addressing himself to Mounsieur de Villeroy made this Proposition to him and was by him very well receiv'd Villeroy promising to acquaint the King with the good affection of the Inhabitants and to give him a speedy answer I shall not here make shie of delivering plainly what I have receiv'd from the Duke 's own mouth upon this occasion and that without fear of reviving Animosities long ago extinct the Duke an Mounsieur de Villeroy having often since and that with some kind of delight discours'd themselves into a better intelligence about this Subject So true it is that time is a Sovereign Remedy for the most violent passions no former unkindness betwixt these two great Ministers being of force to hinder the mutual esteem they had of one anothers Vertue in their later years from ending in a most sincere and perfect Friendship The King's answer to Villeroy was that he should be glad to have the Duke within his power that so he might hinder him from joyning with the King of Navarre but withal if it could not be done without endangering his Person that they should by no means attempt in his Majesty being neither willing to have him destroy'd nor exasperated but only restrain'd within the bounds of his Duty Which were the very words his Majesty repeated to the Duke at his return to Court graciously adding that it was in order to a speedy recalling of him about his own Person where he intended to use him like a Son a title by which his Majesty was ever pleas'd to Honour him in his Letters and ordinary Discourse as hitherto he had ever done But this was too nice a Commission for his Enemies to work upon who would by all means make use of this occasion the hair-brain'd Citizens presented to them to take a full revenge of former injuries for after the business had been communicated to the Duke of Guise it was told Souchet by Mounsieur Villeroy that it was the King's desire they should take the Duke Prisoner and that they could not do his Majesty a more acceptable service Whereupon Souchet having reply'd that it would be an enterprize hard to execute so as to meet with no opposition and that in such a case he desir'd to know how they were to behave themselves he was further order'd to take the Duke alive or dead that such was his Majesties intention and that it was a business of so great importance that both he and all others who should be employ'd therein might certainly expect a recompense proportionable to the merit of the Action Some have further added and it was a common report that a man utterly unknown to Souchet was disguis'd in his Majesties Cloaths and taught to pronounce this Command as if it had come from the King 's own mouth but however it were carried certain it is that Souchet could not have return'd more fully perswaded than he did At his return he acquaints the Consul with his Instructions at a private place without the City who hoping to do the King a signal Service communicated the Order he had receiv'd to forty or fifty all active and resolute men of his most intimate Friends and conferr'd yet further with some Gentlemen of the Duke of Guise's Faction about it so that having made himself as strong as he could and having writ to the Vicount Aubeterre who was Head of the League in that Province to be ready to assist in an action so important to the Service of the King and the Catholick Union he at last receiv'd the Deputy into the City upon St. Laurence Eve the day following without further delay being design'd for the execution of the Enterprize There are few Historians of any note of those times who have not given a full description of this days business and who have not thought it though only relating to a particular person an action for the Novelty and handsome performance of it worthy to be recorded amongst the general Transactions of that time Mounsieur de Thou D' Aubigné and D' Avila have all made long Relations of it and there were many Printed Reports of it current in France immediately after the thing was done of which several old Copies yet remain to all which I could refer my Reader and spare my self the pains of repeating it over again could a business so highly important to the Duke's Honour be left out of the recital of his Life without making my self guilty of an omission Posterity might justly blame me for Take here therefore what I have collected both from the Duke 's own mouth and from some of his Servants who as they shar'd in the danger of this Conspiracy had also the Honour to do their Master signal Service in so memorable an Action The Duke living in great security in the City and behaving himself very obligingly to all the Inhabitants in general but more particularly to those he saw bore the greatest sway amongst them spar'd no kind of good Entertainment that he thought might win the Consul over to his Devotion a man who besides the addition of his Authority was very considerable in his own Person as being descended from one of the best Families in the City and a man of great sagacity and valour The morning of his enterprize therefore being St. Laurence day he going early as it was usual to give the Duke a Visit was by him entertain'd with extraordinary civility the Duke not suffering him to depart till he had made him a promise to come again to Dinner which the Consul thinking by that means to have his access into the Castle more open and free for the effecting of his purpose readily engag'd himself to do And in the mean time returning home he found Souchet and with him some dozen of the most resolute Fellows and fiercest Leaguers of all the Town got thither before him These were to begin the work and the others to the number of five and forty or fifty were lodg'd in the Houses nearest to the Castle to be ready to second them when they had given the first Assault Neither were these all in the Conspiracy for there were divers others dispos'd into the several Streets of the City to alarm the rest of the people altogether ignorant of the Enterprize by telling them that the Hugonots had taken the Castle by the Postern-gate that look'd into the Park and to make them by this device run to their Arms to repel them Things being thus order'd the Consul first entred the Castle taking along with him Souchet Booted and Spurr'd as if he newly arriv'd from Court with another in the same Equipage and being come into the Hall where he met with some of the inferiour Servants he of them enquir'd for the Duke saying He had there two Courriers to present to him who brought him good news from Court Whereupon the Servants who saw him every day with the Duke and receiv'd with great Demonstrations of Favour and Respect
having intelligence of the Duke's motion that way he went and met him upon his March where he not only endeavour'd to disswade him from that Design but also by all manner of Arguments to draw him over to the League conjuring him by all the ties of Friendship and by the most instant intreaties he could use neither omitting the respect due to Religion nor the obligations of Friendship and Relation to divert him from his purpose but all in vain for the Duke setting aside all those interests of Friendship and Alliance when they came in competition with the Duty he ought to his Prince was deaf to all Arguments and Entreaties and in spite of them and him advanc'd directly towards the place But upon his Arrival the Enemy not being able to dispute it with him immediately retir d to Tholoze giving the Duke by that means free liberty to fortifie the Town which he did so well as soon after gave the King's Party opportunity to gain in that place a very signal Victory by the death of the Duke de Ioyeuse himself and the absolute defeat of his Army But it was not in this occasion alone that the Duke's Armes were employ'd in that Country for the power of the League being as considerable there as in any Province of the Kingdom their Designs were not â—imited to the reducing of Villemur only they had moreover almost block'd up Montauban which City at that time reputed one of the best in France was in great danger if not speedily reliev'd to be lost On one side it was aw'd by Moissac on another by the Castles of Monbeton of Mauzac and de la Court besides many other little places fortified round about by which the Garrison and Inhabitants were so straightned and kept in that they were reduc'd to great extremity and scarcity of all things This the Duke being advertis'd of and being also solicited by the Inhabitants to free them from these troublesome Neighbours he presently went about it and to that purpose presented himself first before Moissac which surrendring at the sight of the Cannon he remov'd from thence before Mauzac which did the same but the other little places not being so considerable as that his presence was necessary to reduce them he left that part of the work to the Sieurs de St. Megrin and de Bonnouvrier Mareschals de Camp to his Army himself whilst his Forces were employ'd about those petty Enterprizes making a step into Gascony to Visit Madam de la Valette his Mother and to invite his Friends in that Country to go and share with him in the Honour of serving his Majesty in Provence By this little digression into Gascony the Duke had an opportunity yet further to re-inforce himself with some particular Servants of his with whom having rejoyn'd his Army he found now nothing lest to do that might impede his March so that he proceeded without longer stay on his Journey to Provence where being arriv'd and appearing with so gallant and so numerous an Army it gave no small reputation to his Majesties Affairs nor strook no small astonishment into the League and as he in his experience very well knew that this reputation was no ways to be kept up but by some honourable Exploit he undertook divers Sieges at his first Arrrival notwithstanding the season of the year was far spent it being now October whereof that of Montauron was the first This City though in its situation and strength incapable of any notable defense was nevertheless by the Commanders who had eighteen foot Companies there which the Duke of Savoy had put in to entertain the Duke of Espeâ—non in his first heat thought tenable enough and that the number of their men which were nine hundred resolute Souldiers would supply the defects of the place or that at the worst the Duke of Savoy being so near and in the head of an Army they might defend themselves till he should come to their Relief This Garrison the Duke of Espernon at his Arrival presently summon'd to a surrender at the same time representing to them that they were in a place that could not possibly resist the Force of great Shot the Houses of the City making up the greatest part of their Wall and that they would do better not to put him to the trouble of bringing up his Artillery than by doing it to oblige him to use them otherwise than like Gentlemen and Souldiers To which they defying him and despising his Admonitions return'd this peremptory answer That they had undertaken to defend that place and would maintain it or perish and make it good with their lives to the last man An Answer that quickly set the Duke to work who immediately beleaguer'd the Town where the Cannon having in a few days made a wider breach than was neceâ—sary the besieg'd desir'd they might Capitulate To whom the Duke sent word There was now no Capitulation to be granted to them that they had lost that priviledge and that he would not receive them upon other terms than upon surrender to mercy that they were best therefore to deliberate whether they would run the fortune of an Assault or presently submit to that Condition it being the only and final Favour they were to expect Whilst these matters were in agitation the Duke of Savoy who had engag'd these men in this desperate place and knew as well as any the danger they were in was advancing with three thousand Foot and five hundred Light Horse to relieve them which the Duke of Espernon was no sooner enform'd of but that leaving a sufficient Force to maintain the Siege he went out to meet him and bravely offer'd him Battel But the Savoyard not daring to run so great a hazard retir'd without any further attempt so that the Besieg'd being out of all hopes of Relief were forc'd to surrender to the Duke's discretion where their Insolence and Rebellion receiv'd their due reward and that in as high a degree and with the greatest rigour the Law of Arms does permit whereby they were made miserable examples of the greatest cruelty All the Captains found in the place to the number of fourteen were immediately hang'd up and five hundred common Souldiers sent to the Gallies at Taulon the rest either escap'd in the time of the Capitulation or were â—lain during the Siege A severity that ought not to have been practis'd upon our own Nation But the Duke would by this give the Duke of Savoy to understand that he having violated the publick Faith and his League with the Kings of France as he had done he would have no fair Quarter with him nor use him otherwise than as a mortal Enemy to the Crown and Kingdom After this Action the Duke conceiving himself no less oblig'd to protect his Majesties good Subjects than to suppress his Enemies his first care was to secure the Officers of the Parliament of Provence such as had declar'd for the King
from the beginning and had retir'd themselves from Aix the seat of Parliament from the time the City had revolted to the Duke of Savoy in some place of safety For this purpose he could find no place so fit for strength and conveniency as Manosque where he seated them in great security and honour And that the time might not pass away without some shew of Action whilst the season would not give him leave smartly to follow the War he in this dead time of the year with a strong party of Horse scour'd the Country all over the whole Province Neither was this an unnecessary or an unprofitable diligence by which he confirm'd those Cities already declar'd for the King in their duty and also frighted those inclining to a Revolt into better Resolutions But the greatest advantage he reap'd by it was that by this means he inform'd himself upon the particular places themselves of the general estate of the whole Province and moreover kept his men in action like a Captain that very well understood Order and Discipline to be the only things that establish and support an Army and the pest of great Bodies to be sloath and liberty which debauch Souldiers from their Duty and have often been observ'd to dissolve and disperse the greatest Armies when the Souldier has been suffer'd to enrich himself by idleness and license upon the plunder of his Quarters He therefore provided for the subsistence of his men by imposing Contributions upon the Province which nevertheless was not done without the advice and consent of the Officers of Parliament by whose Authority as well as his own he order'd a certain rate of all things in the Markets and that at so indifferent a price that the Commons found a greater convenience in the Quartering of Souldiers than in being without so quick a return they had for their Corn and other Provisions and so certain was their pay To this the Assessments design'd to defray these Provisions were so equally laid upon the whole Country that no man could complain he was opprest nor was there any who did not find his advantage in this necessary evil In fine all things were settled so much to the general conveniency and satisfaction of all that I have an hundred times heard the Duke wish for such an establishment in Guienne but the contagion was there already spread too far and had taken too deep root to admit so happy a reformation By this prudent disposition of things the Souldier found himself provided of his share of all things necessary where ever he came according to the order prescrib'd Neither was he to exact more upon pain of death a penalty that without mercy follow'd the offense by which severe Discipline the King's Party in those parts were in a short time observ'd to be very much encreas'd The Duke solicitous to maintain this Reputation of the Royal Arms by some notable enterprize resolv'd to make an attempt upon the City of Arles neither did he herein make an ill choice it being one of the most considerable places of Provence seated upon the Banks of Rosne and inhabited by above three hundred Families of very good quality who here made their ordinary residence besides a vast number of Citizens and inferiour people This City like all others which are situated upon Navigable Rivers and daily expect to be supply'd with fresh Provisions kept very little before-hand in store which the Duke being well enform'd of contented himself with shutting up the River only above and below and cutting off the Succours of the adjacent Countrey by Quartering several Troops on both sides the River by which means without much trouble or any considerable loss in a month or five weeks time this strong City was reduc'd to a necessity of surrender and to shake hands with the League for whom they had hitherto been zealous to the highest degree They came therefore to a Capitulation in which the Duke was content to accept of thirty Hostages for their future good behaviour and with that caution to ease them of the burthen of a Garrison which in truth at that time before he was well settled in his Government he could not well have spar'd nor without manifest prejudice to his Majesties and his own private Affairs Nevertheless what good security soever the Duke thought he had taken to bind them to their Duty the Inhabitants made no scruple afterwards in the Revolt of the Cities of Provence by their Rebellion to expose the lives of so many men of Quality who had generously stak'd their persons for the good of their fellow Citizens to the Duke 's just indignation though he by a clemency much more extraordinary than the severity he had shew'd at Montauron dismiss'd the Hostages to their own houses without so much as putting them to ransome which in an occasion of this nature is no usual Favour After this success the Duke yet undertook the Siege of Antibe a place wonderfully well fortifi'd seated upon the Sea shore and favour'd with a very good Port which the Duke of Savoy since his last taking of it to assure his possession had so fortified and mann'd that he thought it impossible to be taken The Duke of Espernon notwithstanding presented himself before it where having summon'd the Governour to a surrender and his Trumpet being sent back with a scornful answer he proceeded to a formal Siege advancing by Tâ—enches raising of Batteries and duly observing whatever the Method and Discipline of War prescribe in the most difficult attempts The Town was defended for a while but the Governour in the end retir'd into his Foâ—t where he thought he should be in a condition to make the Duke spend his time and consume his Army unprofitably and to no purpose This place had besides its own strength and advantageous situation this further convenience that every night by the Duke of Savoy's order a Gally set out from Nice that brought all the refrâ—shments to the besieg'd they could desire carried away their Sick and Wounded brought them in fresh Souldiers and provided all things necessary for them which so continual Succour and seasonable Supplies swell'd the Governour with an opinion that the Duke could never force him Neither was the Duke displeas'd at his confidence hoping that this security of his would at one time or another contribute to the success of his Design He therefore continued his approaches and try'd all ways imaginable to effect his enterprize when at last his Cannon having batterd the Curtain in a place not much frequented he perceiv'd that those within kept no guard there by which he believ'd they had not observ'd that breach and immediately resolv'd to make his advantage of that negligence To this purpose therefore he sent a Serjeant to discover the breach who accordingly having gone in and return'd by a hole big enough for a man to pass at his â—ase he made his report to the Duke that there was
sufficient to beget new distastes in the King against him yet was he not so much master of himself nor had so much command over his own Nature but that he must put those affronts upon Crequy or rather upon the King who made this business his own By these disputes which in another time might have turn'd very much to the Duke's prejudice he got nevertheless this advantage that the King to satisfie him for the future in the interests of his Command made a kind of agreement with him if a largess from a Master to his Servant may be so call'd which was That his Majesty would indeed really and effectually reserve to himself the nomination of Camp-Master to the Regiment of Guards as also to the other old Regiments but with this condition that the Colonel should swear them that they should be conceiv'd to have their admission from him without which they were not to be receiv'd into the employment That his Majesty having provided for one Company in the Regiment of Guards he was content the Duke should in turn do the same for the next at his own appointment That of all the Foot Companies of the other Regiments new and old the Duke when ever any should be vacant should have the naming of the Captains to the King to fill them up and that no Captain soever whether of the Regiment of Guards or any other Regiment should be admitted into or establish'd in his Command till first his Commission was Sign'd by the Colonel But for what concern'd those Offices that depended upon the Duke's Command as Lieutenants Ensigns Colonel-Ensigns Serjeants and Serjeant-Majors Martials Provost-Martials Quarter-Masters and other Officers that he should place and displace them by his sole Authority without any order from the King or his Majesties taking any notice thereof According to which Agreement the Duke proceeded so regularly and undisturb'd in the Priviledges of his Command that there was never after during this Kings Reign the least Dispute betwixt them saveing once that the King thinking it fit to add two Companies more to his Regiment of Guards and having appointed their Captains the Duke interpos'd his Majesties Royal Promise humbly beseeching him to do him right an Argument so powerful to this equitable Prince that of two Captains he had nam'd he only provided for one which was the Sieur de la Courbe who had but the second Company neither the first being given to the Sieur de Bourdet by the Duke's Recommendation whose turn it was to name the first vacant Company yet did not the business pass without some dispute though at last the King was pleas'd rather to give way to his Servant's just desires than to fail in the least Article of his Word I shall here add since I am upon this discourse of the Office of Colonel a thing that time has sufficiently justified to all France which is that the Duke was so exceeding cautious in the dispensation of Commands whether meerly depending upon his own Authority or in his nomination only that his Majesty would often say he never had better Foot Officers than those of the Duke's preferring And in truth the French Infantry whilst the Duke was permitted to execute his charge were kept in so good order that perhaps no Militia in Europe were better Disciplin'd nor better Officer'd than they a truth to this hour confirm'd by an infinite number of persons yet living who have commanded under him and who were witnesses of his conduct To which I shall further add and to his great commendation a thing not to be contradicted which is that he neither directly nor indirectly ever made the least benefit of any Command he dispos'd of which I think had they been set to sale would in the long course of his life have amounted to above two Millions of Gold after the rate they are sold now adays And I do very well remember that towards his latter end when he saw the selling of Offices began to grow in fashion he did all he could and that the condition of the time would permit to oppose it representing to the King with very convincing Arguments what a prejudice such an abuse would be to his Service although in the end seeing he could not prevail with the Council to alter that toleration he also gave some of his own Servants though very few leave to make mony of the Offices he had conferr'd upon them but I am certain that for his own particular he never converted any the least employment to his own pâ—ofit A thing perhaps such as thought him solicitous of his own Interest will hardly be perswaded to believe as indeed he was enclin'd to the saving side and wary enough when it was fit for him to be so but never upon any occasion where his Honour was concern'd that ever taking with him the upperhand of all other considerations The business of Crequy how troublesome and how hard soever to digest was not yet the last of the same nature the Duke was to wrestle withal in this years revolution another following immediately after which as it nearer concern'd him pierc'd deeper to the quick neither had it so happy an issue as the first The Duke having in the year 1582. been by King Henry the III. establish'd in the Government of Metz he conferr'd the Lieutenancy of the City and Country upon Moncassin his Kinsman and the Command of the Cittadel upon Sobole but in process of time which hapned in the year 1585. having withdrawn Moncassin from this employment to continue about his own person Sobole whom he had bred a Page and in whom he had an entire confidence was by his bounty rais'd to that degree that he conferr'd upon him the command of the City and Country together with that of the Cittadel also which was effectually one of the bravest entertainments in France Metz being at that time the most considerable place of the Kingdom and the noblest member of the Duke's Command In the Year 1594. the King undertook the Siege of Laon to which as to an occasion wherein he expected to meet with great difficulties he invited many of his Servants of the neighbouring Provinces Amongst these Sobole was one who by the Authothority the Duke had given him in Metz having got a great interest in the Country might with great facility raise a considerable party of Horse as he did and at the Head of sixscore Light-Horse very well appointed and fourscore Carabins went to serve his Majesty at this Siege The King receiv'd him with great demonstrations of favour and not being well satisfied with the Duke of Espernon who being at that time in Provence where he did not behave himself to his Majesties liking after he had as he conceiv'd cut him out work enough there he took occasion to raise him greater difficulties about Metz by lessening the Authority he had till that time ever had over Sobole And to that purpose after he had reduc'd Laon to
Chevreuse who was lean'd upon one of the Boots of the Coach on the dark side where he could not be perceiv'd commanded the Coach-man not to stir seeking as it was plain enough out of youthful bravery an occasion to quarrel nor did the Duke fail to give him as good a one as he could desire for not being able longer to endure the insolency of so base a fellow he cudgell'd the Coach-man so well that he forc'd him at last to give back The Prince de Ioinville who perhaps forbore out of respect to the Duke of Montpensier appear'd not at all in the business at that time but in the morning sent the Gentleman of his Horse le Comté by name to question the Duke about it The Duke was yet in his bed and asleep when the Gentleman came but being wak'd by the Groom of his Chamber who never refus'd admittance to any he sent for him to his bed-side where being come the Gentleman told him that he was sent by the Prince of Ioinville his Master to know if when he beat the Coachman over night he did it to affront him To which the Duke returning no answer but only asking him where his Master was and the other having answered that he staid at the foot of Montmartre with a good Horse and a good Sword to expect him he without more words leap'd out of his Bed drest himself in the Gentleman's presence and having led him into his Armory took out thence two Swords of equal length whereof he gave him the choice by which time the Master of his own Horse being also come to him they went all three together to the place Being there come the Duke found the Prince de Ioinville ready to receive him their Swords were already drawn and they were just going to 't when the Prince who had his face towards Paris â—eeing a Party of â—orse coming that way and suspecting it was with an intent to prevent them shew'd them to the Duke telling him withal that they must spur to gain the Bois de Boulogne and without more words turn'd his Horse that way The Duke who by the distance of those he saw conceiv'd they had yet time enough to end their dispute before they could come in to interrupt them had a great mind without going further to have dispatch'd the business there but being necessitated to follow the Prince who was already upon the gallop towards the Wood he spurr'd after though they could not make such haste but that they were interrupted before they could come there and by their Friends carried back to the City Where the King having notice of their Quarrel commanded them both to the Louvre and there took up the buâ—iness making them embrace in his presence and promise to be good friends That which was most remarkable on the Duke's side in this occasion was that the number of those who declar'd themselves of his Party was so great that they took up all the space betwixt the Roule to the Louvre whilst the Duke of Ioinville was only countenanc'd by those of his own Relation whose interest in Paris was at this time very much declin'd from what it had formerly been in the life of the Duke his Father Although the residence of this great City was very pleasing to the King yet could not the delights that entertain'd him there detain his Majesty from visiting all parts of his Kingdom where he conceiv'd his presence to be necessary for the advancement of his Affairs We saw him the last year in Limousin and this invited him into Champagne and as far as Sedan to reduce the Duke of Boüillon to his duty This Duke keeping himself still at a distance from the Court and refractory to several Summons his Majesty had sent him to make his appearance and by justifying himself to obtain his favour it was plain that his refusing to come was a contempt to the Sovereign Authority and that therefore his Majesty in the vindication of his own honour was oblig'd to chastize him Neither did he longer defer for that purpose to make his preparation for a Journey to Sedan In this expedition the Duke of Espernon whom the King began now much better to relish and whose admirable care and vigilancy upon all occasions gave his Majesty infinite satisfaction had the command of the Vant-Guard committed to him and had matters proceeded to the necessity of a Siege was design'd for one of the most important Quarters against the Town but the Duke of Boüillon having at last shut himself up in the place and not willing to pull upon himself the utmost effects of the King's indignation had recourse to his mercy and by his submissions together with the Queens intercession who ordinarily accompanied the King in all his Motions obtain'd of his Majesty an indempnity for all things past upon the most favourable terms he could himself expect or desire Whereupon he receiv'd the King into the City the seventh of April 1606. with a Garrison of 300. men which by the condition of the Accommodation were to remain four years in the Castle during which time his Majesty would make tryal of this new Convert's perseverance in his duty but that long space was by his Majesties favour reduc'd to a few months the bounty of this generous Prince ever contracting the term of mens disgraces his displeasure being short liv'd and of no continuance but his noble nature being ever constant to oblige all his Subjects Though the following year was pass'd over without any disturbance in the Kingdom yet did his Majesties Name and Reputation give him opportunity and by his Authority Power to compose one of the most dangerous differences that could possibly have hapned amongst Christian Princes and that was the falling out betwixt the Pope Paul the V. and the Republick of Venice a disorder that had it not in time been taken up would infallibly have involv'd all Christendom in the Quarrel and it is infiniâ—ely to be fear'd have given the Turk opportunity in so great a confusion to have made a formidable advance into the very heart of Europe A danger that his Majesty than whom none was clearer sighted very well forsaw and retaining a grateful memory of the obligations he had receiv'd both from the Holy Sea and that Republick at his advancement to the Crown as soon undertook to interpose betwixt those two powerful adversaries The business was carried on by the mediation of the Cardinal de Ioyeuse and Cardinal Perron wherein the one and the other proceeding according to his Majesties wise direction their endeavours were at last crown'd with success and all things concluded to the satisfaction of both parties but chiefly to the Honour of France which now appear'd to be the Arbiter of all the Estates of Europe And indeed in those times all things in a manner were sway'd by his Majesties will his desire being almost a rule to all Princes in all Affairs Neither was there
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
him to sue for this Peace was doubtless the blocking up of Montaâ—ban and the waste that now the third time by express order from the King was made round about that City The Duke of Rohan had plac'd his latest refuge in the strength of this place and had ever hop'd whilst it could maintain it self in a condition to sustain a tedious Siege that resistance would infallibly put him into a capacity of obtaining very good Conditions but the King who had foreseen this design writ to the Prince of Condé to joyn himself with the Duke of Espernon to whom he also writ at the same time to the same effect to deprive Montauban by destroying their Fruits of all possibility of subsistance and therein the Duke of Rohan of the assistance he promis'd to himself from thence in the last extremity of his declining Affairs The Prince would himself be the bearer of this Dispatch dated from Suze the 27 th of April and accordingly arriv'd at Bordeaux in the latter end of May where betwixt him and the Duke all things were soon concluded on for the execution of his Majesties Commands an Enterprize that although the Duke had neither competent Forces nor other means wherewithal to perform it that no order had been sent either for money to raise men to furnish ammunitions of War or to buy provisions for the support of the Army his affection to the Service notwithstanding supplying all other defects he soon put himself into a condition to second the Princes desires wherein he was indeed necessitated almost alone to undertake the business how difficult soever he knew it to be For the Prince being oblig'd by his Command to have an especial eye to the higher Languedoc his presence was there very requisite and almost continually requir'd but the Duke fail'd not for any other consideration according to his custom to acquit himself very exactly of his share of the work Whilst the Duke was in the heat of this execution the Peace was concluded with the Duke of Rohan in Iuly which all the other Cities of his Faction likewise accepted excepting Montauban which for some days stood out not that they did not desire it equally with the rest they had suffer'd too much and were reduc'd to too necessitous a condition to oppose their own quiet but the Duke whatsoever those of Montauban could pretend to wit That having suffer'd so much by his Arms they could not consent to allow him the honour of having subdu'd them very well understood that all those excuses were suggested to them by the Cardinal who ambitious to have the honour of totally suppressing that party attributed to himself did especially desire that this City which after the surrender of Rochelle was become the Metropolis of the Faction should be deliver'd up into his hands He had therefore acquainted the principal of the Inhabitants that it was from him alone they were to expect whatever advantages they could propose to themselves from this Accommodation and that it would therefore concern them to reserve themselves entirely for him to be the more worthy of his protection from whence they might derive a greater support than from all other powers upon earth The Duke nettled at this usage and unable in the interests of Honour to give place to any whomsoever retir'd himself to his House Cadillac with a resolution seeing the Cardinal would by his Authority ravish from him an honour he had by his Services so highly deâ—erv'd not to pay him so much as the civility of a Visit in his Government into which he was now coming to take possession of Montauban as if he had been the man had reduc'd it But the Cardinal whose design it was as has been said to engross to himself the whole reputation of this War thought nothing would so much illustrate his Triumph as to receive a Visit from the Duke of Espernon in one of the principal Cities of his own Government and conceiving such a Complement would pass in the opinion of all the world for an absolute testimony of an entire submission he was infinitely desirous to have him won to that complacency which being he could not handsomely try to do directly from himself he caus'd him to be very highly importun'd to that purpose by some of the Duke 's own peculiar friends who were at that time about his person These Gentlemen therefore and amongst others particularly Mareschal Bassompierre represented to the Duke that all this time an enterview betwixt the Cardinal and him was highly necessary to the good of his own Affairs without which he could not possibly avoid giving a mortal Affront to a man become absolute at Court by the ruine of a Faction which alone had hitherto serv'd for an allay to the excess of his power An advice that was so well seconded by le Plessis who of all others had the greatest sway with the Duke and fortified with so many powerful Arguments that at last he resolv'd upon this Visit. Yet do I very well remember with how great reluctancy it was and with how strange a violence upon his own humour and haughty spirit that he suffer'd himself to be overrul'd in this particular and how unwillingly he set out towards Montauban Though the Cardinal was very much press'd by his own Interests to go in all diligence after the King who had taken the way to Paris immediately upon the conclusion of the Treaty it is notwithstanding most certain that he waited two whole days together the Duke's coming to Montauban where when he came he receiv'd him with extraordinary kindness and respect and though many things had pass'd upon leveral occasions that might reasonably enough beget ill blood betwixt them the Cardinal by an excess of freedom and civility gave manifest testimonies that he retain'd no memory of any former unkindness but on the contrary protested that he would value the Duke's friendship preferrably to any other persons in the Kingdom which was his own expression and upon an intimation the Duke gave him that he had occasion to make a Journey to Court promis'd him that soo soon as he should see the King he would procure him leave so to do a thing which with all the importunities he could make the Duke had before not been able to obtain Neither did the Cardinal limit his offers here he assuring him moreover that he would serve him in all things and if he would give him leave supply the place of a fourth Son to him wherein he would contend with the other three which should pay him the greatest honour which were the express terms of his Complement The next day after his arrival the Cardinal treated him in his own Lodgings where he gave him the chief place of honour at the Table notwithstanding the Duke of Montmorency was there present omitting no civility that might beget a strict League of Friendship betwixt them so that it is most certain could the Duke have bow'd a little
into the Dukes hands told him that nothing troubled him but that he knew not how to invest him into a more absolute Authority and that he could not adde a part of the Royal Dignity to his charge And it is certain that in giving the Duke the Governments of Metz Toul and Verdun his Majesty would have given them in Sovereignty and have demis'd to him the Title of the Crown but the Duke displeas'd with this proposition as an injury offer'd to his Obedience and Loyalty complain'd to the King that his Majesty honouring him with so noble an employment should go about to deprive him of the dearest Relation he had which was that of his Majesties most humble and obedient Subject an honour that in his soul he preferr'd before all titles of Sovereignty and all the advantages of Fortune his Majesty could prefer him to and thereupon receiv'd both the Governments and the charge of Colonel General under the Kings Authority From this new advancement the League as I have said before deriv'd their second pretense for the taking of Arms they look'd upon the Duke of Espernon's new Honour as an offence to their whole Party and the Duke of Guise took it for a particular injury to himself and thereupon openly publish'd That there were now no more Employments Riches or Honours save only for the Duke of Espernon and la Valette his Brother That the State was only impoverish'd by profusions made in their favour That they were the true causes of the peoples oppression That the Treasure set apart for the extirpation of Heresie was by them perverted to their own uses and particular profit That the greatest Dignities the most important Places and Governments of greatest concern were too many advantages for their ambition That whilst the Kings good Servants were neglected and kept under there were new Offices with unheard of Priviledges contriv'd and erected for them That if the power they had over the King were longer suffer'd they would equally ruine the State and Religion That the Duke of Espernon was therefore to be remov'd from Court if men desir'd to see an end of publick Miseries That his Majesty being deliver'd from his Counsels which were equally violent and interessed would doubtless for the future be more favourable to his good Subjects and better inclin'd to the Catholick Cause At the same time a Manifesto was publish'd by the Cardinal of Bourbon who was the declared Head of that Faction containing principally the foregoing complaints and immediately after follow'd the rising into Arms. The first design of the League was upon Metz as if they meant to strike at the heart of the Duke of Espernon's Fortune a place so considerable that the Duke had reason to look upon it as the surest foundation of his greatness neither did he in his latter years condescend to any thing with more unwillingness and reluctancy than to the surrender of that place that proposition seeming to him as though men were bent to the total ruine of his House nor could he ever have been perswaded to have stript himself of such a defense upon a less consideration than the investiture of his Son the Cardinal of la Valette into that Government who being younger by forty years than himself he might reasonably hope it would continue in his Family at least during his life but God was pleased to dispose it otherwise To make a right judgment of the importance of this place it will be necessary to consider its Site and condition and the share it has ever had in the Duke's Fortune does indeed require it should be something insisted upon Metz then is a City something bigger than Burdeaux or Orleans that is to say one of the greatest and the fairest in the Kingdom full of Inhabitants and those a rich and industrious people to whom the neighbourhood of Germany gives great facility to an advantageous Commerce She was in former times thought beautiful enough to be the Metropolis of Austrasia once the Inheritance of one of our Kings but when the Empire of Germany began to decline and that the Princes who were Subject to it began to withdraw themselves from their obedience every one being ambitious to be Sovereign in his own Dominions many Cities which were also in the same subjection allur'd by the tempting sound of Liberty follow'd the same example Of these Metz was one who for many years took leave to govern her self by her own Laws annually creating Sovereign Magistrates disposing absolutely of the Lives and Estates of her Subjects Coyning Money and in all things taking upon her the Authority of a Sovereign Jurisdiction in which condition she maintain'd her self till the Year 1552. that the Constable Montmorency passing with the King's Army that way totally freed her from all kind of Homage to the Empire and settled it under the Protection of the Crown of France 'T is true that King Henry the Second in whose Reign this Conquest was made continued to this City her ancient priviledges but withal to assure himself of his possession he did exceedingly fortifie it establishing a Governour of his own and causing a Citadel to be built which was mightily cryed up for one of the best and most exact of that time but this was before Sieges were turn'd into a Science and that the industry of man had left little to Fortune in this kind of War It does not now carry that Reputation and in this condition it was when the Duke entred upon his Government only with this difference that what it s own Laws had formerly perform'd by their own Virtue during its independency was now executed by his order under the Authority of the Royal Name the Duke as I have said before absolutely refusing to accept it upon other terms He annually appointed and created the Supreme Magistrate whom they call Maistre Eschevin and appointed him his Council and Judges who were to determine in Sovereignty upon the Lives Honours and Estates of all the Inhabitants but withal the Duke had Authority upon occasion to censure them had power to remove them from their Magistracy within their year if he saw cause or to continue them beyond their term if he thought fit It is then no wonder if he were infinitely respected in a place where all things so absolutely depended upon him but that which was indeed very rare and very commendable was that in so unlimited a power and in the course of above threescore years that this City continued in his Custody he behav'd himself with that Justice and Moderation that not so much as any one Citizen ever complain'd of his administration neither is there any now living that do not yet remember with a kind of delight the indulgence and sweetness of his Government Whilst the Duke stood seiz'd of a place of this consequence and so dispos'd to his service it was no easie matter to cut him off such a retirement being a sufficient refuge from all
sudden danger neither the Town being intrusted in the hands of valiant and faithful friends had it been convenient even when he was most remote from it to provoke him lest a place of that importance should have taken part in his disgrace and follow'd the humour of his discontents It was therefore by the taking of this Town that the League would begin to labour the Duke's ruine and in that the advancement of their own Affairs The most considerable Forces the League had then on foot were those of the Duke of Lorain a Prince who having till this time contain'd himself Neuter in all the Affairs of France upon this occasion thought fit it seems to declare himself partial to his Family in hopes nevertheless to joyn Metz Toul and Verdun to his own Dukedom neither was his design unlikely to succeed for the two last having made no great difficulty of receiving the Duke of Guise he had reason considering the intelligence he had in the City to expect the same from Metz had not the Duke of Espernon by his vigilancy prevented him seasonably re-inforcing the Garrison with divers Gentlemen his particular Servants and a good number of Souldiers by whose coming it was so well secur'd that the League thought it not fit to attempt it This great storm thus blown over the Duke alarm'd by the late hazard this City had run resolv'd to establish himself in that important possession so as that for the future it might be secur'd from the like danger and to that purpose some of his friends having rendred the Governour suspected to him by some carriage of his at such time as the Army of the League were approaching towards him though the grounds of this mistrust were not in the Dukes opinion clear enough to countenance an open rupture with him yet were they sufficient to make the Duke remove him from that trust and to call him about his own person instituting Sobole who before was only Lieutenant of the Cittadel in the absolute authority both of the City Cittadel and Messin Countrey adding withal ten thousand Crowns in Gold to mend his Equipage that he might with the more honour support the honourable charge he had seated him in a bounty we shall hereafter see how Sobolâ— requited but that being the business of another time I shall refer it to another place and pursue my former Subject The Leaguers not contenting themselves with those petty successes in Lorain and being made wise and active by the example of the Kings ruinous supineness who sate still in vain expecting the arrival of his Foreign Forces almost at the same time by the several Captains they had dispos'd into divers Provinces surpriz'd a great many of the chief Cities of the Kingdom and made no light attempts upon the rest The Duke of Guise after the taking of â—oul and Verdun which I have spoke of before possest himself yet of Meziere by which he assur'd to himself the whole Countrey of Champagne The Duke of Mayenne took the City and Castle of Dijon which made him Master of the Dâ—tchy of Burgundy la Chartre seiz'd of Bourges Entragues of Orleans the Count de Brisac of Angiers and many other Cities of that Province Vaillack had hop'd to have done as much by Bordeaux by the neighbourhood of Chasteau-Trompette of which he was Governour but the Mareschal de Matignon broke his design and Marsâ—lles by the Loyalty of her good Inhabitants maintain'd it self against the Faction of some who labour'd to betray it into the power of the League but the enterprize of the Cittadel of Lions succeeded better with Mandelot who was Governour of the City and one of the Duke of Guise's firmest Adherents who having been formerly awed into his duty by the Cittadel in which le Passage had been plac'd by the Duke of Espernon to preserve a City so important to his Majesties Service he who before-hand had been made privy to the Duke of Guise's Designs as soon as ever he heard they were in Arms failed not suddenly to begirt the Cittadel and being assisted by the people who naturally hate to be bridled by a Fortress having surpriz'd le Passage who little suspected any such thing made himself Master of the place and immediately raz'd it to the ground It was upon this occasion that the ill will which had so long been conceal'd yet had continually been fostering in the Bosoms of the Duke of Espernon and Mounsieur de Villeroy broke out from which quarrel in the succession of time sprung so many and so important consequences as do not only take up a large share of the Dukes Life but also make up a considerable part in the general History of that time which obliges me in this place to discourse both what I have receiv'd from the Dukes own mouth and what I have gather'd from the Commentaries of Mounsieur de Villeroy himself Mounsieur de Villeroy had been from the Dukes infancy Secretary and Minister of State a friend to Mounsieur de la Valette the Father and a man of great Credit and Interest in the King's Council he had seen the beginning and encrease of the Dukes Favour at which he ought not in reason to repine but on the contrary had cause to believe that such a friend as he would fortifie him with the King and be no little assisting to support that Trust he already possest in the management of Affairs And in effect the Duke had a true affection and esteem for him who as he was ever very respective and constantly fix'd to all his Fathers Interests whose memory he had in the greatest veneration it is certain had a particular consideration for all his Friends of which number Mounsieur Villeroy being one the first years of the Duke's Favour were past over in a strict correspondency with him but at last Villeroy perceiving the Dukes Credit proceeded so far as wholly to possess that interest in the Kings Bosom he pretended to share he began in the end to grow jealous of a Prosperity he ought so much the more to have cherish'd by how much it was likely to be more useful to him and thenceforward began openly to thwart all his opinions in Council rais'd up a party against him to lessen his Reputation there and the Queen Mother nettled to see her Authority weakned with the King by the great power the Duke had with him desiring nothing more than to have him remov'd that she might recover her former possession could find no one so ready as Mounsieur de Villeroy to second her Passion and the animosity she had conceiv'd against him They joyntly advis'd that it was necessary to sacrifice the Duke to the malice of the League and that the King ought to abandon him for the general satisfaction a Counsel that had been voluntarily follow'd by the Duke himself and I have heard him say he would as willingly have retir'd then from Court as he did not long after could he have
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
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
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
Duke of Guise with whom the Duke being one night very pleasant in her Lodging they there contriv'd a piece of mirth which in the issue very much fail'd their expectation Grillon Camp-Master to the Regiment of Guards a Gentleman of Provence was reputed one of the bravest men of his time and with good reason the signal testimonies he had in a thousand occasions given of his Valour approaching nearer to the vanity of a Romance than to the truth of serious History This Gentleman after the recovery of Marselles was dismiss'd from the King to the Duke of Guise to be assisting to him in his reputation advice and valour for the conservation of that place for his Majesty well knowing what a longing and watchful eye his Enemies had upon that City and himself also being very tender of so important a place would spare no cost not omit no care to preserve iâ— safe from any designs without or within by violence or practice The Duke of Gâ—ise then in the height of his mirth calling to mind that Grillon was ordinarily call'd l' homme sans peur thinking it not impossible to shew the world he was capable of the Passion of fear as well as other men and to make him lose that name with some other young men of his own gay humour about him contriv'd to have an Alarm suddenly given under Grillon's window as if the Enemy had entred the Town and at the same time causing two Horses to be brought to the door of his Lodging runs himself up stairs into his Chamber where with a counterfeited distraction he hastily told him that all was lost that the Enemy had made himself Master of the Port and of the City that they had forc'd the Guards dispers'd and beaten all that could make head against him and that no more resistance being to be made he thought it better to retire than to add to their Enemies Victory by their own Ruine that therefore he was come to call him out that they might make their retreat together to which purpose two Horses waited ready at the door of his Lodging and that he desir'd him to make hast lest they should be surpriz'd by the Enemy before they could find means to escape Grillon though he had been fast asleep at the beginning of this false Alarm and was yet scarce awake when the Duke of Guise told him this story yet without being at all surpriz'd he call'd for his cloaths and his Arms saying withal that too easie credit was not to be given to reports in the tumult and confusion of Alarms but that should the intelligence prove true it were far more honourable to die with their Swords in their hands than to survive the loss of such a City which being all the Duke of Guise could get from him he not being to be perswaded out of that resolution they went together out of the Chamber when being in the middle of the stairs the Duke being able to hold no longer burst out into laughter by which Grâ—llon understanding the Raillery with a furious countenance grasping the Duke by the Arm and rapping out a terrible Oath the usual preface to all his discourses he said Young man never make it your sport to try the Courage of a man of Honour for by the Death hadst thou made in me a discovery of fear or surprize I would have stabh'd my Dagger into thy heart and so return'd back into his Chamber without more words This Story which I have from a very good hand a person of Quality who had it from the Duke of Guiseâ—s own mouth I thought too remarkable to be overslipt Neither do I think Grillon to be less esteem'd for this â—ally of fury which appears however to be wrap'd up in very good sense than in the constancy of his courage that would not consent he should retire from or out-live the loss of so important a City And since I have spoken of the blasphemies that were so frequent in his mouth I shall tell you what I have heard the Duke of Espernon say who had him long under his command which is that many years before his death though he had a perfect strength and vigour in all his other parts he had nevertheless so great a weakness in his tongue that he could not articulate or bring out one word that any body could understand God bâ—ing doubtless pleas'd by a manifest judgment to punish him in that part which by so many Oaths and Blasphemies had so often offended against his Divine Honour and most Holy Name The end of the First Part. THE HISTORY OF THE LIFE OF THE Duke of ESPERNON THE GREAT FAVOURITE OF FRANCE ENGLISHED BY CHARLES COTTON Esq The Second Part. Nihil est aptius ad delectationem Lectoris quà m temporum varietates fortunaeque vicissitudines quae etsi nobis optabiles in experiendo non fuerunt in legendo tamen erunt jucundae Cic. Epist. 12. l. 5. LONDON Printed for Henry Brome MDCLXX THE HISTORY Of the LIFE of the Duke of Espernon THE SECOND PART The Fifth Book THE Duke of Espernon having as before is said taken his leave of Provence in the company of the Marquiss of Roquelaure soon after presented himself before his Majesty at Paris who was then but newly return'd from his Voyage of Picardy an expedition wherein he had met with very various success Fortune having plaid with both hands in the distribution of Honour and Disgrace She had indeed shew'd her self favourable to him in the Enterprize of la Fere a place that being one of the most important upon the Frontier and having by the League been put into the Spaniards hands had been so Fortified and Victualled by the new Possessors that the King judging it not to be recover'd by fine force without the manifest loss of an infinâ—te number of good men thought it better to streighten it at a distance by blocking up and building Forts upon all the Avenues by which it could any way be supply'd or reliev'd than to hazard his men by a nearer and more regular Siege a way that doubtless was the safest and most likely in the end to succeed but as no Counsels are so perfect as to point out the certain event of things this way of proceeding prov'd so slow as gave the Enemy in the interim time and opportunity to bring about other designs of such importance as made the King sick of the success of his own enterprize even before it took effect Albert Arch-Duke and also Cardinal of Austria was now newly enter'd upon the Government of the hereditary Countries of Flanders from whence the King of Spain had lately call'd home the â—ondé de Fuentes â— Prince that stirr'd 〈◊〉 by the emulâ—tion of this Predecessor's exploits who the year before had won â—rom France le Catelet Dourlens and Cambray had put on a resolution to do things that should as far out-shine the Conde's less atchievements as he himself in Birth and Quality
of Savoy that he was nothing startled at his other losses as supposing this City to be an inexpugnable Bulwark against whatever could be attempted against him A confidence wherein he found himself very much mistaken for the Duke of Espernon having the command of one quarter at this Siege as Biron and L' Esdiguieres had of the other two whilst they were on all hands busie in their approaches found opportunity sometimes to confer with the Count de Brandis Governour of the place interviews that being frequent and allow'd by the King wrought at last so good an effect that the Governour promis'd to surrender the City to the King if within a month the Duke of Savoy did not raise the Siege A Capitulation of that dangerous importance to the Duke that he labour'd by all possible ways during the limited term to perswade the Governour into a better resolution and had so wrought upon him what by entreaty promises and threats that he was grown infinitely wavering and uncertain what to do which notwithstanding the Duke of Espernon who had drawn the first plot of this great design happily brought it to perfection in the end he absolutely confirm'd by his perswasion the anxious Count in the terms of his first Treaty and thereupon receiv'd new Hostages from him by which dexterity he rendred himself the principal and most effectual instrument of his Majesties victories in that Country as also of the Peace which immediately follow'd the Surrender of this important City Whilst the King's Designs succeeded at this fortunate rate in this little Dukedom the Princes of Italy apprehending that after the ruine of the Duke of Savoy the sweetness and facility of that Conquest would tempt the King to advance further into the Country to seek new Victories were instant with the Pope to interpose his Authority with the King to dispose his Majesty to accept of satisfaction from the Duke of Savoy for what had past that an Accommodation might ensue to which his Holiness being enclin'd both by his own interests which could by no means admit of a War in Italy and by the importunity of the Princes of the Country he dispatch'd away Cardinal Aldobrandino his own Nephew to the King to be in his name the Mediator of this Peace as the Cardinal de Medicis had been before of that which had been concluded with Spain Never Prince came from that Country in a prouder Equipage nor with a more honourable train than did this Cardinal a Magnificence to which his Majesty being willing to hold proportion both in regard to his own greatness as also to express thereby a greater respect to the Pope to whom he was highly oblig'd in the person of a Kinsman so near and dear unto him he made choice of the Duke of Espernon amongst all the other Grandees of his Court to be the man should receive him and that because he both knew him to be a person very acceptable to the Holy Sea as also one who knew as well how to behave himself for his Masters honour as any whoever that was about his person Neither did the Duke deceive his Majesty in his choice he receiv'd the Cardinal at the head of the Army which before had been drawn up into Battalia for that purpose accompanied with the most sprightly and gay Nobility and Gentry of the Court conducting him with infinite demonstrations of Honour and Respect through the several divisions until he brought him into the presence of the King himself and though I must tell you by the way that the Duke 's imperious and haughty humour was naturally very averse to the humility of Complement and the submission of excessive Civilities yet when such an occasion as this oblig'd him to it no man of his time could perform such a Ceremony with a better grace and doubtless if at ordinary times he would have been more liberal of his courtesie and have added that to those other excellent qualities which made him admir'd by all he might have acquir'd thereby what Friends and Servants he had pleas'd Soon after the Legat's arrival the Peace of Savoy was concluded wherein a Prince whose interest it was to recover his own Dominions almost entirely over-run by the King 's Victorious Arms was now to redeem his own with what he had surreptitiously and contrary to the publick Faith snatch'd from the King during the disorders of his Kingdom and which his Majesty was now also ready to force from him as he had already done the greatest part of his own hereditary Territories in pursuit of that Quarrel So that the Duke of Savoy bought his Peace at a cheap rate through the Pope's timely mediation and all things were accommodated that were in dispute betwixt the King and him although his Majesty who very well knew what little trust was to be repos'd in the Faith of this Prince a man that would never keep his word when it was for his advantage to break it would by no means be perswaded to withdraw his Army out of his Dukedom till first the Articles of the Treaty were perform'd But it neither suiting with decency nor the dignity of his Majesties Royal Person himself to attend the execution of a thing already concluded he return'd into France leaving the command of his Army to the Count de Soissons offering at the same time the command of Lieutenant General to the Duke of Espernon who excus'd himself having taken up a resolution never to serve under less than the Person of a King as hitherto he had never done nor ever after did in the whole course of his life He therefore went back with the King whom he attended as far as Grenoble from whence when his Majesty departed for Lyons to consummate his Marriage he at the same time took his leave to return again into his Governments of Xaintonge and Angoumois The Duke's journey into that Country gave him opportunity to pass over into Gascony to view the Progress of his Building there of which he had laid the foundation at Cadillac in the year 1598. For the King after he had concluded the Peace with Spain from that time forwards not only wholly bent his own thoughts to the Embellishment of his Kingdom in which his principal design was first to Build his Houses and to Beautifie Paris with many great and noble Structures for at this time the Buildings of the Louvre Fountain-bleau and other Royal Palaces were begun as also the designs of the Pont-neuf the Place Royal with other proud and stately AEdifices were continued but would likewise that other men should fall in love with the same humour and whether it were that his Majesty had a mind his greatest Subjects should by his example employ themselves in the same designs or that he intended as some have suppos'd insensibly to drein their purses by this chargeable employment fearing perhaps that too great abundance of wealth might make them more apt to entertain thoughts
he had receiv'd from the King conceiving this business what gloss soever might be put upon it would be interpreted to his disgrace and would pass in the opinions of men at honour for a Bravado and an affront to him in his Government could by no means perswade himself to digest it which made him very important with the King that his Majesty would please to absolve him from so injurious a condition a thing the King who had him in great esteem would as willingly have done But his Royal Word being already pass'd to the Duke whom he knew to be as obstinate as the other in things wherein his Honour was concern'd and not knowing how at once to satisfie two so different humours matters were in all apparence going into as ill terms as at first when an accident fell out that soon took the Duke off all thoughts of that Solemnity The Dutchess of Bar the King 's only Sister hapned to dye at this time which gave the King occasion to write to the Duke of Espernon that he assur'd himself all such good Subjects and Servants as he was would rather lament with him for the loss of so dear a Relation than to think of Mirth and publick Solemnities of Joy at so unseasonable a time a command so much the easier for the Duke to obey by how much he himself had particular reason to be really afflicted at the death of that excellent Lady So that by this accident the Mareschal d' Ornano saw himself disingag'd from one of the greatest extremities he had ever found himself involv'd in it having been otherwise necessary for him either absolutely to disobey the King which he could not have done without incurring his disgrace or patiently to submit to an affront he himself had declar'd to be the greatest he could possibly receive and that 't is said he was resolv'd to have avoided by laying down his Commission such as were most perfect in his passionate nature being confident had it come to the push he would certainly have ransom'd himself from that submission at the price of his Fortune The Duke continued some time after this in Guienne and from thence returned into Angoumois where he spent the remainder of the year without being call'd thence upon any publick occasion All things as has been said were quiet and the King seem'd to be wholly taken up with the care of husbanding and filling his Exchequer wherein though some believ'd him to be meerly carried on by a natural inclination to the love of mony yet his designs which a few years after disclos'd themselves gave the world an accompt that there was more of design than avarice in the exact care he took to moderate the excessive expense had by his predecessor been introduc'd into the Kingdom The Duke of Espernon nevertheless could have wish'd his Majesty had been more open handed to the Garrisons in his Government those of Angoulesme and Xaintes being so ill paid that they could hardly subsist which putting him into an apprehension that those places become now as it were Frontier Towns since those of the Reformed Religion had made a kind of separation in the State of which Rochelle seem'd to be the Metropolitan City might be lost in his hands he continually represented to the King the danger those Cities were in but without being regarded at all which made him in the beginning of the ensuing year resolve upon a Journey to Court to try if in person and by word of mouth he could not prevail more than by continual importunities in writing he had hitherto done where being arriv'd and presenting himself before the King his Majesty as'd him in what condition he had left his Governments to whom the Duke reply'd That they could not possibly be in a worse the necessity of the Souldiery in Garrison being so great that he durst not undertake for the security of those places committed to his charge To which the King having made answer That they were us'd as others were The Duke who very well knew the difference his Majesty made betwixt his Catholick Garrisons and the neighbouring places possess'd by those of the Reform'd Religion took the liberty to tell him that those who had so inform'd his Majesty had given him a very ill accompt of his Affairs the Garrisons of those of the Religion who perhaps were arm'd to the prejudice of his Service being nothing in Arrear whilst the Catholicks who were firm in their obedience were ready to perish for want of pay The King nettled at so tart a reply and angry that the Duke should give him so publick a reproach in the discovery of a truth he had a mind for many reasons should have been conceal'd suffer'd himself to be so far transported by his passion that he could not forbear to tell the Duke He was perverse and importunate That he sought all occasions to displease him That he would have done him a greater kindness to have kept still at the distance he was at than to come into his presence only to offend him and for the close of all that he had long observ'd he did not love him To which the Duke without being thunder-struck at the King's anger which might perhaps have surpriz'd another man less confident of his Fidelity than he insisting upon the last words answered coldly but after a serious manner Sir your Majesty has not a more faithful Subject than my self in your Kingdom and I had rather die than do any thing contrary to the least particle of my duty But Sir for what concerns friendship your Majesty knows very well that is a thing not to be acquir'd but by Friendship At so bold and generous an answer there was none who was not astonish'd at the Duke's freedom and that was not ready to condemn his rashness though the King himself who knew how to put a just value upon great actions and how to interpret language of this nature was of a more favourable opinion and gave no reply but on the contrary reflecting upon what the Duke had said converted his indignation into esteem and interpreting what others thought temerity for an effect of honest liberty proceeding from a good conscience resolv'd to make himself belov'd by the way the Duke had laid him down and from that time forward began to use him much better than he had ever done Neither was the Duke wanting on his part but perceiving his Majesties good disposition towards him and adding the spur of affection to what he had formerly perform'd upon the meer accompt of duty he at last obtain'd so great a share in his Majesties favour and good opinion that before his death he receiv'd as many testimonies of his Royal good Will and Confidence as any other person of his condition whatsoever in the Kingdom This confidence began soon after to appear by the command the King was pleas'd to give the Duke over the Horse and Foot he sent into Limousin when tir'd
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
security than in any other place of the Kingdom All the Princes and Lords not only those then present at Court and who had engag'd with the Prince in the late commotions but also all the rest of their party astonish'd at so extraordinary a proceeding and believing that after an example like this neither respect of persons nor any security in general was to be expected they suddenly retir'd from Court to whom the rest almost as suddenly re-united themselves for their common safety The Mareschal who thought that by securing the Head of the Faction he had likewise secur'd himself from the danger of the rest was infinitely surpriz'd when he saw them now united in more formidable numbers than before and that the Lords of the House of Guise also absented themselves upon this occasion wherein nevertheless he had this hope that so many persons of equal quality would not long agree together especially if press'd home by the Royal Arms An opinion that made him resolve to set immediately such Forces on foot as should be sufficient to encounter and suppress them in several places at once Neither did he care to reduce any by Treaty save only the Duke of Guise conceiving an Accommodation with him would be more easily effected than with any of the other by how much he had ever observ'd a greater moderation in him and his Brothers towards himself than the rest to which likewise the complacency the Duke had ever manifested for the Queen in other occasions gave him greater assurance of a flexibility in him to her Majesties desires in this and that without much difficulty a good intelligence might be establish'd betwixt them as there afterwards was the Guises having receiv'd caution for their security being content to return to Court This little negotiation being so happily dispatch'd the Mareschal immediately betook himself to Arms and so vigorously that in a very few days three great Armies were set on foot whereof one was sent against the Duke of Mayenne who was retir'd to Soissons another against the Duke of Nevers in Champagne and the third against the Dutchess of Nevers who with a generosity something extraordinary in her delicate Sex was resolute to defend the Dutchy of Nivernois which was the Inheritance of the Duke her Husband In this disorder of Affairs the Duke of Espernon apprehending that the hatred the Mareschal had conceiv'd against him was no less than that he manifested against the rest and that he would infallibly fall upon him so soon as he had dispatch'd with them he had no mind to be surpriz'd nor to suffer himself tamely to be oppress'd considering therefore that alone he should not long be able to resist the power of the King whose name his enemy had usurp'd in all his Affairs he address'd himself to the Duke of Montmorency to engage him in his Quarrel by whose mediation he made no doubt to draw over l' Esdiguieres also The Duke knew those two to be no better satisfied with the present Government than himself who although they were not openly persecuted as he was yet the example of the other persons of the same condition making them reasonably to apprehend for themselves what they already saw others suffer he doubted not but that without much difficulty they would be perswaded to embrace the union neither was he mistaken herein the Duke of Montmorency as also l' Esdiguieres absolutely engaging with him So that these three Confederates having opportunity to concur in the work through the mediation and by the assistance of several powerful friends the Duke had in Guienne nothing could hinder them from uniting in so necessary a defense and so just a Quarrel The Duke notwithstanding he had thus wisely play'd his game and that he was certain to receive very great assistance from his Confederates did nevertheless very well understand that as he was nearest to the approaching danger so it would be very necessary for him to put himself soonest into a posture of defense that the Mareschal might not surprize him His thoughts therefore were fully intent upon the resolution of Arms but he wanted not only a cause but even a pretense to colour his preparation without which only to go about it was to make himself Criminal in the highest degree neither the Court Minion being absolutely his enemy could he reasonably hope either for a Commission from thence for the raising of men in the King's name and at his expense or so much as to be permitted to do it at his own charge In this strait and anxiety what course to take the Rochellers gave him as fair a pretense as he could possibly desire to do that under the vail of Duty and Obligation which he could not otherwise have undertaken without incurring the highest censure They had at this time surpriz'd a little Castle near to their City and situate upon the Sea-coast call'd Rochefort an enterprize condemn'd by all the world for the most sensless and unadvis'd that could possibly have been undertaken to begin a War by an action of so little importance in a time when themselves and their whole party were priviledg'd by so absolute and inviolate a Peace The Duke who had been at so great a loss before and that could not then have wish'd for a more specious pretense it may easily be imagin'd was very ready to lay hold of this occasion now neither did he fail herein to aggravate the misdemeanour to the height but repeating all the Accusations he had formerly preferr'd against the Ambition and Infidelity of those of the Reformed Religion and particularly against those of Rochelle he of them drew up a kind of Manifesto which he caus'd to be publish'd in all parts of the Kingdom In this Declaration he forgot not to reckon up the several insurrections those of that Faction had broke into to make their advantage of every disorder had at any time hapned in the Kingdom notwithstanding all satisfaction had been given them by the inviolate observation of â—everal Edicts granted in their favour That they had been observ'd for many years to call together Assemblies in Rochelle without either his Majesties Order or Royal Assent from which such unjust and unreasonable Propositions and demands were usually sent to the King as made it appear they did not Treat with his Majesty in the quality of Subjects but like Free-States that were nothing ally'd to his Sovereign Power That by such a behaviour it was plain enough the City was arriv'd to the utmost degree of Licence and that the Rochellers could never satisfie their Ambition till they had introduc'd a popular Government amongst them That if hitherto his Majesties Council had contrary to his Judgment and Advice wink'd at the progress of so dangerous a design that nevertheless he to whom the Government of their City was entrusted and who therefore was more concern'd than any other to keep such in their obedience as were committed to his care was
and to promise him in a few days a positive answer He was no sooner therefore parted from Vincentio but that he sent for his Sons to deliberate with them about this Affair in whom he met with young spirits full of heat and courage that presently advis'd him confidently to embrace that motion wherein they said there was no question to be made but that the issue would be glorious for him advantageous to the State and easie to be effected in it self through the concurrence he would certainly find in most of the great men of the Kingdom who were apparently dissatisfied with the present Government which was also no extraordinary thing in the best and most happy Reigns The Duke on the contrary by a long experience become more circumspect could not suffer himself so easily to be overcome but considering he was about to expose his Life and Fortune his Children Friends and Family for a Princess who had not at other times been over mindful of his former Services he had some reason to fear he should receive no better an acknowledgement of this than he had done of the rest Besides he knew very well that he should no sooner appear in Arms in order to the design in hand but that the Kings whole Power and his Person would immediately be upon him and seeing no visible Forces sufficient to resist that Torrent he could not clear his mind from those apprehensions wherewith it was involv'd He represented therefore to his Sons that all those Confederates they seem'd to rely upon should they joyn in the Quarrel would most of them vanish at the very sound of the Royal Name That the most discontented of them would be reconcil'd to their Duty by the least satisfactions should be given them and that then he alone should do the work of all the other great men of the Kingdom at the price of his own particular ruine So that after having again and again consider'd of this proposal he could not perswade himself to condescend to the importunities of his Sons and le Plessis who was present at this deliberation all they could say being able to prevail no further upon him at that time than that Vincentio might in his name assure the Queen he had a passionate desire to serve her provided it would please her Majesty to enable him so to do by letting him know what persons of quality she had won over to her party with what summes of mony she could make for carrying on the War until when he humbly desir'd he might reserve to himself the liberty of his promise with an assurance of his Secrecy and Fidelity in the mean time Vincentio after having staid eight days at Metz went back with this answer to Rucellay who with great impatience expected his return and who having receiv'd this accompt of the business thought they had done enough at this first push in prevailing with the Duke to hearken only to the proposal neither did he doubt but that the difficulties he had represented though very rational in themselves would in the end be overcome by the success of those things whereof the Duke before he would give a determinate answer desir'd to be assur'd He therefore in all haste signified to the Queen the Duke's disposition to serve her assuring her withal of the Duke de Boüillon's Concurrence with the Duke of Espernon provided the last would undertake the Service Whereupon her Majesty secure of her Interest with the Dukes of Guise and Montmorency and many other persons of great quality and nothing fearing also but she should be able to raise a great mass of mony what by borrowing what upon her Jewels and what by the Revenue of those Provinces would be engag'd with her sent the same Vincentio a month after to the Duke to give him full assurance of all things he desir'd Upon which second dispatch the Duke conceiving he might confide in the Qâ—eens word engag'd himself though not without some reluctancy to declare openly in her Quarrel dismissing his little Ambassadour with a much better accompt than before and delivering him a Cypher for his future Correspondence with the Queen after which and a particular answer to the Letter her Majesty had honour'd him with by Vincentio the first time he launch'd so far into the Affair that it was afterwards impossible for him to retire Rucellay having pump'd the whole secret of this Negotiation out of Vincentio and having no mind he should carry away the Reputation of an Affair of that importance and so successfully begun resolv'd for the time to come to undertake the Treaty himself and laying aside his former aversions with all other respects which he likewise conceiv'd were not of so high a nature as ought to stand in competition with the Affair in hand would treat with the Duke in his own person In order whereunto he advanc'd as far as Pont a Moulins a little Village about a League distance from Metz either unwilling or not daring to venture himself in the City till he first knew how the Duke was dispos'd to receive him From this place therefore he immediately sent away for Cadillac the same le Plessis had sent the first time to Vincentio not doubting but he would be the first should be sent to discover who he was Cadillac thus sent for by he knew not whom would not go out to him without first receiving his Masters Order nor his Master give it him till he himself had first receiv'd an Order from the Duke Neither could the Duke suddenly consent to this intelligence who although he did not know the stranger to be Rucellay yet suspecting him to be some new Negotiator and unwilling to have so many intrusted with a business upon the secrefie whereof depended his Life and Fortune he waver'd long before he would give way to an enterview betwixt le Plessis and this new Agent He was at last notwithstanding content he should go but if he had at first made some difficulty of allowing this Conference before he knew Rucellay to be the man he was to confer withal he was so out of all patience when he knew the secret was committed to an Italian his enemy and disoblig'd by him that he was many times upon the point to have recall'd his word and absolutely to give over the design Le Plessis was then forc'd to return back to Rucellay with a very unsatisfactory answer who without being much out of countenance at this repulse the Duke refusing to admit him into the Treaty or the seeing the civility he had advanc'd so far towards a reconciliation rejected told le Plessis coldly That since the Duke had a mind to do the business without him he might if he pleas'd in good time proceed but that in the mean time he was to understand that it was to him the Queen had intrusted the secret of that Affair and not to the other who had hitherto appear'd in it who was but his substitute and
Rucellay's good Offices that he receiv'd them who though they had not parted very kindly as you may have observ'd could not nevertheless forbear upon all occasions to magnifie the Duke's generosity and vertue and to manifest the desire he had to be reconcil'd to his good opinion Rucellay had great interest at Court the Duke de Luines repos'd â— great confidence in him and was the rather enclin'd to credit all the good things he said of the Duke by how much his testimony upon the terms they then stood was no ways to be suspected The Duke anticipated by so many good Offices was as careful to let Rucellay know how exceeding kindly he took them at his hands so that from a violent feud their hot spirits being re-united in a very particular friendship the Duke receiv'd very great assistance from Rucellay in an Affair wherein he was very highly concern'd And that was the re-establishment of those Captains who had forfeited their Commands by putting themselves into Metz with the Marquis de la Valette The Court could not suffer an act of that dangerous example to escape unpunish'd and on the contrary the Duke press'd an oblivion of that Affair with greater fervency than he had ever done any concern of his own wherein I have often heard him acknowledge his obligation to Rucellay by whose solicitation he at last obtain'd his desire Courbon Reals Verdelin Boussonniere and some others of very great merit were restor'd to their Commands though it was but to deprive the Duke the sooner of so many worthy friends who were scarce re-establish'd in their Commands when willing to make amends for the fault they had committed by some notable testimony of their fidelity and valour upon the first occasion should present it self they unfortunately perish'd in that brave design leaving the Duke infinitely afflicted that he could not oblige them but to their ruine From Xaintonge the King pass'd over into Guienne wherein though his Majesty had no resolution of proceeding so far as Bearne yet was it necessary he should advance to Bordeaux to dissolve the powerful Faction was form'd in that Province in favour of the Duke of Mayenne which had sufficiently discover'd it self in the great Leavies and Provisions of War that had there been made In this Voyage the Duke had hopes of seeing his Majesty at his house of Cadillac and indeed the Duke of Luines had promis'd him he should a favour he ought so much the more to covet as it would manifest to all the world his perfect reconciliation with the King his Master So that he whom every one the year before concluded utterly lost in the Queen Mothers Affairs seeing him now restor'd to a greater degree of reputation and favour than perhaps he had ever been could not but admire his Conduct and attribute as much to his Prudence as his Fortune which it should seem had only strew'd those difficulties in his way that they might by him be the more gloriously overcome His Majesty conâ—nuing his way through Guienne took occasion to call at Blaye from whence he remov'd Lussan Vicount de Aubeterre to recompense him with the staff of a Mareschal of France placing Brantes since Duke of Luxembourg in the right of his Wife in his stead Whilst these things were in doing the Duke of Espernon who attended his Majesty in this Voyage took the opportunity to go prepare his house for his reception wherein he order'd all things so admirably well and with such magnificence that his Majesty could hardly have been better entertain'd in any part of the Kingdom The noble Furniture wherewith this house did abound was now all brought out The Kings Apartment hung round with Hangings emboss'd all over with Gold as also ten Chambers more were furnish'd with the same to which the Beds of Cloth of Gold and Embroidery were richly suited neither was the delicacy rarity or plenty of provisions inferiour to this outward Pomp. All the Favourites Ministers and others of the greatest quality at Court were commodiously lodg'd in this stately House and the Provisionary Officers there found what was not elsewhere to be seen in the Kingdom which was a vast series of Offices under ground so large and so well fitted with lights that they were astonish'd at so prodigious an extent of Accommodations which are indeed if not the chiefest ornament at least the greatest convenience of a Building After his Majesty had ftaid two days at Cadillac where his whole Court had been magnificently treated he parted thence to continue his Journey towards Bearne He was made to believe that the Council of this little Countrey would think fit to submit to his Royal pleasure without obliging him to perform that Voyage to quicken which resolution his Majesty had pass'd the River of Garonne which though when on the other side he was advanc'd no more than a League only beyond Cadillac he thought nevertheless he had done a great deal in passing so great a River with an Army and all the equipage of his Court The Ministers who had a great aversion to this ugly journey would have been very glad that Affairs might have been concluded there without going any further but in the end how averse soever they were to it they must undergo the trouble The King went thither where his presence produc'd the same effect it had done in other places he overran all this little Province seizing as he pass'd of Navarrens the strongest place in it as he did also of Ortez and Olleron principal Cities of that Countrey he subverted all their ancient customs restor'd the Bishop and other Ecclesiasticks to their Estates and Dignities took away the administration of the Affairs of the Country from those of the Reform'd Religion and re-establish'd his own Authority but he left the Government of the Province in the hands of the Marquis de la Force since Mareschal of France who impatient to see his Authority cut so short by these alterations could hardly forbear till the King was got back to Paris from reducing things again to the same posture they were in before He was very confident that his Majesty who had already try'd the ill ways of Bearne would never be advis'd by his Ministers to undertake a second Journey into that Countrey for the resettlement of his Affairs He knew that the Hugonot Faction were ready to find his Majesty enough to do nearer home and did not believe that without his immediate presence they could compel him to any thing he had not a mind to in his own Government where his Authority was establish'd not only by a long habitude he had there contracted but much more by a passionate concurrence of the whole Body and of all the Orders of the Province who agreed with him in the same Religion He therefore labour'd all Winter to drive out the Garrisons of Ortez and Olleron so that excepting Navarrens that was kept by the Marquis de Poianne
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
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
the Castle a Fort that rendred him absolutely Master of the City having a back Gate by which the King's Forces might at any time be introduc'd notwithstanding any endeavour of the City to hinder his design but Favas Saint Ravy Moulines and some other Gentlemen of Command upon the rumour was spread at Rochelle of this Treaty ran thither in all diligence where finding the Governour gone out and his Lieutenant call'd l' Arnaudiere being so senseless as to come open the draw Bridge of the Castle to talk with them in too great security Saint Ravy assisted by one Poyanne gave him a Pistol-shot in the head by which he was laid dead upon the place which being done they forthwiâ—h cry'd to Armes when the City immediately revolting from Saint Surin his own Garrison follow'd the same example whereupon on a sudden such a noise was heard within as sounded nothing of the expected surrender The Duke in his approach to Royan had taken up his Quarters in a house call'd Saint Pierre de Royan which was within Cannon shot of the City and before which was a little Green which overlooking the City had drawn thither a great number of persons to behold as from a Scaffold the surrender of this place The Duke himself was there where Monsieur d' Autry had been long discoursing with him and they were still walking together when this cloud of people having invited those within to level all the Iron and Brass Pieces they had at that eminence there was heard on a sudden one shot overtaking another a Volley of eighteen pieces of Ordnance which all plaid into this little place And certainly after an example like this all Cannon-shot are to be despis'd when had they shot with a design to do no harm they could hardly have been so exact in their aim as to miss so great a crowd of people yet was not any one touch'd so that excepting the fear that made some of the over-timorous lay themselves flat upon the ground it prov'd matter of laughter to all the rest The Duke was still talking whilst the Cannon play'd from the City with the same indifferency as if there had been no noise at all neither did he once break off his discourse though the Bullets flew very thick about his ears but the tumult being over conceiving these to be no Volleys of Triumph and that it was necessary before the Enemy could have time to look about them to take all possible advantage of this confusion he caus'd his men to betake themselves to their Arms himself immediately going down into the Suburbs which though very well Barricado'd was nevertheless by reason of their disorder â—o weakly guarded that he carried it at the first assault with little or no resistance a thing that in many days and without the loss of a great many good men had he slipt this opportunity he could not have done Saint Surin surpriz'd at so unexpected an alteration and not being able almost to believe his own eyes went down to demand the cause of this confusion where all the answer he could get was to bid him begone his Souldiers yet retaining so much respect for his person as not to shoot at him though they would not receive him and then it was that he saw the error his youth and want of experience had made him to commit He therefore return'd back to the Duke to justifie himself who more compaâ—sionate of his disgrace than troubled at his own disappointment receiv'd and comforted him with great civility and friendship entertaining him in his own Quarters and giving him opportunity by the Services he perform'd during this Siege to wipe off the imputation of his ill conduct and to give the world high proofs of his bravery and valour His good qualities after the War was over and no more to do at home carried him to seek his destiny in Holland and by that means depriving France of one of the most accomplish'd Gentlemen to all purposes and in all qualifications commendable in a man of his condition of his time As to this business the Duke having undertaken his interests against the ill offices of many who were emulous of his desert not only prevail'd with the King to accept his excuses but as a recompense for the Passion he had observ'd in him to his Majesties Service moreover procur'd the enlargement of his friends ordering it so that his Piety was not rendred fruitless by his misfortune and that what would have been punish'd in the person of another was rewarded in him The Suburbs of Royan being thus taken they were now to proceed regularly in their approaches for the taking of the Town wherein though the Duke had made choice of that part where it was with greatest difficulty to be assaulted yet did he ply his business so well that a Mine was brought up under the Bastion he had undertaken The King's Army in the mean time advanc'd to favour the Siege when his Majesty coming after to view the Trenches resolv'd at last upon an assault The order therefore being given and all things prepar'd for the design the Marquis de la Valette put himself in the head of his men seconded by the Guards of the Duke his Father where he engag'd himself so far in the danger that he was buried up to the middle in a Counter-Mine sprung by the besieg'd and where he had run a great hazard of his life had not Montigny the Gentleman of his Horse a tall and very strong man help'd to disingage him The Guards that follow'd avoided the danger of the Mine but they found nevertheless so smart an opposition at a work the besieg'd had cast up within the Bastion that of five and forty whereof that Company consisted two only escap'd without wounds Fourteen were there slain outright all the rest being hurt more or less but the three Officers Marsillac la Roche and Larcan Brother to the Baron of Esclignac who lead them on to the assault were all so desperately wounded that there was small hope of their recovery The Baron de Matâ—a who had accompanied the Duke in this occasion was slain upon the Bastion by a great shot as also several Gentlemen of the Duke's houshold but the rest resolute to overcome all difficulties lodg'd themselves at last in the Bastion The Mareschal de Vitry who was present at this assault and who in this as in all other occasions signaliz'd himself with extraordinary valour gave them the glory of this performance principally the Chevalier de la Valette who did wonders in his own person from the beginning to the end of the action Thus by the Duke 's admirable conduct and the valour of his followers this Siege was brought to an end in fewer weeks than months would have been allow'd him had he carried it on with less prudence or resolution In this as it oft falls out upon other occasions of this nature so strange Wounds were observ'd as their cures
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
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
design to draw from the City a large Contribution he threatned the Citizens to destroy their Houses and Fruits in the Countrey of which he thought himself without contradiction the absolute Master if they did not speedily ransome them with a very considerable Summe As he himself press'd the City on the one side he had of another caus'd Verger Malagnet a Gentleman of his party to come ashore at a little point of Land in the River of Bordeaux that divides the Rivers of Garonne and Dordongne call'd Bec-Dambez hoping by that means to cut off the Commerce of those two Rivers from the City and by streightning it both by Land and by Water the sooner to perswade the Inhabitants to give him his demand This design which was not ill projected if it had been as well executed alarm'd both the Parliament and the people to such a degree that a greater confusion was hardly any where to be seen they knew not which way to turn them for their defense and though they had but too many Forces within themselves to defend their City from the threatned mischief yet had they no mind to examine their own strength that they might not be oblig'd to put them to the Test In this extremity the first President though upon no very good terms with the Duke notwithstanding the late Accommodation made no difficulty to have recourse to him to implore his Assistance for this time laying aside all Animosities and Aversions but it was only to assume them again when the Duke had deliver'd him from this fear as will hereafter appear At the first intelligence the Duke receiv'd of Soubize his landing in Medoc though he could not himself leave the work he had begun without infinite prejudice to the King's Service yet would he not omit his care to the preservation of the principal City in his Government He therefore in all haste dispatch'd away le Plessis to Bordeaux to advise with the Parliament what course was to be taken for the relief of the City and Countrey against Soubize his attempts giving him order withal to draw out part of the Garrison of Bergerac and to raise new Forces within his own Territories to serve himself withal upon this occasion writing moreover to his Friends and Servants in the Countrey to joyn with him and to Toiras who lay in the Isle of Ré entreating him to advance with all the men he could conveniently draw out of the Regiment of Champagne of which he had the Command Instructions that were so well observ'd by le Plessis and he so well seconded by the Parliament and Iuratts who were very ready to concur in an Affair that so much concern'd their common safety that all things were in a short time put into a very good Posture By which means the Duke without suffering himself to be diverted from the employment he had before Montauban not only frustrated the Enemies design but also extracted thence the opportunity of obtaining the honour of a second Victory Soubize being shamefully repuls'd his Forces routed the few that escap'd the Victors hands and with much ado recover'd their Ships leaving their Dead Arms Artillery and Baggage as infallible testimonies of a total Defeat The War was carried on in all places so much to the disadvanvantage of the Hugonot Party that the principal Heads and best Cities of their party apprehending a continuation of those evils they had already suffer'd thought fit to sue to the King for Peace Which was accordingly granted them but upon conditions far different from those they were us'd to insist upon in former times Rochelle if self not being in this Treaty able to obtain that they might be freed from the slavery of Fort-Loüis but on the contrary for an augmentation of their grief constrain'd by the Articles to admit of a Chief Justice set over them by the King oblig'd to slight all their new Fortifications to receive his Majesty with all due honor and respect so oft as he should please to honor them with his Presence and to keep no more Ships of War in their Haven The Rochellers would never have submitted to these hard Conditions had not the other Cities of their party and above all the rest Montauban positively declar'd they would no more expose themselves to those Miseries they had suffer'd in the burning up of their Countrey so that if we will consider the Duke's conduct throughout the whole business we shall find it more than a little conducing to the general Peace the King granted upon conditions so disadvantageous to his Hugonot Subjects But this Peace to the acceleration of which the Duke had so highly contributed begot a new War betwixt the Parliament and him and upon this following accompt The King's Declaration in favour of the Hugonots was by his Majesty sent to the Duke to cause it to be publish'd with express order nevertheless not to do it till after those of Montauban had accepted the Grace in all due forms of Submission which were the very words of the Dispatch dated the 18. of February 1626. But the first President having receiv'd a Copy of the same Declaration without ever acquainting the Duke who was come no further than Cadillac caus'd the Peace to be openly proclaim'd and that with so much precipitation that he would not forbear so long as till he could hear from Montauban to know whether they had there accepted the Peace or no. This impatience the Duke could not but interpret purposely put on to affront him 't is true that had no unkindness pass'd betwixt him and the President before the business was of it self so light that it might well enough have pass'd without any great notice taken but the preceding Differences giving him to understand that it must needs be done out of design he not only complain'd of it to those Friends he had in the Parliament but moreover writ about it to Court and gave the President plainly to understand that he would no more suffer such Contempts This proceeding of the first President 's was by no means approv'd at Court it was there look'd upon as an occasion of noise and bustle maliciously and unseasonably sought and for which he receiv'd a little rebuke but this spirit not much delighted with rest having met with another that was never tir'd out either in War or Business it was almost necessary that successive differences should continually arise betwixt them This at the last proceeded so far that the publick Peace was therein no little concern'd the Parliament pass'd many Acts and the Duke as many Ordinances to contradict those Acts. From Acts and Ordinances they proceeded to Invectives and from words to some untoward effects Some of the Presidents Servants were ill us'd and himself threatned whereupon the Palace was shut up and a cessation of Justice decreed The Duke's Friends and Servants fear'd to fall into the Parliaments hands and those who were affectionate to the Parliament were not
of most of the Duke of Mantua's Cities and excepting Casal and Mantua it self were masters of the whole Dutchy The King justly incens'd at so great an injury offer'd to him in the person of his Ally might reasonably enough have reveng'd himself by the same way by which he had been offended but retaining it should seem a greater respect for the Duke of Savoy than he had done for him he dispatch'd an Ambassadour to him to complain That without denouncing of War and to the violation of their former Treaties he had taken Arms against a Prince whom as an Ally he was oblig'd in honour to protect advising him in the conclusion either to restore things to the condition wherein he had found them or to prepare himself to withstand the utmost power of his Arms which he was resolv'd to employ for the vindication of his own Honour and the protection of his Friends and Allies If the Duke of Savoy a Prince truly great in all things had not yet been more ambitious than he was great it had been no hard matter for him to have found out such a remedy as might easily have prevented the ensuing War but being big with the hope of taking Monferrat he was not to be perswaded to give over an Enterprize which he thought as good as certain to him He could not imagine that the King's Army tir'd out as it was with the incommodities of a tedious Siege could be in any condition of coming to trouble his designs neither did he believe that the King himself who had been expos'd to the same inconveniences his Army had suffer'd could be so soon able in his own person to undertake so troublesome a Journey which being presuppos'd nothing could have power to hinder his Affairs so that endeavouring to hold his Majesty in hand without giving his Ambassadour any positive answer or absolutely engaging his word he still continued his Usurpation The King impatient of this injury to his own person and more of the injustice done to the Duke of Mantua with a Resolution as generous in it self as the execution prov'd glorious to his Name concluded the following February to cross the Alpes and through all the difficulties of Snow and Ice to force his way to the defense of his Honour which in Italy was so highly engag'd An Expedition that the Duke of Savoy finding he could not with all his dexterity prevent he resolv'd by Arms to guard the Entry into his own Dukedom and to that end he caus'd the passage of Suze a pass nature her self had made inaccessible if any thing could be so to Valour to be strangely fortified but this strong Post the King made no difficulty to assault in which Service the Duke de la Valette Colonel of the Foot putting himself in the head of the Forlorn Hope drawn out of the Regiment of Guards first mounted the Enemies Works and shewing himself as much Superiour to his Followers in bravery as he was in Command in a few hours overcame all difficulties both of Mountains and men that oppos'd his way The Duke of Savoy after this defeat not knowing what to oppose against the King's victorious Arms since his best Forces when fortified in a Post of so great advantage had not been able to withstand them began to see his danger and to perceive he had no way left but by an Accommodation to defend himself from manifest and apparent ruine which made him sue to the King for Peace and obtain'd it upon condition the Duke should favour the passage of his Army to the relief of the Duke of Mantua so unjustly invaded An Accommodation with Savoy being thus concluded the Spaniard who despair'd of being able to make good his ground in the open Field against an Army that had with so great facility forc'd the Duke of Savoy's people in their own Trenches thought fit to accept of the same conditions and accordingly not only rose from before Casal but moreover restor'd all the places they had already taken in the Duke of Mantua's Dominions wisely choosing rather to give way to the King's Fortune than to run the hazard of a Battel the event whereof they fear'd would be fatal to them though this discretion only serv'd to defer for a time the Victories heaven had destin'd for us over that insolent and implacable Nation Doubtless had the King pleas'd to have made use of this occasion and the power he had to effect any design he would have undertaken he might at this time with great facility have given the Spanish Forces such a blow that they would not of many years after have been in any condition to have brav'd him again in Italy but his Majesty contenting himself with having rescu'd his Ally from the oppression of those two mighty Enemies would not in his own person seem to violate that Equity and Justice he had travell'd so far to defend If the Forein Princes had taken a wrong measure in the belief they had entertain'd of the length of the Siege of Rochelle the Duke of Rohan was no less mistaken in the Expedition of Italy wherein he doubted not his Majesty would meet with so many great and tedious difficulties that he hop'd himself who was the soul of his whole Party might in the mean time and in the interval of the King's absence infuse so much vigour into his declining cause as that they would be in a condition for some time at least to defend themselves He had therefore taken Arms in the Sevennes and with the assistance of the Cities of Montauban Nismes Millaut Castres Privas Vsetz and some others had got such a body of an Army together as therewith he hop'd to maintain himself in that little angle of the Kingdom and either presently to obtain some advantageous conditions or to expect a more favourable time for the reestablishment of his depressed party In the mean time he treated secretly with Spain from whence he had also obtain'd a promise of some supply of money but the King who had intelligence of his practice returning with the same celerity out of Italy into France in the most violent heats of Summer with which he had pass'd out of France into Italy in the greatest extremity of Winter presented himself before Privas one of the Rebel Cities in Iune which also at his first coming he carried by assault after which Aletz another of the same principles surrendred without any resistance The Duke of Rohan observing what a tâ—rror the taking of these two places had infus'd into his whole Faction and knowing on the other side that a Peace with Italy and England was already concluded began to apprehend at last he should be totally deserted by all his Confederates and Friends and left alone to bear the shock of his Majesties victorious Arms which made him in time seriously to apply himself to his mercy to avoid the severe effects of his Justice One of the most powerful motives that induc'd
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
Majesties Justice That if he should be so fortunate as to obtain a second life for his friend he would with all his heart become his Security that for the future it should never be employ'd but in his Majesties Service and that his Blood should serve for no other use than to wash away the Stain and for ever to obliterate the memory of his Offense The King with great patience and without once offering to interrupt him gave the Duke free liberty to continue his discourse to the end seeming moreover to hearken to him with some kind of hopeful attention but that favourable audience was also the only fruit of his address for his Majesty having from the beginning of the Duke's Speech fix'd his eyes upon the ground never lifted them from thence so much as once to look upon the Duke who was speaking to him neither when he had concluded did he answer him one word by which silence the Duke perceiving the ruine of his friend to be absolutely decreed he spoke again and said Sir since I am so unhappy as not to hope to obtain your Majesties Pardon for Monsieur de Montmorency I humbly beg leave that I may retire When though the King had been dumb to the first he found words to make answer to this last request by telling him Yes you have free leave neither do I intend my self to stay long in this City Whereupon the Duke afflicted to the last degree that he had been able to obtain nothing more though indeed he had not expected much better success presently withdrew himself to go wait upon the Princess of Condé in the Suburbs of Tholouze to which place she was retir'd there to condole with her their common misfortune He found at his coming thither that Cardinal Richelieu was but newly parted thence whose visit by giving her no satisfaction having put her into the last despair the Duke 's hapned to be exceeding seasonable for the composing of her mind agitated with so violent a Passion Though the Duke from that very day prepar'd himself for his departure yet had he time enough before he went totally to reject a proposition made to him on the Cardinal's behalf presently after the King's arrival at Tholouze He had caus'd the Duke to be treated withal to quit the Government of Metz in his favour offering him in exchange the survivancy of that of Guienne for the Duke de la Valette his Son who was already seiz'd of that of Metz in reverson Bullion newly created Sur-Intendant des Finances was chosen by the Cardinal as a person most acceptable to the Duke to make to him this Overture a proposition at which the Duke having serv'd the King so well as he had done in the last occasion was not a little surpriz'd and the rather because his Services having been of great â—â—portance to the Cardinal's Fortune which was much more strook at in the late Rebellion than any thing that concern'd either the King or the Kingdom he had reason besides the satisfaction the King had been pleas'd to manifest of his performance to expect also a very grateful return from the Cardinal himself It was the belief of many at that time that the Cardinal's design was to accommodate himself with the Bishoprick of Metz together with five or six great Abbeys in that City of above an hundred thousand Livers a year Revenue besides the Bishoprick which was worth twice as much and to add thereunto the Government of the City and Countrey with those of the Cities and Cittadels of I houl and Verdun to the end that by providing for himself so certain and secure a retreat he might in time be arm'd against all disgrace to which others have added an opinion that he had a project to reunite all the Provinces that had formerly been members of the Kingdom of Austratia in his own person to hold them in the quality of a Sovereign Prince whereof Lorain and Alsatia which were in his Majesties possession together with the three forenamed Bishopricks of Metz Toul and Verdun made up the greatest part it had been a matter of no great difficulty for the Cardinal to have possess'd himself of this Estate by any title he would have desir'd of the King So that if he ever had this thought it is not to be wondred at if he was sensibly offended that the Duke refus'd to treat and to comply with him in a thing he had set his heart upon for the establishment of his Fortune However it was it is concluded by all that this Affair made the Cardinal take up a resolution absolutely to break with the Duke of Espernon whom he saw to be too stiff to stoop to his Authority and look'd upon as the only person of the Kingdom who had either the power or the spirit to mate his greatness Wherein nevertheless though the Duke appear'd to be very averse yet did he not absolutely reject the Cardinal's proposal but conceiving he did not offer enough demanded moreover a Mareschal's Staff for the Duke de Candale his eldest Son This was a Dignity that could not indeed be deny'd to his merit though it had never been laid in the balance against the Government of Metz but if the Duke had a kindness for this Son the Cardinal had no less aversion who it was said having been wounded to the quick with some smart touches of the Duke de Candale's Wit as pleasant a one indeed as any of his time but withal as tart as pleasant he could by no means forget it but would rather choose to leave a thing of so great importance to the establishment of his Fortune imperfect than to be instrumental to the advancement of a person by whom he conceiv'd himself so highly offended Having therefore broke off with the Duke upon these terms it is to be presum'd he only for the future waited an occasion or at least a pretense wherewithal to colour his revenge Wherein though the Duke's haughty humour was likely enough to furnish him with as good as he could desire it appear'd nevertheless that fortune who will ever have a hand in all humane Affairs seconding the Cardinal's passion produc'd him one much sooner than he expected It was in truth at this time contrary to the Duke's intention who although he would not discover a weakness in condescending below his own Dignity had no desire notwithstanding to provoke the Cardinal's Almighty power by insisting upon any thing he might irreproachably do After that by the death of the Duke of Montmorency the King thought he had absolutely appeas'd the storm in Languedoc his Majesty thought of nothing more than by the nearest way and with a very slender train of returning back to Paris The Queen who was attended by the Council and all the Court two days after the King's departure began her Journey towards Bordeaux at greater conveniency to send away her equipage down the River Garonne where being arriv'd her Majesty was pleas'd to
honour the Duke of Espernon so far as to cross the River to go see him in his House Cadillac The Vertue Generosity and other excellent qualities this Queen was Mistriss of had acquir'd the Duke absolutely to her Service who also in return receiv'd infinite testimonies of her love and esteem so that it is not to be doubted but he was overjoy'd to have so favourable an Opportunity wherein to manifest in some measure his Gratitude for her Grace and Favour Nothing therefore was spar'd to that end and the Duke having a few days preceded her Majesties coming had made so plentiful provision of all things and she was receiv'd at his House after so splendid a manner that as on the one side it was impossible for him fully to satisfie his Duty and Affection so could he on the other very hardly have done more than he did or have added any thing to the Splendour and Magnificence of this Entertainment The Duke 's ill Fortune would have it that Cardinal Richelieu came this Journey with the Queen who since he had fortified Broüage to such a degree that it is at this day reputed one of the strongest places in France had never been there and would now therefore for all the money he had laid out upon it which was a vast Summe give himself the satisfaction of taking a view of his Work The Duke was not sorry for this Resolution but on the contrary no public unkindness having hitherto hapned betwixt them he invited the Cardinal to his House hoping the good Entertainment he intended him there might thaw the former Coldness but it fell out quite otherwise and two untoward Accidents that hapned in this Journey making the discontents which had so long been hatching in the Cardinal's Bosom to disclose themselves occasion'd soon after the first Disorder the Duke had ever receiv'd in his Fortune Of these Accidents the first was this The Queen being to pass the River betwixt Cadillac and Bordeaux to come to the House the Duke had prepar'd Coaches ready to receive her Majesty at her landing giving order withal to some of his Servants to reserve one for the Cardinal that he might have no cause to complain of any want of respect towards him an Order nevertheless so ill observ'd that the Queen first landing and the Coaches design'd for her Train proving too few to contain them all they also made bold with that which was intended for the Cardinal At the Queens coming ashore the Duke having paid her the respect that was most justly due by attending her Majesty to her apartment that first duty perform'd went back in all haste to receive the Cardinal upon the River himself taking a Coach along with him for that purpose but for all his diligence he came too late meeting the Cardinal already advanc'd a pretty way towards the House on Foot where though the Duke made him all imaginable Excuses for the fault had been committed contrary to his Order they were not nevertheless of force to dispossess him of the distaste he had taken that he had not been so well us'd as he ought to be so that though he receiv'd them with some shew of satisfaction his actions nevertheless sufficiently manifested his discontent he being not to be perswaded to make use of the Coach the Duke had brought him and although already seiz'd with the beginning of a distemper of which a few days after at Bordeaux he had like to have dy'd he was nevertheless obstinate to finish the remaining part of his way on foot though with great trouble and inconvenience till he came to the Lodgings that were made ready for him This was the first cross accident the Duke met with upon this occasion and in this every impartial Judge must of necessity acquit him The second hapned soon after at Bordeaux wherein though it be true that there was something more of the Duke 's haughty humour yet was his intention nevertheless infinitely wide of the sinister interpretations were put upon it The Queen having staid two whole days at Cadillac caus'd her self to be convey'd thence back to Bordeaux in order to the continuation of her Journey where at the same time the Cardinal also arriv'd but his Disease was by this time so much increas'd that finding himself then in excessive pain within a very few days they began to despair of his life and in truth without the assistance of a Chirurgeon of Bordeaux he had then infallibly dy'd of a suppression of Vrine Whilst he lay in this extremity the Queen resolv'd upon leaving Bordeaux to advance towards Paris by taking Rochelle nevertheless in her way a place she would by all means take this opportunity to see as an eternal Monument of the Kings Victory The Duke very well understanding what respect was due to his Queen and Mistriss whilst her Majesty staid in the City had caus'd his Guards to lay aside their Liveries and Muskets divesting himself moreover of all other Marks and Functions of a Governour in her presence but so soon as she was gone and that he had had the honour to attend her to her Boat he did not conceive himself oblig'd to retain the same respect for the Cardinal He therefore immediately after the Queens departure commanded his Guards again to put on their Cassocks and to take their Arms and very well attended presented himself at the Cardinals Lodgings who continued yet very ill though something better than before Upon this occasion that was interpreted for a premeditated Violence which was only intended for a Civility and Respect and those of the Cardinals Servants who saw him come to the House so accompanied ran to alarm their ster by telling him that the Duke of Espernon was coming to attempt something upon his person Whereupon follow'd a Hubub throughout the whole Family every one was agast and betook themselves confusedly to their Arms. In the mean time the Duke enters the House where not knowing what to think of the general Disorder and astonishment he observ'd in every face he met he went on to the Cardinal's Chamber door follow'd by very few having forbidden his Guards to set so much as one foot upon the stairs where after having enquir'd of the Cardinals health and having been answer'd he was exceeding ill and in such a condition that he intreated to be excus'd he could not see him he return'd back in the same posture he came there being neither more nor less in this Affair This is indeed the naked truth of the Story but it was not so represented to the Cardinal those who were about him on the contrary to insinuate into his Favour and to make him believe they had done him a notable piece of Service assuring him that without their extraordinary care and the good posture they had put themselves into to oppose the Duke he had infallibly been lost The Duke was afterwards inform'd and had it from very good hands that
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
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
that the King of Navarre who designing to continue the same honour to him intended to have met him a good way out of Town was advised to expect him on foot at the Gates of the City his own Friends and Retinue being too few to make up a number that might hold any proportion with that the Duke brought along with him In these two Conferences the Duke deliver'd what he had in Commission fortifying the propositions he had to make with so many and so powerful Arguments that the King of Navarre clearly satisfied of his own good discover'd at last a great inclination to perform what the King desir'd of him viz. his Conversion to the Roman Catholick Religion He evidently saw the eminent danger whereinto this great conspiracy of the League was likely to precipitate him with the advantages he might have by running the same fortune with the King of defending himself and his Interest by his Majesties Authority and Power Requelaure and many other persons of good quality about him fortifi'd him in this good deliberation but he was disswaded from it by a far greater number of the other opinion who represented to him the hard usage he had receiv'd at Court the hazards he had run in his own person and the persecution those of the Reform'd Religion who were his Servants and Friends had suffer'd from thence They did not stick further absolutely to impute all the hard measure the Hugonot Party had receiv'd to this King although the greatest violencies had been exercised upon them in the Reign of Charles the Ninth expressing as passionate a hatred against him as the League so impudently manifested in their Rebellious Actions And certainly the Misfortune of this Prince is never too much to be lamented nor the unsteddiness of his condition too much to be wondered at having his Kingdom divided by two Factions so directly opposite to one another that he could never serve himself by the one to defend himself from the other and both sides though implacable enemies betwixt themselves concurr'd nevertheless always in this that they both equally desired his Ruine At last after many Conferences the King of Navarre gave the Duke his final Answer at Pau whither he had invited him to come to this effect That he was the Kings most humble Servant that he would justifie himself to be so upon all occasions and that he would never separate himself from his Service and Interests if his Majesty did not constrain him to it by condescending too much to his Enemies Counsels but that he could not for any consideration of Honour Riches or any other advantages that could be propos'd to him depart from the Religion he had embrac'd and was so firmly establish'd in It was in this pleasant Palace of Pau and amongst the magnificences and delights that place then abounded in that the Duke had first the honour to see the Lady Catharine the King of Navarre's only Sister since Dutchess of Bar in whom the Duke's Merit who was then in the flower of his youth and the meridian of his favour made such an impression that she began from that time to honour him with her favour which she continued to him to her death And it is certain that the King her Brother who perhaps did not think himself so near that height of fortune to which he soon after arriv'd and who doubtless would have been glad to have engag'd the Duke absolutely to his Interests made him some propositions of Marriage with this Princess but the condition of the time and intervening accidents permitting that Treaty to pass no further the Duke was forc'd to content himself with the advantage of so glorious a friendship which was ever after dear and precious to him the whole remainder of his life The King of Navarre to multiply still more entertainments and favours upon the Duke would needs have him yet to give him the satisfaction of another visit at Nerac which the Duke could not handsomely deny though the Kings commands were something pressing for his return to Court and as it is likely the King of Navarre spun out the time that he might more maturely deliberate upon an Affair of so great importance so was it the Duke's interest to give him that leisure he desired if possible to make his negotiation succeed according to the King his Masters desire But in the end finding he could not overcome those traverses and difficulties that his Majesties enemies still strew'd in his way he prepar'd himself for his departure and then it was that opening the last and most secret part of his Commission he told the King of Navarre That though he had denied his Majesty the satisfaction he desired of him yet that the King nevertheless considering him as his Kinsman and next Heir to the Crown if God should please to dispose of him without Issue had given him in charge to let him know that he would be well pleas'd he should use his best endeauour to preserve himself in a condition to oppose the League that was confederated to the ruine of the Royal House and Line That since they could not unite their Arms to resist their common Enemies he should at least assure himself of the places already in his possession which his Majesty took to be much safer and much more at his devotion in his hands than those that should hereafter be possest by the League And that although in the present state of Affairs he could not openly favour his designs by reason of their difference in Religion nor avoid being instant for the restitution of those cautionary places that had been granted to him yet that he should nevertheless be very well satisfied with whatever he should do to his own advantage After this Declaration which was receiv'd by the King of Navarre with infinite demonstrations of Obligation and Respect the Duke took post for the Court at Lions where the King impatiently expected his return He was now arriv'd within view of the City and all the Court were mounted to honour his arrival the King himself having much ado to forbear going out to meet him when a strange and unexpected Accident was like to have turn'd all the Honours prepar'd for his welcome into the Funeral Pomp of his Obsequies For one of the Gentlemen who came out to meet him having accidentally intangled the Chape of his Sword in the Duke's Bridle the Horse took such a fright at it that he immediately ran away with his Master nor could the Duke stop him with all the art and force he had from throwing himself and his Rider headlong into a dreadful precipice the place very remarkable by the greatness of the fall and the wonderful escape is to this day call'd Espernons Leap neither was there any man present who did not confidently believe the Duke certainly bruis'd to pieces an opinion so firmly grounded in every one that the report of his Death was immediately carried to Lions which made as
mercy that there would afterwards remain the King of Navarre a powerful active and diligent Enemy back'd with great Forces within and ready to receive greater from without the Kingdom he conceiv'd it requisite to subdue him first that he might afterwards dispose of the Kings Affairs with less opposition so that he altogether fell from the extravagancy of his first demands and only insisted vpon the suppression of the King of Navarre which he call'd the extirpation of Heresie though it was in effect in order only to the establishment of his own Power The King had so openly declared himself an Enemy as effectively he was to this new Religion and it so much imported him to clear himself to his Subjects from those aspersions the League had cast upon him that he was now necessitated to declare against the King of Navarre in the most severe Form the League could themselves invent yet was it not without the greatest reluctancy imaginable that his Majesty was constrain'd to that extremity against a Prince whom as has been said before it was not his interest wholly to suppress but having lost the opportunity he once had whilst they were weak and inconsiderable of chastising the Heads of the League he saw himself now necessitated to grant them that he could no longer without apparent Ruine refuse His Wisdom then prompting him to submit to the necessity of Affairs he made a show of complying in all things with their desires and that he might with less difficulty encline the Duke of Espernon to consent to a resolution he had ever before been so much against he privately told him That he did not consent to those things that were exacted from him without very great Aversion but that he hop'd to reap from thence a signal effect and a very great advantage to his Affairs that the Party of the League was now too strong to be supprest by force that they had brought their Armies to the Gâ—tes of Paris and that Paris it self was corrupted in their Favour That he very well saw the time to chastise them was now past and that he now knew but too late what he had lost in letting the occasion slip wherein they might have been punish'd when he had advis'd him to it but that such an opportunity would certainly return again and that then his evil Counsellors should never disswade him from making better use of his time That in the mean time it was necessary to dissemble that they might the better look into their Enemies Interests to discover their weakness and to make use of that discovery to their ruine That there was no Party so strong that was not defective somewhere That it was necessary to discover where that defect lay and that it was impossible to make that discovery without engaging with and being interested in the cause they meant to overthrow That being Head of the League as they would have him declare himself to be he should be able to strew such difficulties in the way of their Designs as that they would find themselues perplex'd in every enterprize they should undertake Though the Duke of Espernon had much rather his Majesty would have defended his Honour and trampled Authority by the Arms of those few good Catholick Servants he had and to have joyn'd with the King of Navarre with whom he did not think an accommodation impossible and with such Foreign Forces as were affectionate to the Crown yet seeing it was now expedient to submit to the necessity of the time he humbly acquiesc'd in the good Pleasure of the King his Master In this posture of Affairs the King writ to the Queen his Mother that she might conclude the Treaty upon such Conditions as she thought fit and for a further testimony of his Candour and sincere intention herein sent the dispatch by the Duke of Espernon whom all the world knew to have the greatest power with him and the greatest Antipathy for the League to the end that the Lords of Guise might not in the least doubt the observance of a Treaty that was ratifi'd on his part by a person who liv'd in so eminent a degree of favour with him This employment of the Duke's though it was only intended to countenance the Queens Negotiation and to make it more easily succeed did nevertheless incense her in the highest degree against him She look'd upon his interposition as proceeding from a diffidence the King had in her and not daring to manifest her dissatisfaction to him she threw it wholly upon the Duke and took from thence a new occasion to augment the ill will she had formerly conceiv'd against him The Treaty was notwithstanding concluded at Nemours wherein the Lords of Guise had the full of their own demands whether against those of the Hugonot Party or in their own particular favour They were to command the Armies that should be set forth against the Hugonots and over and above the great and advantageous Governments they were already possest of the King delivered over twelve or fifteen of the best Cities in the Kingdom into their hands together with vast summes of money And then it was that men were undeceiv'd and that all men plainly saw they minded more their own private Interest and the establishment of their own greatness than they regarded the advancement of the Catholick Religion The Treaty then being concluded the Duke of Guise came to kiss the Kings Hands at St. Maur des â—aussez his Majesty so ordering it purposely to defeat the Duke of the Parisians applause from whence after the Ratification of the Articles the Duke return'd into his own Government of Champagne dismiss'd with some feign'd Demonstrations of Favour which was also on his part receiv'd with the same dissimulation From thence forward the King began with great artifice to spin out the violent designs of the League manifesting nevertheless such an animosity against the Hugonots and so firm a resolution vigorously to effect what had been concluded against them as he conceiv'd necessary to satisfie a people jealous of his sincerity and apt to take up new suspicions upon every instigation of their own corrupted fansie And in order thereunto he went to the Parliament in great Formality and State to cause an Edict to pass against those of the Reform'd Religion where after a revocation of the cautionary Towns of the Chambres Mi-parties of the liberty of Conscience and of other Concessions that had formerly been granted in their Favour they were prescrib'd by a day prefix'd either to abjure their Religion or to be declar'd enemies to the State and punishable to the last degree This first Act thus play'd his Majesty assembled the Provost des Marchands and the Eschevins of Paris to demand money of them for the prosecution of the War they had so ardently desir'd which he also propos'd to the Clergy who had shewed themselves no less zealous than they but finding both the one and the other equally
by how much nearer they approach to truth this so touch'd him to the quick that he from thenceforward conceiv'd against the Duke a mortal and implacable hatred Neither was he long in finding out a way openly to express it for his Arms being his Tongue and his Pen reputed one of the most eloquent of his time he employ'd them both with all the rancour imaginable to blemish the Duke's Honour he set upon him with a thousand injurious Writings nor did he fail for so much as in him lay to stir up a popular Fury against his Life Neither did the Duke of Guise labour his overthrow with less vehemency on his part than the Bishop did on his and as he knew the Duke's Interest to be very great and his spirit inflexible and hardly to be reconcil'd so was he not content to endeavour his ruine obliquely and underhand but openly declar'd himself the Author of what he did the better to effect his desire And see the means he persu'd to work his purpose After the Reiters were driven out of the Kingdom the Duke of Guise accompanied with the principal Heads of his Party retir'd to Nancy where seeing the great Forces he had about him and promising to himself wonders from the precipitous affection of the People he resolv'd to prepare some Articles which should be presented to the King in the Name of the League Wherein as he conceivâ—d himself in a condition to carry by a high hand whatsoever he should propose he principally insisted upon the Duke of Espernon's removal from Court pretending him to be a great abettor of the Hereticks the better to colour the persecution he intended against him interpreting after this sort the affection the Duke had for the King of Navarre and for all the Royal Family though grounded upon principles far distant from being any ways interested in that Princes Religion as his actions ever had and then did most clearly demonstrate But as it was very unlikely that the King to satisfie his Enemies should consent to the disgrace of his beloved Favourite the Leaguers of Paris to impose upon him a necessity of accomplishing the desires of their Party conspir'd thenceforward to seize upon the person of the King that so they might remove all future difficulties that might lie in the way of their Designs neither did they fail much of executing that accursed Resolution The Council of sixteen was at that time first set up in Paris neither is any ignorant what that Council was how impudent their Proceedings and how great their Authority with the People even in the very face of the King himself In this Council it was one day agreed upon to seize upon the King as he came from hunting from the Bois de Vencennes and it had accordingly been executed had not the King advertiz'd of their purpose doubled his Guards at his return That Plot therefore failing there were divers other Ambuscado's laid for him during the Carnival that often put him in great danger of being made a Prisoner to his own Subjects which being all happily evaded by the timely information of one Nicholas Poulin a Lieutenant in the Provosty of the Isle of France who was privy to all these Cabals Many of the Court who as it is believ'd favour'd the Designs of the League endeavour'd to render Poulin's Intelligence suspected that the King discrediting his report might at one time or another fall into his Enemies snare But the Duke of Espernon in an occasion of this consequence making no difficulty of hazarding his own life to search out the depth of these practices franckly expos'd himself to infinite danger that so he might discover the certainty of so necessary and so important a truth Being therefore advertis'd by the same Poulin that the sixteen had concluded an Assassinate upon him himself at the Fair of St. Germains whither the Duke usually repair'd to divert himself with the entertainments of the season he resolv'd to run the hazard and accordingly went The Plot was to have been executed by the Scholars under whose name the Inhabitants of the Suburbs of St. Germains were order'd to slip in to fortifie the attempt all which being discover'd to the Duke it was certainly a dangerous and almost desperate adventure he thrust himself into and which must proceed from an unparallel'd affection and a vertuous care he had of his Princes safety to run so great a hazard in so critical a time when even the Court it self was corrupted in the Conspirators favour And the Duke might excusably enough have forborn going to a place where the danger was immediately directed against his own person and might have made the experiment and have penetrated into the bottom of this Conspiracy by another without endangering his own life and doubtless he had done so had he had only his own Interest to consider in the case but then things would afterwards have been left doubtful and the King's life had been still expos'd in the uncertainty of the truth of those cautions had been given him which the Duke resolv'd by all wayes imaginable to put out of future danger He went therefore to the place where he knew himself to be threatned with death but that could not affright him provided he might secure the life of his Master and being thither come found the intelligence had been given him to be punctually true neither did they fail much of effecting their design for a sort of young people being gather'd about him began to murmur and from murmuring grew lowder into clamours making shew at last as if they would proceed to execute what they threatned whereat the Duke not frighted with their noise put himself into a posture to resist the violence intended against him by which resolute carriage having with as much courage as good fortune disingag'd himself he leisurely retyr'd towards the Louvre not a man daring to attempt any thing upon him as if even his Enemies had been struck with a kind of reverence due to so brave and so honourable an Action After there was no further doubt to be made but that Poulin's intelligence was true and by how much the King's danger still encreas'd by so much the greater was the Duke of Espernon's diligence zeal and ardour for the security of his Majesties Person so that there passed not a night wherein sometimes with two sometimes with three or four Companies of the Regiment of Guards he walk'd not the Round into the most seditious Quarters of the City and if at any time he had notice of any extraordinary Assembly thither it was that he immediately repair'd with a stronger Party nor did he ever go to rest till he had first settled all things quiet and had carefully provided for his Masters safety So that it is not to be believ'd how many of the Enemies Conspiracies against the King's Person were countermin'd and frustrated by his vigilancy and diligence The sixteen seeing their Designs thus travers'd
himself to look into the state of those Provinces newly committed to his charge where by establishing such order as he thought convenient by the dispatch of his Levies and by disposing his men into the most important places he prepar'd himself betimes to encounter such Accidents as the severity of the time was likely to produce Soon after the Duke's departure the King went his Journey into Normandy where the greatest Obstacle being now remov'd the Treaty of Peace went on without any further impediment and was presently after concluded the King who had already determin'd how to dispose of the Duke of Guise making no great difficulty to grant him what he was resolv'd he should not long enjoy The Peace concluded the Edict of Union was publish'd first at Rouen and then in all parts of the Kingdom after which they immediately fell to the raising of Arms for the utter suppression of the King of Navarre and his Party But above all things the King was careful to hasten the necessary Dispatches for the Convocation of the States General at Blois in the beginning of October next ensuing an Assembly equally desir'd by the King and the Duke of Guise but to different ends The Duke hoping there by the joynt suffrages of the several Orders of the Kingdom to see himself plac'd in that degree of height to which his great Spirit and vast Ambition had so long aspir'd and the King resolving there and at that time to quench his restless and inordinate Ambition in a torrent of his own Blood Thus do we often see the purposes of the greatest Politicians deluded who when they think they have brought their Designs by the most infallible Rules and Maxims of Humane Prudence to an almost certain Issue find themselves deceiv'd and usually meet with effects quite contrary to their expectation giving us to understand that we ought not to commit our actions to the blind conduct of our own frail and erroneous foresight but into the hands of Providence that governs all and that brings all things to their determinate end The Edict of Union being sworn the Duke of Eâ—pernon remov'd from Court and the King â—atisfied at least in apparence with the Duke of Guise's and the Parisians excuses the Duke confident in the Queen Mother who was of late become absolutely powerful with the KIng had nothing now to hinder his coming to Court so that upon his Majesties return out of Normandy he immediately repair'd to him and having found him at Chartres he there in person deliver'd the same Apologies he had not long before presented by the Mediation of others All which his Majesty received with a Dissimulation that was not only natural to him but that by a long Practice and by the continual traverses and difficulties of his Reign was grown to such a habit in him that it was no hard matter for him to put on any kind of Language or Behaviour on any occasion wherein he was most likely to be surpriz'd So that in outward shew the King was so well pleas'd with no Company as indeed it was almost all he had as with the Duke's his Relations and Confederates Amongst which the Cardinal of Bourbon who was now also come to Court was entertain'd with extraordinary marks of Favour and Respect neither was there any Commands or Offices Military or Civil granted to any but by their recommendation insomuch that some have thought the Duke of Guise by winning and submissive carriage had made some real impression upon the Kings Inclinations and that his Majesty was dispos'd really to love him as he had formerly done if he could have moderated his Ambition and would have laid aside those designs which rendred him suspected to him In a conjuncture so favourable to their Designs neither the Duke of Guise nor those of his Faction slept in their Business but with all possible industry still more and more labour'd the Duke of Espernon's total Ruine as a thing that imported most of all to the confirmation of that Authority and Trust to which they saw themselves by his removal already advanc'd So that the King being daily afflicted with a thousand Accusations against him and wearied by their importunities was at last so far overcome as to consent that many of his Offices should be taken away being not yet to be prevail'd upon for his absolute Ruine Whilst the Duke was present he continually by his good Services fortified his Masters mind against all impressions of calumny his Enemies could invent to the prejudice of his Fidelity and Honour and had ever triumph'd in his Majesties good Opinion over the Envy and Malice of his Detractors but he was no sooner remov'd out of his Eye than that Confidence began to stagger his detractors representing him for an Enemy to the Crown a Friend to the King of Navarre and one that seducing daily all the Garrisons in his Government to a Revolt was upon the point to Proclaim open War against the King himself In the mean time the Duke had very good Intelligence of all that pass'd at Court he very well knew that his Enemies made use of all imaginable ways to destroy him that the King was by them perpetually socilited against him and that consequently it concern'd him in common discretion to frustrate their Designs and to provide for his own safety in the strength of those places he possess'd Neither was he much surpriz'd at the unexpected news of what the King had consented to against him he was very well acquainted with the constitution of the Court and had very well foreseen what would certainly be attempted against him but he could hardly perswade himself that his Majesty could ever forget his Fidelity and good Services yet did he not for all that neglect his own preservation that he might live to do him one day more and better Service the only revenge this faithful honest Servant meditated for the ingratitude of his Master He fell therefore presently into Consultation with his Friends what course he were best to take a Debate wherein Opinions were very different some there were who advis'd him to return to Court representing that his presence would infallibly disperse all those shadows of mistrust which by his absence his Adversaries had had opportunity to possess the King's mind withal that his tried Fidelity would soon recover its former place in his Majesties Opinion and that then he would soon be in a condition to return the mischiefs had been intended against him upon the heads of the first contrivers Others there were who gave him counsel to put himself into Metz others to make immediately for Provence and some of those there to joyn with the King of Navarre That to that purpose he should first go into Angoumois whither he might suddenly and with great facility convey himself where he had a strong City to retire unto and where he would be in a Country very convenient to favour his Passage into Provence by the way of
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
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
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
was at the Hostel de Gondy as that which was most capable to receive him and it was in this House of Gondy that whilst this great Prince was forming the designs of restoring his despis'd Authority of chastising the temerity and disobedience of his evil dispos'd Subjects of rendring his name venerable to all his Neighbours and of establishing the Peace of his Kingdom having already almost extinguish'd all the sparks of Division that had enflam'd it that I say an accursed Paâ—ricide in the Meridian of all his Glory and in the Crisis of all his Designs plung'd a murthering Knife into his Entrails Every one has heard who Iaques Clement was and the black story of his Bloody Assassinate but no one could ever yet penetrate so far as to discover by whom he was prompted on to this execrable Act. The King feeling himself wounded drew the Knife immediately from the Wound and strook it up to the haft in the Villains Face at which bustle betwixt them one of the Grooms of the Wardrobe who guarded the Closet Door into which his Majesty was withdrawn to give this wicked wretch a more private audience ran in to them as also did several Gentlemen who waited in the outer Room who all of them drawing their Swords by an imprudence in it self criminal if not excus'd by the violence of their Affections gave the Caitiffe an hundred Wounds whereby in a moment he vomited out a life that ought not to have been dismist till after the horror of a thousand torments The King feeling himself Wounded commanded the Duke of Espernon to be immediately sent for who was then at the Post nearest to the City putting some Troops in order which were to fall into the Suburbs of Paris but at this sad and unexpected news he ran in great confusion to the King's Lodging whom he yet found in the same posture wherein he had receiv'd his hurt with his hand still upon the Wound At which sight the Duke bursting out in tears as fearing a sinister event his Majesty gave him comfort by telling him he hop'd the Wound would not prove Mortal and saying to him further these very words Thou seest here my Friend the effects of my Enemies Treachery and Malice but I hope God will shortly enable me to bring them to condigne punishment To which the Duke returning no other answer than his tears they laid his Majesty upon a bed and search'd his Wound which the Chirurgeons at the first dressing apprehended not to be so dangerous as it was so that all that day was past over in this error but that night and the morning following the dolours of his Wound encreasing and at last growing to be extreme it was then judg'd that his bowels were pierced and that Death must necessarily and in a few hours ensue The King of Navarre had hasted with all diligence at the first bruit of this accident and being come to his bedside his Majesty said to him almost the same things he had said before to the Duke and talk'd of nothing the first day save of the exemplary punishment he would inflict upon his Enemies but his Wound being at last judg'd to be mortal and feeling in himself that he drew near his end all his discourse of Punishment and Revenge was turn'd into that of Pardon and Oblivion and certainly no Prince ever made a more Christian or a more constant end He declar'd upon his death-bed the King of Navarre nearest of his Blood and and consequently right Heir to the Crown provided he were a Catholick exhorting him at the same time to abjure his own Religion and to reconcile himself to the Holy Church commanding likewise the Duke of Espernon whom he held by the hand to serve him upon that condition after which and a Pious Resignation of himself he gave up his last breath in the middle of his victorious Army We are now entring upon a new Reign and one the Duke found very different from that wherein he had hitherto liv'd for he now not only saw himself stript of all kind of Favour but he further saw the envy and hatred of the whole Court directed against him He was now no more call'd to Council nor any longer entrusted with his Princes secrets but on the contrary every one labour'd to diminish that greatness to which his own Vertue and his Masters Royal bounty had already rais'd him But we shall see how he overcame all these difficulties and the Justice of this new Prince at last giving the Merits and Services of this vertuous man their due we shall see him not only support him in his own present Fortune but also encrease it by his daily bounty and so establish it in him as to empower him to settle it in his own Posterity So soon as the King was dead all the Roman Catholicks of quality in the Army assembled themselves together to advise what in this occurrence was to be done for the maintenance of the Catholick Religion in the Service of this new King And here their opinions were split into three several Councils for some there were who thought it fit absolutely to acknowledge the King without condition or reservation but those were very few Others there were who would absolutely abandon his Service and joyn with the League and those were fewer than the first But the third proposition and that which was concluded on by the most principal and prudent Lords of the Army amongst which were the Dukes of Longueville of Nevers of Espernon and of Luxembourg the Mareschals de Biron and d' Aumont the Marquis of Ramboâ—illet and many others was to serve the King and to tye themselves wholly to his Fortune provided his Majesty would please to give them some gracious assurance of his speedy Conversion Which being deliver'd to his Majesty as their determinate Resolution and the condition prescrib'd as it were by the King his Predecessor he wisely chose such a mean as seem'd necessary to him in this occasion for the establishment of the uncertain state of his Affairs and would by all means preserve that moderation and indifferency betwixt both parties as should by an equal hope in them both keep both his Catholick and Hugonot Subjects within the bounds of their duty His Answer therefore was That it would appear to all the world very easie and unhandsome in him to change his Religion only to satisfie his Subjects humour and to receive a Law from them in a thing which in its self of all other ought to be most free That he desir'd to be instructed and satisfied in his Conscience before he proceeded so far as to change his Religion That to this purpose he promis'd within six months to call an Assembly of men of known Piety and Learning and if occasion were a National Synod to whose final Decree he would absolutely submit and that in the mean time he would be careful to protect and maintain the Catholick Religion After divers
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
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
uncertain Fight where he had promis'd to himself a certain Victory he retyr'd without once daring to attempt any thing upon the Duke highly condemning and complaining of Minieux who by his rashness and impatience had ruin'd so hopeful a Design The Duke having thus rid his hands of his Enemies went to put himself into the danger of his Friends at least those who ought to have been so being engag'd in the same Service but I dare not here publish all I know of this business lest I should revive the memory of an Action that was then condemnâ—d by the King himself and that cannot be approved of now I shall only tell you that the Duke having carried his Prisoners into Corbie they were there peremptorily demanded of him and upon his refusal violently taken and detained from him A dispute that was on both sides carried on with such heat as brought the Duke's Person who could not with any thought of patience endure so great an affront into very great danger and the odds against him was so great that nothing could have been expected but certain death had not the Sieur de Humierres the King's Lieutenant in the place and the Sieur de la Boissiere his Brother-in-law interposing hinder'd the violence was preparing against him and mediated an Accommodation which though it could not obliterate the memory of the offense kept matters notwithstanding from proceeding to the last Extreams Neither was this the last danger the Duke escap'd in his return for as he proceeded on his way to Chartres where the Siege still continued he heard the Marquis d' O his old friend was very busie at the Siege of Pierre Fonds which he had undertaken whom the Duke going to visit he was by him entreated to stay there a few days and by his Authority and those Forces he had then with him to help him to bring his Enterprize to an honourable issue which the Duke as franckly consented to and went immediately into the Trenches to take a view of the order of the Siege where presenting himself with his usual bravery to open view of the Enemy and without other Arms than his Corsset only he receiv'd a Harquebuss-shot in his mouth that passing through one of his cheeks shatter'd his right jaw and coming out at his chin flatted upon his Gorget A shot that every one believ'd had certainly dispatch'd him But being carried to his Lodging and his Wound search'd it was found to be nothing dangerous and in a few days he was in a condition to mount on horse-back After all these good and evil adventures the Duke being at last arriv'd at Chartres he went presently to give the King an accompt of his Voyage not forgetting to make his complaint of the injury done him at Corbie withal humbly entreating his Majesty would be pleas'd to do him Justice which the King had in part already done having order'd his prisoners immediately to be restor'd but their Wounds were such that they all dy'd of them soon after they were left at Corbie so that they who had committed the injury not long surviving the Duke's Quarrel was at an end and all thoughts of revenge were soon extinct and for ever buried in oblivion The Siege of Chartres continued yet some time after the Duke's return which la Bourdaisiere Governour there for the League had so bravely defended as often made the King to repent that undertaking having lost before it the Sieur de Chastillon eighteen Camp-Masters and as may well be imagin'd from thence a great number of common Souldiers Neither did those Forces the Duke of Espernon had left with the King scape better than the rest the King willing to husband the lives of his own Servants in whom he yet repos'd a greater trust than in the Duke continually exposing them to the greatest danger Of these Beaujeu Mascaron and Blumet three Colonels were there slain and also many other Officers by whose valour amongst the rest who perhaps had better fortune the place was at last notwithstanding their notable resistance reduc'd to the necessity of a surrender From thence his Majesty pass'd over into Picardy where he besieg'd and took Noyon and secur'd many other considerable Cities of that Province to his obedience when having after all made a little digression into Champagne the year and that Champagne ended together it being necessary to dispose the Army into several Garrisons to refresh them So that the Duke seeing the time of the year for further Service was now past ask'd leave of the King to retire into his own Government to recruit his Troops that they might be in a better condition to serve his Majesty the year to come to which his Majesty willingly consented dismissing the Duke with great testimonies of an entire satisfaction in his service and an absolute oblivion of all past unkindness The end of the Third Book THE HISTORY Of the LIFE of the Duke of Espernon The Fourth Book THE Duke solicitous by his Services to dispossess the King of those evil impressions his Majesty had through the ill Offices of some conceiv'd against him to the prejudice of his Loyalty and affection did now resolve to raise far greater Forces than before for the Summer to come Neither had his Majesty on his part conceal'd his most secret Designs from the Duke's knowledge but on the contrary had invited him again into action and had reserv'd an Employment of great trust and Reputation for him in his Army The Duke also was prepar'd to go and expected with great impatience his Majesties Order for his setting out when he receiv'd the sad news of the death of Mounsieur de la Valette his Brother This Lord after he had beaten the Duke of Savoy out of Provence and made him sustain such losses as had forc'd him to retire into his own Dukedom after he had settled Provence and Dauphiné in his Majesties Obedience and almost rooted out all the seeds of the League in those two Provinces after having by Treaties carried on with infinite Conduct and Prudence interested the Republick of Venice the Dukes of Florence and Mantua in his Majesties Quarrel and obtain'd from these Princes security for thirty thousand Crowns a month to transport the War into the Dutchy of Savoy it self of which also he was to have the management by so powerful a diversion to oblige this Ambitious Prince to defend his own Territories instead of invading his Neighbours Being I say upon the point to execute a design so honourable in it self and so important to the Crown he would yet first absolutely cleanse Provence from the contagion of the League that he might leave no Enemy behind to beget new mischiefs when he should not be near to suppress them To this end therefore he drâ—w his Arâ—y into the Field in the beginning of Ianuary and went to besiege Roquebrune that stood for the League A place which though little was nevertheless so
strong that Mounsieur de la Valette's Battery having plaid upon that side which was best fortified and not working that speedy effect he desir'd he would remove 〈…〉 other side and in 〈◊〉 impatience to put an end to an enterprize so much inferiour to his greater designs would himself help to remove the Cannon to a more advantageous place where being expos'd to the Enemies view open and in his Doublet only 〈…〉 lost many of our best Captains he receiv'd a Musquet shot in the head the eleventh day of Ianuary of which within thirteen hours after he died All the Historians of his time celebrated the Vertues of this 〈…〉 highest 〈◊〉 of Honour the King himself appear'd infinâ—â—ely concern'd aâ— his death by which he was depriv'd of a valiant Captain and a faithful Subject Nay even 〈◊〉 Enemies lamented his loss so great an interest has Vertue in generous minds but the Duke hiâ— Brother was afflicted to the last degree He had ever lov'd him to an example of Fraternal Affection had never made any distinction betwixt the interests of so good a Brother and his own he had invested him in a very considerable share of his own fortune he had bestow'd upon him the Government of Provence with the Office of Admiral of France he had been continually assisting to him with his Purse and Credit and had ever made him a partaker in all the advantages of his Master's Favour benefits of which Mounsieur de la Valette had on his part made so modest and so vertuous an use that he thought himself oblig'd having no posterity to provide for to husband them for the Duke his Brother's Service Which gratiâ—â—de to hâ—s Benefactor was rewarded by a good fortune to himself for having little frequented the Court the discontents and disgraces which sometimes perplext the Duke could neverâ— reach or reflect upon him who had continually been abroad in action and that with so good success that his merit made him by every one thought worthy of that greatness he possess'd so that he was favour'd and esteem'd by all good men without the least mixrure of hatred or envy Neither was he on his part wanting to his own Reputation and Interest but ever behav'd himself in all his Employments with infinite moderation sweetness liberality and noble Courage Vertues that establish'd him in his Government with such Authority and that rendred him so considerable to the Princes bordering upon Provence that their respect to him begot in them a singular regard towards the Duke his Brother whom no man was willing upon a light occasion to offend left this whom all the world knew to be so kind a Brother and so good a Friend by an injury offer'd to so dear a Relation might be tempted into extremities that usually are the effects of so just a resentment It appears therefore by this how great a support he was to his Family but this unfortunate blow depriv'd the Duke at once of so considerable a Fortune of so powerful an Assistant of so honourable Employments and of the person of all others most dearly beloved by him The Office of Admiral of France was presently and that by the Duke's consent conferr'd upon St. Blancart since Duke and Mareschal de Biron his Kinsman and intimate Friend who as we have already observ'd put himself into the Duke's Service in the beginning of his Favour but who afterwards by his good Services had advanc'd himself very high in his Majesties esteem Some have said that the King to whom the Duke's greatness was become suspected had a good mind at the same time to have dispos'd of the Government of Provence also but that having consider'd most of the principal Cities of that Province were in the custody of the Duke's Friends or their Substitutes who had serv'd Volunteers under Mounsieur de la Valette that the Forces there residing were made up of their Creatures such as only serv'd upon the two Brothers account it was to be fear'd the Duke's Discontents would be humour'd by his Friends who might interest themselves in his Disgrace So that his Majesty thinking it neither convenient nor safe as Affairs then stood directly to disoblige the Duke was forc'd to comply with the necessity of the time and to consent to what he could not well hinder without endangering the Affairs of that Province Mounsieur de la Valette was no sooner dead but that all his Officers assembled themselves together to advise what upon this accident they were best to do where without much debate it was concluded that to express the affection they had ever born their dead General and the respect they had for the Duke his Brother to whom they would that affection should now descend it was fit to send to the King humbly to entreat his Majesty that he would send the Duke of Espernon to command them in the place of Mounsieur de la Valette declaring freely withal that under the command of any other they should not so chearfully continue those services they had for the time past so successfully perform'd and accordingly with this Message they dispatch'd away the â—ieurs d' Esgarrebacques and de Mesplâ—s two of the most eminent amongst them both in Valour and Condition to the Court The Duke of Espernon being advertis'd of the deputation of these two Gentlemen to the King by the Sieur de Peyroles dispatch'd to him at the same time by the Chief Officers of Provence sent himself also to solicite his Majesty for that they had so favourably pursu'd in his behalf Representing to him That the Government of Provence could not be reputed vacant whilst he was living who had put it into his Brothers hands upon no other account than to preserve it in his Majesties Obedience whilst himself with such as depended upon him expos'd his Life and Fortune elsewhere for his Service That the first and true title to that Government remain'd in him and that since he was so unfortunate as to survive his Brother he had that confidence in his Majesties Justice that he would not add to his affliction by depriving him of an Employment he had only transferr'd to another that he might himself be at more liberty to do him more and better service And as if the Duke had been already assur'd of his Majesties Favour to him or that he would not seem in the least to suspect it he publish'd his resolution of going into Provence and made great preparations in order to that expedition The King foreseeing that the Duke would of all others be the most acceptably receiv'd by that people and knowing also that in the confusion the Kingdom then was the Government of Provence wherein the Duke of Savoy and the League had made a dangerous progress since the death of Mounsieur de la Valette could not be maintain'd as it ought otherwise than by the Duke's â—nterest there thought fit not to contradict his claim and consequently about the end of
March the same year sent him a Commission to go into Provence in quality of Captain General of all his Forces there without revoking the title of Governour which had been granted to him by Henry the III. as also without any confirmation of it but commanding by particular dispatches all the Cities and all his Servants in that Province to acknowledge and obey him giving the Duke in this some seeming satisfaction till he might find a time and opportunity gently to withdraw him from thence The Duke having thus obtain'd leave of the King prepar'd himself with all expedition to depart from his Governments of Xaintonge and Angoumois but not before he had first settled his Domestick Affairs the chief of which was the Inheritance of Mounsieur de la Valette who some days before his Death had made a Will wherein 't is true he had made the Duke his Heir but with so little advantage to him that the very particulars of the Will exceeded the value of his Estate He had given great Legacies to all his Friends and to all his Servants of which he had not omitted one who was not very liberally rewarded He had moreover given many pious Legacies for publick Buildings Foundations of Convents and Hospitals and with all this liberality left so many Debts behind him that the Duke was advis'd not to meddle 〈◊〉 the Inheritance as a thing that would certainly be a burthen to him But he far from embracing an Advice which though prudently enough given he thought would not be honourable for him to follow could not think his Brothers intention sufficiently fulfill'd if he did not add something of his own to his Liberalities A Resolution he so peremptorily executed that all those who were mentioned in the Will were satisfied before the Testator's personal Estate could be priz'd or his Revenue gather'd in Having thus settled this business whilst his Friends were busie levying such Forces as he intended to lead into Provence he had now nothing left to do but to begin his Journey except to take a review of his Army Of which the Cavalry was commanded by the Sieurs de Chalais d' Ambleville d' Ars who is still full of vigour at the writing of this History and I think the only Cavalier remaining of all the Officers of that Army de Touverac de Miran de Gohas de Bordes d' Estausan de Puygailliart young Masses de Boisseau and some others each having a hundred Light Horse in his Troop The Infantry had for Camp Masters the Baron de Mata Bonnouvrier Pernes and la Rodérie the names of the rest I could not learn time having worn out their Memories But the Commanders and Souldiers were such that it was not possible to see any where a more complete nor a more spritely Body There remain'd in Provence of those who had kept themselves together since the death of Mounsieur de la Valette his own Troop of Gens-d ' Armes and that of the Baron de Montaut his Cousin consisting each of two hundred Cuirassiers with that of the Marquiss de Cadenot consisting of one The Troops of Light Horse under the command of Belloe of Ramefort of Lyons of St. Andiol that of Buous with his Regiment of Foot commanded by the Chevalier de Buous his Brother with the Regiments of Merarques and de Valaveyre Soon after the Duke's Arrival in those parts he was yet re-inforc'd with fifteen hundred Foot which the Sieur de Gouvernet brought him out of Dauphiné and the Constable his Uncle to whom he gave a Visit as he pass'd through Languedoc furnish'd him with three hundred Light Horse under the Command of the Sieurs de Poyraux de Monteson and d' Entragues So that he no sooner came into Provencâ— but that he had above ten thousand Foot besides what he was supply'd withal from the Garrisons of the Country which made up three thousand more and at least fifteen or sixteen hundred Horse The Mareschals de Camp to those Forces he had rais'd himself were the Sieurs de Megrin and de Bonnouvrier and of those in Provence Montaut and le Passage who having serv'd in the same quality under his Brother he thought by no means fit to be disoblig'd So many and so vast Leagues made at the Duke 's own charges could not but very much exhaust his purse which had before been weakned by the excessive expense he had been at for the Service of the two Kings For in his Voyage to Henry the III at Tours he had as has been said rais'd six thousand Foot and twelve hundred Horse and in the last Campagne he had brought to Henry IIII. four thousand Foot and eight hundred Light Horse which could not be rais'd without infinite expense So that it is no wonder if he was now reduc'd to borrowing as indeed he was and did borrow a very considerable summe at Angoulesme where one particular man Francois Redout by name Sieur de Nevillac lent him at his departure from thence fifty thousand Crowns and which more oblig'd the Duke a thing I have often heard him speak of with great commendation of this Gentlemans proceeding so generously that he would not so much as accept a bond for his Security but only a Memorandum of three or four Lines so great a Confidence he had in the Duke's Integrity Nor was he deceiv'd his mony being punctually repaid at the appointed day Things being thus order'd the Duke departed from Angoulesme the fifth day of Iune the same year taking his way through Perigort towards Quercy but there was no little contest betwixt his Honour and Affection in taking leave of his Dutchess whom her Vertue and Fruitfulness had rendred to him more dear than ever and who on her part as if she had foreseen this parting should be their last as indeed it was could by no means consent to this separation though they were at last both of them constrain'd to yield to the necessity his Duty and Honour impos'd upon him There accru'd no little advantage to his Majesties Affairs by this Armies taking the way of Quercy for the Marquis de Themines since Mareschal of France gave the Duke notice as he was upon his March that the Forces the League had in Languedoc under the command of the Duke de Ioyeuse had besig'd Villoâ—nur which though a little Town was nevertheless very considerable for its situation upon the River Tarn and for its vicinity to Tholouse being but four Leagues distant from thence Râ—nies a Gentleman of great Valour who had the command of that place upon the first Alarm had put himself with about fifteen or sixteen Gentlemen of his Friends into it but it had been impossible having no body but the Inhabitants to assist him to have defended it long without relief and that no body but the Duke was able to give him Which Father Ange de Ioyeuse a Capuchin the Duke's Brother-in-law and then at Tholouse fearing he would do and
being so well order'd as he conceiv'd they were there was no doubt to be made of a successful issue That he therefore conjur'd them resolutely to undertake an action of the greatest advantage to the King to his Majesties Affairs and to their own particular benefit and honour that could possibly be propos'd That every one there knew Marselles to be one of the most important Cities whether consider'd in the commodity of its Haven or in its vicinity to Foreign Countries in the whole Kingdom That this City reduc'd by the King of Spain's promises and the Duke of Savoy's together had already put her self into their protection and persisting in her obstinacy was ready to open her Gates to Strangers to receive their Garrisons and to give away her liberty to them after having violated her Faith and Duty to her lawful Sovereign That should strangers once get entire possession of that City it would be lost for ever and that there would be no hopes ever to drive them from so advantageous a post what attempts soever could be made against a place so strong and so easie to be reliev'd That next to the publick concern he consider'd the reducing of this City as a certain and firm establishment of his own interest in Provence and that they themselves ought to look upon it as a pledge whereby that fair and rich Province would be assur'd unto them and that would give them an entire authority over the people who after so brave an exploit would no more be able to vie Merit or Valour with them as they had formerly done That such as had undertaken Enterprizes of this nature were wont to animate their companions with hopes of Booty but that for his part he should take a contrary way That it was not his intent to ruine Provence nor the City of Marselles but to preserve both the one and the other for the King to establish himself there in order to his Majesties Service and to procure for them other advantages and by other means suiting to their great merit and the service they had perform'd That this City once taken there could be no more fear of wanting provisions for the Army the conveniency of the Port bringing in all things necessary in great abundance that the evil-affectedness of the people would for the future be able to produce nothing to their prejudice they having in their own hands either the Keyes of the Province to let in all necessary Succours or otherwise the Chains that would tye them fast to their duty That above all things therefore he most earnestly desir'd them to restrain the insolence of the Souldier whom notwithstanding he did not thereby intend to hinder of the benefit they might justly make of the Inhabitants Estates which were already forfeited to them by by their Rebellion and of which they should soon be possess'd by the Victory but that he desir'd they might be fairly divided amongst them that they might the longer enjoy what they got and not lose and destroy the spoil as it otfen falls out in the sack and plunder of great Cities That he would not upon this occasion suggest unto them the remembrance of their accustomed Valour that he knew by good experience such exhortations were altogether unnecessary to them in bold and dangerous attempts and that he only conjur'd them to follow his example now as hitherto they had follow'd his Person and Fortune The Duke having thus prepar'd his Friends for the Enterprize continued on his way when being come within sight of the place he himself with those that had charge of the Petards advanc'd up to the Gate Of these the first Petard play'd to as good effect as was to be expected having made a hole in the Gate wide enough for a man easily to get through which though made wider by the second yet did not the Gate fall down being supported by a great iron Bar behind The Duke therefore call'd for the third Petard but in vain no Petard being to be heard of no more than the man to whose trust it was committed which made them try to break the Bar with Axes that they might have the passage more free to relieve some of their men who were already got in by the hole of the Gate But the Inhabitants rouz'd at the first noise of the Petards running to their Arms made a stout opposition where having but few to deal withal the Assailants were with great ease beaten back and the Gate as suddenly Barricado'd up It is not to be imagin'd how infinitely the Duke was afflicted at this ill success and the more because he thought he had made himself as it were Master of the event by the prudent conduct of his Design though he has since thought himself happy in failing of his purpose so much should men susspect their own desires in the choice of things that concern the conduct of their lives it being to be fear'd that had the Duke been establish'd in the power tâ—e winning of this City would have seated him in and receiv'd those affronts and that ill usage from Court he afterwards did in the revolutions of Provence the sense of those injuries might have prompted him to do things no ways suiting with his Duty as we shall see he was soon after tempted to do I do much wonder that none of our Historians have so much as mention'd this Enterprize who have some of them been very particular about many others of the Duke 's of much less importance whose omission of this has engag'd me to insist longer upon it than otherwise I should have done that so brave an Action might not be buried in oblivion of which the bare Project could not have been meditated by a mean courage nor the Design carried on so far by an ordinary prudence The Duke being retir'd to his Fort very much discontented at his evil success would revenge himself of that disgrace by new and brisker attempts upon the City of Aix Wherefore having intelligence that the Inhabitants already began to feel themselves straightned for want of Victuals he to take from them all future hopes of supply immediately fell to destroying all the Fruits and Corn of the Country round about and not content to do them this mischief without plai'd so many Cannon-shot into the Town that not a man durst appear in the streets or abide in the upper rooms of their houses But the besieg'd ingenious in their Revenge contriv'd a way to pay him back some of his Balls by a Counter-battery from the great Tower of the Church of Nostredame a Pile of great note and fame as well for its exceeding height as for the excellency of its Architecture and Beauty To the top therefore of this Tower they made shift to crane up two Culverines and had a Cannoneer so expert as not only levell'd them right against the Fort but even against the Duke's own Tent within it where he made the strangest shot that perhaps ever
excellent Lady in the six and twentieth Year of her Age after having manifested an indifferency for life becoming her masculine Courage and Resignation unto Death worthy her great Piety and Vertue The Sieur du-Masses Lieutenant for the King under the Duke in that Government dispatch'd a Courier to the Duke to acquaint him with his loss as also with the Dutchess her dying request unto him who after having given publick testimonies of his affliction than which nothing could be greater he vow'd to observe what she expected from his fidelity to the last hour of his Life A promise that he as faithfully observ'd though in the space of fifty years that he surviv'd this excellent Lady he was offer'd many and great advantageous matches which he still refus'd ever professing that the respect he bore to his dead Ladies last request did and should with-hold him from embracing a new Wife and fâ—om embarquing in a new Fortune Fortune had hitherto so favour'd the Duke in almost all his Enterprizes that his Affairs had been carried on with great prosperity and success and the Provisions he had drawn from the Province or bought with his own mony had kept his Army in so good Discipline and Obedience that the Provencials had tasted very little of the incommodities of War Yet wanted there not some unquiet Spirits who enemies to the peoples peace as envious of the Duke 's good Fortune endeavour'd by all imaginable ways to debauch from him the respect and good will he had by his noble carriage acquir'd from the greater part of the Country and from the better sort of men perswading them that his severe and hasty humour proceeded from a purpose he had to usurp an absolute Authority over them and rendring his best intentions so suspected to the people as made them at last refuse to pay their accustomed Taxes It was by so much the easier to corrupt these undiscerning spirits by how much a certain emulation has ever been observ'd to be betwixt the Provencials and Gascons as seems to have been hereditary if not natural to those two people So that the Provencials not being able to endure the dominion of those with whom they had ever disputed the prize of Glory and Valour were easily tempted to shake off the yoke that either was or was pretended to be impos'd upon them After therefore as has been said they had denied the Duke those Contributions which until then they had willingly paid most of the Souldiers of the Country who were in his Army retir'd themselves and some of the chief Nobility pretended to favour at Court by accusing him of inordinate Ambition though all his endeavour to make himself considerable in Provence was only in order to his Majesties Service The Duke seeing things in this ill condition would by force have reduc'd them to their former posture but this remedy which was by no means proper for the constitution of that people ripping up the memory of the severe punishments he had in such cases inflicted upon several men in divers places serv'd only to make them desperate in their disobedience and to incenâ—e them to the last degree Thus did all those who had manifested an animosity against the Duke begin to apprehend falling into his power amongst which the Leaguers were in the greatest fear who as their obstinate Rebellion had made their fault much greater than theirs who like Souldiers had defended Montauron so did they fear a worse punishment if worse could be than had been inflicted upon them They saw their City of Aix reduc'd to the last extremity neither would those within stay till they could come to their Relief The Count de Carces a particular Enemy to the Duke besides the hatred that diversity of interest does usually beget above all things dreaded to fall into his hands so that Friends and Enemies those who pretended to be Royallists and Leaguers conspiring together to hinder the Duke's further advancement he saw almost in a moment all Provence in Mutiny and Insurrection The King had already publickly embrac'd the Catholick Religion of which he had made open profession at St. Dennis the five and twentieth day of Iuly this same year whose Conversion having taken away all manner of pretense from such as had declar'd they forsook his Majesties Service upon no other accompt than the Interest of Religion the Inhabitants of Aix conceiv'd they could now no longer continue in their Rebellion without manifesting to all the world that they were sway'd by other considerations than those they had already declar'd to which the Count de Carces making use of this time and occasion adding his perswasions one while representing to them their Duty to their Prince and another the severity they were to expect from the Duke of Espernon animated as he must of necessity be by the hatred they had in this Siege express'd against his Person he at last prevail'd with them to send away speedily to the King to assure his Majesty of their Fidelity and Obedience This was the first thing that discover'd a disunion in the League of which though the Duke of Mayenne highly complain'd to the Count de Carces reproaching him with weakness and charging him with all the miscarriages that should after happen to their Faction yet was he deaf to his reproaches and the fear of falling into the Duke's hands as he was upon the point to do the City of Aix not being able longer to hold out being more prevalent upon him than the respect of his Alliance he resolutely persisted in his first Design But the Count de Carces was not satisfied with hindering the Duke from making himself Master of the City of Aix only the hatred he implacably bore him proceeding yet further and to contrivances of more dangerous consequence against him There was none who did not believe the King had a jealousie of the Duke's Designs amongst whom the Count de Carces who understood it better than the rest easily perswaded himself that his Majesty would not suffer the Duke to encrease his Reputation and Power in Provence by the taking of Aix one of the most important places of that Province And he further knew the Duke would as hardly consent to have his Conquest so near effected forestall'd and the prey snatch'd out of his hands So that in this diversity of pretensions he doubted not but that the King's aversion to the Duke as also his mistrust of him would be infinitely encreas'd which in the end succeeded as he had foreseen and projected The Estates of the Country assembled at Aix appointed Deputies to go make a tender to the King of the obedience of their City provided his Majesty would please to protect them against the Duke of Espernon whose power they said was grown formidable and his insolence not to be endur'd 'T is true he had acted vigorously against them but they would not say That had he proceeded with greater moderation they would ever
and Condition from his Enemies Party would draw the greatest part of those who had set up their rest upon the Fortune of the Duke his Father over to his own had granted very advantageous conditions and beâ—ides the Cities of Rheims Chalons Rocroy St. Diâ—ier Guise and other places which had formerly been settled upon his Father and his Uncles conferr'd particularly the Government of Provence upon him The Government of Champagne had formerly been in the possession of the late Duke but his Majesty having since his advancement to the Crown gratified the Duke of Nevers with that Office he rather chose to dispossess the Duke of Espernon who by a thousand calumnies had been rendred suspected to him than to diâ—oblige the Duke of Nevers whom himself had settled in that trust Neither was the Duke of Guise unsatisfied with the exchange who besides that it was in it self at least equal with the other had by this mutation a great opportunity under the shadow of the Royal Authority to depress one of the most powerful and profess'd enemies of his House and Name so that well pleas'd with his new Employment he only waited his Majesties order to begin his Journey into Provence and by assistance of the Royal Arms to put himself into possession of his new and well lik'd of charge But his Majesty who had much rather by little and little to have withdrawn the Duke of Espernon from thence than to kindle a new War in that Country and so soon again to put a Sword into the Duke of Guise's hand who was so lately return'd into his obedience had first try'd the way of negotiation as you have heard and after made use of Arms under the conduct of Mounsieur l' Esdiguieres by which various ways having found he could neither reduce the Duke by reason nor so depress him by force but that he was still in a condition there long to subsist he at last took a resolution to put an end to the work and to effect that by fine force which he saw was neither by Treaty nor by indifferent Forces to be brought about His Majesty had in the beginning of this year proclaim'd a War with the King of Spain which notwithstanding before he would begin or advance into the Enemies Country he would first settle his own Affairs at home and visit some parts of his Kingdom which as yet he had never seen since they were reduc'd to his Obedience by his presence to encourage and confirm them in their duty to him of which the City of Lyons was one and thither it was that his Majesty after having chas'd the Duke of Mayenne out of Burgundy repair'd and where he arriv'd in September 1595. To this place Mounsieur de l' Esdiguieres being also come to kiss his Majesties Hand and to give him an accompt of the Affairs of Provence he was thither follow'd by the Deputies of that Parliament and of some other Cities of that Province in hopes that under his countenance and Interest at Court their complaints against the Duke of Espernon would be the better heard by which his Majesty being tyr'd vext at the continuations of these troubles and animated against the Duke by the reiterated ill Offices of his enemies fearing also that the ill usage the Duke had receiv'd from them might during his rupture with Spain provoke him to joyn with the Spaniard so as to receive them into those Garrisons he held in Provence he then took up that final resolution to suppress him by Force and by Arms to reduce him to his Duty Of this War the Duke of Guise as Governour of Provence was to have the conduct whom nevertheless his Majesty judging too young to manage without the assistance of some more experienc'd Captain especially having to do with the Duke of Espernon he made choice of Mounsieur l' Esdiguieres for that purpose by the title of Lieutenant General in Provence under the Duke of Guise Neither could his Majesty have made choice of two Captains more animated against the Enemy they were to undertake the first being prompted on besides the interest of his establishment in that Province by the antiquated and irreconcilable hatred of his Family the other by his jealousie already mention'd and by the conscience of those recent injuries the Duke had receiv'd at his hands And here though every one might reasonably conclude that this torrent of Arms was likely to overwhelm the Duke beyond all possible evasion or recovery yet was his courage and assurance no less eminent in this than it had been in other occasions of this nature 'T is true that he had discreetly endeavour'd to divert it by going to present himself before the King at Lyons where he doubted not to clear those Accusations his Enemies had so falsly contriv'd and so maliciously preferr'd against him But such was his ill fortune that he met intelligence upon the way which assur'd him his Majesty was suddenly and unexpecâ—edly call'd thence into Picardy by the inroads the Condé de Fuentes had made into that Province and by the danger the City of Cambray was in which at this time was closely besieg'd by the Spanish Forces So that he was constrain'd to return back into Provence not without extreme affliction to see his Majesty so positively bent to his ruine with this hope nevertheless that time would at last justifie his intentions especially if he could in the interim maintain his Affairs in any tolerable condition a consideration that made him resolute to defend his declining fortune more vigorously than ever yet not with any design to do any thing contrary to his Majesties Service but with an intent if things came to the last push rather to make a voluntary surrender of his Government into his Majesties own hands as he afterwards did than to suffer himself tamely to be stript of it by his mortal and implacable Enemies The Army design'd against him entred into Provence in November 1595. where the Duke had Friends and strong Holds enough to have held them long in play had they to whose â—idelity he had entrusted the chiefest of his Castles and Towns observ'd the Faith they had sworn unto him but their revolt soon made him understand the influence of the Royal Name and how unhappy a thing it is to have that appear against a man how innocent soever his intentions may be and how well soever dispos'd to his Princes Service for the Duke of Guise and Mounsieur de l' Esdiguieres no sooner appear'd in Provence but that there was a contest amongst the Duke's greatest Confidents who should first go over to them Amongst these the Sieurs de Buous Brothers the men of all others in that Country to whom the Duke had given the highest testimonies of Honour and Friendship were the first who forsook him and who besides the prejudice they did him by their ill example carried over with them the two Regiments they commanded in his
their own times an injustice that descending upon the Duke not only in the usual forms of Calumny but in an extraordinary stile and with greater demonstrations of malice to him and his reputation than to any other of this or of almost any other time before him I thought it a duty to truth to him and to posterity now that time has laid open the falsity of those slanders that have been publish'd against him to discover the true causes and reasons why he so long persisted in the defence of his Government and as far as I am able at least to rescue those actions from obloquy which all disinterested and worthy men will upon mature deliberation think worthy of all commendation and honour A design which as I have impartially undertaken so have I not herein made use of my own Arguments but only made a faithful report of what I have learn'd from the most unsuspected testimony gather'd out of the best Historians or receiv'd from the Duke 's own mouth who must of necessity know the truth as well as any and much better than those who writ at random of affairs Neither do I apprehend why what he himself reported for the justification of those actions which were so unhappily interpreted should not be of as good authority for him as what was publish'd to his prejudice by men who were profestly haters of his Person and apparently emulous of his Name and Fortune The Duke of Espernon having as has been said rejected all propositions made him by those who were enemies to the King would accept of no other protection than what he expected from his Majesties Justice and Bounty however incens'd against him In which resolution having set up his rest he dispatch'd away Guez his principal Secretary to the King to carry him an assurance of his Fidelity and Obedience who being arriv'd at Court was presented to his Majesty by the Marquiss de Roquelaure a man who in the Duke's severest persecution and when the tongue of calumny was most bitter against him had ever preserv'd for him a most entire and constant Friendship and who had made no difficulty in his Majesties greatest Passions a time of all other the most dangerous to dispute with Princes to justifie and undertake for his Friends integrity and to uphold his interest with an admirable and never enough to be commended constancy Guez then was by him no sooner brought into the Kings presence than his Majesty with a stern look presently told him that if himself to whom he was sent had no greater a kindness for him than his Master had who had sent him he should that hour cause his head to be struck from his shoulders and that he much wonder'd a man of sense as he was durst come to him from the Duke of Espernon whom he himself knew very well to hold intelligence with his Enemies To which Guez who was very well assur'd of the contrary reply'd that he would willingly submit to the punishment his Majesty was pleas'd to threaten if the Duke was guilty of those things whereof he stood accus'd and that he came to his Majesty on the behalf of a Loyal Subject his most humble and faithful Servant who had rather chosen to depend upon his Majesties Grace and Favour and to throw himself at his feet without condition than to accept of the most advantageous offers could by his Majesties Enemies be propos'd unto him After which the King having ask'd him if he might rely upon his word and Guez having by many protestations confirm'd what he before had said his Majesty resolv'd to receive the Duke into his favour and a few days after dispatch'd away Mounsieur de Roquelaure himself the Duke's most intimate Friend to give him assurance that he might with all freedom come to Court where from his Majesty he should receive all the satisfaction he could expect or desire The Duke without insisting upon greater precaution or other security than what he found in his own Conscience took his journey to Court and that with so absolute a confidence in his Majesties Royal Word that he would not so much as open the Letters Mounsieur de Roquelaure brought him from the King but at his arrival restor'd them to his Majesty seal'd up as they were sent by which generous behaviour excuses and reasons having given his Majesty full satisfaction in all things he receiv'd him into an honourable degree of Favour and soon after gave him the Government of the higher and lower Limousin in recompense of that of Provence A charge in truth that held no proportion with the other but that nevertheless bordering upon Xaintonge Angoumois and the Country of Aulins which the Duke already had lay very convenient for him and besides by being newly conferr'd upon him gave the world to see that his Majesty did not look upon him as a Rebel The King gave him moreover 100000 Crowns to defray part of the expense he had been at in Provence by which his Majesty seem'd to acknowledge it had been there well employ'd and it was assign'd him upon the Convoy of Bourdeaux Thus did the Duke quit all his pretenses in Provence and remain'd at Court with the King I could here speak of the enterprize of Marselles without danger of digression it having been executed by the Duke of Guise whilst the Duke of Espernon was yet in Provence and the rather because the Sieges of St. Tropés and Oriol which were then in his possession serv'd much to palliate the Duke of Guise's Design but having no need to seek elsewhere than in the particular actions of the Duke of Espernon himself to swell the bulk of my History I shall how great and shining soever that action was forbear to make a further mention of it the Historians of that time having given accompts of it at large And yet whilst I omit the main thing so pertinent to my Story I cannot forbear to mention a remarkable circumstance which I have from a very good hand and that I doubt not will be acceptable to my Reader though it be utterly from the matter of my Subject After the Duke of Guise had put an end to his enterprize a success of the greatest glory to himself and importance to the State that could possibly have hapned at that time he thought it but reasonable to enjoy the fruits of his Victory by giving himself a vacation from the hardships of War to the softer delights of Liberty and Ease which made him seek out all the Diversions the Town could afford that any way suited with the appetite of his youth and pleasure The chiefest of which was the frequentation of a Gentlewoman in the City of but moderate beauty but of so admirable a wit as gave her for a distinction of excellency above the other women of the City the name of the Marselles This Lady had formerly been a Mistriss of the Duke of Espernon's and was at this time highly courted by the
exceeding rise in Paris being not conveniently there to be Assembled his Majesty transferr'd it to Roan where they opened their Session in October and continued it to the beginning of the ensuing year The Duke of Espernon had the honour to attend his Majesty in this Voyage and was also made privy to whatsoever pass'd in the Assembly where many grave directions were propos'd for the Reformation of several Abuses that were practis'd in all parts of the Kingdom but very little satisfaction to the King concerning mony which was the main design in calling that Assembly rather than reformation of abuses which notwithstanding his Majesty wounded with the grief of his losses what by husbanding his Revenue what by lessening his Expense by augmentations upon his Farms and other extraordinary ways made shift to get up such a stock as was enough to set a powerful Army on foot and such a one as should be sufficient to repair all his former disgraces After the dissolution of this Assembly his Majesty retiring himself for some indisposition into the Air of the Country the Duke of Espernon conceiv'd he could not take a fitter opportunity than this to ask leave to go look after his own particular Affairs and to settle his Governments in a posture of Security and Obedience a request no sooner made to the King but that he gave his free consent dismissing the Duke with all demonstration of respect and kindness and then it was that his Patent was seal'd for the Government of Limousin instead of Provence and dated at Folembray a house of Pleasure to which his Majesty had retir'd himself to provide for his health at greater liberty and ease With this new Commission the Duke then departed from Court towards Angoulesme where his Children were bred which he had scarce seen since their Birth especially the youngest whom he had never seen a motive of it self sufficient for a longer Journey but neither the repose the Duke intended to take nor the vacation his Majesty intended to give were of any long continuance for he was scarce arriv'd at Angoulesme when he receiv'd a Dispatch under the Kings own hand his Majesty not at all thinking it below his Greatness that his Nobility should receive the Honour of his Commands immediately from himself wherein he acquainted him with the surprizal of Amiens as also of his resolution suddenly to sit down before it for the recovery of so important a place at the same time conjuring him to make all possible haste to come and serve him in so glorious an occasion I shall not here enlarge my self in a relation of this surprize it being an action that made so much noise at that time and that gave to great a reputation to Hernando-Telles Portocarrero who was the contriver and executor of it that there is scarce any Historian of our own or any other Nation who has not particularly insisted upon this above any other enterprize of the like nature wherein they all agree that it was a design the best contriv'd the braveliest carried on and the most fortunately perform'd of any whatever of that kind The nearness of this place to Paris it being but three little days journey from thence having alarm'd the Parisians to such a degree that they thought the Spaniard already at their Gates begat such clamours and publick complaints amongst the people that every one made very bold with the Royal Name accusing the King as if he had held intelligence with the Enemy and as if he alone were the Author of this mischance so that as if his Majesty had not been sufficiently afflicted with the loss of this City which more concern'd him than them all he must also endure the unjust reproaches of his Subjects the little respite he had taken for the recovery of his health passing in minds prepossess'd with fear for supineness and sloth and his love to the Dutchess of Beaufort giving every one occasion to censure and condemn his Passions by which they said he lay buried in negligence and pleasure whilst the Enemy was in action taking and surprizing his best Towns and Cities It was therefore necessary for the King without further delay to betake himself again to Arms and that equally stirr'd up by his own immediate danger and the clamours of his people he should abandon the care of his health to go expose his life to the hazards of War and Sickness It was upon the tenth day of March that Amiens had been surpriz'd upon notice whereof his Majesty without loss of time had writ to the Mareschal de Biron who as has been said he had left upon the Frontier that he should with all expedition gather the Army together and to sit down before Amiens to begin the Siege A command that could not have been sent to a more diligent a braver or more able Souldier and one who so well knew how to manage such Engines and provisions of War as the King who himself was advanc'd as far as Corbie had taken care to send him that his Majesty aâ— his arrival before the place found nothing wanting or undone he could at a distance have desir'd or have order'd himself had he been there in person A diligence his Majesty did highly and publickly commend giving the Mareschal a very noble Character for the progress he had made in his works and approaches which could not have been perform'd by any with greater care courage and conduct according to all the Rules and Discipline of War Neither is it to be denied but that Biron serv'd the King as bravely as is to be imagin'd upon this occasion wherein he also knew well enough if not too well his own merit his brave Service in this and other occasions having rais'd him to that degree of presumption and insolence that he afterwards by his saucy reproaches to the King his Master depriv'd himself of those Honours and Rewards his Valour might otherwise with great justice have expected and his vanity converting those actions which modestly carried would have been his immortal glory into the instruments of his disgrace and ruine of which in its due place I shall give a more full accompt as also of every circumstance that helpt to precipitate him into those misfortunes whereinto he afterwards fell and that because his Interests went for many years hand in hand with those of the Duke of Espernon they two being link'd together in an extraordinary strict League of Affection and Friendship The King during his abode at Corbie having taken care to send such numbers of men as the Mareschal de Biron stood in need of for carrying on the Siege return'd back to Paris there to take order about Artillery for the Leaguer and mony for the support of his Army when all things being ready in Iune his Majesty accompanied with the Duke of Montpensier the Count de Soissons the Constable de Montmorency the Duke of Mayenne the Prince of Ioinville and many other Lords of great
same time espouse her Uncles Interests from whose Authority he promis'd to himself greater assistance and support than from any other Peer of the Kingdom A consideration that prevailing above all other with the Duke of Montpensier dispos'd him determinately to resolve upon this Match to which by a particular liâ—ing he was before enclin'd Wherefore having without further deliberation caus'd it by some Friends of his to be propos'd to the Duke of Espernon the motion was by him who took it for a great honour receiv'd with all imaginable respect and as readily consented to by which the Duke being encourag'd proceeded further to move it to the King himself not without some apprehension nevertheless that the aversion his Majesty daily discover'd to the Duke might raise some difficulties at the first overture of his design though his fear prov'd vain for his Majesty seeing it would be a Match of considerable advantage to his Kinsman and in his heart acknowledging the Duke of Espernon to be a Subject of great merit though for some private discontents not very acceptable to himself was not unwilling to oblige both the one and the other by giving his free consent By this Marriage the Duke of Espernon's Affairs were not a little improv'd and if on the one side he by the consideration of his desert had preferr'd his Niece before the Daughter of a Sovereign Prince she on the other side by a very good return was acquit of that obligation by introducing her Uncle into the relation and support of a great Prince of the Blood by whose means he was soon after honour'd with a very near alliance to the Royal Family The Feasting and other entertainments of the Court did not so wholly take up the King that his Majesty was not nevertheless very intent upon his Affairs he had a mind to see an end of the Treaty with Savoy which was not yet dispatch'd though it had been compriz'd in the Peace concluded betwixt the two Crowns at Vervins The Duke of Savoy had desir'd some respite to consider before he would Seal which having been granted to him and he not being able to perswade himself to the restitution of those places he had contrary to the publick Faith surpriz'd during the disorders of the State as by the Articles of the Treaty he had been oblig'd to do he had no mind to put a thing to Arbitration he was certain that way never to obtain and that he was likewise resolv'd never to part withal The Pope whom himself had nam'd Arbiter of all differences betwixt the King and him was so far disoblig'd by the diffidence he had manifested of his equal judgment which the Duke had cunningly published to that end that his Holiness had excus'd himself from intermedling any more betwixt them a thing that having fall'n out according to the Duke of Savoy's hearts desire he resolv'd now upon a Journey into France to try if by his submissions to the King his dexterity with his Ministers or his liberalities in his Court he could not procure or purchase that to which he could with no shew of equity otherwise pretend but all his policy prov'd vain and his hopes were deluded as they were like to be in a Court where the King himself was alone the greatest and wisest part of the Council he must first corrupt him or at least very much deceive him before he could perswade him to consent to any thing prejudicial to his Crown and Honour The Duke of Savoy then being able to effect nothing by artifice resolv'd at last upon returning into his own Dukedom yet that his Journey might not be altogether without fruit he first caus'd the Mareschal de Biron to be dealt withal a man whom he conceiv'd his many discontents had laid open to his temptation and him he first tasted by Lafin the same who had made himself a Mediator betwixt the Duke of Espernon and l'Esdiguieres in Provence and who therein had abus'd them both This fellow of a turbulent unquiet Spirit and one of those who had rather be doing mischief than not to be doing at all was of late wrigled into the Duke of Savoy's Favour and had tasted of his bounty by which he was qualified to offer from the Duke one of his Daughters to the Mareschal de Biron in Marriage and with her several Seigniories to be held in Sovereignty with the assistance of the Forces both of Spain and Savoy to maintain him in Burgundy A Province contiguous to their own Territories Allurements so fitted to Birons ambitious and mutinous nature that he lent a willing ear to those dangerous propositions and as some have believ'd engag'd himself without much Ceremony in the Treason which prov'd at last his dishonour and ruine This practice with Biron was the only thing the Duke of Savoy with all his policy effected in France which nevertheless he thought to be of such moment as made him afterwards refuse to give the King that satisfaction he had promis'd and so to build upon the confidence of Biron's revolt that having before his departure from Paris engag'd either to surrender to his Majesty the Marquisate of Saluzzo or la Bresse with other Dominions at his own choice in lieu thereof and within three months time to perform it he had now no more regard to his word neither would do the one nor the other which oblig'd the King to seek that satisfaction by force of Arms he could by no other means obtain as he evidently saw by the delays and equivocations of this subtle Prince His Majesty had before he resolv'd upon this expedition been sufficiently enform'd of what means had been us'd to corrupt the Mareschal de Biron but whether it were that he really believ'd the Mareschal had been deaf to all such propositions or that by the testimony of an entire confidence in his Loyalty this generous Prince would oblige a Subject to continue firm in his duty who by his brave Service had deserv'd so well of the Crown and to look back into his error before he was gone too far he gave him the Command of an Army against the Duke of Savoy himself with orders to enter by the way of his own Government of Burgundy into Bress in which employment Biron so well conceal'd his practice and so smartly pursu'd the War that no action of his confess'd the least intelligence with the Enemy L'Esdiguieres also who at the same time enter'd by the way of Dauphiné into Savoy by his Valour and conduct made so considerable advances into that Dutchy that betwixt them in few days all the Territories the Savoyard possess'd on this side the Alpes were over-run by the Royal Arms except Montmelian which was not but by Siege to be reduc'd It was in this occasion of Montmelian that the Duke of Esperpernon did the King a very signal service A place reputed so strong and that had been so fortified and furnish'd with all provisions of War by the Duke
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
his obedience and about to dismiss those Auxiliaries who had come in to serve him in that Action his Majesty sent Sobole word That after so great a satisfaction as he had receiv'd from his Services he was as well dispos'd to gratifie him as he himself could desire which nevertheless the present condition of his Affairs not permitting him to do at so honourable a rate as he could wish it was for him to look out for something he had a mind to which should be as readily conferr'd upon him Those who had order to make this overture to Sobole were further intrusted to represent unto him That being Governour of Metz meerly by the Duke's toleration he was subject upon the first capricio to be remov'd after which from the honourable condition wherein he had liv'd for many years he would find himself reduc'd to a very moderate fortune That though he could be assur'd the Duke's humour would continue constant to him yet ought the declining posture of his Affairs in Provence to give him a reasonable Alarm That all things in that Country were so averse to him it was all the Duke could do to keep his head above water and that his Affairs coming to an absolute ruine as they evidently declin'd he would be in danger to be left in Metz without any support or any colourable claim either to command or recompense That the King conceiving a Gentlâ—man of his Valour and Merit worthy a more certain fortune did voluntary offer to make him his own Lieutenant in the Government of the Place and Country under the Duke whose Authority being kept inviolate he could have no just reason to reproach him for seeking to establish his own Fortune without doing any prejudice to his It was no hard matter to perswade Sobole into a thing he believ'd would settle his Affairs so much to his advantage so that he greedily swallow'd the bait and receiving a new Commission from the King retir'd very well satisfied with his Majesties bounty into his Government But as the first step into a fault makes men subject to stumble into another after having once fail'd in his Faith he had now no more regard to his Duty and conceiving he had good title for the future to Lord it over the Inhabitants of Metz with greater Authority than he had formerly done he grew insolent to the last degree Complaints whereof were soon brought to the Duke where to him they accus'd Sobole for having rais'd mony upon them by his own private Authority and to have committed many other insolencies against them The Duke was at this time disingag'd from the trouble of his Affairs in Provence and the residence he had since that time made at Court having inform'd him of Sobole's deportment he was questionless possess'd with an indignation proportionable to the offense but he very well foresaw that the King who had in design rais'd Sobole against him would doubtless uphold him and justifie his own Commission so that he durst by no means act any thing in publick against him not go about by open force to displace him but on the contrary dissembled as much as in him lay both the knowledge and the trouble of his fault and when continually importun'd by reiterated complaints from the Inhabitants of Metz a people he ever had in great consideration he only admonish'd him to behave himself with greater moderation towards them but Sobole was deaf to all those admonitions and so far from slackning his hand that on the contrary to render the Duke's good Offices fruitless to them he contriv'd with himself to accuse many of the principal among them to the King for having as he said endeavour'd to betray the Town and Cittadel of Metz to Count Mansfield Governour of Luxenbourg for the King of Spain Which he did to the end that his Majesty being prepossess'd with so black an accusation no one not so much as the Duke himself might dare to speak in their behalf The business was very strictly examin'd and in the end discover'd to be a meer calumny which made all the world conclude it had been invâ—â—â—ted by Sobole in spite to deprive the Inhabitants of their Lives and Estates a malice so notorious that the Duke could no longer endure a people whom he lov'd and had ever protected should be so ill us'd by a man he himself had appointed to govern but not to destroy them Which made him openly undertake their protection against Sobole's violence against whom the hatred the people had conceiv'd having provok'd them into arms they besieg'd him in the Cittadel a thing the Duke was not sorry for hoping this would counsel the King to remove him and that he being out the place could be supply'd by none from whom he might not promise to himself better things than from Sobole What the Duke had so prudently foreseen fell out exactly as he imagin'd it would for the King alarm'd at the danger of so important a place it being very much to be fear'd his ill neighbours would take the advantage of the evil intelligence betwixt the Governour and the people to seize the Town resolv'd to go thither in person and accordingly with the Queen and all the Court set forward in the beginning of the year 1603. A journy in which the Duke of Espernon was too much concern'd to stay behind and in the issue whereof Sobole was depos'd from his Government with a pardon for all that was pass'd which his ill carriage had made the reward of his Service and all the recompense he receiv'd for so brave a Command After his departure his Majesty resolv'd himself to dispose of his places a thing wherein the Duke of Espernon's interest did most of all consist who till that time had ever had the disposition of all Offices inferiour to his own in that Government and by that means had been absolute over the City but his Authority being suspected to the King who would have no other than his own acknowledg'd in his Kingdom his Majesty gave the Duke to understand that Sobole having resign'd unto him his Lieutenancy to the Government of the City and Cittadel of Metz and the Messin Country which his Majesty had formerly seated him in he was now resolv'd to settle men of Condition and approv'd Fidelity in his room always reserving which his Majesty would by no means diminish for the Duke his Authority in the place that in order thereunto he had cast his eye upon the two Brothers les Sieurs de Montigny and d' Arquien to the first of which he would give his Lieutenancy to the City and Country and to the other the command of the Cittadel but that the one and the other should render him an obedience equal to his own person The Duke having well enough foreseen how things would be had nothing to oppose against his Majesties Royal Pleasure but without coâ—â—â—adiction gave way to necessity and with patience the only remedy
out with the continual disorders the excess of his clemency begat every day in his Kingdom he was resolv'd to take order once for all and by a severe and exemplary punishment to quiet the Rebellion some of Mounsieur de Boüillons Servants openly maintain'd after his departure out of the Kingdom in Perigord Quercy and Limousin The Mareschal de Boüillon was seiz'd of many very fair possessions and had many Friends and Servants in those Provinces where the Nobility Gentry and Commons being also naturally inclin'd to Arms it was no hard matter to perswade them into commotion The King had been given to understand that under the pretense of seeking protection only from the Protestant Princes of Germany and the Swisse Cantons the Mareschal endeavour'd to interest them in the Quarrel of those of the Religion in France by possessing them as it was said that since the King's Conversion their usage was far different from what it had formerly been and the liberty of Conscience far more restrain'd than it us'd to be Neither did his Majesty doubt but that all of his opinion in his Kingdom would easily be induc'd to follow the Duke of Boüillon's discontent who had acquir'd an absolute reputation among them He farther saw that many Catholicks made no scruple to joyn with him to the end they might re-enjoy the licence of War which would by no means be allow'd them in the better times of Peace He knew that great summes of mony were distributed for the raising of men which mony was suspected to come from Spain from whence all the intestine broils of his Kingdom had ever been countenanc'd and promoted Evil dispositions that being all joyn'd together were sufficient to produce great disorders in the State and to reduce the King in spite of his heart to the necessity of a Civil War His Majesty therefore thinking it very convenient to prevent all these disorders and to suffocate them in their Birth resolv'd to go in person to Limousin either by his Presence to appease or by his Authority to suppress the begun Commotions but to dispose them to their obedience if possible before his arrival to chastise some Offenders without drawing the Odium immediately upon himself and to reduce every one to his Duty he order'd the Duke of Espernon to go before with six Companies only of his Regiment of Guards and four Troops of Horse not doubting but with this little Body together with the Duke's Interest which was very considerable in those parts of which some places were under his own Government he would be able to give a better accompt of his Expedition than another perhaps could do with greater Forces And to the end that his Justice might accompany his Arms he joyn'd to the Duke Iean Iaques de Mesmes Segnieur de Roissy Master of Requests with Commission of Oyer and Terminer to sit upon the Life and Death of the Offenders This was he so famous for his Integrity and Valour that was afterwards Doyen to the Council of State where though the esteem every one had of his Vertue was very great yet was it no more than was due to his merit although afterwards in the progress of a long life he had this honour added to the rest he enjoy'd to see his name illustrated by a noble Posterity not any man scarce of his condition in the Kingdom having supply'd the State with so great and able Ministers The Duke having taken his leave of the King advanc'd into Limousin where he would have Crequy Camp-Master to the Regiment of Guards to command in person the Forces he took along with him and where the most turbulent spirits at his unexpected arrival which by his diligence had almost got the start of any intelligence of his coming mediâ—ated nothing less than their defense some of the most advis'd fearing to have to do with the Duke or de Roissy appeal'd to his Majesties mercy and by the acknowledgement of their offense obtain'd their Pardon others retir'd themselves to the Duke de Boüillon to Sedan the most imprudent or the most unfortunate only falling into the hands of Justice Of which five or six suffer'd death though many others were punish'd by more moderate ways so that before the King's arrival at Limoges all those Countries that before breath'd nothing but Sedition and Disorder were now so calm and still that his Majesty had nothing to do but by his Clemency to settle Rebels newly reclaim'd from their Disobedience in their Duty and to reward his faithful Subjects by the demonstrations of his Grace and Favour The end of the Fifth Book THE HISTORY Of the LIFE of the Duke of Espernon The Sixth Book THE Affairs of Limousin that had taken up the Duke of Espernon the whole year having been compos'd with the facility you have heard the King return'd again to Paris attended by the Duke who had now nothing left to do behind The antiquated enmity that so many years had been nourish'd betwixt the House of Guise and him continued still which was ready to discover it self upon every light occasion and almost as oft as they met to come to a bustle betwixt them In all which disputes the Duke notwithstanding that that Illustrious Family by the greatness of their Birth and by their Offices in the State by their vast possessions in the Kingdom and above all by the great number of generous Princes of which it was compos'd as also by the potency of their Alliances made up a great part of the Court would never give them the least ground but ever sustein'd their power with great Spirit and Vigour neither did he want such a number of Relations and Servants as might secure him from the apprehension of the greatness of any He had sometime before this had a brisk dispute with the Duke of Guise the King being at Lyons which proceeded so far that the Duke of Espernon by the hands of la Pierre one of the Duke's Gentlemen receiv'd a Challenge from him though the Quarrel had been so publick and the Duke of Guise was so narrowly watch'd by his Friends that he could not get out into the Field wherein the Duke of Espernon was better serv'd by his who permitted him to go out of the City with Gohas whom he took with him for his second but being call'd back by the King's Command who would himself compose their difference that Quarrel was soon at an end There hapned at this time another betwixt the Duke of Espernon and the Prince of Ioinville now Duke of Chevreuse and Brother to the Duke of Guise for this Prince having staid the Coach of a Woman of Quality at the outer Gate of the Louvre one night that the King had appointed a great Dancing at Court and the Duke coming out with the Duke of Montensier to go home the Ladies Coach so stopt the Gate that the Duke's could not possibly pass wherefore he commanded the Coachman to make way But the Duke of
there to confer with President Seguier without whose advice he resolv'd to proceed no further This man whose integrity judgment and affection the Duke had in equal esteem had ever even in the time of his Favour and in the greatest difficulties of his Affairs been with his Counsel assisting to him neither didt he Duke at this time or since resolve almost upon any thing whether of general or particular concern without first communicating the business to him and consulting his Advice There was at this time none of the Princes of the Blood at Court for the Prince of Condâ— had some time before the King's death retir'd into Flanders and was at this time at Milan and the Count de Soissons was at his house at Champigny so that no body being at Court considerable enough to make a party the Duke at his going out of the Louvre found almost all the Lords and Gentlemen who were then in Paris and whom the suddenness and great concern of that bloody Accident had assembled together at the Gate ready to attend him Being upon the way with this great Train he had not gone far before he met with the Duke of Guise whom he found also very well accompanied though with a Train far inferiour to his own These two Dukes nor their Families were not as yet so well united the paternal hatred having been rather fomented by the quarrels the Duke had lately had with both the Sons notwithstanding his Majesties endeavour to reconcile them but that there was greater expectation this meeting should beget some new disorder than that men so disunited betwixt themselves should concur so suddenly and happily in the publick Service insomuch that their followers on both sides seem'd only to expect a signal from their Leaders to fall to blows when the Duke of Guise having with great civility saluted the Duke ask'd him how that sad misfortune had hapned to whom the Duke in short related the manner of the King's death with what had after pass'd betwixt the Queen and him and the Order he was by her Majesties Command going to take to prevent any tumult in the City Whereupon the Duke of Guise asking him if there were not something for him to do in the Queens Service also the Duke reply'd That since he ask'd his advice he conceiv'd he might do both the Queen and the Kingdom a signal Service by only shewing himself in the streets of Paris Thâ—t the people aw'd within their duty by the presence of a man of his condition would be less apt to be seduc'd into commotion and that by the calm which would by that means be preserv'd in the City they might doubtless more effectually proceed to the establishment of such good orders as would for the future secure the peace of the whole Kingdom A counsel the Duke of Guise as readily follow'd and the good Fortune of France having upon the instant extiguish'd all particular Animosities betwixt these two great Persons so as to make them beyond all expectation joyn in the common Service of the State This happy union and concurrence was of no little importance to the conservation of the Peace in that mutinous City The Duke after continued his way to the President 's House to whom having communicated his designs he found them to be generally approv'd by him insomuch that before they parted it was concluded betwixt them that that very day and as soon as it was possible the Parliament should be intreated to Assemble the management of which being undertaken by the President the Duke went in the mean time to provide for the rest He began with the Hostel de Ville where having found the Prevost des Marchands the Eschevins and Burgesses met together after he had first given them an accompt in brief of the sad Accident had hapned he proceeded to exhort them To confirm to his Majesties Successors the Love and Obedience they had paid to him during his happy Reign He told them that by persevering in their Duty they might secure their own Lives and Estates which would otherwise be certainly expos'd to the violence and licence of Seditious men That the least disorder of this nature that should happen in the City would put the whole Kingdom into Confusion That he therefore intreated them to cause all their Gates to be shut to the end that no one might be permitted either to go out or to come in who were either thought able or likely to breed any disturbance in the publick peace to give order to the Capains of the Train'd-Bands to have their Companies in readiness upon any occasion might happen and to walk themselves the round of the City the better by their Presence and Authority to keep every one in his Duty He further gave them notice that he had already caus'd the Regiment of Guards both French and Swisse to stand to their Arms on purpose to suppress those who should first make the least shew of Insurrection but that he hop'd their wisdoms would prevent a confusion which would not so easily be compos'd if once grown to a head as it might be suppress'd in the beginning A Remonstrance that being deliver'd with great plainness and vigour wrought so good an effect that all the Magistrates unanimously engag'd to do their utmost endeavours for the conservation of the publick Peace as they accordingly did which was none of the weakest links that curb'd the head-strong multitude of that unruly City From the Hostel de Ville the Duke went to the Augustins where that Session of Parliament had by the King been appointed to be kept the Palace having been before furnish'd for the Ceremony of the Queens Coronation and where by the diligence of President Segnier he found them already Assembled The Regiment of Guards had already possess'd themselves of the Pont-Neuf and stood in order all along the Rüe Dauphine to guard according to the Duke's command all the passes round about the Convent des Augustins a precaution which though by the Duke meerly intended for the Parliaments security was nevertheless misinterpreted by some to be rather design'd to compel them to execute his own particular Counsels than that every man at greater liberty might have freedom to deliver his own Opinion neither were the most prudent and best dispos'd sorry as has been said that the world should conceive there was some necessity upon them of a speedy resolution in the present juncture of Affairs forasmuch also as some who were prepossess'd in their judgments would be oblig'd to concur with them and disappointed either from opposing or deferring to declare the Queen Mother Regent during the King's Minority which was the only thing then to be debated The Duke being come into the Hall where the Parliament was set with his Sword in his hand though not drawn and in some disorder both in his Cloaths and Countenance began his Speech with some excuses For appearing in that honourable Assembly in so undecent a
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
places The first intimation of this design the Duke receiv'd from the Queens own mouth who by a favour never before or since granted to any permitted him to take a number of select Souldiers in his own Livery for the Guard of his Person to attend him in all places so much as into the Louvre it self which favour was highly improved to him when for his greater security she moreover gave way that he should chuse some Gentlemen of Quality of his most confident Friends to enter with him arm'd even into her own Cabinet Those whom the Duke made choice of for this purpose were Chetin Brother to the Mareschal de St. Geran Sauue-Baeuf Bonneval the Count de Maillé Castelbaiart and Marillac all men of approved Valour a Grace which though it gave great jealousie and distaste to the Princes and Grandees of the Court who were the Duke's Adversaries her Majesty thought it fit notwithstanding to give him leave to defend his own life against whomsoever would make any attempt against it Amongst these many and great disputes wherein the Duke saw himself involv'd he forgot not the care of his Childrens Education whom he brought up to the most laborious Exercises and for whom after a foundation of Letters not only of a bare knowledge in the Latine Tongue but in the Principles of Philosophy also he took care to provide the greatest man without contradiction in Europe for the Exercises of the Body especially that of Riding which was the Sieur de la Broâ—e formerly in the Constable de Montmorencies entertainment after whose Death the Duke gain'd him to himself by so great Benefits that he gave him at one clap ten thousand Crowns in Gold with an Annuity of a thousand Crowns issuing out of the Hostel de Ville of Paris the most certain Revenue at that time in France Neither did he here limit his Bounties Under this Gentleman's excellent Discipline his two eldest Sons arriv'd to such a perfection in their exercises that no young Lords of their condition in the Kingdom went before them When they had acquir'd as much by precept as seem'd necessary he conceiv'd it time they should establish that knowledge by experience and by observing the manners and ways of living of other Countries to which purpose having put them into an Equipage suiting their quality he sent them into Germany to the end that by the different Governments of the several little Republicks of which the vast body of that Empire is compos'd they might be better enabled to judge of good and evil customs and extract a more certain knowledge for their own future conduct in the Employments to which they were by him design'd They arriv'd in that Country in a very troublesome time when all ways were very difficult and unsafe but the illustrious name of the Father in greater repute in any part of Europe than in France it self present vertues being for the most part less consider'd did not only open all ways and secure all passes to them but made them also receiv'd with great respect and honour'd with many civilities and favours by all the Princes and Republicks of both parties After having staid some time in Germany and visited at leisure the Cities and most eminent places there they went from thence into Italy where they made a considerable stay and where for the greatest part they made their residence at Rome continuing still their Exercises from whence they went to visit the most eminent Cities of that sweetest part of Europe where having made an acquaintance with most of the Princes and Lords of that Nation they return'd into France Whilst the two eldest were thus forming their minds and bodies to such qualities as were either necessary or at least becoming their condition Lewis the youngest of the three design'd for the Church was with no less care brought up in the knowledge of Letters whom so soon as the Duke his Father conceiv'd to be of a fit age he sent him to La Flesche to the Colledge of the Father Jesuits where the discipline requisite for the profession he was to take upon him was in very great repute He there continued several years and came not thence till he had first run through all the degrees by which men climb to the highest pitch of knowledge and in effect when he was call'd thence to come to Court he had made so happy a progress that Cardinal Perron a great friend of his Fathers having been by him intreated to discourse with his Son had an exceeding great opinion of him and believ'd him likely to make one of the greatest men of that age if he proceeded in his profession with a diligence proportionable to the great parts wherewith he enter'd into it The three Brothers arriving almost all at the same time at Court the Duke their Father began to think of establishing the greatness of his Family upon the surest foundation and thereupon consider'd each of them by himself for the dividing his Estate amongst them wherein though they were all embellish'd with so many excellent qualities that it could hardly be discern'd which had the greatest merit yet the Duke having design'd to confer his own name upon the second that consideration enclin'd him a little more to him than the other two By Article at his Marriage with Margaret de Foix Countess of Candale his eldest Son was to carry the name of Foix and to inherit his Mothers Estate clear'd and augmented by the Duke's mony and his own name was also so great what by the vertue of his Ancestors and what by his own that he would not leave him on whom it was conferr'd inferiour either in Reputation or Estate to any whomsoever of his condition in the Kingdom He had already by his Service obtain'd from the Queen Regent the Reversion of all his Offices viz. of that of Colonel General of the Infantry of France of first Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber an Office he had ever kept since his first Favour of Governour of the City and Cittadel of Metz and of the Messin Country of the Provinces Cities and Castles of Xaintes and Angoulesme of the City and Government of Rochelle the Country of Aulins with the higher and lower Limousin of the City Castle and Territory of Boulogne and of the City Country and Castle of Loches all which he at this time thus divided amongst his three Sons To his eldest the Count of Candale he assign'd in present causing him forthwith to be admitted into it the Office of first Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber with the Governments of Angoumois Xaintonge Aulins and Limousin in Remainder to which he added the whole Estate of the House of Candale amounting to above fourscore thousand Livers yearly revenue in goodly Lordships as also the Dutchy of Espernon with the Earldom of Montfort together with other Lands arising to above fifty thousand Crowns a year to which the Duke having obtain'd an assurance of a Mareschal's Staff for this Son so
Reformation was expected to ensue was immediately follow'd by a War upon which the Council after having long waver'd in the uncertainty of the Peace so lately and so dearly bought saw it necessary at last to resolve The discontents of the Prince of Condé was again the cause of this as it had been of the late Commotion and those discontents again founded upon the greatness of Conchini now advanc'd to the honour of Mareschal of France The Mareschal therefore finding the Prince had conceiv'd an implacable animosity against him and very well foreseeing that unless he freed himself from the difficulties he would eternally strew in his way he could never raise himself to that pitch of greatness to which he did aspire he resolv'd to come to a publick Rupture with him and to remove him from the King's Presence by a War that should for a sufficient time secure himself from those obstacles he was otherwise certain to receive from so powerful an Enemy The Prince was already retir'd in great discontent from Court having as before taken the way of Champagne that he might be near Sedan his surest refuge should he be overmatch'd by the Royal Power where after Conchini had long amus'd him with the hope of some advantageouâ— Accommodation he at one blow cut him off that expectation by causing a Summons to be sent him to be in readiness to attend the King in his Progress into Guienne whither his Majesty was resolv'd shortly to take a Journey for the consummation of his Marriage an Affair that having ever been oppos'd by the Prince he very well understood the meaning of that Summons and now plainly saw how he was to trust in the strength of his own Arms. He had ever since the last breach been so solicitous to continue his intelligence and to maintain the League he had contracted with the Lords of his Party the precedent year that it was no hard matter for him to engage them in this nâ—w Quarrel the Dukes of Longuâ—ville Mayenne Vendosme and Nevers declar'd highly in his favour and the Duke of Boüillon whose interest carried the whole Hugonot Faction along with it did the same so that all things were apparently dispos'd for an intestine War in all the best Provinces of the Kingdom So many discontented persons and those so considerable in themselves put the Court into no little disorder the Kings Journey in order to his Marriage had been resolv'd upon and the time with the Spanish Agents concluded which was every where so publickly known that the Honour of the King and the Queen Mother was not a little concern'd in the consummation of a thing to which they were so solemnly engag'd but there was scarce any who durst undertake to overcome the difficulties were prepar'd to hinder that great Affair For after the retirement of all the forenam'd Princes there was not any remain'd at Court except the Dukes of Guise and Espernon who were capable of serving the King in so dangerous an occasion and of these the Duke of Guise though in shew well enough with the Queen stood nevertheless so suspected to her that she durst not trust an Army in his hands lest by joyning with the discontented Princes whereof the greater part were his Kindred or nearly ally'd to him his Majesties Person might be left wholly to their discretion and although she had not the same jealousie of the Duke of Espernon no body doubting his Fidelity yet could not that command be conferr'd upon him without giving offense to the Duke of Guise In this anxiety then how she might satisfie them both the Duke of Espernon went one day to attend the Queen where he made it his humble request to her Majesty she would not in the least consider his particular satisfaction in this occurrence Telling her he should ever be very well satisfied provided their Majesties were serv'd as they ought to be That he did hope they would and that he was doing something in order to securing their Journey so far as Bordeaux wherein he nevertheless pretended to no other Command than barely to ride in the head of those Friends which he should make ready for that Service That perhaps a greater Authority might give distaste to some who at this time were by no means to be disoblig'd That for what concern'd the Princes a good Army interpos'd betwixt them and Paris under the command of some man of Quality and Experience would be sufficient and that for any thing could be apprehended from those of the Religion whose greatest strength were in Poitou Xaintongue and Rochelle upon the way to Bordeaux he himself would undertake his Governments in those parts giving him sufficient power so to do The Queen Mother by this assurance being confirm'd in her first design â— told the Duke that she absolutely resign'd the King's Person and her own to his care and protection that she therefore desir'd him to order all things as should seem to him the most convenient as she absolutely left them to his Valour and Wisdom A Commission the Duke had no sooner receiv'd but that seeing himself authorized so to do he caus'd the King's departure the seventeenth of August to be proclaim'd perswading the Queen to confer the Command of the Army which was to attend the Princes motion upon the Mareschal de Bois-Dauphin advising her Majesty further and in the first place to provide for the security of Paris that the Princes Servants who had great Authority in the City might raise no commotion there in their Majesties absence After therefore that had been taken order for by the securing of some eminent and suspected persons the Court departed from Paris happily arriving in a few days at Poictiers and had not Madam the King's Sister fallen sick of the Small Pox delayed their Journey their Majesties had been upon their return before the Princes could have got their Forces together but that unhappy accident having constrain'd them to stay near two months at Poictiers gave their Enemies leisure to put them into great apprehensions which was also the only harm they received from this insurrection At the same City of Poictiers there hapned another disorder at this time wherein had not the Duke of Espernon who was principally concern'd in the Affair rendred himself unusually tractable another obstacle to that Progress had infallibly ensu'd The Duke of Guise from the time of his Marriage with the Dutchess of Montpensier had pretended to the Wardship of Madamoiselle her Daughter who was Inheritrix to such a Fortune as might reasonably induce any man to covet the management of so brave an Estate which nevertheless he could not obtain without the consent of the Duke who was great Uncle to the young Princess and he having very good reason to believe the Duke of Guise did in this claim more consider his own interest than that of the Dutchess of Montpensier his Niece would never gratifie him in that particular But the Duke of Guise conceiving
this return of the King to Paris the Duke of Guise was made General of the Army which had hitherto serv'd under the Mareschal de Bois-Dauphin and the Duke of Espernon had also the absolute Authority of their Majesties Conduct conferr'd upon him who for fear of distasting the Duke of Guise would never till then pretend to any command an undertaking wherein he so acquitted himself as might give him reasonable expectation of a grateful return But who can promise to himself any fruits of his services especially at Court where the best are usually rewarded with hatred or envy nor had the Duke 's a better acknowledgment when having perform'd all that could be expected from a Loyal Subject and a brave Gentleman and that their Majesties by his vigilancy and valour were once settled in safety there was nothing more thought of than how to revenge the Mareschal d' Encre even at the price of so good and so faithful a Servant The first evidence the Duke met withal of any manifest disgrace was upon the occasion of a vacancy that hapned in the Company of la Courbe one of the Captains in the Regiment of Guards a Gentleman that having serv'd long and with great Reputation in that Command and hapning to die in this Journey and his Son a young and hopeful Cavalier having before his Fathers death been admitted Ensign to that Company the Duke who had been a great lover of the Father whose brave and late Services seem'd likewise to plead in behalf of the Son had mov'd their Majesties in his Favour that that Command might be conferr'd upon him Since the death of the late King nor of long before had the Duke ever appear'd zealous in any request he had not without any great difficulty obtain'd neither had he less but more reason now than ever to expect the same favour his recent Services having been of that importance to the Kings Affairs all which nevertheless being either not regarded or forgot and the design had before been concluded to disoblige him prevailing above the merits of the Father the pretenders Right and the Duke's Interest who interceded for him la Besne Lieutenant to the same Company was preferr'd before young la Courbe how displeas'd soever the Duke seem'd to be at that Election Yet did he not resent this ill usage so high as to leave the Court satisfying himself at present with manifesting his discontents bymany and publick complaints though in vain the Court now no more caring to offend him but on the contrary taking this occasion to exclude him from the Council where his candid and unbyass'd opinions did nothing relish with such as would have all things give way to their own private interests and doubtless had he at this time in the least bandied with his enemies they would immediately have attempted upon his person that the Mareschal d' Encre and his Wife might by so powerful an opposes be no longer travers'd in their designs The Duke's Affairs were in this posture when their Majesties having first recover'd Poictiers and afterwards Chastellerant where the Peace concluded at Loudun was sign'd arriv'd in the end at Tours neither did the Duke there fail how ill soever he saw himself entertain'd continually to pay all due reverence to the Queen when coming one day into her Chamber with a great many other Lords and Gentlemen one of the beams that supported the floor suddenly broke insomuch that all that side of the Room fell down with a sudden ruine overwhelming all those that stood upon it to their exceeding great peril Many persons of very eminent quality were engag'd in the danger of this fall amongst whom the Count de Soissons then very young was one as also the Duke Bassompierre Villeroy and some others The Duke being always very well attended his Servants suddenly leap'd into the midst of the ruines to relieve him where though himself was dangerously engag'd and very much hurt in several places especially in one shoulder he nevertheless call'd out to his Friends to run and save the Count himself also assisting as much as in him â—ay to disingage him from the rubbish and to put him out of danger by the Window of a low Parlour being much more solicitous of this Prince's safety than his own who being by his own and his Servants diligence secur'd he afterwards disingag'd himself from the ruines and wounded as has been said was convey'd to his own Lodgings The Queen Mother who by good fortune had escap'd the danger that part of the Chamber where she sate being supported by the more faithful strength of the other Beam that remain'd entire sent very graciously to visit all the persons of Quality who had receiv'd any hurt by this accident the Duke only who was design'd for the worst usage excepted It is not to be doubted but that the Duke must needs highly resent so manifest a preterition by which he evidently perceiv'd they intended to make him sensible of his disgrace so that fearing should he continue at Court after so clear a testimony of disfavour something of a ruder nature might be put upon him he forthwith resolv'd to retire himself as he did but with high and publick complaints of the injustice was done him and of the unworthy recompense he received for all his Service He spent two days before his departure in visiting and taking leave of his friends forbearing nevertheless that Ceremony to all he conceiv'd not to be such in what degree of favour soever they might be at Court he either having never understood or having never been willing to learn those mean Court Maxims that oblige men to dissemble their resentments and to give thanks for injuries receiv'd declaring on the contrary to all the world that he went away with the dissatisfaction an honest man ought to have for the loss of his time and service Notwithstanding at last taking his leave of their Majesties he was by the King and Queen very civilly dismist though the Queen Mother receiv'd his last complements with the usual coldness she had already begun to discover upon several occasions After this manner the Duke retir'd back to Angoulesme his old and ordinary refuge in all his disgraces whilst their Majesties continued their Journey to Paris where they arriv'd in Iune and whither the Prince of Condé also imagining he had by the Treaty of Loudon establish'd his Affairs in so sure a condition that it was not in the power of event to work any alteration to his disadvantage came presently after but he soon found that nothing is more unstable than a power how great soever that depends meerly upon its own strength the sole name of a King though a Child and the publick administration managed by a man hateful to all being sufficient to arrest him in the very arms of all his Confederates and even in the City of Paris where he believ'd his person through the affections of the people in greater
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
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
Forces unprofitably moulder away in Xaintonge and Angoumois Countreys that yet smarted with the last years War he departed thence to quarter them more commodiously in Limousin where better provision was to be made both for Horse and Man Whilst in the Queen Mothers Council they consum'd the time in debates without resolving what to do the King on the other side by the Prince of Condé's advice put his deliberations into prompt execution The Duke de Luines very well inform'd of the Queen Mothers discontents after the interview at â—ours and satisfied that after the offense he had there given her he was no more to expect her favour resolv'd to secure himself under this Prince's Protection wherein he thought he was so much the more safe from the Queens revenge by how much the Prince had himself reason to complain of the ill usage he had receiv'd under her administration during whose Regency Conchini had clap'd him up in prison from whence Luines presently after the King 's coming to Paris got him releas'd An obligation which as it was great in it self was soon after repaid with as grateful a return The Prince had found by his own experience what an influence the Royal name has upon all parts of the Kingdom very well remembring how easie it had been for his Majesty to have suppress'd him when he retir'd from Court to Soissons whither had the King follow'd him in person with no more than the Regiment of his Guards only he had infallibly reduc'd him to a necessity either of submitting to his mercy or of leaving the Kingdom out of which observation he advis'd the King suddenly to mount to Horse and to go in person to Caen which was the nearest of the revolted Cities wherein what the Prince had so judiciously foreseen as happily succeeded Caen surrendring almost without any resistance Prudent who commanded there for the Grand Prior Vandosme delivering it up almost so soon as summon'd into his Majesties hands This little success having frighted all the other places of Normandy that made any countenance of revolt into their Duty his Majesty immediately departed thence to advance towards Anger 's when being met by some Troops upon the way and by them his Regiments of the French and Swisse Guards being re-inforc'd he caus'd le Pont de Cé to be assaulted in his own presence where almost in a moment and after a very light dispute all the Queens Forces ran away leaving the pass to the Enemy by which disaster those who were about the Queens person saw the error they had committed in not calling the Duke of Espernon to her succour it being not to be doubted but that had she had a Captain of his experience and valour to command upon that occasion heâ— interests would have been much better defended The Queen after this blow being in the fright may be imagin'd was fit to reject no overtures of Peace She had indeed before this engagement made some demands and propos'd some conditions but after this baffle her Army had receiv'd she was now to submit to what law the Conqueror would impose upon her Wherein all those who had engag'd in her Party were abandoned to the King's mercy but as for her self she was permitted to come to Court And that was as much as the Bishop of Luçon desir'd which gave some occasion to say that he held intelligence and had contracted with the enemy before he came that he had oppos'd the uniting of her Forces and diverted such as were capable of command from coming to serve her as being beforehand assur'd to obtain the sole condition he aim'd at which being granted he car'd not to leave the rest of her Majesties Servants to shift for themselves but this I shall not take upon me to affirm though it was the common discourse at that time The Duke had notice by a Gentleman the Queen Mother purposely dispatch'd away to him of her Reconciliation with the King who finding him at St. Clau a Frontier of Limousin to which place he was advanc'd with his Forces he presently thereupon without staying a more express Order from Court or so much as thinking of any Capitulation for himself dismiss'd all his Troops insomuch that the Currier who afterwards brought him an express from the King to lay down his Arms found that out of an entire confidence in his Majesties Royal Bounty he had already prevented his command and put himself into a posture of absolute dependence upon his Grace and Favour Neither did the Duke think this act of his own particular obedience enough unless he further commanded the Marquis de la Valette his Son who had never stirr'd from Metz to do the same Upon the breaking out of this second War as in the first he had been there invested with a very considerable Army neither had they fail'd as before to stir up the Inhabitants whose inclinations commonly change with the fortune of those that command them to mutiny against him Of which practice the Marquis having intelligence on all hands that the people had a design upon his person and that despising his weakness who to spare their purses and to win their affections had forbore to quarter any Souldiers upon them they talk'd loud of opening their Gates and letting the King's Army into the City he was constrain'd by the truth and importance of this advice to deal with some Captains of the old Regiments of that very Army that came against him In the old body of which Army there were very few Officers who were not the Duke his Fathers Creatures and who stood not oblig'd to him for their Fortune and Commands whereof some fifteen or twenty deserted the Royal Arms to go serve him in this extremity of danger some sending him in Squadrons by their Serjeants and others bringing over their whole Companies so that by an act of honourable gratitude the example whereof is not nevertheless to be altogether approv'd they brought him over in one night above fifteen hundred men of the best Souldiers in the Army With this relief seeing the Town upon the point of a total Revolt he attempted by disarming the Inhabitants to secure his own Fortune which he accordingly perform'd and that without any notable violence for having dispos'd his men into the most advantageous Posts of the City he made Proclamation that at the beat of Drum upon a penalty impos'd every one should bring their Arms into the Bishops Palace which order being given he himself accompanied with some five and twenty or thirty Gentlemen mounted on horseback to be ready in such places where he had information some bustle was like to be a precaution that was not altogether necessary the people being so daunted at his resolution as with a stupid silence and sheepish tameness with a submission greater now than their insolence had been before quietly giving up their Arms by which means they remain'd incapable of executing any mischief at least
him with such another shot but the Enemy having in these Skirmishes lost a great number of their best men and many of their Citizens a loss at which they were more concern'd than for the Gentlemen of the best quality of their party they at laâ—t resolv'd to make no more Sallies contenting themselves for the future with defending the circuit of their own Walls and preserving their City from the practices and intelligence the Duke maintain'd with some of the Inhabitants which was gone so far that those he had dealt withal were upon the point to deliver him up one of the Gates of the City when upon several conjectures the Magistrates having found out the truth at last they expos'd the parties whom they call'd Traytors to the violence of the people by whom they were all torn to pieces After the Rocbellers had taken a resolution no more to hazard their Forces in the Field some active spirits in the City impatient of lying idle and immur'd laid several designs to go further off to make trial of their Valour amongst whom la Noüe was one of the first and most eager though not the most fortunate in the execution of his design This Gentleman upon the intelligence he had receiv'd that the Count de la Rochefoucaust was parted from his Government of Poictou on purpose to come visit the Duke at la Iarrie had laid himself in ambush in the Forest of Benon to surprize him but the Duke advertiz'd of his March by the Countrey people who to preserve their Houses from firing and themselves from punishment never fail'd diligently to inform of whatever they could discover of the Enemies designs sending out his Company of Gens-d ' Armes took la Noüe in his own Ambuscado where after he had made all the resistance could be expected from a very gallant man he was at last constrain'd to give way to his ill fortune and to yield He was therefore brought prisoner to the Duke who for sometime entertain'd him in his Camp with all imaginable civility giving him leave moreover upon his parole to go see his Mother in Poictoâ— of which the King being inform'd his Majesty gave the Duke to understand he was infinitely dissatisfied with that favourable proceeding towards a man by whom he had been so often and so highly offended commanding withal that he should forthwith send him to the Prison belonging to the Parliament of Bordeaux that he might there be brought to his Trial. La Noüe in the mean time had surrendred his person to the Duke to disingage his word whom the Duke who could now no longer allow him the liberty of his Camp sent away by two of his Guard to the Castle of Angoulesme La Noüe in this condition and advertis'd of the express and reiterated Orders the King had sent to the Duke to use him no longer as a prisoner of War but as a Criminal and a Rebel began to apprehend he should at last be deliver'd up into the hands of Justice indeed and consequently thence forward began to think of making his escape as in the end either through the negligence or connivance of his Keepers he did by that means delivering the Duke from the perplexity he was in either of offending the King by insisting too long against his Majesties pleasure for this Gentlemans preservation or of giving his consent and assistance to the ruine of a man of his condition which he could very hardly have ever perswaded himself to do Whilst the Duke lay before this place he had several propositions made to him about the shutting up of the Haven for such of his Majesties Vessels as were commanded to lie in the mouth of this Channel finding they were not able to hinder the enâ—rance into it to any that had a mind to go in some other way was to be try'd to deprive the besieg'd of the benefit of this Pass Pompeo Targone therefore an Italian Engineer of great repute and that had long serv'd in the King of Spain's Armies in â—landers was sent to view the disposition of the place and to consider of the means by which the Port was to be rendred useless In order whereunto having long consider'd the nature of the Channel he propounded at last a Machine which was an Estacade or kind of floating Fort though the Duke could never relish that proposition always disputing it must be some solid body that could block up the mouth of this Harbour and demonstrating withal which way it was to be done The very same in truth they were at last fain to resolve upon after having made a vain and fruitless trial of all the rest I have yet by me a Copy of what he afterwards writ to the Duke of Angoulesme upon this very subject when that Duke commanded before the place So that I may confidently say the Duke of Espernon what by his own proper Forces as in his first expedition before Rochelle what by his conduct of the King's as upon this occasion and what by his advice as we shall hereafter see did no little contribute to the glorious reducement of this place The Duke did yet another thing before he quitted his Command which was not a little conducing to this great success The Isle of Maran was of so great importance to the execution of this Enterprize that it has ever been thought whilst the Rochellers should have it at their dispose a thing almost impossible to take that City by reason of the communication this Island gave them with Poictou from whence they might at great ease and without any impediment at all supply themselves at any time with all sorts of Relief The Baron de Chandolan a man of great quality and merit who at this time shew'd himself very affectionate to the King's Service was Governour of this Isle but he was notwithstanding of the Rochellers Religion so that the fidelity of a man who having Religion for his pretense might whenever he pleas'd and without any blemish to his reputation separate himself from his Majesties interest was not in reason altogether to be rely'd upon and the Duke also fear'd lest he might be perswaded into a thing he might do with great security and almost without reproach He therefore took up a resolution to possess himself of this Isle to prevent any inconvenience for the time to come and having receiv'd his Majesties command to do it by the best means he could contrive he rose from his Quarters one of the coldest nights in Winter a time when all the Ditches of the Island were frozen up and which the Duke therefore chose as it rendred his access more easie for the execution of his design He therefore commanded some Foot Companies to steal over silently and by single Files who that very night possess'd themselves of all the Avenues and in the morning having caus'd the Ice to be broken that he might himself pass over with his Horse he made himself Master of the Island
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
of interesting his Fraternity in the Quarrel to the end that under the protection of the whole Body he might the better defend his own particular interest Neither did he herein fail to use some artifice which he manag'd so that in putting finister interpretations upon the Duke's best intentions he possess'd the whole Company with a jealousie that the Duke labour'd to encroach upon the Authority of their Estate A part wherein all Societies of men are so sensible and tender as that from the least shadows the highest divisions are very frequently observ'd to arise And here though the Duke labour'd to clear their suspicion by laying the truth before them yet the first impressions were so deep and the President knew so well how to manage their mis-apprehension that it was impossible to dis-unite him from his Colleagues The Duke exasperated as he had just cause at the mis-understanding Gourgues somented betwixt the Parliament and him would not give him altogether the advantage of an Aggressor but speedily sought out all occasions to vex him and to assault him both in his Reputation and Fortune He was therefore by his order disputed with about some priviledges he pretended to and usurp'd as was said to the prejudice of the City of Libourne near unto which he had a dwelling house but he gave him a more sensible blow by prohibiting the Post-Master of Bordeaux in his absence any more to carry the Couriers that came through the City to the first Presidents house though for some time it had been their custom so to do pretending that it was without any right at all and that consequently he might by his Authority overthrow that custom as a new thing and that depended absolutely upon his Command It is most certain that had matters rested here the President would have receiv'd a notable affront his most intimate friends having generally blam'd him for applying himself much more to Politick than to Judicial Affairs and for that by doing more than he was concern'd to do in the one he left himself no leisure to perform what he was oblig'd to do in the other The first President being a crafty man as has been said dextrously taking hold of this occasion as suddenly remonstrated to the Company That if in this Affair as in the other of Libourne there had been nothing but what pointed at his own private interest he should not have been concern'd in the least but that it aim'd directly at the honour and dignity of the whole Body of which he was much more tender than of any concern of his own That the dispatch of the Posts did no more respect him in particular than the other Officers of Parliament he having therein only the priviledge of priority without having any power limited to his person That in his absence he who was next in order in the Company had the same right to examine the Couriers to enquire of their newâ— and â—o dismiss them That therefore since the Injury was common to them all and that the Duke made it manifest enough he endeavour'd to destroy the Authority of Parliament it was necessary they should unanimously concur with him in the support of their own Dignity and Power That if they did not vigorously oppose this first attempt upon them they would see themselves insensibly depriv'd of all their Priviledges and that the Sovereign Authority they were invested withal would in the end be less considerable than that of their subalternate Judges That though in this Affair he was meerly animated by the common interest he nevertheless freely offer'd himself alone to stand the shock of the Duke 's utmost Indignation wherein though he should perish and be crush'd under the weight of his Power he should nevertheless be proud of so glorious a Fate as to be sacrific'd for the honour of that Assembly It is not to be imagin'd how strange an impression this Harangue made upon the minds of this Fraternity the whole body almost being thereby betray'd into the Animosity of their head some few only of the eldest and most affectionate to the Duke endeavour'd to qualifie the heat of this dispute but in vain it being impossible for them to stop the violence of the Torrent so that the Duke who thought he had only one enemy to deal withal found above an hundred rais'd up in mutiny against him Nay their impatience was such that they would not defer a moment the passing of an Act at that very sitting in opposition to the command he had given concerning the Couriers it is indeed true that there was after some propositions of Accommodation tendred but after this Thunder-clap from the Parliament the Duke was deaf to all overtures of agreement his invincible spirit that had ever been inflexible in all the undertakings of his life suggesting to him that it would be an eternal blemish to his honour should he in the least moderate his first resentment for all the great number of enemies that were declar'd against him The beginnings of this Feud were so light and trivial in themselves that I should not have been so particular in the relation of them had they not brought on those greater disputes that since hapned betwixt the Duke and this Parliament and this is so unwilling a Record that I could heartily wish all that is further to be said of this Affair might be totally raz'd out of the Duke's life that the memory thereof might for ever be extinct Neither the Parliament nor he got any advantage by it the publick was the greatest loser as it will ever fall out in such dissentions The Duke of Espernon's mind was not so wholly taken up with these divisions but that he had a care of the settlement of his own Domestick Affairs which the Queen Mothers escape from Blois the War that succeeded the several expeditions he afterterwards undertook for the King's Service and his chargeable Journeys whilst he attended the Court had brought into very great disorder He was at this time above seven hundred thousand Livers in debt that he had taken up at Paris upon a Rent-Charge which one of his Domesticks that had been brought up in his Family undertook to acquit him of shew'd him which way it was to be done and perform'd what he had undetaken and this was the foremention'd Constantin Comptroller of his House who as he could by no better way express his Gratitude to his Benefactor than by doing him so important a piece of Service he without any visible diminution of the Duke 's ordinary way of living manag'd the business so that his Master in a few years had the satisfaction of seeing himself disingag'd from that prodigious Debt Which as I have said was effected without any other inconvenience than the retrenchment of some superfluous expenses only which his distance from the Court where he was resolv'd no more to reside rendred altogether unnecessary So great a blessing is an intelligent and faithful Servant But to
where he arriv'd in the beginning of Iuly and where the first thing he did after his arrival was to commit the pretended Maire of Libourne to prison he having been advanc'd to that Magistracy in contempt of the King's Order The first President had herein his hearts desire neither did he fail to make use of this occasion to interest the whole Body in the affront which he said was the greatest violence imaginable upon their Authority a high Complaint whereof was immediately sent away to the Council The King though very much dissatisfied with the first President would not nevertheless absolutely countenance the Duke in the Justice he had executed in his own behalf but writ to him to set the Prisoner at liberty though that Letter could not prevail the Duke pretending to believe that this Command had been procur'd either at the importunity of some of the interested party or negligently granted as many times a Letter under the Privy Seal was not hard to obtain But the Cardinal become now as has been said all powerful in Affairs having undertaken to establish his Majesties absolute Authority which was in effect the establishment of his ownâ— upon the contempt of this order caus'd a positive sentence to be pass'd in the Council bearing date the 12th of August wherein it was order'd That the Prisoner should immediately be enlarg'd By which magisterial proceeding it was then believ'd as it was very likely that the Cardinal would exercise this severity towards the Duke that his will might no more be disputed not doubting but that after an example like this all the other great men of the Kingdom would acquiesce in his Commands This Arrest was directed to the Chief Justice d' Autry to cause it to be put into speedy execution without so much as forbearing to hear any Reasons the Duke could represent to justifie the demur he had given to his Majesties first Order His Sons who were at Court and le Plessis whom he had sent thither not long before upon several accompts us'd their utmost endeavour that the sending away of this Arrest so highly prejudicial to the Duke's Honour might be some time deferr'd they were vehemently importunate with the Queen Mother and the Cardinal to that purpose but all to no effect the Queen in so light though nevertheless so sensible an Affair totally abandoning the Duke's Interest who had so passionately embrac'd hers in so important occasions and the Cardinal being obstinate in his resolution all the favour they could obtain in this business was from d' Autry himself who was perswaded not to produce the Order but it was upon condition the Duke should enlarge the Prisoner as he immediately did and that too the Court would have him understand to be a special Grace After this manner then they began to reward the Duke's and his Sons Services they gave them things of no moment for the highest obligations and most current pay they were continually us'd at this rate and it is not to be believ'd what prejudice these inconsiderable things were to the Duke 's more important Affairs nor what encouragement it gave little people frequently to offend him It had therefore been to have been wish'd either that he could have supported these affronts in his Administration with a better temper or totally have retir'd himself out of their way but his great spirit that had never encountred any difficulty it had not overcome was impatient to be resisted by men who as they were single incapable of contesting with him being embodied would neither relent nor obey The Cardinal stung no doubt with the Conscience of having in so trivial a thing disoblig'd a man who had formerly been serviceable to him in so many important occasions would make himself Mediator betwixt the Duke and the Parliament and consequently dispatch'd away Guron to Bordeaux for that end with Instructions that joyntly with d' Autry he should labour an Accommodation betwixt them By Guron the Cardinal writ to the Duke that his Journey was absolutely upon his accompt and in his favour offering withal his Service in this and in all other occasions but these Complements were accompanied with no marks of honour and respect the Cardinal doubtless nettled at the little Ceremony the Duke had observ'd with him in his congratulatory Letter at his promotion to the Ministry leaving by his example but a very little space above the first line and concluding his Letter with only Your affectionate Servant Before Guron's arrival the difference had been already compos'd by the mediation of d' Autry but the Duke touch'd to the quick at the ill usage he had receiv'd from Court was not to be appeas'd with so light a satisfaction and I have ever thought that the injury he apprehended upon this occasion was perhaps the first if not the only motive that totally alienated his heart from the Cardinal's Interests which as you may have observ'd he once had in as high consideration as his own The Peace that had been concluded before Montpellier in the year 1622. had hitherto continued the Affairs of the Kingdom in some repose and though those of the Reform'd Religion express'd great dispositions to a new Commotion there was as yet no manifest breach so that men rather liv'd in expectation of fresh Alarms than in any disorder of open War When Soubize by an attempt he made upon the King 's Shipping at Blavet began first to break the Ice All the rest of the Party broke into Arms at the same time and the Duke of Rohan who had long been known to be the head of that Faction infecting all parts of the Kingdom which were affectionate to his cause with his discontents stirr'd them into Insurrection without ever moving from Sevenues and without meeting the least contradiction A promptitude in his Partizans so much the more to be wondred at as he commanded a sort of people whose obedience was only voluntary and from which every one conceiv'd himself to be dispens'd by all both Divine and Humane Laws Montauban was one of the Cities not only of Guienne but also of the whole Kingdom that engag'd the deepest in this Revolt the Inhabitants whereof by having had a Siege rais'd from before their Walls and by having baffled a Royal Army even when animated by the presence of the King himself being elevated to such a degree of Vanity as to think themselves invincible and their City a place not to be taken A presumption that it was nevertheless very necessary should be corrected and the people by some exemplary Punishment made sensible of their Crimes It should seem that the Duke of Espernon was by his Destiny call'd into Guienne only for this end he had formerly subdu'd the pride of Rochelle neither did the King doubt but that he would be as successful at Montauban and that his Vertue which had ever been fatal to the Capital Cities of those of the Religion assisted by his powerful Arms
would also cause his Authority to be acknowledg'd and obey'd here as it had done in other places He sent order therefore to the Duke to take Arms and to wast the Countrey all about Montauban in order whereunto though the King in his own judgment thought it an Enterprize of great difficulty he notwithstanding allow'd him no more than 3000. men in three new rais'd Regiments to wit that of St. Croix d' Ornano Foncaude and Maillé wherewithal to effect it He receiv'd a Command withal to make some Leavies his own Company of Gens-d ' Armes and four more of Light Horse were also drawn into the Field for this Expedition With these Forces he departed from his House Cadillac to advance to Moissac a little Town about four Leagues distant from Montauban the appointed Rendezvous for the Volunteer-Troops and Gentry of the latter whereof the number was so great that there was an appearance of above six hundred Gentlemen It was said that there had hardly been seen so great a conflux of Gentry under any Governour as frequently attended this he having never any occasion to mount to Horse for his Majesties Service that there was not more complaints of unkindness taken that they had not been summon'd to their Duty than excuses made because they did not come It will perhaps seem strange that the Duke's humor enclin'd rather to austerity than sweetness should acquire him so many lovers and friends for certainly he was serv'd out of affection it being impossible that fear could ever have drawn after him so many free and voluntary persons Such as have before me reflected upon this observation have conceiv'd that this universal love was deriv'd from his Justice of all others the most popular vertue as in truth the Duke was a man of most unblemish'd equity or that it might proceed from the infinite number of Employments Offices and Benefits he had dispers'd throughout the whole Province of Guienne wherein there were very few Families of any note that stood not highly oblig'd either immediately to him or to his Interest for some signal favour To which they have moreover added the generous disposition he had to do all good offices for his Friends who although he was not apt to be familiar was nevertheless very civil constant in his friendships and always the same insomuch that one good word from his mouth or one gracious undissembled look prevail'd more upon those who receiv'd those petty favours than the larger promises and more winning behaviour of some others who in two days would no more know the very man to whom they had so lately before vow'd the Friendship of their whole lives The Duke came to Moissac in Iune and removed thence towards Montauban in the beginning of Iuly with a Commission equally extending as well into Languedoc as Guienne by reason that City which is situated upon the Confines of both those Provinces has a great part of its Territory lying in Languedoc He took up his Quarters at Montleigh and Castelsarrazin from whence as occasion serv'd advancing with his Forces still nearer the City he executed the King's Command whereever he went with so much vigour and severity that the footsteps of this expedition were to be seen a long time after Yet was not this perform'd without great resistance those of Montauban had had early intelligence of the preparations against them neither had they neglected any thing that might conduce to the defense of their fruits or to the support of the Reputation they had acquir'd in the preceding War Besides the great number of warlike Inhabitants they had within their City they were moreover reinforc'd with a strong Garrison without commanded by Montbrun a Gentleman of great Quality in Dauphiné and a man of very great Valour sent thither for that purpose by the Duke of Rohan to which they had also call'd in several of their Neighbours to their assistance so that the Duke never approach'd their Walls which notwithstanding he did almost every day but that there follow'd very smart Engagements with great loss of men on the Enemies side In some whereof there were left sometimes 200. sometimes more dead upon the place wherein certainly the numerous Gentry that attended the Duke in this expedition were of infinite great use for the place being environ'd almost on all sides with Plains of very large extent and the Enemy having many more and much better Foot than the Duke had not those brave Troops of Horse continually repell'd them it had been to be fear'd that Victory would not always have been so partial to the Royal side The Duke perhaps never expos'd his person more than in these frequent Engagements the precincts of the City were so great that they requir'd above a months time totally to destroy their fruits of all which time few days pass'd as has been said without an Encounter and in all those Encounters the Duke was ever in person at the head of his Troops encouraging his men not so much by his voice as by his example How great soever the faults of those of Montauban might be it was not nevertheless without great reluctancy that the Duke executed his Majesties Order upon the fruits of the Countrey with so great severity and certainly he must have had a very obdurate heart that would not have been touch'd with compassion at the sight of so many lamentable objects as were every where to be seen I remember that from Pickqueros a place famous for having been the King's Quarter during the Siege of Montauban and from whence the whole Plain betwixt the Rivers Tarn and Vaïran lay open to the view so soon as the obscurity of the night gave colour to the Fire that had been kindled by day one might see a thousand Fires at once the Corn Fruit-Trees Vines and Houses were the Aliments that nourish'd this Flame a sadder sight I never saw neither can I imagine that the horrors of War can be represented in a more dreadful form Yet was not this severity altogether unprofitable even to those upon whom it was inflicted I having heard several of them since confess that nothing so much dispos'd them to the acceptation of Peace as this austere usage and they were indeed the first that embrac'd it and who serv'd for a leading example to the other rebellious Cities of their Party to do the same While the Duke was thus taken up at Montauban Soubize thinking either to divert him from his Enterprize or to make use of his absence and the great number of Gentry who were gone along with him for the effecting some notable exploit in the lower Gascony was landed with three thousand five hundred Foot and some few Horse in the Countrey of Mâ—doc This little Countrey which is almost all the Duke's environs a great part of the Metropolis of Bordeaux extending it self to the very Gates of the City many of the richest Inhabitants whereof having possessions there and Soubize having a
condition till they had consum'd not only all provisions fit for the use of man but also all that the extremest hunger could compel the uncleanest creatures to convert to food they yet found they had not exhausted the King's Royal goodness who had enough left to pardon the miserable remains of those wretched people the length and sufferings of the Siege had yet left alive preserving so those that had try'd and had not been able to effect their own destruction and exercising his Clemency upon such as had no compassion of themselves To conclude he made himself Master of Rochelle that is to say absolute King of France which till this City was reduc'd he could not properly have been said to be This glorious year was concluded by this happy Victory a success by which all the occasions of those civil discords which the difference of Religions had hitherto almost continually fomented were so totally rooted up as gave us for the future leisure to prosecute our Forein designs wherein we have since been so fortunate as by the success of our Arms to be secur'd of a firm and last repose for the time to come if we can continue this good union and intelligence amongst our selves the breach whereof can alone encourage our Neighbours to attempt upon our Peace The King being yet before Rochelle and the Town upon the point of Surrender his resolution was absolutely bent upon reducing the remaining Cities of the Hugonot Party to the same obedience in order whereunto his Majesty sent a Letter to the Duke of Espernon to acquaint him with so much of his design as concern'd the Province where he had the honour to Command a Dispatch that was sent away by Servient who was to be both the Bearer of this Missive and the Interpreter of his Majesties further Intentions The Employment this Gentleman had been upon into that Countrey the preceding year about the business of the Carrick and the dexterity and prudence he had discover'd in the management of that Affair had made him by the King thought worthy of and sufficient for the Office of Intendant de la Iustice Police in Guienne with which he was at this time invested but that being such a Commission as is hardly to be executed in Provinces that have Parliaments of their own without intrenching upon or at least giving offense unto their Authority soon begot a feud betwixt the Parliament of Bordeaux and him which grew at last to such a height that Servient was fain to prefer a complaint to the Council of some affronts he had receiv'd from that Assembly whereupon he had granted him a Sentence of Prohibition together with a Citation of personal appearance against the first President de Gourgues and some other Members of that Court They must therefore of necessity appear and accordingly the first President came in at the appointed time where presenting himself before the King to justifie the proceeding that had occasion'd this Citation his reception was a little severe The King dissatisfied with him as was said upon other accompts commanded him to speak kneeling which the President making some difficulty to do as an unusual form the King rising from his seat pull'd him by the Robe to compel him to it 'T is said that even in this very act and the confusion the face of an incens'd Prince might reasonably have put any man into the President immediately recollecting himself spoke of the violence was offer'd to him with an Efficacy and Eloquence that astonish'd all that heard him and that was so powerful as to extract some gentle and satisfactory expressions even from the King himself but this was also the last lightning of his Wit and he seem'd to have mustred all his Forces for this one piece of Service ending his Life almost as soon as his Oration who though of a contemptible stature and an infirm constitution but of a strange vivacity and courage was so wounded with the sense of the King's severity that he was never after to be comforted but retiring already â—ick out of his Majesties presence dyed a very few days after He had this obligation to the Duke of Espernons unkindness that it discover'd in him a great many excellent qualities that would otherwise have been buried in his Ashes for had he in truth had nothing more to do than meerly to have exercis'd the ordinary functions of his place he would even in that capacity have met with concurrences enough to have disputed that honour with him but having had opportunity to manifest his courage in so mighty and dangerous a dispute his Eloquence in so many Illustrious Assemblies and his Zeal for the dignity and honour of his Fraternity in so many notable and important occasions has left behind him so fair a memory that he does at this day pass in the opinions of all that knew him for one of the greatest men that ever presided in that Court If the King's success in the reducing of Rochelle gave a high reputation to the Royal Arms the quick dispatch of that Siege was of no less utility to his other Affairs for every one imagining this Victory would have cost as many years as he was months about it that opinion was so generally receiv'd and concluded for so infallible a truth by all the neighbouring Princes that there was hardly one who had not propos'd to himself some advantage or other from this long diversion either to the prejudice of his Majesties Reputation or to that of his Affairs The King of Spain therefore the King of England the Dukes of Savoy and Lorain entred into a powerful League that every one might make his benefit of this Civil War Wherein Spain and Savoy doubted not without any resistance to possess themselves of the Territories of the Duke of Mantua an Ally and a Vassal to this Crown The design of the English was not only to relieve and reestablish the remains of the Reform'd Religion in France but also to revenge themselves for the losses they had sustain'd in the business of the Isle of Ré and the Duke of Lorain an ambitious and offended Prince propos'd to himself and that without much difficulty the usurpation of the three Bishopricks of Metz Toul and Verdun which as they were naturally members of it would bring an equal addition of benefit and honour to his own Dukedom The last of the foremention'd Princes not daring to begin the quarrel staid expecting when the other Confederates should break the Ice in the mean time concealing his designs under a dissembled shew of Friendship and the King of England not well recover'd of the late Blow had no mind to declare without the concurrence of the Duke of Lorain so that whilst these two Princes sate still in mutual expectation which should lead the Field the King of Spain and the Duke of Savoy falling smartly to work had by Arms so far advanc'd their designs that they had already possess'd themselves
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
those of the King embodied and acting by one sole authority could in a moment produce the effects of all their power it was no hard matter for the Cardinal to frustrate the attempts of all these Forein Princes and to repel even upon them themselves who were most active to destroy him the designs they had projected for his ruine If the Cardinal's wisdom was of great use to him as questionless it was upon this occasion it must likewise be confess'd that Fortune did no little contribute to his safety who from the extremities of the North rais'd him up a Prince one of the most eminent and great in all qualities both Military and Civil that latter ages have produc'd and that was the great Gustavus Adolphus King of Sweden This Prince in truth inconsiderable enough had not his single Person and Valour in themselves been worth the greatest Armies undertook to invade Germany and to assault the Emperour in the heart of his own Dominions notwithstanding that this mighty Prince who had already subdu'd all the powers that were opposite to him possess'd that Empire compos'd of many Kingdoms in a greater degree of Sovereignty than any of his Predecessors who had sway'd that Scepter for many Ages before him had ever done These difficulties sufficient to have discourag'd and withheld the mightiest powers serv'd only for Spurs to the ambition of this generous and magnanimous Prince He entred then into Germany where at his coming he proclaim'd liberty to all the Princes and People a great allurement indeed but his large promises without some advantageous effects were not of force to draw many Partizans over to his side He sought therefore with great eagerness an occasion wherein to make tryal of his Arms which he knew was the only way to win himself Reputation and Friends and the Emperour who had no less Interest to stop the impetuosity of an Invader who came to brave him in the heart of his own Empire oppos'd to this Torrent and that under the command of the best and most fortunate Leaders he had his Army hitherto victorious over all the Forces they had met in the Field but the glory of all those Victories serv'd only to render that of the King of Sweden more illustrious which he obtain'd over these Conquerours at the Battel of Lipsick by which great and famous action having rendred his name till then almost unknown formidable throughout the whole Empire he ran from one extremity thereof to the other almost without any resistance at least without meeting any impediment that could stop his way The Cardinal as he had good reason rendred himself very facile and favourable to this Prince who seem'd to be come out of his Rocks and Desarts for no other end save only to defend his quarrel He assisted him therefore in the beginning with some few men and a little money which though not very considerable the Swede nevertheless gave so important a diversion to the House of Austria that having their hands more than full of their own Affairs they were far from being in any capacity of traversing their Neighbours designs If the Emperour had enough to do at home the King of Spain had no less need of all his Forces at the Siege of Mastrick and the Duke of Lorain depriv'd of the support of these two great Princes under whose shadow and protection he had taken Arms being of himself unable to withstand the King's Power was necessitated as he had done some time before to fly to his Majesties mercy By the Treaty of Vic concluded in the beginning of the year he had dâ—liver'd Marsal to the King by way of caution for the performance of his word and for this second of Liverdune he moreover assign'd to him Stenay Iamets and Clairmont upon which good security his Majesty having granted him peace he was constrain'd to observe it though it was only not long after to break it from whence ensu'd the loss of his whole Dukedom The Monsieur seeing himself thus defeated of all hopes of any Forein assistance his Servants assay'd to procure that for him at home they saw was not elsewhere to be expected to which end Letters from the Queen Mother and himself were presented to the Parliament of Paris to try if by that application they could interest that Assembly in their grievances and inveagle the Parisians into a good opinion of their cause but all in vain they practis'd moreover several discontented persons whose assistance consisting only of a very few men was also of no great effect the remains of the Hugonot party were likewise tamper'd withal but besides that they were reduc'd to such a low condition that they had greater need of some Potent Prince to protect them than that they were in any capacity to repair the fortune of a great Prince declin'd there was so good order taken to hold them in in all parts of the Kingdom that not a man amongst them durst once offer to stir The Cardinal having from the beginning of the year foreseen that the discontents of the Queen Mother and the Monsieur exasperated and fomented by strangers would infallibly bring a War upon the Kingdom had omitted no manner of precaution that might serve to frustrate their designs he had caus'd the Kings standing Regiments both of Horse and Foot to be reinforc'd had put sufficient Garrisons into all the important Cities had by very severe prohibitions forestall'd all such as were likely to engage with the Enemy and those of the Religion though already upon the matter subduâ—d being yet in some sorâ— even in their impotency to be suspected he had taken a particular care to make sure of them upon this occasion What difficulties soever the punctual execution of these Orders had strew'd in the way of the Monsieur 's designs and notwithstanding that he saw himself abandoned by his Forein friends sufficiently taken up with their own particular Affairs he thought nevertheless that the sole interest of the Duke of Montmorency who was absolutely at his Devotion would of it self enable him to execute his revenge for the injuries he had receiv'd Upon which assurance he entred the Kingdom in Iune accompanied only with two thousand Horse pick'd up of several Nations and two thousand Foot or thereabouts taking his way through Burgundy without making any discovery into what part of France he intended to retire and then it was that the King's Orders and dispatches were redoubled and sent with great diligence into all parts of the Kingdom to which it was probable those Forces would direct their March They seem'd principally to threaten either Languedoc or Guienne the Governours of which two Provinces having no great reason to be very well satisfied with the Court the Cardinal did not well know what to think of them nor what to promise to himself from their Fidelity in so critical a time Of these the Duke of Montmorency the more reason the Court had to be jealous of his
if he had made a rude return to the Archbishop's Complement That it was without doubt no other than a feign'd Civility in Monsieur de Bordeaux who he very well knew did not love him to seek an advantage against him That he would be glad under a colour of seeming Courtesie to lay a weakness at his door and to make the world believe that he had first sought his Friendship That had the Bishop sent to him by the way of a simple How d' ee only he should have receiv'd his Visit with the respect due to a man of his condition but having added terms of thanks which presuppos'd a favour receiv'd he would not the world should believe that he had made the first application to a man he did not take to be his Friend The Archbishop might very well judge by this first repulse that he should have a very hard game to play with the Duke of Espernon which made him hover very near a month about Bordeaux before he could resolve to enter the City It is most certain that in the mean time he sent to Court to acquaint the Cardinal with what had pass'd betwixt the Duke and him and to receive Instructions from him how he was to behave himself if matters should grow to a greater height betwixt them To which the Cardinals answer was as it was a few days after Publish'd that he assur'd him of a powerful Protection and such a one as he had promis'd him before his departure whereupon the Archbishop made no difficulty to engage in the Affair to such a height as even to be himself the Aggressor as at the first dash by giving the Duke very sensible and very publick Affronts he manifestly appeared to be The first was when upon his arrival at the City he did not find the Jurats that is the Magistrates upon the River ready to receive him at his Landing which he pretended to be a Ceremony due to his Place and Dignity as having formerly been paid him but the Jurats who declar'd to have sometimes done it only upon Courtesie and without any intention to draw it into Example would by no means consent that what had been perform'd meerly in the nature of a Civility should become a Right This therefore he would interpret for a hainous offense not only from the Jurats but also from the Duke who he believ'd with some reason to have been the cause that Honour had been deny'd him So that without longer dissembling his Discontent the Jurats having deputed two of their Corporation to Harangue him so soon as he should be alighted at his own Palace he answer'd them in these very words Gentlemen I have reason at my arrival to be satisfied with the people of Bordeaux who have behav'd themselves civilly towards me and I look upon it as a continuation of the good affection they have formerly had for the late Cardinal de Sourdis my Brother but I have reason to be dissatisfied with the Magistrates of your City and cannot but believe that if those who put the words you have deliver'd me into your mouths had given you leave to pay me the respect you ought to have done you would have done it after the accustomed manner and in the usual place but by having made your selves slaves to your Offices and by having forfeited your Liberties in so doing you have committed this neglect I must needs think this proceeding would have been against the sense of the People might they have been allow'd the freedom of their Voices and consequently can take nothing ill from them and as to your particular I shall also pardon you forasmuch as I know what you have done was by the Instigation of others and not upon your own account The Duke of Espernon was too evidently glanc'd at in this Discourse to be insensible of the Injury was done him and consequently sought nothing more than an occasion wherein to manifest his Resentment It was nevertheless contrary to the advice of all the Friends and Servants he had about him that he took up that Resolution there being none of them who did not very well foresee that having to do with a man of the Archbishops condition and upheld as he was by the most powerful Protection of the Kingdom he must of necessity put his Affairs into very great disorder I would omit nothing of what pass'd upon this occasion this being the first occurrence whereby the Duke's Fortune was really wounded the others that had pass'd before had only rippled up the skin and hitherto he had bravely overcome all the difficulties had been oppos'd against him Since therefore the Scene is now to be chang'd and that a new prospect of his Affairs will be presented to your view it should not methinks be impertinent to repeat every Circumstance that contributed to this Alteration but on the other side I must in being so particular descend to such little things as I fear will importune my Reader I shall however do the best I can to avoid that inconvenience by touching at every thing but with so much brevity as shall be no durable penance even to those who are least delighted with such recitals The Duke nettled to the quick with the Archbishops Speech to the Jurats began rather by trifling Peccadillo's than by downright Injury to manifest his resentment for it must needs be confess'd that never man was more ingenious than he to offend such as he did not love so that he set all Engines on work little Affronts as well as high Abuses and spar'd nothing that might any way contribute to his Revenge Having therefore found the Archbishop so sensible of this first Assault he persisted to wound him deeper by new and more legible Offenses He had in propriety as Lord of the Mannor of Puipaulin the Royalty of the Clie of Bordeaux which is the Fish-Market there so as that he might lawfully forbid the entrance thereinto to any he had no mind to admit He therefore commanded the Archbishops Officers one Fish-day to be excluded to the end they might be necessitated to take their Fish without the Bar with the rest of the people These men refused to receive it after that manner and otherwise they could not have it neither was the Duke content with doing this alone but knowing it would be brought in from other places caus'd his Guards moreover to watch all the avenues to hinder it by whom some were turn'd back who would have done the Archbishop that Service and in the end some of his own Domesticks very roughtly handled Upon this occasion it was that the clandestine Animosities they had hitherto in some measure smother'd in their Bosoms flam'd out to an open Feud betwixt them and from this beginning all the Disorders we shall hereafter see ensue took their rise and being The Archbishop by Publick Declarations complain'd of the Violence had been offer'd to him by a sort of men set on purposely to do it describing them by
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
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
and committing every where all the barbarous acts of an inhumane fury Amongst all these horrid Riots those which were committed at Agen were the most extreme La Cour des Aides was at this time establish'd in this City and it was upon the Officers of this Court that they exercis'd the most notable violence all that the people could meet withal being miserably burnt or Massacred for in popular furies we seldom read of ordinary executions the Eleus were handled after the same manner many honest Burgers were by their Enemies put into the number of Gabellers and had the same measure So that had not President du Bernet who was President of the Chambre de l' Edict that had its seat in the same City oppos'd this Torrent of popular fury with greater vigour than was to be expected from a man of his profession it is certainly believ'd that not one man of condition would have been left alive in the whole City Neither had the disorder been less at Perigueux had it not been for the presence of Vertamont Intendant de la Iustice for the Duke knowing the humour of this people enclin'd to Licence had entreated Vertamont to go thither under colour of some Commission of his Intendancy where he was scarcely arriv'd when the people rose in Commotion as in other places falling upon some Officers of the Election and other innocent persons to make a horrid Massacre And then it was that Vertamont abandoning the care of his own person encourag'd the Magistrates boldly to oppose the popular Fury and putting himself in the head of them made no difficulty to reâ—cue some poor people who were going to be sacrific'd to their barbarous cruelty out of the hands of the insolent rabble So that with an extraordinary fortune the effect of his generous resolution he contain'd this City in its Obedience giving in himself at the same time a great Example of Justice and Moderation in so dangerous an occurrence Though the Duke had enough to do in the City of Bordeaux yet did he not fail however even in the midst of these confusions with incredible diligence and care to disperse his Orders throughout all parts of the Province in the remotest parts whereof the report being spread that all things continued quiet at Bordeaux by the respect to the Dukes Authority and Person the other Cities that had taken Arms by the example of this quieted themselves also by the same consideration by which means the Licence of the people was kept within some moderate bounds a moderation nevertheless that hung by so slender a thred that upon the least occasion worse and more dangerous Commotions were to be expected The Duke had no Forces neither was any to be hop'd for out of any part of the Province and it was a matter of extraordinary difficulty to send him any from any other place so that he was constrain'd in so great an exigency to have recourse to other means and to cause some of the promoters of this Sedition to be treated withal for the bringing about of that which he saw no other possible way to effect Wherein he also succeeded so well that these people allur'd by promises of Indemnity and some hopes of reward gave themselves up absolutely to his dispose so that it was by this politick way of proceeding he in the end totally secur'd both the City of Bordeaux and the whole Province of Guienne The disorder had continued so long and with so much noise that there was few of the Incendiaries who were not in every quarter particularly known of which there were very many who had formerly born Arms in the King's Regiments of Foot and who being grown weary of that profession were return'd again to their old Trades These men wrought upon by the Duke's Exhortations and the greatest part of them moreover touch'd with the sence of the moderation he had exercis'd towards them notwithstanding the greatness of their offences promis'd him that nothing should pass amongst the people of which he should not have continual notice and they were as good as their words giving him by their constant intelligence means and opportunity to prevent those evils which otherwise would infallibly have given the last blow to the publick Peace The Commotions of the City were no sooner in some measure appeas'd but that the madness diffus'd it self into the Villages of the adjacent Country These people having in the time of one of the foremention'd Mutinies taken occasion to rifle some Houses of the City were return'd with their Booty to their own homes by whose ill example their Neighbours were so excited to Rapine that in a moment all the Boors threw away the instruments of their labour and betook themselves to Arms. In this posture they rob'd the Country houses they assembled themselves in great numbers in all the Suburbs of Bordeaux and would attempt to make their way into the City it self where they were so much desired by the basest of the people that they did their endeavours also to let them in The greatest appearance of them was in the Suburb de Saint Surin to which place the Duke's house was near enough for him to hear their clamours and hideous yells and from his Chamber Window that look'd into the Fields to see the Fire they had kindled in several houses of which the greatest part were miserably consum'd At the sight of these barbarous Riots it was impossible to detain him but although he was at last fall'n into an almost unintermitted indisposition he got out of his bed mounted to Horse by night and with forty or fifty Gentlemen his Guards and some of the Town Companies went out towards these Mutineers They had fortified themselves in several places of the Suburb had Barricado'd the Church and made a countenance of resolution to defend themselves nevertheless at the Duke's arrival they almost all disbanded and ran away none saving those in the Church making any resistance who also at the first Volley was discharg'd upon them fled after their fellows when the Cavalry putting themselves in pursuit of those who had recover'd the Fields some forty or fifty of them were miserably slain It is not to be imagin'd how strangely the Duke was afflicted at the death of these wretched people This little evil nevertheless conduc'd very much to a far greater good for the report of this Execution dispersing it self in a moment throughout the whole Province the other Country people who sate expecting the good or evil success of their fellows made themselves for this year wise by the example of their misfortune and without engaging in the folly of the greater Cities were content to sit spectators of their Tumults and Disorders There were indeed hardly any more after this action for the Duke de la Valette coming presently after to the Duke his Father they bent their joynt endeavours to the healing of some secret discontents that yet
himself to his House Plassac of which Request though the pretence was to enter into a course of Physick for the recovery of his Health yet the true reason was that he might be out of the way of having any Disputes with the Prince about the Affairs of his Government which he could not without great grief have seen afflicted with those miseries wherewith it was threatned nor perhaps without expressing such a dislike of that harsh way of proceeding as might have given him Offence A thing which all the Friends and Servants he had at Court having foreseen they had advis'd him to this course his Sons who were best acquainted with his tickle and impatient humour were of this advice but there is great apparence that the first thoughts of retiring were inspir'd by the Prince himself who having in other Employments where the Duke and he had serv'd together had tryal enough of his difficult humour would no more be subject to those contrarieties he had formerly endur'd and had therefore doubtless prompted him with that resolution The Duke's Request therefore being so conformable to the Princes desires and to the sence of the Court it was no hard matter for him to obtain that in the quality of a favour which had doubtless been enjoyn'd him as a punishment had he not by speaking first prevented a Command from the King to the same effect for it had been from that time forward as it has been evident since been resolv'd upon to withdraw him from his Government and to suspend him from all the Functions of his Command Nevertheless having lighted so pat upon the humour of the great Ministers by the advice of his Friends he was very civilly treated in his Majesties Answer which was couch'd in these terms Cousin Having found by your Letter of the eigteenth instant and moreover understood by the mouth of the Sieur de Lavrilliere the Secretary of my Dispatches that in order to your Health by the change of Air and the use of some Remedies have been prescrib'd you by your Physicians you desire for some time to retire your self to your House of Plassac I send you this to let you know that any thing which may either concern your health or satisfaction being very pleasing to me I do willingly grant you the liberty you desire to go to your said House assuring my self that even from thence you will have a vigilant eye to whatsoever may concern the good of my Service within the precincts of your Government In the mean time I shall pray to God Cousin to have you in his Holy Protection From St. Germains en Laye the 28 th day of March 1638. The Duke very well satisfied with this answer began to make himself ready to begin his Journey so soon as the Prince should be arriv'd in Guienne where whilst he waited in expectation of his coming he pass'd away the time with the Duke de Candalé his eldest Son entertaining him with greater familiarity and freedom than till that time he had ever done whose complacency and fine Behaviour made at this time so great an impression upon the Duke his Father that certainly this Son had never been so dear to him as when he was upon the point to lose him in somuch that his present joy was no little disposition to augment the approaching grief soon after occasion'd by his unexpected Death The Duke de la Valette had in the interim of these Dispatches from the King and the Prince of Condé been oblig'd to make a Journey to Court to which he had been engag'd contrary both to his Majesties express Order and also his own resolution He knew very well the ill Offices had been done him to the Cardinal since the business of Corbie glanc'd at in the preceding Discourse he was moreover very well acquainted with the implacable nature of the person who conceiv'd himself so highly offended by him to which his power was no less known to him than his malice considerations that altogether had made him positively determine not to put himself into his hands that he might not add to the number of those who had already tasted the utmost effects of his Indignation choosing rather to live in his Government in safety though in disgrace than to expose himself to the almost inevitable dangers he was to wade through to a faint and dissembled Reconciliation But how determinate soever he had been in that resolution it was impossible for him to keep it for those who had imprudently engag'd his Majesty in a War with Spain as maliciously made the Cardinal some overtures of Accommodation as a thing solicited by the Duke de la Valette himself who desir'd nothing less exposing him by that means to the greatest hazard he perhaps ever ran in the whole time of his Life The Treaty however being thus set on Foot the Duke seeing himself reduc'd to a necessity either of breaking openly with the Cardinal or of going immediately to him chose in truth the most dangerous course but withal that by which he could at that time alone secure the Fortune of his Family and the repose of the Duke his Father which he ever preferr'd before his own particular safety This last consideration therefore prevail'd with him to undertake this Journey so that he went to Court and had some Conference with the Cardinal who because he would make all the use of him he could before he would destroy him thinking fit to spare him at that time with a dissimulation peculiar to himself receiv'd him at the greatest rate of kindness and feeedom could possibly be put on protesting an absolute Oblivion of all former discontents and making the King to give him the same assurance which being done he dismiss'd him much more satisfied that he had escap'd the present danger than any ways secure of his good intention for the time to come At his return from this Voyage he found the Prince of Condé already arriv'd in Guienne The Duke his Father had receiv'd him at Bordeaux with all imaginable Honours wherein though doubtless there was a great deal due to his Quality as being a Prince of the Blood yet it is most certain that in this unusual complacency the Duke had an equal regard to his Person His respect proceeded so far that not content to pay him all the deference and submission he was capable of in his own person he would moreover extend his civility further by employing his Authority and interest with the Parliament of that City for his full satisfaction The Prince would that at their coming to visit him they should Complement him by the title of Monseigneur and the Company insisted upon the contrary as a term at that time not in use but the Duke interposing thereupon the Interest he had in the Deputies of that Assembly prevail'd with them so far that the Ceremony pass'd in the end according to the Princes desire All these Civilities paid by way
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
his Disease he dy'd environ'd by three of his Children several Divines and all his Domestick Servants the last whereof having with unparallel'd Care and Diligence attended him all the time of his Sickness continued still the same Services and Respect till they brought him to his Grave He was entred into the fourscore and eighth year of his Age by which long series of time he had had the advantage of seeing himself the most Ancient Duke and Peer of France the most Ancient Officer of the Crown the most Ancient General of an Army the most Ancient Governour of a Province the most Ancient Knight of the Order the most Ancient Counsellor of State and the Oldest Man of Condition almost of his Time The End of the Twelfth and Last Book of the Life of the Duke of Espernon FINIS Some Books Printed for Henry Brome at the Gun at the West End of St. Pauls Mr. Simpson's Division Viol in three Parts in Folio His Compendium of Musick in five Parts Octavo Bishop Saundersons Five Cases of Conscience Octavo Sir Kenelme Digby's Receipts in Physick and Chyrurgery Also his Cabinet opened for making Metheglin Sydar Cherry-Wine with Directions for Cookery Preserving Conserving and Candying Octavo The Complete Body of the Art Military both for Horse and Foot with the Art of Gunnery By Richard Elton L. C. and Thomas Rudd Chief Engineer to King Charles the First Folio Scarronnides or Virgil Travestié a Mock Poem Octavo Mr. A. Bromes Poems and Songs Octavo Dr. Browns Vulgar Errors and Urne Burial Quarto The Dukes Extraction * D' Avila * Mr. De Thoâ— D' Aâ—bignâ— Remarkable exploits of Iohn de la Valette the Dâ—â—e's Father Anno 157â— The first Exploit of Iean Louis called Caumont Anno 1573. Anno 1574. Caumonts first Jâ—urney to Court Anno 1575. 1576. The memoires of Queen Mar. Aubigné Caumont withdraws himself from the King of Navarre Câ—umont's second journey to Court and the beginning of his Favour Anno 1577. The King 's first Bounty to Caumont Caumont follows the Duke of Alenson in the War He goes to the Siege of Brouage His return from the Siege of Brouage to Court Anno 1578. Anno 1579. Caumont's Embassy to Savoy St. Luc's disgrace Anno 1580. Auâ—igâ—é Aubigné Câ—umont's high Favoâ—r Anno 1581. A proposition of Marriage for the Duke of Espernon The journal of Henry the third Anno 1582. The two Favourites made Dukes and Peers of 〈◊〉 Anno 1583. The state of Affairs at Court and the Kings condâ—ct The Duke advances his own Relations Anno 1584. The first commotion of the League Anno 1585. The King sends the Duke of Espernon to treat with the King of Navarre D' Aâ—â—igné The League makes the Duke of Espâ—rnon's Voyage a Pretense to stir up the people The Duke of Guise attempts to win the Duke of Espernon to his side by giving him his Daughter The second pretense of the League The Office of Colonel General of France erected The Duke of Guise's complaints The League takes up Arms. The description of the City of Metz and iâ—s importance * 〈…〉 Sheriff The Progress of the League The Rupture betwixt the Duke of Espernon and Villeroy The Duke of Guise approaches with his Army near Paris The Queen Mother sent to Treat of a Peace The Treaty concluded at Nemours The War begun by the King against the Hugonots Chambres Mi-parties were Courts of Justice establish'd in divers Cities of France in favour of the Hugonots of which Religâ—on the one half were and the other half Catholicks The Duke of Espernon sent with an Army into Provence Anno 1586. New discontents betwâ—xt the Duke Mounsieur de Villâ—râ—y The entry of the Reiters into France and the Kings prudent conduct in this War * Arrierebans which upon examination I find to be in effect the same thing with our Train-bands Mâ—smoires de la Ligue Anno 1587. The Marriage betwixt the Duke of Espernon and Marguerite de Foix and de Candalle Aâ—â—igné Thoâ— Bemâ—â— The Dâ—ke's Estate at hâ—s Marriâ—ge The Reiters enter into France The Duke Beats up a Qâ—arter of the German Horse De 〈◊〉 de Liguâ— The Reiters come to Composition and retire The loss of the Battel of Coutras The Duke of Espernon gratified with all the Offices vacant by the Death of the Duke of Ioyeuse As also those of Bellegarde kill'd at that Battel Des Memoires de la Ligue Mounsieur de la Valette Defâ—â—â—â— part of the Foreâ—gn Army De â—hou * The same who in D' Avila is called Alphonso Corso Anno 1588. D' Avila A Conspiracy of the sixteen upon the Kings Person Du journal de Henry III. * D' Avila says but seven De Sâ—rres says eight The Barricades The King retires to Chartres The Duke of Espernon's arrival at Chartrâ—s Contradictions amongst the Historians about the Duke's Reception at Court The League Print a Manifest against the Duke of Espernon and his Brother The Duke resolves to give way to the time and to retire Several opinions upon the Dukes retirement The Dâ—ke reâ—â—â—â— into his Governments The Dâ—ke of Guise comes to Court * De Guez was Balâ—â—c's Father The Duke publishes an Answer to the Manifest of the League The Duke arrives at Angouâ—esme The King commands the Inhaâ—itants of the City not to receive the Duke But too late Anno 1558. The Conspiracy of Aâ—goulesâ—â—e against the Duke of Espernon * In whâ—ch Lâ—bel the Duke of Espernon was compared to Pierce Gaveston as Iâ—an de Serres reports * An Alâ—rm Bell which it is the custom in France to ring upon any Tâ—mult or Insurrection The end of the Action The King of Nâ—varre endeavours to draw the Duke over to his Party The Duke excuses himself The King of Navarre tries again to perswade the Duke but in vain The Affairs of the Court during the Duke's absence The Duke of Guise in suspense whether or no he should pursue his Designs The Duke of Guise confirm'd â—n his first resolutions The King resolves upon his death New Ministers chosen after the Duke of Guise's Death The Duke call'd back to Court Anno 1589. Some actions of the Duke during his retirement The Dâ—ke's Forces A generous act of the Duke D' Avilaâ— Mâ—â—â—sieur 〈◊〉 Thoâ— The Duke re-inforc'd by new Supplies The Command of the Rear-guard reserv'd for the Dâ—ke of Espernon The Duke's arrival at the Army and his favourable reception Mâ—unsiâ—â—â— de 〈◊〉 He enters into higher favour than ever The King 's generous Resolution The King marches from Tours to Paris The King of Navarre's first aversion for the Duke of Espernon Encrease at the Siege of Estampes The taking of Montâ—reaâ— faut-yonne The Surrender of Pontoise The Siege of Paris and the death of Henry the Third Several Propositions about the new King amongst the Chiefs of the Army The Lords Catholick send his Majesty their Resolution His Majesties Answer The major part of the Catholick Lords submit to the
the Duke his Father After having preserv'd Metz by disarming the Inhabitants The Duke of Mayenne refuses to accept the Peace and endeavours to engage the Duke of Espernon in his discontents Who refuses to stir The King goes into Guienne and Bearne The Duke of Espernon presents himself to the King and asks his pardon And is very well receiv'd The Duke receives a promise of his Majesties coming to his house at Cadillas Where he is maâ—nificently entertain'â— The King departs from Cadillac to go into Bearne And reduces that Province to their obedience Which nevertheless continueâ— but a short space Anno 1621. The Archbishop of Tholouzâ— made Cardinal The Duke's expedition into Bearâ—â— The Duke receives his Commission The Duke begins his Journey A great number of Gentlemen come in to follow the Duke of Espâ—rnon in this expedition The Maâ—quis de la Force sends to â—â—vert the Duke â—â—om comâ—ing into Bearne The sudden terror of the Bearnois As also of the Souldiery The Duke quiets Bearne in a very short time And at very little expense A generous act of the Dâ—ke of Espernâ—n The Duke of Espernon returns out of Bearne to the Siege of St. Ieâ—n de Angely The King 's great favour and justice to the Duke of Espernon at his return from his expedition of Bearne The Duke of Espernon applyeâ— himself to the Sâ—ege The Marquis de la Valette receives a Musquet-shot before St. Iean dâ— Aâ—gely St. Iean de Angely surrendred The Duke of Espâ—rnon preserves the Town of St. Iean de Angely from being sack'd by the Souldier The Duke of Espernon's employment before Râ—châ—â—le The Duke receives the command of the Army at Cognac He obtains of the King Monsieur d' Aâ—try now Chancellor of France for Intâ—ndant de Iustice in this expedition The Duke of Espernon takes up his Quarters before Rochelle Several actions before Rochelle betwixt the Duke of Espernon and the besieged The first propositions that were made to the Duke for the blocking up the Harbour of Râ—chelle The surprizal of the Isle of Maron by the Duke of Espernon The King's exploits in Guienne The death of the Duke de Luines Anno 1622. The Duke of Espernon goes to the King at Poictiers The Duke of Espernon sent to lay Sieâ—e to Râ—yan Royan taken to the Duke of Espernon's great â—onour Strange Wounds The march of the Kings Army into Guienne and their progress there The Duke of Espernon receives his Patent for the Government of Guienne A comparison betwixt the Dukes of Espernon and l' Esdiguieres with some reflections upon the different ways of their advancement The Duke resolves to attend the King's person in his expeditions The Duke of Espernon takes a Journy into Catalognia The Duke's reception in all the Cities through which he pass'd The Dâ—ke of Espernon returns out of Catalognia The Siege of Montpelliâ—r A prudent counsel of the Duke of Espernon which not being follow'd cost the lives of a great many very brave men Another prudent advice of the Duke of Espernon's rejected The Peace concluded before Montpelliâ—r The King returns towards Paris The King comes to Lyons where the Marriage is celebrated betwixt the Duke de la Valette and Mâ—dâ—moiselle de Verneüil Anno 1623. The Dâ—ke of Espernon goes â—owards Guienne The begiâ—ning of the ill intelligence betwixt the Duke and the first President de Goâ—rgues Which begets that betwixt the Duke and the Parliament The Duke arrives in Guienne The Duke's reception at Bordeaâ—x * Iuraâ—s de Bordeaux are the same with the Sheriffâ— in other Câ—ties A difference betwixt the Duke and the Mareschal de Themines the Kings Lieutenant in Guienne * Or chief Jurisdiction An Accommodation betwixt the Duke and the Mareschal Themines The Duke coâ—es to aâ— open rupâ—â—re with the first President Who engages the company in â—is quarrel The Duke settles his Domestick Affairs The Duke of Espâ—rnon goes to Court Arrives at Paris Anno 1624. A generous act of the Duke of Espernon The Duke goes from Paris Cardinal Richelieu created chief Minister of State New differences betwixt the Duke of Espernon and the Parliament of Bordeaux The Cardâ—nal Richelieu opposite to the Duke Anno 1625. A new War The Revolt of Montauban The Duke's Forces The Countrey about Montauban laid waste Those of the Religion make a vigorous resistance Soubizâ— endeavoâ—rs to divert the Duke The Peace concluded Anno 1626. A new breach betwixt the Duke and the Parliament of Bordeaux Which grows to a very great height Leon Brâ—lart sent to Bordeaux to labour an Accommodatâ—on Wherein he does not sâ—â—ceed The business is referr'd to the Council who make an Award prejudicial to both parties A disorder at Court The Marriage betwixt the Monsiâ—ur and the Dutchâ—ss of Montpâ—nsiâ—r 〈◊〉 Letter to the Dâ—ke of Espernonâ—â— â—er great Uâ—cle Anno 1627. The Duke appoâ—nts a Tilting at Bordeâ—ux The Shipwrack of the Portugal Carricks The Duke de Candâ—le the Duke of Espernon's eldest Son comes to tâ—e Solemnity The Birth of the Duke of Candale the Duke of Espernon's Gâ—andchild The death of the Dâ—tchess de la Vaâ—ette 〈…〉 New occaâ—â—ons of misunderstanding betwixt the Duke and Cardinal Richeliâ—u about the wrack of the Câ—rrick The Cardinals pretensions The Duke's Title The Duke offers â—o 〈◊〉 to a reference which is refus'd by the Cardinal Monsieur Servient employ'd in the business who reconcâ—les the difference * Sous a peny the Sous de Paris or Sol Marque is peny â—arthing English * 〈◊〉 my Aâ—thour calâ—'d the Duke de 〈◊〉 Our English Authors that as they must needs be better inform'd of the motives of this War are likely better to inform us give a far different accompt Vide Bakers Chronicle The English land in the Isle of Ré * Six thousand our Historians say The Cardinals Orders to oppose the English Le Plessis the Duke of Espernon's Domestick Servant has the command of a Regiment â—onâ—err'd upon him upon this occasion Anno 1628. The Duke of Espernon's Letter of advice to the Duke of Angoulesme The Duke of Angoulesme's answer The Commotion of the whole Hugonot Paâ—ty And of Montauban * Chambre de l' Edict and Chambre Me-partie is all one it being as has been said elsewhere a Court erected in favour of those of the Religion consisting the one half of Catholicks and the other of those of their own party The Prince of Condé made the Lieutenant General in Guienne and some other adjoyning Provinceâ— The Duke of Espernon opposes himself to the Duke of Rohan who was moving with an Army to the relief of Rochelle The Prince of Condé lays Siege to St. Afrique With ill success The Duke sent Monsieur Fabert to Court The Duke of Espernon falls â—â—ck The Duke recovers Rochelle surrendred to the King Anno 1629. The death of 〈◊〉 Chief President de Gourgues Spain and Savoy invade Mantua The King goes into Italy The Duke de la Valette forces le pas de
of his own name only he so settled this Province in his Majesties obedience that it is at this time however the most remote perhaps the most quiet and obedient Member of his Kingdom If the Duke was careful to keep his own hands clean in what concern'd the King's Interest he was no less solicitous to keep others from embezzeling the Marquis de la Force's Goods who had fled from Pau in so great haste that he had left his Wardrobe Cabinets and Papers at random of all which the Duke took care to have an inventory taken leaving them safe seal'd up in the custody of a person in whom he knew the Marquis repos'd an entire trust Which being done he return'd loaden with glory and applause but nothing enrich'd either with the King's Money or the Estates of the people not so much as of any of those his Majesty had declar'd to be his enemies and consequently were lawful prey His Majesty thought the Duke to be most busie in the Affairs of Bearne when he receiv'd news that he had already done his work and was about to return Neither could the Duke knowing his Majesty was already grappled with those of the Religion and had laid Siege to St. Iean d' Angely take any rest till he had travell'd from the remotest part of the Kingdom to expose his life for his Service in those occasions wherein he saw his Majesties Person and Honour so far engag'd The Leaguer had been near a month set down when the Duke arriv'd and the King's Forces were so much cool'd in their first ardour that in all apparence the enterprize was not over-suddenly to be effected when the Duke's arrival very much chang'd the face of Affairs Nor do I add this to attribute any thing to him that is not justly his due he has so much honour besides I do not need to forge so small an addition to his Fame neither on the other side the thing being perfectly true ought he to be depriv'd of any particle of his right The Duke having at his arrival receiv'd from the King the applause due to his conduct in this expedition of Bearne and a Declaration from his own mouth of his Majesties high satisfaction whereof he had before receiv'd very favourable testimonies in the several dispatches had been sent him He humbly entreated his Majesty that he might for the future have the honour to serve in his own Army and attending upon his own Person and that he would further be pleas'd wherein his Majesty should vouchsafe to employ his Service that he might have the priviledge to receive his Commands immediately from his own mouth a favour that he easily obtain'd Now the reason why the Duke made this request was because a little before the Kings departure from Paris the Duke de Luines as Favourite not being satisfied with his Fortune unless he rais'd it above all the other great men of the Kingdom had made suit to be honour'd with the Dignity of Constable of France to arrive at which degree which he might well foresee would create him much envy having had occasion to make use of the Duke de l' Esdiguieres he would manifest his Gratitude for the good Offices he had receiv'd at his hands upon that occasion by dividing with him the Employments of this brave Command wherein reserving to himself the honour and emoluments of the place The Duke de l' Esdiguieres under the Title of Mareschal General de Camp executed all the Functions and trouble of it The Duke of Espernon therefore finding at his coming to this Siege so many Commanders in Chief represented to his Majesty That since he had first had the honour to be in Armies he had never been commanded by any but the Kings his Masters nor had ever receiv'd Orders but from them That therefore iin the age he now was he should be very froward and refractory to lose that advantage and to be subjected to the Mareschal de l' Esdiguieres whose worth though he had in high honour and esteem he believ'd nevertheless that the Mareschal himself would not pretend to be above him That he was both an older General an older Officer of the Crown and of much longer standing than the other in all the Dignities to which they had both been advanc'd and that therefore he assur'd himself his Majesty would not deprive him of a preeminence due to his age whereunto the Kings his Predecessors had rais'd him and wherein they had so long maintain'd him which was the only thing he had to desire of his Majesty that he might live satisfied in his Service Neither did the King â—tick franckly to gratifie him in his request which was also allowed to be so reasonable by all that even those whose interest it had been to dispute it chearfully acquiesc'd in his design After this the Duke going to view the Leaguer he especially staid at that Post where the Marquis de la Valette his Son who had one of the approaches committed to his Conduct commanded in Chief and where not being able to contain himself within the discretion of a Superficial Survey the present danger calling up his wonted Valour and the frost of old Age not being of force to freeze his natural heat he had no sooner spy'd in the Trenches one of the eldest Captains of the Regiment of Guards but that calling him to him he made him mount with him upon the Parapet at open view of the Enemy to consider the strength and situation of the place with the order of the Siege Those who were with him were not a little troubled to see him without any necessity expose himself to so manifest a peril neither did they fail though they from the Town sufficiently shew'd him that by the numerous Musquet-shot they made at him to represent to him several times the danger he was in but he taking no notice of them that press'd him in vain to retire continued still his discourse with the Captain shewing him here and there what he observ'd to be well or ill dispos'd in the order of the Leaguer with as much indifferency as he had been in the securest place in the world a piece of bravery 't is said the old Souldier could have been well content to have been excus'd from it being as he conceiv'd very much out of season when the Duke having told him in the end that it was fit they should let the young people see their white Beards were not to be frighted away with noise he came down at last to the astonishment of all in the Trenches who saw the action that he could carry it with that unconcernedness and strange security in so desperate a place The Duke having thus taken a view of the Town gave himself instructions for their further proceeding in their Works which the Marquis his Son executed with so extraordinary diligence that they had soon made their approaches to the very graff of the City and
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
the place having the Sea open to them two several times convey'd Relief into the Fortress in the very face of our Land Army and at one of those put a Governour into it a Relief of so infinite importance as that it was first the cause of the places preservation and afterwards of the disaster that befel the Royal Arms. I shall not trouble my Reader with a long Narrative of the manner of this Siege I could on the contrary wish it were in my power to extinguish the memory of it for ever not that the Enemy however obtain'd any so signal reputation by it they only making use of a kind of Lethargy of which our whole Army was at that time sick so that although they made shift to kill a few people that lay without motion and consequently uncapable of any resistance yet had they no other advantage by it than what their Fortune and our mischance combin'd together put into their hands even beyond their own aim or expectation And this is all I should have said of this business had not some endeavour'd to have engag'd the Duke de la Valett's Honour in the miscarriage but his interests being not to be separated from those of the Duke his Father and the concern here being the vindication of Truth and the defence of both their Honours from Calumny and the malice of malevolent men I coâ—ceive I may here be permitted to say always retaining the respect due to those who were not very favourable to them that it is not to be deny'd but that the Duke de la Valette was the first man who going over on foot and up to the middle in water at the head of the Army open'd the way into the Enemies Country beating them from the Trenches they had cast up upon the Banks of the River to defend that Pass That at the Quarter where he commanded in the Siege he had very much advanc'd his Approaches and so as had infallibly reduc'd the place to a necessity of being taken on that side had it not been reliev'd neither is it to be contradicted but that he gave advice to Fight thâ— Relief so soon as ever it began to appear They know moreover very well that he had nothing at all to do in the Siege at the time it was rais'd he having resign'd his Post to the Archbishop of Bordeaux by express Order from the Prince and under his own hand that he was above a League distant from the Battel when it was sought and that being totally ignorant of the disorder till he had it from the Run-aways who brought the Alarm into his Quarters he thereupon immediately put himself into the head of those men he had with him That he rallied as many as he could of those that were squandered and that with these and his own men having staid the pursuit of the Conquerours he by that means preserved all those who had escap'd from the Defeat These truths though sufficiently known to all the world were not nevertheless of force to hinder his Enemies from laying the whole miscarriage of this business at his door and from charging him who was certainly innocent with the fault of ten thousand who were guilty He was not so much as permitted without a Crime to set a manly counâ—enance upon this disaster or to manifest his Courage and Assurance upon so dangerous an occasion even his Valour and constancy an unheard of injustice were the main things in his Accusation it being objected against him that he was glad of the mischance and was observ'd to laugh at the Defeat because he did not appear dejected and shew'd a countenance void of fear and confusion He was not however so unjust to them but has ever commended as there was just cause both the Actions and Intentions of those who commanded at this Siege never doubting in the least of their Sincerity and passionate desire to serve the King effectually and well and ever believing that had their Valour been seconded as it ought to have been they would have obtain'd those advantages over the Enemy was reasonably to be expected from their Bravery and good Conduct But if the chance of Arms was contrary to them if the panick Terror that seiz'd the Souldier would not permit them to follow the example of their Leaders and if his Counsels which would have procur'd safety to the Army were not follow'd or approv'd why should he be rendred criminal for not having been able to prevail upon the humours or opinions of other men Some days before this Disgrace hapned the Duke of Espernon had return'd without Order into his Government after having continued some months at his House Plassac wherein his design in truth was to have pass'd away his time in repose at his other House Cadillac without intermedling at all with the trouble of Affairs neither would he so much as go to Bordeaux to the end that what accident soever should happen nothing might reflect upon him nor that he might any ways appear responsible for the event of things which he ever apprehended would be finister enough and seeing the Orders had been left in the Province deposited in the hands of men of very little Experience and Authority and who had scarce any other argument to recommend them to that trust save only the hatred they openly bare to him he very well judg'd by the apparence which prov'd also in the end but too certain that from these Orders ill executed as they were like to be nothing but disaster and confusion could ensue Whilst the Duke liv'd in apprehension of this mishap he receiv'd the joyfullest news that could possibly arrive which was that of the Birth of Monsegnieur the Dolphin the same whom we now see reigning with so much Glory and Happiness in the Throne of France that there is not that prosperity can fall within the limits of Humane Expectation we may not reasonably promise to our selves from so auspicious a beginning By a Dispatch from the King dated the fifth of September the precise day of this illustrious Birth the Duke was to order a publick Thanksgiving and to cause Bonfires to be made for Joy of this Blessing to his Majesty and the whole Kingdom The Courrier who had been expressly dispatch'd away to the Duke having found him at Cadillac willing without all doubt to flatter his credulity told him That it was his Majesties desire he should himself in person be assisting at the Ceremonies which were to be perform'd in the City of Bordeaux to render the Solemnity the more Iâ—lustrious by his Presence a deceit that gave a strange addition of joy to the good old Duke who could not in himself but hug and applaud his own foresight by which he had so seasonably prevented the King's desire and in that pleasing error he departed from Cadillac the 29 th of the same month to go to Bordeaux where being arriv'd he began the very same Evening