would have discover'd how highly he had resented had he not been prevented by Death the Arbiter of all Humane Controversies All he could at that time do to let them see he understood them to be no friends of his was to forbid his Sons to see them or to be presented by either of them to the Duke of Anjou desiring rather they should receive that favour from the Duke of Guise a Prince with whom he had acquir'd a great interest as having oftern serv'd under his Command but most signally at the Battel of Dreux where he fought at the head of the Reserve with which when all other hopes were lâ—st the Duke won that day and wholly routed the Enemies victorious Army To him therefore he commanded his Sons to address themselves for their access to the Duke an occasion the Duke of Guise embrac'd with so much fervour and presented them after that obliging manner with that honourable mention of the Fathers great Merit and the great hope of his Sons that they could not possibly have chosen out a man that could more handsomly more obligingly or with greater integrity have perform'd so important an Office The infinite civility of the Duke of Guise together with the singular and natural art he had to acquire men to him gain'd Caumont so absolutely to his service that it was with no little reluctancy that he afterwards withdrew himself from him which nevertheless he was shortly after enforc't to do the divers interests that sway'd the one and the other looking so several wayes that it was not possible longer to continue their intelligence Their friendship began to grow cold before it came to an open Rupture Caumont not having receiv'd from the Duke that support and assistance he promis'd to himself from so powerful and so sincere a frined as he took him to be But that which strook the main blow was this The death of Mounfieur de la Valette immediately following the Siege of Rochelle his several Employments lay vacant by his decease which made Caumont repair to Court in hopes by the Dukes favour at least to obtain the charge of Camp-Master to the Light Horse for his elder Brother neither of them yet presuming by reason of their youth to pretend to the Lieutenancy of Guienne which the Duke of Guise not only peremptorily refus'd to intermeddle in but withal carried on the interest of some other pretenders with so much vigour and efficacy that in fine he excluded both the Brothers from all their Fathers employments Upon which unexpected unkindness Caumont retir'd so much dissatisfied with the Duke that since that time neither his Brother nor he ever had any complacency for the house of Guise The Brothers after this repulse spent some time at home in order to a settlement of their own private affairs which the quietness of that time a general Peace being before concluded gave them leisure enough to do But Caumont was impatient of this Countrey life and seeing there was now no more employment for his Armes he put himself into an equipage to go to Court to try if he could by his own endeavours obtain that for himself which the memory of his Fathers great services had not power to retain to his forgotten Family It was about the end of the Year 1574. that he undertook this journey King Henry the Third being then newly return'd from Poland a Prince inâ—â—â—nitely enclin'd to Peace and to that Catharine de Medicis his Mother being also wearied out with the former troubles they bent their â—oynt endeavours to the continuing of Affairs in the same quiet posture they then were to the extinguishing of all old discontents and to the avoiding all possible occasions of new They knew very well that none had power to beget new mischiefs or to disturb the present Peace of the Kingdom except the Duke of Alanson or the King of Navarre both which they politickly made as it were prisoners to the Court by the vigilancy of Spies though without Guards or other visible marks of restraint The King of Navarre as he whose Courage and great Qualities were more to be suspected had the stricter eye upon him and although he profest himself a Catholick yet his Fortune and Confederates obliging him to the contrary Religion they were in a perpetual jealousie lest he should at one time or another embrace the Profession and Party of those with whom his nearest concerns and chiefest interests lay The Queen Mother one of the most experienc'd Princesses of her time and a Woman whose Prudence and subtlety extended to all the Arts of Government knowing as well how upon occasion to order the allurements of Peace as to guide and govern the more important Affairs in the Tumults of War being no stranger to the amorous inclinations of the King of Navarre by daily invitations to Playes Masques Revels and other entertainments made the Court continually to shine in all the lustre and temptation of Beauty if possible to divert the designs and to soften the Martial humour of this Prince in the more delicate delights of vacancy and peace which kind of life it may easily be imagin'd could not be unpleasant to a man so young and so enclin'd as the King then was The Court being now nothing but jollity the whole Nobility of France had nothing else to do but to divide themselves according to their several inclinations into the Parties and Factions of these two young Princes amongst which Caumonts particular liking and Affection to his person and great vertues having enclin'd him to the King of Navarres side he was by him receiv'd with so infinite respect and kindness that in a very short time he stood equal to the best in the highest degree of Favour and trust Of which the King could not give him a greater testimony than by discovering to him his intended escape from Court and by commending thereby so important a secret to his fidelity and assistance Our Histories have glanc'd at the grounds upon which the King took this resolution which he shortly after executed with great secresie and a very slender train For pretending to go hunt in the Parks of Saint Germains he thence with only four or five of his greatest confidents of which number Caumont was one made his escape I have often heard him say that he thought himself so oblig'd by that favour that he had never separated himself from that Prince had not he first separated himself from his obedience to the Church He accompanied him in his retirement as far as Alenson whither the King was no sooner come but that his Physician invited him to be God-father to one of his Children The Ceremony was performed in the Hugonot Congregation and after their Directory as it may be presum'd it was beforehand determined it should be Whereupon Caumont taking the usual liberty the King had ever till that time freely allow'd him converted all the passages of that Ceremony into Mirth
and Laughter But the King afraid no doubt lest this should produce some effect that might hinder his main designs secretly chid him for what he had already done giving him caution for the future to forbear such railleries and to behave himself with more respect in occasions wherein he himself was so seriously concern'd Which sharp reproof giving Caumont sufficiently to understand that although the King did not as yet make publick profession of that Religion yet that he was notwithstanding so moderate and so lukewarm a Catholick that he only wanted a handsome opportunity to do it He resolv'd also to quit his service upon the first occasion that fairly presented it self An effect besides his own Devotion to the Church of a solemn Promise his Brother and he had joyntly made to their dying Father never to serve other than a Catholick Prince From thenceforward therefore he sought all opportunities civilly to disingage himself from the service of this King which soon after a light Indisposition of body gave him a handsome Pretense to do for finding himself not very well and continuing fome few dayes in the same distemper without any amendment he intreated leave to retire into the privacy and convenience of his own house for the recovery of his health which the King though he doubtless well enough understood the meaning of that request without any difficulty or the least shew of unkindness freely permitted him to do France began now to see it self threatned with the approaching troubles which the Duke of Alenson's and the King of Navarre's departure from Court happening much about the same time shortly after produc'd in the Kingdom neither could the Queen Mother notwithstanding her great vigilancy and care to prevent those disorders the discontents of these two Princes together with those of the Hugonot Faction were likely to bring upon the State with all her industry and prudence hinder men in that Crisis of Affairs from running into the tumult of Armes It was in this juncture of time that Caumont prepar'd himself for a second journey to Court He had had the honour to be known to the King first at the Siege of Rochelle and afterwards in his dependence upon the King of Navarre so that these preceding habitudes and acquaintance made him resolve to go and tye himself directly to his Majesties person and service Having therefore left his own house with this resolution he takes his journey to Burdeaux where the Marquess de Villars a great friend and an old companion in Armes of Mounsieur de la Valette his Father and now Governour of Guienne then resided and where he was not a little busie to provide against the disorders which at that time threatned that Province Caumont at his arrival gives him a visit acquaints him with the true design of his journey and withal offers his service if he had any to command him to Court Villars readily accepts his offer charges him with Letters of Credit to the King and the wayes betwixt Burdeaux and Poitiers being very difficult to pass by reason of the continual inroads of the Hugonot party he informs him of the particular state of the Countrey instructs him in the safest wayes he was to pass and finally gives him a full accompt of the posture wherein his Majesties Affairs then stood that he might thereupon receive new orders from the King and Council Caumont being glad to present himself to their Majesties with the advantage of so considerable a service departs throughly instructed in all the Affairs of Guienne from Burdeaux to Angoubesme where he further discourses about his Government with the Marquess of Rufee Governour of that Town and Countrey and by him findes matters there to be in no better a condition than those of Guienne Rufee had made a late denial of that place to the Heads of the Hugonot party to whom by the Treaty of Champigny made with the Duke of Alenson it should have been delivered up for a Cautionary Town He informs himself of the reasons of Rufees refusal in this case with other things that concern'd the Kings Service in that Countrey and continues his journey from thence to Poitiers by the houses of Gentlemen his acquaintance sometimes with Convoys but for the most part in the slender guard of his own inconsiderable train At last by short and wary journeys he arrives at Court which was then at Blois though with infinite difficulty and danger such was the disorder and confusion that rag'd in all the Provinces through which he was to pass I heard him a few dayes before his death relate all the particulars of this journey without omitting the least circumstance that befel him by the way not without admiration that a man after threescore and odde years should retain so perfect a memory of such petty accidents if such ought to be call'd so as gave a beginning to the establishment of so prodigious a Fortune Being come to Court he presented himself to the King deliver'd the several dispatches he had from Villars and Rufee giving his Majesty a particular account of all they had given him in charge The King immediately commanded him to address himself to the Queen Mother and to inform her fully of the same things being at this first Conference highly satisfied with his dexterity and judgement and mightily taken with his behaviour and the gracefulness he observ'd in whatever he said or did neither indeed could there be a more accomplisht Gentleman than he was at that age of two and twenty as I have heard men of great judgement say that very well knew him in those times His Conference with the Queen Mother prov'd no less to his advantage with her than that he had had with the King had done with him she was pleas'd to give him a gracious audience and to take a great liking to his Person so that the King coming as it was his constant custom in the evening to confer about business with her and asking her if she had seen Caumont and what her opinion was of him the Queen made answer That she had seen and discours'd with him and that it was upon men of his condition and merit that his Majesty ought to repose the Trust and Confidence of his most important Affairs which she said as not being unwilling to the end she might still keep her dominion over the Kings affections that Caumont though the King had many Favourties already should yet make one of that number that so his heart being divided amongst many might not too violently encline to one The King told her he was of her opinion and the approbation he found in her judgement having justified his own inclinations after he had entertain'd her some time with merits of the Father and the good qualities of the Son he from thenceforward took a resolution to receive him into a degree of favour and to place him near his own person Yet was it not immediately notwithstanding this
obtain'd the Kings permission but his Majesty very well perceiving that his Favourite was only a pretense the League made use of to cover their own ambition that it was the Royal Authority they aim'd at and that their design was only to remove so good a Servant with less difficulty to make themselves Maisters of Affairs the more obstinately they insisted upon that Article the more resolute his Majesty was to protect him The Duke very well inform'd that Villeroy was one of those who contributed most to his Persecution and seeing how publickly he profess'd to desire his ruine resented it with an Animosity proportionable to the Injury receiv'd which was the more violent by how much the offense came from a person he had never done any ill Office to and whom he had ever made it his business to oblige They were in this posture of unkindness on the one side and the other when happned the taking of the Cittadel of Lions before which time it was thought Villeroy had secretly treated of a Marriage betwixt Alincourt his Son and Mandelot's only Daughter not having dar'd publickly to do it by reason of the intelligence Mandelot held with those of the League but having upon this occasion taken up Mandelot's Interests against le Passage that is to say against the Duke himself le Passage being his creature he offer'd to undertake for Mandelot's fidelity to the King provided his Majesty would please to consent to the Marriage propos'd and settle upon Alincourt the Government of Lions in reversion in favour of the match which the King being reduc'd to the necessity of taking all men for friends who were not actually otherwise was sorc'd to allow of and to ratifie what he could not well impeach by that means trying to draw Mandelot over to him but the Duke exasperated to the last degree could no longer smother his passion nor dissemble his animosity against Villeroy but spoke freely and aloud to his disadvantage and of the Correspondence he held with the League which was the first effect of their open and declared Hatred The end of the first Book THE HISTORY Of the LIFE of the Duke of Espernon The Second Book AFter the Surrender or rather the Revolt of the many places already mentioned the Duke of Guise conceiving it necessary to press nearer the King the sooner and with less difficulty to obtain his ends order'd the General Rendezvous of his Army to be at Chalons Which place he made choice of for two Reasons first because by the nearness of it to Paris being but three little days Journey from thence his presence would be apt to fortifie the Citizens in their Devotion to him and secondly the number of his Confederates being so great and some of them of so great Authority in the City he could by their means continually infuse into the people such dispositions as might best serve his purpose hoping by this means either to incline the King to satisfie all his demands or at least to be able to raise such mutiny and confusion in the City as might give him opportunity at one time or another to effect that by fine Force he could not obtain by the more moderate ways of Addresses and Treaty Then it was that his Majesty perceiv'd the manifest peril his Person and his Affairs were in and then would he take up Arms for his own defense which he had no sooner resolv'd but that at the same time he saw it was too late and impossible to be done The Reiters which he had rais'd in Germany could not come to him the Duke of Lorain having deny'd them a passage through his Countrey and all the Forces within the Kingdom were either engag'd with the League or with the King of Navarre so that the King was left utterly naked of all defense save of those few Servants he had about his own person Nay even those who in the beginning of these troubles would with all their hearts have assisted him to punish to Duke whilst meerly in the condition of a Rebel durst not now he was grown to that formidable height and become the head of a strong Party attempt to succour a weak and disfurnish'd Prince against an armed and prevailing Subject The thoughts of War then being altogether fruitless and impossible in the posture the King then was he must of necessity have recourse to the Treaties of Peace to which resolution he was further necessitated by the King of Navarre's breaking into Arms at the same time which I should not however have mention'd for a second Motive his Majesty had to satisfie the League had this Prince pretended no further than simply to defend his own Fortune with those Forces he had already had in France for then his designs might have been favourable to the King and either have kept the Army of the League wholly imploy'd or at least have diverted their designs but he fearing at once to be opprest by the Union of two Catholick Armies had recourse to strangers for aid The King knew he had treated with the Queen of England and with the States of Holland who both of them assisted him with Men and Money and that all the Protestant Princes of Germany made extraordinary Provision to send him a powerful succour so that he now evidently saw he must in good earnest close with the League and joyn with one of the Factions to preserve himself from being a Prey to both The Queen Mother had for many years been employ'd Mediatrix in all the accomodations of Peace that had been concluded in France and it was commonly believed she was not then altogether without such an Interest in the Duke of Guise as might have establish'd this to the Kings satisfaction I never heard the Duke of Espernon say she was partial to that Faction and though he receiv'd several ill Offices from her in his declining Favour he notwithstanding ever retain'd a constant Respect for so great a Princess who was his Masters Mother and ever defended her Honour against all the calumnies of the time 'T is true he thought she was not altogether displeas'd that there should ever be a party on foot in France such as might oblige the King her Son to make use of her Counsels and Mediation her great and ambitious spirit ill digesting the calms of peace and worse enduring to be depriv'd of an employment in which she had ever been as successful as necessary Her therefore the King passionately entreated to labour an Accommodation with the Duke of Guise an Office she as chearfully undertook and two dayes after began her Journey towards Espernay where she had appointed the Duke to meet and whither he accordingly came together with the Cardinal of Bourbon In the first overtures she found a spirit puft up with success and wholly averse to Peace but when he had more deliberately consider'd that it was not yet time to weaken the King's Authority which he thought was absolutely at his
of this Battel nor conceiv'd himself so much prejudic'd by it as he imagin'd himself eclips'd by the Victory he soon after obtain'd over the Strangers a deplorable effect of this Princes misfortune who could neither be afflicted with his losses nor yet absolutely satisfied with his success We have already told you the Reasons the King had not to desire the King of Navarre's Ruine so that he enjoyed in part his own deâ—ire in the loss of this Battel which made for the support of the King of Navarre and his Party by whose assistance he thought with less difficulty to mate the ambitious Designs of the League Whereas the Victory obtain'd over the Reiters only serv'd to augment the Duke of Guise's Glory who was his real and capital Enemy Hence therefore proceeded his disquiet and affliction and this was it that turn'd even the prosperous successes of his Arms to his vexation and trouble His Majesty fearing left the Duke of Guise puft up with the vanity of the popular esteem and the opinion of his own merit should take upon him the assurance to ask some of the Offices which were vacant by the Duke of Ioyeuse his Decease conferr'd them all immediately upon the Duke of Espernon who was in one day made Admiral of France Governour of Normandy Caen and Havre de Grace and the dispatches were deliver'd to him at Gergeau the seventh of November 1587. the Death of the Duke of Ioyeuse hapning but in the end of October the same year Neither was this the only advantage the Duke reap'd from the ill success of this Battel for his Cousin Bellegarde Governour of Xaintonge Angoumois and the Country of Aulnis having there receiv'd a mortal Wound and dying soon after the Duke had also the Governments vacant by his decease conferr'd upon him which as we shall hereafter see at his departure from Court afforded him the benefit of a secure and honourable Retreat Although the Victories obtain'd from the German Army were very great and of great moment yet were not the Designs of the Enemy utterly ruin'd by the Defeat and Dissipation of those Forces beyond the Loire For the Hugonot Party who were infinitely solicitous to adde all the vigour and encouragement they possibly could to their cause were principally careful to re-inforce Mounsieur Lesdiguieres who was effectually a very brave Commander and one of the main pillars of their Faction There had been therefore four thousand Swisse drawn out of the main Body of the German Army and sent away into Dauphine to assist him there and to make him able either to oppose Mounsieur de la Valette or if Fortune so favour'd their Arms absolutely to drive him out of that Province a Force like enough to cut out a great deal of work in those parts But la Valette's Fortune being here constant to his Valour their coming only administred to him an opportunity wherein to share with the Duke his Brother the Honour that was to be acquir'd in the Defeat of that Foreign Enemy For opposing that great Body with only two thousand Foot and three hundred Horse he cut them all off in their passage over the River Lizere Mounsieur de Thou says that there were not fifty Prisoners remaining so that this may be reckoned amongst the other great losses that Nation sustain'd in this Expedition And that which makes it yet more remarkable is that Lesdiguieres and Chatillon being advanc'd on the other side of the River with three thousand Foot and six hundred Horse to favour their passage were beaten back and constrain'd to look on whilst their Confederates were all cut in pieces before their eyes without being able to give them the least assistance By this handsome action so happily perform'd the hopes those of the Religion had conceiv'd of reaping any signal advantage from their Victory at the Battel of Coutras and by uniting with the Foreign Army were utterly frustrated Neither can I forbear in this place to give Colonel Aphonso afterward Mareschal d' Ornano his due share of honour who fought it with singular Valour but still under Mounsieur de la Valette's Conduct and by his directions with whom no man can dispute the absolute honour of that notable Defeat After so many brave exploits atchiev'd by the King for the defense of his Kingdom and after so considerable services perform'd by the Duke of Espernon and by la Valette his Brother for the publick safety who would have imagin'd but that his Majesty should have been welcom'd home with a thousand blessings of his people and that so good Subjects should have received the praises due to their Fidelity and Valour Nevertheless all these Victories with the care industry and hazards that produc'd them wrought a quite contrary effect through the blind affection the giddy multitude had violently plac'd upon the Duke of Guise There was now no other discourse at Paris but of him the Pulpits Courts and Publick Assemblies rung with his Name it is to him only that they owe their Lives and Liberties and 't is only his presence they desire The King 's own Person and those of his most faithful Servants are become odious to the Parisians They talk high of transferring the Regal Dignity to the Duke of Guise They scatter up and down Printed Libels wherein from railing against the King proceeding on to the King of Navarre they would have him declar'd incapable of succession to the Crown to the end there might remain no title to dispute the Duke of Guise's Possession Nay to such a contempt of his Person and Royal Dignity they were grown at last that these discourses were frequent and loud in the Kings own Family his most oblig'd Servants not daring almost to reply renouncing by that poor and unmanly toleration their own interest whilst they abandoned that of their Sovereign and Benefactor Neither was there any save only the Duke of Espernon a man that slighted his own danger and despis'd the malice of all mankind when his Masters Honour lay in the Ballance who generously expos'd himself upon all occasions to the publick violence that he might preserve the integrity of his Duty Of which to give you an instance it hapned one day in a great deal of company that the Archbishop of Lions a Prelate of a ready Wit and great Elocution but passionately zealous for the League openly maintain'd That the Pope had Power to absolve Subjects from their Allegiance to their lawful Prince To which the Duke highly offended as he had reason to be at so dangerous an Argument made answer before them all That it would be as hard to perswade him to that as to make him believe that the Pope could grant a Dispensation to a Prelate to lie with his own Sister Now you must know it was generally believ'd at Court that this Prelate was too familiar with a person related to him in that degree and as injuries make the deeper impression
qualities in high esteem after his death And indeed he had so often and so generously employ'd those rare Endowments for the safety and honour of the Kingdom that his Vertue could never have been too highly commended could he have added the qualities of a good Subject to those other excellencies which rendred him one of the greatest men of his time A little before the Duke of Guise's death the King had dismist from Court the High Chancellor Chiverny and the â—ieures de Believre and de Villeroy Secretaries of State upon considerations that were then variously interpreted though the King would have the Duke of Espernon believe that the chief cause of Mounsieur de Villeroy's disgrace was the business of Angoulesme which his Majesty wholly laid to his charge and that the Duke might the better be confirm'd in this opinion the Sieur de Révol a particular creature of the Dukes one that was under him Comptroller of the Exchequer of Provence and that had no interest at Court saving his Protection was receiv'd into his Place His Majesty had no sooner absolutely determin'd the Duke of Guise's Ruine than that foreseeing the consequences so bloody an execution was likely to draw after it he dispatch'd away Colonel Alphonso Corso afterwards Mareschal d'Ornano to seize upon the Duke of Mayenâ—e at Lyons where he then resided which if it could have been in time effected his Majesty had in all apparence been secur'd from the greatest part of those mischiefs which this action afterwards produc'd but the Duke having receiv'd the news of his Brothers Deaths some hours before Alphonso's arrival was already in great diligence got to Horse and fled out at one Gate of the City as Ornano entred at another to surprize him and by that means first recovered Dijon and afterwards Paris without any impediment Where he was no sooner arriv'd than that laying aside that moderation he had euer manifested during his Brother's Life he declar'd himself Head of that Party he had ever till then to his great Reputation seem'd to condemn and drawing together all the Forces of the League that lay scatter'd up and down in several places he of them without stirring from Paris made a very considerable Army His Majesty easily judg'd that this storm would suddenly break upon him and fail'd not out of that foresight to call all his principal Servants about him which nevertheless made up but an inconsiderable Body and such as could no ways secure him from any attempt of the Enemy So that he was advis'd to send once more to the King of Navarre to intreat him to advance with his Troops to his succour which notwithstanding the King not being able to perswade himself to do his regard to Religion and the 〈◊〉 he bore to the Pope opposing that Council he only at that time sent Orders to the Duke of Espernon who had then a considerable Force on Foot to come over to him though afterwards and after many deliberations being also dispos'd to call in the King of Navarâ—e he sent to the Duke that before he put himself upon his march he should first go to this Prince to make the first overtures of this business to him The Sieur de Beaujeu was purposely dispatch'd to the Duke with these Orders which were no sooner receiv'd by him than he departed from Angoulesme to go to St Iean d' Angely where the King of Navarre then was and where having found him well dispos'd and very ready to do his Majesty the Service he desired of his Person and Faction he immediately made himself ready to go to the King who seeing his Enemies now ready to fall upon him had sent a new and instant Express to the Duke in all haste to come and joyn with him which express Order to satisfie with the greatest diligence he rather chose to leave the Negotiation he had already so successfully begun with the King of Navarre to the Dutchess of Angoulesme who soon after brought it to effect than one moment to defer his attendance on his Master in so critical a time and on so urgent an occasion All these great transactions hapned at Court after the Duke of Espernon had retir'd himself from thence into his Governments Neither was he in his retirement or in his choice of the place he retir'd unto either unactive in himself or in a Scene improper for his Majesties Service for he was no sooner disingag'd from the enterprize of Angoulesme but that he put himself immediately into a condition to awe many of his ill Neighbours in the adjoyning Provinces so as either to continue them in or to make them return unto their duty For which purpose having increas'd his Forces the first occasion he had to employ them was against those of the Religion who having beâ—ieg'd Periguex and upon the point to make themselves Masters of the place at the Duke's approach rais'd the Siege in great disorder and retir'd not without some considerable loss The Duke was after this preparing himself for greater enterprizes when Beaujeu brought him those foremention'd Orders from the King by whom having understood the great preparations the Duke of Mayenne made to come first to Blois and from thence to Touâ—s whither the King had then retir'd himself and knowing his Majesty almost naked of all defense and as it were expos'd to the violence of his Enemies he thought it necessary upon the instant to move with all his Forces that way and at the same time by a Gentleman to give his Majesty notice of his motion that he might receive his Majesties Commands upon the way By which Gentleman the King sent him presently word that the most important service he could then do him was to put himself into Blois For the Duke of Mayenne having resolv'd to make his first attempt upon that place either by the ruine of the Castle to revenge in part the death of his two Brothers who there last their lives or to make that City which by its vicinity to Tours was very proper to watch all advantages against the King his seat of War his Majesty conceiv'd there would be little security for him in Tours should his Enemy possess himself of that Post and had therefore bent all his care and endeavour to preserve it out of the power of the League His Majesty would have put the Mareschal de Biron into that place and afterwards he having excus'd himself the Mareschal d' Aumont but both the one and the other having refus'd the danger of defending and with unequal Forces a place that being in it self open on all sides was not well to be defended and that was to expect the first fury of the League to be bent against it his Majesty turn'd his thoughts towards the Duke of Espernon and knowing that the difficulty of the undertaking would be no little motive to make the Duke embrace it his Majesty sent him word that the Mareschals de Biron and d'
was at the Hostel de Gondy as that which was most capable to receive him and it was in this House of Gondy that whilst this great Prince was forming the designs of restoring his despis'd Authority of chastising the temerity and disobedience of his evil dispos'd Subjects of rendring his name venerable to all his Neighbours and of establishing the Peace of his Kingdom having already almost extinguish'd all the sparks of Division that had enflam'd it that I say an accursed Paâ—ricide in the Meridian of all his Glory and in the Crisis of all his Designs plung'd a murthering Knife into his Entrails Every one has heard who Iaques Clement was and the black story of his Bloody Assassinate but no one could ever yet penetrate so far as to discover by whom he was prompted on to this execrable Act. The King feeling himself wounded drew the Knife immediately from the Wound and strook it up to the haft in the Villains Face at which bustle betwixt them one of the Grooms of the Wardrobe who guarded the Closet Door into which his Majesty was withdrawn to give this wicked wretch a more private audience ran in to them as also did several Gentlemen who waited in the outer Room who all of them drawing their Swords by an imprudence in it self criminal if not excus'd by the violence of their Affections gave the Caitiffe an hundred Wounds whereby in a moment he vomited out a life that ought not to have been dismist till after the horror of a thousand torments The King feeling himself Wounded commanded the Duke of Espernon to be immediately sent for who was then at the Post nearest to the City putting some Troops in order which were to fall into the Suburbs of Paris but at this sad and unexpected news he ran in great confusion to the King's Lodging whom he yet found in the same posture wherein he had receiv'd his hurt with his hand still upon the Wound At which sight the Duke bursting out in tears as fearing a sinister event his Majesty gave him comfort by telling him he hop'd the Wound would not prove Mortal and saying to him further these very words Thou seest here my Friend the effects of my Enemies Treachery and Malice but I hope God will shortly enable me to bring them to condigne punishment To which the Duke returning no other answer than his tears they laid his Majesty upon a bed and search'd his Wound which the Chirurgeons at the first dressing apprehended not to be so dangerous as it was so that all that day was past over in this error but that night and the morning following the dolours of his Wound encreasing and at last growing to be extreme it was then judg'd that his bowels were pierced and that Death must necessarily and in a few hours ensue The King of Navarre had hasted with all diligence at the first bruit of this accident and being come to his bedside his Majesty said to him almost the same things he had said before to the Duke and talk'd of nothing the first day save of the exemplary punishment he would inflict upon his Enemies but his Wound being at last judg'd to be mortal and feeling in himself that he drew near his end all his discourse of Punishment and Revenge was turn'd into that of Pardon and Oblivion and certainly no Prince ever made a more Christian or a more constant end He declar'd upon his death-bed the King of Navarre nearest of his Blood and and consequently right Heir to the Crown provided he were a Catholick exhorting him at the same time to abjure his own Religion and to reconcile himself to the Holy Church commanding likewise the Duke of Espernon whom he held by the hand to serve him upon that condition after which and a Pious Resignation of himself he gave up his last breath in the middle of his victorious Army We are now entring upon a new Reign and one the Duke found very different from that wherein he had hitherto liv'd for he now not only saw himself stript of all kind of Favour but he further saw the envy and hatred of the whole Court directed against him He was now no more call'd to Council nor any longer entrusted with his Princes secrets but on the contrary every one labour'd to diminish that greatness to which his own Vertue and his Masters Royal bounty had already rais'd him But we shall see how he overcame all these difficulties and the Justice of this new Prince at last giving the Merits and Services of this vertuous man their due we shall see him not only support him in his own present Fortune but also encrease it by his daily bounty and so establish it in him as to empower him to settle it in his own Posterity So soon as the King was dead all the Roman Catholicks of quality in the Army assembled themselves together to advise what in this occurrence was to be done for the maintenance of the Catholick Religion in the Service of this new King And here their opinions were split into three several Councils for some there were who thought it fit absolutely to acknowledge the King without condition or reservation but those were very few Others there were who would absolutely abandon his Service and joyn with the League and those were fewer than the first But the third proposition and that which was concluded on by the most principal and prudent Lords of the Army amongst which were the Dukes of Longueville of Nevers of Espernon and of Luxembourg the Mareschals de Biron and d' Aumont the Marquis of Ramboâ—illet and many others was to serve the King and to tye themselves wholly to his Fortune provided his Majesty would please to give them some gracious assurance of his speedy Conversion Which being deliver'd to his Majesty as their determinate Resolution and the condition prescrib'd as it were by the King his Predecessor he wisely chose such a mean as seem'd necessary to him in this occasion for the establishment of the uncertain state of his Affairs and would by all means preserve that moderation and indifferency betwixt both parties as should by an equal hope in them both keep both his Catholick and Hugonot Subjects within the bounds of their duty His Answer therefore was That it would appear to all the world very easie and unhandsome in him to change his Religion only to satisfie his Subjects humour and to receive a Law from them in a thing which in its self of all other ought to be most free That he desir'd to be instructed and satisfied in his Conscience before he proceeded so far as to change his Religion That to this purpose he promis'd within six months to call an Assembly of men of known Piety and Learning and if occasion were a National Synod to whose final Decree he would absolutely submit and that in the mean time he would be careful to protect and maintain the Catholick Religion After divers
defeating all the rules of Art pass'd for miraculous One of the Souldiers of the Duke's Guards call'd Faure receiv'd a Cannon-shot in his Belly which pass'd quite through leaving an orifice bigger than a Hat Crown so that the Chirurgeons could not imagine though it were possible the Bowels should remain unoffended that nature could have supply'd so wide a breach which notwithstanding she did and to that perfection that the party found himself as well as before Another of the same condition call'd Rameé and of the same place they being both Natives of St. Iean de Angely receiv'd a Musquet-shot which entring at his mouth came out of the nape of his neck who was also perfectly cur'd which two extravagant wounds being reported to the King his Majesty took them both into his own particular dependence saying those were men that could not die though they afterwards both ended their dayes in his Service This place being reduc'd to the King's obedience there remain'd nothing more in Xaintonge worthy his Majesties Arms so that he was at liberty to advance with all his Forces into Guienne The Prince of Condé had been sent thither before with the Vant-guard of the Army where at his Majesties arrival he found Monravet taken by the Duke d' Elboeuf and Themeins after a long and obstinate resistance surrendred to the same Duke Saint Foy also Clerac le Mont de Marsan with several other considerable places were reduc'd to his obedience by the Marquis de la Force de Lusignan and de Castelnau de Chalosse who had taken them in so that his Majesty finding little to do in Guienne pass'd speedily thence into Languedoc Negrepolisse a little paltry â—own upon his way was so impudent as to stand a Siege but it was soon taken by assault and St. Antonin having after a Siege surrendred to mercy their temerity having put the King upon making some examples the neighbouring places thought it convenient to fly to his Majesties Clemency to evade the trial of his victorious Arms. Whilst the King was taken up with these little exploits the Duke of Espernon had taken opportunity to look into his own Domestick Affairs the better to fit himself to follow and serve his Majesty in his main expedition which he had so dispatch'd as to come before the King to Tholouze who arriving there a few days after the Army mov'd towards the higher Languedoc by the way of Caâ—cassonne Beziers Narbonne and other good Cities and the seven and twentieth of August the whole Court arriv'd at la Verune a little Town in Languedoc where the Duke receiv'd the honour of a Patent for Governour and his Majesties Lieutenant General in Guienne and for the particular Governments of Chasteau Trompette as also of the City and Cittadel of Bergerac with the City and Castle of Nerac in lieu of his Governments of Angoumois Xaintonge Aulins and Limousin From the time of their being together at Tholouze the Prince of Condé having converted the animosities he had conceiv'd against the Duke during the Regency of the Queen Mother into a particular esteem he was the first man that thought of this Command in the Duke's favour and though he had himself been Governour of that Province yet thinking it no prejudice to his Birth and Dignity to be succeeded by a man of his Merit he first propos'd him to the King His Majesty understood as well as any the importance of this Command and having a little before experimented in the person of the Duke of Mayenne what a Governour of Guienne could do when debauch'd from his Duty had been at great debate with himself upon whom to confer the honour of this great Employment At the first mention notwithstanding of the Duke of Espernon he very favourably gave his consent and the constant testimonies he had always receiv'd of the Duke's fidelity seeming to be security for him for the time to come he gave the Prince order to speak to him about it and to let him know he had thoughts of conferring upon him the honour of that command But all we who were of the Duke's Family can witness there was not the same facility in the Duke to receive this favour there had been in his Majesty to confer it Not that he wanted ambition â—or that his spirit did not prompt him with great confidence in himself to aspire to the highest employments but this ambition also was not blind and if on the one side he consider'd how great an honour it would be to succeed the late King Henry the great of happy memory who had maintain'd himself in this Government till he came to the Crown with other first Princes of the Blood and to have his Authority rais'd to that height in his own native Countrey he wisely weigh'd on the other side that amongst so many advantages he should meet with much trouble and many difficulties to balance the lustre of that Dignity with many occurrences that he foresaw would be very cross and untoward His present condition 't was true was not so shining but it was also more calm and his Authority was so establish'd in his own Governments that there was none who was not acquainted with his Justice and who from the Infancy of his Administration had not paid so inviolate a respect to his person that the reverence those Countreys had for him seem'd to be a natural quality in the people committed to his charge The Gentry and Populacy were equally obedient to him and he liv'd amongst them as free from trouble as envy whereas in Guienne where his Government would be shut up betwixt two Parliaments he conceiv'd that in the administration of his charge it would be almost impossible to avoid many disputes with the members of the one or the other Body Whilst he had only had to do with them in the quality of a friend he had found them exceedingly obliging and all the Gentry of the Province had ever paid him a very great respect but he very much doubted whether in such a degree of Authority he could preserve the friendship and affection of so many persons of quality as would be subjected to him These reasons made him long deliberate upon this Affair and he was often tempted to refuse it but he was so importun'd by his friends and particularly by the Duke of Guise who came to wait upon the King in Languedoc that he at last resolv'd to embrace his Majesties gracious offer though I heard him say then and he has often confirm'd it since that he would never have been perswaded to do it had he not been before divested of the Cittadel of Xaintes assuring us that could he have kept that in the condition he had once put it he would not have exchang'd those Governments he was already seiz'd of for any the best in France Having therefore long deliberated before he could resolve he at last went to receive from the King 's own hand his Patent for Governour of
and practices that might discompose the calm of Peace his Kingdom was now settled in but so it was that for one or both these reasons he engag'd the greatest part of his Nobility whom he knew to be monied men in vast designs of this kind amongst whom his Majesty conceiving the Duke of Espernon to be one the most at his ease he was so importunate with him as to cause a plot for Cadillac to be design'd in his own Presence order'd the charge of the whole to be cast up and made one of his own Architects to undertake for an hundred thousand Crowns to begin and perfect the work upon which assurance the Duke as has been said in the year 1598 began the foundation conceiving that such a summe as that he might without inconvenience spare to gratifie his Masters humour though time afterwards gave him to understand how hard a thing it is to contain a man's self within a determinate charge after he has once set his hand to so tempting a work as Building this Pile before it was finish'd having cost him above two millions of Livres 'T is very true and which seldom happens to undertakers of such vast designs that with this infinite expense he brought the greatest and most stately pile of Building the Royal Houses excepted in France very near to perfection the whole body of the Building being perfected before his death and nothing save some few Ornaments left to finish neither had he left those to his Successors had not the disgrace of being withdrawn from his Government which still afflicted him diverted his thoughts from the sole care of that design The Duke as has been said being come into Guienne to take a view of his Building arriv'd at the City of Bourdeaux in the beginning of August where he found the Mareschal d' Ornano but newly there establish'd Lieutenant for the King by the decease of the Mareschal de Matignon who died of an Apoplexy and where their old Animosities though great were nevertheless on both sides so well dissembled as not to hinder a mutual Civility betwixt them no more than these civilities could hinder past jealousies from breaking out upon the first occasion into a new and open rupture This Mareschal though an Alien born had yet by his Valour and Fidelity acquir'd so great a reputation in France as in the Reign of Henry the III. to be a great confident to that Prince to whom the Duke of Espernon having been a principal Favourite it is nothing strange that a man of inferiour credit should envy another in a higher degree of Favour neither if the Mareschal were prepossess'd with this antiquated jealousie was the Duke on his part insensible of the recent traverses he had in Provence receiv'd from him the greatest part of the disgraces he had met with in that Country having been laid in his way by the opposition of l' Esdiguieres and him all which put together it may easily be imagin'd were likely to beget no very good blood between them To this the Mareschal a man of an imperious and haughty temper and who only under a forc'd smoothness conceal'd a natural arrogance could with no patience endure a Superiour an humour that made him with great anxiety look upon the Honours which at the Duke's arrival at Burdeaux he receiv'd from the Parliament with the other Orders of the City and which were also continued to him by the Nobility at Cadillac who from all parts came in to do him Honour But if his impatience were great before it was rais'd up to the height when he knew the Duke who well enform'd of his dissatisfaction to make it yet more had invited all the Nobility and Gentry of the Country to Bordeaux to a publick running at the Ring a solemnity that being there to be kept where he was in Supreme Command the Duke knew would much more nettle and afflict him It is very true that the Duke might have forborn this Bravado to a man whom he knew to be so tender of his Honour as the Mareschal d' Ornano was and perhaps it was not well done to offer that to another he himself would never have endur'd from any man living in a place where he had commanded in Chief but having once engag'd in the business his great spirit whatever might succeed would by no means give him leave to desist especially when he knew the Mareschal was resolv'd by open force to oppose him This was that which made what was before only a private discontent to break out into open quarrel which grew so high that the Mareschal address'd himself to the Parliament where in the presence of them all he complain'd what a commotion the Duke went about to stir up amongst the people to the prejudice as he pretended of his Majesties Affairs acquainting them at the same time with his resolution to make his Garrison stand to their Arms to play his Cannon and in fine to do what in him lay with all the power and authority he had to break that appointment and to drive the Duke from the City This declaration from a man of his furious spirit as it very much troubled the whole Assembly so it gave the first President D' Affis one of the greatest men that Society ever had since its first institution and a particular friend of the Duke's having by him in his times of favour been rais'd to that dignity occasion to make use of his Eloquence in the best Arguments he could contrive to disswade the Mareschal from that determination but all in vain he had already given out his orders and summon'd the Gentry to come in to his assistance though not a man save only one call'd Ruat would appear a thing which though perfectly true appears almost incredible that a Governour of so great Authority and Repute should be able to procure no more than one single man to serve him against the Duke of Espernon in his own Government Neither were the people better dispos'd than the Nobility and Gentry to take Arms against the Duke all men on the contrary of any note both within and without the City so manifestly appearing for him that the Governour was forc'd to arm his Garrison of Corses and to call his Company of Gens-d ' Armes out of their Country Quarters into the Town which were yet apparently too weak to execute the Mareschal's design And this was in effect the main cause that hindred things from proceeding into a greater disorder the Duke satisfied with the advantage every one plainly saw he had over his Enemy being the more easily enclin'd to the Parliaments solicitations who had sent their second President Nesmond to him to entreat he would not persist in his first resolution at whose instance and being loath to disturb the Peace of his Country as also to expose the great number of Gentlemen of Quality who were about him against a Garrison in his own particular quarrel and having a greater
Mareschal Biron without my knowledge To whom the Duke reply'd again That he did not conceive it necessary to ask his Majestie 's leave to send a meer Complement to his Friend That seeing him come without a Guard or any apparent marks of disgrace and his Majesty treating him with the same favour he us'd to do he had on his part us'd him at the same rate he had ever done That it had been a custom long observ'd betwixt them that which of them soever had been any time absent from Court was at his return by some Servant of trust enform'd by the other of all the little passages had hapned during his absence That it was true he had in this occasion continued this custom That he humbly besought his Majesty to believe nothing more particular had pass'd betwixt them and that he had rather dye than once conceive a thought to the prejudice of his Majesties Service or his own duty That he hop'd the event would more clearly evidence the integrity of his actions but that nevertheless he thought it fit to give his Majesty that security in hand The King being well satisfied with the Duke's Reasons but much more with the Confidence he perceiv'd him to repose in his Justice and his own Innocency all jealousies that before had been infus'd into him to the prejudice of the Duke's Fidelity and Honour vanish'd away and he with the greatest care and assiduity was more than ever about his Majesties Person His Children which a little before he had brought to Court had order to continue about the young Dolphin's Person to be as it were Hostages of their Father's Innocence and the Mareschal's Tryal being at last over all Witnesses and Parties examin'd and heard without the least mention of the Duke of Espernon's name in all their practice his Majesty was not a little satisfied with himself that he had carried things with that moderation towards the Duke upon this occasion This untoward business was soon after seconded by another which though of far less dangerous consequence begaâ— the Duke nevertheless as much trouble as the first The Duke as he was ever very circumspect in his duty to preserve his Fidelity entire to the King so was he no less solicitous to maintain himself in all advantages deriving to him as particles of any of his Commands That of Colonel therefore having been conferr'd upon him by Henry III. with extraordinary priviledges as by his Patent does appear he could not endure the least violation of his Interest but with a stiffness that doubtless would have offended a less equitable Prince than that under whom he had the honour to serve was ever obstinate to maintain every punctilio of his right One of the greatest and of the greatest Honour that was annex'd to this Command was the power he had to name the Camp-Master to the Regiment of Guards when ever that place should be void and it hapned now that Grillon who had been possess'd of this Command before the Duke was created Colonel was fail'n into infirmities that rendred him incapable of his Charge Yet had his former Services been such as made it very reasonable he should however make his best advantage of it as his Majesty was content he should but having a singular and a very just respect for the Mareschal de l' Esdiguieres and a very great affection for his Son-in-law Crequy he intended the latter having first compounded with Grillon should be preferr'd to that Command intending perhaps hereby as much to clip the wings of the Duke's Authority which he had as Colonel over the Regiment of Guards as altogether to oblige Crequy The Duke advertis'd of his Majesties purpose could not forbear giving out aloud that he would never consent to it and the King on the contrary was resolv'd his pleasure should prevail But in the end after many oppositions which this good Prince was pleas'd to endure from a Servant the Duke who had never discover'd his mind to the King but by the mediation of others was resolv'd to deliver it to his Majesty with his own mouth as accordingly he did representing to him with a liberty which to his Subjects was none of the least felicities of his happy Reign the Justice of his Cause All which notwithstanding his reasons could not so prevail upon his Majesties temper but that he remain'd as firm as ever in his first resolution Which the Duke seeing and conceiving he could not consent to his Majesties desire without going less in the dignity of his place he rather chose to absent himself from Court than to be compell'd by an express and positive command to do a thing so much to the prejudice of his Authority and Honour and accordingly very much dissatisfied retir'd himself to Angoulesme The King who was not yet totally cur'd of a jealousie still kept awake by the practices the remainder of Biron's Faction not quiet extinct yet kept on foot in his Kingdom gave manifest signs of discontent at the Duke's departure and as he knew the alliance the Duke of Montpensier had contracted with his Family by his Match had begot a strict friendship betwixt them so was it to him especially that he spoke of it with the greatest freedom and in terms not without threats of the highest indignation This Prince who concern'd himself as much at the Duke's Interest as his own dispatch'd away to him in great diligence the Sieur de la Chetardie in whom he had an especial confidence to let him understand the King's displeasure and to remonstrate to him the danger he would expose himself unto should he longer persist in opposition to his Majesties pleasure who would herein be absolutely obey'd A caution by which the Duke plainly seeing he was reduc'd to a necessity either to bow or break he indeed chose the latter though not without high complaints of the injustice was done him which were neither so modest nor so private that they were not soon carried to the King's ear And though so stubborn an opposition in the Duke might reasonably enough have more exasperated the King against him yet such was the noble nature of this great Prince that it would not suffer him long to bear in mind the memory of his offense for the Duke had no sooner given his consent to Crequy's admission but that his Majesty commanded him the first thing he did to take a Journey a hundred Leagues from Paris to see his Colonel to take his Oath betwixt his hands to obtain his hand to his Commission and to receive his Order for his admission into his place Civilities by which although the King endeavour'd to give the Duke all satisfaction yet could they not so far reconcile him but that at Crequy's arrival he made him wait a whole day together at his Chamber door and expect some days after before he would receive his Oath or Sign his Commission And although he was himself very sensible that so many manifest aversions were
desire he come to us to the end we may be fully inform'd of the truth of what has pass'd purposing in the mean time to send one of our Council to our said City of Bordeaux to enquire into and to bring Us thence a perfect Accompt of the business The rest we refer to the said Sieur de Varennes to communicate to you whom you are in all things to believe praying God Cousin c. At St. Germain en Laye this 18 th of November 1633. Sign'd Lovis And below Philipeaux The Duke of Espernon's Friends at Court being inform'd of the severe contents of this Dispatch were not a little in doubt after what manner he would receive it They fear'd his great Spirit full of those generous Maxims which had for so many years and in so many froward occurrences supported his Reputation and Fortune would with great difficulty submit to Laws so different from what they had been in former times Amongst these the Cardinal de la Valette a man as well read in the Court as any whatever of his time upon this occasion laid aside the complacency of a Son to assume the austerity of a faithful Adviser and writ to him to this effect That he did beseech him to look upon this Affair as one of the greatest Difficulty and Importance he had met withal in the whole course of his life That to avoid any inconveniences might befal him he must immediately submit to the King's Pleasure and Command and refer the business wholly and without reservation to the Cardinal which was the only way to put a good end to this Dispute Monsieur de Seguier Garde des Sceaux the Duke 's intimate friend and a man that appeared more for his Interest than the condition of the time seem'd conveniently to permit did the same writing him word That a prompt and absolute Obedience was the only way whereby a cause his Enemies Favour rendred generally disapprov'd might be brought to a successful issue but that without that it was utterly impossible for his Friends and Servants to do him those Offices were necessary for the bringing of matters to any tolerable conclusion All the Duke 's other Friends having confirm'd the same thing he evidently saw that he must of necessity obey yet was it not withour an incredible violence upon his own Humour and great Spirit He had at other times resisted the greatest powers of the State when arm'd against him with the King's Authority and Forces whereas now he saw himself reduc'd to submit to four lines of Paper they made him indeed to depart out of his Government And though it be true that in these latter Times the Royal Authority was rais'd to a more illustrious height than formerly it had ever been yet I do not know that any one has observ'd a greater example of his Power than upon this occasion All France acknowledg'd the Duke for the eminent qualities he was master of to be a man of the greatest Reputation of his Age he was possess'd of the greatest and most important Governments of the Kingdom powerful in Riches Commands Places Servants and much more in his Children His three Sons had all of them great Offices and great Employments and yet with all these advantages he was not able to resist four words and then it was that he plainly saw a Subject had no way to support himself in his Fortune and Reputation but by Obedience and that the Power of a King manag'd as it ought to be can meet no difficulties nor impediments it cannot easily master and overcome He had seen a time when by making a shew of Resolution or Discontent men had sometimes obtain'd part of what they desir'd or at least defended themselves from what they had not a mind to do Under the Reign of Henry the III the diversity of Factions which then divided the State had so weakened the Authority of the Sovereign that he durst scarce pretend to more than a voluntary Submission from his People And Henry the Great his Successor by an excess of Bounty and good Nature had continued to do what the other had been constrain'd to by inevitable Necessity This Mighty Prince was of so noble a Disposition that he would destroy none so that excepting the Mareschal de Biron who would have no compassion of himself almost all the great men of the Kingdom were either actually Rebels or highly Disobedient without ever feeling either the Sword or so much as the Hand of Justice The Regency of Queen Mary de Medici was equally moderate and gentle and the Tempests that arose in her time being appeas'd with money men did not only offend securely but made moreover a profit of their Crimes The Mareschald ' Encre try'd to change those milder into rougher Maxims but he lost himself in the practice of this premature severity In the Ministry of the Duke de Luines there was no more of violence than in the preceding Reigns the good success notwithstanding the Royal Arms always had in all Enterprizes during the time of his favour made it plain that there was nothing his Majesty could not with great facility effect in his own Kingdom He had with great ease supprest the Queen Mothers Insurrection he had invaded the Party of the Religion with very great success wherein having found their weakness by their disunion amongst themselves he was by that discovery encourag'd to undertake their total ruine and the Cardinal entring into the Ministry in so favourable a juncture of Affairs press'd the declining Faction so home that in a very short time he remov'd all Obstacles which could any ways oppose the Royal Authority or impede the establishment of his own The Party of the Religion was totally suppress'd the House of Austria infinitely weakened all the other Princes who were ill affected to the Crown reduc'd to a necessity of complying with whatsoever was impos'd upon them and those of the Nobility who were so bold as to oppose the King's will had been so roughly handled that not a man durst any more expose himself to the punishment they all knew would inevitably follow the least forfeiture of their Duty It had been but of very late years that this new form of Government had been introduc'd into the Kingdom and the Duke was grown old in the practice of other Maxims It is not then to be doubted but that it must needs be with great repugnancy and unwillingness that he could Accommodate himself to a thing so unusual and severe he did notwithstanding do it and without delaying time or spending any more than was requisite for the making of some few Visits and taking leave of his Friends he departed out of his Government suspended from his Functions Excommunicated from the Church and reduc'd to the conversation of his own Domesticks only Though in a condition so different from what it had formerly been and so contrary to his ordinary way of living he could not but be very much afflicted
employ'd fewer days to take it than the Emperour Charles the Fifth had formerly squander'd away months to go without it who after a six months Leaguer had been constrain'd ingloriously to quit the Siege And all these things were done in the very face of the Cardinal Infanta who having been baffled in two signal Engagements durst no more make trial of our Generals Arms. The Duke of Espernon victorious in two extremities of the Kingdom by the Valour of his three Sons and hoping that the utility of these important Services for the Crown would at least secure the repose of his old Age thought of nothing more than by a gentle hand to compose the Affairs of his own Government and so to order all things by his Moderation and Justice that the people committed to his Charge might enjoy the sweets of Peace even in the greatest tumults of War To this end therefore he with great generosity and constancy rejected the offer that was made to him of the Command of a great Army wherewithal to invade the Enemies Country proposing to himself a greater glory in maintaining that little part of the Kingdom entrusted to his care in security and peace than in all the Pomp that was laid before his eyes to allure him How great a happiness had it been if he could have effected this good design and by that means have spun out the remainder of his exceeding old Age in the calms of Vacancy and repose neither was the fault his that he did not bring this vertuous intention to the desired end but some ambitious and interested Spirits having infatuated the Court with propositions of vain and imaginary Conquests prevail'd so far with the great Minister that it was determinately resolv'd the Scene of the War should be transferr'd into Spain and that by the Siege of Fontarabie it should be begun The Enterprize was of no small difficulty as it has since been prov'd which the Cardinal also was very perfect in as having long before caus'd the place to be consider'd by the Duke de la Valette himself who had then diverted him from that design upon this occasion however he would no more remember the reasons by which he had sometimes suffer'd himself to be over-rul'd but having premeditated to engage both the Father and the Son in an Enterprize wherein he resolved they should both perish he sent them positive word that they must either absolutely undertake this War and advance so much money as was necessary to begin it or that the King would send the Prince of Condé to command his Arms in Guienne The Duke of Espernon accustomed of old to the ill usage of the Court was nothing surpriz'd with these Threats but on the contrary what was laid before him in the nature of a Penalty being conformable to his own desire he gave the Court to understand that he should ever esteem it a great Honour to have this Prince a Judg of his Actions and that he should be very glad the King would please to give him a Command in his Government He wanted not Servants about him to disswade him from sending such a Message and to represent to him the danger of inviting a greater person than himself into a place where his Authority was absolute and where he had no rival to dispute it with him laying before him withal many more examples of such as had repented the having submitted their Power to a Superiour than of such as in so doing had found their expectation answer'd by the event But the Duke was so confident in the Affection the Prince of Condé had manifested to him in these latter times that he could not possibly entertain the least distrust and moreover seeing it was absolutely determin'd that the Province of Guienne should bear the burthen of the War with Spain he had much rather the Expences of the War should be stated by a great Prince who by his Quality was priviledg'd from all Forms than that he by imposing them should be constrain'd to submit to the severity of an Inquisition and be brought by his Enemies to an Account But that which most of all confirm'd him in this Resolution was the advantage that would thereby accrue to the Duke de la Valette his Son who having nothing to do in Military Affairs but to execute the Prince's Orders only would by that means be nothing accountable for any event of the War and as to any thing else he was very well assur'd that what Employment soever should be conferr'd upon him he would ever so behave himself as to deserve no other than the greatest honour and applause Upon these prudent Considerations it was that the Duke resolv'd to write to the Prince of Condé to entreat he would please to accept the Command that was offer'd him in Guienne assuring him as it was very true that nothing could be a greater satisfaction to him than to have the Honour to kiss his Hands in a place where he might have opportunity to give him some testimonies of the passionate affection he had for his Service Neither was he satisfied with sending him this Complement from himself alone he would moreover make the Duke de la Valette do the same so that the Prince who before would never consent to take upon him any Employment in the Duke's Governments made thenceforward no difficulty to accept it However things not succeeding according to the Duke's desire men took hence an occasion to censure his Discretion and to condemn his Conduct as it usually falls out because he prov'd unhappy in the end The End of the Eleventh Book THE HISTORY Of the LIFE of the Duke of Espernon The TWelfth Book THE Prince of Condè had no sooner accepted the Employment but that a very ample Commission was forthwith drawn up for him by virtue whereof he was to Command not only in Guienne but also in Languedoc Navarre Bearne and Foix. His Letters Patents were dispatch'd at St. Germains en Laye the Tenth of March a Copy of which the Prince took care to send to the Duke of Espernon the one and twentieth by the Sieur Bonneau his Secreary together with a Letter that contained these words Monsieur It is with great reluctancy that by his Majesties Order I must go to Command his Forces in your Government knowing as I do that to have his Majesties Service there well perform'd there had been no need of any other person than your self and Monsieur de la Valette your Son notwithstanding such being his Royal Pleasure I must of necessity obey Of my Commission I have here sent you a Copy assuring you withal that in the exercise of it I shall take all occasions to manifest to you my entire affection and that I will be so long as I live Monsieur Your Affectionate Cousin and Humble Servant Henry of Bourbon To this Letter the Duke return'd a very civil Answer but before he receiv'd it had sent to desire leave to retire