted him out of the bounds of his Spiritual Profession he prov'd a better Captain than the chance of War would give him leave long to continue for the Wars of Italy wherein he serv'd the State with unparallel'd Diligence and greater Success than was to be expected from so few Forces as he commanded spurr'd on his untimely Fate as also his elder Brothers who both of them in less than four months space lost their lives in the same Army Whilst the Duke had been employing his Power and Person in these foremention'd exploits there had pass'd much important action about the Person of the King who after the Skirmish of Arques and the Battel of Yâ—ry was grown to such a height of Power and Reputation as had put him into a condition to undertake the Siege of Paris which doubtless he might then have taken if on the one side his Majesty had been less solicitous to preserve the City which would have been utterly destroy'd should his Army have entred by storm or on the other side the Citizens had been less obstinate in their defense but their despair fortifying and hardning them against their necessities which in truth were insupportable they gave the Duke of Mayenne time to fetch the Duke of Parma to their Relief which for some years prorogu'd the entire Victory his Majesty might then but for his Clemency have obtain'd After the raising of this Siege the King's Army being much decay'd by the length and ill success thereof all the Catholicks who had thus long serv'd his Majesty even his most particular Servants took the liberty highly to complain of his slow proceeding towards his intended Conversion as also the several Societies and Companies of the Kingdom generally sent their Deputies humbly to beseech his Majesty to put an end to that good work which would likewise put an end â—o all his own troubles and be the only means to preserve his Kingdom nay even the Court it self grew importunate in the same 〈◊〉 and were already laying the design of a third Party which would have involv'd the King in a new difficulty his Majesty had then no need of but to prevent all inconveniencies to stop mens mouths and to hinder all these Court-practices his Majesty saw it necessary to renew the War with new vigour and by some notable and important action to gain a reputation to his Party He took therefore a resolution to call all the Nobility he could win over to him about his person and that not so much to re-inforce his Army by their presence as to hinder them being at distance and in full liberty to dispose of themselves from joyning either with those Factions already form'd by his Enemies or such as were now even by those who had hitherto follow'd his Fortune forming against him Nevertheless his Majesty knowing very well that the major part of those who had separated themselves from him had done it meerly out of respect to Religion and that they would not easily be induc'd to return unless he first gave them some hopes as to that particular he sent to assure them that he desir'd nothing more ardently than to be instructed in the Catholick Religion to the end that with the satisfaction and safety of his Conscience he might make open profession of it to all the world Upon this assurance of his speedy Conversion which