ruinâ— of the Protestants to compass The Subversion of the Royal Family This was the bottom of all their Designs All their aim was to take the Crown from its lawful Heirs The first thing the Guises and the Queen Mother proposed to themselves when the Duke of Alenzon was dead says the Bishop of Rhodes was each to make sure of the Crown as if the Succession had been at an end This Prelate says further that the Duke of Guise his design was to secure the Crown to himself So soon as ever the League was coâ—â— to a heighth and strengthened they that had contrived it made it 〈◊〉 that it was not only to sâ—cure Religion for the future but from 〈◊〉 moment to get themselves up to the Throne and that thei◠〈◊〉 was not only upon the King of Navarre who was to succâ—â—d 〈◊〉 upon Henry the Third who then Reigned They had hired certain new Divinâ—s who undertook to maintain That a Prince who does not his duty ought to be deposed That nothing but a Power well disposed is of God else when it is out of order it is not Authority but Invasion and that it is as ridiculous to say such a one is King who knows not how to Govern and is void of Understanding as to believe that a blind Man may be a Guide or that a sensless Statue may give motion to living Men In short the same Bishop asseâ—ts in express Terms That the Duke of Guise ' perpetually urged Henry the Third to give him Forces to accomplish the extirpation of the Huguenots in whose ruine he certainly expected to involve the King of Navarre It appears from all this That the Protestants could not omit defending themselves with all their might in the Wars which the League stirred up against them without betraying their King their Country the Lawful Heir of the Crown who headed them and the whole Line of the Bourbons I do not think there needs any more to take off all aspersions Neither can I imagine what the Jesâ—ite Maimbourg means who understood all this so exactly well to say of these worthy Defenders of the Crown They became more obstinate and more insolent under Henry the Third What! would he have had all the Protestants suffered their Throats to be cut he that maintains the design of those who would have cut the Protestants Throats to have been the Subversion of the Fundamental Law of the Land the extinguishing of the Royal Family and to have taken away the Crown from his Kings Renowned Grandfather In good earnest his King is much beholding to him to call that Obstinacy and Insolence which was the heroick attempts of those who so often hazarded thâ—ir Lives to preserve that Throne for for him which he enjoys with so great Glory You see easily then says our Friend that justly they can no more charge the French Protestants with Rebellion than they can do with any Plot against their King down to the Reign of Henry the Fourth whom they delivered from the fury of the League and seated in the Throne in despite of all the obstructions of this powerful Faction Therefore Monsieur Maimbourg is but an infamous Detractor when he charges them with Rebellions which cost France so much Blood and Plots which he accuses them to have layed with the Enemies to withdraw themselves from under the Monarchy by openly setting up for a Commonwealth The later part of this accusation is so absurd that it deserves not to be considered Whom would this Man perswade that they who made no other War but under the conduct of Princes of the Blood who were so nearly concerned for the support of the Monarchy should â—vâ—r endâ—avor to set up a Commonwealth Besides Is there any likelihood that so many Protestants of the Nobility who hold all their Honor of the Monarchy and had no other Lustre but as they were Rays of the Royal Sun should have renounced their glory and dependence upon the Court to lie obnoxious to the caprice of a seditious multitude under the obscurity of a Commonwealth They took up Arms about the beginning of Henry the Fourths Reign or indeed rather they continued in Arms but it was only to compleat his Conquests and to settle him in the Throne by dispersing the remainder of the League which held out as long as it could from owning him King even when he was turned Roman Catholick and reconciled to the Pope So soon as all the troubles were appeased and every one reduced to his duty he setled the famous Edict of Nantes under the Title of Perpetual and Irrevocable as I shewed you at our first meeting which gave the Protestants a full Peace during the remaining part of this Prince's Life His Life had been as long as glorious in all appearance but for the wicked knife of the vile Ravillac who had the confidence to spill this illustrious Blood in time of Peace which was so much reguarded in the heat of War The disorders broke out again after France had lost its wise Pilot and invincible Protector But because this Conference has held us so long Let us if you please defer what we have more to say in justification of the French Protestants till another time Only give me leave before we part to read to you a passage out of Mezeray He confutes in very few words all Monsieur Maimbourg's Calumnies by which he would maliciously charge the Protestant Religion with all the mischiefs in France and all the rest of Europe during the Reigns of Francis the Second and Charles the Ninth whereas this excellent Historian who has more sincerity than the Jesuite though of the same Religion lays them all to the abominable Wickedness the Papists of these two Courts were alone guilty of These are his words Charlee the Ninth lived 25 years wanting 31 days But he began not to Reign till after the Siege of Rochelle His Mother always kept the Government in her own hand with three or four of her Confidents who turned all upside down to keep the Authority to themselves Thence sprung the continual Civil Wars pursued with so many fatal Battles Pillages and all sorts of Waste Thence came the abuse of Military Discipline the Corruption of Manners the overthrowing of Laws In short this barbarous day of St. Bartholomew and a thousand other mischiefs that perplexed his Reign had all their rise from hence Three great Evils prevailed likewise in those days which did most provoke the Divine Majesty to wit Blasphemy Sorcery and all sorts of Villanies which having begun ever since the Reign of Henry the Second drew the vengeance of Heaven upon this unhappy Kingdom and were the cause that God visited it with so many Judgments one after another After we had read this passage we appointed a day to meet again and so parted I take my leave therefore for this time and remain c. The End of the Fourth Letter The fifth Letter French Protestants
says As to the Fact our Jesuite Jesuite as he is notwithstanding condemns it Neither has he the Heart to charge the Huguenots with these new troubles The King raised several Armies to extirpate those that had escaped the Massacre They layed the two so much talked of Sieges of Rochel and Sanvane which were raised at the arrival of the Polish Embassadors come to seek for the Duke of Anjou elected King of that Kingdom whither he went Charles the Ninth falls very ill The Prince of Condé flies into Germany and returns again to the Protestant Communion The King dies after a thousand remorses of Conscience upon the account of St. Bartholomew's Massacre For we are told That oftentimes he fancied that he saw a Sea of Blood flowing before his Eyes and that they should hear him from time to time cry out Ah! my poor Subjects what have ye done to me They forced me to it Then though too late he acknowledg'd that it was not the Protestants as the Jesuite Maimbourg so maliciously reports but the Montmorency's and the Guises who had been the real Authors of all the Troubles He had owned says Mezeray That the Houses of Montmorency and Guise were the true causes of the Civil Wars The King of Poland who was afterwards called Henry the Third returns into France and succeeds Charles the Ninth The Protestants apply to him for Peace and at the same time That Atheism and Blasphemy may be exemplarily punished and that the Ordinances against enormous and lewd Whoring which drew down the Wrath of God upon France might be execuâ—â—â— â—ut says Mezeray this untoward reproof made the Huguenots mere haâ—ed at Court than did all their Insurrections and Heresies They had no fruit 〈◊〉 their demands they would not be hearkned to The War was kept up every where The Duke of Alanzon presumptive Heir to the Crown retired from Court and headed the Protestants The King of Navarre likewise withdrew four Months after Their conjunction with the Prince of Condè who had raised a considerable Army obliges the Court at last to agree to Peace which they had so long desired The Edict was prepared and verified the 15th of May 1576. It allowed the Protestants the free exercise of their Religion which from that time forwards was to be called The Pretendded Reformed Religion It allowed them Church-yards and made them capable of all Offices both in the Colledges Hospitals c. forbid farther enquiry after Priests and Fryars that were married declared their Children Legitimate and capable of Succâ—ssion c. expressed a deep resentment of the Slaughters upon St. Bartholomew's day exempted the Children of those that had been killed from the Duty of the Militia if they were Gentlemen and from Taxes if Yeomen repealed all the Acts which had condemned the Admiral Briquemaud Cavagnes Montgommery Montbrun and others of the Religion owned the Prince and D' Amville for his good Subjects Casimir for his Allie and Neighbor and owned all they had done as done for his Service gave to those of the Religion for their better security of Justice the Chambres my parties in each Parliament or Court of Justice c. But all this was only for a new decoy to catch the Huguenots Mezeray observes that so soon as they had got the Duke of Alanzon from them they began afresh to contrive their ruine And then it was that terrible League broke out which under pretence of extirpating the Protestants set the whole Kingdom in a flame All the Historians agree that it was the pernicious cause of all the Wars that were made against the Huguenots during the Reign of Henry the Third and that had like to have laid France waste Wherefore to justifie the innocence of the Protestants during all these troubles we need only observe the measures and designs of the League which was the cause of them I will keep to what Monsieur Maimbourg says He is thus far ingenuous This League says he had like to have overthrown both Church and State The most of those that went into it or rather run headlong and blindfold with so much heat and passion and especially the common people the Clergy and the Fryars were but stales to those that composed the Cabal where Ambition Malice and Self-Interest had more share than Religion which in all probability was brought in for no other end but to châ—at the World These were the King of Spain Queen Catharine and the Duke of Guise who cast up their Accounts together though upon very different reasons yet such as agreed all against the State the Duke to make himself head of a Party which after the expiration of the Valois might advance him to yet a higher pitch the Queen that she might have a pretence to bring in her Grandchild Henry Son to Charles Duke of Lorrain instead of the lawful Successor to the Crown the King of Navarre her Son-in-Law whom she cared not for and the Spaniard to take advantage of the division the League would cause among the French to make them ruine one another and afterwards become their Master This League divided the Catholicks who took Arms one against anther the one to sâ—cure Religion as they said the other to defend the Royal Authority and the Fundamental Law of the Land which they designed to overthrow It obliged the King for prevention of the dangerous Conspiraciâ—s of the Leaguers to come to a difficult extreme and to join his Forces with those of the Huguenot Party to reduce the Catholick Rebels to their Duty It stirred up terrible Commotions all over the Kingdom This cursed League was made in opposition to the Royal Authority under the fair pretence of Religion It had a fowl beginning though contrary to the common apprehension of those who know not how to fift into the bottom of it It s procedure was abominable being neither more nor less but almost a continued attempt against the Government of a King who was at least as good a Catholick as they that headed the League In conclusion that the rise and design of the League extended to the Subversion of the Royal Family I shall not need to give an exact account here of all the steps the Contrivers of this violent Conspiracy took since the holding of the Estates at Blois in the year 1576. Where as the Bishop of Rhodes says The King Henry the Third was forced to declare himself Head of the League whereby from a Soveraign he became head of a Faction and Enemy to a part of his Subjects down to the year 1589. when they caused this unfortunate Prince to be stabbed by Iaques Clement the Fryar It is enough to understand that by the confession of Monsieur Maimbourg himsâ—lf the Duke of Guise and his Complices did not put Henry the Third upon persecuting the Protestants with that heat and violence for any other end but by the
And this was the only end of arming himâ—elf and not any private Interest if any one shall yet question let him but consider the circumstance of the time and the poâ—ture of his Affairs For who can believe that the King my Maâ—ter has any design upon â—rance or making any Conquests there at so improper a time when he has already upon him an Enemy one of the most Powerful Princes in the World And that if he had any such thoughts of so many Men as he has raised which are the same charge to him as if he had them here and which he is always ready to send over if the Churches want them he should only send a handful in comparison of so many as would be needful for so great an undertaking besides the great Succors he sends at the same time into Germany Who would not conclude rather as in truth it is that the Forces here are but Auxiliaries and that they are for no other purpose but to assist the Churches which for so many reasons and upon such important accounts he finds himself obliged before God and Man to aid and protect that if they will say the King my Master was provoked to arm himself upon other considerations as the imbargo and seizure of all the Shipping Goods and Effects of his Subjects at Bourdeaux and other places of this Kingdom to the open breach and overthrow of the Treaties between the two Crowns which are direct in this point and to the irreparable prejudice even the entire ruine of Trade in the disappointment of which the poor people of this Kingdom not being able to put off their Commodities groan not only under the Burden of so many Taxes and Impositions but even of the Necessaries of Life it self that the apprehension the King my Master has of the growth of the Most Christian Kings Power by Sea has put him upon taking Arms to hinder the progress and in conclusion that he was forced to put himself in a Warlike posture through despair of an accommodation The answer to all this must be that whoever will take notice of the Stops Seizures and Prizes that were on the one side and the other shall find that the King my Master and his Subjects have hitherto got most by this Breach and that it has been an advantage to them in some measure In the second place he is so far from being jealous of the growth of this pretended power at Seâ— and seeking to obstruct it that there needs no more whenever the King my Master shall see his time but to give out Letters of Mart to his Subjects to disappoint all these vain and weak attempts without making use of his Royal Power And lastly that we were necessitated to this arming of our selves out of a despair of an accommodation the contrary is most apparent to any one that will consider the applications that have been made at several times as well by their own as by the Ministers of stranger Princes to the King my Master at their instance to treat about an accommodation All which justifies the King my Master who has not been forced to arm upon any private account but only in aid of the Churches for whose safety and freedom he had undertaken And there are that would possess the world that his Majesty has a private design and that he makes use of a pretence of the Religion to form a Party by the help and addition of which with his own forces he thinks to carry on his design to his own purpose But our Religion teaches us otherwise and the goodness of the King my Master in which he comes short of no man living will never suffer him to do it His purpose is to settle the Churches his interest is their good his end to give them satisfaction This being done the beating of Drums and displaying of Colours shall cease and all this noise of War shall be buried in Oblivion as what was never done but upon their account nor set forward but for their sakes Given on Board the Admiral this Wednesday the one and twentieth of Iuly 1927. Signed Buckingham This Declaration shews that our Kings are resolved to love and cheâ—ish the Protestants of France and that our Great Monarch in holding his Arms open to them at this day does but follow the steps of his Princely Father He demonstrates thereby to all his people that he inherites his goodness as well as his Crown and that as this holy Martyr he knows assuredly that these poor persecuted would breath nothing but loyalty in the enjoyment of the Edicts The same Declaration shews undeniably the innocence and justice of our arming upon the occasions whereof we are treating as not having been made but upon the extreamest necessity when there was no other way left to hold France to that promise of which our King was the Garante and to prevent the loâ—s of Rochel which was undone only for committing its concerns to his Majesty Honour sincerity publick faith the Law of Nations the urging Duty of conscience all obliged us to run in to the succour of a Town that had cast it self upon our Monarch and that had full right to shake off the yoke of France since it had been no otherwise given up to the French but upon a condition that was broken which was that they should build no Fort upon its Territory whereby to give cause of suspicion Nevertheless as the Declaration obâ—erves they had not only built one against the Article of the Treaty which made the Treaty void and put Rochel into its full liberty which it had acquired at other times but they had built several which blocked up the Town on every side and destroyed its trade Our arming therefore upon this occasion was just It was justified by the publick faith and the Law of necessity and had no other end but to protect the weak who were oppressed contrary to the â—ngagement of the Treaty which was the supporting of a good cause For Rochel which they wasted after so many manners was then in right to defend it self being no longer subject to the Prince who attaqued it Conditio non impleta liberat fidem say the Civilians A condition not fullfilled takes off all Engagement Rochel had said to the King of France you shall be my King if you build no Fort upon my Territory but not otherwise and the King of France consented or rather swore to a solemne Treaty that he would not be Master of Rochel but upon this condition So that from the moment in which he had broken the condition agreed upon and accepted of he put Rochel into its orignal right The Rochellers are no longer his subjects and therefore if they shut the gates of their Town against him if they defend themselves as well as they can against his invasion if they call in their friends for succour they do it in their own right and it is to do them open wrong it is traducing them