depended After which leaving with the King about four or five thousand men which he had in the Neighbourhood of Tours he went from thence to Chinon and into Loudunois to bring up the remainder of his Forces who were as yet in doubt of his Union with the Royalists and by so doing gave the Duke of Mayenne that opportunity which he took of attacquing Tours That Prince had March'd out of Paris in the beginning of April with one half of his Army and after having taken in Melun and some other little places which might cause an immediate hindrance to the supplies of that great City he went to joyn the rest of his Forces which were Quarter'd in La Beauce after which leaving on his left hand Beaugency and Blois which it was believ'd he wou'd or ought to have attacqu'd he advanc'd as far as Chasteaudun to execute the design which he had on Vandome and even upon Tours it self by help of the intelligence which those of the League had prepar'd for him in both those places Maille Benehard who had sold Vandome of which he was Governour set open the Gates of it to Rosne the Marshal de Camp who made Prisoners almost all the Members of the great Council which the King had remov'd thither The Duke of Mayenne arriv'd there immediately after and having rejoyn'd the Troups of Rosne went to fall upon the Quarters of Charles de Luxembourg Count of Brienne who was lodg'd at Saint Ouin and the Countrey thereabouts within a League of Amboise he cut off six hundred of his Men dispers'd the rest and took him Prisoner afterwards he went to post himself right over against Saumur thereby to hinder the passage of the remainder of the King of Navarre's Forces But when he had heard not long after that the said King was remov'd from Tours he believ'd it wou'd be a convenient time for him to execute his design which he judg'd impossible to fail by reason of the Correspondence which he held in the Town Whereupon taking his way back he March'd with all possible expedition contrary to the slowness of his temper and appear'd in Battalia all on the sudden the seventh of May in the morning on the Hills which overlook the Fauxbourg of St. Simphorian It wanted but little that the King who was gone betimes that day to Marmoutier had not been surpris'd by the Scouts who were within an hundred paces of him And it was not without great pains and danger that he got to his first Corps de Guard from whence he return'd into the Town and there gave so good directions in all places that they who held Intelligence with the Enemy durst attempt no disturbance for which reason the Duke who had spun out the time with faint Skirmishes till four of the Clock in the Afternoon still expecting that the Leaguers of the Town wou'd rise for him now seeing that there was not the least motion made gave on with his whole Army so vigorously at three several passages that he forc'd the Barricades which were made at those three Avenues and Guarded with twelve hundred men this he perform'd in the space of half an hour with the loss of about an hundred of his own and the slaughter of three or four hundred of the King's Souldiers This was all that was effected by that attempt of the great Army which was set on foot by the League which after this first success did nothing more but fell to committing all manner of Disorders and horrible Outrages in the Suburbs where they had no farther opposition For when the Duke of Mayenne found that part of the King of Navarre's Forces were arriv'd in the Evening under the Conduct of the brave Chastillon who was already retrench'd in the Island over against the Fauxbourg and that the rest wou'd immediately be there with the King of Navarre who wou'd not fail to give him more employment than his raw and for the most part new rais'd Souldiers wou'd well suffer he took occasion to Dislodge silently before day the next Morning after his Troups had left their fame behind them in the Suburbs by all manner of Villanies which they there committed From thence he went to gather up some Regiments which were levying for him in Anjou and Maine after which possessing himself of Alanson which surrender'd without resistance for want of a Garrison he was forc'd to return hastily to Paris where they were in a wonderfull consternation for the loss of the Battail of Senlis which I shall next relate William de Montmorancy Sieur de Thorè had so well negotiated while he was at Chantilly with the principal persons of that Town which at the first had been drawn along by the torrent of the League that he had made himself Master of it at the latter end of April and was enter'd into it with an hundred Gentlemen of his Friends and five hundred Foot which he had levied in the Valley of Montmorancy The Parisians astonish'd at this surprise which took from them their communication with Picardy were absolutely bent on the retaking of that place as soon as was possible and were so urgent with the Duke of Aumale and the Sieur de Maineville Lieutenant to the Duke of Mayenne that in three days time they were before the Town and besieg'd it with four of five thousand Citizens of Paris and three pieces of Cannon to whom Balagny not long after joyn'd himself with three or four thousand men some of them drawn out of the Towns of the Low Countries and the rest from those of Picardy and brought along with him a train of seven pieces of Artillery which he had taken out of Peronne and Amiens But while the Siege was thus forming that Prudent and Valiant Captain Monsieur de la Noüe who commanded the Troups of Sedan the Truce being now made with the Duke of Lorrain had joyn'd his Forces with those of the Duke of Longueville at St. Quentin with intention according to the King's Orders to meet and embody with the Swissers whom Monsieur de Sancy had levy'd for his Majesty's Service in the Cantons There seem'd to be offer'd them a fair occasion of doing a piece of good Service to the King by raising of that Siege before they put themselves upon their March To this effect they advanc'd as far as Compeigne where they had appointed a Rendevouz for the Gentlemen Royallists of Picardy who fail'd not of coming in at the time prefix'd Insomuch that on the very day which was the seventh of May when the Town was so batter'd by the Cannon that it was laid quite open and must of necessity have Surrender'd if it had not been succour'd before Night they appear'd at Noon in view of the place to the number of a thousand or twelve hundred Horse and three thousand Foot all experienc'd Souldiers and resolv'd upon the point either to force their passage into the Town or to perish in the attempt The Duke of Aumale
to close the Right Wing there was plac'd betwixt the Standard and the Drogne another gross Battalion made up of the Regiments of des Clusâ—aux and de Verduisant sustain'd by seven Cornets of Dragoons which might make in all a gross of near three thousand men The Artillery which like the King of Navarre's consisted onely of a few Field-Pieces was planted advancing a little towards the right hand betwixt the gross Squadron of the Duke of Ioyeuse and that of Montigny The two Armies which continu'd in presence of each other for the space of almost an hour without moving made two very differing Prospects For on the one side there was nothing to be seen but guilded Armour gloriously damasqu'd glittering in the Sun painted Lances cover'd over with Ribands with their Banderolles dancing in the Air rich Coats of Velvet with broad Lace and Galoon of Gold and Silver wherewith every Troup was Habited according to the Colours of his Captain large and beautifull colour'd Plumes waving on their Crests and shadowing them in large Bunches Scarfes magnificently embroider'd and edg'd with long Gold Fringe and all these young Cavaliers carrying the Cyphers and Colours of their Mistresâ—es as proudly adorn'd as if they were Marching in a Carrousel and not upon the point of giving Battail To conclude we may say it was an Army equipp'd after the Persian mode where so much luxury and pomp was seen and so much Gold and Silk in the Habits of the Men and the Caparisons of the Horses But the contrary side afforded no such Spectacle old Souldiers inur'd to toil and labour whose meens were â—ierce and menacing uncomb'd ill cloath'd with their long Buff-Coats all bespawl'd over their course thread-bare Clothes having no other Ornament than trusty Bilbo by their sides and sound Armour on their Breasts Mounted on travelling Horses without Housses or any other part of bravery besides the Horsemen on their backs in fine the Army of another Alexander in opposition to that of another Darius These two Armies so very different having look'd each other in the Face long enough to take their Measures the King of Navarre somewhat before Nine of the Clock commanded Prayers to be made to ask the assistance of Almighty God making loud Protestations that he was not going to fight against his King but against the Leaguers who had enterpris'd the destruction of the Royal House by depriveing of his Birthright the Heir presumptive of the Crown This example was not imitated in the Army of the Duke of Ioyeuse on the contrary when they perceiv'd a kind of motion in the other Army when they were at Prayers some who were about the Duke of Ioyeuse cry'd out aloud in derision of them they are our own the Cowards tremble But the Sieur de Vaux Lieutenant to Monsieur de Bellegarde Governour of Saintonge told him plainly in these words No no Monsieur believe it not I know those people better they are now at their Devotions but you shall see them fight like Lions Immediately upon this the Cannon began to play the first discharge which was made from the King of Navarre's Ordnance took place in the very Standard of the Duke which was an ill omen to him and all the other Vollies thundring athwart the thick Forest of their Lanciers into the gross Battalion which clos'd their leâ—t Wing put all the Regiment of Tiercelin into a vast disorder sweeping away whole ranks of them at once On the contrary the Duke's Cannon did little or no Execution for besides that it answer'd not the roaring of the other till some time after it kill'd bâ—â— onely one Horse of the Prince of Condè's Squadron because their Guns were so unadvisedly planted and the Cannoniers took their aim so very low that the Bullets were grounded in a little rise of Earth which intercepted their passage to the Enemy Then Lavardin crying out to his General that all was lost if they gave time to their Enemies to fire again immediately sounded the Charge and joyning to his own Squadron those of the light Horsemen and the Albanois gave in so furiously on the gross of the Enemies light Horse that having at the first onset overturn'd la Trimoüille and Arambure with his Lance and dangerously wounded Vivans their whole Squadron was broken routed and pursu'd into Coutras where the Albanois fell to Plundering the Baggage which the King of Navarre had left behind him in that Town At the same time Montigny who was directly opposite to the Vicount of Turenne perceiving the Flank of his Gascons to lie bare by the flight of the light Horsemen which they had on their right hand push'd them so vigorously on that part that he broke into them and open'd withouâ—â—ny trouble from one side to the other that whole Squadron which thus disorder'd were put to the rout as their â—ellows the light Horse had been before them There were some of them and even of those who had the reputation of the bravest so throughly seiz'd with this sudden fright that they took the River and flying for their Lives as fast as they cou'd Spur carri'd as far as Pons the false report of their Armies being wholly routed for which they had afterwards so much regret that they died for shame and sorrow of it This â—light of the light Horsemen was so precipitate and so general that at first there were onely remaining in the Field Turenne and Choupes with one other Gentleman to whom la Trimoüille and Arambure joyn'd themselves who having been remounted and seeing they were abandon'd by their Souldiers cast themselves into the Squadron of the Prince of Condè to combat by his side 'T is true that the greatest part of these Runaways immediately ralli'd and put themselves in order behind the squadrons of the Princes to repair their fault by Fighting as afterwards they did most Valiantly But this cou'd not save them from the severe raillery of their own party For as it is commonly seen that there is a kind of jealousie and we may almost call it enmity betwixt neighbouring Provinces those of Saintonge and of Poitou who had no great kindness for the Gascons and who besides were somewhat picqu'd that the King of Navarre was us'd to praise them a little too extravagantly seeing them first disorder'd and then routed cry'd out as loud as possibly they cou'd after the example of Monsieur de Montausier At the least it cannot now be said that these are either Poitevins or of Saintonge This made the Gascons ready to burst with extremity of choler but all the revenge they took was to strain their Forces to the utmost as they did by a noble emulation to behave themselves yet better than those Valiant men To proceed this first disorder was so far from drawing on a greater as it ordinarily happens that it onely serv'd to augment the Courage and Valour of the rest For on the one part the foot of the left Wing which had bravely advanc'd to push oâ—
it in any Overtures which were made to no purpose for a Peace And though the Duke of Nemours whom he had invited by a kind Letter to Submission since he had already satisfy'd his Honour to the full had protested that he wou'd be the first to throw himself at his Feet and that he wou'd make it his Busines too that Paris shou'd acknowledge him provided he return'd into the Church he always rejected that Proposition On which account whatsoever solemn Promises he made that he wou'd maintain the Catholique Religion the Parisians to whom their Preachers who had an absolute Dominion over their Consciences still represented the Example of England cou'd never resolve to confide in him Thus being perswaded that it was impossible for them to surrender without giving up their Religion by the same Act they had the Courage in the midst of their Sufferings to expect the great Succours which the Duke of Parma brought to their Relief at the end of August And that excellent Commander without giving Battel to which the King who was constrain'd to retire with all his Forces from before Paris cou'd never force him so well he was retrench'd at Clay had the Glory to execute his own design and after his own manner by taking Lagny in the sight of the King and freeing Paris which was the end of his Undertaking It belongs to the general History of France to describe all the particular Passages of that famous Expedition I shall only say that I may omit nothing which precisely concerns my Subject that before the King had licens'd the Nobility and Gentry which attended him to depart and divided his Forces into several small Bodies as he afterwards did he wou'd needs make a last Attempt upon the Town To which effect on Saturday night the eighth of September he convey'd secretly three or four thousand chosen Soldiers into the Fauxbourgs St. Iacques and St. Marceau under the Leading of the Count de Chastillon to scale the Walls betwixt those two Gates after Midnight while the Town was buried as it were in the depth of Sleep For he believ'd not that the Parisians who knew that his Army was drawn up in Battalia on the Plain of Bondy all Saturday wou'd keep themselves upon their Guard on that side which he purpos'd to attaque But as some notice had been given of his Design and that besides his Troops cou'd not possibly enter those Fauxbourgs without noise the Allarm was immediately taken the Bells were rung and the Citizens in Crouds mounted the Ramparts especially where he meant to have planted his Ladders But at last when after a long Expectation no Enemy appear'd and that no more noise was heard because the Kings Soldiers who were cover'd by the Fauxbourgs made not the least motion and also kept a profound Silence it was taken only for a false Alarm The Bells ceas'd ringing and every man retir'd to his own Lodging excepting only ten Jesuites who being more vigilant than the rest continu'd all the remainder of that Night on the same Post which was not far distant from their Colledge In the mean time the Soldiers of Chastillon who were softly crept down into the Ditch began about four of the Clock in the Morning to set up their Ladders being favour'd by a thick Mist which hindred them from being discern'd The Design was well enough lay'd for there needed not above ten or twelve men to have got over into the Town who might have open'd the Gate of St. Marceau to their Fellows by means of a Correspondence which was held with a Captain belonging to that Quarter after which it had been easie to have possest themselves of the University and consequently both the Town and the City wou'd have submitted themselves to the King rather than have expos'd Paris as a Prey to two great Armies by admitting that of the Duke of Parma at the Gate of St. Martin But the Vigilance of the ten Jesuites broke all these Measures which were so justly taken for having heard a Noise in the Ditch which was made by thosâ— who were setting up their Ladders against the Walls they cry'd out as loud as they cou'd stretch their Voices to Arms to Arms. Notwithstanding which the Soldiers were still getting up and the first of them who was ready to leap upon the Rampart happen'd to show his Head just where one of those honest Fathers was plac'd who gave him such a lusty knock with an old Halbard which he had in his hand as he stood Centry that he broke it in two upon his Head and tumbled him down with the Blow into the Ditch The Companions of this valiant Jesuite did as muâ—h to two other Soldiers and a fourth who was already got up and held his Ladder with one Hand to descend into the Town and with the other a broad Curtle-axe to cleave the Head of the first who shou'd oppose him was stopp'd short by two of these Fathers who each of them with a Partizan so vigorously push'd him that notwithstanding all the Blows which he made in vain at too great a distance for fear of their long Weapons they forc'd him at the last to quit his Ladder and having hurt him in the Throat overturn'd him backward into the Ditch after his Fellows The two first Citizens who ran to their Relief were the Advocate William Balden and the famous Bookseller Nicholas Nivelle these two finding one of those Jesuites grappling with a Soldier who was getting up in spight of the poor Fathers weak resistance came into the rescue and lent him their helping Hands to kill him And the Advocate immediately turning himself to another who had already got upon the Ramparts discharg'd so terrible a Reverse upon his right hand with his Fauchion that he cut it sheer off and sent him headlong to the Bottom in the mean time the Alarm being once more warmly taken in the Town the Citizens and Soldiers made haste to Man the Walls especially on that side and heaps of kindled Straw were thrown down to light the Ditch and make discovery what was doing below whereupon the Kings Soldiers being easily discern'd left both their Ladders and their Attempt which now cou'd not possibly succeed and retir'd to the Body of their Army So little was there wanting to bring about so great an Enterprise For 't is most certain that if these ten Jesuits had done like the Townsmen and had gone back to take their rest in their College after the first Alarm which was held for false the King had that day entred Paris But the Divine Providence had reserv'd that happiness for a time more favourable to Religion and to that City into which the King being Victorious over the League was ordain'd to make a peaceable entrance after he had solemnly profess'd the Catholique Faith In the mean time the affairs of the League far from being advanc'd after this expedition which was so glorious to the Duke of Parma were soon