I Write found all things sufficiently dispos'd to the execution of his enterprise For he found the Catholiques provok'd to his hand by those advantages which newly were granted to the Huguenots the people dissatisfi'd and weary of the Government not able to endure that the wealth of the Nation shou'd be squander'd on the King's Favourites whom they called the Minions the genius of Queen Catharine pleas'd with troubles and even procuring them to render her self necessary to the end that recourse might be had to her for Remedies the Princes of the bloud become suspected and odious to the three orders of the Kingdom either for favouring the Huguenots or for being publiquely declar'd Calvinists thereby renouncing the Catholique faith as the King of Navarre and the Prince of Conde had openly done the King faln into the contempt of his Subjects after having lost their love himself on the contrary lov'd and ador'd by the people worship'd by the Parisians follow'd by the Nobility indear'd to the Soldiers having in his Interests all the Princes of his Family powerfull in Offices and Governments the multitude of his Creatures whom his own generosity and that of his Father had acquir'd him the favour of the Pope the assistance of the Spaniard ready at hand to bear him up and above all the seeming Justice of his cause which he industriously made known to all the world to be that of Religion alone whereof in the general opinion he was the Protectour and the Pillar and for the maintenance of which it was believ'd that he had devoted himself against the Huguenots who had enterpriz'd to abolish it in the Kingdom But the last motive which fix'd his resolution was the extreme rancour he had against the King one of whose intimate Confidents he had been formerly and who had now abandon'd him by changing on the sudden the whole manner of his Conduct and giving himself entirely up to his Minions who omitted no occasion of using the Duke unworthily For disdain which is capable of hurrying to the last extremities the greatest Souls and the most sensible in point of Honour made hatred to succeed his first inclinations against him whom already he despis'd and hatred and contempt being joyn'd with Ambition incessantly push'd him forwards to make himself the head of a Party so powerfull as that of the League which pass'd for Holy in the minds of the people and to avail himself of so fair an opportunity to form it For this effect he immediately caus'd a project to be formally drawn which his Emissaries shou'd endeavour to spread about the Kingdom amongst those Catholiques who appear'd the most zealous and most simple and those who were known to be the most addicted to the House of Guise in this Breviate which they were oblig'd to subscribe they promis'd by Oath to obey him who shou'd be elected head of that holy Confederacy which was made for maintaining of the Catholique Religion to cause due obedience to be render'd to the King and his Successours yet without prejudice to what shou'd be ordain'd by the three Estates and to restore the Kingdom to its original Liberties which it enjoy'd under the Reign of Clovis At the first there were found few Persons of Quality and substantial Citizens of Paris who wou'd venture to subscribe to that Association because it was not precisely known who wou'd dare to declare himself the Head of it besides that by the vigilance of the first President Christopher de Thou it was first discover'd then dissipated and at last dissolv'd with ease with all those secret Assemblies which were already held in several quarters of the Town for entring such persons into that infant League whom either their Malice their false Zeal or their Simplicity cou'd ingage But the Duke of Guise having sent his project to the Sieur d' Humieres of whom he held himself assur'd that Lord who besides his obligation to the House of Guise had also his particular interest and that of no less Consequence than the maintaining himself in his Government of Peronne which was taken from him by the Edict of May and that important place order'd to be put into the hands of the Prince of Conde manag'd the affair so well by the credit he had in that Province that as the Picards have always been zealous for the ancient Religion he ingag'd almost all the Towns and all the Nobility of Picardy to declare openly that they wou'd not receive the Prince of Conde because as it was urg'd in the Manifesto which was publish'd to justifie their refusal of him that they certainly knew he was resolv'd to abolish the Catholique Faith and establish Calvinism throughout all Picardy 'T is most certain that they wou'd never be induc'd to receive that Prince into Peronne or any other part of that Government and that to maintain themselves against all those who wou'd undertake to oblige them by force to observe that Article of the Peace which they never wou'd accept the Picards were the first to receive by common agreement and to publish in Peronne tâ—e Treaty of the League in twelve Articles in which the most prudent of the Catholiques themselves together with the Illustrious President Christopher de Thou observ'd many things which directly shock'd the most Holy Laws both Divine and Humane For 't is obvious in the first Article that the Catholique Princes Lords and Gentlemen invoking the name of the Holy Trinity make an Association and League offensive and defensive betwixt themselves without the permission privity or consent of their King and a King who was a Catholique as well as they which is directly opposite to the Law of God who ordains that Subjects should submit themselves and be united to their Sovereign as members to their Head even though he shou'd exceed his bounds and be a Tyrant provided that there be no manifest sin in what they are commanded to obey In the second they refuse to render obedience to the King unless it be conformable to the Articles which shall be presented to him by the States which it shall not be lawfull for him to contradict or to act any thing in prejudice of them 'T is evident that this overthrows the constitution of the Monarchy to establish in its place a certain kind of Aristocracy against one of our fundamental Laws which ordains that the States shou'd have onely a deliberative voice for the drawing up of their Petitions into Bills and then to present them with all humility to the King who examines them in his Council and afterwards passes what he finds to be just and reasonable They give not Law to him who is their Master and their Head as the Electours of the Empire by certain capitulations do to the Emperours of Germany who are indeed the Heads but not the Masters of the Empire but on the contrary they receive it from their King to whom they onely make most humble Addresses in the Bills which they present to him
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-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
time with the Guises and that fatal love which the King had to a lazy quiet life which he cou'd not quit without extreme repugnance and which immediately replung'd him into his pleasant dreams wherein he seem'd to be enchanted render'd fruitless so wholsome an advice Insomuch that he satisfied himself with making a feeble and timorous Declaration wherein answering the Conspiratours in a kind of a respectfull way as if he fear'd to give them any manner of offence he seem'd rather to plead his Innocence before his Judges than to speak awfully to his Rebels like a King and in the mean time gave leisure to the Duke of Guise to form a Body of Ten or twelve thousand Foot and about Twelve hundred Horse The King of Navarre at whom the Leaguers particularly aim'd did indeed make his Declaration which he address'd to the King and to all the Princes and Potentates of Christendom but he made it in a manner which was worthy of the greatness of his courage by the masculine and eloquent Pen of Du Plessis Mornay who particularly understood how to serve his Master according to his Genius For after having generously refuted the calumnies with which the Factious charg'd him he made protestation that he was no ways an Enemy to the Catholiques nor to their Religion which he was most ready to embrace whensoever he shou'd be instructed by another method than what was us'd to him after St. Bartholomew by holding the Dagger to his Throat After which he declar'd that all those who had the malice or the impudence to say that he was an Enemy to Religion and to the State and that he design'd to oppress either of them by an imaginary League which was â—alâ—ly suppos'd to have been made to that intent at Madgburg with respect to the King's Honour Lyed in their throats and above all others the Duke of Guise and humbly begg'd his Majesty's permission without regard to his being first Prince of the bloud that for once he might levell himself to an equality with him to the end that they might decide their quarrel by the way of Arms singly betwixt themselves or by a Duel two to two ten to ten or twenty against twenty to spare the effusion of so much bloud as must inevitably be shed in a Civil War But though he did his uttermost to excite in the King a generous resolution of Arming himself against his Rebels though he offer'd to Combat them in his own person and with all his Forces in conjunction with those Catholiques who were Enemies to the League and that he assur'd him of powerfull Succours from England and from Germany which had been promis'd yet cou'd he never strike more fire out of that irresolute soul than onely some faint sparks of a languishing and impotent anger which his fear and effeminacy soon quench'd like those weak motions which men seem to make in frightfull dreams when they rowze themselves a little but immediately yield to the force of sleep 'T is acknowledg'd that he made Edicts against them injoyning them to lay down Arms and commanding all his Subjects to ring the Larum Bells against them and to cut them in pieces if they disobey'd He summon'd the Nobility and Princes of the bloud to attend him he gave Commissions and issued out Orders to make a great Levy of Reiters and Swisses and commanded his Guards to be in a readiness to march to the rendesvouz which shou'd be appointed them But after all the insuperable passion which he had for quiet and the soft pleasures of the Cabinet and the fear of the League with which he was possess'd by the Queen Mother who held intelligence with the Duke of Guise and magnifi'd his Forces incomparably beyond the life together with the advice of some of his Council who had rather he shou'd arm against the King of Navarre his faithfull Subject than against Catholiques though Rebels brought the matter to that pass at length that he grew colder than ever and left all things to the management of his Mother to whom he gave full power of treating with the Associated Princes and even of concluding as soon as possibly she cou'd with them on what conditions she shou'd please Thus after a Conference begun at Epernay and afterwards finish'd at Nemours on the Seventh of Iuly 1585. a Peace was concluded with the Leaguers granting them whatsoever they cou'd demand either for Religion or for themselves For what concern'd Religion an Edict was made by which revoking all those that had formerly been granted in favour of the Huguenots all exercise of the pretendedly reform'd Religion was prohibited The Ministers were all commanded to depart the Kingdom a month after the publication of the Edict and all the King's Subjects enjoyn'd to make publique profession of the Catholique Faith within Six months on pain of banishment And for the interest of the Confederate Princes who affected above all things to have it believ'd that their principal aim was the preservation of the Catholique Faith a ratification was made of all which they had done as onely undertaken for the maintenance of Religion and service of the King and besides there was a promise made them that they shou'd command the Armies which were to put this Edict in Execution and to make War against the Huguenots in case they refus'd submission to it And for places of Caution besides Thoul and Verdun of which they had possess'd themselves at first there were granted them three Towns in Champaign Rheims Chaälons and St. Dizier Ruë in Picardy besides those of which they were already Masters in that Province which had declared first of all others for the League Soissons in the Isle of France in Bretagne Dinan and Concarneau and Dijon and Beaune in Bourgogne Yet more there was money given them to pay the Souldiers they had Levied and to the Cardinal of Bourbon to the Duke of Guise his two Brothers and their Couâ—ns the Dukes of Mercaeur of Aumale and of Elbeuf to each of them a Company of Arquebusiers or Dragoons on Horseback maintain'd for their Guard as if they resolv'd by so glaring a mark of honour to make ostentation of their triumph over the King against whom they had newly gain'd so great a victory without combate onely by the terrour of their Arms which contrary to the order of Nature made of a Master and a Sovereign the Slave and Executo rof the good will and pleasure of his Subjects Such was the Edict of Iuly which was extorted from the weakness of the King who immediately perceiv'd that instead of securing Religion and his own repose by granting all things to the League as he was made to believe he shou'd he had plung'd himself into a furious War which might have been extremely dangerous to Religion if the Huguenots had overcome the Catholiques 'T is what he himself took notice of when amidst the acclamations and cries of Vive le Roy which resounded from every part when he
that Roche-Mort being kill'd with a Musquet shot as he was looking through a Casement the Castle had been surrender'd two days since Notwithstanding this Misfortune which the greatest part of his Souldiers wou'd not believe having joyn'd fifteen hundred men whom Clermont d' Amboise a little before the Siege of Broüage was gone to raise for his service in Anjou he took a resolution to attaque the Suburbs But was vigorously repuls'd by the good Troups which the King had sent thither to assist the Citizens who had retrench'd themselves against the Castle which they held besieg'd After which intending to repass the River he found that not onely all the passages were guarded but that also he was ready to be compass'd round by the Troups of the King and of the League who were gathering together from all parts both on this side the Loyre and beyond it to inclose him Insomuch that not being able either to advance or to retreat without being taken or cut in pieces with all his men they were at length forc'd to disband and dividing themselves into small companies of Seven and Eight or Ten and Twelve together every man being willing to save one march'd onely by night through bye passages out of the common Road and through Woods for fear of being met with either by Souldiers or Peasants who kill'd as many of them as they cou'd find and pursued them as they wou'd so many Wolves when they caught them entring into a Sheepfold The Prince himself had much adoe to escape the tenth man and disguis'd into the Lower Normandy from whence he pass'd in a Fisher's Barque betwixt Auranche and St. Malo into the Isle of Guernsey and from thence aboard an English Vessel into England where he was very well receiv'd by Queen Elizabeth who sent him back to Rochelle the Year following with a considerable supply In the mean time St. Mesme who during this unhappy expedition of the Prince continued the Siege of Broüage â—inding himself too weak to resist the Marshal de Matignon who advanc'd by order from the King to force his Retrenchments with an Army of experienc'd Souldiers truss'd up his Baggage and retir'd with what speed he cou'd but in so much fear and disorder that he lost great numbers of his men in his hastyâ— march and particularly in passing the Charante where St. Luc Governour of Broüage who always shew'd himself as brave in War as he was agreeable at Court in Peace having charg'd him in the Reer cut it entirely off Thus the League and the Calvinism lost on that occasion the one the Castle of Anger 's wherein the King plac'd a Governour on whose fidelity he might rely and the other almost all its Forces which after that shock durst no longer keep the Field This furnish'd the King with an opportunity to publish new Ordinances by which he commanded the Goodâ— of Rebels to be seiz'd and particularly of those who had followed the Prince of Conde with promise nevertheless of restoring them when they shou'd return into the Catholique Church and give good security of remaining in it Ordaining farther in execution of the Edict of Iuly that all such shou'd be forc'd to depart the Realm who refus'd to make abjuration of Calvinism into the hands of the Bishops and it was enjoyn'd them to make it according to the Form which was compos'd by William Ruzè Bishop of Anger 's It was thus practis'd because it had been observ'd that the greatest part of the Huguenots had invented a trick neither to lose their Goods nor to leave the Kingdom but thought it was lawfull for them to accommodate themselves to the times and so deceive men by making a false profession of Faith onely for form sake and in external obedience to the Edicts which they express'd by these words Since it has so pleas'd the King with which they never fail'd to preface the Oath of Abjuration when they took it Now this prudent Bishop having observ'd that intolerable abuse which was follow'd by an infinite number of Sacrileges and most horrible profanation of the Sacraments which those false Converts made no scruple to receive betraying by that damnable imposture both the one Religion and the other wou'd admit none into the Communion of the Church who had not first made his profession of Faith according to his form which much resembled that of Pius the Fourth and which from that time forward was and is presented to be sign'd by all those who abjure Heresie 'T is most certain that these Edicts joyn'd with the extreme weakness in which the Huguenot party then was made in a little time many more converts true or false than had been made by the Massacre of St. Bartholomew But also on the other side they occasion'd the Protestants of Germany whom the King of Navarre cou'd never draw to his party against the Leaguers now to incline to his assistance Two years were almost past since that King who desir'd to shelter himself from the Conspiracy which the League had made principally against him with purpose to exclude him from the Crown against the fundamental Law of the Realm had solicited those Princes by the Sieur de Segur Pardaillan and de Clervant to raise an Army for his assistance and elsewhere by the intermission of Geneva he press'd the Protestant Cantons of Swisserland to make a Counter-League with the Germans for the same purpose Queen Elizabeth who besides the interest of her Protestant Religion had a particular esteem and love for that Prince the Duke of Boüillon a declar'd Enemy of the Lorrain Princes and the Count de Montbeliard Frederick de Wirtemburg a most zealous Calvinist used their utmost endeavours with those German Protestants to stir them up all which notwithstanding they were very loath to resolve on a War with the King of France their Allye saying always that they wou'd never engage themselves in it till it was clearly manifest that the War which was made against the Huguenots was not a War of the Government against its Rebels but purely and onely against the Protestant Religion which they intended to extirpate But when they saw before their eyes those Edicts and Ordinances of the King who was absolutely resolv'd not to suâ—â—er any other Religion beside the Catholique in his Kingdom and that otherways they had given them all the security they cou'd desire for the payment of their Army then they took a Resolution of Levying great Forces and of assisting the King of Navarre powerfully after sending a solemn Embassy to the King to demand of him the Revocation of his Edicts and an entire liberty of Conscience for the Protestants The King of Denmark the Electors of Saxony and Brandenburgh the Prince Palatine Iohn Casimir the Dukes of Saxony of Pomerania and of Brunswick the Landgrave of Hesse and Iohn Frederick Administrator of Magdeburg were the Princes who Asâ—ociated themselves with the Towns of Francford Vlmes Nuremberg and Strasburg to send this Embassy
by the Memoires of Du Plessis Mornay yet the King to make it evident that it was onely through necessity that he enter'd into this Union with the Huguenots against the League was consenting that before the publication of it there shou'd be made a last attempt on the inclinations of the Duke of Mayenne to induce him to a reconcilement To this effect he gave in writing to the Legat the same Articles which he had already propos'd to the Duke of Lorrain and which were as advantageous to his Family as he cou'd reasonably desire For there was offer'd to the Duke of Mayenne his Government of Burgundy with full power of placing such Governours in the Towns as he himself shou'd chuse of disposing all vacant Offices and levying on the Province forty thousand Crowns yearly To the young Duke of Guise his Nephew the Government of Champaigne with two Cities at his choice therein to keep what Garrisons he pleas'd twenty thousand Crowns of Pension and thirty thousand Livres of Income in Benifices for his Brother To the Duke of Nemours the Government of Lyons with a Pension of ten thousand Crowns to the Duke of Aumale the Government of Picardy and two Cities in that Province to the Duke of Elbeuf a Government and five and twenty thousand Livres of Pension and what was of greatest importance for that Family to the Marquis du Pont eldest Son of the Duke of Lorrain the Government of Toul Metz and Verdun with assurance that if his Majesty had no Issue Male those three Bishopricks shou'd remain to the Duke of Lorrain To all which the King caus'd this addition to be made that to remove all difficulties which might arise in the execution of this Treaty he wou'd remit himself to the Arbitration of his Holiness who might please to joyn in the Umpirage with him the Senate of Venice the great Duke of Thuscany the Duke of Ferrara and the Duke of Lorrain himself who had so great an interest in those Articles With these conditions the Legat went from Tours on the tenth of April towards the Duke of Mayenne who was already advanc'd with his Army as far as Chasteaudun He was receiv'd with all manner of respect and dureing the two days conference he had with the Duke employ'd the most powerfull considerations he cou'd propose to win his consent to a Peace so advantageous for all his House and so necessary to Religion and the publique welfare or at least to gain thus far upon him that if any thing were yet wanting to his entire satisfaction he wou'd remit his interests and those of his Party into the hands of the Pope as the King on his side was already dispos'd to refer his own But after all his endeavours he cou'd not work him to any condescension And whatever arguments he us'd he always answer'd with great respect as to the Pope and the person of the Legat but with extreme contempt for the King whom he perpetually call'd that Wretch that he and his wou'd ever be obedient to the Pope but that he was very well assur'd that his Holiness wou'd never lay his Commands upon him to make any agreement to the prejudice of Religion with a man who had none at all and who was united with the Huguenots against the Catholiques That he cou'd not bear the mention of a reconcilement with a perjur'd man who had neither Faith nor Honour and that he cou'd never trust his word who had Murther'd his Brothers so inhumanely and violated so perâ—idiously not onely the publique Faith but also the Oath which he had taken on the Evangelists at the most holy Sacrament of the Altar After this the Cardinal farther observing what he cou'd not otherways have believ'd that even more opprobrious terms than these were us'd of the King through all the Army and in every City which own'd the League where no man durst presume to give him the name of King wrote him word that he cou'd do him no Service with the Duke and himself not daring to be near his person while the King of Navarre continued with him went to Bourbonnois where he waited the Orders which he receiv'd from the Pope not long after to return to Rome and there to give an account of his Legation Thus after all hope was utterly lost of concluding any peace with the Leaguers the Treaty with the King of Navarre took place He was put into possession of Saumur the Government of which he gave to the Sieur du Plessis-Mornay who had so well succeeded in his Negotiation And it was from that very place that he publish'd his Declaration concerning his intended passage over the Loyre for the Service of his Majesty where he protests amongst other things that being first Prince of the Bloud whom his Birth oblig'd before all others to defend his King he holds none for Enemies but such as are Rebels forbidding most strictly all his Souldiers to commit any manner of offence against those Catholiques who were faithfull Subjects to his Majesty and particularly against the Clergy whom he takes into his protection The King also made his own at large wherein he declares the reasons that oblig'd him to joyn with the King of Navarre for the preservation of his person and the Estate without any prejudice which cou'd thence ensue to the Catholique Religion which he wou'd always maintain in his Kingdom even with the hazard of his Life But that which at length completed the Happiness of this Union betwixt the two Kings was their Enterview which was made in the Park of Plessis on the thirtieth day of April amidst the acclamations of a multitude of people there assembled and with all the signs of an entire confidence on both sides Though the old Huguenot Captains who had not yet forgot St. Bartholomew us'd their best endeavours that their Master shou'd not have put himself in the King's Power as he did with all frankness and generosity He did yet more for being gone back with his Guards and the Gentlemen who attended him to the Fauxbourgs of St. Simphorian beyond the Bridges on the next Morning which was the first of May he repaâ—s'd the River follow'd onely by one Page and return'd to Tours to be present at the King 's Levè who was infinitely pleas'd with this generous procedure and clearly saw by it that he had no occasion to suspect him and that he had reason to hope all things from a Prince who reli'd so fully on his word though he had broken it more than once to him by revoking the Edicts which he had made in favour of him onely to content the League In this manner they pass'd two days together and held a Council where the King of Navarre caus'd a resolution to be taken that for the speedy ending of the War they shou'd assemble their whole Forces with all possible diligence and March directly on to Paris which was the Head of the League and on which the body of it
Predecessor or be with him because he was satisfied that this Great Man would be able to do him greater Service by staying with the Duke of Mayenne where by his wise Remonstrations and the credit which he had acquir'd with that Prince he might break the measures of the Spaniards and their Adherents He continued this politique management to the end and principally on that occasion whereon depended either the felicity or the unhappiness of this Kingdom according to the resolution which shou'd be taken For the Duke of Mayenne having ask'd him his opinion in relation to what the Legat and Mendoza had propos'd he gave him easily to understand that all those plausible Propositions which were made by the Legat by Mendoza and the Sixteen were intended only to deprive him of his Authority and to subject him and the whole Party of the Vnion under the domination of the Spaniards who wou'd not fail to usurp upon the French and to perpetuate the War thereby to maintain their own greatness That in his present condition without suffering an Head to be constituted above him he had War and Peace at his disposing together with the glory of having sustain'd himself alone both Religion and the State but by acknowledging the King of Spain for Protector of the Kingdom he shou'd only debase himself under the proud Title of a powerful Master who wou'd serve his own interests too well to leave him the means of either continuing the War or of concluding a Peace to the advantage of his Country There needed no more to perswade a man so knowing and so prudent as was the Duke of Mayenne 'T is to be confess'd that he was a Self lover which is natural to all men but he was also a Lover of the Common Good which is the distinguishing character of an Honest Man Since he cou'd not himself pretend to the Crown which he clearly saw it was impossible for him to obtain for many reasons he was resolv'd no Foreigner should have it nor even any other but that only Person to whom it belong'd rightfully Religion being first secur'd He thereupon firmly purpos'd from that time both in regard of his particular interest and that of the State to oppose whatsoever attempts should be made by the Spaniards or by his own nearest Relations under any pretence or colour which was undoubtedly one great cause of the preservation of the State For which reason that he might for ever cut off the Spaniards from all hope of procuring their Master to be made Protector of the Realm of France and consequently of having in his hands the Government of the Kingdom and the concernments of the League under this new Title as the Sixteen who were already at his Devotion had design'd he politickly told them in a full Assembly that since the cause of Religion was the only thing for which the Vnion was ingage'd in this War which they had undertaken it wou'd be injurious to the Pope to put themselves under any other protection than that of his Holiness Which Proposition was so gladly receiv'd by all excepting only the Faction of Sixteen that the Spaniards were constrain'd to desist and to let their pretensions wholly fall And to obviate the design of causing any other King to be Elected besides the Old Cardinal of Bourbon under whose Name he govern'd all things he procur'd the Parliament to verifie the Ordinance of the Council General of the Vnion by which that Cardinal was declar'd King and caus'd him so to be Proclaim'd in all the Towns and Places of their party retaining for himself by the same Ordinance the Quality and Power of Lieutenant General of the Crown till the King shou'd be deliver'd from Imprisonment And at the same time to ruin the Faction of Sixteen which was wholly Spaniardiz'd he broke the Council of the Vnion Saying That since there was a King Proclaim'd whose Lieutenant he also was there ought to be no other Council but his which in duty was to follow him wheresoever he shou'd be Thus the Duke of Mayenne having possess'd himself of all Royal Authority under the imaginary Title of another and having overcome all the designs of the Spaniards took the Field and after having taken in the Castle of Bois de Vincennes by composition which had been invested for a year together he retook Pontoise and some other places which hindred the freedom of commerce and being afterwards willing to regain all the passages of the Seine thereby to establish the communication of Paris with Rouen and to have the Sea open he went to besiege the Fort of Meulan where he lost much time to little purpose while the Legat against whom the Kings Parliament at Tours had made a terrible Decree was labouring at Paris with all his might that no accommodation shou'd be made with the King not even though he shou'd be converted To this effect seeing that the Faction of Sixteen and the Spaniards were extremely weaken'd after what the Duke of Mayenne had done against them and that the Royalists who were generally call'd Politiques had resum'd courage and began to say openly that it was the common duty of all good Subjects to unite themselves with the Catholicks who follow'd the King he oppos'd them with a Declaration lately made against them by the factious Doctors of the Sorboâ—ne on the tenth of February in the same year 1590. For by that Decree it was ordain'd That all Doctors and Batchelors shou'd have in abhorrence and strongly combat the pestilential and damnable Opinions which the Workers of Iniquity endeavour'd with all their force to insinuate daily into the Minds of Ignorant and Simple Men principally these Propositions That Henry de Bourbon might and ought to be honour'd with the Title of King That it Conscience men might hold his Party and Pay him Taxes and acknowledge him for King on condition he turn'd Catholick c. And then they added That in case any one shall refuse to obey this Decree the Faculty declares him an Enemy to the Church of God Perjur'd and Disobedient to his Mother and in conclusion cuts him off from her Body as a gangreen'd Member which corrupts the rest A Decree of this force was of great service to the Bigots of the League because it depriv'd the wiser sort of the License they had taken to perswade the people to make peace And the Legat that he might hinder any from taking it for the time to come bethought himself that a new Oath should be impos'd on the Holy Evangelists betwixt his hands in the Church of the Augustines to be taken by all the Officers of the Town and the Captains of the several Wards which was That they shou'd always persevere in the Holy Union that they shou'd never make Peace or Truce with the King of Navarre and that they shou'd employ their Lives and Fortunes in deliverance of their King Charles the Tenth Which was also enjoyn'd to be taken by all the Officers of
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
the contrary for when they saw by this Decree and by the taking of Dreux which the King had besieg'd and after carried by force during these Agitations that if they made not haste in their election of a King 't was very probable that it wou'd be out of their power to elect one afterwards they us'd their utmost Endeavours to have one chosen in the same manner as they had first propos'd it To put by this Blow the Duke of Mayennâ— who believ'd the Spaniards had been impowr'd only with general Instructions and not to name him whom they judg'd most proper for their Interests told them that of necessity they were to expect a more particular Order from their Master wherein he shou'd declare the individual Person whom he chose for his Son in law But he was much surpriz'd when they who in all appearance had many Blanks which were ready sign'd and which they cou'd fill up with any Name to serve their occasions show'd him before the Cardinal Legat and the principal Members of the Assembly at a meeting in his House that they were impowr'd in due form to name the Duke of Guise yet he strove in the best manner he cou'd to conceal his inward Trouble and Anxiety for this Nomination which his Wiâ—e the Dutchess was not able to endure but counseâ—l'd him rather to make a Peace with the King than to be so mean-spirited as to acknowledge that raw young Creature for so by way of contempt she call'd her Nephew for his King and Master But the Duke of Mayennâ— who at that time cou'd not bear any Master whomsoever took another course and requir'd eight days time to give in writing his Demands for his own indemnifying which the Spaniards allow'd him as fully as he cou'd desire And in the mean time he knew so well to manage the Minds of the greatest part of the Deputies the Lords and Princes and even of the Duke of Guise himself by making them comprehend how unseasonable it was to create a King before they had Forces sufficient to support him against a powerful and victorious Prince that in spight of all those who were of the Spanish Interest the Ministers of Spain were answer'd that the Estates were resolv'd to proceed no farther in their Election till they had receiv'd those great Supplies which had been promis'd them by the King their Master In this manner the Election was deferr'd by the Address of the Duke of Mayenne which Dr. Mauclere a great Leaguer most bitterly bewail'd in a Letter which he wrote from Paris to Dr. de Creil another stiff Leaguer then residing at Rome to manage the Interests of that Party and therein discov'rd the whole Secret which in effect overthrew all the Cabals of the Spaniards and the League and utterly destroy'd their whole Fabrick For many things afterwards happen'd which broke off all speech of an Election of which the first and most principal was the Conversion of the King which is next in order to be related Above 9 years were already past since he though Head of the Hugonots had been endeavouring the means of reuniting himself together with his whole Party to the Catholick Church For in the year 1584. a little before the Associated Princes of the League had taken Arms the late King having sent Monsieur de Bellievre to Pamiers to declare to him that he wou'd have the Mass re establish'd in the County of Foix and in all the other Countreys which he held under the Soveraignty of the Crown of France he caus'd one of the Ministers of his Family who was already well inclin'd to sound the Dispositions of the other Ministers of that Countrey and to try if there were any hope that they would use their Endeavours uprightly and sincerely to find the means of making a general Reunion with the Catholick Church They gave up without any great difficulty all the Points in Controversie excepting one which they laid to heart namely their Interest demanding such vast proportions of Maintenance as he was not then in a condition to give them saying with great simplicity these very words That they wou'd not go a begging for their Living or live upon charity like so many poor Scholars Many of his Counsel and amongst others the Sieur de Segur one of those in whom he most confided were of opinion nevertheless that he shou'd not give over that Undertaking and that he shou'd endeavour to bring it about quietly and without any bustle by gaining the leading men of his Party And he was so well inclin'd to do it that he cou'd not curb himself from protesting frequently after his coming to the Crown and particularly after the Battel of Ivry that he wish'd with all his heart they were reunited with that Church from which they had separated and that he shou'd believe that he had done more than any of his Predecessors if God wou'd one day enable him to make that Reunion which was so necessary that he might live to see all Frenchmen united under the same Faith as well as under the same King But there is great probability for us to hope that God had reserv'd that Glory for King Louis the Great his Grandson whose unbloody Victories which he daily obtains in full Peace over Heresie by his prudent management and his Zeal which have found the means of reducing the Protestants in crowds and without violence into the Church may under his Reign show us the final accomplishment of that great Work which his Grandfather so ardently desir'd It is also known that this Prince being then only King of Navarre at the time when he projected that Re-union of which I have spoken said one day in private to one of the Ministers That he cou'd see no manner of devotion in his Religion which all consisted in hearing a Sermon deliver'd in good French and that he had always an opinion that the Body of our Lord is in the holy Sacrament for otherwise the Communion was but an exterior Ceremony which had nothing real and essential in it 'T is in this place that I cannot hinder my self from rendring Justice to the merit of one of the greatest Men whom any of our Kings have imploy'd in their most important Negotiations and who most contributed to the infusing these good Inclinations into the King of Navarre namely Francis de Noailles Bishop of Acq's who has gain'd an immortal Reputation by those great Services which he perform'd for France during 35 years under four of our Kings in fifteen Voyages out of the Kingdom and four solemn Embassies into England Venice Rome and Constantinople In which last Employment he did so much for the interest of our Religion with Selim the Grand Signior the 2d of that Name and by travelling into Syria Palestine and Aegypt where he procur'd great Advantages and Comfort to the poor Christians that the greatest Princes of Christendom thought themselves oblig'd to make their thankful Acknowledgements of his labour to
our King Pope Gregory the 13th commanded his Nuncio himself to thank the Ambassador from him at his passage from Venice on his return to France and to desire him that he wou'd use his Interest with his Brother the Abbot of L' Isle who had succeeded him in many of his Negotiations and in that Embassy as he also did in the Bishoprick of Acq's that he wou'd follow the worthy Examples which he had given him 'T is true that Pope Pius the 5th Predecessor to Gregory thought it very strange at first that a Bishop shou'd be Ambassador for the most Christian King at the Ottoman Port. But besides that the Bishop of Agria a most prudent and vertuous Prelat had exercis'd that Charge during five years for the Emperor Maximilian the 2d without the least fault found with it he very much chang'd his opinion after the Bishop of Acq's by his credit with the Grand Signior had obtain'd from him that an express Prohibition shou'd be made to Piali Bassa General of his Navy of making any descent on the Territories of the Church in consideration of which Benefit his Holiness made him a promise to promote him to the highest Dignities with which a Pope can recompence the greatest Services that are render'd to the Church These were the Employments of that Bishop whose Deserts were not less eminent than those of his elder Brother Anthony de Noailles Head of that illustrious Family which is one of the most ancient and remarkable in Limousin who was Ambassador in England Governour of Bourdeaux and Lieutenant for the King in Guyenne where he serv'd the State and Religion with the same Zeal which appears at this day with so much Success and Glory in his Posterity It was then by the Motives of the same Zeal for Religion that Francis de Noailles after he had reduc'd 100 Hugonot Families which he found in Acq's at his coming to that Bishoprick to the number of 12 was not wanting to make use of so fair an opportunity as he had to work upon the King of Navarre's Inclinations which good advice in God's due time had the desir'd effect For having conferr'd with him at Nerac by the King's Orders twice or thrice with endeavours to procure from him the re-establishment of the Catholick Religion in Bearn when he found that new Difficulties were still started he laid aside that particular Point and coming to the Spring-head whereon all the rest depended he told him in the presence of Segur with all the sincerity of a faithful Minister That his Majesty cou'd not reasonably hope to support himself by that Party which how powerful soever it appear'd wou'd always be too weak to bear him up in spight of the Catholicks who were infinitely more strong to that pitch of heighth to which his Birth and Fortune might one day carry him that whatsoever Wonders his Valour might perform yet they wou'd never be of any advantage to him till he reconcil'd himself sincerely to the Catholick Church and that it was impossible they were his very words that he cou'd ever raise any thing that was durable for the establishment of his Fortune either within the Realm or without it unless he built on this Foundation This was what he said when he took his leave of the King of Navarre And some few days after this writing from Agen to the Sieur de Segur he protested to him That his Master cou'd never arrive to the possession of that Crown to which he might lawfully pretend if he made not his entrance by the Gate of the Catholick Religion and pray'd him therefore that he wou'd think seriously of that Matter for if he follow'd not his Counsel he shou'd one day speak to him in Petrarch 's Verse When Error goes before Repentance comes behind This Discourse startled Segur who had much power over his Masters Inclinations and it was principally on this account that he gave him the Counsel above-mention'd which consequently caus'd the King of Navarre to consider of the means of reuniting himself to the Catholicks But it happening that in the midst of these Agitations the Leaguers began openly to rebel and afterwards capitulating with Arms in their hands obtain'd an Edict by which the King oblig'd himself to make War with all his Power against the Hugonots Segur whom the King of Navarre had lately sent into Germany to desire assistance writ to him after he had obtain'd it that this was not a time to think of turning Catholick though he himself had formerly advis'd it and that since his Enemies wou'd make him change his Religion by force almost in the same manner as they had us'd him at the Massacre of St. Barthol'mew he ought to stand bent against them and defend his Liberty by Arms that it might not be said he was basely plyant to their will and that he might change freely with safeguard to his Honour at some other time which now he cou'd not without shame as being by constraint He follow'd this Advice which was also seconded by his Counsel He made the War and always appear'd at the Head of the Hugonots with the success which has already been related But being a man of a sprightly and piercing Wit he was not wanting in the mean time to instruct himself and that by a very artificial way Sometimes by proposing difficult Points to his Ministers or to speak more properly his own Doubts and Scruples in matters of Religion to understand on what Foundations their Opinions were built sometimes by conferring with knowing Catholicks and maintaining against them with the strongest Reasons he cou'd urge the Principles which had been infus'd into him by his Ministers on purpose to discover by their Answers which he compar'd with what had been told him on the other side what was real and solid truth betwixt them And he always continued in this manner of Instruction clearing and fathoming the principal Points of the Controversie and causing them to give in writing what they had to argue pro or con which produc'd this effect that the Hugonots never believ'd him to be sound at bottom and settled in their Religion but repos'd much greater confidence in the late Prince of Conde who was in reality a better Protestant than he And truly it appears exceeding credible that when at his coming to the Crown he made a promise to the Catholick Princes and Lords that he wou'd cause himself to be instructed within six months he was already resolv'd on his Conversion there remaining but very few things which he then scrupled and for which he demanded some longer time in order to his fuller satisfaction But as he afterwards acknowledg'd he thought himself oblig'd to defer that good action to some more convenient opportunity because the Hugâ—nots wou'd certainly have cantoniz'd themselves and set up under the protection of some powerful Foreigner whom they wou'd have chosen for their Head which must have occasion'd new Troubles in the Kingdom Besides which the Head
shall be remov'd he shall go and present himself before His Holiness submitting in all humility to what he shall reasonably ordain Now 't is most manifest they say that there are three sorts of Canonical Hindrances which dispence the King from going and consequently from sending to Rome to desire Absolution from the Pope The first is the manifest danger wherein he is continually of losing his Life in so many Battels and Sieges where he is forc'd to expose it daily for the preservation of the Crown which is devolv'd to him by the invioable Right of Succssion according to the fundamental Law of the Kingdom and which one half of his Subjects who are in Rebellion against him do their utmost to take away A Danger of this nature and many of the same which are included under it as that of Conspiracies Enmities Robbers a long Voyage by Sea are esteem'd according to right Reason and by the Doctors to be of that number which is comprehended in what we call the Article of Death which is not to be understood alone of that fatal moment when we give up our Breath but also of any another time when we are visibly expos'd to Death And it is on these occasions as in the Article of Death that not only the Bishops but also all Priests can give Absolution from all Sins and Ecclesiastick Censures with this Proviso that he shall afterwards present himself before the Pope if there be not some other Hindrance as for example that which follows And that is the greatness and dignity of the Persons excommunicated and particularly of Soveraign Princes who cannot leave the People whom they govern to go to Rome without manifest prejudice to their Crown For if a Father of a Family or suppose an ordinary Servant may be dispenc'd with from going thither in case his absence would inconvenience his Family much more strongly may it be concluded in the Person of a great King whose presence is always necessary or at least wise very advantagious to his Kingdom Therefore it ought to be presum'd that Persons of that eminent Dignity are perpetually hindred from leaving their Countrey and taking such a Journey In conclusion the third Hindrance which the Doctors call Periculum in morâ the danger of delay is the great hazard which the Nation might run For by deferring that Absolution so long till it were given at Rome a thousand ill Accidents might intervene and the happy opportunity be lost of preserving in France our Religion the State and the fundamental Laws of the Kingdom by the conversion of the King For all these Reasons it was concluded in that Assembly that they not only might but ought also to absolve him and afterwards send a solemn Embassy to Rome to desire the fatherly Benediction of the Pope and the Approbation of what had been so justly done in France in relation to his Conversion It being resolv'd in this manner the publick and solemn Act of this Conversion which was so much the wish of all good men was perform'd on the Sunday following being the 25th of Iuly with Magnificence worthy of so great an Action and of the Majesty of him who made it The King cloath'd all in white excepting only his Cloak and Hat which were black came forth from his Lodgings betwixt the hours of 8 and 9 in the morning preceded by the Swiss the French and the Scottish Guards and the Officers of his House with beat of Drum accompanied by the Princes the Crown Officers and those of the Soveraign Courts the Bishops and Prelats and all those who had assisted at his Instruction twelve Trumpets going before him and five â—r six hundred Gentlemen following him all magnificently cloath'd the Streets were hung with Tapissery and the Pavements strow'd with Flowers and Greens there were present an infinite multitude of People and principally of Parisians who notwithstanding all the Prohibitions of the Legat and the Duke of Mayenne were come in Crowds to St. Denis and joyn'd heartily with the rest in the loud Cries of Vive le Roy while his Majesty walk'd through the midst of them to the Church Porch of St. Denis There he found the Archbishop of Bourges who was to perform the Ceremony sitting on a great Chair in his pontifical Habit. Immediately he ask'd the King according to the form Who he was and what he wou'd have To which Questions the King having answer'd I am the King who desire to be receiv'd into the bosom of the Catholick Apostolick and Roman Church He fell upon his Knees and presented the Confession of his Faith sign'd with his Hand to the Archbishop saying these words I swear and protest before the Face of Almighty God that I will live and die in the Catholick Apostolick and Roman Church that I will protect and defend it with the hazard of my Blood and Life renouncing all Heresies which are contrary to it After which he receiv'd from that Prelat an Absolution from the Censures which he had incurr'd immediately the whole Church resounded with the often repeated Cryes of Vive le Roy and he was conducted by the Bishops before the great Altar where he renew'd his Oath upon the holy Evangelists and after having confess'd himself to the Archbishop behind the Altar while they were singing the Te Deum he heard High Mass which was celebrated by the Bishop of Nantes and then the Musick sang Vive le Roy with several repetitions of it At which the Parisians who were present in great numbers at that triumphal Ceremony breaking out into tears drown'd the voices of the Musicians with their Cryes of Vive le Roy which makes it evident that the People of Paris excepting only the Rabble of the Faction were only Leaguers by reason of that invincible Aversion which they have always had for Hugonotism For so soon as they saw the King converted they no longer call'd him the Bearnois or the King of Navarre but plainly the King whom already they desir'd to see in Paris as appear'd not long afterwards by the peaceable reduction of that capital City of the Kingdom Truly after this day which by the Effects it produc'd may properly be call'd the last day of the League when the Piety of the King was observ'd at Mass at Vespers at the Archbishop's Sermon and after it in the Visit which he made to the Tombs of the Martyrs at Montmartre all which Actions were well known to proceed from the Sincerity of a Soul which was too great to be capable of Hypocrisie the People did but laugh at what the Spaniards the remainders of the Sixteen their Preachers and above all others the fiery Doctor Boucher publish'd in their Libels and in their Sermons which were but Libels against this Conversion which they labour'd in vain to decry by many impudent and forg'd Defamations 'T was almost every mans business as secretly as he cou'd to make Peace with the King and deliver up the Towns without noise
him he takes up his Quarters at St. Clou. The execrable Paricide â—ommitted on his Person his most Christian and most holy death The Contents of the Fourth Book HEnry the Fourth is acknowledg'd King of France by the Catholiques of his Army and on what Conditions The Duke of Espernon forsakes him and the Sieur de Vitry goes over to the League the King divides his Army into three Bodies and leads one of them into Normandy The Duke of Mayenne causes the Counsell of the Vnion to declare the old Cardinal of Bourbon King under the name of Charles the 10th Books Written for the right of the Vncle against the Nephew and for the Nephew against the Vncle. The Duke of Mayenne takes the Field with a powerfull Army and follows the King into Normandy The Battel or great Skirmishes at Arques the King's Victory and the Retreat of the Duke of Mayenne the Assault and taking of the Suburbs of Paris by the King The Intelligence held by the President De Blanc-Mesnil with the King The praise of that President The Exploits of the King in the Provinces The Propositions of the Legat Cajetan and of the Spaniards at the Coâ—nsell of the Vnion The Sieur de Villeroy discovers the intrigue of it to the Duke of Mayenne who resolves to oppose them The Commendation of that Great Minister of State A new Decree of the Sorbonne against Henry the 4th The new Oath which the Legat orders to be taken by the Leaguers The King Besiegeth Dreux The Duke of Mayenne Marches to the releif of the Besieged which occasions the battel of Yvry The description of that Battel the order of the two Armies The absolute Victory of the King His Exploits after his Victory His repulse from before Sens by the Sieur de Chanvallon he goes to besiege Paris The condition of that Town at that time The provision made by the Duke of Nemours to sustain the Siege The attacque of the Suburb of St. Martin by Lanoue who was repuls'd from it Why the King wou'd not use force An horrible Famine in Paris The reasons which made the Parisians resolve to endure all extremities rather than Surrender The Fantastick Muster that was made by the Ecclesiasticks and the Monks to encourage the people the Legat Cajetan as he was looking on it in danger to be kill'd The Arrival of the Duke of Parma who relieves Paris Two attempts upon Paris to surprise it the one by Scalade and the other by a Strategem neither of which succeed The Retreat of the Duke of Parma The Siege and the taking of Chartres by the management of Chastillon The death of that Count and his Commendation The Duke of Parma renders the Duke of Mayenne suspected to the King of Spain who supports the Sixteen against him Pope Sixtus is disabus'd in favour of the King Gregory the 14th declares for the League against the King whom he Excommunicates His Bull is condemned and produces no manner of effect The conference of the Lorrain Princes at Rheims The President Jannin goes for them into Spain His praise and his artfull Negotiation King Philip unwarily declares his design to cause the Infanta his Daughter to be Elected Queen of France Monsieur de Mayenne breaks with the Spaniard The Division amongst the Lorrain Princes The Young Duke of Guise is receiv'd by the Leaguers who set him up against his Vncle. The horrible violence of the Sixteen who cause the President Brisson and two Counsellours to be hanged The just Revenge which the Duke of Mayenne takes for that action Their Faction totally pull'd down by that Duke and by the Honest Citizens The Siege of Roven The Duke of Parma comes to its releif the Skirmish of Aumale The brave Sally of Villiers Governour of Roven the King raises his Siege and some few days after Besieges the Army of the Duke of Parma the wonderfull Retreat of that Duke The conference of du Plessis Mornay and Villeroy for the Peace what it conduc'd towards the conversion of the King The Popes Innocent the 9th and Clement the 8th for the League The death of the Duke of Parma Monsieur de Mayenne at length assembles the General Estates of the League at Paris The History of those pretended Estates Monsieur de Mayenne causes the conference of Suresne to be therein accepted in spight of the Legat. The Speeches of the Archbishop of Bourges and of Lyons and the History of that Conference The Duke of Mayenne in the Estates artfully hinders the Election of a King The History of the conversion of Henry the 4th The absolution which he demands and which at length is given him at Rome The reduction of many Lords and Towns of the League to the King's Service His Entry into Paris the Skirmish at Fontain Francoise The treaty of the Duke of Mayenne and the Edict which the King makes in his favour The treaty of the Duke of Joyeuse and his second entry into the order of Capuchins the treaty of the Duke of Merceaeur and the end of the League THE HISTORY OF THE LEAGUE LIB I. THough this work which I have undertaken is the natural sequel of the History of Calvinism 't is yet most certain that the Subject which I treat has no relation to that Heresie For it was not the desire of preserving the Catholique faith in France nor any true motive of Religion which gave birth to the League as the common people who have not been able to penetrate into the secret of that accursed Cabal have always been persuaded It was derived from two passions which in all ages have produc'd most tragical Effects I mean Ambition and Hatred 'T is true the multitude and above all the Church-men who believ'd they had occasion to be alarm'd in matters of Religion if he who was call'd to the Crown by the fundamental Laws of the Kingdom shou'd obtain it these I say were seduc'd by that specious appearance of true Zeal which seem'd to be the very Soul and Foundation of the League But it will not be difficult to discover in the process of this History that the Authours of that Conspiracy made use of those pretences of Religion to abuse the credulity and even the Piety of the People and to make them impious without their perceiving it by animating and arming them against their Kings to root out if they had been able the last remaining Stem of the Royal Stock and to plant on its Foundations the dominion of a Foreigner And as none are able to execute an unjust Enterprise but by means as pernicious and execrable as the end it self which they propose so will there be manifest in the sequel and progress of the League even yet more disorders and mischiefs than ever Calvinism it self produc'd against which alone it seem'd to have been arm'd Yet in this particular most resembling that Formidable party which was rais'd against the Catholique Church that being blasted as the Heresie had been by the Lord of
Hosts it was always unsuccesfull in the Battels which it strooke against the lawfull power And at length overwhelm'd with the same Engines which it had rais'd for the destruction of the Government Truly 't is a surprising thing to find both in the design and sequel of the League by a miraculous order of the divine providence revolutions altogether contrary to those which were expected On the one side the majestique House of Bourbon which was design'd for ruine gloriously rais'd to that supreme degree of power in which we now behold it flourishing to the wonder of the World and on the other side that of two eminent Families which endeavour'd their own advancement by its destruction the one is already debas'd to the lowest degree and the other almost reduc'd to nothing So different are the designs of God from those of men and so little is there to be built on the foundations of humane policy and prudence when men have onely passion for their guides under the counterfeit names of Piety and Religion 'T is what I shall make evident by unravelling the secrets and intrigues couch'd under the League by exposing its criminal and ill manag'd undertakings which were almost always unsuccessfull and by shewing in the close the issue it had entirely opposite to its designs by the exaltation of those whom it endeavour'd to oppress But is will be first necessary to consider in what condition France then was when this dangerous Association was first form'd against the supreme Authority of our Kings The â—ury of the Civil Wars which had laid the Kingdom desolate under the reign of Charles the Ninth seem'd to have almost wholly been extinguish'd after the fourth Edict of pacification which was made at the Siege of Rochell and if the State was not altogether in a Calm yet at least it was not toss'd in any violence of Tempest when after the decease of the said King his Brother Henry then King of Poland return'd to France and took possession of a Crown devolv'd on him by the right of Inheritance He was a Prince who being then betwixt the years of 23 and 24 was endu'd with all Qualities and perfections capable of rendring him one of the greatest and most accomplish'd Monarchs in the World For besides that his person was admirably shap'd that he was tall of Stature majestique in his Carriage that the sound of his Voice his Eyes and all the features of his Face were infinitely sweet that he had a solid Judgment a most happy Memory a clear and discerning Understanding that in his behaviour he had all the winning Graces which are requir'd in a Prince to attract the love and respect of Subjects 'T is also certain that no man cou'd possibly be more Liberal more Magnificent more Valiant more Courteous more addicted to Religion or more Eloquent than he was naturally and without Art To sum up all he had wanted nothing to make himself and his Kingdom happy had he followed those wholsome Counsels which were first given him and had he still retain'd the noble ambition of continuing at least what he was formerly under the glorious name of the Duke of Anjou which he had render'd so renown'd by a thousand gallant actions and particularly by the famous Victories of Iarnac and Montcontour The world was fill'd with those high Ideas which it had conceiv'd of his rare merit expecting from him the re-establishment of the Monarchy in its ancient splendour and nothing was capable of weakning that hope but onely the cruel Massacre of St. Bartholomew whereof he had been one of the most principal Authours which had render'd him extremely odious to the Protestants And therefore in his return from Poland the Emperour Maximilian the Second who rul'd the Empire in great tranquillity notwithstanding the diversity of opinions which divided his cares betwixt the Catholiques and the Lutherans the Duke of Venice and the most judicious members of that august Senate which is every where renown'd for prudence and after his return to France the Presidents De Thou and Harlay the two Advocates General Pibraâ— and du Mesnil and generally all those who were most passionate for his greatness and the good of his Estate advis'd him to give peace to his Subjects of the Religion pretendedly Reform'd to heal and cement that gaping wound which had run so much bloud in that fatal day of St. Bartholomew and not to replunge his Kingdom in that gulf of miseries wherein it was almost ready to have perish'd But the Chancellour de Birague the Cardinal of Lorrain and his Nephew the Duke of Guise who at that time had no little part in the esteem and favour of his Master and above all the Queen Mother Catharine de Mediâ—es who entirely govern'd him and who after the Massacre of St. Bartholomew dar'd no longer to trust the Protestants These I say ingag'd him in the War which he immediately made against them and which was unsuccessfull to him So that after he had been shamefully repuls'd from before an inconsiderable Town in Dauphine they took Arms in all places becoming more â—ierce and insolent than ever and made extraordinary progress both in that part in Provence in Languedoc in Guienne and Poitou That which render'd them so powerfull which otherwise they had not been was a party of Malecontents amongst the Catholiques who were call'd the Politiques because without touching on Religion they prâ—tested that they took Arms onely for the publique good for the relief and benefit of the people and to reform those grievances and disorders which were apparent in the State A ground which has always serv'd for a pretence of Rebellion to those men who have rais'd themselves in opposition to their Kings and Masters whom God commands us to obey though they shou'd sometimes even abuse that power which he has given them not to destroy or to demollish as he speaks in his holy Scriptures but to edify that is to say to procure the good and to establish the happiness of their Subjects These Politiques then joyn'd themselves to the Huguenots according to the resolution which they had taken at the Assembly held at Montpellier in the month of November and year of our Lord 1574. Henry de Montmorancy Marshal of Damville and Governour of Languedoc who to maintain himself in that rich Government of which he was design'd to be bereft first form'd this party of the Politiques into which he drew great numbers of the Nobles his partisans and Friends and principally the Seigneurs de Thore and de Meru-Montmorancy his Brothers the Count de Vantadour his Brother in Law and the famous Henry de la Tour d' Auvergn Vicount de Turenne his Nephew who was afterwards Marshal of France Duke of Boüillon Sovereign Prince of Sedan and the great Upholder of the Huguenots But that which made their power so formidable in the last result of things was that Monsieur the Duke of Alanson onely Brother of the King and the
King of Navarre detain'd at Court and not very favourably treated having made their escape the first of them who besides his own followers was joyn'd by a considerable part of Damville's Troops put himself at the head of the Protestant Army which was at the same time reinforc'd by the conjunction of great Succours of Reyters and Lansquenets whom the Prince of Conde had brought from Germany under the conduct of Iohn Casimir second Son to Frederick the Elector Palatine So that in the general Muster which was made of them near Moulins in Bourbonnois their Forces were found to consist of thirty five thousand experienc'd Souldiers which power 't is most certain the King was in no condition to resist in that miserable Estate to which he had reduc'd himself by the prodigious change he had made in his conduct and his carriage immediately after his succeeding to the Crown of France He was no longer that Victorious Duke of Anjou who had gain'd in the world so high a reputation by so many gallant actions perform'd by him in commanding the Armies of the King his Brother in quality of his Lieutenant General through the whole Kingdom but as if in assuming the Crown of the first and most ancient Monarchy of Christendom he had despoil'd himself at the same moment by some fatal enchantment of his Royal perfections he plung'd himself into all the delights of a most ignominious idleness with his favourites and Minions who were the Bloud-suckers the Harpyes and the scandal of all France which he seem'd to have abandon'd to their pillage by the immensness of his prodigality After this he render'd himself equally odious and contemptible to his Subjects both of the one Religion and the other by his inconstant and fantastique manner of procedure For he ran sometimes from the extremity of debauchery into a fit of Religion with processions and exercises of Penance which were taken for Hypocrisie and then again from Devotion into Debauchery as the present humour carried him away and busied himself in a thousand mean employments unworthy I say not of a King but of a man of common sense All which Davila the Historian after his manner of drawing every thing into design and Mystery though at the expence of Truth has endeavour'd to pass upon us for so many effects of a subtile and over-refin'd policy In conclusion to discharge himself of the burthen of Royalty which was grown wholly insupportable to him in that lazy effeminate sort of Life he relinquish'd all the cares of Government to the Queen his Mother who to continue him in that humour and by consequence to make her self absolute Mistress of affairs which was always her predominant passion fail'd not to furnish him from time to time with new baits and allurements of voluptuousness and all that was needfull for the shipwrack of vertue and honour in a Court the most dissolute which had ever been beheld in France Since it therefore pleas'd the Queen that War shou'd be made against the Huguenots to infeeble them as much as was possible that they might give no trouble to her management of Business So also when she saw them strengthen'd with so formidable an Army and her Son Alanson at their head she began immediately to apprehend that at length making themselves Masters they might degrade her from that Authority which she was so ambitious to retain by whatsoever means and consequently she resolv'd to make a peace for the same reasons for which she undertook the War And as she was undoubtedly the most subtile Woman of her time and had so great an Ascendant over all her Children that they were not able to withstand her or to defend themselves against her artifices and withall wou'd spare for nothing to compass her designs she manag'd so dexterously the minds of the Princes and cheif Officers of their Army in granting them with ease extraordinary Conditions even such as were beyond their hope that she conjur'd down the Tempest which was about to have been powr'd upon her head and shelter'd her self at the cost of our Religion by the fifth Edict of Pacification which was as advantageous to the Huguenots as they cou'd desire To whom amongst other privileges was allow'd the free exercise of their pretended Religion in all the Cities of the Kingdom and in all other places excepting onely the Court and Paris and the compass of two Leagues about that City This peace was infinitely distastefull to the Catholiques because it serv'd for a pretence and gave a favourable occasion to the birth of a design long time before premeditated and hatch'd by him who was the first Authour of that League whose History I write and who began to lay the Foundations of it precisely at this point of time in that manner as shall immediately be related 'T is certain that the first persons who were thus Associated under pretence of Religion against their Sovereigns were the Protestants Then when the Prince of Conde made himself their conceal'd head at the Conspiracy of Amboise and afterwards overtly declar'd himself in beginning the first troubles by the surprise of Orleans That League which always was maintain'd by force of Arms by places of caution and security which upon constraint were granted to the Huguenots and by the treasonable intelligence they held with Strangers even till the time wherein it was totally extinguish'd by the taking of Rochell and of their other Cities and fortified places under the Reign of the late King of glorious memory oblig'd some Catholiques oftentimes to unite themselves without the participation of the King in certain Provinces as particularly in Languedoc Guyenne and Poitou not onely to deâ—end themselves against the encroachments of the Huguenots but also to attacque them and to exterminate them if they had been able from all those places of which they had possess'd themselves in those Provinces But he who employ'd his thoughts at the utmost stretch in that affair and was the first who invented the project of a General League amongst the Catholiques under another Head than the King was the Cardinal of Lorrain at that time assisting at the Council of Trent That Prince whose name is so well known in History and who had a most prompt and most piercing understanding fiery by nature impetuous and violent endu'd with a rare natural eloquence more learning than cou'd reasonably be expected from a Person of his Quality and which his eloquence made appear to be much greater than it was the boldest of any man alive in Councils Cabals and in Contrivance of daring and vast designs was also the most pusillanimous and weakest man imaginable when it came to the point of Execution and that he saw there was danger in the undertaking But above all it cannot be denied that through the whole series of his Life he had a most immoderate passion for the greatness of his Family Insomuch that when he saw the great Duke of Guise his Brother at the highest
sighted not to discern the visible signs which the King in spight of his dissimulation cou'd not hinder often from breaking out and discovering the disdain and hatred which he had conceiv'd against him He resolv'd to fortify his party in such manner that he shou'd not onely have nothing to apprehend but also that he might hope for all things from his good fortune And he did it with so much the more ardour and resolution as he was then more than ever exasperated and almost driven to despair by a refusal which he had from the King which was given him in a most disobliging manner by preferring his Rival in Ambition before him which he esteem'd the most sensible affront that he cou'd receive and which afterwards put things out of a possibility of accommodation Thus it happen'd The Duke of Guise after the signal Service which he had perform'd to the Kingdom was of opinion that if he demanded some part of the Employments which had been possess'd by the late Duke of Ioyeuse Admiral of France and Governour of Normandy they cou'd not possibly be refus'd him And in order to obtain his request more easily he was content onely to ask the Admiralty and that not for himself nor any of the Princes of his Family but for the Count of Brissac whom the Nobility of his Birth and his great desert together with the services which France had receiv'd from the brave Timoleon de Cossé his Brother Colonel of the French Infantry and from his Father the great Marshal of Brissac Viceroy of Piedmont might raise without envy and with universal applause to that high command After the Duke had been held in hand and fed with fair promises and false hopes he not onely fail'd of obtaining the place which he requested but as if it had purposely been done to spight him it was conferr'd together with the Government of Normandy on the Duke of Espernon his declar'd Enemy whose Character I shall next give you Iohn Louis de Nogaret the youngest Brother of his House who was call'd when he came first to Court the young La Valette understood so well to gain the favour of the King particularly after Quelus one of those unhappy Minions who kill'd each other in Duel had recommended him to his Majesty at his death that immediately he grew up into the first rank of Favourites with the Duke of Ioyeuse over whom at length he carried it having had the cunning to insinuate into him the desire of Commanding an Army and by that artifice to remove him from his Master's sight There was no sort of Honour Wealth or Dignities which the King did not heap on this new Minion in favour of whom he erected Espernon into a Dutchy to make him Duke and Peer as well as Anne de Ioyeuse because he had taken upon him to make them equal in all circumstances having so great a tenderness for both of them I might say weakness unworthy of a King that he answer'd those who represented to him his great profusions and that he impoverish'd himself to inrich them that when he had married and settled his two Children for so he call'd them in his ordinary discourse he was then resolv'd to turn good husband Yet there was this difference betwixt them that Ioyeuse by his courtesie his civility his magnificence and by the winning way of his behaviour had attracted mens affections but on the contrary Espernon by reason of his rough imperious and haughty nature was hated not onely by the People and the Leaguers who made a thousand invective Satyrs on him but also by the great men of the Court whom he treated with contempt and insolence as if the favour of his Master which he abus'd had given him the privilege to affront even those whose vertue and desert was acknowledg'd and respected by the King For in this manner it was that amongst others he us'd Francis d' Espinac Archbishop of Lyons and Monsieur de Villeroy one of the most prudent and faithfull Ministers which our Kings have ever had a way of procedure not disadvantageous to the Duke of Guise who laid hold on that occasion to gain the Archbishop entirely to his interests Above all the rest there was an invincible Antipathy betwixt the Duke of Guise and this proud Favourite who whether it were to please his Master or to put an obligation upon the King of Navarre with whom he then held a private correspondence or were it out of the contrariety of their humours profess'd himself on all occasions his open enemy omitting no opportunity of rendring him suspected and odious to the King and of working him up still more and more to a greater height of hatred and indignation against him And in requital of those ill offices the Duke of Guise was not wanting on his side to animate the People of Paris against Espernon who one day ran the hazard in passing over the Pont Nostre Dame of being murther'd by the Citizens who running out of their Shops in multitudes went about to incompass him if he had not escap'd by speedy flight 'T is true that the Nuncio Morosini foreseeing the fatal consequences of this their enmity did all he was able by his prudent admonitions to extinguish it but though he smother'd it for a little time he cou'd not hinder it from blazing out immediately afterwards Insomuch that it grew to a greater height than ever when the King who either wou'd not or durst not refuse any thing to this Favourite united in his onely person what before had been shar'd betwixt him and Ioyeuse and conferr'd on him both the Government of Normandy and the Admiralty which the Duke of Guise had requested for Brissac The Ceremony was perform'd with great magnificence and the Attorney General in a long Harangue which he made at the Admission of the Duke of Espernon said pubâ—â—quely that the King who had made so worthy a choice was a great Saint and deserv'd to be Canoniz'd at least as well as Saint Lewis that the New made Admiral wou'd expiate for all the crimes of the late Admiral de Coligny and make the Catholique Religion once more to flourish in the Kingdom An insipid Panegyrique which is indeed no better than a base and fulsome flattery if the Author does not intend to fpeak by contraries shou'd no more be suffer'd by great men who are lovers of true glory than an affront or a Libel neither ought they to allow any commendations to be given them but such as are solid and establish'd on such known truths that their very enemies shall not be able to deny them That Speech which the King's Attorney made on this occasion did his Master and the Admiral more mischief than all the furious Libels of the League It drew upon them the contempt and railery of the people which sometimes make a man more uneasie than a Satyr which is but the impotent anger of a Scribler And it occasion'd that famous
be declar'd to have forfeited for ever their right of succeeding to the Crown That the Duke of Espernoâ— La Valeite his Brother Francis d' O. the Marshals of Retz and of Biron Colonel Alphonso d' Ornano and all others who like them were favourers of the Huguenots or were found to have held any correspondence with them shou'd be depriv'd of their Governments and Offices and banish'd from the Court without hope of ever being restor'd again That the spoils of all these shou'd be given to the Princes of his House and to those Lords who had ingag'd with him of whom he made a long List That the King shou'd casheer his Guard of five and forty as a thing unknown in the times of his Predecessours protesting that otherwise he cou'd place no manner of confidence in him nor ever dare to approach his person That it wou'd please his Majesty to declare him his Lieutenant General through all his Estates with the same Authority which the late Duke of Guise his Father had under the Reign of Francis the Second by virtue of which he hop'd to give him so good an account of the Huguenots that in a little time there shou'd remain no other but the Catholique Religion in all his Kingdom To conclude that there shou'd be call'd immediately an Assembly of the three Estates to sit at Paris where all this shou'd be confirm'd and to hinder for the future that the Minions who wou'd dispose of all things at their pleasure shou'd not abuse their favour that there shou'd be establish'd an unchangeable form of Government which it shou'd not be in the power of the King to alter 'T is most evident that Demands so unreasonable so arrogant and so offensive tended to put the Government and the power of it into the Duke's hands who being Master of the Armies the Offices and the Governments of the most principal Provinces in his own person by his Relations his Creatures and the Estates where he doubted not of carrying all before him especially at Paris wou'd be the absolute disposer of Affairs Insomuch that there wou'd be nothing wanting to him but the Crown it self to which 't is very probable that at this time he pretended in case he shou'd survive the King to the exclusion of the Bourbons whom he wou'd have declar'd incapable of succeeding to it For which reason the Queen seeing that he wou'd recede from no part of these Articles and beginning to fear that he wou'd go farther than she desir'd counsell'd the King to get out of Paris with all speed while it was yet in his power so to do And though some of his chief Officers as amongst others the Chancellour de Chiverny and the Sieurs of Villeroy and Villequier who were of opinion that more wou'd be gain'd by the Negotiation and who foresaw that the Huguenots and the Duke of Espernon whom they had no great cause to love wou'd make their advantage of this retreat so unworthy of a King endeavour'd to dissuade him from it yet a thousand false advertisements which came every moment that they were going to invest the Louvre and his accustom'd fear together with the diffidence he had of the Duke of Guise whom he consider'd at that time as his greatest Enemy caus'd him at the last to resolve on his departure Accordingly about noon the next day while the Queen Mother went to the Duke with propositions onely to amuse him the King making shew to take a turn or two in the Tuilleries put on Boots in the Stables and getting on Horse-back attended by fifteen or sixteen Gentlemen and by ten or twelve Lacqueys having caused notice to be given to his Guards to follow him went out by the Port Neuve riding always on full gallop for fear of being pursu'd by the Parisians till having gain'd the ascent above Challiot he stopt his Horse to look back on Paris 'T is said that then reproaching that great City which he had always honour'd and enrich'd by his Royal presence and upbrayding its ingratitude he Swore he wou'd not return into it but through a Breach and that he wou'd lay it so low that it shou'd never more be in a condition of lifting up its self against the King After this he went to Lodge that night at Trappes and the next morning arriv'd at Chartres where his Officers those of his Council and the Courtiers came up to him one after another in great disorder some on Foot others on Horse-back without Boots several on their Mules and in their Robes every man making his escape as he was best able and in a great hurry for fear of being stop'd in short all of them in a condition not unlike the Servants of David at his departure from Ierusalem travelling in a miserable Equipage after their distress'd Master when he fled before the Rebel Absalom The Duke of Guise who on the one side had been unwilling to push things to an extremity to the end he might make his Treaty with the King and that it might not be said he was not at liberty and on the other side not believing that he wou'd have gone away in that manner as if he fled from his Subjects who stopping short of the Louvre by fifty paces seem'd unwilling to pursue their advantage any farther was much surpris'd at this retreat which broke the measures he had taken but as he was endu'd with an admirable presence of mind and that he cou'd at a moments warning accommodate his resolutions to any accident how unexpected or troublesome soever he immediately appli'd himself to put Paris in a condition of fearing nothing to quiet all things there and restore them to their former tranquillity and withall to give notice to the whole Kingdom how matters had pass'd at the Barricades as much to his own advantage as possibly he cou'd To this effect he possess'd himself of the strongest places in the City of the Temple of the Palace of the Town-House of the two Chastelets of the Gates where he set Guards of the Arsenal and of the Bastille which was surrender'd to him too easily by the Governour Testu the Government of which he gave to Bussy Le Clerc the most audacious of the Sixteen He oblig'd the Magistrates to proceed in the Courts of Judicature as formerly He made a new Provost of Merchants and Sheriffs a Lieutenant Civil Colonels and Captains of the several Wards all devoted to the League in the room of those whom he suspected He retook without much trouble all the places both above and below on the River that the passages for Provisions might be free He writ at last to the King to the Towns and to his particular Friends and drew up Manifests or Declarations in a style which had nothing in it but what was great and generous while he endeavour'd to justify his proceedings and at the same time to preserve the respect which was owing to the King protesting always that he was most ready to
than a bare conjecture and the impulse of his inborn generosity which his bloudy and lamentable death as things are commonly judg'd by their event has caus'd to pass in the World for an effect of the greatest rashness It ought not here to be expected that I shou'd dwell on an exact and long description of all the circumstances of that tragical action which has been so unfortunate to France and so ill receiv'd in the World Besides that they are recounted in very different manners by the Historians of one and the other Religion according to their different passions and that the greatest part of them are either false or have little in them worth observation the thing was done with so great facility and precipitation and withall in so brutal a manner that it cannot be too hastily pass'd over this then is the plain and succinct relation of it After that the Brave Grillon Mestre de Camp of the Regiment of Guards had generously refus'd to kill the Duke of Guise unless in single Duel and in an honourable way the King had recourse to Lognac the first Gentleman of his Chamber and Captain of the forty five who promis'd him eighteen or twenty of the most resolute amongst them and for whom he durst be answerable They were of the number of those whom the Duke of Guise who had always a distrust of those Gascons as creatures of the Duke of Espernon had formerly demanded that they might be dismiss'd from which request he had afterwards desisted Insomuch that it may be said he foresaw the misfortune that attended him without being able to avoid it For on Friday the twenty third of December being enter'd about eight of the Clock in the Morning into the great Hall where the King had intimated on Thursday night that he intended to hold the Council very early that he might afterwards go to Nostre dame de Clery some came to tell him that His Majesty expected him in the old Closset yet he was not there but in the other which looks into the Garden Upon this he arose from the fire side where finding himself somewhat indispos'd he had been seated and pass'd through a narrow Entry which was on one side the Hall into the Chamber where he found Lognac with seven or eight of the forty five the King himself having caus'd them to enter into that room very secretly before day-break the rest of them were posted in the old Closset and all of them had great Ponyards hid under their Cloaks expecting onely the coming of the Duke of Guise to make sure work with him whether it were in the Chamber or in the Closset in case he shou'd retire thither for his defence There needed not so great a preparation for the killing of a single man who came thither without distrust of any thing that was design'd against him and who holding his Hat in one hand and with the other the lappet of his Cloak which he had wrapt under his left Arm was in no condition of defence In this posture he advanc'd towards the old Closset saluting very civilly as his custome was those Gentlemen who made shew of attending him out of respect as far as the door And as in lifting up the Hangings with the help of one of them he stoop'd to enter he was suddenly seiz'd by the Arms and by the Legs and at the same instant struck into the Body before with five or six Ponyards and from behind into the Nape of the Neck and the Throat which hinder'd him from speaking one single word of all that he is made to say or so much as drawing out his Sword All that he cou'd do was to drag along his Murtherers with the last and strongest effort that he cou'd make strugling and striving till he fell down at the Beds-Feet where some while after with a deep Groan he yielded up his breath The Cardinal of Guise and Arch-Bishop of Lyons who were in the Council Hall rising up at the Noise with intention of running to his aid were made Prisoners by the Marshals D' Aumont and de Retz At the same time the Cardinal of Bourbon was also seiz'd in the Castle together with Anne d' Este Duchess of Nemours and Mother of the Guises and the Prince of Ioinville the Dukes of Elbeuf and Nemours Brissac and Boisdauphin with many other Lords who were Confidents of the Duke and Pericard his Secretary And in the mean time the Grand Prevost of the King's House went with his Archers to the Chamber of the third Estate in the Town-House and there arrested the President Neuilly the Prevost of Merchants the Sheriffs Compan and Cotte-Blanch who were Deputies for Paris and some other notorious Leaguers This being done the King himself brought the News of it to the Queen Mother telling her that now he was a real King since he had cut off the Duke of Guise At which that Princess being much surpris'd and mov'd asking him if he had made provision against future accidents he answer'd her in an angry kind of tone much differing from his accustom'd manner of speaking to her that she might set her heart at rest for he had taken order for what might happen and so went out surlily to go to Mass yet before he went he sent particularly to Cardinal Gondi and to the Cardinal Legat Morosini and inform'd them both of what had pass'd with his reasons to justify his proceedings Davila the Historian reports that before he went to Mass the King met the Legat and walking with him a long time gave him all his reasons for that action which he takes the pains to set down at large as if he had been present at that long Conference and that he had heard without loosing one single word all the King said to the Cardinal together with the Cardinal 's politique reflexions upon it and his reply to the King's discourse For he tells us that the Legat fearing to lesten Henry's affection to the Holy See assur'd him that the Pope as being a common Father wou'd listen favourably to his excuses and withall exhorted him to make War against the Huguenots that he might make demonstrations of his sincerity and that it might be evident he kill'd not the Duke of Guise the great Enemy of the Heretiques out of intention to favour the King of Navarre and that party He adds that the King promis'd him and confirm'd it with an Oath that provided the Pope wou'd joyn with him he wou'd proceed to make War against them with more eagerness than ever and wou'd not sufâ—er any other Religion but the Roman Catholique in his Kingdom That after this solemn Protestation the Legat judg'd it not expedient to proceed any farther in the Conference and that without saying any thing for the present in favour of the Prelates who were Prisoners he continued to treat with him in the same manner he had us'd formerly There are those also who are bold enough to affirm that by
it in any Overtures which were made to no purpose for a Peace And though the Duke of Nemours whom he had invited by a kind Letter to Submission since he had already satisfy'd his Honour to the full had protested that he wou'd be the first to throw himself at his Feet and that he wou'd make it his Busines too that Paris shou'd acknowledge him provided he return'd into the Church he always rejected that Proposition On which account whatsoever solemn Promises he made that he wou'd maintain the Catholique Religion the Parisians to whom their Preachers who had an absolute Dominion over their Consciences still represented the Example of England cou'd never resolve to confide in him Thus being perswaded that it was impossible for them to surrender without giving up their Religion by the same Act they had the Courage in the midst of their Sufferings to expect the great Succours which the Duke of Parma brought to their Relief at the end of August And that excellent Commander without giving Battel to which the King who was constrain'd to retire with all his Forces from before Paris cou'd never force him so well he was retrench'd at Clay had the Glory to execute his own design and after his own manner by taking Lagny in the sight of the King and freeing Paris which was the end of his Undertaking It belongs to the general History of France to describe all the particular Passages of that famous Expedition I shall only say that I may omit nothing which precisely concerns my Subject that before the King had licens'd the Nobility and Gentry which attended him to depart and divided his Forces into several small Bodies as he afterwards did he wou'd needs make a last Attempt upon the Town To which effect on Saturday night the eighth of September he convey'd secretly three or four thousand chosen Soldiers into the Fauxbourgs St. Iacques and St. Marceau under the Leading of the Count de Chastillon to scale the Walls betwixt those two Gates after Midnight while the Town was buried as it were in the depth of Sleep For he believ'd not that the Parisians who knew that his Army was drawn up in Battalia on the Plain of Bondy all Saturday wou'd keep themselves upon their Guard on that side which he purpos'd to attaque But as some notice had been given of his Design and that besides his Troops cou'd not possibly enter those Fauxbourgs without noise the Allarm was immediately taken the Bells were rung and the Citizens in Crouds mounted the Ramparts especially where he meant to have planted his Ladders But at last when after a long Expectation no Enemy appear'd and that no more noise was heard because the Kings Soldiers who were cover'd by the Fauxbourgs made not the least motion and also kept a profound Silence it was taken only for a false Alarm The Bells ceas'd ringing and every man retir'd to his own Lodging excepting only ten Jesuites who being more vigilant than the rest continu'd all the remainder of that Night on the same Post which was not far distant from their Colledge In the mean time the Soldiers of Chastillon who were softly crept down into the Ditch began about four of the Clock in the Morning to set up their Ladders being favour'd by a thick Mist which hindred them from being discern'd The Design was well enough lay'd for there needed not above ten or twelve men to have got over into the Town who might have open'd the Gate of St. Marceau to their Fellows by means of a Correspondence which was held with a Captain belonging to that Quarter after which it had been easie to have possest themselves of the University and consequently both the Town and the City wou'd have submitted themselves to the King rather than have expos'd Paris as a Prey to two great Armies by admitting that of the Duke of Parma at the Gate of St. Martin But the Vigilance of the ten Jesuites broke all these Measures which were so justly taken for having heard a Noise in the Ditch which was made by thosâ— who were setting up their Ladders against the Walls they cry'd out as loud as they cou'd stretch their Voices to Arms to Arms. Notwithstanding which the Soldiers were still getting up and the first of them who was ready to leap upon the Rampart happen'd to show his Head just where one of those honest Fathers was plac'd who gave him such a lusty knock with an old Halbard which he had in his hand as he stood Centry that he broke it in two upon his Head and tumbled him down with the Blow into the Ditch The Companions of this valiant Jesuite did as muâ—h to two other Soldiers and a fourth who was already got up and held his Ladder with one Hand to descend into the Town and with the other a broad Curtle-axe to cleave the Head of the first who shou'd oppose him was stopp'd short by two of these Fathers who each of them with a Partizan so vigorously push'd him that notwithstanding all the Blows which he made in vain at too great a distance for fear of their long Weapons they forc'd him at the last to quit his Ladder and having hurt him in the Throat overturn'd him backward into the Ditch after his Fellows The two first Citizens who ran to their Relief were the Advocate William Balden and the famous Bookseller Nicholas Nivelle these two finding one of those Jesuites grappling with a Soldier who was getting up in spight of the poor Fathers weak resistance came into the rescue and lent him their helping Hands to kill him And the Advocate immediately turning himself to another who had already got upon the Ramparts discharg'd so terrible a Reverse upon his right hand with his Fauchion that he cut it sheer off and sent him headlong to the Bottom in the mean time the Alarm being once more warmly taken in the Town the Citizens and Soldiers made haste to Man the Walls especially on that side and heaps of kindled Straw were thrown down to light the Ditch and make discovery what was doing below whereupon the Kings Soldiers being easily discern'd left both their Ladders and their Attempt which now cou'd not possibly succeed and retir'd to the Body of their Army So little was there wanting to bring about so great an Enterprise For 't is most certain that if these ten Jesuits had done like the Townsmen and had gone back to take their rest in their College after the first Alarm which was held for false the King had that day entred Paris But the Divine Providence had reserv'd that happiness for a time more favourable to Religion and to that City into which the King being Victorious over the League was ordain'd to make a peaceable entrance after he had solemnly profess'd the Catholique Faith In the mean time the affairs of the League far from being advanc'd after this expedition which was so glorious to the Duke of Parma were soon
that low Condition to which they were reduc'd unable by their own Power to resist the King or to procure their safety by any other means than obtaining from King Philip the Assistance of all his Forces to the end that they might be able to maintain that King who was to be elected in the States General which were to be assembled for that purpose each of them in his own Person pretending to that Honour yet none of them daring to own his Ambition openly for fear of drawing on himself the Hatred of his Rivals who wou'd certainly unite and band themselves together to exclude him The Person who was chosen to negotiate in Spain was the famous Peter Iannin President of the Parliament of Bourgogne a man of great Integrity exquisite Understanding rare Prudence and inviolable Fidelity which had caus'd the Duke of Mayenne to repose an absolute Confidence in him who for his own part in the Honesty of his well meaning Soul had follow'd him and the Party of the League with an implicit Faith that it was for the safety of Religion and of the State for on the one side he believ'd not that Religion couâ—d be preserv'd in France if the King were not a Catholique and therefore he argu'd that he ought to be such and on the other side being an honest French-man he wou'd like his Master make use of the Spaniards to compass his ends but not serve them by favouring their unjust Designs in the least circumstance to the prejudice of the State Being such as I have here describ'd him it was not hard for him to discover the Intentions of King Philip who holding himself assur'd of the Sixteen which he believ'd to be the prevailing Faction and much more powerful than in effect it was lay'd himself so open as to make his Intentions be clearly understood which the great Prudence and Policy whereon he so much valued himself shou'd have kept undiscover'd for a longer time in expectation of a fitting opportunity to make them known when all things were dispos'd and in a due readiness for the Execution of his Designs After the President had represented to him in his Audiences the weakness and necessities of the League the Forces and Progress of the King the extream danger in which Religion then was and the immortal glory which he might acquire by preserving it in the most Christian Kingdom by the Assistance which was expected from his Zeal and Power that Prince who was willing to sell his Aid at a higher Price than bare Glory without more advantage open'd his mind without any reserve after a most surprizing manner For he caus'd him to be told by his Secretary Don Iohn D' Idiaques that he had resolv'd to marry his only Daughter the Infanta Isabella to the Archduke Ernestus and to give him in Dowry the Low-Countries and since that for the Preservation of Religion in France it was necessary they shou'd have a Catholick King they cou'd not make a better Choice than of that Princess who being Neece to the three last Kings and Grand-daughter to Henry the Second was without contradiction more nearly related to them than the Bourbons that with her Person all the Low-Countries wou'd be re united to the Crown and that having besides these Advantages the whole Forces of the House of Aâ—stria in favour of her the Hereticks wou'd soon be exterminated and the Prince of Bearn expell'd from the Kingdom The President overjoy'd that he had wherewithal to disabuse the Duke of Mayenne by means of this strange Proposition and confirm him in those good Opinions which the Sieur de Villeroy had infus'd into him answer'd King Philip with great Prudence and no less Policy and faintly putting him in mind of the Salique Law on which he did not much insist seem'd rather to encourage than dash his Hopes in the prosecution of of his Purpose Insomuch that he drew him to a Promise of great Supplies both in Men and Money which he fail'd not to send with more speed than usual And the Duke being satisfy'd that according to that ambitious Design of the Spaniards he cou'd never pretend to the Kingdom us'd all his Endeavours for the future that the Election might not fall on any other not even on a Prince of his own Family who might marry the Infanta On the contrary the Sixteen who were altogether at the Devotion of the Spaniards by whom they were powerfully protected against him wrote to King Philip by one Father Matthew not the Jesuite of that Name a large Letter the Original of which being intercepted near Lyons was brought to the King in which after their humble Acknowledgments to his Catholick Majesty of the many Favours and Benefits which they had receiv'd from him they earnestly petition him that in case he shou'd refuse to accept the Crown of France he wou'd give them a King of his own Family or at least some other Prince whom he shou'd please to elect for his Son in Law 'T is farther observable that the Division which was betwixt the Duke of Mayenne and his nearest Relations exceedingly increas'd the Power and by consequence the Audacity and Insolence of those factious men For on one side the Duke of Nemours who was much incens'd that after he had so bravely defended Paris the Government of Normandy shou'd be refus'd him which Province he thought to have erected into a Principality like that of Bretagne of which the Duke of Mercoeur had made himself a Soveraign Prince was retir'd with a good part of the Forces into Lionnois and by the Correspondence which he held with the Sixteen did his best endeavours to supplant him and cause himself to be chosen Head of the Party on the other side the young Duke of Guise who had made his escape from the Castle of Tours where he was detain'd Prisoner having been receiv'd with great Acclamations by the Leaguers who believ'd that in his Person they had recover'd his dead Father their great Patron and Protector gave him much anxiety and fill'd his mind with jealous apprehensions especially when he observ'd that the great Name of Guise so much reverenc'd by the Parisians drew after it not only the Crowd of common People but also the Nobility and Gentlemen of the League But above all things it grated him that his Nephew had made a strict Alliance with the Faction of Sixteen who were overjoy'd to have him at their Head in opposition to his Uncle whom they hated All these Considerations put together swell'd them to so great an arrogance that they resolv'd to rid their hands of all such as were in a Condition of hindring them from being Absolute in Paris To this effect they bethought themselves of inventing a new kind of Oath which excluded from the Crown all the Princes of the Blood and presenting it to such whom they knew to be too well principled to sign it on their Refusal they made Seizure of their Estates and banish'd them In
which they built their Babel You have seen how warily the first Association in Picardy was worded nothing was to be attempted but for the King's Service and an Acknowledgement was formally made that both the Right and Power of the Government was in him but it was pretended that by occasion of the true Protestant Rebels the Crown was not any longer in condition either of maintaining it self or protecting them And that therefore in the Name of God and by the Power of the holy Ghost they joyn'd together in their own Defence and that of their Religion But all this while though they wou'd seem to act by the King's Authority and under him the Combination was kept as secret as possibly they cou'd and even without the participation of the Soveraign a sure Sign that they intended him no good at the bottom Nay they had an Evasion ready too against his Authority for 't is plain they joyn'd Humieres the Governour of the Province in Commission with him and only nam'd the King for show but engag'd themselves at the same time to his Lieutenant to be obedient to all his Commands levying Men and Money without the King's Knowledge or any Law but what they made amongst themselves So that in effect the Rebellion and Combination of the Hugonots was only a leading Card and an example to the Papists to rebel on their side And there was only this difference in the Cause that the Calvinists set up for their Reformation by the superior Power of Religion and inherent Right of the People against the King and Pope The Papists pretended the same popular Right for their Rebellion against the King and for the same end of Reformation only they fac'd it with Church and Pope Our Sectaries and Long Parliament of 41 had certainly these French Precedents in their eye They copy'd their Methods of Rebellion at first with great professions of Duty and Affection to the King all they did was in order to make him glorious all that was done against him was pretended to be under his Authority and in his Name and even the War they rais'd was pretended for the King and Parliament But those Proceedings are so notoriously known and have imploy'd so many Pens that it wou'd be a nauseous Work for me to dwell on them To draw the likeness of the French Transactions and ours were in effect to transcribe the History I have translated Every Page is full of it Every man has seen the Parallel of the Holy League and our Covenant and cannot but observe that besides the Names of the Countreys France and England and the Names of Religions Protestant and Papist there is scarcely to be found the least difference in the project of the whole and in the substance of the Articles In the mean time I cannot but take notice that our Rebels have left this eternal Brand upon their Memories that while all their pretence was for the setting up the Protestant Religion and pulling down of Popery they have borrow'd from Papists both the Model of their Design and their Arguments to defend it And not from loyal well principled Papists but from the worst the most bigotted and most violent of that Religion From some of the Iesuites an Order founded on purpose to combat Lutheranism and Calvinism The matter of Fact is so palpably true and so notorious that they cannot have the Impudence to deny it But some of the Iesâ—ites are the shame of the Roman Church as the Sectaries are of ours Their Tenets in Politicks are the same both of them hate Monarchy and love Democracy both of them are superlatively violent they are inveterate haters of each other in Religion and yet agree in the Principles of Government And if after so many Advices to a Painter I might advise a Dutch-maker of Emblems he shouâ—d draw a Presbyterian in Arms on one side a Iesuit on the other and a crownd Head betwixt them for t is perfectly a Battel-royal Each of them is endeavouring the destruction of his Adversary but the Monarch is sure to get Blows on both sides But for those Sectaries and Commonwealths-men of 41 before I leave them I must crave leave to observe of them that generally they were a sowr sort of thinking men grim and surly Hypocrites such as coud cover their Vices with an appearance of great Devotion and austerity of Manners neither Profaneness nor Luxury were encouragd by them nor practisd publickly which gave them a great opinion of Sanctity amongst the Multitude and by that opinion principally they did their business Though their Politicks were taken from the Catholick League yet their Christianity much resembled those Anabaptists who were their Original in Doctrine and these indeed were formidable Instruments of a religious Rebellion But our new Conspirators of these seven last years are men of quite another Make I speak not of their non-Conformist Preachers who pretend to Enthusiasm and are as morose in their Worship as were those first Sectaries but of their Leading men the Heads of their Faction and the principal Members of it what greater looseness of Life more atheistical Discourse more open Lewdness was ever seen than generally was and is to be observ'd in those men I am neither making a Satyr nor a Sermon here but I wou'd remark a little the ridiculousness of their Management The strictness of Religion is their pretence and the men who are to set it up have theirs to choose The Long Parliamentâ— Rebels frequented Sermons and observ'd Prayers and Fastings with all solemnity but these new Reformers who ought in prudence to have trodden in their steps because their End was the same to gull the People by an outside of Devotion never us'd the means of insinuating themselves into the opinion of the Multitude Swearing Drunkenness Blasphemies and worse sins than Adultery are the Badges of the Party nothing but Liberty in their mouths nothing but License in their practice For which reason they were never esteem'd by the Zealots of their Faction but as their Tools and had they got uppermost after the Royallists had been crush'd they wou'd have been blown off as too light for their Society For my own part when I had once observ'd this fundamental error in their Politiques I was no longer afraid of their success No Government was ever ruin'd by the open scandal of its opposers This was just a Catiline's Conspiracy of profligate debauch'd and bankrupt men The wealthy amongst them were the fools of the Party drawn in by the rest whose Fortunes were desperate and the Wits of the Cabal sought only their private advantages They had either lost their Preferments and consequently were piqu'd or were in hope to raise themselves by the general disturbance Upon which account they never cou'd be true to one another There was neither Honour nor Conscience in the Foundation of their League but every man having an eye to his own particular advancement was no longer a Friend than while his Interest