which shall be advised to be just and reasonable for our reconciliation And in case it be advised for the service of the King the good and quiet of the said Province and to compass the ends of our intentions that it be necessary to hold correspondence with other neighbouring Provinces we promise to succour and aid them with all our power and means in such manner as shall be order'd by the Lieutenant of the King or other having power from his Majesty And we also promise to employ our selves with all our power and means to preserve and kéep the State Ecclesiastique from all oppression and injury and if by way of action or otherwise any one attempts to doe them damage be it in their persons or their goods to oppose such person and defend them as being united and Associated with them for the defence and preservation of the Honour of God and our Religion And because it is not our intention any ways to molest those of the new opinion who will contain themselves from enterprizing any thing against the Honour of God the Service of the King the good and quiet of his Subjects we promise to preserve them without their being any ways put in trouble for their Consciences or molested in their persons goods honours and families Provided that they do not contravene in any sort that which shall be by his Majesty ordain'd after the conclusion of the General Estates or any thing whatsoever of the said Catholique Religion And forasmuch as this cause ought to be common indifferently to all persons who make profession to live in the Catholique Religion we the Under-written admit and receive into the present Union all persons placed in Authority and Estate of Iudicature and Iustice Corporations of Towns and Commonalties of the same and generally all others of the third Estate living Catholiquely as it hath béen said promising in like manner to maintain preserve and kéep them from all violence and oppression be it in their persons or their goods every one in his quality and vocation We have promised and sworn to kéep these Articles abovesaid and to observe them from point to point without ever contravening them and without having regard to any â—riendship kindred and alliance which we may have to any person of any quality and Religion whatsoever who shall oppose or break the Commandments and Ordinances of the King the good and quiet of this Kingdom and in like manner to kéep secret the present Association without any communication of it or making any person whomsoever privy to it but onely such as shall be of the present Association The which we will swear and affirm also upon our Consciences and Honours and under the penalties here abovementioned The whole under the Authority of the King renouncing all other Associations if any have béen heretofore made J. Humieres L. Chaulnes F. de Poix A. de Monchy S. de Monchy De Payllart Mailly Anthonie de Gouy Loys de Querecques Lovis d' Estournel Adrian de Boufflers F. de St. Blymond De Rouveroy Jehan de Baynast L. de Warluzer C. de Trerquefmen Philippes de Marle Loys de Belloy A. du Caurel Pierre de Trouville A. Ravye J. de Baynast De Callonne De Lancry F. d' Aumalle A. de La Riviere A. de Humieres Du Biez Lameth F. Ramerelle Boncourt De Glisy A. du Hamel De Prouville L. de Valpergue Raul de Ponquet L. de Margival De Lauzeray M. Relly Francois Hanicque J. de Belloy Claude d' Ally Loys de Festart Du Chastellet P. de Mailleseu Charles de Croy. N. Le Roy. Jehan du Bos. N. de la Warde V. de Brioys Claude de Buâ—y J. Lamire Dessosses N. de Amerval Philippes de Toigny Guy Damiette Jehap de Flavigny N. de Hangest De Forceville P. de Canrry Charles d' Offay J. de Belleval A. de La Chapelle Loys d' Ancbont P. Truffier J. de Senicourt De Mons. Du Plassier Nicholas de Lontines N. de St. Blymon J. d' Amyens De Forceville De Monthomer P. de Bernettz De Rambures F. d' Acheu Flour de Baynast Ogier de Maintenant F. de Bacouel De Pende D. Aumalle Montoyvry De Sailly Aseuillers Francois de Conty O. de Poquesolle Sainte Maure De Rambures Claude de Crequy Jacque d' Ally Adrien de Jrin Jherosme de Fertin Le Caron De Montehuyot P. de La Roche R. de Mailly J. de Forceville La Gualterye N. de la Vieufville A. de la Vieufville A. de Mercatel De Perrin De Milly Josse de Saveuses Jehan de Bernetz A. de Boves Jehan d' Estourmal E. de St. Omer Belleforiere Antoine d' Ardre De la Vieufville A. de Monchy J. de Maulde J. de la Pasture L. Du Moulin A. du Quesnoy J. de Milly Francois de Saveuses De Lauzeray Loys de Moy. J. de Hallencourt De Sainte Anne De Villers J. de Happlaincourt A. de Broye Claude de Warsusell Jehan de Caron Charles de Caron A. De Lameth A. de Camousson M. Destourmel Anthoine de Hamel Gilles de Boffles P. de Saint Deliz Heilly J. de Belloy A. de Biencourt Jehan de Biencourt Claude de Pontaine De Nointel Pierre de Bloletiery Adrian Picquet Anthoine Le Blond Jehan Picquet Le Grand De Basincourt Augustin d' Auxy J. de Verdellot E. Tassart J. de Montain Genvoys Du Menil J. Dey J. Tassart Assevillers Charles de Pontaine Du Breulle De Hauteville A. de Mousquet J. du Nas. Sebastien de Hangre J. de la Motte De Hacqueville A. Noyelle C. de Pas. Charles du Plessier Saint Leu Simon Du Castel Francois du Castel A. de Ptolly A. de Estourmel A. de L' Orme Jehan du Bosc. Jehan de Bernetz De Louchart De Warmade A. de Guiery Du Caurell De Sericourt Du Mesnis De Cambray A. de Lancry Du Puids Domons A. de Bithisy De Marmicourt Berton Pierre Le Cat. This day being the thirteenth of February in the year one thousand five hundred seventy seven We the Underwritten being congregated and Assembled in the town-Town-House of Peronne according to the appointment of the High and Puissant Lord Messire Iaques de Humieres Knight of the order of the King our Sovereign Counsellour in his Privy Council his Chamberlain in Ordinary Captain of fifty men of Arms of the Establishment Governour anâ— Lieutenant for his Majesty of Peronne Montdidier and Roye and Head of the Holy League and Catholique Association in Picardy have to the said Lord made Oath and Sworn upon the Holy Evangelists to keep inviolably and punctually the Articles here above written of the said Association and Holy League and that for the Body and Inhabitants of the said Town representing them Done in the Chamber of the said Town the day c. abovesaid and we have all sign'd it Claude Le Fevre Register of the said Town L. Desmerliers F. de Hen. L. Le Fevre F. Morel De Flamicourt Le Caron
he was in a manner absolute both by the great Authority of his own merit and that which was deriv'd to him from his Father This Nobleman having formerly been ill us'd by the Lords of Montmorency then in power and having been hinder'd by them from entring into possession of a fair Inheritance which he claim'd as rightfully belonging to him had put himself into the interests of the former great Duke of Guise a declar'd Enemy of the Huguenots And that Prince to bind more â—irmly to his party to the cause of Religion and to his Family a Person so considerable had procur'd him to be Knight of the order of St. Michael at that famous promotion which was made by Francis the Second on the Feast of St. Michael in the year 1560. Insomuch that the young Duke of Guise doubted not that the concernment which this Lord had to maintain himself in the Government of Peronne join'd in the present posture of affairs with zeal either true or apparent for Religion and the particular obligations he had to the House of Guise would render him capable to be dispos'd of absolutely in the execution of that high enterprise on which he was himself resolv'd it seeming to him that he cou'd never expect a better opportunity and that all things were conspiring in his favour In effect there was nothing wanting that cou'd possibly concur either of good or ill to make that succeed which he had resolv'd so firmly for two years together and which in process of time was capable of raising him to a higher pitch of greatness than at present he cou'd possibly conceive how vast soever those idea's of power and authority were with which he flatter'd his ambitious imagination He was a Prince at that time in the flower and vigour of his age which was about thirty years furnish'd with all those admirable qualities and perfections both of Soul and Body which are most capable of charming the Hearts and acquiring an absolute empire over the Souls of the people who were even enchanted with his graces and almost idoliz'd his person For he was tall of Stature excellently well proportion'd altogether resembling what is commonly attributed to Heroes having the features of his face of a Masculine Beauty his Eyes sparkling and full of Fire but whose lively and piercing motion was temper'd with a certain kind of sweetness His forehead large smooth and at all times serene accompanied with an agreeable smile of his mouth which charm'd even more than those obliging words of which he was not sparing to those who press'd about him his complexion lively white and red and which 〈◊〉 honourable Scar remaining of the wound he had receiv'd by a Pistol Bullet on his left Cheek when he defeated a party of the Reiters of Casimir which William de Montmorency Sieur de Thore conducted to the Duke of Alanson heightn'd to much more advantage than all the ornaments which the vanity of Women has invented to add a lustre to their Beauty His walk was grave and stately yet neither Pride nor affectation appear'd in it In all his Garb there was a certain inexpressible air of heroique greatness which was made up of sweetness audacity and a noble haughtiness without any thing of shocking or ungracefull in his whole composition Which altogether inspir'd a mixture of love of awe and of respect into his conversation This admirable outside was animated with an inside yet more wonderfull by reason of those excellent qualities which he possess'd of a Soul that was truly great being liberal magnificent in all things sparing nothing to make Dependents and to gain persons of all sorts of conditions but principally the Nobility and the Souldiers civil obliging popular always ready to doe good to those who address'd themselves to him generous magnanimous not to be mov'd to injure any man no not to hurt even his greatest Enemies but by honourable ways extremely persuasive in discourse disguising his thoughts when he appear'd most open wise and prudent in his Counsells bold prompt and valiant in the execution of them chearfully enduring all the hardships of War in common with the meanest Soldier exposing his person and contemning the greatest dangers to compass what he had once determin'd But that which gave the greatest lustre to so many noble qualities was the quite contrary of all these in the person of the King who by his ill conduct rather than his ill fortune had lost the affection of the greatest part of France and chiefly of the Parisians which by the highest disorder that cou'd possibly happen in a State was already transferr'd to him who from his subject began openly to appear his Rival in the thing of the World whereof Monarchs are and ought to be most jeaâ—â—â—â—â— But as there is no Mine of Gold where the pretious Metal is so wholly pure as to be found unmix'd with common Earth so were these great natural endowments of the Duke of Guise debas'd by the mixture of many imperfections and vices of which the principal was the insatiable desire of greatness and of glory and that vast Ambition to which he made all other things subservient Besides which he was rash presumptuous self-conceited wedded to his own opinions and despising the advice of others though that more covertly subtile unsincere no true friend but centring all things in his own interest though he appear'd the most obliging and the most officious of all men yet the good he did was onely in order to himself always covering his vast designs by the specious pretence of publique good and the preservation of the true Religion too much confiding in his own good fortune loosing and hoodwincking himself in his prosperity which gave him such a gust of the present pleasure that he cou'd not think of taking his precautions for the future to conclude giving up himself too much to the love of Women of whom nevertheless without their being able to divert him from the care he took of his great concern he dextrously made use to advance it by their means and without their knowing that they were his Instruments Yet in spight of all these vices which were indeed most subtly manag'd or disguis'd under the most fair appearances and veil'd with a profound dissimulation his vertues at the same time glittering and blazing over all the World he was universally ador'd and lov'd particularly by the Parisians and even they who knowing him at the bottom cou'd not love him yet cou'd not hinder themselves from admiring him which doubtless is a most uncommon thing that a man shou'd be able at the same time to deserve and gain the peoples love and the admiration of those who were so clear sighted as to discover his imperfections and vices Such was the famous Duke of Guise whom that amiable mark of the Pistol Bullet which as I said he receiv'd in defeating some Troops of Calvinists and Rebels caus'd to be surnam'd THE SCARR'D And who in those times of which
In the third Article the Associates assume to themselves to be Masters of the State while under pretence of reforming it they ridiculously take upon them to abrogate the Laws observ'd by our Ancestours in the second and third race of our Kings and wou'd establish the customes and uâ—ances which were practis'd in the time of Clovis which is just the same thing that certain Enthusiasts sometimes have attempted in the Church who under the specious names of the Reform'd and Primitive Church endeavoured to revive some ancient Canons which now for many ages have not been observ'd and gave themselves the liberty to condemn the practices and customes authoriz'd by the Church of remisness and abuse since it belongs onely to the Church according to the diversity of times and of occasions to make new regulations in its Government and Discipline without touching the capital points that relate to the Essentials of Religion To conclude from the fourth Article to the twelfth there are visible all the marks and the foulest characters of a Rebellion form'd and undertaken against their Prince particularly where there is promis'd an exact obedience in all things to the Head whom they shall elect and that they will employ their lives and fortunes in his service that in all Provinces they will levy Souldiers and raise money for the support of the common cause and that all those who shall declare themselves against the League shall be vigorously prosecuted by the Associates who shall revenge themselves without exception of person which in the true meaning is no other thing than the setting up a second King in France in opposition to the first against whom they engag'd themselves to take Arms in these terrible words without exception of person in case he should go about to hinder so criminal an usurpation of his Royal Authority Such was the Copy of the League in those twelve Articles which were Printed and dispers'd through all Christendom as we are inform'd by an Authour who was contemporary to it and has given it at large in his History of the War under Henry the Fourth But being conceiv'd in certain terms which are too bold and which manifestly shock the Royal Majesty Monsieur d' Humieres a prudent man reduc'd them into a form incomparably less odious in which preserving the Essentials of the League of which he was Head in Picardy he appears notwithstanding to do nothing but by the authority and for the service of the King Now as it is extremely important to understand throughly this Treaty of Peronne from which the League had its beginning which is not to be found in any of our Authours and the Original of which I have as it was sign'd by almost two hundred Gentlemen and after them by the Magistrates and Officers of Peronne I thought I shou'd gratifie my Readers by communicating to them a piece so rare and so Authentique which has luckily fallen into my hands They will be glad to see in it the Genius the reach and the policy of that dextrous Governour and Lieutenant to the King who in declaring himself Head of the League in his Province and procuring it to be sign'd by so great a number of Gentlemen took so much care to make it manifest at least in appearance that he intended always to give to Caesar what belong'd to Caesar and that the Imperial rights should be inviolably preserv'd in that Treaty For they protest in all their Articles and that with all manner of respect in the most formal terms that nothing shall be done but with his good liking and by his Orders though in pursuance of this all things were manag'd to a quite contrary end But it frequently happens that men engage themselves with an honest meaning and are led by motives of true zeal in some aâ—fairs whereof they foresee not the dangerous consequences which produce such pernicious effects as never enter'd into their first imagination Behold then this Treaty in eighteen Articles together with the subscriptions of the Gentlemen and Officers whereof some are written in such awkward Characters and so little legible that I could never have unriddled them without the assistence of a person very skilfull in that difficult art of deciphering all sorts of ancient writing I mean Don Iohn Hericart an ancient man in Holy Orders of the Abbey of St. Nicholas aux Bois in Picardy who having labour'd to place in their due order and to copy out the Titles and Authentique piâ—câ—s of many ancient Monasteries applies himself at present by permission from my Lord Bishop of Laon his superiour to a work so necessary in the Treasury of Chartres and in the famous Library of the Abbey Royal of St. Victor of Paris where he has found wherewithall to exercise the talent of the most knowing on a great number of Titles of more than six hundred years standing and above three thousand Manuscripts of the rarest and most Ancient sort which compose the most pretious part of that excellent and renowned Library 'T is then to this man's industry that I am owing for this piece and to deal sincerely so as not to pass my conjectures on the Reader for solid truths I have left Blanks for two of their names because the letters which compos'd them cou'd never be certainly distinguish'd The Association made betwixt the Princes Lords Gentlemen and others as well of the State Ecclesiastique as of the Noblesse and third Estate Subjects and Inhabitants of the Countrey of Picardy IN the Name of the Holy Trinity and of the Communication of the pretious body of Jesus Christ. We have promis'd and sworn upon the Holy Gospels and upon our Lives Honours and Estates to pursue and keep inviolably the things herein agreed and by us subscribed on pain of being for ever declared forsworn and infamous and held to be men unworthy of all Gentility and Honour First of all it being known that the great practices and Conspiracies made against the honour of God the Holy Catholick Church and against tâ—e Estate and Monarchy of this Realm of France as well by some Subjects of the same as by Foreigners and the long and continual wars and Civil divisions have so much weakened our Kings and reduc'd them to such necessity that it is no longer possible for them of themselves to sustain the expence convenient and expedient for the preservation of our Religion nor hereafter to maintain us under their protection in surety of our persons families and fortunes in which we have heretofore received so much loss and damage We have judged it to be most necessary and seasonable to render in the first place the honour which we owe to God to the manutention of our Catholique Religion and even to shew our selves more affectionate for the preservation of it than such as are strayed from the good Religion are for the advancement of a new and false opinion And to this effect we swear and promise to employ our selves with all our
afterwards on the same day King of Poland and some time after King of France as Lewis of Tarento had receiv'd his two Crowns of Ierusalem and Sicily on the like day before he took a fancy to renew that Order four years after his Coronation But desiring to be esteem'd the Authour of it he chang'd the Collar where he plac'd certain Ciphers to which has been substituted in following times the Coat of Arms in manner of a Trophy as it is at present to be seen And after he had transcrib'd what best pleas'd him from the Statutes of that Order he commanded Monsieur de Chiverny to burn the Original thereby totally to extinguish the mâ—mory of it But that Minister though most faithfull to his Master believing not that he was bound to be the Executioner of that Order this rare piece descended to the Bishop of Chartres his Son from whom by succession of time it fell into the hands of the late President de Maisons as it is related by Monsieur le Laboreur who has given us the Copy at large in the second Tome of his Additions to the Memoires of Monsieur de Castelnau In this manner this famous Order was rather restor'd than instituted by King Henry the Third to combine a new Militia of Knights which he might oppose against the Leaguers who were much dissatisfi'd with the Peace which he had given to the Huguenots Nevertheless this Peace was not so well observ'd but that from time to time they created new disturbances which two or three years afterwards kindled the seventh War after the refusal they had made to surrender those cautionary Towns which had been granted them for a certain time which was then expir'd and by their surprisal of some other places But this War was ended in the second year after the conferences of Nerac and Fleix by a peace which lasted four or five years till the League which from the time wherein the King had made himself their Head had not dar'd to attempt any thing all on the sudden declar'd it self against him under another the occasion of which I am going to relate Immediately after the peace was made the Catholiques and Huguenots whom the Civil War had arm'd against each other joyn'd themselves to serve in the Army of the Duke d' Alanson who being declar'd Duke of Brabant by the States of the United Provinces of the Netherlands entred as it were in Triumph into Cambray after he had rais'd the Seige which the Duke of Parma had laid to it And after having been proclam'd a Sovereign Prince in Antwerp and been receiv'd at Bruges and Ghent in the same quality he continued the War assisted underhand by Succours from France and openly by the Queen of England that he might drive the Spaniard out of all the Low-Countries On the other side the Queen Mother who had pretentions to the Crown of Portugal had also sent a gallant Navy to the Tercera Islands under the Command of her Kinsman Philip Strozzi and openly protected Don Antonio who after having lost the Battail before Lisbonne was fled for refuge into France and yet ceas'd not to dispute that Crown against King Philip of Spain For which reason that Prince who follow'd the Steps of his Father and of Ferdinand his great Grandfather by the Mother's side in this as in all other things thought of nothing more than how to greaten himself at our expence and appli'd himself with his utmost vigour to foment new divisions amongst us to hinder us from giving him trouble in his own Estates To this effect he us'd his best endeavours and employ'd all his arts to ingage the King of Navarre and Damville who after the death of his elder Brother was now Duke of Montmorancy to break the peace and renew the War in favour of the Huguenots making not the least scruple on that occasion to act against the true interest of Religion at the same time when he upbraided for the same thing those who in reality made the war in Flanders out of no other consideration but the relief of an oppress'd people of which even the greatest part were Catholiques But seeing that design of his cou'd not possibly succeed for certain reasons which belong not to this History he turn'd his thoughts towards the Duke of Guise and gave orders to his Ambassadour Mendoza to omit nothing which might oblige him to make the League take Arms which was already exceeding powerfull and of which he might absolutely dispose as being the principal Authour and the very Soul of it The Duke who was intrepid and bold even to rashness when he had once resolv'd upon his Business was notwithstanding very subtile and clear-sighted wary and prudent enough to take just measures and not to ingage in any Enterprise of which he was not as much assur'd as man cou'd be to have all the means of making it succeed From thence it proceeded that he resisted for a long time the temptation of great Sums that were offer'd him and held out against the threatnings of the Ambassadour to discover the secret treaty he had made with Don Iohn of Austria the Original of which was in the King of Spain's possession nay even against the pressing solicitations of his Brothers and the rest of the Princes of his House who being more impatient and less discerning than he thought every minute an age till he declar'd himself But at last arriv'd the fatal moment in which after having well examin'd all matters he thought that every thing concurr'd not onely to favour the design he had always had to make himself Head of the Catholique League but also to carry his hopes much farther than his ambition vast as it was had yet led him to imagine In Effect on the one side the King was reduc'd to a lower condition than he ever was before his immense prodigality in a thousand things altogether unworthy of the Royal Majesty and of no profit to the State the pomp the pride and the insupportable insolence of his Favourites his fantastique way of living which hurri'd him incessantly from one extâ—eme into another from retirement and solitude to a City life from Debauchery into Devotion and such a Devotion as pass'd in the peoples minds for a mere Mummery into those Processions of Penitents habited in Sackcloth of several colours where he walk'd himself with his disciplining whip at his Girdle against the Genius of a Nation which loves to serve God in spirit and in truth these and a thousand such like things wholly contrary to our customs and to the use of his Predecessours had drawn upon him such a detestation and so great a contempt from the greatest part of his Subjects that against the ordinary practice of the French who adore their Kings there were given a thousand publique marks and principally in Paris of the aversion which they had for him On the other side all things conspir'd in favour of the Duke of Guise
the Town but the passage wholly free For which reason drawing off a little on the left hand as did also Monsieur de Elbeuf on the right to make way for the Foot Monsieur de Guise having given the signal to the Infantry the three Battalions enter'd one after another into the great Street of Vimory where the Baggage of the Reyters lay And immediately having dispatch'd the first they met before they cou'd so much as ask the Word they enter'd the Houses on both sides the Street killing all the Germans whom they found some of them at their Supper some in bed and setting on fire the Granaries and Cellars to consume those who absconded in them This Execution lasted for half an hour during which they still went forward firing the Houses as they pass'd along which being at some distance from each other cou'd not spread the flames either so fast or so far as they desir'd And in the mean time the Souldiers tempted with the sight of the Reyters Wagons instead of staying to plunder till they had completed the victory as their duty is on the like occasions fell upon the Baggage in a hurry and loaded themselves with the richest part of the booty This gave leisure to the Baron of Dona who was lodg'd at the farther end of the Town to get on Horseback and rally six or seven Cornets with which he made shew of advancing against the Foot who seeing him coming on made ready to receive him and forsook their plunder at the same time calling out to their Horse to enter and sustain them This their Outcry caus'd two contrary effects which occasion'd two great skirmishes for on the one side the Baron fearing if he pass'd forward in the great Street through the Flames and Wagons with which it was incumber'd that he shou'd expose himself without defence to the Shot of the Infantry turn'd on the right hand to another Street adjoyning on the Plain on the other side the Duke of Mayenne who had taken on the left hand out of the Burrough coasting the Foot having heard their cry advanc'd precipitately before his Squadron who presently lost sight of him in the dark and follow'd onely by threescore Men of Arms put on at a gallop to the succour of the Foot through the same Street at the entry of which he rancounter'd the Baron with his gross of Reyters which charg'd him with extreme fury Never was there seen a Combat more unequal or more sharp The Baron who was exceeding brave discerning this Cavalry whose number he cou'd not distinguish in the dark rode up to him who was mounted on the white Horse at the head of those Cavaliers and fir'd his Pistol as he thought at the sight of his Helmet but it carried no higher than the Chin-piece 'T was the Duke of Mayenne who at the same time struck with his full force upon his head and swept off a good cantle of the skin after which both the one and the other pursuing his point the Baron with his second Pistol kill'd Rouvroy who bore the Duke's colours and pull'd them from him and the Duke well seconded by those few brave men who accompanied him at last broke through this gross of seven Cornets having lost seventeen Gentlemen in the fight which cost the lives of fourscore Reyters After this there happening a great Storm which separated the Combatants the rest of the Reyters being now gotten on Horseback and there being some danger lest the other Quarters which had already taken the Alarm shou'd fall upon them before day the Duke of Guise order'd them to sound the retreat He made it very fortunately to Montargis in the same order in which he came and brought back his Souldiers inrich'd with the booty which they had taken from the Reyters who lost in this occasion near a thousand Men betwixt Souldiers and Servants a considerable part of their Baggage and above twelve hundred Horses on which twelve hundred Foot were mounted in their return to Montargis and what most mortifi'd the Baron two Camels which he had design'd to present the King of Navarre and the Kettle Drums that are carried before the General as a mark of Honour the loss of which is accounted to be more shamefull than that of his own Standard Though this Victory was not very great yet it drew after it important consequences and made way by the dangerous effects which it had to the total ruine of their Army The Reyters who had lost the better half of their Baggage mutined afresh demanding their Pay and threatning to retire in case they were not satisfied which was not possibly to be done The Swissers sent their Deputies to the King to negotiate their return and the matter went so far that the Duke of Espernon who led the Vanguard of the Royal Army concluded the Treaty with them by which the King was oblig'd to pay them four hundred thousand Crowns and to grant them a free passage into their own Countrey The Lansquenets whom the fatigues of so tedious a march had reduc'd to a very ill condition were also thinking of some means to obtain the liberty of going home The Baron of Dona decri'd on all sides for his extreme neglect in not providing for the security of his Quarters had wholly lost his authority amongst them and the French who conducted them being continually reproach'd with the unfaithfulness of their promises were asham'd to shew their heads But at last the certain news of the great Victory obtain'd by the King of Navarre and the hope which consequently they had that he wou'd speedily appear with his victorious Army together with the arrival of the Prince of Conty whom he sent before to command them in his place till he shou'd himself come up restor'd their courage and caus'd a general rejoycing in the whole Army And because the King's Forces were gone to encamp at Bonneval to cut off their way and hinder them from descending lower by the Countrey of Vandome towards the Loire they took a resolution to change their Road and to march upwards towards the source of that River according to the King of Navarre's request But seeing they were at that time in good Quarters in the heart of Beauce and neighbourhood of Chartres they deferr'd for some days the departure of the Army And that gave opportunity to the Duke of Guise to accomplish at last with so much glory the execution of his design by the famous defeat of the Reyters at Auneau which was immediately succeeded by the total rout of that formidable Army That Prince who some few days after the Combat of Vimory had retir'd to Montereau-faut-â—onne as if he had turn'd his back upon the Germans who at the same time enter'd into Beauce and without caring what constructions might be made of his retreat which rais'd a very odd report concerning him there refresh'd his Men for ten or twelve days together and dismiss'd from thence the Dukes of Mayenne and
Eustache where he alighted and from thence to the Louvre following her on foot who had taken her Chair to conduct him to the King and was witness to those incredible transports of publique joy and acclamations of that innumerable herd of people which beat her ears incessantly with the name of Guise bellow'd from more than an hundred thousand mouths In the mean time the King who had heard with infinite rage of this sudden arrival of the Duke was shut up in his Closet where he was in consultation on that Prince's life or death who had been so blindly rash as to precipitate himself in his single â—erson into inevitable danger from whence onely his good fortune of which he was not Master cou'd deliver him Some there were and amongst others the Abbot d' Elbene and Colonel Alphonso d' Ornano with the most resolute of those Gascons whom the Duke of Espernon had plac'd amongst the five and forty to be always near the King's person who counsell'd that irresolute and wavering Prince to dispatch him on the spot having so fair a pretence and the means so ready in his hand to punish a rebellious Subject who in opposition to his express orders had audaciously presum'd to come to Paris as it were on purpose to let him know that he was absolute Master of it The rest more moderate and amongst them the Chancellour de Chiverny and the Sieurs de Bellievre de la Guiche and de Villequier Governour of Paris diswaded him from that attempt laying before him besides the dangerous consequences which this terrible action might produce in such a juncture that it always concern'd him both for his reputation and for the maintenance of the most inviolable Laws of natural equity before he pass'd to extremities to hear a man who came to put himself so freely into the hands of his King and to be answerable for all that was allâ—dg'd against him While these things were in debating and the king in suspence betwixt his anger and his fear uncertain which way to resolve the Duke who had pass'd through the French Guards commanded by Grillon who lov'd him not and through the Swissers which stood ranck'd on both sides of the great Stair-case and afterwards had travers'd the Hall and the Antichamber fill'd with people who made no very ceremonious returns to his salutations and civilities enter'd into the Presence Chamber disguising a sudden fright which seiz'd him intrepid as he was with the best face he cou'd set upon the matter which yet he cou'd not act so well but that it was easie to discern through that affectation of bravery that he cou'd have been well contented to have been in some other place and not to have ingag'd himself so far especially when a certain Princess whisper'd him in the ear to have a care of himself and that his life and death were under consideration in the Closet Yet immediately after as his courage was usually rais'd at the sight of the greatest dangers he resum'd his wonted boldness and was not able to hinder himself perhaps by a sudden motion purely natural and arising from the magnanimity of his heart from laying his hand on the pommel of his Sword without his own perceiving it and from stepping hastily two or three paces forward with a haughty walk as if he were putting himself into a posture of selling his life as dear as he was able to his Enemies But the King at that instant coming out of the Closet with Bellievre he chang'd posture suddenly made a low reverence and threw himself almost at his feet protesting to him that not believing his presence ought to be displeasing to him he was come to bring him his head and fully to justifie his carriage against the calumnies of his Enemies and withall to assure his Majesty that he had not a more faithfull Servant than himself But the King demanding in a grave and serious tone of voice Who had bid him come and if he had not receiv'd an express prohibition from him the business was then brought to a scanning and some little contest there was betwixt him and Bellievre the last maintaining that he had deliver'd him the King's commands and the former instead of answer asking him if he had not engag'd himself to return with all possible speed to Soissons which he had not done and protesting that he had never receiv'd those Letters which Bellievre justifi'd he had written to him Then the Queen who though she seem'd to be in much affliction for the Duke's arrival yet held a private correspondence with him broke off the discourse and taking aside the King her Son she manag'd his mind so dextrously that whether she made him apprehend a general revolt of Paris which she had seen so openly to own the Duke of Guise or whether he himself were mollifi'd by the submissive humble way of speaking which that Prince had us'd he contented himself for that time to tell him that his innocence which he was so desirous to prove wou'd be more manifest if his presence shou'd cauâ—e no stirs in Paris and thereupon he sate down to Table remitting till the Afternoon what he had farther to say to him and appointing the Queen's Garden for the place Then the Duke bowing very low retir'd without being accompanied by any of the King's Servants but as well attended by all the Town to the Hostel de Guise as he had been from the Gate of St. Denis to the Louvre When he had made reflexion on the danger into which he had so rashly thrown himself and which now appear'd more formidable by considering it with cooler thoughts than he cou'd possibly in that agitation of spirits and that anxiety wherein he was in spight of all his courage when he found himself so far engag'd he resolv'd he wou'd never hazard his life in that sort again and took such order concerning it that from the next day and so onward he had in his Palace four hundred Gentlemen who assembling there from all parts of Paris according to his orders never afterwards abandon'd him Neither wou'd he adventure to go that afternoon to the Queen's Garden but well accompanied by the bravest of his Officers amongst whom Captain St. Paul seâ—ing that after his Master was enter'd he who kept the door was going to shut it on him thrust him back roughly and enter'd by force follow'd by his Companions protesting and swearing that if the game was there to be play'd he was resolv'd to have his stake in it So that if the King had design'd to have him murther'd in that Garden which I believe not though some have written it 't is easie to see that the presence of those brave men who were fully resolv'd to defend their Master that of the Queen who made the third in this enterview the daring countenance of the Duke who from time to time was casting his eyes towards his Sword and to sum up all that infinite multitude of Parisians which
incompass'd the Queen's Palace and many of which were got upon the walls had hinder'd the execution of such a purpose For that which pass'd betwixt them at this Conference since I find nothing of it in the most exact Memoirs of those times I shall not offer to relate it as Davila has done by a certain Poetical licence which he and some other Historians have us'd to make men think and speak without their leave whatever they please to put into their thoughts and mouths What I can deliver for undoubted truth is this that there was nothing concluded at this Enterview and that the King who had resolv'd before hand to chastise the most Seditious of the Sixteen and to make himself Master of Paris after a long consultation taken by Night with those in whom he most confided continu'd firm to the same resolution and set up his rest to stand by it in spight of the arrival of the Duke With this determination he sent the next morning for the Prevost of the Merchants and the Sheriffs and Commanded them in company of the Lords de Villequier and Francis d' O. to make an exact search for all those Strangers who were come to Paris some few days since without any urgent occasion to call them thither and to cause them forthwith to depart the Town without respect of persons This was a manifest endeavour to weaken the Duke of Guise to reduce him to those seven or eight Gentlemen who attended him into Paris and consequently to give him occasion of believing that after they had rid themselves of the others they wou'd attacque him Perhaps the design was so laid as some have conjectur'd with probability enough but if this were really their intention there are others who believe that according to the advice which was given by the Abbot of Elbene they had done more wisely to have begun with the Duke of Guise when they had him single and at their mercy coopt up in the Louvre and they ground this opinion on the meaning of that Abbot's words who quoted the Scripture to this purpose It is written I will strike the Shepherd and the Flock shall be scatter'd However it was intended the Parisâ—ans immediately took the Alarm perceiving clearly that those Strangers who were to be sent out of the City were no others but those very men whom the Duke of Guise had convey'd into the Town for their defence and for his own Insomuch that when they went about to execute that Order and to search their Houses every one oppos'd them and the Citizens set themselves with so much obstinacy to conceal their Lodgers that the Deputies and Commissaries fearing a general Insurrection through all the Quarters durst proceed no farther And in the mean time the Duke of Guise who was the Soul that actuated this great Body forbore not going to the Louvre but well accompani'd and the very Evening before the Barricades he presented the Napkin to the King But as after the flashes of the Lightning and the ratling of the Thunder comes a furious Tempest and lays waste the Field so after those mutual fears and jealousies those Nightly meetings those Murmurs and Menaces and those preparations which were made on both sides with so much tumult either for assaulting or for defence they came to the fatal day of the Barricado's which was follow'd by that horrible deluge of misfortunes with which all France was overflow'd For at last the King more incens'd than ever by the resistance which was made to his Orders and fully resolv'd to make himself be obey'd one way or other caus'd the French Guards to enter Paris with some other Companies and the Swissers which in all made up six thousand men this was done on Thursday the twelfth of May just at day break he being present himself to receive them on Horseback at the Gate of Saint Honorè And after having given out his Orders to their Officers to Post them according to his direction he enjoyn'd them above all things to be no ways injurious to the Citizens but onely to repress the insolence of such who shou'd go about to hinder the search for Strangers After which himself retiring to the Louvre the Marshals d' Aumont and Biron who were at the Head of the Troups went to Post them with beat of Drum in the Church yard of St. Innocent and the adjoyning places on the Pont Nostre Dame on that of St. Michael on the Pont au Change at the Town-House at the Greve and at the Avenues of the Place Mauhert It appear'd immediately by what follow'd that this was in effect to give the signal of a mutiny and general revolt to all Paris For a Rumour being spread that the King had determin'd to put to Death a great number of the principal of the League and a List being also forg'd of their Names who were to be Executed and shown openly to the people the Citizens according to the order of their Captains and Overseers of their Wards were in a readiness to put themselves into a posture of defence at the least motion that was made For which reason so soon as they heard the Drums and Fifes and that they beheld the Swissers and the Guards advancing through the Street of Saint Honoré they doubted not but the report which was nois'd about by the Sixteen was true and farther believ'd as they had been also assur'd that the Town wou'd be sack'd and expos'd to Pillage The Alarm therefore was given round the City They began by shutting up their Shops and the Church doors on that side of the Town They rang the Tocsin or alarm Bell first in one Parish and then in another and immediately afterwards through all Paris as if the whole City had been on fire Then the Citizens came out in Arms under the Overseers of their Wards and their Captains and other Officers of the Duke of Guise who had mingl'd themselves amongst them to encourage and to marshal them The Count of Brissac who had plac'd himself at the Quarter of the University towards the place Maubert where Crucè one of the most hot-headed of the Sixteen caus'd the alarm to be Sounded being himself incompass'd with a multitude of Students a rabble of Porters Watermen and Handicrafts men all Arm'd who waited onely for the signal to assault the Swissers was the first who gave Orders to Chain the Streets to unpave them and erect the Barricades with great logs of Timber and Barrels fill'd with Earth and Dung at the Avenues of the Palace And this word of Barricades passing in a moment from mouth to mouth from the University into the â—â—ty and from the City into the Town the same was done every-where and that with such exceeding haste that before Noon these Barricades which were continu'd from Street to Street at the distance of thirty paces from each other well Flanck'd and Man'd with Musquetiers were advanc'd within fifty paces of the Louvre Insomuch that the King's
Princes far from bringing those advantages to the King which he had promis'd himself from it and which his passion had represented to him through false optiques as exceeding great and most asâ—ur'd threw him headlong on the sudden into a more deplorable condition than that which he thought he had escap'd He well knew after he had consider'd what he had done in cold Bloud that the Murther of the Cardinal of Guise wou'd be extremely offensive to the Pope and that it was necessary he shou'd endeavour to appease him lest he who carried all things with a high hand and was not of a temper to endure the least affront to his Authority shou'd declare himself for the League in opposition to him which as yet he had not done In consideration of which he writ a Note to the Legat on Christmas day in these very words which follow Now at last I am a King and am resolv'd from henceforth not to suffer my self to be affronted I will give them to understand and make them feel whosoever they are who dare to attacque me that I will always remain in this generous resolution following therein the example of our Holy Father the Pope whose common saying it is that we must make our selves be obey'd and punish those who injure us And since I have accomplish'd my purpose according to this Maxim to morrow I will see you Farewell Accordingly on the twenty sixth of December the Legat had a long Audience wherein the King having inform'd him of the reasons which he had to kill the Duke and Cardinal took God to witness that he had debated within himself and oppos'd his own Arguments with all manner of severity for six days together and during all that time was firmly resolv'd not to have come to those extremities for fear of offending Almighty God But at length considering that He who had made him a King made it part of his duty to maintain himself in that Dignity and that the Pope had sent him word by Monsieur de Luxembourg and had often spoken to the same purpose to the Cardinal of Ioyeuse that he ought to make himself be obey'd and punish those who affronted him he had accordingly resolv'd to prevent them by taking their lives rather than stay till his own were taken by them the design of which they had already laid And if he had not proceeded by the ordinary forms of Justice the reason was that in the low condition to which they had reduc'd him 't was impossible to make use of Law To this the Legat who had leisure in the mean time to consider of what he ought to say answer'd without mentioning the Duke of Guise's death that he thought it his duty to advertise him that supposing the Cardinal had been guilty yet his Majesty in causing him to be put to death as he had done had incurr'd the Censures contain'd in the Bull call'd In Coena Domini as much as those who had executed his Orders and either counsell'd or approv'd that action That therefore it was his duty to ask pardon and absolution of his Sin from the Pope who alone was able to give it him and in the mean time he ought to abstain from entring into the Church The King surpriz'd exceedingly at so brisk a declaration answer'd him that there was no Sovereign Prince who was not endued with power to punish his Ecclesiastical Subjects for crimes of High Treason and more especially when his own Life was concern'd in them for which reason he believ'd not that he had incurr'd any manner of censure principally considering that the Kings of France have the privilege to be exempted from excommunication 'T is certain that he fail'd not on Newyears day to perform his Devotions in ceremony with the Knights of the Order and to communicate publiquely in the Church of Saint Sauveur And when the Legat had made complaint concerning it he sent to him the Sieur de Revol Secretary of State who shew'd him a Breviat of the 21st of Iuly in the year foregoing by which the Pope permitted him to chuse what Confessour he pleas'd and who in virtue of that Breviat had power to absolve him from all manner of crimes even the most enormous from all those particular cases reserv'd to the Pope's own person from all censures and Ecclesiastical punishments even those which are contain'd in the Bull which is call'd In Coenâ Domini And the Secretary added that though the King by virtue of his Privileges had no need of that Breviat in order to his frequenting the Sacraments yet it was past all manner of dispute that having it he might communicate without either scruple or scandal after having receiv'd Absolution from his Confessour The Legat having nothing to reply to this said no more and satisfi'd himself with the remonstrance which he had made But Pope Sixtus stopt not there for he was strangely transported against his Legat whom he accus'd of Cowardise because that having seen a Cardinal Murther'd he had not publish'd the censures against the King with the Interdictions even though it shou'd have cost him as he said an hundred Lives He testifi'd his resentment of it to the Marquis de Pisany the King's Ambassadour at Rome with much sharpness as also to Cardinal de Ioyeuse Protectour of France and yet more vehemently to the Sacred College in full Consistory though the Cardinal de Saint Croix speaking to him immediately before had told him that having consulted the Books of the Doctours on this Subject he had there read that a King who had found a Cardinal plotting against his Estate might cause him to be put to death without either form or figure of Process and that he had no need of absolution in such a case The Pope was incens'd at this freedom which he took and loudly protested that he wou'd never grant any favour nor wou'd suffer any consistorial Remission to be made before the King had sent to beg Absolution which yet shou'd not be granted him till the whole business had been throughly examin'd in a Congregation of Cardinals which he establish'd for that purpose The King was very willing that the Pope if he so pleas'd shou'd give him yet another absolution which cou'd have done him no prejudice though he believ'd it not to be necessary But he wou'd by no means allow that it shou'd be juridically scann'd whether he had the right of punishing his Subjects as he had done Upon which the Cardinal de Ioyeuse made no scruple of remonstrating to the Pope with all the respect which was due to his Holiness that the best and most devout Catholiques of France they are his very words held not for authentique the opinions which were receiv'd at Rome in that which concerns not the Doctrine and Tradition of the Church in both which there was no difference betwixt Rome and France but that in France they held the Prerogatives or Rights of the King to be much greater than
deceiv'd by his Spies who assur'd him that the Enemy had no Cannon and knowing himself to be twice as strong doubted not but he shou'd be able to defeat them with his Cavalry alone Accordingly having drawn up with much trouble his Parisian Infantry brisk men to appearance and well arm'd but a little out of countenance when they saw the Business in hand was somewhat more than bare Trayning and that Life was at stake he advanc'd so hastily with his Horse having Maineville on his right hand and Balagny on his left that those two great Bodies of Horse and Foot were made uncapable of relieving and serving each other in the Fight La Noiie to whom for the sake of his experience the young Duke of Longueville had intrusted the care and conduct of the Army having observ'd the countenance of the Enemy and finding the Parisians disorder'd and wavering was confident he cou'd beat them with those few Troups which he had then in the Field and who were imbattel'd in this order The Duke of Longueville was in the main Body with his Squadron compos'd of a great number of brave Gentlemen having at the Head of them the Lord Charles de Humieres Marquis d' Encre and Governour of Compeigne who had furnish'd the Army with Cannon and Ammunition which occasion'd the gaining of the Battel This was he who having soon discover'd the pernicious designs of the League serv'd the King so well against it that Henry the Fourth at his coming to the Crown made him his Lieutenant in Picardy with an extraordinary privilege that he shou'd have the full Authority of disposing all things in that Province His great Services his extraordinary Deserts his high Reputation his Performances on this great day and many signal actions during the War gain'd him without any other recommendation his Commission for General of the Artillery which was sign'd not long before his Death and he was yet in a way of mounting higher if his too great Courage had not expos'd him to that fatal Musquet shot which kill'd him at the taking of Han though the Garrison of Spaniards had small cause to boast of it who were all sacrific'd to the just sorrow of the Army for the loss of so brave a Gentleman They who came in to the Duke of Longueville with him were Louis Dongniez Count de Chaulne his Brother-in-Law the Sieurs de Maulevrier Lanoy Longueval Cany Bonnivet Givry Fretoy Mesvillier and La Tour. This Squadron was slank'd on the right and left with two gross Battalions having each of them two Field pieces which were not drawn out of Compeigne till some time after the Army was March'd on purpose to deceive the Spies who thereupon gave intelligence that they had none He plac'd on his right Wing the Cavalry of Sedan at the Head of which he was resolv'd to Fight in Person and on his left the Horsemen which were drawn out from those places that held for the King in Picardy The Duke of Aumale who made such over haste to the Victory of which he made sure in his conceipt that he left his Cannon behind him was the first who founded the Charge and Balagny with his Squadron of Cambresians and Walloons advanc'd eagerly to attacque the right Wing of the Royallists which was much inferiour to his own in strength but when he was almost just upon them the gross Battalion which cover'd the left side of that Squadron opening in a moment he was surprisingly saluted with a Volley of Cannon which carri'd off at once whole rancks of his Squadron and constrain'd him to retire in great disorder Then the Duke of Aumale who plainly saw that there was no other remedy for this unexpected mischief but speedily to win the Enemies Cannon put himself upon the gallop follow'd by Maineville and Balagny who had recover'd his disorder and all three went at the Head of their men to force that Infantry of the Enemy But they were scarce come up within an hundred paces of them when their other Battalion opening a second Volley came thundring upon them and raking them in the Flank did more execution than the former A third which immediately succeeded it shook their whole Body which having advanc'd a little farther the Musquetiers which flank'd their Horse made their discharge so justly both against Man and Horse that the Field was strew'd with dead Bodies and in the mean time the whole Cavalry of the Royallists charg'd upon them who were already wavering and half routed and the Besieg'd at the same time sallying out fell upon the rere of the Parisian Infantry who had been abandon'd by their Cavalry so that now it was no longer to be call'd a Battel but a downright Slaughter and a general defeat Never was any Victory more complete with so little loss to the Conquerours the Field of Battel remain'd in their Possession cover'd with above two thousand Slain without reckoning into the number those who were kill'd by the Peasants or such as cou'd not recover themselves out of the Marishes which are about the Abbey de la Victoire The Camp of the Vanquish'd the Merchandises and Commodities which had been brought thither from Paris the Cannon the Ammunition the Colours the Baggage and twelve hundred Prisoners were the Conquerours reward Who some few days after as they March'd towards Burgundy there to joyn the Swissers saluted the Parisians from the Heights of Montfaucon with some Vollies of Cannon and thereby gave them notice of their defeat with a truer account of it than had been given them by the Duke of Aumale and Balagny whereof the one sav'd himself in St. Denis and the other in Paris And as it often happens that one misfortune comes on the Neck of another to those who are in the way of being beaten this defeat was follow'd the very next day after it being the eighteenth of May with the loss of three hundred brave Gentlemen of Picardy whom the Governour of Dourlens Charles Tiercelin de Saveuse was bringing to the Duke of Mayenne who being met in La Beauce towards Bonneval by the Count of Chastillon with a greater strength were almost all of them Slain after having fought like Lions without asking Quarter or so much as promising for safety of their Lives that they wou'd never bear Arms against the King Such violent Leaguers were these men and above all Saveuse their Captain who being carried off to Baugency wounded in all parts of his Body where the King of Navarre a great lover of brave Men was very desirous to have sav'd him refus'd all kind of remedies for the sullen pleasure of Dying having nothing in his mouth but the praises of the Duke of Guise and a thousand imprecations against his Murtherers These fortunate events accompani'd by the great success which the Duke of Montpensier had in Normandy against the Leaguers occasion'd the King of Navarre who was advanc'd as far as Baugency with part of his Forces to return to Tours
conjunction of the two Armies in the general review of all his Troups he saw himself at the head of more than forty five thousand Men experienc'd Souldiers with which after having possess'd himself on the thirtieth of Iuly of the Bridge of St. Clou from whence he drove the Leaguers with his Cannon he was resolv'd within two days to attaque the Fauxbourgs of Paris on both sides of the River There is all the appearance of probability that he had carri'd them at the first onset and by consequence the Town it self where they were already in extreme consternation all the passages for provisions being block'd up and the Duke of Mayenne not having about him above five or six thousand Souldiers at the most who were not the third part of the number which was necessary for the defence of the Retrenchments of so great a compass as those which he had made for all the Fauxbourgs considering besides that the King had within the Town so great a number of good Subjects who having taken courage at his approach had drawn over a great party of the honest Citizens receiving an assurance that the punishment wou'd onely fall on the Principal of the Leaguers in case the King entring the Town as a Conquerour shou'd think fit to remember the old business of the Barricades Insomuch that the Duke of Mayenne had occasion to fear that at the same time when the Fauxbourgs were attaqu'd there wou'd be a sudden rising for the King within the Town and that those who had thus risen wou'd make themselves Masters of one of the Gates which they wou'd open to him and afterwards act in conjunction with his Army To this purpose 't is reported that the Duke who notwithstanding all his temper and his slowness was very brave being sensible of his desperate condition though in outward shew he seem'd confident of good success still plying the people from the Pulpits with a thousand Lyes for their encouragement had resolv'd with a chosen Troup of his bravest men who were willing to follow his fortune to throw himself into the midst of the Royal Army with his Sword in his hand either to overcome against all appearance of probability by a generous despair which is sometimes prosper'd by the chance of Arms or to die honourably in using the onely means which were now left him to revenge the death of his two Brothers In this flourishing condition the King's affairs then stood and to this low ebb was the League reduc'd when fortune which plays with the lives of men of which she sometimes makes a ridiculous Comedy and at other times a bloudy Tragedy all on the sudden chang'd the Scene as if the action had been upon a Theatre by the most Sacrilegious blow which was ever given I say not by a Man but by a Devil incarnate 'T is not necessary that I shou'd here relate every particular circumstance of so execrable a deed which is already known to all the world 'T is sufficient that in performance of my duty as an Historian I onely say That a young Iacobin call'd Iaques Clement a man of mean capacity Superstitious and Fanatically devout being perswaded by the furious Sermons of the Preachers and by a certain Vision which he thought he had that he shou'd be a Martyr if he lost his life for having kill'd Henry de Valois was so far intoxicated with this damnable opinion that he scrupled not to say openly that the people needed not to give themselves so much trouble and that he knew well enough how to deliver Paris in due time And when it was known that the King was at St. Clou where he had taken up his quarters and was lodg'd at the House of Monsieur Ierome de Gondy he went out of Paris the next morning which was the last of Iuly with a Letter of Credence address'd to the King from the first President de Harlay who was at that time a Prisoner in the Bastillâ— 't is uncertain whether that Letter in reality was written by that illustrious person deluded by the Iacobin whom he thought a fitting Messenger to convey such intelligence as he had to send or whether it were counterfeited as an assur'd means of gaining him access and opportunity to put in practice his damnable resolution For being introduc'd the day following about seven or eight a clock in the morning into the King's Chamber while that good Prince who always receiv'd men in Orders with great kindness was reading the Letter attentively and bowing his body to listen so some secret message which he believ'd was brought him by the Fryar as was imported by his Credentials the Parricide who was kneeling before him pulling out a knife from his sleeve stabb'd him with it into the belly and left it in the wound from whence the King drawing it and at the same time rising from his Chair and crying out Thrust it very deep into the Fryar's forehead There were at that time in the room onely Bellegarde first Gentleman of the Bed-chamber and La Guesle the Attorney General who having the day before interrogated the Villain without finding any thing in his discourse that might administer the least cause of suspicion had brought him to the King by his own command But many of the forty five entring suddenly upon the King's outcry fell inconsiderately upon him in the first transport of their fury and in a moment stuck him in with many thrusts without giving any attention to La Guesle who after he had struck him with the handle of his Sword cri'd out as loud as he cou'd possibly that they shou'd not kill him The wretch immediately expiring they threw his Corps all bloudy out of the Window which the grand Prevost of the King's house caus'd immediately to be tyed to four Horses and dragg'd about till it was torn in pieces There are some who not being able to believe that one in Orders cou'd be capable of so impious an action have doubted that this Monster of a man was either some Leaguer or some True Protestant disguis'd into a Fryar and a Modern Authour to save the honour of the Iacobins has endeavour'd of late to renew and fortify this doubt in the best manner he was able But besides that the Parricide was known by some who were of his acquaintance 't is most certain that the same Iaques Clement who was examin'd the evening before by La Guesle which is agreed on all sides was introduc'd by himself the next morning into the King's Chamber for it can never be thought that the Attorney General a man of good understanding shou'd be so far mistaken as to take another man for him whom he had interrogated with so much circumspection And yet farther since the King in the Letters which he sent to the Governours of Provinces and to his Allies immediately after he was wounded says positively that when he was stabb'd by the Iacobin there were onely in his Chamber Bellegarde and La Guesle
and half from Diepe inclosing with strong retrenchments the Castle and the Bourg scituated on the Brow of an Hill which overlooks the little River of Bethune the Mouth of which forms the Haven that belongs to Diepe He had scarcely finish'd this great work wherein all his Army was imployed after the Example of their King during three days with incredible diligence when the Duke of Mayenne who had squandred away his time yet once again in retaking those little Places round about of which the King had lately possess'd himself drew near to Arques with purpose to dislodge him But when he had observ'd that he was too strong on that side to be forc'd he turn'd on the Right Hand passing the Bethune somewhat higher and went to post himself on the other Hill which is over against Arques with the River betwixt both Parties from whence he might more easily attacque the Bourg below and possess himself of Polet the Fauxbourg of Diepe on the same side But the foresight of the King had provided for all Events in every place for he had carried on his Retrenchments as far as an Hospital for sick People called the Maladery near the River and plac'd Chatillon Colonel of the Foot with 900 Men in Polet which also was retrench'd In the mean time the Duke having fix'd his resolution to win the Fauxbourg and to force the Quarters at Arques appear'd in Battalia the sixteenth of September on the Hills march'd the one half of his Army at day-break towards Polet and lodg'd the other half at the Village of Martingliâ—e in the Vally to attacque the fortifi'd Maladery The two attempts which he made that day prov'd very unsuccessful to him For the King who in Person hastned to Polet putting himself at the Head of his Forces on the outside of the Retrenchments maintain'd the Skirmish with great bravery during the whole day the Enemy not daring all the while to close with him nor being able to gain the least inch of ground from him and at last forc'd them to retire shamefully in the Night into the ruins of a Village which was burn'd after having kill'd and made Prisoners a great number of their most forward men And the next morning his Soldiers encourag'd by his presence and by the contempt which they had of their cowardly Enemies went to attacque them in their barricaded Village where they kill'd above an hundred of them without the loss of a single man Those of the Enemy who were posted at Martinglise behav'd themselves much better than their Fellows and accordingly they came off with greater loss For having maintain'd the skirmish for some time and endeavouring to dislodge those who had lin'd the Hedges that were near the River they drew out a great detachment of their Men who gave an Assault to the Corps de garde of the Maladery in hope to carry the Retrenchments But the Mareschal de Byron who commanded in Arques and who was advanc'd to the Maladery to sustain those who defended it gave orders to the Grand Prior of France and Damville to charge those bold Leaguers with a chosen Squadron of his bravest Men who gave in upon them with so much fury that he forc'd them back to Martinglise in much disorder after having kill'd them 150 of their best Soldiers and wounded a much greater number The Cornet of the Duke de Nemours was taken in this Fight and 20 Gentlemen of Note made Prisoners This double Misfortune having discourag'd the Army of the League the Duke of Mayenne lay still four or five days together in his Quarters that he might give his Soldiers a little time to recover of their Fright after which having reassembled all his Forces he commanded them to pass the River somewhat after Midnight in order to attacque the Retrenchments from which some of them had been repuls'd so vigorously and which he now hop'd he might carry by surprise For this Attempt was to be made at break of Day and with his whole Army which was thrice the number of the Royalists But the King having had timely notice of his Design was gone in Person into the Trenches two or three hours before day and had dispos'd all things in good order for their Reception having strongly man'd the Trenches with his Infantry and drawn up his Cavalry without the Lines to break the first Onset of the Enemy This hindred noâ— the Duke of Mayenne from pursuing his Enterprise till he brought it to an Ingagement which was very long and exceeding sharp betwixt the two Armies The Kings Cavalry gain'd immediately some Advantage against that of the League The Grand Prieur who was afterwards Count of Anvergne and Duke of Angoulesme having kill'd with his Pistol the Sieur de Sagonne who was Colonel of the Leagu's Light Horse drove back that Squadron consisting of four or five hundred men as far as the Standard of the Vnion and the Duke of Aumale who with a Gross of six hundred Horse had put him to the Retreat together with three Troops of Men at Arms who sustain'd him as far as to the edge of the Retrenchments was then constrain'd to give back himself in some disorder to get out of danger from the Cannon which furiously plai'd upon his Squadron But the second Onset which the Duke of Mayenne commanded to be given by the Lansquenets of Colalte and Tremble-court having the Count of Belin at their Head sustain'd on the Right by the Duke of Nemours who had brought from his Government of Lyons three thousand Foot with a brisk Body of Cavalry and on the Left by the Duke of Aumale with twelve hundred Horse was much more successful For while they were furiously combating both on the Right and Left with the French and Swisses of Galati and Meru Montmorancy-Damville their Colonel the Lansquenets of the League whether it were by Stratagem or through Cowardise cried out to the Royallists who defended that Quarter that they wou'd come over to their Side and were thereupon receiv'd within the Lines Their Captains in like manner made solemn Protestation to serve the King provided they might have Security that their Musters should be pay'd which was promis'd them by the King But while that gallant Prince went hastily from place to place giving out his Orders to repulse the Enemy these perfidious People observing that the Duke of Nemours had broken the Battalion of the Swisses immediately turn'd their Arms against those who had receiv'd them and possess'd themselves of that part of the Lines which they deliver'd to the Leaguers who pursuing their Fortune made themselves Masters of the Maladery Insomuch that the Kings Forces having at the same time to deal with their Enemies who were without and those who were within if the Duke of Mayenne whose business it was to have sustain'd those who made the Attaque with the Gross of his Army had taken hold of that happy Opportunity to break into the Lines after them with all his Forces
delightful Fictions hides many sharp Truths which justly decry the Party of the League For indeed there was no other Procession than that which was made by all the Deputies when they went in a Body to perform their Devotions at Nostre-Dame As for that other of Monks who were arm'd over the different habits of their Orders which is describ'd so pleasantly in the beginning of the Catholicon and which is still to be seen in several Prints it means no more than the Muster of those Ecclesiastiques and Religious whom the Author of that Satyr has traâ—sported from the Siege of Paris to those States disguising his Fable into a Procession to make his Work more divertising to the Reader The Formalities there were according to the usual custom excepting only that the Duke of Mayenne as Lieutenant-General of the State and Crown of France was seated under a Canopy of Cloâ—h of Gold which was never seen practis'd in former times The three Orders took their places after the usual manner That of the Clergy was very numerous There was but a thin appearance of Lords and Gentlemen in that of the Nobless But to add more lustre to it Monsieur de Mayenne as if he were invested with Soveraign Power and Authority took that Prerogative which belongs only to the King which was to create an Admiral namely the Marquess de Villars and four Marshals of France the Sieurs de Châ—stre and de Boisdaâ—phin whose Families are well known to be ancient 〈◊〉 a Gentlâ—man of Lorrain Younger Brother of the House of Savigny Lord of 〈◊〉 in the Dutchy of Barr and St. Paul a Soldier of Fortune who by his Valor and Military Skill had acquir'd the Title of Nobless Monsieur de Mayenne after the death of the Duke of Guisâ— whose Creature this Captain was had intrusted him with the Government of Champaigne where after having made himself Master of Rheims Mezieres and Vitry he had the boldness to possess himself by force of the Dutchy of Rhetelois and to hold it in quality of Duke by virtue of the Donation which he said he had from the Pope as the King writ word to the Duke of Nevers from the Camp before Chartres But at last his intolerable pride accompanied with the Tyranny which he exercis'd in that Province cost him his Life by the hand of the young Duke of Guise who laid him dead at his feet by a thrust of his Sword which pierc'd his heart because that Prince having civilâ—y requested him to withdraw the Soldiers out of Rheims which he had plac'd there to assure himseâ—f of that City this pretended Maâ—shal who wou'd in contempt of him be absolute had told him in a haughty manner and laying his hand on his Sword that he would not do it To proceed the Duke of Mayenne as Lieutenant-General of the State having thus created an Admiral and four Marshals of France thought what he had done wou'd be of great consequence to the Authorising these mock-States of Paris and to confirm his own power together with the establishment of his Party But the Lord of Chanvallon who had as much Wit as he had Courage and who foresaw the consequences of that action said freely to him Look well to your self Sir for by this new Creation you have begotten so many Bastards as wiâ— one day â—egitimate themselves at your cost and charges And this indeed was verified not long after in the Persons of Villars La Chastre and Boisdauphin who forsook the Duke and made their Treaty with the King that they might be maintain'd by a lawful Authority in those high dignities which the King alone to the exclusion of all others can bestow And if the Baron of Rosne who was of Birth and Merit sufficient to have been Marshal had been possess'd of Towns like the others which he might have surrendred to the King after their example he might have been legitimated as well as they and then those Cities had not been lost which the Spaniards to whom he went over after having been refus'd by the King took under his conduct and by his valour in the Province of Picardy Thus I have given an account of the Order of the Nobless in these States As for the third Order it was compos'd of a few considerable persons and of a great number of such as were pack'd together and who serv'd only to make a show of a full Assembly The Speeches which are to be seen in the Catholicon as if made by Rapin Monsieur Gillot Counsellor of the Court Florent Chrestien and Mr. Pierre Pithou are only invented for the pleasure of the Reader For there were spoken only four according to the usual custom of other States Monsieur de Mayenne open'd these by a Speech of his own wherein to answer the expectation of the Deputies he declar'd that this Assembly was only call'd that therein they might proceed to the election of a Catholick King which notwithstanding was far from his intention for his whole endeavours were to frustrate that choice as in effect he did The Cardinal of Pellevâ— who began very much to decline in his Parts said nothing that was material in speaking for the Order of the Clergy which he represented The Baron of Senecey for the Nobless and the Sieur de Laurence Advocate General of the Parliament of Provence for the third State spoke incomparably better each of them after his own manner the last like a great Orator and the former like a prudent Gentleman In the mean time the King who was unacquainted with the secret drift of the Duke of Mayenne's intentions was very much in fear that in this Assembly they wou'd elect a King who being own'd for such by the Pope the King of Spain and the greatest part of the Potentates of Christendom by all the Catholiques of the League and perhaps also by those of the third Party whom he ever suspected wou'd at least prolong the War and might possibly remain Conqueror In order to the prevention of so great an evil he thought good that the Catholiques of his Party shou'd send a Trumpet to the Assembly with an Authentique Act by which they gave them to understand that since the Duke of Mayenne had signified by his Declaration that he had call'd that Assembly with intention to find the means of preserving Religion and the State they were most ready to send their Deputies to confer with theirs at some place near Paris which shou'd be agreed on by both Parties to the end they might compass so great a blessing which was the aim of their desires protesting that in case they refus'd this reasonable Proposition they shou'd be held guilty of all those evils which shou'd be produc'd by the continuation of so bloody a War 'T is a wonderful kind of blindness which a strong passion produces in a Mind that suffers it self to be prepossess'd with it that how clear-sighted soever it be naturally yet it sees not those things which
Archbishop of Bourges answering in order to those three points which were propos'd by that Prelate said in the name of all his Colleagues That they acknowledg'd they ought to own for King Soveraign Lord and Head of the French Monarchy Him to whom the Kingdom belongâ—d by a lawful Succession But since Religion ought to be preferr'd before Flesh and Blood this Monarch of necessity must be a Most Christian King both in name and reality and that according to all Laws both Divine and Humane it was not permitted them to give obedience to an Heretique King in a Kingdom subjected to Jesus Christ by receiving and professing the Catholique Religion That God in the Old Testament had forbidden a King to be set up who was not of the number of the Brethren that is to say of the same Religion which constitutes a true Brotherhood That in prosecution of this order the Priests and Sacrificers of Israel had withdrawn themselves from the obedience of King Ieroboam as soon as he had renounc'd the worship of the true God That the Towns of and Libnah which were the portion of the Levites who were the best instructed in the Law of God had forsaken Ioram King of Iudah for the same reason That Amaziah and Queen Athaliah having abandon'd the Religion of their Forefathers had been depos'd by the general consent of all the Orders of the Kingdom and that the Macchabees were renown'd and prais'd through all the World as the last Heroes of the ancient Law because they had taken Arms against Antiochus their Soveraign Prince for the defence of their Religion That the people of the Iews did indeed obey the King of the Chaldeans but they had bound themselves by Oath so to do according to the express command which God had given them by his Prophets for pupunishment of their abominations for which reason he subjected them to the dominion of an Infidel But as for themselves they were so far from having entred into such an engagement that they had made one by the Authority of his Holiness quite to the contrary that they wou'd never acknowledge an Heretique for their King And as for the Christians who threw not off their obedience to their Emperors and Kings who were Heretiques 't is most certain that they obey'd only out of pure necessity and because they wanted power but that their Hearts and Affections had no part in it Witness the harshness with which the Holy Fathers have treated them in their Writings where they call them Wolves Dogs Serpents Tygers Dragons Lyons and Antichrists in conformity to the Gospel which wills that he who is revolted from the Church should be held and treated like a Pagan so far it is from authorising us to hold him for a King much less a Most Christian King For what remains besides the Councils receiv'd in France and the Imperial Laws which declare Heretiques to be unworthy of any kind of honour dignity or publick office much more of Royalty The Fundamental Law of the French Monarchy is most express in this particular by the Oath which the Most Christian Kings take at their Coronation to maintain the Catholique Religion and to exterminate all Heresies in consideration of which they receive the Oath of Allegiance from their Subjects and that the last States had decreed with the general applause of all good Frenchmen that they wou'd never depart from that Law which was accepted and sworn to solemnly as a fundamental of the State In fine to close up all which he had to say in relation to this first point he added That without this it was impossible to preserve Religion in France because an Heretique Prince wou'd not be wanting to establish Heresie in his States as well by his example which would be leading to his Subjects as by his authority which cou'd not long be resisted As it was too manifest in the Kingdom of Israel which Ieroboam turn'd to Idolatry and as it has since been seen in Denmark Sweden the Protestant States of Germany and in England where the people following the example of their Princes and bending under their authority have suffer'd themselves to be unhappily drawn into that Abyss of Heresies in which they are plung'd at this very day And thereupon passing to the other points of the Archbishop of Bourges his Speech he said in few words That it cou'd not be doubted but the King of Navarre was an obstinate Heretique and no way inclin'd to be converted since for so long a time he had continued to maintain Errors condemn'd for Heresies by General Councils and that he still favour'd the Huguenots more than ever and especially his Preachers that he had been often invited but still in vain to reconcile himself to the Church after which it wou'd be lost labour for them to exhort him particularly after being first acknowledg'd as he thought to be that therefore they wou'd never endeavour it and that they had all sworn not only not to acknowledge him but also to have no manner of commerce with him so long as he shou'd remain an Heretique Now when the Archbishop of Bourges who was pre-acquainted with the Kings secret purpose saw that after a strong reply which he had made to that noisy Harangue they still held fast to that one point from which it was impossible to remove them he was of opinion that by yielding it to them the business wou'd soon come to an happy conclusion For which reason having demanded time to consult thereupon the Princes and Lords by whom they were deputed as soon as he had receiv'd the answer which he knew before hand they wou'd make he told the Deputies of the League at the seventh Session which was the seventeenth of May That God had at the last heard their prayers and vows and that they shou'd have whatsoever they had requir'd for the safety of Religion and the State by the conversion of the King which they had been encourag'd to hope and which at present was assur'd to them since the King who was resolv'd to abjure his Heresie had already assembled the Prelates and the Doctors from whom he wou'd receive the instruction which ought to precede that great action which all good Catholiques of both Parties had so ardently desir'd for the reunition of themselves in a lasting peace And to the end that it might be to the satisfaction of every man in particular they might treat with them concerning the securities and other conditions which they shou'd demand for their interests Assuring them that in order to remove all occasion of distrust nothing shouâ—d be done on their side till the King had dâ—clar'd himself effectually to be a Catholique This Proposition which the Deputies of the Union little expected and which ruin'd all the pretensions of their Heads disorder'd them so much that after they had consulted amongst themselves for an Answer not being able to conclude on any they thought themselves bound to report it to the Assembly